*WARNING: Please be advised that this chapter contains mature content and strong language.*
Chapter 29
Daryl's POV
Merle and I had been walking for quite a while now. I couldn't believe I had left her like that. The look on her face broke my heart, which is weird because I didn't think I even had a heart. We had been close since the day she got there. She was the only one who got me, who understood me. We had all been through thick and thin together. How could we just walk away the way we did? It was obvious that Merle wasn't affected by anything. Nothing affected him much anymore.
"Man, there ain't nothin' out here but 'squitos and ants," I mentioned.
"Patience, lil' brother," Merle answered. "Sooner or later, squirrels are bound to scurry across your path."
"Even so, that ain't much food," I pointed out.
"Eh, more than nothin'," Merle replied, hiking his pants up.
"Better luck goin' through one of them houses we passed by back on the turnoff," I informed.
"Is that what your friends taught ya? Hmm?" Merle asked, turning around. "How to loot for booty?"
"We've been out here for hours," I informed, taking the subject off the others.
I didn't really want to think about Quinn right now. I can't imagine what she's thinking of me. She could've gone with us, but how could I make her choose?
"Why don't we find a stream?" I suggested. "Catch us some fish."
"I think you're just tryin' to lead me back to that road, get me over to that prison," Merle notified.
"They got shelter, food," I started. "A pot to piss in might not be a bad idea."
"For you, maybe," Merle responded. "Ain't gonna be no damn party for me."
"Everyone'll get used to each other."
"They're all dead," Merle retorted, winding a piece of barbed wire around his stump. "Makes no difference."
"How can you be sure?" I asked.
"Right about now, he's probably hostin' a housewarming party," Merle answered, "where he's gonna bury what's left of your pals."
"Let's go hook some fish," I said, leaning off the tree and heading towards the woods.
___
"Smells to me like the Sawhatchee Creek," Merle said as he sniffed the air.
"Nah, we didn't go west enough," I informed. "If there's a river down there, it's the Yellow Jacket."
"You have a stroke, boy?" Merle asked. "We ain't even close to the Yellow Jacket."
"Yeah, well it ain't the Sawhatchee either, smartass," I retorted. "We didn't go west. Just a little bit south, that's what I think."
"You know what I think?" Merle challenged. "I may have lost my hand, but you lost your sense of direction."
"Yeah, we'll see about that," I said mockingly as I ducked under a tree limb.
"What do ya wanna bet?" Merle asked.
"I don't wanna bet nothin'," I answered. "It's just a body of water. Why's everything gotta be a competition with you?"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Take it easy, lil' brother. Just tryin' to have a little fun here. No need to get your panties all in a bundle."
A cry echoed in the distance. At first I thought I was just hearing things, but then Merle spoke up.
"Hear that?" he asked. "Wild animals gettin' wild."
"No, that's a baby," I insisted.
Merle rolled his eyes. "Why don't you just piss in my ear and tell me it's rainin'? That sound right there is the sound of a couple of coons makin' love sweet love, know what I mean?"
I started out to the edge of the woods. Merle took a minute, but was soon by my side. We came out of the forest and were met with a highway and people screaming, walkers coming after them.
Merle shouted something to them, but I didn't hear. He mouthed off behind me, but I kept running towards the highway. Two men were on top of an RV, a walker reaching towards them. I released an arrow into the walker's skull and both men looked up at me.
"I got the car!" I shouted to Merle.
He nodded as he took down some more, smirking all the while. I dropped my bow and unsheathed my knife. I jammed it into the walker at the windshield. I saw a young woman holding a baby. A walker reached at them through the back of the car. I grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him out. I slammed the trunk door on the walker's head, brains and guts flying everywhere.
I yanked an arrow out of another walker and loaded it into my crossbow. The people started talking in some other language to each other.
"Ayùdame!" a dark man shouted.
I ran over and stuck my hunting knife through its skull before kicking it off the bridge and into the water. I watched as Merle opened the car door. The man yelled something in spanish to him, but Merle raised his gun.
"Slow down, beaner. That ain't no way to say thank you."
He jabbered something else.
"Let 'em go," I said sternly. I held my bow at Merle's back. "Get outta the car."
"I know you're not talkin' to me there, brother."
"Get out of the damn car." Merle climbed out and faced me. I turned to the man that was held at gun point. "Hey get your car and get the hell outta here!"
They all climbed into the vehicle and sped away. I still had my bow raised high, trying hard not to back down. Merle pushed the bow out of his face, but I beat him to it, pulling it away first.
I heard thunder in the distance but I didn't pay attention to it as I followed the trail back down the highway. I yanked my arrows out of walkers on my way by and we finally emerged back into the woods.
"The shit you doing, pointing that thing at me?" Merle asked.
"They were scared, man," I answered.
"Yeah, but they were rude is what they were," Merle spat.
"No, you were," I remarked.
"They owed us a token of gratitude," Merle continued.
"They didn't owe us nothin'," I insisted.
"You helpin' people out with just the kindness of your heart?" Merle spat. "Even though you might die doin' it? Is that something Sheriff Rick taught you?"
"There was a baby!" I shouted.
"Oh, otherwise you would of just left 'em for the biters then, huh?"
"Man, I went back for ya," I notified. "You weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand neither. You did that, way before they locked you up on that roof. No, you asked for it."
Merle smirked. "You know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick, are like this now." He crossed his fingers. "Mmm, I bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold that you never told him that we planned on robbin' that camp blind."
"Didn't happen," I reminded.
"Yeah, it didn't, 'cause I wasn't there to help you."
"Oh, like when we were kids, huh?" I asked. "Who left who then?"
"What?" Merle shouted. "Huh? Is that why I lost my hand?"
"You lost your hand 'cause your a simple-minded piece of shit!"
"Yeah?" Merle shouted.
As I tried to walk away, Merle grabbed my shirt and made it rip all the way down the sides. He immediately regretted it as he saw the scars across my back. I quickly tried to cover them up.
"I–I didn't know he was—"
"Yeah, ya did. He did the same to you," I said, my voice cracking. "That's why you left first."
"I had to, man," Merle informed. "I would of killed 'im otherwise."
I started to walk away, my blood boiling.
"Where you goin'?" Merle asked.
"Back where I belong," I replied.
"I can't go with ya," Merle opposed. "I–I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the chinese kid."
"He's korean," I said.
"Whatever." Merle shrugged. "Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you."
"You know, I may be the one that's walkin' away, but you're the one that's leavin'...again."