metanoia , daryl dixon (rewriting)

nineteen.

after the inital shock of seeing his brother's severed hand, daryl turned quickly, catching everybody off guard as he pointed his crossbow at t-dog. rick moved quickly and aimed his python at daryl's head in return, "i won't hesitate, i don't care if every walker in the city hears it." rick muttered, glaring at daryl as silas slowly stepped closer, his hand slowly reaching for the pistol at his hip.

daryl seemed to think it through before finally lowering his crossbow with a huff, "you got a durag or something?" he asked, staring down at the hand once more. t-dog handed daryl a durag and the group watched in mild disgust as daryl picked merle's hand up by a finger, bringing it closer to his face to examine it. "guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs" silas muttered, standing behind daryl and staring at the hand with slight amusement. "yeah, ain't that a bitch." daryl muttered, wrapping the hand up before standing and motioning for glenn to turn, placing it into his backpack as glenn grimaced in discomfort.

"dumbass must have used a tourniquet, maybe his belt" silas observed, keeping his eyes on the ground, "be much more blood if he didn't." daryl added, agreeing with the taller man and beginning to follow him as he eyed the trail of blood left behind. "merle? you in here?" daryl called, the group now being in a building. silas had moved so he now stood near the back, with glenn and t-dog. they momentarily stopped as daryl swiftly took down a walker.

"had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. one handed, toughest asshole i ever met, my brother. feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." daryl muttered, eyeing the dead walkers that laid out before him, having been taken down by merle. "any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." rick said, slightly speeding up to daryl's pace, who let out a frustrated huff at his words.

"merle!" daryl called again, looking around for any signs of merle as the group advanced, "we're not alone here, remember?" rick asked, reminding daryl of how careful they needed to be. the dixon only scoffed, shooting the man a side eyed glare, "screw that, he could be bleeding out. you said so yourself" he muttered bitterly before continuing further.

they were now approaching another room and as daryl reached it, he froze, bringing a hand up to his nose, "what's that burnt stuff?" glenn asked, looking at something in disgust. from behind him, silas sniffed the air with a grimace, "burnt skin?" he asked. this was confirmed as the other four men stared at stove in disgust. "man, the fact you can recognize the smell of burnt skin concerns me" t-dog said, side-eyeing silas and shifting around in mild discomfort.

"he cauterized the stump." rick muttered, staring at the burnt skin in disgust. he poked at the discarded belt and turned to the rest. "told you he was tough. nobody can kill merle but merle." daryl said, slightly smirking at rick, who placed his hands on his hips. "don't take that on faith. he's lost a lot of blood." the grimes said back as silas approached the window off to the side with a scoff. "yeah? didn't stop him from busting out of this shit hole." he said, motioning to the broken window.

daryl rushed to his side, not caring that their sides were pressed together as he poked his head out of the window, hoping to catch a glimpse of his brother but there was no sign of him. "he left the building? why the hell would he do that?" glenn asked, voice is full of shock as he glanced at the broken window from where he stood. "why wouldn't he? he's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. surviving."

"you call that surviving? just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? what are his odds out there?" t-dog asked, staring at daryl with wide eyes, "no worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. you couldn't kill him. ain't so worried about some dumb dead bastard." daryl ground out, shooting the men glares as his face turned red in anger. "what about a thousand dead dumb bastards? different story?" rick, the peacemaker, was quick to step in, taking daryl's attention off t-dog.

"why don't you take a tally? do what you want. i'm gonna go get him." daryl scoffed, taking a step toward the door but being stopped by rick, "daryl, wait" the man said, his hand on daryl's chest to keep him in place. this seemed to anger daryl more as he shoved rick's hand off himself. "get your hands off me! you can't stop me." he screamed out, shoving rick harshly.

"i don't blame you. he's family, i get that. i went through hell to find mine. i know exactly how you feel. he can't get far with that injury. we could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." rick spoke, looking down at daryl in hopes of calming him down. it seemed to work as daryl relaxed after a couple of minutes, "i could do that." the man nodded, exhaling as he tried to calm himself down. 

"only if we get those guns first. i'm not strolling the streets of atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" t-dog spoke up, rick and daryl's attention now on him and glenn, who stood side by side as glenn nodded in agreement and silas hummed from where he still stood by the window.

words; 961

authors note;
summer is kicking my ass, i need to look for a job but im so nervous😭 pls i NEED money