Freedom, Love and Sacrifice - A walking dead sequel

Chapter 40

I smiled and shrugged. "I gave him his fair share." I replied and Merle nodded. Then suprisingly he reached over and pulled me into a gentle one armed hug. "You're my sister, Angelina. You are gonna survive this birth, I know you are. You're a Dixon. I love you, I always did. I'm just sorry I never showed it."

He released me and I smiled. "Now you have." I said. He grinned and turned to cut Michonne's binding. "You be careful now." He told us. "Look after each other. I got somethin' I gotta do." 

I looked at him with gentle loving eyes. He had changed for the better this time. And I was proud of him for that. "You comin' back?" I asked. He needed to. He was my brother, and my child's uncle. I wanted him to  come back.

He bit his lip. "If I can. I just want you safe." He said and knowing I would get no better reponse than that, I just nodded and opened my door. Michonne did the same thing and we watched silently as Merle drove off.

 Heavy silence hang over us but Michonne broke it. "C'mon, we better get back. Got the baby and the others to think about." She said. 

I shook myself out of my worry and nodded. "Yeah we should, I guess." I murmured and started walking.

Michonne started following me closely and to my suprise put her arm around me. I looked up at her, shocked. She smiled slightly. "You're hell of a young woman, you know that?" She asked.

I smiled back. "Me? No, you're the one with the kickass katana and poking tyrant's eyes out." I joked.

"No, you are. Merle was right. When everyone was against you about your deal and then your pregnancy, you didn't lie down and say, fine I'll go back and rip up the contract, fine I'll have an arbotion. You stood up for yourself and for what you believed in. That's very hard to do even back when the world was normal." She told me.

I shrugged modestly. "I just do what I have to do. From the looks of things, you had to fight to survive back in the old world." I mused.d

Michonne went cold then. She took her arm from my shoulders and didn't meet my questioning glance. "A little." She said, shrugging.

I took that as a sign not to pry. And I didn't. I wasn't that kind of person. It wasn't any of my business what had happened to her before the outbreak. 

We walked back along the dirt road for a while until I saw a figure in the distance walking towards us. I tapped on Michonne's shoulder. "There's something up ahead." I alerted her.

She unsheathed her katana at once. "Human or walker?" She asked.

"I'm not sure." I answered and touched my back and to my relief felt my bow. I pulled it over my shoulder and plucked an arrow from the quiver and nocked it in the string. 

The figure came nearer to us and then I saw the unmistakable point of a crossbow. Daryl! He had come to save me. I took a step forward and lowered my bow. Michonne shot me a confused glance.

"It's OK. It's just Daryl." I clarified. She nodded, seemingly relieved and lowered her katana but didn't put it back I noticed.

Daryl ran towards us, an expression of anxiety on his face. "Angel! Thank god! I saw you were missing along with Michonne and Merle. Rick. Caleb and I came to a conclusion that he'd taken you. Where is he?" He asked.

I didn't want to tell him that Merle had gone on a potential suicide mission but I knew I had to. "He's gone, Daryl." I replied. I hated Merle then for making me tell him this.]

Daryl nodded.  "He say he's comin' back?" 

I bit my lip to try and prevent it from wobbling which I knew would result in my breaking down. "He said he wasn't sure." I said, fighting to keep my voice stoic. "He let us go and just drove off."