..-~-..

**Carl**

They had been sent out a day before, everyone still searching for Carol and the Lieutenant, and now Merle and Cash since they didn't return either.

Carl and Glenn had been the last ones allowed to head out on the search.

Grace, in pain from her surgery and mad as hell at the Lieutenant had snarled that she didn't give a damn if that Cajun was found, but Carol's baby needed her.

Carl knew the woman was only fired up, but he still felt a little bad for the Lieutenant.

"Glenn?" He asked as they covered miles and miles of forest together.

The older man glanced at him. "Yeah?"

"You think my dad will…think he'll go back? To how he was?"

Glenn was quiet, tripping a little over a tree as they climbed over the fallen hunk of firewood.

"How he was before all of this or before the stroke?" Glenn asked softly.

His tone was cautious, Carl could tell, people talked about his father cautiously around him and he knew it was because everyone knew his dad was crazy as a shit house rat, but no one wanted to say something so disrespectful in his presence.

"It's okay," Carl said. "You can admit it. My dad went off the deep end."

"He was under a lot of pressure, I guess," Glenn said.

Carl was quiet, eyes on the lookout for walkers or the others, but his mind was on his dad, on his life and as always, on his mother.

"Think I'll go crazy like that?" Carl asked.

Again Glenn was quiet, traipsing ahead of him, leading him through the woods.

"To be honest," Glenn said, "I thought for a while there, you were. When you got cold and…kind of scary."

Carl was the one who fell quiet now, thinking about this. He remembered that period. He was angry, he still was a little, but the pain of his mother's death was dulling with each day and playing with Judith, taking care of his sister, growing up, had soothed some of the ache.

"Am I still scary?" He asked.

Glenn offered him a small smile. "No."

"Think I could lead a group of my own someday?" Carl asked. "When I'm older, I mean?"

Glenn shrugged. "Maybe even this group," he suggested.

Carl shook his head. "No, I want one of my own."

"Why?"

"People here don't think I could make a good leader."

Glenn smiled. "Well, by the time you're old enough, most of them will probably be dead." He winced. "Sorry."

Carl was silent, but smiling gently.

"Think Carol's dead?" Carl asked after a bit. "Daryl will be hard to handle if that's the case."

Glenn frowned. "I hope not. I don't want Carol or the Lieutenant to be dead. Not just because of their babies, but…I like them, you know? We're family."

Falling silent, Carl kept his thoughts to himself. He still didn't really see them as family like Glenn did. He only had two family members and one of them he didn't really care for.

..-~-..

..-~-..

**The Lieutenant**

"Do you miss your grandmother?"

They were still down the well, still waiting to see if they would get another uggie or if someone would find them and they were beginning to really dig into the conversation topics. The further they dug, the deeper and more honest their conversation got.

"Yeah."

"How'd she…I mean, it wasn't this, was it?"

He smiled sadly. "No, she had cancer, stomach cancer. It took her a long, long time to pass. What about you? Your parents?"

Carol shifted in his lap and sighed heavily. "I like to think they're still alive somewhere, but realistically, they probably died during the first wave of walkers."

"Not very close?" He asked.

She was quiet, thinking of the last phone call her mother made to her. "Ed sort of…we grew apart in the last few years leading up to the walkers."

"Daryl told me some of what Ed was like, but…how bad was he?" The Lieutenant asked, hugging the woman a little tighter. He didn't want to dredge up the past, but he wanted to fully understand Ed from the woman's own perspective.

Carol was quiet and for a moment he was afraid he overstepped his bounds with her.

"You know, it's…I'm sorry, ange."

"No, Ed was…well, you know, I was getting older and not getting any prettier, so I…settled."

"You really don't think you're as pretty as you are, don't you?" He asked.

She shrugged. "I'm alright. Daryl thinks I'm pretty, that's all that matters."

He playfully poked her ribs to get a squeal from her and earned himself an elbow in the gut. "Ah, possede!"

"Try that again, Lieutenant, and I'll flay you," she teased.

Rubbing his stomach, hand moving against her back as he did so, he smiled "You know, I've been thinking, you call me 'Lieutenant'…"

"Yes."

"Seems a little…impersonal, don't you figure?"

Unbeknownst to him, the woman in his lap was beaming impishly. "Is it? Maybe that's my pet name for you? And it only so happens that it's your rank."

"Aw, honeychild, you do care!" He gushed.

They laughed in the growing dark of the waning evening light.

"You know," she said, looking up above them. "I think…if you could get me even close to that piece of stone that's sticking out. I may be able to pull myself up and out…I've been eyeing it all day. I think I could do it."

He followed her finger, leaning in to look down her arm. "I don't know, ange, looks like it's just sticking out, could pull it down on my head."

"I would never do that," she gasped, adding playfully, "without provocation."

He angled his head, nose bumping hers and eyed her slyly.

She smiled back at him and fluttered her eyelashes.

Chuckling, he pulled his head back. "Alright, you want to wait until morning to try this or…"

"There's enough light, let's give it a try," she said, getting up and moving the uggies so they stacked one on top of the other, until all three were stacked enough for him to stand on them.

He stooped for her to climb onto his back and for an awkward moment he was very much aware of her breasts pressing on either side of his head. He chuckled like a kid and struggled to keep her up.

"What?" She demanded.

"I'll tell you later, ange," he replied, giving her a hitch and then bracing as she settled her boots on his shoulders.

Slowly he stood up straight on the uggies, wobbling, but managing to use the wall to prevent toppling.

On his shoulders, Carol inched up the wall, reaching for the stone that stuck out.

Then, Lafayette felt the uggie beneath his boot shift and his whole foot plunged into it's side, coating his leg in goo.

"Yech, fucking Jesus!" He cursed, sinking down.

On his shoulders Carol grabbed the stone, but as predicted, it pulled easily from the earthen wall it was lodged into and came crashing down, smashing the same uggie he was caught in, sending more goo splattering up on him.

Carol followed the stone soon enough and they both crashed hard onto the gross, swampy well bottom.

Covered in uggie ick and sludge, Lafayette groaned. "You alright, ange?"

She sighed heavily. "Yeah. Did the stone get you?"

"No," he said, grinning, "your aim was off."

She laughed. "I'm sorry I missed."

He sought her ribs and poked them again, earning another elbow in the gut.

..-~-..

..-~-..

**Merle**

"That little shit can run pretty fast with bruised nuts."

Standing before the three strangers, glaring at Cash's ass as the man ran away, Merle scowled and shifted on his feet. "He's a goddamn embarrassment."

"I'm sorry," the woman said.

Eyeing the three of them, Merle refused to turn tail and run.

"Look," the ginger said. "Just get going."

"I'm not really a turn tail and run type," Merle said. "Why don't you three get moving and I'll just stand here?"

The ginger shifted on his feet. "I'm not going to do that."

"Well," Merle said. "We could all just stand here adjusting our dicks until we die, then." He paused and glanced at the woman. "Except Slick Tits over there, she can drag those sweater puppies out again if she wants. I wouldn't mind."

The woman gave him the finger, her face stoic.

"Hey, you're the one throwing your breasts out for the world," he replied, laughing. Rocking back on one foot, he sighed.

"That's a hell of a blade you have there," ginger said suddenly.

"Want it shoved up your ass?" Merle snapped.

Holding his hands up, the man acquiesced. "I meant no offence, just haven't seen anything like that since Lee Majors roamed the earth."

"Back in the seventies where you got your moustache, huh, Red?" Merle grunted.

Sucking air in through his teeth, the man eyed Merle flatly, before saying. "Least I can tie my own shoes without losing a toe, turd burglar."

"Oh, Jesus, is this going to going on for much longer?" The woman demanded. "We have places to be, Abe."

Merle laughed. "Better get going, Abe, might miss the early bird special down in Boca Raton."

The man squinted at Merle, his face growing dark and dangerous.

Laughing, Merle boldly turned his back on the three and headed off in the direction Cash had run, still chuckling to himself.

"Wait!" Mullet head called after him.

When Merle turned, the man was still standing near the ginger Abe, his face looking openly panicked.

"What?" Merle snapped.

Licking his bottom lip, the man stuttered, "you, ah…we need a vehicle of sorts."

"And?" Merle barked.

The man looked nervously at his companions, the other two eyeing him with steely gazes.

"It's just…with these infected walking around again…um, we need something."

"We don't need shit," Abe growled, still eyeing Merle warily.

"I'd like shit," mullet said. "I'd really like shit right now."

"We don't need his help, Eugene," the woman snarled.

Merle eyed the man, before saying, "tell you what, Eugene, we're looking for two of our own. You find a silver haired woman and a dumb looking Cajun following her around like a puppy before nightfall and I'll see about helping you out with your little problem."

"We don't need your help," the woman stated.

It was ginger who took a small step forward. "Missing people, huh?"

"Abe," the woman began.

"No," the man said, taking another step towards Merle. "We'll help you out, find your people, but we want more than just transportation."

"Like?"

"Food and ammo."

Merle eyed the man. He didn't like how much he kind of liked the look of the man. Seemed…well he seemed like someone Merle would normally like as a drinking buddy.

"Fair enough, but after that you get the hell out of our territory," Merle said.

"Deal, anyplace we should meet up with you if we find these people?"

"If they're alive, they'll know where to go."

"You'd best not double cross us now," the man said.

Merle smiled. "I would never."

"That's a crocodile smile if I've ever goddamn seen one," the man pointed out.

"Find my people, that's all that matters right now," Merle said. "Woman's got a baby she needs to get home to."

The man's hardened face softened a little and he said, "a baby?"

"Little girl, only a few months old, needs her mama."

The woman stepped forward too. "You have children in your group?"

Merle just nodded. He didn't want to say too much to these new people.

"Do you have someplace that's safe?" Eugene the mullet asked.

"Just find my people, mullet-head."

"And if we don't find them by nightfall?" Abe asked.

"Then you're free to get the hell out of our territory," Merle replied.

"Friendly," the woman snapped.

"Cautious, Slick Tits."

..-~-..

..-~-..

..-~-..

Brazen Hussy - Well, at least we agree on Merle love!

Merle's Right Hand - Shortsey McGee, I think you have a new nickname, darling!

Ciao Bella - I don't know...I love Noah, but I'm still not sure. Abe and the others sort of fell in naturally...maybe at some point? I'll think about it.

Yazzy x - I'm sure they'll find a way out...I hope...

vickih - It's Merle...I'm sure a pair of tits would distract him in a hurricane.

Claire Randall Fraser - Farol...I think I enjoy that mash up ship name! Sounds like payroll...hehe...and yes, I want Merle and Abe. They'd be the best of frienemies.

itsi3 - Cash and Merle are the best bromance.