Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 114

Author's Note: First, this chapter did not want to be written, in any way possible. I wanted to show conflict with the new group and old. I also wanted to show how much the old group (including Merle) care for each other. And I also wanted to have a moment for Glenn. SOOOOOOOOOOOO….I wrote some, came back to it, deleted it, came back to it, deleted it (See a pattern?) So let's try this way. Please review I'm begging because this was a pain in the toucas to write! I'm actually happy with this version!

Group POV:

Hershel sat down with Rick, Carl, Jewel, Maggie, Glenn, Beth, Mitch, Mar, Daryl, Summer and Carol at the table. "Do you think that they'll fit in well?"

"They seem like good people, had a hard time of it," Beth commented.

Mitch gave a small laugh. "Haven't we all Beth?"

"Maggie, Summer and I wouldn't have brought them in if we thought they were trouble," Glenn said.

"Except for the one that mistook my niece for a bear," Daryl said.

Summer rolled her eyes. "Well, I'm just not going around him when he's got a weapon."

"Summer, I swear if you weren't such a good hunter, we'd wrap you in bubble wrap and keep you in your room," Carl teased her.

"Now that isn't half bad of an idea," Rick said as Jewel took Judith.

"Could have happened to anyone," Maggie said.

"But it didn't, it happened to Summer," Carl teased back.

"Don't make take the hat," Summer warned him.

Hershel gave a small smile as he looked around the table. "This is what matters, right here, right now. We've made something that other people would kill for. If one good thing came out of the end of the world it's this. I've been blessed with friends that I wouldn't have known before this. Two marriages and a new life were created out of time of hardship. Life isn't easy, but right now, right here at this table, we can believe that life is worth living with the right people."

Glenn smiled. "Keep holding on for a little bit right? It may not always be this easy," he told them.

"But it is right now, and that's what matters. We've got to hold onto times like this, so when things go bad, we remember there is hope," Rick said as he touched Judy's face and kissed Jewel. "We remember what we're fighting for."

"A little bit sappy, Rick," Daryl told him.

Mar hit his knee. "Oh, it's cute," she told Daryl.

"Damn romance novel," Daryl huffed.

"Yes and we're part of it," Mar reminded him.

Carol and Jewel laughed. "She's got a point, big brother," Jewel said.

"Can't believe that the new group was holding out for the CDC, God that feels like so long ago," Carol said.

"In this day and time, it was so long ago," Summer said as she kissed the top of Mitch's head. "I know you're missing Luke, you ever want to talk, and we're all here."

"I know, don't worry. I talk to Mar and Daryl," Mitch told her.

"That's the first night I kissed you," Rick told Jewel.

"Wait you kissed mom at the CDC? You never told me that dad kissed you at the CDC," Summer said as she glared at her mother.

"I'm thinkin' that's not something your mother was going to come runnin' to her 15 year old daughter at the time about," Daryl told her.

Rick laughed. "It was just a kiss, a kiss that if I let your mother forget about and didn't try to get her to drop her guard, we certainly wouldn't be expecting a baby right now."

"Dixon's can be stubborn," Summer said with a grin. "Yes, isn't that right Lady bug? And baby brother or baby sister is part Dixon and part Grimes, definitely a force to be reckoned with!"

Jewel turned her head to the familiar sound of yelling. "That's Merle."

Daryl sighed as he got up. "I'll go see what's going on."

"We'll go with you," Rick told him.

Newcomer's POV (mixed in with Woodbury and Merle and Jes):

One of the girls looked around the cells. "I kinda liked the clinic better; this is…I mean…a prison?"

"Taylor, baggers can't be choosers," Stacey told her. "We've got a roof over our head, food in our stomach, and people to look out for us. It's not a bad set up," Stacey said.

The black haired girl looked over at Taylor. "It's a prison."

"Don't look at it like that; look at it as your room. You can hang things up, put up a privacy blanket. It can be real cozy. I'm Mika," the young girl introduced. "My sister and I are across the hall."

Taylor smiled. "I'm Taylor Walton, this is Stacey Kingston."

"Where are you originally from?" Mika asked.

"I'm originally from Minnesota," Taylor said. "I was tired of the winters up there, went to college in Florida. No SNOW. Kinda glad of that now, can't imagine surviving winters in Minnesota during this."

Stacey smiled. "Louisiana, Shreveport," she answered.

"I've never been out of Georgia," Mika said. "If you need anything, let me know. I better get back before my dad starts wondering where I am," she said as she disappeared as fast as she came.

Taylor laughed. "That was interesting."

Jes sighed as she leaned against the wall outside the cells. "We can put one set of boys or a set of girls over in C Block, got some empty cells there."

"I'd like to keep everyone close," Ridge told her.

"Sure you would, but we're out of room in here and tight quarters," Merle answered. "We aint movin' people who are already settled in, so either you let two of these college students move and be big boys and girls, or you can all pack up and turn around."

"Merle," Jes said in a warning tone. "I know you all been together for a while, we get that. But look around, we don't have the room here. We can start clearing E Block; have to any way with all the new people coming in. But right now, the only thing we can offer is C Block."

"If there's room in C Block then why don't we all move in there?" Ridge suggested.

"We got room, but not a whole lot, plus we are tryin' to keep our family together just like you are," Merle said.

"Well then you understand why any of us feel uncomfortable moving away from each other," Andy said.

"Andy," Ridge warned. Andy was the hot head of the group. He had a temper and Ridge tried to keep it under control. He had a feeling that Merle and him could easily but heads.

"No, Ridge. This redneck can move some of his people over here so we can all have room together. Otherwise, we can just over take it," Andy said.

Merle arched an eyebrow and moved closer. "Do you have some kind of Army that I aint seeing? You come in here, making threats to the people that are offering you a roof, a bed and food? And this redneck is the one that goes hunting to put meat in your stomach, so you better step off real fast. I consider that a threat against me and my own, you only get one; next one is me taking you out on a little hunt, and I'll be returning by myself."

"Merle, take it easy," Jes warned.

"What's going on here?" Ronnie asked as she came out of a cell with Zach.

"One of your charges just threatened my family," Merle said. "Little brat here is lucky I've learned some self-control, otherwise he'd already be in a world of hurt," he said. "I got guard duty, takin' it from Jewel," he told Jes as he started to walk out.

"Yeah just like a Red Neck to walk out on a conversation, we weren't done," Andy said as he followed him to the main area.

Merle turned. "We were done boy. We were done when you threatened my family! You think you're big enough to take me on boy?"

Whole group POV:

Jes sighed as she followed them outside, quickly joined by the rest of the group.

"What happened?" Jewel asked Jes.

"This asswipe threatened my family, that's what happened," Merle said as he held the boy in place.

"Merle, calm down, I'm sure you misunderstood," Daryl tried to reason with his brother.

"You want to tell them what you said? Not so big and threatening now that you see everyone are you? Go on, you tell them what you said big mouth," Merle told them.

Andy looked at him. "He was trying to split up my group cause there wasn't enough room. So I said that some of you can move to D block, or we could just take it over," the boy admitted.

"That's not going to happen," Rick told him as he stepped forward.

"Dude, I've seen them protect their own, and that's just the wrong thing to say," Axel told them.

"Who the hell made you people the boss? I see a problem, we aint separating, so you got to do what you got to do," Andy said.

"Andy, cool it," Ronnie warned.

"We brought you in, we're giving you a place to stay and you want to try and make a power play? Gratitude isn't a strong point of yours is it?" Jewel asked.

"Just cause you brought us in doesn't mean you're in charge, things change real quick," Andy hissed.

"Andy stop it!" Zach warned.

Carl, Daryl, Merle, Rick Jes, Summer Carol and Glenn raised their guns at him. "You listen here, and you listen well. We fought for this prison, we drew blood. We had a homicidal maniac knock down our gates and we fought him. So, a little frat boy isn't coming in here and threaten my family. You aren't a teenager so I don't have to go through Ronnie and Ridge, this isn't on them. This is on you. So let's understand this right now, you aint got a say in this. I don't want him carrying a weapon, Hershel. Not until he learns some damn manners," Rick said.

"Hand it over Andy," Ridge told him.

"Are you all just going to let them give us orders like we're some sort of cattle?" Andy asked.

"You can either hand over your weapon or you can leave," Glenn told him.

Andy looked at the others in the group. "Fine we'll go."

"No, you didn't understand. YOU'LL go, not them. They aren't coming in here making demands, and they certainly aren't threatening people that I care about. Merle, move out of the way, Andy and I need to have a little chat," Glenn said.

"He's got this brother," Daryl told Merle.

Glenn punched the kid and unarmed him and bent down. "I get it that you don't want to be separated from your family. Been together since the beginning, done some things you probably didn't think was possible. So have we," Glenn said. "Jewel, Summer, Daryl, Carl, Carol, Mitch, Rick and me we've been together since the start, Merle too but things happened and he was left behind. We've been with Maggie, Beth and Hershel when they saved Carl's life. We found Mar during the summer. So the group of us, we've been through hell and back together. And we're still here. We've lost people, I'm sure that you have too. But, see I vouched for your crew, so you coming in and threatening my family, that's not going to stand. Every one of us standing back there have bonded in some way somehow, beyond friendship. I'm sure you have too. So, if you want to threaten anyone of them, I'm going to take it real personally. I brought you here; I'm taking charge of it. Not Maggie and not Summer. I'm making this on me. You look at them wrong, you say a word like that, walkers' aren't going to be your problem. You want to talk like a man, then I'm going to treat you like a man. So get your ass up and we're going back to D block. I will lock you in if we're going to have a problem," Glenn said as he stepped back and let the young man get up.

"There's not going to be a problem is there Andy?" Ridge asked.

Ronnie sighed. "We've talked about putting him out on his own several times. I just didn't feel right about anyone going on their own, safety in numbers."

"May be safety in numbers, but one trouble maker in the group it makes waves," Merle told them.

Jewel, Rick, Daryl, Jes, Carol, and Mar looked at him. "Speaking from experience big brother?" Jewel teased.

"You know I am now, go I've got your guard shift and I don't want Sasha yelling at me for being late," Merle said with a smirk as he walked away.

"I think Hell's freezing over," Maggie said.

"Maggie," Hershel warned with a chuckle.

Jewel laughed as Judith fussed a little. "Yes its cold out here isn't it little girl? Let's go inside and get you ready for bed."