Hey guys! Well here we are chapter 40 and this is where things start to kick off :) Yay so I hope u enjoy this. I want to dedicate this chapter to Serpents_in_my_mind for writing a BRILLIANT Daryl Dixon fanfic called Running. So everyone pls go follow her and read her amazing fanfic. Thanks. OK on with the chapter.
“The bitterest tears shed over graves are for words left unsaid and deeds left undone” - Harriet Beacher Stowe
I finally came round and felt myself being.... moved? Something was juttering below my body and then my hearing became clear. The roaring of a car engine shot through my ears and slowly but surely I heard voices. Michonne's and... Merle's!
"You're as much on the outside as I am, girl. They don't want you there, none of 'em. Not even my kind little sister does. She's just lyin' through her teeth about how much she wants you there." Merle said.
"I don't believe that. Angel may be some things but she is not a lier. I know that. I trust her. Anyway. maybe I am on the outside. But at least once The Governor's done with me, I won't have to live with myself." She replied, coolly. And I knew she was right. Merle couldn't escape what he had done in his life. Killed people, abused them, left Daryl and me. Been out for himself all the way. And now he was gonna sacrifice Michonne's life, mine and his future niece or nephew's. I wanted to agree with her but the shock of being knocked unconscious by Merle had robbed of me of speech. I could only say one word.
"Michonne." I murmured.
But before she could say anything, Merle jumped in unwelcoming. "Well, well, well. Look who's finally awake. Had a nice nap?" He asked, his tone dripping with insolence.
It was enough to set me off. I tried to raise my hand to punch him but I realized it was bound in front of me to the other hand with rope. My anger flared more. "Merle, you bastard!" I shouted, kicking the back of his seat with my left foot.
"Hey, Angelina, stop that. It ain't gonna do you any good, gettin' all pissed off. Much less your kid. I'm just doin' what I have to do." He defended himself.
"Like what? Sacrificin' your sister and her unborn child's lives? You asshole!" I exploded, my temper erupting.
"You made the deal, sis!" He shot back. "So you should have thought of it before going and gettin' yourself knocked up. And that ain't the point. I'm doin' what you wanted me to do in the first place. You get to kill The Governor. But this is the thanks I get. Can't please some people."
"There's a difference between helping someone and knocking them out!" I countered, strongly. Michonne watched us, quietly. She didn't let it show, but I knew that my defiance was amusing her,
Merle sighed. "What did you expect me to do? I had to get you there somehow. And I knew if you came along conscious, you'd make a big show and dance 'bout it." He said.
"I would have done nothin' of the sort!" I snapped. Merle was really starting to piss me off.
"Oh, please. Cut the crap, Angelina. I know you. From the moment you were born, you always made a drama of things. If yer cut your knee after fallin' over like the klutz yer were you were convinced you were dyin'. So don't gave me that "I would'nt have done that" shit. We both know its true." He retorted and the silence fell between us.
I flopped back against the seat. I was sitting up and I was glad. Michonne turned her head around slightly to face me. She smiled slightly but her eyes were expressionless. "You ok?" She asked.
I nodded. "A bit. Pissed off at bein' betrayed by my brother but hey, what else did I expect?" I hissed.
"Oh shut yer mouth Angelina before yer give me the pleasure of shutting it for you!" He threataned.
I wanted to yeall at him but I knew if I did, he'd do something much worse than knock me out and tie me up. He was a monster. But somehow I could understand him for that. I knew how much he cared about Daryl and how much he wanted to protect him. I also knew that out of the two of us, Daryl was his favourite. But I didn't care about that. It was nice that Merle cared about him even if it meant my and Michonne's deaths. But another one of his loyalties was bugging me. I decided to risk it.
"Merle, I want you to answer this question truthfully. No bullshit. Why would you want to help The Governor when we both know he was the one who turned you into a killer and made you fight me and Daryl? You go on about loyalty to me and yet you were the one who joined with him." I said.
He was silent for a moment. I saw Michonne raise her head as if she wanted to know too. "It's 'cause he took me in. When your Officer Friendly left me chained on that roof and that kid dropped the keys, I had to free myself. You know what happened." He said, gesturing to his knife. "When The Governor found me, I was nearly passed out from blood loss, I had a herd of biters after me, was starvin' and dehydrated. One bullet left. Figured it would make me a nice last meal. Then he appeared, fed me. I... I did the things I had to do 'cause I wanted to please him but I was afraid of what he would do to me if I disobeyed him as well. I've killed 16 men since all this went down. I want to repent for that, Angelina, you should know I do. But give me one more and then I will."
I guessed at once. "You want to kill him, don't you?" I asked.
"Yeah. 'Cause I let him do a load of things, hell I wanted him to do them but when I saw you and Darlina pulled out in the walker pits, I knew then that that was the last straw. I may have done many things in my life, Angelina, but one thing I will never do is let anyone hurt you or Daryl. I love y'all. If I could have protected y'all from Will, believe me I would have. Daryl never knew this but once when he was workin', I was home and Will was pissed 'bout somethin'. Drunk most probably and you were only 2. Screamin' bout somethin'. Has Daryl told you about Sal and what happened to our real mom?" He asked.
I nodded. "Yeah." I replied.
"Well, he treated Sal. like a slave. I know you've always hated that y'all get treated like that if you're a woman and a redneck. Anyway, she was out getting groceries and wasn't there to quiet yer down. Well you wouldn't stop screamin' and he got up to beat the hell out of you for it. But I was there and I stopped him. I.... I let him give me the beatin'. I took it 'cause there was no way in hell he was gonna beat up a two year old." Merle revealed
I gasped in shock and I was pretty sure my mouth was hanging open so I closed it quickly. "Oh my god, Merle. I can't believe you did that for me. Thank you." I said.
"So, don't think that Darlina was the only one protectin' you from Will. I was too. I protected Daryl too. And I guess if you have a daughter, I want her to know that she is lucky to have a father like Caleb. I know he wil take care of her. You and Daryl will too." Merle admitted.
I couldn't speak. I was so shocked that Merle was being... nice. Why? "Thanks, Merle." I said, not going to be overly grateful for it. But then something confused me. "What do you mean Daryl will? You can too. You're still an uncle. I wouldn't exclude you from that. Caleb's just gonna have to lump it." I said sternly. "You know you can come back with us."
Merle shook his head. "Not this time, Angelina." He replied and suddenly stopped the car. He turned and leaned over to the back of his seat to cut my bindings. His eyes were full of remorse. "I want you to go back with Michonne and tell the others to get ready. You look after that kid of yours. I know its gonna be a fighter just like you. I'm proud of you sis. No matter what happened, you never stopped fighting. You never lay down and took shit from me or anyone. Bet you gave that prick Shane hell." He said with a smirk, a nice one this time.
I smiled and shrugged. "I gave him his fair share." I replied and Merle nodded. Then suprisingly he reached over and pulled me into a gentle one armed hug. "You're my sister, Angelina. You are gonna survive this birth, I know you are. You're a Dixon. I love you, I always did. I'm just sorry I never showed it."
He released me and I smiled. "Now you have." I said. He grinned and turned to cut Michonne's binding. "You be careful now." He told us. "Look after each other. I got somethin' I gotta do."
I looked at him with gentle loving eyes. He had changed for the better this time. And I was proud of him for that. "You comin' back?" I asked. He needed to. He was my brother, and my child's uncle. I wanted him to come back.
He bit his lip. "If I can. I just want you safe." He said and knowing I would get no better reponse than that, I just nodded and opened my door. Michonne did the same thing and we watched silently as Merle drove off.
Heavy silence hang over us but Michonne broke it. "C'mon, we better get back. Got the baby and the others to think about." She said.
I shook myself out of my worry and nodded. "Yeah we should, I guess." I murmured and started walking.
Michonne started following me closely and to my suprise put her arm around me. I looked up at her, shocked. She smiled slightly. "You're hell of a young woman, you know that?" She asked.
I smiled back. "Me? No, you're the one with the kickass katana and poking tyrant's eyes out." I joked.
"No, you are. Merle was right. When everyone was against you about your deal and then your pregnancy, you didn't lie down and say, fine I'll go back and rip up the contract, fine I'll have an arbotion. You stood up for yourself and for what you believed in. That's very hard to do even back when the world was normal." She told me.
I shrugged modestly. "I just do what I have to do. From the looks of things, you had to fight to survive back in the old world." I mused.d
Michonne went cold then. She took her arm from my shoulders and didn't meet my questioning glance. "A little." She said, shrugging.
I took that as a sign not to pry. And I didn't. I wasn't that kind of person. It wasn't any of my business what had happened to her before the outbreak.
We walked back along the dirt road for a while until I saw a figure in the distance walking towards us. I tapped on Michonne's shoulder. "There's something up ahead." I alerted her.
She unsheathed her katana at once. "Human or walker?" She asked.
"I'm not sure." I answered and touched my back and to my relief felt my bow. I pulled it over my shoulder and plucked an arrow from the quiver and nocked it in the string.
The figure came nearer to us and then I saw the unmistakable point of a crossbow. Daryl! He had come to save me. I took a step forward and lowered my bow. Michonne shot me a confused glance.
"It's OK. It's just Daryl." I clarified. She nodded, seemingly relieved and lowered her katana but didn't put it back I noticed.
Daryl ran towards us, an expression of anxiety on his face. "Angel! Thank god! I saw you were missing along with Michonne and Merle. Rick. Caleb and I came to a conclusion that he'd taken you. Where is he?" He asked.
I didn't want to tell him that Merle had gone on a potential suicide mission but I knew I had to. "He's gone, Daryl." I replied. I hated Merle then for making me tell him this.]
Daryl nodded. "He say he's comin' back?"
I bit my lip to try and prevent it from wobbling which I knew would result in my breaking down. "He said he wasn't sure." I said, fighting to keep my voice stoic. "He let us go and just drove off."
He nodded again, understanding and turned to Michonne. "Don't send help. Just tell them everything's fine. Me and Angel wil be back soon."
She nodded and started walking back. I gulped. "What are we gonna do?" I asked him.
"We're gonna go get Merle before he does anythin' stupid."
I nodded. I couldn't argue with that. Daryl looked at me and smiled. "You with me?"
"Always." I replied with a grim smile.
---------
"Merle said what?!" Daryl exclaimed. We were walking to the meeting spot that Rick and The Governor had used a few days ago and I had been filling him in about what Merle had said to me/
"He took a beatin' from Dad for me." I said, rolling my eyes slightly. Part of me couldn't believe it and I suspected Merle was lying to make himself look better in my eyes but the other half couldn't ignore it. Merle had bared his soul to me and it had suprised me. Maybe he wasn't so bad after all. Maybe I shouldn't have treated him like I had. If I saw him again, I would treat him like I treated Daryl.
"Damn, never thought he would. Merle's a damn mystery." Daryl said.
"He is." I agreed.
"I hope he's not gonna do anything that we're gonna regret him doin'." Daryl worried.
"Don't worry, we'll stop him. We've done it before." I assured him and he nodded. Silence fell between us.
"Ang?" Daryl said. I turned to look at him. "Yeah?" I replied.
He pursed his lips slightly. "I'm sorry for bein' a dick about the pregnancy. I shouldn't have reacted the way I did. I hope you can forgive me."
I looked at him steadily. He seemed really sorry and I knew he must have been beating himself up about it. At the end of the day, he was only looking out for me cause he loved me. I couldn't condemn him for that. I smiled. "It's fine. I don't blamen you. You were worried, I get it. I just want to know if you're up to becomin' an uncle." I said.
"I am. And that kid is gonna to have the best mom in the world, I know that." He said.
I smiled. "Caleb and Merle said that." I replied. "And who knows, maybe you'll be a dad one day with Cori. Or Carol."
"Stop." He groaned, red blushing his cheeks a little.
"Aww what's wrong? Am I embarrassing you? Is Carol hotter than Cori?" I teased.
"No, it's not that. It's just I love Cori and I've been thinkin' about gettin' it on with her. I mean she's hinted at it a few times but I've been puttin' it off cause I'm embarassed to tell her that I'm well not as experienced as she probably is. I mean, judgin' from the hints, I think she's brilliant at it." He confessed.
"Don't ever be embarrased, Daryl. It's undestadable. When..." I cut off, suddenly not wanting to share the worrys of doing it with Caleb with Daryl.
"You didn't think you were good enough to be with Caleb, right?" He guessed.
I blushed. "Well, yeah. I'm not talkin' about this with you." I said, squirming and wanting the ground to swallow me up if Daryl pushed the issue any further.
"What, about doin' it? It's ok, Ang. I'm not gonna yell at you. Hell, you're gonna be a mom soon, I hardly have the right to go tellin' you what you can and can't do. It's fine." He assured me."
I sighed, relieved slightly. "Ok, if you say so. But when I did it with Caleb, I was scared that he had done it before only with better girls. Prettier girls." I admitted, blushing so much my face felt like it was on fire.
Daryl smiled sympathetically. "I can't believe you thought that, Angel. You are pretty. And I know now that Caleb loves you for you. I'm proud of him for that. At least one of you is attractive in that relationship. I'm just gonna feel sorry for the kid if they get Caleb's looks." He joked.
"Hey!" I snapped, elbowing him in the ribs jokingly. "That is my fiancee you are talkin' about!"
Daryl smirked and then went serious. "Hey, Ang, if it's not too much trouble. Would you let me give you away?" He asked.
I smiled hugley. "Oh, hell yeah! I was gonna ask you anyway! And I want Cori as my maid of honour. We don't have to have a big ceremony anyway. We'll just say a few vows and celebrate in our own way." I teased.
"Oh no we're doing it the traditional way. We need somethin' to look forward to. At least something good's come out of all this shit"
"Yeah, guess it has." I agreed.
We fell silent as we arrived at the meeting spot. "Stay close to me, ok?" Daryl said.
I nodded. "Sure thing." I replied and we walked quietly through, our weapons. My eyes scanned the area in shock. There were walkers scattered all over the place feeding noisily from ripped bloody corpses. What the hell had happened here?
Daryl spotted a walker straight ahead of us. We crept quietly to inspect it further. Then as if in slow motion. it raised its head to look at us. And when I saw who it was, I felt as if the breath had been knocked out of me. The bald head, the unmistakable blue eyes, the wrinkled face now bloody and more battered.... Merle.
I clapped a hand to my mouth in shock and felt hot angry tears leak out of my eyes. We watched in agony as an intestine slithered half-eaten out of his mouth as he rose up and stumbled towards us. I raised my bow but Daryl was ahead of me. I turned to look at him and I was shocked on seeing him. He was crying, I'd never befoe in in my life seen him cry. Never when he took our dad's beatings. Never when Merle picked on him. Never. But now he was.
Merle crept dangerously close towards him and Daryl at first pushed him back a few times like he couldn't believe what he had become. Then he went crazy. He tackled Merle to the ground and stabbed him savagely in the head mulitipile times before kicking his now dead managled body away and crawling away, tears flowing freely. And in that moment it was if I saw his heart shatter into a thousand pieces.
WOW! That was a powerful chapter. I don't know bout u all but I'm crying here. Have been through most of it. Hope u like it and so sorry it took so long. I've been have many delays I was scared I wouldn't be able to finish it. Chapter 41 up soon. Dixon kisses for all my fantastic readers xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx