TWD: Merle - Chapter 3: They’re Not That Tall (Patreon)

By evening, Merle was driving a pickup truck loaded with hardware supplies and food back toward the quarry camp.

As he took swigs from his bottle, he kept glancing over at the passenger seat.

The kid looked easygoing enough, but when he had a knife in his hand and started clearing out walkers, he was practically a different person.

Back at the hardware store, Merle had clearly sensed a strange excitement and satisfaction in Wade as he killed the walkers.

Tsk. This kid... He couldn’t have been some kind of serial killer before the apocalypse, could he?

Nah, that couldn’t be right. The kid looked way too easygoing for that.

Feeling Merle’s eyes on him yet again, Wade opened his eyes and frowned.

“Seriously, Merle? Why do you keep staring at me instead of watching the damn road?”

“Man... what did you do before all this?”

Wade rolled down the window to let some of the alcohol fumes out.

“Butcher at a slaughterhouse. Why? You scared?”

“Oh, come on, kid. You actually think Merle’s scared of you? When I was already carrying a gun, a kid your age was still sucking on his mama’s tit!”

“Tsk.” Wade rolled his eyes. “Just watch the road. If you flip this thing, that’ll be real fucking funny.”

At Wade’s obvious lack of faith in his driving, Merle laid on the horn in protest.

The piercing blast echoed down the empty highway, stirring up the walkers trapped inside abandoned cars.

“Holy shit! Merle, I swear, if you pull that crap again, I’m gonna beat your ass raw when we get out of this truck!”

Merle didn’t care in the slightest. Instead, he burst out laughing.

“Bring it on, buddy! But first, you better buckle up. I’m about to floor it!”

“Fuck!”

Wade cursed, but his hands moved quickly as he snapped his seat belt into place.

Seeing that Wade had no intention of stopping him, Merle stomped the accelerator to the floor and let out an excited laugh.

“I knew it! I fucking knew it! You and me... Nah, I should say we’re the same kind of people!”

Fuck, what the hell are you even babbling about? Just drive the damn truck properly!

After being bounced around the entire way, Wade somehow survived until Merle finally reached the outskirts of the quarry camp.

Before Merle could even bring the truck to a complete stop, several heavily armed people came running toward them.

With a screech of brakes, Merle neatly pulled the pickup over.

Wade was thrown halfway out of his seat before the seat belt yanked him back, leaving his stomach churning violently. Before he could even start swearing, Merle had already climbed out with his half-finished bottle of whiskey in hand.

“Hey, little brother! Running over here that fast because you missed me?”

“Fuck! I was coming to collect your corpse!”

“Hahahaha! Guess you’ll have to wait until next time.”

While the brothers traded words, Wade finally escaped the hellhole known as the passenger seat.

“Fuck! Merle, I swear I’m never getting in the same vehicle as you again. Fuck!”

He punctuated the complaint with a kick.

Merle ducked aside, and Wade’s foot cut through empty air.

Seeing Wade’s pale face, Merle laughed loudly and held out his bottle.

“Don’t get so worked up. Here, rinse your mouth out, buddy.”

Watching his brother, Daryl practically had a question mark floating over his head.

Had his brother suddenly changed personalities?

Someone treated him like that and he wasn’t angry? He was even willing to share his liquor?

Had a walker bitten him or something? Was that why he was suddenly being so friendly?

Then Daryl noticed the broken half of the handcuff still hanging from Merle’s wrist and seemed to understand.

“Yeah, this is the kid who saved me. Name’s Wade Lin. Used to be a butcher.”

Daryl looked at Wade. His hard expression pulled into an awkward smile that wasn’t much to look at, but the sincerity behind it was obvious.

“Thanks, Wade.”

Wade waved it off, pushing aside the hand holding the bottle at the same time.

“It was nothing.”

So he really hadn’t been wrong.

The Dixon brothers might have an awkward way of getting along, but each of them had quietly tucked the other away in the softest part of his heart.

Still, acting all tsundere had gone out of fashion ages ago.

Not far away, Rick was watching the whole exchange, quietly sizing Wade up.

Nearly six-foot-three, solidly built, with a friendly face. His eyes weren’t shifty or unfocused either, so he probably wasn’t an addict or anything like that.

He didn’t look very old. He usually spoke with a smile, but he lacked Merle’s sleazy, reckless attitude. If anything, he seemed more like some inexperienced kid who had only recently stepped out into the real world.

Rick formed a rough impression of him. After years in law enforcement, he trusted his ability to read people at least that much.

He walked over under Merle’s unfriendly stare, extended a hand toward Wade, and said, “Hello. I’m Rick Grimes.”

Wade shook his hand with a smile.

“Wade Lin.”

Rick gave a slight nod to himself.

Not bad. He seemed easy enough to get along with, and probably wasn’t the kind of dangerous person who would cause divisions within the camp.

“I appreciate your help, and you’re welcome to stay with us. We’re having a welcome gathering tonight. Want to join us?”

Wade blinked, then nodded.

“I’d be honored.”

Merle suddenly seemed to remember something. He gave a mocking grin, shoved the bottle into Daryl’s hand, and headed deeper into the camp.

Rick immediately had a bad feeling.

He no longer had any interest in lingering around Wade and trying to learn more about him. After exchanging a few polite words, he hurried back toward the camp.

It wasn’t long before Merle’s furious curses and taunting questions, T-Dog’s cries and explanations, Rick’s angry shouts and attempts to defend him, the women’s startled exclamations, and the clatter of objects being knocked to the ground all blended into one chaotic mess.

“Ah...”

“You thought I couldn’t get out just because the key was gone?! You fucking **?!”

“No! I didn’t mean to...”

“You still wanna talk back?! You trying to provoke me? Then you’d better pray another sheriff shows up to save your ass!”

Merle grabbed T-Dog tightly by the collar with his left hand and drove his right fist viciously into his face.

“Stop, Merle! It wasn’t his fault alone! If you’ve got a problem, take it out on me!”

“Ah...”

...

Late that night, everyone sat around the campfire eating dinner together.

After introductions and some conversation, the group welcomed Wade into the camp.

After all, he was a capable-looking lone survivor. Having someone like that join them meant one more layer of protection for the camp.

When Merle heard that Wade had never eaten venison before, he dragged Daryl off into the woods, saying they were going to hunt a deer so their new little brother could finally try some and see what he’d been missing.

As for Merle’s actual motives, Wade could guess them easily enough.

The guy wanted to show his gratitude while also showing off what he could do.

See that? Even at night, those damn walkers in the woods can’t do a thing to us Dixon brothers, and we can still bring back a whole deer while we’re at it! So what do you say? Wanna come run with me?

Imagining the smug look Merle would have when he came back, Wade shook his head and stopped thinking about it.

Still, there was no denying that the Dixon brothers were damn capable. It was almost as if the two of them had been born for the apocalypse.

The older brother was ruthless enough to remain a formidable fighter even after losing a hand. The younger one was even more ridiculous. Put Daryl in the woods and it was practically like sending him home.