S u r v i v o r s [ Daryl Dixon ]

Chapter 3

We made it to the roof without much trouble. Daryl ran towards the ramp and almost immediately I heard his trembling voice. I glanced at Glenn and involuntarily reached for his hand. I had to make sure he was there. He smiled as if he saw all my fear and uncertainty. Only after that I dared to get closer to Daryl, but I didn't see the body I expected. A severed man's hand lay on the ground.

"What the fuck" I whispered.

My voice seemed to sober Daryl as he stood up and in a smooth motion pointed the crossbow at T-Dog.

"Woah" I put my hands up defensively as I realized I was almost in the line of fire again. I heard the sound of a gun being cocked, and I was sure it was Rick's.

"I won't hesitate. I don't care if every Walker in the city hears it."

Daryl thought for a moment, then lowered his gun. Glenn was right next to me, and I read "psycho" from the movement of his lips.

"You got a do-rag or something?" Daryl asked us and T-dog handed him one and Daryl picked up Merle's hand that is already decaying.

"I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch."

He put the hand in Glenn's backpack. I saw how green my brother became.

"He must have used a tourniquet... maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't."

I saw the bloodstains and lightly tapped Daryl on the arm showing them to him. He nodded to let me know he saw them too. We started down the stairs re-entering the shop when a stray Walker appeared. Without thinking, Daryl shot an arrow straight at his head and we saw another two dead Walkers.

"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."

"Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is."

"Merle!"

His scream was an odd contrast to how quietly we had crept a moment ago.

"We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick hissed.

"Screw that. He could be bleeding out. You said so yourself."

I saw that Rick wanted to say something, so I did it first.

"Daryl, we'll find him, but let's stick to our rules. Quiet comes first, okay?"

He glanced at me but just as quickly looked away with a nod. I looked behind me, straight at Rick, trying to tell him with just a glance that this was not the best time to annoy anyone.

We entered the kitchen, and on one of the countertops we saw a Merle belt and with it some strange black thing.

"What's that burned stuff?" asked Daryl.

"Skin. He cauterized the stump." said Rick.

"Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

I looked at Glenn who, like me, didn't know how to react to this comment.

"Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." said Rick.

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap."

"He left the building?" asked Glenn. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"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?" asked T-Dog. "Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?"