Author's Note: I swear this story has a life of its own. I don't even feel like I have any control over it. It's crazy. I start to write and can't seem to stop, the words just flow out of me. It's a wonderful feeling.

A huge hug to all of you who encourage me to continue to write this story. Sometimes I need the push, so I read your reviews.

Disclaimer: Look, it's the eighth chapter already. If by now you don't know I don't own TWD you are in serious trouble.

Merle's Pov

She was sleeping peacefully on the couch. No nightmares, no fidgeting, no waking up desperately searching for her lost loved ones. If one took this scene entirely out of context, it would seem like a lovely night in a cabin in the middle of nowhere. Beth, and her friends. Only this wasn't a vacation, the night was far from being lovely, and they certainly weren't friends.

He would have to wake her up soon, even if he didn't particularly want to. Daryl was only God knows where searching for some fresh meat for them, leaving him with the ungodly task of not only having to wake up a moody teenager but having to train her too.

Of course, he would have to do this anyway. He had promised to teach her — had promised himself that he would save this girl. And a Dixon promise wasn't something to be taken lightly. But still, it's not like he was looking forward to it. Beth knew nothing about fighting, about keeping herself safe or even helping to keep others safe.

He exhaled loudly.

Honestly, he was out of cigarettes, and the sun hadn't even risen yet. The day was shaping up to be pretty awful. Maybe he should let her sleep and worry about everything else. Maybe this could wait.

'Wait what?' His own mind supplied. 'Wait till she's dead?'

There wasn't time, and Merle was sadly aware of it. Beth needed to learn now, or she would surely die.

Fuck, he thought, clutching his left pocket. He really needed a smoke.

Going through withdrawal right now wouldn't be funny.

It was starting to become annoying the amount of good sleep this girl was getting. For someone who was hitting Daryl not even five hours ago, she surely was well adept at enjoying the couch.

Ok, so maybe he was slightly jealous of the simple fact that she was getting any sleep at all. He hadn't been able to shut his eyes for even a moment. The insomnia was a gift from Will, he thought bitterly. And not the only miserable gift that son of a bitch had left him.

Fuck this; he had to wake Beth up. They had no time to lose, even if she did need the sleep.

He had, after all, promised her, he reminded himself again. He would teach her to survive; he couldn't go back on his word even if he wanted to, which he didn't. 'Cause, far more important than the promise Merle had made to Beth was the one he made to himself. He wouldn't fail to protect someone again; it would end him. And, as long as his brother was alive, he couldn't just roll up and die. He was all his baby brother had. Merle would be damned if he left his own blood and flesh in this shitty world alone. Not happening.

His priority at the moment, however, was the kid currently asleep on the ugliest couch on earth. Daryl could very well protect himself; Merle had made sure of that. Beth couldn't. The kid couldn't even hold her own body properly.

Fuck.

He had had years to teach everything to Daryl. They would always go camping in the fall — the only sort of tradition they both had. In those weeks, Merle would teach his brother to fight, to shoot, to hunt, to take care of his wounds. Merle gave him the best training he could. Daryl had been, thank God, a fast learner. Not so much with the fighting, but the survival in the wild was an innate talent for him. His brother strength was to blend in with nature, being seen only if he desired to. The fighting expertise had come later when Merle came back from the army. He lost count of how many times Daryl had saved his life by joining him in his own stupid fights. Fights because of drugs, money, pride or simply because of inebriation.

He scowled darkly. That had been his worst time, his very own rock bottom.

He tended to not think about it, but sometimes the memories would creep up on him in the most unexpected moments. May it never be said that Merle Dixon wasn't aware of how much of an idiot he could be.

He smiled sarcastically then. Maybe teaching Beth could be seen as helping her protect herself against him. Maybe if he decided to be a dick again this little piece of farm girl would put him in his place.

His laughter at that was so incredibly loud that Beth woke up, distressed, flailing her arms like crazy, almost falling off the couch.

Good, she was awake then.

XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX

"This really isn't that complicated girl," He was horrendously amused, but wouldn't show it. Of course not. He was the serious trainer.

"I fail to see how this is going to help me in any way," She said, frowning her little face in what was supposed to be a glare, he was pretty sure. But it only looked like the poked kitten again. Maybe that would be the next lesson. Being able to intimidate was almost as important as being actually dangerous. After all, one couldn't fight everyone on the planet at the same time; Merle had learned that the hard way. But still, the secret was to look like you could. Like you were unbeatable.

He watched as she approached the walker again, for the tenth time. It was all tied up to a tree, but Beth still held her breath every time she got close to it. Which was an improvement, unfortunately. The first time she had screamed and attempted to run away, not noticing it was tied and not actually chasing after her.

And that was precisely the reason she was doing this. Teaching Beth to protect herself was going to take time, God only knows how long. So, for her to survive long enough for him to teach her, she had to learn how to be silent. How to move in the woods and among the walkers without being noticed. Beth had to be invisible.

If he were 100% honest with himself, and he usually was, Daryl was the man who was supposed to be doing this. This was his area of expertise. Sure, Merle was good enough, but Daryl was excellent.

Beth would benefit enormously from 'classes' with his brother. But he wasn't dumb enough to suggest it. Daryl was most likely to kill her then to help the kid.

For fuck's sake. He really wished they wouldn't be on such bad terms. It would only complicate his life — his already hard enough life.

Unfortunately, God, as always, wasn't keen on making his life a little easier. So he would have to teach her all alone. It would be fine, though; he taught Daryl, he could teach her.

Fuck, who was he kiddin'? Teaching this kid would be nothing like it had been with his brother. Daryl had been used to the harsh life; she surely wasn't.

"Will you tell me what I'm supposed to be learning here?" She asked impatiently. "Aside from the fact that they stink like crazy, that is?"

He looked at her seriously, staring into her eyes. Those ridiculous blue eyes. The reason they were both there.

"Yes, I will." She needed to understand the danger, that was the only way to keep her alive. "Beth, I'm going to make you a fighter, have no doubts about that. No matter what I have to do. But, I can't do it overnight. I need time. You need time. So I'm going to make you a survivor first."

He pointed at the walker that was tied to the tree. It was growling at them horribly, clenching its jaw, as if waiting for food.

"This, kiddo, it's the world now. There's no running from it. It won't go away. So you need to adapt," He said, pointing at her. "You need to accept the world as it is right now, accept that it is what it is. You're going to train very hard. It's going to be the hardest thing you'll ever do. But there's no way out of it."

"I don't see the connection between what you're saying and this," She replied, nodding her head in the walker's direction. She had a confused look, it was evident she was still processing what he had just said.

"Your first reaction when seeing the walker was to run, and even worst, to scream. I'm going to take that out of you. You'll be able to see a dozen of walkers coming your way and be calm about it. You'll have to be. Until you can protect yourself, Beth, you're going to become a silent shadow."

As he said the last words, he gazed away, into the woods, where Daryl was hidden. No matter what they thought, in the end, Beth and his brother would share some very common ground.

Wasn't that just marvelous?

AN2: Merle, why won't you teach me? I'm jealous.