Inferno

thirty eight.

"I didn't know you were into medieval devices." Samantha teased.

The excalibur shined in the sun as if it had been fashioned by the bright rays itself. It was shoved into her hands and she could feel how warm it was in her grip, almost too fictional to even be real. She had read and seen movies of knights wielding swords in battle, but never herself had one.

Samantha gazed up at Merle, her heart thumping with a childish excitement.

"Picked it off from a body," Merle said, looking at anything else but her. "You used ta go on and on 'bout wantin' one."

"I thought you were never looking at me when I talked about it." Samantha said, her wide smile aching the muscles in her cheeks.

"Doesn't mean I wasn't listenin'." Merle stated, the ebony haired beauty making him feel a wave of awkwardness.

Samantha shielded her eyes away from the intense sun, even if the smile on her face was brighter than the blazing star. "Well, aren't you just a sweetheart." She drawled.

Merle released a chuckle. "I can be more than that."

"Not attracted to fossils." The young woman was quick to fire back.

Merle frowned, scratching his head. "I ain't that old."

"Damn, and I was hoping you would tell me how the Ice Age went." Samantha continued.

Merle chuckled some more, before his face abruptly went serious. "I heard that the Governor offered a position and I think you should take it."

All jokes and humor seemed to dwindle. "Merle, you know I can't do that. I have to find-"

"Yer brother," He finished, Samantha's head nodding as her eyes shifted to the ground. "I wanna find mine too, but walkin' every damn day ain't fast enough. We got food, we got vehicles, we got just 'bout everything you need to find them."

Martinez poked his head out of the open car door. "I don't think the Governor-"

"Eat shit," Merle snapped, and the hispanic man sent him a brief glare before looking away. "I wanna find ma baby brother too. Just wait a little while longer, and I promise I'll help you."

And she did, she thought about it so much that it made her head hurt. It seemed more quick and safe. The Governor had a whole army of people and supplies that could help her.

Samantha lifted her eyes and met Merle's blues. She felt like she could trust him, and anyone else that wasn't her would've called her stupid.

But she knew Merle, and he knew Samantha.

"A little while longer?" She repeated.

"A little while longer." Merle promised.

The young woman held out her pinky, the redneck raising a brow at the gesture. "These are sacred. You break your promise it gives me every right to cut it off."

The corners of his mouth twitched upwards. "Aint ya just a child." Merle didn't deny the amusement that rolled through him as he intertwined his pinky with hers, an image crossing Samantha's mind at the thought of a miniature prosthetic replacing where his little finger would've been.

Keri had approached them, her denim baseball cap providing her own personal shade as she sat the box of supplies next to the unconscious boy.

Her dark eyes snapped to Samantha. "Guess you'll be leaving after this, right?"

"Nah, she's staying for a little while longer." Merle informed, and all the hope that Keri had on her face completely dropped and an angry scowl replaced it.