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...
"True strength is in the soul and spirit, not in muscles." - Sri Sanjeevan R
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Erin's head was still ringing from the constant pounding of Merle's fist again the metal shutters as they walked back to the truck in defeat. The skin of Merle's knuckles was pretty messed up from the amount of punches the doors had received yet, being a stubborn bastard, he'd still continued and by the looks of it had broken or fractured at least one of his fingers.
He huffed miserably as they climbed back into the cab, Erin back in the driver's seat this time since Merle had now put both of his hands out of use, "They must be in there. S'nowhere else they could've gone..."
"They'll have a reason, I'm sure," she sighed in reply, trying to keep his mood up though her outlook towards this group of people was getting more dampened each second. She reached down between the seats and grabbed her rucksack, pulling out bandages for the second time that day, "Give me your hand..."
"It's fine, it don't need bandagin'," he said stubbornly, refusing even when she leaned over to grab his wrist, "Ger'off me!"
She couldn't help but roll her eyes at his behaviour. To say he was presumably older than her, he sure didn't act it... "Your arm is bleeding through the bandage I put on earlier. Let me put clean bandages on that and then I'll just clean your fist with something hygienic, okay?"
He looked down at his bandaged arm to find she was indeed correct about it bleeding through, "Fine... Just don't mess with it like ya did before..."
Carefully, with Merle watching her every move, she began unwrapping the tight bandages she'd put in place, peeling them away from his puckered skin, blood-soaked and bright red. The bloody ones were placed in a pile on the dashboard in front of them, the stench of blood filling the air of the cab as she took the clean wrappings and bound his arm back up.
At the smell of blood, a crowd of strays had started to form around the truck, groaning and grunting but being ignored by both the occupants as Erin searched in the bag for something to wipe the blood from his knuckle with. Unfortunately for him, the only thing she could find was a sanitary towel.
His eyes bulged as she pulled it out, "No way, woman! You ain't puttin' one of those things anywhere near me!"
"Oh, man up..." she sighed, grabbing for his hand, this time managing to fix her fingers around his wrist with a vice-like grip as he struggled and cursed, "You're acting like a baby..." Within seconds, despite his protests, she had soaked up most of the blood seeping from the shallow grazes and cuts on his knuckles and placed the towel on top of the pile of used bandages. "Now, how far can you throw?"
Merle had closed his eyes and peeked out to make sure she was done before composing himself and pretending it never happened, "I dunno. Why?"
"These strays want blood. If we throw these bandages far enough away, they'll swarm them and it'll give us some time to move the truck to a safer place," she explained, not missing the small impressed glint that appeared in his eyes for a second or two.
"Alright, reckon I can fling 'em far away. Ya gonna drive soon as they go?" He flinched back slightly as he turned to find a stray's face only inches from his own, the glass between them acting as a barrier but looking like it wasn't going to last long with so much weight on the other side.
His hand reached for the bandages and he grimaced at the feel of them on his skin, waiting until Erin was ready at the wheel before rolling down the window and lobbing the bloody fabric far over the heads of the strays. As expected, the majority of the crowd followed after them, their noses lifted high to sniff the air before they swarmed around the bandages.
The few that stayed behind were batted off the door by Merle as Erin hit the accelerator, sending the others still holding on flailing to the ground. She kept her focus ahead of her as she made a U-turn and headed off towards the forest they'd passed before, mounting the kerb and driving into the depths of the trees while her passenger held onto the window for dear life.
"Jeez!" Merle cursed, but the rustling and snapping of leaves and branches compressed beneath the heavy wheels drowned out his voice so she didn't hear him.
As soon as she found a suitable place to brake, between a deep verge that the strays would struggle to scale and trees just sparse enough to still see the building through, the truck rolled to a stop. They both turned at the same time to check behind them, but none of the creatures had been able to follow them the whole way so they could relax in the knowledge that they weren't in any immediate danger.
"Why'd I let ya drive again? Yer insane behind the wheel..." Erin laughed at the truth in his words and she could've sworn he cracked a smile before hardening his expression as he turned to face her. If she hadn't only met him today, she would have found the behaviour strange, but she could understand why he was still hostile towards her and didn't like to show any weakness - she was exactly the same around him.
The world had gone crazy and the dead were walking; no one could be completely trusted, even if they did seem like a sheep in wolf's clothing as Merle appeared to be.
"If you want safer driving, get your own truck," she replied curtly, picking up her bag and pulling out one of the protein bars she'd found in the offices what seemed like days ago. Tearing open the wrapper, she pulled it apart with her hands and offered a piece to Merle, "Want some?" He eyed it suspiciously, not making a move to take it, "Come on, you just saw me take it out the packet. I haven't poisoned it."
"How do I know ya didn't poison it before ya opened it?"
She rolled her eyes at him, her hair obscuring the action from his view, "Not only would that be impossible, but I'd also be poisoned 'cause I'm gonna eat the other half..." To prove her point, she tossed the piece in her other hand into her mouth.
He waited cautiously for her to swallow it before deciding to trust the food, taking it from her outstretched hand and nibbling a bite, "If I die, I'll kill ya..."
Erin smirked at the irony, the hunger pangs in her stomach barely satisfied by the morsel of protein she'd eaten, but she knew she had to ration what she had, especially since it seemed she was feeding Merle until his group made an appearance. She'd only just managed to scavenge enough to take herself into next week, so she hoped it wouldn't be long before they turned up, also bearing more food with some luck. She didn't fancy heading back to the city from here.
"Less hungry now?" she asked him as he finished off the bar, trusting it enough to take bigger bites now.
"Not really... I'm guessin' you won't give me anymore?" He looked hopeful, but that was diminished as she shook her head, "Dunno what I was expectin' anyway... Ya not get much in that office?"
Again, she shook her head, "Not enough. Your group is my biggest concern right now... They'll either bring more or expect some of this. You should know if it's the latter, I'm outta here - I ain't starving for a bunch of strangers..." She knew it was harsh, but she wasn't out here to make friends, she was here for the best chance of survival.
Merle seemed to hum in agreement, "Let's hope they got sumthin' then..."
