The thing about kids is that even though you explain everything very clear to them, instinct and nature will always take over. While walking on the Highway, a Walker came out from behind a broken, abandoned car and started for the kids. Instead of remaining calm and getting behind Daryl and Merle, they backed away and started screaming, alerting for sure any other Walkers that may be nearby. Daryl quickly put an arrow in the guys head, pulled it out and ran after the girls. He found them hiding in a bush that was close by, both crying heavily.
"Shh, come on, it's okay, that Walker is gone." Daryl put his arms around both girls. "Hey, remember what I said about screaming and running away from us? I know it's scary but you have to follow the rules. When you ran away, you could have ran straight into a Walker, we were to far to help. So you guys gotta promise, swear to me that you won't do that again, I know it's scary but you really got to try."
"We will Mr. Daryl, promise we will try harder, don't leave us please." Butterfly pleaded.
"I would never leave you, no matter what." Daryl tried to convince them.
"Let's get moving, it's spooky here." Merle said.
Daryl lit a cigarette and took a long, deep drag. He wasn't a real smoker but taking long drags on a cigarette right now helped calm his nerves.
The sun was starting to set and they kept looking for some kind of building. They had passed two gas stations earlier. Took some food from each one and continued on. It was too early to make camp. Now of course when they needed to make camp, there were no gas stations. Life was shitty that way sometimes.
They had taken a dirt road that the map said would lead them to another road that would cut across and save them about twenty miles of walking. It was a gamble, getting off the main road but they thought it would be worth it.
"I'm hungry Mr. Daryl," Butterfly said. "Could we stop to eat soon?"
"Yeah, we are just trying to find some shelter for you girls but if we don't find anything in the next thirty minutes, we'll just have to camp out in the open."
"Out in the open?" Jenny was concerned, she understood the dangers more than her sister.
"Yes, don't worry though, me and Merle will protect you won't we Merle?"
"Oh yeah, we'll be your knights in shining armor." Merle joked.
"Our princes?" Butterfly asked, kind of liking the idea.
"Exactly like that." Daryl said.
They continued to walk quietly, each person keeping their thoughts to themselves. No shelter was found that night so they set up camp underneath a large oak tree that had a limb low enough to push the girls up there if it was needed. Merle built a small fire and they heated up some cans of ravioli for the kids and they ate tuna right out of the can.
"What I wouldn't give for a nice hot peach cobbler right now." Merle said.
"With some vanilla ice cream on top?" Jenny asked. Now daydreaming about peach cobbler herself. Heck, a fresh peach would be nice too. You would think that with this being Georgia, there would be peach trees everywhere but she hadn't seen any yet.
"Oh yeah, that's the only way to eat it." Merle said really craving it now.
"I'd take a strawberry shortcake." Daryl said, getting into the game.
"Me too." Butterfly said raising her hand as if she was in school.
"Someday we will get to eat that again, I promise." Daryl realized just how many promises he had been making lately. He hoped he would be able to keep them.
"I'm going to get some shut eye, you got first watch Daryl?" Merle laid down on his sleeping bag.
"Sure, you girls should lay down too and get to sleep, we got another long day ahead of us tomorrow." Daryl said.
With everyone down, Daryl sat on the log they had pulled next to the fire. He pulled out the compass he had taken from the first gas station they went to today. They needed to go West toward Alabama. The highways were easy to walk and keep the right direction but these side roads could get you turned around fast.
They had a map too which is how they came to take this side road. He put the compass away and was about to take the map out when he heard a moan. He looked at Merle to see if he were talking in his sleep. Nope, it wasn't Merle. There it went again. It was definitely a moan. A Walker's moan. He picked up his bow and went to check it out. About fifty feet out, there were six Walkers roaming, walking toward their camp. He loaded up his bow and aimed it at the closest Walker. One down. He pulled the arrow out and went after the second one with a knife. He kicked the Walker in the chest and knocked him down. Knife in forehead. Two down. He ran and punched the third Walker in the jaw, knocking him down. He kicked him three times before stomping on his head. Three down. The fourth Walker grabbed Daryl by his shirt and while Daryl was trying to get her off, the fifth Walker grabbed him by his pant leg. Daryl threw the fourth Walker to the ground on top of Walker number five. He grabbed an arrow and jammed it deep through both heads. Four and Five down. The six Walker was stumbling towards Daryl, meat on both hands torn off so only bone and blood were showing. Daryl stood back for a minute just taking the scene in. What kind of virus could do this to a person? He pushed the Walker back. He was tired of killing these things already. He pushed the Walker back again.
"Daryl, where are you?" That was little Butterfly looking for Daryl. She must not have seen the Walkers.
Daryl pushed down the Walker again and put his knife through it's forehead. Six down.
"I'm coming," He didn't want her to know there had been Walkers. "I was just going to the bathroom."
"Oh good. I was worried about you."
"You don't need to worry, That's my job okay?"
"Okay."
"Now you just lay back down, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow."
Tara laid back down and went right back to sleep. It was cute that she worried about Daryl like that. It felt nice.
After another couple of hours, Merle got up to take his turn on watch. Daryl laid down and tried to sleep but it didn't come easy. Thoughts raced through his mind. Chloe, Bartow, Mrs. Harold. Jr. Was everyone okay or was everyone he knew dead? These were terrifying thoughts and he just wanted to go to sleep. It eventually came about three thirty in the morning which gave him only three hours of sleep. He was bone tired when he woke up.
"Can we have some candy for breakfast?" Jenny asked.
"No, I'm going to get us some meat. Stay with Merle, I'll be right back." Thirty minutes later, Daryl had himself two squirrels. He cleaned them in a nearby river so by the time he came back, they went straight on the fire.
"What kind of meat is this?" Jenny asked suspiciously.
"Squirrel." Merle said.
"Beef." Daryl looked at Merle. "Its beef from a cow,"
Jenny looked at Merle then at Daryl then at Merle again trying to see who was telling the truth. "Is it really from a cow, because I don't want to eat no squirrel."
"Oh yeah, straight from the cow," Merle lied.
"Okay then, I'll take a piece." Jenny did not want any squirrel, she wasn't raised like that.
They sat by the fire, not talking much while the food cooked. Once it was done, Daryl handed out pieces of the meat. The girls didn't seem to notice the difference. They finished up, packed up and went on their way.
The road was empty since it was off the grid a little. They should be coming back to the main road here pretty quick. Daryl took a swig of water and passed the water bottle around to the girls for them to get a drink. Walking around a bend in the road, the group heard a gunshot ring in the air. Daryl looked at Merle. "Come on kids." Merle said and ushered them into the trees to give them some shelter.
"Wait here with the kids." Merle told Daryl, "I'm going to go check it out." Daryl nodded in agreement.
While Merle was gone, the three remained in the brush trying to keep themselves concealed. Jenny whispered, "What do you think that was?"
"I don't know, someone killing a Walker maybe."
"What if it wasn't?" Jenny asked again.
"Well, that's what Merle is checking."
"What if someone shoots him?" Jenny kept grilling Daryl.
"No one is going to shoot Merle." He said and before she could ask another question he said, "Quiet time."
In truth, Daryl had no idea what was happening with Merle. It had been forty minutes now and he still hadn't returned. Just when Daryl was going to go look for himself, Merle came back.
"Yo! Where are you?" Merle was not whispering.
"Over here, what was that gun shot?" Daryl walked out of hiding but left the girls in there.
"There's an old farmer and his wife and he just took down a deer. I kind of invited ourselves to dinner by offering to butcher the animal. I helped him field dress it a minute ago, that's what took so long."
"You field dressed a deer right now? Knowing we were hiding in the woods wondering what happened?"
"Well I couldn't be rude. Come on girls, let's go meet some nice people." Merle motioned for them to come follow him.
Daryl just shook his head. Un-be-liev-able.
They walked for about five minutes when a dog ran up to them barking. "Sparky, you get down now off those nice people." The old man in stained coveralls said.
The girls shied away and stood closer to Daryl. Daryl stood looking at the old couple. They looked like the picture of the old farmer and his wife with a pitchfork.
"Oh come closer children, let me take a look at you!!!" The old woman cooed at them. "Look Papa, nice healthy, young girls." Then she looked at Daryl and said, "your brother told us how it happen that you came to have these two, I think you are wonderful for looking after them so well."
"Uh, thanks Ma'am, it's really been no trouble." But even if it was, what business is it of theirs?
"My name is Mrs. Thornson and that there is Mr. Thornson but you all can just call us Ma and Pop."
Merle spoke up, "Um this here is my baby brother Daryl and these two ladies are..." He couldn't remember their names.
"Tara and Jenny." Jenny spoke up.
"My name is Butterfly." Said Tara, making sure the old couple knew what to call her. "I changed it and Daryl said it was okay, didn't you Daryl?"
"I sure did sweetie." He nodded his head at the couple.
"Well, come on in the house and I can get you something to eat." Said Mrs. Thornson.
At least that sounded good but something about old Ma and Pop made the hair on the back of Daryl's neck stand up.
Walking into the house was like walking back into time. The furniture had a distinct '60s vibe and the couches had plastic over them. Seriously. Someone had to custom make it because it fit the furniture perfectly.
"You can just put your things down there by the stairs. Girls, you want to come help Ma set the table?" Mrs. Thornson asked.
They both looked at Daryl for guidance about what to do. "Go on." He told them.
"There you go." Mr. Thornson said. "Well now Merle, are you ready to butcher up that deer for me, I'm not as strong as I use to be, you could probably do it a lot faster than I ever could?"
"Will we have time before sitting down and eating?" Merle was hungry and he wanted to eat first before doing anything.
"Oh, sure, the food won't be done for about an hour." Mrs. Thorson came out of the kitchen to answer the question. "As you know, we weren't expecting guests."
"Sorry for any trouble Ma'am." Daryl said.
"Oh no trouble at all young man, and please call me Ma."
The men turned to go out to the barn. Daryl didn't really want to leave the girls alone in the house with a strange woman but he didn't want to seem rude when they were going to feed all of them.
The barn seemed to be in good condition and freshly painted. Mr. Thornson opened up the double doors and led them in to where the deer was hanging. The old man showed Merle where all the equipment was to do the job and he took out some butcher paper out of a cabinet.
"How are you going to keep the meat?" Daryl asked, curious.
"We have a generator plus that windmill you see outside, it's just not decorative, it gives a small amount of energy for us to use. We try to use candles at night and conserve when we can. But we keep the freezer going." Weird silence. "For now anyway."
"Uh-huh." Was Daryl's response.
Merle had gotten to work cutting up the deer and had it done in no time.
Jenny and Tara came running into the barn. "It's time to eat Mr. Daryl." They called.
The three men started out of the barn when Daryl heard a loud noise. He looked around to see if anything had fell or if there was an animal around like a dog or cat but there was nothing. Daryl stopped to see if he could hear it again.
"Whats the matter son?" The old man asked Daryl.
"I thought I heard something." He still was listening, trying to see if he could hear anything.
"Ah, it wasn't anything. Come on, let's go get some vittles." He motioned for both of them to leave the barn.
Inside the house, the aroma of food filled the air. After asking to use the restroom, Daryl sat down at the ten person table. "Thank you Ma'am for having us."
"We haven't seen anyone since this all started, we didn't know if the world had ended and we were the last ones alive, my Lord."
They all sat around the dinner table, the man and woman on the end and Jenny by Merle and Tara by Daryl.
"Would you like to say Grace Daddy?" asked Mrs. Thornson of Mr. Thornson.
"Sure. Thank you Lord for always providing for Ma and Me. Even when times seem hopeless, you always come through to put food on our table. Bless this house and our guests. Amen."
"Amen." Was the chorus from around the table.
They had meat and vegetables and a homemade loaf of bread. The meat was a little tough and odd tasting but the vegetables were good and the bread melted in your mouth. After dinner, Mr. Thornson milked their last cow and put a little inside a mason jar. He handed the jar to the girls and told them to keep shaking it and not to stop, to trade off back and forth. The girls looked at each other then to Daryl who nodded the okay.
"Why do you want us to do this Mr. Thornson?" asked Butterfly.
"Pa please." He looked a little irritated being called by Mr. Thornson. "Well, if you shake long enough and don't stop, that milk in there will turn to butter. Then we can spread some on Ma's hot bread."
Daryl had to admit butter on warm bread sounded like heaven so he encouraged the girls to give it a try.
The girls made it into a game and it kept them occupied and their minds off other, not so pleasant thoughts.
"So," Mrs. Thornson begin, "what's your story, Merle told us that you guys are from a town called Bartow?"
"Yes Ma'am, we were raised in Bartow. We are headed to Alabama to one of those sanctuaries they have there. I'm also looking for someone who might have went there."
"And how was it again that you came to have these girls?" Why was she grilling me Daryl thought.
"Um, they were in a restaurant we found shelter in, their family had all turned and they were locked upstairs in an office."
"Oh my goodness, how terrible that must have been for those girls." Mrs. Thornson put her hand to her throat.
"We saved them is what we did." Merle chimed in.
"You most certainly did, with the Lords help." Mr. Thornson said.
Merle gave the old man a fucked up look but said "Oh sure, he helped."
"Do you plan to take the girls with you to Alabama?"
Daryl looked at Merle who looked away from Daryl. But before he looked away, he saw guilt in his eyes.
"Yes I do." Not we do apparently.
The Thornson's both looked at Merle expecting him to say something.
"Ah-em. Umm Daryl, I was thinking that it might be better for the girls if they stayed here with the Thornsons."
Un-fuckin-believable. "What? What'd you tell em Merle?" Daryl stood up.
"All I said was that it might be better for the girls if they stayed here on the farm." Merle started to raise his voice.
"Why would the farm be better? If it got overrun by Walkers, do you think Ma and Pops here could protect them?"
"We have a cellar that we go down into whenever one of those things comes around. It usually leaves on their own in a couple of days."
"Excuse me Ma'am, has a herd ever come around here?" Daryl asked.
"A herd? Of Steer?" Old man Thornson said.
"A herd, or whatever it's called, of Walkers is when about fifty of those things come barreling through here at once, have you thought of what you would do when that happens?"
"We never had that happen." Ma said.
"Well Ma'am, it's not something you want to be around when it does happens. You need to think about getting to Alabama yourself, get where the Army can protect you." Daryl was incensed.
He kicked Merle's leg and said "Get up, we need to get going."
"Going? We just got here little brother."
"I'm sorry Ma'am if my brother gave you the wrong idea. I made a promise to those girls to get them to Alabama to find their Aunt and that's exactly what I'm going to do."
"But do you think the road is the best place for those girls? The dangers that you will come up against, those things that will be out there?"
"Yes Ma'am there are dangers, every where there are dangers. No offense Ma'am but I think I am better qualified to protect those girls then you and Pops."
"Now listen here boy, your brother promised us that we could keep the girls if we feed you all. Ma always wanted to be a mama. Do you see pictures on the wall of all our kids? No? Well that's because we never had any. Married forty five years and never had one child. We decided never to find out who was at fault, it didn't matter. But this was our chance, Ma's chance." He walked over to the hall closet and opened it up and took out a shotgun. He pointed it at Merle and Daryl. "Now, you fellows best be leaving. Those girls are going to stay here with Ma and me. We'll take good care of them don't you worry about it."
"I'm not leaving here without them old man, you best realize that." Daryl said. "I don't care what my brother promised you."
"Oh, you're going to leave, and if you don't want a hole in your belly going with you, you'll grab your stuff and get going." Old man Thornson said. "Now!"
Daryl and Merle had no choice but to get their gear and head out the door. The girls were still in the kitchen shaking that milk in the jar.
"This ain't over." Daryl spit out, just wanting to get his hands on that old man.
They walked out the door and the old man followed them down the dirt path that led to the main road.
Once there, the old man said, "Now if you know whats good for you, you'll just keep going to Alabama and get rescued. I'll be carrying this with me so don't get any idea's about coming back around to fetch those little ones."
"Yeah, well fuck you old man."
"Daryl, it would be best for the girls if they stayed with them." Merle tried to say.
"Yeah? Well fuck you too."
The two walked away from the old man with no other remarks. Daryl was seeing red while Merle was relieved to be rid of the two brats. They would have just gotten us all killed he thought. Slow us down. Make our food run out faster. There was all kinds of reasons why this was better for him and Daryl.
About two miles down the road, Daryl finally calmed down enough to talk to Merle. "What the hell were you thinking? Giving them girls to those people."
"I was thinking about us which is something that you forgot how to do. I'm not going to apologize for trying to do what is best for me, for us. Those girls were never going to make it on the road and you know it. They are too scared when they see a Walker and they yell, ringing the dinner bell for every damn piece of shit walking around here. They're eating all our food and drinking our water!"
"You got to be joking. Are you really that selfish? No wait, yes you are."
"It's not selfishness. I am being practical. Realistic."
"Shut up Merle. Just shut the hell up."
Daryl walked another ten minutes then made a little camp in the woods a little off the main road.
"What are you doing? We still have about two more hours of light left before we have to make camp."
"You go ahead, I'm going to wait here and later tonight, I'm going back to get Jenny and Butterfly. With or without you Merle, with or without you."
"Are you crazy or something? Did that piece of ass mess your mind all up to where you can't think straight?" Merle saw he made a mistake bringing up Chloe.
Daryl dived across the fire he was in the middle of making and tackled Merle to the ground. "What the fuck is wrong with you? Did them drugs burn your brain out? We cannot leave those girls there with them people. We can't. I promised them and I am going to keep that promise you dumb ass redneck." He kicked Merle in the stomach and stood up to walk away. He turned around and said "and if you ever bring Chloe up again in any kind of fashion, I will kill you, do you hear me?"
"You're a little touchy aren't you brother? Fine. Have it your way. We'll go get those little girls but mark my words, they're going to get us killed."
"Whatever." Daryl finished the fire and laid down on his sleeping bag.
"What are you doing?" Merle sat down on the grass next to the fire.
"I'm going to get some shut eye before I go back and get them girls." Daryl told him.
"Well, I'll take watch then I guess."
"I really don't care if you take watch or not."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It must have been the middle of the night when Daryl was ready to go get the girls. The moon was three fourths full and gave some light.
"So what's you big plan?"
"My big plan big brother is to go in and get the girls. And Pops better not get in my way."
"Great plan."
Daryl didn't say anymore. They walked silently, keeping an eye out for Pops and for the Walkers. Once at the house, they peaked in the downstairs windows and didn't see anyone but saw old Sparky laying on the floor in front of the fire.
Daryl climbed a lattice on the side of the house and looked into the first window he came to. Inside the room, Ma and Pops were asleep in twin beds. No wonder they never had any kids, you have to sleep together to get pregnant. He went to the next window. In the room he saw a sewing machine and mannequins wearing different patterns scattered about the room. There were only these two windows on this side of the house. He walked around to the other side of the house. He looked through another window and he saw the girls asleep in a full size bed. He tried to open the window but it was locked. He knocked silently with his middle knuckle. No reaction. He knocked again, a little louder this time.
Butterfly rolled over and looked out the window. She sat straight up and was about to yell Daryl when he put his finger to his lips to keep her quiet. She looked toward the door to see if Ma and Pops were there. He curled his finger indicating that he wanted her to come to the window. She did. "Can you unlock the window?" Daryl whispered. He didn't know if she heard him or not. But she must have because she tried to unlock it but wasn't strong enough.
Daryl pointed to Jenny and then to the lock. Butterfly went and shook Jenny awake and copied Daryl by putting a finger to her lips. She pointed to the window and whispered something to Jenny. Jenny got up and unlocked the window. Daryl pushed it up as quietly as he could. "
"Why did you leave us?" Jenny whispered, obviously still hurt.
"I didn't want to but the old man made me. But I'm back to get you and your sister. Where are your bags?" Daryl asked.
"Pops burned them, he said we would never need them again." Butterfly said sadly.
"Well, he lied. Come on let's go."
"But we're in our pajamas." Butterfly cried.
"It's alright. Where are the clothes you wore today?"
"On the chair over there." Jenny pointed to the corner of the room.
"Go get em and let's get out of here." Daryl was worried Pop's was going to walk in.
The girls got their clothes and climbed out the window. They followed the same procedure as when they escaped from the restaurant. Soon they were on the long drive dirt road headed for the main road, the one that would take them to Daryl and Merle's camp.
A few minutes later they heard a dog bark and assumed it was Sparky. They were lucky that he wasn't really a tracking dog but they hurried and picked up their things by the camp and continued on down the road, trying to put as much distance between them and those old folks.
They walked in silence for a long time. No one saying anything. Finally, Butterfly asked Daryl, "Mr. Daryl, why did you leave us with those people?"
"Ah hun, that was all a big mistake but it won't happen again, I promise you. Will it Merle?"
"Ah no, your plans are set in stone dear brother."
"Daryl, how much longer are we going to walk tonight?"
"Just a little while longer. Just want to make sure we have enough distance between us and the house."
Finally, they were passing an old gas station that looked like it hadn't been open for years. The windows were boarded up and the price of gas said $1.04 per gallon. Yeah, it had been a while. Daryl pulled off some boards with Merle's help. They were able to squeeze through and put a board back into place. The place had a foot of dust everywhere. Daryl raised his bow and took a look through the place. Inside the office, there were two chair and a desk. The front counter was empty and the register was gone. He open the door to the shop area and it was empty, save for some old cans of oil that spilled onto to the floor and nobody bothered to pick up.
He found an old broom and swept off the counter and placed his bags there. He took out a can of corn for the girls to share and what was left of a bottle water.
"We're not hungry Daryl," Jenny said, "we just want to go to sleep."
So Daryl laid out the sleeping bag on the counter and had them lay down.
"Now don't roll off." Merle said, trying to earn back points from his brother.
With the girls down, Daryl sat down in one of the chairs from the office. He laid his jacket over his arms and closed his eyes. He should be able to hear if anyone or anything tried to get in there.
"What are we going to do for food?" Merle asked.
"Same as we always do, hunt for it."
"Them girls are going to wake up hungry. Something that wouldn't happen back there with them folks. So you remember it was you that didn't want them to stay there."
"Good night Merle."
The sun rose and Daryl and Merle had left the girls in the store while they went to hunt and trap an animal for breakfast. Daryl was still in a foul mood and wasn't talking much to Merle.
"I think there is a rabbit over there, do you see it? Behind that bush with the purple flowers."
"I see it, now shut up." Daryl was tired and Merle was getting on his nerves.
"Well shoot it before it gets away."
Daryl aimed his bow and took the shot.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The smell of the smoke reached them before the actual visual of the fire. By the time they rounded the corner, the old gas station was in full flames. Daryl ran to the front of the building, yelling for the girls. The smoke got so bad that it had Daryl on his knees choking and throwing up. They were gone. Jenny and Butterfly, gone. Burnt to death and it was his fault. The food he ate yesterday came out in a wave that threatened to never end.
"Come on brother, we need to go." Merle tried to pull his brother away.
"Leave me alone Merle. You don't get it, if I would have left those girls at the farm, they'd still be alive." Daryl sat on the ground and put his head down.
"Yeah, and if you would have left them in the restaurant, they would have been eaten for sure. You can't blame yourself for what happened here."
"What started the fire? How did it start? Did you leave a cigarette burning?" He asked Merle.
"Did you?" Merle needed to get Daryl out of here before the Walkers came. They were sure to be drawn to the fire.
"Let's get out of here before those damn things come." Merle tried to convince him.
It was like losing Chloe all over again. The pain in Daryl's heart could only take so much and it was threatening to take over, swallow him whole. He wrapped his arms around himself to try to give himself some comfort. A rain drop fell on his face, mixing with the tears that started to flow.
"Hey, I know you cared for them, but they are gone and we still have to survive. We have to get going."
Daryl looked up. What he saw was someone selfish and ignorant. Someone who would always put himself before everyone else, including Daryl, without a second thought.
He was going to get to Alabama. He was going to go find Chloe and get her back. Something had to work out right. Nothing has so far and he felt it was his turn to get some good luck.
"Alright, let's get going." Daryl stood up, wiped off her face and slung his bow and sheath over his shoulder. He lost everything else in the fire. Chloe's picture was gone, up in flames.
He started walking and when he looked around for any signs of Walkers, he saw Butterfly's stuffed rabbit laying in the middle of the road. She had that when she was laying down. How did it get out here? He picked it up and looked at it. Was there a chance that the girls were alive? "They might be alive." Daryl held up the rabbit.
Merle thought oh shit, she dropped her damn rabbit. On purpose probably. "They are not alive. You got to let it go Daryl."
"Then how did her rabbit get out side?"
"I don't know, maybe they came out here after we went hunting and she dropped it before going back inside." Sounded good he thought. Plausible.
"Jenny!! Butterfly!! Are you out here somewhere?" Daryl yelled, not caring if Walkers heard him or not.
"Shh Daryl, what the hell are you doing yelling like that?" He was going to get them killed he thought.
"They're not dead, I know it." Daryl for whatever reason started walking back to the farmhouse. "They are out here somewhere. Maybe they're walking and going back to the farm."
"They are GONE. G-O-N-E. Gone. Dead. You have to accept it Daryl."
"I'll accept it when I see a body, two bodies." He started walking back down the road. Towards the farmhouse.
"Daryl, stop. STOP!"
Daryl stopped in his tracks. He turned around and looked at Merle. "What!!"
"You're right. The girls are alive and at the farmhouse."
"Wait,how do you know?" Daryl started to get a sinking feeling in his stomach.
"That was the plan the whole time. I knew you'd try to rescue the girls so me and the old man set it up for you to rescue them. He knew this place was here and told me to stop here over night. When we would go hunting like he knew we'd have to, he'd take the girls and set the place on fire so you would think they were dead. That's the only way I knew you'd leave them."
"Why Merle? Why would you do that?"
"Because damn it, they were going to get us killed or they were really going to get killed. Let them stay out there and have some peace in their lives before it's over."
Daryl thought about this and stopped walking. "But I made them a promise."
"Well, sometimes life changes, and you did get them somewhere safe, at least reasonably safe. Trust me, this is best for everyone, including them."
Daryl felt defeated. He hung his head He was lost and torn and he didn't know what to do.
"Admit that I am right and lets get going."
Without words, Daryl turned around and started walking back toward the highway. The last of whatever was good and caring inside Daryl seem to leak slowly out of his body. He couldn't care anymore, all that did was get him hurt and he was so tired of getting hurt.
Merle knew what he did was wrong but in the long run, it would be best for all of them, he just hoped that Daryl would forgive him one day.