Merle Dixon

## Before 2010

Merle grew up in the mountains of Northern Georgia alongside his younger brother Daryl, under the roof of their neglectful redneck parents, their father, an abusive alcoholic alongside their chain-smoker mother. Because of the lack of love and guidance he was given, Merle chose to act out against society, which led him to frequently be incarcerated in juvenile institutions. He became frequently absent from Daryl's life, thus making Daryl resentful of his absence and as a role model in his childhood.

At a young age, the brothers lost their mother in a house fire which had been caused by a cigarette while she was asleep or presumably drunk. Over the course of several years, they were mentally and physically abused by their father, which eventually caused Merle to abandon the family and join the military, claiming he would've killed their father otherwise. Unknown to Merle, Daryl was left to suffer from the abuse which resulted in severe scars located on his back.

During his time in the army, Merle punched a sergeant, which got him dishonorably discharged. He was then court-martialed and sent to prison for sixteen months. Following their father's death, Merle reconnected with Daryl, who followed his brother's lead, and they entered into a drifter lifestyle, where the pair utilized their survival instincts. He would also become involved in the contraband of crystal meth.

At one point, the pair resided in Merle's drug supplier's house where the trio watched TV and by noon had become intoxicated, a discussion turned violent where the dealer punched his older brother, where Daryl retaliated by savagely beating the man. However, the dealer then threatened to shoot Daryl, a large argument ensued, which ended with the dealer punching Daryl in the gut, causing him to vomit. Merle and the dealer laughed the incident off. However, Merle would always care for his brother and look after his only support.

## 2010

"Guts"
On the department store's rooftop, Merle fires at walkers in the street with a scoped rifle. The group arrives and T-Dog chastises him for wasting bullets and attracting more walkers. Merle scoffs at him by saying he'd never take orders from a "n\*gger," which sets off a fight between the two. Merle beats T-Dog and presses a handgun to his forehead, before spitting on his chest and proposing a change in leadership. The group is forced to vote in favor of Merle being their new leader. Suddenly, Rick hits Merle with the butt of the rifle and handcuffs him to a pipe. *"Things are different now. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."* Rick tells Merle as he holds a gun to his head. He then finds a stash of cocaine in Merle's shirt pocket and tosses it over the roof, much to Merle's chagrin.

Merle is then put under the watch of T-Dog while he is still unsuccessfully trying to radio the others. Merle tries to convince him to get the hacksaw in the bag of tools to set him free. He scoffs at Merle's offer. "*I guess you want me to get that rifle over there, too, so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up."* After the group comes up with a plan to escape the city, T-Dog is left in charge of Merle's handcuff keys.

Later, the group grabs their bags to leave the store in a rush, ignoring Merle's pleas to set him free. T-Dog reluctantly turns back and runs with the key in hand to set him free. However, he accidentally slips on the rain-soaked roof and drops the handcuff key down a drain while also dropping the tool bag, making the hacksaw and other tools spill out. "*I'm sorry,"* T-Dog gasps, while Merle accuses him of dropping the key on purpose. He runs back to the stairwell and starts going down, but goes back up and chains the door shut so that the walkers can't get to him.

Merle is left behind, screaming and filled with anguish, as the survivors escape Atlanta without him.

"Tell It to the Frogs"
Left alone, he begins the stages of accepting his fate (praying, bargaining, etc.), until he begins to fight again, this time with the pipe he is cuffed to. As he hallucinates that walkers have invaded the building and are reaching the chained door to the rooftop, Merle struggles harder until he notices the spilled tools that the others had left behind. He uses his belt to reach a hacksaw and succeeds in cutting off his right hand to escape.

Later on, Daryl, Rick, Glenn and T-Dog return to the rooftop where Merle was left behind and chained to and are shocked to find out he has escaped and his severed hand remaining. Daryl screams in anguish.