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Kindred

Chapter 17



They headed for the town, Merle was sure their plan should be the same as last time. Head for lone standing shops, not towns or housing. There were a few lone walkers in the town, nothing that worried Merle as he cruised past them, looking down each road.

It took longer than they thought, the town was small but Merle was being decidedly picky. They drove around town at 10mph, driving past huge bookshops, a beautiful church (which only reminded Heather of Oxford) and a building which looked innocent to Heather, but Merle revealed it was a county jail. Heather gave a questioning look in his direction.

"How do you know that?"

"Was in a movie..." Heather still raised her eyebrow "starred Johnny Cash. Could be safe?"

"I'm not staying in a jail Merle."

"Suit ya' self...ain't that bad."

They carried on looking, the town was quintessentially America, every house had huge front laws, white washed verandas and wide roads. They finally found somewhere, a small white garage that was only next to one other shop. "Roberts Garage" was printed above the door.

The place looked like somewhere Merle would be at home in.

"Right Sugar, lets unload."

It didn't take long, their meager supplies could be loaded into two boxes. Merle had already managed to open the door, everything about the building was so old it didn't take too much effort.

The adjoining shop was a liquor store. Merle was almost sure there would be something useful in there. He left Heather to set up, they didn't have much but she made the most of what they did have. Spreading out what they'd found in the cars on the highway. One sleeping bag, a huge jacket that Heather planned on using as a sleeping bag, two large bottles of water, half a bag of M&M's (which only reminded Heather of Thomas) and a few tins of food. Merle had taken the knife they found on the floor of one of the cars and the hammer in case he came across any Walkers. Heather waited, in silence, worried about Merle.

He was back in half an hour, with little to show for it. A few bottles of extremely cheap looking vodka, 20 packs of honey roasted cashews and empty cardboard boxes.

"Best to get some sleep English...got a big day tomorrow." She nodded, knowing they'd have to
raid houses, stores, anywhere they could find.

The first day went better than either Heather or Merle could have expected. They went to the houses first, methodically checking a whole neighborhood. A few houses had Walkers locked in rooms, they were easily dispatched with Heathers knife. They found plenty of food and clothes, Heather was starting to feel actually positive, probably for the first time since their last night at the shack.

They went back to the garage that night, Heather had cold spaghetti while Merle opted for beans. Putting on the huge jacket and nursing a small glass of vodka Heather even managed to feel warm, a feeling she was sure was impossible now that winter had finally hit Georgia. She slept that night peacefully, hoping that this was finally the start of something more positive.

The next day started much the same, they drove to the centre of the town, methodically checking each store on the small strip mall. They weren’t as successful as yesterday, finding only a small amount of food and a few towels. They were on their fifth store, a small hardware store. Heather could tell immediately that something wasn't right. There was blood covering the floor of half the store. Marks that looked like something...someone had been dragged to the back room.

"Stay here Sug..."

"No." Merle sighed.

"Fine be quiet."

They warily walked to the back of the store, making as little noise as possible. Merle held his gun out in front of him, using the barrel to push open the door a crack, he peered into the room behind. Slowly turning to Heather he just shook his head, backing away from the open door. Without asking Heather followed him, knowing that if Merle was retreating, it had to be dangerous. Creeping out of the store Heather carefully held the door open for Merle, still not saying a word.

Carefully closing the door behind him, pointing at the car 5 stores down. As they made their way towards it, a bang came from the store they'd just exited. Turning as they started running towards the car, through the door poured walkers, more than Heather could believe had been in the store room. They made the van, Merle indicated that Heather should drive as he got in the passenger seat, hanging out of the window with his gun trained on the walkers.

"How many?"

"Couldn't tell ya' English, the backdoor was open. All just standin' there..."

She drove, looking at the walkers filling the street in the rearview mirror. Still in shock at how many walkers could squeeze into that tiny space they all disappeared as she turned the van round a corner. She drove back to the garage, Merle looking down every side street they passed, gun still trained out of the window.

"Right English, you check down on end of the street, I'll do the other." She nodded, they both got out of the van, closing the doors as quietly as possible.

"Use the gun sugar."

Shaking her head Heather took the gun out of her waistband, holding it out in front of her, doing her best to imitate how Merle. The road wasn't long, down the end of it Heather only had to check round one corner, seeing nothing she ran back to the van to meet Merle.

"All clear." She whispered to him.

"Same." Merle nodded.

They took the meager supplies they had found in the stores and closed the doors, still making as little noise as they could.

"They won't have been able to follow all the way here would they?" Heather needed reassurance from Merle.

"Don't think so Sugar."

"Right....Hungry?" They ate, practically the same as the night before. They spoke, almost in hushed tones. Heather was sure they were just being paranoid.

"You take first sleep...I'll watch."

"You sure?" Merle nodded, Heather took the bait.

Heather slept, not as peacefully as the night before but she'd definitely had worse nights. Two hours in to her sleep she was woken by Merle, shaking her shoulder gently. Looking up at him he had his finger against her lips, she nodded indicating she knew to be quiet.

"The walkers....they're here." Merle whispered.

"Is it fight or flight?"

"We're gonna have to run Sugar, don't have enough bullets to fight. There's a door out back, gonna have to go that way. Pack what ya' can." With that he was a whirlwind, packing what he could in one of the backpacks, Heather followed suite, knowing she had to be as quick and practical about this as possible.

They weren't quick enough though, Heather had just finished tugging the zips closed on her bag the Walkers had managed to break down the door. Their shuffling footsteps got closer as Heather and Merle rushed to the back door. Turning round Heather saw the Walkers had already practically filled the garage.

"Let's make this quick Sugar." Merle pushed open the door, holding it open he let Heather through first, not bothering to close it behind them they ran, having no clue exactly where they were going.

"Follow me." Merle kept running, dodging the fence and going round it they ran straight into what looked like a abandoned parking lot. All of them missing wheels, windows smashed or hoods missing. Separating the parking lot from the road was a storage container.

Without a word they both headed for the container, dodging their way through the broken cars they were chased the whole way by the few Walkers who had managed to make it out of the store. They were slowed down only slightly by trying to make their way through the graveyard of cars. They made it to storage container, its door wedged open by a tire sitting on the floor.
"Get in English I'll sort it out." Heather jumped over the tire into the container, behind her Merle had already grabbed the tire, throwing it behind him Heather was surprised he had that much strength. Pulling the door shut in a Walkers face, plunging the container into almost complete darkness. A thing strip of light could be seen coming from around the doors on either side of the space.

They could hear the Walkers, slamming themselves against the side of the container, clawing at the door. Merle had already shoved a block of wood in the small gap of the door frame, holding it in place for now.

"You good Merle?"

"Fine English...you?"

"Could be better. Shall we put something against the door? There's loads of car parts down the end of the container, got a look before we went pitch black."

Merle searched in his pockets for a while, taking out a lighter. He held it out in front of him, casting a flickering light around him. At the end of the container Heather could see a whole pile of car batteries, torn apart engines, stacks and stacks of tires. everything you'd expect from a garage. They got to work, piling the heaviest things they could against the door. Once they'd finished they both stood back, happy enough for now they were safe.

Without any light, there wasn't much to do. Heather opened her backpack, handing Merle a can of beans while she opened her own. Eating them cold they had to share a spoon. The groaning of the Walkers outside only seemed to get louder. Heather thought that, after a while, she'd be able to ignore it. She was wrong. The noise was driving her mad, Merle had fallen asleep soon after eating, leaving Heather to sit in the dark, unable to concentrate on anything but the noise
outside.

The next day felt long, they Walkers were relentless. Her and Merle had nowhere to turn, not only had Walkers surrounded the container on all sides, but the other door was welded shut. They sat, depleating their already meager supplies. They shared a pack of jerky, sat against the car part mountain they'd built.

"We're gonna be okay Sugar...we'll get outta this."

"How Merle? We've got nothing. You have two bullets left."

The statement hung in the air between them. Heather hadn't meant it like that, but now that it had been said it was all she could think about. They had no way of surviving this. The more noise the Walkers made banging against the metal, the noise echoing for miles, the more Walkers it attracted. Heather hadn't felt like this since Merle found her. With him around she'd found it easier to survive. Merle was always positive and clear thinking, always had a military plan of action in every situation. Looking at his face now, the strip of light meaning that Heather could just see him, his face didn’t look confident. He was chewing the inside of his mouth, sipping on their rationed water.

It was like that for the next few days, the only way Heather could sleep was from exhaustion. They were down to their last can of food, the small amount of water they had left would maybe last time three more days, if they were careful. Merles spirits had even been dampened, he had taken to pacing up and down the container, like a caged tiger.

The days stretched on, they had been stuck in the container for five days. With no food left they were starving, they had managed to save water, but would probably be gone by the end of the day.

When Heather heard the gunshots she was sure she was dreaming. They came thick and fast, a few piercing the metal of the container. Merle threw himself over Heather as soon as they realised they were real. They heard muffled voices over the bullets. After ten minutes of continuous gunfire they could hear the men more clearly.

"Open it up boys...there must be somethin' mighty interesting in there."

Notes

Comments

Omg. I bet its Rick! Can't wait to find out!!!!

Xxjerr19xX Xxjerr19xX
6/5/15

Merle and Heather need to get there, they've waited long enough :-)

gneebee gneebee
6/4/15

@HangerLane
Another good one! The dream Heather had - that was just amazing writing once again!!!! I was laughing at how you fooled me. LOL - can't wait til the next update :)

merlesgerle merlesgerle
6/2/15

@merlesgerle
Thank you so much! I always find it hard and I sometimes think I'm making Merle too nice...I think that's very easy. I feel like maybe this is how Merle would be BECAUSE of Heather?

I will try my best to make all your Merle dreams come true...or at least make Merle as true to character as I can.

Thanks agian!
xoxo

HangerLane HangerLane
6/1/15

@Xxjerr19xX
I'm reallllllyyyy not sure. I have a plan but it keeps changing.
There are some surprises I have planned but I think Heather and Merle (for now) are still gonna be very will they won't they...just to annoy you all lol!!!

Hope you enjoy the new chap!

HangerLane HangerLane
6/1/15