Hey there! Just in case some didn't see that Chapter 2 is no longer just the first half and missed out, check that out before you continue! Thanks to all readers. Special thanks to my sweet Beta, Rexi and DeviantDames.


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"There's nothing wrong about it... No... It's fine, I think. Electricity, heating and cooling, buildings that are totally intact, roofs and rooms. Oh, and running water, that's pretty nice. I can't remember the last time I felt hot water and saw my actual skin color... Actually, I can remember the last time I encountered a hot shower, and the event that preceded said shower, but... heh," she blushed and smirked, "I don't want to overwhelm you with gritty details." She paused before continuing, "Security is tight, that's nice. Doesn't mean I can rest easy though. I'm still sleeping with one eye open, muscles taut, and just ready to... to spring into action, ya know?" she dropped her voice into a whisper, "And not just because of the walkers."

"Now, I know what you're gonna say. 'Ooh, but these people saved you. How could you even muster an ill thought toward them?' Well, I'll tell you how I can muster it. They're not all bad people- I'll give them that. They're all the same- we're all the same. We look for someone to guide us. We look for someone strong, and intelligent, and brave. Someone who's got their shit together, ya know what I mean? That's what these people have done, aaall these people are looking to the one man who they call 'leader'... Well... They don't call him 'Leader', they call him Governor. I mean... That's his title at least, couldn't be his name... Could it? No. That'd be... weird. But... uhm, what was I talking about?... Mustered thoughts! That's right! It's the Governor. The Governor's the one I think ill of..."

"I'm not saying he's a bad dude, but dude... something isn't right. I can feel it. It's like a... like a sense, ya know? Just... sort of sketchy... The sort of guy you don't want to turn your back to. Which I don't. I keep my eyes on him... Not like that, either. I'm a faithful lady, I don't mess around. I'm a married woman, damn it. See? See this ring, right there on my finger, that's my promise. My-my reminder, not that I need one, but it's a, it's a-a-a symbol, yeah. And it also works as a repellent sometimes, a bonus feature. Oh, and I bet it doesn't feel so great when it comes rocketing at your face with a fist attached to it, heh, another delightful feature... But what I'm trying to tell you, is that sure, the Governor's a handsome fellow, but I'm not thinking about it like that... especially not when I just said I wouldn't turn my back to him... Hey, now wait a minute, keep your mind out of gutter... Oh, fine, that's where mine went anyway, too. Heh... Do you think he's- no! Nope! We're not touching on that. Married woman, remember? Though I'm not saying a married gal can't let her thoughts stray, but I most certainly am not letting my mind wander in that direction. Nuh uh. Nooo."

"Oh, I can't believe this, how has this conversation even made it to where it is now? Ugh, you just get me talking and it'll go from puppies to promiscuity in moments... As I was saying, this isn't a bad place, just the guy who's running the show, he doesn't seem to right in the head. Hell, I was brought here against my will, and he gave out this story about his men finding me beaten, bloodied and minus a baby and it was just by luck- wonderful, splendid, life saving luck that they found me in time... Now I'm the town loon. Which isn't so bad. The stares get sort of aggravating, but people keep their distance as if insanity is contagious and that's just fine with me. Rude. But fine. I mean, it's the end of the goddamn world, right? We got living dead cannibals as a constant threat to our lives but that crazy girl, oh no, don't talk to her, don't even look at her, keep walking, quickly before she infects us with her madness. We're all mad here, though... Aren't we? You have to be, just a little bit at least, to live in this world... Initiation is taking a life. Madness. Madness, I say!" she laughed quietly.

"You know, you and I aren't so different from each other," she mumbled, picking away at the chipped nailpolish on her nails, flaking the paint away in little bits, "Like I said, most of the time people are turning tail when they see me, but I don't mean any harm... at all. Seriously. I'm harmless. And the same could be said for you. Just because you look completely disgusting and appallingly frightful, they'll freak. But you're harmless... maybe... I mean, I know I'm harmless, but who knows what devious shit goes on in your mind. You might even be one of those venomous kinds," she smiled at her nails, "Well, it was nice talking to you, buddy. Lovely to have someone listen, that's just... so kind of you." She takes her gaze away from her nails, placing her palms against the dirt she looked at the spider a foot or so away from her, contained by a circle of twigs.

"Oh dear, here comes the difficult part. The goodbye. They're always tough, aren't they? I'll try to keep the tears to a minimum, no promises though. If you cry, then I cry... Sorry about your web by the way. Beautiful craftsmanship honestly. I didn't have any intention of destroying it the way I did, but then look where it brought us. Chatting each other up like old friends... But..." she sighs, "It's getting dark. Curfew and all that, I should head in before search parties are sent out..." she sighed, giving a slight eye roll.

"Now here's the deal... something I've learned in this fucking horrid, new world- no one can be trusted. People can't be trusted just as much as walkers can't. Everyone is out to get you, out to kill you. And who am I to know if you ain't a cold blooded killer that'll slash my throat wide open the moment I go to walk away? Sure, you're a wonderful conversation companion, but... Sorry buddy."

She scooted her boot out gingerly, biting her lip and wincing as she squished the arachnid and snapped the twigs encircling it into the dirt. She pulled her foot back, the smashed remains of the spider, thankfully, left on the ground and not embedded into the sole of her shoe. "Who am I to make such a decision to extinguish a life?" she wondered aloud, dramatically as she stood up, a hand on her chest as if reciting a Shakespearian soliloquy, "A girl who doesn't like spiders, that's who. That little bastard could've followed me back to my room, could've bit me. And that would've itched something awful. Give me walkers, okay? But a spider bite too? Oh, the horror. Oh! The tragedy..."

She brushed herself off of the dirt that clung to her clothes. She'd been sitting between a guard wall and a building for at least an hour, talking to a spider she'd literally stumbled upon. The web stuck to her arms as she walked, causing her to squirm- instinctive reaction- and shake the stuff away, and finding it's constructor was one who wouldn't be so easy to shake off. That's when she sat down, and created a fortress out of twigs before catching the spider before it crawled into her shirt and let it loose there and then the conversation began...

She knew the little, secure town easily. Strolling lazily as she wandered back to her quarters, pretending not to notice the way some of the residents quickened their pace when she caught their eye. Seriously. Like she had explained to the spider. It's not like she was dangerous... at least not to them.

"Lacey. Where you been, girly?" then there was him. That one person that wasn't scared of her, the one person that knew her, her only friend here.

She shrugged, meeting him on the porch of their quarters. They'd given her a warden, a caretaker to live with her, keep her in line and 'safe'. "Just sharing friendly conversation with one of the locals."

"Is that right?" he, and a few others, had grown used to her behavior, taking it in stride, understanding it as the norm. But he was the one she was most comfortable with, the one she solely trusted in this craze-hole called Woodbury. [Something she still got a chuckle out of now and again.]

She nodded and slipped past him, humming a, "Mhm," as she did.

"Think ya feel like talkin' some more?"

"The daily memory jog. Haven't done one of those in a while. Sure," and with that she opened the door for herself and walked into the house.

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8 Months Earlier

"You're alive..." her breath had left her in a gasp, her eyes were still wide with shock as a smile pulled on her lips. Her hands scrambled at the sheets as she tried to get out of the bed, but a stab of pain from... from basically all over ceased all movement and she hissed, wincing.

Merle Dixon himself stepped out of the shadows, the snark in his tone replaced with something akin to worry as he shushed her, "Easy there, sweetheart. You ain't in any kind of condition to be hoppin' outta bed like that."

"Sorry," she groaned, settling back on the bed carefully, comfortably, "I'm just..." she sighed, "Relieved... glad you're okay, alive."

"Didn't hear surprised," he noted with that snark in his tone again, pulling up a chair alongside her bed and taking a seat.

She scoffed, "Of course I'm not surprised, you're tough. The toughest, probably. And besides, Daryl never lost faith in you, so neither did I... not that- that I would though."

Merle just chuckled, "Never thought I'd be a reason for you to stumble with your words and jump for joy."

"I wasn't going to jump for joy." she rolled her eyes with a smile, "I was going to jump you."

He let out another bark of laughter, "Well, hell, darlin', I can scoot right into bed with you if you really want me to."

The joking air dispersed from the room slowly, and Lacey's fingers began to twist and fist into the sheets on top of her, "Where, um, why exactly am I in a bed, and where are we...?"

"That ain't really my place to say, I'm pretty new here myself-," the sound of a door cracking open pulled Merle's attention behind him, there was a short nod before he turned back to Lacey. A smirk slowly came over his mouth as he touched a hand to her scratchy-sheet covered knee, giving it a squeeze before he stood up and spoke, "In time everything will be explained. For now you need to do as the doc says and rest up."

A frantic look flashed in her eyes, her fingers grabbed the sheets with a white knuckle grip and breath left her a quick gasps, "Bu-b-but-," she pleaded. Merle's eyes widened and the door behind him swung openly fully.

"Woah, woah!" Merle rested his hand atop hers, "Sweetheart, calm down. The surprises just keep comin', don't they. You was after me the whole time, weren't'cha?" he joked, but caution laced his tone. This wasn't the girl that had knocked him on his ass with a fist to the face, boot to the gut, and turned his own gun on him the first time they'd met. No. This was someone else.

He was caught off guard when her hands flew off the sheets to administer the same kind of death grip onto his hand, "D-Don't! You- you can't-!"

"Hey, hey!" This was a foreign situation to Merle, he was acting on instinct, hoping that his instincts in this predicament wouldn't fail him. He'd never had to console anybody before, and this panic Lacey was letting lose seemed to be accessible like a flick of a switch. Something was wrong, something was different. "Where's that tough bitch, huh? The one with that ridiculous name who was bangin' my brother in the woods like it was the world's best kept secret. Hm?"

"P-P-Perr-rin." she gasped.

The doctor urged him to step aside but he was confused, brow knitted together. What was happening here?

"Lacey-" he started, but the blonde just shook her head.

"Perrin."

He shot a glance at the doctor, looking back to Lac- Perrin, "Alright," he nodded, "It's gonna be alright, darlin'. The doc here'll take care of ya."

"You'll come back?" the girl who wasn't Lacey looked at him with terrified eyes.

He nodded, "I'll come back."

And with that confirmation the girl's hold loosened and the doc suggested he make his leave, she could handle things now.

Merle waited outside the door for ten minutes. The doctor stepped out and closed the door gently after her, letting out a sigh as she did.

"She gonna be alright?"

The doctor nodded, "She should be fine. Truthfully, I expected worse. It was a nervous breakdown, but you did well, calming her down. You said you knew her?"

"Yeah..." his hand slipped into his pocket, "Yeah, she and my brother had somethin' goin' on," his fingers rolled the object in his pocket around. "She wasn't like that the last time I saw her."

"Given the factors that led up to her arrival here I'm surprised she didn't break sooner. There's only so much we can take before it becomes too much."

It's Lacey first nervous breakdown that Merle is witness to. That is what it's deemed. The first event that would act as a marker for the beginning of events that would follow. A warning that had gone neglected. A warning that would lead to a psychotic break.

As promised Merle came back to the room where Lacey was being (held) taken care of in. Her demeanor instantly and visibly perking at the sight of him, "Hey," she smiled.

"Hey yourself, sweetheart. How ya feelin'?"

"Fine..." she mumbled as she twisted the sheets in her fists, "I'd feel better if I could get my things back."

Merle snorted at her sudden shy act, "You ain't got much, 'side from them ass kickin' boots a'yours and that sweater, the rest was so bloodied." he stated, "Couldn't be salvaged."

His eyes flickered to her where her flat, flat stomach lay under the blankets, "You'll get 'em back though. Once you're cleared by the doc."

She nodded before cautiously beginning, "That's... That's all you have of mine? My boots and sweater? There wasn't anything..." he noticed her fingers wringing together, "anything else?"

The ring. He'd taken it before anyone else tried to claim it. Stowing it in his pocket before his first visit with her the day previous. He reached across, into his left pocket. And that's when Lacey gasped with genuine shock, "Oh, my god!" And for a moment he thought she was about to burst into another fit. But when he looked up, he didn't see that terrified expression on her face, didn't see it in her eyes. What he did see was shock and hurt. Her hands clamped over her mouth as she eyed the device covering his stump.

"Like it?" he grinned a bitter grin, pausing in his efforts to retrieve the ring from his pocket to give his new handicap a wave and flourish, "Can thank your friend Officer Rick Friendly for this."

"I'm sorry." she gasped into her hands. She took her hands away from her mouth but couldn't stop staring at his... well... his lack of hand. "I honestly didn't notice 'til just now... Oh, god..."

Merle let out a chuckle, going back to trying to wrangle the ring from his pocket as he grumbled, "Don't worry about it, darlin'. You ain't the one that cuffed me to a damn roof and left me to rot."

"For the record, I was outraged. I wanted to go back for you right them but no one would here it. Daryl was out on a hunt and when he came back... Well... He and a few others went to go back and get you, but..." she trailed off with a shrug, "You were gone. But you're fine... and I can't fucking believe I forgot you... did that..."

"Warms my heart to know you raised a little hell on my behalf."

She gave a little shrug again, "You're my friend."

"More than friends," he said, brandishing the silver ring that looked positively teeny between his large fingers, "By the looks of this, I'd say we're in-laws now." he gave the ring another once over before handing it over to Lacey. She put it on with a sad smile on her mouth.

He leaned back in his chair, nodding toward her, "You didn't have that the last time I saw ya... Pretty sure you didn't have a bun in the oven when I saw ya last neither."

Lacey chuckles, "Yeah. That'll be your brother's work... By the way, how did you know we were screwing in the woods? I have an excellent poker face."

"Sure," Merle lets out an airy laugh, "You ain't so easy to read. But my brother... Surprised everybody didn't know just lookin' at his smugness on his dumb ass face," he shifts in his seat and snorts again, "So... made a man out of him, did'ja?"

"Many times." she grins, and hoped that she was winning the battle against the blush that's threatening to take over her face, but then the grin fell, "That's how that bun got there... when it was there."

"Didn't know he had it in him," Merle mumbled, hoping to get a rise out of her, but all he gets is a twitch at the corner of her mouth.

"So," he starts slowly after a few moments of silence, "I would'a been an uncle, huh? Uncle Merle. I could dig it. Least with you as its mama it woulda had a chance of bein' pretty, no thanks to my ugly brother."

Lacey let out a laugh. And for a while they just talked about what would've been, nothing of sorrow in their voices anymore, purely comical.

"So..." Merle said, once the laughter had died down, "Story is you were found all by your lonesome in the forest. No weapons, no nothin', missin' your goddamn pants and bleedin' out. The guys found you 'n brought you here."

"Is that the story, then?" Lacey mused with a slight eye roll.

"You got a different version of it you'd like to share?"

And as if prompted, a voice in her mind, similar to her own told her to go with it, play the amnesia card. The less they know, the better it is.

"No," she shrugged, "That's pretty much how it happened, probably. I don't really remember much. All I know is I got separated from the group. Everyone got separated. There was a herd of walkers. And I'm shit awful with directions, that's how I got lost... But I guess that doesn't matter anymore, since I'm," she sighed, "since I'm safe here... I... I am safe here... Right?"

"Just as safe as you can be, darlin'. Especially with your good ol' brother-in-law Merle to protect ya."

Lacey smiled at the eldest Dixon. She really was glad he was alive, glad she'd found him again.

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"Alright." Merle walked in after her, pausing to lock the door behind him before heading into the kitchen where they usually had these 'memory jogs', "Now, where do ya wanna start. Last time w-"

He was interrupted by the sound of knocking at the door and he growled, grumbling under his breath as he turned on his heel, "S'that irritatin' bastard again. I swear, I'm gonna..."

Lacey couldn't hear much after that, just the faint sound of voices once the door's lock was pulled and the door wretched open.

"Mr. Dixon."

"Whad'ya want, boy."

"Is she in? It's curfew, and I was stopping by to check."

"Like you always do, and she's always here. She ain't stupid, ya know."

"I know that. She's just... I worry about her."

"Well don't. She's fine."

The door slams and the lock slides back into place, and Merle's steps were stomping back toward the kitchen, grumbling again.

"Can't that guy take a hint?" he grumbles toward Lacey.

She's simply sat at the table with her chin in her palm and she shrugged her shoulders, "He's concerned. Always been that way."

"One of these days the Gov'ner will let him into the fights, and then..." he trails off with wheezing, devious chuckles.

"I have a feeling this isn't just about defend my 'honor' anymore," she used her fingers as quote marks.

"Course it is... partially."

Lacey laughed out loud, half mocking half amused.

"Now back to talkin'. Focus, girly."

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HOLY SHIT! I keep forgetting to put a disclaimer!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead! All I own are my silly little OC's.