TWD: Merle - Chapter 5: Feels Like My Head’s a Little Heavier (Patreon)

Something moved in the woods again. A moment later, a figure emerged with a white-tailed deer slung over his shoulder.

It was Merle.

He glanced at the walkers lying on the ground, then over at Wade, who was standing off to the side. In an exaggerated voice, he laughed and said, “Oh, holy shit. Is our butcher boy open for business again today?”

Daryl came out behind him, glanced at the knife wounds on the dead walkers, then gave Wade a slight nod.

His brother might be an unreliable asshole, but his judgment wasn’t bad.

Wade rolled his eyes at Merle.

“You should be thanking me for clearing the way home for you. Otherwise, you’d have had to ditch that deer and run for your life. If you got lucky, maybe you’d even make it back in one piece, just so you could curl up under your blanket tonight and cry into a handkerchief.”

"Hahaha! So does good old Merle owe you a nice, fat deer leg as a reward?"

Wade flipped him off, rolled his eyes again, and said nothing more.

“Hey, little brother, see that?” Merle casually pointed at the dead walkers scattered around the camp. “Looks like our fine officers aren’t all that impressive after all.”

Shane had just finished off the last walker, taking its head off with a single swing of his axe. He turned toward Merle and the deer on his shoulder, his expression anything but friendly.

As far as Shane was concerned, he had just busted his ass eliminating a threat to the camp, only to have someone stand there throwing sarcastic remarks at him.

It only fed the resentment already festering inside him.

He hated that Rick hadn’t died in that hospital bed.

He hated that Lori wouldn’t even look at him anymore.

He hated how everyone in camp had started gathering around Rick.

Why?

He had been the one who kept them alive.

He had been the one dealing with threats.

So why did Rick get to come back and effortlessly take everything from him?

Rick immediately sensed the change in the atmosphere and stepped forward.

“Hey, man. If you’re pissed, take it out on me. Like I said before, I’m willing to answer for leaving you chained to that rooftop. But that doesn’t give you an excuse to stand here taking shots at everyone else.”

Merle gave a contemptuous snort and ignored Rick.

Instead, he looked at Shane with growing interest.

If Shane actually came at him, that might be the easiest way to find out whether Wade really had his back.

The camp abruptly fell silent as the two sides stared each other down.

Then Wade suddenly spoke.

“Daryl, can you teach me how to skin a deer?”

Rick looked at him in surprise, then gave a slight nod.

Merle saw what Wade was doing and decided not to push things any further. Without another word, he dropped the deer in the middle of camp and headed toward his tent alone.

Daryl walked over to Wade. After confirming that he wasn’t hurt, he said, “You’re pretty good with that knife.”

Wade looked slightly surprised, then smiled.

“I do all right. It’s enough for dealing with brainless things like these.”

Daryl nodded, then went over to the white-tailed deer and started working on it.

Shane approached with the axe still in his hand, his clothes covered in blood. His voice was slightly hoarse.

“Not bad. But I don’t want you causing trouble in this camp. I’ll be watching you.”

Wade immediately let out a derisive laugh.

“Officer, the way things are now, you’d be better off keeping an eye on yourself.”

He paused, then added meaningfully, “After all, not everyone needs you watching over them, right?”

Fuck it. If Shane wanted to throw attitude around, Wade could do the same.

Come on, then.

Let’s see which one of us is more afraid of having his secrets dragged into the open.

Under Wade’s sharp gaze, Shane instinctively looked away for a moment.

For some reason, he had the uneasy feeling that this kid somehow knew the secret he had buried deep inside.

Still, his tone remained hard.

“Maybe you can test that theory. But before you do, I’ll put a hole in your head.”

Rick stared at the two of them, confused by the sudden hostility.

Out of habit, he reached up as though to lift his hat and scratch his head.

His hand reached his hair.

There was no hat.

Wade smiled without saying anything else. He didn’t take Shane’s threat seriously and simply turned back toward the camp.

There was no point arguing with someone that stubborn.

Shane needed to see things for himself and come to his own conclusions. Otherwise, anything Wade said would just sound like empty talk meant to shut him up.

Shane was the kind of man who acted first and asked questions later.

He just hid it better than Merle did.

Wade made another circuit of the camp, confirming that all the walkers had been dealt with before knocking on one of the vehicle doors.

Dale cautiously poked half his head out through the window, rifle in hand. He wore an embarrassed smile, clearly uncomfortable that he hadn’t been able to help.

“Lin, is it over?”

Wade smiled and nodded.

“Yeah, Dale. It’s safe out here now. Just watch where you step.”

“Oh, thank you for everything you’ve done for the camp. I’m sure they will.”

Dale opened the door and climbed out first.

Looking at the young man, who seemed about the same age his grandson would have been, he couldn’t help saying, “You’ve had a rough night, son. I hope God keeps watching over you.”

“Thank you. I hope He watches over you too.”

The two shared a brief hug before Wade headed toward Daryl with his knife in hand.

Daryl really was exceptional at this kind of work.

Watching him process the deer was like watching a professional butcher.

Every cut was smooth and precise. He removed the entire hide almost effortlessly, opened the carcass, took out the organs, then worked his knife through the joints. Before long, the whole deer had been completely broken down.

When Wade approached, Daryl spoke without looking up.

“Took you long enough. Get here sooner next time. And bury that stuff by your feet. Leave it lying around and it’ll attract things.”

Wade raised an eyebrow, the corner of his mouth lifting slightly.

That was a good sign.

It meant Daryl was starting to accept him and treat him like part of the group.

Wade looked down at the pile beside his feet.

“You can’t eat any of this?”

As far as he knew, at least the heart and liver should be edible.

Daryl’s hunting knife paused.

He gave Wade a strange look.

“You’d eat the organs?”

Wade scratched his head.

Only then did he remember that people here generally weren’t big on eating organ meat. Even Daryl, an expert hunter who seemed born for the wilderness, apparently felt the same way.

At least when food was plentiful, he had no interest in touching the stuff.

When people were starving, though, even freshly dug earthworms could start looking like a rare source of meat.

Wade gave the pile one last regretful look, then dug a hole and buried it.

After everything that had happened that night, most of the camp had lost their appetite anyway.

That worked out perfectly for the handful of grown men who were still hungry.

They ate their fill.