A Broken World

Fifty-Four

Daryl

The smoke clung to my skin, thick and choking. My lungs burned as I followed YN through the chaos, Merle close on my heels. The ring, the crowd, the snarling walkers—it was all a blur now, but the weight of it pressed heavy in my chest.

Merle was alive. After all this time, after all the hell we’d been through, he was here. But the brother I remembered? The one I’d thought I’d lost? He wasn’t standing next to me.

We made it out of Woodbury, the heat of the Georgia sun beating down on us as we finally stopped to catch our breath. Everyone else was quiet, except Rick.

“He’s not coming with us,” Rick growled, pointing at Merle like he was some kind of rabid animal.

Merle smirked, crossing his arms. “Didn’t ask for an invite, did I?”

Rick stepped closer, his voice rising. “You’re dangerous. You’re the reason Glenn and Maggie were taken. You’re not coming back with us.”

Glenn’s voice cut in, sharp and full of anger. “He tortured us. Do you even understand that? He beat the hell out of me. Threatened Maggie.”

Maggie nodded, her jaw tight. “We barely got out of there because of him.”

“Enough!” I barked, stepping between them. “He’s my brother.”

“And that’s supposed to mean something to us?” Glenn shot back, his face red with fury.

“It means I ain’t leaving him behind!” My voice cracked, louder than I intended.

The weight of all their stares settled on me, heavy and accusing. I looked at Merle, who stood there like none of this fazed him. Same old Merle. But it wasn’t the same. Not really.

“Daryl, you can’t seriously think—” Rick started, but Glenn cut him off.

“YN!” Glenn turned to her, desperate now. “You wanna try talking some sense into him?”

I looked at her, my chest tightening.

She stood still, her face unreadable as she stared at me. I could see the hurt in her eyes, buried deep but still there.

“No,” she said finally, her voice quiet but steady. “No, Glenn, I’m not going to talk any kind of sense into him. It’d be a waste of my time and breath.”

Her words hit me like a punch to the gut.

“The Dixon stick by each other, no matter what. Daryl will always pick his brother over anyone.”

I opened my mouth to argue, to tell her she was wrong. But nothing came out. What the hell could I say? She wasn’t wrong. Not really.

She looked at me then, her gaze sharp and piercing, like she was daring me to prove her wrong. I couldn’t meet her eyes.

“Just let him go,” she said, her voice cracking slightly. “If we don’t agree to let Merle come with us… no Merle, no Daryl.”

The silence that followed felt like it could crush me.

I wanted to say something, to make her understand, but the words were caught in my throat. Merle was my brother. Blood. No matter what he’d done, I couldn’t just leave him behind.

But YN…

She turned and started walking, her steps slow and deliberate.

“Let him make his choice,” she said over her shoulder, her voice soft but final.

I stood there, watching her walk away, my chest tight and my mind racing. She was right. No matter what I did, I’d lose someone.

But what the hell was I supposed to do?