Feral Citizens

Lost and Found

Daryl stormed his way into camp, tossing a string of squirrels to the ground.

"Merle!" he shouted, weaving through the tents. "get your ugly ass out here!"

Others in camp had begun to gather by the R.V. to watch as Daryl looked around for his brother. I risked eye contact with Rick, who looked paler than earlier. He shook his head at me and whispered, "Not now."

To hell with that. It didn't matter if Daryl found out about what I'd done now or later. He was going to be furious, and if he was anything like his brother, then he was going to throw a few punches.

"Daryl," Shane called, catching up to the surly hunter. "just a minute- we got somethin' to say."

Daryl paused, and looked at Shane with a glimmer of fear in his eyes. "It about Merle?"

"Well... yeah."

"He dead?" Daryl asked. Shane rubbed the back of his head and looked back, staring at Rick and I pleadingly.

"He... look, it's better if we sit down and talk about it-" Shane tried to reason with him. But Daryl was aflame with rage now, angry and scared and I knew his only care right now was finding out if he had lost his brother. There was no way we could explain Merle's situation to his brother without violence, according to Shane.

"Is. He. Dead?" Daryl spat. Rick stupidly chose than moment to try and calm the situation.

"Your brother was a danger out there, to us and himself."

It only made Daryl worse. He turned on Rick like a cornered animal, snarling, "The hell ya'll talking about?"

Rick sighed, realising there was no other way to go about it. I eyed Daryl nervously, and noted that Lori was keeping both my sister and Carl as far back as possible.

"I handcuffed your brother to a roof and... and he's still there." I felt my neck twist as I whipped around to look at Rick. Why was he taking the fall for this? It had been my fault Merle was left on that rooftop, and I'd own up to it anytime.

Daryl wiped his eyes, destroying the evidence of his tears. His hands were shaking, whether with anger or grief, I couldn't tell. "You handcuffed my brother to a roof, and you LEFT HIM THERE?!"

"It was a panic, the walkers were in-" As soon as Rick started, I cut him off. He looked at me pleadingly. I shook my head and stepped towards Daryl. Straightening my back, I looked in him in eyes.

"Your brother was gonna get us killed. So I threw the key over the rooftop. It wasn't no accident, there weren't no panic about it. I even padlocked the door so the roamers couldn't get at him." I admitted. The lack of compassion or pity in my voice surprised even me.

Daryl's murderous expression faltered. The pain threatened to break through his steely exterior, glimmering in the cracks on the surface of his face. For a good moment, I got a glimpse of the real man beneath the hardened hunter. Recognised it, even.

The broken mask healed itself, and Daryl lunged. I flinched, but Shane and Rick were on him quicker than I'd anticipated they would be. His body hit the ground with a dull thump as Shane held him down.

"Listen to me- hey!" Rick knelt down and looked Daryl in the eyes. "your brother does not play well with others. Now, I don't agree with the way it went down but it's too late now. Only thing we can do is go back and get him."

Daryl's eyes never left mine. They glared with such an intensity I was surprised I didn't drop dead on the spot.

"We?" Lori asked. Her eyebrows disappeared behind her fringe. She and Rick exchanged looks, and the silent war between husband and wife began. I could see where Lori was coming from. Her husband had been in a coma for the whole apocalypse, presumed dead. Her son had just gotten his father back.