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Chapter Fifteen: Goodbye Mercedes
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cw
character death
self harm (kinda?)
rick being a dick
This had been the second funeral Mercy had attended this week. The morning sun peered through the trees, shining across everyone's faces as rick spoke.
"Dale was the kinda guy to get under your skin. he sure got under mine, because he wasn't afraid to say exactly what he thought or what he felt," Rick started, his hands held by his side. "That kind of honesty is rare and brave."
Mercy's eyes watered slightly as everyone stood around Dales's grave, giving their thoughts and prayers.
Beth's hand moved up and down Mercy's back, silencing the few tears threatening to fall from her eyes,
"Id look at dale. and he'd be looking back at me with that look he had. we've all seen it one time or another." Rick continued. Everyone's faces were soft and expressionless, "I couldn't always read him, but he could read us. He saw people for who they were. He knew things about us- the truth, who we really are."
Mercy thought back to every time she had interacted with the older man. Every time he sacrificed his sudokus to see her and Glenn struggle for hours, every time he would give mercy his hat just to see her goofy smile. He was a good friend, truly.
"In the end, he was talking about losing out humanity. He said this group was broken. The best way to honor him is to unbreak it. set aside our differences and pull together, stop feeling sorry for ourselves and take control of our lives, our safety... our future." He said, kneeling down to the grave,
"Were not broken. were gonna prove him wrong. from now on we're gonna do it his way. that is how we honor dale."
—
When everyone finished their words to Dale, the group dispersed fairly quickly.
Mercy trotted back over to the camp, hopping up onto the bed of the truck near Hershel,
"Hey, Rick?" He called. Rick turned around from his spot a few feet away. "I've thought about it a lot, and with it getting colder out and those things getting closer, I want you all to stay in the house," Hershel offers. A small smile splits Mercys once somber expression.
"That'll be a tough squeeze," Rick contemplates, "Seventeen people in one house," Hershel shakes his head,
"Don't worry about that, With the swamp hardening and the creek drying up..." Hershel lists,
"With fifty head of cattle on the property, we might as well be ringing a damn dinner bell," Maggie adds, frowning. Hershel nods,
"She's right, We should've moved you in a while ago." He replies. Rick looks at shane before nodding,
"Alright then, let's move the vehicles near each of the doors, facing out toward the road. well build a lookout in the windmill, another in the barn loft, that should give us sight lines," Rick orders around.
Mercy hops off the bed of the truck and jogs over to her tent, attempting to dismantle it as quickly as possible. Not without Glenn laughing at her of course,
"Need some help there, Sadie?" He asks the back of his hand held over his mouth. Mercy looks up at the boy. She had two poles in her left hand and a mash of poles and silk in the other.
"Could you?" She asks sarcastically, though Glenn sets his stuff down and helps her anyways.
Putting Glenn and Mercy together to accomplish any task is a bad idea without supervision, so of course, it takes even longer somehow with Glenn's help.
"Oh my god Rhee, if I knew you sucked so bad at this I wouldn't have asked for help," Mercy comments, laughing between her words.
Glenn's hands were practically wrapped in the sill entirely, unable to remove it from his grip,
"Actually," He huffed, pulling the silk away from his hands. He was able to get it off, but not without running out of breath. "I offered," He finished, shoving the tent in the small bag, and dropping the sticks on top.
It barely fit in the bag, and as Glenn tried to zip it up, it got caught in the zipper. Mercy giggled lightly, Glenn turned to her,
"It's not funny, why do they make the bags smaller than the actual tent?" He complained shoving it harder into the small bag. Mercy smacked his hand away lightly, removing it from the back and folding it tightly, before putting it in the bag carefully, tucking the poles underneath. Glenn watched in awe,
"You're a fucking wizard," He huffed, crossing his arms over his chest. Mercy hummed in agreement, slinging her bag over her shoulders, and gripping the tent in her left hand.
Glenn walked next to her as they headed to the Greene house, most of the group ahead of them. Shane moves to stand next to Mercy, his hand finding her head and shaking it lightly. She laughs and pushes it off.
"Wanna be bunk mates?" He asks as they get closer to the house. Mercy scoffs,
"You really think we're gonna get bunks? id be happy to get the couch," She says with a smile, adjusting her grip on her bag.
"Nah, Mercy, You gotta look higher than that. We're gonna get five-star rooms with velvet sheets and cable TVs," He imagined, running his hands through the air.
"Uh-Huh," Mercy says flatly, "in a farmhouse?" She asks. Shane Nods. "Alrighty then," She shrugs.
"Cmon Sadie, think about it. Five-star meals, room service," Glenn pipes up, "Hot girls," He adds, nudging an elbow into mercys side lightly. Mercy rolls her eyes,
"You're both the worst," She says ascending the porch stairs
"Party pooper," Shane jokes, walking to the side of the house towards Rick.
When mercy enters the house, her body fills with heat. It's a nice kinda warm that makes you feel happy and safe.
Glenn tosses his stuff in the corner of the living room, mercy copies.
"you can put your stuff in my room," Maggie says, leaning against the dining table. Glenn looks at her with a nervous look,
"With your dad in the house?" He asks. Maggie doesn't say anything she just walks a step or two closer, "I'll just put my stuff over there," He says pointing to the corner where his stuff already sat. Maggie nods awkwardly, walking out of the room.
When she leaves, Mercy smacks Glenn's shoulder,
"Ow!" He exclaims, rubbing his bicep. Mercy frowns,
"What the hell was that?" She asks gesturing to the door maggie just walked out of.
"What was what?" Glenn asks, crossing his arms.
"You just missed the chance to share a room with a total babe," She exclaims her eyebrows furrowed. Glenn shakes his head,
"Total babe?" He asks, a small smile on his face, Mercy nods dramatically,
"Uh-Huh! Have you her?"
"Yes, I've seen her,"
"So what the hell are you doing?" Mercy asks again,
"You really think Hershels gonna be okay with me sleeping in the same bed as his daughter?" He asks quietly. The teen shrugs, "Plus, I don't wanna miss out on you snoring," He says with a small laugh. Mercy frowns,
"Pussy," She mutters walking away, A dramatic gasp from the boy behind her.
Mercy walks outside onto the porch where she sees Jimmy and Patricia hammering wooden planks onto the windows.
"Need any help?" Mercy asks sweetly, her hands shoved into her pockets. The hammering stops as both look at her,
"No thanks sweetie, we're almost finished," Patricia says softly, continuing her hammering. Mercy
nods and turns around where she sees two heads of golden hair talking.
"Hey Mercy," Edith says with a smile, her legs crossed in a chair. Beth's head turns to face the red-haired girl, a smile crossing her face.
"Hey," Mercy responds sweetly, sitting in the empty chair next to Beth. She's holding a book with a familiar cover, "Whatcha reading?" Mercy asks, leaning a bit closer to the teen to look at the book.
"Um- I'm not really sure," She says softly, turning the book over in her hands. "I saw you reading it the other day, thought it might be interesting." She says, flipping through the pages. Mercy smiled fondly at that, she had read that book the other day, though, she thought beth was asleep, or at least busy.
"Oh yeah, it is a good one," Mercy responds with a smile.
"I like it so far," She mutters. Edith looks at the two with a knowing look in her eye, but when mercy raises an eyebrow, she just shrugs it off.
"Being cooped up inside all the time, I'm surprised you haven't read it yet," Edith says resting her chin on her knee. Beth nods softly, opening her mouth to add to Edith's thought, but an interaction a few yards away interrupts the sweet conversation as soon as it began.
"I dunno man! He's not there!" T-Dog yells, his hands on his head. Edith's head follows her gaze to the two men. Mercy furrows her eyebrows, standing up quickly. She turns to beth,
"I'm gonna go check that out," She says quickly, tapping her belt to make sure her gun is still in place.
"What's going on?" Mercy asks glancing around at each person's worried face,
"Randells gone," T-Dog announces. Mercy's eyes widen.
"What?" She asks shocked. She steps into the shed quickly, and as expected, the spot where Randell once sat was empty, the bloody handcuffs left behind. "When did you find out he was gone?" She asks, glancing back at T-Dog,
"Just a few minutes ago," He answers, looking all around the shed.
"The cuffs are still bound," Rick comments, pointing at the handcuffs on the ground. "He must've slipped out of them," He adds.
"Is that even possible?"
"If you have the right motive," Rick says, urging everyone out of the shed, and locking it shut.
"This is crazy man, where could he have run off too?" T-Dog asks, looking around at the large group that's formed around,
"Rick! Rick!"
Mercy snapped her head towards the tree line to see Shane limping out, his face and shirt covered in blood.
"Shit, What happened?!" Mercy asks, walking closer to her father,
"He's armed, he's got my gun,"
"Are you okay?" Carl asks worried, his eyes widened slightly.
"I'm fine, little bastard just snuck up on me, Clocked me in the face," Shane continues, reaching the group.
Mercy's worried expression causes Shane's strong one to falter for a moment before starting up again. He pats her shoulder lightly, hoping to bring some kind of comfort to her nerves.
"All right, Hershel, T-Dog, Get everybody back in the house," Rick ordered, "Glenn, Daryl, Merce, come with us," Mercy nodded, pulling her gun out of her belt and following her father's trail.
"Just let him go," Carol says softly. "Wasn't that the plan? Just to let him go?"
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun," Rick responds.
T- Dog hands Shane his gun,
"Don't go out there. y'all know what can happen," Carol begs.
"Get everybody back in the house, lock all the doors and stay put." Rick finishes.
Beth grabs onto Mercy's wrist before she can follow her father, a sad look glosses over her face,
"Don't go, anything can happen out there," She begs softly, her grip on mercys wrist soft yet firm. Mercy smiles at the teen, running her thumb over the blonde's wrist comfortingly,
"I'll be back," She says simply, pulling away from the teen. Beth lets her go with a soft frown, as Mercy turns into the woods.
—
"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out," Shane mentions, pointing east. "I'm not sure how long."
"he couldn't have gotten far. he's hobbled, exhausted," Rick lists,
"and armed," Glenn mentions
"So are we," Rick adds. Mercy turns around to Daryl whos searching the ground behind them,
"Anything?" She asks. Daryl glances up at her,
"Nah, I don't see anything," He admits. Mercy's confusion only gets higher at that. Daryl's an expert tracker, so the chances of him not finding someone when they cant be far are very slim.
"Hey, Look there ain't no use in tracking him, okay? he went that way, we just need to pair up, we spread out, we chase him down. That's it." Shane said, flopping his arms at his sides. Daryl frowns,
"Kid weighs a buck 25-soaking wet." Daryl comments, turning back to Shane, "You're tryna tell us he got the jump on you?" He says, his eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I sat a rick pretty much evens those odds, wouldn't you?" Shane says stepping closer to Daryl in defense.
"Alright alright, knock it off," rick says, standing between the two, "you, Glenn, and mercy, start heading up the right flank. me and shane'll take the left," He orders, pointing separate ways. Daryl nods with a frown. Shane grips Mercy's shoulder, causing her to jump slightly,
"You stay close to Glenn, I don't trust that guy," Shane says quietly, pushing mercy lightly towards the two again.
"Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other," Rick finishes, walking away.
Mercy follows Glenn and Daryl in the other direction, making sure to stay quiet and keep close since she's pretty sure Daryl's the only one who knows where they're going.
It gets dark very quickly, only the moonlight shining on their path. Mercy has to be careful that she can tell the difference between Glenn and Daryl's silhouettes compared to two walkers.
"This is pointless," Daryl complains after a while, "either of you gotta light?" He asks turning back to the two younger ones behind him. Glenn hands him a flashlight, though it barely lights the way.
Daryl keeps complaining and mumbling under his breath every time that he comes to a dead end on a path he picks up.
"Were just back to square one," Glenn comments,
"If you're gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right," Daryl replies. Glenn nods, though he doesn't understand anything Daryl means. "There are two sets of tracks right here, Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said," He continues, walking along the track.
Mercy frowns at the accusations made about her father, though, she can't exactly argue with what's in front of her face.
They walk a few more feet when something catches Daryl's eye. He walks over to a tree, shining the light onto it. blood.
"There's some fresh blood on this tree." He says pointing to it, "and some more tracks." the redneck adds, "Looks like they're walking in tandem,"
Glenn subconsciously grabs onto Mercy's jacket sleeve when he hears noises from all around.
"Scared of the dark?" She asks lightly. There's a beat,
"A little," He whispers back, almost ashamed. Mercy smiles at him, allowing him to keep holding onto her jacket for dear life,
"Yeah, there was a little dust-up right here," Daryl comments, shining his lights on the ground below them.
"What do you mean?" Glenn asks from behind Mercy,
"I mean something went down," The archer says,
"Didn't he say he passed out?" Mercy asked, looking closer at the spot on the ground,
"Nah, one clock to the face from a guy like him shouldn't make a grown man pass out," Daryl comments, continuing his walk, "This shits weird,"
a small cloth on the ground caught mercy's eye,
"Hey, isn't this his blindfold?" she asks picking it up. Daryl presses the back against his hand, shining the light on it,
"Looks like it," He said simply.
A branch cracking from behind them causes Glenn to scurry behind a tree quickly, followed by Daryl and Mercy. The redhead holds out her gun, aiming it near the area the sounds came from. Daryl copied,
When Mercy peered behind the tree, she could the shadow of a person. Or something that used to be.
The person got closer and closer, and Daryl began counting down to when they would jump out and attack. Though, his counting must not have been close enough, because before they hit zero, a walker was right in mercys face, reaching for her shoulders and knocking her gun out of her hand.
"Shit!" She exclaimed. Daryl shot an arrow at it, but missed by an inch, attracting the attention of the walker, who removed itself from Mercy and ran towards Daryl.
It tackled Daryl to the ground, chomping its teeth loudly. The archer placed his bow against the walker's chest, pushing against the force above him.
Mercy and Glenn scrambled around the ground for her gun, digging through leaves and twigs, only to come across Glenn's metal hook.
Mercy took it quickly in her hands and drove it into the walker's head, yanking it off of Daryl and onto the ground. after a few more blows to the head, the walker stopped moving completely.
The teen grabbed her gun from off the ground, a few feet away from the walker, and stood up, brushing her hands down her jeans.
Daryl shinned a light on the walker's face. it was Randall. "Damn," Mercy breathed, slipping her gun back into her belt.
"Nice job," Daryl commented, patting mercy on the back. Glenn pulled his hook out of the walker's head, wincing slightly as it left its brain.
The tracker bent down and grasped the walker's chin, turning its head from side to side. "Got its neck broke," He commented. Mercy frowned, her eyebrows furrowed,
"Where's the bite?" She asked. Daryl hummed, turning the body over the scan the back side. nothing.
"It got no bites," He said finally, his face full of confusion as well.
"yeah, none that you can see," Glenn said as Daryl continued to search the body.
"Nah, I'm telling you, he died from this," He said, pointing to the walker's broken neck. there was a beat, and Daryl looked between Glenn and Mercy,
"How's that even possible?" Mercy asked, looking around the body.
Daryl didn't answer. he just glanced at the two with an unknowing look before grabbing his arrow and walking away, Mercy following, and Glenn shortly on her tail.
—
The three walked back to the farm quietly, assuming that Rick and Shane will show up once they are unable to find Randall. There's barely any conversation between the three as they walk back, only small whispers exchanged between Mercy and the still slightly frightened Glenn.
as they made it to the treeline, less than a mile away from the farm, a gunshot rang through the air. Mercy snapped her head around in all directions looking for the source but she wasn't able to find any
except for rick and Shane, who both stood in the middle of the field, Rick holding onto shane as if he'd completely gone limp.
Mercy frowned as she saw the scene in front of her, confusion hitting her like a truck. But if confusion was a truck, then sadness was a semi.
Because as Shane began to slip out of ricks arms and onto the ground, rick following him, tears springing from his eyes, the pieces all started to clip together.
She ran towards the two, Glenn and Daryl shouting her name behind her, begging her to turn back, but all she could focus on was her father.
and as she got closer, she began to see the blood spilling out of his mouth,
"No!" Mercy yelled from across the field, Rick glanced up at her, slipping something into his pocket, faster than mercy could see.
Mercy dropped to her knees beside her father. His mouth was full of blood, and rick sat above him, his hands pressed to his stomach, where there was a big wound.
The teen sobbed loudly, grasping her father's shoulders. "Please, dad! please don't do this!" She begged, tears falling off of mercys face and onto Shane's chest.
Every emotion mercy had bottled up for the past week had exploded out of her as she screamed in agony, begging for Rick to do something, anything.
But as rick watched mercy, tears flooding down his face, he shook his head, just as Hershel had done with Dale the night before. She gripped onto Shane's jacket, her head pressed to his shoulder, sobs choking out of her.
Shane attempted to move his hand up to cup the side of Mercy's face, but she just took it in her own. "No don't strain yourself. It's going to be okay, You're going to be fine," She cried, interlocking her fingers with her fathers.
Shane's crimsons stained lips twisted up into a small smirk. Squeezing his daughter's hands softly.
"I'm.." He mumbled, blood bubbling out of his mouth. Mercy's hand came up to cup her father's cheek, Tears spilling faster than she could catch.
"I'm Sorry Merc... Mercy," He choked, his brown eyes never leaving his child's own.
The teen cradled his head in her lap,
"It's okay, I promise. I was never- I was never mad. you did amazing," She reassured, attempting to smile through the strong pain in her heart.
"I lo.. love," Her father slurred, his head becoming dizzy, and his mouth becoming slow. Mercy nodded, squeezing her father's hand as if it was her life source. She understood what he meant, even if he couldn't make out the words.
Shane reached his hand up, shaky and pale to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.
"Good...bye, Mercedes," He mumbled, almost incoherent, as his hand fell back down at his side, and the light slowly drained from his eyes.
"What are you... no... no! please!" Mercy sobbed loudly, her hands gripping her father's own tightly, and her head coming to rest on his shoulder once more.
Her brain couldn't believe it, her mind couldn't take it, her stomach felt inside out, and her mind felt like it was exploding from within. The world around her was muffled, she didn't even hear when someone walked up behind her and attempted to pull her off the ground.
She followed their movements, though her body felt limp, and she fell back to the floor, grief overcoming all her other senses.
The person pulled her up again, this time successfully lifting her off the ground enough for her to stand somewhat on her own.
Glenn's face came into Mercy's view as he placed one hand around her waist to hold her up, and another holding her face to look him in the eye.
"It's okay, It's alright," He shushed, his hand keeping mercy from turning around. He pulled her into a hug, letting Mercy sob into him as much as she needed, "Shh, shh, don't look, it's going to be alright," He murmured, slowly leading her away from her father's body.
"Is He- He dead?" Mercy cried, gripping onto Glenn like he'd disappear if she let go. He didn't answer her, he just held her tightly. Even as shane reanimated, he shielded Mercy's eyes from the sight of Carl putting him down. She jumped in Glenn's arms as the gun went off, confused and scared.
"Guys, cmon," Daryl said softly, patting Glenn's back to draw his attention. Glenn nodded and let go of his grip on mercy, enough for her to walk on her own, and began to walk home.
It wasn't a long walk by any means, and it was cut shorter when the sound of growling caught Mercy's eye. She turned around and saw dozens of walkers pooling out from the woods.
"Uh... Guys?" She asked, her voice raw and muffled. Though it still caught Daryl's attention as he turned around and saw what Mercy had.
"Shit," Daryl exclaimed, "Cmon!" He yelled, his walk turning into a run, the other two following suit quickly and quietly.
Once the small group reached the farm, they ran onto the porch deck, but the rest of them were already there.
"Mercy," Lori said breathily, her eyebrows pinched together, and her hands reaching out from Glenn's grip. Her eyes scanned over Mercy's face where tear streaks and dried blood covered it. Lori looked up at the two men behind her, both shaking their heads with a sad look in their eyes. "Oh, baby," Lori muttered, pulling Mercy in close to her.
"Patricia, Kill the lights, Edith, Go get the kids," Hershel ordered. The two ran inside immediately.
Mercy pulled away from Lori and looked out onto the farm. The herd had caught up with them,
"Shouldn't we just go inside as we did on the highway? wait for it to pass through?" Glenn asked, his hands fidgeting nervously.
"Not unless there's a secret tunnel downstairs I dunno about. A herd that big could fake down a house," Daryl said, gripping his bow tightly, looking out onto the field. The screen door swang open,
"Lori, Carls not upstairs," Edith stated, Elijah, attached to her hip. Lori stood up immediately,
"What?" She exclaimed, stepping closer to the woman. "I left him upstairs," Lori added.
"Maybe he's hiding?" Glenn offered,
"he's supposed to be upstairs, I'm not leaving without my boy," She said sternly. Carol rests a hand on her shoulder,
"we're not, we're gonna look again, we're gonna find him," Carol says, already turning into the house again.
Andrea comes running over a minute later with a bag of guns. Mercy has her handgun on her belt, she still grabs a shotgun as a precaution.
Maggie pulls a shotgun out of the bag, loading it with no problem, cocking it once. Glenn looks at her, bewildered.
"Maggie?" He breathes looking at her. She looks up at him with a smile,
"Growing up in the country, you learn a thing or two," She offers, continuing to load guns with ammo.
"You gonna take 'em all on?" Daryl asks, noticing the way the Greenes prepare like they're going to war.
"We have guns, we have cars," Hershel says, cocking his gun.
"Kill as many as we can, and we'll use the rest of them to lead off the farm," Andrea suggests.
"Are you serious?" Daryl asks again, his eyes slightly closed.
"This is my farm," Hershel says, loading another gun, "I'll die here," Daryl shrugs,
"All right, it's as good a night as any," He says, swinging himself off the edge of the porch.
"You said it," Mercy says, wiping her sleeve across her face, and hopping off the rail to join Daryl.
He runs to his motorcycle, hopping on quickly. Mercy hops on after him, cocking her shotgun. The moment Mercy's secure on the bike, it takes off, riding down the trail and towards the barn where all of the walkers are hauled.
It's a much larger herd than Mercy thought. there are at least five dozen outside of the barn, not even including the ones inside.
Daryl slows down his bike near the barn, taking a moment to aim, and then starts firing. Mercy takes this as her cue to start firing as well, making sure the gun is as far away from Daryl as possible, to decrease the chance of him going deaf after tonight.
Daryl continued to drive coward a bit, stop, shoot a couple of geeks, drive, stop, shoot more, repeat. They continued this until they made it to Dales RV, Where jimmy was driving, shooting out the window.
"Must've been Rick or Carl who started that fire! Maybe they're trying to get out back! Why don't you circle around?" Daryl calls out when he meets Jimmy's window. The teen nods, driving off towards the blazing barn. Mercy's heart races a mile a minute as she continued shooting any walkers who get close enough. She hits almost every shot she takes, only missing when the bike moves too fast or if she's unsteady.
Daryl drives farther away from the farm, out towards the fenced-off areas, giving him some time to cool down. In the distance, mercy can see the barn, and the house, but she can't see anybody. None of the people she cares for.
Mercy wraps her arms around Daryl a bit tighter, pressing her cheek to his back, as she watches the farm crumble to the ground. She holds Daryl close, knowing that even if everyone else she cares for could be gone. She still has him.
Daryl leans into her, somehow making it feel like he's hugging her back. They stay like that for a but before walkers began to get too close,
"Let's go," He yells over the noise, starting his bike back up and driving off down the road.
—
The sun rose quicker than expected, as they drive through the woods. the sun peered through the branches a light glow spreading across the two.
They came closer to the highway where they left Sophia's food. Mercy didn't know whether or not anyone would be there. Hell, She didn't even know if she should be there. But they came anyway. Just to see.
It's not like she needed anyone there. Yeah, she would like to have friends surrounding her, but the more she thought about it, she didn't need them.
She needed her dad.
The two rolled up the highway, spotting Carl, Hershel, and Rick, Hidden behind a car. They didn't even have time to park before three more cars rolled up behind them.
As Daryl parked, Mercy watched everyone exit their cars and reunite with each other. Families, Sisters, Kids, Parents. Everyone had family waiting for them. But no matter how much Mercy wished. Her father wasn't going to exit one of those cars. He wasn't going to wrap her in a big hug, he wasn't going to see her ever again.
Daryl came up next to her while she was leaning against a broken-down car, fingers fidgeting with the strings of her jacket. "Hey," He murmured, copying the way her ankles crossed.
"Hi," She murmured back. Daryl took note of the way her skin flushed, and her eyes looked tired. He frowned, opening his arms slightly, asking mercy for permission to hug her. Mercy answered by nodding and wrapping her arms around Daryl's middle, her head resting on her chest.
"I got you," He said softly into her hair. Mercy smiled, holding the Archer tight.
When they finally pulled away, Mercy's eyes were red again, and tears fell down her cheeks. She quickly wiped them away, looking down at the ground.
"Oh... I uh..." Daryl muttered, searching his pockets. He fished out a gold necklace with a familiar "22" charm. Mercy's lips parted slightly. "Took it from shane when... when Glenn had you... thought you might want it," He said holding it out in front of him.
Mercy smiled lightly, grasping the necklace from Daryl's hands. It was rusted slightly and had a couple of drops of crimson smeared across the front. but it still felt like home.
The teen wrapped her arms around Daryl lightly, holding him close.
"Thank you," She said softly. Daryl nodded, though mercy couldn't see it.
"I think someone wants to see you," He added. Mercy pulled away confused. To her right, Glenn leaned against his car, a sad, but grateful look spread across his face. Mercy smiled at the boy, walking over and wrapping her arms around his neck, pulling him in close.
"God I was so worried Sadie," Glenn breathes, tucking his chin in mercy's shoulder. Mercy giggles, watching Glenn's face soften.
Maybe she does have family waiting for her after all.
—
That night, Ricks's car had run out of gas. he made a plan to stay somewhere till morning, and go looking for gas then.
But of course, this group couldn't have one conversation without it breaking out into a fight.
rick had told everyone about how you don't have to be bit to be turned into a walker. that everyone was infected before they even died. This was horrifying news to hear, and it made Mercy's heartbreak. But she couldn't help but wonder, does that mean that her father wasn't bit? maybe something else killed him.
The group was furious with rick for keeping this a secret, and mercy didn't blame him. she was pissed, and rightfully so. It wasn't Rick's call to keep that a secret, that should have been something people knew, so they could be careful.
Rick left, and the group started building a small camp where rick suggested, behind some old walls. Everyone was exhausted, and emotionally drained.
Mercy sat up against the wall at the back of the camp, behind the group. She attempted not to doze off and only was able to when Glenn kicked her shoe every time she started to.
"I think we should take our chances," Maggie said. This woke mercy up, an actual discussion.
"Don't be foolish," Hershel spoke up, "There's no food, no fuel, no ammo," He listed. Maggie nodded.
The trees in the distance began rustling as something veered closer to the group.
"What was that?" Beth asked, her voice quiet and scared. Mercy stood up,
"Could be anything," she said, pulling her pocket knife out of her pocket because, as Hershel said, they were extremely low on ammo.
"Raccoon, Possom," Daryl lists,
"Walker," Glenn finishes. Mercy kicked his leg lightly.
"We need to leave, what are we waiting for?" Carol begged, everyone ignoring her. Mercy leaned against the wall again.
"Which way?" Glenn asked,
"It came from over there," Maggie responded pointing back from where they had come.
"Last thing we need is for everyone to be running off in the dark," Rick said, his voice rough. "We don't have the vehicles, no ones traveling on foot,"
Another tree branch snapped.
"Okay then," Mercy pushed herself off the wall, "How about you go check it out then," She requested. Rick looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "cause I'm not sitting here, waiting for more geeks to come through," Mercy exclaimed, holding her knife tight in her hand.
"She's right, we need to move now," Maggie supports. Rick turns to the group again,
"No one is going anywhere," Rick says, harsh and mean. Mercy is caught off guard.
"What are you going to do to stop us?" Mercy asks, taking a step forward.
"I'm keeping this group together," Rick says firmly. Mercy crosses her arms in response, rolling her tired eyes. "Alive. I've been doing that all along, no matter what," He continues,
"We don't need your help Rick," Mercy says just as firm,
"Y'know what, I didn't ask for this!" He says throwing his hands out of his pockets. "I killed my best friend for you people for Christ's sake!"
everyone went quiet.
"What?"
Rick looked up from where he stood to see Mercedes Walsh, tired, hungry, and orphaned.
"You did... what?" She asks again, the hand holding her knife shaking slightly. Glenn glances over at her, ready to grab the knife from her if need be.
"Mercy... I-I," He stuttered, unable to make up his words.
"You what? Killed my dad?" She asked, taking a small step closer.
"I'm sorry Mercy," He said quietly. Mercy shook her head, "I had to, he was dangerous," he continues.
"Banging your wife isn't a crime," Mercy continues, tears welling up in her eyes. Rick looks slightly taken aback,
"He killed Otis," Rick continued,
"You think I didn't know that?" Tears start to fall down Mercy's cheeks. "I know he did some bad shit. Trust me. But he was the only family I ever had, rick! and you killed him! I'm never going to get him back," Her voice got quiet, and tears dripped off her jaw and onto her jacket.
"Mercy," Rick said softly, reaching out to the girl. She pulled away harshly.
"No," She said simply, turning on her heel and walking away.
"Sadie!" Glenn called after. Mercy ignored him, continuing to walk away from the camp, and away from the man who murdered her father.
She didn't make it far though, her fatigue getting the better of her. She slid down a tree a few yards into the woods and just sobbed.
She let everything out, sobbing into her hands, into her sleeves, just taking the time to mourn.
Mercy knew her dad was an asshole. She knew he had killed Otis after hearing the way he lied to dale about it. He knew he was a bad guy. But she didn't think that killing him was necessary.
Mercy gripped her knees tightly, letting her nails dig into them harshly. She was so angry, sad, and tired. She felt like she was going to throw up, cry, and pass out all at the same time. She wanted to be anywhere but here. she wanted to be away from everyone, away from rick.
When Mercy heard soft leaves crunching behind her, she didn't get up and run, she didn't grab her knife, she didn't yell for help, she just sat there.
But when soft hands lifted her own away from her now, slightly bleeding knees, she looked to see Beth kneeling next to her, grasping her hands lightly.
Mercy smiled softly seeing the girl. Even when she begged not to see anyone, Beth was always the exception. She ran her thumb over Mercy's knuckles, a small frown on her face.
"Talk to me," She said softly, sitting down on the leaves next to the teen. She didn't ask if she was okay, she didn't ask what was wrong, she didn't try to touch her. She did exactly what Mercy wanted her to do.
So mercy told her.
Mercy told her everything that was on her mind. About how she was furious at rick, how she wished her father was back, and how she wanted to restart her life. maybe be a better daughter.
and Beth listened.
She listened to Mercy ramble on for what felt like hours, about things that she needed to get off her chest. and when she was done, Beth could tell that mercy felt better by the way, her shoulders no longer sagged, and the way her tears stopped falling.
and so when Beth asked softly if she could hug her. Mercy opened her arms immediately for the other girl. and they fit together perfectly.
yeah, maybe Mercedes did have family waiting for her.
AN
———-
GAH DAYUM THIS CHAPTERS LONG.
ISTG TOOK HOURS JUST TO WRITE THIS BITCH
SAD AS HELL 😽😽😽
RIP SHANE IG
GOT SOME METH MOMENTS AT THE END
(yes that's their ship name I'm not changing my mind)
end of act two.