Belligerence in My Heart

Rick POV - Earth, Georgia, Atlanta's Survivor Camp - 2010 

After thinking about everything that happened yesterday, I finish getting dressed and mutter, "That truly was an eventful day... and it was only my second day in this changed world..."

I walk out of the tent and see that everything is fine with some kids running around and people getting busy and then I start to walk around searching for Lori, Shane, or Carl, I also make sure to politely greet the people I pass by. 

This continues until I notice the woman named Carol as she is ironing my freshly laundered uniform and she greets me first, " Morning." 

In response, I nod and reply, "Morning." Carol then notices that I'm looking at my clothes and comments, "They're still a little damp. The sun'll have 'em dry in no time." 

Hearing that, I can't help but ask, "You washed my clothes?" which makes the kind woman smile slightly as she replies, "Well, best we could. Scrubbing on a washboard ain't half as good as my old Maytag back home." 

In response to that, I can only say, "That's very kind. Thank you." before I continue to explore the campsite while searching for my family and Shane. 

After advancing a few meters, I notice the visibly upset figure of Glenn watching as Morales, the old man Dale, and Jim strip the Challenger down for parts, taking gas for the camp's generators.

I approach the young Asian man who saved my life yesterday and as he notices my presence, he comments, "Look at 'em. Vultures. Yeah, go on, strip it clean." 

In response, the old Dale turns his head and explains, "Generators need every drop of fuel they can get. Got no power without it. Sorry, Glenn." 

Having no response to that argument, Glenn can only begrundgily comment, "Thought I'd get to drive it at least a few more days."

Seeing him that upset, I put a hand on his shoulder and tried to console him by saying, "Maybe we'll get to steal another one someday." 

After that, I leave the mourning Glenn and continue my search which doesn't last long as I see Lori hanging laundry with the pair of sisters Andrea and Amy, and without any hesitation, I walk toward them. 

Lori notices me getting close and greets me with a bright smile, "Morning, officer." which makes me smile back as I also greet her, "Hey." 

Shortly after that, Lori hangs a shirt, and with a grin on her face she asks, "You sleep okay?" 

I also smile a little as I honestly reply, "Better than in a long time." making my wife explain, "Well, I didn't want to wake you. I figured you could use it." 

Right after saying that, we fell into a strange silence as I continued to stare at her while she continued to hang the laundry, at the least until she let out a sigh and asked, "God. What?" which made me confess, "I've been thinking about the man we left behind." 

At this point, Lori stopped what she was doing and looked at me for a few moments before she shook her head and said, "You're not serious." 

I'm about to explain my reason to her, but I'm interrupted by the sound of a car's engine as a jeep rushes into the camp before stopping, and I watch the figure of my best friend Shane jumping out of the jeep while yelling, "Water's here, y'all. Just a reminder to boil before use." 

Shane and I exchange a glance and we both nod at each other before Lori suddenly asks in that familiar tone that always preceded one of our discussions, "Are you asking me or telling me?" 

Not wanting to aggravate her just after we reunited, I softly say, "Asking." which makes Lori comment, "Well, I think it's crazy. I think it is just the stupidest way to break your son…" 

Suddenly, I hear many young voices screaming among which I recognize Carl's voice.

"Aaaaaaah!!!"

"Mom!" 

Scared Lori's head snaps in the direction of the screams while exclaiming, "Carl?" 

At the same time, the situation gets even more chaotic as everyone realizes that something happened and we start to race down to the screaming.

"It's over there!"

"Dad!"

"Baby!!"

"Mama! Mommy!" 

"Carl!!"

"Rick!" 

I hear Glenn's voice calling me and quickly turn my head and see that he threw me a pole to use as a weapon, I immediately catch it and continue to rush toward the area where the screams are coming from and see that Carl, the young girl who is the daughter of Carol, and Jacqui rushing out from the nearby wood as a man that is running with us call out. 

"Over here, boy! Come on, come on!" 

At the same time, seeing our son, Lori shouts "Carl! Baby!" which makes Carl yell in relief, "Mom!" I quickly ask, "You're okay?" while Lori hugs our son and says, "I've got him. I've got him." 

Then Lori quickly starts to check Carl while asking, "Nothing bit you? Nothing scratched you?" which makes Carl reply while shaking his head, "No, I'm okay." 

Hearing that, I quickly follow after the rest of the group that rushed into the woods and see the figure of a walker that is busy eating the carcass of a deer in a small clearing. 

Andrea and her sister Amy also come up and notice how disgusting it is but their exclamation makes it so that the walker notices our presence and it starts to turn on us. 

Seeing that Shane, Glenn, Jim, Morales, and I do not hesitate and start to beat on it with our objects until Dale arrives and finishes it off by chopping its head off with an axe. 

After that a shocked Dale stares at the headless body and comments, "It's the first one we've had up here. They never come this far up the mountain." which makes Jim explain, "Well, they're running out of food in the city, that's what." 

We suddenly hear the sound of a branch snapping and footsteps followed by the bushes rustling and in response, Shane raises his gun protectively ready to shoot at anything deemed dangerous that comes out of those brushes. 

A tall man with short brown hair comes out of the bushes, he is carrying a crossbow and hauling over a dozen dead squirrels as he looks at the dead deer and the walker with a very upset expression on his face.

I notice that everyone around me seems to relax a little after seeing him hinting at the fact that they know the man, even more so when Dale mutters in a low tone, "Oh, Jesus." which makes me understand that very likely this man is the brother of Merle Dixon, Daryl.

At the same time, the man who is likely Daryl starts to curse out loud as he walks closer to the walker and the dead deer carcass, "Son of a bitch. That's my deer! Look at it. All gnawed on by this…" 

At this point, the man starts to kick the carcass of the walker while continuing to let out his frustrations in the form of insults, "... Filthy, disease-bearing, motherless poxy bastard!"

Seeing that, Dale calls him out, "Calm down, son. That's not helping." but the man is still very upset by what happened and walks up to Dale making Shane use his rifle as a barrier to put some distance between them as the man shouts back, "What do you know about it, old man? Why don't you take that stupid hat and go back to on Golden Pond?" 

After yelling that, the man moves back to the deer carcass and starts to pull out the arrows from its body as he says, "I've been tracking this deer for miles. Gonna drag it back to camp, cook us up some venison." 

Then he crouches down and points at the eaten part while asking, "What do you think? Do you think we can cut around this chewed-up part right here?"

In response to that question, Shane quickly shakes his head and says, "I would not risk that." which makes Daryl sigh before saying, "That's a damn shame. I got some squirrels… about a dozen or so. That'll have to do." 

Suddenly, the head of the decapitated walker starts to grind its teeth making Andrea's sister gasp, "Oh god." 

Seeing that instantly makes me remember what Doctor Jayr told me yesterday and without any hesitation, I hold the pole in my hand tighter, and with a single downward swing, I crush the decapited head into a messy pulp before I repeat the same words he said yesterday, "Rule #2 to survive the walkers. Double Tap. In those moments when you're not sure the undead are really dead dead, don't get all stingy and deliver one more blow to ensure your kill and to protect yourself and the others against walkers playing possum." 

In response to that, Daryl exclaims, "Thank God! Finally, someone else who fucking knows what to do! Sometimes it is a wonder how these guys were able to survive for so long." 

After saying that, Daryl ignores me and starts to walk back to the camp and the group follows after him. 

Once back at the camp, Daryl starts to call out his brother, "Merle! Merle! Get your ugly ass out here! I got us some squirrels! Let's stew 'em up." 

At this point, Shane deposits the rifle in the jeep and calls him out, "Daryl, just slow up a bit. I need to talk to you." 

Hearing that, Daryl turns around and asks in a rude manner, "About what?" but Shane remains calm and makes use of our previous experience in giving this kind of bad news, "About Merle. There was a… There was a problem in Atlanta."

After he says that, a long silence falls in the camp and Daryl starts to look around and notices that everyone is focusing on them before he focuses back on Shane and asks, "He dead?" 

Shane stands in silence for a few moments before he admits, "We're not sure."

This upsets Daryl as he steps closer to Shane and says in a barely restrained tone as he seems about to blow out at any moment, "He either is or he ain't!" 

At this point, I walk toward them and say, "No easy way to say this, so I'll just say it." making Daryl focus on me and ask, "Who are you?" 

In response, I calmly and briefly introduce myself, "Rick Grimes." before Daryl looks at me and asks, "Rick Grimes, you got something you want to tell me?" 

I look at him in the eye and without mincing my words too much I say, "Your brother was a danger to us all, so I handcuffed him on a roof, hooked him to a piece of metal. He's still there." 

At this point, Daryl turns around while clearing away his sweat from the forehead with his wrist and says, "Hold on. Let me process this." before he turns back and looks at me with clear anger in his eyes as he asks, "You're saying you handcuffed my brother to a roof and you left him there?!" 

Even with the clear signs of what he is going to do next, I remain calm as I nod and reply, "Yeah." 

After a short pause, the enraged, Daryl throws the dead squirrels at me forcing me to duck to dodge them before he comes at me, but Shane intervenes and shoves him off making him fall on the ground.

Shortly after that, Daryl quickly gets up and pulls out his knife as T-Dog warns us, "Hey! Watch the knife!" 

Daryl swings his knife wildly at me and I easily dodge by leaning my upper body back before I rush in and grab the knife-holding arm.

At the same time, Shane comes up from behind him and puts Daryl in a chokehold trying to make him calm down while I take advantage of this opening to disarm him, "Okay. Okay." but Daryl still doesn't see reason as he demands, "You'd best let me go!" which makes Shane quip in response, "Nah, I think it's better if I don't." 

Daryl starts to struggle under Shane's firm hold and tries to make him release the hold by saying, "Choke hold's illegal." but Shane continues while remarking, "You can file a complaint. Come on, man. We'll keep this up all day." 

At this point, I crouch down in front of Daryl and softly say, "I'd like to have a calm discussion on this topic. Do you think we can manage that?" 

Daryl doesn't answer and we look at each other for a few moments before I repeat, "Do you think we can manage that?" followed by Shane who further incites him with a simple, "Hmm?" 

After struggling for a few more seconds, Daryl let out a soft, "Mmm. Yeah." 

Hearing that, I look at Shane and give him a small signal with my head as lets him go and retreats, and as Daryl regains his bearings, I explain, "What I did was not on a whim. Your brother does not work and play well with others." 

At this point, T-Dog steps forward and says, "It's not Rick's fault. I had the key. I dropped it." which makes Daryl look at him and ask, "You couldn't pick it up?" in response, T-Dog calmly remark "Well, I dropped it in a drain." 

Hearing that, Daryl looks down for a few moments, before he gets up from the ground, takes a few steps toward T-Dog, and throws some dirt at his feet while saying, "If it's supposed to make me feel better, it don't." 

In response to that, T-Dog says, "Well, maybe this will. Look, I chained the door to the roof… So the geeks couldn't get at him… With a padlock." 

After T-Dog said that, I looked at Daryl and added, "It's gotta count for something." but Daryl was still clearly very upset about what happened and yelled, "Hell with all y'all! Just tell me where he is so that I can go get him." but Lori then declares, "He'll show you." which makes me look at her and meet her half understanding and half disappointed gaze as she asks, "Isn't that right?" 

I silently nod before I look at everyone else and say, "I'm going back."

Then Lori walks into the RV and I pick up my police uniform and go back to the tent to prepare to leave with Daryl. 

Some time later, I walk out of the tent ready but as I walk past Shane, he suddenly asks, "So that's it, huh? You're just gonna walk off? Just to hell with everybody else?" 

Hearing that, I stop in front of him and look at my best friend before I answer, "I'm not saying to hell with anybody… Not you Shane… Lori least of all." before I resume walking toward the center of the camp while Shane retorts, "Tell her that." 

Hearing that, I stop, look back, and let out a sigh knowing deep within me that Shane is simply worried about me, Lori, and Carl but I have to do this, not only to save a life but also to repay the debt I have with Morgan and the doctor, so I look at him and state, "She knows." 

After saying that, I turn around and start to walk again but soon I hear Shane chase after me as he asks, "Well, look, I… I don't, okay, Rick? So could you just… Could you throw me a bone here, man? Could you just tell me why? Why would you risk your life for a douchebag like Merle Dixon?" 

Daryl feeling offeded quickly yells, "Hey, choose your words more carefully." but Shane doesn't step back and states, "No, I did. Douchebag's what I meant." before he focuses back on me and says, "Merle Dixon…The guy wouldn't give you a glass of water if you were dying of thirst." 

Hearing that, I frown before I say, "What he would or wouldn't do doesn't interest me. I can't let a man die of thirst… me. Thirst and exposure. We left him like an animal caught in a trap. That's no way for anything to die, let alone a human being."

At this point, Lori asks with veiled sarcarsm in her tone a way to show that she doesn't agree with my decision, "So you and Daryl, that's your big plan?" 

Hearing that, I turn to Glenn who instantly understands what I mean, and upset he complains, "Oh, come on." 

I keep my gaze on him and say, "You know the way. You've been there before… In and out, no problem. You said so yourself. It's not fair of me to ask… I know that, but I'd feel a lot better with you along. I know she would too." 

Clearly frustrated Shane exclaims, "That's just great. Now you're gonna risk three men, huh?" before T-Dog states, "Four." 

This makes Daryl huff as he complains, "My day just gets better and better, don't it?" which makes T-Dog retort, "You see anybody else here stepping up to save your brother's cracker ass?" 

Hearing that, Daryl asks, "Why you?" but T-Dog scoffs and says, "You wouldn't even begin to understand. You don't speak my language."

At this point, Dale mutters, "That's four." which makes Shane look at me and argues back, "It's not just four. You're putting every single one of us at risk. Just know that, Rick. Come on, you saw that walker. It was here. It was in camp. They're moving out of the cities. They come back, we need every able body we've got. We need 'em here. We need 'em to protect camp." 

Hearing that, I bring out another reason why this has to be done, "It seems to me what you really need most here are more guns." which makes Glenn exclaim, "Right, the guns." 

Confused by that, Shane asks, "Wait. What guns?" to which I start to list what I brought with me before I explain, "Six shotguns, two high-powered rifles, over a dozen handguns. I cleaned out the cage back at the station before I left. I dropped the bag in Atlanta when I got swarmed. It's just sitting there on the street, waiting to be picked up."

Shane looks a lot more interested now as he asks, "Ammo?" to which I reply with, "700 rounds, assorted." but Lori then tries to make me change my mind by saying, "You went through hell to find us. You just got here and you're gonna turn around and leave?" followed by my son, Carl who says with almost pleading eyes, "Dad, I don't want you to go." 

A very upset Lori stands up and requests, "To hell with the guns. Shane is right. Merle Dixon? He's not worth one of your lives, even with guns thrown in. Tell me. Make me understand." 

In response, I walk closer to her and explain, "I owe a debt to a man I met and his little boy and not only those two, but also a young kind doctor who patched me up. Lori, if they hadn't taken me in and taught me everything there is to know about what happened, I'd have died. It's because of them that I made it back to you at all. They said they'd follow me to Atlanta. They'll walk into the same trap I did if I don't warn them." 

Hearing that, Lori asks, "What's stopping you?" to which I reply, "The walkie-talkie, the one in the bag I dropped. He's got the other one. Our plan was to connect when they got closer." 

Shane, who is now sitting nearby, looks at me and asks, "These are our walkies?"

I'm about to reply when suddenly I hear Glenn's voice as he asks, "Guys... Don't you hear a strange sound?" 

In response to Glenn's words, everyone falls into a tense silence and starts to carefully listen until Jim casually comments, "It seems like a car engine" 

Hearing that, I focus even more and realize that Jim is right as the sound of an engine revving up can be heard softly echoing in the area, and it is clear that Jim and I aren't the only ones hearing it as Dale yells, "Wait a moment!" before the old man rushes into the RV. 

Shortly after, as the engine sound gets louder, Dale comes out with a pair of binoculars and quickly climbs up the RV before he uses the binoculars to scout the surroundings.

After a few seconds of looking around, he locks his gaze in a specific direction and exclaims, "Someone is coming! It appears to be one of those military trucks!" 

Following those words, we start to look at each other and I notice a hopeful gaze in some people, but then Shane quickly snaps them out by yelling, "Don't lower your guard yet! We are not sure if they are actually military yet. It's better to be safe than sorry! Lori, Carol, bring the kids away to a safe place."

The next moment, everyone started to advance toward the only road that allowed access to the camp and waited for our guests to arrive in tense silence.

We don't have to wait for too long as the approaching military truck can be seen in the distance with the naked eye making Jim comment, "It is a M939 cargo truck... those are usually used to carry soldiers around but it is clear that this one is empty." 

In response, Shane nods and guesses, "You are right. I saw something like that in the camp around the Harrison Memorial Hospital. It is more likely that it is some lucky survivor that found a working one some military camp..." 

Hearing that, Daryl scoffs and comments, "I don't care if those fuckers are military or not if they make a wrong move I'll plant an arrow in their fucking heads."

While they are discussing that, the military truck quickly approaches the camp and it stops right beside the cube van before the truck's engine gets turned off and the doors on both sides get open.

At the same time, both Shane and Daryl warily bring up their weapons ready to shoot at any sign of something out of place as everyone grows more and more tense so much so that I instinctively grab my gun even knowing perfectly well that I'm out of ammo but hoping that it will be enough to work as an intimidating factor.

But then my hand immediately relaxes as I lay my eyes on the familiar man coming out from the driver seat.

He is very tall, surely over 6,5 feet with a body that would make professional athletes envious, a wild mane of unusual dark blue hair, and eyes of a green so intense that they seem almost shine.

He is the young doctor that patched me up, Jayr Pucci, the man that allegedy found the cure for cancer.

He is calmly facing us with a bright smile on his young face as he looks at all the people presenst and casually greets us, "Hello there." before his gaze stops on me and adds, "Hey, Rick." 

That is followed by another familiar voice that says, "I'm so glad to see that you are fine. We got a little worried when we saw your police car on the highway but doc told us that you were likely fine since there weren't any signs of struggle. It seems that he was right."

In response to that, I turn my head and see that familiar figures of Morgan and his son Duane standing on the other side of the truck, I also can't help but notice the small urn in Duane's hands making me quickly connect the dot and understand that inside that urn are likely conserved the ashes of Morgan's wife. 

At this point, I don't hesitate and step forward while shouting, "Calm down, everyone! I know them! They are the ones that helped me when I just woke up from the coma."