THE COLD WAR (Daryl Dixon)

CHAPTER TEN: TORTURED SOULS

"Really? Cuz- Glenn tells me you and my brother....." Merle trails off with wiggle eyebrows and Julia stiffens slightly.

Her and Daryl nothing. They were close friends and that's all but- did Glenn somehow know they slept together and that's what he told Merle.

"Yeah right." Julia scoffs no longer meeting his gaze and staring at one of the walls with a blank expression.

"So your just close friends then?" He asks and Julia stays mute still not even looking at him but he smiles like he has her all figured out. "How close? He tell you about our dad. Give you the sob story on our momma? Come on sugar tell me how close you are with my baby brother." Merle teases and Julia still stays mute looking away.

Merle moves close and it makes Julia want to look but she refuses to give him the satisfaction. "Have you guys....... screwed?" He asks and Julia by reflex looks to him with a glare and he makes a big show of surprise.

"You totally have haven't ya? I gotta say I'm surprised Darylina really sucks when it comes to women...... although I guess I shouldn't be surprised it was with you." Merle laughs as Julia looks away from him again.

Although she did wonder why he would assume out of everyone it would be her and Daryl.

"Back when I was trying to get with ya sugar he always was stopping me from talkin to ya. Then I'd catch him starin, blushin...... plus he tends to like the crazy ones." He laughs at the end still looking like he's in disbelief.

"Go to hell." Julia whispers and he nods slowly. "Soon sugar..... your gonna see that's where you are right now. Governor don't like mouthy women so-..... if your smart keep biting that tongue." Merle says with serious warning but Julia just eyes him suspiciously not trusting him either.

Merle leaves the room and goes back to Glenn once again and Julia can't help the blush that comes to her face. They certainly had heard them talking about her and Daryl. If they knew her as well as they claimed.... They'd realize she didn't deny it.

Glenn getting beat again rings out in the quiet torture room. Julia squeezes her eyes shut and tries to tune it out, and for a second.... She almost prayed it would stop.

"I gotta hand it to ya, a lot tougher than I remember. No surprise you lasted this long. Shoot I figured the way officer friendly abandoned people, he would have left you behind by now. But he didn't do that, did he? Hmm, so tell me, where y'all been at?" Merle asks and Glenn can be heard wheezing a bit making Julia begin to bounce her leg.

She would accept death..... but only for herself she didn't want to hear Maggie and Glenn did before her.

"It's just a matter of time before they come looking." Glenn says lowly and Julia was just happy he even had the ability to talk still. "I'll bake them a cake with pink frosting. Would they like that? Ain't nobody coming." Merle says he it's certainty that it makes even Julia snort.

Rick would come. And he would bash Merle's face in hopefully before Daryl could stop it.

"Rick is. And when he gets here-" Glenn goes to threaten but Merle cuts him off. "He's gonna do nothing, not if he wants you, bo peep, and straitjacket in there back. Think I'm in this by myself?" Merle asks making Julia thrash against her restraints briefly trying to see if they'd weaken at all.

They wouldn't.

"You can't take us all, there's too many of us." Glenn tries to lie to make the group seem more intimidating. "There ain't a pair of nuts between the whole pussy lot of you." Merle scoffs as Glenn keeps his words strong and certain.