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TWD: THE WORLD OF TOMORROW
CHAPTER II: tell it to the frogs
❪ season 1 episode 3 ❫
GLENN AND KIAN ZIPPED BY ALONG THE ROAD, the siren from the car still blaring catching the camps attention from a distance and probably some close by walkers. They both had the biggest smiles on their faces as the car pulled up the camp the siren making some people's ears hurt. The boys got out of the car after sharing a high five to greet the rest of their people.
"Holy crap! Turn that thing off," Dale told the boys while standing on the RV. He was clearly annoyed at the blaring siren as was the rest of the group.
"We don't know how," Glenn spoke truthfully raising his hands in defence.
"Pop the hood, please," Shane spoke, offering to turn off the siren before Amy cut him off completely, asking the two boys about her sister. Shane repeated himself trying to talk over Amy. "Pop the damn hood please!" Shane raised his voice wanting to get the damn siren turned off before they lead near by walkers to the camp.
"Okay, Okay!" Glenn said, ignoring Amy and listening to Shane. He got into the car and popped the hood for Shane as Amy kept repeating herself to Glenn trying to get answers.
Eventually Kian had enough of the loud noises combining all together. "Yes! She's fine! Everyone is fucking fine," he snapped. Kian's patience was running thin lately. The overwhelming feeling took over and he couldn't help but snap. "Sorry," he whispered lightly. Amy seemed to be offended by the snapping despite the half sincere apology but continued to fire questions as Shane and Jim took care of the siren.
"Is she coming back? Why isn't she with you? Where is she? She's okay?" Amy was practically begging for answers, not giving either of the boys a minute to talk.
"Yes!" Glenn told Amy before looking at the group. "Yeah she's fine, everybody is. Kian just told you that," anybody who was waiting for family to come back felt a bunch of relief knowing their loved one was making it back.
"Well, everyone except Merle," Kian said after noticing Daryl wasn't back at the camp site yet, figuring now would be a good time to tell everybody what he heard from the others over the walkie-talkie. No one seemed to be upset with the news, people almost seemed to be more relieved that one of the Dixon's has disappeared.
"Are you guys crazy, driving thru wailing bastard up here?" Shane asked, the boys looking at him as he continued the talk. "Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" He started to let annoyance dominate his voice as he lectured the two, Dale stepping in.
"I think we're okay," he tried to calm the former officer down before he got to mad.
Shane paused for a second, calming himself down a bit before continuing. "You call being stupid okay?" He glanced between the boys then back at Dale.
"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source," Dale explained, trying to lighten the situation and not have the group worried about monsters coming to get them. "I'm not arguing, i'm just saying," he defended as Shane looked at him with displeasure written all over his face. "It wouldn't hurt you two to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" Dale pointed at the two boys who drove the car giving them a bit of a lecture so Shane won't be too pissed.
"Sorry," they both said in unison, feeling guilty about the possible situation they could've caused the group. "Got a cool car," Glenn said, showing off the said cool car. Mostly everyone just rolled their eyes, ignoring his attempt at a joke but Kian laughed a little, causing Glenn to smile softly at him. At least someone laughed, even if it was just small it still made Glenn smile.
Soon enough the rest of the scavenging group pulled up to the camp with the truck they were piled in. Glenn smiled at Morales' kids, knowing they'd be happy once their dad jumped out of the truck.
Andrea was first to come back, calling for amy as she did. As Amy started to cry she ran to her sister shouting her name in joy, happy to have to have her back. The two girls hugged as Kian watched in jealousy. He wanted to hug his sister again, but he knew he never would.
Morales' family ran for him, excited to know he was home and alive. Everyone else who wasn't waiting for returning family stood off to the sideline awkwardly, some of them jealous, some of them upset that their family wasn't coming back to them.
Kian went around the other side of the car to talk with Glenn, watching as Lori pulled her son off the side, the boy clearly crying from missing his deceased father. "Do you think we'll be able to keep the car?" Kian whispered to Glenn, letting the families have their moment.
"I hope so, I've always wanted a cool car like this," Glenn spoke truthfully, before Shane spoke up ending their conversation abruptly.
"How'd y'all get out of there anyways?" Shane looked around at the small group of returning people.
"New guy— he got us out," Glenn said as he leaned on the open door of the car.
"New guy?" Shane asked, confused on how they would've found a new guy in a place as infested with walkers as Atlanta.
"Yeah, crazy cato just got into town," Morales spoke, holding his wife and daughter in his arms tightly. "Hey helicopter boy! Come say hello," he called out at the truck after hearing the door on the vehicle slam shut. "He's a cop, like you," Morales told Shane causing him to look at the new comer with curiosity. His eyes widened as he brain realized who he was looking at.
Rick got out of the truck and nervously walked up to the group. His hands were resting on his hips as he looked around at the groups members before his eyes fell upon the people he's been looking for this whole time.
Rick tried to comprehend what he was looking at exactly. Lori and Carl looked over at Rick as well, both of them in shock before Carl runs from his mothers hands and right into his fathers arms, screaming 'dad' as he ran with tears in his eyes holding onto his father tightly.
The whole group watched the incredibly emotional reunion as Rick walked to his wife, carrying his son in his arms.
Kian felt a mixture of insane jealously but also happiness for the young boy and his family. He would give up anything in the world to find his sister again.
The family hugged each other tightly, glad that they were back together. Some others in the group could feel the tension between Lori and Shane as they looked at each other. Kian noticed that Shane didn't seem to thrilled to have his friend back.
The moment was truly beautiful nonetheless. Some people had tears in their eyes for the family and other just smiled as they watched the reunion.
It was cold and dark out as the crickets chirped and the fire crackled. The group sat around it as they listened to the stories Rick told them. Kian focused on the fire with a blanket around him to keep warm with his knees to his chest, not really caring too much about Rick's story. He couldn't help but think about Maya.
She would've loved this group, well most of it anyways. There were children she could make friends with, people who'd happily take care of her like they had done for Kian. A part of him feels like she's still alive out there but the rest of him knows she's gone.
"Mom said you died," Carl's voice caused Kian to listen in on the conversation again, only now noticing Glenn's hand of comforting support on his shoulder.
"She had every reason to believe that, don't you ever doubt that," Rick told his son. Kian held the blanket tighter around his body as he listened to the family talk.
"When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that—" Lori cut herself off trying to recollect herself so she wouldn't cry as she told the boy and her husband the story. "They were going to medevac you and other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened."
Kian looked around at the others noticing most of them only listening because there wasn't much else to do. He looked over to Shane noticing how upset he looked, making Kian's suspicions of the two sneaking around practically confirmed. The family talked about the state of Atlanta, Shane using that as an opportunity to talk about how much he did for the woman and her son.
"Yeah, looks don't deceive. I barely got them out," Shane looked down at his hands, fiddling around with some kind of twig from the ground. He couldn't look Lori nor Rick in the eyes, not after the realization of his today.
"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane," Rick told his friend, holding his family closer to keep warm. "I can't begin to express it."
The group fell silent for a second, none of them knowing what to say and just enjoying the heat from the fire in the middle of the group. Kian began to close his eyes and relax before Dale spoke up.
"There go those words falling short again," he attempted to joke and loosen to tension between the Grimes family and Shane. "Paltry things," the group went silent yet again, no one having much to say.
The small family huddled together to keep themselves and their boy warm while others relied on the fire and siblings for their warmth. Kian leaned over to Glenn while opening his eyes to look at the fire. "When do you think Daryl will be back?" Kian whispered quietly to Glenn, letting the others relax in the quiet.
"Some time tomorrow probably, why?" Glenn looked over at his friend, whispering back.
"I'm kinda scared to know what happens when he finds out Merle was left in town," Kian admitted. The feeling of guilt has been eating him up ever since it happened. Even though there was nothing he could've done to help in the first place he still felt guilt.
"Yeah I've thought about that a few times," Glenn told him, also feeling a bit of fear at the thought of Daryl finding out about his brother. "I'm sure if we don't really say anything we could be fine, but he also knows we're the ones who usually go to town."
"Oh shit, you're right," Kian's panic started to rise slightly, terrified Daryl was going to do something terrible. "He's gonna fucking kill us."
"He's not going to kill us, relax," Glenn reassured, laughing quietly as he did.
Kian was going to protest but the sound of wood clattering together pulled his attention towards it. Kian saw Ed throw some extra wood into his own families fire before sitting back down to relax by the heat.
"Hey, Ed," Shane started softly, trying not to be too loud for the tired children and to not attract any near by walkers. "You want to rethink that log?" Everyone else looked towards Ed to see what he was doing.
"It's cold, man," Ed replied, sitting back in his lawn chair and closing his eyes, his body soaking in the heat.
"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Kian watched the men bicker over a piece of wood. "Keep out fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?" Shane started to speak more firmly, already fed up with Ed doing whatever he feels like.
"I said it's cold," Kian rolled his eyes at the reply. Knowing Shane, he probably did the same thing. "You should mind your own business for once," Ed continued, clearly just trying to make it difficult for everyone.
Shane immediately got up and walked over to Ed, everyone's eyes following along. "Are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?" Shane asked, being completely serious. Kian adjusted his sitting position to crisscross applesauce as he watched the two men from a distance.
Ed stayed silent for a moment as he looked at Shane, trying to find an excuse to argue back with. Unfortunately for him it didn't work out. "Go on. Pull the damn thing out," he spoke. Kian thought he was trying to talk to Shane that way. "Go on!" Ed raised his voice and Kian fully expect Shane to knock the bastard out right then and there. Kian was shocked to see Carol get up and pull the piece of wood out of the flames. Kian should've expected that's who he was talking to, Ed reminds him heavily of his own father and he hated it. A miserable asshole who's an asshole to everyone. His own wife, kids, and everyone around. No respect for anyone.
"Fuck sake," Kian muttered under his breath. He turned his attention away from the argument, focusing back on the bright flame in front of him. He watched as it sparked and crackled, getting lost in thought while staring like before. His mind went to his only current worry again, his sister. He wanted nothing more than to find his sister, know she's alive. That's all he wants.
Kian was pulled from his train of thought at the mention of Daryl, remembering that he had two current worries, not just one. "Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asked, looking at Shane for answers. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."
Shane went to speak but was quickly cut off by T-Dog. "I'll tell him. I dropped the key, it's on me," he told the group, fully prepared to take full blame for the incident.
"I cuffed him, that makes it mine," Rick spoke up, also prepared to take the blame. Kian felt like it didn't matter who took the blame, he thought Daryl would just kill them all and take all their supplies.
"Guys, it's not a competition," Glenn told the both of them. "I don't mean to bring race into this but it might sound better coming from a white guy," he spoke truthfully. Merle seemed to be full of racism and despite Daryl not interacting with the group much they all just assumed he would be as well.
T-Dog stayed silent for a moment knowing Glenn was probably right, but he still felt he should take the responsibility. "I did what I did. Hell if I'm gonna hide from him," he admitted, feeling the most amount of guilt out of everyone.
"We could lie," Amy chimed in, attempting to be helpful.
"Or tell the truth," Andrea spoke back, shooting Amy's idea down almost immediately. "Merle was out of control. Something has to be done or he's have gotten us killed" she spoke the truth, he would surely have gotten someone killed. Weither he did it himself or not, it would've happened eventually. "Your husband did what was necessary," she told Lori. "And if Merle got left behind it is nobody's fault but Merle's."
"And we're gonna tell Daryl that?" Kian asked, knowing Daryl wouldn't to accept that answer, even if it is the truth. "If I had of known that I would've just stayed in the city honestly," he head fell into his lap, his forehead resting on on his hands accepting the fact that Daryl was just going to kill them all.
"I don't see a rational discussion from that, do you?" Dale looked at Andrea also knowing Daryl wouldn't accept that answer. Andrea tried to think of a reply, but nothing came to her so she shook her head in defeat. "Word to the wise—" he paused a moment, trying to figure out the words he wanted to use. "We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."
"He's probably gonna fucking kill us!" Kian spoke into his hands just loud enough for others to hear. No one really knew if they should agree with him or not. Sure Daryl could kill them if he wanted too, but would he?
"I was scared and I ran, I'm not ashamed of it," T-Dog spoke up again, still trying to take all the blame.
"We were all scared, we all ran. What's your point?" Andrea reassured T-Dog not wanting him to feel like everything was his fault only.
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that— not that chain, not that padlock," T-Dog explained to everyone. "My point— Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us," he got up and went for his tent, calling it quits for today.
Everyone who went on the trip to the city felt guilty. Leaving a man up on a building, cuffed to it, starving and cold. Merle may have deserved it but a part of it still felt inhuman to everyone. Sure they were happy he was gone, but that meant they had to deal with Daryl when he gets the news tomorrow and no one was ready for what could come.
The sun was bright with few clouds in the sky as Glenn and Kian stood side by side, watching as Jim, Morales and Dale strip the bright red car clean of parts. Anything useful was pulled from the car. The gas, the tires, parts of the engine, everything.
"Too bad we couldn't drive it at least one more time," Kian said as he sadly watched the car get picked clean for parts.
"Look at 'em, vultures," Glenn said with his arms crossed over his chest. Rick appeared on the other side of Glenn, Kian telling him good morning. "Yeah, go on. Strip it clean," Glenn told the men with a small amount of annoyance in his voice.
"Generators need every drop of fuel they can get," Dale told the boys as he walked by carrying jugs of fuel from the car. "Got no power without it, sorry boys," Dale patted Glenn's back with a free hand before going back the the RV.
"Thought I'd be able to drive it at least a few more days," Glenn said to Rick.
"Maybe we'll be able to steal another one someday," Rick tried to make the boys feel less upset with the suggestion, but their upset faces remained. Rick patted Glenn's back before walking away to say goodmorning to his family.
"I'm going to see if there's any coffee left, you have fun watching them," Kian told Glenn, getting a clarification nod before he walked away. Kian went not too far to find Carol ironing clothes.
"Good morning, Carol," Kian said with a warm smile, getting one back from Carol as well as a good morning. "Do you know if we have any instant coffee left or did sherif dipshit drink it all?" Kian asked, referring to Shane. He may not like some people but his nicknames were jokes despite the true dislike for Shane.
Carol laughed at the nickname for Shane as she ironed the laundry. "I think there's still some Coffee left, you might have to wait for Shane to get back with the water though," she told him honestly.
"Well hopefully he comes back soon then, I could really use some coffee," Kian sighed desperately wanting something to wake him up. Just as Kian was about to continue a conversation with Carol, Shane returned with jugs of water in the back of his jeep. It was like they mentioned him to many times and he appeared.
"Waters here y'all," Shane announced as he parked the jeep. "Make sure to boils before use," was a common reminder whenever water was brought back to camp, last thing they needed was people getting sick from the water.
Kian went to the jeep, grabbing one of the jugs of water and taking it back to the fire place. The kettle that the group shared was sitting on a grill just above the fire pit. There wasn't any time to put water in the kettle and start a fire before the children of the group started screaming for their parents.
Most people in the group dropped anything they were doing and ran towards the screams of terror. Kian lost all ideas of making a cup of coffee as he grabbed the closest thing to him that he could swing — a dirty frying pan from someone's breakfast — before following Rick.
Carl and Sophia came from the bushes, running for their mothers with fear written all over them. A few of the men, Kian included, went ahead to find what the kids were screaming about, the rest of the group following behind at a distance.
It was soon revealed that there was a walker who had travelled further up the hill. The walker was too distracted with the deer it was tearing apart to even notice the group of people slowly surrounding it.
Kian's grip on the frying pan tightened as he watched the monster in disgust. Soon the walker noticed people gathering around, seeing the shadows and shoes from the corner of its eye. It slowly rose to its feet and noticed Kian first.
He made eye contact with the walker and it came after him immediately. Kian heart raced as he swung the frying pan across the walkers face, sending it stumbling towards Rick who knocked it back. Shane took a swing at the walker before Glenn hit it hard enough to knock down.
The group with weapons began to beat the walker keeping it on the ground but not doing any actual damage. The rest watched in horror and disgust but couldn't look away.
The walker tried to rise to its feet before Dale swung the axe down on its next, decapitating the walker in front of everyone. Everyone's breath was heavy as they stepped back from the headless corpse.
"That's the first one we've had up here," Dale began, stating what everyone was thinking. "They never come this far up the mountain," he continued clearly distressed and worried. Why was there a walker here? They usually hung around the big city.
"Well, they're runnin' out of food in city that's what," Jim spoke up.
"Running out?" Kian questioned, his breathing heavy. "This guy literally left a fucking horse in the city just yesterday, surely that's enough food to last a bit no?" He pointed to Rick with a confused look on his face. How could these creatures be so hungry? They had to get full at some point, right?
"Could be from somewhere else, or maybe the horse really wasn't enough," Glenn suggested looking over at Kian.
"Maybe they never get full," Dale said from the other side of the semi circle. Before either of the boys could say anything back the group heard foot steps and branching breaking.
Everyone held up their weapons and watched the bushes waiting for another walker to come out from the woods. Shane up front with his shot gun, ready to pull the trigger at any moment. Except it was none other than Daryl Dixon who appeared, and he didn't seem happy. Not that he ever really did.
Daryl stopped in his tracks seeing the shot gun in his face before it lowered. He looked around at everyone else lowering their own weapons and before seeing the corpse on the ground next to the deer he had been tracking.
"Son of a bitch!" He came out from the woods and made his way to the deer. "That's my deer!" Daryl was very clearly pissed that some dumb walker got to his prey before he did.
"Look at it, all gnawed on by this—" he took a moment to think of all the insults possible before spitting them at the headless corpse. "Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless, poxy bastard!" a kick to the body followed every word leaving his angry man's mouth.
"Clam down son, that's not helping," Dale often tried to be a peace keeper in the group. The last thing he wanted was the group to turn on each other in fits of rage.
"What do you know about it, old man?" Daryl got up in his face, Shane putting the butt of his shot gun between the two. "Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to 'On Golden Pond'?" he asked before going to the deer carcass to remove his arrows.
"I've been tracking his deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison," he ranted as he pulled the arrows from the body. "What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chews up part right here?"
"I ain't eating that, sorry," Kian spoke up honestly. He had absolutely no interest in finishing a walkers left overs.
"I would not risk that," Shane agreed with Kian. He didn't want to put the group at risk. It's better to be safe rather than sorry.
"That's a damn shame," Daryl sighed. "I got some squirrel— about a dozen or so," he motioned towards the rope of squirrels on his shoulder. "That'll have to do."
Just as the group fell silent, the head of the walker woke up, startling a few people making them head back for the main camp site.
"Come on, people. What the hell?" Daryl asked annoyed as he aimed his crossbow, shooting through the eye into the brain, finally killing the walker. He placed his foot on the forehead before removing the arrow from its eye, a small bit of blood splashing onto his shoe. "It's gotta be the brain. Don't y'all know nothin'?" he looked around at the group around him before going back to camp, everyone else following him.
"What do you think he's going to do when he finds out Merle got left behind?" Kian asked Glenn who was walking beside him. They were closer to the back of the group so Daryl wouldn't be able to hear them. Kian's anxiety has been through the roof thinking about how Daryl would react. He was terrified someone was going to die because of it.
"I'm not sure," Glenn spoke truthfully. He's be lying if he said he wasn't worried as well. "I don't think he'd get the chance to do anything terrible though, Shane or Rick would probably stop him."
"Fair enough," Kian sighed. "I just hope he doesn't kill me," he spoke what was on his mind.
"Why would he kill you of all people? If anything he's killing T-Dog or Rick," Glenn laughed lightly at the fact Kian's still worried of being killed. "They're the ones who actually locked the handcuffs and dropped the key," he explained, calming his friends nerves a bit.
"But he doesn't seem to like me very much," Kian watched his feet as he walked to back to camp with Glenn.
"Daryl doesn't like anyone," Glenn pointed out.
"You're right," Kian agreed, his aniext slightly calming down as he looked ahead of him again.
Once everyone made it back Daryl immediately started looking for his brother, calling out his name while heading for the RV. Kian knew it was time for Daryl to find out where Merle actually was.
"Daryl," Shane started, putting his gun in the jeep. "Just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you," Daryl stopped walking but looked back the RV, confused about why Merle hasn't come out.
"About what?" Daryl asked, looking at Shane as he came closer.
"About Merle," Shane told him. "There was a—," he paused for a moment, trying to come up with the best way to tell him the news. "There was a problem in Atlanta," he told him truthfully.
It was quiet as Daryl looked around, noticing everyone gathering around the two of them. He figured out that his brother was either dead or ditched the scavenging group and took off. Neither of which were actually the case, well as far as anyone knew he wasn't dead.
"He dead?" Was all Daryl asked wanting to get straight to the point.
"We're not sure," Shane tried to be as honest as possible. Last thing he wanted to do was tell him Merle was alive only for him to not be.
"He either is or he ain't!" Daryl's anger quickly rose. He wanted simple answers, none of the guessing game bullshit.
"No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it," Rick spoke up, preparing to take full responsibility.
"Who are you?" Daryl asked, a bitter tone in his voice as the unfamiliar face made his way to him.
"Rick Grimes," Rick told him.
"Rick Grimes," Daryl sassed back. "You got something you want to tell me?" He just wanted to know where the fuck his brother was and what happened.
"Your brother was a danger to us all," Rick told him honesty. "So I hand cuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal," there were no signs of Daryl taking the news lightly so it seemed best to just tell him rather than beat around the bush. "He's still there."
Kian watched the situation closely, looking for any signs of something going wrong as Daryl processed the news. "You're saying you hand cuffed my brother to a roof, and you left him there?!" Daryl's anger shot through the roof as he yelled at Rick.
"Yeah," was all Rick had to say. Guiltiness was written all over his face and tangled in his voice. It was clear he was sorry and clearly regrets his actions to an extent.
Instead of saying anything Daryl threw the squirrels over Rick's head who dodged them causing them to end up in Kians arms who caught them by accident. Before Daryl could throw himself at the former officer Shane knocked him to the ground.
T-Dog dropped the fire wood he was holding before getting closer, letting them know to watch for the knife Daryl pulled out. He began to swing at Rick before he and Shane put Daryl in a headlock, making him drop his weapon.
"You'd best let me go!" Daryl threatened as Shane brought him to the ground.
"Nah I think it's better if I don't," he struggled to keep the angry man on the ground.
"Chokehold's illegal!" Daryl argued, as if the law mattered anymore.
"You can file a complaint," Shane told him as he struggled to get out of Shanes grip. "Come on man. We'll keep this up all day," with that Daryl finally calmed down, his breathing frantic and heavy as Rick squatted down to his level.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic," Rick said. "Do you think we could manage that?"
Kian could see the rage in Daryl's eyes from where he was standing, still holding onto the squirrels. He wasn't quite sure what to do with them. Daryl stayed silent, refusing to say anything.
"Do you think we can manage that?" Rick asked again, this time with with a firmer voice, trying to get an answer from Daryl. He still didn't say anything.
Shane eventually let Daryl go, throwing him to the ground as he did. Rick began to explain why he had done what he did.
"Told you he wouldn't kill you," Glenn whispered to Kian as they watched the men in the middle of the circle. Kian only laughed a little and told him he was right.
Just before Rick could continue his explanation T-Dog jumped it letting Daryl know he was the one who dropped the key, making it impossible to uncuff his brother.
"You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl asked with snark in his voice. He's had enough of these people today.
"Well, I dropped it in a drain," T-Dog admitted.
Daryl only scuffed and groaned as he got up from the ground. "If that's supposed to make me feel better, it don't," he said throwing a handful of dirt and pebbles back onto the grounds.
"Maybe this will," T-Dog began, grabbing Daryl's attention again. "Look, I chained the door to the roof so the geeks couldn't get at him, with a padlock," he explained, hoping for something to calm Daryl down even just a bit.
"It's gotta count for something," Rick said softly. Daryl only looked at him, unsure of what to say. He wiped away the tears in his eyes before they could escape.
"Hell with all of y'all!" Daryl shouted at everyone in the group, even the people who had nothing to do with the current situation. "Just tell me where he is so I can go get him."
"I'll show you," Kian spoke up almost immediately. He may have been scared of Daryl, but he knew what it's like to have missing family. He hoped if he could help someone it could make himself feel at least a little better.
The group looked at Kian as if he was insane. Why would he offer to go help Daryl find an asshole like Merle? Glenn was the most confused after hearing just how scared Kian can be of Daryl.
Before anyone could ask questions Lori spoke up. "Rick will show you," she corrected. Lori knew there was no need for the nineteen year old to go back into the city with someone like Daryl. "Isn't that right?" She asked, looking at her husband.
He was quiet for a moment, trying to figure out if he really wanted to go help or if he could leave it up to Kian. He slowly started to nod his head deciding to go back to the city.
"I'm going back," he said which seemed to upset Lori as if she didn't just offer him up herself. "You can come along," Rick said turning to Kian. His eyes lit up and smiled as he nodded.
"I won't get in the way! Or at least I'll try not to get in the way," Kian said. Rick only nodded before walking to his tent. The rest of the group went back to doing their own things.
After the discussion was over Kian went to put the squirrels by the fire for Daryl and finally make his instant coffee before going into the city. There wasn't any milk or sugar so his coffee ended up black but it was enough to wake him up. Even though he hates coffee.
Kian took the mug of coffee with him to his tent. He took sips from it as he got ready to go to Atlanta. His mind filled with all the possible outcomes that could happen. What if Merle is dead? Would Daryl kill everyone there with his bare hands? What if Merle killed them all instead after being uncuffed? There was too much to think about and Kian tried to change the topic in his mind.
Just as he was putting his bag together and chugging the last of his coffee he heard voices from the camp. Shane and Daryl. He threw the bag over his shoulder and emerged him his tent. Kian put the empty mug in the pile of dishes that needed to be washed then made his way to commotion.
"I can't let a man die of thirst— me," is what Rick was saying to Shane as Kian joined everyone else. "We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being," Rick argued with his friend.
"I'd rather call him the spawn of satan, but human being works too," Kian said to the two men before sitting on a log next to Carl.
"Hey!" Daryl looking up from his arrows at Kian.
"Sorry, sorry," Kian apologized, putting his hands up in surrender. Daryl only rolled his eyes and went back to making sure he had enough arrows for the trip.
"So you, Kian and Daryl, that's your big plan?" Lori said to her husband, not thrilled with his idea of going even though it was actually her idea in the first place. Rick didn't say anything, he only turned to look at Glenn, silently asking him to join the trip.
"Oh come on," Glenn rolled his eyes in annoyance.
"You know the way, you've been there before— in and out, no problem," Rick explained, trying to get Glenn to agree. "You said so yourself."
"Kian knows the way too! He offered to go, why are you asking me?" Glenn argued back. He wasn't one to refuse helping but he didn't want to help Merle of all people.
Rick looked behind himself at Kian, then back at Glenn before sighing. "Look, he's just a kid. He's clumsy and isn't ready to lead the way, but I can tell he wants to come. It's not fair of me to ask — I know that — but I'd feel a lot better with you along, I know she would too" Rick told him truthfully, referring to Lori at the end. Kian didn't hear a word of what Rick said being too zoned out tying his shoes with the right knots so they don't untie on the trip. Not that it would've been a big deal if he did hear, Rick clearly wasn't trying to be mean or nasty, just truthful.
"That's just great." Shane spoke before Glenn had a chance to deny or accept the invitation. "Now you're gonna risk four men, huh?" He asked Rick.
"Five," T-Dog said, making it clear he was going on the trip to make up for his mistake.
Daryl huffed. "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" He said cleaning up his arrows from the incident earlier.
"You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" T-Dog asked with sarcasm.
"Why you?" Daryl asked back, not entirely excited about the idea of T-Dog tagging along considering he was the one who dropped the key in the first place.
"You wouldn't even begin to understand," T-Dog admitted. "You don't speak my language."
"That's five," Dale said.
"It's not just five," Shane started up, again. "You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick," he said almost as if he was scolding Rick. "Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities," he continued. He was clearly pissed and wanted to show it. "They come back, we need every able body we've got, we need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp."
"It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns," Rick said, hinting at the guns he left in the city. Kian looked up from his shoes after hearing about the guns. Sure he didn't know how to shoot one, but it couldn't be that hard to shoot a gun.
"Right, the guns," Glenn said, remembering the guns Rick was carrying when they saw him from the roof top.
"Wait. What guns?" Shane asked, not knowing what guns the men were talking about. Rick then gave him a quick rundown of guns he had with him at one point.
"I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left," he began explaining to Shane and the rest of the group who was listening in. "I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up." Shane asked about ammo and Rick told him how much he grabbed.
"You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna around and leave?" Lori asked with disbelief. Kian looked at Lori with confusion. He questioned to himself why she was so mad if she was the one who told Daryl that Rick would show him where Merle was when Kian already said he would do it.
"Dad, I don't want you to go," Carl spoke up, scared of losing his dad again when he just got back. Rick couldn't find a way to argue against his son.
"To hell with the guns. Shane is right," Lori continued to argue. "Merle Dixon?" She questioned for confirmation. "He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in." Rick went to his wife to talk it through with her, but she insisted on arguing. That's when Kian tuned out of their conversation, waiting for everyone to be ready to go.
Kian sat in the passenger seat of the truck as Glenn backed it up into the camp. "So, why were you so quick to go back into the city?" He asked as he parked the truck.
"You know I haven't seen any of my family since the morning before our last shift at work," Kian began explaining. "I know what it's like to have missing family members and it's not fun worrying about them all the time. Even if I'm not the biggest fan of Merle he's Daryl's brother, and brothers are important. Blood or not even," he continued. He didn't make eye contact with Glenn, a part of him worried he sounded stupid and that Glenn would just laugh at him, but he didn't.
"That's understandable I guess," Glenn said as he sat back in his seat, looking at the sky through the windshield of the truck. It was silent for a bit before Glenn spoke up again. "I miss my family too, but I know they're probably dead."
"Mine probably are too, but I can only hope until I see the bodies," Kian sighed. Even though his mother and father were missing as well, he only worried about his little sister everyday. Kian had a troublesome childhood, his father was a nasty man and his mother didn't do anything to stop it. She never tried to get her kids out of the house or tried to get her husband arrested. It was like neither of them wanted kids but had two anyways.
Daryl was in the back and had enough of waiting around. He went to the front of the truck and used his foot to honk the horn, startling both the boys. "Come on! Let's go!" He demanded at Rick, wanting to get to the city already.
After Rick finished up his conversations with Dale and Shane he made his way to the truck. Kian moved to the back so Rick could sit up front with Glenn. T-Dog hopped in the back and Daryl closed up the door before Glenn began to drive off.
The ride to Atlanta was mostly quiet. Glenn and Rick chatted a bit up front but the back was dead silent. The tension between T-Dog and Daryl was so thick it was suffocating Kian. He was terrified to even breathe the wrong way. Afraid Daryl would flip at any second, but he never did. Kian almost jumped when he actually spoke.
"He'd better be okay," T-Dog and Kian's eyes both darted towards Daryl, focusing on what he had to say. "It's my only word on the matter," he stated to T-Dog.
"I told you the geeks can't get at him," T-Dog reassured him. "The only thing that's getting through that door is us," the conversation stopped there, the group arriving in Atlanta.
"We walk from here," Glenn told everyone as he put the truck in park.
Daryl was first to get up, opening the trucks back and jumping out. The other two followed him out and the group made their way into the city.
Glenn lead the way with Kian not too far behind him. They found the hole in the fence that they often used when on a supply run. Glenn got it opened and one by one they went though the fence.
"Merle first or guns?" Rick asked attempting to put together a last minute plan.
"Merle!" Daryl shouted before anyone else could even think about an answer. "We ain't even having this conversation," the only thing Daryl cared about right now was his brother and Kian didn't blame him for his anger. He would've been the same way himself if the same thing happened to Glenn. Kian saw him as an older brother.
"We are," Rick insisted. "You know the geography, it's your call," he said to Glenn.
"Isn't Merle closest?" Kian asked Glenn trying to remember the layout of the city.
"Merle is closest," Glenn confirmed. "The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first," he told Rick and the rest of the crew. Nobody argued against it and they headed for the building they left Merle cuffed to.
The group followed Rick through the store before coming to a stop, walkers being spotted. Rick motioned them to Daryl who then made his way for the kill.
Kian watched closely from the manikin he was hiding behind. He watched Daryl creep up to the living corpse, fascinated with the way he didn't even make a noise. Before it could even notice him he shot his cross bow. Kian's eyes followed the arrow as it flew through the air and went through the walkers brain.
Daryl retrieved his arrow and they all headed for the roof of the building.
Kian followed closely behind Glenn who followed everyone else up the stairs. Everyone else held on tightly to their weapons as T-Dog went to the front with the bolt cutters to cut the chains away. Kian didn't have a weapon, so he held onto the straps of his backpack tightly, ready to run if needed. He may not have had weapons on him, but if he absolutely had too he would use whatever is around him that he could.
Daryl kicked the door down as soon as the chain fell the ground, calling for his brother as he ran out. Everyone else followed him in, keeping a small distance behind him afraid that Merle might be loose and attack him, expect that wasn't the case. No one had expect this to happen.
"Oh fuck," Kian muttered to himself as looked at the scene in front of him. Bloody handcuffs dangled from a piece of metal, blood dripping onto the cement. Merle's hand laid in a pool of blood. He wanted to look away from the severed hand but he couldn't, his eyes only made their way to the bloody hacksaw that Merle used.
Daryl cried and yelled in disbelief. He refused to believe what he was seeing. No one knew what to say or what to do, they all stood off to the side and let Daryl have his space to grieve.
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