A/N: (Warnings: Merle is in this chapter so please expect the usual Merle behavior. I apologize to anyone who may not like Merle. I assure you he will come in handy further in the story. Also writing dialog for Merle helps prepare me for my next story I will be writing soon.) Hi everyone! Once again thank you for reading my first fanfiction. I want to apologize for the slight mistakes that may pop up. I wanted to get this post before the weekend since I know I'm going to be swamped. So I hope you enjoy this chapter.

Updated:04/22/2017 Grammar and punctuation errors fixed

2 days later

Rick was pacing back and forth in front of the store where he first encountered the 2 strangers. It was the day of the meet, and he had been there since about 6 am it was now 10 am, and he was still just waiting. This time around Rick did not come alone. He and Daryl were able to make it back to the ASZ and pick up some backup for just in case things went south. He currently had Abe, Shane, Daryl and Meryl with him providing backup. Sasha was also there, but he had her placed out of sight. She was perched on the roof of a store not far away as a last resort in case it turned into a shootout.

"Yo, Rick I don't think their coming man. We've been out here for hours and haven't seen anything except a few walkers." Daryl said as he took one final pull on his cigarette before tossing the butt.

"Yeah man, I have to agree with Daryl. What if they were just some sick fucks playing a cruel ass joke" said Shane. Rick glared at his best friend "You weren't here you didn't see their faces. They left the picture. Why would someone do something like that just to be cruel?" becoming frustrated he pinched the bridge of his nose "No we wait. We will wait till the sun sets if we have too. I'm not leaving till I know what the hell happened to my family." Shane raised his hands in surrender "Alright brother. You know I want to know just as bad as you do. I've never forgiven myself that I wasn't able to find them after everything went to hell. I'm glad to know that they were able to make it after all."

Rick placed a hand on Shane's shoulder "I will always be grateful that you at least tried to find them" Shane nodded his head.

"If you gentlemen are done stroking each other looks like we have company," said Abe as he was hopping off the trunk of the car. They all looked in the direction that Abe was looking and saw two figures coming down the road. Both figures were fully armed with AR-15 rifles held SUL position muzzles facing downward. They were once again dressed in gray military style pants that seemed to hug snugly to their lower frame. This time there was no mistaking them for males. They both were wearing black tank tops with gray and black shemaghs wrapped around their heads keeping their faces covered. The two females continued walking towards Rick and his group.

"Anyone else hearing "Foxey Lady "by Jimi playing, if not then I must be losing my mind" Abe began stroking his beard while still watching the women approaching them. "Rick if these are the same two women who jumped you. Shhhiitt..They can jump me anytime, and I haven't even seen their faces yet". Rick ignored his comment. Since the others found out about his, not so manly encounter with the two strangers, they have razzed him every chance they got.

"Man I have to agree with him. That is an ass whooping I would gladly take" said Shane as he also continued to watch the strangers approach and he couldn't help but thank the heavens above that sexy women still existed on this hell of a world now. He couldn't wait to see what they looked like without their faces being covered.

"Why the hell is yall fucking drooling over some damn darkies." Merle spat out in disgust. "Damnit Merle can you act like a decent human being for once" hissed Daryl. Merle may be his brother, but Daryl could not stand when he made derogatory or racial jokes. "What are you talking about little brother I am a decent human being. I know to keep my white stick away from dark caves. You should too."

"Merle I swear to god if you mess this up for me. I will slice your precious white stick off and throw it in a ditch" Rick snarled at him before turning around just as the two strangers approached.

Michonne and Ila approached the group cautiously. It seems that Rick didn't want to come alone. Now he has his posse with him. They stood in the middle of the street a comfortable distance from Rick and his companions. They both sized up each man individually looking for the weakest link in the group. Rick made the first move and took a few cautious steps forward. "That's close enough," said Ila.

"Hello. I came like you said. I'm Rick, but I'm sure you already know that."

"We didn't expect you to bring the whole Rascals gang with you," said Ila again. Rick turned and looked at his friends "Yeah well after what happened the first time I didn't want to take any chances."

"We didn't mean to hurt you. We thought you were a scavenger like us. If we had known we would have gone easier on you." said Michonne. Abe chortle but coughed to cover it up. Rick ignored Abe and continued to focus on the two strangers in front of him.

"You've seen us. Now how about we see you. It would be good to put a face to the people who knew my son."

"Why do you say knew? What makes you think we knew your son?" said Michonne as she tilted her head slightly to the side studying Rick. Rick was somewhat taken aback at her question. Was Shane right? Is this just some kind of sick joke they were playing with him. "You said his name in the story and asked where I was from. That right there tells me you knew my son" his nose crinkled at the thought. "There you go again saying we knew your son." Michonne was still intently studying Rick. He was talking about Carl in the past tense as if he was dead and she wanted to understand why. Why not speak of him as if he was still alive? She was ready to abandon the whole thing based on the way he was referring to her baby boy as if he was dead.

"Come on lady stop fucking around" Shane stated as he began to approach his patient running thin with this mind fuck or whatever the hell it was. Ila raised her gun towards Shane. Her finger on the trigger ready to blow him away "Get the fuck back! Now!" He stopped in his tracks and placed his hand on his own pistol that was holstered on his side. Ila saw what he intended to do "Give me a reason to blow you away cutie. It would be such a shame to have to mess up that handsome face of yours. Now get the fuck back and take your hand off of your pistol," Ila warned.

"Yo Shane cool it man" Daryl approached with his hands raised and began pulling Shane away before he fucked up Ricks chance.

"Now, hey let's have everyone calm down so we can talk about this." Rick moved to stand in front of Ila to draw her attention away from Shane and Daryl. "Let's start back at the beginning, but first please remove your head covering so I can see who I'm dealing with" Ila reluctantly lowered her weapon and looked towards Michonne who nodded her head.

The both removed their shemaghs and wrapped them around their necks like a scarf. To say that the two women in front of him were beautiful would be an understatement Rick thought. He looked at both women intently. They were a dark rich pecan color with brown almond shaped eyes and full lips. They both wore their hair in dreads but one had her dreads hanging loosely, and they fell slightly past her shoulders. The other woman sported a dreadlock Mohawk type hair style. Her hair was jet black and braided, but he could tell that at one point her hair must have been dyed purple due to the purple tips at the end of her hair. She also had a lip piercing and tattoos, unlike the first woman who had no visible body adornments.

"Like I said an ass whopping, I would have gladly taken" Rick heard Abe say, but Rick had to agree. "What are your names?" he asked.

"You don't…" Ila tried to say, but Michonne caught her. "I am Michonne, and this is Ila."

"Well it's nice to meet you both." said Rick "Now that that is out of the way. Please tell me about my son."

"No not until you answer some of our questions first" Michonne gun remained in the SUL position as she studied Rick. She couldn't help but think how much Carl looked like his father. His father was very handsome even though his face was losing the war in regards to his salt and pepper beard that was covering his face. His fierce blue eyes could draw you in if you stared at him too long just like Carls' eyes. He was wearing brown cowboy boots with black jeans, and a green t-shirt that clearly, showed that Rick had a nice ass body underneath his clothes. Michonne tried to focus her eyes on the top of Ricks left ear to keep her focus.

"Where did you live before the world went to hell?" she questioned

"I used to live on Autumn Lane in Kings County, Georgia."

"Where were you when it all happened?"

"I was in the hospital in a coma. I woke up to this nightmare, and when I went to my home my wife, and son was gone."

"Did you ever try to look for them?"

"Every day," he said, "Now answer some of my questions."

"How did you know my wife and son?" He waited for Michonne to respond his question. "Jesus fucking Christ! Is this going to be 21 questions all fucking day" Merle bellowed "Jesus lady just tell the man where the hell you are hiding his boy at so we can get the hell outta here" he stood up from his sitting position on the hood of the car. "So what do y'all want some kind of ransom money or some shit. You wanna get the hook-up on some good shit. I know a lot of y'all do. Is that it? You wanna get high queen sista bitch? Don't worry ole Merle can get you high baby as high as the heavens." He smiled while licking his lips.

Michonne and Ila both looked at Merle as if he had grown two heads. Michonne was the first to raise her rifle and point it at Merle. "Got damnit Merle shut the fuck up" Daryl hissed "No I won't shut the fuck up. These fucking tarbabies are just playing the fuck around. We ain't got time for this bullshit. Aint that what "your" people say gal "Aint nobody got time for that""

"Rick if you don't get your friend I will shoot him where it counts twice" Michonne hissed while aiming the rifle at Merle's private parts. " Hey.. hey ignore him he is just a racist piece of shit, and I will deal with him when we get back. Let's try to continue talking" Michonne still had her rifle trained onto Merle's nether regions ready to stop this piece of crap from ever breeding.

Whistle

"Man it must be a cold day in hell for me to see you two still around." Michonne froze as she heard the voice that she knew she recognized. Ila was the first to turn in the direction of the voice and immediately recognize the owner.

"Sasha?" said Ila amazed.

"Chonne? …. Ila?" Sasha's eyes gleamed as she took in the shocked expression on her two friends faces. "OMG! I didn't think I would ever see you two again."

Michonne lowered her rifle and slung it over her should and turned to embrace her long lost friend. "Where in the hell have you been?" Ila said as she waited to embrace Sasha in a long overdue hug.

"Where have I been? Y'all are the ones who left us in the woods you jackass" Sasha said as she tried to fight back the tears that were trying to fall. "No we didn't, and you know that. We go separated, and when we tried to track you and Ty down, we couldn't find you. I figured you finally became a nice meal for a walker." Ila giggled slightly trying to contain the elation of seeing their friend again "OMG! I just can't believe it!" Ila drew Sasha into another tight hug.

Rick and the others watched in awe as the 3 women reconnected with each other. He was glad for the brief interruption because at least it took the attention away from Merle for the moment. He was fearful that Merle had ruined everything for him. Thank God for Sasha showing up when she did. He tried not to pry into their conversation, but it was hard not to.

"Where are Luna and Carl?" Sasha asked as she looked around for a sign of the missing two. Michonne winced as Sasha mentioned Carl name and she glanced towards Rick who was waiting and watching, but his eyes widened when he heard Sasha mention Carl name.

"Sasha, you know my son," said Rick. Sasha turned and faced Rick with a shocked and confused look on her face. "Your son name is Carl?" he nodded his head. Sasha gasped as all the pieces began to fall into place. She knew Rick had a son, but she never knew his name and never saw pictures of him. "Wow, what a small world even during the end of the world."

Sasha looked at Michonne and Ila "So your Carl is his Carl also." Michonne nodded her head "It seems that way."

"Damn. All this time." She looked at Rick still shocked from the news " I am so sorry Rick if I had known I could have put your mind at ease a bit by letting you know what an awesome kid Carl grew up to be." Rick nodded "Thank you. I am happy to hear that."

"So where are the kids?" Sasha questioned as she glanced up and down the street looking for them. "They are around" Michonne stated matter of factly. "Carl is the reason we are out here."

Sasha finally understood the entire situation completely. She nodded her head at Michonne "well I will let you get back to handling business."

"Sasha" Ila called "Come here a sec."

"Yeah sure" Sasha walked over to where Ila was standing, and the two women began walking in the opposite direction laughing and carrying on like old friends.

Michonne took the opportunity to get to the point with Rick about Carl. "Look you have to understand why we had to meet like this."

"I do.."

"No, you don't. Carl is family to us. Not like family, but family. Do you understand?" she stared intensely at Rick her face and eyes expressing the seriousness of her statement. "We all have been together for 3 years. We have cried together, buried our friends together and fought together. The little boy you had known before you went into your coma is gone. He is a young man who has fought hard all of these years, and we have watched over him, protecting him, and teaching him. So you have to understand how hard this is for us. You are his father, but we are also his sisters and mother." Michonne stood facing Rick trying her best not to let her emotions take over. She took a deep breath and ran her hand through her dreadlocks. Rick decided to ask another question that was gnawing at him "What happened to his mother, my wife, Lori?"

Michonne quickly looked at Rick before averting her gaze to the ground. "I'm sorry. She was already dead when we found Carl, but she did make sure that he had a chance of surviving. She left a note taped to the door explaining how Carl was in the house all alone and he was going to need help. My sisters and I found the note and went into the house looking for Carl. We also went looking for you at the hospital, but you were already gone." Rick was shocked to hear her last statement. The fact that complete strangers took the time to come look for him after rescuing his son from certain death touched him inside. "Well it sounds like I owe a debt to you 2 times over," he said.

"The only thing we want is your word that you are not here looking to cause harm to him," said Michonne.

"Of course not. I just want to see my son. I've always known deep down that my family was still out there somewhere and I always hoped that one day I would find them. Even though my wife is gone, I still have my son," Rick voiced.

Michonne nodded her head as she mentally absorbed everything he was saying. She was feeling a lot better about this meeting and what it could possibly mean for everyone involved for the future. She turned her head looking in the direction that Sasha and Ila walked and saw that they both were returning. Once they were close enough, Michonne queried "Where did you two go?"

"Sasha was showing me where she was perched. It seems that little miss thang here was set to shoot us till we took off our wraps and she realized it was us." Ila shook her head, "but it's all copasetic" Michonne eyed Ila for a brief moment and nodded her head. She knew there was more to that statement, but she would probe Ila later about it.

"Damn Sasha. I thought we were better than that" Michonne laughed at the thought. "Hey, I was just trying to keep the peace. No hard feelings?" Sahsa shrugged her shoulders as she smirked.

Michonne turned her attention back to Rick. "So are you ready to see your son again?" She grinned, and Rick could have sworn that his breath caught for a second as admired Michonne bright, and beautiful smile.

"Yes, ma'am I am."

Michonne pulled a walkie-talkie from her back pocket and pressed the broadcast button. "It's all clear. Come join us."

Rick soon hear the sound of a vehicle approaching. The high whine of the engine told him that it was some kind of 4 wheeler off road vehicle. Once it was within sight, he saw two people riding on the vehicle, but he couldn't tell which person was his son. As the 4 wheeler came closer, it slowed down till it came to a complete stop a few feet in front of Rick. Ricks' heart began to beat faster in his chest as he tried to keep himself from breaking down right there. The driver of the 4 wheeler removed the helmet he was wearing, and Rick began to sob as he saw his sons face for the first time since he was shot.

"Hey Dad" Carl was trying to climb off the 4 wheeler but he couldn't will his legs to move because just like his father he began to sob. Rick rushed over and grabbed Carl into a fierce hug. Carl hugs his father back with the same fierceness, both men continued to cry into each other's arms neither wanting to let for fear the other would disappear.

"My boy… My son" Rick reluctantly pulled back from the embrace first to look at his son closer. Gone was his little boy and in his place was a young man 15 years old but could easily pass for someone older. Rick ran his hands through Carls' hair "my god just look at you." Carl grinned at his father's comment. "Come here" Rick sniffed and wiped the tears from his eyes as he brought his son into another tight embrace.

Michonne and Ila moved to where Ricks compadres were standing near the car they came in. The watched the loving reunion between father and son. Everyone was either smiling or trying not to cry as they watched. Luna finally made her way over to her sisters from the 4 wheeler.

"So that's his dad huh."

"Yep," said Michonne. She was happy to watch the exchange between Rick and Carl, but there was still something tugging at her deep in her gut.

"Soooo ladies. What's your story?" All 3 sisters turned to face the idiot who made the remark and come face to face with Shane. They each rolled their eyes and returned their focus back to Rick and Carl who were now conversing amongst themselves.

Ila took this chance to look at the backup that Rick brought with him. Not too shabby she thought as she sized up each person in the group. Her eyes finally settled on the idiot who recently made that stupid comment. He's cute Ila thought as she gave him the once over. Not wanting to be outdone Shane began to trail his eyes up, and down Ila's body while licking his lips. "Is there something wrong with your lips?" Ila said slightly annoyed as she watched him continue to take her whole body fully in.

"Why yes there is. My lips aren't on your skin tasting you" said Shane as he continued to bite on his lips.

"You are so lame. Does that crap still work on women" Ila scoffed at him. "Well is it working on you" he stated. "Only in your wet dreams sweetie," Ila said as she turned to speak to her sisters completely ignoring him. "Oh, that is definitely where you will be tonight. I can guarantee that," Shane retorted.

A/NThank you for reading. Reviews are always welcomed. They give me the motivation to continue with this story.