After a while, Ava fell asleep. Her small hands clutched to Tara's flannel. Maggie grabbed a blanket and stood up, carrying it over to where Tara and Ava sat and covering Ava up. Tara sighed kissing the top of Ava's head "we gotta give her a good life Maggie…. She needs it…. We gotta do everything we can to make sure" she said quietly, looking over at Maggie. "I know… We will" Maggie replied reaching out to place her hand on her girlfriends arm. Tara smiled "Thank you…" She whispered. Tara glanced at Ava before smiling "we'll let her sleep… Then get back on the road" she said gently removing Ava's hand from her shirt and laying her down. Maggie nodded "good plan" she said looking at Ava "To endure so much pain at such a young age… It's heartbreaking" she said shaking her head. Tara reached over and took Maggie's hand kissing it softly. "I know…but she's safe now….she's going to know love like crazy…lots of hugs..kisses…make sure she feels safe" Tara said softly.
Maggie nodded and yawned wrapping her coat around her more. Tara smiled and leaned over kissing Maggie's forehead "get some rest… I'll take watch" she told her. Maggie shook her head "No I'm fine..you really should rest…you'll heal faster and you hardly slept last night" she stated. Tara laughed softly and nodded "alright…but if anything happens wake me up with ok" she said smiling "don't let me sleep more than three hours". Maggie smirked but nodded "alright baby" she said softly. Tara laid down next to Ava and yawned closing her eyes. Tara instantly fell asleep and before long, Maggie was waking her up. Sitting up, Tara rubbed her eyes and looked at Maggie "hey baby" she said leaning over to kiss her. Maggie smiled "hey… It looks like it's going to rain so I thought maybe we should try to find shelter before it starts" she said looking up at the sky. Tara nodded and stood up "alright sounds like a plan" she said stretching. Ava walked up to Tara and grabbed her hand. "What is it princess" Tara asked looking at her. Ava chewed on her lip "is there gonna be thunder" she asked. Tara nodded "maybe baby girl but you don't have to be afraid… We won't let anything happen to you" she promised.
Ava frowned but nodded "ok" she said softly. Maggie packed up the bags and stood up "we ready" she asked. Tara nodded and looked at Ava "we're going to find a nice safe dry place ok… if you get tired let me know and I'll carry you" she told her as they started walking. After a bit, Ava looked over at Maggie "will the monsters be able to get us where we go" she asked. Maggie smiled and shook her head "nope no monsters will get us I promise… You're safe with Tara and I" she told her. Ava smiled, seemingly content with the answer she'd received. Tara laughed softly as she looked ahead of them "there's a barn… Probably will be our best bet for now" she said turning to Maggie. "As long as it's not like the last barn I'm good with it" Maggie said as they walked up to it. Tara walked over and banged on the barn door. Almost instantly the groans of the dead came from inside. Ava gasped and clung to Maggie's leg. "Hey it's ok… we'll take care of them" Maggie said hoping to calm the child. Tara walked over and grabbed Ava's hand leading her to a broken down down truck next to the barn "Ava you stay in here and stay quiet… Don't move until Maggie or I come get you" she told her as she lifted her into the truck and shut the door. Moving back to Maggie, Tara pulled out her knife and nodded to Maggie. Gripping her own blade tight, Maggie opened the barn door and jumped back as five walkers came out. Tara immediately moved towards one, driving her knife into its skull. She glanced over to be sure Maggie was ok. Seeing that her girlfriend was handling the other two walkers, Tara pushed the walker that came towards her. She jammed her blade into its forehead and sighed. Maggie cleaned off her knife and sighed "well…. that's always fun" she said looking at Tara.
Nodding, Tara cleaned her knife "always" she said with a small laugh as she put away her knife and walked to the truck. When she opened the door, Ava jumped into her arms "I thought the monsters were gonna eat you guys" she said wrapping her small arms around Tara's neck. Tara smiled as she carried Ava to the barn where Maggie had gotten to moving the walker bodies "Get us… No way we wouldn't let them" she told her smiling as Maggie walked up. "She alright" Maggie asked looking at Ava. Tara nodded "she's good…just got scared" she told her. Ava kept her head on Tara's shoulder as they walked into the barn. Maggie managed to find a lantern and lit it looking around "it's small but…it'll do to keep us dry" she said walking over to Tara. Tara nodded "Better to be here than out in the weather" she said setting Ava down. Ava looked up at Tara and pulled on her shirt. "What's up kiddo" Tara asked kneeling down. "I'm hungry" Ava replied biting her lip. Maggie smiled and grabbed one of the bags "well its a good thing we have this can of chili…and I saw a camp pot over here…I'll get a fire going and we'll cook up something to put in that tummy ok" she said leaning down to kiss the top of Ava's head.
Ava smiled and nodded "ok thank you" she said happily. Looking around the barn, Ava spotted some charred wood. Turning back to Tara, she smiled "Tara can I please color on the barn wall with that charcoal" she asked. Tara laughed and nodded "yes you can as long as you stay inside ok" she said smiling. Ava grinned and ran to where the charcoal was. Tara watched with a smile before walking over to Maggie who had gotten a small fire going "Can I do anything to help" she asked wrapping her arms around her girlfriend. Maggie smiled and leaned back into Tara "Not right now baby… Just gotta heat up the food… wont take long" she told her. Tara nodded kissing Maggie's shoulder "there's a little gray ford around the back…. I think maybe tomorrow I'll see if it has gas… If so that's great… Better than walking" she said shrugging. Maggie smiled as she poured the can of chili into the pot over the fire "we'll cover more ground that way too… could definitely put us closer to the others" she said softly. Tara softly kissed Maggie's shoulder again "I have a feeling we'll find them soon…just have faith" she said grinning.
Maggie nodded "I do…I just hope we didn't lose too many people" she said sadly. Her face fell as she thought about Glenn. This did not go unnoticed by Tara who wrapped her arms tighter around her girlfriend. She hated to see the sadness in Maggie's eyes. Especially when she couldn't do much to help her. Maggie, having felt Tara's embrace tighten, smiled and turned around to face her "I'm alright…I'm happy…having you… And now Ava…things are looking up" she whispered before planting a long kiss to Tara's lips. Tara smiled into the kiss sliding her hands up Maggie's back "and I'm going to be here to continue making you happy… Its my job now" she said with a grin. Maggie smiled and kissed Tara once more before turning back to the chili stirring it. "Its done" Maggie said digging through her bag and grabbing three bowls and spoons. She filled the bowls and set them on a old wooden crate "You ready to eat Ava" she asked. Ava dropped the charcoal and ran over "yes" she said happily. Tara raised an eyebrow and grabbed a shirt "let me wipe your hands off first" she said cleaning the charcoal off Ava's hands.
Ava smiled and thanked her before sitting down. Maggie sat down and smiled "its very hot so be careful" she said softly. Tara took her seat and grinned "yup don't want to burn your tongue" she said smiling. Ava grabbed her spoon and blew on her food before taking a bite "thank you Maggie" she said happily. Maggie smiled "you are very welcome Ava" she said taking a bite herself. Tara shook her head as she smiled. Maggie was right. Things were starting to look up.
(I promise the next chapter will be longer. Just had a bad case of writers block)