Hi, as mentioned in the summary this is a sequel to my story Roommate. I recommend to read that one first.

I don't own anything The Walking Dead related.

The two men standing on the rails were startled by rustling leaves behind them. Thinking it's a walker coming they both got their knives ready and prepared to kill it. However, out of the woods came a man, a big one at that. Though he had a smile on his face it didn't reach his eyes, and he looked anything but friendly. Now in the world without an order, the world where anyone could do anything without any threat of punishment for crimes, a man became more dangerous than the walkers around. Almost out of reflex Rick's hand went to his gun, and before his brain had the chance to catch up he had it out of the holster and pointed at the new arrival. The man had his arms outstretched already in non-threatening gesture, but seeing the gun pointing at him he stopped and moved his hands up.

"Whoa, whoa! I ain't lookin' for no trouble. We just couldn't help but overhear your conversation and wanted to offer our help."

"We don't want or need your help!" Was Rick's immediate answer, his eyes started to search the woods around them while trying to keep an eye on the man in front of them at the same time. The gun not budging from its target. Merle made a face. Somehow he thought they would be more open to the possibility of having more people for securing the place. It looks not, but it's his and Lumen's best shot at getting inside, to see... so he tried again.

"Wait a minute. I'm sure we can work something out. I am a great shot, my friend is a decent one too-" gun cock sound made him shut his mouth.

"Rick!" Glenn hissed beside him, "we actually do need the help."

"Yeah, but not from them!" Rick hissed back, his eyes still searching their surrounding. He couldn't find anything that would give the other man's location away, "where's your friend? Tell whoever's there to come out. Hands up!"

"I won't call for her to come here until you point that thing elsewhere," Merle said slowly, raising his eyebrow as if explaining something to an idiot.

"Her?" Glenn asked.

"Yes, her, as in a woman. That's not the point though. The point is, we had kinda the same idea with the same problem. We figured, why not help each other. We could clean this place together. I bet there is enough space for all of us. What do you say?"

Nobody budged for what seemed like an eternity but then Rick slowly lowered his arm, and Merle chanced to lower his. A woman as a company of this man, that was unexpected to say at least. It tugged at some part in Rick, a part that made him want to check on her, to see if she's alright. But he had to remind himself that things were different now. They could be both dangerous, woman or not. He eyed the man for another minute before asking. "How can we trust you not to try anything once we get inside? Or before that for that matter?"

"Guess you can't," Merle said, earning a scowl and a gun in his face yet again. Damn it. He hated this, he was no beggar. Just as he was about to reach for his own gun and end this bullshit, the rustling was heard once again from the bushes behind him and then Lumen came into view, hands up. Merle shot her disapproving glare. He told her clearly she was to stay hidden until he came to an agreement with them. She mouthed 'sorry' but looked anything but. Maybe just a little nervous. Then she turned her attention to the two men in front of them.

"Hi, I'm Lumen, I'm the friend. He's not lying. We really mean no harm to anyone. Let me just tell you our proposition and if you won't like it, we leave." She knew that was bullshit. They wouldn't leave until they see for themselves that Daryl was no longer there or his dead body. But she couldn't possibly say that.

Glenn and Rick exchanged a look. Rick still seemed distrusting, Glenn didn't seem much more trusting, nevertheless, he was sporting an almost pleading expression. Finally, Rick lowered his gun slightly and gave the smallest nod for her to continue, "Okay, what's your proposition?"

She stepped tentatively closer to Merle while putting her hands down, "look, I know it's harder to trust people these days more than before, believe me, we found out the hard way. But there is only two of us, and you have a group. We heard you talking about other people. Don't you see? We are the ones who should be really worried here-"

"I still don't hear any proposition!" Rick cut her off impatiently. Maybe it's some echo from his past, some police radar, but Merle's presence has been keeping him on edge since the moment he showed up.

"The thing is," Lumen continued after giving Merle nervous glance, her confidence about her intervention wavering, "we've been looking for quite some time for a place we could call home. We are tired and this prison at least looks to have the potential to be safe. We could make it safe. But we won't be able to clear it by ourselves and you have your doubts about being successful too. So let us help. He wasn't lying, he is an excellent shot. And not just that, he's ex-military, and he's been teaching me for awhile now. We clear it together, and then we stay in separate parts and we won't bother you. I am a nurse and he can hunt, we are pretty self-sufficient. You won't even know we are there. Unless you'd need me to stitch someone up." She smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

Something about what she said must have been right because the scowl disappeared from Rick's face being replaced by a calculating one and soon he was looking at them as if he just bought new toys and didn't know with which one to play first. He relaxed his posture and put his gun back in the holster attached to his right thigh. Nodding to himself he finally spoke.

"Okay, alright. Come with us then. We'll talk more with others about everything," Rick said motioning for them to move. He suddenly stopped and pointed at Merle, his eyes hardening once more, "either of you tries anything, I won't hesitate to kill you, are we clear?"

"Crystal," Merle rumbled, Lumen just nodded then looked behind her and nudged Merle's side. He looked down at her and nodded in understanding to her silent question. Yes, they are taking their stuff right now, if the group meant trouble they better have all their guns on them. He turned his attention back to the two man waiting on them, "I'll just grab our stuff and we are good to go."

He then walked off into the bushes behind him, leaving Lumen to stand awkwardly by herself, waiting. Seeing the taller man had narrowed his eyes, staring at the place Merle disappeared to, she cleared her throat more loudly than necessary, successfully drawing his attention to her, "he went for our bags, we do have some guns. I thought it would be better to go make a deal without waving them in your face, you know since weren't going to shoot at you and all..." she trailed off. Their arsenal probably wasn't the best topic to start this conversation with, because Rick went from scowling at the forest to looking at her with more interest than before.

"Oh yeah? What kind of guns you two have?" he asked, but before she could form a response, one came from behind her.

"All sorts of." She heard Merle and let out a breath she didn't even realize she was holding and went closer to him while he continued, "I like my guns, most of them are mine from before this shit started."

Rick nodded, "right, ex-military you said. Makes sense. Let's go then."

The party started to move after that. Glenn looked rather relieved even though his nervous eyes kept jumping to Merle. They did need the help, and he was glad they came to an agreement with the pair but something about him made him uneasy. But then again, every new person was a potential threat these days.

After few minutes of walking, when neither Rick or Glenn paid them attention, Merle leaned over to whisper in Lumen's ear. "Nice speech back there sweetheart. You would make a fortune have you'd been a salesman." He chuckled.

"Somehow I don't think that profession would impress them right now." She mock whispered back.

"Oh yeah, you made us almost indispensable. One would think we are good people, ready to help with anything."

She turned her head and looked him straight in the eyes. "We are good people, Merle."

He stared back for a moment and then started laugh aloud making their companions look back at them. "You are cute, always have been," he said while throwing his arm around her shoulders, pinning her to his side.

They walked the rest of the way in silence. All of them too busy to keep an eye on their surrounding while keeping the other eye on their new companions. After few more minutes, Rick stopped and motioned to the trees on the right side of the rails.

"The rest of our group is waiting for us that way. Let me explain the situation to them first, and then I'll come get you, okay? Glenn here will stay with you."

"What? Afraid we'll rob you if you leave us unsupervised?" Merle rasped, and when Rick didn't give an answer a grin formed on his face. "You actually do? Do you really think chinaman here stands a chance against me? Better question yet, how incapable that group of yours actually is for you to agree to let us in even if you are afraid of us? You sure have to want inside that prison really bad!" He continued amused. He was in his element, and he was enjoying every second of the picture of the two nervous sucks in front of him.

Lumen, on the other hand, wasn't amused. She knew they have to keep their interest in the prison seemingly random and casual, but there was surely a better way of doing it then making them look like a threat to the group. Glenn's expression turned solemn and she heard him mutter something about Korea while Rick turned his scowl to the trees behind them. This wasn't good. She was about to step in to salvage what she could out of the situation when Rick did it himself. She expected a gun in their faces again, but instead, he looked Merle straight into the eyes and started to talk calmly.

"Alright, here's the thing. We, our group, we've been on our own for months now. They are my responsibility, and if there would be another choice for me there wouldn't be any agreement between us. Unfortunately, I don't have other choices and there is a pregnant woman in my group. That pregnant woman is my wife." His eyes flicked to Lumen. It was a subtle gesture but the meaning was clear. They don't need them only to clean the place. "So you are right, we do need this place badly, and so I'm taking the risk with you. But that doesn't mean I just lead you to my people and let you roam around hoping you won't kill us all. So now I need to go and prepare them for the news, and I ask you to stay here with Glenn and wait until I come get you. Can we agree on that?" he asked, his gaze glued to Merle.

Although Merle didn't lose his grin, his posture got straighter, his shoulder tense. "Merle?" He heard Lumen quietly talking beside him. He glanced down at her, seeing her silently pleading with him. Well, of course, he'd agree with that. They needed inside as badly as the group.

"Sure, leave the chinaman here, we'll wait," he answered.

"I'm Korean." The man in question muttered.

"Whatever!" Merle waved him off, "Go talk to your people," he said, taking his bag off and sitting on the rails, petting the place beside him for Lumen to join him," we'll be here."

Rick hovered for few more moments before nodding. First to himself, then to Glenn, who returned the gesture and without another word he went off.

When they couldn't see him anymore Lumen elbowed Merle to his side and started to talk quietly so Glenn, who was standing by the treeline, wouldn't hear her.

"What the hell was that? I thought we wanted them to like us."

He turned to her, so the other man wouldn't see him and dropped the grin, "not necessarily. We'll have Daryl with us soon enough, ah ah ah, what's that? No doubty faces! He's there! I just wanted to see how he'd react and he proved me right. He'd like to think he has the situation under control but he obviously doesn't. That's good news for us, he won't be no trouble. He's not as tough as he'd like to think he is."

Right, of course. She thought. This right there is why he's the one in charge. Not only she's a terrible character judge, but he's always several steps ahead of her. Seeing her annoyed expression he gave her a small but real smile, "Don't be so hard on yourself, we make a great team! No one talks like you! I bet that special calming aura of yours is spreading like a fucking wildfire every time you open your pretty mouth."

"It's the nursing training, you know that. You have to talk calmly to the patients," she muttered, blushing.

"Of course it is," he winked at her, "now I need to get the feeling of the group. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"You never think we have something to worry about."

"Exactly!" he said cheerfully with a mean glint in his eyes that always turned any expression he's sporting somehow sinister, always reminding her who she's actually traveling with. Who they are traveling for together.

Since that night they never actually talked about what happened, about what Daryl does, or about how deep in Merle was or wasn't involved. Not during the investigation, not during the trial, not after Daryl was sentenced to death after the long process. She was never brave enough to ask anything specific and wasn't sure if Merle even had the answers. After Daryl was allowed to have visits she had refused to go at first. She didn't really know how to deal and the only person in the world that continued to treat her the same as before was also the only person who linked her to Daryl. She was angry and she missed him. Those two emotions were fighting in her and she thought that if she went to see him, to talk to him, that it would help her to find the closure to all this mess. So she went.

By the time she got to the prison she was a nervous wreck. But when he came and sat at the other side of the glass and looked kindly into her eyes, all the anger toward him has evaporated. She felt whole again, she felt home. And so she continued to visit him, and she never asked. It was just so much easier to pretend. She moved back in his house, continued with her studies, and after some time people actually stopped openly staring at her.

She lived inside a strange bubble, preferring to keep from any non-working relationships. Between the times she and Merle went to see Daryl he dropped by here and there, to leave the meat after a hunt, to ask her to patch him up after a fight, to have a dinner with her. Meaning he wanted free, warm, homemade meal. That one topic though was never opened.

When the world as they knew it ended they were actually excited. As odd as it sounds it was the exact thing they felt because it meant a chance for Daryl.

So they packed and went right to the prison, Merle's idea. He was confident Daryl would stay put and wait for them to find him. It took them the whole winter to get there, a lot of time to think. What would this new order of the world do with someone like Daryl? Now she really regretted she never asked, that she didn't really know much about that part of Daryl. She saw first hand in their time on the road what Merle is capable of, how he operated in this new world. Thinking about that, despite her feelings for him, the closer they got to the prison, the more nervous she felt about seeing Daryl again.

So, the first chapter of the sequel is here, as always this was possible only thanks to my dear friend scriptor412 who once again agreed to be a beta for this story.

Thanks for reading! Let me know how did you like it and what do you think about the change of the POV.