Life I Left Behind (A Daryl Dixon Story)

Chapter Forty-Three

Daryl

Thirty Years Old- Pre-apocalypse

"Well where the hell you been all day?" Merle asked, a grin stretching the corners of his mouth as I took a seat on the empty stool next to him. "Hey Mike! Git' this son of a bitch a god damn drink!" He hollered at the bartender. Not even a full minute later, a cold beer bottle was set down on the counter in front of me.

"Thanks, man." I said before taking a long drink. Merle was still looking at me expectantly when I set down the bottle. I shrugged. "Been at work. Because I gotta job. Maybe yer lazy ass should get one too 'stead of hangin' out at the bar all day."

Merle raised his eyebrows at me. "Jesus Christ, no need to get those girlie panties of yours all in a twist…look at you, sittin' over there all high and mighty 'cause you gotta job changin' oil." He sneered before shaking his head. I ignored him, taking another swig from my beer. It took only a beat for him to get over what I said, as was usual when he had been drinking. "I could git' a job any day of the week, but I like to keep my options open. Same way I do with women." He grinned, nudging my side.

I fought the urge to roll my eyes. "I don't understand why any woman would wanna be with a dirty, drunk redneck like you."

"'Cause I know what they like, that's why. Unlike you, a scrawny, lil' prude." He shot back, draining the last of his beer and signaling for another. He wiped his mouth with the back of his hand before motioning to pair of girls at the far end of the bar. "See those two? Been eyein' 'em since they showed up and I bet you five bucks I'll get me some of that pussy tonight."

"I ain't bettin' you on that." I said, making a face.

Merle threw back his head and let out a loud laugh. "See? That's 'cause you're a damn prude! Don't worry, there's two of 'em. I can share." He smirked.

"You're a piece of shit, ya' know that Merle?" I shook my head.

"And damn proud of it." He said, clapping me on the shoulder. Suddenly, he gestured towards the television mounted on the wall in front of us. "Hey Mike! Man, turn this up. I watch this news lady every damn night. Chick's got one helluva rack on her." He hooted as the volume came on and the new anchor's voice suddenly echoed throughout the bar.

"What's this garbage anyways?" I grunted,

"Some fancy cable news lady. Don't know what station. She's hot as hell, ain't she?"

I ignored him. "I mean what the hell is she talkin' about? All that medical mumbo jumbo."

"Some sort of rabies infecting people. Been on the news the last couple of weeks. Must be getting pretty serious." Mike, answered before Merle could.

I nodded, my interest only half piqued as I kept my eyes on the screen. It was hard to pay attention to anything she was saying when every other sentence was layered with all sorts of fancy medical jargon I didn't care about. That was the main reason I avoided watching the news…it was mostly just a bunch of bullshit that didn't matter. There was a clip suddenly being shown of people packed into grocery stores like sardines, cleaning the shelves of any and all supplied. "What the hell?" I mumbled. "These people look like they're stocking up for the god damn apocalypse! See, this is why the news is a buncha bullshit. Gettin' people all scared shitless over some damn cold goin' around."

"I wish…do you know what the end of the world would look like?" Merle asked, perking an eyebrow at me. "No more laws, no more cops, no more bullshit. Hell, you could do whatever you damn well pleased. Sounds pretty fuckin' great to me." He grinned.

"Looks like you might get your wish, Merle." Mike added, nodding towards the screen where a map of the state had replaced the video clip. "They're sayin' they got some cases of this so called rabies poppin' up right around Atlanta."

Instantly my thoughts dug up Charlie's name from the back of my mind. Last time I'd heard anything about he, she'd still been living inside Atlanta. I wondered if she knew about any of this stuff going on. I mentally shook myself, trying to disperse her from my thoughts. What did it matter anyways? She was out of my life for good. "Man, this is all bullshit." I piped up. "In a couple of months, no one will even remember this rabies crap. They'll be on to the next load of crap epidemic." I drained the last of my beer and Mike set down another in front of me before going back to polishing glasses.

"Maybe you right, maybe you ain't. I'm crossin' my fingers the whole world just falls apart. Then we can really start livin'." Merle smirked. I grunted in acknowledgment. Merle was a lot of talk, but I knew this was something he was probably pretty serious about. Merle was made for the end of the world…military trained, tough as nails, and didn't give a shit about anything. I wasn't rooting for the end of the world any time soon, but Merle would have been the one I wanted by my side if that ever did happen. Which it wouldn't.

The door to the bar creaked open as two fellas came inside, making their way towards the far end of the bar. I watched them sit down next to the two girls Merle had been so keen on taking home. I smirked and nudged him. "Looks like someone beat ya' to it." I said.

Merle scowled as he looked over towards the girls and the men who had joined them. It was pretty clear they were all coupled up. "Don't matter. The night is young and I bet you there are plenty of broads out there just waitin' for a piece of Merle."

"You best go find 'em then, before the worlds ends." I said sarcastically, taking a long drink from my beer.

"Lil' brother, ain't you know nothin' 'bout me? Not even the end of the world can stop Merle from gettin' laid or whatever the hell else he wants." He chuckled.

I rolled my eyes, a small, amused smile on my lips. He was an idiot, but he was probably right.