Chapter Text
Georgia
Year 1972
Meredith was standing in a phone booth, staring at the phone. In one hand she was holding an ultrasound picture and in an other a newspaper with a headline about a serial killer captured and imprisoned in Boston.
She glanced at the playground close by, and saw a nine year old boy in the swing set. She smiled a little and looked at the headline again. She tried to imagine two possible scenarios. One where her child had a father, a shitty one, but still a father. And one, where she raised her two sons alone. She looked at the picture once more and stroked her thumb over it carefully.
Then she sighed, looked at the newspaper one more time, dropped it in to the garbage and turned around to call to the boy in the playground.
"Merle! Come on, let's go home!"
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Boston
Year 1972
Annabelle was sitting in her living room, staring at a newspaper. She had read the article about ten times now. She wiped away a tear and then looked at the picture on the wall.
Her and Noah where hugging each other in it. They both looked so happy, oblivious to their non-extant future together. They'd had such big plans. They were gonna move back to Ireland and have a big family, move to a farm and maybe fave some animals there too. But then Noah had to go and ruin it all.
She looked at the newspaper one more time before she threw it in the trash. Then she looked at the picture on the wall. Se stood up from the couch and took the picture down, opening the frame and replacing the picture with another. An ultrasound picture of twins. The old picture she put behind the new one and closed the frame. Se placed it in to a suitcase full of her clothes and other personal items. Then she closed it and had a last look around her and Noah's old apartment.
She sighed and walked to the door, opened it and looked behind her back at the newspaper in the trashcan. She wiped a stray curl behind her ear and walked out the door.
"Good bye Boston. Ireland, here we come."
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Now
"Come on, walk faster!"
Murphy rolled his eyes to that, but still tried to pick up his pace to get to his brothers side. He eyed his brother quietly picking up Connors mood. They had heard about Atlanta's refugee camp from their car radio and drove all the way from Boston only to find out that this was yet another dead end. Camp was overrun when they had arrived, and the city looked like it had been bombed. They had managed to get out of the city quite well actually without geeks getting them, but then their car had broken down in the highway. Either of them were mechanics, or knew anything about cars anyway (Rocco, Rome or their dad had always handled that kind of things), so they had to abandon it and carry on on foot, hoping to find another vehicle on the way.
They didn't exactly know where they were headed, but figured that since they were already in Georgia, they might as well stay for a while and look for their big brother, who they had never even met, but had heard about from their father. Noah was in a relationship with a woman called Meredith nearly ten years before he met their mother. He told them that they had a son together, but soon after his birth they broke up. Noah had still been close to his son and kept in touch in regular basis and even visited them from time to time. Last visit had been sometime around when he and her mother had met, and when He and Annabelle had started dating, he stopped visiting, but still called his son few times a week. but after he went to prison Meredith made it very clear to him that her son was not gonna visit him there, or keep in touch in any way. He didn't know how his son had turned out, but he hoped for the best. Meredith was a good mother.
Noah hadn't told them much about their half-brother, only that he lived near Atlanta by the mountains, and that his name was Merle. Merle Dixon. Of course they knew that Merle probably wasn't there anymore, but it couldn't hurt to look around. Not like they had someplace else to be anyway. And there was something more to that as well, something either of them couldn't quite understand. They felt like something was pulling them there, guiding them through the forest. The feeling was similar to that night when they had woken up in the middle of the night at the same time in the sell in Bostons police station, when they'd heard the calling, before their first hit.
"What's the matter with ya?" Murphy asked and eyed Connor some more, not really appreciating the eye-rolling and angry glares his twin was giving him. Connor just shrugged and tried to ignore his twin.
"Well? Come on then, i'm gettin' sick of yer mopin' around!" Murphy pushed, and got exactly what he expected.
"Shut it! Yer gettin' sick of my fuckin' mopin' around' ye little shit? It was yer idea to come to Atlanta in the first place! No fuckin' look at us! We 'ave no car, no refugee center and were roaming around in some woods in fuckin' Georgia!" Connor yelled getting more angry by the second.
"Looking for some brother we've never even fuckin' met! Who -by the way- is most likely dead, or somewhere far from fuckin' here!" He continued and showed Murphy. Not hard, but to show him that he was really fucking angry right now.
Murphy looked at him and tried to fight a smirk. Connor was usually the calm half from the two of them, but those rare times when he really got mad were kind of hilarious to Murphy. The swears would just keep coming from his mouth and he sounded like a teenager who had just learned that kind of language. Murphy chuckled a bit, which earned another shove from his brother. He showed back, and got a punch in the gut for a return.
"Ye son of a.." He didn't get to finish the thought when connor slapped him to the back of his head quite hard.
"That's yer fuckin' mother yer talking about."
Murphy rolled his eyes and rubbed his head.
"Fuck ye and yer slappin'!" He snapped and shoved his brother. Connor stumbled a bit and glared Murphy.
"Fuck ye, and yer annoying stupid fuckin' face!" He snapped back.
Murphy slapped him at the back of his head. Naturally Connor slapped back, and soon it escalated to a proper fight. They kicked and punched each other where ever they could and ended up rolling in the ground.
Connor had just managed to pin his brother to the ground and was now sitting on top of him and glaring at him. Murphy glared back just as angrily.
"I'm gonna fuckin' kill ye, ye annoyin'..." He growled but didn't get to finish his loving promises to his brother, when a loud scream startled them. They stilled and started listening.
"Mom!" Both brothers got up and stared at each other in horror.
"Carl!" They looked at the direction where the voices were coming.
"Dad!"
"Baby!"
"Mommy!" Now there were two different voices screaming for help. Both children. They stared each other for a second and then started running. They ran to the directions of the screams and when they reached the place, they couldn't see anyone but a walker, eating a deer that had two arrows sticking out from its thigh. They stared it for a while, but when they heard someone coming their way, Connor grabbed Murphy by his shirt and pulled him down in the bushes with him.
"Hey, what the hell are ye-" "Shhh!" Connor silenced him by putting a hand to his mouth and then pointed to the direction of the sound. A second later six men came through the bushes whit weapons in their hands, eyes fixed on the walker. They stilled and watched them as they started to beat down the walker. It went on for a while until the oldest of the men cut it's head off with an ax. The men looked at the walked in disgust.
"It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." The old man said and he sounded worried. Connor looked at his brother, worried as well. He'd thought the mountains would be safer, and that's why he wanted to put up a camp there for the night. Murphy just looked at the scene in front of them curiously. One of the men started to explain about the lack of food for walkers in the city, but then they heard rustling of the leaves behind them and all of them turned around. Connor grabbed Murphy by his arm and stared at the bushes. He slowly placed his other hand on top of his knife, that was hanging from his belt. Murphy shifted little closer to his brother and looked at the bushes too.
The men pointed their weapons to where the sounds came, but then a man stepped out from behind the trees. Both twins widened their eyes and looked at each other, and then the man again.
The men lowered their weapons and one of them rolled his eyes with an annoyed "Ohh, jesus.". The man who looked exactly like Murphy, but dirtier and little more muscular, grabbed his crossbow little tighter and looked at the deer that was laying on the ground.
"Son of a bitch!"
Connor looked at Murphy, who was staring at the redneck in disbelief, and then the man again. What the hell?
"That's my deer!" The man went on.
The twins looked at each other again, having one of their silent conversations.
How the hell is that possible?
I don't know. It's kinda freaky.
How can he look just like me?
Connor glanced the man again and then widened his eyes.
Maybe...
Murphy looked at Connor for a second and then turned his focus to the redneck with a crossbow again.
"Look at it all gnawed on by this filthy, disease bearin', motherless, poxy bastard!" The man spat and kicked the walkers body with every word.
Connor frowned.
No way. Could it be? We are in Georgia after all. In the mountains where he's supposed to live. Could it be?
"Calm down son, that's not helpin'." The old man said and sighed.
"What'd ye know 'bout it, old man? Ye take that stupid hat and go back to "On Golden Pond"!" The man snapped and then turned to the deer again.
"Been trackin' this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." He mumbled while pulling the arrows out. The other men rolled their eyes and it didn't exactly look like they liked the redneck that much. Not that they could blame them. The redneck didn't exactly put out a friendly vibe.
"What'd ye think? Think we could cut around this chewed up part right here?" The hunter went on.
Connor turner his head to Murphy again.
"Murph" He whispered so that only his twin could hear.
Murphy turned looked at his brother with a frown. "Conn, what the hell is goin' on? How can he.."
"I don't know." Connor answered and rubbed his neck. "Maybe..."
"What?"
"I don't know, i mean he looks just like ye. And we're in Georgia, in the mountains. I was just thinkin' that maybe he's..."
"No. No way. No." Murphy interrupted him and shook his head.
"Come on it's got to be 'im! Just look at 'im." Connor whisper-shouted and pointed at the man.
Then the walkers head started snapping it's teeth in the ground a woman let out a disgusted "Oh god!". They fell silent and looked at the head. Murphy had a hard time keeping his stomach content inside. He placed a hand to his mouth and looked away.
"Come on people, what the hell?" Murphy's look alike said and shot the head with his crossbow. After pulling his arrow out, he wen't on. "It's gotta be the brain, don't y'all know nothin'?"
The men left the scene following the redneck, leaving the twins alone with the dead walker and the deer.
Connor stood up and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "Murph... Ye saw him. It has to be him. How else is that possible?"
Murphy rolled his eyes. "Fine. Maybe, maybe, it's him. But even so, what do ye wanna do about it? He didn't seem too friendly."
"I don't know Murph, maybe we just watch them for a while, see how they are." Connor rubbed his forehead an sighed.
They decided to follow the group of people, but stay hidden and just observe for a while. They had just caught up to them when they heard the conversation.
"Daryl! Slow up a bit i need to talk to you."
"I told you! He's name's Daryl! It's not him." Murphy whispered to Connor who frowned.
"About what?"
"That's just too freaky. How can ye two look so alike and not be related?"
Murphy was kinda freaked out by it too. He observed the man, who was apparently called Daryl, for a moment. He was dirty, more muscular and wore different (redneck) kinda clothes, and his bone structure was a bit harsher, but yeah, he really looked like a copy of him.
"About Merle."
Both brothers stilled.
Wait what?
About Merle.
"Did ye hear that?"
"Of course i fuckin' heard that!"
"Ye think they're talking about him?"
Murphy didn't answer but shifted little closer to hear better. The men all looked like they were about to start a fist fight any minute now.The conversation went on for a while, but then Daryl said something that made both brothers gasp in surprise.
"You sayin' you hand-cuffed my brother to a roof...And you left 'im there?"
You sayin' you hand-cuffed my brother to a roof.
Brother.
Connor grabbed Murphy's shirt. "His brother's name is Merle!"
"I heard Conn, let go." Murphy was getting a little pissed about his brothers enthusiasm. He was a little skeptic about it. It just couldn't be possible, their father had only mentioned one brother. "It's probably not even the same Merle." He went on and scratched his tattooed neck.
"Oh come on, what are the chances that a guy, who looks just like ye and has a brother named Merle, the same name our brother has, is not..." Connor drifted off when he saw the chance of the scenery in front of them. One of the guys had Daryl in a choke-hold and the other guy was kneeling in front of him. "Murph, we gotta..." "Shut up Conn and just wait a second!" Murphy whisper-shouted knowing his brothers intentions.
"Fuck ye, just look at what's happening there, we gotta..." He stopped talking and calmed a bit when the guy let go of Daryl. He couldn't quite explain it, but when he saw Daryl like that, his protective side kicked in. He didn't know why, he didn't even know the guy, but there was something about him that made him want to go over there and shoot the guy who'd had him in a choke-hold, that was both illegal and a horrible way to restrain someone. Sure he looked like Murphy, but that wasn't all there was about it.
Murphy eyed his brother angrily. Sure, when he thought about it, there was a huge possibility that this man really was their brother too. He just didn't want Connor to get all exited about it. They didn't know the guy and he didn't look too friendly. Even if this was their brother, if he was a bad guy, he didn't want anything to do with him.
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"Daryl! Slow up a bit i need to talk to you." Shane didn't sound as cocky and macho as all the other times when he talked to either of the Dixon brothers. Daryl frowned unsure what to expect.
"About what?"
Shane walked past him rubbing his head like he always did when he was nervous. Daryl noticed his tense behavior and it made him even more unsure.
"About Merle... There was a... a problem in Atlanta."
Suddenly Daryl became painfully aware of his brothers absence. He felt a huge lump rise to his throat and panic started to creep into his mind. He looked around the camp just to be sure, but he still couldn't find his big brother amongst the group.
"he dead?" Was only thing he managed to say, even though he really didn't want to hear the answer. It was pretty obvious, since Merle wasn't there. For a little while Shane didn't say anything. Then with a wary voice he answered.
"M'not sure."
Daryl tensed even more and grew a bit angry with the answer. M'not sure. What the fuck you mean not sure. What the hell did these douche bags do to my brother? "He either is or he ain't" He spat out looking more pissed by the second.
"No easy way to say this so i'll just say it." Someone he didn't recognize answered to him and walked towards him.
"Who are you?" Daryl asked and got even more pissed. Great. Some new idiot to mess things up even more. What the hell had these people done to Merle?
"Rick Grimes." The man sounded just like every other big city prick who he ever had talked to. Wary and judgemental, like he was better than him.
"Rick grimes... Ya got somethin' ya wanna tell me?" He spat the words at the new guys face shifting his weight from one foot to another trying not to jump the guy right there and then.
"Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof hooked in to a piece of metal. He's still there." The new guy said and he didn't even sound like he was sorry. Not that it mattered. Daryl was furious. He had to turn around when guys words hit him hard. Merle's stuck in some roof in Atlanta. Atlanta's full of creepy dead freaks that like to have people-burgers for lunch. He's stuck there. He's gonna die there. If he's not already dead.
He felt his eyes water and wiped them with the back of his hand trying not to show anyone how desperate he felt right there and then. "Hold on..." He mumbled trying to find the right words. "Le'mme process this.." He said with a hand gesture, twirling his fingers beside his temple. His voice was almost shaking, but he managed to keep it somewhat steady. Angry, but steady.
"You sayin' you handcuffed my brother to a roof... And you left him there?" He couldn't stop himself from yelling the last part. It was so unbelievable. What kind of people could do that to another human being? He couldn't understand. Sure Merle wasn't the easiest guy to get along with, and he usually was annoying asshole. Merle himself had done some shitty things to other people, but this really topped all the things he had ever done in his life. Nobody deserved this.
"Yeah..." The new asshole answered with a nod.
Daryl tried to hold himself back for a second. He breathed heavily trying not to shoot the guy with his crossbow, and the same time trying not to fall to his knees and start crying. He felt so desperate. He couldn't loose Merle. He just couldn't. Merle was all he had. All he'd ever had. And he was gone? No fucking way. He couldn't hold back anymore, and threw the squirrels that he had carried at Rick, who ducked and that was just what he wanted. The guy was too busy trying to not get hit by the squirrels that he wasn't paying attention to him for a moment. He darted towards him trying to get to him so he could.. he didn't even know if he wanted to kill the guy, or just beat him to a bloody pulp. But he figured that he would find out along the way.
Just when he was about to reach Rick, Shane tackled him to the ground and he was thrown on his back. Kill. Definitely kill. Every last motherfucker that had anything to do with it.
"Hey!" he heard T-dog yell in the background as he reached for his knife. He grabbed it and got up from the ground. "Watch the knife!" T-dog went on. Daryl glared at the three men in front of him with blood lust in his eyes. These guys were pretty much dead already in his head. Nobody fucked with Dixons, expect Dixons. He got closer to Rick and waved the knife aiming for his throat, but sadly, he missed when the guy leaned back to get away from the lethal weapon. Then he somehow grabbed his knife-holding hand and Shane his other hand and he was overpowered. Shane got him in a choke-hold and as he wrestled him into the ground Daryl felt like he was about to explode. "Y'best le'mme go!" He roared and got even more angry with Shane's answer. "Nah, i think i's better if I don't" He said and pulled him even more closer to the ground. Sometime during the fight Rick had managed to get his knife, so he didn't have anything to defend himself with.
"Choke-hold's illegal!" He tried, but even this would't get Shane off of him.
"Yeah, you can file a complaint." He just said probably thinking that he was hilarious. Daryl was furious and he started to feel a bit panicked. He felt pressure to his throat and suddenly flashbacks started to flow to his mind. Countless times his father had nearly choked him to death. He could almost feel his fathers rough hands around his throat again. He forgot about Merle and everything else that was going on around him, and tried to squirm away from Shane's grip. In his mind he was just a kid again trying to fight for his life. He couldn't calm down, but that was the only way Shane was ever gonna let him go.
"Come on man, we can do this all day." He heard Shane say right above his head, but to him it sounded more like it was coming from somewhere very far. He tried to calm himself down and stop squirming, but his breathing didn't slow at all. He was far too panicked for that.
"I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic, you think we can manage that?" He noticed Rick had knelt in front of him and was trying to reason with him, but he couldn't answer because he felt like he couldn't breath.
"You think we can manage that?" Rick repeated. Daryl felt desperate. He felt like he would do anything to just get out of this situation. He managed to nod a little but no words would come out anymore. He felt like he was gonna faint from utter fear right there and then.
Finally Shane let him go throwing him to the ground again. He managed to sit down and start calming himself down, but not before flipping Shane off first. His head was spinning, and it didn't exactly help him to calm down that Rick was already on him about Merle again. He just sat there on the ground and tried to gather his thoughts and at the same time trying to listen what Rick said.
"What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work 'n play well with others." Well that's an understatement of the year. Daryl tought and tried to come up with an answer, but he didn't get the chanse, when T-dog opened his mouth. "'S not Rick's fault..." He looked really nervous and glanced the surrounding people, obviously trying to avoid eye contact with the redneck. "I had the key, I dropped it." He went on and still wouldn't look Daryl in the eye.
Daryl couldn't belive his ears. Was this guy fuckin' retarded? "Couldn't pick it up?" He spat and glared him. He had almost recovered from Shane's attack, but was still sitting on the ground because he was afraid that if he stood up hes legs might give in. Too many traumatizing memories had come to his mind with the choke-hold, and he was actually shaking a little because of that.
"I dropped it in a drain." T-dog confessed and this time looked him in the eye. Daryl actually respected him a little because of his honesty. He came clean, even tough he could've just let Rick and Shane handle it. Still, he couldn't understand the stupidity of all this. He snorted and dropped his head trying to fight the tears again. He gathered all his strenght and pushed himself up rolling his eyes and walking a bit further away from Rick and Shane. "Supposed t' make me feel better, it don't." He answered, still extremely pissed off.
"Maybe this will. I changed the door to the roof, so the geeks couldn't get at him... With a padlock."
He just glared at the three men. Fighting a loosing battle against the tears. He closed his eyes for a moment and let his head sink turning his back at the men. Rick said something about it counting for something, but honestly he wasn't even trying to pay attention anymore, despair slowly invading his mind. he almost let out a sob mut stopped himself just in time to just gasp for air quetly. And then he got angry again. Angry at the people surrounding him for leaving his brother behind, angry at Merle for leaving with these people in a first place and lastly angry at himself, for not having a better self control over this ridiculous weeping. Jesus, where'd you store your balls Darlena? Into yer purse? He heard Merle's voice in his head and got even more furious, if that was even possible.
"Hell with all y'all!" He shouted and turned to face the three guys again. "Just tell me where he is... so's i can go get 'im!" He continued and heard his voice break a little. He couldn't leave his big brother to that god forsaken roof to die. He had to get him back.
He didn't really know how to live without his brother, to be honest. Sure, he knew how to stay alive, and he had done just that many times before, when Merle had been in jail or somewhere else. He had been alone countless times, and Merle had almost never really been there for him. He came and went as he pleased, but he was still always just a phone call away. He was always still there, even if he really wasn't. And he honestly didn't think he could survive without him. It was fucked up, all Merle ever did was abuse him. Not in the same way there father did, but in his own way. Words, insults, manipulations and sometimes even a few punches now and then, but never beating him to the ground like their father. Their physical fights were always even, never about one beating the other to a bloody pulp, like their father did to them both regularly. Merle used Daryl to get him food, find shelter and watch over them when in the meantime he got high and drunk. And the fucked up part was that Daryl kinda thought that he deserved every bit of it.
And he owed Merle, because he had took their fathers punches alone for fife years before he was born and then another fife before their father decided that he was old enough to take beatings too. With Merle, life was a constant pain and fear, but at the same time there was still good times. When they would share a beer and talk about anything else but their past, when Merle would place his hand on his shoulder when they were on a group that had too much people and everything got too overwhelming for Daryl. The times he had tended to his wounds after their fathers drunken 'lessons' on how to behave. Daryl did't know how he could survive, because even if Merle was constant pain in the ass, mean and abusive, hes presence was still calming for Daryl, because Merle being there meant that no one else but Merle was going to hurt him. He was his rock, in some fucked up way.
"He'll show you... Ain't that right?" a woman named Laura or Lori or something said and pulled him out from his thoughts. She seemed to be pissed off for some reason.
"I'm going back." Rick ended the conversation and that was all Daryl really needed to hear anyway. He shook his head angrily and went to pick up his crossbow from the ground.
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Somehow Murphy had managed to get Connor to think about it before they showed themselves. They decided to sit there in the bushes for a while and just check out what kind of people were in the camp before them. They listened to the conversations and watched people. Watched Daryl. He was just sitting by the campfire and cleaning his crossbow looking really beat about his brother, who apparently got left behind in Atlanta. Connor was worried. He didn't want to think about the possibility of their brother, who they'd never even met, being in some rooftop alone and vulnerable surrounded by walkers. He felt sorry for the man sitting by the campfire. He knew what it was like to worry about a brother. Again he felt the protectiveness kick in and he really wanted to just fuck it and go over there and comfort the guy, although he seemed like the kinda guy who would kick his ass if he tried to.
They'd been sitting there about fifteen minutes or so, when the two men who seemed to be in charge of the camp started to argue. The bigger guy didn't seem to be very happy about the other guys plan to go back for Merle. Connor frowned. How could someone even think about just leaving a man to die like that. Connor shifted his weight from one foot to another and was just about to get up when Murphy gripped his sleeve and pulled him right back on the ground.
"Don't ye even think about it, we ain't goin' there yet. I want to observe a little more." He whispered, sensing his brother tense. Connor sighed, starting to get frustrated about his brothers stubborness. He wanted to show himself so he could ask about this Merle. If he really was who he thought he was.
Still he wanted to respect his brothers wish and was about to give in and stay, but when he heard the next statement that came out from one of the guys mouth, he couldn't hold himself back.
"Why would you risk your life for a douche bag like Merle Dixon?"
Merle Dixon.
Before Murphy could do anything to resist, Connor was already up and walking towards the people. He growled furiously and followed him, covering him if needed.
Connor approached the people carefully. When he was noticed, the men looked really surprised for a second and then grabbed their weapons and pointed them to Connor.
"That's far enough!" The bigger guy snarled and Connor stopped, raising his hands a little. A gesture of peace, that got quickly ruined because Murphy had already rased his beretta and was pointing it to the men.
"Put it down!" The guy with a sheriffs hat yelled and pointed his gun to Murphy instead. Connor moved so he was shielding his twin from a possible bullet.
"Ye put it down!" was Murphy's response. Connor reached behind him and grabbed his brothers weapon before he could protest. He put it in his pants and rolled his eyes to his brothers silent curses.
"We don't want any trouble!" He tried to calm the people who were staring at them, some of them scared and some of them seemed angry. Connor glanced at Daryl, who was just staring at them with wide eyes, unable to do anything. He looked like he'd seen a ghost. "We were just passing by yer camp when we heard ye talkin' about a guy we're actually looking for. Merle Dixon?" He went on. He saw Daryl stand up from the corner of his eye. The archer slowly walked little closer to the two men pointing their guns at them, but wouldn't raise his crossbow, he just stared, looking like he was lost in thoughts.
"You one of his druggie friends?" The bigger guy asked mockinly. Connor could feel Murphy tense behind him and he placed a hand on his shoulder to keep him from making things worse. Murphy rolled his eyes and glared the man. "Ye better shut up!" He yelled and took a step forward.
Just then people noticed the resemblance between Murphy and Daryl. People were eyeing them with confused looks on their faces.
"Wait a sec, are you two related?" The guy in a baseball cap asked and pointed towards Murphy and Daryl.
"No! Shut yer hole!" The archer instantly snapped at the guy and sounded far more hatefull than should. Connor frowned and Murphy rolled his eyes again.
"Yer name is Daryl, right? Daryl Dixon?" Connor asked and turned his focus on Daryl.
"What's it to ye?" The redneck spat and glared at the twins.
"Ye Merle's brother?" Murphy suddenly spoke up before Connor could say another word. They could see Daryl tense hearing his lost brothers name.
"Yeah?" He confirmed, still sounding hostile. Connor and Murphy shared a look.
Ye know what that means.
Yea i know what that means, shut up about it.
We should help him.
"Can we talk to ye?" Connor asked and ignored his brothers hateful glare. Daryl rolled his eyes.
"Fine." He sounded almost frustrated. "'N after that, i'm leaving to Atlanta. With or without y'all." He continued, now speaking to the men in his group. The two men had already lowered their weapons. The bigger guy turned around and walked away rubbing his head angrily. He mumbled something about how this was idiocy and that Merle was a douche bag. Connor glared at his back.
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They had walked to the quarry near the camp. No one had said a word during their walk, and it was obvious that all of them felt really awkward. They were just standing there, looking at the water. No one really knowing how to say anything.
After a while, Connor broke the ice. "So.. I'm Connor, and that's Murphy. We're..."
"Yeah, i know who ye 'r. MacManus, right?" Daryl interrupted him, and he didn't sound so hostile anymore. The twins looked at each other in surprise. Connor then looked at Daryl and raised his eyebrow. "Right..."
Murphy, who didn't feel so angry anymore either, turned toward his brother and Daryl. "How do ye..."
"The famous Boston Saints." Daryl interrupted yet again. It was quiet for a while after that. The three men just looked at the water.
"And i know how ye know my brother 'n me." Daryl said quietly and looked at his feet.
The twins looked at him in surprise.
"Yeah, Merle told me 'bout y'all when we were kids. How our real dad was so much better than..." He trailed off and still wouldn't look at the twins. "Showed me a picture in the paper one time, sayin' that's our dad, and brothers."
He sighed and chewed his thumb nail. "Always thought it was just a bunch of B.S to make himself feel better." He continued after a while and rubbed the back of his neck. "'Till ye two showed up asking shit 'bout 'im."
"So ye know we're brothers?" Connor asked quietly and looked at the water again.
"Yeah." Daryl answered and the three of them fell quiet again.
After a while, much in Connors surprise, Murphy spoke up. "We're gonna help ye."
Daryl looked at Murphy and raised an eyebrow.
"To get him back." Murphy went on and looked the archer in the eye. Daryl stared him for a while, looking like he was trying to decide. Then he gave a little nod and chewed his lower lip.
Connor looked at Daryl and then at Murphy. He smirked a little at the thought. He was so happy that they had found the redneck, even though he seemed a little hostile, dirty and well... a redneck, he still thought it was amazing that they had a new brother, and another one somewhere in Atlanta. He couldn't wait to reunite Daryl and Merle, so all of them could start getting to know each other. To become a family. "Well let's get going then!"