Taking a Chance

Chapter 33

Daryl slowly made the turn down the overgrown dirt road that led to his father's abandoned shack. He felt sweat start to bead on his forehead and his heart beat wildly in his chest as he made his way down the narrow lane. His father, a broken alcoholic, had died alone in this rundown shack. Daryl had not seen him since that night they had their last big fight and he ended up over that the Grimes' house. Over twenty years later, just thinking about the man still made him anxious and angry.

This was not the house that he lived in as a teenager, but he knew it was going to be damned well close enough. When this was over he was going to burn it to the ground. Now he just had to deal with his brother and get Gabrielle back. Once she was safe, all bets were off with Merle. No matter what happened between them, Daryl would never forgive him for what he had done.

The bike cruised slowly down the pot hole filled road. If he went fast, he would end up being tossed from his bike and that would just make the situation even worse. Finally, the shack came into view and he quickly noticed two things, it was smaller than he thought and there was no car here. Where was Gabrielle's Accord?

The small yard was filled with rusted pieces of junk. His old man was constantly bringing shit home to fix and sell that he found or even possibly even stole. What he did not end up using, always ended up in the yard. It had always embarrassed Daryl that his home always looked like a trash heap. This place was no better.

He turned off the bike and wondered why Merle didn't greet him. Daryl knew instantly that something didn't feel right, so he took the gun out of the back of his pants and kept it in his hand. The windows had planks across them, but they weren't enough to cover the whole opening. Daryl could see the holes in the roof that Merle had talked about and knew this place was inhabitable. It would not take much to simply turn it into a big pile of nothing.

His acute hearing picked up the sound of people approaching. They were quiet, but he was a superb tracker and hunter. Nothing got by him. It was the only thing his father ever did for him was to teach him how to survive off the land. During many lean years, he and Merle had food to eat because they had bagged a deer or another animal. They ate everything from deer, opossum, rabbit and even squirrel.

He ducked behind a rusted small tractor to see who was approaching. The footsteps stopped and he heard two short whistles. It was Rick. Daryl still didn't know if Merle and Gabrielle were inside the house, but he had to assume that they were. He walked so that Rick could see him and motioned for him to remain where he was. He wanted to go in alone.

Daryl walked up to the house and tried to look inside through the window but could not really see anything. "Merle, you there? It's me. I got the money, if you ain't coming out, I'm comin' in. Okay?" Daryl called out. There was no response from inside.

"I'm comin' in so don't fuckin' shoot me, bro."

While he was trying to talk to Merle, he had walked up to the decrepit old door. He turned the handle and found it locked. That was easily solved with a quick kick to the door and it flew open. Daryl went inside praying the entire time. If he found her body, it would absolutely crush him.

The swinging motion of the door stirred up the dust and dirt that was all over the room. The air was filled with small swirls of debris and Daryl had to cover his mouth in order not to choke on it. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust while he scanned the room frantically for Gabrielle and his brother. Then he saw her. His wife was tied to chair with a gag across her mouth, but she was alive. He ran to her as saw there were tears were streaming down her dirty face, leaving wet streaks down her cheeks.