A simple supply hunt for a source of water in the middle of Atlanta turns sour quickly for Erin as she come fist to face with a fuming, handless Merle Dixon.
Alone in the middle of the apocalypse with only a racist guy who doesn't know the differen...
"Place your past into a book. Burn the pages, let 'em cook..." - Burn The Pages, Sia
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"Erin!"
She turned at Rick's voice as he called over from the porch of the house, heading towards her. Carol silently said her thanks, wandering off to talk to Lori who was stood with Maggie and Glenn on the steps. They still hadn't seen any sign of Sophia so she hoped the guys had more luck, though with the state Merle was in, she highly doubted Daryl would have chance to get a good look around.
"Erin," Rick breathed, coming up in front of her, "Where's Daryl? And Merle?"
"They're following," she replied, looking past him because she knew the angry stare in her eyes would prompt questions. She didn't elaborate on her point, causing Rick to shift his weight to his opposite leg, moving his head in order to force her to look straight at him. She tried to continue ignoring his attempts at eye contact, but he was trained in this sort of thing - interrogation was all part of being a cop.
"Look at me," he instructed, catching her gaze every time she tried to look away. Eventually, she gave up avoiding him and sighed, slowly blinking before bringing her focus up to his face, feeling his eyes scrutinising her, "What's gone on between you and Daryl?"
"What? Nothing!" she widened her eyes in the hopes her acting was good enough to fool him.
He tilted his head, tucking his hands into the pockets of the jeans he was now wearing, "I can tell something's happened. You and I both know how much he dislikes Merle's company - there's no way you'd leave him with his brother unless he'd done something really bad... Now, what happened?"
He really was good at this. "What always happens when there's a Dixon around. He was a dick. End of story..."
This wasn't how she wanted the conversation to go, but she figured telling Rick now was better than breaking down or something similar later in front of everyone else. Who knows, maybe he'd sympathise and offer to help her kill the bastard?
"Ah, but it's not, is it?" he asked, the question proving to be mostly rhetorical as she sensed he already knew the answer, "Are you gonna tell me what really happened or do I have to go ask Carol? I'm sure she can give me the lowdown of the situation quite clearly..."
He looked down at her expectantly, his height very similar to Daryl's as he towered over her. After a few silent seconds, he made to turn and head towards the house, but she quickly stopped him, her hand shooting out to grab his forearm, "Fine. I'll tell you..."
Nodding, he gestured with his head towards her truck, "You wanna talk somewhere less crowded?"
Erin hummed gratefully and followed him to the vehicle, clambering into the back. She shifted some of the firearms out of the way to clear some space for Rick to sit, but he declined, opting to lean against the tailgate instead. He folded his arms against his chest as he leaned back, his ankles crossed leisurely on the grass beneath him since the truck was holding most of his weight, "Well?"
