i made her a lot like her sister. but lighter because she was always kinder and softer than andrea. i didn’t love her character but it was really sad when she died. on her birthday no less! i think it really kicked off andreas character arc tho
When - Quarry, right after you and Amy dry off following The Chicken Swim, until the following day when Ed gets beaten up; episodes “Guts” and “Tell it to the Frogs.” To read more belonging to the Slowpoke Series, here’s the Masterlist.
Relationships - you and the gang! It’s all the gang, and of course, Dary-bear
Genre - (?), but it follows the quarry camp’s events of episodes “Guts” and “Tell it to the Frogs.” Rick comes back!
Pronouns - not technically mentioned in this one. Also note that being Shane’s sibling in this series is not one of full blood relation, so visually you should look however you want (which is preferably however you yourself look, without any alteration. So long as you’re healthy, you’re fine how you are - and don’t you forget it)
TWs - mentions of an abuser (spousal/parental), and language. But luckily, the kids weren’t around so you don’t need to pay the quarter fine for the vulgarities
“But w-what’s he gonna do to Carol and Sophia now?” you sob.
“Well, to be honest,” Dale answers, “Nothing, not for a while. And until then, well...who can say? But there’s always a way out; there is always something that can be done to make a situation better.”
You’re sitting on the floor of his RV bawling your eyes out and trying to calm down. Your hands hurt. And your shoulders feel sore. And you have a bruise forming on your jaw.
You tried to beat up Ed Pelletier.
“But I would venture that he will certainly think twice about doing anything so long as you and Shane are a part of this camp,” Dale adds. He’s crouched beside you, sitting on the edge of the window seat.
You feel a fresh shower of tears stream out as your lip wobbles and you cough out “Fuck, we’re both such hot-headed idiots!” You reach for another napkin from the pile that Dale had in lieu of tissues.
“Maybe you and your brother both have that tendency, yes,” he considered. “But that doesn’t discredit that what you did came from a good place. As...I’m going to say as ‘impulsive’ as it may have been, the only thought on your mind, at least from what I imagine, was that Ed had hurt his wife, had been hurting his wife and maybe his child for far too long, and would do it again – but that maybe you jumping in would stop him from doing so.”
“B-but I know that doing shit like that usually results in the victims g-getting hurt even worse because the abuser sees it as a threat or somethin’ and gets mad!” you cry, voice getting progressively more full and shaky until it culminates in a heaving sob that makes you gag.
Dale doesn’t say anything back to you just yet, he only pats your shoulder. It seems that he’s decided to let you simply cry it out for a while in the quiet of his RV.
After a minute or so, you’re able to speak again, and you question him more. “Are you lyin’ that Shane was already on his way before I jumped in?”
“I have no reason to lie to you, and wouldn’t insult you by doing so besides. As for your brother, he had this,” he shakes his head, “I saw him from atop the RV, and he had a very unhappy look on his face before the fight even broke out. I’m not certain why, but he looked very...riled.”
“Did he say anything?”
“There was no time. He wasn’t close enough, and then, that’s when Ed hit Carol. Shane began bolting down that hill like a man with a chip on his shoulder. Before your own altercation took place, kiddo. When you did enter the equation, however, it only made him sprint faster, and I’m certain hit a lot harder.”
“Ed deserved it,” you mutter.
“Yes, I believe you’re right. In a way, hurting someone who hurts others is certainly seen as justice.”
“So you don’t think he deserved it.”
Next to Dale, you felt almost criminal. He was just so...good. No wonder he and Teddy and Glenn got along so well. Yeah, you were the praying type, and while definitely not naive, you were inexperienced about most things. You hadn’t even gotten properly drunk before, even after you’d turned 21 a few years ago.
But before someone so thoroughly attuned to their moral compass and consistent with it, you felt like some moody child. So damned hotheaded!
Even though you were certain that Ed deserved what he got and worse, Dale’s unshakable conscience was admirable. You hope to have that one day, that awareness and control and forethought. That patient kindness.
Sighing, Dale gently responds “I never quite said that, honey.”
Upon seeing your expression, he further explains his reply. He opens his mouth, but closes it, and considers again. Then, carefully, he finds his words: “I suppose that ‘deserve’ isn’t what worries me.”
“What d’you mean by that? Like mob justice?”
“Like mob violence, yes.” His brows are low and he is frowning. “When...things fall apart – when civilization goes through times of turmoil,” he clarifies, “Even if not through any malice or desire for power or even revenge, people end up sacrificing their humanity out of what’s often very reasonable fear.”
“Yeah,” you mumble.
He puts his hand back on your shoulder. “But other than worry for you getting injured, what you did doesn’t scare me.”
“Not yet at least, I hope,” you halfheartedly joke. You know that thing, where you joke to get an uncomfortable truth out? That’s what that was.
From the corner of your vision you can see that Dale shakes his head. He rubs your shoulder a few times and sighs.
“Because I know your heart, kiddo,” is all he says back. And that’s enough for you. If only you didn’t have to eventually leave the RV and face everyone other than Dale, right?
Your thoughts then drift to your brother. “What about Shane?” you ask him. “Are you worried about him?”
Dale clasps his hands and thinks about what to say. “Your brother is under a different sort of stress, since he’s sort of taken up leadership. And I don’t know him as well as I know you,” he trails off.
“Come on, Dale. You told me you’d be honest.”
He takes off his hat to fan himself with it. “What do you think about what I said?” he turns it around.
“About Shane, or?”
“About all of it,” he puts to you.
You chew your bottom lip. There wasn’t anything that you outright disagreed with about Dale said. People had already started to forget their humanity and do horrible things, and it didn’t even take long after the outbreaks. Heck, even a power outage in the before-times could cause chaos.
And as for your brother, you saw what was happening to him. It saddened and worried you. Plus, what Amy told you about Shane had said yesterday had been shocking – but you realized that it didn’t shock you as much as you wished, and that was worse.
When a radio call came from T-Dog about the danger they were in, your brother had said that they couldn’t risk going to help them. To rescue them.
If you’d been on that run, he would’ve dropped everything to go find you, and you knew it. He’d been taking risks and sacrificing for you and Lori and Carl ever since the bad things started. And you could only imagine what might’ve gone through his head as he came to that decision – to not risk any more of the group to rescue the others in Atlanta because he understood that it was objectively the safest choice.
But to know that he’d so quickly not placed that same value on other’s loved ones out of pure pragmatism, and so very quickly, was difficult. People would remember that.
And holy Moses, yesterday was wild. You were on that hunt with Daryl, carefully and silently tracking your way through the woods, when suddenly you heard a car alarm (??) getting louder and louder.
“The fuck is that racket?” he spat.
“Shit, that’s gonna draw the dead towards it!”
“And scare all the damned food away!” he erupted, managing to somehow keep it quiet.
“Daryl? I gotta go back, we gotta go back,” you stuttered. “I gotta make sure Carl is okay and -”
“Shh, keep quiet!” he hissed.
You flinched, but then grew angry. That dick was such a loudmouthed ass. You were being quiet!
“Don’t be gettin’ all huffy with me cause you’re mad the deer might get spooked, not when our people might could be in trouble back there!”
Thankfully, you managed to keep yourself from spewing out the insulting name you wanted to call him. For now.
“Fine, bitch. Go,” he scoffed at you. “Try not to get lost or bit on the way back.”
That was where you lost it. “Who you callin’ bitch, you little fucker?” To hell with the high ground; screw this son-of-a-white-trash-bitch for calling you a bitch! Who the hell did he think he was?
“You better watch your mouth,” he rasped at you.
“Yeah, you best watch yours, sunshine,” you snarled back. You were leaving. Fuck this dick. You tried not to crack too many twigs as you walked away and hoped that he wouldn’t mutter anything beneath his breath, because oh my gosh if he did, you didn’t even kn –
“Just – hey, be careful!” he called. “Don’t, you know, be all loud and shit on the way back.”
You slow down and exhale. Inhale. “Yeah, I’ll be careful. Same, um, same to you.” You start walking again.
“And m’sorry.” Oh. An apology? Well good. That was...very good. Very good of him indeed. You stopped moving altogether.
“Me too,” you admitted, mumbling. Why did you always need to boil over so quickly? You know that Daryl was a firebrand, too, and yet you’d barely tried to keep your cool when he started running his mouth off.
You then remembered something, and pulled the yellow camo walkie-talkie out of your back pocket. “Here. I almost forgot to let you borrow it. It’s the extra walkie. Radio the camp if you run into trouble or need help, yeah? It’s already on the frequency, just switch it on.”
“Hm?” He walked over and took the little walkie. “Hm. Where’d this thing come from?”
“I’d found these for Amy’s birthday, it came in a three-pack. She opened ‘em up earlier today. And guess what? They’re rainproof,” you announced, pretending to be highly impressed. You pulled out your green one and waved it a little. “This one’s mine.”
Was he about to laugh? “What, y’all got like a babysitter’s club or somethin’?”
“Oh, you a fan of the books, or did you want to paint nails with us?” you asked him, mouth twisted. He just squints at you and snorts in almost a friendly way.
Happily, you can’t hear the car anymore. “Well, the alarm stopped, so that’s prolly a good sign.”
“Nah, go on back, check to make sure all’s good,” he says. You can hear the apology in his voice. With an air of sarcasm, he adds “You can just take over water duty or some other fun shit, right?”
“Right.”
And with that, you each started your separate ways.
“Be careful, don’t die, don’t get bit,” you tossed over your shoulder, not thinking much of it.
“Hey, um,” he called back. “I ain’t sure how the range is on this thing, so radio me soon as you get back, alright?”
You were curious as to why he would care, but hey, why would you complain about that? Granted, maybe he was only worried about the fallout from Shane if you got hurt, but whatever; it was a good idea.
“I can do that. And hey, if you stay out late, check in every so often, too, yeah?”
And with that, you’d finally parted.
You made your way back to the campsite, radioed Daryl a quick “Made it,” and duly noted the orangey-red sports car that hadn’t been parked there before.
“Good” was radioed back to you, and you saw that Shane was waving you over. When you got close, you grew nervous. He was looking both pale and teary and happy (?) and somehow sad at the same time.
What was going on? Did something go down in Atlanta?
“Shane, what happened?”
“I have no idea.” Really, his expression was very...you couldn’t place it. Happy and shocked and ashamed maybe?
“What do you mean?”
Your brother didn’t explain. He might not have been able to. He simply inclined his head over to the fire where Lori and Carl and...what?
You weren’t sure who you were looking at and you also forgot to blink.
There was a new person.
But he looked very much like someone who was no longer alive. You’d known that man your whole life, you loved him so much, but he was, he was dead. He was shot, was in a coma, then died.
Oh no, were you asleep? Were you about to wake up and realize it was all a dream and burst into angry tears like you'd done so many times after you’d dreamt that your dead loved ones were still alive?
He even had the uniform on, it can’t have been him.
You must have been asleep. Heck, you even started to wonder if you were seeing a ghost, he was so realistic.
But then Carl just about skipped over to you and wrapped his arm around your middle saying, “He came back!” as “he” stood up to walk over and greet you.
Lori was behind him, looking more relieved than you’d seen her since the outbreaks began. You returned Carl’s hug but kept staring like a deer in headlights at that man.
Then he said your name. It even sounded like his voice.
“H-hi Ricky,” you scarcely believed was coming out of your mouth.
You’d been there that day, when Shane was trying to rescue him from the hospital after the medevac transports didn’t show. You’d been in the driver’s seat, actually, waiting to speed away as soon as your brother put Rick into the backseat.
But instead he’d stumbled out alone, full-on crying, and stammered that when the hospital’s power went out and the machine to which Rick had been hooked up stopped working, he didn’t feel a pulse.
“It’s good to see you in one piece,” Rick chuckled at you. His eyes were glistening and red-rimmed.
You remember sputtering out a confused laugh of sorts and looking at your brother. In an attempt to not burst into tears, once you’d gotten your bearings (somewhat) you asked Shane, “Sh-should I say it, or?”
His brows raised as he rubbed his forefinger and thumb on the bridge of his nose.
“After the scare he gave us, he deserves it,” Shane murmured, his eyes getting red now, too.
“What’s that then?” Rick asked, squinting and giving you both a playful smile as he wiped his eyes.
“I’m guessin’ it smelled like more bacon than usual,” Shane said for you, giving you a look.
“So who else w-would it have been?” you finished, tears clouding your vision, throat tightening, lips wobbling.
Lori, tears filled to the brim, too, coughed out a laugh as she started to cry. Carl looked up at Shane confused and said that he didn’t get it.
“Lore, he’s even in the outfit! Ricky, did you change out of the hospital gown right into your dang uniform?” you laughed, as tears finally fell from your eyes. Even Shane snorted at that.
“You know that man Merle called me somethin’ along the lines of ‘piggly wiggly,’ too,” Rick hinted, eyebrows lifted but eyes smiling even as he was teary.
When he next pulled you into an tight embrace, and you began to sob.
Then Lori wrapped an arm around you as you squeezed him to make sure he was real.
After using no fewer than four tissues, you joined them back around the fireside with the rest of the group.
In the before-times, Rick had been right there with you, going along with the jokes ever since you’d made your first police-related jab and held your breath to gauge his reaction. Your dad, Shane’s stepdad technically, had joined the police force later in life. He made cop jokes like there was no tomorrow.
The rest of that night, you couldn’t shake off the happy daze. Rick was alive! Your brother was alive!
Apparently, the group who went to Atlanta had almost not stayed that way. They all shared stories about what happened.
Jacqui laughed about how her knowledge of the city’s zoning and building history had almost come in handy. Andrea and Glenn ranted about the way they’d spotted Rick and how Glenn insisted on helping out, then how much trouble they feared he was going to be (all in good fun. But you could tell that it was another one of those situations where people were using humor to get out an uncomfortable truth).
Then Rick shared about what happened to him, how he was helped, and how he ended up here. He kept thanking your brother, but Shane stayed quiet, barely nodding in acknowledgment.
T-Dog stayed oddly quiet, too, and sat in silence next to Jacqui when he wasn’t speaking softly to her and Dale about whatever was troubling him. You sat next to him to keep him company for a while. He asked that you pray for Merle, of all people. You didn’t ask why, you just nodded and said you would.
At least Merle wasn’t there to make it worse, you guessed. You were surprised that he hadn’t come to grab food, though. Speaking of Merle, his brother radioed back “Found a tree with a huntin’ blind, gonna stay the night.” Sleep overnight in a hunting chair?
That was some damned dedication, if you said so yourself. Risky though.
“Be careful, man. Don’t get eaten by nothin’, radio if you get trouble,” you quickly reply.
“I’ma shut off the walkie for the night, conserve the battery. G’night.” Okay, fair play.
Amy gave you a curious look and you explained that you’d lent him the third walkie. “So maybe you can chat with him when he turns his radio back on, huh Amy?” you winked, making Andrea’s face twist in disgust and panic until Amy saw, burst out laughing, and put her fears to rest.
And then Ed tossed a very large piece of wood onto his fire.
Really, it’s like he was begging for the camp to be found, especially the way he literally tossed it on, making embers spew everywhere.
Shane got that incredulous look in his eyes that you knew well and asked “Hey Ed, you wanna rethink that log?” Translation “Is your empty head shoved so far up your lazy ass that you’d risk everyone here?”
Ed settled himself back into his chair. “It’s cold, man.”
Ah, and there went your blood pressure, pricking up the by millisecond. And if the expression on Shane’s face was any indication, you were in good company. He shared a look with you, but kept his cool (pun intended), however, as he mildly replied “Cold doesn’t change the rules, does it?” Then he repeated the rule: “Keep our fires low; just embers, so we can’t be seen from a distance, right?”
“I said it’s cold,” was Ed’s reply almost instantly, as if he were only waiting for your brother to stop talking so that he could repeat it. “You should mind your own business for once.”
The only thing that kept you from reacting was that Dale caught your eyes and shook his head as if in solidarity. Shane got up calmly, walked over, and said something quietly to Ed. As he did, you noticed your brother’s fingers twitching.
Ed then ordered Carol to “Go on,” and she stood up and took the log out herself. Shane stamped it with his boot to help her, then bent down and smiled at Carol and Sophia and must’ve exchanged pleasantries or something.
You knew that Carol reminded him of your mom. She reminded you of your mom, too, even though she was decades younger. Shane had also seen a lot of domestic cases as a cop, and those had always weighed on him. He’d probably be half in love with Carol if it wasn’t for whatever you suspected he started to feel for Lori.
So you decided to get up and sit with them, even if it meant being in the same space as Ed. Carol kindly asked you about your day and you three chatted.
T-Dog soon walked past you looking glum, so you’d bid him a “Goodnight, Teddy!” He put his hand on your shoulder in thanks and continued to his cot.
Then much later, after most everyone else had gone to bed and you were ready to crash in your tent, Shane asked if you would stay up with him. And he wasn’t the sort to ask that for no reason, so you did.
He quietly poked at the fire. You repeated “Rick’s alive,” under your breath in disbelief. He echoed it, that happy/ashamed/shocked look still fixed on his face.
Eventually you and he and exchanged some minor small talk and banter, but nothing of real substance. Which was okay, but...
“Might could you and Lori have been startin’ to have feelings for each other?” you gently asked him.
He froze for a split-second. That meant ‘yes.’ Then that ashamed look took over and he nodded and seemed to huff. “You might could say that.”
“What’s that mean?” You knew your brother, but didn’t want to think that he would have started anything at the physical level with his best friend’s widow only a couple months after Rick had died. Um, was thought to have died, at least. Thank you, thank you, Rick’s alive!
“It ain’t a big deal. I deserved it anyways,” Shane attempted. And before you could say anything else in regard to his very interesting choice of word, he firmly stated “My brother is back. Our brother. I’d failed him twice over, but now he’s alive again, so.”
“I don’t appreciate that tone,” you start off. But to keep things light, you make a face when you tell him “And besides, you didn’t fail him twice over, dramatic loser.” You still wanted to talk more about his use of ‘deserved,’ but it was better to let sleeping dogs lie for the evening.
Shane knew that he had been rude, but was grateful that you were being patient with him. The corners of his mouth betrayed a smile when he grumbled “Don’t get all huffy with me, annoyin’ weirdo.”
That made you remember earlier. “So, I had a, um, a spat with Daryl earlier, said that exact thing to him. Called him ‘sunshine,’ too.”
Shane got a kick out of that. “Just be careful when you’re out there with him, he’s a...hot-head.”
Smirking, you quipped “Pot calling the kettle black, ain’t we?”
“Yeah, look who’s talkin’,” he chimed back.
You elbowed him for that, then asked “Wanna listen to my mp3? I charged it in the RV a few days ago.”
“Won’t say no to that.” Smiling, he elbowed you back. “You cool with me blastin’ all the Zeppelin you got?”
“Deal.”
You each wore one earbud and rocked out in silence for a while. You ended up leaving your music player with him so you could go to bed (or go to sleeping bag, technically) and Shane said that he was going to keep watch overnight.
It rained.
Which meant that your brother and Daryl were both getting soaked. You tried out your walkie to see if Daryl had his on or not. Because he was high up in a hunting chair in a rainstorm at night, that was a little worrisome.
“You should be sleeping,” came Amy’s voice through the radio, quiet. “Though now I know I forgot to turn my walkie off before bed.”
“Bug Daryl into responding with me, he’s still out there.”
“Daryl,” she sing-songed, still very quiet.
“Hey Daryl, answer please!”
“Mr. Dixon, are you there?” You also heard Andrea in the background that time when Amy said that.
“Dary-bear. Radio back and we’ll stop.” Oh, you were gonna use ‘Dary-bear’ again, tell you what.
“Hey,” came Andrea's voice. “So your asshole of a brother propositioned me about ‘bumping uglies’ in front of everyone, then called me a ‘rug muncher’ in just about the same breath.”
“Andrea, he did what?” you choke.
“All while handcuffed on the roof.”
“Handcuffed on the what?”
“You didn’t hear that conversation around the fire?” Amy asked you, voice high, as her sister also input that, “He deserved it.”
There was that word again. ‘Deserved.’
“That must’ve been when I was talking to Carol and Sophia,” you tell them. Because you would’ve remembered overhearing that. Handcuffed to a roof? Holy Moses.
“We’ll wait to tell you in the morning, okay kiddo?” That was Dale that time. So you’d just about awakened the whole RV.
Andrea added “At least you know his walkie is definitely off, he would’ve replied after I insulted his brother.”
“Hey, are you keeping dry in your tent?” Amy checked.
“Very, I’m at no risk of melting,” you joke. “I was just worried Daryl might if he got wet.”
“He’ll be alright,” Amy giggled back. You couldn’t help but overhear her sister in the background muttering that, “Hopefully he won’t multiply like a gremlin.”
The next morning, as soon as you’d slumped out of your tent, peed, and mixed a cup of instant coffee, Glenn dragged you over to check out the Chevy he’d used to draw walkers away from the group (and then had proceeded to speed off on a joy ride back to camp).
In his defense, it was a nice car. And he’d offered to take you for a spin in it. That made your pulse get louder and your walls snap up, but you tried to ignore that and lower them again.
“Can’t believe you didn’t shut off the alarm before comin’ all the way back, buttface,” you chided him. “Me and Daryl got into a hissy fit cause of that.”
“Well, he’s gonna have another when he gets back.”
“How come?”
Glenn froze. “Weren’t you there last night?”
“Well yeah, but I was talking with Carol – Glenn, what happened?” You still hadn’t seen the other Dixon, and if Daryl was gonna freak out about something, it was gonna be about his brother. “Was it somethin’ with Merle? I know he was handcuffed, but why ain’t I seen him around?”
From there, Glenn next dragged you over to T-Dog and you found out about what happened with the hoard, the handcuffs, and the key that slipped away, and the fact that T-Dog chained the door so Merle would stand a chance.
Merle "Well, let's just say we're tense at the moment."
Jesus "Well, sometimes it can be. Especially if your brother is younger than you. Or I don't know if he is, but I assume he is."
Merle "Yeah, he's 5 years younger than me."
Jesus "That explains that thing."
Merle "Well, but we've been tense between us for a long time."
Jerry "Have you done anything to your brother?"
Merle "If you mean that I have been violent towards him, so I'm not. He's just angry about it when I have not been his support when he needed me the most."
Ezekiel "And it's because of what?"
Merle "Well, let's say that I have made wrong choices in my life and because of it I have forgotten him."
Belle "Did you use?"
Merle "I used what?"
Belle "Drugs, Did You Use Them?"
Merle "Yeah, I used and I'm not proud of that."
Belle "I can identify with your brother. My brother used drugs too."
Merle "Where is your brother now?"
Belle "He's dead."
Merle "The Walker?"
Belle "What about the walker?"
Merle "Did the walker bite him or how did he die?"
Belle "I wish It had been a walker, but no. He died of a drug overdose."
Merle "I'm sorry."
Belle "No, do not be. It was his choice."
Merle said nothing.
Belle "I'm just trying to tell you that maybe you and your brother should try to fix your situation."
Merle "I think it's too late already."
Belle "It's never too late to try."
Merle "Why try to fix what you can't fix?"
Belle "I don't know."
Merle "That's right."
In the meantime, on the other hand.
Andrea "Hey, has anyone seen Merle?"
Emily "Maybe he's still sleeping."
Andrea "He's not sleeping."
Alice "And how do you know that?"
Andrea "I went through all the tents and Merle wasn't in any of them."
Amy "He's definitely somewhere here."
That's when Jim came to them.
Morales "Good morning, Jim."
Jim "Good morning. Have any of you seen my wheelbarrows?"
Morgan's "Your Wheelbarrow?"
Jim "Yeah, my wheelbarrows. They're mysteriously lost."
Amy "How can wheelbarrows mysteriously disappear?"
Jim "I don't know, but that's what happened."
Andrea "Well, your wheelbarrows aren't the only ones that have mysteriously disappeared."
Jim "Has anything else disappered mysteriously?"
Alice "Yeah, so to speak."
Jim "Who else is missing then too?"
Emily "Merle."
Jim "Merle? He was Daryl's brother, right?"
Alice "Yep and he's gone too."
Morales "I flashed."
They looked at Morales.
Andrea "What flashed?"
Morales "What if Merle has taken those wheelbarrows and disappeared with them?"
Amy "I don't understand."
Morales "Don't you realize this combination? Lost wheelbarrows and lost Merle, it can't be a coincidence."
Emily "What the hell would Merle have done with the wheelbarrows?"
Morales "I don't know, I just said."
Rick walked over to them.
Rick "Good morning!"
Andrea "Good morning."
Rick looked at Jim.
Rick "Is everything all right?"
Jim "Yeah everything's fine, except that my wheelbarrows are gone."
Rick "That is not a big deal."
Andrea "It's kind of is."
Rick "What do you mean?"
Andrea "Well, Merle is gone, too."
Rick "Merle is missing?"
Amy "Yeah, it looks like."
Rick "And you thought Merle had take wheelbarrows along, right?"
Morales "It could be possible. I mean, lost wheelbarrows and lost Merle, can't be a coincidence."
Rick "But what the hell would Merle do with wheelbarrows?"
Andrea "That's what we'd like to know, too."
Rick "Have you asked Daryl?"
Jim "Not yet."
Rick "Maybe we should."
That’s when Daryl and Carol walked over to them.
Daryl "You should ask me what?"
Rick "Well, that Merle is gone and so are Jim's wheelbarrows."
Carol "Is that so?"
Rick "Unfortunately."
Daryl "Well, I have no idea about that."
Rick "So you don't know anything about it?"
Daryl "Isn't it obvious I don't know."
Jim "That's weird."
Daryl "What's so weird about this?"
Jim "Well, you're his brother, so shouldn't you know?"
Daryl "I might be his brother, but I'm not his damn babysitter!"
Shane "And some asshole has been drinking my beers!"
Rick turned to look at Shane.
Rick "Maybe you drank them yourself, but you don't remember it."
Shane "I haven't touched them, but someone else apparently is."
Rick "We have a worse problem than your lost beers."
Shane "And what problem could be worse than my beers?"
Rick "Well, the fact that Merle is gone and so are Jim's wheelbarrows."
Shane started laughing.
Rick "Shane, this is not funny."
Shane "You know how ridiculous that sounded? Lost wheelbarrows, don't bother."
Rick "It's not ridiculous if Merle is missing."
Shane "Well, maybe that wasn't, but it was ridiculous when you said that Jim's wheelbarrows are also gone."
Morales "Don't you realize Shane?"
Shane "Realize what?"
Morales "Lost wheelbarrows and lost Merle, can't be a coincidence."
Shane "But why the hell would Merle take the damn wheelbarrows with him? I don't realize that."
Amy "None of us realize that."
Morgan "Maybe we should go looking for Merle."
Jim "Hey, what about my wheelbarrow?"
Morgan "Also them."
Rick "We can't go looking for Merle or wheelbarrows now."
Morgan "And why not?"
Rick "Because I promised Maggie that we would be in their community today."
Anna "We're not going to stay there, are we?"
Rick "Unfortunately, we'll stay there."
Anna "Well, you can count me out. I'm not coming."
Rick "You can't be serious."
Anna "I Am."
Daryl "You can count me out, too."
Rick looked at Daryl.
Daryl "I don't trust them."
Rick "It's not about you or whether you trust them. It's about survival."
Daryl "You can still count me out."
Carol "Daryl!"
Daryl "Someone has to stay here if Merle comes back."
Carol "Well, if you stay, I'll stay too."
Daryl "You don't have to."
Carol "Well, like it or not, I'm going to stay."
Rick "All right. Let's do this Anna, Daryl, Carol and Jessica stay here and the rest of us go there. And if Merle comes back, you'll come there afterwards."
Jessica "Sounds like a good idea."
Then Rick looked at the others.
Rick "Let's go."
Rick looked at Daryl.
Rick "Take care of others."
Daryl "You can count on me."
Then the others went for a walk towards the forest.
Jessica "So, now we're just waiting, right?"
Carol "I think so."
Give "I hope Merle is okay."
Daryl "He always is."
Jessica "You didn't look worried when Rick said Merle is gone."
Daryl "I'm used to it."
Anna "Has he done these before?"
Daryl "Did what?"
Anna "Gone and lost somewhere and hasn't said a word?"
Daryl "Yeah, many times."
Jessica "I guess our siblings relationship is tense, huh?"
Daryl "Aren't the intervals between all the siblings sometimes tense?"
Jessica "I do not know about that. Because I'm an only child."
Daryl looked at Anna.
Anna "Yeah, sometimes my relationship with Rick is tense, but he's my brother and I still love him."
Daryl "I wish I could say the same."
Anna "So your sibling relationship isn't okay, I guess?"
Daryl "It's worse than okay."
Jessica "Do you want to talk about it?"
Daryl "Not now."
Jessica "Okay."
Daryl looked at Carol.
Daryl "You shouldn't have stayed."
Carol "I know, I still stayed."
Daryl "That you can admire my ass again, huh?"
Carol "Stop that."
Daryl "Admit it."
Carol "I don't admit anything."
Daryl "Admit it now."
Carol "No, I don't admit it."
Daryl "All right then. If you're playing a dirty game, then i let you know that I'm not afraid to get my hands dirty."
Carol "I see what game you're trying to play with me and it's not going to work out."
Daryl "You'll see that it works."
Carol "You and your big mouth."
In the meantime, on the other hand.
Jerry "Is your brother nice?"
Merle "Yeah, he is. We are opposites of each other."
Henry "Oh like Jing and Jang?"
Merle "In a way."
Siddiq "Do you still have a hangover?"
Merle "A little yeah."
Siddiq "When we get to camp then I will give you a nausea tablet and also a headache tablet. I am sure that you need them. "
Merle "I'd rather take something stronger."
Jerry "Like whiskey?"
Merle "Yeah, I'd rather have it than some silly tablet."
Ezekiel "You can't drink alcohol all the time. It's not good for you."
Merle "Well, I can and I will. And you can't do anything about it."
Ezekiel "Now I understand why your brother doesn't like you."
Merle said nothing.
Ezekiel "We're there."
Then they went inside the community.
Merle "I thought you only have a small camp and not the whole damn community."
Ezekiel "Why have a small camp when you can have a whole community?"
Merle stared at the buildings around him.
Merle "I could stay living here forever, really."
Ezekiel "Why don't you stay? Nothing stops you, does it?"
Merle "I'll see how things go."
Ezekiel "I understand, yes."
Merle "Did you build these buildings or were they here when you came here?"
Ezekiel "Half were and we repaired them and half we built."
Merle "Sounds awesome."
Victoria "We also have a small pub here."
Merle "That sounded tempting, but I don't think I can drink anything today. Maybe tomorrow."
Siddiq "I'll get you now a headache tablet and a nausea tablet. Wait for it, I'll be back soon."
Then Siddiq went for a walk towards the hospital building.
Merle "He's a doctor here, I guess?"
Ezekiel "Yeah, Siddiq is and he's also an excellent doctor."
