Daryl walked back to camp yelling for his brother "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrel! Let's stew 'em up." Everyone just stayed quiet not saying a word until Shane came following him. "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." Shane called to Daryl. "About what?" Daryl said while turning to look at him. "About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta." Shane said "He dead?" Daryl ask quietly. "We're not sure." Shane said. You could see how pissed thst mad Daryl. "He either is or he ain't!" Daryl yelled. "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." Rick cut in. "Who are you?" Daryl eagerly asked. " Rick Grimes." Rick said "Rick Grimes. You got somethin you wanna tell me?." Daryl asked "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." Rick says "Hold on. Let me process this. You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" Daryl yells. "Yeah." Rick says. Next thing you know Daryl's goes to attack Rick, but Rick is quick to respond and shoves him off.
"Hey! Watch the knife!" T-Dog shouts. You see Daryl pulls his knife out swinging it at rick. But Shane came up behind him and put him in a chokehold saying "Okay. Okay." "You'd best let me go!" Daryl grumbles "Nah, I think it's better if I don't." Shane responds back "Choke hold's illegal." Daryl says. Shane just gives a smartass comment saying "You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." Rick comes up and crouches in front of Daryl saying "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that? Do you think we can manage that?" "Hmm?"Shane hums. "Mmm. Yeah." Daryl agrees and Shane lets him go.
Daryl stands up moving away looking at rick waiting for him to speak. "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." Rick said T-Dog steps in saying "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." "You couldn't pick it up?" Daryl eagerly asks. "Well, I dropped it in a drain." T-Dog say Daryl scuffs saying "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." "Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock. It's gotta count for something." T-Dog tells Daryl. "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him." Daryl said. You could tell this really upset him and it hurt you to know he was hurting Merle was the only family he had. "He'll show you. Isn't that right?" Lori said Rick looked at her and put his head down saying "I'm going back." And Lori walks back into the RV clearly not happy about it.
You had made up your mind before anyone said about going back to get Merle. You were going to go with Daryl to help him. Rick and Shane were arguing about going back for Merle but like you Ricks mind was made up. Glenn was volunteered to go and T-Dog volunteered himself. "I'm going too. I want to go and help." You said. "I don't think that's a good idea." Risk said back. "Why because I'm a girl?! Fuck that I'm going and you can't stop me." And you started walking to the cube van jumping in the back with Daryl.
Daryl looked at you squinting asking "Why?" "Why what?" You said looking back at him. "Why are you going? You hate my brother." "Because he's your family, the only family you have. I know how much he means to you." He just nodded his head looking down. But you thought you also seen a ghost of a smile.
Pulling the van up on the tracks Gleen said "We walk from here." You get up opening the back of the truck jumping out. After T-Dog,Daryl,Rick and Glenn are standing around you, you all start walking. "Merle first or guns?" Rick asks Daryl not having any of it says "Merle! We ain't even having this conversation." " We are. You know the geography. It's your call." Rick bits back "Merle's closest. The guns would mean doubling back. Merle first." Glenn says.
You got to the department store Glenn, T-Dog and the others were at. The one Merle was hopefully still handcuffed to the roof of. T-Dog lead the way up the stairs cutting the chain and lock he put on the door to keep the geeks out. Daryl pushed past him and ran onto the roof the rest of us following. "Merle! Merle!" Daryl yells but stops wherehis brother should be handcuffed. He starts yelling and sobbing "NO! NO!" You looked to see a pool of blood and Merles hand laying on the ground. "No!" Daryl yells again "No! No!" turning around pointing his crossbow at T-Dogs head. But Ricks just as fast pulling his python and pointing it at Daryls head. "I won't hesitate. I don't care if every walker in the city hears it." Daryl lowers his crossbow blinking and squinting his eyes asking "You got a do-rag or somethin?" T-Dog hands him one and Daryl goes and picks up Merle's severed hand that is already starting to decay. You look away for a second before looking back. "I guess the saw blade was too dull for the handcuffs. Ain't that a bitch." Daryl says He walks over and puts the hand in Glenn's backpack. Glenn looking absolutly disgusted. "He must have used a tourniquet… maybe his belt. Be much more blood if he didn't." Daryl says as he notices a blood trail.
The group starts to follow the trail Daryl found. As T-Dog goes to start picking up the tools on the roof. "Merle? You in here?" Daryl yells as the group walks down the stairs into and office where Daryl shot a walker. "Had enough in him to take out these two sumbitches. One handed. Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer, he'd crap out nails." He says. "Any man can pass out from blood loss, no matter how tough he is." You said looking around.
Daryl looked back at you looking you up and down. You just stood there shifting back and forth uncomfortable under his stare. A faint blush rising to your cheeks. He finally looked away and kept walking yelling for his brother. "Merle!" "We're not alone here. Remember?" Rick said Daryl looked at him and said "Screw that. He could be bleeding out. Y/N said so herself."
We came to a kitchen where the stove was still lite. Merle's belt sitting on the top of it. "What's that burned stuff?" Daryl asked "Skin. He cauterized the stump." Rick said "Told you he was tough. Nobody can kill Merle but Merle." Daryl replied "Don't take that on faith. He's lost a lot of blood." You said "Yeah? Didn't stop him from busting out of this death trap." Daryl said going over to a broken window. "He left the building? Why the hell would he do that?" Glenn asked "Why wouldn't he? He's out there alone as far as he knows, doing what he's got to do. Surviving." Daryl says "You call that surviving? Just wandering out in the streets, maybe passing out? What are his odds out there?" You said
"No worse than being handcuffed and left to rot by you sorry pricks. You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried about some dumb dead basterd." Daryl says getting in Ricks face. "What about 1,000 dead dumb bastards? Different story?" Rick spits back. "Why don't you take a tally? Do what you want. I'm gonna go get him." Daryl says trying to walk passed Rick but Rick stops him not letting him go. "Daryl, wait." Rick says "Get your hands off me! You can't stop me." Daryl yells. "I don't blame you. He's family, I get that. I went through hell to find mine. I know exactly how you feel. He can't get far with that injury. We could help you check a few blocks around but only if we keep a level head." Rick trys to negotiate. "I could do that." Daryl finally says "Only if we get those guns first. I'm not strolling the streets of Atlanta with just my good intentions, okay?" T-Dog says. You agree too "Yeah, sure if we get those guns I'll help look for him too."