Born 2 Be Wild-A Merle Dixon love story

Chapter 23

Twenty Years Later

It's been 20 years since that night in the barn. I still smile when I think about it. The years have been far from easy. But we've all made it. Merle and I are still together, through the good times and the bad. I'd like to say that Merle has changed. But he didn't. He's still the same old Merle that I'm sure he always will be. Daryl and Lily are engaged. They've been engaged for a couple of years. They're not in a rush to get hitched. They don't have to, they are the perfect couple. There's so much love between them, you can almost feel it in the air. Needless to say, I am a little jealous. We all stayed in Savannah, what time Merle isn't in jail.

Today I'm on a hunting trip with Daryl and Daryl's dad Will in Blue Ridge, Georgia. Merle was with us up until last night. We had an argument so he left. It happens pretty often these days.

We were all sitting in the cabin we rented when we heard a strange noise coming from outside. Will stepped out with his rifle to see what was going on. Not long after he walked out we heard him yell.

"Guys! Come out here! You need to see this!"

Daryl and I jumped up and rushed outside to join Will. There was a group, or more like a herd of people coming towards us. They were moving strange, and grunting. The closer they got the faster a feeling of panic started to take over me. Will, who still had his rifle in his hand raised it and shot one of them in the chest. The person staggered but kept coming. These aren't people, they're monsters. I ran back in the cabin to get my shot gun and Daryl's crossbow. When I got back out they were both about to run for it. I tossed Daryl the crossbow and we took off. We were all hauling ass, but Will isn't nearly as fast as he used to be. He was falling behind. I tried to yell for him to pour on the speed but my lungs were on fire.

We came to a clearing and stopped for a second. I put my hands on my knees and tried to catch my breath. What I wouldn't give to be 17 again, running through the woods with Merle and Daryl away from the latest trouble we'd stirred up. No time for nostalgia today though. Will was practically laying on the ground at this point. I could hear the shuffling footsteps of the monsters behind us. They were catching up.

Will stood up which looked like it took all his energy. I rushed to help him stand up but he waved me away. Same old stubborn Will. He took a deep breath and cocked his gun.

"Go. The truck is just over that hill. I can't outrun them."

Daryl looked like he'd just been slapped.

"No. I'm not leaving you. We don't even know what those things are."

I saw my chance to share what my first thoughts were.

"I think they're zombies."

"This isn't one of your horror movies Jess. Zombies aren't real."

"Then what was that Daryl? Real living people aren't rotting. They don't shuffle or make noises like that. They don't have that empty lifeless look in their eyes."

"So what if they are zombies?"

"They're slow but in a big group they can overwhelm you."

I could see the tops of their heads coming over the hill. I cocked my shot gun and Daryl readied his crossbow. We took out the first few coming over the hill. The mass had grown since the last time we saw them. After we each fired off a few shots Will shouted.

"STOP! There's too many of them. We can't hold them off. You two go. You have your whole lives ahead of you. Go find Merle and get somewhere safe."

Daryl tried to argue but Will wasn't listening. I slung my gun over my back and grabbed Daryl's arm. I don't want to leave Will behind but I respect his wishes. I started running, dragging Daryl at first but after a minute he ran on his own beside me. At the top of the hill we looked back but couldn't see Will anymore, he was in the middle of the horde.

We made it to the truck a few minutes later. We got in as fast as we could and Daryl got the keys out of the ashtray. The truck didn't want to start at first, but on the third try it fired to life. We didn't speak for the first few minutes of our drive. I pulled my phone out of my pocket to see if Merle had called or texted but he hadn't. I let out a sigh.

"Have you heard from Merle?"

Daryl shook his head. "Not since last night when he took off. I asked him what happened."

"He hasn't tried to contact me."

"I'm sure he's fine." Then after a pause "what did happen last night Jess?"

"Nothing."

"It didn't sound like nothing."

"I think he's been cheating on me. I know he's back on drugs again. He almost hit me."

"Are you kidding me?"

"No. No, I'm not."

"He never learns."

I didn't say anything in reply. I didn't know what to say. The closer to civilization we got the more signs of chaos we saw. There were dead bodies on the side of the road and cars left abandoned.

"We're going to have to stop gas. If we can't make it to a station I can siphon it out of one of these cars."

"Hopefully we can make it. There should be a Texaco right up here."

We made it to the gas station by some miracle. The parking lot was empty but the door was unlocked. Daryl stayed by the truck but I went inside. The store was completely empty. I went behind the counter and turned the gas pump on. Working in a convenience store comes in handy sometimes. I grabbed a bag while I was there and grabbed some drinks, food, and cigarettes. I left some cash on the counter so I wouldn't feel so bad. I heard Daryl shout from the truck so I ran outside.

He was in the driver's seat waiting on me. I ran to the truck and jumped in. We started back on the road.

"Can I use your phone?"

"What for? Did you lose yours again?"

"No. I need to call Merle. He won't answer if I call."

"Yeah. Tell him what happened. Call him an asshole for me."

He reached in his pocket and handed his phone to me. I dialed Merle's number from memory and prayed it didn't go to voicemail. He answered after the 5th ring.

"Daryl?"

"Not quite. Before you hang up on me, I have to tell you something."

"What happened?"

I guess he could hear the worry in my voice.

"Something bad is going on. We were at the cabin and these things came. Daryl and I got away but Will didn't make it."

"Jesus. Are you ok?"

"I'm fine. Where are you?"

"I'm at a bar in Marietta. I'm sorry Jess. I'm so fucking sorry."

"We'll talk about it later. Daryl and I are coming to get you. What's the address?"

"Hell if I know. Nothing is going on here. It's on Main Street downtown."

"Well we're still coming to get you. We'll be there in about 40 minutes if nothing happens."

"Alright. I'll see you soon then."

"Be careful. Oh and Daryl wanted me to tell you you're an asshole."

"Whatever." He laughed and then hung up.

Daryl looked away from the road a second.

"Where is he?"

"Marietta."

"What the hell is he doing there?"

"He's in a bar. I don't really want to know what he's doing honestly."

"Well at least it's on the way to Savannah. I'll call Lily when we get there. She's safe with Uncle Mark, so I won't worry too much."

"We'll get to Savannah soon."

"Not soon enough."

Not another word was spoken until we passed into Marietta town limits.

"So which bar is he in?"

"He didn't say. He said it's on Main Street downtown."

"Oh yeah, that definitely narrows it down."

That's when we heard the gunshots. Daryl stopped the truck.

"What the fuck?"

"If I had to guess."

"Merle."

"Yep."

Daryl drove slowly towards the sound of gunshots. Merle was on the roof of a building shooting at zombies on the ground in front of the building. Daryl stopped when we saw them. It only took Merle a minute to take them out. Daryl rolled down his window and shouted up at Merle.

"Get your crazy ass down here!"

Merle flipped him the bird before disappearing from sight. A few minutes later he came out of an alley beside the bar. He swaggered to the truck and waited for me to scoot over. He climbed in and put his arm around my shoulders.

"Did you see that darlin'? Your man's still got it."

Daryl laughed. "Yeah, whatever it is."

"I don't remember asking you."

"Alright knock it off you two. I want to actually make it to Savannah."

Merle grumbled but he didn't say anything else.

Nearly four hours later we made it to Savannah. We almost ran out of gas twice, each time I thought Daryl was going to have a break down. The last time he talked to Lily everything was fine but it took only 40 minutes for them to get to Merle. I didn't think Daryl was going to put the truck into park before he jumped out of it. Merle was helping me out of the truck when we heard a scream of anguish.