Torn Apart • TWD

Chapter 23 - tip of his ear

"Son of a bitch!" Merle bellows as he slams the car door shut behind him, leaving Martinez to place the girl's unconscious body in the back seat.

His hand is cautiously prodding at his ear, the man had thought he dodged the bullet she sent his way, but apparently not enough since there is a small piece of his ear missing.

The stinging pain gave him the urge to leave the girl to the dead, but then that would probably be giving her what she wanted. Merle just hopes the Governor will permit him to take a few swings at the girl for taking the tip of his ear away.

Neither of the two men had expected the kid to do that, and if his ear wasn't dripping blood down his neck and constantly ringing then he would've laughed at her sudden outburst of violence, and if she had shot at Martinez instead then Merle would've roared as she did for ten minutes straight, but sadly for him the girl knew who the bigger threat was and took her chance at eliminating it so she could run.

Martinez closes the door of the backseat with the child sprawled over it, a thin line of blood has dried down the side of her face from the powerful hit she got from the metal substituting for the man's hand. Her bags and weapons have been thrown into the boot, along with another more thorough search for any weapons hidden on her body. Martinez just knows Merle will be bitching the whole ride about how he hadn't noticed the gun since he had a good view of the front of her body.

The man hops in the car and turns on the engine, he doesn't much care for his companion's injury, in fact, he believes the asshole mildly deserved to be shot in the face, but he is concerned about what will happen to the child. Knowing their boss and his love for children, he doubts she will be put in the same building where they place the prisoners, but she will probably have a guard of some sort to stop her from pulling a stunt like that again.

Shooting Merle could be blamed on panic, that it was just a spur-of-the-moment action based on fear of the unknown and what will happen to her and her father. The man is certain that the Governor will assume the same and be lenient given her age, no matter how much Merle will most likely push for punishment.

"The fuck the girl tell ya?" Merle grunts as he readjusts the metal encasing his arm that had become loose after thumping it on her head. Martinez had assumed the man wouldn't have listened throughout the entire conversation.

"She and her dad are looking for her mother," he begins to rehash, he is talking louder than usual, knowing his acquaintance is probably noise sensitive at the moment. With one hand on the wheel and the other sitting on his knee, he glances back at the girl to see her looking rather peaceful when her hair is hiding the blood. "She doesn't know his name, but hers is Vega Simpson."

"What? Like Vegas?" Merle asks in a gruff voice while the man merely shrugs, not much caring for her name and any similarities it has with the city. "An' people call me bad, I don't name kids after prostitutes an' gamblin'," he mutters while Martinez just rolls his eyes.

"Didn't you name a dog Shitface?" The man points out with a half smile knowing he's right, and Merle just mutters under his breath at the claim. "She told me her mother's name is Lori and a vague description of her," he takes a sip from the bottle of water sitting in the cup holder before continuing, "I told her she was in Woodbury, but the kid had given me a shit description," he is still rather miffed the child had managed to trick him into revealing his lies.

"That why she was fuckin' gigglin' for so goddamn long? She drew 'bout twenty of the dead fucks," he motions to the new blood on his shirt covering the old ones, "You're welcome by the way," he finishes sarcastically.

Martinez just rolls his eyes at the man and the two sit in silence for the next while, with the driver occasionally glancing at the child in the back. With Merle's ear painfully ringing and Martinez's hate of hearing his voice, it works out perfectly.