Sweet Dreams Are Made Of This

Chapter 117

Author's Note: Even more follower's make me happy! Please review. It really does motivate. Sorry for the 'long' wait in between chapters-well for me anyway, but being as sick as I was and still getting in the swing of things, I'm doing my best!

(Continued from last chapter-just with the group)

Group POV:

Merle loaded up one of the cars, getting ready to leave. "Open up the gate!" he yelled at the Woodbury people guarding the gates as he was getting in the car.

Carl ran up to the car. "Where are you going?" he asked.

Merle turned and looked at the teen. "Didn't realize I had to check my itinerary with you kid."

"Does Jewel know your going?" Carl asked.

Merle sighed. "Look kid, I'm glad that you are worried bout my sister, but this really isn't about her. I'm just leavin' for a few days. Not good with all these people, and bein' on my best behavior."

Maggie came up with Glenn. "What's going on?" she asked.

"Merle's leaving," Carl said.

"You do realize Jewel is on bed rest right now don't you Merle?" Glenn asked.

"You people act like I'm leaving for good. Michonne and Jes can come and go like they want, lookin' for the Governor and no one says anything? But I plan to leave for a couple days and you all act like the world is gonna end? Hate to point it out to you, but the world is already endin' and me leavin' for a couple days isn't gonna make it any worse," Merle said.

Carl looked at him. "But it's going to upset Jewel. You told her you weren't leaving again."

"You walk out of those gates, don't come back," Glenn warned him.

Merle glared at him. "Look Chinaman, we were doin' real good on the whole respectin' each other thing, but you're pushing it."

Daryl and Summer came down the guard tower. "He's Korean," both said in unison.

"Leaving Uncle Merle?" Summer asked.

Daryl leaned against the car. "Thought we were over this?"

"He says it's just for a couple days," Maggie said.

"Jewel doesn't know," Carl told them.

"It is for a couple days! Come on Daryl, back me up here. You know I don't do real good with a lot of people for long periods of time. Done real good this long," Merle told him.

Daryl lit the cigarette he was holding and shook his head. "Yeah I know how you are Merle. You say a couple days, you like bein' out on your own, you find some booze, something' stronger and you don't come back for a while. Now, I know you're tryin' to turn over a new leaf, but you want to leave, then you need to go up and tell Jewel you're leaving. You're goin' to look her in the eyes, and you're goin' to tell her when you'll be back. And you don't go alone. That's how it works. Otherwise, you pull out those gates and don't come back. We can handle it, but this aint gonna be a back and forth, not anymore Merle. You're either with us or you're not."

Summer crossed her arms. "Need me to go pack up your cell Uncle Merle?"

"Son Of A Bitch…really?" Merle asked.

"When Michonne and Jes goes out, we know they are going and we know why. And they aren't Jewel's brother who has a habit of being in and out of her life. She either needs you in it or out of it. She's got all of us, so if you go, go," Carl told him.

Jes and Joey's POV:

Joey glanced over at the gate as he lit the cigarette he was holding. "Merle's makin' friends again," he told Jes as she cleaned her gun. "You don't want to do that inside where it's warm?" he asked.

Jes looked up. "You know Merle, he gets the itch to get away. Did it at Woodbury, used the excuse to go scout to be gone for a couple nights," she said. "Please, this is warmer then some places I've been," she answered. Jes gave a small smile as she noticed whose his attention was drawn too. "You're not paying' much attention the male Dixon's anyway, you only got eyes for one Summer Dixon."

Joey shrugged. "You gonna give me a lecture?"

Jes laughed. "Nah, think I should be giving Summer a lecture warning her about hurting you."

Joey rolled his eyes as he moved his hair out of his eyes. "Yeah, Summer Dixon isn't a girl that would ever go with a guy like me."

"A guy like you?" Jes asked.

"Possible thug? Hangin' with all the wrong people? Rebels against the parents? Hell if the world hadn't ended, probably would have wound up a lot like Merle," Joey answered.

"The world did end," Jes answered. "Who you were then, it ended the day the dead came back to life. You became a man, a survivor. Doesn't matter WHAT you would have became, it's what you become now. Hell, bet Summer would have been getting some scholarship for that voice of hers to some fancy college. But now, she's just a young woman worried about her family, and others."

Joey looked at her. "What about you? What would you be doing if the world didn't go to hell?"

"Same old same old," Jes said. "Following orders, giving orders, moving," she said with a shrug as she got up.

"Where are you going?" Joey asked.

"Figured I'll go help Merle out. Let him get out of here for a while without everyone bothering him," Jes answered as she picked up her bag.

Joey stood up and put down the cigarette. "Not gonna miss this," he said.

Jes went up to the group. "Merle were you leaving without me?"

Merle looked at her. "What are you talking about?"

Jes rolled her eyes. "Merle, you remember we talked a few days ago that we were going to head up about twenty miles out up to that old cabin past Woodbury, see if there's any supplies left?" she asked as she gave him I'm trying to save your ass here look.

The group looked at each other then at Merle. "You were planning' on going with him?" Daryl asked.

"That was the plan, don't do anything alone anymore," Jes said. "Right Merle?"

"Yeah, right, just clearly slipped my mind," Merle said.

"Why do I have a feeling that you are covering his worthless behind?" Summer asked.

"Hey, manners," Merle hissed at her.

Jes put her bag in the car. "Does it really matter if I am or not? What matters is that I'm going with him, and we'll be back in a couple days. You tell Jewel?"

"No he didn't," Glenn answered. "He said he needed a few days alone."

Jes shook her head. "Well, Merle and I are good at ignoring each other Glenn. So it'll be just like we're alone. Joey you got guard duty, don't you?"

"Yeah, in about fifteen minutes," Joey answered.

Summer looked at him. "So do I," she said.

Merle and Daryl both looked at them. "Oh, no who ever made that guard schedule is getting an arrow in his or her ass. Joey will trade with Sasha. She can take guard duty with Summer, and you can take guard duty with Tyreese at midnight," Daryl told Joey.

"Uncle Daryl," Summer said as she blushed.

"No Uncle Daryl me," Daryl warned.

"So Carl, you and Summer mind telling Jewel that we'll be back in about a couple days since Merle has nothing between his ears but air?" Jes said.

Maggie and Glenn tried not to laugh as Carl kept a straight face. "Yeah, no problem."

"Well come on, Merle. Gonna be dark in a few hours," Jes said as she got in the car.

Sasha and Summer's POV:

Sasha climbed up in the guard shack carrying a thermos of soup and extra blankets. "Well hi there stranger," she greeted as Summer took the blankets.

"It's been a while," Summer agreed. "Of course, I could take it being a little bit warmer."

"Carol sent soup," Sasha said as she held up the thermos. "So, guard duty with Joey didn't work out huh?"

Summer wrapped a blanket around her. "I didn't do it," she answered.

"No Mrs. Kingsley made the guard schedule. A seventy year old woman who knows nothing about nothing. I saw the schedule and told Tyreese, one of us was going to be switching."

"Nothing would have happened," Summer insisted.

Sasha smiled as she hit her arm playfully. "I know, but it also hasn't been that long ago since I was a teenage girl with a crush on a boy. Don't try to deny it either. I'm not your uncles', or your mother, or Rick. I'm your friend, a friend with eyes. I remember my first boyfriend, Malcolm Hendricks. Dreadlocks down his back, played saxophone in our high school band. Lasted a total of three weeks, until I caught him kissing Melody Howard. God, you would have thought the world was ending," she said with a laugh. "If I only knew that in a few years that it would be ending, I would have punched Melody."

Summer laughed. "I don't know, I mean yeah I thought he was hot in high school, but that was before all this."

"And he's not hot now?" Sasha asked. "Come on, that boy is pretty good looking."

"Well, yeah, but hello? As you previously mentioned, I've got uncles', a mother, a stepfather, not to mention a whole lot of adopted brothers and sisters, and Mar," Summer reminded her.

"Everyone cares about you, no one wants to see you get hurt. But, at the same time, I think everyone knows that in this day and time, being normal is not a given. I'm not telling you to go and have sex with him, I'd kill him," Sasha warned. "But, I think everyone, even your uncles', believe it or not, expect to be interrupting a kiss. That's why Rick went out and had the 'father' chat with Joey. As long as you are alive, no one can stop you from growing up. Believe me if anyone could stop a teenage girl from growing up Ty would have figured it out with me and he's still working on it with Lexi," she informed her. "But, hey, don't ever do anything you don't want to do, or be pushed into anything. How do you feel about him? Real feelings, not what you think people want to hear, or what you're used to saying."

Summer shrugged. "Have to admit, been wondering what it would be like to kiss him. But, nothing serious."

"Normal teenage girl thoughts about a boy," Sasha admitted.

"Some of the new comers think I need make up and my hair done so he can't help but want me," Summer told her.

"Those are the type of girls that my mother would call the ones going the wrong way on a one way street," Sasha said.

Summer laughed. "Alright, I thought I heard them all, but that's a new one. I told them where they can go."

"Good! If Joey is interested in someone like that, then he isn't for you. Hello, if they haven't noticed make up and hair are not practical against killing walkers," Sasha told her.

"Thank you! I said the same thing!" Summer told her.

Sasha laughed. "Just be yourself and if that isn't good enough, well then he just isn't good enough for my friend."

TBC