Ooo back again for more? Excellent! Lets get started!
Also quick thank you to xenoncanaan for the review! It does seem like the group didn't appreciate Daryl and Merle in the beginning, one Hunter means less meat, less meat means they're in a pickle. I'm also glad that you think Callie is a better potential leader than Shane and even Rick! She's thinking of the long run plans, winter, food in the long haul. Which shocked me that none of the group thought of these things before, they were just going day by day.
Disclaimer I don't own The Walking Dead, just my ocs and plotlines
Jeremy's PoV
Jeremy and Glenn quickly run down towards the entrance of the building, leading Rick to the rest of the group.
"We're back. Got a guest plus four geeks in the alley." The trio get down another staircase and are met with two geeks. That's when the door swings open and Morales and T-Dog run out in protective gear and bats. They both had their own geek and bashed in their skulls.
"Let's go!" Glenn orders Rick and they run past them and into the building.
Andrea pushes Rick and shoves a gun in his face.
Oh boy.
"You son of a bitch. We ought to kill you." Andrea hisses.
"Andrea." Jeremy warns her.
"Just chill out, Andrea. Back off." Morales orders and takes off his gear.
"Come on. Ease up." Jacqui scolds the woman and Andrea scoffs.
"Bad move." Jeremy mutters.
"Ease up? You're kidding me, right? We're dead because of this stupid asshole."
Rick's nervous eyes are darting around the room, making eye contact with a nervous looking Glenn.
"Andrea, I said back the hell off. Well, pull the trigger." Morales urges her on, and Jeremy takes a look at Rick to see his reaction is a lot calmer than what it was.
Andrea's hand waivers and she lowers the gun with tears in her eyes. "We're dead. All of us. Because of you." She points an accusing finger at Rick.
"I don't understand." Rick mutters and Morales grabs his arm and takes him to the front, where all of the group follow behind closely.
"Look, we came into the city to scavenge supplies. You know what the key to scavenging is? Surviving! You know the key to surviving? Sneaking in and out. Tiptoeing!" He hisses and points to the door. "Not shooting up the streets like it's the O.K Corral."
"Every geek for miles around heard you popping off rounds." T-Dog puts in.
"You just rang the dinner bell." Andrea adds.
Jeremy takes a look at Rick's face, that has turned pale.
"Get the picture now?" Morales asks him.
The group all look at the doors, surrounded by a mass of geeks trying to get in. A few are attempting to smash through the doors.
"The doors aren't gonna hold for long." Jeremy speaks up and they all back away from the doors.
"Oh god. What the hell were you doing out there anyway?" Andrea hisses at him.
Rick sighs. "Trying to flag the helicopter."
They all look at him like he's crazy. Which he probably was, Jeremy thought.
"Helicopter? Man, that's crap. Ain't no damn helicopter." T-Dog denies it.
"You were chasing a hallucination, imagining things, it happens." Jacqui soothes Rick but he wasn't having it.
"I saw it." He snaps. There was an awkward silence after that. Jeremy couldn't believe the nerve of the new guy already, almost getting us killed, when we saved him. Now he's snapping at all of us about a helicopter? Come on there's nothing out there.
"Hey, T-Dog, try that CB. Can you contact the others?" Morales asks T and he nods, trying to get a signal.
"Others? The refugee center?" Rick asks, a bit of hope in his voice. Where has this guy been?
Jacqui scoffs. "Yeah, the refugee center. They've got biscuits waiting at the oven for us."
T-Dog curses. "Got no signal. Maybe the roof?"
A gun fires. Oh for god sake.
Andrea groans. "Oh no. Is that Dixon?"
"Does he want all the geeks outside the store?" Jeremy huffs, this run into the city is turning into a shit show real fast. No wonder Glenn didn't want a group coming here, the same with Callie.
"What is that maniac doing?" Morales moans.
"Come on, let's go!" Glenn urges and they all run up the stairwell.
Callie's PoV
Callie is watching the group doing chores, as she grabs her laundry of the day, plus Merle and Daryl's as well. The clothes need washing quite often due to the Georgian heat. And Shane says it's the women's job to do laundry, which made Callie almost punch him in the jaw.
She heaves the laundry basket up and notices Josie, carrying a basket as well.
"Should you be carrying that?" Callie calls out to the woman and she looks at her.
"Probably not. But it won't get done otherwise."
"Mom! What are you doing?" Her young son Connor comes running to her.
"Making pasta." Josie remarks and Connor gives her a look. "What does it look like? Laundry."
"I'll take it." Connor says and holds out his arms. Josie sighs and hands over the basket. "I'll do the heavy lifting while you wash."
"Thanks, honey."
They head down to the quarry, setting up their stations before getting to work. Scrubbing in the Georgian heat, sweat dripping down their necks and dampening their tops.
"Where's Maya?" Callie asks breaking the silence.
"She's playing with Carl and Sophia. Those three are inseparable."
It reminds Callie of her life in the orphanage, way back when with Jeremy and her old friend Violet. Just the three of them there, enjoying life, learning things. She wants to think that Violet is alive somewhere, but the last time they saw each other was when she was 12, who knows what type of life she made for herself. But it is highly unlikely that she made it.
Callie looks to Connor, standing in the lake, cooling down just a ways from them but still in sight. Callie looks at the water at her feet, a nice coldness there, a break from the heat.
"I bet it's nice. Letting them have fun during all this. They need to stay kids."
Josie nods her head. "Yeah. They need some normality." She puts one wet top in the wet pile before taking another. "I doubt things will go back to the way that they were before."
Callie looks to her. "Why you think that?"
Josie stops why she's doing. "Look at everything. Atlanta is gone. Probably more cities are in the same boat. Probably the world is gone. There's not- nothing left." She sobs and Callie realised that she's crying.
"Hey. There's still some hope. You're carrying her right now. Because there's no loudness, and doesn't look like anyone else is out there. But we've got a group here. A dysfunctional one, but it's still people here." Callie tells her and Josie smiles warmly at her.
"Hey, babe." Elijah calls and Josie looks to him, breaking the contact.
"Hey, what are you doing down here?" Josie asks him, scrubbing away at another piece of clothing.
"Just checking on ya." He replies and looks at Callie. She has no idea what that meant but it is some sort of control.
"Give me a second." Josie says, but something was wrong with the way that she said it. It sounded annoyed. She walks away with her husband in tow and they start having a heated discussion.
"They always argue."
Callie blinks and looks at the 14 year old Connor. "What?"
He scoffs. "My parents. They always argue. It's always been like this. With mom's friends, she lost her best friend because of dad. He wouldn't let them hang out. They think that I don't notice these things but it's obvious. I try to act normal for Maya's sake. She's only 10."
"You don't have to worry about stuff like this. Why don't ya talk to your mom?"
"Because she'll feel bad and worry. Worrying now, seven months into the pregnancy. It's not good for her." Connor says to her and she almost forgot she was talking to a kid.
"You're smart for your age."
He smiles. "I get that a lot."
Josie's PoV
She walks away with Elijah, away from Callie and her son Connor. She was fed up. Fed up of the controlling. Fed up of everything.
"What was that?" She rounded on him and he looked taken aback before his eyes narrowed.
"You're just going off. On your own with our son. With a stranger. Do you want to get killed?" He hisses at her.
She clenched her jaw. Her husband, her loving husband that she married was gone. Has been for a long time. "I'm done. Find somewhere else to sleep tonight. You're not coming near me. Nor my children. I am fed up of being controlled. We are a United front. Not your way, your say."
Jeremy's PoV
The group crashes onto the roof where Jeremy sees Merle Dixon, on the ledge of the roof, shooting the sniper rifle that they gave him because he's the only one with military experience and can use the damn thing.
"Hey, Dixon, are you crazy?!" Morales shouts.
Merle laughs and continues shooting. Ah so he is then.
Andrea groans. "Oh jeez."
Merle twirls around to face the group. "Hey! Y'all be more polite to a man with a gun! Huh? Only common sense." Merle taunts and Jeremy grits his teeth.
"Man, you wasting bullets we ain't even got!" T exclaims and Merle just laughs mockingly. "And you're bringing even more of them down on our ass! Man, just chill."
Merle's humour was gone in a second. "Hey! Bad enough I've got this taco-bender on my ass all day." He points to Morales. "Now I'm gonna take orders from you? I don't think so, bro. That'll be the day."
"Merle." Jeremy hisses to get him to stop before T-Dog kills the man.
T-Dog narrows his eyes at the elder Dixon. "That'll be the day?" He repeats with venom in his voice. "You got something you want to tell me?"
"Hey, T-Dog, man, just leave it." Morales tries to defuse the situation but it was too late.
"No!" T exclaims, enraged.
"All right? It ain't worth it. Now Merle, just relax, okay? We've got enough trouble." Morales finishes and T looks still pissed off but he knows the situation that the group is currently in.
Jeremy looks to Merle who is smirking in triumph of getting a rise out of T-Dog.
"You want to know the day?" Merle taunts and Jeremy has had enough.
"Merle, enough!"
T-Dog nods his head. "Yeah." Clearly challenging him.
"This is gonna end well." Jeremy hears Glenn mutter.
"I'll tell you the day, Mr. "Yo." It's the day I take order from a nigger."
"Mother-
The two start to fight.
"Hey! Come on, Merle. That's enough."
"Come on. Dixon!" Andrea screams out.
"Merle!" Jeremy shouts and tries to grab Merle but is pushed off and into Andrea with a thump.
"Ow." Andrea groans and Jeremy helps her up.
"I'm sorry! Are you okay?" Jeremy asks her and she nods her head.
"Whoa! Cut it out, man!"
Merle is beating T-Dog to a pulp and then whips out a pistol, holding it to his face which shocks the group into silence.
"No no no, please. Please." Andrea cries.
"Merle, please, put the gun down." Jeremy begs him, and that's the first time he's going to beg Merle to do something.
Merle spits on T-Dog and rubs it in. "Yeah! All right! We're gonna have ourselves a little powwow, huh? Talk about who's in charge." He looks to everyone of the group, except for Rick, who is currently out of his sight. "I vote me! Anybody else? Huh? Democracy time, y'all. Show of hands, huh?"
"Come on." Andrea moans again.
Merle looks at everyone expectedly as he raised on hand in the air but still keeping the gun trained on T-Dog. "All in favour? Huh? Let's see 'em." Morales raises his hand.
"Oh, come on." Jeremy groans at Morales' allowance of this.
Merle continues. "All in favour?" Everyone starts to raise their hand. "Yeah! That's good. Now that means I'm the boss, right? Yeah. Anybody else? Hmm? Anybody?" He challenged.
"Yeah." Rick says and hits Merle over the head with the rifle and proceeds to handcuff Merle to a pipe on the roof.
"Who the hell are you, man?!" Merle sputters.
"Officer friendly." He takes the gun away from him and tucks it away. "Look here, Merle. Things are different now. There are no niggers anymore. No dumb-as-shit, inbred white-trash fools either. Only dark meat and white meat. There's us and the dead. We survive this by pulling together, not apart."
Jeremy agrees with Rick. There is no difference between anyone anymore. It literally is the living and the dead, that's it. Rick is already a good leader.
"Screw you man." Merle spits.
"I can see you make a habit of missing the point."
"Yeah? Well screw you twice."
Rick pulls the gun out and puts it against Merle's head which shocks everyone. Jeremy holds his breath waiting for the trigger to be pulled. "Ought to be polite to a man with a gun. Only common sense."
Merle squirms. "You wouldn't. You're a cop."
Rick removes the gun but gets in his face. "All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son. Anybody that gets in the way of that is gonna lose. I'll give you a moment to think about that." Rick pats him down and finds some drugs in his pocket. Oh for gods sake. "Got some on your nose there."
"What are you gonna do? Arrest me?" Merle laughs. Rick throws the drugs off the roof which angers Merle. "Hey! What are you doing? Man, that's my stuff! Hey! If I get loose, you'd better pray... yeah! You hear me, you pig! You hear me?!"
Rick goes to the other side of the roof, Morales following him.
"Where the hell did you guys get him from?" T-Dog looks to both Jeremy and Glenn.
"A tank." Glenn grins and they look at him bewildered.
That's that chapter! A little longer than the others. I've been binge watching TWD on my days off work and writing at the same time. The feels of watching it from the beginning. Anyway! Let me know what you think.