Freedom, Love and Sacrifice - A walking dead sequel

Chapter 40

I wanted to yeall at him but I knew if I did, he'd do something much worse than knock me out and tie me up. He was a monster. But somehow I could understand him for that. I knew how much he cared about Daryl and how much he wanted to protect him. I also knew that out of the two of us, Daryl was his favourite. But I didn't care about that. It was nice that Merle cared about him even if it meant my and Michonne's deaths. But another one of his loyalties was bugging me. I decided to risk it.

"Merle, I want you to answer this question truthfully. No bullshit. Why would you want to help The Governor when we both know he was the one who turned you into a killer and made you fight me and Daryl? You go on about loyalty to me and yet you were the one who joined with him." I said.

He was silent for a moment.  I saw Michonne raise her head as if she wanted to know too. "It's 'cause he took me in. When your Officer Friendly left me chained on that roof and that kid dropped the keys, I had to free myself. You know what happened." He said, gesturing to his knife. "When The Governor found me, I was nearly passed out from blood loss, I had a herd of biters after me, was starvin' and dehydrated. One bullet left. Figured it would make me a nice last meal. Then he appeared, fed me. I... I did the things I had to do 'cause I wanted to please him but I was afraid of what he would do to me if I disobeyed him as well. I've killed 16 men since all this went down. I want to repent for that, Angelina, you should know I do. But give me one more and then I will."

I guessed at once. "You want to kill him, don't you?" I asked.

"Yeah. 'Cause I let him do a load of things, hell I wanted him to do them but when I saw you and Darlina pulled out in the walker pits, I knew then that that was the last straw. I may have done many things in my life, Angelina, but one thing I will never do is let anyone hurt you or Daryl. I love y'all. If I could have protected y'all from Will, believe me I would have. Daryl never knew this but once when he was workin', I was home and Will was pissed 'bout somethin'. Drunk most probably and you were only 2. Screamin' bout somethin'. Has Daryl told you about Sal and what happened to our real mom?" He asked.

I nodded. "Yeah." I replied.

"Well, he treated Sal. like a slave. I know you've always hated that y'all get treated like that if you're a woman and a redneck. Anyway, she was out getting groceries and wasn't there to quiet yer down. Well you wouldn't stop screamin' and he got up to beat the hell out of you for it. But I was there and I stopped him. I.... I let him give me the beatin'. I took it 'cause there was no way in hell he was gonna beat up a two year old." Merle revealed

I gasped in shock and I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open so I closed it quickly. "Oh my god, Merle. I can't believe you did that for me. Thank you." I said.

"So, don't think that Darlina was the only one protectin' you from Will. I was too. I protected Daryl too. And I guess if you have a daughter, I want her to know that she is lucky to have a father like Caleb. I know he wil take care of her. You and Daryl will too." Merle admitted.

I couldn't speak. I was so shocked that Merle was being... nice. Why? "Thanks, Merle." I said, not going to be overly grateful for it. But then something confused me. "What do you mean Daryl will? You can too. You're still an uncle. I wouldn't exclude you from that. Caleb's just gonna have to lump it." I said sternly. "You know you can come back with us."

Merle shook his head. "Not this time, Angelina." He replied and suddenly stopped the car. He turned and leaned over to the back of his seat to cut my bindings. His eyes were full of remorse. "I want you to go back with Michonne and tell the others to get ready. You look after that kid of yours. I know its gonna be a fighter just like you. I'm proud of you sis. No matter what happened, you never stopped fighting. You never lay down and took shit from me or anyone. Bet you gave that prick Shane hell." He said with a smirk, a nice one this time.