Rick shook his head, crossing his arms. "It won't work."
"It's gotta." Daryl said, mirroring his stance.
"It'll stir things up." Rick insisted.
Daryl huffed, they were wasting time. He, Rick, Glenn, and Maggie had been going back and forth for the past ten minutes about what to do with Merle. In Daryl's eyes it was simple, take Merle back to the prison with them and deal with the tension it would cause until it eventually fizzled out. Clearly, the others felt differently.
"Look, The Governor is probably on his way back to the prison right now." Daryl reasoned. "Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle."
"I'm not havin' him at the prison." Maggie said simply.
Glenn spoke up from beside her. "Do you really want him sleepin' in the same cell block as Lauren? Or Carol or Beth?"
Daryl scoffed. "Lauren shared a camp with us weeks before we found y'all, she'll be fine. Besides he ain't a rapist."
"Yeah, well his buddy is." Glenn spat out.
Daryl didn't even have time to process what Glenn was insinuating, he was too focused on defending his brother. "They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night."
Rick glanced at Merle, who was sitting a few yards away with his head in his hands. No doubt his head was throbbing after the pistol whip Rick gave him. "There's no way Merle is gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats."
"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring The Last Samurai home with us?" Daryl rolled his eyes, gesturing towards Michonne who was leaning against the SUV out of earshot. The thought was so ridiculous to him. They didn't trust Merle but they trusted this random chick with a sword?
Rick shook his head "She's not coming back."
"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie said. Daryl's eyes narrowed at her. She was completely against Merle coming back with them but here she was jumping to advocate for a total stranger.
"She did bring you guys to us." Maggie said.
Daryl rolled his eyes. "And then ditched us."
"At least let my dad stitch her up." She reasoned.
Rick shook his head. "She's too unpredictable."
"That's right. We don't know who she is." Daryl agreed. "But Merle, Merle's blood."
Glenn huffed. "No, Merle is your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison."
Daryl fell silent for a moment as he thought of everyone back at the prison. Lauren, Carol, Little Ass kicker...
"And you're part of that family." Glenn continued. "But he's not. He's not."
"Man, y'all don't know." Daryl huffed. "Fine. We'll fend for ourselves."
"That's not what I was saying." Glenn pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration.
"No him, no me." Daryl muttered.
Maggie furrowed her eyebrows. "Daryl, you don't have to do that."
Daryl shrugged. "It was always Merle and I before this."
Glenn shook his head in disbelief. "You're serious? You're just gonna leave like that?"
"You'd do the same thing." Daryl sighed, knowing it was true. If Maggie or even Lauren were in the position Merle was in, Glenn would stick by them.
