a/n:
I wasn't going to add Merles P.O.V. in this chapter but I thought it would be fun to kind of show a bit more of his insanity during the rooftop scene.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Merles P.O.V
Thunder rumbles across the city as Merle mumbles to himself hallucinating as he violently pulls on the handcuffs attached to the pipe Rick had locked him to.
"That's right. You heard me, bitch. You got a problem? Bring it on if you're man enough, or take it up the chain if you're a pussy. You heard me, you pussy-ass noncom bitch. You ain't deaf. Take it up the damn chain of command or you can kiss my lily-white ass. That's right. That's what I said. You heard me. And then this idiot, he takes a swing, you know, and well..."
Merle laughs hysterically at the dark forming clouds above him.
"Oh, you should've seen the look on his face when I punched out his front teeth. Yeah, five of 'em. Pow! Pow! Just like that. Huh. Oh my god. 16 months in the stockade...oh, that's what them teeth cost me. That was...that was hard time, but by god, it was worth every minute of it just to see that prick spit his teeth out on the ground. Yes sir, worth every minute."
He continues to try and pull himself off the pipe, the handcuffs grinding into his skin but he was still unable to get loose.
"Oh no. No no! No no! No no! God! God! No no! God! Jesus! No no, merciful Christ!" Merle cries out to God as he violently moves around, "No no. No no. God, help me! God! God! Jesus, please! Jesus, please. Help me! Come on now!"
Walkers begin to growl louder from the stairwell catching Merles attention. He sees the dead trying to claw their way in through the door but they aren't able to break through the chain.
"Help me. No no. Oh, no no." Merle cries trying to quiet himself from causing more walkers to hear him, "Oh my god. Shh shh shh shh shh."
His hands tremble as he cries in fear yelling out again.
"No, Jesus. Jesus. No no no no no no. Please. I didn't behave, I know. I know I'm being punished. I know. I...oh, I deserve it. I deserve it. I've been bad. Help me now. Show me the way. Go on, tell me what to do. Tell me. Tell me. God!"
He rolls under the pipe unbuckling his belt trying to get the saw lying nearby him.
"That's okay. Never you mind, silly Christ boy. I ain't begged you before. I ain't gonna start begging now. I ain't gonna beg you now!" He tells himself concentrated, "Don't you worry about me! Begging you ever! I'll never beg you! I ain't gonna beg you! I never begged you before. Oh shit. No!"
The belt misses again as he continues to throw the end of it back and forth while the walkers try and break through the door, their jaws snapping viciously.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Best not to dwell on it. Merle got left behind." Morales sighs, "Nobody's gonna be sad he didn't come back...except maybe Daryl."
"Daryl?" Indigo asked almost in a whisper. Rick held his arm around her, he felt bad about leaving her alone with people who were clearly troubled by the whole situation.
"His brother." Morales replied. Indigo instantly looked back at the city out the back window. Brother.
Outside the truck they could hear the sports car Glenn was driving, the sound of his voice echoing.
"Whoo-hoo!"
Glenn speeds past them and continues to holler out loud. Indigo could hear how much fun he was having and she wished she could have joined him. She really needed some fun.
"At least somebody's having a good day." Morales said as the group looked at him silently.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
a/n:
[[Again here I wasn't going to add in a camp scene before Rick and Indigo actually saw it for themselves I just feel it's easier to go from here in introducing them both into the camp.]]
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Jim gathers some cans around camp and headed over to start hanging them around the perimeter so they could hear if any walkers were nearby. A younger girl and her brother were arguing as the girl tried to snatch what was in his hands back.
"Give it back."
"Stop it." The boy yelled back as the girl lunged forward again.
"No!"
"I found it." The boy whined stepping back and placing his arm up again so she couldn't reach it.
"No!" She eventually caught hold of the object as the boy frowned in defeat.
"Give it."
"Mijo, leave your sister alone." The mother scolded her son as she folded a shirt and placed it in pile of already neatly folded clothing.
"Why?" The boy back mouthed in annoyance as the girl poked her tongue at her brother.
"Come on." The woman replied at the siblings. Lori chuckled to herself watching the family. She was giving her son a well needed haircut and he didn't like it.
"Baby, the more you fidget, the longer it takes. So don't, okay?"
"I'm trying." Carl replied to her.
"Well, try harder." She told him as she snipped off a bit of his brunette hair.
Shane watched in amusement chuckling, "If you think this is bad, wait till you start shaving. That stings. That day comes, you'll be wishing for one of your mama's haircuts."
"I'll believe that when I see it." Carl sighed.
Shane chuckled again leaning forward in his chair, "I'll tell you what...you just get through this with some manly dignity and tomorrow I'll teach you something special. I will teach you to catch frogs."
"I've caught a frog before."
"I said frogs...plural. And it is an art, my friend. It is not to be taken lightly." Shane replied grinning, "There are ways and means. Few people know about it. I'm willing to share my secrets."
Carl bites his lip in thought unsure of what to say and looks at Lori.
"Oh, I'm a girl. You talk to him." She told the boy shrugging snipping off another piece of his hair.
"It's a one-time offer, bud...not to be repeated." Shane sat back in his chair.
"Why do we need frogs, plural?" Carl asked.
"You ever eat frog legs?"
"Eww!" Carl scrunched up his face as Shane and Lori laughed.
"No, yum!" Shane smiled, Lori shook her head.
"No, he's right. Eww."
"When you get down to that last can of beans, you're gonna be loving those frog legs, lady." Shane told her, mocking her slightly, "I can see it now...'Shane, do you think I could have a second helping, please? Please? Just one?"
Lori laughed rolling her eyes, "Yeah, I doubt that."
Shane laughed, "Don't listen to her, man. You and me, we'll be heroes. We'll feed these folks cajun-style Kermit legs."
"I would rather eat miss piggy." Lori stated pausing then laughed a little, "Yes, that came out wrong."
Shane chuckled, "Heroes, son, spoken of in song and legend. You and me, Shane and Carl."
They both giggled like little girls before their conversation was interrupted by a distant beeping of what sounded like a car alarm. Shane got up leaving Lori and Carl on their own towards Dale and his RV.
"Talk to me, Dale!"
"I can't tell yet." Dale replied to Shane as Amy approached the two.
"Is it them? Are they back?" She asked as Dale placed his binoculars down, "I'll be damned."
"What is it?"
"A stolen car is my guess." Dale stated as a red sports car pulled up. It's alarm going off sending everyone into a panic and on lookout for walkers. Glenn hops out of the vehicle grinning which was soon replaced with a nervous smile.
"Holy crap. Turn that damn thing off!" Dale yelled barely hearing himself.
"I don't know how!" Glenn responded.
Shane approached Glenn and looked at the Sports car, "Pop the hood, please. Pop the damn hood, please."
"My sister Andrea..." Amy began before Shane cut her off repeating himself for the third time.
"Pop the damn hood!"
Glenn waved his hands around confused, "What? Okay okay. Yeah yeah yeah. Yeah yeah!"
"Is she okay?" Amy asked Glenn again who was still trying to help Shane, "Is she all right?"
Glenn manages to pop the hood open for Shane as he turns to Amy, "She's okay! She's okay!" Amy smiles in relief as Shane disconnects the battery, the alarm falling silent.
"Is she coming back?" Amy asked finally able to hear herself.
"Yes!"
"Why isn't she with you?" She questioned, "Where is she? She's okay?"
"Yes! Yeah, fine." Glenn told her again, "Everybody is. Well, Merle not so much."
Shane got up from the hood and looked at Glenn, "Are you crazy, driving this wailing bustard up here? Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?"
Glenn looked down at the dirt in guilt. Dale stepped up, "I think we're okay."
"You call being stupid okay?" Shane stated in anger.
"Well, the alarm was echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source." Dale responded, "I'm not arguing. I'm just saying. It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?"
"Sorry." Glenn whispered then smiled, "Got a cool car."
The rumble of a truck caught everyone's attention as it pulled up behind the sports car causing a slight cloud of dust. Morales grabbed his things. Everyone hopped out of the vehicle one by one. Indigo and Rick look at each other then at Morales and Andrea.
"Come meet everybody." He says before leaving them to follow when they're ready. Andrea follows behind Morales as they walk into camp. She sees her sister, both their faces break into relieved smiles.
"Amy."
"Andrea!" Amy squeals as she runs up to her older sister. They both hug eachother tight. Amy looks into her sisters eyes, "Oh my god! You scared the shit out of me."
Morales smiles as he sees his wife and children, they run to him in delight.
"Papi!" The kids yell together as they both run into his arms.
"Hey. Come here, sweetie." He told his children, "Hey. I told you I'd be back, didn't I?"
Carl watches them reunite as he looks down sadly. He missed his dad and wish he could have come back when the group returned. Shane looks at them softly knowing how they must be feeling.
Dale walks up to Morales smiling as he hugs him, "You are a welcome sight." They both laugh. "I thought we had lost you folks for sure."
"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked the group curiously.
"New guy...he got us out." Glenn responded repositioning his cap, "A kid too."
"New guy?" Shane questioned looking around but he hadn't seen any new faces.
"Yeah, crazy, Vato just got into town." Morales stated before looking back at the truck, "Hey, helicopter boy! Kid! Come say hello."
Rick hops down from the truck then lifts Indigo down before holding her hand.
"The guy's a cop like you."
Rick and Indigo walk up together, Shane being the first one to see them. His face turns to a look of awe. Carl and Lori turn to see the man they thought was gone forever.
Rick stopped in his tracks causing Indigo to look up at him in confusion, "Oh, my, God."
"What's wrong?" She asked him as she looks to see a boy and woman run towards them.
"Dad! Dad!" Carl calls out crying. Indigo watches as the boy slams into his fathers arms crying.
"Carl. Oh!" Rick laughs in the middle of disbelief. He kisses his sons cheek before approaching Lori. He brings them both into a hug as Indigo awkwardly stands there. Shane watches Rick in surprise but isn't as happy as he should be feigning a smile. Lori uneasily looks at him. Rick smiles at him as Shane smiles back. He turns to the small girl who was fiddling with the fur on her stuffed animal, "Carl, Lori, this is Indigo. She's going to stay with us."
Lori raised her brows at the small girl who looked up at them. Her dark blue eyes glowed up as Carl smiled, "Hi, Indigo."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"Disoriented. I guess that comes closest." Rick said quietly as the group sat around a camp fire. Indigo sat in between Andrea and Amy, "Disoriented. Fear, confusion...
all those things but...disoriented comes closest."
"Words can be meager things." Dale stated quietly, "Sometimes they fall short."
"I felt like I'd been ripped out of my life and put somewhere else." Rick told them, Indigo looked at the man who had saved her life in those woods that night, "For a while I thought I was trapped in some coma dream, something I might not wake up from ever."
"Mom said you died." Carl told his father in a slight whisper.
"She had every reason to believe that." Rick rubbed his sons back, "Don't you ever doubt it."
Indigo looked at Ricks wife, she looked sad as she spoke to Rick, "When things started to get really bad, they told me at the hospital that they were gonna medevac you and the other patients to Atlanta, and it never happened."
Rick sighed, "Well, I'm not surprised after Atlanta fell."
"Yeah." Lori responded.
"And from the look of that hospital, it got overrun." Rick said thinking back to walking though the rummage filled halls of the hospital.
"Yeah, looks don't deceive." Shane told him looking down slightly at the thought, "I barely got them out, you know?"
Rick looked at Shane appreciatively, "I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane. I can't begin to express it."
"There go those words falling short again." Dale spoke again, "Paltry things."
Shane's attention was caught by the flickers of higher flames coming from Ed's fire as he placed another log into it.
"Hey, Ed, you want to rethink that log?" Shane called out to him, the group quietened down.
"It's cold, man." Ed responded in annoyance.
"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane told the man sternly, "Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"
Ed didn't budge as both him and Shane had a stare down, "I said it's cold. You should mind your own business for once."
Shane got up from where he was sitting. Indigo watched him walk over to Ed's fire. The rest of the group watched on aswell as the tension raised.
"Hey, Ed...are you sure you want to have this conversation, man?"
"Go on." Ed stated daringly towards Shane, "Pull the damn thing out. Go on!"
Carol got up and walked over pulling out the log. Their daughter, Sophia, watching as the log flickers ashes everywhere.
"Christ." Shane says as he stomps the flames out. He looks up at Carol who seems uneasy by the situation.
"Hey, Carol, Sophia, how are y'all this evening? "
"Fine. We're just fine." Carol replies quietly.
"Okay."
"I'm sorry about the fire." She says as Shane smiles softly.
"No no no. No apology needed. Y'all have a good night, okay?"
"Thank you." She responds as they move back to where they were sitting.
"I appreciate the cooperation." He replies as he rejoins the group. Indigo catches eye contact with Shane, her eyes flickering away. She was so unsure of him and didn't understand why.
"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale all of a sudden asked, "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."
"I'll tell him." T-Dog said, "I dropped the key. It's on me."
Rick shook his head, "I cuffed him. That makes it mine."
"Guys, it's not a competition." Glenn stated, "I don't mean to bring race into this, but it might sound better coming from a white guy."
"I did what I did." T-Dog told the group peering into the flames, "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."
"We could lie." Amy said all of a sudden. Andrea looked at her sister.
"Or tell the truth. Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." She said, "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."
Dale scratched his beard, "And that's what we tell Daryl? I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you? Word to the wise...we're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."
T-Dog looked up in guilt his voice low, "I was scared and I ran. I'm not ashamed of it."
"We were all scared." Andrea told T-Dog sympathetically, "We all ran. What's your point?"
"I stopped long enough to chain that door. Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time." He told the group. Indigo remembered back to Merles face when they left him behind. He looked so scared, "It's not enough to break through that...not that chain, not that padlock. My point...Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof. That's on us."
~~~~~~~~~~~
Rick kneeled down placing the blanket over his son tucking him in.
"I found you, didn't I?"
"I love you, dad." Carl whispered. Indigo pretended to sleep in her cot on the opposite side of the tent. She couldn't help but miss her mother and fathers brace more then ever.
"I love you, Carl."
Rick kissed Carl on his forehead goodnight smiling. He got up joining Lori where their cots were. Indigo closed her eyes quickly as she listened to them talk amongst themselves.
"I found you both." He told Lori.
"Yeah."
"I knew I would." Rick smiled as Lori grinned.
"You're getting cocky now, a little bit." She said as he gestured shaking his head.
"No. No, I knew. Walking into our home, finding an empty house, both of you gone."
"I'm so sorry." Lori apologised.
"I knew you were alive." Rick repeated again.
"How?" Lori asked.
Rick smiled softly, "The photos were gone, all our family albums."
She chuckled grabbing one of them on her side of the cot. He grinned at her.
"I told you so." He told her.
"Now you're getting cocky, huh?"
Rick flicks through some of the photos with Lori from Carl's last birthday. He handed the photo to her from his squad car. He had carried it everywhere with him.
"It belongs here." He says as she takes it.
"Baby, I really thought I would never see you again. I'm so sorry...for everything." Lori cried into Ricks chest, "I feel like...when you were in the hospital, I just...I wanted to take it all back...the anger and the bad times. But the mistakes..."
Rick kissed her as she sniffled, "Maybe we got a second chance. Not many people get that."
Rick looks at her fixing her brunette hair behind her ear as he notices his wedding ring on her necklace.
"I wondered where that went." He said smiling as she looked at it.
"Do you want it back?" She asked as he smiled.
"Of course."
Lori takes it off her necklace as she slips it onto Ricks ring finger. They both look at each other before Lori peers at the girl.
"Where'd you find her?" She asked as he looked at the sleeping girl.
"She was all alone in an abandoned car out in the woods." He responded, "I couldn't just leave her there."
"I'm glad you didn't. She deserves more then any of this. So does Carl."
The couple smile at eachother as they kiss each other. Lori turns out the lantern as Rick looks over at the two sleeping children.
"They won't wake up."