Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead

A/N: Thanks to my three reviewers: ViciousHypnosis, what., and synethesiac. I really appreciated all of your kind words :)

CHAPTER TWO: PAY, PART ONE

Merle had been right, the walkers did leave eventually and when I woke up in the morning, snuggled into Merle's back, the walkers were gone and it was quiet. Warm and content I didn't want to move, despite the fact that I was literally cuddling with some stranger's back. It was the first time in a long time that I was someplace safe enough where I could lay about for a bit and just relax. I turned onto my back and stared at the dark ceiling of the truck. All the light was blocked out completely, I couldn't tell what time it was. It was probably around seven in the morning, that was when I woke up. Still not wanting to move, but having to, I sat up in the cot and swung my legs off the side. I searched around with my feet for my boots, wanting to put them on before I did anything else. I pulled them on, tied them, and stood up. I felt my way to the cab then to the passenger door. I carefully pulled down the blanket that I had hung there earlier. I blinked when bright sunlight flooded the small space. Merle groaned from the back but I ignored him. Instead, I looked outside, trying to spot any walkers. Not seeing any, I fumbled around for a bludgeon of sorts (just in case) and I found a tire iron. Grasping it firmly I unlocked and opened the door, stepping outas quietly as I could. Pushing the door shut, I ventured into the foliage to do my business as fast as possible.

When I got back to the truck, Merle was untacking the other window coverings. He looked a bit surprised when I climbed back into the truck and helped him to fold the covers without a word. "Thought you had split," Merle admitted after a bit. I shrugged halfheartedly.

"I still owe you," I answered. I took the blankets and tucked them back under my seat where Merle had grabbed them last night. Merle seemed to accept this answer and excused himself.

"Nature calls," He said with a wink before disappearing in the same direction I had earlier. As he moved away, he turned and called over his shoulder, "Git some breakfast on, would ya?" Merle disappeared into the woods before I could answer. That seemed fair, really. I didn't complain as I moved into the back of the van and started looking through bags of supplies. I found a box of powdered eggs and some spam. Breakfast of champions. I used just enough water from Merle's stores to rehydrate the eggs and stirred them up with a fork while the skillet warmed up on the hot plate. The eggs were cooking and I was cutting up the spam when I heard Merle walk back over to the van and get in. "Smells good," He commented as he stomped about. Merle moved about, cleaning up, and plopped down beside me as the spam was thrown in with the eggs. He sat his hand down on my knee, which I moved, but he just leaned in, openly sniffing my hair. I reeled back and Merle raised his hand defensively. "Hey now-"

"Don't 'hey now' me!" I snapped, shoving away. Merle reached for me and I slapped his hands away, stepping back as fast as I could. "You don't touch me, ever,"

"It was just harmless fun," Merle said innocently. I scoffed and he shrugged. "Really now, you're over-reacting,"

"I am not over-reacting you pig," I spat. Merle laughed and turned off the hot plate.

"Yes, you are. I'm just an affectionate person," Merle stirred the eggs and held the skillet out to me. "Ya want some?" I gaped at him, offended and exasperated at his behavior. The nerve of him!

"Of course I want some, I made it," I answered after a pause, not moving from where I stood with my arms crossed. It would do no good arguing with him, Merle was my ride. It didn't mean that I would just let him be an asshole to me, but I couldn't just walk away either. Survival came first, then being comfortable. "I'll get the silverware," I went to the cab, trying to get some space so I could calm down. I plopped down in my seat (so claimed because it was the only one I sat in) and retrieved the spoons from the night before. I wiped them off the best I could and took a deep breath. I just need to stay calm, stick with Merle until I found another vehicle and more supplies. There had to be a town nearby so I wouldn't be stuck with him for too long. I just had to keep remininding myself of that. I took another breath, held it, released it, and went back into rear of the van. I passed a spoon off to Merle and we ate right out of the skillet. Every so often, Merle would make some comment that I would ignore and soon enough we were on the road again. I was put in charge of navigation so I spent my time reading a map rather than looking at or talking to Merle. Everyone so often, I would tell him to take a certain turn or an exit until we had found a small town just outside of a main city. I noticed on the map that the CDC was nearby and thought that maybe we could go there next. It was getting too late to do that tonight though, and the van was running out of gas. We were going to have to cyphon some from a gas pump which, thankfully, I knew how to do thanks to my dad. Even though he had been absolutely insane, my father knew his stuff about surviving.

Jaime Fuentes had come from Mexico as a young man, having suffered through poverty and a local drug cartel suffocating the community. He moved to the United States when he was 22, legally. He met my mother two years later and they adopted me from a local hospital not long after. That's why, even though I was pale and light eyed, my last name was Fuentes and I had learned the same scrappiness that my father had known for the first half of his life. I smiled to myself as memories of my childhood and his broken english came back to me.

"What you smiling for?" Merle asked, breaking my pleasant trip down memory lane.

"Doesn't matter," I answered morosely. Merle scoffed and pulled into the small town. There were only a few walkers about, still too many to be comfortable around but not too many as to overwhelm us.

"Sure it matters. Got such a nice smile on ya, I want to know how to put it there," Merle gave me a quick wink. "Grab that tire iron and get ready to fight. We're heading in there," He motioned to a pharmacy that had an apartment over it. "They'll have supplies and we can stay there for the night," Merle undid his seatbelt and reached behind his seat, grabbing an axe. "Ready?" I nodded, holding onto the tire iron for dear life. I wasn't ready. Walkers were coming from all over. Merle didn't give me time to be scared though, he shouldered his door open and burst out. I followed, right on his heels as he cleared a brutal path to the pharmacy. I kept my eyes on him while keeping a watch on the walkers that were gathering. I smashed one in the face with the tire iron as it reached for us and it fell to the ground. Merle reached the door first and slammed against the old fashioned wood door twice before it opened. He stumbled inside and I followed, I shoved the door shut and Merle moved into the house, ready to deal with any walkers. I leaned against the door, trying to keep the walkers outside at bay. Merle stomped around for a while. I grew worried when he didn't return right away but that worry disappeared when he rushed back in carrying what seemed to used to be a dresser, a hammer, and a pocketful of nails. I held the door shut and he nailed it close with the boards and nails.

The second the door was secured, I moved away from it and the groans coming from behind it. All the blinds were drawn so I knew that the walkers would eventually leave us alone. "Are there any more in here?" I asked as I tore through the house, trying to find the back door.

"Were upstairs. Got rid of them," Merle followed me, knowing what I was doing. The backdoor was made of the same wood as the front and was locked by three deadbolts. "Safe side," Merle muttured and went to hammer a board over that door too. I nodded. Better safe than sorry.

"We can throw the bodies of the walkers out of the window," I said, thinking outloud as I walked up the stairs. Merle didn't follow right away, he began looting. There were only two dead walkers upstairs, an elderly couple, who were lying face down in a bedroom. I opened the window, trying to lessen the stench and was able to get the old woman out of the window on my own. The old, who was larger, posed a bit of a problem. Just as I was about to call to Merle to help me out, he appeared and took the man's arm without a word. Together we hoisted him out of the window.

"Water's running here, you can take a shower," Merle wiped his hand on his pants while he spoke. "There's a guest bedroom, I'll stay there tonight," Merle said and turned to the closet. He begun to root through it, trying to find clothes I assumed. I watched him for a moment then I walked into the bathroom which was clean and orderly. Apparently, the walkers did feel the need to use this room for anything. I bypassed searching the space and instead twisted the knobs on the shower. The pipes sputtered for a bit then released a steady stream. I stuck my hand in the water and almost sobbed with joy when it was hot. I stripped off Merle's clothes as quick as I should and stepped into the shower. The water was steaming hot, nearly scalding, but I didn't care. I rubbed off the grime of the past few weeks and washed my hair three times before I was satisfied that it was clean. I even liberated a razor and shaved my legs and armpits. I shut off the water and grabbed a towel. I dried off, combed and braided my hair, and wiped the steam from the mirror and saw myself for the first time since this whole thing started. My cheek bones jutted from my face, my skin paler than normal. I wiped my face tiredly. There were dark bags beneath my eyes and my lips were chapped, I wasn't a vision of beauty. I wrapped the towel around my body and gathered up the dirty clothes, heading back to the master bedroom. Merle was still in there, trying to roll up the sleeves of a light blue button up he had found. His stumped protruded slightly and was slowly being revealed as he rolled up the sleeve. I dumped the clothes by the door and walked over to him.

"Let me help," I readjusted my towel and took his arm. Merle scowled at me but didn't say anything. I rolled up both sleeves to his elbows, smoothing them down so they looked neat.

"Thanks," Merle fiddled with the sleeve again as soon as I stepped back. I rolled my eyes but couldn't repress a fond smile. Something about Merle, when he wasn't busy being an asshole, was endearing. Like now, the nervous fiddling showed the human side that I'm sure Merle would have preferred to keep hidden. I went to the closet and thumbed through the dresses. The old woman had been about my size, all of her dresses would fit. I picked out one I liked and laid it over the back of a chair and went to pick out underwear from her dresser. It was kind of weird, picking out somebody else's underwear to wear, but I had the choice of clean panties and I was going to take it. Merle had left the room and even had the courtesy to shut the door so I could get dressed. I passed the towel over my body once more, then I pulled the clothes on. The towel joined my dirty clothes by the door and I stripped the bed which was covered in what I liked to call Walker slime. I frowned at the bed, the slime had seeped through into the mattress.

No big comfy bed for me then.