Daryl drove the truck through the woods until they ended up on a separate backroad, though there were still people and cars there as well it wasn't as bad as the main road into Atlanta.

"Were those.. bombs?" Sakiko questions carefully.

"Guy said Atlanta was a refugee camp. Didn't look like it," Daryl mutters, pulling the truck to park at the earlier gas station that held double the people it did hours ago.

Nanami shakes his head, trying to piece the events together, "They.. The military or whatever, blew up the city?"

"You saw just as much as I did," Daryl reminds.

Sakiko reaches to her pocket, pulling out her pocket knife. Daryl has to fight the urge to ask her what the flimsy knife it gonna do against a bomb but figures it's a sensitive time to say much of anything.

"Y'all wait here. I'll be back in a few," Daryl says, opening the door.

Sakiko's hand darts out to grab his arm, "Where are you going?"

"To find the phone," he answers, "I ain't going far, all right?"

Sakiko slowly nods and releases her hold on him as he advises, "Lock the door 'til I get back."

The twins nod and once Daryl shuts the door, Sakiko clicks the lock down. Daryl was relieved they were actually listening in this time as he makes his way to the phone poll. He had some change, enough to call Merle and check on him. Sure, he left. But if whatever was going on was big enough to bomb a whole city, the least he could do was see if his brother was alive.

The twins were quiet in the truck, Sakiko clutching her knife as Nanami fiddled with his bottle cap, watching the logo on top spin in circles.

Sakiko kept her eyes on the people that passed by like any single one of them could suddenly lunge at them because of Shinsuke's deal. A knock on the window makes them both jump and dart their eyes to the passenger window. The man outside points to roll the window down and Nanami reaches for the crank. Just before he can reach it, Sakiko grabs his wrist with her free hand.

"Daryl said to stay here and wait," she reminds.

"We're not leaving. Maybe he's lost or something. He doesn't look crazy, at least," Nanami shrugs her off.

Even though he was willing to hear the man out, he doesn't open the window much, only an inch or so.

"Hey, you kids all right?" the man asks, "You got a parent with you? You safe?"

"We're.." Nanami trails off.

"We're waiting. He's trying to use the phone," Sakiko answers, not specifying their relationship, or lack thereof, to Daryl.

The man nods slowly, eyeing the knife in Sakiko's hand and giving her a sympathetic look, "Would it be all right if I wait for him to get back? Just to make sure y'all are good?"

Nanami is the one to nod making Sakiko sigh as the man lets out his own breath of relief, "Good. Just don't want y'all in danger, you know? It's crazy out here."

"What's happening? Did you see.." Nanami gulps, "The bombs?"

"I didn't see them. I heard them, though," he nods.

At the confirmation that it wasn't a hallucination from their abrupt awakening, the twins feel uneasy.

"My name is Theodore. Y'all can call me T, or T-Dog. It's what my buddies all call me," the man introduces.

"I'm Nanami. This is my sister, Sakiko," Nanami greets.

"And who are y'all waiting on? Parents?" T-Dog asks.

The twins look to each other before Sakiko answers, "A friend."

Daryl returns at just the right moment, or wrong if you take T-Dog's questioning eyes into account. Sakiko unlocks the driver door for Daryl, though he lingers as he looks to T-Dog.

"You with them?" T-Dog asks.

"Yeah," Daryl nods, "Why?"

"Look, I don't want no trouble. I just saw some kids sitting on their own and wanted to make sure," T-Dog assures.

"Who'd you call?" Sakiko asks Daryl, ignoring the 'trouble' word.

"Merle. He's on his way here," Daryl answers and the twins' faces fall.

"Merle's coming?" Nanami asks.

Daryl wishes he could explain more to them, but T-Dog's watchful eyes made him hesitate. He didn't know this guy, why was he in their business?

"Yeah. He'll be here in a few," Daryl tells them.

Nanami slumps back in his seat, hating that the elder Dixon knew their whereabouts and was on his way.

"Y'all need some food? I got some meals packed if the kids are hungry," T-Dog offers.

Daryl was ready to say no, but he had to think about their well being. How much could their stomachs handle of the junk food they'd brought along? It would be nice if they could have a real meal.

Nanami looks to Daryl, that same thought in his brain as his stomach growls at the thought. Daryl glances to the two kids before his eyes land on T-Dog, giving a curt nod.

"All right, I'll be back in just a few," T-Dog smiles before walking away.

Once he's out of sight, the twins glares fall to Daryl.

"Look, he's coming with some supplies. Merle used to be in the military, he knows what he's doing in shit like this. And he wouldn't take no as an answer," Daryl defends immediately.

"Doe he know we're with you?" Sakiko questions.

"Nah. Not yet," Daryl says and both twins sigh, "He'll find out when he gets here."

"And what do we tell him when he's here? That we all ran off without him and dad?" Sakiko asks.

"I ain't thought that far. Maybe we jus' tell 'em that I found you two runnin' away."

"So that we're the problem kids and you were just helping us out of the good in your heart?" Sakiko snaps, flicking her knife closed.

"It ain't like that," Daryl denies, "We need to be on Merle's good side so if we have to lie a little, so be it."

"Okay," Nanami agrees making Sakiko roll her eyes, "We'll say that we were running off and you picked us up. We got caught in this when you were trying to bring us back home."

"And how do we explain that you just so happened to already have a bag packed?" Sakiko wonders.

Daryl sighs, she wasn't making this easy even though she had a point. But, what else could they say? The truth would have Merle blowing his lid in anger and going off on Daryl for leaving them. He would never hear the end of it.

"We'll figure it out," Daryl assures, going quiet as he sees T-Dog and another male returning.

"Hey, kids," T-Dog greets, "Here's some food. Eat up."

Nanami rolls the window down further, taking the packed meals and handing one to Sakiko. Though she throws T-Dog another suspicious look, her eyes soon fall onto the man beside him.

"This is Glenn," T-Dog introduces, seeing Sakiko's eyes.

"Hey," Glenn forces a smile, "Nice to meet you all."

"I'm Nanami, this is Sakiko," Nanami goes through once more, "And that's Daryl."

Daryl stays quiet, only relieved for the kids to have a proper meal as Nanami pulls a sandwich out of his bag.

"Guess we're in for a long night until the government decides the next step," T-Dog comments.

"Yeah, I mean.. Maybe the.." Glenn trails off as he looks to the kids, "All that was just a precaution. Maybe they eradicated it or something. Or working on it."

Sakiko snapped out of her eyes watching Glenn, noticing Nanami already halfway through his sandwich, finally pulling hers out.

"Excuse me," another man calls, "Any of you young men happen to have a radiator hose you can spare?"

"Radiator hose?" T-Dog repeats, "Man, you picked a bad time to break down."

"Yeah.. My RV just isn't what it used to be," he sighs, before extending his hand, "Name's Dale, by the way."

"Glenn," Glenn greets, shaking his hand, "This is T-Dog and Daryl. The kids inside are Nanami and Sakiko."

"Sticking together," a woman says from behind Dale, "A lot like us."

"This is Andrea and Amy," Dale names the two women, "We met earlier today when they ran out of gas. Decided to stick together to see this out."

Andrea and Amy looked alike, Nanami deciding they were clearly related.

Daryl looks to the kids again. Sticking together.. That was their plan before.

This was something they couldn't have anticipated happening.. But, maybe this was for the best in some dark way.

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

the ogs my heart

my brAND 🥺