A/N: This is a work of fan fiction. No infringement intended.

The Country Singer

By Leah Pensotti

Chapter 34

Melanie and Jesus walked around the gates of Alexandria towards the back, and continued on south for about a little less than an hour. They could still see the tower when they reached a small drag of abandoned shops and restaurants. She felt the thermos of coffee from Maggie warm in her hand, and turned to look at Jesus, "Coffee?"

Jesus smiled and they sat down on a curb and Melanie doled out the coffee. She felt her hands tremble, she was worried about what could happen on Alexandria, what Negan could bring upon them. Mostly, she worried for Daryl, Maggie and Tara.

"You don't like being a part from him."

Jesus said it so plainly that it wasn't a question, it was fact. He knew very little of her, but what he knew was enough.

Melanie shrugged and looked to the tower, "He's used to being on his own. I'm not. He goes out for weeks at a time on runs or surveying. And now that we're together, and things are the way they are...I'd rather be fighting alongside him. It makes me uneasy to think about what could be going down right now, and all I can do is wait for a signal."

Jesus nodded, "Daryl is smart, he and Rick won't go half-cocked."

Melanie almost snorted into her coffee, because when it came to people Daryl cared about, he most certainly can be that way.

"He's gruff, but when he cares about someone there isn't anything he wouldn't do for them. He's extremely protective. I'm sure everything I told him at the outpost is sitting in the back of his mind. Negan propostioning me, swinging that damn bat to my head...cutting off my hair. All things he will want blood for."

He drank from the coffee thermos lid, "So how long...have you two been together?"

Melanie did the mental math and smiled sadly, "Not long if you're considering time in the old world. But I guess time is different now. My friend Adam and I, we made it to Alexandria in late summer, I guess Daryl and I took up in mid-fall. Adam meant a lot to me, he was like my brother...we wrote songs together. He made Daryl promise him to look after me. His last thoughts when he was bleeding were of me."

"He sounds like a good friend."

She nodded, "He was. He was the best."

Daryl had waited most of the morning for the assholes to show up and take what they wanted to take so they could go on and get the hell out so they could plan and Melanie could come home. He didn't like her being away, he didn't like her being in danger, and Melanie and Jesus left hours ago and there were still no signs of Dwight or Negan.

Carol sat on her front porch, sharpening her knife and watched him pace back and forth. She smiled a bit and teased, "You're starting to pace like Rick. What has got you more riled up? Negan and his men? Or Melanie not being here."

Daryl stopped and sighed, "Melanie."

She looked up at him and shook her head, "Ate up, aren't you?"

He started the pacing again, "Afraid so. I just wish those dicks would show up already so we could send up a signal."

"Mellie will be fine, us on the other hand...we might need to worry. These men aren't reasonable. I'm surprised they haven't threatened to take this place yet. All they want is half of everything, and I'm not buying it. There has to be a catch."

Daryl tended to agree, having come face to face with this Dwight twice. After half, what would the next demand be? How much more could they take? He took a break from his pacing and sat beside Carol, "Rick wants us ta play compliant until we figure out what their game is. Then figure out how ta fight back."

Carol sighed and looked towards the gates and Daryl followed her gaze. The noise of motorcycles echoed close and a van appeared at the front gate. They had arrived. Daryl held his crossbow close at hand, and Carol followed close behind. He saw Rick, Michonne and Abraham appear across the street and they all walked to the gate to let the bikes and the van in. Rick eyed him, but said nothing.

With a nod from Rick, Spencer opened the gate and they all rolled ominously in.

Daryl recognized Dwight, but none of the other men...that was until the last man made it out of the van. He was handsome, hulking in a leather jacket with a barbed-wire wrapped baseball bat perched on his shoulder. Daryl felt his face darken.

Negan.

He smiled, a shit-eating grin, and paced infront of them while looking them over, "Do I need an introduction?"

Daryl and Rick exchanged glances and Rick shook his head, "No."

Negan continued walking back and forth infront of them, "Good. It gets really fucking old. It's better when folks just know of you and your reputation. We took a girl from here...for ransom. Cute little red head with a tight ass. I don't suppose you all have seen her?"

He stood infront of Daryl for a moment and looked him dead in the eye, "I think she was your girlfriend, right? I have to say, you're batting way outta your fucking league with that one, son."

Daryl wanted to rip into him, draw blood for terrorizing Melanie, but he had promised her to play along, "She ain't been back. We thought ya still had her."

Negan laughed, "Little bitch broke out. Killed my men. I really don't like it when people fucking kill my men. I was gonna make her pay...but then I found this."

He reached into the inside pocket of his jacket and pulled out an ad, ripped from a magazine...a full page ad promoting Melanie's album, wearing those short shorts and a smile. Dread started to fill in Daryl's chest, as Negan looked admiringly at the photo like he was looking at a centerfold of a nudie magazine.

"Melanie McCall, right under my nose. I thought she looked fucking familiar...and when she sang to my Lucille...well needless to say, I just want to fatten her up a little and have her walk around in nothing but denim cutoff's for my enjoyment. Had I known, I would've treated her like the goddamn Queen of England. I used to rub one out everytime she was on tv. Jesus Christ, that ass."

Rage was boiling in Daryl's chest. No one was going to talk about his girl that way right infront of him. Of course, Negan was baiting him, but Daryl was going to bite if that asshole didn't get his stuff and get out of town real quick.

Rick stepped up, he knew the Daryl was hot, "She isn't here. She's probably dead, she has been gone for days with no word. We haven't seen her at all. I believe you want half of everything. Take it and get out."

Negan smiled, "You must be Rick. Fearless leader, right? Don't give me a reason to show you why you should be afraid. I'm not going to hurt this little songbird. I just want her for my collection...but for that, she has to come willingly. I'm not going to hurt another hair on her head, but I'm gonna do my best to get her to come with me. Sweet talk her and such. Now...why don't ya show us around this place?"

Rick nodded and gave Daryl a look that said, "Stay here."

He did, even though he was fit to be tied. He'd let that man sweet talk Melanie over his dead body.

Daryl watched the men loot Alexandria from the comfort of Carol's porch. They took half the food stores, ammo and guns, and Denise put up a hell of a fight over the fact they took most of the powerful pain meds that could be abused. Rick practically had to pull her away. Carol brought mugs of coffee out to the porch and sat down beside him.

"You know that stuff he said, about Mellie...you know she would never go with him willingly."

Daryl knew she wouldn't under normal circumstances, but who knows what tricks this asshole would pull to have her. She wasn't some toy to collect, he knew that she would hate that the most. He shrugged, "I don't know, Carol. I think it might be too dangerous for her ta stay here. For us..."

Carol's eyes widened, "You know good and well she would not want you to leave your people. There is another away around this...don't go to extremes yet. We will figure something out."

Daryl watched the pillaging of Alexandria and shook his head. They were powerless for the sake of learning about their enemy, but Daryl felt defeated, and he didn't like it. He wasn't a welcome mat, and he didn't know how much longer he could pretend to be one.

Around late afternoon, Melanie and Jesus had been drifting out of the shops in alternating turns so one of them could keep an eye on the tower. There was a diner, a coffee shop, a used book store, a pet store and a thrift shop. Daryl had been right, after two years, there hadn't been much to scavenge. She did find a new sweater that could replace her brown one, and some trashy paperbacks. Jesus found cans of stewed tomatoes, pineapple and peas with little onions...random, but useful.

When Jesus had relieved her the third time, she made her way to the apartment over the coffee shop and deducted that the owner must have lived there. Melanie climbed the rickety attic ladder that she pulled down from the ceiling, her hand gripping the hilt of her machete. When she got completely up, the stench of decay hit her. She covered her nose and mouth and towards the circular window, she found the body of the owner...what was left of it. He had shot himself in the head, but had left behind a .45 and two boxes of ammo.

It felt so strange to scavenge. Before all of this, she had finally come into money. She could buy whatever she liked. Now, the world had ended and money was just worthless paper and she just took what she needed...and sometimes what she liked.

Like the bottle of bourbon and the bottle of rum the coffee shop owner left behind. They went directly into her backpack for her and Daryl's consumption.

She dug around the attic a bit more when she heard a sharp, loud gun shot. Melanie froze for a moment before coming to her senses and hustling down from the attic, through the apartment, out the coffee shop and into the street where Jesus was standing. He held binoculars to his eyes.

Melanie struggled for breath and managed to ask, "Sasha?"

He nodded solemnly, "Only one shot. It must have gone alright...or without incident."

They both stood still, watching in the direction of the tower...hoping that another shot would not come.

After ten minutes, it never did.

One last stop, into a filling station wielded some single travel packages of ibuprofen, toothpaste and to Melanie's disgust, six packages of cherry flavored cigarillos. She couldn't imagine what Daryl would say...but smokes were smokes.

They made a slow walk home, stretched it out as long as they could just in case wolves lurked nearby. They didn't talk very much and they were both tired and hungry. They only encountered five walkers on the way, two of them were legless, so they were easy to dispatch.

Jesus and Melanie made it back to the gates of Alexandria at dusk, Spencer opened the gate to them and Melanie was comforted to find Daryl waiting behind it like a steadfast tin solider. He had an expression on his face she couldn't define, he was clearly relieved to see her home...but he was beaten down.

"Did everything go okay?"

Daryl shook his head and sighed, "This thing...with Negan. He's comin' back every month for half."

Melanie felt her hands ball into fists, "That asshole. Surely Rick is making a plan...we'll have a plan..."

He shook his head, "That's not the worst of it, Red. He knows who you are."

A/N: Hullo loves! I'm sorry for a long absence. I had to evaluate the direction of the next few chapters, so it took me awhile to crank it out :) next up: Mellie and Daryl reunited, planning, talk of Hilltop. Maybe some fluff/hotness.

I'd like to thank everyone who has continued on with this story. I'm so thrilled with the love it gets :) please leave me a note to let me know what you think/how I am doing :)

Super Special Shout Outs go to: Natalie Laukas (thank you! I hope the holiday was fantastic for you! :), Jean F (you always leave the most remarkable reviews, thank you! Adam is still very much a part of the story. A bit of a ghost for Melanie, as she is determined to live the way he'd want her to. Negan is going to try to coerce Mellie...as he is a spoiled child who uses violence to get whatever he wants. I hope you enjoy this chapter :), TheFaceOfAlison (Thank you, I thought that Mellie would be able to express her feelings for him more with music...I am thinking she will unveil the whole thing at Christmas as his gift :), and to Guest (Thank you for the review! I hope to show hyper protective Daryl in the next few chapters :)

Thanks and Love!

Leah P!

xoxo