Welcome one, welcome all!

I hope you are all doing okay. Staying safe and not buying multiple shit from the supermarket which you probably won't end up using for yourself...

I'm looking at you toiletpaper buyers. Even in my country (somewhere in Europe).

Think of those who have a higher risk of dying from this virus and remember that everyone can get it and spread it, whether or not you're showing symptoms.

Sorry for that, and now on with the story!

Enjoy!


All of the energy I seemed to had after leaving the doctor's office and spending time with Daryl in the shower was now completely gone. At the moment I sat outside on a beautiful white porc h swing, over at the house next to ours. In total there were two houses for our entire group and we were divided as followed.

The smaller house was for Merle, Daryl and myself. Carol and Sophia. Then there was Rick, his children and Michonne. There were enough rooms for us all to squeeze in, aside from Merle who had taken up refuge in the living room and Michonne who stayed with Carol and Sophia in their room. Though Merle apparently had offered a place next to him on the couch.

Michonne declined, obviously.

The other house, the one with the extra floor and where I was currently sitting on its porch, was home to Glenn, Maggie and Beth. Abraham, Rosita, Eugene, Sasha, Tara and Noah. Gabriel wasn't there. No, he decided to live in the small church that this community had, which was obviously perfect for him.

I used one of my feet to push the swing back on forth, closed my eyes and grunted loudly. I still couldn't believe any of this. These people, this place or the fact that I was wearing a dress and currently sitting on a freaking porch swing.

Suddenly the swing moved and someone sat down on the other end. I reopened my eyes and saw that the person was none other than Sophia. "Hey there."

"Hey." She replied not looking my way.

After that she stayed quiet. It was obvious something was bothering her. When I saw her a couple of hours ago, she was happy as a lam and now there was no trace of that.

I cocked my head and frowned. "You going to tell me what's up?"

For a quick second her eyes landed on me but then she went back to staring into the distance. "Carl took off with a few kids."

"Took off?" I frowned.

"One of the boys invited him to his house." She explained further.

"And you're upset because,- he didn't invite you?"

Sophia shook her head. "No, I didn't feel like going. Enid's probably there."

I had no idea who this Enid was, but from the sound of things Enid was probably a girl. A girl Sophia did not seem to like much.

"They're just kids anyway." She continued.

It was a bit funny to hear her talk like that, especially because Sophia was technically still a child herself.

"You could,- hang with Beth?" I suggested but that was met with am equel disgusted look.

"Ugh."

"What's wrong with Beth?"

"Please, she's swooning all over Daryl. Haven't you noticed? It's quite annoying really."

Honestly, I hadn't. Now that Sophia mentioned it, I couldn't really imagine it either. In my eyes Beth was still that teenager who had a different boy every other week at the prison.

"Swooning?"

Sophia turned her head and threw me a look. "Just because she spent time with him on her own after the prison, she thinks they're buddies. Fact is, he spent more time with me and you."

Her behaviour was endearing, her jealousy towards this Enid girl. Her irritation with Beth, who was apparently infatuated with Daryl. It was nice to see she was having a difficult time dealing with this new environment we'd been thrown in. It, selfishly, made me feel less alone.

"Beth just has a girl crush on Daryl, it'll pass once a more interesting boy comes around. As for Carl. Maybe you should join him, even if you don't like this Enid person. You could make friends with the other kids around here. Perhaps they'll turn out to be more interesting than Carl."

"You make it seem as if I have a crush on Carl,- Which I don't." Sophia rolled her eyes.

I might have implied something like that along the lines. Sophia's reaction taught me it was not a subject to push further. "Alright. Just trying to help."

"Someone's coming." Sophia then said pointing her chin towards the road.

I followed her gaze and watched quietly as an unknown man was indeed coming our way. He diverted midway and stopped at the bottom steps of the porch. His hair was a bit curly and dark of colour. He had a rather bright smile and a strong jaw line.

"Hi there!" He waved and he set one foot on the step. "Good to see you up and about."

"Am I suppose to know him?" I asked Sophia.

"He carried you to the doctor's office yesterday."

Great, that meant I had to be polite and greet him properly. Luckily for me, he was already making his way up the steps of the porch. Once he reached the swing he acknowledged Sophia for a moment, giving her a short nod, before redirecting his attention.

"You put up quite the fight yesterday despite the state you were in." He said before extended his hand. "I'm Aiden. In case you don't remember." He flashed a smile.

Reluctantly and a bit put off, I grabbed his hand and shook it swiftly. "Madison."

"I know. Though I'm not here to check up on you, I came looking for that Asian dude. Glenn, I believe?" Aiden asked.

Sophia was the one who replied, her expression still showed she was annoyed with basically everything and everyone. "He's not here. I believe he went to the main street."

"I see." The tall man replied. "Well, I'll be on my way then. I'll see you around, Madison." He winked and went on his way.

"Ugh, they're all so nosey." Sophia commented after Aiden was fully out of sight.

"That's the third time I hear you say 'ugh' within a span of not even a minute." I chuckled, realizing I probably deserved the glare she was now throwing me.

::::::...::::::

I know I told Daryl that I was going to stay on the porch, but I was beginning to get bored by swinging back and forth on the swing with a cranky Sophia in my surroundings. So I told her I was going to walk around, alone.

The community was large, bigger than I initially thought or maybe I was just lost. All of the houses looked alike and so far I hadn't spotted anybody I knew. Perhaps this was a dumb idea. All of these strangers smiling or nodding their heads as I walked by, locking eyes with some of them from across the street.

Someone waved me over, but I quickly averted my gaze and ignored them. I was not ready for this.

"Hi there."

A woman suddenly approached me before I had the chance to realise it. There was nowhere for me to go aside from crossing to the left. But then it would be too obvious that I was delibertly avoiding whoever she was.

"Hello." I replied observing her. She was only a couple of inches shorter than me. Blond hair, which was a bit lighter than mine. A kind face. I hadn't seen her before.

"How's the dress?" She asked.

"Excuse me?" I replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry. My name is Jessie. The dress you're wearing, it used to be one of mine." She explained.

That explained where Daryl got the dress from. The sleeveless dress stopped just above my knees and it was made of a soft black cotton fabric. Accompanied with it was a long soft grey knitted vest. Both garments were a size too big for me, but I took it Jessie hadn't lived outside of these walls after the outbreak.

"Thank you. That was,- kind of you." I said to her. "I'm Madison."

Jessie nodded. "I know. Pete told me. He's my husband, the doctor here. You quite surprised him. He's not used to getting,- hit." A small smile crossed her face.

"If there's anything you need, feel free to ask me." She then added.

I honestly wouldn't know what there was that I could possibly need. A roof over my head to stay dry and warm, even some food to keep my energy up and the people most dear to me. That was really all I needed at the moment.

"Thank you, Jessie." I smiled. "I'll remember that."

At first I was afraid of being approached by anyone from this place and frankly I still was. But this encounter with Jessie wasn't as unpleasant as I thought it would be.

However, it had been tiring enough and I looked around to find a place I could sit and rest a bit. Perhaps I should walk back to the house, sit down on the porch and watch strangers walk by and stare or worse, wave.

After walking around for a couple of minutes I realized that this time I actually was lost. I halted in the middle of the street and placed my hand on my chest. The same pressure I experienced the last couple of days was back, I had to lie down somewhere.

The green grass was inviting enough and Walkers were not a worry for the first time in forever. I stepped off the road and walked towards a tree for bit of shade. The leaves rustled softly in the gentle breeze. Everything appeared so calm here, but was it really? I closed my eyes and dropped down into the grass.

According to Merle, Deanna was giving everyone in the group a job. I still couldn't wrap my head around it. Back at the prison we all had tasks to take care of. Things you were suited for. I was on guard duty, fence duty and sometimes farm duty. But here, what was I suppose to be doing here?

"Madison! Madison!"

I opened my eyes at the sound of my name being frantically called. I propped myself up with my elbows to see a large red haired crash-landed into the ground right next to me. His eyes widened and his brow furrowed.

"Abraham?"

"Damn it, are you okay? Can you stand?" He asked.

"Stand?" I looked at him with confusion. "What do you mean? I'm just resting."

Abraham blinked and slowly began to calm down. "You are?"

"Pretty sure." I assured him. "This isn't like you. What's gotten you so worked up?"

The tall man seemed to be even more confused than I was. He shifted and decided to sit down next to me instead of staying on his hands and knees.

"Some people over there said they saw you fall towards the ground." He explained as he pointed towards the houses across the road.

It couldn't have been that dramatic when I decided to lie down in the grass. I doubt the people who lived here would have reacted the same way if it had been one of their own community members.

"How'd you know it was me though?" I asked Abraham.

The man shrugged. "Lucky guess, I think."

If Abraham thought that I bought that for one second, he was very wrong. It did not sound convincing at all. If those people had told it was me, he could have said so. But instead he told me it had been a lucky guess.

I sighed. "You just automatically assumed it was me, right? That is not the reputation I wanted."

To my surprise Abraham let out a chuckle. "It's not. You're reputation is just fine. I was just worried because of what you've been through the last few days."

"You're just pissed I puked over you." I retorted not wanting him to play the sympathy card.

Abraham nodded. "It was my favourite shirt."

"Your only shirt,-"

He then let out a loud laugh which startled me. I wasn't expecting to get that kind of a reaction. But I had to admit that, despite Abraham being a bit weird at times, it was nice to hear him laugh again. Nobody had really laughed much over the last few months. Too many bad things have happened to dampened our spirits. It made me think that perhaps this place wouldn't be so bad after all.

::::::...::::::

Abraham walked me back towards the house. It was clear that I had no idea where I had wandered off to. Lucky for me Abraham had the memory of an elephant, something I assumed I always had. Apparently not compared to him.

"I hear Deanna is giving people jobs. Did she give you any?" I asked halfway during our walk back to the houses.

"Construction." Abraham mumbled. He didn't sound too pleased about it. "You?"

I shrugged. "Guess there's no need for a librarian."

The tall red haired chuckled. "No finances to handle."

"Librarian, Abraham. Not a bookie."

"Too bad. I do miss gambling."

If Merle was here to hear Abraham say that, the eldest Dixon would probably let some of his hatred for this man ebb away. Suddenly Abraham halted and placed his arm in front of me.

"Looks like trouble." He said softly.

I glanced over his arm in the distance and saw Glenn and someone who looked like the man who had greeted me and Sophia this morning. The way they stood in front of each other, almost chest to chest and nose to nose, did not seem friendly at all.

"Maybe we should,-"

But then the man known as Aiden swung his fist at Glenn, who dodged it followed up with a punch of his own. Deanna's son fell on the ground and Abraham was already running away from me.

It seemed that Abraham wasn't the only one ready to help Glenn out. A dark blur, I immediately recognized as Daryl, jumped on top of another guy and they both fell to the ground.

It was a good thing Merle wasn't around, he would have joined in for sure and have the time of his life with it. The entire conflict must have started minutes before we spotted it, as there were a lot of people gathering. Members from our group, people from the community.

I halted next to the woman I had met earlier. Jessie. Who stood in the middle of the street with her arms crossed. Rick was already dealing with Daryl, pulling him off some guy I did not know. It was clear his reaction wasn't appreciated.

"What happened?" I asked Jessie.

"I'm not sure." She replied with a shake of her head.

Rick kept his hand pressed against Daryl's chest, who obviously wasn't ready to back down. He was fully ready to defend Glenn, from whatever the falling out between him and Aiden had been about.

I walked away from Jessie and approached Daryl and Rick, who'd finally taken his hands off of him. Rick stepped away as I reached them. I placed one hand on Daryl's shoulder who flinched beneath my touch. He was still on edge.

At this moment it was a good thing that Deanna was there. Aiden's mother and the woman who seemed to have the final say when it came to the matters of this community. She send her son away and scolded the event. If anything, Deanna would have made a brilliant school principal.

"You okay?" I gave Daryl a gentle squeeze after Deanna was done with her speech. He looked alright, there wasn't a scratch on him. But his mood sure wasn't alright. He grunted without replying to my question. I sighed and turned my head away, just in time to catch Abraham averting his gaze from us.

In the meantime Deanna turned her attention on both Rick and Michonne, asking them if they were willing to take on the jobs of keeping the peace and maintaining order within the community. It didn't take long for the two of them to make a decision. They accepted her offer.

But not everyone took it quite as well as Rick and Michonne had done. Daryl picked his crossbow off the ground and scoffed at Rick, throwing him one final glance before turning on his heels and walking away. With one swift movement he encircled his hand around my wrist, pulling me with him and away from the others. I quietly let him drag me along with him until the others were out of sight.

We stopped in a street I finally recognized as the place where the houses we stayed in stood. If I had known it was this close by, I could have taken this route back to the house instead of walking around with Abraham and thus avoiding the confrontation between Glenn and Aiden.

Up until this point I still had no idea why they'd been fighting in the first place. Daryl didn't look my way, and the hold he had on my wrist didn't waver. I cleared my throat and he finally looked my way.

"What happened back there?" I asked him.

The youngest Dixon brother huffed and inhaled through his nose. "Glenn had a fight with that smartmouth boy."

"I could see that. Do you have any idea why?"

But Daryl shrugged. "Boy started it. Tried to hit Glenn. Glenn clogged him down and then his friend tried to jump in, so I,-"

"Okay,- okay. I get it." I replied. Daryl did what he always did. Defend those who were his friends, whether they needed it or no.

"You disapprove." He stated averting his eyes.

I shook my head at him. "I don't. You did what you thought was necessary. I'm just hoping this falling out between Glenn and Aiden isn't the start of more fighting."

"Even so, we've got Rick the cop now."

The way Daryl said that made it seem as if he did not like it one bit. Honestly, I was surprised Deanna hadn't given Rick a job earlier. Out of all of us I would have assumed him to be the first to get one. Even Abraham had gotten one before most of us.

"And Michonne." I added. "I'm glad it's not just Rick."

"Yeah,- that'll do it. As long as it isn't Merle." Daryl managed to let out a chuckle.

I rolled my eyes. "Don't. Don't send that idea into the world. If that were to actually happen,-"

"He wouldn't mind."

"Indeed, he wouldn't. Officer Merle Dixon." I shuddered. "Let's never speak of that again."

A small smile appeared on Daryl's face and together we walked into the house. I could only hope that whatever happened today, the fight between Glenn and Aiden, Michonne and Rick as a new police force, those things would not be the start of new problems.


After reading the reviews and pm's, one thing that is clear... is that the majority of you don't want Glenn to die.

Which I fully understand! And I hear you.

But we'll see how that will work out. You never know what choices I might make... I might kill someone off who has survived so far.

Hope you enjoyed and until next time!