Living On A Prayer (Daryl Dixon/ TWD)

Chapter 4

Adasyn

"No!" Daryl cried out , pacing across the roof. "No! No!"

Pain struck my heart with every word. I had never seen Daryl cry before, could never even picture it but nothing was stopping his tears from flowing down his cheeks. Nobody deserved this, not even the Dixon's. Daryl didn't deserve to loose his brother, and Merle didn't deserve the fate he received, even though nobody knew for sure what that fate was. When we got back to the rooftop, there was nothing here but the handcuffs, a bloody hacksaw, and what I assumed was Merle's hand.

"Anybody got a doorag?" Daryl asked , harshly rubbing the tears away from his eyes.T pulled one from his back pocket, and handed it over. Daryl took it, marching over to where Merle's hand was laying. He spread the doorag out on the ground, and then picked up the hand by the pinkie finger. "Hacksaw musta been too dull fer tha' cuffs. What a bitch." I grimaced as he wrapped the hand up and tossed it into Glenn's backpack, much to his dismay.

"Musta' used a tourniquet or somethin," Daryl said, following the small blood trail leading back into the building."Be much more blood if he hadn't."

***

"Had enough in him ta take out these two sum bitches." Daryl grunted, referring to the two walkers in a heap on the floor in front of us. "Toughest asshole I ever met, my brother. Feed him a hammer and he'd crap out nails."

"Yea," Rick said. "Anyone can pass out from blood loss no matter how tough."

Daryl scoffed, "Merle!"

"Keep it down," I hissed. "We ain't alone in here!"

"Screw that, he could be bleedin out. Officer friendly said so himself."

I rolled my eyes as we trudged along, a kitchen being our dead end. Once we all entered, I gagged, covering up my nose. "What the hell is that smell?''

"Burning flesh," Rick responded, examining the stove. "He cauterized the stump."

"Told ya' he was tough," Daryl retorted. "Nobody can kill Merle but Merle."

"Don't take faith on that," I replied. "He's lost a lot of blood."

"Yeah? Didn't stop him from bustin' out of this death trap," He shot back, stepping around a pile of shattered glass scattered on the floor, right in front of the window it came from.

"He left the building?" Glenn asked , dumbfounded. "Why the hell would he do that?"

"Why wouldn't he?" Daryl fired back. "He's out there alone, far as he knows. Doin what he's gotta do, surviving."

"You call that surviving?" T-Dog asked. "Just wandering around the streets, maybe passed out? What are his odds out there?"

"No worse than being handcuffed and left here to rot by you sorry pricks," Daryl spat. Everyone averted their gaze somewhere else, including me, seeing as Daryl actually had a point. "You couldn't kill him. Ain't so worried bout some dumb dead bastard."

"What about a thousand dumb dead bastards?" Rick shot back.

Daryl scoffed, Why don't ya take a tally, do what ya' gotta do. I'm goin to get him."

Daryl headed for the busted window,but Rick threw his hand out in front of him stopping him in his tracks. "Daryl , wait."

"Get 'yer hands off me! Can't stop me!"

"I don't blame you," Rick said, shutting him up. "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 can help you check a few blocks around, but only if we keep a level head."