Not Desperate

When a plan comes together

Merle, Carol and Sophia were on their way to the cabin. He had talked to Daryl this morning and agreed that they would gather up their women and kids and wait it out in the woods. Joe and the boys didn’t know about it. Merle didn’t give a shit about much except family. His granddaddy was the only member who ever gave a shit about him, besides Daryl of course. There was no way in hell he was gonna give Joe access to the only thing he had left from the only family that ever loved him. After the girls packed their bags, Carol called Sophia’s school to tell them she wouldn’t be in for a few days because they had to go to a funeral out of town. When they left Carol’s place, they went by the trailer so Merle could grab some stuff. Before they walked out the front door to leave, Merle put his arm around her waist. “Are you ready to do this? You sure you want to?”
“Yes Merle,” she wrapped her arms around his neck. “I waited years to be your wife. I’m not waiting any longer.” She stood on her tip toes and kissed him softly. “Let’s go get hitched Mr. Dixon.”

While Merle hadn’t bothered calling into work, Daryl had gone in for the day. He hoped when this was all over, he’d still have a job to go to. He dropped Michael off at school and waited for Yvonne to talk to his teacher. When they arrived at the diner, he wouldn’t let her out until she promised to be careful and keep her eyes out for Len and his truck. She did and said she would call him the minute anything happened. He gave her a desperate kiss as if he might never see her again. “I love you more than my own life. I’ll die to keep you safe.”
“Don’t say that. I’m scared enough as it is. I don’t want to think about losing you.” Daryl leaned his forehead to hers, “You ain’t gonna lose me, I ain’t gonna lose you. You gotta trust me, believe me.”
“I trust you with my life and Michael’s. You have to promise me the same. Be careful, keep an eye out for Shane. Let me know if you hear anything from Rick.” He moved away from her and sighed. “I promise baby. Go to work, try not to worry too much. I’ll call you later and pick you up after work.” Yvonne got out of the truck and went inside the diner. He didn’t leave until he saw she was safely behind the counter with Beth and Amy. As soon as he drove out of the lot, he called Merle to confirm their plans, after that, he called T-Dog and then Rick. Rick had looked at Shane’s work record from Atlanta. Apparently, he had an affair with the Sheriff’s wife and got her pregnant. Since the sheriff’s department didn’t want that information made public, they gave him the option to move as far away as he could get and continue his law enforcement career in a smaller town. Shane had requested Senoia specifically, stating that he had family here.
“Who’s his family?” Daryl asked.
“Don’t know for sure. He’s never mentioned having any family, at least not to me. Don’t recall ever seeing him around town with anybody, but I’m gonna find out. I’m gonna see if I can’t pull his personnel file and see who’s listed as his next of kin.”
“Alright. I’m heading into work. Merle called in today ‘cause he’s taking Carol and Sophia up to the cabin early. I’m getting Yvonne and Michael after work and taking them up there then. Could you do me a favor?”
“Of course Daryl. What do you need?”
“I already talked to T about this. I need you to go to the garage and take my bike, the one I been building, and keep it at your place. I’m afraid Shane might go back there. If he know it’s mine, God knows what he’ll do to it. T’s not opening the shop today. After what happened last night, he’s laying low, keeping the garage closed.”
“Sure, of course. Can’t guarantee that Carl won’t try to mess with it though,” he said with a laugh.
“You better, or it’s both ya’lls asses.”
“Fine. If I find out anything, I’ll call ya. If something happens, call me. You know I’d do anything to help you. You and Yvonne. Merle too if you insist.”
“Merle ain’t gonna ask for nothing from you or me either. Stubborn, tough ass son of a bitch, he is.”
“I know. I’ll talk to ya later D. Please be careful.”
“You know I will. I ain’t gonna do nothing stupid.” Daryl pulled into work after talking to Rick. He wasn’t gonna be able to concentrate for shit. Maybe they’ll send him home early.

Merle had his arm wrapped around Carol’s waist as they exited the courthouse. Getting the license hadn’t taken as long as they thought and now . . . now he was looking at his beautiful wife, Mrs. Carol Dixon. As soon as this shit was over, he planned on having papers drawn up to adopt Sophia. The cabin was a couple of hours away and the little girl was so excited, she didn’t stop talking the whole way. As they approached the dirt road that would eventually lead them to the cabin, Merle felt something was wrong. There were tire tracks on the road ahead of them. He knew Daryl wasn’t there yet and no one had been here since him and Yvonne. He drove up slowly until he saw it, Joe’s truck parked by the creek. He and Tony were standing beside it smoking. As he got closer to them, Joe stood in the middle of the road, stopping the truck from going any further. “Well Merle, what do you think you’re doing? You planning on taking a vacation?”
Merle looked over at Carol and took her hand, the one wearing his ring. “Don’t get out of this truck, neither of ya. I’m gonna talk to this son of a bitch and get us the hell outta here.” He slowly got out of the truck and sauntered over to where Joe and Tony were standing. “What’s on your mind brother? This important enough to interrupt time with my woman?”
“Brothers don’t steal from each other Merle. I know you’re keeping most of my shit and not selling it. That’s money out of my pocket, brother.”
“Give me a few days. I can pay ya for it. I ain’t doing that shit anymore.”
“That’s good to hear Merle, proud of ya. It don’t make a damn bit of difference though. Still gonna hafta teach ya a lesson.” Joe quickly pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans and sent two bullets in Merle’s direction. One hitting his shoulder, the other through his leg.

The closer it got to six o’clock, the more nervous Yvonne became. She hadn’t heard from Daryl since he dropped her off at work this morning. She had called Caleb’s mother to make sure that they had gotten home and the boys were safe. Now she was just waiting. Beth and Zach were sitting in a booth with her while she waited for Daryl. At ten minutes after six, she got a text alert from him.
Running late. Be there soon sweet cheeks.
“Is that Daryl?” Zach asked.
“Yeah, but it don’t sound like him.”
“What does that mean?” Beth asked.
“He called me sweet cheeks. He’s never called me that before. Always sweetheart or darlin’ and sometimes baby girl when we’re um . . . um . . . yeah.”
“I hope that’s not code for something’s wrong. We’ll stay with you until we see the truck pull up. Make sure it’s him.” Zach re-assured her.
“Thanks Zach, you’re a good man,” Yvonne said as they saw headlights pulling into the parking lot. He parked under the street light that was burned out. They all stood and walked out the door as he got out of the truck. The three of them walked to the truck together. He started walking toward them, meeting them halfway. As they got closer to each other, she could see his face in the light from the diner sign. She screamed as he pulled a gun and shot Beth and Zach. She turned to run away, but he was on her fast. “Long time, no see sweet cheeks. Been watching you and that piece of filth flaunting it around town, I told you that you was mine and I’m gonna make sure you know that.” Len grabbed her by the hair and dragged her to the truck. She screamed and fought until he’d had enough of her shit. He took the butt of his gun and slammed her in the head with it.

Daryl had left work two hours after he got there. His head was so full of shit that he couldn’t do anything right. Finally the guys had convinced him to start his vacation early. They didn’t have to tell him twice. He went straight to the sheriff’s station to see Rick. He thought maybe they could go to the garage together, for safety reasons. He went to Rick’s desk the moment he walked through the doors.
“Thank God Daryl! I’s just about to call you. We have to talk, but not here.” Rick said as soon as Daryl appeared in front of him.
“Yeah, that’s what I came to do. Want us to go to the garage together, just in case.”
“Perfect. You shouldn’t be out and about too much. Makes finding ya a lot easier,” Rick said as he grabbed his jacket and keys and ushered Daryl out the front door. Once they were in the squad car, Daryl spoke up.
“What are you talking about Rick?”
“Shane didn’t come in to work today. Didn’t call or nothing. Sheriff wants me to go to his house and check on him, but I’ll bet you a load of horseshit he ain’t there.”
“I haven’t seen him today. Been keeping an eye out for that bike. He must be hiding somewhere,” Daryl said.
“Don’t know if he’s been following you or not. He could be hanging out with his cousin,” Rick said as he sped down the road toward T’s garage.
“Who’s his cousin?” Daryl asked wearily.
“You’re gonna shit yourself when I tell you.”
“Just fucking tell me Rick or I’m gonna stomp your ass!”
Rick took a deep breath and held it for a second before he exhaled and said, “Len.”
“What! We gotta find that motherfucker Rick! Both of ‘em.” Daryl felt like he was gonna explode. This sure did explain a hell of a lot. Shane’s ‘concern’ for Yvonne and his threats to Daryl. Len told him about the whole thing and Shane was probably more than eager to help him out.
“Well, seeing as how the sheriff already asked me to do that, I guess we best get out search started.” They pulled into the lot at the garage and saw T’s truck sitting there, but the bay doors were closed. They walked slowly and carefully to the windows and looked inside. They both gasped when they saw T-Dog’s body lying on the floor in a pool of blood. Daryl started banging on the door and screaming T’s name. Rick turned around to run to the car and call for backup, when he heard a familiar voice. Shane was leaning against the passenger’s side of the vehicle, with his hands in his pockets. “Well, hey Rick, Daryl. Shouldn’t ya’ll be working instead of playing with your friends?”
“Sheriff sent me to find you Shane. No one’s heard anything from ya. We was all worried.”
“I’m sure ya’ll were. Nothing to be worried about. I got everything under control,” Shane said and looked at Daryl.
Daryl didn’t take his eyes off T. “What did ya do to him Shane?” he asked the man.
“I didn’t do nothing ‘little D’. Man’s clumsy as fuck. I guess you must’ve spilt some oil on the floor when you were here last night and he just slipped. Went down like a bag of hammers. Now I’m sure he won’t blame you, ya’ll being such good friends and all. Thought maybe we could have us a little pow-wow. Get some things out in the open.”
Daryl took that as his cue and rushed at the deputy, pushing his body into the cruiser. “You’re gonna fucking pay for this motherfucker. I’m gonna kill you and that fucking retard you’re related to.” Rick came up behind him and pulled him off Shane.
He smirked at Daryl. “Doesn’t surprise me assaulting an officer would be one of your specialties Dixon. I was right about you. That girl’s gonna see the error of her ways.” Daryl struggled against Rick’s hold and was foaming at the mouth to get his hands on the man. Shane leaned up and walked toward them.
“Shane, just stay back. We need to call an ambulance for T. Just let me get to the radio and then we can talk shit out,” Rick said trying to prevent the situation from escalating.
“See, Rick, I can’t let you do that.” Shane walked in circles furiously rubbing his head. “I made a promise to my family Rick. You don’t turn your back of family. Blood is blood, right Dixon? You of all people should know where I’m coming from here. I know the things you’ve done for Merle; the illegal things, the lies, the beat downs. I bet Rick don’t know half the shit you’ve done in the name of family. I know that Lenny can be a bit rambunctious at times. He’s got into trouble his whole life, but that’s why I’m here. I came here to take care of him. I came to make things easier for him. He’s gonna concentrate on that beautiful piece of ass, and I’m gonna concentrate on ending your life.”
“You’re fucking insane Shane,” Rick said. “Len’s needed to be behind bars for years now. No use in protecting him.”
“I ain’t protecting him Rick. I’m helping him. Less for him to fuck up that way. I can cover his tracks, take care of all the loose ends.” Shane reaches behind him, pulls out a knife and lunges at Daryl. Without a thought, Rick dives in front of him, pushing his friend to the ground as Shane’s knife sinks into his chest. The blow knocks him on is back and he is lying next to Daryl on the asphalt. He is too distracted by the sight of his best friend bleeding from the chest to notice that Shane is crouched down on the ground beside him, and he doesn’t see the knife coming toward his own chest.

When Merle wakes up, he doesn’t know where he is at first. There isn’t any natural light coming from the open windows, so he assumes it is night or late evening. He’s sitting in a chair with his arms cuffed behind him. His shoulder hurts like a bitch and that’s when he remembers being shot by Joe. His thoughts immediately turn to Carol and Sophia and he begins struggling against his restraints. “Now, now, Merle. You don’t wanna be doing that,” says a familiar voice from behind him. “You’re injured. You don’t want to do anymore damage to yourself do ya?”
“Where the fuck are Carol and Sophia?” Merle hissed through clenched teeth.
“You mean Mrs. Merle Dixon and her little bitch? They’re fine. Tony’s looking after ‘em, keeping ‘em safe. He ain’t gonna let nothing happen to ‘em, unless I tell him to.”
“You son of a bitch! Daryl’s expecting me. I’m not there and he’s gonna come looking for me, and then we’re gonna kill all ya’ll bastards!” Joe walks over to the nearby wall.
“Yeah, Merle, about Daryl? I don’t think he’s gonna be looking for ya.” Joe flipped the switch on the wall ad Merle froze with fear at the sight before him. Daryl was strapped to a chair, much like his, except his white shirt was now red with his own blood and his head was slumped forward against his chest.
“Goddamn you motherfucker! I’ll kill you where you stand!” Merle screamed at the top of his lungs.
“Number one Merle, calm the fuck down. He ain’t dead. It’s just a little stab wound. I stitched him up myself, he’ll live. Number two, I always liked your brother. He’s a good kid, despite our influence. Daryl’s an honest, trustworthy man. Not the kind who would lie and steal from another. I don’t want to see anything happen to him. Number three, I didn’t do this. I didn’t order it. Len and Shane done this all on their own. Len feels that your brother done him wrong. He feels that he had a claim on that woman before your brother ever showed his face. You know how Len feels about the rules Merle, almost as strongly as I do. That’s why we’re in this situation. You Dixon boys are nothing but disrespectful rule breakers and we’re gonna hafta teach ya Merle. Now, because I’m such a kind hearted man, I’m gonna give you some time alone with your brother to say good bye, and don’t worry, I’ll take good care of your widow.