Chapter 16 Author’s Note

In RBM, I never formally defined Scout’s neurodivergence, and most could have been chalked up to PTSD until ISO. This is the earlier reveal of who she is at a very basic level.

In 2010 terms, Scout never would have been properly diagnosed. She’s female, highly skilled at masking, and shows none of the earmarks that people considered neurodivergency/autism at that time. The military would have seen the way she processes information, her high cognitive empathy and extremely low emotional empathy – and labeled her a high-functioning sociopath with an imposed moral framework. They’d have absolutely have used that to their advantage. In today’s psychology, she’d be diagnosed as on the autistic spectrum, possibly with schizoid and alexithymic traits, in addition to PTSD.

And despite Jazz being fully diagnosed with Asperger’s (as it still was defined in 2010), it is highly unlikely that even Scout’s family would immediately link anything. It’s a spectrum, presenting differently in Scout versus Jazz, and Scout was an adult and already extremely skilled in masking by the time Jazz was diagnosed in 2001. Asperger’s was only recognized in 1994 – when Scout was 13 – and there was a 9:1 ratio male:female diagnosis back then. Girls were misdiagnosed as bipolar, having social phobia, BPD, or OCD; and many developed eating disorders as part of internalizing meltdowns instead of externalizing them. Sadly, not much has changed for Lost Girls.

Revised Book Plans

Book I – This Is the Way the World Ends – Scout/Shane

“This is the way the world ends / Not with a bang but a whimper.” – T.S. Eliot, “The Hollow Men”

Book II – Not to Belong Is to Be Too Lonesome – Daryl/Lori

“All people belong to a We except me. Not to belong to a We makes you too lonesome.” – Carson McCullers, “The Member of the Wedding”

Antagonists: Whisperers

Book III – There’s a Certain Slant of Light – Carol/Merle

“There’s a certain Slant of light, / Winter Afternoons— / That oppresses, like the Heft / Of Cathedral Tunes—” – Emily Dickinson, “There’s a certain Slant of light”

Antagonists: Governor/Woodbury

Book IV – Courage Is Beginning Anyway – Cricket/Tara

“It’s when you know you’re licked before you begin but you begin anyway and you see it through no matter what.” – Harper Lee, To Kill a Mockingbird

Antagonists: Reapers

Book V – Everything Lightly – Eugene/Honey “It’s dark because you are trying too hard. Lightly child, lightly. Learn to do everything lightly. Yes, feel lightly even though you’re feeling deeply. Just lightly let things happen and lightly cope with them.” – Aldous Huxley, Island

Antagonists: Negan/Saviors

Book VI – I Believe While I Tremble – Jazz/Jesus

“I believe that this life is not all; neither the beginning nor the end. I believe while I tremble; I trust while I weep” – Charlotte Brontë, Villette

Antagonists: Commonwealth

Chapter 2 Author’s Note

I’ve altered timeline to be closer to the present day canon timeline, but as a fixed points for this AU: 2009: Wildfire escapes containment; global infection reaches critical mass by March/April 2010. 2010-02-16: CDC first detected anomolies. 2010-04-24: Rick Grimes shot. 2010-07-24: WHO declares pandemic. 2010-08-08: Military executions at King County’s hospital. 2010-08-09: Cobalt Day. 2010-09-18: Rooftop handcuffing occurred.

Bringing in Scout’s POV was a lot of planning. The original “we were in Florida on spring break and battled our way to Atlanta” storyline has hit the cutting room floor. Scout will trickle out the details of how she got from California to Atlanta as time goes by, because this time her military history will be used as more than just Badass Marine Background the Author Forgot to Properly Take Advantage Of. Some histories have changed a little bit, ages tweaked, and some of the more telenovela level drama smoothed out. Never fear, they’re still the same people, just with a few less reasons to be completely bonkers in this world – or to go bonkers in different ways entirely.

Chapter 1 Author’s Note

When I originally wrote Repair Broken Men in 2019, I had no idea the juggernaut it would become thanks to amazing readers and the story landing at a time when TWD fans longed for the early days and characters of the show. But it was the first work I wrote after years of not writing, and I’ve always wanted to rework it. I felt the Quarry days did a vast injustice to Lori as a character, and worse, the entire work largely ignored the POVs of primary characters: Scout and her siblings.

Expect five works, with chapters expanded and POVs streamlined. The timeline has changed and histories may change, rooting out some harsh dramatics that I was never quite pleased with, so this isn’t just RBM all over again with Scout & sibling POVs. Things will change; consider it an AU of RBM. The major pairings aren’t changing, but I’m not tagging ones not present by the end of the book. Scout/Shane, Daryl/Lori, Carol/Merle – absolutely locked in. Eugene/Honey and Jazz/Jesus will have their time. And for the first time? Cristina/Tara will actually be seen as more than just background characters, so their relationship will bloom just a bit later than preloaded on day one.

  • Book I: This Is the Way the World Ends (Chapters 1–15)
  • Book II: Not to Belong Is to Be Too Lonesome (Chapters 16–41)
  • Book III: There’s a Certain Slant of Light (Chapters 42–74)
  • Book IV: Courage Is Beginning Anyway (Chapters 75–101)
  • Book V: I Believe While I Tremble (Chapters 102–123)

I am so grateful and flattered at so many who have read and reread RBM and my other works. While life is Very Crazy and staying that way, this felt like a project I could handle to get my toes back in the water. As for the other stories? I am hopeful to get back to them. A few are outlined, ISO’s last chapters in second draft.