Chapter 7: Merle
Morales sighed and fell silent for a moment.
Watching Morales like this, Glenn felt extremely conflicted. He knew Caesar had a way to get everyone out of the department store, just like he'd saved Rick earlier.
But once he said it, the situation would become very awkward, and might even result in Caesar and his people not taking them along when they left.
Bang—
Bang—
Bang—
Suddenly, gunshots echoed.
Caesar and the others could hear it clearly. He looked up at the ceiling. He knew—it was Merle.
That foul-mouthed bastard who was only loyal to his brother.
The walkers outside the glass doors immediately picked up speed after hearing the gunshots. Walkers from the surrounding area were also drawn over. The pressure on the glass doors instantly increased.
"It's Merle." Andrea said through gritted teeth, absolutely seething about this Merle.
Morales's face immediately went cold. He explained to Caesar, "We have a member named Merle. He's a lunatic."
With that, he walked toward the stairs and began climbing up.
Caesar looked back at Rip. "You stay here and keep watch. If there's any problem, call me directly."
Rip nodded.
"Jimmy, follow me."
Caesar called to Jimmy, caught up with the group, and climbed the stairs together.
On the department store rooftop, Merle held a sniper rifle, aiming at walkers on the distant street.
Bang—a walker dropped to the ground.
"Hahaha—"
"Not even gonna dodge? You bunch of idiots, don't you have brains?"
Merle taunted mockingly, showing no tension about the apocalypse whatsoever. He had the relaxed air of someone strolling in their own living room.
Creak—the iron door opened. T-Dog and Morales came up first.
T-Dog couldn't wait to start criticizing, his speech pattern rather like rap.
Merle, looking at T-Dog like a monkey, didn't care about any of that. "You rapping? Ni—"
T-Dog, whose core logic had been triggered, instantly flew into a rage. His large frame lunged forward.
Morales sensed trouble ahead and attacked Merle from behind.
Merle swung his gun viciously, hitting T-Dog with the stock. He took a stride forward and raised the stock to smash down hard.
T-Dog skillfully brought both hands up to protect his face, curling his body as much as possible to receive the attack.
Morales grabbed Merle from behind, but unexpectedly Merle was stronger. He broke free instantly.
A backhand elbow strike.
Morales flew back two or three meters, covering his face as he fell.
For a moment, Jacqui and Andrea's screams continued nonstop. Glenn anxiously ran in circles but couldn't help.
T-Dog and Morales's pained cries continued.
Merle stood up laughing wildly and spat on T-Dog's chest, rubbing it in insultingly. "Just lie there like a good boy. That's what you're suited for."
Merle spun around, scanning everyone's faces with satisfaction.
"Since we've all made it to the apocalypse, we should need a captain, right? Need a wise and mighty captain to lead everyone out of Atlanta."
"I think I'm the most suitable here. Do you agree, little lady?"
Merle wore a lewd smile, raising his eyebrows at Andrea.
Andrea shrank back uneasily, hesitated a moment, then raised her hand.
Merle looked at Glenn next. Glenn slowly raised his hand.
Whenever Merle looked at someone, that person was forced to raise their hand.
Watching this scene, Rick took a deep breath and was about to step forward.
He took two steps before Caesar's hand blocked his chest.
"Your concussion still hasn't healed. Better rest properly. I'll handle this." Caesar turned his head and said.
Caesar strode toward Merle.
Merle had already noticed these three unfamiliar faces. "Oh, are the county cop and cowboys taking over Atlanta?"
Caesar didn't engage with the witty remarks. He suddenly accelerated, rushed in front of Merle, and grabbed Merle's shirt with both hands.
Merle's expression changed. He immediately tried to swing the gun stock.
The next moment, a sensation of weightlessness struck his heart.
Caesar's entire body tensed with muscle power. He forcefully locked Merle's legs and lifted him into the air, raising him up.
Brute force slammed Merle hard onto the ground.
The gun in Merle's hand flew far away. He arched like a cooked red shrimp, his body bowing backward.
"Fuck—"
After recovering a bit, Merle struggled to stand up, his steps somewhat unsteady. He spat.
"Cowboy kid, you're not bad. Daring to ambush me."
"Now, come at me head-on. I won't go easy on you."
Merle grinned widely, trying to make his smile look more fierce.
Caesar didn't hold back either. He went straight at him.
Twisting to dodge Merle's punch, he lowered his body and his right arm powered out a heavy punch.
Precisely hitting Merle's liver.
Liver shot!
Merle's eyes bulged. His body arched as he slowly collapsed to the ground, clutching the injured area, unable to make a sound for a long while.
"Rick, cuff him."
Fight finished, Caesar called to Rick.
Rick nodded and walked over, taking the handcuffs from his waist and cuffing Merle to a nearby pipe.
"Give me the key."
Caesar held out his hand.
"Okay."
Receiving the key, Caesar tossed it up and down, his eyes holding mockery.
Just this one key almost changed Merle's entire life trajectory. If T-Dog hadn't lost the key, Merle might have actually become Rick's right-hand man alongside Daryl.
Well, of course, Merle might also have completely refused to submit to Rick and incited Daryl to loot the entire camp.
Hard to predict.
"Glenn, when you went out, did you find any way to leave?"
Having resolved the Merle situation, everyone began thinking about how to leave Atlanta, this city of the dead.
Morales asked Glenn. Earlier, Glenn had gone out and discovered Rick because he was searching for an escape route.
Glenn was stunned and looked at Caesar, stammering.
"I... I, when I went out... the route I discovered... um."
Andrea frowned. "Glenn, what's wrong with you? Why are you stammering?"
Glenn had no choice but to make something up. "There was an explosion over there. Lots of walkers rushed over. Actually, there aren't many walkers blockading the department store now. As long as we grab weapons and rush out, we should be able to get out."
Glenn figured that Caesar's group had killed quite a few walkers and forced their way in. Now there were so few walkers in the area.
Even if they lacked experience and such, they should still be able to break out, right?
But Morales completely ignored that. "You really didn't find a gap?"
"No." Glenn knew Morales was asking about roads with no walkers or just a few walkers. He really hadn't found any.
Caesar understood Morales's conservative approach.
Walkers weren't scary, but facing these creatures produced a fear that exceeded the walkers themselves. Hundreds or thousands of walkers surging forward made that fear increase exponentially.
Anyone would be afraid.
It's just that to survive in the apocalypse, you had to overcome the fear of facing walkers.
In the original show, when Rick proposed passing through the walker horde, even though they didn't have to fight walkers directly, Morales and the others still disagreed.
It was Rick, an outsider, who took Glenn with him—two people together risking it to save a group of people.