Dixon's Baby Girls

Part 55: Goodbye

    Me, Maggie, and Carl are outside by the fence helping clear out walkers. We're making noise to attract them over towards us.

    "Hey!" I yell and hit the metal fencing. "Over here!! Hey!"

    Michonne, Glenn, and Dad are laying out barbed wire in the road leading toward the prison, creating road blocks; and also killing walkers while they're at it.

    Eventually I see them get in the truck and head back to the prison, where I see Rick waiting.

    "Let's head up too." Maggie orders. And we walk toward the others, who are talking, but they're conversations end as we walk over.

    We open the gate to meet them, and they're heads turn towards us.

    "Hey." Maggie smiles at them.

    "Let's go." Rick orders. And we follow him.

    Glenn goes in one direction and daddy follows him. I go with him grabbing his hand. He takes it, so I take that as a yes to me following along.

    "You seen Merle around?" He asks Glenn. Who ignores him and continues chaining a gate door. Daddy helps him a bit. "He say he was sorry yet? 'Cause he is."

    Glenn ignores him again and brushes pst us when he finishes the gate.

    "He's gonna make it right. I'm gonna make him. There's got to be a way. Just needs to be a little forgiveness is all." Dad tries again, and Glenn doesn't ignore him this time.

    "He tied me to a chair, beat me, and threw a walker in the room. Maybe I could call it even. But he-- he took Maggie to a man who terrorized her, humiliated her. I care more about her than I care about me." Glenn explains to him. He then walks away. I look up at dad.

    "It's okay. I guess it'll take him some time." Daddy tells me. I nod.

    "Rightfully so." I say honestly and shrug. He lets out a small chuckle and we go inside.

Later

    I'm standing outside of the cell block when Daddy walks out a door, I run over to him.

    "Where are ya goin'?" I ask him when I notice he's heading for the gates.

    "Don't worry about it." He answers.

    "Too late." I state and he stops and looks at me giving me a look. "Just tell me." I then beg.

    "Fine! I'm going to find your uncle."

    "He left?"

    "Yeah."

    "Why?" I ask and he looks like he's deciding on telling me or not.

    "He's takin' Michonne to the Governor." He explains. I furrow my eyebrows in confusion.

    "Why would he do that? He'll kill her."

    "To keep the Governor from going to war with us. He wants her."

    "We gotta stop him." I say then start walking toward the gate.

    "We?! No you're stayin' here." Dad grabs my arm. But I pull away.

     "You know me dad. And you know that I'm not gonna stay here. Either let me come, or I'll just follow ya." I stand my ground. "Michonne's a good person. She don't deserve that."

     "You're right kid. Let's go."

    And we leave the prison to go find my uncle and Michonne.

    After walking for a while we pass by Michonne herself, but Merle isn't with her.

    "Hey! Where's my brother? You k*ll him?" Daddy asks loudly.

    "He let me go." She explains.

    "Take her back to the prison, and I'll keep looking." Daddy says to Michonne and I shake my head.

    "No. I'm coming with you." I state.

    "Dammit Hayley why can't you do as I say." He says to me.

    "Please dad. I wanna go with you."

    "Why?"

    "'Cause what if Merle don't want to come back? I have to tell him goodbye." I explain. Dad nods.

    "Fine, let's go. Make sure no one comes after us." He tells Michonne. She heads back to the prison and we go the opposite way.

    We keep walking further. Eventually we come across a couple barns. There's dead walkers lying on the ground everywhere. With some alive ones chewing on the flesh off corpses which, opposed to the others seemed to be human before death.

    "Stay behind me." Dad instructs, and I do as told. He kills the first feasting Walker. But as we walk closer to the second one, he slows down. I almost bump into him, looking at the dead bodies I passed.

    "What is it dad?" I ask confused.

   "Stay right here." He tells me.

    "Dad-" I start to argue but he cuts me off.

    "Don't argue with me Hay. Stay right here. Please." He says again, he sounds upset. This realization starts to make me upset also, I don't know what's going on though.

      "Okay."

    After I say that, he walks further ahead of me. The Walker stands and he keeps backing away from it. I can't see it very well from around him, so I don't understand why.

    He pushes it to the ground. And stabs it repeatedly. Eventually he falls back. Sobbing.

     I run over to him. But as I get to him, I realize why he's so upset.

    Lying in front of us is my uncle, Lifeless.

    I stand there shocked, as my dad cries on the ground. I Never thought this would ever happen to Merle. Never thought I would ever see my father in this state. I haven't ever seen him like this. Not even when mama died, then again he didn't have to kill her himself.

     It isn't until my dad pulls himself together, gets up and grabs my shoulders. That I snap out of the shock and look at him. Not until then I let my tears fall. I start crying my eyes out. Dad pulls me into a hug letting a few more of his tears fall.

     "I-I never got to s-say that goodbye." I sob. He rubs my back and holds my head to his chest.

     "I know sweetie. I know." He says into my hair, before kissing me on the top of my head.

    He holds me tight and let's me cry.

    "It'll be okay. I'm here, I've got you. I've got you, and your sister. We have each other still. He'll always be with us." He tries to soothe me. But I just shake my head at the last thing he said.

    "But he isn't! He's gone. I was so angry with him. All that time I didn't talk to him and ignored him. Now I'm never gonna be able to talk to him again." I cry.

    "It's okay. I know this is hard, and I'll miss him too, but We'll be okay." He says to me and I wrap my arms tighter around him. "Daddy's got you. Always."

     We stay like that for what feels like hours, but it's only a few minutes. Then we stand.

    "Let's get you back. I'll get the truck from the prison, and bring him back to bury him."

    I nod, and then turn to look at my uncle one more time.

    Goodbye, Uncle Merle....

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It's been a minute! But I hope you guys like the chapter, even though it's pretty sad. Please leave a comment and vote! 🤍