Thank all so much for the kind reviews! It's been really nice to have readers enjoying my stories. Presently Sweet Hereafter is at over 100 followers. That's amazing!
As always I don't own the walking dead etc etc. OC is mine as is non canon storylines.
ENJOY!
Daryl was driving the supply run group toward the veterinary college. Merle sat in the front seat while Tyreese, Bob and Michonne sat in back. Merle was antsy, shifting in his seat and fiddling with his knife. Daryl kept cutting his eyes to his brother and chewing on his thumb.
"Man stop fuckin tappin'. Drive me nuts." Daryl said gruffly. Merle glared at him and said, "Shut the fuck up Darylina. Ain't too old to kick your scrawny ass."
Daryl snorted and said, "Shuddup. Get me a cd outta the glove box or somethin'. Tapping and shit ain't gonna speed up time. Ain't helpin' Sam. Jus' worry 'bout the run and we'll get home."
"No shit. You think I ain't thinkin' 'bout the run? Findin' what we need is all I'm thinkin 'bout." Merle growled while digging into the glove box finding a few discs. Daryl was messing with the stereo trying to figure out how to change it to the cd player when the radio static cleared and they heard a voice.
"...find sanctuary."
"Was that a voice?" Bob asked excitedly, leaning forward between the seats.
Daryl hissed at him, "Shhhh." He turned the dial slightly and got another second of the voice, "...determined to survive... ...keep alive" They all looked at each other and suddenly Daryl was slamming on the brakes to avoid a handful of walkers scattered in the road.
"Shit!" he hollered as he swerved around the dead shuffling along. Merle got thrown against the dashboard, grunting at the force of the impact. After sliding to a stop the group realized the dire situation they just drove into. The herd before them was bigger than any other ever seen. Hundreds and hundreds of rotting corpse all moving toward them. The whole valley was spotted with vicious killers.
"Get us outta here brother!" Merle growled looking at his brother with wide eyes. Daryl shoved the car in reverse as the closest walkers crowded around the car.
"Grab something!" Daryl hollered turning in the seat to look out the back window. His foot pressed the gas pedal to the floor as they sped backwards into dozens of dead. The bodies causing the car to jump all over the road. Seconds later they are stuck on top of a large number of rotten bodies. The car spinning gore into the air as they lost traction.
"Fuckin' Christ. Go to the left." Merle shouted as Daryl tried to turn the wheels off the pile of corpses.
"We're jammed up. " Daryl shouted looking around, "Make a run for the gaps right there. Y'three, ya make a run for the woods 'n ya don' stop for nuthin', ya hear me?" He looked at the three in the backseat. They all nodded and began jumping out of the car. Merle stabbed and pushed his way through with his brother. Michonne caught up with them by slicing through the rotten skulls of the surrounding horde. Bob fired his gun off round after round. Merle turned to protect Michonne from a sneaky walker as she stabbed another corpse.
"Come on!" She screamed at Bob who was waiting for Tyreese.
"Ty! Ty!" he yelled before moving further away as more biters closed in. Tyreese was still sitting in the car but seemed to decide to join them after a long hesitation. Merle motioned for them to run as they watched Tyreese fight off the surrounding walkers. He was smashing his hammer into skulls while screaming, "Come on and get me!"
Merle yanked his brother, "Come on! He's got a death wish brother." Daryl nodded and shouted to Michonne and Bob, "Go, Go!" They ran through the woods fighting of the stragglers. Moving quickly through the dense woods the group got to a clear area and heard movement coming from behind them.
"Hold up." Daryl said loading his bow and aiming, his arms tense. A few dead stumbled out and then Tyreese fell through the tree line covered in walker gore. Bob and Daryl grabbed him while Merle navigated them through the forest. They spent a few hours running away from the large herd they saw. Soon they've lost the trailing corpses and found a place to stop.
"Let's camp 'ere." Merle stated as they stopped at a small creek.
"This is Turner Creek, so Barnesville must be a few miles downstream." Michonne stated washing her face in the cool water. Merle adjusted his bayonet blade, wiping the gore off the sleeve. "You're good for somethin' other than slicin' 'n dicin' huh?" he joked. Michonne glared for a moment before seeing his good-natured smirk. Rolling her eyes she muttered, "Fuck off Dixon." Merle laughed gruffly and stood to get a fire started.
"Sounds like our best chance at finding a new ride." Bob stated while shouldering his pack again. The group stayed near the creek waiting for dawn. Daryl caught a few squirrels for them to share while Merle took watch. Tyreese had spent the night by himself with the others watching him with nervous eyes. In the dim morning light they all got ready to move out.
Daryl walked toward Tyreese who was scrubbing his shirt in the creek.
The water turned brown with walker blood. "Yo, Ty. Come on, let's go. Vámonos." Daryl said while watching the guy with squinted eyes.
Merle glared at him and shouted, "Hey MC Hammer Get your fuckin' ass in gear." Daryl growled, "Shuddup Merle. Ty! There should be a town a few miles south."
Tyreese muttered, "Lost a whole night. My sister, everybody else- they're probably dead."
Daryl replied gruffly "Well, it helps to keep moving."
"No, it doesn't." Tyreese answered as he went back to washing his shirt.
Merle balled his fist and charged forward barking loudly, "Hey asshole. Your sister isn't the only one sick 'n I'm pretty fuckin' sure Sasha would tell ya t'grow a goddamn pair of balls. Stop pissin' 'n moanin 'n get fucking walkin or I'm leavin' your ass to get ate!"
Tyreese glared at him and dunked his shirt again. Merle grunted, "Le's go. Fuck 'em."
They all moved out Daryl kept glancing back at Tyreese. Michonne said, "He'll come. He's just mournin' Karen."
Merle scoffed, "Don' fuckin' matter if she got killed and burned. She'd be dead right now anyways. Bleedin' out her nose and shit. Rather get a blade in my head than choke on my own blood."
Daryl grunted, "Shuddup Merle. Ain't 'bout that."
Merle snorted, "What's it 'bout Dr. Phil? Enlighten me."
Michonne growled, "It's about someone taking his ability to say good bye. It wasn't their choice to make. How would you like it if someone took away your ability to say good bye to Sam? What if you didn't see her before you left and she was gone when you got back? Not to mention they burned her beyond recognition."
Merle clenched his jaw at the thought and growled, "Fine I get it its just….. We have shit to do and ya can't shut fuckin' down. Ain't no use cryin' over shit that ain't gonna change."
"Yeah well hopefully you don't have to experience what he just did. Cut him some damn slack." Michonne said while approaching a walker, slicing it through the face. Merle scowled at the thought of finding Sam in the same state. If he had seen her alive one moment and come back to find her stabbed and burned.
'Fuck.' He thought angrily, 'You're an asshole Dixon.' Shaking his head he focused on their surroundings and the goal of the trip. Merle's mind wandered to thoughts of nights when he held Sam close and kissed her deep. Times she had curled into him in a faded tank top of his. The long shirt covering her upper thighs, hiding the lack of underwear. They would make out like teenagers, moving against each other desperately. She was so soft against him, so fucking perfect. Then the creeping panic of never having those moments again settled like a brick in his gut.
He felt a painful clench in his chest. 'Sugar ya better be there when I get back,' he thought nervously. 'Ain't no good without ya.'
They kept walking toward the tiny one stop light town. As they walked down the packed dirt road they saw a gas station. Parked next to the building covered in overgrown vines was a weathered mini van. Merle and Daryl cleared the foliage and debris off to look it over.
Daryl inspected the engine while the others searched the area for supplies. After a quick once over Daryl told Merle, "We gotta find us a new battery."
Merle approached the gas station doors and knocked on the glass. Growling erupted inside and thumping against the door.
"Got some friends inside. Come on. Let's clear a path, see how many we got. " Daryl said gruffly pulling out his knife to cut away the vines.
Merle yanked the overgrowth off a section to get a look inside before they opened it up. Tyreese started hacking away the vines, yanking it off without any caution.
Bob watched him nervously and said, "Hey, man, go easy. We don't know what we're dealing with." The growling got even louder and the banging on the glass rattled the thin barrier. "Ty stop!" Bob shouted as the door broke open and walkers started reaching through the vines. "Fuck," Merle grunted as one grabbed at his arm. He shoved his blade through its head and moved to the one pulling on Bob's sleeve. Tyreese was caught up with one but didn't seem to be too concerned with escaping its claw like hands.
"Tyreese! Ty! Ty, let him go." Michonne shouted pulling her sword up to intervene. Merle saw the man just watching the dead thing reach it's mouth to his arm. He shoved the blade into its temple as it snapped its jaw looking for meat.
"Why the hell didn't you let go?" Bob shouted at Tyreese. He glanced back at Bob for a moment before walking away. Merle hollered after him, "You're welcome!"
Shaking his head Merle followed the others inside the garage, clearing it of other walkers. "Look for supplies. I'll get the battery." Daryl said while scanning the large rack of car batteries. Daryl found the one he needed and went outside to get it installed. Michonne came back with a bag of some supplies while Merle helped Daryl get the car to turn over.
Daryl was chatting with Bob as Merle smoked a cigarette. "You never told us about the group you were with before." Daryl asked his hands rotating a wrench inside the engine block. Merle looked over half listening to the conversation half ignoring the impatience growing inside his chest.
"Which one?" he laughed humorlessly before adding, "You know, when you found me out on that road, I almost kept walking."
Daryl grunted his arm jammed deep into the engine block, "Why's tha'?"
Bob shifted uncomfortably and said, "Cause I was done being a witness. Two times, two different groups. I was the last one standing. Like I was supposed to see it happen over and over, like it's some kind of curse but when it's just you out there with the quiet..." He looked away and thought for a moment while Daryl worked quietly. Merle raised an eyebrow at the man silently telling him to go on.
Bob cleared his throat nervously and said, "Used to be I'd drink a bottle of anything just so I could shut my eyes at night. Figured the prison, the people, thought it'd be easier. The run to the Big Spot, I did it for me." Merle grunted a noise of understanding. He knew exactly where the guy was coming from. Before Merle got clean he used liquor and drugs to dull the shit storm that was his mind.
"You gotta keep busy." Daryl drawled with a nod.
"No. I did it so I could get me a bottle. Of anything. " he said quietly and continued looking at them nervously, "I picked it up, I held it in my hand, but I put it down. I put it down so hard it took the whole damn shelf with it. That's what brought on the walkers, and that's what got Zack killed."
Daryl narrowed his eyes at him and shook his head, "Nah. Tha's bullshit." Merle scratched his jaw and leaned against the car thinking over the man's guilt for causing Zach's death. He did the same thing.
Looking at him Merle said, "Ain't your fault. I felt it too. Daryl and I decided to bring 'im. I knew he was too green but… wanted to toughin' the kid up. Ya didn' do it."
Bob didn't look convinced by the words. Merle hopped into the drivers seat and got the wires connected, revving the gas pedal. The van roared to life and made Merle hoot with excitement, "Aww yeah baby brother. Jus' like ol' times. Joy ridin' with Granddads Buick."
Daryl snorted and wiped his hands on his red rag, slamming the hood down. He looked over at Bob and said, "Sasha and me picked that spot. We took ya with us. There ain't no way anybody could've known. Ya ain't gonna be standing alone, not no more." Merle watched the man nod his head and give Daryl a small smile.
"Let's go!" Daryl shouted to Tyreese and Michonne. Soon they were back on the road toward the veterinary college.
Sam felt like she was drowning. She coughed so violently her chest ached and her head throbbed. Rolling over in bed she was confused by her surroundings. The cell was empty and even more depressing than her normal one. She shook her head as dizziness swamped her.
'What the?' she thought while sitting up slowly. All she could hear was the whoosh of blood in her ears as she was hit with a huge wave of vertigo. Blinking her eyes slowly she started to remember where she was. Cellblock A was the quarantine.
'Right. You're fucking sick.' She muttered inwardly. Wiping her hand across her sweaty forehead she looked at her soaked clothing.
'I'm on goddamn fire,' she thought as she watched her skin bead with sweat.
Sam grabbed a bottle of water and swallowed some before breaking into another coughing fit, spitting water all over the floor. Her body shook with the force of it as it caused her to gasp for air.
"How are you feelin' dear?" Hershel asked as he came into the cell, his prosthetic thumping on the hard cement floor.
"Terrible," she said hoarsely, her throat raw from coughing. Hershel felt her forehead and listened to her lungs. Sam could see the worry in his grandfatherly face. She could tell it was worsening just like everyone else. Her lungs felt full and when she coughed it felt thick with fluid. Soon it would be blood. She had seen a few of the other sick residents as she entered the cellblock. Some had blood on their chins and noses, splatters on their shirts from coughing.
Hershel sat across from her and said, "Here drink this. Elderberry tea. It'll help with the fever and soothe your throat."
Sam took it and gave him a watery smile. Sipping it slowly she had the urge to cough but swallowed through it. Once down she handed the cup back and lay down heavily with a groan.
"Get some sleep dear. They'll be back soon. Everything's going to be ok." He told her while patting her on the shoulder.
"I know they will. Hershel when Merle gets here tell him... tell him." She trailed off and started coughing again. Her eyes burned at the harshness of the cough, tears streaming down her face. After several rib cracking coughs she relaxed, her breath coming out gravelly.
"You're gonna be fine." Hershel repeated but Sam couldn't help but wonder whom he was trying to convince, himself or her.
"Ok, just tell him… " She coughed more, her chest throbbing in pain as her lungs burned from the action. Hershel patted her hand seeming to know what she was trying to say, "I'll tell him dear. You just rest."
"Close my cell door Hershel. I don't want to hurt anyone." She croaked and added, "Thank you... for everything."
Sam watched Hershel's face fall slightly at her words but nodded just the same. She laid her head down and felt groggy. Looking around the cell she watched everything blur. Wiping her cheek she felt tears streaking her face. 'Damnit.' She thought while swallowing thickly around the lump in her throat.
Sam knew Merle wouldn't handle her dying very well. He had just learned to open up since meeting her and if she was gone… well she wasn't sure how he'd take it. She worried he would do something stupid and lose all that he'd gained the last few months. Turning over she closed her eyes and fell asleep, her head throbbing from the fever. She lay there falling in and out of consciousness for hours. At times it felt like days. The shadows changed in the room but not much else did. A noise woke her at one point and she looked up to see Merle leaning against the cell bars.
"Merle?" she croaked, "When you get back?"
"Awhile ago Sugar. Didn't want to wake your lazy ass." He joked while pulling out his smokes and lighting up. She furrowed her brow, "Hershel's gonna yell at you for smoking."
"Nah." Merle snorted and said, "Ain't sayin' nothin' cuz I ain't really here girl."
Sam looked around and said, "Yeah you are…. Right?" Merle laughed and sat down next to her, "Sugar you're losin' it. Hallucinatin'. Knew ya were nuttier than squirrel shit but this right 'ere troublin'.
Sam snorted and croaked, "Shuddup up ass."
Coughing again for several long moments, her lungs burned. She gasped through a rattily sound and sucked in air greedily. When she finally got her eyes opened again Merle was gone.
"Merle?" she said loudly her head rising off the bed. It was dark and stuffy in the cellblock. She could hear others coughing violently and the occasional sniffle. Lying back down she wiped her face of sweat and sighed, "At least I know I'm goin' crazy."
A squeaking sound echoed out causing Sam to sit up on her elbows, squinting in the dim light. She watched as Hershel pushed a gurney with a body under a sheet past her cell. He glanced at her with a frown but kept walking. She felt her heartbeat speed up at the sight of him taking a dead body past to put them down. It meant the disease was moving quickly.
Lying back down on her bed she felt like she was nearing the end. Sam looked over at her pack on the ground, which held her hand gun. Swallowing hard she began to wonder if she could pull the trigger. With no medicine soon she would die and then turn. Hershel was putting people down but she would hate for him to not get there in time and end up getting bite by her. She didn't want to turn into one of those things. Turning her head away she promised herself to take care of it before it happened. 'Hershel shouldn't be responsible for that,' she thought sadly.
The scavenge group pull up to the veterinary college and saw a large group of walkers stuck in the parking area on the complex. They were able to sneak past the fences and enter the large building. Looking over the large directory they found the appropriate floor and room number. The group could tell the building was once a survivor camp. There were bedrolls and discarded supplies lying around. As they climbed the stairs they began to run into walkers and dead bodies. They killed a handful before reaching the room with all of the medicine and first aid supplies.
Bob told Merle and Daryl, "Anything ending with -cillin or -cin, grab it. We'll dissolve the pills in the IVs, put 'em right into the bloodstream. Dosage will be tricky but considering the time we lost..."
Tyreese and Michonne went to the area with all of the first aid supplies. They dug through cabinets and drawers throwing everything they could need for treating the sick. Merle and Daryl were tossing countless pill bottles and packets into their duffle bags. Merle looked up and saw Bob coming toward him from the back of the room.
"Find something?" He asked suspiciously. Bob shook his head and said, "Nah just saw something moving. How'd you do?"
"Got a ton of shit. Hopefully the right stuff." Merle replied throwing a couple more items into his sack. Bob was looking at the wall, picking up bottles and setting them down. Tyreese and Michonne joined them, their bags overflowing.
"How'd y'all do?" Daryl asked her while zipping his bag closed.
"Bags, tubes, clamps, connectors. Everything on the list." She said sliding her bag diagonally across her back. "What about y'all?"
"Yeah, we got it all. We're good." He responded, "All right, let's roll."
They moved toward the hallway but the sounds of walkers filled the darkened space.
"Shit, got comp'ny." Merle drawled looking toward the large group heading their way. The dead came shuffling towards them and Merle saw the bleeding eyes and noses.
"Shit they're bleedin' like the others," he said while they ran in the opposite direction. Daryl lead them through a few turns but again they found themselves surrounded.
Tyreese said, "We can take 'em." Michonne shook her head and told them, "No! They're infected. Same as at the prison. We fire at 'em, get their blood on us, breathe it in." Huffing an irritated breathed Daryl rasped, "We didn't come all this way to get sick." They ran further down the hallways and found a room with a large window. There were a few bodies walking around inside.
"How do we know the ones in there aren't any different?" Bob asked nervously.
Daryl drawled, "We don't."
Bob signed, "Well, lucks gotta change sometime." The kicked the door in and killed the few walkers stumbling toward them. Tyreese threw a fire extinguisher through the large window breaking the dirty pane. Outside they found a carport roof to stand on but needed to jump for it.
"Come on, move it! Jump down to the walkway below." Michonne shouted moving through the window quickly. They all jumped Bob making it last. He fell forward, his bag hanging off the overhang. The walkers below clutched it tightly, reaching for him. Tyreese held his arm, pulling him back to the walkway but Bob wouldn't let his bag go.
"Bob, let it go. Let it go, man." Michonne shouted as he struggled with it. Tyreese growled, "Just let it go." Merle watched the guy yank it out of the walker's hands, pulling himself back to the overhang. Daryl picked the bag up for him and opened it. His eyes fell to the man who was breathing hard, sweat dripping off his forehead.
Merle watched his brother go from worried about a group member to fury. He looked inside the bag and saw the bottle of booze.
"Fuckin' kiddin' me?" Merle growled.
Daryl snarled, "You got no meds in your bag? Just this?"
Bob reached his hand out toward the bag but Daryl yanked it away from him, "You should have kept walking that day."
Daryl held the bottle and went to throw it into the sea of walkers below them. Bob went for his gun making Merle lurch forward to stop him but Daryl stomped forward, pressing his forehead aggressively Bob's. He glared down at him, huffing out angry breaths.
"Just let it go, Daryl. The man's made his choice. Nothing you can do about it. Just gotta let it go." Tyreese reasoned with Daryl who looked as if he were going to throw Bob into the walkers instead.
"I didn't want to hurt nobody. It was just for when it gets quiet." Bob stammered reaching for the bottle, which Merle took from his brother's hand. He looked it over and felt such rage that the man had no supplies for the sick people back at the prison. His jaw tightened at the thought they could come back with not enough because Bob didn't even bother looking.
Daryl growled, "Take one sip 'fore those meds get in our people, I'll beat your ass into the ground. Ya hear me?"
Merle glared at his brother for giving in to the drunk. He looked at Bob and said, "I know what its like to be a fuckin' addict but this is fuckin' low."
He approached him just as aggressively as Daryl pointing his knife at his chest. "If we get home and people fuckin' die cuz you didn' bother to look for supplies I will fucking GUT YOU! Ya hear me boy!"
"Try it," Merle hissed gesturing to Bob's gun. He too the bottle by its neck and chucked it as far as he could into the group of walkers below.
"Fetch it fucker!" he barked turning on his heel and stomping away. He felt the others following him but no one said a word. Daryl was looking at him strangely but didn't remark on it. Merle figured he would think he was a hypocrite after having been addict for so long. The way he figured it Bob was no longer trustworthy.
"Guy won't keep his word for shit baby brother. Ya know it cuz I wouldna before neither. Can' trust no addicts," Merle said as they walked back to the van. Daryl nodded and chewed his lip before mumbling, "Glad ya got clean Merle."
Merle snorted and said, "Ain't like I can go down to Tweaker Robbie's a pick up a bag." Daryl laughed and drawled, "Yeah well still good."
They all climbed into the van, Bob getting in last with his eyes glued to the floor. Merle glared in the mirror at him as they headed back to the prison.
Sam woke to the sound of shouting and gunshots. Her heart rate picked up.
'Danger! Run. Go . Go . Go' her mind was screaming but her body felt like concrete.
Her head was spinning as she pulled herself up, her body trembling with the effort. Coughing violently Sam crawled to the cell door, her knees slipping on the cold floor. Peering into the darkened cellblock she could see dead walkers on the ground. She recognized some of them. They are all bleeding out their eyes and mouths.
'Fuck. This isn't ending good Sam.' She thought before coughing again, her heart speeding up as she gasped for air. Wetness coated Sam's hand as she cleared her air way. Holding her palm up into the dim camp lantern light Sam saw the troubling red splatter, blood expelled from her thick lungs. She wiped her nose and came away with more blood.
'It wouldn't be long now.' She thought with a stab of fear.
'Merle I'm sorry.' She thought squeezing her eyes shut, tears rolling down her cheeks. Sam wouldn't make Hershel put her down. She wouldn't let herself hurt someone coming in to put her down. Crawling back toward her bed Sam felt her body weakening even more. Her arms were shaking from holding her weight up. She pulled her bag toward her and dug out her handgun, tossing it onto the bed. Through a coughing fit and struggled breaths, Sam finally pulled her aching body back onto the bed. Looking down at her chest she saw blood speckled across the tshirt. Her chin was coated in it from her draining nose. She wrapped her bloody fingers around the grip, holding it in her lap heavily. She would wait for a few more minutes. It wouldn't be too much longer though.
Oh Boy! Merle is pretty pissed at Bob and Sam is coughing up blood. Sorry for the cliff hanger but I do have a bunch of the next chapter written already.
Thanks for reading and reviewing!