Author's Note: Thank you to everyone who's ever taken the time to read my stories, and a very special thanks to those who have taken the time to send me direct messages. I nearly gave up on writing. Life, as they say, simply got in the way. I wrote this entire sequel in my head while writing The Bewitchin' Pool (TBP)…it just never made it to paper/computer. There will be many call backs and references to TBP in this sequel. I recommend reading it, if you haven't already. The summary below is just a refresher of TBP. However, should you choose to move forward with reading this story without reading its predecessor, I believe you will still find an amazing journey of love, discovery, and friendship in 'The One's They Left Behind.' Thank you again for giving me, and my stories a chance.
The Bewitchin' Pool – Rewind
The war with Negan was fully underway. Rick and the others had been betrayed by Jadis and her people. Rick was shot and Michonne was beaten. They needed to come up with a plan to win the war. Rick, Michonne, Daryl, and Rosita left from Alexandria, Maggie from Hilltop and Carol from The Kingdom. The goal was to strategize. They met at an abandoned warehouse somewhere between all three communities. While there, an odd storm arrived and within moments the room was filled with a swirl of lights.
They were transported to an alternate universe, a different earth, that had never been touched by the virus that turned the dead into carnivorous monsters.
Carol awoke in her house with a very vibrant and alive Sophia. Rick found himself sitting at his kitchen table with his wife Lori at the stove and his son Carl telling jokes. Rosita awoke at a hotel in San Diego with friends after a night of partying. Daryl was in the small back room attached to the auto shop that he and his brother Merle owned. Maggie woke up in her bed on the farm with her father, Herschel, downstairs making breakfast. Michonne woke in the bed with Mike, with her six-year-old son Andre sleeping in his bedroom down the hall. They were no longer in the post-apocalyptic world that had been their reality for three years.
They each had a rush of memories (not thoughts) of their doubles; whose bodies they were currently residing in. They now had two sets of memories. Confused and scared, the need to locate each other was overwhelming. Not only were they attempting to act normal in this new reality, they all had a sense of being watched.
Michonne was the most difficult to locate because, as they soon found out, her actual name is Michelle Onette. Once reunited, the six voyagers tried to figure out how they came to be in this unscathed world. While meeting in a diner only a few days after arriving in this world, they were approached by Dr. Edwin Jenner and Ms. Jacqui Stone.
Dr. Edwin Jenner was the man who let them into the CDC at the beginning of their worlds apocalypse. He told Rick that everyone was infected with the virus. Unable to find a cure and disillusioned with the prospect of living, he rigged the CDC to blowup. Jacqui, who had been a part of the group where Rick found Lori and Carl, was also ready to die- decided to stay. She blew up in the building along with Edwin Jenner.
Jenner and Stone told the group of six that they had information about their current predicament. The survivors decided, with strong reservations, to accept the invitation. They met with Dr. Jenner and Jacqui at a downtown Atlanta office building where it was explained to them how and why the molecular displacement accelerator was created; the machine which enabled interdimensional travel. He, with Jacqui's assistance, had targeted Rick. They remembered the deputy's resilience. And, for their own purposes, they were interested to find out about both his plight and that of the world they'd left behind.
Dr. Jenner told them that their bodies were encapsulated somewhere between the two dimensions. The bodies, their bodies, were unharmed. At the meeting they found out that not only did Maggie's body (the one currently encapsulated between dimensions) hold an unborn child, Michonne's did as well. Dr. Jenner also informed them that he believed he could get them back to their bodies and into their world, if that was what they wanted.
The group decided to have dinner at the restaurant where the Glenn of 'this' world worked. Seeing and briefly interacting with him was cathartic for all, especially Maggie. She now had the strength to return to her broken world and continue their fight. The difficult decision was made by all that they would go back to their home. They had lives and family members to get back to.
Before heading back to their broken world, the crew decided to have a night of fun; movies, dancing and drinking. Rick and Michonne rediscovered each other on an intimate level and spent the night making love.
Rosita needed to see Sasha, for her own closure. With the help of Rick's friend in the FBI, Tim Dowd, they were able to find out which church she would be attending on Sunday. Michonne, Maggie, and Rosita went to Sasha's church In Atlanta and had the same cathartic moments with her that they'd had with Glenn the previous night. Carol and Daryl spent Sunday morning having brunch and spending time with Sophia.
Later that evening the group of weary travelers stood together in Dr. Jenner's lab as he, with Jacqui at his side, pushed the button and sent them back to their bodies, and their world.
A/N: Chapter 1 of The One's They Left Behind, The Glass Cage, is up now. If you'd like to drop me a little note before moving on to the story, I'd be grateful. I'm grateful and appreciative of your time either way.
Blessings…