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“DARYL!”
“No!”
Jacqui’s shout was full of horror and heartbreak, but it was Merle’s scream that shook Dale to the core. He had been distrustful of the two brothers when they joined the group and he still could not claim to have much faith in them, especially when it came to the older of the two. However, only two days after a herd of walkers had attacked their convoy and took poor Jim and Ed Peletier, several members of their group again faced mortal danger, when four walkers appeared out of nowhere advancing the two children that had sat together at the edge of their camp.
Daryl had been the first to move, dispatching of one walker with an arrow and another with a knife plunged into its skull before the rest of the group could properly reach their weapons. He then roughly grabbed Carl and pushed him to safety into his mother’s arms. Sophia on the other hand flinched at his sudden movement, rearing back straight into the walker’s arm.
“No!” Daryl had shouted stepping between the girl and the walker. He had then kicked the walking corpse sharply, which caused it to stumble, while the archer held Sophia close turning her away from the danger. That, in turn, exposed his back for just a second, and that…
“Oh my God, he was bit!” exclaimed T-Dog. “Shit!”
After Rick dispatched of one and Shane took care of the other walker, their guns were still out, pointed toward but not directly at Daryl. The sound of a loaded gun had everyone turn toward Merle. He may be handicapped due to his foot injury, but in this moment, Dale would not have been surprised if he had sprinted over to his brother’s side on bloody stumps.
“Step away from my baby brother, officers,” growled Merle. He sounded utterly devastated.
“Merle,” muttered Daryl quietly, but was interrupted.
“Shut up,” said the older man, sounding even rougher than usual. “I ain’t gonna let you turn into one of these things.”
“Yeah, no shit, I fuckin’ hope so, but I ain’t bit,” replied Daryl, annoyed. “I mean, it bit me, but the teeth didn’t penetrate the leather.” He gestured at his shirt and leather vest with angel wings.
“We’ve got to make sure of that,” said Shane. “Take it off.”
“Fuck off!” hissed Daryl, taking two steps back, glaring at Shane, while somehow still avoiding direct eye contact by side-eyeing him.
“What did I say about you bastard touching him?” asked Merle, now pointing his gun at Shane’s head.
That was the moment Jacqui decided to step right into the middle of the situation, which caused Dale’s heart to skip a beat in honest fear. “Stop! Just-stop. Daryl, please, I trust you, but when they bite, they bite hard. We need to make sure it didn’t damage your skin. Whatever makes them what they are, a scratch is enough for a terrible infection.” Tears started to well up in her eyes and Daryl’s expression crumbled.
“Ain’t exposing my back to you assholes,” he muttered, not looking at anyone in the group.
“Show it to me,” said Merle.
“Oh, hell no!” exclaimed T-Dog. “He’d probably lie to help his brother out.”
“We made a pact,” interjected Daryl. “We get bit, we take care of it ourselves, and if we can’t, we do it for each other. He wouldn’t lie.”
“Still…” said Shane doubtfully.
Daryl then looked at Jacqui before studying the ground intensely.
“You,” he muttered, visibly unhappy.
He then turned to face the rest of the group as he ripped his vest off with erratic movements, making sure to cover his upper body in the process. He looked exceedingly uncomfortable and Dale felt sympathy for him, although he had no idea what could distress the man in such a manner. Merle predictably ignored his brother’s wishes and followed Jacqui to take a look at his brother’s back. Daryl’s shoulders were so tense, it looked painful, yet that was nothing compared to the expression on the faces of Jacqui and Merle. Dale’s heart sank and he felt a chill run down his spine.
Merle’s entire expression crumbled before he stammered, “I-I-didn’t know, he-“
“Yeah, well, no bite then,” was the younger brother’s harsh reply, his voice hoarse and pained, while he desperately put his shirt back on.
“No,” said Jacqui, her facial expression back under control and Dale wondered what on Earth they could have possibly seen to look so disturbed. “All clean. No indentation, though it could bruise.”
Merle had not recovered yet. The overly confident, abrasive redneck still looked devastated and only when he realized that Dale was watching him, he began to glare and looked at him challengingly. That broke the spell of the horrific experience.
Carol thanked Daryl for saving her little girl, which was returned with a brash grunt, and the rest of the group carefully skimmed the nearby woods to make sure there were no additional stragglers. After that, Rick suggested they should take a breather before continuing their journey. Dale briefly addressed Jacqui to find out what she had seen, but the woman simply shook her head in response.
“I know you mean well, but it doesn’t concern the group.”
“Is he okay?” he asked, worried.
“Yes,” said she and that was all she said, not revealing anything about whatever had brought forth that expression on her face. She did not treat Daryl differently, though the man was grumpier in her presence during the break and for the better part of the day until she faced him straight on, and said something to Daryl, her voice low but sharp. Whatever she said, it was enough to make Daryl snort and turn away from her, looking more relaxed than he had all day.
It was only in the evening when Dale finally noticed the silence. Merle had barely made a comment ever since Daryl had saved Sophia. He wondered if it had to do with whatever was on Daryl’s back, or because seeing his brother in peril had caused him to reconsider their situation.
“So, which one of you cocksuckers and pussies know how to handle a gun?” he asked, and Dale – who had just thought that he might even miss the man’s crass humor – quickly decided that he preferred the silence.
“Not in front of the children, please,” said Lori in a sharp tone.
“Sorry to burst your bubble, Mrs. Officer Pansy, but your kid’s going to face much worse than my foul mouth,” said Merle. “In fact, he and the girl are the reason Daryl nearly died toda-“
“Enough,” said Rick roughly. “That’s enough, Merle. Daryl, thank you, for protecting the children. I haven’t had the opportunity to say so yet, but your actions were brave and impressive. None of us could have done half of what you did, which is why Merle is right. We do need up our game quickly. We cannot practice any shooting before we’re at a safe place because the noise will attract walkers, but we should definitely learn how to defend ourselves and on our next supply run, we have to acquire more silent weapons such knives, hooks, bats, etc. Every man and every woman in this group has to learn how to defend themselves and from now on, Carl and Sophia cannot go anywhere alone.”
“I can learn to fight, too, Dad,” protested Carl.
“No way,” said Rick, echoed by Lori in the same breath.
“Could teach him how to climb a tree and how to run, though,” said Merle. He looked impassive, but Dale noticed that he seemed unusually unwilling to yell today. “Can’t protect him forever.” That statement seemed to weigh on the older Dixon’s mind, and Dale wondered what he had missed.
Conversation was sparse as everyone was contemplating their current situation. Amy was talking to Andrea quietly and Carol had barely managed to let go off Sophia, too afraid to lose her.
“Hope I didn’t hurt you,” muttered Daryl, his statement aimed at Carl who was sitting in between his parents. “Didn’t mean to scare you.”
“I wasn’t scared-“ protested the boy before reconsidering. “I mean-I was, but not of you. Thank you.”
Daryl grunted and looked away from Carl’s serene expression, which might as well have been reflected on his father’s face. With a bang, Dale realized that this child would never have the possibility to be a kid. The world they had known was dying, and Dale had the distinct feeling that, unlike the walkers, it would not return from its resting place.
“We should arrive at Fort Benning tomorrow,” said Shane. “There we’ll be able to get some shelter, food, and we’ll be safe enough to regroup.”
“If it still stands,” muttered T-Dog.
“Never thought I’d say it in my lifetime, but I agree with Jocko here,” drawled Merle causing everyone to look at him disapprovingly. Of course, he ignored the silent reproof. “There’s a good chance Fort Benning’s dead. Or not so dead. What do we do then? How do we even approach it? There ain’t no way we get through Columbus without problems.”
“These are good points, actually,” said Andrea. “What is our contingency plan? We can’t walk into this blindly.”
“Oh, thanks for backing me up, sugar-tits,” smiled Merle, and it could almost be called charming if he simply chose not to open his mouth. “How about we meet later-“
“Any ideas?” asked Rick before any lewd comment left the older man’s lips.
“One thing after another,” sneered Merle. “Basic questions first: Where are we? And, no, I’m not talking about our exact location, dumbass,” he interrupted Shane before he could open his mouth. “What is our status? What do we want? How do we get there? If you don’t know, let me summarize: you are a group of cocksuckers, pussies and children who survived by mere chance and because my busted leg forced us into your merry band of idiots. The Asian brainiac’s got a head for strategy, but you still ain’t asking him what he thinks. You want shelter, and Fort Benning’s the easy way that hundreds if not thousands of people smarter than you already thought of and headed for, meaning it’s probably overrun at this point. So, how do we get what we want? Looking for one of ‘em farm houses or some abandoned town up a hill. Something defensible either with provisions or near a place providing that. Build a real shelter to protect us from the dead, and worse.”
“What could be worse?” asked Glenn, sounding intimidated.
“’Em are drones, chinaman. They follow instinct: they see you, they come to eat you, unless ‘nother potential meal’s closer. They don’t feel fear, they don’t stop, they don’t sleep. Yeh wonder why I know Fort Benning’s overrun? ‘Cause humans do, all three of ‘em things. Our military faces what no human foe could ever be: an enemy dedicated to total war.” You could have heard a pin drop from that assessment. “On the other hand, all ‘em walkers want, is your life. Simple enough. Give or take a coupla months and years, humans will be so much worse. We may not go for total war, but we go for everythin’ else, destroyin’ each other for big and small reasons. The dead are walkin’, comin’ after our flesh, but us humans, we’ll be the ones to rip each other apart.”
Heavy silence followed that statement and Dale was impressed against all odds. He knew Merle was clever – he would be far less annoying if he did not have the smarts to back up his big mouth – but this assessment, however bleak, spoke volumes about Merle Dixon. He was not a good person in the traditional sense of the word being neither kind or decent or sociable or caring, but the kind awareness he had just displayed, it gave you a conscience, a code of honor. The Dixon brothers had a code, that much was clear to Dale now.
For the first time since they joined, he hoped they would stay in the group even after Merle was good to go. The group needed men with principle in this crazy world. Yes, Daryl’s temper was hair-trigger and he was unpredictable, and the less said about Merle’s mouth and actions the better, but they understood this new world on a level the others did not. They could help protect the weaker members of the group and could help the timid ones like Glenn to stand up for themselves and others.
He glanced at Shane’s balled fist.
Yes, Dale hoped the Dixon brothers would stick around. They were not pleasant people, but he doubted either of them would let any member of the group come to harm by outsiders. It was more than he trusted Walsh to do.