Remember Me (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter Twenty-Seven: Merle

I sat inside of the cellblock twiddling my fingers and chewing my nails. It was the next morning and the group still hadn't returned. I didn't know if they were okay or even alive. I had no clue what had become of them. I had laid awake all night awaiting their return, but they never came back. It was now near noon and there was still no sign of the group.
"Elizabeth, stop doing that. They will be okay," Beth said after a while of observing me. How could she say that? She had no idea if they would be okay or not. For all we knew, they had been slaughtered one-by-one. What if they never came back? How would we survive? Rick always protected us. We needed him to live in this world.

"You don't know that," I said after a moment of chewing my nails. Judith cooed at the sound of my voice and smiled. She began balling up her fists and swinging them all about. I guess Daryl called her little ass kicker for a reason. A few days old and already trying to swing at someone. The sight of her calmed me down a bit, but I was still worried sick. They needed to come back very soon. I needed to be reassured that they were all okay and that Maggie was going to be safe.

"I have faith that they will be okay," Beth replied with a small smile. I snapped at her even though I didn't want to. I was in a very cranky mood due to no sleep. "Faith hasn't done shit for us so far," I growled through clenched teeth.

"Elizabeth, watch your mouth," dad yelled at me before looking back at the wall. I bit my tongue and began looking out the window again. When I looked, I saw vehicles. I quickly jumped up from my seat with a smile and began pointing to the window. "They're back," I squealed with joy.
I began heading for the door before my father's voice stopped me in my tracks. What did he want now? I had to greet them after how worried I had been. "Stop. Who's van is that?"

I moved back to the window and moved my eyes to a van sitting in the field. It was quite large and I had no idea where it came from. And also, why didn't I see Daryl anywhere? Daryl had to have been okay. I watched the group pour out of the vehicles with guns in their hands. Something told me that these people were not welcome here.

All at once, the back of the van dropped and dozens of walkers poured out. I watched as Carol ducked in the grass. That's when the men in the van began firing off shots left and right, shooting to kill. I quickly grabbed my gun off of the table and began running for the door.

"Elizabeth! Don't you go out there," I heard dad scream at the top of his lungs. I ignored him and exited the prison, slamming the door behind me. I began firing off shots at the van, aiming for the men. They fired back at me while trying to keep their eyes on the rest of the group. That's when they realized the damage that we were doing to the van and sped away. I shot a tire as they were driving away, but they never stopped. They knew if they stopped we would kill them.

Once they were gone, I finally saw Daryl. The group piled back into the vehicles and sped into the prison grounds as I opened the gate. Once they were safely inside, they all hopped out and I spotted Glenn and Maggie. But when I saw Glenn, I was shocked. He had a purple eye and bruises covering his face. Someone had messed him up really, really bad.

"What happened to you?" I demanded as I approached them. I embraced Maggie in a hug as I kept my eyes on Glenn's face. I wasn't sure that I wanted to know what had happened to him. "Him," Glenn growled, pointing behind me.
When I spun around, my eyes met someone elses. I had never seen this man before. He was older, tall, and he reminded me of someone. And when I looked him over, I noticed his hand. This man had lost his hand at some point in his life and it was now replaced with a knife.

"Ah, shut it. You ain't gonna bad mouth me to everyone," the man growled, keeping his eyes level with Glenn. Now I knew who this man was. I knew who he was just by the way he spoke and his attitude. "Merle," I gasped as I stared at him. Daryl's eyes quickly moved to me when he heard his name spoken.

"In the flesh," he replied with a cocky grin. I could tell that he had more attitude than Daryl. I could also tell that he was much older than Daryl was. Maybe five or ten years older.
"He ain't staying here with us. Do you know what he did to us?" Maggie said in a sorrowful voice. I kept my eyes on Merle as he spoke once more. "Oh, stop. You know you wanted to tango with the Governor. He ain't the only one that liked it."

"Shut the fuck up," I growled as I watched his eyes move down to mine. I could tell that everybody was taken aback by my words, but I didn't care. I was about to set this man straight. It was one thing to mess with Glenn, but messing with Maggie? That was one thing that would get him killed really quick.

"And what're you gonna do, princess? Shoot me?" Merle asked before bursting into laughter. I could tell that he found this whole situation very comical, but I didn't. Nothing about this was funny to me.
"Just shut up," Daryl said after a moment. Why was he talking? I certainly didn't need him to fight my battles for me. How could he bring Merle here after the stuff he did to Glenn and Maggie? I had the right mind to shoot him right then and there, but I didn't.

"For what? Why do you care?" Merle shouted at Daryl. After a moment, a look of realization crossed his face and he grinned. "Oh, I see. You two been getting real cozy, ain't ya? I bet you two is just as snug as bugs."

"Shut up, Merle." Daryl shouted at him once again. That's when Maggie also got a look of realization on her face. Daryl defending the topic let everyone know that something was going on between us. Daryl had given it away right then and there.
"Aw, c'mon. We're all friends here, ain't we? You been giving her some love sweet love? You always did give it to em good, baby brother."

Before he could say another word, I pulled my knife out. I kicked the back of his legs, causing him to fall down to my level. When he did, I pressed the knife to his throat and he put his hands up.

"Elizabeth!" Rick hissed.
"Elizabeth, stop!" Maggie yelled at me.
I ignored them and began talking in his ear. "You listen to me and you listen good. If you ever touch either one of them again, I will gut you like the fish that you are."

"Elizabeth," Daryl said, shocked at my words. I could tell that everybody was shocked. I had never threatened somebody like that before. Nor had I ever killed anyone.

"And if you ever talk to me like that again, I will put you down. Trust me, I will not hesitate to get rid of you."
Once I was done talking, I removed the knife and let him go. I put the knife back in my boot before walking back towards the prison doors. I could feel everybodys eyes on me as I left the little circle. Before I left, I heard Merle mumble something. When I heard it, I couldn't help but smile.
"I like her."