You're Family Now

Miranda awoke the next day to Glenn gently shaking her shoulder.

“What?” She mumbled from beneath the blankets.

“I’m going on a supply run. Wanna come with?” Glenn asked.

MIranda jumped out of bed and pulled on a set of clean clothes. Glenn laughed.

“I’ll take that as a yes, then?” he said with a smile.

“Shut the hell up, you hooligans.” Brooke grumbled into her pillow.

Glenn and Miranda just rolled their eyes and left the tent.

“Where are you going?” Maggie asked as they crossed the camp.

“We’re going on a supply run!” Miranda said eagerly. Maggie grinned at the girl’s enthusiasm.

“Okay, be safe,” She said, making a little shooing motion at them with her hand. Miranda picked up her long knife and followed Glenn to the car.

A few minutes into their drive and Miranda was already getting annoyed with the silence. “So, what are supply runs like? I’ve never been on one before. Where are we going? How much longer? Are we almost there?”

Glenn laughed at her excitability. “Supply runs are exactly what they sound like. A run for supplies. We go into town and search for supplies in all the stores. And it’s about another 35 minutes until we get into town.”

Miranda sighed and leaned her against the window. “This is taking forever!”

Glenn thought for a moment, “How about we play 20 questions? That’ll help pass the time.”

“Okay!” Miranda said eagerly, “How old are you, Glenn? I mean, you know how old Brooke and I are, but I have no clue how old you are.”

“I’m 20.” he replied. “My turn. Where are you guys from? You said you’re from up north, but didn’t say where.”

“We’re from Duluth, Minnesota.” Miranda responded.

Glenn furrowed his eyebrows. “Where’s that?”

“Ask Brooke. She can explain it a lot better than I can.” Miranda said.

“Minnesota? How did you get all the way down here?” Glenn asked.

Miranda grinned, shook her head and said, “Nope, It’s my turn! Ummmm.... What is your last name?”

“Rhee,” he replied.

“Rhee,” she repeated softly. She smiled up at him and said, “Mine’s Coltello.”

“I didn’t even ask you the question,” Glenn teased.

“I know, I just thought that if you asked the same questions as me then I’d have to come up with all of the questions,” Miranda explained.

“Okay then Miranda Coltello, Marvel or DC?” he asked.

“What makes you ask that?”

“It’s not your turn to ask the question,” he laughed, nudging her playfully with his arm. “But your Avenger’s Shirt might have helped a bit.”

“Oh,” Miranda said, looking down and remembering. “Marvel. Definitely,” she decided.

“Why’s that?”

“They have better characters.”

“But DC has the better plot. Marvel just leads to this gigantic apocalypse and then they go back in time and it doesn’t happen!”

Miranda laughed and then crinkled her nose.

“What’s wrong?” Glenn asked.

“Nothing, it just feels funny to talk about something so normal.”

There was a pause until Miranda asked, “How old are you, Glenn?”

“Twenty. And I know you said that you were 19. So what’s your favorite animal?”

“Wolf!”
“Why’s that? Hey, we’re here!” Glenn exclaimed.

“Yay! Now what?” Miranda asked as she got out of the car, gun in hand.

“Well, we need to get more food, ammo, and then whatever else we can find.” he replied.

Miranda nodded, “Alright. Lead the way. Where to first?”

Glenn took a look around, partly for walkers and partly to see what stores would have what they need. “There,” he pointed. “We should be able to find some more ammo in that gun store over there.”

“Okie doke,” Miranda grinned, and followed him over to the small store. Unfortunately, the store had been mostly cleared out already. They did find a few bullets, but no more weapons.

“Where to next?” Miranda asked eagerly.

“Get down!” Glenn said in a hushed voice. He grabbed the girl’s sleeve and pulled her down behind a car.

“What is it?” she asked in a whisper.

“Walkers, and a lot of them.” Glenn replied as he pulled out his gun.

“What do we do?” Miranda asked, panic evident in her voice.

Glenn looked around and saw a bar in the opposite direction that the walkers were heading.

“In there.” he said and pulled Miranda along. They crept along as quietly as possible, trying not to be seen or heard by the walkers. Glenn was just about to pull open the doors when Miranda yanked his hand back. He looked at her in confusion and she indicated towards the window. Looking in, Glenn could see a few walkers inside. Nothing that they couldn't handle, but the commotion of taking care of those walkers would definitely draw the attention of the large heard that was approaching. Still holding Glenn’s hand, Miranda pulled him around the edge of the building so they were out of sight Glenn carefully peeked around the side to see where the walkers were going.

“They’re going the other way,” he sighed in relief. All they needed to do was wait until they were far enough away so they could finish exploring the stores.

Miranda and Glenn both looked up as the metal fence a few houses away began to shake violently, making a lot of noise.

“Shit,” Glenn cursed, and looking around the building he saw that the walkers were hearing it to. “They’re coming this way,” he warned, but Miranda was already moving towards the sound. Glenn followed her closely. It a backyard fence rattling loudly, and inside was a large dog. His leash was wrapped around a poll and he barked loudly at the new people. The walkers were coming closer now, focused on the sound. The dog needed to stop or it would get Glenn and Miranda killed. Glenn raised his gun and aimed at the wolf-like dog.

“No!” Miranda protested, putting her hand on his and lowering the gun. She jumped the fence and reached for the dog.

“Are you crazy?” Glenn demanded, but she was already petting it.

“Shhhh,” she cooed, making the large beast be quiet. She stroked its fur and undid its chain as Glenn jumped the fence too.

“The walkers are coming,” Glenn told her. They were already in sight and making their way towards the house.

“Come on,” Miranda said, taking his hand and the dog’s collar and pulling them both towards the house. She shoved the door open and pulled out her knife in case there were walkers inside. There were three of them. Moving quickly, Glenn and Miranda took them out and closed the door. The dog sniffed at the bodies and whimpered.

“They must have just been turned,” Miranda realized.

“How do you think that?” Glenn asked.

“Well, look at Wolf, he’s been fed in the last few days and he was still chained in the back yard. And that walker, she has one bite mark on her neck and that blood is still fresh,” Miranda explained sadly.

“Did you just call that dog Wolf?”

“Yes. Yes I did,” Miranda grinned. “Look at him! He’s so cute! He looks just like a wolf!” The dog came over and licked her hand. She giggled and pet its head.

“Miranda,” Glenn sighed.

“Don’t’ worry! I’ll take care of him! I’m sure they have food for him around here. Let’s take a look around the place. Maybe we can find some food for us humans as well as puppy food.” Miranda replied then turned and walked out of the room towards the kitchen. He didn't have the heart to tell her that keeping the dog was not a good idea. That it was just more work and would probably be too loud and attract too much attention from the walkers. Instead he just laughed at how happily she skipped around the house and helped her search for supplies.

“So are you going to keep calling him Wolf?” Glenn wondered. Miranda thought for a moment before going over to the dog and looking at his collar.

“It says his name is Buck,” she said. “But I can still call him Wolf, I think. Would you like that Wolf? Huh boy?” she asked the dog, scratching him behind the ear. The dog’s tail wagged like crazy and he licked her face, making her laugh. Glenn looked out the window, making sure that the coast was clear.

“We should probably go,” he told the girl.

“Okay,” Miranda agreed, and clipped a walking leash around Wolf’s collar. She then grabbed on the bags of supplies and walked towards the back door. Miranda looked out for walkers. The coast was clear so the trio started walking towards the car to head back to the farm.

“Come on Wolf, get in the back,” Miranda said, opening the back door for the dog. He jumped in eagerly. “Is someone excited to go for a car ride?”

“Yes, I am. Now hurry up!” Glenn called from the front of the car. Miranda laughed and jumped into the passenger’s seat of the car. She reached back and pet the dog to make sure he was alright.

Glenn got into the driver’s seat and they drove away.

“Did you grab anything good?” Glenn asked.

“Yes I did,” Miranda told him. “I got food and water dishes, a couple of doggie toys, a 20 pound bag of dog food and... oh, you mean for people,” Miranda grinned. “Yeah I found some canned food. Oh and there were these!” Miranda pulled out a box of ninja stars. “They could be so much fun! And then there’s this.” Miranda picked up a hand held double sided ax.

Glenn let out a whistle, “Good find! That will really be helpful.”

Miranda hummed in response and dug through the bags. “Oh. I also got this for Brooke and Daryl.”

“Oh god. This can’t be good.” Glenn replied with a chuckle.

Miranda laughed and held up a bottle of whiskey.

The drive back home didn't seem to take as long as the drive to the city. It was obvious that Miranda had fallen in love with the dog. Glenn couldn't help but to chuckle at the way that she talked to Wolf.

“I love you Wolf,” she giggled, kissing the dog’s snout. The dog licked her face. “Gross!” she giggled. Then she wiped her face along Glenn’s sleeve.

“What was that for?!” Glenn exclaimed.

“I had slobber on my face,” Miranda said innocently.

“What is wrong with you?” Glenn teased, nudging her with his arm.

Before Miranda could reply, they pulled up to the farm.

“Brooke!” Miranda chirped happily as they parked next to where the other girl and Daryl were walking. “Look what I found! His name is Wolf! Well, really it’s Buck, but I’m gonna call him Wolf!”

“Hold on Pamplemousse! Slow down! What about a wolf?” Brooke asked as she opened the back door to grab the bags.

All of a sudden, Brooke let out a shriek as she was knocked to the ground by Wolf who jumped out of the car. Brooke blinked twice before realizing what had just happened.

“Holy shit. You brought back a dog? We sent you out for supplies!” Brooke said as she started petting the dog that was laying on top of her.

Then the rest of the group made their way to the car. They all had looks of shock or surprise on their faces.

“Glenn, what is with you and bringing home strays?” Rick teased and knelt down to pet the dog.

“Can I keep him?” Miranda begged. “Pleasepleasepleasepleaseplease!!! I got all of the stuff needed to care for him and I’ll make runs to go get him more dog food and everything and I can-”

“Pamplemousse! Breathe,” Brooke reminded her.

Miranda took a deep breath then turned to Rick and Hershel and began to pout. “Please? He won’t be a problem, I promise!”

“I bet not even Shane could resist those puppy eyes,” Rick chuckled.

“I don’t see why you can’t have a dog. Just make sure you take good care of him and make sure he stays out of trouble,” Hershel reasoned.

“Yay! Thank you!” Miranda cheered, hugging them both before hugging Wolf.

Brooke cleared her throat. “Did you get anything useful?”

Glenn went into the car and grabbed the two bags, “Yeah. We got some canned food. A few weapons, and some other things. And Miranda grabbed something for you and Daryl.”

Both Daryl and Brooke’s eyes lit up and they looked at Miranda. “Yeah? What’d ya get?” Daryl asked.

Miranda grinned and handed him a little box with a ribbon on it. She looked at Glenn and said, “I wrapped it while we were in the car. I couldn’t help it.” She looked back to Daryl and Brooke saying, “Go on! Open it!”

“Where did you manage to find wrapping paper? And what’s so important that you had to wrap it? Brooke asked as she peeled the bow off the box.

“Don’t question me.” Miranda replied.

Brooke just rolled her eyes and tore the rest of the paper off the box. Daryl opened the lid and both him and Brooke let out a gasp.

“How did you find this? You are amazing!” Brooke exclaimed before handing the box to Daryl so she could give her sister a bear hug.

Miranda laughed and returned the hug, “I have my ways.”

“Well? What is it?” Lori asked.

Daryl held up the bottle from the box. “Whiskey! Jameson, too. This is the good shit.”

Brooke turned to Daryl, “I know what we’re doing tonight.”

“We don’t need to know what kind of things you two do at night! Now help me carry this stuff in,” Glenn teased, handing Brooke a bag of stuff.