And - this is the end. It's been fun!

New beginnings

Shane took it about how they thought he would. Stoney faced, quiet, and then he picked up a knife strapped to his leg and walked out the door. Glen could only assume he was going to the warehouse to see the body. None of them had been able to move the piano in a timely enough manner to salvage anything and the standing 'order' as it were was to get the hell out of dodge. So they did what they had had to do. They left them.

Amy, on the other hand, broke down into tears, holding her stomach.

"No. Andrea. You.. you bitch, no!"

Carol sat by her side and allowed the poor woman to cry into her shoulder. "I'm so sorry, Amy,"

Amy barked a horrible laugh. "You fucker!" She screamed as she sobbed. "Leaving me all alone to deal with this, huh?"

Those remaining shared a look. It wasn't long until Amy spilled the beans about everything.

She shared through her tears that she was pregnant. That Andrea had been pregnant as well. That the piano had killed a pregnant woman as well as the only black man in their group. Glen had already known. Had kept silent because it hadn't been her secret to tell.

Everyone stared off to where Shane had walked off. Where the father had gone.

"Damnit." Rick said, and it summed up everything that had happened quite well.

Glen was completely unsurprised to watch Rick stomp off after Shane, taking it upon himself to tell the man what had just been shared. It was such a Rick move... Glen still appreciated it. Dealing with Shane was like dealing with lit fireworks.

Rick and Shane didn't come back for three days. Carl asked about his dad and Shane every day but nobody had an answer. At least, not until they did.

The two ex-law-enforcement came in the dead of night, scaring the sentinels of the night, Maeve and Carol, shitless as they appeared as if ghosts. As if summoned. Neither of the women screamed, but it was a near miss.

"Rick?" Meave asked.

Neither man spoke, their eyes tired and red rimmed. Still, their silence spoke for them.

"Got it." Carol said, with a nod, settled back in for the night. "Try and warn us next time? Hmm?"

After that, it was back to normal. A little quieter, a little more somber as everyone tried to deal with having two less people, two less mouths to feed, four less hands to help. But soon enough, the loss was pushed away, back into the deepest parts of the collective psyche, as the world continued to spin.

The sun rose in the morning. Set in the evening. There was still laughter. Still children. Walkers still showed up outside their walls every few days in groups or by their lonesome.

Life went on.

As everything happens, it happened in threes. First Andrea and T-Dawgs death, then knowledge of Amy being pregnant (and that making so much sense to everyone as they learned about it), and finally: three strangers showing up. These three unlike Maeve and Bruce found them. Or, more accurately, found Glen and Daryl on their way back from a short walk.

They were about ten, fifteen minutes out when Daryl stiffen like a hound. With short, clipped movements he jerked his crossbow up and stared off into the forest. Glen said nothing, just took a step closer, and pirouetted on her heel to have his back. She unlatched her knife from her thigh and stood, waiting.

All was silent.

Their awareness was rewarded a moment later when a shuffling to Daryl's left, nearly right in front of Glen caught their attention. The bushes moved and out came a black man. He looked nothing like T-Dawg, and that was nearly enough for Glen to want to get to know him.

Not a Walker , Glen thought with a mixed bag of emotions.

Relief, but also unease.

Humans were sometimes... worse.

The man was too far away to really get a good look at, but he looked like he had seen better days. His clothes were torn and raggedy, he had a scruffy beanie on, and Glen caught a glimpse of blood on the sleeves. Though the blood on his sleeves was minimal. So Walkers, not his own. No bite marks, that she could see either. And he held a machete easily in his hand.

Nobody spoke. Everyone just observed each other. It was a tense atmosphere.

"Hey," The man said, in greeting, his weapon unwavering.

Daryl was the one who spoke. "What'cha want?"

"... To talk. Nothing more," The man claimed. He had a rather reasonable voice. Calm. Like he had worked in hostage negotiation. "Haven't seen anybody else for a while now."

Neither of them said anything to that.

What was there to say?

The man sighed.

"Listen," He lowered his weapon fully now. A stupid move. If Glen and Daryl were any worse people, she would have taken him for that alone. But. They weren't. They were good people. And the man was showing that he could still be human. Something in short, short supply.

Glen shifted uncomfortably as he continued talking.

"I don't want no trouble. It's just me and my family. We've been on the road a long time... we're tired."

Well damn. Family's didn't last long. And Glen was curious now -

"Family?" She asked, well aware of how Daryl stiffened, his breathing stopped, but then he was back to an immovable, breathing force. Human but as unfeeling as they come.

The man nodded.

"Lost my wife in the beginning of all this. All I've got is my daughter, and her... boyfriend."

Glen cocked her head, watching him. He didn't twitch. He's been out in the world for too long to twitch. He was like Daryl, a little, not many people were like Daryl, but there was something Rick in him, too. Maybe it was the way he talked, reasonable like things like words could make things better; maybe it was the way he had a family, maybe it was the way he held himself - tall, shoulders slightly slumped, weary.

Whatever it was, the vibe wasn't bad. Glen was still learning, she wasn't perfect, but she got it. Reading people was easy, when she watched and tried to figure them out, but she had yet to meet anyone truly bad. So, it stood to reason, the more people she met, the better she'd get at this.

Reaching forward, Glen drummed her fingers on Daryl's shoulder. He dropped the crossbow and straightened.

It took the man a moment, but he caught on. The man saw that for what it was, who was leader, and quickly switched his attention to Glen.

"Where's your daughter?" Glen asked, flicking her eyes over behind him.

"Julie. Chris." He called, behind him. Too quickly, honestly. Fortunately for him, it was more endearing than troubling. He'd brought his family, kept them close.

He was either desperate, stupid, or had a plan. Glen was beginning to think it might be all three.

From the bushes came a young black woman, trailed by a kid who looked almost native-american. They looked the part of being out in the wild world for the past few months. Glen made sure to watch closely for any kind of tells, kids would give away the game faster than an adult, but they were just normal people. Just trying to survive.

As normal as people can be, anyway.

"I'm Glen." She introduced herself, waiting for the mystery man to follow her lead.

"Tyreese." He looked nearly relieved, but not quite. He didn't want to hope or dream of this meeting being anything more than a near-death experience.

Glen waited a moment longer, really mulled over her decision, before patting Daryl once on the shoulder.

Let's go.

"Follow us," She said, and walked off. The sound of Daryl's feet following her, just before he veered off the path into the woods. He'd keep an eye on them from far enough away that he'd done them before they touched her. It worked on Walkers.

Tyreese audibly hesitated, but ushered his brood forward.

"What's going on, Dad?" Julie, the daughter, asked in a low whisper. In a quiet forest, it echoed. "Who are these people?"

"I don't know... maybe they got a place."

"Why are we just following them - "

"Shh, Jules, let's see where this leads."

Poor bastard. Still so trusting, believing in humanity . Glen was almost sorry she was going to be proving him right. He was a weird mix of Rick-hopeful, and still alive. Rick shouldn't be alive. Glen knew that, because she had been the one to save him. Ugh.

Did she have a saving people thing?

Glen thought about that for a moment, looking over her shoulder to the three people following her, wearily, but keeping pace. She remembered Sophia, and Carl. Rick, and Beth. Saving people was the only other option to killing them.

Of course she had a saving people thing.

This time, instead of just weary distrust and constant supervision, like with Bruce and Mauve, they had a plan. For bringing people back. Rick stepped forward. He had been watching from the lookout point and seen them coming first, had alerted everyone, even got Amy to take his position; and he greeted them when they walked towards the house.

Shane was behind the strangers, on the porch next door, and they had yet to notice him. Carol and Hershel were inside with the kids, keeping them quiet, but everyone else was on the porch with Rick. Watching. For people who had been in a forest for god-knew how long, it might be a little overwhelming. And it was. Glen could see it.

There was only so much you could script, but Glen secretly thought it was better this way.

"Who're these people?" Rick asked. With that calm ease of an officer who knew he was going to get an answer.

Glen grinned at him in amusement, seeing Rick act the part of leader was just so... Weird, but she quickly stifled it, before jerking her thumb over her shoulder. She had a part to play, after all.

"Couple of travelers. A family,"

Rick was quiet as he observed the three people following Daryl and Glen. The elder man was quick to greet everyone he hadn't met.

"I'm Tyreese," He gestured to his daughter as he pulled her close. "This is my daughter, Julie, and her boyfriend, Chris."

The two teenagers were stiff and awkward. There was an element of unease in their shoulders. Which Tyreese didn't share. The man stood tall, hands at his side, as he watched.

Glen wasn't impressed, she honestly wasn't, but she had to give the guy credit where credit was due.

"Got a couple questions for you," Rick said, instead of introducing himself. He stepped off the porch.

Now, everyone had gotten together one night, when they still hadn't trusted Bruce or Maeve, and had come up with three questions to ask people who might join their community. Nobody had argued that they wouldn't let people in, because that was stupid to turn away talent and useful skills just because the world was a shit-show. No. Instead they had been productive. They had come up with three questions, and what to do with each answer.

Tyreese was quick, though, to tell Rick. "Ask."

"How many walkers have you have you killed?" Rick asked, walking closer to Glen, never letting his eyes drift from the strangers.

This one was easy. Depending on who they had at the introduction, the question was to gain knowledge about the people. How they reacted. If they corrected them on 'killed', word usage, flinches, body movements that could be nervous or skittish.

It was a simple question, but it told them all, each and every one who listened, more information than the people being interrogated probably thought.

All of them fidget, but were quick to respond.

"Nineteen," Julie said first. "I don't know. A lot." Chris had answered after. "Lost track after the tenth."

Nobody said anything, just mulled that over.

"How many people have you killed?" Was the next question.

This one, Rick claimed, would tell a lot about a person. Glen was waiting to see just how.

Julie and Chris both shook their heads, eyes to the ground. But Tyreese's eyes went steel and everyone perked up, waiting for his words.

"Just one. A man. Months ago."

"Why?"

And the follow up question. Which would force them to relieve the moment of that oh-so-human death. The question that prompted a murder into answering if they had killed, if they would kill, and what they were willing to do.

Shaking his head, as if to shake away the bad memory, Tyreese didn't hesitate to tell them the truth, or his truth. "He threatened us. I had no choice."

Nobody responded verbally. Just nodded. Rick looked as if he were pondering something over, but in reality, he was giving Glenn a few minutes to mull over her decision. It was nice of him, but unnecessary. She liked these strangers. Well. Tyreese, at least. The two others were children, and she liked children mostly, as long as they actually tried to survive.

With a nod that had everyone relaxing, Glen and Daryl made their way to the porch.

"Well then," She said, turning around and stopping on the same step Rick was on. "Welcome to our community."

Bruce and Maeve, along with the three strangers, all moved into the house next door. It was necessary, and also a relief, to nearly everyone. The eight originals (as Glen liked to call them in the innermost recesses of her brain), were still in the same house, and comfortable there. But with five more people, it was clear it was time to grow.

That excited nearly everyone.

Guard shifts were unchanged, except it now included a bridge between the two houses. Many things were unchanged. Which didn't settle well with Glen, but she couldn't put her finger on why. She was sure if she were outside the walls, breathing that dangerous but free air, she would be able to figure it out... but for now - well, she had to settle for sitting on the porch and trying to muddle through. Safe .

Sophia came over and plopped next to her.

"Do you know anything about Poison Ivy?"

Glen had to blink. The kids generally stayed away from her. Or... maybe it was the opposite. She stayed away from the kids. She wasn't sure. All she knew was she didn't have much one-on-one interaction with them. But the kid has asked a question and Glen had an answer.

"It's got three leaves, red on the stalk, and if you're allergic it itches. Why?"

Sophia nodded, solemnly. "Carl got into some. His dad said it can spread if I touch it."

Glen wasn't sure if Sophia was here just for comfort, someone to talk to, or she was feeling left out; but Glen didn't really care either. A distraction was a distraction. And after two (three) deaths, she was on shaky ground, trying to reform the world around her.

"What have you and Carl been learning about?"

That was a safe question right?

It turned out to be a perfectly safe question as Sophia's eyes lit up and she went into a spiel about corn and cabbages and rabbits and 'did you know, Miss Glen, that spiders are scared of people?' all given with a cute breathless smile and bright eyes. It was innocent. It was pure. Glen had forgotten people could look at the world with such wonder and such excitement.

Glen felt her day go from awful to decent in a matter of minutes as she listened to the girl get more and more breathless as she tried to fit so many words into a sentence.

"And bees are scared of us too, but they are really nice too, cause they make honey, and honey is really good and - "

"Sophia!"

Glen and Sophia both turned to see Carol on the other porch, hands on hips and an exasperated look on her face.

"You gotta tell me when you leave the house, honey!" Carol called again, though not very loudly. Everything just echoed in their small part of the world.

"Sorry Mama!" Sophia called right back before turning to Glen. "I gotta go back in the house. Wanna come see my drawings?"

Weighing sitting alone versus being entertained by an exuberant child, Glen got up and followed: it wasn't even a question. The leader even allowed the child to grab her hand and pull her along with excited little-thoughts spouting between them.

"And corn is good but I like broccoli better."

"And don't tell Carl, but I think his face is cute, but like a puppy kind of cute, you know?"

Glen did know, and she gave the girl a smile as she was dragged bodily into the house, past an amused Carol.

Carol thought Sophia was good for the woman, but she kept that to herself. Glen could get prickly about things like that. Probably thought it was a weakness, or at least was a weakness to admit it. Heaven forbid the woman sat and stopped for a second.

The world could wait, after all.

And it did.

This time.

[LA FIN]

Whew. This has been a BEAST of a story. I have yet to decide if I am going to write more in this world, but if I do I have a lot of plot points already laid out. Such as: Amy's pregnancy, Shane and Rick and Carl being a family, and also you know, the shit that happens in a Walker filled world - especially following along with the show and what not.