August 24, 2010
~*~ SW ~*~
Shane glances up at Zach, who is on rooftop guard duty with Danny, plus two of the Grady women. The difference of a month since his first run with the younger man is amazing, because now he truly leads instead of making due. Zach signals all is clear, so Shane returns to helping strap down the load of lumber Merle needs.
The size of their supply teams is larger now, between Grady folks catching up and the influx of the Guardsmen. Only three of the new military asked to take on on-property duty versus off. So today they have seven teams of four, each with a different focus in the big Home Depot, like Danny's lookout team on the roof.
It's also the first time he's been on a separate team from Scout since they arrived at Homestead, but with Rick as his partner and Jamie as hers, they're both good. He's got two teams down here loading lumber, while Scout has on the opposite side loading all the garden supplies. Arthur and Lenore Eldridge want greenhouses built.
The third set of teams is under Rachel's leadership, which surprised Shane, since he initially expected Scout to select the military trained marshal. But he has to admit that the woman is far more comfortable leading than Tim will ever be. The former sniper is on Glenn's separate run today, back to the area they found the containers to clear out more of the restaurant supply store.
Rick wipes sweat away from his face with a bandana and grimaces as they wait on T-Dog to pull the now fully loaded flatbed semi away so that Maria can pull the next one up near the contractor entrance.
"Maybe you should shave that mess off, brother. August in Georgia ain't the best time for facial hair."
His best friend makes a face, but shrugs. They both take time in the short break to drink. It's only nine in the morning, and the heat is already enough to bake them. "Wanted one for years and couldn't for regulations sake. Not gonna give up because of a little heat. Besides, it isn't unpopular with the ladies."
"They just like that it makes you look like a grown man instead of a college kid like you do clean shaven." Shane's grateful they still have this ability to tease, because waiting on Rick to settle his mind and come back to their friendship is second only to the coma for worrying about his best friend.
At least Rick took his advice about playing the field a little. The other man isn't accepting the all the offers that come his way, but he's admitted to two separate no-strings encounters so far. Sasha didn't surprise him because he suggested it himself, but Katherine from the Grady group did. Woman does look good for her age, but she has eighteen years on Rick.
Rick laughs. "Looking my age is a good thing nowadays."
Shane glances back into the building, where their secondary team is loading two forklifts, glad the area has stayed relatively free of walkers so far. They haven't seen any large herds other than the one Daryl's teams encountered. Maybe their systematic methods of clearing areas they are harvesting supplies in is paying off.
"Hey, Rick, can I ask you a real serious question?"
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol slides her hands across the surface of the desk and smiles.
"You like it?" Merle sounds almost hesitant, and that's enough to make her look up. He's leaned against the door frame, and it looks casual, but he isn't as relaxed as he appears.
"It's perfect. I only objected because I didn't think an office should take priority, not that I didn't want you to provide one."
He relaxes and comes over to lean against the desk after claiming a kiss. "No sense in you having to dash back and forth between the main house and community center, plus you've got assistants now."
When she initially gave in to the idea, Merle had the three office trailers his company owned hauled on property. One is parked down with the military vehicles pending some future use. Another is set up near the equipment barn to host a combo of the construction and supply run planning.
But the third is now installed to one side of the main entry to the community center, with a bathroom facility brought from the container company installed to provide men and women's restrooms for the center on the other side. While she initially thought she would use it as it came from being used on Merle's larger construction projects, she found herself locked out for two days while it was redone in what should have been evening downtime for Merle and several of the kids.
Now it looks like any regular three-person office, except for the cheery paint job throughout that includes a mural dominating one wall of her private office space. The other two desks are in a shared space, and although four people will share the area, Carol doesn't expect they'll run into too much overlap.
"It still feels like I'm taking over Patricia's place."
"I think you should consider yourself her successor, not her replacement. And she stepped back for happy reasons."
Carol has to agree they are happy reasons. Lori's pregnancy news had held the potential for drama. Patricia's, when she finally announced it three days later, is bittersweet. Her husband, Otis, died back on the Greene Farm. In twenty-one years of marriage, they remained childless. Now at forty-three, Patricia is going to be a first-time mother. Combined with her three fosterlings, she decided less stress was for the best.
He reaches out to cup her cheek, and she can't resist leaning into the touch as he speaks again. "Darlin', people are going to look up to you here with what we're building here. Just think of yourself as a mama with an insane level of ducklings. Just because we all enjoyed Drill Sergeant Patricia doesn't mean you have to emulate her."
"I suppose you're right." The job needs to be done, and few others have the personality for it.
"Besides, the way our smart-ass family keeps calling me Mufasa, that makes you Sarabi."
She laughs. Cricket started it, but it caught on with all the other Dixons, who found it hilarious. Sophia and Honey even taught little Andy to call Merle that. He responded by digging some of his kids' old toys out of the attic and gifting the toddler with a full set of Lion King plushies.
"I'm just glad Daryl has no ambitions to become Scar then."
That earns her an amused kiss as he bids her farewell to return back to overseeing the foundation work for their first actual warehouse.
She looks around the office again. The desk is from the mobile office, but she's pretty sure Honey cleared out most of Merle's permanent office at the construction company and relocated it here. The kids decorating explains the giant dark red bean bags set up as visitor chairs. There are at least a half dozen of them in the house that usually migrate to the living room for movies.
"They really went all out in here for you," Jacqui says, stepping inside and turning to inspect the wall above the bean bags. "Who did the photos?"
"The kids did the frames. Jazz did the photos."
The photo frames are why the adults were banned from the basement last night. She hasn't spent a lot of time down there, so she didn't realize there was a fairly stocked craft closet that Merle waved off as the girls' various hobbies collecting up. The rustic recycled wood is actually scraps collected up from building projects.
But the black and white photos make her want to sit down with Jazz for the significance. Some are obviously new, like the shot of Carol and Merle laughing while they tidy up the dishes after supper. There's one of Sophia leaning against Daryl on the back deck swing, the girl watching intently as Daryl fletches bolts. But a few of the shots are older, ones Jazz probably didn't take himself, but chose from his collection of negatives. Honey can't be more than ten in hers, long hair braided while she draws her bow.
"They're wonderful. I guess I thought film photography was a dying art for his generation. Makes me miss my old photography class from high school. And the mural?"
"I'm not sure who all painted it, but the chibi animals make me think Sophia came up with it."
"It's adorable. Plenty of visual stress relief if you need it. But I came by to ask if you can rotate me and Jim off duty for a day or two. He's having a rough patch, bad enough I sent Hershel to him."
Hershel would have let her know tonight, so Jacqui must need to talk. She gets up to hug her friend. "Is there anything I can do?"
Jacqui is quiet in her arms for a bit. "Just cross your fingers he follows through on taking the meds Hershel gave him. I think he's finally grieving, now that he's in a safe place to do it. He confirmed to me last night that the walkers got his wife and both boys. Hershel says it's grief combined with a lot of survivor's guilt."
"If there's anything he wants or needs and we can provide it, let me know."
Jacqui agrees as she pulls away, brushing away tears. "Can you slot him in for teaching some mechanics classes? He had more life to him when he was teaching the teenagers how do redo that vehicle wiring at the quarry."
"I can do that. Should have plenty of apprentices for it too."
"Thank you. I'm going to go grab some drinks for our fridge and head back to sit with him."
She gives Carol a hug before leaving, passing Lori and Abby on the way out. As Lori gravitates to the desk on the far side of the main office, Abby trots into Carol's area and drops her backpack between the desk and bean bags before flopping face first onto one and sighing happily.
"You having a good day, Miss Abby?"
"Yup. Gonna do my science workbook in a minute. Miz Lori says if I don't do it before lunch, no sweets."
Abby is doing better, but still unwilling to attend the morning school session, so Carol and Lori are just having her do the lessons as she spends time with either of them. Maybe she'll see about a little desk for Abby.
Carol turns to the computer and the stack of handwritten notes she needs to organize, but her eyes are drawn to the photos one last time.
She reminds herself to spend some time with their selector, because the sole photo with Jazz is one where he's sitting in the floor during a movie, back pressed to Merle and Carol's legs. He has his long legs stretched out in front of him and Abby's sprawled across his lap. Honey's legs are alongside his at enough of an angle she has her ankles laid atop his shins, and Sophia is sound asleep using Honey's thigh as a pillow. Carol isn't sure who took the picture, but she's glad they caught such a large chunk of their family together.
He might not express his feelings verbally, shrugging off the conversation and just accepting her place in his father's life, but she suspects the image of what's most certainly his way of cuddling says all that she needs to hear.
~*~ SW ~*~
They've loaded all they can for this trip, and Shane thinks there'll be two more trips just for lumber. Scout's teams cleared out what is salvageable from the garden center, though, thanks to two fully loaded semi-trailers. They've even used the sleeper units of the truck cabs of both his four trucks and her four to transport the trees and plants that managed to survive thanks to an automated irrigation system.
Everyone is loading up under the early afternoon sun when a terrified scream rings out. The watch group on the roof responds by jogging to the far side of the roof, since the scream came from somewhere near the Target that shares the property.
The three team leaders' teams assemble around Shane, Scout, and Rachel. The others meld up into the driver's seats, ready to pull out if it's a herd instead of humans.
Danny's voice comes over the throat radios. "Human assholes, not dead ones. They got some folks cornered near the far corner of the Target. I can make the shot from here, but there's seven of them against a group of five and none look like fighters."
"You and Zach keep them covered while we work our way around," Scout orders.
"There's a big delivery truck that'll cover most of your approach. You can probably make the closer side of the building and circle behind them."
"Rachel? I want your team to stay on this side of things. Make your way as close as you can under cover."
The marshal nods and splits off her people when the rest of them jog around the huge building. Halfway down the back, she stops by the cardboard compactor's dumpster and turns to Jamie.
"Take the two Atlanta cops and Brady and cover from the roof." The tall Marine nods, climbing the dumpster and using a grapple hook to reach the roof. His team follows, leaving the two of them, Rick, and T-Dog to continue.
Scout slows them as they reach the rear corner that's completely blind to Danny. She checks the corner before signaling everyone forward again.
These assholes are stupid. Shane can see three with their backs to the strip of side parking lot that now holds Shane's group. He can only see one other from here, and the man's turned away. He's older, bearded with long grey hair.
One of the idiots has the only woman in the group held tight against him, ill intent obvious from her ripped shirt. The two others have ahold of teenagers, one kid weeping openly. The other men Danny mentioned are kneeling, their postures signaling they are probably at gunpoint from the unseen men.
Shane hates how exposed they are, but it's not the first time he's had to do something like this. At least it's not just him and Rick outnumbered against meth heads like that one time. The unseen trio will be easy pickings from the roof.
He figures out why the long-haired man is distracted when he hears a shopping cart go careening across the parking lot and Rachel call out, "Oops, how clumsy of me," in a singsong voice.
She steps out into view from behind a pickup, and all eyes are on her, even the hostages. She's stripped down to a plain white tank top over her cargo pants, no weapons in sight, the image of a helpless female.
Too bad for these assholes she's likely as vicious and deadly as Scout when need be.
As if they rehearsed it, he, Scout, and Rick each step forward to put a gun to the hostage holders' heads, and Rachel draws her gun from the back of her waistband.
"Might want to let these good people go, assholes." They all stiffen at his words, and Shane's target seems to have some inkling of self-preservation because he actually releases the crying boy immediately and shoves him away. T-Dog snatches the boy back and behind them.
"Well, seems like we got a case of the stupids going on. I told you to let these people go."
Rick's target releases the other boy after a tap of his brother's gun to the back of the skull. The boy scrambles to safety behind them without prompting.
"Which of you assholes is in charge?" Scout asks. He wonders if the man in front of her realizes he's only escalating his punishment.
The long-haired man answers. "Me. This don't hafta come to blows. Plenty to go around, for those who know how to claim it."
Shane refrains from laughing. Idiot hasn't seemed to cotton to Scout being a woman, between the lower pitch of her voice and the fact that she's actually at least two inches taller than the man under her gun. The head wraps are showing their value.
"I think you might want to have your men lower their guns before mine on the roof here and at the Depot decide to make them."
The self-declared leader glances upward and definitely loses some of his swagger. He orders his men to drop their guns. "These ones ain't worth dying for."
As soon as the guns are down, the two kneeling men ease to their feet. T-Dog draws them away, which leaves just the woman in danger.
Apparently, the man holding her isn't entirely braindead. "Soon as I let her go, we're dead men. Can't risk bullet might go through me."
He must think he's won when Scout's gun leaves the back of his head.
One of the rescued men mutters, "They were going to rape them and torture us for fun."
"That true?" Shane asks.
The leader shrugs. "World's survival of the fittest now."
"I suppose it is," Scout replies. "But our definitions of who's fit to live are wildly different."
Then she demonstrates why she lowered the gun when she slits the hostage taker's throat. Shane fires as soon as he sees the knife move. Rick's split second of hesitation means the guy gets an elbow to Rick's cheekbone. Rick goes down, but T-Dog puts a bullet in the man before he can do any further damage or run.
Other shots have rung out, and Scout's standing over the leader with knife in hand as he bleeds out. None of the others are standing, and Shane makes sure the first man to get his throat slit isn't able to turn. One of the men coaxes their blood covered female companion away from the bodies.
"Good thinking on the distraction," Shane calls out to Rachel, whose team is out in the open now. Rick's back on his feet, but he's going to have a hell of a shiner.
She shrugs. "Working the marshal service in Kentucky teaches you to think fast on your feet."
"Why don't you and your team help these folks get sorted out while we clear out the trash. No sense leaving them blocking the store entrance," Scout suggests. She taps her radio. "Rooftops, keep an eye out in case the gunfire attracts the dead or more of these jackals. Once we move the dead, we need to grab her some clothes if we can access the Target."
Rachel rounds up her new charges, who allow themselves to be herded away and questioned gently.
They're joking around while using the beat-up delivery van as a body mover and just loading the last body when Rick's got his gun in his hand, calling out, "Movement in the entrance. Opening the doors, so not a walker."
Everyone falls back to partial cover and waits on the person to emerge.
She's highly unlikely to be part of the group they just got rid of, since he can't see a woman fitting in. She's tall and appears unarmed until he spots the sword hilt.
"One of you named Dixon?" she calls out, voice sounding of it's been unused a long time.
Scout looks curious and steps forward to get a clear view. "Michonne? Holy shit."
The woman who Scout obviously recognizes takes a few steps closer. "Your family?"
"All good. Yours?"
Michonne gives a short jerk of her head, looking grief stricken.
"Oh hell, I'm so sorry."
"Was just wandering. Kept heading north, but couldn't bring myself to find out for sure. He tried to get me to come to your place, but I let Terry talk me into the refugee center."
"Well, Daddy will never forgive me if I don't bring you home."
Michonne nods slowly.
Shane is starting to think they're going to need an even bigger property if they keep finding lost sheep, but he's not complaining.
~*~ MD ~*~
Merle's waiting when Scout's run returns. She slides from the cab of the truck and steps away to let Michonne exit behind her. His daughter already radioed ahead about the horrific news that his friend's lost her family.
He holds his arms wide and hopes she'll accept the comfort.
She hesitates and he drops his arms, not wanting to push. But when Honey yells her name, the woman allows the weeping embrace, petting at his girl's hair.
Once Honey has control of herself again, she tugs Michonne toward the house. Maybe the best balm for the woman's wounded soul is the affection of another child she loves. It doesn't replace her lost boy, but any anchor helps.
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol puts the plate of food in front of their newest resident, who looks at the scrambled eggs and toast along with a bottle of Boost with more than a little disbelief. Cricket sent word on her physical that Michonne is near dangerously malnourished, so they're starting slow and small.
"Trust that crazy old redneck to still have eggs and bread in the damned apocalypse."
Merle laughs from where he's leaned against the counter. "All the eggs you can enjoy, my Nubian Queen."
Michonne points her fork at him. "Don't make me stab you, old man."
But she smiles just a little, which Carol thinks is the point of the comment.
Still unsure of how the two know each other, other than that she also knows Honey, at least, Carol busies herself by washing the egg pan.
"You've been busy here."
"Had to. Should be further along, but I spent about two months outta my head on coke til the kids wandered up out of Florida and knocked sense into me."
"That was one reason I was afraid to come here. Didn't want to know if they never made it home."
"I'm glad you recognized Scout then."
"I don't know that I can stay behind walls again."
"Then join a run team. Plenty of time on the road. You crossed paths with Scout today for a reason."
She's silent for a moment, eating listlessly on her eggs. "When did the thing start with her and the cop? Figured she'd end up a lifelong bachelorette."
"Guess the apocalypse shifted her gears. He's a good man. Rounds out her rough edges, same as she does for him."
"Like you and the lady there?"
Carol startles at the assessment and turns as she dries her hands. Neither she nor Merle have even interacted in front of her.
Michonne shrugs and takes a bite of toast.
Merle reaches out to tug Carol to him with a grin. "Never underestimate Michonne's powers of observation. Many an opponent came to regret that in her days as a lawyer."
"You just say that because I made that subcontractor who sabotaged your project cry on the stand when you sued him."
"Hell, woman, that jackass sobbing was almost better than the restitution he had to pay."
"You going to introduce her or do I need to keep thinking of her as the woman too good for my hillbilly friend and help her wise up?"
Merle guffaws. "Carol, this is Michonne, who wrested my account from those older and lazier about six years ago back when she was a first-year associate and proceeded to assist me in many wealthy endeavors. Michonne, this is Carol, Mama Bear for the whole shebang here now."
Michonne actually offers a hand, which Carol shakes, feeling a little off kilter. So, this is the woman Honey once wanted for Merle...
"You're good for him," she says at last. "His grin isn't so full of bullshit anymore."
Carol smiles as Merle kisses her temple, still keeping her tucked close.
The front door slams and toddler feet pound across the living room. "Mufasa, I wanna go see the goats."
Andy stumbles to halt, gaping at Michonne.
"Mommy?"
~*~ SW ~*~
Shane leads Scout down the incline past the pond. They've technically invaded the sheep pen, but the docile animals paid them little attention. The big Anatolian dog barely notices them, too used to people in her pasture by now. He doesn't see the male, which is probably how the dogs are trained.
"Where are we going?" Scout asks. "We're going to get eaten by mosquitoes down here."
"You'll see." He grins at her, near vibrating from excitement and nerves. They pass through the gate into the unused field closest to the river.
He knows when she's spotted the little tent lit with solar powered fairy lights. He owes Cricket and Tara big time for their help. He came up with the idea, but they implemented it for him.
When he unzips the tent, he realizes they really went all out. His tent doesn't look much like it did at the quarry, cluttered and careworn. The air mattress is piled high with soft bedding, and the floor level table is covered in a variety of finger foods that they both enjoy.
Scout arches a brow, but looks pleased at the unexpected romantic gesture. "I see why you weren't worried about mosquitoes bow."
She tugs him in for a kiss before leading him to the table. She samples a few of the blackberries and offers him a piece of melon before curiosity wins out.
"Is this a special occasion? It's not my birthday for another month."
He nips at her fingers playfully before finishing his bit of melon. He shushes his nerves, remembering this morning's reassurance from Rick.
"I know it's been barely a month, but I've never been sure of or wanted someone more in my entire life. And I know in our world, formality may mean less than it did before, but I want it. I dream of it."
He takes both her hands, taking time to kiss each palm tenderly.
"Formality?"
She knows now. He can see it in her eyes, and she's smiling.
"Wanna make me the happiest formerly romance challenged man in the world?"
His answer nearly upsets the table, as she's astride him and kissing him so thoroughly he completely forgets he has something to give her. She finally lets them breathe, kissing along his throat and cheeks.
"That a yes?" he drawls softly.
She laughs and sits up to look down at him. "It's a yes."
He reaches under his shirt collar, where he's had the necklace on all day alongside his own. When it's laying against his shirt, he releases the clasp while she studies it and reaches out with an unsteady hand. She holds it cupped in her hand for so long he thinks he miscalculated and she really expected a ring.
"It's beautiful," she manages at last. "How did you manage this? It's custom work."
"Found the bobcat bones hunting rabbits with Daryl about a week ago. I gave him the bone and he had the beads and he etched the bone."
She dangles the necklace in front of her, touching first the beads worked into the cord and then the bone pendant with the words etched in reddish orange to match the spiny oyster beads.
She reaches for his hands and directs him to help her put it on. It falls just below her collarbones, words he practiced with Cricket and Daryl across it.
"Tåya' yo' sin hågu."
She smiles at his words, and he glories in bringing that much joy to the woman he loves as he strips them both bare. The tent that housed their first explorations now hosts them as he kisses across her skin as if for the first time. When he kisses around the pendant, he finds himself rolled as she rises above him, and he delights in this view as well, that flicker of ivory and ochre above her breasts as she moves against him reminding him she's pledging him this forever.
~*~ DD ~*~
The Dixon brothers sit in the living room, hearing Carol and Michonne's voices as they ready the office futon for Andre and his mother to sleep on.
"Can't believe we had 'Chonne's boy with us all this time and didn't know it," Daryl says. "Been nearly two years since I saw him last, but you had them up here at Honey's graduation." Which Daryl missed providing backup to some clueless feds chasing drugs that came in off the coast through the backwoods.
Merle shakes his head. "He wasn't with her that trip. Off at his grandma's. So, I hadn't seen him since Christmas, and even then, wasn't for long. His daddy was never that fond of me hanging around. I knew the boy was getting attached to me, but I thought it was wishful thinking and the name wasn't quite right. I couldn't imagine Michonne dead, which is the only way I could have imagined her separate from her baby."
"Well, if I didn't believe in guardian angels before, I do now," Daryl mutters.
Merle agrees and bids him good night.
He makes his way up to the room he's still sharing with Lori and Abby, hoping the woman's asleep, but knowing she won't be. She seems to have to see him settle in before she does for the night. He isn't finding it as irritating as he once did, when he always bit his tongue not to exchange harsh words with a pregnant woman.
He's right that she's awake, although he's amazed to see that Abby's in the top bunk for the first time. Lori lets her book rest on her chest and gives him a faint smile.
"She asked to try the bunk tonight. I don't figure she'll stay all night, but it's progress toward you shaking free of me, I suppose."
"Ain't like it's a hardship," he says, going through his bedtime routine. He realizes she's watching him through the open bathroom door as he brushes his teeth and stops to quirk an eyebrow at her.
"Sorry. Your tattoos just caught my attention."
He touches his fingers to his chest, where Abigail is scrawled across his heart. He got it when she was taken away from him, needing the daily reminder. The devils on his back... well, those weren't up for discussion with her.
But she returns to her book and he finishes up in peace.
He's almost asleep when she taps the lamp off.
"Thank you for teaching Carl," she says softly once they're in the dark. "Seems he's spending more time with you and Shane than his dad. He couldn't tell me enough about fishing and learning to drive the boat."
"He's a curious kid. Liked hearing about me making arrests on the water a little too much. Don't think he realized rangers gotta patrol the lakes and the woods."
"Which part did you like more, the woods or the water?"
"I had five counties plus Lake Oconee and five rangers to cover them in, one of them greener than spring grass. I wish someone told me if they tell you to attend Command College, be afraid. They're going to promote you. Although at least as a ranger, you ain't gotta keep your butt parked behind a desk all the time.". He thinks over her question. "Never thought I'd say it, but I think I did like the water better. More helping people there, stranded boaters and such."
She's quiet long enough he thinks she fell asleep until she laughs. It lacks the tension of the almost forced laugh she had at the quarry, and the part of him that's starting to believe she cares for Abby is glad.
"What's so funny?"
"Just thinking that's the most I've ever heard you say at once."
He snorts. "Go to sleep, woman."
She laughs again and settles, leaving him to ponder the oddity of what he thinks might be friendship growing between them.