Merle burst out from the street corner, holding a fire axe in one hand, chasing frantically after the direction the car that had kidnapped Glenn was fleeing.
When he noticed the commotion in the alley, he immediately turned and charged toward it.
As soon as he rounded into the alley, he came face-to-face with Daryl, who was standing ready with a crossbow raised.
Their eyes met, and the air seemed to freeze for a second.
"Merle!?" Daryl's voice was filled with disbelief and joy.
"Daryl!" Merle flashed a wild grin, spreading his arms wide as if to give his little brother a big hug. "Haha! I knew you'd come looking for me!"
However, what greeted him wasn't a hug, but a heavy punch filled with worry and anger!
"Thud!"
Daryl punched Merle hard on the shoulder, cursing, "You bastard! I should've left you here!"
Staggered by the blow, Merle didn't get angry; instead, he laughed even more happily.
He wrapped an arm around Daryl's neck and roughly ruffled his hair. "It doesn't matter if you didn't come. My life's tough as nails!"
Daryl pushed him away, his gaze falling on Merle's carefully bandaged wrist. His tone was stiff as he asked, "Your hand... what happened?"
"It's nothing, just a minor injury." Merle waved his hand dismissively. "That brat who saved me has pretty good medical skills. He handled it well."
Just as the two brothers were having their heartfelt exchange, Rick and T-Dog finally arrived on the scene.
Their timing was a bit off.
"What's going on?" Rick raised his gun, cautiously assessing the situation in the alley. Then he saw a familiar face and widened his eyes in surprise. "Merle?!"
When Merle saw Rick and T-Dog, the smile vanished from his face, replaced by boundless fury.
"Oh, look who it is! Two bastards who left me to die!"
Without another word, he charged forward and landed a heavy punch on T-Dog!
"Merle! Stop!" Rick hurried forward to intervene but was shoved aside by Merle.
"Don't touch me, you damn 'Friendly Cop'!"
The scene instantly descended into chaos. Merle, Rick, and T-Dog grappled together, while Daryl tried to pull them apart. Curses and the sound of heavy punches filled the air.
"Hey! If you all want to die, that's fine by me!"
At that moment, a roar filled with fear and anger echoed from deep within the alley.
Only then did everyone remember there was still a captive they had knocked to the ground.
The teenage boy stared in terror at the growing horde of Walkers gathering at the wire fence outside the alley, screaming at the brawling group:
"Can you let me go first?! Those monsters are coming!"
His shout was like a bucket of cold water poured over everyone's heads.
They stopped fighting and realized the alley entrance was now blocked by over a dozen Walkers drawn by the noise!
"Shit!"
Daryl didn't hesitate any longer. He grabbed Merle, who was still fired up, and dragged him toward the department store.
"This isn't over!" Merle shouted as he was dragged away, pointing a finger at Rick and T-Dog and leaving a menacing threat.
In the end, the group had no choice but to retreat, carrying their respective anger and the unlucky captive, back to an abandoned lab in the building they had been in earlier.
After securely tying the captive to a chair with rope, they finally caught their breath and gathered in another room to exchange information.
"You're saying... they took Louis too?" Rick's expression darkened as he looked at Merle, who had just reunited with his brother. "You were chasing them just now?"
"Louis? Oh, you mean that blond kid?"
Merle clearly hadn't calmed down from the earlier conflict. Leaning against the wall, he said in a mocking tone, "That's right. After all, when you bastards left me to die, he was the one who saved me."
He sneered. "Hah, maybe only a naive brat like him would risk his life to save someone who doesn't matter."
"Of course, that's not why I went after him."
He paused, then added, "Whether that kid lives or dies is none of my business, but I need to get those medicines back from him."
He looked at Rick, the mockery in his eyes undisguised. "What? Suddenly got a conscience and want to save people now?"
"Louis is my son." Rick glanced up at him.
"What?" Merle was taken aback for a moment, then, as if realizing something, a meaningful smile spread across his face.
He didn't refute immediately. Instead, he narrowed his eyes, giving Rick a scrutinizing look before slowly saying:
"I say, 'Friendly Cop,' you're not a Walker, are you?"
As soon as he said this, everyone's eyes in the room instantly focused on Rick.
But Rick remained unmoved, just staring coldly at him.
Merle flashed a malicious grin and continued, "That kid told me himself. Those old books in his box are mementos left by his 'dead parents.'"
"What? Did you crawl out of the grave to claim your son?"
The atmosphere in the room suddenly turned eerie.
T-Dog was completely baffled, not understanding how things had gotten so complicated so quickly.
"Shut up, Merle."
Daryl had seen enough. He slapped his brother on the back and said in a low voice, "None of that matters now. The priority is how to get those two kids back."
Rick remained composed. He nodded and turned to the others, saying calmly, "Daryl's right. We need to figure out how to talk to those people first."
"Not just Louis; Glenn is with them too. If this is really a misunderstanding, negotiation should resolve it."
"Oh, what a brilliant plan!"
Merle immediately clapped sarcastically. "Why don't we just throw a tea party, serve some fancy snacks, and sit down with those kidnappers to have a nice chat about life?"
"Maybe they'll be so moved they'll let them go!"
As he spoke, he slammed the blood-stained fire axe onto the table with a clang.
"Or, I have a simpler idea." He flashed a ferocious grin. "You give me those damn guns."
"I'll go alone, blow all those bastards' heads off, and bring our people back."
"Merle!" Daryl frowned, giving him a disapproving look.
"We don't need to do that." T-Dog immediately objected.
Seeing everyone disagree, Merle clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction. He looked at Rick again, his tone tinged with impatience:
"Listen, 'Friendly Cop,' I don't care what bullshit plan you have, but you better hurry. That kid was in bad shape today, probably sick, burning up and delirious."
"Sick?" Rick's heart sank at the words. This wasn't good news... A few minutes later, the group approached the captive.
"Where did the people you were with go?" Rick untied the rope binding the boy, trying to resolve things peacefully.
"I'm not telling you anything." However, the boy just sneered contemptuously.
"God... this guy really hates us." T-Dog sighed helplessly at the boy's attitude. "What exactly happened back then?"
"I already told you!" Having found his brother, Daryl's emotions had stabilized somewhat, but he still had no patience for the guy who caused them to lose Glenn.
"This idiot and his dumbass buddies came out of nowhere and beat the crap out of me."
"You started it!"
The boy immediately retorted angrily. "You were sneaking around in the alley, pointing a crossbow at me, yelling about looking for someone! And you have the nerve to say it's my fault!"
A cold glint flashed in Daryl's eyes, and he was about to say more when Merle, who had been leaning silently against the wall, suddenly laughed.
The laugh was hoarse and grating, filled with undisguised malice, instantly drawing everyone's attention.
"You see, he's not cooperating at all."
Merle was completely infuriated by the kid's attitude. He picked up the fire axe and walked over step by step, his grin growing more menacing.
"If you ask me, we should just break both his legs and throw him out on the street for the Walkers! I guarantee, in less than ten seconds, he'll be crying and spilling everything about his ancestors!"
He raised the axe, waving it in front of the boy's face, and sneered, "I'll ask one more time. Where did you take that blond kid and that Asian guy?"