Cowboy

49) Merle

Rick marched towards Alicia and Daryl as they walked out into the courtyard. "It's off." He said hurriedly. "We'll take our chances."

Alicia smiled. She was glad Rick backed out on giving up Michonne.

"I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl nodded.

Alicia noticed how Rick looked off, his eyebrows furrowed. "What's wrong?" She asked.

He breathed heavily. "I can't find Merle or Michonne, they've gone."

Alicia and Daryl shared a look. He grabbed her hand, pulling her with him. "Cmon."

They ran into the room with all the generators and power system. "He was in here." Daryl said, looking around. "Said he was looking for drugs." He looked at Alicia. "Said a lot of things actually..."

She furrowed her brows, deciding to ignore that comment for the time being. "Like what?" Rick asked.

"Said that you were gonna change your mind." Daryl kneeled down, spotting something on the floor. "Here we go."

"He took her." Alicia sighed.

"Damn it!" Rick groaned.  They walked back into the cell blocks. "I'm going after him." Rick said.

"You can't track for shit." Daryl scoffed.

"Then the both of us." He countered.

"The three of us."

"Naw." Daryl shook his head, looking at Alicia. "Just me. I said I'll go, and I'll go. Plus they're gonna come back here, you need to be ready." He nodded to Rick. "You're family too."

Alicia scoffed following him out the door. "Hey!" She yelled. "Hey!" She stopped walking. "Daryl Dixon!"

He turned to face her, chewing on his bottom lip. "Yeah?"

"I'm coming with you."

He shook his head. "No. You need to stay here."

She walked up to him, shoving her finger in his chest. "You ran off on me once. You're sure as fucking hell not about to do it again."

"Ali-"

"It not up for discussion."

He watched as she popped the collar of his leather jacket. She still hadn't given it back. She hopped on the back of his motorcycle waiting impatiently for him to join her.

He stood there, his brows furrowed as he watched her. She rolled her eyes. "Fine." She started up the bike, kicking the kickstand back up.

She revved it up, driving forwards a few feet. He was at her side instantly. "No ma'am." He climbed onto the back. "You can drive but not without me."

She smiled to herself. "That's what I thought."

Daryl eyes widened as they sped off, his wife giving it as much gas as possible. "Since when can you ride?!" He yelled over the engine.

"My dad taught me!" She yelled back. "Where we going?!"

"The place Rick and the governor met up!"

—————
Alicia and Daryl pulled up to the old barn. She shut off the engine, pulling down the kickstand.

"That was fun." She grinned, sliding off the seat.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "I didn't know you could ride."

She winked at him, sauntering away. "There's a lot you don't know about me."

She walked around the barn, comping up on a walker eating someone. She shot it, her silencer muffling the sound.

Daryl joined her, the two of them following the trail of dead bodies. They came to another walker. Daryl shot it this time, watching as it fell forward.

Alicia kept walking until she noticed Daryl had stopped. She looked back to find him staring at something.

She followed his gaze to find Merle. Except it wasn't Merle... it was simply his dead body. He was a walker.

Alicia's heart dropped as she looked to her husband. She could see his lip quivering and how he fought back tears.

Merle stood up, walking towards him. He dropped his bow, pushing him away. "No!"

Alicia wanted to step in. She wanted to put Merle down and comfort Daryl. But she knew he had to do it on his own. He had to be the one to kill him.

He pushed him again, sending him spinning around. This time Daryl drew his knife, stabbing him in the shoulder and pushing him to the ground.

She watched as he stabbed him in the head repeatedly, breathing heavily with each time. A tear fell down her face as he collapsed onto the ground.

He breathed heavily, tears streaming down his face. It was the first time Alicia had ever seen Daryl Dixon actually cry.

And she never wanted to see it again.

She cried silently as she pulled him into her lap. He clung onto her shirt, his tears soaking through the fabric. She held him tightly against her chest, trying her hardest to let him know she was there.

She didn't cry for Merle. His death didn't hurt her. She cried for her husband. Seeing him like this made her head spin and her chest burn.

It felt like someone was taking a hot iron and burning her as she felt Daryl shake in her arms. Seeing him in this much pain made her ache to fix him. It made her want to bring Merle back just so he would be ok again.

But she couldn't. She couldn't do anything but sit here and hold him. And she did that. She held onto him as tight as she could, and he held onto her just as strong.

"I love you." She said. "I love you Daryl. I love you." She repeated herself. He looked up at her, his face red and tear stained.

"I can't do this."