FicWad

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Til The World Stops Turning
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Summary:
What if there was another reason that the Dixon brothers joined up with the group at the quarry and she wasn’t what they thought her to be after all? Would they re-think some of the behavior issues they had with a disgruntled Daryl and a prone-to-violence Merle? Meet M.J. and see her take on this new world that she is surviving in.


Full Disclaimer:
I do NOT own anything from the Walking Dead (the TV show or the comics), nor do I make any profit from this story. Don’t sue. Anything you recognize isn’t mine and belongs to AMC & Frank Darabont. This story is AU and will deviate from some show plotlines. Some scenes were cut because they had no value to my plot and words added for the effect of my OC. All OC’s are mine. Transcripts used from online foreverdreaming.org and Netflix, but changed to reflect on the speech of some of the people. Google and Wiki are my friend. Rated T because of the Dixon Clan potty mouth and others.


SPOILER WARNING:
If you haven’t watched any of the series yet, it begins in S01E02 Guts just after Glenn brings Rick into the store.


Authors Note:
This story is currently UN-beta’d. Yes I changed the ages of some of the WD characters as needed for my storyline. Any views read in this story are those of the characters and not how the author feels. Reviews are much loved with helping along with a few of my plot holes. Flames will be used to fricassee walkers and light a fire under the Gov’nor’s ass.


Words: 5579 (Originally posted: 02/22/2013 Rechecked by me: 11/03/2014)


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Chapter ONE: Ain’t Gonna Stop Til the Clock Runs Out
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Abandoned Department Store
Downtown Atlanta
End of July 2010


Muffled sounds of a gun firing.

Footsteps, thudding and rushing, echo up the stairwell.

Multiple gunshots being fired in quick succession.

A steel door is abruptly thrust open and bangs forcibly against its concrete housing. A group of people spill out of the stairwell, onto the rooftop and into the sweltering afternoon Georgia heat. In the lead of the group, a Hispanic man, rushes forward, towards an older white male who was standing on the ledge of the building and shooting down at shuffling bodies on the street below. The gun fires yet again and a bullet slams into the forehead of a partially decomposed body that was stumbling around in the growing crowd below. The group still and stare in disbelief at what the man was doing.

“Hey Dixon, are you crazy?!” He yells out at the man holding a sniper rifle.

The one he calls Dixon, a man in his early forties, laughs as he fires off one last round before turning around to confront the group now in front of him. At first glance you would think REDNECK. HICK. Hillbilly. No Good White Trash. And most would be right. Wearing a tie-dyed black shirt ripped up the sides with a leather vest over it, a pair of dirty and worn blue jeans with scuffed black boots. He fit the persona of a typical redneck with the sniper rifle in hand. On his left wrist was a newish wide leather band with a few silver studs and a cross, in lieu of a watch. His hair was shaved in a close militarian haircut. At five foot ten inches, some would think he was a tad short for a man. But with his combined stocky build of a broad chest, slightly well-toned arms and legs he had an imposing aura of danger and barely leashed violence that made him seem like he was over six feet tall.

A blonde woman mutters, “Oh, jeez,” as the gunshot still echoes in the open area on top of the building, “Ring the dinner bell why don’t you.”

“Hey! Ya’ll outta be more polite ta the man wit’ a gun.” Dixon laughs heartily again as he waves the rifle at the group. “Huh?” He jumps down off the ledge and grunts as he finds his footing. “Ahhhh.” His lips twist in a smirk, like he knew something they didn’t. “Only common sense.”

Suddenly one of the young men of the group runs towards Dixon. It was a large black man, in his mid-thirties, wearing an over-sized white shirt with the word ‘Brooklyn’ scrawled across it and baggy black shorts that fell below his knees. Even with a slight look of trepidation on his face he yells out at the man with the gun.

“Man, you wastin’ bullets we ain’t even got! Man.” He then sighs with disgust as Dixon laughs at him. “And you’re bringin’ more of them down on our ass!” He scowls while pointing his finger at Dixon. “Man, just chill!”

“Hey!” Dixon glares. “Bad ‘nough I gots this taco-bender,” he points over to the Hispanic man, “on m’ass all day. Ya think Im’ma take orders from ya?!” Dixon growls as the black man looks away from him in disgust. Dixon gets up into his face. “I don’ think so, bro. Tha’ll be the day.” he snorts.

“ ‘That’ll be the day?’ ” A look of disbelief washes over the black man’s face. “You gots something you wanna tell me?” He gestures to himself as he stares back at Dixon.

“Hey T-Dog, man just leave it.” The Hispanic man says trying to stop the fight he knew was brewing between his friend T-Dog and Dixon.

“Nah, Morales. Dixon can explain what the hell he means by that comment.” T-Dog puts his hand out motioning for him to be quiet.

“All right? It ain’t worth it.” Morales tries to reason with them both. “Now Merle,” he faces Dixon who just smirks, “just relax. Okay?” Near the back of the group a young Asian man shakes his head and gestures to the man beside him, who was wearing a police uniform, not to do anything. “We got enough trouble.”

“Ya wanna know the day?” Merle interrupts Morales.

“Yeah.” T-Dog replies with an almost sneer.

“I’ll tell ya the day, ‘Mr. Yo’.” Merle brings his left hand up as if he was attempting to make a gang sign but was just making fun of T-Dog. “It’s the day I take orders from a Nigger.” He sneers as he waves the rifle at T-Dog.

“Mother-” T-Dog snarls as he takes a swing at Merle and misses when Merle ducks and slams the rifle butt into T-Dog’s face.

“Hey Merle that’s enough.” Morales pleads.

But Merle ignores the group as they all beg him to stop beating on T-Dog. The cop runs towards them, attempting to jump Merle as he swings his fist at T-Dog, but was punched in his own face for his trouble. He flew over the pipe behind them from the force of the punch.

“Dixon!” the blonde woman cries out, in fear of his rage.

Merle turns back around in enough time to stop T-Dog from pounding him and kicks him in the chest in retaliation. The Asian man jumps over the pipe on the roof and tries to help the cop up and stay out of Merle’s way at the same time.

“Whoa, cut it out man.” Morales yells out.

But of course Merle continues to ignore him and grabs onto T-Dog’s shirt and hits him with a solid right hook, which causes T-Dog to slam face first into the pipe.

“Stop it!” The blonde woman screams. “Dixon, get off him!” she pleads. Merle begins to kick T-Dog in the ribs while he lays on the rooftop trying to catch his breath. T-Dog attempts to curl around himself to protect his ribs from being shattered from the vicious kicks. “Dixon, you’re gonna hurt him.”

Merle kicks T-Dog twice more before sitting on him and grabbing his shirt again and repeatedly punches him in the face. Around him the others of the group are screaming for him to stop, to let him go.

“Merle cut it out!” Running forward Morales tries to pull Merle off T-Dog and gets an elbow in the stomach for his trouble.

Behind the pipe the officer slowly stands up and wipes his face where he was busted in the lip. One of the women squeal as Merle slugs T-Dog one final time and pulls a handgun and flicks off the safety.

“NO, No, no. Please, please.” The blonde woman pleads with Merle as T-Dog groans in pain.

High overhead a few scattered dark clouds roll in unnoticed and thunder rumbles. Merle looks around at the group. A skinny middle-aged black woman, the blonde woman who looks to be in her late twenties maybe early thirties, the young Asian man who barely looked out of his teens maybe early twenties, and Morales - the Hispanic guy who was probably in his late thirties or early forties. Merle shoots them a brief scowl before he looks back at T-Dog. He hocks a loogie, spits it on T-Dog’s shirt, and rubs it in. T-Dog groans in pain from the pressure on his chest and ribs.

“Yeah.” Merle grunts. “Alrigh’.” He begins to stand up. “We’s gonna have ‘rselfs a lil powwow. Huh?” He looks up at the group. “Talk ‘bout who’s gonna be in charge.” The group pulls T-Dog away when he begins to crab-walk backwards. “I vote me. ‘N’body else? Huh?” he asks sarcastically. “Democracy time ya’ll.” Slowly he raises his left hand. “Show o’ hands, huh?” He grunts. “All in favor? Huh?” He looks over at Morales and grunts again. “C’mon. Le’s see ‘em.”

Morales raises his hand in defeat and looks away from Merle as the blonde woman states with scared disgust. “Oh come on.”

“All in favor?” Merle asks playfully as he waves the gun back and forth. He looks at the group as the Asian shamefully raises his hand and the black woman slowly shoots Merle the bird as she raises her hand. “Yeah, tha’s good.” He adds as the blonde finally raises her hand also. “Now, tha’ means I’m the boss righ’?” he adds cockily. “Yeah. ‘N’body else?” He asks knowing that none of them would stand up against him now. “Hmmm? ‘N’body?”

Merle turns around startled when he hears a man’s voice behind him stating, “Yeah!” And receives the rifle butt to his own face in return for punching the officer minutes before. Once the cop knocks Merle to the ground, the cop then proceeds to place a knee on his face and pulls out his handcuffs and cuffs Merle to the metal screw holding the long round pipe, behind them, into place.

“Who the Hell are ya man?!” Merle sneers at the cop, once he gets his eyes to stop tearing. The cop looks to be in his late thirties.

“Officer Friendly.” The cop replies as he pulls Merle up by his leather vest. He then turns around and picks up the hand gun that Merle was pointing at T-Dog seconds ago and releases the magazine. “Look here, Merle.” He says a little roughly. “Things are different now. There are no niggers,” he removes the bullet from the chamber, “anymore. No more Dumb-as-Shit, inbred White-trash fools, either. Only dark meat and white meat.” He leans in towards Merle. “There’s us and the dead.” Slowly he replaces the lone bullet back into the magazine and slides the clip back into the gun and re-chambers the round. “We survive this by pulling together, not apart.”

“Screw ya, man.” Merle sneers.

“I can see you make a habit of missing the point.” Officer Friendly leans closer as if imparting words of great importance.

“Yeah? Well screw ya twice.” Merle declares as he tilts his chin bullheadedly.

“You ought to be polite to the man with the gun.” Officer Friendly places the gun to Merle’s head and cocks it. “Only common sense.” He adds as he throws Merle’s earlier statement back at him.

“Ya wouldn’t. Yer a cop.” Merle states as his head tilts to the side from the pressure of the gun muzzle pressing into his left temple.

“All I am anymore is a man looking for his wife and son.” Officer Friendly declares softly. “Anybody that gets in the way of that is going to lose.” He stares Merle straight into his eyes to see how serious he was about that last statement. “I’ll give you a moment to think about that.” He pats Merle down looking for any other weapons hidden.

“Yeah, well I gots a girl m’self.” Merle looks him back determinedly in the eye. His sharp steel blue eyes, iris’s blown wide from some narcotic, darken even more with meaning as he stares back into a blue that was a few shades lighter than his little brother’s azure.

“You should have thought about that before this little stunt you pulled.” Officer Friendly says sadly and then looks down as he feels something in Merle’s pocket while patting him down. He pulls out a vial of white powder and looks at it with disgust. “Looks like you got something on your nose,” he tips Merle’s head back with two of his fingers and stares pointedly at his nose before flicking the tip of it, “there.”

“Wat’re ya gonna do?” Merle watches as the cop walks away from him. “Arrest me?” He chuckles harshly. “Hey man!” He shouts as the cop tosses the vial over the roof’s ledge. “Wat’re ya doin’? Tha’s m’stuff!” he yells. “Hey!” He grunts as he tries to get up. “Iffin I get loose, ya best pray...!” He shouts at the cop as he walks further away. “Ya hear me, ya PIG!” He hollers as he struggles to get free of the pipe and handcuffs. “YOU HEAR ME?!”

“Yeah, your voice carries.” Officer Friendly mutters to himself. He stops once he reaches the ledge and cradles his sore right fist and ignores Merle’s screaming.

“YA HEAR ME YA FILTHY PIG?!”

“You’re not Atlanta P.D.” Morales states as he comes up beside the cop. “Where you from?” he asks.

“Up the road a ways.” The cop responds.

“Well, Officer Friendly, from up the road a ways,” He chuckles as they both look out and down on the ravaged city of Atlanta and try to ignore all the walking dead people stumbling around and banging on the glass below. Just up the street you could see a closed off section of the street where construction had been started. “Welcome to the Big City.” He chuckles again as he looks up at the sky when more thunder sounds.


~~~~Scene Break~~~~


“God, it looks like Time Square down there.” The blonde woman turns saying to the black woman as they peer over the side of the roof. Behind them the two men come back to join the group.

“How’s that signal?” Morales asks.

“Like Dixon’s brain...” T-Dog smirks as Merle sneers, “weak.” Merle then proceeds to flip him off.

“Keep trying.” Came a tired response from Morales.

“Why?” The blonde looks over at the cop standing beside her. “There’s nothing they can do. Not a damn thing.” She walks away in frustration.

“Got some people outside the city,” The cop looks at Morales questioningly. “That’s all.” He shakes his head. “There’s no refugee center. That’s just a pipe dream.”

“Then she’s right, we’re on our own.” The cop turns slightly to look at the other survivors. “Then it’s up to us to find a way out of this mess.”

“Good luck wit’ tha’.” Merle snorts. “These streets ain’t safe in this par’ o’town from wat I hear.” He looks over at the blonde and leans forward. “Ain’t tha’ righ’ sugar tits?” She glares halfheartedly at Merle. “Hey, honeybunch, wat’cha say ya get me outta these cuffs ‘n’ we go off sum’wer ‘n’ bump uglies?” He leers at her. “Gonna die ‘n’ways.”

“I’d rather.” She snorts in disgust. “And I’ve told you my name is Andrea. Not sugar tits, honeybunch, sweet thang, or any of those other degrading names you call your women.”

“Rug muncher.” Merle states sulking. “Figured much.”

“The streets ain’t safe.” Morales repeats as he turns away from Andrea and Merle back to the cop. “Now there’s an understatement.”

“What about under the streets?” Officer Friendly asks as an alternate route for safety. “The sewers?”

“Oh man.” Morales says with hope. “Hey Glenn?” He turns to the Asian man. “Check that alley. You see any manhole covers?”

Glenn runs over to the other-side of the building and peers down into the alleyway below. He spots the two walkers still stumbling around aimlessly but doesn’t see the entryway to the sewers below he was hoping for. The skies become darker and the rumbling of thunder more ominous.

“No, must be all out on the street where the geeks are.” Glenn says breathlessly as he jogs back over to the group.

“Maybe not.” The black woman speaks up slowly. “Old buildings like these, built back in the ‘20’s... Big structures often had drainage tunnels into the sewers.” She looks to the cop, as she explains. “In case of flooding. Down in the subbasements.”

“How do you know that, Jacqui?” Glenn asks confused.

“It’s my job... was.” Jacqui corrects herself as she glances at Officer Friendly. “I worked in the city zoning office.”


~~~~Basement~~~~


Down in the sub-basement the group, minus Merle and T-Dog, walk slowly towards a railed off ladder that lead down into a concrete hole. Everyone shines their flashlights down into the darkness and see an opening that leads further into the abyss. They could all hear rats scurrying around.

“This is it?” Morales asks with trepidation. “Are you sure?”

“I really scoped this place out the other times I was here.” Glenn reassures him. “It’s the only thing in the building that goes down.” He tries to hide a shudder. “But I’ve never gone down it.” His nose wrinkles at the smell wafting up the dark hole. “Who’d want to right?” He looks up just as the other four all look at him and a feeling he really didn’t like ran skittering down his spine. “Oh, great.” He states as he realizes that they want him to go down into the unknown.

“We’ll be right behind you.” Andrea spoke up quickly upon seeing the look on his face.

“No!” Glenn says quickly and changes his tone at their startled looks. “You won’t. Not you.” He states.

“Why not me?” Andrea quickly becomes defensive and glares at Glenn. “Think I can’t?”

“I wasn’t...” Glenn tries to explain but trails off, not knowing how to say it without hurting their feelings and receiving any negative backlash.

“Speak your mind.” Officer Friendly says encouragingly.

“Look," Glenn began, “until now I always came here by myself...” He looks away guiltily for a moment before taking a breath and continues. “In and out. Grab a few things... No problem. First time I bring a group...” Glenn sighs. “Everything goes to HELL. No offense.” He quickly adds. “If you want me to go down this gnarly hole, fine... But only if we do it my way. It’s tight down there. If I run into something and have to get out quick, I don’t want you all jammed up behind me getting me killed. I’ll take one person. Not you either, Rick.” Glenn says promptly as Officer Friendly moves to adjust his gun. “You’ve got Merle’s gun and I’ve seen you shoot. I’d feel better if you were out in the store covering our ass.” The cop nods in agreement. “And you got the only other gun, so you should go with him.” He points to Andrea. Next he points to Morales. “You be my wing-man.” Glenn then points to Jacqui. “Jacqui stays here. Something happens, yell down to us, get us back up here in a hurry.”

“Okay.” Jacqui agrees.

“Okay, everyone knows their jobs.” Rick states as he pats Glenn on the shoulder before heading back out to the main floor.

Glenn places his flashlight into his mouth and begins to climb down the ladder. Once he was almost at the bottom the other man follows. Glenn shines the flashlight into the darkness and looks back up at the others hesitantly. The two groups look at each one more time before they go their separate ways. A couple of rats scurry away from them as they enter the tunnel. Glenn steps on a rat’s tail by accident and causes it to squeal out in pain. Slowly the two men venture down the tunnel, both hoping for another way out away from the walkers.


~~~~Main Floor~~~~


Back up on the ground floor, Rick and Andrea head towards the door to see what damage the geeks have caused to the glass doors that stood between them and certain death. Hopefully they had enough time and a way out before the walkers got inside.


~~~~Merle & T-Dog~~~~


Up on the rooftop, exposed to the hot Georgian sun, Merle glares over at T-Dog who was sitting as comfortable as he possibly could in the shade, clutching his ribs from the sever kicking he received several minutes beforehand.

“Anybody out there?” T-Dog spoke into the walkie-talkie. Thunder rumbles closer, the dark clouds coming closer. “Hello? Anybody read? I’m hoping to hear somebody’s voice, ‘cause I’m sure gettin’ tired of hearing mine.”

“Yeah, well tha’ makes two o’ us.” Merle grunts. “Won’cha knock tha’ crap off. Yer givin’ me a headache, boy.” He turns and spits.

“Why don’t’cha pull your head out of your ass?” T-Dog scowls. “Maybe your headache will go away.” Merle chuckles dryly. “Try some positivity for a change. Damn.”

“Tell ya wat...” Merle leans forward, “Ya git me outta o’ these cuffs ‘n’ I’ll be all ‘Sammy Sunshine’ positive fer ya.” He smiles. “Hey, ya see tha’ hacksaw ov’a there in tha’ toolbag?” He points to the red bag several feet from both of them. “Git it fer me ‘n’ I’ll make it worth yer while. Hmmm? Wat’cha say man? C’mon. Git me outta o’ these things.” He wiggles his hand so that the metal clinks against the pipe.

“So you can beat my ass again?” T-Dog huffs. “Or call me nigger some more?”

“Oh c’mon now. It weren’t pers’nal.” Merle says consolingly. “Its jus’ tha’ yer kind ‘n’ m’kind ain’t meant ta mix. Tha’s all.” T-Dog sighs in disappointment. “Don’ mean we can’t... work ta’ge’tha’.” Merle sits up on his right leg and turns halfway towards T-Dog. “Parley, long as there’s some kind o’ mutual gain involved.” Rumbles from above interrupts them and T-Dog glances up. The air starts to become muggier in the thick heat. “So... ‘bout tha’ hacksaw?”

“I guess you want me to get you that rifle over there too so you can shoot that cop when he comes back up, huh?” T-Dog asked as he looked at Merle as if he was bored with the whole discussion.” Merle chuckles darkly. “Huh?”


~~~~Morales & Glenn~~~~


Deep underground the buildings and street, two men turn a corner and stop in front of a metal grate covering the hole leading further into the tunnel.

“Yeah we got ourselves a sewer tunnel. Jacqui was right.” Morales declares happily.

“Can we cut through it?” Glenn asks.

“If we had a blow torch and half a day, sure.” They both looked over the grating. “Dale’s hacksaw sure and hell won’t cut it.”

A rat squeaks and is suddenly silent. They shine the light into the other-side of the grate and a walker now chewing on the rat turns around and spots them. Reaching through the grating the geek tries to grab them. They both turn and run as the rapid beating of their hearts and the pounding of their feet against the concrete drown out the groans and cries of the geek stuck on the other side of the grate behind them.


~~~~Rick & Andrea~~~~


Back on the ground floor you hear the walkers still pounding away at the outside glass door. Partially ignoring them in favor of particular necklace, Andrea reaches out to brush her fingers over it.

“Hmmm.”

“See something you like?” Rick asks.

“Not me, but someone I know.” she replies softly. “My sister.” A small smile. “She’s still such a kid in some ways.” she explains. “Unicorns, dragons, she’s into all that fantasy stuff. But mermaids, they rule. She loves mermaids.”

“Why not take it?” He leans over and asks.

“‘Cause there’s a cop staring at me.” She replies ruefully. He chuckles. “Would it be considered looting?”

“Don’t think those rules apply anymore. Do you?” he points out. She smiles at him as she takes the necklace and places it carefully in her back pocket.

Suddenly the sound of glass shattering echoes loudly in the mostly empty store. Several of the walkers charge through the now broken first set of doors and begin to beat upon the second set. It was all that was keeping the dead from the living and soon it would also be broken. As Rick charges towards the doors with his gun raised, the group from the subbasement rushes out to see what the commotion was.

“What did you find down there?” Rick asks.

“Not a way out, that’s for sure.” Morales states dejectedly.

“We need to find a way.” Andrea stresses. “And soon.”


~~~~Rooftop~~~~


Back up on the rooftop the group stand near the ledge while Rick looks down the street with a set of binoculars. Overhead the thunder sounds forbidding. Looking over the construction site he notices a box van on the other-side of the chain-link fence.

“That construction site... Those trucks. They always keep keys on hand for them.” Rick points out as he hands the binoculars to Morales. Quickly he glances down at the street below and the ever-growing crowd of geeks.

“You’ll never make it past those walkers below.” He points out sadly.

“You got me out of that tank.” Rick looks over at Glenn who grimaces.

“Yeah, but they were feeding. They were distracted.” Glenn points out right away the flaw in the forming plan.

“Can we distract them again?” Rick asks hopefully.

“Righ’. E’s on ta sum’tin’.” Merle points out mockingly. “Lis’en ta ‘im. A diversion. Like on ‘Hogan’s Heroes’.” he chuckles.

“God, give it a rest.” Jacqui says exasperatedly.

“They’re drawn by sound right?” Rick asks unsure.

“Right. Like dogs.” Glenn says in agreement. “They hear sound and they come.”

“What else?” Rick asks wanting to know more.

“Aside from they hear you? They see you, they smell you, and if they catch you, they eat you.” Morales states.

“They can tell us by smell?” He stresses to make sure.

“Can’t you?” Glenn retaliates with a note of disgust.

“They smell dead and we don’t.” Andrea states nodding. “It's pretty distinct.” Rick sighs.


~~~~Main Room~~~~


On the ground floor, in the back of the store where the cleaning and gardening section was, the group began gathering several pairs of rubber gloves.

“If bad ideas were an Olympic Event, this would take the gold.” Glenn declares as he stands there.

“He’s right.” Morales declares as he walks towards Rick. “Just stop okay? Take some time to think this through.”

“How much time?” Rick demands as he pulls some long white over coats and places them in Morales’ arms. “They already got through one set of doors. That glass won’t hold forever.” He points out. He tosses one coat to Glenn who catches it halfheartedly.


~~~~Storeroom~~~~


Once they are all wearing their protective gear, Rick and Morales run out the side door and grab one of the geeks and drag him back into the building. Back inside, with the safety helmet on, Rick uses a crowbar to smash the glass of the emergency axe. With the group looking on in apprehension, Rick raise the axe and just as he is about to chop into the dead man, he stops. Bending over the body, he frisks it and pulls out the deceased man’s wallet. Slowly he goes through it and reads to the group the man’s stats. Pointing out how much money he carried, to a picture of a pretty girl found with a loving note on the back. Last, Glenn pointed out that the dead man was an organ donor.

Quickly they began to chop the body apart. Making sure to mix the black blood with as much of the mangled flesh and decaying organs as possible. With a final note from Rick about making sure none of the mess touched any exposed skin, they began to paint both Rick and Glenn with the bloody mess. Quickly they draped body parts and smeared the stagnate blood all over the long white coats.

As soon as they finish covering Rick and Glenn, they then proceed out into the alleyway and slowly walk by the two geeks, hoping that the plan will work. When neither one pay any particular attention to them, they then crawl under the bus blocking the alleyway and make their way out onto the street. During this time, Morales, Jacqui, and Andrea rush back up the stairs to the rooftop to watch their friends attempt to make it to the construction site.

“Hey, wat’s happ’in’ man?” Merle shouts out as they all rush by him to look over the ledge.

“Hey, T-Dog, try that C.B. again.” Morales says as he ignores Merle.

“C’mon talk ta me ya’ll. Hey!” Merle shouts again.

“Base camp, this is T-Dog. Can anybody hear me? Can anybody out there hear me?”

Morales looks at the street below and spots them, pointing on the street their location. The storm that had been declaring its presence for the past hour finally gave notice of the imminent down pour. The dark promise of rain that was unwanted at the present time.

“Tha’ asshole’s ou’ on the street wit’ the keys ta the cuffs?” Merle asks with disbelief. T-Dog reaches into his pocket and dangles the key as Merle gives him a death glare and tries not to snarl.

“Reception is quite bad on this end. Repeat. Repeat.” came a voice over the walkie-talkie barely understandable from all the static.

“Shane. Shane is that you?” T-Dog called back. “We’re in some deep shit. Trapped in a department store.” More static. “There’s geeks all over the place. Hundreds of ‘em. We’re surrounded.” More static and the signal is lost.

As Andrea hands the binoculars back to Morales the rain begins to fall.

“Oh man.” Morales looks at both women as they try and brush away their sopping hair. “It’s just a cloudburst. They pass real quick. We get them all the time.” He notices them running and attacking the walkers as they went. “Come on. Come on.” He urges them on as if they could hear him. They watch as both men barely make it to the fence and climb over it.

“They’re leaving us.” Andrea declares as she notices them driving away.

“Wat? WAT?!” Merle yells out.

“Where they going?” Morales asks confused. “Where they going?”

“NO, No, come back.” Andrea pounds on the ledge.

The sound of a car alarm echoes throughout the streets and everyone on the roof hears Glenn speak over the walkie-talkie.

“Those roll-up doors at the front of the store at the front of the street. Meet us there and be ready.”

“Come on!” Morales shouts as they gather up the backpacks with the supplies they came for. “Let’s go! Let’s go!”

“Hey. Ya’ll can’t leave me here.” Merle shouts out as the group rushes by him to the door leading back downstairs. “I’m not foolin’ man. Morales.” He calls out to the retreating group. “Hey man. Don’ do this.” He struggles against the pipe. “Hey tha’s m’gun. Ya can’t leave me.” T-Dog pauses just a few feet shy from the door. “Don’ leave m’here ya’ll.”

Morales looks back at T-Dog, “Come on, we got to go.”

“Morales! Ya can’t leave me like this man! Hey, T-Dog,” He pleads leaning over the pipes trying to pull his hand as far as it would go. “No, man. Ya can’t leave me. Ya can’t leave m’here... not like this. Ya can’t man.” Merle begs for his release. “It’s not human.” T-Dog looks at the open door and hesitates. “C’mon. Don’ do this.” T-Dog fights with his conscience and finally turns around to run back to Merle and knocks over the toolbag. “C’mon T! C’mon. Think of M.J.. Yeah, c’mon... tha’s it baby. YES!” As T-Dog rushes down the couple of steps he trips and falls forward and loses the key. He scrambles after it as it flies through the air and they both watch as it falls down a drainpipe. “Son of a BITCH!” Merle shouts angrily, spittle flying from his mouth. “Ya did tha’ on purpose.” he snarls.

“I didn’t mean to!” T-Dog stutters as he climbs to his feet.

“Ya lie! Ya did it on purpose!” Merle yells.

“It was an accident!” T-Dog shouts back as he runs up the steps.

“Don’ leave me man.” Merle struggles with the cuffs and the pipe as he pleads. “Don’ leave me! Don’ leave me!”

“I’m sorry!” T-Dog says as he runs through the door. “I’m sorry.”

“Ya liar!” Merle pulls and pulls on the cuffs. “Don’ leave me. Damn you all!” He shouts out as T-Dog shuts the door behind him. “Wat’re ya doin’ man? Yer gonna rot in HELL!” T-Dog pulls the chain tight as he can and locks it so that none of the walkers could get out onto the roof. “Come back man! Don’ leave me. Please m’girl. Ya can’t make me leave m’girl! M.J.!” he screams with despair.

“Wait, don’t leave.” T-Dog yells as he rushes as fast as he can down the stairs and misses Merle’s last screams.


~~~~Loading Bay~~~~


Down at the roll-up doors, Andrea and Jacqui grab the chain ready to pull it up. They hear the car alarm close by and wait. As T-Dog finally makes it to the ground floor the glass finally breaks under the abuse from the walkers and they follow him to the back of the store.

“They’re here! Let’s go. They’re in here!” he shouts as he burst through the door. “Let’s go!”

“Open the door!” Andrea shouts when Rick bangs on the door from the other-side.

“We gotta go!”

Quickly they throw the bags and supplies they gathered into the back of the van and hopped in. As Rick begins to drive away, the walkers come pouring out of the store and after the truck. Quickly Morales pulls the door close.


~~~~Rooftop~~~~


Up on the roof Merle pulls and yanks on the cuffs and pipe, trying to get lose.

“Ya’ll die! Go ta Hell! Damn ya!” he shouts cursing the group that just left him to his fate. “NO! Damn ya! M’girl, ya bastards! Don’ leave ‘er wit’ou’ me! Yer gonna ROT IN HELL!”


~~~~Box Truck~~~~


As they are driving away from the store, Rick turns around to see if everyone was okay. When he notices Merle missing, he doesn't know what to say. Everyone is looking at T-Dog for an explanation.

“I dropped the damn key.” He struggles to catch his breath and tell them as he tries not to cry. Nobody wants to say anything and look away, trying not to catch anyone elses eye, so as not to feel responsible for leaving Merle behind.