Not that he'll argue in her case. It doesn't bother him that she killed her father-- doesn't really register that maybe it ought to. He figures it's the kind of thing that happens now and doesn't mean much. Shit, he came close enough to murdering his own before things got bad.
But he's a better tracker than Daryl, still. He'll have to be if they're going to find his brother, and if there's one thing the Dixons still share it's that they're both stubborn assholes. He's not accepting defeat on this one.
"Where the fuck do you get a fuckin' tank," he growls after a while, not really at her but she's got the good fortune to be the only one there.
The prison was a shithole, but it was their shithole. Halfway livable even.
Joan gives a one-shouldered shrug. Sure, whatever. She'll take it, because her father was an idiot, and it's part of why she killed him. They drive, and he murmurs to himself, and she knows he doesn't exactly want an answer. They argue and bitch sometimes, but she knows what it sounds like.
His words, more than anything, sound like sorrow. She can't help that, and she doesn't want to deal with it. God's got ways, but so does the Devil. She doesn't want to say it, because she knows he'll whirl on her, call her some stupid church bitch. She's not, she knows what God's like, but she's not going to argue it with him of all people. IF anything, they ought to agree.
She eventually stops the car near a tree, and if you look closely among the branches and ivy, you can see someone's nailed a plank to it. It's a signal from the past to the future. She knew she'd need to leave eventually. She opens the car door, and looks straight at Merle.
"I get the stuff, you shoot anything comes near. You leave, you ain't get none of it, or any of the others. Just a car with a half tank of gas that needs work done on it you can't do."
There's nothing to gain from trying to talk, not really. He's in too bad a mood to fight. And besides, what matters is the fact that they're fucked. It's too late to cry over spilled milk or flattened fences, they just gotta keep going.
Maybe find somewhere safe and get good and drunk, if they're lucky. They're not gonna be lucky, though.
Sucking his teeth, he fixes her with a mock-innocent stare that falls way heavier on the mocking side.
"Sure, I'll keep an eye out while you go shoppin'."
Where the hell's he gonna go, anyway? He opens his own door and unfolds out of the car, stretching his legs, glances around. Quiet enough but they made a racket getting here; it's just a matter of time.
Joan is already half way up the tree. The less time she spends staring at that look he shot her, the less she wants to punch him, the better off they all are.
She won't punch him. But she knows she needs to prove her usefulness, or she'll wake up and he'll be gone.
"Jerky," she says with a grunt, shimmying up another branch. "Ammo. Duct tape. Shit they wouldn't notice I was keeping back."
If she took a swing at him he might feel better. It's best that she not, though. Probably he'd end up hitting her right back and he has the feeling they wouldn't get along so well after that. She takes his shit better than just about anyone who ain't family ever has, but everyone's got limits.
"Busy little ant," he marvels, with a low whistle. He's not even watching her at this point. There's gotta be something around here, right? One of the biters, or two or five of them. He's not gonna get a moment's peace to get drunk but maybe beating the shit out of something will do just as well.
When there's finally a rustle in the distance, he's halfway thrilled to go after it.
"Fuck off," Joan says from her tree. As nicknames go, it's not horrible, but she makes a point of hating all of them. Maybe they'll replace some of the worse ones.
Not that it really fucking matters with Merle.
She hears something rustling in the woods, something coming; it's a noise she would have ignored, years back, but now she's always primed for this kind of shit. That's the new human race, listening for snapping twigs like deer in the forest. Not that Merle would ever let himself be seen as a prey animal. No, she can see him now, ready to kill whatever came across them.
She hopes it's not someone who doesn't deserve it, but honestly, she's not interested in stopping him. It wouldn't be a good bet.
Joan climbs back down the tree and worms her way back into the car as quickly and efficiently as she can. She's got tree sap and pine needles on her shirt, but it's covering some of the blood and ash, so she'll take it. She throws the supplies-- jerky, tape, ammo, like she said-- in the back, and picks up her gun. She doesn't lean out of the car-- what a great way to get bit, wow-- but she does watch his back. Hopefully he'll be quick with it.
By now, Joan's probably as much an expert on him as anyone is, which means she probably knows that Merle Dixon deals with negative feelings in extremely healthy and productive ways.
The first walker takes him by surprise, stumbling into view even as he goes looking for it; it's enough that he retreats a few paces with a grunt, but he turns the distance into a lunge, spearing the thing through an eye socket and drawing back before it drops like a sack of cement.
With an all-too-cheerful whoop, he crashes into the brush in search of more. The action, the distraction, it's just as necessary as the food she's getting.
She follows him slowly, eventually stopping the car near the point in the line of trees where he went off road. She can't stop him from whatever masculine ritual he feels like he's completing, and she'd rather not even if she could. This is his gross bullshit, his stupid baggage. If he gets himself killed, it's one less mouth to feed.
And then, you know, it won't be her. Sometimes she wonders if it'll be her. He's the kind of person she'd end up killing, if patterns repeat themselves.
Whatever. She climbs out the jeep's sun roof, sitting on the top with her rifle in her lap, and she waits. He'll come back or he won't. She'll give him an hour.
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what_wings_dare2014-10-20 06:48 pm
no subject
Not that he'll argue in her case. It doesn't bother him that she killed her father-- doesn't really register that maybe it ought to. He figures it's the kind of thing that happens now and doesn't mean much. Shit, he came close enough to murdering his own before things got bad.
But he's a better tracker than Daryl, still. He'll have to be if they're going to find his brother, and if there's one thing the Dixons still share it's that they're both stubborn assholes. He's not accepting defeat on this one.
"Where the fuck do you get a fuckin' tank," he growls after a while, not really at her but she's got the good fortune to be the only one there.
The prison was a shithole, but it was their shithole. Halfway livable even.
no subject
His words, more than anything, sound like sorrow. She can't help that, and she doesn't want to deal with it. God's got ways, but so does the Devil. She doesn't want to say it, because she knows he'll whirl on her, call her some stupid church bitch. She's not, she knows what God's like, but she's not going to argue it with him of all people. IF anything, they ought to agree.
She eventually stops the car near a tree, and if you look closely among the branches and ivy, you can see someone's nailed a plank to it. It's a signal from the past to the future. She knew she'd need to leave eventually. She opens the car door, and looks straight at Merle.
"I get the stuff, you shoot anything comes near. You leave, you ain't get none of it, or any of the others. Just a car with a half tank of gas that needs work done on it you can't do."
Just making that clear.
no subject
Maybe find somewhere safe and get good and drunk, if they're lucky. They're not gonna be lucky, though.
Sucking his teeth, he fixes her with a mock-innocent stare that falls way heavier on the mocking side.
"Sure, I'll keep an eye out while you go shoppin'."
Where the hell's he gonna go, anyway? He opens his own door and unfolds out of the car, stretching his legs, glances around. Quiet enough but they made a racket getting here; it's just a matter of time.
"How much you got out here?"
no subject
She won't punch him. But she knows she needs to prove her usefulness, or she'll wake up and he'll be gone.
"Jerky," she says with a grunt, shimmying up another branch. "Ammo. Duct tape. Shit they wouldn't notice I was keeping back."
no subject
"Busy little ant," he marvels, with a low whistle. He's not even watching her at this point. There's gotta be something around here, right? One of the biters, or two or five of them. He's not gonna get a moment's peace to get drunk but maybe beating the shit out of something will do just as well.
When there's finally a rustle in the distance, he's halfway thrilled to go after it.
no subject
Not that it really fucking matters with Merle.
She hears something rustling in the woods, something coming; it's a noise she would have ignored, years back, but now she's always primed for this kind of shit. That's the new human race, listening for snapping twigs like deer in the forest. Not that Merle would ever let himself be seen as a prey animal. No, she can see him now, ready to kill whatever came across them.
She hopes it's not someone who doesn't deserve it, but honestly, she's not interested in stopping him. It wouldn't be a good bet.
Joan climbs back down the tree and worms her way back into the car as quickly and efficiently as she can. She's got tree sap and pine needles on her shirt, but it's covering some of the blood and ash, so she'll take it. She throws the supplies-- jerky, tape, ammo, like she said-- in the back, and picks up her gun. She doesn't lean out of the car-- what a great way to get bit, wow-- but she does watch his back. Hopefully he'll be quick with it.
Like anything's ever that easy.
no subject
The first walker takes him by surprise, stumbling into view even as he goes looking for it; it's enough that he retreats a few paces with a grunt, but he turns the distance into a lunge, spearing the thing through an eye socket and drawing back before it drops like a sack of cement.
With an all-too-cheerful whoop, he crashes into the brush in search of more. The action, the distraction, it's just as necessary as the food she's getting.
no subject
And then, you know, it won't be her. Sometimes she wonders if it'll be her. He's the kind of person she'd end up killing, if patterns repeat themselves.
Whatever. She climbs out the jeep's sun roof, sitting on the top with her rifle in her lap, and she waits. He'll come back or he won't. She'll give him an hour.