my tears ricochet

Chapter Twenty Three

"We just hit the powder formula jackpot."

Ivy had been patient on the sidewalk while Glenn scouted the store, doing a quick check even as he plucked jars off the shelves. Her gun was in her hand and she kept turning her head, checking for walkers coming up on their blindside as Glenn did his circle check, knuckles rapping on the shelves to rouse anything lurking out of sight. It was a routine she knew so well, the way he would scan for exits first and make a map of where to check first.

"We've got everything in there. Beans, batteries. You name it."

Ivy leaned over to check the basket he was holding, grabbing a package of batteries. "These for flashlights?"

Glenn snorted as he adjusted his hold on the loot. "Hide those from Daryl so he can't limit your reading at night. There's more in there."

It felt nice, being on the road with the sun shining, far enough away that they couldn't see any of those signs alerting drivers for escaped prisoners. Ivy could almost pretend like this was normal. That they would meet up with everyone and life was still fine. Glenn had even made a game of it by driving fast down the roads, making her stomach do a little lurch when they almost jumped down a hill. It had made her laugh, watching the world turn into a blur, feeling it all slip through her hands.

He hadn't even complained when she turned the music up louder and tapped his fingers to the beat like the steering wheel was a drum.

"Let's get more," Ivy said. She could see a stack of baskets just inside by the cash which looked as if someone had yanked the box part out, bits of cash and coin all over the floor.

"It's a straight shot to the prison from here. We'll be back in time for dinner."

"It's quiet out here," Ivy said, grabbing a box of tape from the floor. "You can always hear the walkers outside the fence."

"And where is it y'all calling home?" Someone barked from behind and Ivy dropped the box, wheeling around with her gun in her hand. Glenn's basket hit the ground at the same time and he was ready, finger on the trigger as he locked eyes with a man drawing close.

Ivy shifted, separating from Glenn so she was on the other end of the car. "Merle?" He asked but his gun stayed in his hand so Ivy kept frozen even as she snapped her head around to look at him.

She knew that name. It had been written on a tent bag, had been what loomed over Daryl's shadow all these months. Even when she saw the motorcycle parked, she knew that it had once been someone else's.

He laughed, putting his gun on the pavement while raising his arm up, revealing a metal attachment with a knife. Ivy clocked the weapon and realized that Merle was still armed even without a loaded gun. He looked dangerous with his mouth stretched open wide, all teeth and grins; a bit of a laugh snaking out. "Wow."

Merle started walking up and Ivy snapped, "Back the hell up."

"Okay, okay, honey. Jesus, look at you. Can you tell me if my brother is still alive?"

"Yeah."

"You take me to him and I'll call it even on everything that happened up there in Atlanta. No hard feelings."

Glenn kept frozen and Ivy couldn't move, swallowed up by the urge to fight and to run. Merle seemed to notice her attention on his weapon because he wave it at her. "You like that? I found myself a medical supply store warehouse and fixed it up myself. Pretty cool, right?"

"We'll tell Daryl that you're here and he'll come out to meet you."

Daryl had said that Merle was a good brother but Ivy had heard bits and pieces of what had happened in Atlanta. He kept drawing closer like their guns weren't aimed at his head as a pair and Ivy wanted to turn around and run straight back to Daryl. The man's expression changed, that smile turned stained, and he huffed a different kind of laugh.