Chapter 1
Michonne couldn't sleep again, the sleepless nights began a long time ago and they never went away. After Rick died she slept pretty well, she would cry herself to sleep so often that she was so exhausted and usually got a good eight hours of sleep as a result. It was only once she began to move through the different stages of grief that the sleepless nights actually began. Her pregnancy didn't help things and then RJ went through a stage where he also didn't sleep so they spent countless nights staying up together whilst Judith slept soundly in the next room. But then RJ grew out of it and slept well again and Michonne was left alone again.
She was in her usual spot, staring out of the bedroom window and watching the sun rise steadily over the trees, bathing them in an orange light. She loved this moment in the morning, it almost made the exhaustion worth it. For a few moments she could let go of her worries, her concerns about being a good mother and leader, she could just enjoy the sunrise.
As it came up slowly over the trees, life began to bustle in the street below. People started to go to work, everyone started their days. Michonne watched them for a while, she didn't need to move just yet, for now she could be an observer. She thought about her children, sleeping not far away, and she wondered whether she had done right by them. She went through the same thought every single morning and could never really come up with an answer. She thought that Rick would be happy with how she had raised their children, Judith was a little headstrong and RJ a little troublesome, but it gave them a character and personality that Michonne knew would come to shape them so whenever they threw her to her wit's end she secretly loved them more than ever. Then the thought was replaced with the thought of whether she was a good leader.
The various communities had grown at such a rapid rate that there was no possibility of managing them all. She tried to oversee everything, sometimes she even kidded herself that she was really in charge, but she knew that if she had influence anywhere it was Alexandria, everywhere else had their own things going on. Then there was the rift between Alexandria and Hilltop. Michonne couldn't remember the details exactly, all she remembered was that she and Maggie hadn't seen eye to eye and they had never spoken again. She vaguely remembered reading somewhere, long ago, that the brain chose to forget memories that were too traumatic or upsetting. She wondered why she could hardly remember what had happened with Maggie and Hilltop but she could remember watching the bridge blow up with Rick on it in minute detail. That brought her to her final thought.
The replaying of her lover's death over and over again in her mind. Her daily flagellation which was a necessity if she was going to keep going the way she was going. She sighed as the sun finally crested the trees and drew her attention back to the present.
She closed her eyes for a moment and let the blackness wash away all of her thoughts before forcing a grin on her face, tricking her brain, and when she opened her eyes again, everything was alright. She allowed herself to feel calm and she rose from her spot at the window, she was finally allowed to start her day. She roused Judith and RJ and made sure they were getting themselves out of bed and dressed before descending to the kitchen to begin breakfast. As she prepared the food she found a new thought creeping into her mind.
She thought about Daryl. She hadn't seen Daryl in a long time, now she thought about it, it must have been years since he had last visited Alexandria, and she didn't know where he was. Only Carol knew where he was now, and she wouldn't tell anyone without his permission. She wondered if she would ever see her old friend again, Judith had missed him at first but she'd forgotten about him pretty quickly with her child's brain. RJ had never even met him. Michonne paused in her preparations and closed her eyes again to banish the painful thoughts. She couldn't think about Daryl now, if she thought about him then it would bring back memories of Rick, and that wasn't something she could deal with right now. She was interrupted by Judith and RJ appearing, ready for their breakfast, and she didn't need to work to expel the thoughts - her duties as mother dispelled them for her.
Daryl watched the sunrise over the tops of the trees and almost smiled to himself. He'd been living in his little camp by the river for years now, but he never tired of watching the sunrise. He didn't bother dwelling on things at this time, he didn't believe in meditation. Instead he focused on collecting his fish for his and his dog's breakfast before planning out the direction he was planning on going that day.
He had spent years searching for Rick's body along this river. In his heart he knew he would never find it, that it was long gone by now, but he couldn't bring himself to go back to a civilisation where his best friend just wasn't there. So now he travelled along the river, walking up and down with his dog, never really focusing on anything other than where his feet wanted to go. He had no purpose, he had no obligations, he was content - he supposed.
The truth was that he had felt isolated long before Rick had died. When Carol and Ezekiel began their relationship he felt like he no longer had a real anchor within the group, he didn't have someone to stand with during the group meetings, he didn't have someone he really felt close to anymore. Of course, he knew that just because she married the King it meant that Carol was no longer his friend, she still came to see him every so often, but there was still a rift there that he couldn't deny. It was easier to become an outcast when he really was one.
He finished off his breakfast and gave the scraps to Dog, he didn't have much of an appetite anyway. He collected his supplies whilst he waited for Dog to finish his breakfast before he wordlessly began his day. The pair of them trudged through the forest in a new direction. He had seen smoke rising from above the trees not too far from his camp recently and he wanted to see if there was another survivor nearby whom he could send in the direction of the Kingdom or Hilltop - he'd heard that Alexandria were no longer so welcoming to newcomers.
As he moved through the trees, Dog wandered off and left him alone but he knew that they would reconvene back at the campsite before nightfall. He approached a clearing and slowed his footsteps, he could hear bustling and voices. It didn't sound like one or two survivors, it sounded like a small community. He kept hidden amongst the trees before finding one he could easily climb. He clambered clumsily up the branches before finding a settling place and turning his attention to the community. It was larger than he'd even suspected, it wouldn't necessarily be an asset to Alexandria or Hilltop, more likely a threat.
There were families, men, women and children milling about through the campsite and talking, laughing, living their lives. Daryl watched with a hint of jealousy as one small girl coloured at a fold out table whilst her mother did laundry beside her. The child reminded him of Judith and a pang of guilt stabbed at his heart as he tried to remember the last time he saw her. The girl finished her drawing and presented it proudly to her mother, Daryl edged forward slightly so he could hear her.
'Wow! That's so good!' the mother praised and the girl beamed. 'Why don't you go show, Vic?' the mother asked and the girl looked suddenly bashful. 'She'll be so impressed with you!' the mother encouraged and Daryl narrowed his eyes, he assumed this "Vic" was the leader of their group.
'What will she be impressed by?' another voice said, it was a girl who was approaching from the other side of the tent and Daryl couldn't quite see her face as she kept her back to him. She was short and slender, she couldn't have been taller than five-two, five-three at a push. Her hair was cropped to chin length and pulled back into a half-ponytail at the back of her head, she wore black, biker boots and a leather jacket. She had a red bandana tied around her wrist and Daryl's heart skipped a beat as he remembered his own long-lost red bandana. This was probably a different one.
'Look, Vic, Annie drew a picture of you!' the mother said as the girl crouched down beside the girl identified as Annie.
'Holy crap Annie, if you get any better we're going to have to start selling your drawings for food.' the girl said. She had a flat voice but at the same time Daryl could tell that she was emphasising her words for the child who beamed shyly with pride.
'You hungry, kiddo?' she asked and the child nodded. Vic rooted around in her pocket for a moment before producing an old candy bar, Daryl wondered where the hell she could have gotten it. 'Don't eat it all at once.' she suggested. 'And share with your brother.' she instructed before standing up again as other people approached her with concerns.
Daryl could see how people addressed her, could see how they looked up to her and respected her. It was clear that she was the leader of the group, he still couldn't see her face but he could tell that she was young and he wondered how she had come into being a leader of a sizeable community.
She moved away amongst the group of people addressing her with their concerns and Daryl lost sight of her amongst the tents. He sighed and watched them for a little longer, secretly hoping to catch sight of the girl again so he could get a better idea of what kind of place this was and what kind of threat they might pose to his old friends.
As he watched them he tried to single out the person who was like him, the person who stood out as the outcast, but he couldn't find them. Everyone had someone, everyone was accepted and, despite everything they all seemed happy. He shifted slightly to try and catch sight of Vic's face but she seemed to always be positioned in such a way that he couldn't see her.
Over the course of the day her hair loosened from the ponytail and hung around her face in a messy, dirty sort of way. It obscured her face even more and Daryl momentarily feared that he had been spotted before realising that it was impossible, he was well hidden in the trees. As the sun began to decline his stomach rumbled and he decided to leave the camp for the night and return in the morning. He made the decision almost instantly to keep an eye on this camp, to watch these people and learn as much about them as he possibly could.
He especially wanted to learn more about Vic, he wanted to know how she could be the leader of a community at such a young age when there were older people around her who didn't seem to mind playing to her fiddle.
As he returned to his camp where Dog was dutifully waiting, he found himself thinking about the strange girl in the strange camp and he wondered just how it felt to be accepted like that. He considered "accidentally" wondering into their camp to get to know them better but that was more of a play Carol would use. No, he needed to observe them from afar for a while and go from there. He decided he would keep watch for a few days and then possibly report his findings to Alexandria, they needed to know if there was a new threat to their safety.