TWD: Merle - Chapter 6: To Each His Own (Patreon)

Wade took a bite of the roasted venison and gave Daryl a thumbs-up. “Whoa, good! This is seriously the best roasted venison I’ve ever had.”

Daryl paused at the compliment. He said nothing, but the corners of his mouth lifted slightly.

Sitting nearby, Merle grabbed the bottle and took a swig of whiskey. After letting out a burp, he said without a shred of tact, “Come on, buddy. You’ve never even had roasted venison before. You trying to fool my dumb little brother?”

The smile on Daryl’s face vanished almost immediately. He shot Merle a look and snapped, “Shut up, Merle. If you don’t want to eat, then get lost. Nobody’s gonna think you’re mute just because you keep your mouth shut!”

Merle couldn’t have cared less. He grabbed a piece of half-cooked venison and tore into it, chewing noisily before flashing his yellow teeth at Daryl. “Who are you to tell me what to do? Come on. I’m the older brother.”

Daryl fought the urge to fling the skewer in his hand straight into Merle’s face. Instead, he handed the fully cooked one to Wade beside him. The look in his eyes said it all: Eat up. Ignore the drunk.

Rick and Shane weren’t getting the same treatment. They had to cook their own meat, and their skewers were dusted with ash, leaving the chunks looking rather blackened.

If nothing else, Carl clearly wasn’t impressed with his father’s cooking.

Wade took the skewer and asked as casually as he could, “Where are we heading next?”

Shane’s hand paused over the fire, and he frowned. “What? You’re not happy here?”

Wade looked up and met his gaze. “Are we planning to stay here long-term? If we are, why don’t we have even the most basic defenses or warning systems?”

Shane’s weathered face reddened slightly in the firelight. That really had been an oversight on his part.

No walkers had ever reached the camp before, so nighttime security had always been lax. During the day, Dale usually kept watch from the top of his RV with his hunting rifle.

It helped, but not by much.

Dale sprinkled some salt over a skewer that was nearly done and handed it to Carl. “Maybe we should strengthen the camp’s defenses. We do have children here, after all.”

Dale was the sort of good-natured man who rarely offended anyone, but even he voiced his opinion now, bringing up another central concern for the camp: the children.

Neither Carl nor Sophia had any real ability to fight off walkers. Even when it came to running away, there was only so fast they could go.

If they ran into one, they were very likely to die.

Merle suddenly let out a derisive snort and glanced at his younger brother, Daryl.

He had originally planned to loot the camp with Daryl sometime in the next couple of days, then leave and find somewhere else to survive.

Why?

Because after all this time, he still saw no future here.

Shane, the man leading the group, only had eyes for Lori and Carl. He barely gave anyone else a thought.

Their lookout was an old man, while most of the meat they ate was brought back by Merle and his little brother.

The only reason the camp had survived this long was because it was remote and rarely visited.

In other words, they had simply been lucky.

Merle could already imagine what would have happened tonight if he, Daryl, and Wade hadn’t been here. How many more people would have died in that silent night attack?

Two? Three? Maybe even more?

Rick looked up at Wade. “So? Wade, do you have a better idea?”

“For the short term, this place isn’t bad. But we need to set up some basic defenses. Fences, tripwires, metal cans that make noise when something hits them, things like that.

“At the very least, we need to be able to sleep without worrying about walkers suddenly wandering into the middle of camp.

“But in the long run, this place won’t work. Forget a stable food supply, basic industry, or medical care. Just think about those things in Atlanta. If they ever start migrating this way in large numbers, we won’t even have a chance to run.”

More than ten walkers had suddenly appeared tonight, so no one doubted Wade’s point.

They had found this quarry camp despite its distance from the city and its isolation from any real human traffic.

Rick glanced at his old friend Shane. When he saw that Shane had no objection, he gave a slight nod and looked Wade straight in the eyes. “You’re right. So where do you think we should go?”

Wade narrowed his eyes slightly and smiled.

Rick was testing him, trying to see whether he had some ulterior motive.

After all, Wade had only arrived at the camp today. That same night, walkers attacked, and now he was already suggesting they relocate. It was hard not to be suspicious.

But if Wade wanted a say in the camp’s leadership later, he wasn’t about to hide behind answers like I don’t know or It’s up to you.

Winning people over was always better than forcing or bribing them.

“I’m planning to spend the next couple of days gathering enough food and weapons, then head south. The climate there is milder, and there should be places suitable for long-term settlement.”

Dale paused. “You mean farms and ranches?”

“Exactly. Open terrain, fences meant to keep thieves out, reliable water sources, food production, and all the agricultural facilities that come with them.”

Wade had considered the prison as well, but clearing it would cost too much, and defending it afterward would take even more manpower. Their small group simply wasn’t capable of handling a place like that yet, so he didn’t mention it.

Shane’s eyes shifted slightly. “I heard Fort Benning Military Base still hasn’t fallen. We have enough people now. All we need are some more weapons and gasoline. If we can cover the hundred miles between here and there, we can put ourselves under their protection.”

“Maybe the CDC is another option. If they’re already working on a cure for all this, then if we get there early enough, we could be among the first people to receive the vaccine.”

At those words, the expressions in Dale, Glenn, and T-Dog’s eyes changed almost immediately. It was as though a spark of hope had suddenly appeared there.

The possibility Rick had just laid before them was simply too tempting.

It spoke directly to the hope buried deep in everyone’s heart: that there might still be a way to end the apocalypse and return to an orderly society.

That made Wade realize something immediately.

There was a reason Rick could become the leader of a group. When it came to raising morale, Wade knew he was nowhere near Rick’s level.

However...