I'm new to all this but decided to go ahead an tackle a chapter story anyway, hope someone will enjoy it. I don't own the Dixon brothers or anything else related to The Walking Dead, just Lina and Johnny :-)

Chapter 1

Merle Dixon had gotten out of jail yesterday and was more than ready to enjoy a night out with his brother. It was 9:00pm and if things went well he planned on being lit like a Christmas tree by 12:00, preferably well on his way to getting into some sluts pants. His brother Daryl seemed to be just as dead set on getting fucked up.

"Damn! Brother, you'd think you's the one that just got outta jail. What's that, your fourth shot?" Merle didn't actually give a fuck how much Daryl drank; he was just surprised at his brothers pace.

"Fuck you Merle; it's been a long few months."

"Aw did you miss me Darylina." Merle cackled before he was distracted by the sound of a baby crying.

"What the fuck?" Merle turned on his bar stool to watch Lina, the town pariah, walk towards the bartender with a tiny screaming baby in her arms.

"Is that yours? Who the fuck knocked you up?" Merle questioned the dark haired girl. He noticed Daryl shift uncomfortable beside him.

Lina looked up at him and her eyes shifted quickly to Daryl before settling on Jim the owner and bartender of "The Flying J"
Ignoring Merle entirely she directed a question at Jim while she tried to shush the upset little infant in her arms.

"I'm just here for my last paycheck, Jim. Sorry I'm so late. I had a ton of doctor appointments and Johnny here has been fussy all day."

"It's alright Lina, I'm still sad to see ya go. You've been one of my best waitresses." Jim felt for the poor girl in front of him.
Lina was Native American which didn't bode well for many of the towns people, but on top of that she was a bit strange. She was always quite, watching everyone with calm cool eyes that most people found unnerving, she had never made any friends and anytime she wasn't working, Jim saw her with her face stuck in a book; it seemed to Jim that Lina was living inside her head more than in the world around her. People in this town did not like different, and Lina was definitely different.

He wasn't lying when he said she was a damn good waitress though. She was smart, efficient and worked hard; he was losing a valuable employee.

"Thank you Jim." Lina gave one of her rare small smiles "I wish I could stay. I need the money but I don't have anyone to watch Johnny at night."

Jim shook his head wanting to bring up the kids good for nothing father but Lina had refused to give him up. No matter how many people pressed or teased her to get the information, Lina had remained tight lipped. The general consensus was it had to be an out of towner, nobody around these parts would mess around with Lina.

Instead Jim just said "Give me a second, I've got the envelope in my office."
Lina just nodded and worked on giving her baby his pacifier.

Merle watched the exchange from his bar stool noticing how Daryl kept stealing nervous glances at Lina and the baby in-between peeling the label off his beer bottle. Merle had a feeling he knew who might have fathered that kid. He took a closer look at the baby in Lina's arms, he looked like a newborn. Merle knew Daryl hadn't messed around with Lina before Merle himself got locked up and he'd been in jail for an 8 month stint this time.

Something about the timing was off. Didn't it take a baby 9 months to cook?

"How olds that baby?" Merle was watching Lina with an almost frightening intensity.

Lina seeing him eye her child, covered him up better with the blanket and continued to ignore Merle's questions.

Jim came back with a white envelope in his hand, handing it over to Lina, he wished her luck and Lina was out the door without another glance at the Dixon brothers. Jim stood and chit chatted with the brothers a while, before wandering off to help other customers. As soon as Jim was out of ear shot, Merle quietly asked his brother

"Ya fuck her too?"

Daryl nodded without looking at his brother. Merle slammed his beer down and got up.

"Come on, something about this is off." Merle walked out the door, looked like his first night out in 8 months was going to be a bust.

Daryl got into the truck with Merle. He always admired the way his brother tackled a problem head on, even if he was the cause of the problem more often than not. Daryl had been wanting to talk to Lina for months but couldn't work up the nerve, Merle was back for a day and this whole mess was about to get straightened out…or at least about to get whole lot clearer. Daryl felt lighter than he had in a long time as they pulled out of the parking lot and headed to Lina's trailer.

"Baby came early." Daryl was looking out the window, avoiding looking at his brother.

"What?"

Daryl shrugged "Heard one of the girls complaining to Jim about a month ago that they was short staffed, he said Lina wasn't gonna come in no more cause the baby came early and they were in the hospital." He didn't tell Merle about his sudden urge to visit Lina in the hospital, he hadn't done it anyway.

"How early?" That still only added to 8 months if the kid was his and even less if it was Daryl's.

"Don't know, never talked to her bout it."

"When did ya fuck 'er?" Merle watched his brother chew on his lower lip before answering

"A few days after you got locked up."

Merle pulled up to the small trailer that was Lina's home, rubbing his face he let out a long breath.

"That's cutting it close bro."

"Yeah" was all Daryl would say

"Let's get this shit over with then." Merle got out of the truck and began walking to the front door with Daryl trailing behind him. Shit feels like a damn death sentence.