A/N: Warning Note: Chapter contains accidental violence toward/injury of three females when they try to intervene in a violent scene.
November 12, 2010
~*~ GR ~*~
Tim's alert comes across the throat radios and everyone stiffens. "Got a military vehicle on the move, big one. Can't get a good look at the driver, but there's at least two passengers."
Glenn sighs. "How far out?" They're in Gainesville today, having moved east when they either tapped out Cumming or left a few places for the Terminus folks to glean from. Shopping centers like this one - close to a freeway - always make him tense, because he figures if they're going to have encounters, those are the more likely areas. But this one has an Aldi, a Tractor Supply, and some bargain shopping place that are all prime targets.
"Just pulled in over at the gas station. Checking out the pumps."
Which means they can't see Glenn's group, because they're on the backside of the shopping center as usual. He's a little sad for them if they're a good group, because most of the fuel they've been pumping out of the gas stations lately has been contaminated with water. They've been keeping it anyway, since it's sort of usable with some work, but he sure as hell wouldn't put any of it straight in a tank. Daryl's marina diesel is much better with the older type of diesel fuel.
They're really out of luck at that gas station though, because Scout's teams drained it dry when they swept through yesterday.
"Keep on loading. I'm going up to take a look."
Jacqui nods and takes over the store teams. Glenn shimmies up the rope Tim left hanging and creeps across the roof to join the sniper.
"Anything new?"
"Think it's just three of them. Hard to fit anyone else in that truck cab and the back's uncovered. Big guy there? He's military or former military. Clothes probably aren't just a fashion statement. Other guy's a civilian, and of the dumbass variety. Ain't even armed."
"And the woman?"
"I'm going to say jury's out on her. She's got training, but dressed like that in the damned apocalypse? Doubt she's military or law enforcement."
Glenn assesses through his binoculars as he lays prone beside Tim. He has to agree with the comment on the woman. She's wearing a few pieces of military clothing, but the effect is more costume than the realistic. It's hot today, in the seventies despite being mid-November, but stripping down to a tank top like both the two armed members of this group in an unprotected area? Scout would eat them alive.
But as he watches her move with her larger companion, he thinks someone's trained her somehow. She has a lot of the confidence he sees in Maggie and Tara.
It doesn't take them long to find out the tanks are a bust. But the gas station gives more of the truth to them. The woman reemerges with two bags of supplies, her expression concerned.
"He's smarter than I thought, because he's checking roofs," Tim murmurs. He's studying them through his scope, a habit that always creeps Glenn out a little.
"He can't see us, can he?"
"No. We're in too much shadow from the air units. Won't spot us unless we want him to."
"Small group, woman looks healthy. We probably should say hi, but I'm thinking their choice of vehicle leaves a lot to be desired."
Tim snorts. "Think they're gonna try the Aldi. Must have enough fuel to get by for now."
His team hasn't hit the Aldi yet, finding the agri supplies higher priority. "Guess we'll meet up with them. You good for now?"
The sniper nods, gaze intent on the truck now making its way across the parking lot. Glenn keeps low as he backs away from the line of sight and taps his radio to update Jacqui and the teams. He stops by their scout vehicle to radio Homestead and waves to where Sasha's using the truck cab of the semi as a watch perch. Augustus is with them today, head near the gapped driver's window of the scout vehicle. No one will make it down the alley today undetected.
Might as well keep loading. Grocery store is going to keep their attention more than a Tractor Supply, unless they hear the forklift. He considers the issue but decides faster loading is better, especially since this one's got several of the truck bed fuel tanks and the animal feed amazingly not spoiled or invaded by rats. Last time that happened, he found a mama cat and kittens in residence, but no strays so far today.
They're done loading the first truck when he gets back and Jacqui grins at him. "One of these days, we gotta tradeoff for more brawn."
"Or not let Daryl borrow Quinton's team." The former ranger picked three of his people to form a new run team, but Scout hasn't firmly decided if the third team is his or Daryl's yet. But the fish are plentiful and biting right now, so Daryl's got three teams out on the lake, plus another half dozen teenagers, just like he has all week. It's funny watching former game cops grin about 'what limit?' when unloading fish.
"Got all the pet food and supplies on there. Let Carol and Hershel sort what's useful. Zoe's got a pallet over there loading footwear. Wish they'd had more winter gear, but since the place shut down in May, I'm just glad we didn't find starved chicks here."
Glenn shudders. That's the worst part of farm and pet stores... not all employees set the stock free.
He knows Bryce was loading backroom stock with the forklift and Shelby checking his future loads. "Where is Antonio and Christopher?"
"Loading up the loose cleaning supplies and garden supplies in boxes. Best stuff for garden is outside, plus more fencing for the zoo."
"Not sure it qualifies as a zoo when it's mostly farm animals." Glenn leaves Jacqui on guard, since her position in the center aisle lets her see all the doors especially with half the stock gone. He starts loading one of the big rolling toolboxes with supplies from the automotive aisle. They aren't as much priority now, but since they can't load the outside just yet, might as well keep busy.
He listens as Jacqui cycles through check-ins with Sasha and Tim, glad the theory the Aldi would hold the strangers' attention is holding.
They get the second truck loaded and now comes the part that is going to give away their presence. Glenn takes up watch while Sasha and Bryce climb in the trucks and start up the rumbling diesels.
"Any signs on your side?" he asks Tim.
"Not yet. If he's military, he's not coming out in the open without more information."
Glenn glances at Jacqui. There's nothing they direly need inside the store and the other two semis are at the end of the building. They intended to load up the supplies in the fenced area of the parking lot, which is why he brought a semi with a flatbed, but it's completely unprotected if the three strangers are unfriendly.
"Let's see if we can lure them out," he decides, and Jacqui nods. Sasha and Bryce maneuver their loaded semis out to block most of the sightline to the part of the parking lot they need to be in. Jacqui pulls the empty semi and trailer to finish off the protective triangle and Christopher follows with the flatbed with its piggy-back forklift. Glenn pulls the Subaru and its trailer further behind the makeshift barrier.
Tim left his perch on the roof for one on Jacqui's trailer, and Glenn blesses Scout's precautions that he's semi protected by modifications while he keeps watch.
"They're curious, but cautious," Tim reports.
"Drivers stay put. Antonio? How fast can you move that forklift?"
The Vato just laughs, sliding from the passenger seat of the SUV and getting the forklift underway. Glenn motions for Shelby to take his seat in the SUV and goes to help Zoe with the tie down straps.
"Big guy's damn near out the door. Don't think he realizes I'm here." Tim sounds amused. He hasn't gotten to use the perch before on people, since the Terminus encounter was with obviously untrained people.
"He seem trigger happy?"
"Not yet. Can't see the woman or the creampuff."
They actually get the flatbed loaded while the man lurks in the Aldi, so Glenn figures what the hell. "Get the fencing and posts in the trailer."
As a further lure to their watcher, he sets Augustus loose. The big dog does a run around the trucks on command, then jumps up to join Jacqui in her truck.
"Man's at the door now, keeping in the shadow of the soda machine."
"Might make him less nervous to see a woman," Jacqui suggests.
Glenn doesn't like exposing anyone that far, but she's right. Zoe glances his way, putting a hand to her shemagh. Her bright blonde ponytail is more distinctive than Jacqui, Sasha, or Shelby's short hair. He nods and she tugs it down to her shoulders, taking a quick pass by the gap between Jacqui's truck and Bryce's.
"He noticed. Talking to someone."
Glenn walks near the gap to see for himself as the massive guy steps cautiously out of the Aldi. He's tense, with gun in hand, and Glenn's got no doubt that the unseen woman is covering her partner just like Tim's covering him.
He steps out enough to show his weapons are holstered or sheathed and tugs off his own shemagh. "You folks local or passing through?"
"On our way north."
"Well, not much for fuel here. Haven't cleared the stations on the northside yet, and the Aldi's secure for food and water."
"You the leader of these people? You aren't military."
"The ones here right now, yeah."
"Who do I gotta talk to above you?"
Glenn thinks over Tim's military assessment and the partial uniform and decides on Scout versus Merle. Hopefully the guy doesn't outrank her, but there's always Welles in a pinch. "Can call in to the staff sergeant."
"Need assistance getting information to Washington."
Huh. Well that ought to be interesting. He climbs Jacqui's truck and she hands him the handset to her radio. He notes the man's risking coming closer now, probably because of the radio.
"Watch, this is Hermes reporting in. Need someone to fetch the staff sergeant."
"Decided to make it a short walk," comes Scout's reply, her voice pitched to that deeper pitch that makes her gender unclear. Makes sense that someone went to get her with potential military.
"Got a name?" he asks over the hood of the truck.
"Sergeant Abraham Ford. Army out of Texas."
"You are a helluva long way from home, sergeant," Glenn says before keying the mike. "Got a Sergeant Ford out of Texas needing assistance getting information to Washington."
"Awful small contingent for making it to Washington," she replies and he sees Ford understand his group was already spotted. "Put him on."
To his credit, he steps up on the running board and takes the mike through the passenger window Jacqui rolls down.
~*~ LG ~*~
Lori slides food in front of the big Army sergeant while Honey serves his two companions, all of whom look shocked at the contents of their plates. She figures after months on the road, the pita pockets stuffed with roasted vegetables probably seem like manna from heaven.
Abby trots over with bottles of juice, but Lori takes them to deliver to the table. She recognized the signal Scout gave Tara when she left the three travelers to go to the council meeting. They seem friendly and gave up their obvious weapons outside the community center, but she's not stupid.
The folks casually in the room now are all the least noticeable of their military and police. Two of the Grady cops, the really young guys, are playing cards with Karen. Zoe and Bryce have their own plates a table away, and Abby pops into a seat by Bryce that puts him between her and their visitors.
She isn't sure what has Scout alert enough for precautions, but not enough for clearing out Abby and Lori. She'll do her part, just like Honey, who is seated across from the trio now, giving every impression of an innocent teenager.
Rachel's behind the counter as if she always works lunch shift, humming as she makes up more pita pockets for the rest of Glenn's crew.
Lori takes a seat, but lets Honey do the talking.
"All the way from Texas? Geez, I thought us making it up here from Florida was impressive."
The leader is too tense to bother with conversation, but the other man seems intrigued by their setup. "I'm amazed at how much of civilized life you're maintaining here."
"We had a good head start. Can you believe my dad and his work crew built this building in less than a month? Electric, plumbing, the whole shebang."
"And there are no dead here?"
"Inside the boundaries? Never." Honey looks affronted. "It would take a tank to get through our borders. Plus, the supply teams keep the dead cleared out of the land around us."
"Even the herds?" It's the woman who asks that one.
"Well, if they spot a herd it gets monitored. Gotta decide if it's worth the ammo and stuff. But yeah, even those."
"Just what kind of stockpile do you people have?"
Honey giggles. "Did you know their heads are so rotten a high-power pellet gun will take most down? Pellets are easy to collect and easy to make."
"Air rifles. I would never have thought of such a method for such a dire predator." Lori's hands itch to get ahold of the man's mullet.
"That's because you're from Texas. It's all about the big guns down there."
"You're the staff sergeant's sister, right?" Rosita asks.
"One of them, yeah. Lori here is my aunt, that's my little cousin, and the gloomy gus holding up the wall by the entrance is my sister-in-law."
The far door, the one used for farm deliveries, opens and Jazz and Jimmy come in with heavily laden bushel baskets of sweet potatoes. Honey grins and points. "Big one's my brother, blondie's from down around Senoia."
Their loads delivered, each teenager gets a pita pocket and thanks Rachel for the snack. Jazz stops at the door to call back to Honey, "You gonna be long? Gonna try to get a game together."
"Can I play?" Abby asks, scrambling to her feet.
"Sure, munchkin, long as it's alright with your mama."
Lori nods when Abby gives her a pleading look. "Mind Jasper and wear your helmet." The kids disappear after Honey assures them she probably won't be too long.
"Helmet? Is the little girl playing football?" Eugene asks.
"Nope. Lacrosse."
"The oldest organized sport in America. I understand it is growing in popularity among high schools and colleges."
"That's because it's an awesome sport. So much better than football or baseball."
"I would understand from your reply and his request that you play?" The other two seem mostly content to let Eugene banter with the young woman.
"Since I was twelve, yeah. Community league, then the high school team."
As the discussion evolves into a detailed discussion of the sport that Eugene seems to have an academic knowledge of, Lori glances to the man's companions, who've cleared their plates.
"There's more, if you're still hungry."
Rosita looks to Abraham, who is watching the conversation between Eugene and Honey as of it's the weirdest thing he's ever seen. "We'd appreciate it, if there's enough to spare."
"Oh, there's certainly enough. Food is the one thing we have in blessed abundance."
She gets up and takes their plates to the counter for Rachel to refill. When she makes her way back to the table, she sees Rosita's eyes on her stomach.
"You can ask, you know."
"You aren't far enough along to have been pregnant before, are you?"
Now they have Abraham's attention and even Eugene's.
"No, I'm not. I'm due in February."
"And you think it's safe, to bring a baby into the world?"
"We're no worse off here than many women in third world countries who dealt with war and famine and disease. We're better off, because we do have medical care and facilities."
Honey nods. "We have two doctors, three nurses, a medical student, a veterinarian, and a paramedic. Plus, a couple of people continuing medical training for nursing."
Abuelita appears in the entrance, rapid-fire Spanish leaving Lori out of the loop, but Honey pops up and goes to fetch whatever the elderly woman needs.
Abraham doesn't seem to follow the conversation, but both Eugene and Rosita do, so Lori makes a mental note of it.
"How many elderly do you have that she wants twenty fruit cups for afternoon snack?" Rosita asks incredulously.
"Twenty-two, actually. An entire nursing home was abandoned in Atlanta, left with just a janitor and a single nurse as staff and some grandchildren willing to stay and risk the city. We brought them with us when we came home. It was quite an effort to build a facility here to house them safety considering the virus' nature, but we weren't going to abandon them."
It's further proof that Scout - or Merle - wants the trio to see the Homestead as safe, because Lori knows the nursing home has plenty of fruit and snacks in its own kitchen. Abuelita thanks Honey and kisses the girl's cheeks before leaving with her loot.
Eugene looks both relieved and strangely terrified all of a sudden, and it clicks into place for Lori before the man's words fully register.
"I'm not a scientist." He's on his feet, babbling in his pedantic fashion, and while Rosita looks crushed and horrified as his confession progresses, Abraham goes still and blank in a way that puts every cop in the room on alert.
Lori doesn't need any of them to tell her to put the counter between her and the big redhead. Honey doesn't follow, and Lori realizes the blithe, chatty girl is gone, replaced by the catlike watchfulness she associates more with Scout.
Abraham's punch is both expected and unexpected, and Tara and Honey are closest. Both of them leap to restrain the man as the others surge forward, only to be flung away. Rosita tries to help and ends up tumbled away as Abraham tries to continue the attack on Eugene.
He fights against the cops and Rachel with a fury that is terrifying, but then someone tases him and he goes down hard. By the time he stops jerking, they have him zip tied and on his belly, with Rachel with a knee in his back.
"Start fighting us again, asshole, and I'll trade my taser for the gun and put a bullet in your brain." The former marshal's voice is dead serious.
The big man goes voluntarily limp as Honey tosses the taser in her hand, sliding it toward the counter. Lori realizes it was the teenager who deployed the weapon to disable him and wonders where she got it from.
Honey and Rosita both hover over Eugene, and Tara radios for medical. The damage to the man's face is horrific, but he appears to be responding to the women.
By the time everyone is cleared out of the community center, Lori is shaking herself. She follows to the infirmary because she didn't miss that Honey had her left arm cradled against her once the adrenaline faded. She has to make sure the girl is okay.
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol opens the door to the equipment barn and stares at the man slumped against the tire of the backhoe, still bound hand and foot. When Shane and T-Dog stuffed him in here, they cut the zip tie on his hands and added cuffs to secure him to the boom of the small backhoe.
"I trust you've been using this time to think about why you're in here?"
He doesn't raise his head. "He lied to us for months. People died to get him here.'
"Were any of them forced to come? You can't know that they wouldn't have died in some other way. And since his goal was a safe haven, if they had made it, his lie would've led them to safety."
"Are you defending him?"
"Not so much defending him as understanding him. You've never had to be defenseless in the world, Sergeant Ford. It can make people do a lot more than lie when they need help to survive. He's not a pretty woman or a helpless child or someone cute and appealing for others to help. So, he made himself important."
Abraham raises his head and she thinks he's been crying. He studies her. "You're speaking from experience."
"When I left my abusive first husband in a camp outside Atlanta, he waited until dark and came after me and my daughter with a loaded gun. Scout - the staff sergeant - put him down herself. We don't tolerate abuse of those weaker here, Sergeant."
"I've never hurt Eugene before."
"And will you again?"
He shakes his head and she believes him, as much because of his companions' testimony as his own.
"You didn't just hurt him today."
"Who else? Rosita?"
"She'll be fine. Some bruises. One of the other women needed six stitches in her eyebrow and will have quite the impressive shiner. But you broke my daughter's arm."
He makes a sound of anguish she thinks is genuine. "The girl who helped feed us?"
"Yes."
"How bad?"
"Medical tells me it's a clean break and she'll heal in six weeks or so."
"I'm sorry. I never intended to hurt anyone, not even Eugene."
"I don't know where that rage came from, although with the world around us, I can draw a few conclusions. We'll forgive this outburst, but it's a one-time deal. You go after another person with intent for serious harm and it won't be a taser as your consequence."
He doesn't answer at first and then she almost misses the first part. "I saved him when I was about to kill myself after I found my family dead. Getting him to Washington, it gave me purpose, a way to honor my family by saving others."
"So, you lost the purpose his lie gave you, to save others by finding a cure." He nods. "You should let yourself grieve now. If saving others gives you purpose and honors your family, then we can certainly offer you that opportunity here."
"Can you tell your daughter and the others I'm sorry I hurt them?"
"You'll tell them yourself."
He frowns and she reaches out to unlock the cuffs, then snips the zip tie at his feet. "You're going to get a shower and clean clothes and then you'll face what you've done today."
He nods in compliance and follows her, not seeming to notice the two very armed and forbidding men trailing them. She didn't really need the escort, but after the scene in the community center, she understands that Merle and Shane won't risk another female around him just yet.
She opens the door to one of the unused RVs. "This will be your quarters for now. You'll find clothing, towels, and toiletries inside. Clean up and one of these fine gentlemen will show you where to go next."
"Alright."
He starts inside and she calls his name and gives him her best smile. "I told you the community consequences if you hurt someone again. I'm leaving you with my consequences. Harm a single hair on one of my children's heads again, and you'll pray for a death as easy as a bullet brings. The last sight you'll have on Earth is when I slit your throat myself."
He blinks and swallows, finally noticing her shadows. Whatever he sees in the men confirms her words for him and he nods. "Yes ma'am."
She doesn't stay to see him go inside and doesn't look back.
She meant every word.
~*~ DD ~*~
Daryl's on guard in the infirmary, although saying that aloud would get him a lot of flak by the other residents of the room.
Honey, irrepressible as ever, is actually sitting on the new idiot's hospital bed, comfortable as one can be with a newly broken arm. She's actually challenged the man to decorate her pastel green cast with a periodic table from memory and he's got an audience where Sophia and Abby are watching his work with Sophia's pens.
Her interactive chatter is helping the medical staff, since he's under concussion watch, but Daryl would much prefer she were on another bed. Across the room. Maybe in a different building. Along with the other two girls and Lori.
None of them would welcome his overprotectiveness, not when Eugene's the victim and not the perpetrator. Even Lori gave him a narrow-eyed look when he suggested maybe everyone should go back to the main house. She's sitting with a book in one of the visitor's chairs, keeping a close eye on everything like Daryl is.
Rosita is watching from a nearby bed. She came out of the brawl relatively unscathed, but got put on concussion watch too after the doctor found a goose egg from impact with the floor.
Tara looks the worst other than Eugene himself, who has a fractured orbital socket and a broken nose. Tara missed out on broken bones, but the elbow to her face landed her a set of stitches in her right brow and a black eye to rival a prize fighter. Since she's also being monitored for concussion, she and Cricket are amusing their son with blocks on a tiny table at the far end of the room.
All four will probably feel like utter shit tomorrow when the body bruises finish blooming.
The door opens to the infirmary ward and Abraham Ford steps inside, looking not much better than some of the others. Daryl wonders how many of the injuries are from being brought down and how many are from the fact he can see Merle's knuckles are freshly bruised.
Eugene flinches back, shrinking into the pillow and Honey's glare toward Ford could melt steel. She shifts and puts herself firmly between the two men and Ford backs up a few steps. That's when Daryl realizes her hand went to her shoulder holster and the blade there.
"I'm just here to offer my apologies. What I did, especially endangering others, was uncalled for."
Honey's expression reminds him of the mulish one she favored T-Dog with back at the quarry, but as Eugene speaks, it lessens a little.
"I regret that my lie caused you such grief. You do not need to apologize to me, just these ladies hurt defending me."
Ford gets credit for studying each woman's injuries carefully. "I've never injured a woman in my life before today. It won't be something I ever do again."
Before Daryl can voice the 'you can fucking bet on that' he's feeling, Honey tilts her head. "I'll believe you, but partly because I got to tase you til you pissed yourself."
Tara laughs, and the sound proves contagious. Even the baby laughs, which draws Ford's attention.
"Your son?"
Tara nods, scooping Christian up in her arms on the side away from her stitches.
"He's a good-looking boy." When the big redhead's voice breaks at the end, Daryl wonders if that well of rage the man tapped into today has the same source Merle's had on that Atlanta rooftop. If so, they're probably out of miracles.
Cricket breaks the tense silence. "Have a seat, Sergeant Ford. You get a look over too, and I promise to remember my bedside manner despite the fact my partner has six stitches and looks like she lost a bout in the boxing ring and my sister's arm's in a cast."
He doesn't refuse, but carefully takes a seat on a bed on the side of the room opposite the women. He sheds his shirt and Cricket goes through an exam, declaring him in reasonable shape and to see someone tomorrow if the ribs still ache for an X-ray. She darts an exasperated look toward Merle at that one. She didn't miss his knuckles either.
Honey used the time to coax Eugene into finishing the periodic table on her cast. The man's nervous of Ford being in the room, but not scared as he was before.
His shirt back on, Ford's heading for the exit and his escorts when he pauses in front of Lori. Daryl moves and Ford backs up a step. "I just wanted to ask that she and the baby are okay."
Lori reaches out and snags Daryl's hand and he lets her draw him to her side. "I'm just fine. I wasn't involved in trying to restrain you."
"Good."
He's led away by his looming escort and Daryl sighs. He just hopes these three newest residents don't continue as they began, in angst and drama.
~*~ MD ~*~
Merle sits in the empty chair by his sleeping daughter's bed and studies the darkened room. She could have gone home, the only one of the four with no head injury, but declared she was sticking it out in solidarity and sent Sophia off to fetch 'supplies', which turned out to be DVDs and board games.
Even the new woman lost her reserve under Honey's determination to keep everyone's mind off why they were stuck together. Tara and Rosita lasted through two games of Life and a blackjack tournament that would have ended with everyone in eternal debt to Sophia if it continued. But Carol arrived to shoo Lori and the younger kids off to bed, offering to take Christian for the night too.
Cricket and Tara fell asleep watching some godawful romcom that Rosita finished while Honey baffled the hell out of Eugene by making him play Battle Sheep while teaching him completely random words in Chamorro. He's not even sure she told the man it's a real language yet.
The call Tara put out for medical earlier makes his blood run cold even hours later. Leaving the strangers in the community center seemed a calculated yet safe risk to get to the bottom of the frankly puzzling claim of special knowledge. Washington made no sense. Anyone with real intel would be looking for the CDC. Not that it's still standing, but they should look there first and this group didn't.
The explosion of rage when the suspected ruse was uncovered didn't fit anyone's assessment of Abraham Ford. Rosita's tearful claims and even Eugene himself attested it was unexpected. Having so many cops in the room gave them a clear picture of what happened, so the trio stays, for now.
The asshole at least didn't object to the sheer number of people who would be out for his blood if he lost his temper again. Funny part about the sideways looks he got about the man's sore ribs was that those were mostly from the takedown. Merle cracked his knuckles open when he left hooked him when he stepped out of the RV after his shower. Although Shane's method of putting him against the RV to listen to Merle's instructions on his future behavior could have worsened the ribs - and one shoulder.
Any future reprisal would be of the Disney sort. He suspects his daughter will keep that colored cast in the man's line of sight often. Maybe he should get her a taser of her own, too.
Eugene isn't asleep, but he doesn't seem willing to start any conversation that might disturb the sleepers. Merle sighs and rummages in Honey's bag for the deck of cards. He's puzzled about Merle's silent offer to play, but accepts.
As for Merle, he just hears the echo of Honey's words before she slept when he asked her why she stayed focused on distracting - and protecting - Eugene all evening. He didn't miss the move toward her blade earlier.
Her quietly whispered reply?
"He talks like Jazz did, before his speech therapy."
And the more Merle watches him, the more he sees all the same signs, plus ones he's seen more in books than in his home.
He just hopes this beaten up underdog deserves the champions he's unknowingly won. Where Honey goes, all the other ducklings will follow on this one.
A/N: Consider Eugene's confession to follow the same dialogue as the show.