"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale asked, panicked.
"Ya not hearin' him properly or somethin', grandpa!" Brooks shouted, suddenly just as adjugated as she was when Sophia was missing. However, Sophia was now safe, just unconsious on the bed in the RV, Carol by her side.
Glenn let out a heavy breath. "I don't know, Dale, none of us were there. All I know is that this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."
"You let her?" Dale raised his eyebrows, looking between Merle and Daryl.
Merle scoffed. "Climbed down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name, and Carl's."
"I heard screams, was that you?" Dale asked Andrea. The woman didn't respond, instead went into the RV to check on Carol and Sophia.
"She got attacked by a walker. It was a pretty close call." Glenn responded.
Brooks nodded. "Yea, she was all like ahhh, ahh, ohhh, ahh!" Brooks laughed, making her voice all high pitched. She cleared her throats when everyone just stared at her. "It was kinda funny." She muttered.
"Andrea, are you alright?" Dale asked before she could get into the RV. She turned to look at him, and just shook her head, before she entered the large vehicle.
/----------\
Brooks was sat in with Sophia who was still asleep, due to be waking up at any minute. However, all the adults were stood together outside. "I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol stated.
"Carol, the group is split." Dale pointed out. "We're scattered and weak."
"What if he comes back and we're not here." Cam ran his metal hand through his hair.
Merle shook his head. "Couldn't think of anything worse for the kid."
"You mean other than the obvious?" Andrea asked.
Daryl raised his eyebrows slightly. "Hey, that ain't happenin'. Alrigh'?"
Andrea sighed through her nose. "Sorry."
"Okay, we have to plan for this, right?" Glenn suggested.
"What do you suggest, little man?" Merle asked.
Glenn shrugged. "I hoped someone else would do that."
"I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes." Daryl admitted. "Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave supplies for 'im. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale agreed.
"Thank you." Carol smiled, happy to have some company. "Thank you, both."
"I'm in." Cam nodded.
Andrea let out a breath. "Guess, I am as well."
"Someone has to head to the farm. Let them know what we're doin'. I'll take the girls." Merle suggested, looking to Carol. "If that's alrigh' with you, ma'am?"
Carol smiled. "I'll miss her, but now that I know she's safe I have to focus back on Chris."
"Should I come with you?" Glenn asked Merle, a little afraid, but he knew what needed to be done.
Merle nodded. "You ain't gotta ask, man. Grow some damn balls."
"Sorry." Glenn muttered.
"You'll need to take T-dog too." Dale stated. "That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have antibiotics."
Daryl thought for a second, sharing a glance with Merle who shook his head no. Daryl thought about the drugs he had on his motorbike, but Merle signalled for him not to say anything. So, Daryl remained silent. He wasn't aware of Merle's plan to take them with him, in case this farm had no pills. He'd share them if necessary, but the addict wanted to keep them for as long as possible.
/----------\
In the RV, a groan escaped Sophia's lips. Brooks perked up, instantly. "Hey, are you okay?" Brooks softly asked. Sophia's eyes flickered open, she smiled at Brooks' face, before her eyes noticed the stained blood on Brooks' skin and shirt. She gasped and sat up, noticing Carol's cardigan around her and a pain in her shoulder which made her whimper. "It's alright, it's alright." Brooks said, softly, grabbing Carol's bag and pulling out a water bottle and a couple paracetamol. "Here."
"What happened?" Sophia asked, slowly accepting the pills and water.
"What do you remember?" Brooks asked.
Sophia let out a breath. "You hugging me. I remember... A bang. Rick talking to him. And- and... Nothing." She said, before putting the paracetamol in her mouth.
"Kaden shot you." Brooks admitted.
Sophia nearly choked on the water. "And I'm... Alive?"
"Congrats, man. Welcome to the club." Brooks wiggled her eyebrows.
Sophia laughed a little. "How?"
Brooks licked her lips. "Uh, Glenn. He was in college, remember? He learnt it there."
"Remind me to thank him."
"Don't, he's really shy 'bout it. Anyways, I best get your ma. Tell 'er you're alrigh' and shit." Brooks stood up, before pretty much running from the room.
While leaving the RV, she nearly bumped into Carol. "Is she okay?" Carol asked, confused why Brooks was rushing out.
"Yea, dude. She's awake. I gave her a couple paracetamol." Brooks responded.
"Oh, thank god." Carol smiled, brushing past Brooks to run to Sophia. She didn't mean to dismiss Brooks, but she wanted to spend as much time with Sophia as possible.
"We got a damn plan or y'all out here braiding each other's egos?" Brooks asked.
Glenn sighed. "Did you get meaner?" Brooks narrowed her eyes at him, making him look down. She had, and it was since she found out Carl had been shot. She was stressed, she wanted him to be okay, but she didn't know why. Brooks thought that if she hated him, why should she care if he lives or not? She didn't care if Chris came back or not.
"Me 'n' Glenn are takin' you, T and blondie to this farm." Merle told her.
"Well, best get a damn move on if you don't wanna lose no more sunlight, aye?"
/----------\
The drive to the farm was awkward, silent and tense. Merle was driving, T-dog was in the passenger, Glenn was behind the drivers, Sophia in the middle and Brooks curled up behind T-dog. Merle was still pissed at Brooks, so he refused to play any CDs, or make the journey comfortable enough to speak. T-dog's arm was in agony, so he didn't feel like speaking, same with Sophia and her shoulder. Glenn was too scared of Merle and Brooks to make a comment, while Brooks was just sulking that Carl had the audacity to be shot.
They drove the very long drive, there were fields and trees for what seemed like miles. The white house stood proudly, decorated with a gorgeous porch, and beautiful tiling. In the distance, Sophia managed to spot a very large barn. She frowned, remembering the time her, her mother, her father and brother went for a hike. Her and her brother played tag around the barn for hours while her mother and father shared a picnic. One of three good family days she could remember from her twelve years of life. Hey, it was three more than Brooks, at least.
When they pulled up outside the gorgeous house, they all stepped out of the car. They stood together, in the dark, the only light coming from the windows. "Do we ring the door bell?" Glenn asked. "I mean, it looks like people live here."
"Damn fools don't have any good fencing up though." Merle pointed out, being the first to approach the door. "Just that crap which a herd could easily-"
"Did you close the gate when you drove in?" A woman asked from the shadows, startling everyone. They all noticed twenty four year old Maggie Greene sitting on the rocking chair, her legs were drawn up to her chest as she was resting her chin on her knees.
"Uh... Hi." Glenn smiled, gleefully.
Merle nodded, side eyeing the boy. "Yea, we closed it, we ain't no damn fools."
Glenn eagerly nodded. "Did the latch and everything."
"Real cool, Glenn. Real cool." Brooks muttered, sarcastically. Maggie grinned, hearing Brooks, as she dropped her feet to the ground and leaned forward.
Glenn struggled to maintain eye contact. "Well, nice to see you again. We uhm, met before, uh, briefly?"
"Glenn, get your dick outta your mouth, man." Merle sighed, impatiently.
T-dog nodded. "Look, we came to help. There anything we can do?"
"He's being too modest." Sophia spoke up. "He needs help, he has a serious blood infection. I was shot in the shoulder so I was really hoping you have something a little stronger than paracetamol?"
Maggie smiled at the young girl. "Lucky for y'all, my daddy's got just what you need. Come with me."
/----------\
Poor old Hershel was having a busy night with Carl, Sophia and T-dog all needing his attention. Brooks couldn't get herself to enter the house, she sat on the porch. Her elbows were on her knees, and her head in her hands. She heard the door click open behind her, heavy footsteps, before her oldest brother sat next to her. Merle took a deep breath, trying to find the words. "I'm... Sorry."
Brooks rolled her eyes. "I don't need your stupid apology."
Merle scoffed. "Fine, ya stupid bitch, don't have it."
"And you wonder why I said we're strangers."
"Huh?"
Brooks shook her head. "I avoided you and Daryl because you were just like dad. And, you brought out the worst in 'im. I spent my whole life tryin' not to be like y'all. I was nice to people, I read all the time, studied hard. I was gonna go to Harvard, become a doctor. Help people. I wanted to be nice, and have friends, and kids, and my own dog. I'd call 'im Buckster Junior. Or, Bucksterette. But, now, I spent like two weeks with you non-stop and I'm snappin' at people, and I'm so mean... Because you and Daryl bring out a part of me that I never wanted to exist."
Merle looked down. "I didn't realise you hated us so damn much."
"Well, I do. I'm tryna work with Cam so I'll be nicer but it ain't workin'. Nothin' seems to work and it's all your stupid fault!" Brooks couldn't help but yell as she stood up and stormed to the bottom of the stairs, crossing her arms over her chest as she looked towards the barn. She wanted to run in there and hide, but she knew she shouldn't leave the house.
"Hey, I never did shit!" Merle shouted back.
Brooks scoffed, turning to him. "You threw a book at my head!"
"To get you out of being beat with the belt?" Merle said, as if it was obvious.
"Why didn't you just stop him!" Brooks screamed, louder than she ever had, turning to him. All the emotion coming out so loud, that Carl, in his slumber, dreamt about a cat yelling at a dog to stop chasing his own tale. Everyone heard her, it caught everyone's attention, but even Sophia knew to stay out of Dixon drama. "You could've stopped him! My whole life, you knew! I know that you knew! Daryl didn't, but you saw! You saw it and you didn't say anythin'! I was four when he poured boiling water all over me! You just walked out of the fuckin' room!"
"Hey, watch your language!" Merle raised his voice.
"I hate you!"
"Well, I hate you too, you little shit! You ruined my life!"
Brooks furrowed her eyebrows. "How?"
Merle swallowed thickly, running a hand down his face. "Just get your ungrateful ass back in the house."
"I can't be ungrateful if I've never had anythin' to be grateful of."
"You have so much to be grateful of." Merle said, walking down the steps. Brooks took a few steps back, away from him.
She scoffed. "Like what?"
"The fact that you're alive, for one. That little girl in there? She was chased off the road by walkers, hunted down, held hostage, and then shot. God knows where that Chris fucker is. Carl is in there dyin'. Billions of other people are dead. It's because of dad, because he made you strong, us strong, that you're alive. Dad did that, so don't go cursin' on his name like he's the goddamn devil." Merle explained, angrily. Even though his father wasn't around anymore, he was still too brain washed to see the abuse he faced.
"I think I'd rather be dead."
Merle clenched his jaw. "Fine. You wanna be a brat? I'll treat you like a goddamn brat." Merle said, walking towards her.
Brooks went to run away, but he grabbed her arm and yanked her back. "Get off of me!" She screamed, trying to fight him off. Merle moved his arm so he was holding her tightly around her middle using his left arm. "Stop it!"
Merle brought back his hand and smacked her between her bottom and her thighs. It wasn't as hard as he could've hit her, and it certainly wasn't with a belt. Brooks didn't even make a sound, she was just shocked that Merle was actually laying his hands on her. She knew her brothers were like Will, but she thought she could push their buttons without being punished. At least not punished like this.
She was wrong.
Tears formed in her eyes and poured down her cheeks quietly. Not in physical pain, no. She'd been through way too much for that to actually hurt. However, mental pain. Brooks thought she'd escaped her father, her father's anger and cruelties. Merle's hand coming down and smacking her again though, was proof that she hadn't.
"Stop that!" A voice shouted.
Merle didn't let go of Brooks, but stopped raising his hand and turned to see an old man standing on the porch. "When you're on my land, you obey my rules. One of those rules are that you do not hit our children."
"Good thing she ain't yours then, old man." Merle pointed out.
"No." Hershel shook his head. "But, she's on my land, so she's under my protection. Get your hands off of her, before I get my shotgun."
Merle dropped Brooks onto the ground. She scrambled up, and ran over to Hershel. "Thank you." She whispered.
Hershel could still see the remains of the abuse on her face from Will Dixon. "Sophia's in the backroom with my Bethy, why don't you go in there?"
Brooks smiled. "Thank you, sir."
"No need to thank me." He winked, a kind smile on his face.
Brooks ran inside, Hershel glared at Merle but entered the house. He slammed the door behind him, showing Merle that he wasn't welcome inside. Merle ran his hand down his face before he slapped himself, and kicked the step, before he went for a walk. He wanted to find a walker, and fight it without a weapon. He knew Brooks needed to be punished, and that's the only way he knew how to do it, but he promised himself he'd never lay his hands on her. So, his punishment would be putting himself in front of a walker.
Guilt ate up Merle that night, while anger and hatred grew in little Brooks' heart.