AN - This is my first Walking Dead/Saints crossover fic. I'm a huge Norman Reedus fan. I love that man in everything he does! My characters are probably a little OOC. Okay, Merle will definitely be way OOC. I'm a firm believer that he probably could have been less of an asshole if he would have had the love of a good woman. I'm not Irish so I'm really trying with the accent, please bare with me. Any suggestions are appreciated. Thanks for reading!
ONE
The world ended not with an explosion, but with a whimper. A slow drawn out whimper that took days to fully turn into the bang heard round the world. Reports were scattered and mostly made up. Rumors of a horrible disease spread like wildfire. A disease that the CDC and the government had said was under control. A cure was in the works and civilians had been instructed to stay in their houses until the military handled it. But Aerin Macmanus knew that was all part of the understatement of the century. She had seen with her own eyes just this morning that nobody really knew what the hell was going on.
Her sweet little old lady of a neighbor had turned into something Aerin hadn't even wanted to put a word to and taken a huge bite of the mailman, his flesh hanging out of her mouth like bloody tentacles. The mailman had screamed and screamed until he didn't. She had stood in her shadowed screen door and watched, her hand covering her wide open mouth in shock. When old Mrs. Willington staggered back to her feet, Aerin shuffled back into her house and locked the door. She scrambled to her cell phone and quickly pressed some buttons as she raced around the house locking windows and doors.
"Love?" She heard on the other end of the phone and she sighed, just the sound of his voice settled her nerves.
"Murph, baby, you guys need to get home now. Mrs. Willington just ate the mailman. I watched it with my own eyes." She returned to the front door and peeked around the curtain.
"Crazy shit's goin' on all over, love." Murphy Macmanus said in a lilting Irish accent. "Stay in tha house and keep everythin' locked. Don' make any sound. Me and Conn will be home as soon as we can."
"Please be careful. I love you." She sighed, her forehead resting against the cool glass of the front door. "Is Conn there?"
"Aye, hold on. I love ye too, love." Murphy said and handed the phone to his twin brother.
"Aerin, lass? Are ye okay?" Conner asked, his Irish really coming out with his nerves on high alert.
"I'm okay. I just needed to hear both of your voices. Are you guys okay?" She asked. "No bullet holes, right?"
"No, lass. Nothin' today. We dinna even get to tha spot. Murph's drivin' like a bat outta hell ta get ta ye." He said, his eyes squeezed tight as he imagined her alone in the house, watching their neighbor eat people.
"Please hurry, Conn. I love you." She sighed into the phone, her eyes squeezed tight against the sight of old Mrs. Willington lumbering around the neighborhood.
"I love ye too, lass."
"Hurry." Aerin sighed into the phone and ended the call. She stuck it in her pocket and retreated upstairs. Climbing into the middle of the king sized bed,she huddled under her blankets and looked over at the pictures scattered across her dresser. One shot caught her eyes and she smiled at the memory. It was the first night she had met the Macmanus twins. She had been new to South Boston and had scored a job at a local pub called McGinty's. Her halo of red hair and snapping green eyes had helped her acquire the job, she was sure of it. The owner, an old man named Doc, had warned her about two of his favorite patrons in a stilted speech filled with outbursts of fuck and ass. The poor guy stuttered and had a questionable case of Tourette's. Aerin had liked him on first sight. She had laughed off his warning and continued building pints of Guiness and pouring shots of Jameson's. Tucking another tip into her bra, she had whirled around and ran into a hard chest. Looking up at the handsome face above her, she found herself stuttering. He had laughed and introduced himself as Conner MacManus and after he grabbed another equally attractive man, she had met his twin brother Murphy. She couldn't decide which she liked better and continued flirting with both all night. They were as equally enamored with her as she was with them and stayed at the bar until closing time. Doc retired upstairs after everyone else had left, leaving the three of them alone. Aerin remembered sitting on a bar stool between them, listening to them bickering over who was older and decided then and there that she couldn't choose which was her favorite. She was going to have to keep them both. And so she did.
With a groan, she shoved off the bed and began piling clothes into suitcases. She knew without even talking to her twin husbands that they were going to have to leave this house and this neighborhood. And that broke her heart. It had taken years of Boston and the cold and the danger before the boys had finally moved south. Hearing a banging on her door, she flew out of the bedroom and down the stairs. She could barely see the top of one of her neighbors heads through the glass and approached the door slowly.
"Carol?" She called out quietly.
"Yeah. It's me and Sophia. Please let us in." Carol pleaded, her voice clearly on edge. With a quick click, Aerin opened the door and watched with wary eyes as her frazzled neighbor and twelve year old daughter slipped inside. She locked the door behind them and watched out the glass at the horror show that was her neighborhood. Mrs. Willington had been joined by several other people staggering around.
"Are you guys okay?" Aerin asked, looking over her shoulder at Carol.
"Yeah, we are. But Ed's not. Mrs. Willington ate him." Carol slid down the wall and put her head on her pulled up knees. "She just walked up to him and took a bite, like he was a freaking all you can eat buffet."
"Mama, is he dead?" Sophia whispered from where she was staring out of a window in the living room. Her fingers clutched the curtains and Aerin could see her confused eyes shining in the muted light of the room.
"I think so, baby." Carol nodded. She looked at her daughter and wondered how Sophia was going to feel about that. Ed was a brute of a man and she and Sophia had been trying to figure out a way to get away from him for a while now, but that scenario involved Ed staying alive. They had both watched as Mrs. Willington had latched onto his arm and almost bitten it clean off. Ed had tried to fight back but he had gone down as she and Sophia had escaped up the street.
"Then why is he walking around out there?" Sophia asked, pointing out the window. Carol flew to her feet and to the window. Her shocked gasp sounded through the quiet house. She jerked Sophia by the shoulders and moved her away from the window, away from the sight of her father walking around with his jaw snapping and feet shuffling.
"I think maybe we should go to the kitchen. I've got some coffee going and I'm sure I can find something for you, Sophia." Aerin suggested, only wanting to get them away from the windows and the gory sight of their loved one roaming around dripping blood. She hustled them to the kitchen and poured Carol a cup of coffee before grabbing a can of Sprite from the fridge for Sophia. For herself, she poured a splash of Jameson's into a glass tumbler and threw it back.
"Can I have a bit of that?" Carol asked, pushing her mug towards Aerin.
"Sure." She smiled at the small woman. "I'm sorry about your husband."
"Don't be." Carol shook her head. "We're well rid of him. Soph and I have been looking for a way out for years."
"Ok." Aerin looked taken aback at Carol's nonchalance of her husband's demise. If something happened to Conner or Murphy she knew wouldn't be able to cope. Their bond was too strong to be fractured.
"I just don't know what we're going to do now." Carol sighed, her hand stretching across the table to hold Sophia's trembling fingers.
"My boys will be home soon." Aerin said. "Conn and Murph will know exactly what to do."
"I can't exactly defend me and Sophia out there. I wouldn't know how to kill one of those things. Or if they even can be killed." Carol looked up at Aerin, her short gray hair making her look much older than she really was. Aerin had always been under the impression that Carol was in her late forties or fifties, but it was obvious up close that she was closer in age to Aerin herself.
"We'll figure it out. Let's just keep calm until they get home." Aerin said, glancing at her phone she had set on the table.
"Your husband and his brother, right?" Carol asked, her hands clenching her coffee cup. The shot of whiskey was calming her nerves thankfully.
"Yeah. Sort of." Aerin nodded. She didn't really want to get into the details of her relationship with Sophia at the table. It was too uncomfortable for most adults to deal with, let alone a child who had just lost her father.
"Are they zombies, Mama?" Sophia finally spoke up, her blue eyes staring up at Carol. "Are zombies real?"
"I don't know, baby. They're not people anymore, that's for sure." Carol took a sip of her coffee and let the warmth of the whiskey soothe her soul. Aerin heard the garage door opening and sat up.
"They're here." She smiled and stood up, her eyes on the garage door.
"Aerin?"
"Lass?" Murphy and Conner both called out for her as they barreled into the kitchen. She laughed as they surrounded her, both of them dropping kisses all over her face.
"Thank fuck ye alrigh'. We were worried sick about ye." Murphy rested his forehead on hers and just looked at her.
"Everythin's fucked out there." Conner said from where he was holding her from the back. She could feel his head on her shoulder.
"I'm ok, guys." She laughed, one arm around Murphy's head in the front, the other around Conner's. "We have company." They both straightened up and looked over at the kitchen table. Carol waved weakly, her brow furrowed in confusion at the very open displays of affection that both of the men displayed to Aerin.
"Hi." She said, trying to paste a smile on her face.
"Ma'am." Conner and Murphy both greeted. With sheepish looks on their faces they shrugged out of their black pea coats they wore for work and hung them on the hooks by the door. Carol's eyes grew wide at the double shoulder holsters both twins wore, the huge guns making her instantly nervous.
"Carol's husband got eaten by Mrs. Willington, guys. It's just her and Sophia now." Aerin explained.
"Tha' ole bird's really making the rounds, aye?" Murphy muttered under his breath as he pulled two cigarettes out and lit them both. He handed one to his brother and leaned against the kitchen counter.
"We're sorry about yer husband, lass." Conner flipped a kitchen chair around and straddled it, his spare hand reaching for Aerin's. "O' course, ye'll stay with us. It's much too dangerous ou' there."
"What's the plan, guys?" Aerin knew them well enough to know that a plan would have been come up with in the car, most likely with Murphy mocking his brother's ideas. The plans were always a bone of contention between them and Aerin couldn't even count the number of fights she'd had to referee because of stupid fuckin' plans.
"We need ta get out o' here. This place is almos' overrun." Murphy spoke up. He moved forward and put his hand on Aerin's shoulder.
"I've already got our clothes packed upstairs. I knew we'd have to leave." She said sadly.
"I'm sorry, lass." Conner rubbed her hand. "I know ye like it here."
"It won't be the first time we've had to move." She shrugged, already resigned. They never got to stay in one place very long with the boys dangerous line of work.
"We're goin' ta need weapons and ammo. As much food as we can find and clothes." Conner took a deep drag on his cigarette.
"I'll work on the food here. Nonperishable, right?" Aerin kissed the back of Conner's hand and squeezed Murphy's before standing up and opening the cabinet.
"I'll need to go back to my house. Sophia and I need our stuff." Carol spoke up. "I have tons and tons of canned goods too. I'm a bit of a hoarder."
"Perfect." Aerin smiled at her across the kitchen.
"Okay, this is tha plan." Conner snuffed his cigarette out and stood up.
"Another one of yer stupid fuckin' plans." Murphy groaned and rolled his eyes, his cigarette dangling from his lips.
"Shut it, Murph. Go and gather all tha weapons and ammo." Conner ran his hand through his spiky dark blond hair and sighed. "Aerin, Carol, ye girls get all the food and stuff from tha kitchen tha' ye think we migh' need. I'll carry down our stuff from upstairs. Let's clean this house out and then we'll all go across tha street ta Carol's."
Murphy took a long look at his twin and nodded grimly. He put his cigarette out and brushed a light kiss across Aerin's forehead before he left the room. Conner smiled at the ladies and headed upstairs.
"Do you have any boxes or bags?" Carol asked, standing up. Aerin produced some black hefty bags and both women proceeded to empty the cabinets of anything they thought they might need. Sophia helped as much as she could until Aerin gave her a bag and directed her to the bathroom.
"I think toilet paper and toothpaste is a necessity too." Aerin laughed.
"For sure." Carol nodded as she dumped an armful of cans into a bag. Aerin must have been a bit of a hoarder too because her cabinets were overflowing. She bagged all the vegetables and wondered about what she had seen with both of the men and Aerin. Either they were all three a couple or she was really close to a brother. Finally, she couldn't take the confusion and blurted out, "So, are you with both of them?"
"Yeah. It's a long story. It's unorthodox, I know. But we love each other so fucking much, there's no way it could be anything other than what it is." Aerin shrugged, looking over at Carol. "I'm sorry if you're offended by it."
"I'm not offended." Carol shook her head. "You're very lucky to have them."
"I know." Aerin nodded. "Especially now. There is no one in the world I would rather have with me in this mess than them."
"Are they cops?" Carol wondered.
"No." Aerin shook her head and laughed. "The guns, right?"
"Yeah, I just figured." Carol ducked her head and looked into the cabinet. A few stray cans were in the very back so she bent all the way down and dug them out. She wasn't sure if jellied cranberry sauce was really necessary, but every little bit helped.
"They're about as far from cops as they can be." Aerin laughed and turned away from Carol. She caught sight of Murphy in the doorway and her breath caught in her throat. He was so fucking sexy in his black t-shirt and jeans. His dark brown hair rested against his forehead messily and that mole above his lip made her want to swirl her tongue over it.
She rushed across the kitchen and into his arms. Murphy dropped the duffel bags he carried and pulled her against him, moaning as her hands snaked under his shirt and slid over his taut stomach and across his muscled back. His right hand came up to cup her chin and she could just see the aequitas tattoo along his hand and index finger. He held her face and brought his mouth down to hers, his lips sliding across hers. She leaned up and opened her mouth for him, groaning as he tongue darted into her mouth. Every time she touched one of the Macmanus twins it felt like she was coming home. Aerin squeezed her fingers into the muscles of his back and pressed her body against his.
With a groan, Murphy pulled back. His calloused finger traced along her jaw and neck. He laughed as she shivered. "We don' have time righ' now."
"I know." She nodded, her green eyes piercing his blue gaze. "I just needed to touch you."
"Anytime, love." He laughed down at her and dropped a quick kiss on her mouth. "We need ta get moving. I think tha whole neighborhood's turned."
"Great." Aerin sighed and stepped back. She watched as Murphy picked up the bags that she knew had copious amounts of guns and ammo inside and carried them into the garage. Within an hour Conner and Murphy had everything they thought they needed from their house loaded into the black Nissan Armada that they used for work. Conner backed slowly out of the garage while Murphy held his guns at the ready in the passenger seat.
"Is there a car in yer garage, Carol?" Conner asked as he swerved around the lumbering mailman. Aerin, Carol, and Sophia were huddled in the back seat, all three thankful for the dark tinting on the windows.
"Yeah. Ed's truck. Should I go and move it?"
"I'll go." Murphy sighed. "Where's tha keys?"
"There's a spare set on the hook in the kitchen. Ed should have a garage door opener on the visor in the truck." Carol explained. "Do you want me to go with you?"
"No." Murphy said and jumped out of the truck. He aimed his gun at Mrs. Willington and with a quick pop she fell over. "Feedin' time's over, ole lady." He muttered as he raced across the front yard and battered down the front door. Slamming it behind him, he ran through the unfamiliar house and found the kitchen. Luckily the keys were hanging where Carol had said and he grabbed them and hurried to the garage. Climbing into the Dodge truck, he cranked it up and pressed the garage opener. He backed out and waited while Conner pulled the Armada into the garage. When the garage door was firmly shut, he turned the truck off and leaped out. The hum of the vehicles must have drawn the turned folks of their neighborhood and he was firing left and right as he hurried to the house. He put a bullet in Carol's husband's head as he darted inside the house. Carol and Sophia were upstairs getting clothes together and when he walked into the kitchen he saw Aerin in Conner's arms, their mouths pressed firmly together. He slipped his gun into his holster and walked over to them. He wrapped his arms around Aerin and pressed against her back.
"It's gettin' bad out there." He sighed. He felt Conner's hand on his head and he sighed.
"Thanks, Murph." Conner caught Murphy's eyes over Aerin's head. An unspoken conversation happened all while Aerin turned between her boys and slipped her arms around Murphy.
"Where are we going, guys?" Aerin finally asked.
"South." Conner said. He kissed the back of her head and moved over to the cabinets. Murphy pressed a quick kiss to her lips and followed his brother. They quickly transferred all the food to the back of the Armada and waited impatiently for Sophia and Carol. It wasn't long before they both appeared carrying suitcases and duffel bags.
"We're ready." Carol said.
"Good." Murphy took her bags while Conner took Sophia's and soon they were all inside the Armada again. Conner backed out of the garage and they sped away from their homes, the hulking bodies of their former neighbors shuffling through the streets.
