It Comes With The Name

Chapter 2: Welcome Home

It was, in fact, something she couldn't handle. Merle spent the better part of the day getting high on whatever the hell he had in his "stash". Lauren's guess was coke but she honestly had no idea. He was absolutely trashing the camp. Knocking over cans, kicking trees, screaming about how he "ain't never needed nothin' from nobody." It was lucky that none of the dead were this far out in the woods cause Merle would've called all of them into camp by now. At one point he even stumbled over and fell onto the tent, taking the whole thing down with him.

By midday, Lauren had finally had enough. She rounded up all of the guns and knives in camp and locked them in the pickup truck, along with herself. She wished desperately that she had thought to grab a book before she left her apartment, she was bored out of her mind. She tried to find any source of entertainment in the truck, but all she could find were a bunch of porn magazines tucked into the back of the seats.

Gross.

Merle finally crashed once the sun started to go down and Daryl returned with Tank soon after. Lauren never thought she'd be so happy to see the youngest Dixon.

"If you ever leave me here with your brother again, I will drive him into the city and leave him there." She half-joked. Tank ran up to Lauren and she crouched down, happily accepting his affection.

Daryl chuckled. "That bad?"

"Look at this place." Lauren gestured, throwing her arms out. Daryl looked around at the mess that was their camp. Open cans of beans were strewn across the ground, the firepit was buried in dirt, and Merle was currently passed out on top of the collapsed tent.

"What'd he take?" Daryl asked.

"I wish I could tell you. Coke maybe?"

"Sounds about right."

Luckily, the day of hell ended up not being a complete waste, Daryl and Tank had gotten a fair amount of game. Daryl skinned and cooked a few squirrels over the fire.

"Well, I'm glad at least someone had a good day." Lauren commented, looking at Tank happily chewing on one of the squirrels.

"Went a few miles out today," Daryl said in between bites of meat. "Found a camp."

The shock must have shown on Lauren's face because he quickly added. "They ain't dangerous. I only saw a few people. Plus they got kids. Figure we could check 'em out tomorrow."

So now here she was crouched in the brush lining the strangers' camp alongside the two Dixons. Tank sat by Lauren's side, watching the people just as intensely as she was. The people they had seen so far appeared harmless enough. They seemed to have one watchman sitting atop an RV. It was an older man propped up in a lawn chair with a rifle in hand and a pair of binoculars at his side.

Two blonde women were crouched beside a small fire pit seemingly discussing something. Judging by the various tents and clothes drying on the clothesline nearby, it was safe to assume that they had quite a few more people than they could see.

A young Asian man emerged from the camper, grabbed a baseball cap, and climbed the ladder to the top of the vehicle, relieving the older man of his watch duty. Picking up the binoculars, he pressed them to his eyes and began sweeping the treeline. Lauren's breath caught in her throat when his gaze lingered in their general area a bit too long.

"He saw us." She whispered harshly.

"Yeah," Daryl grunted.

Without warning, Merle suddenly sprung up from beside her and strode confidently into their camp.

"Merle!" Lauren yelped, scrambling after the man with Daryl close behind them.

"We're not a threat!" Lauren hurried after the eldest Dixon, raising her arms as a sign of peace. "We saw your camp and wanted to make sure it was safe before we showed ourselves."

The young man on top of the RV held the rifle on Daryl, though he seemed a bit uncomfortable holding the weapon. Nudging Daryl with her arm, Lauren gave him a look, causing him to shoulder his crossbow and mimic her stance. "Tank, sit." She commanded. He did as she said, stopping beside her and sitting, but not relaxing in the slightest. His head darted, scanning the camp.

The older man they had seen on watch before whispered something to the younger of the two blonde women who hurried off down a small path.

"Looks like ya got a lotta mouths ta feed." Daryl added, nodding towards the clothesline they had spotted earlier. "Maybe we can help with that."

Lauren's eyes lingered on the clothesline, specifically on a Kings County Sheriff T-shirt she recognized. It was the T-shirt used in training for the police academy in her hometown. She knew she had seen it before because Rick had gotten on her ass about stealing it a few times when she still lived at home.

"Who-" Lauren swallowed nervously. "Who's shirt is that?" She asked, pointing at it.

"We don't have to tell you that." The remaining blonde woman said defensively.

Before Lauren could say anything in response, Merle had stepped forward yet again. "Looks like you fine people could use our services."

"What the hell is goin on here?" An all too familiar voice rang out.

Lauren was too scared to look. Worried that she would turn to the voice and it would all be a figment of her imagination. But when she forced herself to face the person speaking, she felt her heart swell.

Marching into camp followed by the younger blonde woman was someone she'd almost given up hope on seeing ever again. And the way he froze when he saw her face confirmed that he had felt the same way.

"Shane?"

The two of them stood there for a moment, just staring at each other until he suddenly broke into a dead sprint toward her. Daryl quickly held up his crossbow, obviously thinking that this was going to be an attack. He looked confused when Lauren dropped her gun but still kept his weapon raised. As Shane reached Lauren, she launched herself into his embrace, tears already streaming down her face. He caught her and held her just as tight.

"I thought I was never gonna see you again." Lauren whispered.

She had met Shane when he was no older than sixteen when Lauren was five or so. Rick had come home from school one day with his new friend, and they were practically inseparable after that. And after Rick met Lori, their duo became a trio.

Despite the age gap, Lauren and her brother were very close. He and Shane always made sure to include her in things. Growing up, Shane was like her second brother.

Before Lauren even had time to ask how or what had happened to him, a voice rang out from behind her.

"Aunt Lauren!" She spun around to find Carl tumbling out of the R.V. Lauren crouched down with tear-filled eyes and he ran into her full force, knocking them both to the ground. Tank ran over, wanting to get in on the reunion, and Carl burst into a fit of giggles. Carl had met Tank one time before when Tank was still a baby. He had only been a few weeks old so he was tiny, but now at almost a year old, he was almost the size of Carl. Lauren stood up and found her sister-in-law following close behind him, and gave her a tight hug.

Once Lauren broke the embrace she looked around, searching for the person she wanted to see most. When no one came, she looked at Shane quizzically. "Where's Rick?" The look on his face told her all she needed to know. "Oh."

"I tried to get him out, Lauren. You know I did but..." Shane explained. "I couldn't. I'm so sorry."

Lauren felt her heart, which just moments ago had been so full of joy, sink. He was gone. Her brother was dead.