Hey everyone, welcome to chapter 6. For whatever reason, I seemed to struggle with this chapter. I didn't really seem to know where I wanted to go with it, hence the time frame but I think I figured it out now. Hopefully you'll all enjoy it!
Anna walked down the street, next to her brother and Rosita, none of whom were excited to go to the community party. Rosita had managed to coax Anna to dress up in a dress with her, so she wouldn't be the only woman from their group dressed in a dress.
"So, you and Merle, huh?" Rosita asked as they walked down the street.
"Say what?" Abraham exclaimed as he looked first at Rosita then at Anna. "Merle!?"
Anna rolled her eyes. "You're not exactly in any position to judge for my choice in men."
Abraham sighed. "So long as he don't hurt you, then we got no problem. Just know that I ain't a fan."
"Noted." Anna said with a nod.
Rosita looked between the two of them waiting for something, but nothing more came. "That's it? No fireworks, no yelling. No seeing a man like that." Rosita said the last part in her best Abraham voice.
Anna cocked an eyebrow. "Is that why you brought Merle up? To get Abe and I to argue?"
"No. I figured Abraham knew" Rosita said not at all fazed by the accusation, "but don't most brother-sisters, like, argue? Yell at each other about their bad decisions or whatever."
Anna looked at Abraham as he looked at her, then they both laughed. "We almost never yell at each other and rarely get into disagreements." Anna said.
"And if we do, we settle our disagreements with few fireworks." Abraham said.
"You're two short-tempered ginger siblings who don't yell at each other?" Rosita said giving them a really look. "You don't find that strange?"
"We just use that anger on other people, not each other." Anna said grinning as Abraham laughed and knocked on Deanna's door.
"We're supposed to let ourselves in." Rosita said as shook her head then opened the door and stepped inside.
Abraham indicated for Anna to go in front of him, so she did. As the three of them stopped in the entryway, they stared as the Alexandrian's mingled amongst each other like things hadn't changed. Even though Anna had shaved her legs for the first time in a year, she felt self conscious in her dress but at least she wasn't the only one from their group who wore a dress. Like Rosita, who had on a black simple but pretty dress with a grey cardigan over top and a simple ponytail., Anna wore a similar dress but emerald green with a white jean jacket but had French braided her hair into a faux-hawk on top of her head while the rest of her mane hung loosely down her back.
"I don't know about this." Abraham muttered.
Rosita looked around unimpressed. "They have beer." She said then looked back at Abraham as he zoned in on the booze.
"I'm gonna try." Abraham said, making Rosita smile slightly as she looked back at Anna.
Anna watched as the two of them wandered off, first grabbing a beer then wandering further into the house. With a sigh, Anna slowly wandered over to the beer then looked around. She felt like a fish out of water here in Alexandria, the only people she really had a connection with was her brother and Merle. Once upon a time, she could mingle with the best of them but after months of being on her own then with only one person, Anna had lost that ability to socialize.
"You must be Anna." A blonde haired woman said as she walked over to her then held out her hand. "I'm Jesse."
"Hi Jessie, I am Anna. Anna Ford." Anna said shaking the woman's hand.
"You've got beautiful hair!" Jessie exclaimed as she reached out and pulled a few strands forward.
"Uh, thanks." Anna said looking down at her straightened strands, feeling slightly uncomfortable with her personal space being invaded.
"Obviously your natural color!" Jessie said dropping her hand finally.
"Yeah, we're a family of gingers." Anna said indicating her flaming red head brother as him and Rosita looked over the snacks were laid out on a table.
"It must be nice to have family close by." Jessie said, a look of sadness flashing across her face. "I heard that you'd just found your brother right before Aaron found all of you!"
Anna nodded. "Yeah, we got lucky, really lucky. Do you have family?"
"Just my husband and kids." Jessie said, indicating a tallish man who was practically guzzling his beer when he wasn't talking to the other residents. "He's the community doctor, although he hasn't had to do deal with anything to drastic."
"That's fortunate. From what Spencer said, ya'll had next to no problems with either the dead or the living." Anna said then took a hearty swig from her own beer.
"Yeah, we've been lucky, but it'll run out one day. Which is why I think Deanna wanted you all here." Jessie said, smiling kindly. "To teach us more about surviving."
Anna found Jessie to be a surprisingly genuine person and enjoyable to talk with. She was the artistic type, although she didn't call herself an artist. She had also had her own hairdressing business that she'd run out of her own basement before everything went south and begged Anna to let her work with her firey red hair one day, to which Anna had agreed to.
Eventually, though, he husband dragged her off to go talk with some other people, leaving Anna alone once more. Off to one side, Anna noticed that her brother, Rosita, Glenn, Maggie and Noah, had gathered to sit together to visit amongst themselves. Anna wandered over to them and listened to them talk for a time but not really getting into their conversations. When she turned to walk away, Abraham grabbed her arm and gently guided her away from everyone.
"Hey, you okay Annie?" Abraham asked, studying her carefully. "You've barely said anything since coming here."
Anna shrugged. "I guess I'm outta practice. I'm just feeling very out of place here, I don't really know anybody but you and Merle ain't here. I think two hours is my threshold for putting up with strangers. I'll see you later." Abraham opened his mouth to protest but Anna put a hand on his shoulder. "I'm fine."
Anna turned then and left the house. As Anna walked up the now dark street, towards the house, she saw some one also walking along just ahead of her and when he passed Aaron's house, the light on the front porch came on and out stepped Aaron, revealing the other person be Daryl. Anna was far enough back that she couldn't really hear what was being said but as she stopped and watched, she saw Aaron turn and walk back inside. Daryl stood there for a couple moments staring at the door, then mounted the steps and went inside.
Anna shrugged, curious but not really her business. She continued down the street and up into the second house their group had been given. Rick had finally decided that it was safe enough to spread out a little. He'd sent Anna, Merle, Abraham, Rosita, Noah, Eugene and Tara all over to the second house. Rick had claimed that he had split them up the way he had because, they were the ones who hadn't had a previous relationship with Merle, but Anna couldn't help but think that Rick was keeping those he was closest to, nearest to him.
Climbing the steps, Anna then went inside to a dark house. When Anna turned on the lights, she nearly had a heart attack, when she saw Merle leaning against the wide door frame that stood in between the kitchen and living room with his arms crossed, smiling at her slightly as he watched her.
"Were you just standing there waiting for me to come to come home?" Anna asked as she put her hand to her chest.
"Nope, saw you comin' up the street while I was drinkin' on the couch." Merle said then his smile expanded as he held up a bottle of vodka. "I found two, wanna get drunk with me?"
"You hopin' if I get drunk with you, you'll get laid again?" Anna asked as she walked up to him and grabbed the bottle from him.
"I just wanna see you drunk." Merle said putting his hand and stump on her hips as he pressed his hips against hers. "Gettin' laid is just a bonus."
Anna put the bottle to her lips and took a hearty swing as Merle's hand slid down her hip then up and under her skirt to her womanhood. Anna grabbed his hand and pulled it away as she shook her finger at him while still holding the bottle.
"Drunk first, sex later." Anna said, shoving Merle back as he grinned.
"Hey, save some for me!" Merle said as he snatched it from her lips.
111
The next morning, Anna was leaning against the wall by the main gate, leaning her head back as she tried to no think of her throbbing head. When Anna raise her head, she saw Deanna come strolling up with an assault rifle and two boxes of bullets in hand. She stopped and smiled slightly at Anna.
"Good morning, Miss Ford."
"Morning, Deanna." Anna greeted, nodding her head in greeting. "You're not planning on going out there on your own?"
Deanna chuckled. "No, this isn't for me, it's for her." Deanna said then indicated down the street as Sasha came walking towards them.
Sasha walked up to them and crossed her arms over her chest when she stopped, still looking as much of a shell of a woman as she had when Anna had first met her. "Is she supposed to be my babysitter?"
"No, its just Anna's turn for guard duty. Rick doesn't want us to leave the gates unattended and we need someone to be able to open it up." Deanna said as she handed first the gun then the boxes of ammunition.
"Where are you going?" Anna asked.
Sasha was one of the few who didn't really have a job. Anna suspected that she was supposed to be on gate duty, like Anna, but hadn't complied. From what Abraham had told her, Sasha had lost both her boyfriend and brother very close together, in violent ways, leaving the woman first morose but now she seemed to be moving on to angry.
"Just up the tower." Sasha said pointing to the tower that peeked over the side of the wall. "No one has been up there since we arrived, and Rick wants its manned around the clock."
Anna frowned as she looked back at Deanna. "I just assumed that Spencer was going up there."
"No, we haven't really seen the need for it." Deanna said shrugging like she didn't see why manning the tower mattered.
"Merle could probably take a couple shifts." Anna said as Sasha opened the gate for herself and left.
Deanna frowned. "How is that even possible, he has one hand. How can he even shoot a rifle?"
Anna cocked an eyebrow; this woman obviously didn't know much about shooting. "A tripod or window sill would do just fine. He could probably use his own arm to support the barrel." Anna said as she pushed the gate shut.
"You don't want a shift?" Deanna asked as she studied Anna.
Anna shrugged. "I'm not a sharp shooter. I am a half decent shot but not an expert marksman. I'm an expert in bomb detection and finding things, which made me required to be better at short range fighting, not long range."
"Noted." Deanna said nodding her head, "Now if you'll excuse me." Deanna started to move away but paused and looked back. "By the way, there will be a supply run today, I'm sending Merle with them."
Anna looked at her surprised. "Isn't Glenn one of the supply runners?"
"Yes, he is but he has assured me that his history with Merle won't be a problem and Merle promised to be a team player. With his brother gone, I'm hoping that giving Merle something to do will make him more…agreeable." Deanna obviously wasn't convinced as she stared towards the community.
"Merle will surprise you." Anna promised. "He's trying to be a better man, he just needs people to believe in him. To give him a chance."
"There you are." A tall man that Carol had identified as Tobin, said as he approached the two. "Actually, its great that the two of you are together."
"What can we do for you, Tobin?" Deanna asked smiling.
"I was hoping you'd be willing to relieve Anna and Juno from guard duty for the day and let her accompany us out to the mall." Tobin said smiling. "I wanted Anna to come along with her dog to act as an alarm system, but Abraham said she might be helpful from the construction aspect also."
Anna shrugged. "I've never built anything bigger than a fence or deck before, but I know my way around tools, and I work hard."
"Alright." Deanna agreed as she nodded. "She can change places with Francine."
Anna remained by the gate as the two wandered off but less than twenty minutes later, three trucks rolled up to the gate and Francine jumped off the back of the lead vehicle and walked over to where Anna was pulling the gate open.
"Deanna sent me to replace you, so you can go with these boys." Francine said, pointing to the vehicles behind her.
"Thanks." Anna said.
She walked around to the back of the first truck and found Abraham offering her his hand. Anna smiled up at him them bent over and looked at Juno.
"Up!" Anna ordered her.
Juno took a couple steps back than ran at Anna then used Anna's back as a step up and landed on to the back of the truck. When Anna straightened, she saw the other three men staring at Juno in shock as she panted and waited for Anna to also board the back of the truck. Finally, Anna took her brothers hand and let him pull her up into the back of the truck.
They all sat in the back of the truck as they left the safety of the walls, the first time for both Anna and Abraham since they'd arrived. Anna would never admit it out loud, but she was a little tentative about leaving the walls. The last time she'd left the walls of a community, she never returned and was out on her own for months. Anna wrapped her arm around one of her brother's big biceps and laid her head down on his shoulder, at least she had Abe with her.
Anna managed to keep her face neutral as she noticed a slight tremor in Abraham's hand as he grabbed the hand on his bicep and clutched it between his two hands. He must be feeling apprehension as well. From what he had told her, he had been out there a long time, even longer than her, but he had lost a lot of people along the way and it had been nice to not have to worry about getting eaten, every minute of every day.
When they rolled to a stop, Anna finally took in their surroundings. Off in the distance stood the skeleton of a huge mall, not even a quarter finished. Within their immediate vicinity stood several heavy machinery and stacks of metal beams and sheets of metal.
Anna followed the others as they dismounted, doing the reverse procedure to help Juno get down from the back of the truck. They all gathered around Tobin as he started handing out assignments to the others then looked at Anna uncertainly.
"I don't know what I should do with you." Tobin smiling at her slightly.
"I'm sure you don't need me to help with the other stuff, so Juno and I will walk the perimeter, look for signs of trouble." Anna said, then looked at the trees as the wind blew through the leaves. "The wind is coming from the west so Juno will only be able to smell trouble coming from that direction but, so long as it doesn't get to loud around here, she'll be able to hear them."
"Right." Tobin agreed, accepting her judgement.
"But you better hurry, you'll eventually attract trouble." Anna said. "Of the unfeeling kind."
Tobin nodded. "We'll move ask quickly as possible."
Anna guided Juno to the furthest edge of the work site, then started moving clockwise around the job, keeping a close eye on the people working within the site and on the trees. After an hour of working, Anna had stopped to kneel next to Juno and give her some water to drink and little bit of chow, when she looked over to where her brother was working and saw him looking up at the sky. When she looked up in the same direction, she saw what he was looking at then heard the birds indignant screeching. Frowning, Anna stood up and led Juno in the direction that the birds had flown from, hoping it was just an animal and not something else.
When they got close, the hackles on Juno's back suddenly stood up as she growled lowly but didn't bark, indicating to Anna that it was walkers coming at them, not strangers or a dangerous animal. Suddenly, one of the workers came running from the bushes, pulling up his pants as he ran straight for her, followed by two walkers reaching for him hungerly. Instead of letting Juno attack the nearest walker, Anna held on to her leash, scared that one of the others might accidently shoot her.
Instead, Anna opened fire, shooting the nearest walker to the man as he ran passed her, running for his life. The others responded quickly and joined in taking down the walkers as more and more emerged from the trees, but it seemed that when you put one down, two more emerged. It didn't help that most of them were a shitty shot.
A hissing sound made Anna look up in time to see the bucket of an excavator, that had been above her, come crashing down. Anna managed jump far enough out of the way to prevent her from being clobbered on the head but still got her legs pinned under the bucket.
"Annie!" Abraham's worried voice called as Anna let Juno's leash go so that she could defend both herself and Anna as she tried to free herself.
Anna heard Abraham's heavy footsteps come running towards her, firing and killing as many walkers as he could until he was kneeling down beside her.
"Hang tight, I'll get you out." Abraham said as he looked around them. "I'm gonna have to take care of these bastards first."
Anna could hear snarls and the ripping of flesh as Juno tried desperately to fend of the walkers. Anna tried to reach for her assault rifle, but it'd fallen out of her reach, so she awkwardly managed to pull her pistol from its holster underneath her body and started firing at walkers that got to close.
"Hang in there, Annie!" Abraham said as he grunted as he fought off the three walkers that had him surrounded.
Anna tried to twist her body so that she could aim behind her, where Abraham was located and try to take some of the heat of off him. When Abraham shoved a walker off himself and got sight of her trying to aim back at him, he plunged a blade into the walker's skull then scowled at her.
"Look after yourself!" Abraham growled as he pointed to incoming walker.
Anna shot the walker Abraham had pointed out, then looked around for the other Alexandrians they'd come with but found none. Shaking her head in anger, she continued shooting walkers until her clip ran out of bullets. Cursing, Anna looked around for her brother but couldn't see him nor hear him over the hungry growls of the nearby walkers. Anna choked down the panic that wanted to rise up and focused on trying to dig a hole for her legs while the walkers were temporarily distracted away from her.
Juno suddenly appeared at her side, covered in blood, and furiously started digging by her legs. "Good girl!" Anna whispered as she tried assist her.
A walker's growl caught Anna's attention but before she could turn back and defend herself, the walker grabbed her hair and pinned her to the ground. Lucky for Anna, Juno was quicker to respond and tackled the walker to the ground and started ripping at its neck until its limbs stopped moving. Anna could hear the walker still growling and its jaw snapping but Juno must have severed its spinal cord as its limbs did not move.
More walkers appeared around the side of machine but just as Juno prepared to launch herself at them, several gunshots wrung out at the same time, taking down her attackers. The faces of the other worker appeared as the finally fanned out, looking for more walkers but no more came. Still no Abraham appeared, finally, making the panic that she had managed to keep in control, rise up once more and this time she couldn't control it.
"Abe! Abe!" Anna called as she looked frantically around her. For a painful amount of time passed and still no response came but finally she heard a clunk behind her, and she twisted herself to Abraham leaning against the machine.
"I'm okay, sis." Abraham said, breathing heavily then straightened up. "Let's get you out of here." Abraham looked at the others as the continued to scan their surroundings. "They're gone for now, Juno will let us know when more come. Now help me get Annie out from under this thing!"
Several of them turned and faced him then started survey the situation. After about five minutes, they managed to lift the bucket of the excavator enough to pull Anna out from under it. When Anna tried to stand on her feet, she let out a shriek of pain as it felt like her left leg exploded and collapsed to the ground once more.
Abraham took his knife then cut her pant leg open, to the thigh, then gingerly felt around her thigh. She hissed in pain as he felt around deep red mark, obviously the spot where the excavator's bucket had pinned her legs to the ground. Abraham shook his head, frowning.
"I can't tell if its broken or if it's a muscle thing." Abraham said when he put a hand on Anna's shoulder. "I'm gonna carry you."
Anna just nodded her consent then gritted her teeth as Abraham scooped her up. Juno followed hot on Abraham's heels, then with a little assistance from Abraham, jumped up into the back of the truck and laid her head down on Anna's good leg.
111
Anna crossed her arms and stared unhappily out of the window of Alexandria's tiny clinic. She was fortunate enough to not have broken her leg, but the doctor still ordered her off her feet for the next couple weeks. Now she sat, bored out of her tree with her left upper leg wrapped tightly, waiting for someone to help her back to her home, which she thought unnecessary.
Juno had not liked the doctor at all. When they had first brought Anna into the clinic, Juno had snarled viciously when he had tried to touch Anna. Abraham had ended up having to drag Juno out of the room so the doctor could work on her but Juno's reaction to the man had set off alarms in both their heads. Abraham had watched closely from the doorway and would still be standing there if Deanna hadn't requested him to report what he'd seen.
Now Juno laid on the bed with Anna, her eyes tightly focused on the doctor as he sat at a desk. She was content to just stare at him so long as he was no where near her, but she still hated that man with a passion. Pete looked up and glared at Juno, probably feeling Juno's stare burn into the side of her head.
"I thought she was supposed to be some wonder dog. Detect things. Yet a herd of the undead snuck up on all of you." Pete said, clearly irritated by Juno's presence.
"She can and she did, but nature was against us. The wind was blowing the scent of the walkers away from us and by the time they were detected, they were starting to break from the trees. It's not her fault some jackass' poorly aimed shot hit the hydraulics that dropped that damn bucket on me." Anna said, stroking Juno's head then glared at Pete. "Although you have no right to judge, human or canine. I doubt you've ever been face to face with a walker, let alone killed one."
"I have a family to think of. I can't go galivanting out there." Pete said rolling his eyes.
"Galivanting?" Anna snarled. "You dumb shit! You do realize that the people who go out there are the ones who put food in your belly and keeping you alive!?"
Pete's face darkened as he slowly got to his feet which brought Juno to her feet, growling threateningly. "You have no right to talk to me like that." He snarled.
Pete was practically shaking with rage but not stupid enough to get closer. Anna studied him carefully. Something about Pete really didn't sit well with Anna. That dark look in his eyes from one insult, made her wonder if Juno hadn't been there, that he would have gotten psychically violent with her. What concerned her more, was that she remembered seeing the man with a wife and two sons.
"Am I interrupting something?" Merle asked, coming in and glaring Pete.
The second Pete saw Merle glaring at him, he stumbled backwards and looked at him fearfully. "N-no. We were just talking."
Anna swung her legs over the side of the bed. "Just so you know, Juno is at my side all the times and she's very willing to die for me. She's proved that today and many times before. And if I see you raising a hand against any one, I will let her rip your throat out."
Merle came over to her and handed her a pair of crutches that had been propped against the wall. When Anna used them to get to her feet, Merle put a hand on her back and escorted out of the door. After he helped her off the front porch, he looked down at Juno then back at Anna.
"Was that beater botherin' you?" Merle asked, concerned but trying his damndest to pretend like he wasn't.
Anna stopped and grabbed his arm. "What makes you think he's a woman beater?"
"Not just women, his kids too." Merle said then shrugged. "The way he was lookin' at you. The way his wife and kids behave, growin' up the way I have…well he might as well scream it from the roof tops."
"I was getting that vibe to just now. I swear that if Juno hadn't been there when I called him a dumb shit, he'd have tried to attack me." Anna said glaring towards the clinic. "I almost wish he had, then I could teach that shit a lesson."
"I'll happily do it for you now." Merle said, also glaring back at the clinic.
"No, he wouldn't learn a thing from getting a beat down from you. Not to mention we'd get in trouble with these sensitive people." Anna said as she carefully turned away, wincing as she stepped on her good leg.
While it was no where's near as painful as her left leg, her right leg still hurt and felt a little weak. Merle watched her carefully as they walked slowly towards their house, still concerned. She was impressed with how he had changed. When she'd first met Merle, he'd have just started beating on Pete the second he stepped through that door but despite Anna's harsh words to Pete, he'd just escorted her outside.
"I'll deal with that shit, somehow. Havin' someone like him around could be detrimental to this whole place if things start goin' bad, which it will…eventually." Merle said as he hoovered nearby, apparently concerned that she might topple over when she took a step.
"Why were you there anyways? At the clinic? I thought you'd gone on a supply run with Glenn and Deanna's son?" Anna asked through gritted teeth.
"We did and it was a complete disaster." Merle muttered.
"What happened?" Anna asked as she paused in the park and sat down on a bench.
"Well, that old hag sent us out with some real dip shits and that Noah kid paid for it as did one of her sons." Merle growled. "They're dead."
Anna looked at him shocked then shook her head. "Shit. This was an overall disastrous day."
"Those two men the hag sent with us, shoulda never been there or outside the walls in the first place." Merle said shaking his head. Idiots shot a walker with a grenade attached to his vest, nearly killed all of us right then. The hags kid ended up impaled on some metal, confessed that they had abandoned the people our group replaced. Then that other idiot, saw an opening when we were tryin' to haul that Tara chick through the walkers without gettin' bit, and took off. He'd have drivin' off without us too had Joe Dirt managed to prevent him from doin' so."
Anna laughed as she leaned back against the back of the bench. "Joe Dirt?"
Merle smiled slightly. "Don't know if the woman knows her son is dead yet. We just drove through the gate when yer brother flagged us down and asked that I go check up on you. Said you'd been hurt. That Tara chick should be on her way to see the doc also. You okay?" Merle said from where he stood, inspecting her carefully.
"Yeah, just my legs got injured." Anna said then shook her head. "All because some dumb ass can't shoot. These people basically need to learn everything from us." Merle grunted as he shook his head. "C'mon, I need to find a couch."
Well? I hope this chapter was passable! I'm trying to develop Merle naturally, so he's changing slowly.
-Shockra