Merle started to walk to the three of them. Bottle in hand, a grin on his face, he looked genuinely content for once. Before anyone had a chance to take him up on his offer the door to the infirmary was yanked open and in came Axel with Big Tiny following him.

Axel momentarily halted when he noticed the room was occupied, making Big Tiny almost run into him from behind.

"Hey, I should have known someone's here when I saw Andrew sniffing around empty handed," he casually continued to the exam table when he saw who it was in there, "looks like he's trying to avoid you," Axel added with a chuckle while eying the packed kits.

That got Daryl's attention. "You saw Tomas too?" He rasped. He hadn't seen Tomas or Andrew since yesterday afternoon when they parted ways after they cleared the cellblock off the biters. Not that he was actively looking for them, but still, he'd rather keep track of their whereabouts.

Axel shook his head, "no man, haven't seen either of them till minutes ago when I spotted Andrew scramble away when he saw us. Wasn't looking for them either though, you following me?" He said, looking questioningly back at Big Tiny, but he shook his head too, he didn't see anything.

"Can you keep an eye out for them? Let me know if you see anything?" Daryl asked casually.

"Maybe he fled," Oscar offered.

Daryl snorted, "On foot? With them biters all around? That'd be fucking stupid."

"I never thought him very bright." Oscar chuckled.

Axle glanced around at all the faces in the room, "you wanna, ehm," he paused eying Lumen for a bit before he finished carefully, "have a chat with him or something?"

Merle's eyes jumped between Lumen and Axel, "No need to watch what you say around her. That's Lumen, Daryl's old lady," he explained in a language Axel would understand.

"Oh, good," Axel relaxed more and moved closer to them, "I assume you wanna get rid of him then?"

"Yeah," Daryl confirmed with a curt nod, checking on Lumen's reaction. He wasn't as sure about Merle's statement as Merle seemed to be, she looked pretty upset yesterday and Daryl wanted to avoid those kinds of conversations in future if possible. She met his eyes. Her lips had a slight quiver to them, showing that she was struggling with herself, but eventually, the corners of her mouth lifted in the smallest smile. It looked a bit forced but it was a smile all the same. She then went back to the last kit in front of her, busying herself with it.

Axel leaned against the table which creaked in protest under his big frame. He missed the subtle exchange between Lumen and Daryl entirely. "You won't see me complaining. I won't miss that fucker none, he has it coming where I'm concerned, you follow me?" He looked at Big Tiny silently asking to back up his statement. 

Which he didn't.

"Don't look at me," the big guy said, his hands up in a don't-shoot gesture, "I don't want to have anything to do with this, I don't look for no trouble."

"Suit yourself," Daryl growled. This guy was an annoying paradox, how could someone this big be such a pussy was beyond him, "just don't be in our way and keep your mouth shu-"

All of their eyes shot up hearing a loud bang of something being knocked down coming from the direction of the open door. Did they leave it open? Didn't the stupid ogre shut it close behind him? Before Daryl finished his thought Axel darted forward and in few strides, he was out of the room, and they all but Big Tiny followed close behind.

Daryl nudged Oscar, raising his eyebrows at him only to see an equally surprised expression on Oscar's face. For a guy of his size, Axel was impressively fast, who knew? Up until now, they've both only seen him roaming around in a turtle like speed. They didn't even rounded the corner to the hallway when they heard a yelp and a thud, and when they finally caught up, knives and guns ready, they found Axel with wide-eyed Glenn pinned to the wall. A gun was lying a few steps to their side.

"Chinaman!" Merle, who was still holding the bottle of gin, exclaimed as if seeing an old friend, although his expression told another story entirely. He reached for the gun on the ground at the same time Lumen tried to push her way from the back where Daryl was keeping her during their advance. She wanted to go to Axel to do... something, she wasn't sure what exactly but Daryl wouldn't let go of her.

Axel seemed to guess her trouble because he lifted the hand that wasn't holding Glenn, but a crowbar she hasn't noticed up until then, to stop her.

"Hold your horses, ladybug, we just need to have a little chat here, that's all," Axel said calmly before turning his attention back to Glenn.

"My friend," he said in a cheerful tone that was very much in contradiction with his serious face, "that wasn't very smart, didn't your mama ever tell you it's not polite to eavesdrop?"

Glenn's eyes jumped from one face to another until he locked them with Lumen, the only one who didn't look ready to kill him. Which she wasn't because although it was obvious Glenn heard them talk, they didn't know what exactly he heard and yet they all acted like they weren't far from slicing the poor man's throat.

She shifted her weight nervously, glancing around. She kept trying to come up with something to say, something, anything. But looking at all the calm faces around her the only thing she could think of was that these guys interpretation of the word 'chat' was seriously fucked up. Her thought was interrupted by a loud voice.

"What the hell is going on here?" All of them looked to where the voice came from to find Rick with Beth and Maggie standing behind him. He had his hand on the revolver but was reluctant to pull it out, not wanting to make things worse. He was outnumbered after all.

"They were plotting to kill you!" Glenn cried out, shutting his eyes. He wanted to warn his friend no matter the circumstances. Now he expected the blow to come but instead the pressure of the hold Axel had on him eased and when he opened his eyes he found somewhat confused expression on Axel's face. The adrenaline in his veins made everything sound muted like hearing it from underwater, but he still made out Merle's and Oscar's voices through it saying at the same time, "that ain't true!" and "No we were not!"

Merle shot Oscar an amused look, but other than that nobody moved.

Axel rolled his eyes, "See you dumbass? That's what you got from eavesdropping, nothing solid. What were you doing here snooping around anyway?" he said angrily and with a shove, he let go of Glenn completely before turning to address Rick, "Wasn't that damn deal about sticking to our parts of this damn place? We agreed to share the food in the cafeteria stock and the showers and that turned up messy already, so what are you doing here."

Rick left his revolver in the holster and lifted his hands up while Glenn slid alongside the wall to where the rest of his group members were standing. He wasn't sure what to make of what Glenn said. This could be easily another misunderstanding and he wasn't about to start something that could have been avoided.

"We need medical supplies from the infirmary," Rick started to explain, "Beth tried to redress and clean Hershel's wound but he started to bleed too much again. She managed to stop it but we need more bandages."

"But Rick-" Glenn tried again but was interrupted by Lumen who snapped into her nurse mode after hearing the news and started to talk over Daryl's shoulder directly to Beth.

"I thought you said your dad taught you things. You are not supposed to redress amputate limb right the next day! Come on!" She motioned for Beth to come with her to the infirmary to get what they needed, which she did before anyone could stop her.

Rick briefly looked back at Maggie to check her reaction, their eyes met and despite her tense expression, she gave a curt nod. She wanted to just get things they needed and be gone. She was worried for her father and that was her only focus right now.

As was Beth's. Too distressed about her dad's condition to consider the possible danger, she hurried to catch up without a second thought, brushing between Oscar and Merle on her way. Trying to justify her actions she started to explain, "We always redressed the wounds back at the farm at least once a day. I thought I should do it now too."

"Okay, alright," Lumen put her hand on Beth's shoulder and guided her to the door noticing Daryl following right behind them, "you are not treating animals anymore, okay? From now on, if you won't be sure about how to proceed you come to me and..." her voice trailed away when the trio disappeared behind the door.

Maggie moved to go after them but this time Glenn quickly caught her arm. "I swear I heard them talking about killing someone. We can't just do nothing." Glenn urged the issue. Looking for support his eyes were jumping from Maggie to Rick who rubbed his hands over his tired face before looking around.

Rick wanted to do right by his group, by his family, and he desperately wanted to keep the truce with Merle and the others so he could focus on them. But the stress was beginning to be too much. It felt like they couldn't catch a break. There seemed to be always something and he was exhausted. He was about to ask what exactly have Glenn heard and for a moment he felt almost relieved when someone else started to talk until he heard what it was.

"Oh no, you don't!" Merle sounded more than fed up. "It's the same damn thing over and over ever since the day we've met and I had just about enough! It's obvious we will be seeing each other around a lot. This prison ain't that big!" He spread out his arms, motioning around himself, the bottle still in one hand, Glenn's gun in the other. "And I won't be explaining myself every damn time we cross paths and you happen to think you heard or saw something."

"I can't believe I'm saying this, but I agree with Merle here." Oscar shook his head. "We are bound to run into each other, we share the showers, the supplies at the cafeteria and you obviously need the infirmary and Lumen's help. If not for the old man then for your wife and the baby. Even the cars are parked side by side outside. So how about we all chill."

"Fuck, I just wanted to enjoy a drink," Merle muttered the last part under his breath quietly only for Oscar to hear, wiggling the bottle in front of Oscar's face, making him snicker in response.

"I'm not starting anything." Rick tried to defend himself. He then addressed Merle since he was the one they made the deal with in the first place before they even got into the prison. "But you have to admit that this particular thing asks for some explanation. I mean I'm pretty sure Glenn here didn't make it up. I'm not accusing anyone of anything, I'm just saying that if there is some kind of danger, we should know," he said calmly, motioning to Glenn and Maggie with his thumb.

Merle made as if he was thinking about it before he shook his head, any trace of playfulness gone, "no, I don't think I owe you any explanation at all."

Just then Beth and Lumen emerged from the infirmary with hands full of supplies. They were talking to each other and Daryl was tailing them again. Big Tiny decided to come out too, but he stayed by the door, not wanting to get involved in the argument going on.

"I packed the epogen I told you about too. It hasn't been kept in a fridge but from how you described the bleeding, we'll just have to try it." Lumen showed the medicine to Beth before she put it into the box she was holding.

"But you will go with me to inject it, right?" Beth asked with big worried eyes.

"Yes, of course, I will. We just can't be certain it will work, we have to try though..." she trailed off, picking up on the edgy atmosphere around her and remembering the reason for it.

She stopped walking and took in everyone's expression before she locked eyes with Merle. They spent a long time together and it came naturally to her to seek his guidance. He held her gaze for a moment before his eyes slid behind her where she knew Daryl was standing and she saw his expression soften just a bit before it went hard again when he turned back to Rick.

"We've been nothing but civil to you and your group. As far as I am concerned all we do here is doing you fucking favors, so kindly take your bandages and fuck off, officer," he growled.

"Okay, we'll go," Rick tried to save whatever was left of the truce, motioning for Beth to go to them. She made a step forward but stopped to look pleadingly at Lumen who looked apologetically at Merle in turn. Not because she was sorry about offering her help, but because now she somehow felt as if she was going against Merle and she didn't like that particular feeling.

"I promised to go check on Hershel with her." She gave him a helpless shrug.

"Well nobody's stopping you, sweetheart," Merle answered with an exaggerated gesture toward the trio, shooting Rick a pointed look.

Lumen gave him a brief smile and hurried to Beth's side before they both joined Maggie, Glenn, and Rick who gave Merle a tense curt nod and then they all rushed off.

Merle turned so he was facing everyone left in the hallway, "What a prick, anyone else feels like just killing them all and be done with it?" Daryl opened his mouth, about to say something, but Merle quickly jumped in, "No, you don't answer that, it was a rhetorical question."

Daryl narrowed his eyes at him. "I was gonna say I'm going after them, to keep an eye on her," Daryl said, his tone bored as he was already moving to leave.

"Yeah, that's a shocker," Merle grumbled making Daryl stop in his track and turn back to him.

"What the hell? What's that suppose to mean? You want her wandering around by herself when she goes back or what?" He asked, no longer sounding bored but angry instead.

"'Course not," Merle said with a heavy sigh. "You go, we'll take care of the food." He motioned to Oscar.

Daryl stared at him for a moment but when he saw Merle wasn't about to elaborate he turned to go to catch up with Lumen.

"I'm saving the drinks for later," Merle called after him receiving a dismissing wave in response. He watched him leave till he rounded the corner to the other hallway before turning back to Oscar and the others.

"Alright, what's your plan for the day?" Merle asked Axel.

"Nothing much, we were on our way out. Someone said yesterday that those dead walking- things are piling up around the fences. I thought we could look how much of a problem that is."

"Finally a decent idea," Merle nodded, "if you see-"

"I'll let one of you know," Axel confirmed before Merle finished the sentence, drawing a huff from Big Tiny.

Merle glared at him, "What? Got something to say?" he said making Big Tiny glare back but otherwise stay quiet. "That's what I thought, dumb coon."

"Nice!" Oscar deadpanned sarcastically from behind him.

"What?" Merle exclaimed, "He's a dumb fuck."

"Whatever." Oscar waved him off, deciding there was no point in explaining that calling Big Tiny 'dumb' wasn't the part he didn't agree with. Instead, he nodded his goodbye to the two men.

Merle gave a nod to Axel and ignored Big Tiny falling step behind Oscar who was looking straight ahead, marching swiftly in the direction of the cafeteria. Merle watched him for a bit and when he was sure Oscar won't turn to look or talk to him he took out the orange bottle from his pocket and popped one of the pills.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It took Oscar some time to go through all the supplies in the cafeteria stock since Merle wasn't much of help, but he managed to pack enough for the four of them to last for at least two weeks.

In the end, Merle being there turned out to be not completely of no use when he came up with an idea to pack few more boxes and stock them in the truck, so they had food ready if they needed to leave in hurry for whatever reason. It wouldn't be the first time that happened to Merle.

They moved all of it to their room and then they went outside with what was meant to be put in the truck. When that was done Oscar sat down on the bed of the truck and started to open one of the cans he carried out so he could eat outside. The sun was still high and it was hot but he didn't care. He was just glad to be anywhere with fresh air.

"Something you said earlier stuck with me." Oscar broke the silence.

Merle's head popped out of the back window of the cabin where he was searching for something, "What?" he asked as if he didn't quite catch what Oscar said, "Oh, here they are," he added contentedly and then got out to join Oscar in the back. "What did you say?"  he mumbled around a cigarette he now had between his lips and was about light up.

Oscar looked up from the can at him, "Was talking about what you said earlier. That you are right. This prison ain't that big. How come nobody saw Tomas then? We did a fucking tour this morning and we didn't run into him. Where is he?"

Merle blew out some smoke looking as if he was thinking hard about the question before a big grin broke on his face, "Jerking off somewhere probably. He'll show up, I wouldn't worry about that. It seemed to me like he was very adamant about this being his place so-" He stopped suddenly. "What have you all been doing all those months for him to get this cocky anyway? Kissing his ass? That doesn't sound like my brother at all. I'm kinda surprised that asshole was still breathing when we came here, to be honest."

Oscar kept his eyes down for a moment, "Of course we didn't. But we didn't know what's really happening outside, and we had an agreement. If we knew nothing will ever be the same I would kill him myself," he said seriously, locking eyes with Merle briefly before looking around, his face severe. His frown deepened when he caught sight of blond hair by the fence. "I don't know much details, but from what I've heard he was sent here for some fucked up shit."

Merle turned to follow Oscar's line of sight, "well my brother wasn't here for picking daisies either. Why are you for the death sentence for old Tomas so badly?"

"I know, Daryl," Oscar said absently, "I trust Daryl, and from what I know, Daryl also doesn't get his rocks off by raping and torturing women, right? Unlike our wanted friend. I say, better the devil you know." He finished his thought before he hopped down and was about to go after the lonely girl when Merle put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"We'll keep our eyes open and deal with him when he shows up. Till then-" He pulled the bottle of gin out from the inside pocket of his jacket, "We can chill." He grinned and after receiving a look from Oscar he added defensively, "your words not mine."

Oscar sighed, "You go ahead, I'm gonna fetch Amy there," and with that, he went off.

At first, Merle didn't think much about the reasons behind Daryl's desire to end Tomas' life. He never questioned his motives. He should have known it wasn't just because Tomas may have looked at someone funny when the others agreed so eagerly. Now it kinda made sense why Daryl wouldn't let Lumen out of his sight. Oh well, there is nothing they can do right now, he thought and leaned against the side of the truck to enjoy his smoke while unscrewing the cap to take a swing.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Oscar purposely dragged his feet on the ground to make some noise, intending not to scare the girl again. She didn't seem to notice his approach though, so he called "Hi" when he was still far enough from her. She turned after the voice and smiled when she saw him.

"Hi yourself," she greeted back looking at him expectantly, waiting for him to tell her what he wanted. He came closer but stayed at a respectful distance.

"You know you shouldn't be walking around alone, it's not safe," he said carefully.

She looked baffled, "but Rick said you cleared this part of the prison. I never go alone outside of the fences."

"Right," he muttered under his breath. He didn't want to start a panic among the women and he couldn't tell her that she should be wary of the prisoners exactly. It would sound as if he was warning her about himself.

So instead he decided to change the subject, keep her company, and hopefully convince her to go back inside later. He looked at the growling corpses at the other side of the fence thinking about what to say, when the obvious question came to him.

"What are you doing here anyway? Don't you have some emergency situation going on inside? With the old man, I mean."

She blushed and looked away, "Yeah, I wanted to help, but turned out I was just being in the way. It's not good. Lumen said he's in some kind of shock from the blood loss, I don't remember the name for it. Beth and Maggie keep crying. I just- I needed out."

He didn't know what to say to that so he kept quiet. Well, he did have something to say, but he wasn't sure if it would be helpful and after a few more minutes he decided to give it a shot.

"You know," he started, not taking his eyes from the fence, "if he doesn't make it, it's still good you all would have the opportunity to say goodbye to him." He glanced at her when he saw no change in her expression he continued. "I have- I mean I had a family, a wife, kids, and now they're gone. I'll never see them again and it still doesn't feel real. It's as if my mind couldn't catch up and process it. So yeah, I think you are better off like this. You know what I mean?"

She looked at him then, "I know what you mean exactly. Before the winter, we were at this farm and it got overrun and we lost my sister there. I never saw what happened to her and I kinda still expecting her to just show up," she said quietly, teary-eyed.

They broke the eye contact as the door to the cellblock slammed shut. Oscar looked up to see angry looking Daryl strolling toward them.

"Where's Lumen?" Oscar asked when he saw he's alone.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "Apparently I'm making the pregnant lady nervous so the message Lumen is giving her is pointless with me nearby. So I was kindly asked to wait outside. Fucking assholes," he grumbled before looking around when he didn't see his brother. "Merle?"

"He's by the truck," Oscar pointed and sure enough Merle was sitting there with his eyes closed, drinking and smoking.

"I'm gonna grab a smoke too, and if I'll be lucky, steal that bottle from him," Daryl said and waited for Oscar to go with him.

"Do you wanna come?" Oscar asked Amy, not wanting to leave her alone there unless she went back inside, "I think everybody could use a drink or ten right about now."

"Oh, I don't know, I shouldn't," she said not really looking at either of them.

"What? You're too good to have a drink with us?" Daryl narrowed his eyes at her, any other day he would most likely let it go, but he was just too pissed from earlier.

"No! That's not what I meant, it's just- with these things walking around, should any of us be drinking really?" 

Understanding washed over Daryl and he relaxed slightly, "Don't worry, I'm sure there isn't even left enough for you to get tipsy after my brother being alone with the bottle for so long. There won't be much left. You'll be happy to have one drink. Come on, let's go."

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

It turned out Merle was indeed left alone with the gin for too long, because when Lumen finally came out she witnessed what looked like the end of obscene drunken proposition from him to Amy, who was rushing past her back to the cellblock with Oscar on her heels, apologizing.

It didn't look like Amy was about to listen to any of his apologies though and Oscar eventually gave up. He was glad she was safe back inside although this wasn't how he wanted it to happen.

Lumen marched to Merle who was stupidly grinning and started to greet her loudly but was interrupted by her poking him into the center of his chest with her forefinger.

"Do you actually want to get laid, Merle? I meant like ever again," she asked angrily.

"What do you mean if I ever wanted to get laid? What kind of stupid question is that?" He asked, his face transforming from the happy expression to a deep scowl.

"A valid one I'd say. Because the way you talk to women here won't help you any. It might work once on someone who had just too many drinks to know better, but I don't think you'll find those girls easily these days."

"The fuck do you care? Mind your own business and stop ruining my high. I'll talk however I want to whoever I want," he spat, not being sure if he was more pissed at her because she was sticking her nose somewhere it didn't belong or frustrated because she might have a point.

High? How? She searched his eyes, took in his unbalanced posture and only now realized he was indeed high and probably a bit drunk too. He had found something in the infirmary after all. She spotted Daryl shaking his head at her, indicating there is no point in arguing with Merle right now. Knowing he's right she decided to end this conversation as quickly as possible.

"I'm not trying to tell you what to do Merle. I'm just saying, if what you are aiming for is getting some, this is not the way and you should consider changing your game a bit. If you just want to piss them off though, then you are doing a great job. That's all I wanted to say."

"Whatever!" Merle waved her off, "I'm gonna take a piss." He threw over his shoulder and marched away.

He did his business and decided to hell with them and to go back inside. Only now when he was moving around he realized he maybe took a bit too much maybe he should have taken it easy on the pills after all the time without, because suddenly he felt as if someone punched him.

He stumbled once or twice on the stairs but eventually, he managed to get inside of their part of the prison. He didn't, however, manage to take the right hallway and ended up in front of the showers instead. He looked to the right and to the left in puzzlement, not really sure which way he should go when he heard a muffled noise coming from the inside of the shower room.

He tried to listen intently if he'd hear it again. For a moment there was only silence and then he heard something again. He fished his knife and walked in on unsteady legs. He looked around the gloomy room, trying to figure what was making the noise when his eyes landed on a small figure curled on the floor under the window.

He blinked trying to clear his vision but the figure was still there, only now he was able to make out the blond hair. It couldn't be Lumen right? She was still outside, or wasn't she? Just when he was about to call out the girl lifted her head and he was met with big blue eyes that somehow managed to shine in the shadows of the room. He soon realized they were shining with tears. He remembered this girl, she was all smiles usually.

"You alright there lil' lady?" he spluttered still wondering if he was imagining her or if she was actually there. She didn't answer, only shook her hair and hid her face again.

Merle stood there for a moment not sure what to do. His legs had a mind of their own when they closed the distance between him and the girl to lean against the wall. The world started to spin and he slid down and slumped on the ground by her side. He closed his eyes but quickly realized that wasn't the best idea, so he opened them again just in time to see the girl turning to him and throwing herself to his side. She clung to him and started to sob.

He glanced down at her, not knowing what to do about it. He awkwardly patted her head, grumbling a quiet "there, there."

And before he knew what hit him he had a lap full of her. She was kissing him and her hands were caressing his chest, sliding down to open his pant. And that right there was the wake-up call he needed.

He grabbed her arms and pushed her back growling, "what the hell do you think you're doing?"

She was staring at him wide-eyed, "I- I thought this is what you wanted. I was just so sad, felt so alone and I've- I've never, and I thought- and you said-" she stuttered nervously.

"I was kidding you stupid bitch," he spat showing her off of him. "I'm not deflowering little girls for fuck sake. Get the hell out of here."

She blinked away the tears that started yet again fall out of her eyes before she scrambled to her feet and ran away.

"Fuck," he breathed out and sat back, trying to make sense of what just happened before the world around him went black.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

Merle woke to someone banging on the door. A door? Where was he? He cracked an eye open to find himself on the couch in their shared room. How did he get here? His memories were foggy. Did he take a shower? Still looking around he heard the door being open and Oscar's tired voice.

"What?"

"Have you seen Beth?" Came the frantic answer. "She never came back yesterday."

  xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx  

I am very sorry about the late update. A tragedy isn't picky and visited too close for my liking and when I finally started to feel like writing again, I got stuck... 

Anyway,  I hope you enjoyed the chapter :-)