Among the Unknown: A Daryl Dixon fanfic

Chapter 26: Which Side To Choose

Daryl's P.O.V:

"Merle?!" I gasped, as I wildly stared at my older brother looking down at us from the rooftop.

"Yep! It's yer big ole brother Merle!" He seethed, holding his arms out and laughing. I dropped my crossbow as I continued to stare at my chuckling older brother.

      The man I thought I'd never see again was standing right before me with the biggest grin on his face. He grabbed an assault rifle that laid by his feet before jumping down onto the edge of the store sign and jumping once more to meet us on the ground.

"I thought ya were dead!" I growled, he immediately opened his arms welcoming me into his embrace for a big Dixon hug.

"No, baby brother. I'm still here!" He cackled as his arms clamped down around my back.

      We both chuckled before pulling away. I held him by his shoulders so I could take a good look at him while he was so happy to see me.

"Still look tha same bro." I commented, he smiled,

"Same to you little brother." His ginger words making a smile break out of my face. There came a short awkward silence as Merle looked around at the other not so welcoming faces.

"Merle." Rick nodded, Merle broke into yet another large, devilish grin.

"That's all ya got for me officer friendly?" Merle teased, Rick switched his weight around as he became more uncomfortable with the man talking to him.

"First ya hand cuff me to a rooftop and force me to mutilate myself and I ain't even gonna get an apology?" Rick's face had turned into a hard, blank glare as he stared upon my brother.

"I did what I had to do to keep everyone alive. I don't think I should apologize for that." Merle's face fell as he continued to stare upon Ricks sullen face. He huffed and turned around facing me,

"Ya whipped boy? Why ain't ya speaking up fer yer brother?!" He snarled, his eyebrows had knotted together as the anger built up inside of him.

"I ain't whipped! Since it ain't any of his fault. We went back fer ya and ya weren't there!"

"I lost my hand because of this man!" Merle pointed at Rick,

"No, ya lost yer hand cause yer a simple-minded piece of shit!!" I yelled, Merle froze at my outburst. We stood sending long glared at each other before two dark hands separated us.

"Guys, we don't need to do this alright. Let's just get our stuff and we'll leave." Tyreese spoke, trying to calm both of us down.

"And I'm goin with ya." Merle piped, everyone's heads turned toward Merle with shocked looks.

"I don't know about that. We have too many people as it is and more on the way." Rick said, referring to Taylor. Merle's eyes went crazy as they darted around the group and landing on me.

"Ya'll owe me. Especially you officer friendly. Y'all ain't leavin with my baby brother." Ricks face remained hard as he pondered the idea of Merle coming with us.

"Come on Rick.." I quietly pleaded, Rick stared at the ground for a few minutes before motioning everyone to the side with his hand. We all followed leaving Merle standing to stand while we talked.

"Guys, we have enough mouths to feed as it is. It would just be a burden to the group." Rick explained, he kept his voice low so Merle wouldn't hear.

"A burden? My brother ain't no burden. Yeah, he may be a pain in the ass sometimes but he's no burden. He's useful ya know." I said,

"But what about the food?" Glenn countered,

"I'll take care of it. I'll hunt for me, Taylor and Merle. Y'all won't have to worry about us."

"Still, I don't think it's safe to have him around our people. He almost got us all killed last town. What if he actually does this time?" Rick argued, he kept a close eye on Merle but would turn his eyesight back to the group every few seconds.

"Don't ya remind a thing called "Forgive and Forget"?" I asked,

"Yeah, but in this world now, we can't take chances or else you lose your life. I don't think it's a smart idea for him to come along." Rick argued, I huffed in frustration as I kicked the brick wall of the store building.

"Well, what am I supposed to do? I can't leave him out here!" I seethed, everyone fell quiet as they pondered some other options.

"Y'all bout done over there?" Merle hollered to us, I rolled my eyes,

"Just about." Rick hollered back, he turned his attention back to the few of us.

"I can't leave him. No him, no me." I stated, grabbing my crossbow and walking back over to Merle.

"Daryl!" I stopped and turned back at Rick.

"You can't leave Taylor. She needs you more than anything right now. I want you to realize what your doing!" His voice grew more stern and hard as he stared upon me.

    The thought of leaving Taylor just broke my heart but I couldn't leave Merle. Merle is my brother that I grew up with. We lived in the same house with the same conditions and horrible punishments. That's something that makes us so lose to each other.

      As the air got heavy, I looked back at Merle and then back at Rick. I felt that I was in some sort of video game or movie and I had to choose who to go with. That this decision would affect the rest of my life and others lives. Though I already knew which side to choose. I turned toward Rick and walked over to him laying a hand on his shoulder.

"I'm sorry Rick. He's my brother." Ricks face fell as I walked away from him and clapped my arm around Merle as he did the same to me. We walked all the way to the tree line of the woods that laid off to the right of the store building before I stopped and turned back around. Everyone still stood as I had left them. Sad, fallen, and broken faces switched with what I had know them to be.

"Rick!" Rick continued to stare at me waiting.

"Tell Taylor that.. that I-I love her." I called out, Rick nodded before I turned back around toward the woods and walked away. Merle and I untangled ourselves from each other before I wiped at my eyes from the now forming tears.

    Leaving my Taylor was going to be so hard and this was just the start of it.