A Broken World

Twelve

"He's not here!" I called. They came down the steps from the little walkway to the stairs and looked at me. Rick came over and knelt down in front of me. "Are you alright?" He asked. "Yeah. I think u might have a concussion, though," I said. Daryl stormed over and pointed his crossbow in my face. "What the fuck did ya do to him?!" He yelled. I looked up at him with a blank expression. "Either shoot me or get that fucking thing out of my face." Rick stepped between us and looked at him. "We don't kill the living," he said.

Daryl lowered the bow and walked over to T-Dog. "You got a durag or something?" He asked. T looked at him, pulled out a bandanna, and handed it to him. Daryl bent down in front of Merle's severed hand, picked it up, and placed it on the bandanna, then stood up and put it in Glenn's backpack. "What happened?" Rick asked me.

"Well, after you guys left, walkers started to push against the door, so I killed as many as I could while trying to get Merle to calm down. I didn't have my cuffs on me so I told him I was going to go to the precinct, which is only like six blocks away. I told him to just sit tight and to try and keep quiet and out of sight as much as possible. Then I left out that other door." I gestured to the other door on the other side.

"I did as I said I was going to do. I made it to the precinct and found a pair of handcuff keys. Then I gathered what I could that was still there from when Glenn found me. We weren't able to take it all, so we left it there. It was just starting to get dark so I decided to risk it and started making my way back. I had to fight a little more than I did on the way but nothing I couldn't handle. I wasn't gone for more than maybe four or five hours. When I got back and opened the door, Merle rushed me. Slammed me into the wall then proceeded to knock my head against it a few times until I blacked out."

I looked up at Daryl who was glaring at me. "I tried to save your worthless ass brother. Won't make that mistake again. Now I have a concussion, accompanied by a pounding headache, nausea, and dizziness. Oh, and my head was fucking bleeding too. So fuck him, I hope he dies out there" I told him. He didn't say anything for a few minutes, opting to just glare at me through squinted eyes. "Don't blame 'em for not trustin' ya! You turned on us before!"

I rolled my eyes and slowly stood up with Rick's help. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked. "Yeah, I'll be fine. Just need to get off this damn roof." We followed the blood trail that Merle left in his wake. Rick was going on how there was a lot of blood and Daryl went on saying how Merle was tough and nothing could kill him. "He's not wrong. Merle is a stubborn asshole. He used his belt as a tourniquet. Which means that helped slow the blood down some. He could have gotten out of here if he found something to press against the wound."

"Even the strongest man can die from blood loss," Rick said. I nodded, "You're right. But trust me, Rick, Merle Dixon is not one of those men. I've seen him survive a hell of a lot worse." We followed the blood through the building. He had gone the way I went but then turned, which led us into a kitchen area.

His belt was on the counter and one of those flatteners that you use to push down on a burger was laying there with burners still on. "What is that burned stuff?" Glenn asked. "Skin," Rick and I said simultaneously. "He craterized the wound," Rick told him. Daryl was standing by the window. "Told ya my brother was tough. He was able to get out of this death trap." Looking over at him I saw that the window was broken. Merle had gone down the fire escape and out into the infested city.

"This wouldn't have happened if you didn't drip the damn key!" Daryl yells, pointing a finger at T-Dog. Then he turns to me, face screwed up in anger. "Don't even think about blaming me, Dixon! None of us are at fault. If your brother wasn't so out of fucking control all the damn time, then we wouldn't be in this situation. I stayed back for you! I stayed back with that asshole because I know what he means to you! Because I still fucking care for some God only knows why reason!" His face softens just the tiniest bit and doesn't say anything.

Then Rick offers him a deal. We would look for Merle but he needed to be quiet and corporate. T-Dog said he would help only if we got the bag of guns Rick had dropped by the tank when he came into the city. Daryl agreed and we were now in one of the offices. Glenn was on the floor, he had drawn a map of the block, with a marker on the floor. He used an eraser, a clip, and I balled up post-it to show where everything was.

Rick and T-Dog would be in an alley a block or two away just in case he needed to change directions; he was going to be the one running for the bag. Daryl and I would be in the alley closest to where the tank is. Daryl had a crossbow, it was silent. Glenn trusted that I would have his back if need be. We all went to our assigned spots and got ready. Glenn was with Daryl and I, hiding behind a dumpster. "Got some balls for a chinaman," Daryl said. I rolled my eyes and looked at him. "He's Korean."

"Whatever." Glenn nodded to be before he left the alley to go after the bag. Daryl and I stood in silence. I had taken my t-shirt off and shoved it in my bag, so now I was only wearing a tank-top. Daryl kept glancing at my right shoulder. I knew he was looking at the scar that was there. There was one in the front and the back.

"It's a bullet wound. I was shot two years ago by some drug addict, who murdered his girlfriend. Kept saying it wasn't her. That it was a demon that took over her body. He shot me because he saw the demon when he looked at me. Fucker was high out of his damn mind. I got lucky that it went all the way through, but I had to do physical therapy for six months."

He didn't say anything, he didn't have the chance because someone was yelling. Daryl stepped out and slammed him against the brick wall. He continued to yell someone's name and Daryl covered his mouth. Glenn came running back into the alley when two guys came running up on us. We tried to fight them off, Daryl shooting an arrow into one of the guys' ass before they took off, taking Glenn with them and leaving their guy with us.