The Walking Dead - Dixon Bloodfall (A Walking Dead ff)

Chapter Seven - Lee's Hoagies

“I used to eat here all the time.” Quinn pushed the door open. “Lee’s Hoagies. Hoagies weren’t too good but it was nice when -” She paused, holding the door open for Merle. He stepped in gingerly and beelined for the kitchen area.

 “Nice when what?” He asked from within the kitchen just a few minutes later. Something metal dropped and made a loud commotion, issuing a “Goddamnit.” from Merle.

 “When my folks would take me out.” She leaned to her side to try and snag a glance at what Merle was doing but he must’ve been too far back because she couldn’t see anything but a blood stain. “Merle, there’s blood on the floor.”

 “Mmmhm.” He answered from the kitchen. “Well goddamn, found us some canned goods.” She could hear his smile in his voice and felt her lips pull up in a grin of their own. The smile however, felt ill as her eyes followed the trail of blood. It seemed dark and rust colored, old at the beginning, and then it turned to a darker black and led up towards Merle.

 Oh no.

“Merle, I-I think there’s -”

“Shit!” She heard yet another clattering of pots and pans and the sound of the aforementioned cookware slamming against what she assumed was a revived corpse. A loud and unpleasantly harsh growl made her blood stop cold. The sounds of Merle fighting the walker off, grunting with every swing of his frying pan were loud, as if they were just beside her. Something overcame Quinn and flash of her mother coursed through her mind, torn off cheek and yellow eyes, a blood covered mouth snarling at her. Quinn fell to her knees, her trembling hands touching either side of her head. From within the kitchen Merle gave one last loud grunt. Lee’s Hoagies became silent once more.

“Walker wanted my baked beans.” Merle walked out of the kitchen with his chest heaving, an arrogant smile on his face. His mouth parted just slightly when his baby blue eyes made contact with the shivering girl on the floor. The jog over to her was short and he placed his hand on her shoulder, bent his knees so he was closer, and looked at her. “Are you okay? What happe-”

 “I’m sorry. I’m fine, I’m fine.” Quinn blinked. “Being here, t-the walker. Just brought up some old shit.” The pair stood up unanimously and exchanged a short glance. Merle trotted off into the dining area, which consisted of a cheap excuse for wooden chairs and plastic tables, supported by loosely screwed stands that wobbled with each step Merle took. He took in the disappointing room and snorted.

 “Nice place ‘ya folks took you to.”

 “I know.” Quinn said softly, trailing a path with her fingertips over the dusty glass orb on the gumball machine. She was here a lot in when she was twelve, not so much when she was thirteen. This was a bitter reunion in her fourteenth year of life. Mom always said “Don’t waste your money on those candy machines.” but Dad would always toss her a quarter and wink, and she’d go running off to buy a gumball.

 "You want a quarter?” Merle laughed from behind her. She turned and laughed too, although hers was quick and less enthusiastic and mostly for Merle’s sake.

 “Speaking of quarters, I haven’t seen money for a long time. Funny how it used to be so important.” She tapped her nails on the glass. “Only thing it could do right now is buy me a couple of stale gumballs.” Merle rested his hand on her shoulder and with gentle pressure and just a moment of eye contact, pushed her back. He shattered the glass with his bayonet arm and smiled.

“There. Now you don’t gotta waste a damn cent.”