TWD: Merle - Chapter 17: Roadside Bandits (Patreon)

At dawn, a faint glow appeared along the horizon. The sun slowly rose from the brightest point in the distance, spilling its light across the land.

Once visibility was good enough, Wade grabbed his recurve bow and got out of the truck. He raised the bow, nocked an arrow, and fired several shots in quick succession, dropping a few walkers that had wandered out from who knew where.

[Killed one Walker. Experience Points +1]

Several notifications flashed by in succession. Wade watched his experience climb a little higher. Combined with the handful of walkers he'd killed during last night's patrol, he was now at 80 points.

He did a quick calculation in his head.

At this rate, he should level up within the next couple of days.

Before long, Merle climbed out of the truck as well. With a lit cigarette hanging from his mouth, he walked over to a patch of bushes and started relieving himself.

Call him civilized, and he wasn't exactly shy about doing it where people could see. Call him uncivilized, and at least he had the decency to turn his back.

No wonder Daryl had been so casual about it before. Maybe this was where he'd picked up the habit.

After Merle finished, shuddered twice, and pulled his pants back up, he turned around to find Wade staring at him with a strange expression.

"What?"

Wade shook his head in disgust and clicked his tongue.

Merle immediately caught on, laughed, and swore at him before heading back to the truck. He dug out some smoked meat left over from yesterday, stuffed it into his mouth, and started chewing.

"I mean... come on. It can't be that bad, can it?"

"Pfft. Worry about this, worry about that. In a world like this, you're more likely to get bitten to death by a walker than die from some disease, kid."

Wade shut his mouth.

Crude as it sounded, Merle had a point. Still, his manners were bad enough to make a drunken barroom brawler look refined by comparison...

Before long, Daryl and Cathy woke up as well. After everyone had a quick breakfast in the trucks, they got back on the country road and continued on their way.

They hadn't gone far when Wade spotted several wrecked cars blocking the road about fifty meters ahead.

"Stop. There's something blocking the road."

He picked up the walkie-talkie.

"Marcus, get ready to stop. There's a roadblock ahead. Could be trouble, so keep yourself and Cathy safe."

Marcus's voice quickly came through the radio.

"Copy. You guys be careful too."

Merle pulled over and stopped the truck. A teasing grin spread across his face.

"Kid, you're pretty good at killing walkers. But what about people? Think you can pull the trigger on them?"

Wade drew the Glock 17 from the back of his waistband and chambered a round before replying calmly.

"Guess I'm doing a pretty good job as a leader, then. At least I don't look like a bad guy."

Merle froze for a second, then burst out laughing.

This kid was growing on him more and more.

"So? What's the plan?"

"Depends. If we can talk, we'll talk. If we can't... then we'll figure out how to kill them all."

With that, Wade unbuckled his seat belt and stepped out of the truck.

"Watch yourself. If anything goes wrong, open fire. Don't hesitate. We'll cover you."

Wade nodded and cautiously made his way forward.

The wind swept through the branches, filling the air with the soft rustle of leaves.

Several vehicles stood scattered across the narrow country road ahead.

Dark, almost black bloodstains covered the pavement, and the car doors had been left wide open. It looked as though the owners had run into trouble here, abandoned their vehicles, and fled in every direction.

The bushes and grass along one side of the road had been heavily trampled, with clear paths leading from the road into the woods.

Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Then a dark figure suddenly darted through the trees.

Wade instinctively swung his gun toward it.

The figure immediately stopped behind a tree and didn't move again.

"Come on out, buddy. Don't waste my time. If you've got something to say, say it."

"Hey, buddy! Relax! We're not bad people! You can see what happened. Our cars broke down, then we got attacked last night. We had no choice but to run into the woods to hide from the walkers! We only came back to get our stuff. That's all. We don't mean any trouble!"

The explanation seemed to convince Wade.

He tucked the Glock 17 back into his waistband, put on a friendly smile, and called out like a helpful passerby.

"All right, sounds like you guys had some rotten luck. Need a hand?"

"Oh, we'd really appreciate that!"

Three burly men emerged from the woods, carrying pistols, clubs, and machetes.

There were both black and white men among them, and every one of them looked wary, as though they didn't entirely trust Wade either.

Wade also noticed that while their clothes were filthy, they themselves looked surprisingly well. They didn't look anything like survivors who had spent the previous night running for their lives.

The bearded man in front raised both hands and took a step closer with a smile.

"Man, you're a good guy. No, forget good. You're an angel. Say, are you an international student?"

"Yeah."

The large man quietly took another step closer, putting on a sympathetic expression.

"Poor kid. God bless you. By the way, you..."

That was all Wade needed.

He sighed.

"Just the three of you?"

The bearded man blinked.

"What?"

"I asked if there's only three of you. Are you fucking deaf?"

"Yeah..."

The word had barely left his mouth when Wade's hunting knife flashed forward.

The blade drove straight up through the underside of the man's chin.

"Guh... mm..."

The force of the strike nearly lifted his massive body off the ground.

His brown eyes widened in pure confusion.

International students... weren't they supposed to be easy targets?

How the hell did this guy...

Two different gunshots rang out almost simultaneously.

The two men standing beside him instantly had their heads blown open and dropped to the ground, free to ponder the mysteries of the universe.

Wade watched the light fade from the bearded man's eyes, pulled his hunting knife free, and casually shoved him aside.

Thud.

His body hit the ground, kicking up a small cloud of dust.

Wade crouched down and casually wiped the blood from his blade.

Damn it.

Three small-time punks, and they had the nerve to waste his time pulling this roadside robbery crap. He'd actually thought there might be more of them waiting in ambush in the woods.

Their guns weren't even faster than his knife.

And with skills like that, they wanted to rob people?

What a waste of time.

Wade headed back toward the trucks, pulling off his blood-soaked shirt along the way and tossing it aside.

There was no way he could keep it. The blood would attract walkers, and if that timid, softhearted old man saw him covered in blood like this, he'd probably grab his hunting rifle and start shouting, "Get out!"

Merle rested his rifle on his shoulder and whistled at Marcus.

Well, well.

Who would've thought the good doctor was such a damn good shot?

Nearly forty meters away, using nothing but a red dot sight, and he'd landed a headshot with a single bullet.

Daryl looked surprised too. He gave Marcus a small nod, silently showing his approval.

Marcus himself seemed completely unfazed. He simply gave a faint smile before turning his attention back to calming Cathy.