August 22nd: Burning Bright: New People (BtVS/TWD)
Title: Burning Bright, Chapter 5: New People
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / The Walking Dead (TV)
Rating: Teen (Maggie/Glenn)
Word Count: 1,805
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: 03x06: Hounded.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: Buffy meets Merle and Michonne.
Author's Note: Written for Day 22 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Eh, with a side of meh.
Follows Burning Bright, Searching, To See You Again, and Stab It.
About a week a half after finally finding Sophia's mother, Buffy was still living in the prison. They had been clearing it of walkers one section at a time, but it was slow going, and it was slowed even further when they realized there were still living prisoners in the cafeteria. To everyone's shock the five prisoners had been completely unaware that the world outside had collapsed ten months before, and that the dead had begun getting back up again and eating the living. It had been a little surreal.
What hadn't been surprising was that the prisoners were more or less unfriendly. Within two days two of them were dead. Then a third had been left to fend for himself, in a courtyard full of hungry undead. He had somehow survived without their knowledge and then had planned his revenge by opening doors and leaving fresh kills so that the walkers from outside would overrun the inside of the prison. He had nearly succeeded, too.
It had only been pure chance that Hershel, who was a former vet and therefore had a medical education, had been with Lori when the group split, trying to flee to safety. Lori had given birth in the broiler room and thanks to Hershel's skills both she and the little baby girl had survived.
It had been chaotic, and T had gotten bitten and then sacrificed himself to save Carol and Sophia.
Andrew, the prisoner Rick thought had been killed in the courtyard, had ended up getting shot in the head by Oskar, another one of the inmates. It meant that two of the prisoners were still alive and breathing and would hopefully not cause any more problems.
The day after, when they had cleared the prison of dead biters again, it was agreed that they needed to go for a supply run. "We need to drive somewhere for diapers, preferably the cloth kind since we don't need a stash of dirty diapers lying around making a stink. Formula, even if Lori breastfeeds, baby clothes, and other things for her. We also need supplies."
"We'll go. Find a store somewhere." Glenn volunteered his girlfriend and himself right away.
"I'll tag along for that, just in case," Buffy added. She needed to get away from these walls for a little while. She needed to see something that wasn't concrete walls, cell doors, and fences. "Daryl, you should pick someone and go see if there's something worth hunting. The more fresh food we have the better."
Rick nodded, "The rest of us will fix things up here, make sure Lori's comfortable."
Decision made, Buffy and the happy couple got a backpack each and left in the red car, while Daryl chose Beth as his partner for the evening. Promising to teach her about hunting and tracking. It left nine people in the prison, ten if you counted the baby. 15 people weren't much, but feeding everyone was still going to be tough.
Finding a store turned out to be easier than she had thought, but then she had forgotten that Maggie was a local and knew her way around. The grocery store proved to have what they needed as apparently people either didn't have babies or small children or they hadn't thought about that kind of supplies when they cleaned on most of the rest of the store.
Afterward, Glenn and Maggie went outside to place the baby stuff in the back of the car while Buffy made a final sweep of the store and checked out the storage area in the back. There really wasn't much left for her to find, or at least nothing edible. Wandering towards the back, she forced open the storage port.
It didn't have much, mostly fresh produce that was no longer fresh and hadn't been for nearly a year, but there was a little left. Two plastic-wrapped packages of water bottles had miraculously been left behind. A few cans of various food, but overall it had been cleared out.
Buffy stacked the bottles and the cans before going back through the store and towards the entrance when she suddenly realized that the voices she had heard weren't just the two lovebirds, but there was a third voice. A man's voice and he didn't sound too friendly.
Quickening her step she got close enough to the dirty windows to be able to see outside, and what she saw was a middle-aged man in a dark-ish tank top and with some of kind metal knife-holder thingy at the end of his right arm where his hand should've been. Buffy frowned, from the conversation it sounded like this man was Daryl's missing brother.
Studying the man outside, he looked like trouble, he moved like trouble, and despite what he was telling Glenn and Maggie he wanted something other than to see his little brother. He was keeping a careful eye on both of them, watching their movement, judging how willing they were to shoot, and if she was honest with herself then she doubted they were going to shoot the man based solely on the fact that he was a close relative of someone in their group. Which meant she would have to intervene before it got out of hand.
Buffy carefully put her precious cargo on the floor and walked slowly to the door. The stranger was between the door and their car, which meant that any sudden movement on her part would likely make him do something stupid. Her belief in him being insincere was proven when she got a better vantage point and saw he had a gun tucked into the side of his pants.
She had just cleared the doorway when she noticed him getting ready to make a sudden movement and she put on Slayer speed and snatched his gun just before he was able to get to it. Quickly taking several steps back in case he decided to get grabby, she ordered, "On your knees, Edward Scissorhand!"
The man turned startled eyes on her and his jaw actually dropped at the sight of her, and not just because Buffy had managed to steal his gun either. Early on, as the world around her collapsed, she realized it was easier to get blood and guts off leather pants than jeans or other fabrics. It had made her look specifically for that when she went looking for new clothes. Other than that she was wearing a white tank top that did not have the same benefit and had old stains on it that didn't wash out.
Glenn gave her the same look he always gave her when he thought one of her puns was bad, she just shrugged lightly. It was fitting even if it was bad.
"Now listen here, girly. Give that gun back before you hurt someone." He took a step towards her and she moved her trigger finger a little bit while making sure he saw it. He stopped.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"My name's Merle Dixon, I'm lookin' for my brother. Daryl. He was travellin' with their group," he inclined his head toward the couple who still had their own guns aimed at him. "We both were. I had a disagreement with Rick and he handcuffed me to a rooftop, leaving me to die. Had to cut my own hand off to survive." He waved the hand/knife contraption a little to prove his point.
Buffy frowned, that was beyond cruel if it was true. She looked at Glenn, "Is that right?"
"Um," he replied a little nervously while looking back and forth between her, Maggie, and the newly introduced Merle.
"It is, don't lie."
"Okay, fine. Yes. Rick left him on the rooftop, but he deserved it. He was deliberately making noises and drawing herds to us while we were still in Atlanta. The city was completely overrun with walkers. He nearly got all of us killed!" Then, in an attempt to defend himself because Maggie clearly didn't like what she was hearing, he added, "Daryl flipped out when we got back to the quarry and demanded we go back for him, and we did. Except he was already gone. All we found was his hand and we just assumed he bled out."
While the couple had a short staring match, Merle saw an opportunity to try and rush her. Reacting out of pure instinct, she hit him over the head with her stolen gun. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
Acting fast, she put the gun in her belt, moved forward, removed the contraption from Merle's arm, and gave it to Glenn, while at the same time ordering Maggie to get her some rope. A few minutes later, Merle was tied up, and the knife/arm thing was in the back of the car.
"Now what?" Glenn asked into the silence.
"I take it this guy can't be trusted with our location?"
"No!" Both of her companions said at once.
"He's redneck scum. I don't know where he's been, but it looks like he's found another group to take him in."
All the while Buffy had been stretching her senses to make sure they were not ambushed by other people or biters. Turning towards the cars, she looked a little further down the row where she had been hearing someone breathing since she became aware of the situation with Merle.
"Come out, whoever you are. I know you're there."
"What?" Glenn looked confused, "There's no one else here, just us four."
Buffy ignored him, "Don't make me come over there, I've already knocked out one person today."
A tall, black woman rose from between the cars. Her entire front was full of blood and guts, and she was moving carefully as she walked forward.
"Who are you and are you with Merle?"
Buffy studied her, she had what looked like a sword of some kind strapped to her back. Buffy approved, smart woman. The redneck was secured so she pointed her gun at the newcomer instead. "Answer the questions."
"Michonne. No, he's from Woodbury."
"Where's that and what's wrong with it?"
What followed was a short explanation of a place that sounded perfect on the surface, but who had a leader who gave Michonne bad vibes. Making a quick decision before the idiot woke up, she ordered everyone else into the car before she carried Merle into the store about halfway. Placed him on the floor, removed the ropes, and went back out. She collected her water bottles and cans on the way out and placed them all in the car before they drove off.
Something told her that Michonne could be trusted, but only time would tell if she was right or if she had just made a huge mistake.
Author: 3am_moonlight (MirroredIllusions on TtH)
Crossover: BtVS / The Walking Dead (TV)
Rating: Teen (Maggie/Glenn)
Word Count: 1,805
Timeline: BtVS: Post-Chosen & TWD: 03x06: Hounded.
Disclaimer: Nothing copyrighted belongs to yours truly.
Summary: Buffy meets Merle and Michonne.
Author's Note: Written for Day 22 of the 2021 August Fic-A-Day.
A/N: Eh, with a side of meh.
Follows Burning Bright, Searching, To See You Again, and Stab It.
About a week a half after finally finding Sophia's mother, Buffy was still living in the prison. They had been clearing it of walkers one section at a time, but it was slow going, and it was slowed even further when they realized there were still living prisoners in the cafeteria. To everyone's shock the five prisoners had been completely unaware that the world outside had collapsed ten months before, and that the dead had begun getting back up again and eating the living. It had been a little surreal.
What hadn't been surprising was that the prisoners were more or less unfriendly. Within two days two of them were dead. Then a third had been left to fend for himself, in a courtyard full of hungry undead. He had somehow survived without their knowledge and then had planned his revenge by opening doors and leaving fresh kills so that the walkers from outside would overrun the inside of the prison. He had nearly succeeded, too.
It had only been pure chance that Hershel, who was a former vet and therefore had a medical education, had been with Lori when the group split, trying to flee to safety. Lori had given birth in the broiler room and thanks to Hershel's skills both she and the little baby girl had survived.
It had been chaotic, and T had gotten bitten and then sacrificed himself to save Carol and Sophia.
Andrew, the prisoner Rick thought had been killed in the courtyard, had ended up getting shot in the head by Oskar, another one of the inmates. It meant that two of the prisoners were still alive and breathing and would hopefully not cause any more problems.
The day after, when they had cleared the prison of dead biters again, it was agreed that they needed to go for a supply run. "We need to drive somewhere for diapers, preferably the cloth kind since we don't need a stash of dirty diapers lying around making a stink. Formula, even if Lori breastfeeds, baby clothes, and other things for her. We also need supplies."
"We'll go. Find a store somewhere." Glenn volunteered his girlfriend and himself right away.
"I'll tag along for that, just in case," Buffy added. She needed to get away from these walls for a little while. She needed to see something that wasn't concrete walls, cell doors, and fences. "Daryl, you should pick someone and go see if there's something worth hunting. The more fresh food we have the better."
Rick nodded, "The rest of us will fix things up here, make sure Lori's comfortable."
Decision made, Buffy and the happy couple got a backpack each and left in the red car, while Daryl chose Beth as his partner for the evening. Promising to teach her about hunting and tracking. It left nine people in the prison, ten if you counted the baby. 15 people weren't much, but feeding everyone was still going to be tough.
Finding a store turned out to be easier than she had thought, but then she had forgotten that Maggie was a local and knew her way around. The grocery store proved to have what they needed as apparently people either didn't have babies or small children or they hadn't thought about that kind of supplies when they cleaned on most of the rest of the store.
Afterward, Glenn and Maggie went outside to place the baby stuff in the back of the car while Buffy made a final sweep of the store and checked out the storage area in the back. There really wasn't much left for her to find, or at least nothing edible. Wandering towards the back, she forced open the storage port.
It didn't have much, mostly fresh produce that was no longer fresh and hadn't been for nearly a year, but there was a little left. Two plastic-wrapped packages of water bottles had miraculously been left behind. A few cans of various food, but overall it had been cleared out.
Buffy stacked the bottles and the cans before going back through the store and towards the entrance when she suddenly realized that the voices she had heard weren't just the two lovebirds, but there was a third voice. A man's voice and he didn't sound too friendly.
Quickening her step she got close enough to the dirty windows to be able to see outside, and what she saw was a middle-aged man in a dark-ish tank top and with some of kind metal knife-holder thingy at the end of his right arm where his hand should've been. Buffy frowned, from the conversation it sounded like this man was Daryl's missing brother.
Studying the man outside, he looked like trouble, he moved like trouble, and despite what he was telling Glenn and Maggie he wanted something other than to see his little brother. He was keeping a careful eye on both of them, watching their movement, judging how willing they were to shoot, and if she was honest with herself then she doubted they were going to shoot the man based solely on the fact that he was a close relative of someone in their group. Which meant she would have to intervene before it got out of hand.
Buffy carefully put her precious cargo on the floor and walked slowly to the door. The stranger was between the door and their car, which meant that any sudden movement on her part would likely make him do something stupid. Her belief in him being insincere was proven when she got a better vantage point and saw he had a gun tucked into the side of his pants.
She had just cleared the doorway when she noticed him getting ready to make a sudden movement and she put on Slayer speed and snatched his gun just before he was able to get to it. Quickly taking several steps back in case he decided to get grabby, she ordered, "On your knees, Edward Scissorhand!"
The man turned startled eyes on her and his jaw actually dropped at the sight of her, and not just because Buffy had managed to steal his gun either. Early on, as the world around her collapsed, she realized it was easier to get blood and guts off leather pants than jeans or other fabrics. It had made her look specifically for that when she went looking for new clothes. Other than that she was wearing a white tank top that did not have the same benefit and had old stains on it that didn't wash out.
Glenn gave her the same look he always gave her when he thought one of her puns was bad, she just shrugged lightly. It was fitting even if it was bad.
"Now listen here, girly. Give that gun back before you hurt someone." He took a step towards her and she moved her trigger finger a little bit while making sure he saw it. He stopped.
"Who are you and what do you want?"
"My name's Merle Dixon, I'm lookin' for my brother. Daryl. He was travellin' with their group," he inclined his head toward the couple who still had their own guns aimed at him. "We both were. I had a disagreement with Rick and he handcuffed me to a rooftop, leaving me to die. Had to cut my own hand off to survive." He waved the hand/knife contraption a little to prove his point.
Buffy frowned, that was beyond cruel if it was true. She looked at Glenn, "Is that right?"
"Um," he replied a little nervously while looking back and forth between her, Maggie, and the newly introduced Merle.
"It is, don't lie."
"Okay, fine. Yes. Rick left him on the rooftop, but he deserved it. He was deliberately making noises and drawing herds to us while we were still in Atlanta. The city was completely overrun with walkers. He nearly got all of us killed!" Then, in an attempt to defend himself because Maggie clearly didn't like what she was hearing, he added, "Daryl flipped out when we got back to the quarry and demanded we go back for him, and we did. Except he was already gone. All we found was his hand and we just assumed he bled out."
While the couple had a short staring match, Merle saw an opportunity to try and rush her. Reacting out of pure instinct, she hit him over the head with her stolen gun. He went down like a sack of potatoes.
Acting fast, she put the gun in her belt, moved forward, removed the contraption from Merle's arm, and gave it to Glenn, while at the same time ordering Maggie to get her some rope. A few minutes later, Merle was tied up, and the knife/arm thing was in the back of the car.
"Now what?" Glenn asked into the silence.
"I take it this guy can't be trusted with our location?"
"No!" Both of her companions said at once.
"He's redneck scum. I don't know where he's been, but it looks like he's found another group to take him in."
All the while Buffy had been stretching her senses to make sure they were not ambushed by other people or biters. Turning towards the cars, she looked a little further down the row where she had been hearing someone breathing since she became aware of the situation with Merle.
"Come out, whoever you are. I know you're there."
"What?" Glenn looked confused, "There's no one else here, just us four."
Buffy ignored him, "Don't make me come over there, I've already knocked out one person today."
A tall, black woman rose from between the cars. Her entire front was full of blood and guts, and she was moving carefully as she walked forward.
"Who are you and are you with Merle?"
Buffy studied her, she had what looked like a sword of some kind strapped to her back. Buffy approved, smart woman. The redneck was secured so she pointed her gun at the newcomer instead. "Answer the questions."
"Michonne. No, he's from Woodbury."
"Where's that and what's wrong with it?"
What followed was a short explanation of a place that sounded perfect on the surface, but who had a leader who gave Michonne bad vibes. Making a quick decision before the idiot woke up, she ordered everyone else into the car before she carried Merle into the store about halfway. Placed him on the floor, removed the ropes, and went back out. She collected her water bottles and cans on the way out and placed them all in the car before they drove off.
Something told her that Michonne could be trusted, but only time would tell if she was right or if she had just made a huge mistake.