Between Arrows and Hearts - Daryl Dixon

With great power comes great responsibility

By the time they reached the rooftop, Cass was already out of breath. She leaned against a vent, silently cursing her lack of stamina. She really need to start doing more cardio if she wanted to survive.

"Dixon, are you crazy?" Morales yelled, his voice sharp and cutting through the tension.

Merle laughed, the kind of laugh that made Cass's stomach twist. He didn't seem to care about the walkers gathering below, as if risking everyone's lives was just another joke to him. "Hey! 'Ya oughta be more polite to a man with a gun." He said with a mocking smirk, gesturing to his rifle. "Only common sense."

"Man, you're wasting bullets we don't even have!" T-Dog protested, stepping closer. "And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass!"

Cass shifted uncomfortably. She knew T-Dog was right, but confronting Merle like this didn't feel like the smartest move. Merle wasn't exactly known for his calm and cooperative nature.

"Hey! Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day," Merle sneered, pointing at Morales. "Now I'm supposed to take orders from you?"

Cass rolled her eyes at the insult. Of course, he had to drag racism into this. 

"I don't think so, bro," Merle continued, stepping closer to T-Dog. "That'll be the day."

The tension crackled like static in the air. Cass could feel it in her chest, the weight of what was coming next.

"That'll be the day," T-Dog repeated, his voice low and dangerous. "You got something you wanna tell me?"

"Hey, T-Dog, man, just leave it," Morales cut in, his voice calm but firm. Cass admired his patience. Morales always seemed to know when to step back for the sake of the group. Even when Merle's insults hit close to home, Morales managed to hold it together.

But Merle wasn't backing down. He just kept smirking at T-Dog, taunting him, pushing him closer to the edge.

Rick glanced at Cass and Glenn, as if silently asking if he should step in. Glenn gave him a small shake of his head, signaling to stay out of it. 

Then things spiraled fast. Merle threw out a slur, and T-Dog snapped. He swung at Merle, but Dixon dodged effortlessly and retaliated, slamming his shotgun against T-Dog's jaw. Rick tried to intervene, but Merle's punch landed square on his nose, knocking him to the ground. If she wasn't totally worried about what was about to happen, Cass would have laughed. 

Well, that contribution ended as quickly as it began.

Everyone rushed forward, trying to break up the fight. But Merle wasn't done. He kicked T-Dog to the ground and started wailing on him. Cass's heart raced. If no one stops him, T-Dog's gonna get seriously hurt.

Then she saw it. Merle pulling a gun and pointing it at T-Dog. Her stomach dropped. 

She looked around frantically and spotted the bat Morales had left by the wall. Without giving herself time to overthink, she grabbed it and decided to hit him, hopefully hard enough to knock him out, but not hurt him that much. Her pulse pounded in her ears as she approached Merle from behind.

He was too busy ranting about some ridiculous vote to notice her. Cass caught Rick's eye as he slowly got to his feet. He gave her a small nod, as if to say he had the same plan. She was about to drop the bat and let the sheriff handle it, but Merle turned to her and she panicked.

She swung the bat with all her strength, her eyes squeezing shut just before impact.

Merle crumpled to the ground. Rick quickly seized the moment, pinning him and cuffing him to the pipes.