A/N: Hooray for an update! I actually wrote this one out in my notebook first. How ingenious of me, haha.


After hiking through the rest of the woods, the group followed the men into a clearing where houses came into view; a whole subdivision that was still standing. Maggie and Carl exchanged glances with a slight smirk. Maybe these people were alright. Maybe they could really help. But of course, they weren't about to put their guard down that easily.

"You guys have this whole subdivision?" Carl questioned.

"Us and the rest of our group, sure do. Been working at it for years now."

"It definitely shows…" Maggie mumbled, still in slight awe.

They walked along the fencing until they reached a set of black wire gates that read "Wiltshire Estates". The burn pile wasn't too far from the gates, smoke smoldering off of the burnt bodies of walkers as the rancid smell assaulted their noses. Maggie cringed at the smell, wrinkling her nose in disgust and hoping they'd get away from the scent soon enough, her stomach roiling.

They were met with three more guys near the gates, their looks questioning as they met the apparent leader of the five that found them out in the woods. The man provided them with a nod before they worked on opening the entrance and allowing them in.

"You'll have to excuse our little system. Can't be too careful these days," the man gestured at the gate and other men. "Right this way."

Daryl set Judith back down on the ground now that there were no other traps she could possibly step on. She stayed close to his side and grabbed for his hand while Daryl took hers and continued walking with the others.

"How many are in your group?" Daryl asked as he glanced the place over. It seemed all too eerily similar to Woodbury and it had him clenching his fist at his side.

"How many do we have now, Todd?" Their leader scratched his head. "My guess is close to 30, give or take. Accidents happen and like I said, s'been a while since we've seen new faces. Well, friendly faces anyway. And kids. Y'all won't be a problem I presume?"

"What d'ya mean 'friendly faces'?" Daryl picked up on his words. He figured it was best that he did most of the talking for the group.

"Been about a week now. Ran into a small group similar to y'all. Gave us some trouble, killed a few men and got out of here."

Daryl didn't have to turn to catch the looks he was receiving from Carl and Maggie. "These people have a name?"

"Why? They concern you?" The man stopped, making everyone else stop with him.

Daryl vaguely shook his head and shrugged. "We were attacked by a small group a while back too." It was a lie but what these people didn't know wouldn't hurt them. He wanted more information without trying to pry too much.

"Small world. Don't recall any names. Might've been Rick or something."

Maggie covered her mouth and turned her head away. She could feel the tears threatening to emerge and she couldn't let them. They couldn't let on that they knew them. Who was she kidding? It may not have been Rick and the others. It could've been someone else entirely different. But Rick wasn't exactly a name to be mistaken.

"She alright?"

"Yeah, just been through a lot," Daryl explained.

"Haven't we all. Sorry to hear that though." The man chuckled, "Suppose I should introduce myself. Name's Mark. I run this place, as you probably could have guessed." He extended a hand towards Daryl as Daryl shook it.

"Daryl," he replied. "Awfully brave of ya to run out into all the action, being the leader and all."

"I'm sure you understand though. We've been trying to keep everything secure from any scavengers that come our way. Now if you'll excuse me… Take a look around if you'd like."

Daryl watched as Mark left and entered into one of the houses. It was almost like the apocalypse never happened. There were a few women outside as well as a few other men, other than the four that were with Mark who were keeping a keen eye on them. Their stares didn't go unnoticed.

"Do you really think it's possible Rick and the others made it through here?" Maggie turned to Daryl, keeping her voice down and emotion free.

"I think it's definitely a possibility. But by the sounds of it, things didn't go so smoothly."

"So we need to get out of here. If my dad didn't stick around then there's something wrong with these people. And the sooner we leave, the closer we'll be to finding them," Carl shared his input.

The group fell silent as a middle aged woman approached them with a smile on her face. "I can't tell you how nice it is to have some new friendly faces around here! And your children! They're adorable!"

Daryl and Maggie exchanged glances, both of their faces burning before turning back to the woman. Carl cleared his throat and shuffled his feet as Daryl muttered a small "thanks".


It was starting to get late, probably a couple hours off from the sun setting, when Daryl decided to go have a word with Mark. These people had done for them as they said: food, shelter, and rest. Daryl left Carl, Maggie, and Judith back in the house they had been offered to rest up in for the night. And Daryl knew they couldn't stay—it wasn't ever a part of the plan anyway. They felt safer on their own. They were able to fend for themselves. They had gotten this far without any help.

But it was the mentioning of another small group that had Daryl's mind racing, the mentioning of Rick's name. Mark didn't seem much for talking about it but Daryl was hoping to change his mind. He needed to know more. He needed to know the truth.

Daryl walked up the few steps and onto a wooden porch still kept together after all this time as he cleared his throat and knocked on the front door. It was certainly a strange sensation and he felt like he should be asking for a damn cup of sugar or something, knocking on a "neighbor's" door. Some messed up world…

The door opened and Mark stood before him, still sporting the same clothes from earlier, the same slightly disheveled graying hair atop his head. He cracked a small smile as he stepped back to allow entry. "Ah, Daryl. Thought I might be seeing you before nightfall. Come on in. What can I do for you?"

Daryl stepped foot into the rather large two story home while Mark shut the door behind him. "Just had a few questions to ask is all. You live here by yourself?" He glanced around at the well decorated dining room, heavy drapery masking the windows and a few lit candles sitting on the table. The town had a few gas powered generators but they explained that they liked to conserve those when possible. Made sense, really.

Mark chuckled. "Heavens, no. Got a wife and two boys. Teenagers. They're all upstairs though. Probably close to your boy's age, I reckon."

"Yeah…" Daryl rubbed the back of his neck.

"Have a seat," Mark gestured towards the living room fit with a couch and recliner. He didn't make a move for the room though, just as Daryl had stayed put.

"That's alright. I was just wonderin' what else you might know about these people that attacked. There a chance they could attack again? Just wanna be sure with my wife and kids s'all." Daryl kept his face as straight as a board. Saying the words 'wife' and 'kids' all while referring to himself felt extremely odd, but if it was plausible and it could get the job done, he didn't care. He had no problem with lying to these people.

"You just wanna be safe and you're looking out for your family. I respect that," Mark nodded. His smile partially widened as he continued, "But are you truly concerned about this group attacking or are you more interested in Mr. Grimes and the direction he headed?"

Daryl searched the man's face trying to figure out just what exactly he was getting at. Unable to tell, he stuck with lying further to test his theory. "Not lookin' for revenge or nothin' like that. Mean what I say."

"Your friend was teetering on the verge of desperation. Found this place same way you did. Smoke in the air. Thought it could be the other half of his group. The man he trusted to take care of his kids, along with a pretty little young brunette.

"I wanted to believe this was all just a coincidence when we found you guys but the names all matched. It's a shame, really. We could use some more experienced people in our town. A hunter, a strong-willed woman, a tough teenage boy…" Mark picked up a picture frame from off of the mantel piece and stared at it as though he were in deep thought before setting it back down again. "Girl's real cute. Both of 'em, actually. Be a large asset in repopulating the town. Get the human race back on track after everything we've lost."

Daryl had been inching his way back closer to the door and to his exit. He had his hand resting just by his knife, thankful that he kept it on him. Luckily he had already sensed something was off about the place but he was hoping they could at least rest up for the night before taking off. Seemed like those plans came to a screeching halt.

Daryl had just wrapped his fingers around the hilt of his knife before he was faced with a high power pistol, freezing.

"I wouldn't try anything, Daryl. Thought you seemed smarter than that." Mark sneered, "You don't bring a knife to a gunfight."

Daryl released his knife just as Mark raised his hands in the air, pistol still equipped and pointing off to the side, acting like he meant no harm.

"You see, I have a family to protect." Mark lowered his arms back down slowly. He trained the pistol back on Daryl and fired a shot all at the same time Daryl threw the door open behind him and bolted, slamming the door shut once more.

He knew turning his back to a loaded gun was suicide as he heard the wood door splinter from the gunshot. But at this point, it was all he could do. He just kept moving, never looking back and taking it as good news that the bullet must have missed him because he didn't feel any pain. The eyes of the survivors who were still out and about were glued to him as he made his way back to the others, practically knocking the door down as he clambered into the house and locked the door.

Carl, Maggie, and Judith were up on their feet in an instant. "What's going on? Was that a gunshot?—Daryl?"

"We gotta go. Now." Daryl wasted no time spitting the words out as he scooped Judith up and headed for the back door. Carl grabbed the backpack and slid his arms through the straps, he and Maggie following right behind. Something was obviously wrong and they weren't about to question Daryl's judgment.

"What happened? What did you say? What did Mark say?" Maggie asked as they exited out the back of the house via glass sliding doors, stepping out onto a porch.

"He knows Rick and he knows who we are. We don't get outta here now, we'll be the ones he's gonna take his revenge out on." Daryl briefly explained, leaving out the part that Mark had made a specific comment about Maggie and Judith. He was unsure whether these people knew Maggie was pregnant or not since it wasn't all too noticeable but that was beside the point. He subconsciously hugged Judith closer to his chest, knowing that it was his dumb fault for getting them into this mess. But he wasn't about to let anything happen to them.


Okay, so I probably should have elaborated more on what happened, etc. while they were there but I like action. So I kind of jumped around that. Hope you guys don't mind? :/