Thank for all the love! Glad people are interested in a Merle/OC story. I'm enjoying it. FYI Merle is not the most politically correct man. So he will be saying racist, sexist and homophobic things. Don't judge me... :)
As always I don't own TWD or its character. I just play with them.
OC and other non canon show story lines are mine!
ENJOY!
Sam was sitting in her cell cleaning the handgun and rifle they gave her. She didn't trust that they were clean already. It was a habit her uncle had ingrained in her at a young age. She was methodically wiping, cleaning, oiling each piece and reassembling them when a shadow fell over the doorframe.
"Ya got that Sugar?" Merle asked his shoulder propped against the metal bars. She looked up and saw him grin. Sam was keeping track of his different smiles. Some were used to fuck with people. The cocky and wolfish grins used during arguments and when he wanted to push buttons. He had a couple for the times he was joking with her. A few different smirks for times he was amused. Those were her favorites, although the cocky one was attractive also.
"Yep," Sam said with a smile. "What've you been up to?"
"This 'n that." He drawled and sat down next to her. "Been talkin' to Glenn and Daryl 'bout a back up plan. Place to meet up if we gotta skedaddle."
"What'd you decide?" Sam asked as she replaced the last part before pulling the slide back with a loud click and reloading her handgun. Merle was watching her silently and when he didn't respond she looked up. "Huh?"
"Nothin'." He said with a slight shake of his head. "We decided to head to the farm they stayed at. Hershel's place. A place to regroup."
"Cool. You know where it is?" she asked setting the gun aside and moving onto the rifle. Her hands nimbly taking out pins, bolt slides and removing the barrel. Sam grabbed the barrel and used the long brush to drag out any dirt or fine metal shavings. Oiling the cleaning rod she pulled it through, lubricating the barrel.
Merle cleared his throat and nodded, "Gave me directions. Stick with me and we'll get there if we gotta."
Sam nodded and set the barrel aside to start on all the tiny moving parts.
"Ya look like ya done this hundreds of times." Merle stated leaning back against her bunk, his eyes contemplative.
Sam laughed lightly and nodded, "I have. My uncle taught me to shoot. In my teens he'd take me to the range and sign me up for competitions. A lot of the time they were basically drunken gamblers betting on all kinds of shit. A few times they had speed trials. Gun assembly. Bet on who could reassemble the gun fastest. Silly but good training it seems."
Merle chuckled and picked up the hunting knife they gave her. "This the blade they gave ya?"
"Yeah. I need to sharpen that thing. It's like a butter knife." She muttered as she placed pins back into the firing mechanism. Merle stood up and returned moments later with his sharpening stone. Sam watched him prop the stone up between his knees so he could work the blade with his remaining hand. The sound of the blade moving back and forth was soothing. They sat quietly working on the weapons.
"Ya gonna ever tell me 'bout this dream ya havin'?" Merle said after a half hour of silence, his hand smoothing the edge of the stone in a steady rhythm.
"Probably not." Sam said flatly. "Why?"
"Cuz it might get ya to stop havin' it and wakin' me up." He replied. Sam couldn't tell if he was joking or not.
Sam chuckled and asked, "So it's not for altruistic motives huh?"
Merle shrugged and said, "Nah. Just tired of not gettin' a full nights sleep. Gotta imagine everybody else is tired of it too."
Sam swallowed, 'Ok not joking' she thought before saying, "Sorry. I'll see if they'll let me move cells, maybe farther away from everyone."
Merle stopped honing the blade and looked up at her. She avoided his eye contact but could feel him staring at her. "Ya'd rather go off and suffer than talk 'bout it?"
Sam shrugged, "I don't like talking about shit. No need. I'll get a sleeping pill or something from Hershel. Knock my ass out so I won't dream."
Merle shook his head, "Gotta say. Ya ain't like no other woman I've known. Most of 'em wanna do nothin' but talk."
Sam laughed again. "Well I'll take that as a compliment." Merle grunted but didn't' say anything else for a long while.
Sam was just checking the bolt slide and reloading the rifle when he said, "Don' take sleep drugs. Just make ya worse and don' move. I'll deal with it."
Sam sighed and nodded without responding. She felt bad for being a pain in the ass. Standing up , Sam set her rifle on the top bunk and stretched her back and shoulders.
"How's the back?" Merle asked handing her knife over. Sam touched the edge and let it prick her thumb, a tiny drop of blood pooling on her fingertip. Sucking on her thumb she looked up. "Good job. Sharper than fuck." Merle chuckled and handed the leather sheath over.
"It's good. Hershel is pretty pissed I'm not taking medical advice but I'm not laying face down for a week to let them heal. Don't have time for that shit." She said as she slid the leather onto her belt, the knife lying against her hip. Merle stood up and put the whetstone in his cargo pocket and said, "Just take it easy. Take it from me cuts like that on your back, the worse the scar the harder it is to move your arms. Ya don't want 'em to get all knotted up, fucks up your reach."
"Taking it you have some nice war wounds?" she asked look up at him. Merle shrugged, "Everybody's got scars. Some got more than others."
"Well I'll do my best. That work?" she asked a small smile in place. Merle gave her a small grin, "Works fine Sugar."
Sam watched him walk away and sat back down. Sighing she felt her stomach rumble. "Fine I'll feed you," she grumbled toward her stomach.
Merle was walking the perimeter with Daryl. They were checking for any tampering with the fences and any tracks beyond it. Merle was lost inside his head as they wandered along the property's fence lines. He kept thinking about Sam. The sight of her handling the guns expertly had turned him on. It was a bizarre feeling to have since it was not something sexual in anyway.
'Jesus man she wasn't strokin' it like a dick or nuthin'.' He scoffed at his reaction to her. He had to physically shake the sensation out of his head when she noticed his silence.
"What's up Merle. Ya look weird." Daryl asked after stepping away from a track he inspected.
"Nothin'." Merle said gruffly. "What's it to ya anyways?"
Daryl looked at him for a long moment and shook his head, "Nevermind."
Merle snorted and kept walking. He'd prefer to just stay lost in his head than talk to Daryl about shit. It would be a cold day in hell when he'd gossiped about his feelings like some tween at a sleep over with his baby brother. The guy would shit a brick over the things roaming around his skull.
Merle felt like he'd been body snatched, replaced with some sensitive queer who thought about others and cared for the well being of random strangers. Not that Sam was a stranger anymore. Hell he knew more about her than any other woman he'd met. All those other women were holes to fuck. Pieces of pussy that got him off and sometimes bought him drugs and booze.
Sam though… she was different.
Merle felt like at the very least she was as close to a friend as he had gotten before or after the turn. She just happened to be a girl. A really sexy girl who knew how to pull apart a firearm, clean it and put it back together quickly.
'Fuck, not to mention she killed that walker with one try at 300 plus yards.' He groaned inwardly.
Merle wasn't sure why her ability to handle herself was hot but it seemed to be his new kink. His thought's moved onto her body. She had a nice ass and hips that swayed when she walked. The knife she placed on her belt swished back and forth while she stepped. He'd seen her tits already.
'Fuck don't think 'bout that.' He growled to himself. The main thing he remembered about her breasts was the giant bite mark now marring it.
Merle moved to something more pleasant. Her lips. Despite the stitches he could tell she had soft plump lips. They looked naturally pink. And her eyes. She had large dark blue eyes that twinkled when she fucked with him. Merle covered a chuckle with a cough as he thought about the arguments they had. She had a sharp tongue and it was probably Merle's favorite thing about her.
'Well that makes ya sound like a huge pussy. 'I love her sense of humor the best!'' he mocked himself while rolling his eyes. Merle couldn't help but shake his head at the thoughts rattling around his thick skull.
'Fuckin' nimwit S.O.B..' He grunted to himself.
"Ya think we can handle this fucker?" Daryl asked surprising Merle who had been mentally beating the shit out of himself.
Merle controlled his reaction enough to grunt and then said, "We better hope so. Guy's gonna gut everyone of us, feed us to walkers and destroy those women. Sam tol' me to put her down if he got his hands on her again." Daryl steps faltered for a second before he recovered.
"Did he… ?" Daryl didn't finish the question knowing it would be obvious.
"No. I took her before he could. Prolly was minutes from it." Merle rasped. "Gonna carry that guilt with me 'til I die. Did a lot a things in my days. Shit that was down right awful but not stoppin' him from the beginnin'… ignorin the shit he did. That's gonna haunt me."
When Merle cut his eyes over to Daryl's he saw him looking back with a surprised expression. "What?" Merle barked. "Think I don' feel guilt?"
"Nah I mean before all this shit yeah. Ya never seemed to. Now… since Sam ya seem different." Daryl replied hesitantly.
Merle shrugged and rubbed his chin. "Guess people change."
Daryl snorted but didn't say anything more.
Merle headed up to the courtyard when a frantic yelling near the gates brought his head up. His eyes narrowed as he saw Carl and Maggie pulling two people through the front gates.
"Tha Fuck?!" Merle grunted jogging down with Daryl. "Who the fuck are they?"
Daryl shrugged and had his crossbow poised at the two new people.
"Tha Fuck Carl?!" Daryl yelled.
"Maggie let 'em in." he growled and held his gun on the man and woman who were panting, their hands braced on their knees. The man was a huge black man with a thick beard. He had on a beanie and worn clothing. The woman was tall but small framed black woman in just as worn clothing. They both were sweating and looking wide-eyed at all the weapons pointed at them. The road behind them was filled with walkers, their limbs clawing at the wire fences.
"What the fuck Maggie?" Glenn yelled as he ran down the road toward the group.
"I couldn't just let them get eaten!" she growled. "Keep your hands up."
"What're ya doin here? Where ya from?" Daryl demanded as he stomped forward, his crossbow pointed at the man's forehead.
"Whoa whoa whoa, I'm Tyresse this is my sister Sasha. We were travellin'. Lost our group. Ran into this herd." He said , "We don' want trouble."
"Where ya from?" Daryl repeated.
"We just told you. We were travelling" Sasha repeated.
"Merle?" Glenn asked, "You know 'em?"
"Nah haven't see these two before. Ya been to Woodbury?" Merle asked his eyes narrowed as he watched the two answer.
"No where's that?" Tyresse asked his hands still raised. The moans and growling behind them was getting out of control. Walkers saw fresh meat and wanted a bite. Merle looked back when he felt someone approach him from behind. He saw Sam looking at the scene.
"Go back girl," he growled irritated that she was getting to close to something that could blow up.
Sam rolled her eyes and said, "I'm going to handle this little problem," she replied jutting her chin to the now filled fence. She wandered down the fence, dragging her crow bar along the fence getting some of the walkers to follow her before stabbing them through the fence.
"Did the governor send you?" Glenn asked.
"No we don't know who that is." Tyresse replied. "We just needed help getting away from the biters. We don' want trouble."
"Are you taking people in?" Sasha asked while watching Sam stab walkers through the fence. Merle glared at her and scoffed.
Daryl looked at Glenn. "Pat 'em down. Get 'em away from the fence. Gonna attract ever walker in the area with all this noise. Merle help Sam."
Merle snorted, "Yes Massa." Daryl just shook his head at him.
Sasha glared at him but Merle just smirked. He watched Daryl and Glenn pat the two down for weapons. They had a couple guns, knives and a hammer. Walking the two up the hill to the courtyard, they had them sit down to question them. Merle strolled up to the gate and began stabbing the entire group of corpses crowded there. Sam was down the fence line killing everything in sight. He watched her arms and back muscles flex as she stabbed and pulled her weapon through the fence. 'Fuckin hot little body,' he groaned inwardly as he tried to will away a semi.
Once all the dead were laying on the ground Merle approached Sam and nodded toward the new arrivals. "Jus' lettin' anyone in I guess." He commented.
Sam shrugged, "If they aren't from Woodbury and they can fight might be useful. That guys fuckin' huge."
Merle chuckled and said, "That's what ya like Sugar? Dark meat?"
Sam smirked, "Ya jealous Merle?"
"Hey if ya have jungle fever have at." He said while feeling a twinge of jealousy. The thought of her with any other man made his gut turn. She wasn't his but goddamn if he didn't secretly want her to be.
Sam chuckled and shook her head. "Not against it but not my thing."
Merle smirked and said, "You're covered in walker gore."
"Sexy huh?" she smiled and waved a hand over her body. "I smell delicious too."
Merle wiggled his eyebrows, "I do like my women dirty." Sam snorted and walked side by side with him up the dirt road. "Lets go see if we have more roomies." Merle threw his arm over her shoulder and was surprised when she put an arm around his back. Smirking down at her Merle said, "Ya gettin fresh with me sugar?" Sam looked up and drawled, "Who little ol' me?" He be damned if her eyes didn't twinkle.
Sam washed up quickly and sat in with all the others in the front room of the prison. Tyreese and Sasha were in a holding cell while the group spoke about their options. A few wanted to throw them out and the others wanted to give them a chance. Sam sat silently but needed to speak.
"Can I give you my thoughts?" she asked quietly
"Let me guess you want them to stay." Carl said rolling his eyes.
"Yes but for more than just that we need more people. If we let them go they may stumble onto Woodbury. They will probably mention the prison they just visited. How there's a group there behind fences all safe and sound. If he doesn't know yet he will then. If they are from Woodbury they may go back and confirm what they saw. We can't LET them go." She said leaning her elbows on the table. Everyone quieted down and looked at each other. Merle grunted next to her. Elbowing her in the ribs, "Ya got brains in there after all huh?"
Sam rolled her eyes at him "Shuddup ass."
Rick strolled into the room after having been missing all day. His eyes jumped around seeing that there was a serious discussion happening.
"Whats goin' on?" he asked looking at Daryl and Glenn.
"We got visitors. Two people strolled up being chased by walkers." Glenn responded waiting for Rick's reaction. He had been acting strange since Lori died and nothing seemed to be getting to him. No amount of talking was helping him out.
Sam watched his eyes narrow and look around. "Where are they?" he asked his tone low and angry. "You two are just letting in everyone huh?"
Daryl and Glenn looked irritated by his comment. Sam watched the three walk to the cell they had them in. Yelling could be heard shortly later. Sam and the others could hear Tyreese begging to be able to stay. He was offering help with the group their up against and stating all the skills he and his sister had. Rick was shouting at them but also yelling things that made no sense. ""No. No, no, no, no, no. Why are you here?!" Rick can be heard yelling.
They appeared back in the common room, Tyreese and Sasha being held at gunpoint by Rick. He was pushing them toward the door.
"Come on, we don' want trouble. We just want a safe place to live. We'll help." Tyreese was saying as Rick shoved his gun into his back pushing them forward.
"Hey, easy, Rick. There's no need to… " Hershel reasoned but Rick shouted, "What do you want from me?"
"And you too. You don't belong here! Get out!" Rick shouted pointing his gun at Sam. Her eyes widened. Sam put her hands up when Rick started waving his gun around at her and the other two newcomers.
"Get out!" he shouted at her while pushing her forward with the others. "Don' fuckin' touch her." Merle shouted but stepped back when Rick pointed his gun at him.
"No. No, no, no, no, no. Why are you here? What do you want from me?" he shouted looking away and up at the walkway.
Carl looked shocked, "Dad?"
Rick is pointing the gun at anyone coming near him. "Why are you- no. I can't help you. Get out!"
Tyreese was trying to shield his sister, "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We'll leave. We're going. Okay? Ain't nobody got to get shot here."
Rick pushed them toward the door and shoved Sam while pointing the gun at Merle who was trying to intervene. "Get- get out!" he screamed at the three by the door. Tyreese pushed Sasha through and Sam backed up, her eyes locked on Merle. His face was red as if he was about to go mental.
Daryl was approaching Rick his hand up, "Relax, brother. Relax."
"What are you doing here?!" Rick could be heard screaming. The prison door shut and Tyreese, Sasha and Sam were standing in the courtyard.
"Jesus Fucking Christ. What was that?!" Sasha hissed. She looked at Sam. Sam shook her head and said, "The guy's lost his fucking mind. His wife just died in childbirth and they lost a few others recently."
"How long have you been here?" Tyreese asked his hand on Sasha's back trying to reassure her.
"Just a few days. I came with Merle. He rescued me from Woodbury." She responded. Sam has an idea of how to get them on their side despite Rick's crazytown actions. "The guy who runs that place is a monster. These bruises are from him. Merle got me out right before he was going to… We ran and found Merle's brother here. The rest of them aren't like Rick." She told them "Lets sit down while they wrangle him up."
All three sat on the picnic table and after a moment Merle and Hershel came out. Merle's eyes were frantic for a second before he found Sam. He stalked over and rasped, "Ya a'right?"
"Yeah just kinda surprised is all I guess." She said taking the pack of cigarettes he offered. Giving him a small smile. "You share these too much. You're gonna run out."
"All well." He said with one side of his mouth upturned, which made Sam smile wider. 'That's a one one.' she thought
Hershel sighed and rubbed his face while balancing on his crutches. "Rick's having some difficulties. I apologize for that outburst. We've had some losses and there is a lot of stress regarding this guy from Woodbury." He said evenly with a sorrowful face.
"We aren't kicking you out. Rick's been placed in a safe place for now. He just needs some rest." Hershel explained. "I hope you all aren't turned off by the place."
Sam smirked and shrugged a shoulder. "I'm fine Hershel. Thanks."
Tyreese shook his head, "Man that was intense. What happens when he comes out of wherever ya got him and he does it again. I want a safe place for my sister."
"Ty we can't stay here. There's that guy flippin' his shit and another sicko out to get 'em. We gotta go." Sasha hissed her eyes jumping to Hershel and Merle. Merle just starred blankly at her.
"We can't let ya leave." Merle drawled while exhaling a huge drag.
"What do you mean?" Tyreese asked his eyes narrowed.
"We can't let ya go to Woodbury and tell em we're here or who's here. If ya don't go to him he'll find ya anyways. See her?" Merle pointed at Sam. "That's what'll happen to your sister if ya end up there. And thats if she's lucky."
Tyreese nodded, "She told us. Look we don't want to cause problems. We're willing to work for a place. I just don't want that guy to freak out again and I don't want my sister shot and killed because he's losing his damn mind."
Sam took a drag and rested her chin on her palm. The night had taken a turn for the bizarre. "Would you be willing to help fight Woodbury and the Governor?" Sam asked, tapping the ash off the table edge.
Hershel sat down. "Look we need help. We need bodies. We can't promise safety until that man is taken care of. It's not safe anywhere in this area with him running around. If you are willing to work for your spot, help with possible threats, you have a spot. Rick's going to need some time but Daryl and Glenn are level headed." Merle snorted which got him a glare from Hershel.
"Can we think about it over night?" Tyreese asked.
"Nothin' to think 'bout. We ain't letting ya leave 'til we got the Governor taken care of." Merle said before strolling back inside.
Hershel sighed and said, "Don't worry about him either. He's not in charge here. Rick is but Daryl and Glenn are going to be handling everything for awhile now. We will set you up in a cell, get you food and let you wash up. They'll lock you in but it won't be permanent."
All four move back inside and find the room cleared out except for Glenn, Daryl and Merle. "Glenn let's get them washed up and get them some food. We can get 'em settled for the night. Let 'em think everything over." Daryl narrowed his eyes at the statement but didn't respond. Merle grunted and stalked away.
"Yeah no problem. Come on guys." Glenn said motion them to follow him. Sam watched him walk them toward the bathrooms.
Sam stood there a moment and asked Hershel, "Is Rick going to be making the calls or are you three going to figure stuff out?"
"I think Rick's gonna need some time." Hershel said before walking back to his cell. Sam went to the table with the food supplies and grabbed a granola bar for dinner. Wandering to her cell she sat down and opened the wrapper. Eating quietly for a minute she listened to the others talk and get settled for the night.
'God what a shitshow.' Sam thought.
Merle talked with Daryl and Glenn about the new people. He recognized the need for more bodies. If they could shoot and fight they could help hold off the Governor. He had a lot of able bodied men that could shoot. They needed all the help they could get. Could they be trusted? That was what Merle was unsure about. Sam was right though. They couldn't let them leave. 'Fuck Sugar's got brains too,' he thought with a smirk. Now he likes her sense of humor and her intellect.
'Fuckin little bitch.' He scoffed at himself.
The three decided to see what the next day brought. They'd keep the two locked up and see what happens. The Governor could be there at any moment. They needed to focus on how to hold him off.
Merle walked upstairs to his cell but changed his course and went to Sam's. "Ya ok?" he asked seeing her stare at the wall.
"Yeah just thinkin' what a fuckin' mess this is." She said with a weary smile. Merle snorted and shrugged a shoulder. "Whole worlds a fuckin' mess. Get used to it." Sitting down next to her he scooted back to lean against the wall.
"How's your wrist?" she asked turning to sit cross-legged next to him.
"Fine," he replied even though he had no idea what was going on under the metal contraption.
"Let me see," she said setting her empty wrapper to the side.
"Nah, m'fine." He told her still feeling uncomfortable with her seeing it.
"Come on. Me or Hershel. You can't get an infection. It'll suck balls to die by blood poisoning from a blister." She said with a grin.
"Well in that case." Merle drawled with a grin as he unbelted a few straps. Pulling off the apparatus he rolled the sock off and let her unwrap the gauze she had used the night before. After it was uncovered she inspected the limb. "Looks better but we gotta wash it. Lets go to the bathroom."
"Nah," he said not waiting to walk all the way there without wearing his prosthetic.
"Fine," she muttered before leaving her cell and returning after a few minutes. She walked in with a washcloth and soap. "Stand at the sink." She told him. Merle huffed but did what she said. Both standing crowded around the tiny metal sink she poured water over the amputated wrist and then used soap to clean it along with his forearm. He bit his tongue to hold back a moan when her fingers massaged over his tanned skin. Watching her fingers smooth over his arm was overwhelming. Merle'd never had someone take care of him like that. She rinsed his limb off and then dried it. Patting it gently and not scrubbing the sentive skin. She was so considerate it made his heart speed up.
"Ok sit." She said firmly.
They both sat on the bunk and he watched her inspected the sores. She got the ointment on and rewrapped quickly. "There." She said with a satisfied grin.
"Ya don' gotta do this ya know." He said gruffly. Merle didn't want her feeling like she owed him anything.
"I know. I want to." She replied and leaned against the wall next to him. Merle watched her chew on her lip, her mind on something.
"Whatcha think 'bout girl?"
"Nothin'" she said shaking her head.
"Ya thinkin' somethin'. What?" he asked his head rolling to the side to look at her. Sam sighed and said quietly, "Just worryin'."
Merle grunted and replied, "Guess there's lots to worry 'bout. Can't do nothin' 'bout it right now though so stop it."
Sam laughed and said, "Easier said than done old man."
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