A chapter catching up with our happy pair.

Angel's language translation
issa - is
naga - no
meega - me
yuga- you
questa - "insert a very vulgar insult here"

Warnings: Lots of swearing.

In the thick wilderness far from the city, Angel scent marks the trees with her perfume as she travels with Merle, tugging at his restraints to keep him moving. This way she could find a distant way back, if or when he chose to abandon her.

"I'll admit it... didn't treat yah right... yah came to my aid and I threw you away like trash."

Merle sarcastic apology made the tiny alien rolls her deep, black eyes before turning towards him.

"Shut your questa mouth and keep walking!"

"I just found it funny and a bit ironic yah see... a little bitch leading a man around like he's a dog." Merle tugged at the rope Angel was holding, making her stumble back. She could feel a toxic acid building in her mouth, ready to spit on him, as she snarled back at the man. Seeing him flinch kept her from taking drastic actions, swallowing the dangerous liquid back down for later.

"Fine. Just tell meega where Stitch is and I let yuga go."

"Ha, so you can claw my spin out when my back's turned, I don't think so. I'm more useful to yah alive remember... the only reason you put up with my mouth."

At that, Angel tugged at Merle's restraints making the red-neck stumble and grunt in annoyance as she pulled him forward.

"Being good, sticking your neck out for others in return for nothin', that's some martyr bullshit that I tried to keep my baby bro out of," his rambling continued despite her trying to ignore him.

"Actin' all nice gets you dead. Being a monster, the bad guy, that's what keeps yah alive... that's what got me this far. Of course, then there're the looks you get for striking out on your own," Merle stops as Angel looks back at him in understanding.

"Like you still belong in that cage they left you in, instead of with them... because you fooled yourself into thinking you had a home... that you were wanted," Angel finished. She remembered how her 'ohana' had to readjust to her presence with Stitch. Despite his love for her, the humans, Jumpa and Pleakly took longer to trust her. Lilo just couldn't find her one true place, that didn't involve being Stitch's boojiboo.

She didn't mind but after a while only being his mate, she wanted something more. She tried to find her own one true place, singing for humans who wanted to make it big, in exchange for earth money. This allowed her to support Lilo's family more easily, but Angel's voice and ambition she caught the sights of a talent agency. They needed a beautiful voice for a local singer, who had the 'look' but her voice sounded like Belle's ear-piercing screeches on a bad day. However, no matter how much time she spent with Stitch's ohana, she never felt like she truly fit in. She needed to find her calling, even if it meant leaving behind the only ohana she knew.

Merle grunted and yanked her back before she turned towards him with her claws out.

"I need to take a piss."

Angel looked around and gestured towards the trees and bushes around them.

"Meega naga stop you, go ahead."

"I need you to cut my hands free, yah uppity mutt!"

With a sigh, Angel resentfully untied Merle and watched him descend into the bushes. She backed away and kept her eyes in his general direction, just in case he tried to attack her again and run away. She leaned against a tree and waited before she began to pick up her bags and walk away.

"Hey, the hell do yah think yer headen' off to, yah too impatient to let me take a damn leak?!"

"Wow, I thought yuga wanted to run away from Angel... "

"I said I'd be back didn't I, besides... you helped me and I always repay my debts when someone helps me out."

"Like throwing meega off the roof-"

"Well, I was pissed off with heat stroke and higher than a kite darling, but now I'm a bit more settled down... besides, it's better to travel in a pack, that's why I used to keep my baby brother by my side, we need to watch each other's back yah know-"

"Admit that Yuga naga like being alone, do yuga want to stay with meega?" She pointed up to the grumpy older man, making him scoff.

"You need me and like it or not, if we gon get back to the camp, we have to-"

"Work together," Angel crossed her arms with a triumphant smile, knowing she had gotten the better of her irritable acquaintance.

"Whatever... fuck it, why not... besides it's gettin' late, and the last thing I need is one of those abominations ripping my throat out in my sleep. We gon set up camp right in that clearing."

Merle walked off leaving Angel to follow him towards a small, abandoned campsite.

The older male rummaged about the rancid campgrounds, finding a bloodstained tent, begrudgingly dragging out its sleeping bag. He grimaced at the tiny corpse that was laying on it, shaking it off. He looked over to see Angel, she was frowning at a few dresses that her agent made her sport from time to time, before laying them onto the dirt. Merle whistled at her to gain her attention.

"Go in that trashcan and find some cans to put on a sting, undead comes near us, we need to know, hurry up already!" He barked out as she crawled up the wastebasket, using her four arms to toss them towards him.

"Yuga set up alarm and meega make fire, issa cold- "

"Listen here you little bi-"

"Do it now!" The pink siren screeched, irked by the man's bossy attitude.

Angel and Merle's bickering was cut short by the soft growls of walkers looming in the distance. Both of them took a deep sigh before getting up and doing their elective duties. Angel gathered some sticks and a few dried leaves, while Merle strung the cans together with the strongest strands of threads he could scavenge from Angel's designer clothes. 624 rubbed the dry sticks together with lightning speed, creating a small flame and dropping it onto the pile of leaves, warming her four hands against the flames and watching her companion string up the last of the cans.

Grabbing her bag and lugging it with him, they sat by the fire in silence for the first time, watching the flame instead of each other.

"I'm gonna keep watch first," his loud voice breaking through the cool night air and startling her.

"Warm up and eat first... Angel have a granola bar, Yuga want?" She reached into her bag to grab the last of three protein bars, handing it to Merle before he pushed it away.

"We need to find some more food tomorrow, besides that vending machine shit won't last. We need to hit a store or two, maybe break into a few cars."

He watched her look at her food before placing it back into her bag. He looked as though he was considering thanking her before biting his tongue and looking off into the murky parts of the forest. He rubbed his large hands together before lifting himself up, feeling into his pockets for his lucky hunting knife.

"It's gonna be a long night sweetheart, put out that flame and get some rest 'cause we got a lot of miles to cover tomorrow. I'll wake you up when it yer turn to keep watch," he grumbled before pressing himself against the foliage, keeping his scent camouflaged from any walkers that might pass by.

She whispered a soft goodnight, he grunted in response before lounging against the tree. The somber man took to glaring at the royal blue night, pondering where the closest, unraided liquor store was and if he could stop by it, on his way to Shane's camp.

A few days later

The small pink alien peeked over the bumper of a burnt out car, trying to quietly alert Merle of any walkers that neared him. Despite her dislike of the grungy human, she had to admit that his skill in killing the undead, was quite impressive.

Not that she'd tell him that.

The pair were in a small shanty town, in search of supplies for the camp. The place had been taken over by the dead, their bodies shambling together in small groups that could easily be dispatched if done with care. The older man had his sights set of abandoned cars. Angel remembered him saying that he wanted the supplies for the people back at camp.

He wanted them to know that even though they left him behind to die, that he was not only capable but didn't need them to survive. He wanted something to rub in their faces and make them regret leaving him behind.

"There issa no better motivation than spite," Angel whispered to herself, annoyed by her partner's warped view of reality. On their way through the small town, Merle would break into cars and find a lot of nice loot. He told Angel that the cars with the corpses in it had the good stuff since the owners probably thought they could bunker down with whatever was in it.

Some of the cars had groups of humans, ranging in sizes that Angel could conclude were a family. She didn't like moving them, but when Merle would kick her to the side and drag them out, the alien began to feel irritated.

They separated from time to time and even took refuge in cars at night, to look over their supplies. It was almost like a competition, to see who could out gather the other one. He even found something called alcohol, which he guzzled down and made him more lethargic. Angel didn't understand why he'd drink something to hinder him, but maybe this was a human thing she didn't understand.

However, after one night of heavy drinking, he began to become loud and chatty.

"I wonder what happened to my baby brother, those lazy leaches at the camp probably bein' taking advantage of him, bastards," he took another swig, leaning back in his car seat. Angel shrugged as she played with the steering wheel with her feet. He watched her closely, confused.

"Hold on, what the fuck are you anyway?" His voice boomed, Angel looked outside the window to see if any dead things heard him before glaring back at him.

"I'm Angel," she told him, bewildered at his sudden ignorance.

"No, you little mutt, I mean... you are a mutt, right? The dead are walking, everyone's losin' their minds and I'm stuck in a car with a talking dog, or maybe you're not a dog at all... maybe you're a demon... I'm probably still back on the roof, and this is all justa fever dream," he squinted at her in suspicion.

Angel and Merle stared at each other, her face stuck in disbelief. Before she could stop herself, she grabbed his bottle of alcohol, tossed it out of the open window. Merle took a moment to look at his now empty hand, then at the alien before erupting into a rage and lunging at her. His movements were sluggish. Angel jumped over the driver's seat, easily evading him.

"You little pink bitch," he screamed. Angel dodged a fist he'd thrown at her and pressed herself against the backseats, hissing at him.

"You know how long it took me to find some decent booze, and yah toss it away?!"

Merle tried to claw at the seats in the back before she once aging dodge him, jumping over and into the driver's seat. The human was sharper than she'd given him credit for, and he quickly reared his foot out to kick her.

Beeeeeeep

Merle's foot missed the alien and slammed against the steering wheel's horn. Quickly taking his foot off, the pair waited in tense silence. A low groan beside the car followed by rasping made Angel and Merle back away from the open window.

"Roll the window back up," Merle whispered, nudging the female forward.

Angel stayed low as she crawled forward, pointing at the crank and looking back at Merle for confirmation, that this was indeed the device that would make the window roll up. After a shaky nod from the human, she slowly turned the crank. Rolling the window up took time, as she was trying no make as little noise as possible.

Merle sighed in relief, seeing the window almost shut before a walker's hand reaching into the car grabbing Angel and causing her the scream.

Merle considered pushing her out and closing the window, but she couldn't quite reach, the creature gripping her long ears and pulling her out of the window. Merle grabbed her arm, pulling her away and stabbing the arms of the walker. Angel, now free of the walker, slashed it's arm off and quickly wheeled the window closed.

The alarmed human suddenly heard voices outside, as the walkers were gunned down by an unknown party.

"Open the door, its safe," a male called out before Merle grimaced.

In his eyes, the only thing more dangerous than the dead were humans. Hearing a gun click, Merle sighed and rolled down the window, knowing that he was cornered and outnumbered.

"We heard a woman, it sounded like she was getting attacked," the stranger said. Merle looked over at the shaking pink being in his arms before nodding.

"Y-yeah, she was with me but uh, she ran off into the forest... poor thing-"

"She sounded young, was she your daughter or something?" One of them asked.

"No, just a young lady I was traveling with, she left the car like a dumbass and the dead went after her... I was just about to run after her but the dead swarmed our car," the strange men nodded in understand as Angel looked around, trying to regain her bearings.

"That her dog?" A rugged brunette man mentioned over to Angel. Merle nodded, holding Angel out for the men to see.

"Yeah, she left her here with me... I know she'll come back to find her, so I might as well keep the mutt close by."

"Looks exotic... " one of the males tried to reach out at pet Angel before she reared back and bared her fangs, frightening him.

"Hah, you scared of some girly dog Jeff, it's pink for crying out loud-"

"Listen, guys, I'd like to stick around and shoot the shit with cha, but I need to find her, so if you'll excuse me," Merle opened his side of the door, dragging out some of his supplies. Angel noticed that he didn't retrieve the other bag that was hidden beneath the car seats.

"Hold on now, we can't let you go," the leader stood in Merle path, flanked by his people. Merle wondered how many he could take out before they gunned him down.

"We should tag along and help you find your lady friend before someone else does," he advised, a bit too eager in Merle's opinion to find the alleged female.

"I think it best to go alone. I got some food for her, but it won't be enough for all of us if the search takes too long," Merle quickly stepped out of the car and away from the other humans before the other men tried to follow him.

"We got a place, it ain't got much but you can bring yourself and the girl there, once we find her, that is" he tried to convince Merle into joining his group.

"Alright, since it's just me and the dog, but we should hurry." Merle turned his back to them with a coy smile. Angel looked up at him, wondering what he was up to.

If Merle played his cards right, he could have a band of brutes to command. And if things got hairy, he could always use them as biter bait.

"What's this girl looks like, what's her name," the man in charge almost stepped on Angel, in order to walk alongside Merle.

"Oh uh... " nothing came to mind at first, but he could remember that brat from the camp.

"Yeah, she's got long black hair and brown skin... I think she's Hawaiian, we didn't speak much but from what I remember, her name was Lilo," Merle ignore Angel's small sound of surprise as the men looked at each other and nodded.