Summary: 17-year-old Lucille Joanna Winchester was happy to be on this supply run, especially when she was able to get shit done with her favorite and responsible (though younger) cousin, Robert Ashton "Bobby" Winchester. But that all fell through when they both got separated from their family in Atlanta, Georgia, of all places. So now, with the help of those along the way, they have to continue to fight the dead, the living, and the supernatural to find their way home. But will they be able to keep their holy secret along with everything else?
"On the road again. I just can't wait to get on the road again. The life I love is makin' music with my friends. And I can't wait to get on the road again-"
"Lucille, if you don't shut the hell up right now, I promise you I won't miss when I throw my this rock at your skull."
"You throw like a girl anyways, so I'm not too worried, cus."
Bobby groaned quietly and readjusted his backpack. Sometimes he hated going on runs with Lucille, but other times, there was no other person he'd rather be with. Other than his parents, of course. Lucille tossed a snarky look over her shoulder if only Bobby's face could wrinkle into that perfect sneer without a smile breaking its way through.
"Com'on slow poke! We gotta be able to find some more pain meds somewhere in this Grandpa forsaken city. It's so hot," Lucille moaned, rubbing her hand across her face melodramatically. Bobby patted her on the shoulder.
"Don't worry, Lu. We'll get what we need, make it out of this insane Georgian heat and back to the air conditioned bliss that is the Impala," Bobby reassured her. Lucille sighed and squeezed her cousin's hand in thanks. They continued walking in silence, passing by abandoned cars (which they took some clothes and forgotten canned food from) and made good progress from their temporary base camp to around a department store. They passed by the occasional Croat or two, but they quickly and quietly incapacitated them with their angel blades. Lucille groaned in disgust at the foul-smelling blood that now stained her favorite pair of jeans.
"You know, I might just jinx us by saying this-"
"Please don't then."
"-but I'm very surprised by the fact that there are very little Croats around-" her sentence cut short when they saw the mass of Croats in their path. Bobby smacked Lucille upside the head.
"I told you not to say anything! And look what you did!"
"Oh, I'm sorry, let me just knock on some wood to make it all better!" They tried to turn around to go back to base camp, which was in one of the abandoned houses outside the city but saw the way back was crawling with Croats. The wet growling of the Croats revoked whatever retort Bobby had as they mad dashed back to the alleyway a few blocks down. On their way, they turn a corner and see a thin kid wearing a baseball cap running away from them, carrying a bag full of guns. Bobby and Lucille shoot a quick look to the other and follow him.
They jumped over the flour sack barricade and see the kid sneak back into a different alleyway. They hear terrified shouting and sounds of a scuffle, and try using their grace to make them move faster. A car drives up the entrance of the alley. Two Hispanic guys climb out and run into the alley.
'Bobby, you follow them and I'll help out here,' Lucille prayed that her dark haired cousin understood her look. Ever since Angel Radio went down, it had been getting harder and harder to sort out even the simplest tasks of the apocalypse. He nods to her before sneaking and hiding in the backseat of their car. More screaming ricochettes through the air before they see the kid from before being dragged away from the alley by the guys and thrown into the back of the car.
Lucille stopped in front of the alleyway to watch them drive off, confident that Bobby will make good choices. She hurriedly enters the alley, pushing past the metal gate there and sees four men. One is dressed as a sheriff and is holding back the one with the crossbow while the big black man is keeping a thin Hispanic boy from fleeing. The man with the crossbow is yelling at a thin Hispanic teenager.
"I'm gonna kick your nuts up in your throat!"
"Chill out!" Sheriff tries to placate.
"Let me go!" The teenager tries to escape but the black man keeps him in place.
"Woah woah woah! What the hell is going on?" Lucille holds her hands up as a sign of peace.
"Who are you?" Sheriff guy deflected. He didn't immediately trust her, which was good, don't get her wrong, it just made the job more tedious.
"I was with my cousin when we saw that kid get kidnapped. We split up, him with those vatos and me to help you get there," Crossbow guy sneered rudely.
"And who's to say that you're not with them?" Lucille gestured to the teenager.
"Cause he would know me, Country Jake." The black guy snorted softly.
"Back to the topic at hand, though, how about we get acquainted and you all tell me what happened? I'll go first. My name is Lucille and my cousin who is tailing your guy? His name is Bobby. We really are only trying to help." Sheriff nodded and gestured to the back of the alley.
"I'm Rick Grimes. We'd best make our time useful and continue this on the way to a safer place to plan," Lucille nodded and followed them.
The black guy and the one with the crossbow were named T-Dog and Daryl, respectively, and the little Asian kid from before was named Glenn. The teen refused to cooperate and was just making everything harder than it needed to be. Something about Daryl's name rung a few bells, but Lucille put it to the back of her mind for now.
"Those men you were with, we need to know where they went," Rick told the teen. The teen shrugged.
"I ain't telling you nothing."
"Jesus, man. What the hell happened back there?" Lucille could tell that T-Dog was tired of the "Holier than thou" type mentality that this kid was failing to portray.
"I told you, this little turd and his douchebag friends came out of nowhere and jumped me!" Daryl was also becoming pretty aggravated.
"You're the one who jumped me, puto, screaming about trying to find his brother like it's my damn fault," Lucille's face screwed up, bemused.
"No need to bring out the offensive language, broha," when the teen flipped her off Lucille returned it with a smug look.
"They took Glenn. Could have taken Merle, too!" Another ping went off in Lucille's head but again she pushed it away.
"Merle? What kind of hick name is that? I wouldn't name my dog Merle." Daryl went to kick the kid in the face but Rick forced him back.
"Damn it, Daryl. Back off!" Daryl stomped over to the pile of backpacks along the wall and pulled out something wrapped in a handkerchief.
"Want to see what happened to the last guy that pissed me off?" Daryl unwrapped the handkerchief and waved a sawed-off hand in the kid's face before dropping it into his lap. The kid screamed and scooted away from the hand, falling on his ass in the process. Lucille looked at the bloody appendage in disgust and grunted in distress. Daryl leaned over the kid threateningly.
"Start with the feet this time!" He leered. Rick once again pushed him away from the traumatized kid.
"The men you were with took our friend. All we want to do is talk to them, see if we can work something out." The kid looked at Rick before giving a hesitant nod. Rick nodded back at him.
"Let's go, then," Rick stood up and walked out the door, nodding at Daryl, T-Dog, and Lucille. Daryl grabbed the kid by the arm to ensure that he wouldn't try to book it.
Lucille thought back on the times that she felt that hint of remembrance. Daryl and Merle. Merle and Daryl. Well, her daddy and uncle knew two people named Merle and Daryl, but they hadn't heard from them in years. And it may seem like too much as a coincident, but what were the chances of this being the Daryl that her family knew? Highly unlikely. However…
"Hey, Daryl?" Lucille bounded up behind him. He looked back at her, almost irritated.
"Your last name. I never caught it before."
She wanted to make sure he was…
"That's cause I never gave it, shorty,"
Because he could be trusted if he was…
"Don't call me shorty. It wouldn't happen to be Dixon by chance, would it?"
He looked back at her in suspicion as she wandered next to him, but she already had her answer. It was in his body language. His footing slipped as if shocked, his eyes shifted, he was tense.
"So what if it is?"
"Because then I'd know I can trust you like my Daddy did. Probably still would if he knew for sure you were alive," her smile turned more genuine as she said this, and he gave her a disbelieving look.
"Yeah? And who might yer daddy be?" Lucille continued to smile up at Daryl.
"Sam Winchester." His stop was sudden enough to pull the hostage back a little and he whined in protest.
"Little Sammy Winchester is your daddy? Who'd've known…" Daryl laughed and shook his head in amazement. He started walking again, chuckling to himself. Lucille followed after him, smiling pleasantly to herself.
They stood outside the compound that the kid lead them to, hidden by the outer walls. Rick checked the rounds he was putting into his guns and turned to the three people he trusted.
"You sure you're up for this?"
"Yeah," T-Dog said. Rick received an affirmative nod from Lucille.
"Okay."
"One wrong move, you get an arrow in the ass. Just so you know," Daryl glared at the kid.
"G's gonna take that arrow out of my ass and shove it up yours. Just so you know," Lucille's breathy laugh caused Daryl to give her a look. In response, Lucille shot him a wide shit eating grin.
Rick looked at the both of them like a disgruntled parent before turning to the kid, "G?"
The kid shrugged, "Guillermo. He's the man here."
"Okay then," Rick cocked his gun, "Let's go see Guillermo."
Rick, Daryl, and Lucille escorted the kid through a broken window and made their way to the front entrance. Rick stayed on the kids left holding a shotgun, Daryl on his right with his crossbow, and Lucille walked a few steps back, holding her Angel Blade in her left hand. The doors opened, squeaking horribly. Another thin man (who they assumed was Guillermo) walked out, while several beefy ones stayed surrounding the doorway. Guillermo looked the kid up and down, checking if he was alright.
"You okay, little man?"
"They're gonna cut off my feet, carnal," the kid sounded resigned but was truly afraid that Rick's group would carry out that threat.
"Cops do that?"
"Not him," the kid defended Rick, "This redneck puto here. He cut off some dude's hand, man. He showed it to me."
"Shut up," Daryl sounded truly done at this point. Then one of the guys that took Glenn walked out of the building waving around a handgun.
"Hey, that's that vato right there, homes. He shot me in the ass with an arrow. What's up, homes, huh?"
"He's so aggro," Lucille commented.
"Chill, ese, chill. Chill. You would be too if you got an arrow in the ass," Guillermo retorted. Lucille shrugged. Guillermo turned back to Rick and Daryl.
"This true? He wants Miguelito's feet? That's pretty sick, man."
"We were hoping more for a calm discussion," Rick said.
"That hillbilly jumps Felipe's little cousin, beats on him, threatens to cut off his feet, Felipe gets an arrow in the ass and you want a calm discussion? You fascinate me," Guillermo's growing anger simmered beneath his calm exterior.
"Heat of the moment. Mistakes were made on both sides."
"Who's that dude and the little girl to you anyway? You don't look related," Lucille huffed and crossed her arms.
"I'm not little," Rick held up a calming hand to her and she nodded, uncrossing her arms.
"They're of our group, more or less. I'm sure you have a few like them."
"You got my brother in there?" Daryl asked. Guillermo shrugged tauntingly.
"Sorry, we only have one white boy and he looks nothing like you. He's too pretty. But I've also got Asian. You interested?" Lucille kept her mouth shut. Bobby can hold his own if the need arises, no need to out him to them.
"I have one of yours, you have one of mine. Sounds like an even trade," Rick replied.
"Don't sound even to me."
"G," The kid got really nervous, "Come on, man."
"My people got attacked. Where's the compensation for their pain and suffering? More to the point, where's my bag of guns?"
"Guns?" Lucille was confused now.
"The bag Miguel saw in the street. The bag Felipe and Jorge were going back to get. That bag of guns."
"You're mistaken," Rick said coolly.
"I don't think so," Guillermo's response held just as much ice.
"About it being yours. It's my bag of guns."
"The bag was in the street. Anybody could come around and say it was theirs. I'm supposed to take your word? What's to stop my people from unloading on you right here and now and I take what's mine?" Felipe cocked his gun at Daryl, the guy to the right of Guillermo aimed his at Rick. Lucille just held her hands up in surrender, her face void of emotions.
"You could do that. Or not," Rick gestured up to the tops of the buildings, where T-Dog was stationed with a sniper aimed at Guillermo.
Guillermo chuckled, "Oye."
They looked at the roof and saw three guys, one of them was tied up and had a sack on his head. When they pulled it off, it was Glenn. He had duct tape over his mouth and looked thoroughly freaked.
"I see two options. You come back with Miguel and my bag of guns, everybody walks. Or you come back locked and loaded, we'll see which side spills more blood." Rick clenched his jaw tight. Guillermo smirked at his small victory and walked back inside.
When they got back to the department store, Rick went straight to the bag of guns and dropped them on the table.
"Them guns are worth more than gold. Gold won't protect your family or put food on the table. You're gonna give that up for that kid?" Daryl asked. Rick looked at him and sighed softly.
"If I knew we'd get Glenn back, I might agree. But you think that vato across the way is just gonna hand him over?" T-Dog spoke up.
"Way to brighten up the mood, T," Lucille said from her corner.
"You calling G a liar?" Miguel shot at T-Dog. Daryl shot forward in his face and smacked him upside the head.
"Are you a part of this? You want to hold onto your teeth?!"
"Question is, do you trust that man's word?" T-Dog asked softly.
"No, question is what are you willing to bet on it? Could be more than them guns. Could be your life. Glenn worth that to you?" Daryl was asking tough questions, but, Lucille thought, they were necessary.
"What life I have I owe to him. I was nobody to Glenn, just some idiot stuck in a tank. He could have walked away, but he didn't. Neither will I." Sounded like a solid answer.
"So you're gonna hand the guns over?"
Rick looked back up at Daryl and shook his head. "I didn't say that. There's nothing keeping you two here. You should get out, head back to camp." T-Dog rubbed his head in exasperation.
"And tell your family what?" He and Daryl give Rick looks of agreement. They were sticking with him. Rick turned to Lucille.
"Well, you should go back to where you came from. You don't have a reason to stick with us."
Lucille shook her head, "I do have a reason. My cousin is in the Vatos den. He's the pretty white boy, and I'm 110% sure that he has been keeping Glenn safe this whole time."
The four men looked surprised at that revelation. Daryl's sudden chuckle broke the silence.
"He's got Dean's looks, having bein' called pretty, huh?" Lucille laughed.
"Yeah, he does. It's pretty funny."
T-Dog looked at the both of them in confusion, "Do you two know each other or something?"
"My dad and uncle went hunting with him and Merle a few times some years ago. I've been told some stories over the years, and just found out that this is who my dad saved from a squirrel trap."
Daryl lightly pushed her. "Don't go telling people that!"
Rick smiled and held up his gun, "Well, that brings some confidence that this will go better than anticipated." He, Daryl and T-Dog started loading up the guns. Miguel stood up as if to stop them.
"Come on, this is nuts!" Daryl nudged him back and pointed for him to sit back down. "Just do like G says."
They ignore him and continue loading round after round into the guns.
They had tied up Miguel and put a gag in his mouth. Daryl held a rifle to his back to keep him moving forward. When Guillermo's goons opened the doors, Daryl pushed Miguel in first and entered after, followed by Rick, Lucille, and T-Dog. Guillermo rushed forward and seemed affronted at the guns.
"I see my guns but they're not all in the bag."
"That's because they're not yours. I thought I mentioned that," Ricks tone was cold.
"Let's just shoot these fools right now, ese. All right? Unload on their asses, ese," Felipe hissed.
"I don't think you fully appreciate the gravity of the situation."
"No, I'm pretty clear," Rick pulled out a pocket knife and cut Miguel loose. He pushed him towards Miguel.
"You have your man. I want mine."
"I'm gonna chop up your boy," Guillermo spat, "I'm gonna feed him to my dogs. They're the evilest, nastiest man-eating bitches you ever saw. I picked them up from Satan at a yard sale," Lucille's eyebrows furrowed at the mention of her estranged uncle, "I told you how it has to be. Are you woefully deaf?"
"No, my hearing's fine. You said come locked and loaded," Rick cocked his gun, as did everyone else in the room, and Lucille pulled out her own ivory-handled pistol, "Okay then, we're here." The whole room was a silent unnerving stand-off.
"Felipe! Felipe!" An old woman came walking through the crowd. Lucille lowered her gun slightly before holding it back up again.
"Abuela, go back with the others. Now!" Felipe shouted at his grandmother.
"Get that old lady out of the line of fire!" Daryl shouted.
"Abuela, listen to your mijo, okay? This is the not the place for you right now," Guillermo tried to direct her away.
"Mr. Gilbert is having trouble breathing! He needs his asthma stuff. Carlitos didn't find it. He needs his medicine."
Rick and Lucille lowered their guns and exchanged a look with Guillermo.
"Felipe, go take care of it, okay? And take your grandmother with you!"
"Abuela! Ven conmigo por favor," Felipe tried to gently lead her away but she stood her ground.
"Who are those men? And that girl?"
"Por favor, ven conmigo." Abuela walked up to Rick with an angry look.
"Don't you take him!"
"Ma'am?" Lucille held her hand out and Abuela grasped it tightly.
"Felipe's a good boy. He have his trouble but he pull himself together. We need him here," she pleaded.
"Ma'am, I'm not here to arrest your grandson," Rick softly said to her.
"Then what do you want him for?"
"He's…" Lucille tried but Rick took over when she couldn't think fast enough.
"Helping us find a missing person. Fella named Glenn."
"The Asian boy? He's with ! With the other handsome one! Come. Come, I show you. He needs his medicine." Abuela kept hold of Lucille and Ricks hands as she lead them back through the building. Lucille looked at Guillermo in apology.
"Let 'em pass," Guillermo sighed.
They walked all the way around a different building and saw that is was a nursing home. They passed by the guard who nodded as they passed. When they entered the nursing home, they saw a lot of elderly people. They passed by a room and saw an elderly woman being helped drink some water by an attendee. Rick stopped to take it in, while Felipe took his grandmother.
"Abuela, por favor. Take me to him."
They passed people sitting in the hallway, others in their rooms being read to. Rick took off his hat and followed Felipe and his abuela. They were lead to what used to be the cafeteria and saw an old man clutching his chest in pain. Felipe was holding an inhaler and helping bring Mr. Gilbert out of his attack.
Lucille saw Bobby and fast walked to him. When he saw her he engulfed her in a hug, which wasn't too difficult given their height difference.
"All right. All right. Nice and easy. Just breathe. Just breathe. Just let it out. Just breathe. Just relax."
"What the hell is this?" Rick asked.
"An asthma attack. Couldn't get his breath all of a sudden," Glenn replied.
"I thought you were being eaten by dogs, man," T-Dog exclaimed. Glenn and Bobby looked back at a small dog bed that had three tiny chihuahuas in it. The long-haired one started barking loudly while the other two leaned away from it. Lucille let out an adoring coo when she saw them. Rick leaned over to Guillermo.
"Could I have a word with you? You're the dumbest son of a bitch I ever met. We walked in there ready to kill every last one of you!" He hissed at the other man.
"Well, I'm glad it didn't go down that way," Guillermo replied calmly.
"If it had, that blood would be on my hands!"
"Mine too. We'd have fought back. Wouldn't be the first time we've had to. Protect the food, the medicine what's left of it. These people, the old ones the staff took off, just left 'em here to die!" Rick sighed and looked at all the seniors. "Me and Felipe were the only ones who stayed."
"What are you? Doctors?" Lucille asked quietly.
"Felipe's a nurse a special care provider. Me, I'm the custodian." Guillermo replied. He looked around before gesturing for Rick's group, along with Lucille and Bobby, to follow him.
"Come on, let's continue this conversation somewhere else." Bobby nodded in agreement. They followed Guillermo to one of the rec rooms in the nursing home. Lucille stuck next to Daryl and Bobby stuck next to Lucille. T-Dog came up next to them and started the conversation.
"So, how do you know these guys' parents, Daryl?" Bobby looked confused.
"He's Daryl Dixon, Bobby. You know, the one that stuck his neck out for Uncle Dean in Pembroke?" Lucille supplied. Daryl scoffed and T-Dog gave Daryl a look.
"I didn't do nothin' fancy," He mumbled.
"You saved my father's life that day, Daryl. He told me that he feels in debt to you since my siblings and I most likely wouldn't be around if you weren't on that hunt," Daryl blushed lightly and rubbed his neck in embarrassment. T-Dog looked at Daryl in shock and Rick looked back at them in pleasant surprise.
"What? Why you looking at me like that for?" T-Dog held his hands in surrender and Rick shook his head. Bobby and Lucille looked at each other and smiled.
They made it to the rec room and Guillermo sat on the arm of the couch.
"What about the rest of your crew? Where'd they come from?" Rick asked
"The vatos trickle in to check on their parents, their grandparents. They see how things are and most decide to stay. It's a good thing too. We need the muscle. The people we've encountered since things fell apart, the worst kind plunderers, the kind that take by force."
"That's not who we are."
"How was I to know? My people got attacked and you show up with Miguel hostage. Appearances." Guillermo shrugged.
"Guess the world changed,"T-Dog sighed from his seat.
"No," Guillermo disagreed, "It's the same as it ever was. The weak get taken. So we do what we can here. The vatos work on those cars, talk about getting the old people out of the city. But most can't even get to the bathroom by themselves, so that's just a dream. Still, it keeps the crew busy, and that's worth something. So we barred all the windows, welded all the doors shut except for one entrance. The vatos, they go out, scavenge what they can to keep us going. We watch the perimeter night and day and we wait. The people here, they all look to me now. I don't even know why."
"Because they can," Rick simply said and gave him his gun. Guillermo took it and Rick pulled out a sniper, checked the scope and put it on the table behind Guillermo. He also laid out some packs of ammo as well as two handguns. Guillermo looked at the guns and ammo in wonder and nodded thanks to Rick.
As the left the nursing home, Rick turned to Bobby and Lucille.
"I guess this is where we part ways?" Lucille smiled sadly and went to answer but Bobby cut her off.
"We don't have a way of making it back to our family." Lucille looked at him in confused horror.
"What do you mean?" He sighed.
"I mean, when I was in the nursing home, I asked that I was able to scout and see if we had a chance of getting home after this whole fiasco. Guillermo agreed, of course, but only if I had an escort, so one of his guys and I went to our temp. base camp. It was surrounded by Croats, no way to get in or out."
"Do you know if your family did or not?" Rick asked. Bobby nodded his head.
"Yeah. We saw the electrical lines and used rubber gloves to climb on them and onto the house we were staying in. The house also had a skylight so we got in that way and looked around. In the living room was a note spray painted on the wall. 39, 77."
"Coordinates," Daryl said. Lucille nodded.
"Yeah, our grandpa taught them all the Military crap form the Corp. and they taught us as result."
"Right. So we need to find a map and figure out where they were going. But until then, our safest bet is to stick with you," Bobby turned to Rick.
"Then follow us. We have a camp just outside of Atlanta in a Quarry."
"Admit it, you only came back to Atlanta for the hat," Glenn snarked half-heartedly as they walked under the bridge to where their truck was.
"Don't tell anybody," Rick replied. Lucille giggled at his quick admission.
"You've given away half our guns and ammo," Daryl complained.
"Not nearly half," Rick countered.
"For what? Bunch of old farts who are gonna die off momentarily anyhow? Seriously, how long you think they got?" Daryl inquired.
"How long do any of us?" Bobby asked.
"Oh my God," Glenn groaned.
"Where the hell's our van?" Daryl's eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"Dude, where's my car?" Lucille muttered to Bobby in a stoner voice.
"Shut up, Lu."
"We left it right there. Who would take it?" Glenn freaked. Rick's face hardened.
"Merle."
T-Dog, Glenn, and Daryl looked shocked, terrified and resigned respectively.
"He's gonna be taking some vengeance back to camp," Daryl said.
"Well I don't know about you guys, but I'm not about to wait for that to happen," Lucille said as she took off running, Bobby following right behind her. The rest followed behind them, hoping that they weren't too late and that Merle had some sort of mercy.
They ran as fast as they could on the dirt trail, the Cousins Winchester falling behind Rick and Glenn since they didn't know the way. They finally made it close enough to the Quarry for giant greenery to be able to grow when they heard the screaming. Lucille saw some Croats as they ran past.
"Croats! They must be at your camp!"
"Shit!" Daryl yells as he pushes to run faster.
They push past the shrubbery and Rick fires his gun at the first Croat he sees.
"Come on, make your way to the Winnebago!" They hear a southern voice yell out.
It was chaos.
Everywhere there were Croats, screaming, shouts for help that never came, gunfire, blood splattering left and right. Utterly disorientating if you didn't focus on "Shoot the dead. Get to the living."
"Baby! Carl! Baby!" Rick called out as many of the Croats were dealt with. A little boy came running to him, tears running down his face.
"Dad!" The boy screamed, embracing Rick tightly and crying into his neck.
"Carl!" Rick picked up the boy and walked over to engulf his trembling wife. Lucille out her hands on her knees, trying to calm her nerves and Bobby rubbed her upper arm. Everyone else looked equally as shaken and kept looking around for anymore Croats.
They all turned to look at a distraught blonde woman kneeling over a younger blonde.
"Amy. I don't know what to do, Amy." Amy lifted her had and weakly stroked the other woman's face before closing her eyes and falling limp.
"Oh, Amy. Oh no no. Amy! Amy! Amy!" The blonde woman wailed and tried to shake the girl awake. Lucille looked away and cringed. Rick hugged his son close and his wife looked on in shock.
"Fuck…" Bobby muttered dismayed.
"I remember my dream now," Lucille and Bobby looked at the shaken man, "why I dug the holes."
"Lord…" Lucille whimpered. They looked on at the bodies that littered the ground, familiar and the undead.