Hey everybody! We are catching up to Season 4 episode 1, "30 days without and accident." Which means some exciting stuff is coming soon. I hope y'all are still enjoying the fic.

I don't own the walking dead or its characters/storylines/scripts. The OC and non canon story lines are mine.

Thanks for reading, favoriting and reviewing! I love hearing from y'all. :)


Sam was working the fences with a large group of people from Woodbury. Walkers were piling up more and more and the fences were still close to buckling if it continued. The work was grueling and Sam was exhausted. Her arms were covered in dark walker blood and bits of broken bone and viscera. She could feel the ache in her back from the monotonous movement, stab-pull-stab.

While wiping her forehead of sweat and blood Sam looked at the courtyard to see Carol grilling the deer Daryl brought back. Sam's stomach growled at the smell and decided it was lunchtime. She strolled up the dirt road, her hand spinning the gore covered crowbar. Once at the courtyard entrance she hung up the sharpened tool and headed inside to wash up. As she passed the grill she saw a confused Daryl listening to the weird kid named Patrick while chewing on venison.

"Mr. Dixon, I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat, sir. And I'd be honored to shake your hand." He stammered while pushing up his glasses awkwardly.

Sam smirked at Daryl and wiggled her eyebrows, which made him snort and avert his eyes from her. She watched him thoroughly lick each finger before crushing the poor kid's hand in his giant mitt. Sam chuckled while shaking her head as she passed by and entered the prison. The Dixon brothers were both fond of intimidating others.

Sam nodded to familiar faces on her way to her cell, waving at Beth who had Judith on her hip while she spoke to Lizzie and Mika. Sasha was teasing Tyreese about something because he pulled her into a headlock while Carl laughed. It was a nice sight. The normalcy of it. Sam didn't even have it before the fall. Smirking at the trio she headed into the cellblock.

With a jug of water and wash cloth she wiped herself down over the tiny steel sink and cleaned off the walker gore. She didn't bother taking a shower since she would just get dirty again on the run. After a quick change of clothes Sam made her way back to the courtyard for dinner. Carol smiled at her and handed her a plate of grilled deer and canned corn. She grabbed a seat next to Daryl and laughed again remembering the kid's pained grimace.

"Wha?" Daryl grumbled through a mouthful of corn. Sam snorted and shook her head, "You probably crushed that kids poor knuckle shuffle hand." Sam remarked before biting into the venison. Daryl spit corn all over the table and glared at her.

"Stop, t's gross" he muttered which made Sam laugh even louder.

"Daryl you're such a prude." Sam joked as she shoved more dinner into her mouth.

"Fuck this is good deer Dixon. I wanna shake your hand." She snorted while covering her mouth to contain her food as she giggled. Daryl huffed out an indignant breath and muttered something about Sam being an 'sicko pervert.'

Feeling bad, Sam added a scoop of her corn to his plate as an apology. Daryl smirked at her and she was forgiven. Sam knew he was only upset at wasting a perfectly good mouthful of food.

"Hey Daryl gotta talk to you." Carol said her head ticking toward the upper fence. Sam nodded a goodbye to him and said, "See ya in a bit for that run."

Daryl grunted and followed Carol over to the edge of the patio, both looking toward the pile up of corpses. The fences had been packed all night and day. It was going to take a lot of manpower to kill and clear the perimeter.

"Hey old man, whatcha doin'?" Sam asked when she found Merle in their cell hunched over a pile of gear.

"Getting' ready for that run. Ya gotta stay here though. The fences are fucked." He replied without looking up. Sam grumbled and sat down heavily. "Merle I've been working the damn thing all day. I'm tired of all the walker brains on me."

Merle laughed gruffly and sat next to her, cupping her face while kissing her. Pulling back he drawled, "Sorry Sugar. Gotta do it. If its clearer tomorrah how 'bout we take the day off?"

Sam sighed and laid her head against his shoulder and muttered, "Fine."

Merle snorted and kissed the crown of her head "Thanks Sugar. I'll make it up to ya." He rasped his accent rough and thick. Sam moaned into the side of his neck, crawling onto his lap. There was something about his rough southern accent that got her hot and he knew it and used to his benefit quite often. Merle kissed her deeply and sunk his hand into her hair. Sam slid her tongue along his, moaning as he ground against her. Raking her nails down his chest and up his ribs Sam felt him growl.

"Fuckinhell Sugar,ain't makin' this easy are ya?" Merle rasped his rough cheek scratching along her jaw. "I don't know what you're talkin' about." She whispered while smirking. They enjoyed themselves for a few minutes before Merle pulled back and groaned, "Gotta go Sugar. Gonna pick this up when I get back?"

Sam laughed before kissing Merle one last time and sliding off the bed. They walked together outside and Sam saw Michonne riding Flame back inside the yard. She'd been gone almost a week searching for signs on the Governor. Merle threw his bag into the truck and spoke to his brother. Sam wandered down the hill to Michonne who was chatting with Rick and Carl.

"Your face is losing the war." Michonne said with a smirk, handing a beard trimmer over to Rick. Sam snorted and added, "Yeah Rick you look like a hobo."

Rick rolled his eyes with a smirk and asked Michonne, "You gonna stay a little while?"

"Just a little while." She replied with a shrug causing Sam to purse her like with distaste.

The group going on the run drove down the hill and Daryl pulled the bike over when he saw Michonne. "Well, look who's back." Daryl drawled nodding to Michonne from his bike.

"Didn't find him." Michonne stated to Sam and Daryl. Both had been waiting for her to find him. Michonne was determined to find the guy and make him pay not only for Andrea but Sam.

Daryl nodded while narrowing his eyes, taking in her appearance and drawling, "Glad to see you in one piece." Sam looked over her dirty clothes and drawn face. Michonne looked like she had a hard journey but she already seemed like she had one foot out the door again.

"I'm thinking of looking over near Macon. It's worth a shot." She replied to Daryl her eyes jumping over to Sam. Sam scowled at her and shook her head before looking away. She wasn't happy with Michonne's inability to stay behind the fences. Sam wanted to find the bastard also but it seemed like a lost cause, it'd been to long.

Daryl spoke up against the plan though. Sam heard him rasp, "Miles of walkers. You might run into a few unneighborly types. Is it?"

Daryl sighed when she didn't respond and look toward Rick, "I'm gonna go check out the Big Spot. The one I was talking about, just seeing." Sam could see the silent question in Daryl's expression. He was asking Rick to come along without saying it outright. The former leader shifted his weight from one foot to the other, looking down at the ground. He had been avoiding anything that had to do with running the prison or doing supply runs. Sam had noticed he had even stopped carrying his weapon. The low riding gun belt had been replaced with a shovel and gardening gloves.

Rick squinted at the sun and replied with an excuse, "Yeah, I got to go out and check the snares. I don't want to lose whatever we catch to the walkers."

Michonne spoke up instantly, "I'll go." Sam furrowed her brow. She hadn't seen the woman in almost a week and now she was leaving again. It seemed that she couldn't sit still. Carl was feeling the same way as Sam but spoke up exclaiming, "You just got here."

Michonne smiled at the kid and countered, "And I'll be back."

Sam cocked an eyebrow at her and stated, "You better bitch." Michonne grinned and nodded, "I got a bottle of rum with your name on it." Laughing Sam waved to her and Daryl before knocking on the truck that held Merle. He gave her a grin and rolled the glass partition down, "See ya soon Sugar."

"Bye, be safe." She said while waving at Glenn who was driving the large truck.

The caravan drove out of the prison after Rick opened the gate. Sam stood there for a moment before returning to the fences to kill walkers. Sighing she stepped up to the fence and gave Karen a wry smile, "Back to the grindstone."

Karen chuckled and shoved her sharpened cane into a rotting woman's head, the blood oozing over her gloved hand. "Someone's gotta do it right?"

"oh yeah just wish it wasn't me." Sam joked with a laugh.


Merle stood outside the Big Spot with the scavenging team. Zach was chatting up Daryl trying to guess what he did before the turn. The dumbshit was trying to tell the kid he was a homicide cop. Michonne chuckled and shook her head.

"What's so funny?" Daryl rasped a challenging eyebrow raised.

Michonne bite her lip and nodded, "Nothing. It makes perfect sense."

Daryl chewed his lip as if thinking about telling someone a secret and said gravelly, "Actually, the man's right. Undercover."

"Come on, really?" Zach said his face stunned that he guessed correctly. Merle rolled his eyes and sucked in a deep drag off his smoke. 'Fuckin dumb kids,' he thought to himself.

"Yep. I don't like to talk about it 'cause it was a lot of heavy shit, you know?" Daryl explained and looked away a smile barely contained.

"Jesus fucking Christ Darylina. Why would ya wanna even joke 'bout bein' a pig. Shit, every Dixon ever born is rollin' over in their graves right now." Merle scoffed causing Daryl to snort while flicking his spent cigarette away. Zach looked between the brothers and sighed, "Okay. I'll just keep guessing, I guess."

"Yeah, you keep doing that." Daryl drawled as the walkers slammed up against the glass causing Zach to jump back.

"After you, Detective?" Merle sneered jokingly while waving his hand inviting Daryl to join them at the store's front door.

Daryl grinned at his big brother and rasped, "Let's do it."

Daryl and Zach opened the doors while the others stabbed and pummeled the walkers pouring out of the doorway. They killed a handful of dead ones before pulling their bodies out of the way.

"All right, we go in, stay in formation for the sweep. After that, you all know what you're supposed to look for. Any questions?" Sasha said to the others. Merle smirked at her and replied, "Thanks, wasn' sure wha' I was s'posed to do sweetcheeks."

"Shuddup Merle," Daryl said blandly as he sauntered into the store.

Tyreese narrowed his eyes at Merle but ignored him. "Was there ever a time that you weren't the boss of me?" he asked Sasha.

"You had a few years before I was born." She remarked with a grin.

The store had been looted before by the military that set up shop in the parking lot. There were still a lot of supplies left for them though. Each person grabbed a cart and started loading up on the items that were always on their run lists. Merle was wandering in the camping section collecting anything they could use. He found camp stove fuel and a few more camping lights. Merle swept his arm across a full shelf of jerky and trail mix the items falling into his cart. The last shelf had bolts and replacement parts for bows.

"Hey Darylina got some shit for ya." He hollered to his brother. Daryl wandered over with a case of water on his shoulder. "Nice. Been short on parts." He drawled before putting the case of water on the wire rack under the cart. The group was working through the store when a sudden crash of something falling and screams broke out.

"What the fuck?!" Merle shouted running toward the sounds. Suddenly walkers were falling out of the ceiling like puppets with their strings cut. Some exploded on impact while other stood up to search for their next meal. Merle was slashing through skulls and barreling through debris that crashed to the floor. He turned and saw a corpse sneaking up behind Sasha and shoved his bayonet through its temple. Sasha jumped at the sudden movement and nodded a thanks to him as the body fell.

Bob was screaming from under a huge shelf that fell over, broken bottles and smashed cases of beer. It was chaotic and people were scrambling out of the way of walker's mouths and hands. Merle fought off walkers as the others lifted the shelving unit. Daryl and Zach pried the guy out but more bodies fell through the roof. The shelf fell heavily and then Zach was screaming. A crawler took a bite out of his ankle and pulled him under the falling debris. Merle's chest tightened as he saw the kid's wide frightened eyes right before the roof started collapsing completely. Daryl yanked on Merle leather vest hollering, "Come on man le's go! Le's go!"

Merle jogged outside with the others just as the whole building came crashing down. The crippled wreckage of a black hawk helicopter now visible on the fallen rooftop, the broken blades pointing into the sky. Walkers flood the area as they all fled to their vehicles. Daryl peeled out on the motorcycle and dodged grabbing hands. Merle scrubbed his face roughly before glancing over at Glenn. His face was grim and covered in black walker blood.

"Fuck," Merle snarled before punching his fist into the dashboard. Glenn jumped slightly and looked over at the angry redneck.

Merle ranted, "Stupid fuckin' kid. How many times I gotta tell people to look out for crawlers huh?! Goddamnit. Never shoulda brought 'im." Glenn frowned at him but didn't respond. To an outsider or someone who didn't know Merle well would assume he was blaming the kid for his demise but truthfully he blaming himself. He knew the kid was too wet behind the ears to do a dangerous run.

'Never shoulda brought 'im damnit.' He scolded himself inwardly while scowling at the passing scenery.


Sam watched as the run team drove back in with grim faces. She saw Merle climb out of the large truck before he stomped into the prison. Frowning she looked over to Karen next to her. "Looks like it went bad." She said with a worried face. "I'm gonna go see if Tyreese is ok."

Sam nodded and went back to stabbing the pile up of bodies. She was working her way down the line, her crowbar sliding into eye sockets of one after another. The sun was going to set soon, the darkness was creeping over the hills. The forest came alive with the evening insects, cicada and crickets calling out, loud enough to be heard over the groans of the dead. Sam could tell her body was wreaked from the work. Her shoulder burned and her back throbbed. Everything felt tight and uncomfortable.

'Old bastard's givin' me a massage tonight,' she grumbled to herself.

As she got to the last section of fence she saw a particularly gruesome looking walker. It wore a camo vest over dirty outdoor wear. The walker didn't look to old, its skin pale but not gray or rotting. It would've been like any other biter but what grossed her out was the blood trailing down his cheeks. It's eyes were weeping the thick blood from his tear ducts. Sam hadn't seen any others with similar bloody eyes and it seemed to have happened before the guy died. Sam was a few steps away from him and hesitated. Something about it was odd but she shrugged. 'Just another dead guy Sam. Get a grip.' She muttered before she moved to stab it with her crowbar.

"Hey Sam!" a voice hollered from the hill behind her.

Turning away from the growling corpse Sam saw Merle sauntering toward her. She wandered from the fence toward Merle and saw his deep scowl and tense posture.

"You ok?" she asked stepping toward him placing a hand on his chest.

"Zach got killed." He grumbled while looking away. Sam frowned and tried to comfort him, "I'm sorry. I can help dig?"

"Nothin' left to bury," he snarled yanking away from her hand. "Fuckin' stupid kid. Damn idiot gets chomped by a crawler. How many times I say it? Huh? How many fuckin' times I tell people to look where they're steppin'? Huh?!"

Sam chewed her lip watching him rant and throw his arms up in exasperation. She could tell he was upset at losing a person on a run but could also tell he was blaming himself.

"Ain't your fault Merle." She said quietly as she tried to walk closer to him. He narrowed his eyes and said, "Ya don' know that. I took him on it. We were short handed, Daryl and I agreed to take him. Get him trained. Now he's dead. Makes it my fault."

"No it doesn't. You were tryin' to do right by him. Train him to survive. Shit happens out there though. Nothin's easy and nothin's safe." She told him firmly, "You can't always control what happens."

"Yeah well that don' mean it ain't my fault. Kid shoulda been 'ere workin' the fence not out there." He grumbled as he looked up at the courtyard. Sam could see the others leaving the fences for the night. Sam grabbed Merle's arm and ticked her chin toward the prison, "Let's go in. Wash up and relax for the rest of the evening."

Merle nodded and wrapped an arm around her shoulders, "Glad ya weren't there. Fuckin' shit show."

"So what happened?" she asked looking up at him. Merle shrugged and said, "Fuckin' helicopter on the roof came crashin' down. Goddamn walkers fallin' on our heads." Merle pulled her closer and kissed her head, his nose digging into her messy hair. "Glad ya weren't there," he repeated quietly.


Merle sat across from Sam as they ate dinner. The mood was somber because of the failed run. Everyone was subdued and all looking toward the little blonde named Beth. Merle knew Zach and her had been hooking up or at least friendly. She didn't seem overly upset by the loss though. Merle figured she was getting immune to the loss just as everyone else had. You can't really be upset about the newest loss when you're constantly grieving the person before. It was an endless stream of death in the new world. There was no one who hadn't been affected by the horrors, some more than others but no one was free of it.

Merle figured he had been used to the shitty state of the world long before the dead woke up. He had lost men before on runs in Woodbury and never really thought about other than, 'shit we're down a man now'.

Zach dying though seemed like a punch to the gut. Merle had no idea why, he didn't even like the big mouth but for some reason he kept seeing Zach's wide eyes. It wasn't a feeling Merle had felt before but it felt suspiciously like grief. He hadn't even mourned his mama who burned to death. Merle sure as hell didn't mourn his father the sadistic son of a bitch.

'Turnin' into a giant pussy Dixon,' he scowled to himself. Merle couldn't believe how soft he was getting.

"Ya okay Merle." Sam asked quietly her eyes tight. Merle's eye hardened as he scoffed, " 'course. Why wouldn' I? huh?"

Sam chewed her lip and shrugged a shoulder, "No reason. You wanna talk a walk with me?" Merle shrugged and finished his food. "Don' care."

Sam nodded and stood up, taking their plates before heading to the outside door. She didn't ask him to come or wait to see if he would follow. Merle sat there a moment before grumbling under his breath on the way out of the prison common room. He found Sam standing at the edge of the courtyard, her arms crossed as she looked up at the moon. It was a beautiful night, the air was warm and thick but the breeze cool. Sam glanced over at him when he sided up to her. Merle swallowed nervously suddenly feeling like he was the biggest asshole for being snippy with her. She had only been trying to help him. He had the urge to apologize but she reached out and took his hand. Sam smiled sadly and said, "Glad you came."

Merle chewed the inside of his cheek and nodded before looking away and roughly saying, "Sorry bout earlier."

"Nothin to apologize for Merle. I know the difference between you being an asshole and you needing to vent." She replied while pulling him to follow her into the yard. Merle smirked at her and pulled her back, wrapping his arm's around her lower back. "Sugar, I ever tell ya I love ya?" he rasped quietly against her ear. Sam hummed and tilted her head back a smirk on her soft lips, "Yeah I like hearin' it though."

Merle laughed gruffly and kissed gently before nodding his head toward the yard, "Le's walk Sugar."


Thanks for reading! Poor Zach. I hope I do the canon story lines justice. Please review and checkout my other fics.