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Chapter Text

"Mr. Wilson!" A shove hit the sleeping boys shoulder as his name was called and he quickly jerked awake, glaring at his friend before looking to the teacher at the front of the bus  "Did you hear what I said?" Mrs. Alisson questioned him and he shrugged sheepishly "No, sorry Ma'am. I was asleep" Connor laughed from beside him quietly "You must stay with your chaperone at all times, no wandering off, no touching anything, and no yelling. Understood?" Ronan nodded looking over the rude woman he had as a chaperone, Dr. Cooley, she gets mad at any student who doesn't call her Dr, plus she always treated him like he was stupid instead of just a bit slow and unfocused. 

Everyone unloaded from the busses in front of the Atlanta History Center, his four friends standing around him, a group of mismatched teens. Connor Anderson, the police chief's son but like Ronan he has a knack for getting into trouble. Adrian Crevan loud with his southern twanged accent and always ready to fight anyone who looks at him or his friends wrong. Warren Coleman, perfect example of tall, dark, and mysterious. Alice Webster, rich girl with a heart of gold, Ronan's first friend when they met it preschool. And finally Ronan Wilson, the 'trouble maker', a bad habit of doing things that piss off the adults who don't understand him.

"Alright everyone, this way" The guide called out and the groups started moving through the building. Alice and Adrian walked with Ronan between them, his hand griping the hem of Alice's soft fuzzy hoodie in an attempt to keep himself grounded to pay attention to the guide, Connor and Warren walked behind them talking quietly as they looked around at the different exabits. Even though Ronan had the fuzzy feeling it didn't help him paying attention, his eyes drifting to watch everyone around, he's always found people watching interesting, seeing people act 'normal'. 

Thirty minutes into the tour Ronan was getting bored, as were the others and Dr. Cooley wasn't paying attention to them. He gently tugged on Alice's shirt walking backwards as the rest of the group went forward "Let's go check out the medieval and renaissance shit" He said and led them away "We're gonna get in trouble" Connor chuckled as they followed the maps "Who care about the civil war anyway. Swords and knights are cooler" Adrian scoffed as they entered the room, suits of armor and swords were everywhere, statues depicting battles.

The main thing that caught Ronan's attention was the velvet red throne against the wall, gold frame shining under the lights. "Hey, take a picture, Con" He stated going behind the red rope and sat in the throne, posing like a villain king. Connor pulled out his phone taking pictures when a loud shriek made them all freeze "Wasn't me" Ronan said standing and walking to his friends as they stared at the entrance to the room "Obviously" Warren muttered.

"Do you think Dr. Cooley realized we're gone?" Alice questioned "Maybe that's what that was" She ran her hand through her short red hair nervously as Connor walked closer "No, something's going on out there" Ronan said as more screaming started, getting louder as their tour guide ran into the room, slamming the large doors closed. The group of teens stepped back taking in her appearance. Her neat bun was now all over the place, her shirt was covered in the blood leaking from her shoulder.

"What the hell's going on out there?!" Adrian questioned the woman "I don't know. A man was being escorted out and he attacked the security guard. Bit him in the neck. There was so much blood. Then a wave of people like him rushed in the hall and started eating your classmates" She rushed out, hand holding her shoulder. "It's the shit from the news" Ronan stated "She's infected. I heard that it transfers through bites and scratches" The guide looked to her shoulder with fear "I'm gonna be one of them, you need to get out of here. The door over there," She pointed to the opposite side of the room, "It will take you to an emergency exit through the staff halls. Take something from here, they may not be the best but it's better than nothing. Hurry!" She rushed, hearing the dead getting closer to their room.

They looked around the room, grabbing random weapons on display. Connor grabbed a spear from one of the knight suits, Adrian grabbed a Mace and Chain* off the wall, swinging it around to test the weight and balance, Warren grabbed a battle axe from the other suit of armor, doing the the same as Adrian to test it, Alice grabbed a bow and a quiver full of arrows off another wall, and Ronan grabbed two swords, tying the frogs* and sheaths through the belt loops of his jeans. 

At this point the creatures on the other side of the door were trying to force their way in as the guide sat against it, losing too much blood "Hope Odin chooses you for Valhalla" Ronan stated as the group approached the staff only door, the guide giving them one last smile before she slumped forward, the banging deafening on the large doors "Let's get the hell out of here" Adrian said walking through the door, Mace ready. "Do you even know how to use that?" Alice questioned eyeing it "No, but can't be any different than a baseball bat" He shrugged leading them down a corridor to the exit.

"Everyone ready?" Connor asked taking a deep breath gripping his spear, attempting to hype himself up and prepare for what's on the other side of the door "Ready as we'll ever be" Warren cracked her neck, getting a better hold on her axe, Alice nocked an arrow pulling the string back "Wait" Ronan called before Adrian could open the door "What the hell is the plan, where are we going?" His brown eyes narrowing on his friends "My Uncle Simon has an apartment a few blocks down, just follow me and take down anything that comes too close" Adrian ordered, waiting for the others to fall in behind.

Ronan exhaled softly, before nodding to Adrian "Let's do this thing" His grip was so tight on the swords his knuckled turned white and the door opened, screams were heard everywhere around as they escaped the museum, people ran in all different directions, screaming, yelling, car horns honking, the dead growling. Ronan didn't realize he'd lagged behind until Connor reached back and yanked on his hoodie, pulling him up between him and Adrian who swung the Mace, hitting one of the dead in the stomach but it just growled at him.

Connor lunged forward stabbing it in the heart, it did nothing but keep it at a distance. An arrow flew forward from the back into it's head and it finally dropped to the ground, unmoving. "Go for the head!" Alice called as more arrows hit those around them, using their weapons to either decapitate, bash or slash the heads of the dead. There were a few close calls as the dead got a bit too close for comfort but they had made it to the apartment complex unscathed.

Adrian pulled out his keys and unlocked the door. The apartment was quiet as the group searched the place for possible dead creatures but it was empty "Where's Simon?" Ronan asked glancing at the street from the balcony "He's on a business trip somewhere in Virginia, selling mortgages and shit" Adrian responded sitting on the leather L couch resting his elbows on his knees to hold his head up.

Warren went to the kitchen to find out what they had for food, only finding Mountain Dew and a week old pizza. Random bags of chips were stuffed into the pantry along with a never ending supply of ramen "We should find things to put a bunch of water in, just in case" Connor stated turning on the sink "In case for what?" Alice asked setting her bow and quiver on the coffee table where everyone else's weapons were, except Connor's who had his spear propped against the wall "In case if power goes out, the water wont work if we don't have electricity" Ronan explained and the redhead nodded in understanding.

Adrian grabbed the remote and turned on the news, a warning signal stopping the others to join him by the couch, watching the TV It was talking about a safezone in Atlanta organized by the military to keep people safe, not to interact with those infected and keep your doors and windows locked. After flipping through the channels the warning was found to be everywhere, except the Christian channel which spoke of what was happening as the end of days, that people needed to repent to be brought to heaven. Ronan rolled his eyes before taking the remote and muting the TV. They five teens sat in silence for a moment soaking in the information.

"Well shit. What now?" Adrian asked looking down "Do you think your parents are dead?" Ronan murmured, still staring at the TV the words flitting across the screen, nails scratching the back of his hand harshly "It's not safe to go check, we need to stay here for a bit" Connor said sitting beside him, grabbing the hand that was scratching and squeezed it gently "When will it be safe? I need to find my parents and sister" Warren stated beginning to pace behind the couch "Maybe we should go to the safezone" Alice suggested with a shrug.

"No. We aren't doing any of that. We stay here until everything calms down a bit then we get out the hell of the city. It'd be safer, less people, less of the infected. Then we can look for our families" Connor interrupted everyone "Who died and made you leader?" Warren scoffed crossing her arms "In case you've forgotten, I'm the oldest in this group. I'm trying to keep us safe" Connor explained rubbing a hand over his face.

"Can we watch a movie? Help us relax a bit?" Ronan asked looking to the large collection of DVD's stacked next to the TV "Let's do that. But we need showers first, we all stink" Alice stated waving her hand in front of her face with a laugh "I call first!" Ronan called jumping up and racing to the bathroom attached to the only bedroom. "Grab some of Simon's clothes when your done" Adrian called as the water started up. 

The only soap to use was Old Spice two in one shampoo and conditioner and body wash. He's dealt with worse but still despises the smell, smelling cheaply expensive with a slight chemical undertone. After getting clean quickly he stepped out and grabbed a pair of jeans and a gray T-shirt, slipping it on before exiting the room "Jesus, how tall was your Uncle?" He asked as the ends of the jeans dragged "Around 6'3 but we don't have any other clothes" Adrian responded tossing a pair of scissors to Ronan to cut the cuffs as Alice heads to the shower next.

"We need to make a run to Walmart tomorrow, we need more food than just chips, ramen, and Mountain Dew" Warren stated "I thought your Uncle was rich" Connor scoffed looking through the movies "Oh, he is. He's just a cheapskate, doesn't like spending more money than necessary. How else do you think my Mom got the money for my testosterone?" Adrian explained. "Makes sense" Ronan shrugged leaning back on the couch "Fire Starter" Connor called out holding up the DVD "Hell yeah, great movie" Alice stated as she walked out, slipping a belt through the loops of her jeans.

Halfway though the movie, the sun had set and the only light was coming from the TV. A sound from outside caused Connor to pause the movie and the five teens stepped out onto the balcony, watching as helicopters flew overhead "You think that's the military for the safezone?" Warren asked as more passed the apartment building "I think it's something else" Connor mutters before an explosion knocked them back, a bomb had been dropped in the middle of the city.

"Inside now!!" Connor yelled shoving the other inside, hiding in the hallway between the bedroom and the livingroom, avoiding the windows. "What the fuck?!" Adrian shouted, covering Ronan's head under his arm to cover his ears from the deafening sounds from outside "Stop!"  Ronan cried helping cover his ears, tears falling down his face. The bombing went on for a few moments before it went quiet, the only sound was the teens soft crying. 

Connor looked at his friends to see if they were hurt, Warren and Alice were clinging to eachother like Ronan and Adrian, Ronan's hand was clutching the hem of his shirt tightly. "What the fuck?" Adrian muttered again running a hand through his blue hair "They bombed us, I thought they were supposed to help" Ronan whimpered looking to Connor with wide brown eyes "They didn't know we were here" Connor tried to reassure him grabbing his hand "But what about the safezone?" Warren questions "They bombed them too" 

"I don't know. We should try to get some sleep," Connor stated rubbing Alice's arm "We gotta be ready for tomorrow, our first run is in the morning"

Chapter Text

Sleep didn't come easy that night, the group had piled together on Simon's queen sized bed, blankets over all of them but they were too frightened to sleep, afraid of more napalms being dropped on them if they were to succumb to the darkness. Ronan and Adrian laid at the bottom of the pile, Connor, Warren, and Alice laid on top of them. Ronan says he like it because of the deep pressure therapy. 

The sun came up hours later, basking the room in an red-orange haze that would have been pretty if it weren't for the fires still raging in the center of Atlanta. "Let's get up and get some food. We need a plan for later" Connor say sliding off the bed to stand on the off white carpet "Is it even safe out there?" Alice asked sitting up, Warren's arms staying around her waist. 

"We don't honestly won't know shit until we go out" He stated before exiting the room, the girls following before the other two boys. Ramen was breakfast for the teens using the water Connor said to save and lighting the stove with one of Ronan's lighters "Breakfast of champions" Ronan mused twisting the noodles around his fork. "Well, that's the reason for the run today. Everything fell so quickly yesterday so Walmart should be a good place to hit, along with snatching a car in case we need to make a quick get away. Warren, your getting survival stuff from the camping isle. Alice, you are in charge of grabbing food. Adrian, you got clothes, stuff that we could use as protection. And Ronan, you get weapons from the hunting section. I'll be getting us a car for all our supplies. We leave in fifteen so hurry up, finish eating and get ready"

They ate quickly and began dressing for going out, seeing all the places that people were bitten Warren came up with the idea of using duct-tape, belts, and magazines for arm and shin guards so they could avoid being bitten while they were out. They stood at the door with all their weapons at the ready, bracing themselves to go back into the hell outside the apartment, not knowing if they were alone in the building.

"We do this as quietly as possible, in, out, get back here. Understood?" Connor asked looking at the others "Ten-four" Ronan quipped causing Connor to roll his eyes with a sigh "Here we go" He pulled the door open silently, stepping out first to look up and down the hall, waving his hand forward when he saw it was all clear. He stepped forward leading the group down the hall in a line in the order of Connor, Alice, Ronan, Warren, and Adrian taking up the rear. "Hey Al, can you teach me to use a bow?" Ronan whispered as she nocked an arrow "Later" She whispered back, silenced by Connor shushing the two.

They made it down to the main floor without running into any infected but out the entrance door they could see the creatures shambling up and down the street "The Walmart is four blocks down, I'm gonna lead since I know this city better, Connor, you take up the rear. Warren and Ronan, you two take the sides, I want Alice in the middle to watch our blind spots. If anything we miss anything comes up while we aren't paying attention you take it down" They nod and fall into their places before exiting the building.

The noise of the group attracts attention from the swarm and they have to fight their way down the street and hid in an alley as another stumbles past them. Between creeping through alleys and ducking behind cars the five made it to Walmart under twenty minutes only to find the store and parking lot overrun with the dead. "Shit" Adrian cursed ducking behind a white pick up truck. "The hell do we do now?" Alice hissed grabbing Connor's sleeve "Hold on! Let me think of something" He snarled, yanking his arm away and hitting a grocery cart. 

It rolled across the cracked ground noisily  before bumping into a tree. The dead around them rushed to follow the noise sparking an idea in Ronan's mind "Stay here, I got an idea. Alice, watch my back" He whispered before rushing off "Ronan!" Connor whisper shouted after him only to be ignored. Ronan crawled under cars and ducked behind others as he made his way to the back of the parking lot that held the semi trucks for the store.

Tapping at the window lightly made the creature look up at Ronan with milky white eyes "Gross he muttered as black blood dripped out of the truckers mouth, snarling and banging against the window to get to the boy. Ronan slid his sword into the window through the gap at the top to stab the dead man's head.

Opening the door he shoved the creature out to take it's place at the wheel, finding a shotgun under the passenger seat along with a box of ammo, setting it down onto the seat. He looked around the cab and grabbed the cord hanging from the ceiling pulling it down to activate the airhorn on top and taping it down to the dash to keep it running without him there.

The brunet smirked when he saw the wave of infected rushing to the truck and jumped out, taking the gun with him, running to his friends, shoving them under the pick up "We should wait a moment to make sure the store is cleared out before we head in" Ronan muttered before Connor smacked the back of his head "Are you insane?! The hell's wrong with you Ro?!" He snarled, his eyes darkening with anger.

"You didn't have a plan so I came up with one" Ronan growled crawling out from under the truck and rushing inside the store, the others coming after him "One of these days your gonna get hurt doing stupid shit like that" Connor said but pulled Ronan into a tight hug just like he likes it. "Alright, split up and grab the things I told you to and meet back here in an hour"

The four others grabbed carts and rushed off to their area's while Connor stayed at the doors watching the swarm surround the semi and looked out for cars to steal, his eyes kept going back to the white pick up they hid behind. It wasn't to far from the doors and wouldn't take long to hotwire, in fact with how old it looked, say late 80's model, he could start it up with a screwdriver. He grabbed his cart and headed off to the pharmacy, making a mental note to head to the auto section when he was done.

Warren was in the back with the camping section beside Ronan in the hunting isle filling her cart with air mattresses, lanterns, batteries, tents, flashlights, skillet pans for camping, air horns, walkie talkies, ropes, and camping chairs. Ronan was grabbing different guns off the shelves, he and Connor would have to teach the others though. As he was strolling around his section of the store he stopped to eyes a case full of knives, hunting, pocket, all different types.

He pulled down the belt on his right hand to cover his knuckles and punched the glass, thinking it would break like in the movies but he yanked his hand back and cradled it against his chest with a curse. He grabbed on of the guns after a moment and smashed it against the glass, the sound ringing throughout the building, "Check in" Connor Called somewhere to Ronan's left.

"Ronan" He called followed by the others calling their names throughout the store "What was that crashing sound?" Connor asked making Ronan duck his head slightly "That was me, the knives were in a glass case" He explained pulling out all the knives and sheaths.

Adrian slowly walked through the clothes putting random pieces of his and his friends sized clothes and underclothes into his cart, they'd have to try them on to make sure they fit but this would do for now. Jeans, t-shirts, tank-tops, more belts than really necessary, jackets and coats, just what their group needed.

Alice walks down the isle with her arm out shoving all the cans on the shelves into the cart, not caring what was in the cans, as long as it wasn't ramen again. She also grabbed multiple cases of water and stacked them at the bottom of the cart with different types of pops, never know when they're gonna get an opportunity like this again.

Connor had his cart full of cleansing and sanitary products along with medical supplies for possible wounds in oncoming months. They didn't know how long this shit would last or if they'll run into anyone else, Connor secretly hoped they did, he was terrified to lead the small group and he had regretted taking control the day before but they needed to keep their heads on straight.

30 minutes passed and they all met back up in the front and looked through eachother's carts "You only grabbed pads?" Warren asked searching through Connor's cart "Tampons are on the bottom of the cart," He explained sheepishly, moving the med kit revealing the products "Wasn't sure what you guys used so I grabbed everything"

Connor was going through Ronan's when he found board games, card games, and books, giving the brunet a questioning look to which Ronan shrugged "In case we get bored or something" He explained "Good thinking, we'd be at eachother's throat's if we got too bored" Alice giggled looking around at the others "True" Adrian nodded.

"Now what do we do about a car?" The blue haired boy asked looking out the window "That white truck we were using as cover, I know how to hot wire cars and I grabbed some tools in case we break down or something" Connor pointed out to said truck, the dead still focused on the semi's horn going off.

"We better do it quick, don't want to attract any unwanted attention" Alice stated looking around to the few stragglers that weren't interested in the semi, instead knocking of the window in front of the teens. 

"Here, everyone take a knife, better than what you currently have. Sharper" Ronan handed out the sharp tools as Connor, Warren, and Adrian set their weapons into their carts and grabbed them. "Good find," Adrian complemented looking over his, turning it in his hand "Warren and I got the doors, you guys get the truck. Leave the carts" 

Connor, Alice, and Ronan ran out the doors as soon as it was open, stabbing the dead and made their way to the truck. Connor yanked open the driver side door, not expecting for a creature to fall out onto him. He had his arm pressed against it's throat as its teeth snapped at him "Alice!" He yelled and the redhead turned to him, seeing him in trouble releasing an arrow into the creatures head.

Shoving it aside Connor nodded in thanks before pulling the bottom of the dash out, exposing all the wires "Thanks Dad" He muttered as he started the truck up "Get in" He yelled, waiting for the other two to jump in the bed before driving to the entrance of the Walmart where the others emptied the carts into the bed before jumping in.

Ronan banged on the side "Let's go!" He called and Connor floored it, a small trail of dead following the pick up "Hell yeah!" The four in the back cheered as they turned a corner "That went great" Warren highfived Adrian with a smirk, leaning against the side of the bed.

The only other issue they had was taking everything up the many flights of stairs to their apartment, by the time they finished Alice fell face first onto the couch with a groan "We need to make something to make it easier bringing stuff up" She stated turning her head a bit so her words weren't muffled "Like the pulley thing we learned in science? I think I grabbed some stuff the make it" Warren said from her place against the wall.

"This whole not being able to shower thing is gonna kill me" Ronan remarked sniffing himself with a grimace "It's not the best but it works" Connor said tossing a pack of wipes at him causing everyone else to groan "Hey, I tried, leave me alone" Connor stuck out his tongue childishly "Yeah I guess" Ronan mocked grabbing a new pair of clothes and heading into the bedroom to clean up.

"I think we should do weekly runs so we don't run out of supplies before the military finds us. War, I saw you grabbed walkie talkies which is great but anyone could tap into it can steal our supplies so I have a better Idea. We're gonna use the airhorns on top of buildings to communicate" Connor explained but Adrian furrowed his brows.

"We learned today that the Infected are attracted to sound, why would we make more noise than necessary?" He asked eyeing their leader "Because we can set it off in one spot and run. The Infected will go to that area and are away from the area that you need to get into. Also we can know eachother's location" The other three nodded in understanding.

"We'll use the walkies once we figure out how to hide the signal from other survivors, and I have no doubt that we're not the only ones to survive this shit I also think it would be better if only two or three of us go out at once, less of a chance of getting over run with a smaller group, the others will be on the roof setting off the air horn every thirty minutes for a check in" 

"Does the run shift change or is it the same group that goes out?" Warren questioned "It changes, don't worry. I ain't gonna keep some people here without leaving, it wouldn't be fair" Connor shook his head "I think today went great, what about you guys?" 

Adrian looked at Connor with a smirk "It was awesome, look how much shit we got" He gestured around at all the supplies they grabbed "I also grabbed a couple knife sharpening kits so we can make our weapons actually weapons, not the dull things the museum had" Ronan said walking from the bedroom to his supply hull, tossing a kit to Connor before grabbing his own and sitting down to sharpen his swords.

"If we keep getting supplies like this we're gonna be the rulers of the apocalypse" Alice stated with a smirk "Ah yes, Queen Alice of Atlanta, would you like you arrows sharpened?" Connor teased holding out his hand for her arrows "Why thank you, King Connor" She replied handing them over.

The group spent the next few hours playing the card games Ronan grabbed and prepping their weapons for the next run. When night came they piled onto the bed as they did the night before but this time they all fell into deep sleep, cuddled up against one another, sure they were still worried about the Infected outside but tonight they were safe.

Chapter Text

It happened so fast. Neither Adrian nor Connor had time to process what just happened. They were raiding the Walmart again, it'd been three months since they were last there so it was less overrun but less food, it was still worth a shot though. Ronan was right behind them, Alice and Warren were back on the apartment roof listening for the airhorn signal's.

They had their backs turned on Ronan for less than a minutes before they heard their friend screaming, an Infected attached to his left forearm, right through the jean jacket he'd been wearing that day. Going out he insisted he'd be fine, the Infected couldn't bite through jean. Ronan stabbed it before it could tear the flesh off and make him bleed more. "RO!" Connor shouted running toward their friend as he gripped his arm, attempting to stem the bleeding.

Adrian yanked off his belt to make a tourniquet around Ronan's upper arm before he collapsed into Connor's arms "Wha- I didn't even see it" Ronan whimpered as he was set into the cart they were using and rushed out the door into the trunk and raced to the apartment.

That was nearly three days ago. No one around them were bitten besides the tour guide but her bite was deep and she bled out, Ronan had a fever and delirium, constantly said his body hurt but he never succumbed to the bite. They planed another group run into the city to the CVS pharmacy consisting of Warren and Connor.

Atlanta wasn't quiet, Connor had been right about other survivors, whatever groups were going out they kept running into another survivor, a young Korean guy named Glenn. He was cool, they helped eachother from time to time, using the airhorns as distractions away from where ever Glenn was hiding and vice versa for the group.

As the two went down the street, weapons at the ready, something caught Connor's eye "War, you head over to the pharmacy, Imma go grab that" He pointed at a bag laying in the street, a couple guns poking out from the top "Just hurry" She hissed quietly. Connor walked away as Warren walked around to the back of the pharmacy to find one of the windows busted.

"Shit!" She whispered looking at the blood smeared on the walls and glass before carefully climbing in. Her axe was hooked onto her back by a couple belts around her torso, in her hands she held one of her hunting knives and a flashlight, shining it around the store, seeing no immediate threat.

She jumped over the counter and began filling her duffle bag full of random medicines when a soft groan caught her attention. Behind one of the shelves laid a man with a missing hand, the stub was burnt and bloody, the skin around it was an irritated red "Hello?" She called to him but he simply groaned again.

She went and kneeled beside the man rolling him over onto his back. He wore a ripped black sleeveless shirt, leather vest, black jeans, and silver dogtags. Grabbing them she saw his name, Merle Dixon. "Alright Mr. Dixon, I'm gonna need you to wake up so we can get somewhere safe" She said aloud shaking the man gently, a rough hand quickly grabbing her wrist.

In the blink of an eye she was laying on her back with Dixon on top of her "Ya shouldn' try to wake up random men girlie" He sneered, the stench of his breath made Warren want to puke "And you should always pay attention to your opponent" She shot back pressing the tip of her knife into the side Merle's neck causing his eyes to widen.

"Just jokin' sweetheart" Merle laughed as he got off her raising his only hand, his stump pulled up against his chest "Well I ain't. Not safe for a sixteen year old to be pinned down by a grown ass man," Warren scoffed keeping her knife pointed at him "All I was trying to do was help you but you had to be a creep"

Merle grimaced when she said her age, backing up a bit "Didn' mean it ta be that way. Was just tryin ta warn ya tha' not all guys would leave ya alone" He said looking away from the girl "Yeah right, good luck trying to get somewhere safe" She growled standing and grabbing the duffle full of meds.

As she was about to head back out the window she heard a thump and a groan from Merle, he'd moved a couple paces before he fell again. She weighed her options, help the army man and gain a new ally or leave him behind and feel like shit for leaving behind a wounded survivor. "Fuck it" She muttered turning back around and hauled him up by his good arm, wrapping around her shoulder and began walking to the front doors.

"Here's how this works, my group has four other people, one of us are injured. With you being some form of army guy you could help him. If you do, we'll help take care of that missing hand, Ronan is a fucking genius, he'll make you something to replace it once he's better. The name's Warren" Warren explained quietly as they entered the streets.

"Why would ya help a stranger?" Merle questioned eyeing the girl who shrugged "It's what Ronan would do, 'survival in numbers' as he'd say" She stated stabbing an Infected and looked around the street for others but all she saw was a CVS cart, getting an idea. "You're getting heavy Mr. Dixon. I got an idea on how to get you to the apartment quicker" She pulled him over to the cart a gestured for him to climb in.

"What? Ya expect Ol' Merle to get in that?" He scoffed shaking his head "As I said, it'd be a quicker way than me lugging your fat ass across Atlanta," She snarked shoving Merle into the cart, his legs dangling over the end as his back rested against the part with the handle "Legs go" 

"I ain't fat missy, s'all muscle" Merle grouched as he was pushed forward. If he was honest, he was glad she'd made him sit into the cart, his head was pounding from withdrawals and bloodloss, his skin felt like it was melting off his bones and the stump where he'd removed his hand felt like he'd dipped it into salt water, the burned area was crusted over with dried blood and spots of pus.

"How'd you lose you hand?" Warren asked looking at his stump "Some asshole pig handcuffed me ta the roof a couple buildin's away from where ya found me. Used a hacksaw to try cutting the metal but it was to dull so I had ta cut off the hand" Merle explained, ranting about Officer Friendly as another wave of delirium hit him.

"Jeez, that takes guts man. It must've taken forever to do that" Warren grimaced just thinking about it "Only about fifteen minutes, almost passed out but I got it done. You never explained what happened to your friend" Merle said looking back to the girl "He was bitten. He needs stitches over the wound and antibiotics. Sadly none of use know how to stick anyone up" 

Merle groaned and tried to get out of the cart "He don't need none of that, he'd a bullet to the head. He's a time bomb waiting to turn" He stated as nausea washed through his body "You've seen people turn? How long does it take?" She asked pushing his shoulder down to make him sit again.

This part of the city seemed to be empty, void of any Infected "The record time I've seen was 22 hours" The man stated shifting away from her surprisingly strong grip "Well then Ro holds the new record, he was bit three days ago. Slips in and out of consciousness, high fever, can't keep anything down. We're worried about him" 

"Damn, three days?" Warren nodded, stabbing a lone Infected that stumbled up to the pair "Yep. His fever seemed to be getting better last night but this morning--" She was explaining when a sound rang through the city, the airhorn coming from the apartment "The hell?" Merle questioned looking around the street as another sounded to their right, more than likely Connor, "Hold that thought" She said and pushed the cart up against a wall.

"Kill anything that comes to close" She stated handing Merle a knife before climbing a ladder to the top of the nearest building, sounding off her airhorn. A series of short honks came from the apartment signaling them the time. Merle looked toward the ladder to see Warren sliding down the ladder with ease "We need to hurry, we got an hour left of light" 

The sun was just barely hanging over the skyline when they arrived home. Warren hauled Merle out of the cart and pulled him into the lobby right before a small group of Infected slammed into the glass doors "Gross" Warren muttered before heading up the stairs, Merle slowly following behind. "Ayo! Brought a guest to help with Ronan" She called as she entered the apartment finding Alice sitting on the couch "Where's Adrian?" She asked looking around.

"Should be on his way back. He's a couple buildings over for the signal's" The redhead explained  taking the duffle bag as Merle walked in "Holy shit" Was the first thing Alice said taking in his appearance "You sure he's safe?" She whispered to Warren and Warren shrugged "He's not all there at the moment. I think he was on something before I found him" 

"Connor back yet?" A voice called from the balcony, Adrian entering the sliding doors "No, I figured he'd be back by now. We split up so he could grab something that caught his eye. While we wait for he we take care of Merle here so he can help Ro"

Earlier That Day

"Just hurry" Warren stated as she walked off to the pharmacy "Yes ma'am" Connor muttered as he rushed off to grab the bag. As he reached he saw a figure leap over a wall of sandbags and run towards him, stopping a few yards away. "Glenn?" Connor questioned looking the Korean man over "Hey Connor, uh, that bag belongs to a friend, mind if I get it back?" Glenn asked eyeing the bag like Connor would just run off with it "You think we could split some meds if it's in here? My group could use it right now" Connor bargained.

"Let's not talk about that right now, we need to get off the street" Glenn said waving him over to begin running back to where he came from, Connor following without hesitation, trusting the young man. "There's the bag! Get it!" A voice called from behind the brunet causing him to run faster "Glenn!" He shouted tossing him the bag as they reach an ally where another man waited, turning to fight one of the men chasing him and his acquaintance.

He pulled out his gun and aimed it at one of the men "Back he hell off right now or I won't hesitate to blow you skulls open!" He tried to sound threatening but the confidence was quickly taken away as a man with a bat swung and knocked the gun from his hand, breaking a couple fingers at the same time "Son of a Bitch!" Connor yelled clutching his hand.

"Give us the bag!" The man shouted and went after Glenn, trying to yank the bag from his hands. Connor rushed forward and drove his shoulder into the mans side, taking the bag from Glenn and tossing it to the man behind the dumpster, as said mad shot an arrow into one of the men's asses. Arms wrapped around Connor's torso and he was dragged back, remembering what his Dad taught him he relaxed his entire body turning into dead weight.

The man struggled for a moment before dropping the teen and went after Glenn, the man with the bat made sure he stayed on the ground by hitting him over and over again. "Glenn!" He heard the other the crossbow man yell before the beating stopped. Connor's vision was blurry as he turned over onto his back, watching as Glenn was put into a car that took off.

There was some yelling going on behind him but he couldn't focus on anything, the pain all over his body overrode all his other senses. A hand grabbed his bicep and on instinct he grabbed hi knife and attempted to lash out on the person grabbing him. He missed by a longshot and was hauled up off the ground before being dragged off by the man holding him.

They arrived to some office building, Connor and some other boy were dropped into office chairs. Connor looked up to see who these guys were, seeing a man in a sheriffs uniform and hat, black hair and piercing blue eyes, a large black dude who really looked like he didn't know what was going on, and a man with dirty blonde hair, observing both teens with squinted blue eyes.

"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went" The sheriff stated with his hands on his hips "I ain't telling you nothing!" The other boy scoffed crossing his arms, sheriff turns to Connor, as if expecting an answer "What, you think I'm with this guy? I was helping Glenn. If I was one of them why would they beat me?" Connor rolled his eyes. "How do ya know Glenn?" the crossbow guy asked "My group an I've run into him multiple times during the past few months, he helps us, we help him kinda thing" Connor explained.

"Jesus what the hell happened man?" The black dude asked rubbing his bald head "Told ya, this little douchebag and his douchebag friends jumped me. And apparently him too" The blond said pointing to Connor. "You're the one who jumped me, puta, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault" The other teen seethed staring the blonde down.

"The took Glenn, they could'a took Merle too" The blonde paced the small office "Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't even name my dog Merle" Connor rolled his eyes "Seriously? That was a really weak comeback, going after someone's name" A boot entered his peripheral but it never hit it's target. Sheriff shoved the man back "Damn it, Daryl. Back off" He orders and the man scoffed, walking over to Glenn's bag, pulling out a piece of cloth.

"Want ta see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" He opened the cloth and tossed something into the other boys lap causing him to leap out of the chair and allowed Connor to see what it was, making him sick, seeing a dismembered hand resting on the floor. "Start with the feet this time" Daryl threatened pointing his hunting knife at the kid "Shit man. How the hell are you in the same group as Glenn?" Connor gagged turning away.

He was ignored as Sheriff crouched in front of the boy "The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out" He reassured and the boy hesitated before nodding. Three men began to get ready when Connor stood "I want in" He stated and the black dude looked to sheriff "Who are you?" Daryl asked and Connor shrugged.

"Connor Anderson. Glenn's saved my ass more times than I can count, of course I've saved him just as many times but I'm not gonna let him be held hostage without at least trying to help him" He explained and the men eyed him for a moment "Rick Grimes, this is T-Dog and Daryl. You any good with a gun?" Rick asked tilting his head and Daryl snorted "Kid broke his hand holding the last one" 

"The asshole with the bat hit it out of my hand. Doesn't matter which hand, I'm Ambidextrous, meaning both my hands are dominant" Connor crossed his arms, his broken fingers resting on his bicep "All I need is some gauze to make a splint  and my gun returned to help get him back" Rick's eyes squinted for a moment before he nodded "Fine, you keep your gun on the kid, if I see you pointing it at anyone else I won't hesitate" 

Connor nodded as T-Dog gave him a first aid kit, pulling out the gauze before grabbing two pens off the desk and used then to make a splint, quickly checking his ammo count, having six rounds to fill it "Let's get Glenn back"

Chapter Text

"I really don't like the idea of bringing the kid along. How do we know we can trust 'im?" Connor heard Daryl mutter to Rick "He knows Glenn and he trusted Connor" Rick reassured him. Connor rolled his eyes and nudged the boy, Miguel, forward "What's up with these guys?" The boy asked eyeing Connor who shrugged "Hard to trust people nowadays, I mean your buddy broke two of my fingers"

"Quit talkin' to him and keep movin'" Daryl scoffed shoving Connor forward "If you got an issue with me you can shove it up your ass" Connor snarked back walking a bit faster. He hated being told what to do. "We almost there?" Connor question Miguel who nodded, pointing ahead "The building there" Daryl grabbed both their shoulders and pulled them back. 

"You sure your ready for this?" Rick asked and T-Dog nodded, rushing to the building beside the group. Connor placed his gun against the back of Miguel's head "I ain't gonna actually shoot you, it's more of an intimidation tactic against your group" He reassured the shaking teen.

"Why the fuck would you tell 'im that?" Daryl glared at Connor, who matched the glare with his own "I ain't gonna traumatize someone younger than me. Had he been older I wouldn't have said anything" Connor explained pushing the younger forward into the lot "For me, you try anything I'll shoot an arrow into yer ass" Daryl threatened and Miguel didn't miss a beat "G will take the arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours"

"G? Who's G?" Rick questioned "Guillermo, he's the man in charge here" Miguel explained before Daryl shoved him forward again "Let's go see Guillermo" Rick stated. Connor huffed a breath and began walking toward the building. Daryl, Connor, and Rick stood in that order standing behind Miguel, the doors creaked open loudly and a Hispanic man stepped out, eyeing the group.

"You alright little man?" G questioned "Their gonna cut my feet off carnal" Miguel said glancing behind him to look at Daryl "Cops and teenagers do that?" G Asked looking at Rick and Connor "Not them, this redneck puta here. He cut off some dudes hand, man. He showed it to me" Daryl stepped closer to the two teens "Shup up" He said as another man walked out from the building.

"Hey! That's that Vato right there, homes. He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?" He man pulled a gun an pointed it at Daryl who in turn train the crossbow on him, Connor moving to aim at the man as well "You broke two of my finger dumbass, don't ya think that's pretty even?" He stated as G put his arm up, blocking his man. "Chill ese, chill" He looked to Rick "This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick man" 

"We were hoping more for a calm discussion" Rick stated, tilting his head slightly "That hillbilly jumps Filipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Filipe gets an arrow in the ass, and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me" G says, eyeing Rick the whole time. "Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides" Connor said carefully "Who are these dudes to you anyway? He doesn't look like your brother. The boy don't look like your son."

"He's one of our group," Rick nodding to Daryl "And he's here to help Glenn. I'm sure you have a few like them." Daryl decided now was the time to speak up "You got my brother in there?" He asked stepping forward a bit "Sorry, fresh out of white boys. But we have an Asian, you interested?" G asked "We have one of yours, you have one of ours. Sounds like an even trade" Connor shrugged. "Don't sound even to me" Guillermo stated and Miguel pleaded "G, come on man" G shrugged "My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?" 

"Guns?" Both Rick and Connor asked "The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Filipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns" Rick scoffed "You're mistaken-" Connor interrupted the ex-cop "If that were the case the guns would be mine, I grabbed them first" He shrugged and was shoved in the side by Daryl "Hey, I'm just working with his logic" G looked to the teen. "Just give us Glenn and we give you Miguel. Easy trade. Or I could do this" Connor cocked his pistol and pressed the barrel to the back of the other teen's head, looking up to T-Dog's position.

G held up a hand stopping him for a moment before calling something out in Spanish and a tied up person with a bag over their head was pushed toward the edge of the roof. Connor felt his blood boil when the bag was yanked off, revealing Glenn "I'll have him dropped without hesitation, come back in an hour with my guns and well give him back" Guillermo walked backwards into his building.

As they got back to T-Dog's building Daryl wacked Connor in the head "What the hell was that? You trying to get the Chinaman killed?" He yelled "He's Korean asshole. Of course your racist redneck ass wouldn't care. What I did was ensure he knew we are serious about this. Intimidation tactics. The only reason he showed us Glenn was alive was because I threatened Miguel" Connor explained as they walked back to the office building. Miguel was shoved back into the chair as they entered the room "Stay" Connor stated.

"How do you know about intimidation stuff?" T-dog asked "My Dad is... was, a ex-cop when we lived in Michigan. We moved down here after my little brother Cole died. He taught me a lot, mainly for when I got into fights in school. 'Pretend to be the bigger fighter with your words, if that don't work, kick their ass'" Connor quoted his Dad with a smile on his face as Daryl and Rick talked about the gun issue. "Just do as Guillermo asks, man. He will kill you guys" Miguel said as Rick handed Connor an AK "Can I keep this when we get Glenn back?" He asked before a sound could be heard from outside the building. 

"The hell is that?" Daryl asked looking at the others "Oh shit. Hold on a moment" He set the gun down and made his way up to the roof of the building and set off his air horn, signaling Adrian his location and he heard Warren's come from a few blocks over, more toward the apartment. Adrian honked seven times indicating the time "Shit!" He hissed as he rushed back the four downstairs "We need to hurry this up, we got an hour till sundown" Rick brows furrowed "What's that mean?" He asked. "My group is expecting me and the other person I went out with. It was my rule to always be back before sundown" 

"How many others in you group?" T-Dog asked as Connor began tying Miguel's hands behind his back "Four. Me, Adrian, Ronan, Warren, and Alice. Only reason I'm actually helping you other than Glenn is because I was hoping you guys had some kind of medicine. Ronan is sick and has a very high fever" He tied a blindfold around Miguel's head and stuffed a piece of cloth in his mouth. "How sick?" Rick asked as they exited the building again "He got bit. Need-" Daryl interrupted the teen "What he's gonna need is a bullet to the head" He scoffed, making the motion with his hand.

Connor laughed shaking his head which confused the adults "I thought that too. I sat at his side waiting for the fever to fry his brain but that fucker refused to die. It's been three days since he was bitten and he's still fighting" All heads turned to him, even Miguel's with intrigue. "How is that possible, they all die within a day at least" T-Dag stated and Connor shrugged "He's always been extremely stubborn" 

They arrived back in front of the Vatos building and the doors creaked open , letting the five in "I see my guns, but they aren't in the bag. I thought we had a deal" Guillermo stated eyeing them, mainly Connor who had his hand buried into Miguel's hair and his dagger pressed against his neck. "Where's Glenn?" Connor called pressing the knife just a bit harder, not to break skin but leave a small scratch "We're gonna cut him up and feed him to our dogs. Meanest sons of bitches ever seen, got them from Satan at a yard sale" G stated with a smirk "There was no deal. We brought the guns and the kid, now hand over Glenn or we'll see who can shed more blood" Rick stated cocking the shotgun he held and aimed it at Guillermo.

Everyone prepared to fight but a door opened behind the Vatos and a little old lady came out into the room they were in, calling out for Filipe "Get the old lady out of the way!" Daryl called as the old lady began to tell Filipe about some other person having trouble breathing before noticing the extra people "You can't take him" She told Rick who looked confused "Ma'am?" He questioned "I know Filipe has problems but he's a good boy. We need him here" she told him. 

Connor moved his knife away from Miguel's throat and untied him, shoving him toward G "We aren't here to arrest Filipe. We're looking for our friend, he's missing" Connor explained to the woman "Oh, you mean the Asian boy. Follow, come" She grabbed Connor's hand and led him through all the Vatos into another part of the building.

"It's a nursing home" Connor said looking around at all the old people, some with walkers and canes, others in wheelchairs. They entered a gym and there people crowding around an older gentlemen, one of the people being Glenn. "Hey! The hell's going on here, man?" Daryl asked and Glenn turned around "He had an asthma attack" He said like it answered everything "We thought you were being fed to dogs dude" Connor scoffed and punched the Korean in the shoulder. "You mean those?" He asked pointing as three little chihuahuas ran up to them.

Without thinking Connor quickly jumped up onto the nearest table as the things began barking, looking up at him "Shoo, go away!" He yelled waving his hand at them "Shoo! Someone grab these damn rats" He looked up at Rick's group to see T-Dog doubled over in laughter, Rick chuckling, and Daryl attempting to hide his laughter by pretending to cough but failed miserably. "Oh ha ha ha. Get it away from me!" Miguel came over, laughing as well as he picked up the dogs, taking them over to the little dog beds near the old man.

Connor jumped down "Well now that Glenn is safe I gotta get back to my group. I was nice to meet other survivors other than Glenn" He held out his hand and shook hands with Rick and T-Dog but Daryl just stared at him, eyeing his hand cautiously "Yeah" He just said looking away. Connor shrugged "Hopefully see ya later Glenn" He patted the Korean on the back and went to walked away but was stopped by Rick, "Here," He handed Connor the AK "Keep it. If you ever need to get out of the city there's a camp set up next to a quarry" Rick told him and placed his hand on the teens shoulder for a small moment "I'll think about it" He nodded and left the group.

He got back to the apartment thirty minutes after the sun had set, clearing the Infected that were in front of the doors. Rushing up the stairs he threw open the door "I'm still alive" He called out as Warren, Alice and Adrian rushed to him, Alice yanking him into a hug "Where the hell did you go?" Warren asked whacking him upside the head. He moved over toward the couch but froze, seeing a man who looked to be in his mid forties past out on the couch. "Who the hell is that?" He asked looking to his friends.

Warren grabbed his arm and the four went to the bedroom where Ronan laid in the bed "He's an army guy so he knows first aid shit. He sewed up Ro's arm and gave him a cocktail of medications that's helping him" Warren explained turning on the lamp beside the bed, lighting up Ronan's face making him wince at the light. "The medicine broke his fever" Adrian said and Connor placed the back of his hand against Ronan's forehead. His eyes opened groggily and squinted up at Connor "'Ey Con. Do I look as bad as I feel?" Ronan croaked making his friends laugh and smile "At least he's good enough to be making jokes" Alice said, a tear sliding town her face as Warren handed him a water bottle.

"What's the guy's name?" Connor asked "Merle Dixon" Adrian responded and Connor's heart stuttered for a second "Merle?" He questioned, a smirk forming on his face before he went into the story of his day, meeting up with Glenn and nearly fighting the Vatos. "Wait so you met this guys brother?" Ronan asked and Connor nodded "It's crazy. We need to get this guy to Daryl's group. Dude is freaking out on everyone about him" 

"I don't think he's gonna be up for it for a couple days. He was on something when I found him and his arm is still in bad shape" Warren shook her head "What's wrong with his arm?" Connor wondered "He was handcuffed to a roof and cut his hand off to escape a bunch of Infected" Connor gagged, now knowing the reason for Daryl having the hand in his bag "Well I wonder how he'll feel about Daryl using the hand to scare the shit out of Miguel" A loud laugh came from the doorway and the teens looked to see Merle howling with laughter.

"You sayin' ma baby brotha used ma hand ta scare some guy?" he asked, his accent was like Daryl's, only a lot thicker "Kinda, Miguel is the same age as Ronan, 15" That made Merle laugh harder "Wha'd his face look like? Tha's some funny shit" Connor thought about it before snickering. "Looked like he was either gonna faint or throw up. Made him comply with Rick" The laughter stopped "Officer Friendly? Ta was he doin' with Daryl?" He asked and Connor shrugged "They were looking for you. Daryl was pissed about it and apparently Rick and the others felt bad for leaving ya behind" Merle scoffed. "Yeah right. Tha Ni-" Warren was quick to jump in.

"You better not say that word or I'll throw you out" She stood from her spot beside Ronan "I'd listen ta her, she's scary when she's angry" Ronan stated, giving the older man a pointed look "Right" He said and rolled his eyes "Tha fucker started it." Adrian scoffed and looked at Merle's stump "Time to change that bandage. We should also clean it up" The group moved back to the living room. Alice turned on a couple lanterns to see better. Ronan hauled himself up off the bed and made his way to the kitchen, grabbing a can of ravioli and ate it straight from the can on the opposite end of the couch to Adrian and Merle.

"Heads up" Adrian said before he pulled off the bandages, revealing the grotesque sight of Merle's stump "I think we're gonna have to remove a chunk of this. It's all rotten and dead" Warren pointed to a spot on the stump that had turned black "Shit" Merle cursed. "Can ya just do it quick?" Ronan asked looking over to them "I mean with the amount that's dead you'd  be able to make a skin flap to sow up the stump" Merle's brows furrowed "How do ya know tha?" he asked "Ro here is our resident genius" Adrian quipped. "Not a genius, smart when it's necessary" Ronan retorted.

"Yeah we can do that. You up for it?" Connor asked and Merle scoffed "I can do it m'self" With that he grabbed Alice's hunting knife and began to cut off the dead chunk, only to pass out halfway through it "Shit!" Ronan called as he caught Merle's slumped figure, straining his arm slightly. "One of ya are gonna have ta finish and sew him up" He said as he laid the large man down onto the couch. "I got it" Alice stated as she grabbed the knife still stuck in Merle's arm and finished cutting off the dead chunk of skin and grabbed a needle from the sewing kit and tread "It ain't the right stuff but it's gonna have to work. Warren, grab me the bottle of rubbing alcohol"

She sewed his stump up quickly, it wasn't pretty and uneven but the bleeding stopped. She doused it in rubbing alcohol again before applying some Neosporin and wrapped it with gauze. "It'll do" She said with a smile, proud of herself for helping someone. "Let's get some sleep, it's been a long day" Connor stated as Adrian put a blanket on Merle, the teens headed back to the room and piled into the bed like usual, only this time Ronan was on the top of the pile. Connor wrapped one arm around Adrian and the other around Ronan as the younger pressed his face against his chest. "It's good to have you back Ro" He said before placing a kiss against his head, a smile on his face as he drifted off to sleep.

Chapter Text

Ronan woke up first the next morning. He laid there confused as to why the hell he was awake when a loud bang came from the kitchen. He sat up quickly and slid out of the bed carefully, grabbing his knife from the dresser beside the door where the others had set theirs for the night. He silently walked down the hall and peeked around the corner... Only to find Merle raiding their pantry. "The fuck Merle?" He asked rubbing his eye tiredly and the man turn to him "Looking fer somethin' ta eat" He shrugged and Ronan rolled his eyes. He entered the kitchen to look for his food, but it was nowhere to be seen, at least not in the cabinet.

"Where the hell-" Silver wrappers caught his eye, only they weren't where they were supposed to be. He picked up the box of poptarts but there was no weight to it. He tipped it over and all the wrappers fell out, none were left. "You ate all my poptarts?" He asked Merle, his body beginning to feel staticky and his hands began to shake "Yep. They were good too" Merle stated, smirking at Ronan. Tears filled his eyes as his breathing picked up.

Not wanting to have a meltdown in front of the new person he rushed to the bedroom where Connor and Adrian were waking up. He paced at the foot of the bed, flapping his hands angrily "Hey, what going on?" Adrian asked as he sat up "That asshole ate all my poptarts. They're all gone. All gone" He repeated as he began scratching the back of his hand harshly. 

Connor went to grab the scratching hand but stopped as Ronan shook his head, flinching away "Okay. Here" He handed him the blanket they found the day he got bit. Ronan snatched it as he clicked his tongue, running his hands over the soft texture, attempting to calm himself down as Alice and Warren woke up as well. "You guys try to calm him down while Adrian and I talk to our guest" Connor stated and the two girls nodded.

Adrian had already left the room and stood in front of Merle. "You ate all Ronan's poptarts?" He asked, starting out nice. The man looked up at the blue haired teen "Yeah. I already 'im I ate 'em" He shrugged and Connor rolled his eyes "You can't just take our food without asking. That ain't how this shit works" Merle grunted at the statement "It's just food. Wha's the big deal?" he asked standing from the couch, towering over Adrian, to his surprise the young man stepped stepped closer to him. "'m glad ya ask tha'. The 'big deal', it tha' those were Ro's. Now, yer gonna go apologize to 'im and on our next run yer gonna get 'im three more boxes" He stated and Merle laughed "I ain't gonna apologize ta the little shit about somethin' so stupid" Merle rolled his eyes.

"That's pretty much the only thing Ronan eats, Merle. Poptarts and ravioli, which you ate most of apparently," Connor paused looking around the livingroom, realizing Merle had eaten most of the food supplies the five teens had gathered over the months and groaned, "How the fuck did you eat all this?" He asked eyeing the bulky man. Merle wasn't fat by any means, sure he had a slight beer gut but otherwise he was muscle "Withdrawals are a bitch" He muttered in realization and Adrian turned to him confused "Warren said he was on something when she found him, he's going through withdrawals. One of the symptoms is overeating because of the drug cravings. It ain't excusing you or nothin' but it explains it"

Merle grunted as he plopped back down onto the couch "The hell were ya on?" Adrian asked and the man smirked "A little bit of coke, some pot, opioids. Little bit of everythin'" He stated tilting his head back. "How much you wanna bet there's some Blue Sky in him as well" Connor asked his friend "I thought yer Dad busted the guy makin' tha' stuff" Adrian asked "Yer Dad busted Heisenberg?" Merle asked as the duo began cleaning Merle's mess "Explains the cocky attitude, yer a pigs son".

Connor ignored that last comment "Almost. The dudes a drug lord so he managed to get out of everything" Connor explained as Warren exited the room "What the hell happened to Ronan?" She asked turning to Merle "What did you do?" She accused and Merle groaned, Connor quickly explaining everything, including the reason behind it "I think that if he's going through withdrawals we should put him in the bedroom to detox for a while since Ro's feeling better. There's a possibility of Merle getting dangerous with the cocktail of drugs he was on"

"Yer gonna lock me up in that room?" Merle asked squinting at the brunet who nodded "We don't know you very well. You hit on Warren, ate most of our food, and sent Ronan into a meltdown" Connor explained and Merle's brows furrowed "The hells tha'?" He asked tilting his head "Ronan is autistic. Something goes wrong, too much sounds and light, and taking his hyperfixation food can cause either a shutdown or meltdown. This time it was a mild meltdown" Warren explained as she searched for something to make breakfast.

"Oh" Merle muttered, lost in thought "What else happens when he has a meltdown thing?" He asked "Depends on the situation. This time it was hand flapping, scratching, pacing, tongue clicking. Other times he gets extremely angry, yells, screams, hits others, hits himself. We've been helping with this stuff since we were in middle school" Adrian said picking up three cups of ramen, muttering a 'geez dude' as he stuffed them into his garbage bag. 

Merle was silent and Connor looked over to him, seeing the mans head was tilted back, staring at the ceiling blankly. It felt off, he was just talking and asking questions now he was quiet. A sharp breath seemed to be kicked out of the mans chest before his body began jerking oddly. Merle fell off the couch, missing the coffee table, and the three teens rushed over to him. "Get him on his side!" Connor ordered and they rolled him over "Why?" Warren asked "If he happens to throw up he won't choke on it" He stated as he grabbed a couch pillow and placed it under Merle's head.

Ronan and Alice heard the thud of Merle hitting the ground and rushed to see what was happening "Is he ok?" Alice asked and Connor sighed, running a hand through his hair as he watched the clock on the wall, counting the seconds. After 1 minute and 30 seconds Merle stopped jerking and just laid there "Yeah. Another withdrawal thing, seizures" He said and patted Merle's cheek. "Hey. You gotta wake up, dude" He said and Merle's eyes snapped open as he gasped for air "There you go. Easy. You remember your name?" Merle nodded and answered "You know what just happened?" Connor asked and the man shook his head.

"Ya just had a seizure. Ya ever got those before?" Adrian asked and Merle shook his head again. Adrian and Connor grabbed his arms and lifted him back onto the couch "'ow'd ya know wha' ta do?" Merle slurred as Connor asked Warren to grab a washcloth and a water bottle "As I've said, my Dad was a cop. I used to hang out in the drunk tank to just chat with the people there. It wasn't often but people have had seizures in there" He informed Merle as he wiped the saliva and grossness off his face, the man too weak to do it himself. Of course Merle didn't make it easy and kept moving his head.

"Hold still" Connor grouched as Merle weakly brought up a hand to swat him away. As Connor worked on cleaning Merle up Warren started changing the bandages on his stump "Will ya'll quit it! I don' need ta be treated like a damn baby!" Merle scoffed and Ronan shook his head "Your body is weak right now. You helped me, now we're gonna help you" He smiled at the man "When you and Ronan get better we're gonna go join your group at the quarry. The ones I met seem nice enough" Merle grunted at the comment "You don't think so?" He asked and Merle shook his head.

"There's about 25 people in the camp. Daryl and I only joined because we planned on robbing the group. But as we settled in for the act my baby brotha wanted ta stay because one of them ladies and her daughter is bein' hit by her husband," Merle was explaining and the teens felt anger toward the man and pity toward the woman he mentioned "Everyone knows that a man who beats a woman or child is a goddamn coward" Ronan growled, rewrapping the bandages around his own arm, not looking at anyone. Merle sighed softly, understanding the boys words.

"We've been staying at tha' shitty camp for two months" Merle finished and Alice shrugged "We still need to reunite you and your brother. He seems to really miss you" Merle scoffed, waving his good hand at her "Daryl's jus' fine without Ol' Merle, he's a big boy, can take care of hisself" He stated. "We should still leave the day after tomorrow if the detox works. We've been meaning to leave the city for a while now but never had any place to go" Adrian said "'Survival in numbers' righ'?" Merle asked looking to Ronan "Yep," The boy placed a hand on Merle's shoulder "Now we got a badass marine with us"

Merle's brows furrowed "How'd ya know I was Marine?" He questioned and Ronan rolled his eyes, looking toward the others "Does he look like navy or airforce?" He asked and the other teens laughed "Marines want muscles with guns" Adrian stated and Merle began laughing as well, nodding slightly. "If Ol' Merle is the badass marine what are all of y'all?" He asked looking around the group of kids.

"I was the oldest so I nominated myself leader but we each have a job to keep things moving smoothly. Warren is our planner, tells us what places to hit, the supplies we need, stuff like that. Adrian is our weapons person and a main runner, he knows the city better than any of us because his uncle used to live here. Alice is our doctor in training, we raided a library and she picked up a bunch of medical books, she sewed up your stump last night. And Ronan is, as stated earlier, our resident genius. He's practically MacGyver. On our first run he figured a way to clear the parking lot and store by taping down the airhorn on a semi to make it go off"

Connor finished explaining and Merle looked impressed "Y'all seem ta have it all figured out huh? Why do ya need me?" He asked tilting his head slightly "To be honest, I don't want the role of leader if someone better can take it. If you want It'll be just till we find Rick's group" Connor explained, leaning toward Merle slightly. The older man grunted, turning his head away from Connor's gaze "Fine. But we're not leavin' 'til I'm better, can't be havin' seizures out in the open"

Connor sighed in relief before Merle spoke again "But yer gonna be my left hand," He said holding up his stump "And yer all gonna do as I say when we leave. I'm gonna go lay down" Merle stood and left to the bedroom as the teens filled his spot on the couch, Ronan moving closer to the others. "What now?" Ronan asked looking his friends over "Why did you take leader if you didn't want it?" Alice asked tilting her head Connor who rolled his eyes "As I've said, I'm the oldest. I felt it to be my job to protect you guys," He explained "I'd be lost if something were to happen. I felt like I failed when Ronan got bit"

A questioned popped into Ronan's head "How the hell am I still alive?" He asked and the others turned to him "Wasn't I supposed to die within the first 24 hours?" Alice shrugged "None of us have the answer to that. You're really just too stubborn" She smiled, looping an arm around his shoulders "How's the arm?" Warren asked "It's kinda sore but nothing else. The black veins around it stopped spreading" He shrugged, pulling off the bandage to reveal the mark.

It was slightly red and the teeth marks were deep and the Infected had managed to tear some skin but off not fully. There were black veins running out of the bite up to his elbow and down to his wrist "Gnarly huh?" He asked running his fingers over the marks and scar. Adrian scoffed "Nothing can kill ya can it?" He questioned gently shoving Ronan's shoulder and the brunet looked offended "Stop with the foreshadowing, I don't wanna die too early just cause you said that" He placed a hand over his chest "You're rude man"

Chapter Text

The next two days passed with the teens packing everything in the apartment to be ready to leave. Ronan and Merle were doing better, the drugs were washed out of Merle's system during his detoxing, though he had another seizure and was constantly angry and hungry. He was a serious asshole, he kept calling Warren the N word but she cut that off quick, threatening to hogtie him and toss him out to the Infected.

He didn't believe she could take him down until the four other teens tackled him and Warren tied him up, shoving a rag into his mouth before putting him back in the bedroom. He learned quick not to mess with the kids and stopped calling her names. The next morning Adrian checked on him to see he was doing a lot better, his head was clearer and he was untied, apologizing to the terrifying teens.

Ronan had rigged the rope and pulley system they talked about a week before the bite so only three people had to be downstairs to load the truck, one to load, one to guard the other from Infected, and one brings stuff to the first. Connor was loading while Warren guarded and Alice brought the stuff to Connor. Upstairs Merle was handing stuff to Adrian, Adrian was packing, and Ronan lowered the boxes to the bottom floor. It was a good system they had going and within two hours they were done and ready to leave. Adrian grabbed on last thing before locking the door, a picture of him and Simon.

Connor sat in the driver seat, much to Merle's dismay, who sat in passenger. The four others fit themselves into the bed of the truck, Ronan stood in front of the back window with a sniper rifle placed on top of the cab. Merle gave Connor directions to the Quarry and Ronan sniped the Infected that were in the way. "What you on now?" Alice yelled over the wind, patting Ronan's leg "256!" He yelled back as he hit another. "Guys!" Adrian shouted, pointing to black smoke in the sky "Probably one of the power plants!" Warren responded pushing her hair out of her face.

Ronan held a grudge against the Infected since he was bitten and told the others that when he was better he'd kill any that they came across and he kept score. The brunet was thrown to the side when Connor took a sharp turn onto a hidden dirt road and stopped as they reached a clearing. Merle jumped out and looking around. The place was an absolute mess.

"The hell happened here?" Adrian questioned lifting up a piece of what used to be a tent "Something don' feel righ'" Merle stated, poking a stick through a pile of still smoking ashes. "Hey guys," Ronan stated from the other side of the pile "There's people in here" Warren rushed over to see what he was talking about. The part of the pile had been pushed away, revealing a hand to be sticking out from under the ashes "The fuck?" She muttered.

"I'm thinkin' a group of Infected came through. Looks like the humans won and left recently" Connor said looking around the area "How can ya tell?" Merle scoffed, eyeing the eldest teen. "While you guys were checking that stuff out Alice and I walked around the area. There's fresh Infected tracks everywhere, though they're a couple days old, those ashes are still smoking, and there's tire tracks leaving the quarry. They went the opposite way we came" Connor explained and Merle looked a mixture of shocked and confused.

"What's that?" Ronan questioned drawing everyone's attention to him, seeing him staring up into a tree. "Looks like an arrow" Adrian said and began climbing the tree it was in, yanking it from the trunk about fifteen feet up "Hey! There's a note attached!" He called as he came back down. "That's Darlena's" Merle stated taking it from the boy "'Headed to the CDC, looking for info on the virus. Rick's idea'" He read out "Where's the CDC?" Warren asked looking to the adult.

Merle pulled out his map and looked between it and the note "Fuck!" He yelled, slamming his fist onto the hood, the stump holding the map down "It's back in the city" the four who rode in the bed of the truck looked to one another "I don't think it is anymore" Alice told him "The hell do ya mean?" He asked. "When we were leaving the city there was a shit-ton of black smoke in the sky" Ronan answered before Merle rushed to the drivers side of the truck and started it up. They rushed to get in, this time all the teens got into the bed "We should get a bus or something!" Alice called to Connor "We'll talk about that later. Right now we need to find the others" Connor shook his head.

Merle sped down the streets, avoiding the groups of Infected before screeching the brakes, pulling up in front of the now burning CDC. "FUCK!" Merle roared slamming a hand on the steering wheel "We gotta move Merle, we gotta get out of the city!" Warren yelled, banging on the side of the truck. The Infected were swarming to the flames, attracted to the noise. Merle peeled off, back to the highway out of the city.

The road beside them was packed full of cars, no doubt heading for the safezone. A group of Infected trudged their way through the packed cars on the other side and a scream caught the teens attention but Merle didn't seem to hear it, continuing to speed down the road. Ronan opened the back window and squeezed his way into the cab "Where we going now?" He asked grabbing the map from the dash. "Ta our old man's place. Daryl will know ta go there at some poin', I'll be there waitin' fer 'im" the 15 year old nodded staring down at the map "Are we allowed ta stay with ya?" He asked, glancing at the man.

"Why? Don' y'all 'ave families ta find?" Merle asked and Ronan shrugged "They do, I couldn't give two shits about my old man," He told him "I'm more worried about their families" Merle nodded "We'll figure somethin' out" He sighed, pressing on the gas harder.

An hour later the pulled off the highway onto a little dirt road and Connor poked his head into the cab through the window "Were we goin'?" He asked and Merle rolled his eyes with a grunt before shoving the blue eyed boy back out. Ronan laughed shaking his head as they pulled into a long driveway, leading to an ugly green painted trailer home. The stairs were rotted, one window was covered in a plywood and the roof was missing shingles. 

"This is... homey" Ronan muttered, earning a glare from the man as the driver side was shoved open and he lumbered out. "Ronan is unpackin' and get situated, y'all 're gonna be bringing 'im the boxes. I'm gonna go set up the generator" Merle ordered, motioning toward the house with his stump "What if your Father's still here?" Ronan questioned, placing a hand on the hunting knife at his hip "He ain't" Merle replied opening the door, Ronan quickly grabbing the mans bicep, stopping him "For sure?" the brunet asked, looking into Merle's eyes "He ain't" He repeated, entering the house.

Ronan took a step into the place and quickly placed a hand to his face, covering his nose from the stench that attacked his senses. It was a nasty mixture of piss, cigarettes, and stale beer "God damn!" Adrian cursed as he stepped in, pressing his face into his shoulder. Ronan rushed into the house, opening the windows to air it out, spraying Febreze around the livingroom. "What 're ya doin'?" Merle asked walking down the hallway "It reeks in here man. Need ta air it out, though I'm sure the stench will draw the Infected" Ronan grumbled spraying Merle's chest.

Merle grunted as the flower scented spray hit him and yanked the bottle from the teen "Git unpackin'" He hissed, shoving a box with his foot and Ronan nodded, mock saluting the ex-marine "Yes sir" He stated before picking up the box and headed to the kitchen. The fridge actually worked and Ronan let out a screech of excitement as he opened it, placing all their water bottles inside. "We got power!" He exclaimed rushing out the door "Lights and now we can have showers and cold water!" As he rushed the words out he was jumping up and down while flapping his hands wildly.

"Why's the kid tryin' ta fly away?" Merle asked walking around the side of the house "Is he havin' one of those meltdown things?" The teens laughed at the question "Nah, Ro's just excited to have power again" Alice giggled wrapping her arms around Ronan's shoulders, keeping his feet fully on the ground "Wha'? That makes no sense, you said he does that when he's upset" Merle stated as the others grabbed more boxes "There's a difference" Warren shrugged passing the man.

Soon the pantry and gun case were full, their clothes left in duffle bags and knives within reach. The weapons they took from the museum were placed by the front door, when Merle first saw them he was confused so the group had to explain their first day to him. The five teens piled onto the shitty second hand couch after setting a sheet on it while Merle took the old recliner. 

"Tomorrow I wanna teach y'all to hunt and train ya with guns" Merle told the group, leaning forward in his chair "Connor and I already know how to shoot guns, we just weren't able to teach the other being in the city" Ronan explained "Well, 'm still gonna train ya. I want ya ta be as good as Ol' Merle. I'll train y'all ta be experts before winter" 

The others decided on playing random card games, no surprise to the teens Merle is a champion at poker but also for some reason Uno. Ronan was focusing on something else, a project he was working on in the shed after measuring Merle's forearm length and width, he'd been out there for nearly an hour. "He good ta be alone?" Merle asked placing down another 4+ to Alice who muttered a quiet 'fuck you dude' "He'll be fine, a new hyperfocus will do him some good, make him feel like the world is still normal" Warren said placing her card down.

"What's hyperfocus?" Merle asked looking around the teens "A phenomenon that reflects one's complete absorption in a task, to a point where a person appears to completely ignore or 'tune out' everything else. He sometimes forgets to do normal things like eating, taking a break to go to the bathroom, stuff like that" Adrian explained as he put down a skip card on Merle "Little shit. Everything about him reminds me of Daryl. He'd get so absorbed in huntin' he'd forget to do normal thing's like tha'" Merle said sitting back in his seat.

The door burst open and Ronan rushed in, grabbing Merle's good arm to pull him up. "Hold your stump out" He instructed and when the man did Ronan slipped a sock over the stump "Close your eyes" The boy smiled and Merle squinted at him "Please?" The elder grunted before closing his eyes. The others watched as he pulled a metal tube with a rounded top from behind his back and slipped it onto Merle's arm and strapped it in place with small leather straps and metal buckles made from pop can tabs around his elbow "Open" He said clapping happily.

Merle looked at it confused, the shiny metal glinting back at him "What is this?" He grunted turning his arm to look at it, only for a sharp blade to pop out of the slit in the top "Oooh, I like this!" He grinned, twisting it again, making it go back down "There's also an attachment here to put another, more noticeable knife and maybe the spoon and fork I drilled holes into" Ronan held up the mentioned utensils "That way you can eat with your normal hand and the prosthetic" 

Merle nodded, still admiring the new appendage before awkwardly ruffling the boys hair "Thanks kid, looks great" he said and the bright smile Ronan gave him warmed something in him, not in a weird way. He hadn't felt this warmth since Daryl was a little kid, bringing home his first doe, the proudness he felt for his brother and now Ronan was something alien to him. 

"Let's get back to the game" He said plopping back down "You can put the extra stuff in my duffle" Ronan nodded and did as told, grabbing a broom and dustpan from the corner of the kitchen, beginning to start sweeping the old tile, only for Merle to throw a pillow at him "Sit yer ass down boy, no need fer tha'" He scoffed. The teens laughed as Ronan dropped the broom and tossed the pillow back, making it smack into Merle's face.

Alice was sitting on Warren's lap and the other two boys crowded the couch so Ronan opted to sit of the floor between the couch and the old coffee table, resting his head against Adrian's leg. Alice ended up winning the game, the first one Merle didn't. The cards were packed up and Ronan giggled as he pulled a black box from the box of games, that Merle didn't want to bring, and slammed it onto the table. "Wha's tha'?" Merle questioned squinting at the game.

"Best game ever, Cards Against Humanity" Adrian replied opening it up and dealing the cards, 10 each, to every person "It's a game full of adults jokes and dark humor," Alice explained "The rules are everyone gets 10 cards, the youngest person gets the black card, then whoever's white card gets picked gets the black card, then they read the next one and continues" 

Ronan is passed the first black card and he reads it out "'I drink to forget' blank. You pick the card you best think fits the blank or to answer a question card" He explained and waited for the others to place down their cards. "Alright, 'I drink to forget'... Dead Parents... Stranger danger... Hormone injections... Waiting 'til marriage and," Ronan had been holding in his giggles as he read the cards out, the others laughing along but the last card made him burst into laughter "Alcoholism" He held up the card, showing that it won and Connor reached over, taking the black card from him.

Connor picked up the next black card and read "'Millions of copies sold, Donald Trump's 'The art of' blank" everyone was quick to throw down their cards in no time and he held back a laugh as he slammed down "Nazis..." A loud bark of a laugh came from Merle "Landmines... Telling a shitty story that goes nowhere... Spending lot's of money... and Praying the gay away. Damn three of these are really good. I gotta go with praying the gay away" 

To everyone's surprise Merle held out his hand for the card, making the teens laugh harder "So he does have a sense of humor, not just a crayon muncher" Ronan says and earned another pillow thrown at him. "Read the card!" Alice urged, grabbing a new card from the box "'I-it's fina-finally happening. I-I'm finally do-doin' it. Yes it-it's time f-for' blank" None of the teens pointed out the stuttering in his reading and picked the cards for Merle to read. 

He didn't read the black card again and just went to the whites "Prison, really?... Vehic-vehicular mans-mans-" He stopped himself, glancing between the card and the teens, almost waiting for them to say something. Instead Alice placed her cards down and crouched next Merle's chair "Manslaughter. Do you want me to read the others?" She asked and Merle scoffed, shoving the cards towards her "Yeah, tha' way y'all can laugh at me" he growled, turning his head away from the redhead.

"Hey, dude, nothing wrong with having Dyslexia" She calmly reassured him "I mean, I've got it too" Merle turned his head back to her in confusion "There's a name fer this shit?" He asked "Yep, it's a lot more common than you'd think... well not much anymore but still" Warren said as Alice began reading the other cards "Doing hoe shit... An icepick lobotomy... Dying" Merle laughed at the last on and grabbed it, holding it up "This one wins" Warren reached over and snatched it from his hand.

"Ha, losers. Do you really not know what Dyslexia is? Surely they had something to help it when you were in school" She stated, tilting her head and he scoffed again "Dropped out in the seventh grade, someone had ta take care of Darlena after our ma passed" He stated and the others nodded "Makes sense. We can help you if you want. I mean the reason we all became friends with eachother is because we each had something wrong with us and had to take special ED classes, we were the 'outcasts'" Adrian shrugged.

"Yep. As you know, I have autism, aspergers to be exact, Alice has Dyslexia, Connor was dealing with his agoraphobia, Adrian has severe ADHD, and Warren has anxiety. We all have something that makes us different from the 'normal' kids" Ronan explained with a smile "You ain't alone with the disorders man, never will be"

Chapter Text

"Wake up ya little shits!" Merle yelled, slamming the door to the bedroom open, startling the teens awake. The five sat up sharply, knives out and ready to attack. When they saw it was just their one armed leader they groaned, Ronan flopped back down onto the mattress, flinging an arm over his eyes "Fuck off" He growled. "Up!" Merle barked, stomping to Ronan's side of the bed. The others rushed to move away but Ronan stayed put, big mistake.

Merle hooked his hand and the blade of the prosthetic under the side of the mattress before flipping it over completely, throwing the brunet off. "What the hell?!" Ronan groaned as he landed face first onto the ground "I told ya ta git up, yer fault fer not listenin'" Merle scoffed, though there was a smirk present on his face. "Go get food, we're going out in thirty minutes" The man said lifting the youngest off the ground and pushed him toward the door. 

"What time is it?" Alice yawned looking out the kitchen window, seeing the sun barely peaking over the horizon "7:30, ya need ta learn ta git up at earlier times. Now's the best time ta get started with yer trainin'" Merle responded as he used the knife to stab open a can of peaches. Adrian groaned as he faceplanted onto the table "I hate mornings" He whined, lazily grabbing at the granola bars in the center of the table.

Connor snickered as Warren moved them further out of the blue haired boy's reach, while Alice and Ronan sluggishly made their breakfasts. Merle was wide awake and loudly thumping around the house as he got thing ready to start training. "Hey kid," He called but all the teens turned to him "Uh, Ronan, did ya test this thing ta see if it can kill the Walkers?" Ronan furrowed his brow "Is that what your group called them? No I didn't get a chance to test it, it should work though" He stated with a shrug as he sat beside the still struggling Adrian, pulling that box from Warren and slid it back to him.

He made a appreciative noise as he dug his hand in pulling two out and tore them open. They ate, slowly waking up as the sun rose and Merle herded them outside when they were dressed in clothes they didn't really care to ruin. The teens noticed the targets set up throughout the back yard as they were handed guns. It looked like an army obstacle course, things to go around, a bunch of wood pallets being held up by small logs to crawl under, logs laid on the ground. Some were held up by other logs of different heights. A tree at the end of the yard had a frayed rope tied up in it with knots going up it and an airhorn taped to the branch the rope was on. "When did you build this?" Warren asked looking around.

"While y'all was inside snoozin'. I'll show ya then ya redo what I do" Merle stated as he walked forward, using the prosthetic to hold up the gun in the notch in the middle of it and shot the first target. Merle was ducking around and hiding behind them as he hit the targets dead on. After he hit all the targets he dropped to his stomach, army crawling under the pallets before getting back up and jumping over the logs being held in the air. He then ran to the rope an managed to climb it with one hand, using the metal piece to hold the rope against his chest as he went up and honked the horn.

When he was done he strutted up to the group "Only, yer gonna be timed. I want y'all ta git through the entire course in under one minute by the end of the month" He stated holding up a stopwatch "Hey, that's mine" Ronan pouted looking at the green timer that Merle strapped around his neck "At the moment it ain't. Line up" The teens stood in a line from Ronan, Connor, Alice, Adrian, Warren. Merle paced in front of them, eyeing them all.

"Y'all know Ol' Merle was in the Marines so tha's how this is gonna be treated. When I say jump y'all will ask how high. You will follow the rules. I am training ya kids how to survive on yer own, so ya won't need me ta stick with ya." Merle pointed to the course with the stump "There are rules for this course. I covered the bottom of the pallets with oil, so I know if yer goin' low enough ta the ground. If ya come out with paint, ya get back in line ta restart the course. If ya fail ta finish in five minutes ya get back in line ta restart the course. We will continue until you get it right" Merle ordered with a wicked smirk.

"Understood?" He asked and the teens shrugged and nodded and Merle squinted at the teens "I asked if y'all understood. Yer supposed to respond 'Sir, yes, Sir'. Now understood?" He growled "Sir, yes, Sir" They responded lamely. "Do you understand!?" Merle yelled and the teens shouted back to Merle's liking "Any questions?" He asked and Ronan raised his hand "Do we get lunch later even if we don't get it right?" He asked tilting his head causing Merle to roll his eyes "Yeah, we'll deal with tha' later". 

"Ya start at the sound of the horn, Ronan" Merle sat gown in a lawn chair, placing an airhorn between his knees and used the metal piece to press it down as his hand clicked the timer, letting out a honk to begin. 

Ronan took off, copying Merle's movements, hitting the targets a bit off center but still hitting. Instead of hiding behind the old rusted truck he climbed up on top of it, hitting the last target as he slid down the hood and jumped off, army crawling under the pallets. As he came out the other side the airhorn went off. He stood and threw his arms up in confusion "Ya got oil all over yer back! Git back in line" Merle called and the youngest huffed, walking back to the group. "Yer supposed to run back so we can keep moving quickly" Merle ordered as Ronan stood beside Warren.

The horn sounded and Connor was off faster, hitting all the targets where Merle did, jumping into the pile of leaves to hide himself as he shot three different targets. Jumping up he did the opposite of Ronan, crawling underneath the truck, sticking the gun out from underneath to hit the target and crawled all the way to the pallets. He made it through and almost waited to hear the horn but it didn't so he kept moving. He made it to the beams logs and as he jumped the fourth his ankle caught it sending him face first into the ground. 

The horn went off as he stood back up and looked the the man lounging in the chair "The poin' is ta jump it. Walk it off" He ordered as Connor jogged back to the others. "Ready Annie?" Merle questioned Alice who glared at the name "Start the fucking thing" She hissed and Merle smirked, honking the horn.

She took off like a shot but struggled hitting the targets, sadly taking up her entire turn to hit all of them, only she didn't listen when Merle honked the horn. She dropped the gun and climbed the truck like Ronan, crawled under the pallets with no oil, jumped up onto the beams and ran across them with no issues before running to the rope and climbed up, hitting the horn. She jogged to her gun before going back to Merle who was standing with his arms crossed. "Did ya not hear the horn?" He barked with squinted eyes and she nodded "Yeah I did. I can finish the course but I can't hit the targets" She answered.

"We'll work on tha' later, back in line" He ordered and she did as told as Adrian stepped up. Adrian managed to hit the targets but not as good and quick as Connor and Ronan. He went around the truck, using the busted windows to shoot them. He just managed to reach the rope as Merle honked the horn. He threw his head back with a groan as he jogged back "Good try. Next!" Merle called.

Warren stepped up with a nervous shake in her hands. She took a deep breath and readied herself, nodding to Merle before he started the timer. She hit just as good as Adrian and was faster, making it up the rope to hit the horn just as Merle hit his. 

"Does that count?" She called and she could see Merle looking around the targets before nodding "Yep. Jus' need ta work on yer shootin'. Come back ta the line" He called back and she ran back to her friends who were cheering for her "Great job!" Alice exclaimed high fiving her. 

Merle was setting up targets away from the course as the teens got ready for the next round. "You three need ta work on yer shootin' over there. You two are going to continue the course" He led Alice, Adrian, and Warren to the other targets and set them up with more ammo(They had plenty to spare). He timed the two while he watched over other three. 

They spent hours on the course before lunch. Alice was still struggling but Adrian and Warren improved, now able to hit all the targets on the course. "Terminator here made it through so your time will be cut to four minutes, y'all's times stay the same" Merle instructed and Warren raised a brow, crossing her arms.

"Terminator?" She questioned and Merle shrugged with a smirk "It fits don' it? Better than callin' ya 'Sweetheart'" Ronan laughed as four teens headed inside while Merle and Connor stayed out, setting up new targets since the others were shredded.

"God my legs hurt" Ronan complained as he fell onto the couch with a whimper. "I feel ya man, my shoulder is killin' me" Adrian groaned "Boys, we're all in pain" Alice grouched as she sat on Ronan's back. Merle and Connor returned and Connor was greeted by Warren handing him a bowl of ramen "Thanks" He nodded sitting at the table. Merle looked between the boy on the couch and the redhead "Wha's goin' on here?" He asked tilting his head in confusion.

"It feels nice" Came Ronan's muffled reply as he shrugged "It's a thing called deep pressure therapy. It makes him feel more grounded and stable" Alice explained and received a slight tap on her side from Ronan, a silent thanks for explaining it so he didn't have to. He may know it best but he doesn't really like talking about it, afraid of being ridiculed by the adult. He turned his head so his face was uncovered, watching Merle's reaction. 

"Thirty minutes before we go back out and continue, Connor jus' helped me rig up a new obstacle for him and Ronan. 'ow'd ya learn ta shoot?" Merle asked instead of commenting on the two "My old man was an experienced hunter. Made sure I could kill a rabbit before my fourth birthday. Spent the whole time skinning it crying" Ronan remembered that day like it was yesterday. He liked to think of it as the day he became sentient, the first memory he ever has.

"Sound like a piece of shit" Adrian huffed and Ronan smirked "Oh I know. Father of the year award goes to Alexander Wilson. Where ever the fuck he may be I hope he's suffering" He replied, wiggling his body to get Alice to move and sat up, laying her legs over his lap. "Ya shouldn't talk about yer blood like that" Merle growled as he plopped into his recliner "He ain't blood," Ronan scoffed "Asshole's just a sperm donor. But hey, the trauma he gave me made me funny" 

Alice giggled lightly, slapping the youngers shoulder "Not something you should make funny" She stated and he shrugged, scratching his rough jeans with blunt nails, silently enjoying the feeling. "He's doin' the scratchin' thing" Merle pointed out to the others, motioning to Ronan's hands "Calm stims. I like the feeling of the rough bumps and I need to move my hands in someway" He muttered, shrugging again. Merle made a 'huh' noise as he tightened a screw through the fork Ronan modified, actually enjoying being able to eat with his dominant hand. 

In no time the group was back outside and the four that went inside could see new targets hanging by ropes in a different tree than the one with the horn. "Line up" Merle called and quicker than before the teens fell into formation in the same order as the line before. "I see ya noticed the new targets. Those are for Terminator, Adrian, Connor, and Bambi, Annie is still on the simple targ-" Merle was interrupted by Alice "What's with the nicknames dude?" She scowled at hers. 

"If we were to be in a dangerous situation we can' use our real names, so they're not 'nicknames' they're codenames" Merle explained, pacing before the teens again "Still need ta come up with somethin' fer Adrian and Connor" Ronan raised his hand. "We called Adrian Basilisk and Connor McFly when we were playing COD with strangers online so they didn't know who we were" He supplied and Merle furrowed his brows for a moment before nodding "We'll use those"

He went to walk away when Adrian asked "What do we call ya?" Merle shrugged "Sir is fine" Warren rolled her eyes as Ronan's lit up "Splinter" He suggested and the man squinted at him. "Ya callin' Ol' Merle a rat?" He questioned stepping closer to the boy "No. But you're teaching us like Splinter taught the turtles. Only its military" Ronan smiled sheepishly.

"How about Shredder. He's the leader of the foot clan which are the bad guys and it matches your knife hand" Adrian laughed when Merle turned to him, rolling his eyes "Fine, my codename is Shredder. Warren is Terminator, Adrian is Basilisk, Connor is McFly, Alice is Annie, and Ronan is Bambi" He listed off and Ronan pouted. "Why am I Bambi?" He whined slightly "Ya got those big brown eyes. Plus with an innocent name like tha' people will underestimate ya, which is always a good thing"

Before Ronan could reply the horn went off and he ran through the course. He went through it quicker than he did before lunch, his body just now deciding to wake up and move. He honked the horn and jumped off the rope before running back to the others with a grin on his face. "Don' be smilin', boy. Yer time just got cut by a minute" Merle warned before honking again. 

Everyone but Alice had their times cut, seeing as she was still struggling with the shooting part, though she was getting better at it. They ran it again and again before the sun set and night fell, the five teens dragged themselves into the trailer. 

"Tomorrow we're goin' huntin'. Best get some sleep" Merle ordered, only to look around the livingroom to see the kids passed out where they sat "Grea' start" He smirked to himself before heading to his room in the back, leaving the kids to sleep.

Chapter Text

The woods were beautiful in the morning. The best time for hunting... 

SNAP... CRUNCH... SNAP

That was if you didn't have five loud teens following behind you.

"Keep it down, yer scarin' all the food away" Merle hissed looking behind "Where the hell's Bambi?" He questioned looking around, not seeing the brunet with the group. "Right here" Ronan whispered, standing a few feet ahead of them, smirking at Merle's confusion as he looked between him and the group "You forget I'm a hunter too?" He tilted his head, his shaggy hair flopping into his eyes slightly.

"Shut it" Merle growled walking passed but Ronan could see the small smile that graced the mans lips. Merle carried a shotgun while the others grabbed their own weapons, Alice with her bow and arrows, Warren carried her axe in hand only wanting to be a back up for if Infected show up. Adrian, Ronan, and Connor all chose to grab the rifles with silencers they found in a military shop the second month after the fall.

The group had been following the tracks from a herd of deer, only about a couple hours old. Merle and Ronan were teaching the others how to hunt by following rubs*, fresh scat*, and scrapes* around the area. "Walk from heel to toe, bend your knees and keep you're eyes up. Think quiet, be quiet" Ronan advised tapping his temple, silently walked backwards to watch his friends. 

They tried but it didn't work so Ronan sighed, whistling to get Merle's attention and held up a hand to stop the man. "You're all walking too fast. Slow down and focus, like this" He turned and bent his knee's slightly as he walked near silently over to Merle. He the then motioned and Adrian followed the moves and the others did the same. 

They weren't as quiet as Merle and Ronan but they were doing a lot better. Ronan pointed out the prints in the dirt to Merle who nodded then showed the others "We're getting closer, with me missin' a hand one'a y'all will have ta carry it back" Merle instructed and Connor raised a hand "I'll carry it" He said with a nod. Merle nodded and the group walked on to a clearing, seeing a doe laying on the ground.

Merle lifted his shotgun to shoot her but Ronan pushed the barrel of the gun down, shaking his head at him. Merle was about to bitch at him when the teen pointed to the other side of the clearing where two fawns grazed on the leaves. The man lowered it and the group watched the small family before Merle waved to the teens to leave the woods.

"Why'd we leave it?" Connor questioned, watching Merle walk away "She had two fawns. It's bad luck to kill a doe with fawns" Ronan explained And Connor furrowed his brows, tilting his head "How?" He asked and Ronan shrugged "Bad things happen. At least we have plenty of squirrels and rabbits for dinner" 

Walking ahead Merle stopped, holding up a hand to silence the teens. They all froze and a sound reached their ears, stomping hooves running through the woods. Ronan took off silently after the herd of bucks. "Bambi!" Merle hissed as the others ran after him. Merle was impressed with the swiftness of the youngest boy, the kid could give Daryl a run for his money with how quiet he was.

Ronan was kneeled in the dirt with his gun propped up on a log, watching through his scope at a herd of deer in an old corn field. He could hear the others approach him and pressed a finger to his lips, keeping them from asking questions. With a pull of the trigger a buck went down, the others rushing away from the fallen. "Got it" He smirked as he jumped up, walking toward the 10point.

"Ya stupid or somethin'?" Merle barked, stomping over to the brunet "No, I got us a buck!" Ronan defended, a smile crossing his face as he slid his knife down the animals stomach. "Ya don' run off like tha'! Ya wait for the res' of us" Merle stated glaring down at the teen "Ease up old man. He got food" Adrian scoffed, kneeling beside Ronan to watch what he was doing. 

"You gotta be careful when gutting, you don't want to hit the stomach or other intestines and risk spilling whatever grossness is inside. Though we can save the bladder and after drying it for some time we can use it for water pouches" Ronan explained pulling the innards out. "We could also use the antlers to make knife handles. My Uncle Brian taught me that"

After he was finished Connor draped it over his shoulders, carrying it back to the cabin while Merle followed, still grumbling about Ronan running after the deer and Connor calling him an 'old man'. Alice and Warren took point in front, Connor and Ronan walked a couple feet behind, while Adrian and Merle were behind them. 

They had multiple conversations going on, the loudest being Ronan talking about all the uses in a deer other than the meat. "Y'all need ta shut it, yer gonna attract the dead" Merle called up to the two but Ronan ignored him, making the others laugh as he turned around to face their leader "Did you know you can use the tendons to make sinew, then you can use that for sewing thread, tying arrowheads, or even bow threads?" He questioned Merle who rolled his eyes.

"Course I knew tha'. I's been huntin' since before yer mama was weened off titty milk" Merle scoffed, squinting at the boy who stopped walking. All the teens froze, staring between Ronan and Merle, waiting for the boy to respond. Instead of speaking, Ronan calmly walked up to Merle, looking the man up and down before punching him in the face, laying him flat out "You don't say shit about my Mama" He growled before turning back around, now storming ahead of the group.

Adrian and Warren lifted a very confused and pissed Merle off the ground, his nose dripping blood down the front of his shirt. "Damn. Bambi hits hard, I'll give 'im tha'" He grunted, spitting blood on the ground, shrugging the two off him and walked ahead as well. "This is gonna be fun ta fix" Adrian muttered, shaking his head as they finally returned to the trailer.

Ronan stayed quiet as he took the buck from Connor and went off to the shed, which has become his 'quiet place' for when he wanted to be alone as Merle stormed into the trailer. "We're gonna help Ro, you two figure his shit out" Warren stated, motioning between herself and Alice and the boys nodded, following Merle. 

The girls entered the shed to find Ronan curled up in a ball under one of the work benches, loud sobs erupting from him. "I didn' mean ta hit 'im, I swear. He was sayin' stuff about Mama" He cried as they sat beside him, his accent coming out more than before. "It's ok, we totally get it. He was being a dick, he had no right to mention her" Warren reassured rubbing his back. "But you gotta remember, he's known us less than a week, he didn't know about your Mom" Alice stated grabbing his hand.

"Tha's why 'm sorry! He don't know nothin' and I punched 'im! Now 'e's gonna leave us an' Connor's gonna be stuck bein' leader again an' 'e hated doin' tha'" Ronan sobbed curling up more. "Hey, the boys are talking to him right now. Probably telling him he was out of line to bring up things he doesn't know about" Warren snickered, pulling Ronan up to sit with his knees tucked to his chest, just not as scrunched. 

"Yeah. I bet it's all gonna blow over by night time. For now why don't you teach us how to skin this thing, you can also tell us what all the parts can be used for" Alice suggested, ruffling Ronan's hair and he nodded, wiping the tears from his face. He took a few deep breaths to calm down before standing, pulling the girls with him and faced the deer. "Ya gotta be careful not ta cut the pelt too much, keep it all together as best as ya can" He explained, slicing between the meat and pelt.

Meanwhile in the trailer Connor and Adrian sat on the couch, waiting for Merle to return from the bathroom to clean his face. When he came out the two noticed the purple bruises under the mans eyes and his swollen nose. "Man, he really did a number on ya huh?" Adrian grimaced as Merle's glare landed on him "You did cross a line though. She's a very touchy topic for Ro-" He was interrupted when Merle grabbed the cheap lamp off the end table and threw it at the wall.

It shattered and Adrian jumped slightly at the sound while Connor gasped, leaning away from the angered man. "I shoulda socked the little shit back. Fucker thinks 'e can hit me and get away with it?" Merle fumed as he grabbed the glass ashtray from the coffee table and threw it toward the duo on the couch. They jumped up as it shattered on the wall behind them, sending glass shards over them.

A piece sliced the side of Adrian's temple as he stood, grasping the bleeding area "The hell dude!" He shouted, shoving Merle back "Knock it off!" Connor yelled as he pulled the man away from attacking Adrian. "It's soft subject for him huh? He needs ta learn ta grow up and stop bein' such a pussy! Ya be glad I ain't my old man, he would be dead if I was anythin' like 'im" Merle growled, shoving Connor back onto the couch, glass shards slicing into his hand as he caught himself.

"You are the adult asshole, act like it! I get that you didn't sign up to train a bunch of kids but you don't need to scare us into submission" He stated pointing a bloody finger at Merle "We didn't ask for this either! We didn't ask for the fucking apocalypse to happen and for our parents and families and everyone we know to be killed! But guess what, shit fucking happens and you gotta roll with the punches, take the hits the world gives you and you deal with it!" 

Merle's eyes widened for a moment as he gazed down at Connor's bleeding hands and the cut on Adrian's temple. He let out a sigh as he grabbed the broom from kitchen and began cleaning up the broken glass as best as he could with the metal prosthetic. "Go get yerselves cleaned up" Merle muttered and both boys nodded, heading towards the bathroom. A tight feeling nestled into Merle's chest as he thought about the injuries the two had sustained from his outburst. 

It was a feeling he hadn't felt in years. Guilt. He's always too high or drunk to feel it when he'd hurt Daryl or some random from the bar. But he'd been sober for nearly a week and seeing the damage he'd done to the kids made him feel guilty as hell, knowing he was just like his old man. "Damn these kids" he muttered shaking his head. 

He was responsible for their wellbeing until they found his group but what was he gonna say when they arrive and the kids were all busted up. He glanced out the window to the shed to see Ronan and Warren hanging up the pelt as Alice laid out some intestines to dry. He finished up as Connor and Adrian returned to the kitchen, bandages wrapped around Connor's palms matched the ones wrapped around his broken fingers.

"Let's go help them out" Merle stated as he put the stuff away and walked outside. Ronan stopped what he was doing when he saw Merle and the others heading towards them, grimacing when he saw the damage done to Merle's face. "I'm... I'm sorry for over stepping, I was tryin' ta make a joke and ovi-" Merle was cut off as Ronan wrapped his arms around the mans torso. "'m so sorry. Please don't leave us. I promise to never do it again, just don't leave us" Ronan cried as he hugged Merle, who awkwardly had his hands raised, not knowing what to do. 

"I ain't goin' nowhere Bambi, yer stuck with Ol' Merle" He stated, patting the teen of the back with his hand, a grin flashing across his face "Now, let's git ta cooking and dryin' us some venison" He stated, gently pulling Ronan off him and entered the shed to pull the buck out, finding it completely skinned and the antlers sawed off. "Ya really lookin ta carve them antlers?" He questioned and Ronan nodded excitedly, helping move the deer out "I plan on making knife handles. I wanna use some of the pelt to make a sheath too".

"What are some other uses for a deer other than meat?" Merle quizzed Ronan who smiled and began explaining. "Deer fat can be slowly boiled down and rendered into tallow. Tallow can be used for healthier cooking grease. The fat can also be used to add extra calories when cooking, which is particularly beneficial in survival situations like ours. Rendered fat can be used as fuel for torches. The bones can be made into needles, knives, tools, fish hooks, earrings, other jewelry, buttons, arrow heads. Some people even claim that well-carved bone tools are just as efficient as metal. The intestines can be used like sausage skins and is way healthier" He rambled as he and Merle sliced the meat up, putting them into different piles for different cooking styles, one for normal cooking, another for jerky, another for something else.

Merle and the others listened as they finished up "Connor, go start a bonfire" Merle ordered and Ronan's face lit up "Can I do it?" He asked jumping up and down before Adrian looped his arms around his shoulders. "Let's not. Last time you were in charge of starting a bonfire it almost burned down our campsite," He stated with a smirk as Merle's eye widened "Oh yeah, Ro here is a pyro. Absolutely loves fire, especially big fire" 

"That was one time" Ronan whined and Warren scoffed "What about the barn?" She asked and Ronan gave her a sheepish smile "That was an accident. It wasn't supposed to set the barn on fire" Merle scoffed loudly "Sure kid, accident" He teased, bumping him with his elbow. "I've set some shit on fire when I was yer age. Stole some stuff, broke others, I was a pretty bad kid" he laughed when he glanced around the kids, all of them looking interested in his stories.

"What the worst thing you've done?" Alice wondered, tilting her head and Merle shrugged "I've done a bunch'a bad stuff in my life. No reason ta categorize it" He picked up the plate and headed to the fire Connor had started. He grabbed a grill thing and set it over the fire, setting the meat down onto it. The teens gathered around, sitting around the fire, watching as he cooked it.

The sun had sank below the horizon and the stars shone brightly over the group. Ronan had laid down with Connor resting his head on his stomach from the right side, Adrian's head on his chest from beside Connor, while Alice was on his shoulder, and Warren was resting on his thigh, all listening as Ronan pointed out different constellations. The five hadn't noticed Merle sitting close to them, silently listening as he cooked the venison, looking up occasionally to see what ones Ronan was talking about.

He ended up moving closer to the teens, laying in the grass beside them as he too pointed out the constellations, telling them the myths and legends that came with them. Merle could swear that he'd never felt this relaxed and open to anyone, not even Daryl, his own flesh and blood. He liked this feeling.

Chapter Text

They'd been at the trailer for a week. The bruises on Merle's face had faded and the cuts Connor and Adrian had sustained were nearly healed. Things have gotten better between Merle and the teens, having talked through some of their issues that night. Sitting under the stars as they listened to the silence and the fire crackling when Merle had addressed the teens.

"Yo Merle!" Connor yelled, walking out of the trailer trying to locate their leader who was found to be under the truck "Over here McFly'' He called as he slid himself out and sat up, propping himself up with his hand and Connor couldn't stifle a laugh, seeing that Merle had jerry rigged a wrench onto his prosthetic. "Ya come here ta laugh at me?" Merle asked and Connor shook his head "Adrian and I just did an inventory check, we're running out of stuff" He explained and Merle nodded, scratching his chin in thought.

"Alrigh', tell the others ta git their shit together and get ready to go to the city" Merle stated standing up and Connor stopped him "No need, I saw a party store on our way here, not even fifteen minutes out" Merle furrowed his brows in confusion. "The hell's a 'Party Store'?" He asked and Connor laughed again "Forgot that's not a term down here. A party store in Michigan is a liquor store. We called it that because if you're having a party it have everything you need" He explained and Merle laughed.

"You Michigan people sound awesome" Merle chuckled as he looped his arm around Connor's shoulders as they walked back into the house before he departed to change from his dirty shirt while Connor told the others to get ready to leave. It wasn't long before Merle came out to find Alice, Adrian, Warren, and Ronan sitting in the bed of the truck as Connor sat in the driver's seat. "Uh uh, you ain't drivin'" He stated, going to pull the door open, only for Connor to push the lock down.

"Yes I am. I saw the place. Besides, I have two hands, you don't" He smirked as Merle grunted, hopping into the passenger seat. There were infected all over the road, some long since dead, others fresh and still stumbling around, trying to follow the truck, only to be put down from Ronan's rifle if they were too close to keep Connor from hitting them head on. Better to run them over than to have them hitting the windshield.

The party store was decently sized and the shutters were pulled down over the doors and windows, making sure that people(and Infected) stayed out. Adrian grinned as he grabbed the bolt cutters from the bed of the truck and jumped out, snipping the padlock that kept the doors shut raising the door. He pressed his face to the door, cupping his hands around his eyes to see inside. "Coast is clear" He stated as he opened the door and the group entered, searching around for any hidden Infected.

"Clear" Ronan called out first, the others following after as Merle entered and closed the door back up. The teens stuffed their bags full of whatever was still good, chips, cereal, poptarts, pop, water bottles. Merle headed to the beer cave area and grabbed a pack of bud light beers and Ronan gagged as he walked past.

"Got a problem little shit?" Merle grunted, stacking the cases "A little, that shit tastes like a redneck pissed in a can then left it to ferment in the sun" The teens explained and Merle squinted his eyes. "Wha's yer drink of choice then smartass?" He grumbled and Ronan smirked, entering the cooler and coming out with glass bottles. "I prefer spiked drinks. Mikes Hard Lemonade, Angry Orchard, Smirnoff" He set down the bottles on top of Merle's.

"Ah, pussy drinks" Merle snorted and Ronan rolled his eyes "You may call them that but they get you wasted faster, mainly because they taste fucking great. I would drink stuff like vodka and whiskey but those kinds give me a headache while I'm drinking. Not fun" He stated as the others joined them. Merle turned to them "Which is the better drink, mine or his?" He asked the other teens.

Connor shrugged "I prefer bourbon, though it tends to burn on the way down" Warren rolled her eyes "Vodka is the way to go man" Adrian nudged her shoulder with his and held up a hand for a high five. "What about you Annie?" Merle asked "Only thing my parents had was wine. I guess that was fine"

Merle grinned, taking all the drinks outside as Ronan continued to grab more from inside. When Merle returned he looked through Ronan's choices and grabbed a can from the cooler, tossing it to the teen "Why not this kind?" He asked. Ronan turned it in his hand to read the brand and grimaced, seeing it was a White Claw before taking his knife out, quickly stabbing the metal and popping the tab open, shotgunning the entire can.

He tossed the can down when he was done, holding a finger to keep Merle quiet and after a moment he opened his mouth and let out a belch that the others could hear from outside. "Ugh, still tastes like shit" He groaned, shaking his head "Where the hell'd ya learn ta do tha'?" Merle questioned, slightly impressed "The kids in my trailer park taught me to shotgun when I was 13. My old man made me have my first drink at 9, said I needed to learn to be a man"

Ronan walked out with his drinks, missing the look of anger flashing across Merle's face. If he ever met Alexander Wilson during this damn apocalypse, he was going to kill him. He shook his head in confusion at the thought as he grabbed a few bottles of shitty whiskey for disinfectant in case of wounds and good whiskey for drinking. The wall was covered in alcohol and they'd need to come back later for them.

They all looked confused as Merle closed the shutters over the doors again and used a sharpie he snagged from the counter to write out 'Do Not Enter, Dead Inside' on it. Connor furrowed his brows as Merle hopped back in "In case we want to come back at a different time, there's still a shit ton of stuff in there" He shrugged and Connor nodded, pulling out of the parking lot and back to the trailer.

Ronan jumped out first and brought his bag of food inside, leaving the drinks in the bed of the truck before heading to the backyard and restarting the fire in the burnpit. As the fire was starting he soaked a few logs in lighter fluid with a grin "The hell ya doin'?" Merle called out as he walked up to the teen who grinned up at him "Need a big fire to go with drinks. Always found that fun, dancing around a fire drunk off your ass" He laughed watching the fire grow before tossing a soaked log into the pit, making the flames burst out and causing Merle to jump back.

"Yer an idiot Bambi" Merle laughed, ruffling the boy's hair "I know. That's the point. No thoughts, just fire" He stated before Merle walked away and the others joined him, mainly to keep him from setting himself on fire. The fire was big and Merle came back with all the drinks and another plate of venison. "Take yer picks" Merle stated setting the drinks down and Connor, Warren, Alice, and Adrian grabbed a wild cherry Mike's and a Bud Light. Alice spit the Bud Light out "That tastes like shit" She coughed, wiping her mouth before tossing the rest of the can into the fire.

"You just wasted a perfectly good beer" Merle scoffed, watching the can burn, the rest of the teens handing the beer back and opened the Mike's. "Shit, this tastes like Faygo!" Connor exclaimed, handing a bottle to Merle. "You gotta try it" He smiled at the leader who rolled his eyes, accepting the drink anyways, popping the top off before taking a swig of the drink.

"Still don' understand how this'll get ya drunk faster' Merle shrugged and Ronan grinned "Because it tastes great, makes you want to drink more. Unlike your shitty beer that can only be enjoyed while shotgunning so you don't have to taste it" He laughed, grabbing more lighter fluid and dumping it onto the fire. "Good point" Merle nodded, taking another sip. "This kinda reminds me of a party I went to in my trailer park, only there were more people and music" Ronan reminisced with a smile. That night was the first time he got blackout drunk, went to school the next morning with a raging headache and an upset(more like pissed off) stomach.

An idea popped into Alice's mind and she rushed into the house, digging around in the closet. On their first day here she found an old stereo along with some cassettes, Metallica, AC/DC, Avenged Sevenfold, classic rock bands that the group used to listen to, the only music they all liked. She brought the box of cassettes out along with the stereo and set it beside Merle, placing the box on his lap.

He looked up at her with confusion before looking through the tapes, a look of nostalgia written all over his face as a small smile made its way onto his lips. "These're Daryl's, he spent hours making 'em when he was a kid. I thought our old man broke them all" He told the teens who sat around the fire "Put something on" Warren encouraged, taking a sip of the Smirnoff she grabbed.

He grabbed one and pushed it into the stereo and Motley Crew's 'Girls Girls Girls' started blasting out as Merle set the box down. Ronan set down his second empty bottle and grabbed another "Is it ok for you to be drinking after what you went through at the apartment?" He asked, popping the top off and Merle squinted at him. "I know my limits, Bambi. Anyway, I ain't drinkin' much, someone needs ta be alert if some Walkers show up"

"I think we're good. We've been here a while, shooting guns and shit around here and nothings shown up" Alice stated looking to the woods 'Not yet, girlie. Only a matter of time before they do" Merle retorted.

Adrian came to the group who hadn't realized he'd walked off with an armful of long branches and handed them out to the group "The hells this fer?" Merle questioned as Adrian started rifling through his bag, pulling out marshmallows, Hershey bars and graham crackers "S'mores" The boy smiled passing the stuff around the group and Merle furrowed his brows "Wha's tha'?" He asked, eyeing the bag of white fluff. "You've never had S'mores?" Connor asked, tilting his head.

"You place the marshmallow over the fire and warm it till its golden brown-" Ronan cut in "Or black" He smirked, pulling his flaming marshmallow from the fire "Or that. Then you put it on a graham cracker, put a piece of chocolate on top of that then sandwich it with another graham cracker"

"Why?" Merle asked as he stuck a marshmallow onto the stick and Warren shrugged "They taste good" She laughed, melted marshmallow and chocolate sticking to the corners of her mouth. Merle pulled his off the fire and did as Connor instructed before taking a bite "Who invented this shit?" He asked, his eyes widening at the taste "Is that because you want to kill them or thank them?" Warren laughed, her face now flushed red from her drink, an arm looped around Alice's waist.

"I don't know but this stuff is good. Like somethin' a pothead would make" He shrugged, a wide smile plastering his face as he made another. Ronan was finishing his third bottle, a dopey grin warming his cheeks as he leaned against Connor, Adrian's legs laid over his lap as he tapped on them to the beat of Dr. Feelgood, nodding his head as well.

Adrian was laid down on the ground with his face turned toward the fire, Connor held an Angry Orchard in one hand as he used the other to hold himself and Ronan up. It was quiet. Not an awkward quiet but the kind that fills up the space smoothly, washing a feeling of calm over the group. The silence was broken by Alice giggling softly, drawing everyone's attention to her and Warren.

"Sorry, just thought of the day Ro showed up to school hammered," Merle's brows shot up as the rest of the teens started laughing as well "He told the history teacher he was a 'fucking pedo monster' before throwing up all over the guys new suit" Merle let out a roaring laugh as Ronan hid his face in Connor's shoulder. "Yeah, he got expelled for two weeks before a few girls came out and said the guy was assaulting them, causing him to be fired" Connor laughed, patting Ronan's head.

"How'd ya get back in?" Merle wondered when he calmed down enough "These dumbasses made a petition to get me back, seeing as I called out a creep all the students wanted me back" He laughed. "Sure there were some people who didn't like me but they didn't bug me too much" He grinned looking up at the leader.

"Anyone else have crazy stories?" Merle questioned looking around the group "This isn't my first time drinking" Warren shared and Ronan sat up quickly "And ya never told me? I feel bet-betrayed" He slurred, throwing a graham cracker at her. "What was I supposed to say?" She shrugged, "I went to a house party down the street from my house, started drinking from the solo cups, then forgot most of the night. Turns out they were handing out tequila" Merle groaned in disgust "Ta kill ya. Tastes like shit but gets ya fucked up quick"

"Tell me about it, good thing it was the first day of summer so I didn't have to go to school" She laughed. "I bought edibles at the park and ate them at school" Alice stated "My grandpa had just passed and I wasn't dealing with it very well so bought them from that Munson kid by the baseball diamond. He told me his plants were homegrown so I figured 'why not' and took them. I've honestly never felt so free" She had her knees pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around her legs.

"Tha's how it goes," Merle stated, "You don't feel the burden of the world when yer not in it" The cassette stopped and Ronan crawled over to put something else in, deciding on Metallica and popped it in. "I don't know how crazy this is but I'm trans. A trans dude living in fucking Georgia" Adrian scoffs, taking a gulp of his drink, now on his fourth.

"Huh?" Merle questioned looking over at him, his head cocked to the side "I was born a girl. I have a uterus and all that shit but I take testosterone to make my voice deeper, grow facial hair, stop my period, the works. I could have surgery to remove my tits, thank god for my Uncle Simon. If it wasn't for him I'd still be very female" He explained.

Connor looked over at the man who was looking into the fire in thought "You not transphobic are you? Or homophobic" He asked and Merle's head snapped over to him, shrugging slightly. "My old man drilled into Daryl and I that people like you are disgraces and disgusting because you 'went against god' but I've never met someone who was like you" He said, using air quotes.

"But I had a few gay friends as a teen, as long as they didn' come onto me I was fine with them" He shrugged, chugging the last of his drink. "Why'd ya come ou' ta 'im?" Ronan asked, stumbling slightly as he plopped back down next to Connor "I just wanted to give him a heads up in case anything happens" Adrian shrugged.

"Ya have an accent?" Merle questioned and Ronan giggled "Yep. I'm from around the same area as ya, so I got the backwoods redneck accent. Spent most'a ma life hatin' it bu' if I'm emotional or drunk it comes back" He explained tilting his head over to Merle. His eyes then lit up as he looked up at Connor "Dude, ya gotta tell 'im about the time ya stole yer Dad's patrol car" Connor groaned with a wide grin "Spill it kid, I wanna hear this" Merle laughed.

"Okay. So when I was fourteen my Dad and I had just gotten into an argument about him working too much and not spending any time with me. He passed out not long after that and I stole the keys to his cruiser. Started up the car and drove off, picked up these guys and we just went joyriding around the city for hours. We had music blaring, Ronan had stolen a few joints from his Father and we were smoking as we went speeding down the highway with the lights flashing and sirens going, no destination, just driving. Sadly the ride ended after Dad woke up and and called in his buddies. Then there was the huge police chase that ended in Dad's driveway. We all got probation and Alice, Warren, and Adrian spent the night in the jail while Ro and I took the fall, spending the next few months in juvie" 

Merles jaw dropped in surprise "Tha' was you little shits? I saw it on the news when I was at the bar. Man everyone was cheering you guys on, ya drove around with police on yer asses for an hour. The new guy in the helicopter was was doin' a whole play-by-play like it was the damn super bowl" He laughed loudly, the metal prosthetic pressed into his stomach. "It truly was one of the best chases I've ever seen"

"It was so much fun. We were using the radio to know where they were comin' from and we were toying with them through the CBs" Adrian boasted, the others laughed with Merle. "The bar was nonstop talkin' about you, wonderin' who was all in the car, the news blurred you faces when you came out of the car" 

The moon was nearing the horizon and the sky was turning a lighter shade of purple as Merle ushered the stumbling teens to their room. He watched as they all piled onto the bed and was leaving when a hand caught his wrist, he looked down to see Ronan's large brown eyes looking up at him from underneath his wild curly hair "I know this won' mean much, but I wish ya were my Dad instead of Alexander" He slurred and Merle swore he felt his heart stop "I mean yer kinda mean but you actually care about us, unlike my old man" He smiled before his eyes slipped shut, his hand around Merle's wrist going lax, the small smile still ghosting his face.

Merle stared at the boy for a moment before squatting down, running his hand trough the boys hair. The man would never say it aloud but the five teens were growing on him. They were brilliant kids and fast learners. He cared for them, which was crazy to think but Merle swore he'd rather die than let harm befall them.

What'd he get himself into?

Chapter Text

So sorry to the people who read this and like it but I need a break. I haven't even began to work on the next chapter, I had something for a minute but restarted it and still hated it.

I'm using this break to focus on school, seeing as I really need to graduate at the end of the year and will be back for the summer, then I can focus my attention on this story and others I want to write.

I've also fallen out of the TWD fandom and am now hyperfixating between Shameless and Gotham, but I still want to continue this at a later date. I don't like forcing myself to write in a fandom I can't focus on bc it makes my stories shitty and I don't want people to find this and at the beginning it's good then slowly falls apart.

Thank you to those who have commented and left kudos and enjoyed what I've written so far. I post an update sometime in four months in May when school gets out.

Till then this Sam Parker of RandomFansdoms signing off, love you all, peace!✌😁✌

Chapter Text

"Two months" Alice stated and Adrian looked at her confused "We've been here two months, practicing for three weeks and I still suck" She groaned lowering her gun "But out of all of us, you're still the best with the bow and arrow. We all have our strengths and weaknesses" He reassured her, handing her the bow. The sound of metal clanging together drew their attention to Warren and Ronan who were fighting with their battle axe and swords.

Adrian had changed his Mace and Chain to his sniper rifle that he was holding at the moment and Connor did that same with his spear, which he actually regretted grabbing from the museum, seeing as it snapped and he would've been bitten if it wasn't for Merle stabbing it. So he was with Merle by the shed who was teaching him how to clean and disassemble/reassemble his rifle. Alice pulled back on her bow and and released the arrow, hitting the target dead center. 

"Beside, it'll be better if we all had yer skills for when we run out of bullets" He smiled, clapping a hand onto her shoulder. "Well if you guys would like a lesson I'd be willing to teach" She smiled, bumping his shoulder with hers. 

"Ya slide this part into here, the ya gotta push it in and yer done" Merle instructed, showing the teen who nodded before pulling at back apart, sliding the pieces over the table to him. It was hard to relearn to do things one handed but he was getting better, the gun was pretty hard but wiping his ass seemed to be the hardest thing, seeing as he was right handed and only had his left hand.

But Connor was currently in the same boat, with two of his fingers still healing, only he didn't tell Merle he could easily use both hands for anything, it didn't feel right to tell him. He easily followed Merle's instructions and reassembled the gun. Though he messed up the last part and pinched the skin between his index finger and thumb. "Fuck!" He hissed, yanking his hand away and wrapping the bottom of his shirt around it to stem the flow.

"Ya gotta stop hurting yer hands, ya need those" Merle snickered, gently pushing him towards the trailer "Go git patched up" He advised as he walked over to watch Warren and Ronan. "I still don' understand why ya wanna keep those things" Merle scoffed, quickly ducking as Warren threw her axe at him, Ronan slashed at her at the same time and sliced open her arm. He dropped the sword and rushed to her "Shit 'm  sorry War" He stated as he held his hand around the bleeding cut.

Alice and Adrian ran over "Move," The redhead stated, shoving Ronan out of the way. She ripped the rest of the sleeve off to reveal the wound and sighed "Good news is you won't need stitches, bad news is your shirts ruined" She smiled and Warren scoffed "No it's not" She stated, using her dagger to cut off the other sleeve "There, perfectly fine" She smirked, heading inside to patch up her arm.

"I'm sorry" Ronan stated again, picking up her axe after tucking his swords into their sheaths "It's fine Ro, Merle distracted us. I didn't mean to throw my axe at you, you startled me and it slipped from my hands" She told Merle who rolled his eyes "Sure Terminator, ya just wanted ta be rid'a Ol' Merle" The man sniffed, clutching the front of his tank top "Now that ya are all doin' better ya wanted a mutiny" Ronan's face fell at his words.

"Dude, it was an accident, you startled her. None of us want ya gone" He stated quickly, jumping slightly when Merle threw his arm around the boys shoulders, ruffling his hair as best as he could with the metal piece "I'm joking kid. All in good fun" He reassured and felt the tension leave Ronan's shoulders as he nodded. "Could you really not tell?" He asked and Ronan shook his head "My 'people skills' are 'rusty' Merle" He stated and Adrian laughed at the reference.

"Nerd" Merle rolled his eyes as they entered the house "You understood that?" Alice asked and Merle nodded "Kinda. Its from that one show where the monster hunter wants ta bang the angel" Warren laughed so hard she ended up snorting at the explanation. Connor was standing in the kitchen making something with chunks of rabbit and venison for the others when he saw Warren "I'm good" She waved him off before he could walk over, sitting on the couch to let Alice patch her arm up. 

"Does the generator make the TV work?" Ronan wondered "Yer just now askin' tha'?" Merle scoffed before shaking his head "Nah, ain't enough juice fer tha" He shrugged and Ronan groaned, laying out on the floor, rolling under the coffee table to watch through the glass out of boredom, tracing Alice with his finger as he drew in the dust.

"That's fine, I got dinner almost ready" Connor called out, a new bandage between his thumb and index finger "Ah yes, the perfect housewife" Adrian stated, walking up behind Connor, wrapping his arms around his waist, ducking out of the way when Connor throws his elbow back. "Sucks that your abusive" Adrian scoffed, smacking Connor upside the head as he grabbed a Capri sun from the fridge "Ew!" Ronan gagged from the livingroom "Shut it you little shit" Connor yelled, sticking his tongue out. 

"Say it to my face assbutt" He challenged leaping up "Hey! No fighting in the house" Merle stated, his eyes flitting between the two "And keep that other shit ta yerselves" Adrian rolled his eyes at the man "It's called jokes Merle. It just so happens that we're comfortable with out sexualities, Connor's the only straight here besides you" He stated and Merle furrowed his brows.

"You're a Marine, you know there that privacy is an optional thing, same with us. We joke around" Connor shrugged, turning off the stove "Foods ready" He stated pulling it off the hot burner. "Thanks Con" Ronan smiled, grabbing two bowls, one for himself and the other for Warren. Merle stood and made himself a bowl as well, sitting at the table to watch the teens eat in the livingroom. 

"Can we play some card games tonight? I'm bored" Ronan huffed, slapping his hand onto the box of games "Yeah, lets play Cards Against Humanity again. I wanna beat Merle" Alice agreed. "Yeah, I bet he cheats by hiding the good white cards somewhere?" Warren grinned, taking a sip of the broth soup "Where the hell would I hide 'em, my ass crack? It ain't like I got sleeves" Merle snorted, shaking his head. 

"Don't wanna think about that. But come on, let's play" Adrian stated, grabbing the black box and placing it on the table as everyone gathered around. 

The group played until the sun had set, this time Ronan won, he had of course rubbed it in Merle's face. "All right little shits, bedtime" Merle stated, stacking the cards back into the box "Come on, one more game" Connor groaned, stretching out under the glass table. "No can do kid, we gotta get up early. You used the last of the venison for dinner" Merle said, standing with a groan. 

The five teens followed Merle to the bedrooms, Merle's being across the small hallway from them. They all put their knives on the dresser by the door, ready in case of emergency. Good thing they did.

A few hours into the night Warren blinked slowly, looking around to figure out what woke her. She huffed as she laid back down, attempting to get back to sleep when a loud thump from the wall startled her. She quickly stood and rushed to the window, seeing an Infected banging on it, scratching the already peeling paint off. "Great" She rolled her eyes, the first Infected at the cabin was banging on their wall.

Only, it wasn't just one. A second joined, then a third, then the numbers kept rising, pressing themselves against the flimsy trailer wall. She rushed around the room, waking the others and packing all their clothes. Connor went to Merle's room silently and shook the burly man awake "Merle, we gotta go, the house is surrounded" He said frantically as the man simply rolled over and went back to sleep.

"Ronan! Adrian! Get in here, I need help" He called and the two ran in, seeing Connor slot his hands between the mattress and the box spring and the three together managed to flip Merle's bed, waking him instantly. He looked at the three boys confused, seeing them dressed with their backpacks and weapons. "The trailer is surrounded by Infected. We need to leave... NOW!" Connor ordered, as he and Adrian hauled Merle off the ground before he began rushing around like the others, packing up the useful stuff and leaving everything else behind.

"Ro, we need a plan like the semi. Hurry up and think of something" Connor stated as he went passed Ronan who was trying to stuff his fuzzy blanket into his duffle bag. Merle furrowed his brows at the order, and he could see gears turning in Ronan's head as the boy stared at the window. "Hey Merle, do me a favor" Merle tilted his head at the statement "Time me" Ronan stated, opening the window he was just staring out of. 

"What you thinking kid?" Merle questioned as Ronan tossed him the green stopwatch "I'm gonna run the course" He stated, raising his brows in excitement, putting a thing of duct tape around his wrist and grabbed a pistol. "Three... Two... One... Time" Ronan yelled before jumping out the window. The group watched as he ran the course perfectly, using the Infected as targets instead of the wood pallets. 

He climbed atop the rusted car, taking three down before sliding down the windshield. He landed on the ground on his stomach as he army crawled under the pallet that two Infected were on top of. He shot them as he came out the other side and ran up the stacked logs, missing all the ones that tried to reach him. They got stuck, all of them trying to go through the sides of the obstacle as Ronan climbed the rope and onto the branch before taping the button on the airhorn down setting it off and attracting the Infected away from the trailer, freeing his group. 

"How the fuck are you getting down?!?" Merle shouted, stabbing a Walker in front of him as they made their way to the truck "Get in the truck! I'll figure it out!" Ronan shouted back as Connor yanked Merle into the cab of the truck. Ronan ran across the thick branches and made his way to the swinging targets, swinging across them so he landed on the roof of the trailer, only as he righted himself the shingles gave out, sending him sliding down the side of the roof. 

He closed his eyes, preparing to die, to feel his skin being chewed and his limbs ripped off. But as he landed on the ground, nothing happened. He popped his eyes open the see the Infected milling around him, but completely ignoring him. A few would look at him but keep on walking to the airhorn. "Ronan!" He heard Warren call as he walked forward, his group seeing the Infected walk around him like he was invisible.

He ran to the truck and hopped into the bed as Merle gunned it, lurching the truck forward and sped away from the infested trailer the group had called home for the past few months. Ronan felt tears pricking his eyes as he watched the road they were on get farther and farther from the Infected horde. Why had they avoided him? What was wrong with him?

The sun had risen when Merle stopped on the side of the road, staring blankly ahead as the teens piled out and went to check on their friend. "Ro, what happened back there?" Adrian asked the boy who simply shook his head, rocking back and forth violently. Alice sighed as she pulled his fuzzy blanket and handed it to Ronan, he pressed the soft cloth against his face as fresh tears slipped out. Merle looked back to see the teens wrapping Ronan in a hug.

He stepped out to talk with them, Warren being the closest "How Bambi doin'?" He asked, resting his arms on the bed "He shutdown. Meaning he's gone mute and everything is a lot for him right now" She explained and Merle nodded. "We need ta git goin'. Trucks outta gas, we're walking from here. Unless one of ya can get tha' van up 'nd running" He pointed to a red minivan on the other side of the road. "I got it" Connor said, patting Ronan on the shoulder  before jumping out and jogging to the van.

Merle walked with him and watched as Connor pulled the panel under the dash out and cut the wires before pressing them together, revving the engine as the van started. "Nice work McFly" Merle nodded as he hopped in, checking the gas gauge "What do ya know, full tank" He grinned, walking back to the truck. It took a few trips with Ronan not helping to get everything from the track to the van and about 30 minutes later they were back on the road. 

Adrian pressed the radio, wanting to see if there was any new info, only to get blasted by Madonna. "I left all the tapes behind at the trailer. Sorry Merle" Alice muttered after Adrian turned down the radio "Can we still listen?" Ronan whispered, a small smile ghosting his lips and Merle sighed "Fine kid" He turned the music back up, blaring 'Girls Just Wanna Have Fun'. Merle was tapping along with the beat as the teens sang to cheer up Ronan.

"Granola bar" Alice stated as she waved a packet in front of Merles face "Can't now Annie, 'm drivin'" He stated but took it anyway "Thanks darlin'" He smiled back at her. The teens went back to what they were doing as Merle drove, past all the walking corpses before pulling off into a rest stop. "Line up" Merle stated exiting the van and the kids did as he ordered "We're gonna stay here fer the nigh'. Get some food in us and rest early" Merle stated. 

"You all have jobs. Warren, ya unpack the non-perishables and water bottles. Connor, ya go around to the cars 'nd trucks ta look fer more gas, take Adrian with ya. Ronan, ya bring in the sleepin' stuff and get set up somewhere secure, Alice, ya bring in the weapons ya think we'll need, I'll be on the lookout fer other survivors" Merle ordered and the teens nodded, branching off to do their things. Connor and Adrian grabbed red cherry cans while Warren dug through the bags of canned food.

Ronan filled his arms with blankets as he and Alice entered the building, seeing the vending machines had been smashed and cleaned out. "I think we should set up in the bathroom, pretty sure they're the most secure place in the building" Ronan stated opening the door, freezing as he heard Alice gasp quietly. He turned and saw a man with a gun pressed to the side of Alice's head. 

"Didn't your Daddy teach you that it's rude to walk into someone's home without knocking?"

Chapter Text

"Didn't your Daddy teach you it's rude to walk into someone's home without knocking?" The man grinned, petting Alice's hair, his dirty fingers pushing through her red locks. "We're so sorry, we didn't know this place was already taken. We'll leave" Ronan reasoned, putting his hands up "I don't think so kid. how about you go out and get your Dad, we've been dying for some company" the man smiled, revealing nasty yellowed teeth, not the kind you get from not brushing but the kind from using meth.

"I'll go get him, but I want Annie with me. I'm not le-" the man pointed the gun at Ronan "The girl stays with me, wanna make sure you come back" He stated and Ronan nodded "Okay, but you have to promise you won't hurt her" He reasoned and the man laughed. "Of course I won't hurt her. She will be safe right here" Ronan locked eyes with Alice before she nodded "Ok, I'll go get Dad" He agreed, walked out backwards, keeping his hands up as he watched the man. "Shredder!" He shouted once the door was open. 

Merle's head snapped toward the building at the shout of his codename, that meant trouble. "What's goin' on Bambi" He asked when he got close enough, Ronan pointing in the direction he was looking, seeing a bony thin man with his arm around Alice's neck, a Glock pressed against her temple. "We walked into someone hideout" He stated, still not taking his eyes off his friend.

Merle pushed Ronan behind him with his metal arm, making sure to show off the bloody blade to the man. "Hey man, we didn' know anyone was here. Give me the girl and we'll be leavin'" Merle stated, holding his hand out, letting out a strangled gasp as something sharp stabbed into the side of Merle's neck. He turned to see two other men behind him, one was holding the now slumped Ronan as the other shoved Merle "You ain't goin' nowhere" The second man stated as the world faded to black.

Connor didn't what happened, one minute was was siphoning gas from an old beat up pick up, Adrian standing guard, and the next he's waking up with a foggy brain, his hands tied behind his back. He was slumped against the wall between Merle and Adrian. Ronan, Alice, and Warren sat across from them. The room they were in was slightly dark, the only source of light being from the windows at the top of the wall.

"Shredder?" He whispered to the man as he nudged Merle's shoulder with his, seeing Merle's prosthetic was missing, along with the sock that covered the mangled stump. It had been pinned against his side with a rope and the other hand was tied to a pipe sticking out of the wall. "Shredder!" Connor whispered louder, shoving Merle who slowly woke up, groaning as he felt the familiar friend of Special K running through his blood. "Hey kid, 'ow ya doin'?" Merle slurred, taking in their surroundings. 

"Fine. We gotta wake up the others" Connor stated, gently nudging Adrian awake. He woke with a start, doing the same as Merle. He leaned up on his knees and shuffled over to the others, waking them as well. "We need a plan Shredder, we need to get out of here" Adrian said as he leaned against the corner "Sorry kids, 'm outta commission at the moment. They filled me up with ketamine. Horse tranks" Merle muttered. Ronan nodded groggily "Take out the biggest of us so they can do whatever without you being able to attack. But why'd they leave you alive?" He wondered.

"So he remembers what happens when you step onto our turf" A voice said as the door opened blinding them with the light filtering in after the men. There were four men, they grabbed the teens and dragged them out of the storage closet before untying Merle and dragging him out as well, his body landing limply on the ground as they dropped in against a new wall. "He's the only one who getting out of here alive," the second man grinned "First, we'll take the girls, then the boys. I call the one with brown eyes" He said pointing to Ronan. 

"Why do you get him? The red head looks more your type, small and petite" The fourth man laughed, motioning to Alice. "But the black girl's got more meat on her bones, they always do" Three shrugged, licking his lips at Warren "God you'll be fun, I can tell she's a screamer. You a screamer sweetheart?" He asked leaning down to Warren who spat in his face. "That was strangely pleasant, do that again when I'm fucking you" 

"Well I want him, he's pretty for a boy" One stated, petting Adrian's hair "Don't ya fuckin' touch me" He scowled, jerking his head away "Looks like Mike gets him there" Three told two, Mike, who smirked "Wouldn't mind having him. He looks like he'd be tight enough" he smirked at Connor who gagged.

"Ya ain't touching none of 'em. They'll kill ya before ya get the chance" Merle bluffed with a smirk. "I'd like to see them try" the third man smiled as he grabbed Alice from the ground "Wait, no! Take me!" Adrian yelled standing on his knees "We just said that the girls go first. You have to wait your turn. Also didn't you just get mad about being chose by me?" The fourth man scoffed, whacking Adrian upside the head. "I look like a guy but my body isn't. I was born female. I'll do anything, just... Don't hurt my friends" He stated and Ronan kicked his leg "The fuck you doing Basilisk?" He growled. "Protecting our friends" He smiled sadly as he grabbed the bottom of his shirt and lifted it off, revealing his tan binder.

"Oh fuck, it's a tranny" The first man laughed as the other man let go of Alice "Kid, don't ya fuckin' dare" Merle huffed, trying to sit himself up. As one of the men reached to grab Adrian, Ronan surged forward and clamped his teeth onto the man, sinking into his skin with no issue. The man screamed, trying to shove him off but Ronan stayed put, it wasn't until felt a prick in his neck did he let go of the man, grinning and showing off his now bloody teeth as his vision faded at the the edges.

"The fuck! Kid's worse than the Lame-brains" the man growled as he grabbed Ronan by the hair, making him look up. By now the drug had slowed down Ronan's brain and he just stared blankly at the man. Merle growled, seeing what these men were doing to his kids. They may not have sprung from his nutsack but they were his kids. That small little flame that had been ignited the night they spent around the fire, drinking and sharing stories, when Ronan told him he wished that Merle was his father, was now a raging inferno as Merle took back control of his body.

Sure he was sluggish and uncoordinated he was able to tackle one of the other men, the one with the needle. Warren saw what he was doing and helped as Alice pulled her arms under her legs and brought them in front of her, she stood and punched the third man, the man who had been carrying her earlier. "Guys" The man Ronan bit called, getting their attention, the veins around the bite began to turn black, traveling up his arm and the groups eyes widened, looking over to Ronan, who was glaring at the man.

"Kill you friends" He stated, the mans eyes glazing over as he pulled his gun "John, you can't seriously listeni-" He was interrupted by John shooting him in the head, followed by the other two going down. "Untie us" Ronan ordered and the man listened, cutting the ropes on the teens and Merle. Ronan stood, stumbling slightly but still did, still glaring at the man "Now walk out that door and don't stop. Ever" With that the man turned and exited the building walking away.

Ronan groaned, leaning against the wall "We-we need to leave" he stumbled and hauled up Merle with Connor's help. "Before you ask, I have no idea what the fuck that was. I could feel him, like he was a part of me. I just told him what to do" Merle nodded as he was dragged out of the rest stop, seeing John walking down the road get attacked by Infected.

He was set into the middle seat of the van as Ronan and Connor took the driver and passenger seat, Alice beside him and Warren and Adrian behind them. "Is everyone ok? No one hurt?" Merle questioned Looking around his kids sluggishly "Really grossed out but fine" Alice grunted, Warren nodding in agreement. "My head hurts like a bitch now. Controlling that guy took a lot out of me" Ronan stated, slumping in the passenger seat as Connor peeled out of the parking lot. 

"Adrian, kid, never do anything like tha' again. Do not offer yerself up like tha'" Merle scolded as he looked at the silent boy. "Basilisk," Merle called and Adrian looked up at him, his eyes glazed over with unshed tears "No matter what ya told those assholes, yer just as much of a man as Ronan, Connor, and m'self. Don't doubt that" He stated and the tears fell from Adrian's eyes as Warren hugged him, Merle moving to pat him on the back, only to see he was missing his prosthetic. "Shit did one of y'all grab my arm?" Merle questioned and Ronan handed back the metal contraption and Merle was quick to buckle it up, covering his stump.

Sometime later Connor pulled over to the side of the road as the sun set, hiding the van behind a cluster of bushes and tree's. "Rest guys, I got first watch" Warren said, switching places with Ronan as Connor reclined his seat, Merle doing the same as Adrian and Ronan laid the bench seat down, spooning together as Alice leaned her seat back too. 

Around four hours later Warren woke Connor to take over while she got some sleep, saying there was nothing exciting going on outside as she laid down. Since everything that happened that day Connor felt on edge, the slightest things made him nearly jump out of his seat, he wanted to switch on the van and drive as far north, towards his home, as he could. For all the times he told his Dad that he was a man he didn't feel like that right now, he felt like a scared little boy who wanted his Daddy to hug him until he felt better.

Tears fell down his face as he watched out the windows, staring at the moon. A hand placed itself on his shoulder and he jumped, turning around to see Merle watching him. "Quit yer crying. That ain't gonna help ya none kid" Merle stated handing him a washcloth "Just makes ya feel more like shit. What's all this about?" He asked, motioning around Connor's face. "Wondering if my Dad's still out there, somewhere, looking for me. Ya know, the last thing I said to him was 'Fuck you old man' as he was passed out on the couch" Connor sniffed, wiping his face with the cloth. 

"Yer Dad was a drunk?" Merle asked and Connor shrugged as he nodded "Kinda... Yeah. We lost my little brother a few years ago. His name was Cole. The road was icey, I wanted to go the party store to get some snacks. Dad told me it was too dangerous to go out but I pleaded until he finally said yes. We were going around a corner, and the car slid, Dad tried to stop but the car fishtailed and a truck hit the rear, smashed right into Cole's door. The EMT's were too late, he was gone when they got there"

Connor had large tears falling down his face as he told the story, remembering it like it was yesterday. "You don't know how much I blamed myself, but I turned the anger onto my Dad. He turned to drinking, lost his job at the DPD, then we moved down here. I stayed inside for months, skipping school, not wanting to face anyone, thinking 'What if they know? What if they know I killed my brother?'" He took a deep breath "Dad got a new job at our local police department and that's when the truancy officer started showing up, forcing me to go to school. That's when I met these dumbass's, they became my family." 

Connor looked back to his sleeping friends, catching Merle subtly wiping his eyes. "Damn, ya been through a lot. Don' know where I'd be if I'd lost Daryl. When we meet up with 'im again, don't tell 'im I said tha'" Merle grinned as Connor gave him a wet laugh "Promise" He held up his pinky and Merle rolled his eyes, linking with Connor's.

"Get some sleep kid, I'll take over" Merle ordered before the two switched spots. "Hey Merle" Connor called and Merle turned to look at him "Thank you for listening to me"

Chapter Text

It'd been a month since Merle and his kids left the rest stop. They had to go back through Merle's withdrawal process to detox the ketamine from his system, though this time around he was a lot more tolerable, nicer even.

Cold weather started creeping into the Georgia air, Mother Nature trying to balance out the loss of pollution and the group found a small house to hide out in as snow piled up outside. Connor, Merle, and Warren were going over a map, X's meant places they've scavenged for food but found nothing, B's are places they'd stayed at, and P's meant where they had ran into other survivors.

A couple of the groups were nice, offering to trade food for bullets and supplies and vice versa. The others though ended like the group at the rest stop, controlled by Ronan and they're supplies stolen by Merle. When doing these, most of the time accidental, raids Ronan would test his abilities. Seeing how long he could hold control over the person, how many people he could control, the current record being seven people, and how the Infected reacted to the Controlled. Merle called Ronan's abilities a mutation, saying that his DNA must have changed to adapt to the bite, instead of killing him. 

"Ay, Bambi, yer spacin' out over there, you alrigh'?" Merle asked, looking over at Ronan who was supposed to be on watch but was instead staring at the wall. Ronan snapped out of his trance "Yeah, I'm good. Just thinking" He shrugged as he turned to the window, watching the decaying Infected tap at the window, ignoring him to look at the others. 

"Ya mind shanking that one, it'll draw attention" Adrian asked from where he was cleaning his gun, Alice beside him sharpening her arrows, along with making a few from sticks and bird feathers. He cracks the window open just enough for the Infected to get interested and put its head near him, his knife sinking into squishy rotted flesh before closing it back up, wiping the knife against his jeans. 

"You guys know that I hate these fuckers, but ever since the rest stop everything's felt off. I shouldn't have survived the bite but I did and now it's changing me. What if it all hits at once and I turn against you guys? What if I start to decay like them? W-what if I'm slowly dying and there's nothing we can do?" Ronan stressed and Merle stood, wrapping his arms around the boy. 

"No use stressing with yer stupid 'What If's. There's nothing to worry about, Bambi, other than Annie stealing all the good parts of dinner" Merle grinned when he felt Ronan laugh "And if anyone could make a cure for this bullshit, it'd be you, Bambi" Merle ruffled Ronan's hair. "Hard not to when they ignore me to go after you guys" Ronan stated as he and Warren switched places wordlessly. 

"Also I think they're talking" Everyone stopped what they were doing to focus on Ronan, scratching his already blunt nails against his jeans. "What ya mean they're talking?" Merle asked and Ronan shrugged "Nearly every time we go out I hear more voices than you guys. Most of the time they're talking about you guys being food but some, like the ones stuck in the fences, ask for death. It's all warbled and watery but I can hear them. The one at the window was asking me if I'd seen his family"

Merle nodded while glaring at the fireplace like it had offended him, Ronan wouldn't blame him though, seeing as how it was decorated with 'Live, Laugh, Love' slogans and other basic stuff. "Can you filter them out?" Connor asked, tilting his head slightly "That's what I do most of the time but fresh ones like him are louder" Ronan stated as he picked up the map.

"We'll come back to that at a later time but for now let's get some sleep, I'll take first watch" Merle said, waving the teens off and they knew to listen, leaving him alone to think. "Did I drop too much?" Ronan asked looking around at his friends and Connor shook his head "It was good that you did, how long has this been happening?" 

Ronan tilted his head to the ceiling as he thought about it "I never actually noticed it until a nights ago on my turn on watch. I wanted to test out my invisibility again, turns I'm not invisible, instead they simply think I'm one of them. There was an Infected stuck in the fence, calling me closer before asking me to kill her. I notice it all more when it's quiet" He explained as they piled into the bed like usual, though Merle had taken a mattress from a different room and started crashing in their room after one place they stayed in was raided by a different group.

A few hours passed before Merle returned and shook Adrian awake "Yer turn kid" He whispered as Adrian sat up rubbing at his eye before he froze, looking down at his lap and running to the conjoining bathroom. The others jumped awake at the door slamming, weapons at the ready "The hell was that?" Alice asked, her eyes darting around, her eyes falling to where Adrian had slept, a patch of red soaking the sheet "Oh no" She whispered as she walked up to the bathroom door.

"Adrian? You need anything?" She asked, gently knocking on the door "Merle gone?" He asked and Warren pushed Merle from the room "Now he is" She reassured and the door cracked open. "I need pads. Only issue? We're completely out. We don't even have tampons. Someone needs to make a run, I ain't using none of that washable shit" 

Ronan was out of the room and house faster than the others could think, knowing he was the safest to get the supplies. Alice and Warren stayed near the bathroom door as Connor stripped the sheets from the bed, relieved that the stain only effected the sheet so Adrian wasn't as embarrassed. 

"Where'd Ronan run off to?" Merle asked leaning in the doorway "Getting supplies we didn't know we were out of" Warren stated knocking on the door, getting a couple knocks back from Adrian. "Shark week sucks ass" Adrian shouted from the bathroom and Merle's face scrunched up before his eyes went wide with realization. He held a finger before walking away.

"He still there?" Adrian asked "Nah, he left the room" Alice said before Merle walked back in "Open the door a bit. I got somethin' for ya" He said and the door cracked open slightly "Crush them and they heat up. Should help" Merle shrugged handing Adrian a couple heating packs with something wedged between them.

Adrian pulled it out and his eye's lit up "Where the hell you get chocolate?" He asked as he smiled "Found it a little bit ago, figured it could be used fer somethin'. Not exactly this but somethin'" Merle explained as the door burst in, Ronan's arms full supplies. "The lady Infected next door was really nice, told me exactly where this stuff was" He grinned as he handed a box of pads to Adrian before stuffing the rest into a bag.

"This bag is now used for sanitary products, like these and the med kits, peroxide, and the cheap whiskey. After you get finished in there we need to book it, I saw headlights coming our way" He rushed out and by the end of his sentence the group was running around and packing as fast as they could, leaving just as the other group pulled into the house next door. 

"That was close" Connor muttered as he watched one of the group get off a bike, watching the van peel down the street. "Where to now?" Merle asked as Connor squeezed his torso between the two front seats and unfolded the map between him and Warren. "Last time we stayed at The Castle, wouldn't hurt to head back there, we need to put on snow tires" Warren stated as the van swerved on the icey road and Merle nodded in agreement.

The Castle was large house in a rich type neighborhood with a garage, the same place they found this current van and a bunch of stuff the teens liked. Merle and Ronan opened opened up the garage door and Connor drove it in before the door shut again. They entered the house through the kitchen and Ronan grinned as he rushed over to the battery operated record player, placing an Ink Spots record down.

He sang along to the music as everyone situated around the lavish livingroom, preparing to use the couch as a bed for the night. Connor offered to take Adrian's turn on watch, the effects of his period already taking place as he warmed up the packs and rested them on his stomach. Ronan laid down beside him, resting his head on Adrian's shoulder as Alice and Warren took one L part, Merle taking the other. Connor sat in the recliner placed by the window and watched for hoards and people.

Merle woke up not long later, finding all the teens passed out, Connor slumped forward against the window sill and Merle sighed before covering the boy with a blanket. He scratched at his neck, furrowing his brows as to what had woken him up before he heard a whimper coming from the girls side of the couch. Alice had moved away from Warren's arms and wiggling around, broken sounds escaping her.

He crept towards her silently before he gently shook her awake. She jolted up, sucking in a gasp of air before her shoulders shook with sobs. "Hey, yer alright" Merle reassured before Alice wrapped around him and she cried into his coat. He gently wrapped his arms around her, awkwardly rubbing her back as she started calming down. "Wanna talk about it?" He asked softly and Alice shook her head, slumping against Merle's chest.

"I'll be here in case ya wanna" He whispered, running his fingers through her hair and she sighed as her breathing evened out. Merle felt that weird warmth fill his chest as looked down at his girl with a soft smile. 'Yer girl? The hell ya thinkin? The minute we git back ta Daryl we're leavin' them behind, no use gettin' attached' Merle's brain hollered as he squeezed his eyes shut. 

"Hey, Merle. You gonna let Alice go anytime soon? Breakfast is ready" Warren laughed as she shook Merle awake, Alice struggling to get out of his iron grip. Merle's eyes snapped open and Warren jumped back as Alice froze. "He kinda reminds me of a bear, grumpy, strong, and smelly" Ronan smirked, elbowing Warren who stifled a laugh behind her hand.

"Oh, I'm smelly huh?" Merle asked and Ronan backed up as Merle pushed Alice off before he charged at the boy. Letting out a shriek Ronan ran down the hall, Merle's thudding footsteps echoing throughout the house. "I'll show you smelly" Merle roared as he grabbed Ronan, throwing him over his shoulder and Ronan gagged, his face pressed against Merle's back as Merle spun around, effectively making Ronan dizzy.

"Uncle! Uncle! I surrender" Ronan shouted as he kicked his legs and Merle set him back down "I need ta teach hand ta hand combat next, ya can't surrender when your in danger" Merle stated and Ronan nodded, bouncing on his tiptoes. "Y'all gonna come eat?" Adrian yelled and Ronan tapped Merle on the stomach "Tag!" He stated before running off.

Merle let out a groan that turned into a laugh before he followed the bouncing teen 'At least it's a good day' Merle thought as he sat at the table, grabbing a helping of deer jerky that had become one of Ronan's favorite foods since they ran out of poptarts and ravioli. The teens chatted as they ate, Merle interrupting every once and a while to put in his two sense.

Eventually they broke up to go do their own things. During their last stay at The Castle Connor found an old CB radio but couldn't bring it with him, seeing as they didn't have power but while they were out Ronan found some mini solar panels that he was currently hooking up to it. The two set it by the Watch window and let the panels charge up before it turned on. 

"Hello? Anyone out there?" Connor questioned into the mic as he switched the channels. Connor jumped as a voice came out, seeming to be reporting some random news "Hello? Can you hear me?" He asked and the man talking stopped. "Holy shit! Another person! Who am I speaking with?" He asked, and Ronan could almost hear the smile in the mans voice "Call me Basilisk, I'm here with my friend Bambi" Connor stated.

"I'm Citizen Z. I'm up at the-- at the NSA's Northern Light listening post in the Arctic Circle. I've been searching around for survivors, mostly Delta-X-ray-Delta... Don't know why I'm telling you this information but what can I do for you? You need help getting a message out?" Z asked and Connor had never spoke quicker. 

"Can you find any information about a man named Lieutenant Hank Anderson? Can you tell me if he's alive?" He asked and the other side was silence for nearly a minute "I... I'm sorry for your loss" Was all Citizen Z said "I did a facial search and the last camera he was seen on, a hoard of Z's were following him" 

Static filled Connor's ears as he dropped the mic before running out of the room. Tears flooded his face as he punched the wall, needing an outlet to the pain. His fist went through on the first hit, only denting it on the second, and on the third a scream of agony tore out of his chest and echoed through the house as Connor fell to his knees.

Merle was the first to reach his as another scream escaped him. "Cut it out" Merle whispered, holding the boy's hands to his chest "Talk to me" Connor struggled against Merle for a moment before he went limp, his body shaking with the force of his cries "He's gone! H-he's dead and the last time I saw him he w-wasn't even awake. I spent so-so much time telling him how much I hated him and now he dead and-and I can't say goodbye!" 

Merle hugged the boy tightly as he cried "We'll make a memorial for him, alrigh'? We'll make something to remember all y'alls families" He reassured "I know it ain't the same but it'll do" Connor simply cried as he let Merle talk to him. He eventually calmed down slightly and Merle let him go, bringing him back to the living room to gently drop the boy onto the couch.

Warren wrapped her arms around Connor as he cried more, whispering softly to Connor. Merle stormed over to the mic "Who the hell's on the other end of this thing" He snarled before the radio spoke up "Citizen Z up at the NSA's Northern Light, to whom am I speaking?" Citizen spoke up. "Merle Dixon, guardian of these kids" Merle stated and a whistle came from Citizen Z "That is a loooonnngg list, including Dishonorable Discharge for punching a superior officer"

"I want ya ta keep searching for Basilisk's Dad, don't contact again until you find something useful" Merle scoffed before turning off the radio. Alice and Warren traded places as Warren left the room, holding her hand up to her face. Merle followed her to the garage where she sat in the drivers heat, looking down at something.

He knocked on the window  and her head jerked up, letting Merle see what she was looking at. A worn and well loved picture of Warren and two identical little girls, all three smiling brightly at the camera. Merle sighed as he opened up the door "Not a bad idea to come out here, but you'll catch yer death in this cold" He stated as he held out a hand to her. Warren turned away from him as she wiped her tears away.

"Ya know ya don't need ta act strong all the time righ'?" Merle questioned and Warren shrugged "I'm used to it. I had to be strong for my sisters when Mom and Dad would fight and I like to be strong for my friends. I get upset, then they do too" Warren whispered as she looked back down at the picture, shifting it to reveal a picture of all the teens, though much younger, looking around thirteen, a moment frozen in time.

Ronan and Adrian stood at one end of the picture, Ronan attempting to jump on Adrian's back, Ronan had a big smile on his face while Adrian's mouth, probably shouting at Ronan. Alice was trying to wipe melted ice-cream off her face while Warren was actively throwing hers in Connor's direction. Connor was on the other end of the picture, and arm around his shoulder but the picture was torn in the corner, the sixth person missing.

"You should head to bed kid, it's been a long couple days" Warren nodded as she headed into the house "I'll take first watch" Merle groaned as he sat in the recliner, listening to the kids behind him get comfortable. 

Half an hour later the kids were asleep and Merle couldn't keep his curiosity at bay any longer. He silently went through Warren's bag, finding the picture but not the missing corner. Written on the back was their names, including a sixth, Thomas. Placing everything back the way it was before, minus the picture, he moved onto Ronan's bag, finding nothing. Going through all the bags to find it, Merle finally found it in Connor's bag.

He kinda looked like Connor, though his hair was black instead of brown. Piercing blue eyes and a awkward shark-like smile, his hair stuck up in every direction and in the other hand that was seen was an old slingshot. Who was this kid? What happened to him?

Chapter Text

I'm typing this from my phone but I wanted to get this out. I don't know when I will update this next... Something's wrong with my head. 

For as long as I've been writing, 7 years now, I had a disorder called Maladaptive Daydreaming. Some with it see it as a curse but I used it to write. 

For some reason in the past two months I haven't been able to daydream, meaning in turn I can't write, at least not fan fictions. 

My way of writing was due to me immersing myself into hours of daydreaming, writing down the parts I found fun to act out. That's why I'd switch fandoms when I found a new hyperfixation, I'd switch to OC's in different 'worlds' basically. 

I'm... Lost at this point. I found so much fun in writing this story and a part of me is worried I won't be able to update it again... 

Thank you so much to those who have stuck around to read this story, I really didn't think it would have gotten this many comments and love. I started this story as a stupid little redemption story to Merle accidentally adopting five kids with issues and it got over 3,000 views. 

I love you all so much and can't thank you enough for reading and commenting. It helped me bring up my confidence to started posting my Original Stories and such. Thank you for the Kudos and support and love. 

This is goodbye for now... I might return sometime but I don't know when it will be. Hopefully I can bring back the daydreaming and update someday. 

I hope you can forgive me... This is Sam signing off Merle Dixon's A+ Parenting. For now, or forever.. ❤❤

Chapter Text

At the end of Merle's turn on watch he kept the photo, returning the torn piece back into Connor's bag. Time passes both slower and fast at the same time during the apocalypse, two weeks spent with Merle teaching the teens hand to hand combat, training them to be soldiers. They were better with listening to him in an instant, a simple call of 'Line up' and they'd stand as soldiers would. There was few mishaps, such as Ronan locking his knees causing him to pass out momentarily but otherwise they were becoming perfect soldiers. 

To keep themselves occupied they picked up different things to do.

Alice was now just as good as the others with a gun, able to hit targets with perfect aim, though she still preferred her bow and arrows.

Ronan started learning to fix cars from Merle and now any time the van broke down he was the one to fix it.

Connor kept in contact with Citizen Z, both to keep tabs on the rest of the world and to search for his father, Z had found some more recent evidence that suggested that the officer might be alive still.

Warren took to sparing with Merle to learn to fight better and was getting close to beating the Marine.

And Adrian found he really liked cooking, whether it be drying and smoking meat for jerky or making random soups for the meat they have.

Merle was watching them as they sparred in the front yard, rolling around in the snow, a proud smirk on his face as he leaned back against the porch railing. He still had no idea where Daryl was but that didn't seem to matter much when Merle had the kids... His kids? He liked the sound of that. He currently had the picture he took from Warren stuffed into his prosthetic, between his arm and the black sock he uses to avoid chaffing. Warren knew it was gone but didn't question it, giving Merle knowing looks. 

"Come on!" Ronan laughed as Connor and Adrian stood before him "Stop trying to hit me and hit me" He laughed as he once again dodged Connor's fist before twisting to avoid Adrian's foot. "Quit fucking moving!" Adrian huffed as he finally managed to land a hit to Ronan's stomach and Connor tackled the two. The way the three boys feel, they fell right onto Warren and Alice, leaving them in a pile of laughter.

"Alright," Merle called, "That was good, but no tackling. It puts ya righ' in the middle of a fight" Merle advised before seeing he was being ignored by the now rough housing teens. It ended a few minutes later with Warren, Alice, Connor, and Adrian all laying on Ronan as he squirmed beneath them "Y'all are heavy!" He whined, throwing his arms up. 

Merle let out a whistle and out of habit the teens scrambled up to face him, standing at attention. "I'm proud of ya five," Merle stated as he walked in front of the teens, "Y'all are quick learners, taking ta everything like fish in water. Speaking of fish, we're gonna go catch us some dinner. Grab what ya need, we're leaving in 10"

The teens followed the order and rushed into The Castle, grabbing the fishing supplies that the owners had before The Fall and piled up into the van where Merle was waiting. "How are we gonna fish if the lake is frozen?" Alice asked, tilting her head "You cut a hole into the ice and fish through that, but you have to make sure the ice is thick enough to walk on" Connor explained and Merle nodded. 

"The weather's cold enough, meaning the ice should be thick enough but y'all will only step where I do" Merle ordered as he parked the van by a large lake, ice and snow covered it. 

Merle grabbed a stick and was using it to tap the ice, figuring out where the weak spots were. At one point his foot did drop through the ice, Alice letting out a scream before Ronan quickly covered her mouth "You'll attract Infected, quiet" He hissed and she nodded, clutching to his arm tightly when he let go. 

"Ol' Merle's just fine, Ali" Merle reassured as the teens stepped around the spot Merle broke through. Halfway across the lake Merle stopped, tapping the ice "We're makin' the hole here" He stated before stabbing the stick through the ice, making a large hole. 

"Now ya just put the bait on the hook then drop it into the hole" Merle demonstrated, putting a gummy worms on the hook and dropped it in. Ronan, Connor, and Warren followed the instructions, dropping their bait into the hole as well. 

"Out of all the hunting sports, fishing is the worst" Romana huffed, giving his fishing pole to Adrian instead. "Need patience, young grasshopper" Connor rolled his eyes as Ronan grabbed Alice's hand and went sliding across the ice, laughing as he fell on his ass. 

"'Ey! Stay in this area you two!" Merle barked when he saw how far out they were going "We're fine" Ronan waved him off as he came sliding back, Alice right behind him. "The ice is pretty thick" Ronan stated as he jumped on the ice, slipped, and fell on his ass again, causing his friends to laugh and Merle to roll his eyes. 

"Just do as I say, boy" Merle grouched, though there was a fond smile playing on his lips. Ronan giggled as he layed on the ice, making a snow angel beside them. 

"Quit making noise, you'll scare dinner away" Warren laughed, nudging Ronan's leg with her foot. "But I don't even like fish," Ronan whined but still stopped "It's smelly and slimy"

Merle furrowed his brows and looked down at Ronan "Well you've obviously never 'ad smoked fish. It don't come out slimy" He stated as the line went tight and he was quick to pull the fish from the water. 

"And there we got us some dinner" Merle grinned and snapped the fish's neck, stopping it from flopping around. "That's gross" Alice muttered as Merle tossed the fish into a bucket. 

"We all gotta make sacrifices to survive," Adrian shrugged, but looked down at the fish with a scrunched up nose, "Even if it is really gross" Merle rolled his eyes and grunts in response as he put his fishing line back into the hole in the ice. 

"And that's how ya can tell y'all are citiots" Merle grumbled and Ronan's jaw dropped "Rude! I'm just as country as you, Merle. I may not be a true hunter, but I'm the same backwoods redneck as you"

Merle laughed at Ronan before tossing another fish at him. Ronan let out a screech and dodged the flopping creature, skidding backwards on the ice. "It almost touched me!" Ronan shouted, his hands flapping angrily as he stood up. 

"Thought you were a backwoods redneck, boy" Merle laughed loudly, the other teens trying to hide their quiet laughter as well. "Ronan's never been that type of redneck," Warren giggled behind her hand, "But he obviously knows the most redneck ways to build things"

"Damn right I do" Ronan scoffed, glaring down at the still flopping fish "You gonna kill it or let it suffer?" He asked, looking up at Merle who simply grunted again, snapping the fishes neck. 

"Why don't you and Alice go look for another spot for us to fish?" Merle offered, knowing the boy was getting antsy just standing around. Ronan nodded, grabbing Alice's hand before carefully walking across the ice. 

Alice was tapping against the ice with the same stick Merle had been using earlier. "I'm actually kinda excited to try Merle's smoked fish," She shrugged, looking up at Ronan, "It can't be as bad as the canned chicken we had the other night" She giggled as Ronan gagged. 

"That's the last time I try cooking" He grimaced, looking back at the group to make sure they weren't that far away, only about fifteen feet away. "Well," Alice laughed, "That's why you take it out of the can first"

Ronan rolled his eyes, pausing for a moment when he heard the ice crack softly and took two steps to the side to avoid the spot. "When you make hobo stew you're supposed to leave it in the can, that way it doesn't dry out." He explained as he watched the ice closely. 

"Hobo stew..." Alice shook her head with furrowed brows "Such a weird name to call food" Ronan laughed in response, jumping as some ice cracked under his boot. He looked back again, estimating they were somewhere around 20 feet away from Merle and their friends. 

"That's what happens when you don't have much food to cook with and just toss it together with random things. Sometimes it's got beef, carrots, corn, celery, cabbage, and noodles. Mix it all together and you got yourself some grade A hobo stew" Ronan grinned. 

He and the others were used to Alice being like this, Merle just teased her a whole lot. Alice grew up rich, she's still getting used to lacking in things and throwing whatever together for food. 

"Hey Merle! I found the next spot!" Ronan shouted, his voice echoing across the lake so Merle looked up before raising a hand, showing he heard the boy. It took a few slow minutes for Merle, Warren, Connor, and Adrian to make it across the ice, only slipping a few times making everyone else laugh.

Merle was grumbling to himself as Connor and Ronan helped him cut a new hole into the ice, this time handing the fishing pole to Ronan. "Yer turn, fish us up some food" Merle ordered with a grin and patted Ronan on the shoulder.

"If we're getting fish, can we make sushi?" Alice asked as she looked down into the hole. "Sushi?" Merle scrunched up his nose and barked out a laugh "What kinda of richy thing is that?"

"It's a delicacy in multiple different countries. Japan, China, multiple Asian countries" Adrian informed him. "You know, some raw fish, maybe a bit of paper seaweed, wrapped up in some rice and sprinkled with some soy sauce" Alice grinned wistfully at the thought of having sushi again after so long.

"Raw fish?! Are y'all insane?" Merle looked horrified, a disgusted look on his face "You can cook it if you want, but most times sushi is raw" Warren nodded and quickly pulled her line from the water, thinking she got a fish.

Alice screamed and jumped back at the Infected that was covered in seaweed and ice, its skin wrinkled and bloated from being submerged for a long time, the fishing hook stuck in it's throat.

Connor reacted quickly, stabbing it in the head with his hunting knife but lost his pole in the process. "Shit!" He shouted after Merle cut the line to the Infected, looking down into the hole as if he were about to jump in to look for it.

"Hey Michigan boy," Merle called, pulling Connor back by the shoulder, "I don't know how things are where you're from, but the water will freeze you solid. The poles a lost cause" Merle waved towards the hole for emphasis.

"Sorry" Connor muttered dejectedly and Adrian shrugged "Ya saved Warren. I'd rather we lose the stupid pole than her" He said, trying to cheer up his friend.

Ronan took this opportunity to hand Connor his fishing pole "You can use mine. Alice and I are gonna go look for a new spot in case there's more Infected" He stated and grabbed Alice's hand again.

Merle watched as they slowly walked off, Alice tapping the ice with the stick to test the sturdiness. "Something going on between those two?" Merle asked, looking at Ronan and Alice's intertwined hands and Adrian laughed loudly.

"Hell no. Alice is a lesbian and Ronan is asexual. Don't tell him we know this, but Alice is most definitely his favorite friend" Warren explained, a small smile ghosting her lips as she watched them, her eyes mostly on Alice.

"Asexual? The hell is that?" Merle furrowed his brows, crossing his arms as a shiver wracked through his body. "Asexual means someone who doesn't feel sexual attraction to anyone. That's why Ronan has never had a girlfriend or boyfriend" Connor went further so Merle would be in the loop.

"I thought it was just gay and straight.. Theres more? Y'alls generation is weird" Merle shook his head in confusion, trying to wrap his mind around it and the three teens laughed.

"These have been around for way longer than our generation," Adrian informed with a grin, "It's just a whole lot safer in this time than it was yours. But..." He looked to the tree line nervously "I'm not so sure about that anymore, without all the laws and shit..."

Merle ruffled Adrian's hair affectionately with his metal prosthetic "No one's gonna hurt you, any of you under my watch" He stated, smirking when Adrian let out a shout, shoving the metal piece away.

"Jesus Christ that's cold!" Adrian growled, pulling up his hood to cover himself from the cold. There was a tug on his line and he grinned with excitement, catching his first fish ever, a very manly thing apparently.

Just as the fish broke the surface of the water, there was a loud CRACK! that came from across the lake, both Alice and Ronan frozen to their spots.

"Merle?!" Alice shouted in a panicked tone as she watched the ice crack like a spiderweb under her feet. Merle quickly but carefully shuffled to the two teens, seeing the ice breaking as he got closer.

"Alice," Merle caught her attention, keeping his eyes locked with her, "Lay on the ice and crawl on yer belly, distribute yer weight on the ice and slide to me" He instructed her calmly, his arms out and ready to catch her.

Alice followed Merle's instructions, slowly laying herself down onto the ice and army crawled to Merle who quickly helped her up, checking her over.

"Uh... Guys?... " Ronan called, watching the cracks get bigger underneath his boots. He looked up with wide brown eyes before the ice gave out. "Dad!-" Was the only thing he could get out before his body felt like it was being attacked by millions of bees, stinging into his skin.

Ronan tried to scream out, only for the cold water to enter his mouth, forcing it's way down his throat. He couldn't move, listening to the garbled noises around him, his hair and clothes floating lazily as he watched with blurry eyes.

A dark figure swam down to him, grabbing him by the bicep and pulled him upwards. The edges of Ronan's vision began to dim, only focused on the cold digging into his body.

That was all he could register before everything went black.

Chapter Text

Light assaulted Ronan’s eyes as he squinted against it. “Rise and shine, Bambi!” A voice sang and Ronan groaned, covering his eyes with his arm. “Uh uh, Ro. Gotta open your eyes” Ronan listened to the voice and his eyes widened seeing the boy sitting before him. “Morning sleeping beauty” Tommy grinned before he was knocked down by the force that was Ronan Wilson “Missed you too” He grunted as Ronan pulled back. 

“How the hell are you here?! Last I heard you and your Dad booked it to the mountains” He smiled and Tommy shrugged with a sheepish smile “Well… This is just a figment of your imagination. You just fucking drowned, remember? This is your purgatory until you decide what to do and for some reason I’m your guide”

Ronan furrowed his brows “Guide for what? I don’t understand” He said as he stood from the grassy ground and Tommy shrugged “Whether you want to go back or crossover. I know you ain’t religious or nothing but your heaven is waiting for you, either now, or years down the road. Your decision. If you ask I can take you through your happiest memories, or show you what your future is like”

Ronan looked around the landscape he and Tommy were dropped in, a grassy field surrounded by snowy mountains. There were clusters of flowers that popped up here and there, a lake somewhere in the distance. 

“Why the hell is purgatory so beautiful?” Ronan asked and Tommy laughed “Because your mind made it pretty. Now, make your choice. Memories or future” He stated as he stood beside Ronan. “I wanna see my memories. I wanna see Mama”

Tommy nodded before grabbing Ronan’s hand, leading him to a hut that wasn’t there before. The door swung open and Ronan gasped as he looked around his childhood bedroom. Spider-Man posters were stuck up on the walls, action figures cluttered up the bookshelf full of comics.

On the bed sat a little boy, unruly brown hair nearly covered his eyes as he read one of the comic books. “This kinda feels like a Christmas Carol. Showing me my past, present, and future” Ronan joked as he picked up one of the Spider-Man figures and Tommy grinned.

“I can if you want. This place is yours, I’m just here to bring you wherever you want to go in the end” He gave Ronan a smile, still as awkward and sharklike as it's always been. Ronan sat on the edge of the bed beside his younger self and waved a hand in front of him but the boy didn’t move.

“It’s like the infected” he observed as he looked back at Tommy “Have I been here before? When I was bitten?” He questioned and Tommy shrugged “I don’t know. Maybe. You forget everything when you wake up and I just get recreated”

Ronan nodded as the door opened again and a woman walked in. Her hair and eyes were just like Ronan’s, he’d spent most of his life listening as people told him he was a spitting image of his Mama.

Ronan felt tears well up in his eyes “No, not this day” He whispered, looking towards his friend, only to find Tommy gone. “You need to face it, Ronan. You need to see that it wasn’t your fault” Tommy’s voice told him as Diana sat at the end of Ronan’s bed, only now Ronan was the little boy. 

“Sweetie… Mama’s gonna leave for a while. I need time away from your Dad” Olivia said softly as she ran a hand through Ronan’s hair “Am I going with you?” Ronan asked as he looked up at his Mama who shook her head. “Not this time honey. But you’re a big boy now, you don’t need me anymore” Olivia wiped the tears from her face.

“But… But what about Dad? He doesn’t like me” Ronan asked worriedly as he glanced at his door “Oh, Ro, your Daddy loves you very much. I just… I need to leave. It’s me your Dad doesn’t love. He wants you to grow up as a strong man and I’m getting in the way of that” Olivia explained softly, running a gentle hand through Ronan's hair. 

“Will you come back?” Ronan asked, looking up at Olivia with watery eyes. “I'm sorry, baby.. I don't know when I'll be back... I don't think I will ever be." She pulled Ronan into a tight hug "You need to be the big brave boy I know you are. Im doing this to keep you safe"

Ronan hated thinking about this day, now he was literally reliving it. He'd spent years blaming himself, which Ronan knew was wrong, but he couldn't help it. Maybe if he hadn't existed, his Mama wouldn't have had to run away.. 

"Why do you think so little of yourself, Ronan?" Tommy's soft voice floated through the air as the scene playing froze. "You know how much she loved you and wouldn't want you to blame yourself." A hand placed itself down on Ronan's shoulder. 

"Its been years, Ro, you need to let go. She wouldn't want any of this for you-" Ronan interrupted Tommy's soft scolding "I want to go back. I want to go back to Merle and the others" He stated as he stood up. 

Ronan looked back at Olivia and pressed a kiss to the top of her head before turning to face Tommy "Take me back. I'm not ready to die"

Tommy smiled, pulling Ronan into the same hug Olivia did, but Ronan began to feel fuzzy. The world around them began to dissolve as Tommy pulled away "Hope to see you in the real world" He muttered before he fizzled away. 

"Come on, Bambi! Breathe damn it!" Merle's voice cut through the darkness and suddenly a bunch of water came rushing out of Ronan's lungs. Merle and someone else quickly sat him up, helping him expel the liquid. 

"Jesus Christ, Ronan, you need to quit getting yourself into so much trouble," Merle sighed in relief, running his hand through Ronan's nearly frozen hair "Though when we get home, we're talking about that 'Dad's thing"

If Ronan had the capacity to think over the freezing cold in his bones he'd have responded with his usual sarcasm, but instead he just slumped against Merle. 

The next coherent thing Ronan remembered was being piled up in front of The Castle's fireplace. Everyone was surrounding him, Merle's arm wrapped around him to keep him warn, though it didn't take long for Ronan to notice that Merle was shivering as well. 

Ronan laughed quietly "Sorry Merle.. Didn't mean to get you sick" He mumbled against the larger man's chest. "Just get some sleep Bambi" Merle shooshed him, running his hand through Ronan's hair again. 

"I'm here Merle. I'm still alive" Ronan muttered before his eyes closed, falling asleep in the comfort of being surrounded by his family.

Chapter Text

"Merle!" Alice hissed loudly, shaking Merle's shoulder roughly. The first thing Merle really registered was the excruciating heat that was covering his body and the killer headache pounding in his skull. Merle sluggishly opened his eyes to see Alice glancing at the window were Connor was standing, his gun at the ready.

"Wha-?" Was all Merle could get out before he began coughing violently, quickly trying to cover his mouth ended with him rolling off the couch and onto the floor.

"Guys!" Connor tried to get their attention but Alice shook her head "Merle's too out of it! We can't get him and Ronan out!" 

Before Merle could respond a crashing sound came from the front door of The Castle "Shit!" Warren hissed, she and Adrian already had Ronan up on his feet, but he looked just as bad as Merle felt "Merle! People!"

"H-hide. I'll deal with them" Merle grunted as he picked himself up, sitting back on the couch. The teens scurried off before the room was suddenly filled with people. Men. They had guns trained on him as they surrounded him on all sides.

"It's rude to just barge in without knocking" Merle grumbled as he looked around the men, his voice rough and scratchy from the cold running through his immune system. Turns out saving Ronan had worse repercussions than risking being in the water with possible Infected.

As Merle's mind was wondering he didn't notice a man speaking and held up a hand, interrupting him "Hold on, could repeat that? I missed everything"

The man glared at Merle with a scowl "I was saying that my name is The Governor. We saw lights from the windows and came to see if you and your group needed any help. I have a community, Woodbury, and we could use some new members"

Merle narrowed his eyes "Just me," He lied, "I have no group"

The Governor laughed, shaking his head "Then who was the boy standing at the window?" He asked condescendingly, an arrogant smirk on his face.

"No one" Merle growled and shakily stood to his full high, slightly shocked to find 'The Governor' was taller than him. But he wasn't as bulky as Merle, so the marine had some advantage "No ones here besides me"

"Well, I apologize if I don't trust you" The Governor snapped his fingers and his men branched off, walking around different parts of the large house. "No!" Merle tried stopping them but he was ignored "Get your men and get out of my house!"

"But you're all alone, I cannot in good conscience leave a sick man by himself" The Governor stated with false concern, a hand placed over his heart in dramatics. His head snapped to the entrance to the living room when Martinez and another man walked in, carrying Ronan.

"We got one of them," Martinez said, shaking Ronan slightly making the boy groan, "The other four jumped out the window"

"Sorry Shredder" Ronan muttered quietly as he was dropped onto the couch "Its okay, Bambi. Where's the others?" Merle asked, crouching down in front of Ronan.

"Like the-the guys said, they jumped out the window" Ronan muttered before falling into a harsh coughing fit.

"It seems that both you and your boy are sick..." The Governor observed, looking the two over with a raised brow "I have medicine back in my community. We have shelter, electricity, hot water, medical care. We can take care of you"

Ronan groaned once the coughing subsided, breathing raggedly with his mouth open as his nose was too stuffed up to breathe normally. Merle looked between Ronan and The Governor, worry covering his face before he sighed, looking down at Ronan's pitiful state.

"And what is it you want in return?" Merle questioned, looking The Governor up and down with narrowed eyes. The man smirked, stepping closer to Merle and Ronan "All I want in return is for you and your group to be safe. I could use a big strong guy like yourself so in return for what I give you, you work for me" 

"W-Work for you?" Ronan furrowed his brows and Merle quickly shushed him, thinking the offer over. He'd be forced to work for this wacko man, but the teens would be in a safe community, Ronan could get medicine to help him get over the sickness. His kids would be safe. The thought repeated in his mind, taunting him with the temptation before he finally nodded.

"I'll do it. I'll work for you and in return I get medicine and shelter for my family-" Merle scowled as he was cut off by the Governor and his men laughing. The Governor shook his head, circling the couch Merle and Ronan sat on, watching them with a predator like stare "When I said you'll work for me, I meant everyone, not just you. You see, people are like cogs in a machine, we need more people to run the town smoothly. Everyone plays their part, everything is perfect, and everyone is happy"

The scowl on Merle's face remained as he stood and held out his hand to The Governor "I'll take the deal, I just want my family safe and healthy. The names Merle, Merle Dixon. I was a marine before the fall, I'm sure you'll find a decent job for me. We'll discuss the others jobs once Bambi here is no longer sick. Deal?"

The Governor paused before shaking Merle's hands with a grin that made Ronan feel unsettled from where he laid on the couch, watching the interaction. The man in front of him gave off bad vibes, something was off. Maybe it was his too cleanness, or maybe it was the way he acted like he was above him and Merle, like they were pests not worth his time. But the unease could be from the strange scent of Infected wafting off him.

It wasn't like when the group would go out and kill a few while on a run, this smelled as if he was constantly around them, the scent stuck to his clothes like an aftershave. No one but Ronan would be able to smell it, with his weird mutation, but he remained silent as he was picked up by one of the Governor's men, Merle watching closely to make sure he didn't hurt the boy.

They got outside and were greeted by Connor holding a gun to the Governor's head "Let them go and no one gets hurt" He stated, glancing at Merle. The man quickly stepped forward and grabbed the muzzle of the gun, causing Connor to let go.

 "No need fer heroics, boy. We got us a safe place to stay, a community," He looked at the other teens who were ready to attack the Governor and his men at any moment "We'll be safe there, they got medicine fer me and Bambi, we're just gonna go with these..." He glanced behind him at the group that broke into their house "These nice gentlemen"

"And who are they?" The Governor questioned as he studied the other teens. Merle rolled his eyes and pointed at the respective teen as he introduced them "Basilisk, McFly, Terminator, and Annie. The one there that's sick is Bambi" He of course used the codenames, not trusting The Governor with the names of his kids "And that's all yer gonna know"

"I get it," The Governor grinned as he placed a hand on Merle's shoulder, leading him and the group of teens to a bunch of trucks, "You want to protect what's yours. But I'm gonna need their real names eventually" He stated before hopping into the front seat of one of the trucks. Merle and the teens were herded into a different truck, blindfolds placed over their eyes.

Ronan struggled weakly before slumping against Adrian, the older boy grabbed his hand tightly "I know you don't like the dark, but we gotta trust this guy. Merle does, at least somewhat enough that he won't kill us" He whispered into Ronan's hair. Connor and Merle were sat up straight, ready to fight at a moments notice. Warren was holding Alice tightly, the redheads breath was shaky, not liking the situation.

None of the teens did. None of them were sure about was happening but they knew to trust Merle, no matter how stupid or dangerous it may feel. It wasn't like Merle was blindly trusting the Governor, but he couldn't let Ronan get worse, the crackling in the boys lungs from the water he inhaled a week ago was getting worse. Worse to the point where he's started to cough up blood, whether that's from the sickness or his mutation, Merle wasn't 100% sure but he didn't want to chance anything.

The ride took a while, the sounds of guns going off every once in a while as the Governor's group gunned down Infected in their way of the road. Alice was deep inside her head when she gasped, tapping who she guessed was Merle roughly on the arm "We forgot all our stuff. Our guns and clothes and everything" She stated in a worried tone. Merle blindly patted her on the head, bumping her in the face a couple times as he tried to find her hair "Easy, Annie. When winter is over and we leave 'Woodbury', we'll go back for our stuff. I don't trust this guy not to steal everything we own"

Connor huffed and rolled his eyes under his blindfold "Then why are we going with this creep? Sure he's got medicine and electricity but... He's got bad vibes... Somethings off about him" He muttered the last part but the group heard him, Ronan humming in agreement. Merle sighed, nudging Connor with his shoulder "Because Bambi needs help. The kid is on the verge of death once again"

Ronan laughed softly "Lady Death just likes playing games with me. She has no real intention of taking me yet" He grinned, resting his head against Adrian's shoulder, feeling as his shoulders rose and fell from laughing. Merle furrowed his brows in confusion and slight concern, still not used to the teens self deprecating humor. All the teens would do it at random moments and it honestly made him worried, but they had reassured him that it was all in good fun and actually a common thing for their generation.

Finally the caravan of trucks stopped, the voice of The Governor echoed and was returned by a different voice before the sound of screeching metal grinded Merle's ears. The trucks drove slower, arriving to 'Woodbury'. The doors opened up and The Governor pulled the blindfold off Merle, the same egotistical smirk splayed on his face "Come on, we're home." He motioned for4 Merle to get out and he did, but he didn't follow when The Governor walked away, instead he helped the teens out of the truck.

"You're very protective of your kids, but they don't exactly seem to be yours" The Governor observed and Warren scowled as he pointedly looked between her and Merle "What, because I'm mixed?" She scoffed, crossing her arms. Merle raised a brow but remained silent, letting Warren defend herself, knowing that while she was strong with her fists, her words tended to have much more effect. The Governor raised his hands "I meant no offence by it, just concerned as to why a grown man is surrounding himself with a bunch of children. You can tell me if he's doing things to you"

Warren's jaw dropped, her hand pressed against her chest as she tried to understand what The Governor just accused Merle of. No one had time to process anything before Connor's fist connected with The Governor's jaw, sending him laying flat on the ground. He shook out his hand as Martinez aimed his gun at the teen "Don't say shit about him dickhead" He spat, not caring about the gun.

The Governor got up and dusted off his jacket, wiping away the drop of blood from his lip as he pushed Martinez's gun down "It's alright, I taunted him. My apologies, it seems that I've overstepped a boundary" He stated, insincere with his apology and all the teens could tell. Connor scoffed but Adrian interrupted before he could say anything more "It's fine. Could you please show us to where we're gonna be staying? It's late and after the break in, emotions are running high. We could finish introductions and everything in the morning" He stated calmly, trying to keep a fight from breaking out.

The Governor looked around the group before nodding "Follow me" He instructed before turning away, walking down the street. This gave the chance to actually get a look around. Woodbury was a small town, very few people still milling around in the streets and they only did so to switch who was on wall duty. The people watched them closely with scrutinizing eyes, making sure they weren't up to trouble.

Ronan shivered, not from the sickness but from the watchers, they made his skin crawl and it was apparent he wasn't the only one who felt uneasy, Alice grabbed his hand, looking around cautiously. "This place gives me the creeps" She whispered to him and he nodded in agreement, glancing to Connor and Adrian who were seemingly guarding the back of the group and they too nodded, having heard what Alice said.

The group ended up in front of a large townhouse "And here we are. Due to the size of your group you're going to have to take three different rooms, there's only two beds per room. Breakfast will be dropped off in the morning, along with medicine for you and your boy" The Governor spoke as he led them into the building. He opened the door to a room but stopped when the entire group went in, Merle paused before going in "We do things our way, meaning we don't separate for too long" He stated before following the teens.

They'd already pressed the two twin beds together into a full and took the cushions off the couch, laying them on the floor to make a bed for Merle as well. Merle closed the door in The Governor's face and laid down beside the teens bed, seeing they were comfortably piled up together like usual.

"Hey Merle?" Warren whispered and he looked up at her with his brows furrowed "How long are we staying here for? The Governor-" Merle interrupted her by gently grabbing her hand "I know, he seems like a creep, wouldn't trust him to walk behind me with a gun, that's for sure. We're only staying until winter's over, just like I said earlier. You know I ain't the type ta break a promise"

Warren nodded with a quiet sigh and the room was silent for a moment before Merle spoke again "But I need all of you to listen. I'm gonna be actin like my old self  while we're here, not to any of you's but to the townsfolk. We need to act strong so they don't like we're a target" Adrian raised a brow "But you're not gonna be a drunk addict again, are you?"

Merle scoffed and shook his head "Doubt they even have any good shit here" He muttered and the teens laughed "Go ta sleep ya little shits. We gotta make a good impression tomorrow if we wanna be treated nicely"

Chapter Text

Hiii! Typing from my phone still, I promise this story isn't dead and I haven't forgotten about it. Since November of last year my laptop has been broke so I haven't been able to update as much as I want. I finally told the lady who broke it that I don't care about her boyfriend fixing it anymore since he's been 'working on it' for the past whole year. 

Why is it taking so long? He needs three screws to get the screen on... But he told me that in April! So hopefully I can get the money from her to replace it and update this, I just hate that it's been so long. Sorry to the people who want more to read, I'm trying to work it out with the lady. 

Update will hopefully be sometime early summer/late spring, but I can't promise anything yet. Thank you for your patience and reading my weird story. Stay safe in this crazy world. 

--Sam ✌