-- 7 Months Later --

Nanami heaves out a deep breath, now happy that a cloud didn't follow suit. He liked the winter, really. But, when it was just he and Michonne on the road with two of her walkers on chains, he learned that maybe the cold wasn't the best thing ever.

"There's a steakhouse nearby," Michonne announces, looking over her map, "Maybe we can come through there for some supplies."

"Yeah.. Maybe they have some half eaten cans of barbecue sauce left over," Nanami huffs.

Michonne shrugs, flipping through the phonebook for other stores, "Beats eating air."

Nanami's stomach had growled itself to exhaustion and he couldn't really remember the last time he'd had a proper meal outside of a couple wild berries they'd found nearly a week ago.

"Air doesn't have an expiration date," Nanami offers- still thinking about that box of cereal that was over a year old and gave him a stomach ache after he'd eaten it out of desperation.

"We'll find something there," Michonne attempts to lighten his mood, "Best to look rather than give up, anyway."

--

"Kiko!" Daryl shouts.

Sakiko steps out from behind Glenn, drawing her arm back before flinging the knife through the air.

Daryl shoots an arrow from his bow at the same time- both weapons taking down the two walkers that threatened them.

Glenn tugs her back in formation, the group hurrying forward. Ryan picks up Sakiko's knife as they run, handing it back to her, though she already had another ready in her hand to fly again.

"Through here!" Shane yells, ushering Hershel and Beth ahead.

The group follows before they're cut off by a sight they never though they'd see again.

"Oh shit. It's a dead end," T-Dog mutters.

"No," Rick steps forward, "It's not."

The group looked at the prison, able to read Rick's mind.

It wasn't a dead end. It was safety and security.

--

Nanami's feet dragged with the same amount of energy that the walker he'd heard Michonne call 'Mike' had.

"Looks untouched," Michonne points out as they stand in the parking lot of the restaurant.

"What did you do before this?" Nanami asks suddenly.

"Why do you ask?" Michonne questions, tugging the walkers forward.

"Me and my sister.. We didn't even know this was going on until we got to Atlanta. Did you see the broadcasts? The quarantines? Anything?"

Michonne knocks on the wooden door, leaning against the wall as they await to hear any noise from inside.

"First the CDC put out messages about symptoms.. Then, a lockdown began. We lost internet, then the phones.. Most television stations went silent and there was only emergency broadcasts being aired. The president said it was spreading quick, then after a week- he stopped showing up on screen."

Michonne's eyes grow distant, remembering the early days of the outbreak.

"The military took over from there. Safety camps were put up in larger neighborhoods, hospitals, churches.."

"Did you ever go to the safety camps?" Nanami wonders.

Michonne looks at him blankly, "Yes. But, they weren't safe for long."

Her tone was so cold- something Nanami wasn't used to being directed at him. Uncomfortably, he shuffles on his feet and crosses his arms.

"When the camps went down, the military went with it. Since then.."

"You've been on the road. Like this," Nanami figures out.

"Then, you came along," her eyebrows quirk, "And we've been on the road. Like this."

Nanami huffs a laugh at the way she repeated his words. The atmosphere is broken as a walker slams against the door from the other side.

"You ready?" Michonne asks, pulling her sword out.

"Never," Nanami sighs as he places his hand on the doorknob.

--

In the night air- the sound of the wood in the fire cracking fills the silence.

The distant sound of walkers growling makes Sakiko's attention turn to the fences that separated the group and the dead. She watches them for a few seconds until Ryan nudges her arm.

"We're good," he reminds, "Rick said there's no way of a breech."

Sakiko sighs, turning her focus back to where she was cleaning her knives in the dim light of the fire.

"The farm quarry was safe. The farm.. Those storage units, the neighborhood. All winter, everything has been safe until-"

"Kiko," Ryan scolds, "We're good."

Sakiko stays quiet, continuing to scrub her knives clean.

--

Nanami and Michonne had found a few bags of chips and rotten vegetables. The smell of the rot nearly made Nanami throw up if he had anything in his stomach that would be able to come up.

They fortified the door, keeping the two walkers there for extra security. Laying down for the night, Nanami decides the run was worth it as the two booths pushed together was more comfortable than the hard ground or car seats they'd been using for months.

His mind slowly came to an ease, now used to the sounds of the two walkers that followed the pair wherever they went.

Just as Nanami's eyes fluttered closed, his body relaxing and sinking deeper into the booths- another sound was heard.

It was quick, but loud. The door's hinges breaking- the wood snapping as it flies open. Michonne's head peers over the seats she was at, unable to make a noise before two gunshots put an end to the walkers they travelled alongside.

Nanami shoots out of his seat, eyes wild as he looks to the door where the sun was beginning to rise once again.

At once, guns are pointed to them as Michonne retrieves her sword and Nanami reaches for his gun.

It's silent as the men attempt to understand what they were seeing. There were two walkers inside and these two were sleeping like it was normal?

"No, shit," a voice laughs.

The floorboard creaks as the holder of the voice walks in, placing a makeshift blade suspended on his arm onto the booth Nanami laid at. Nanami swallowed, gun in his lap as he meets the man's eyes.

"Merle," Nanami forces his mouth to say.

"I'll be damned," Merle chuckles, "How the hell you been, kid?"

𝒶𝓊𝓉𝒽𝑜𝓇 𝓇𝒶𝓂𝒷𝓁𝑒𝓈--

hi im back again

if you havent checked out my new book 'united' pls do bc its also fun

sakiko said ~skill~ and i love that for her

NANAMI AND MERLE SHENANIGANS WHOS READY