I just started watching season 7 of the walking dead, I love Ezekiel so much!

Sorry for the wait as always, hope you enjoy

"Mom found another one of my comics . . . it was in one of her bags. You haven't seen this one so I thought . . . that maybe you'd want to. I can read it to you."

It was the third time Carl had tried talking to me that morning, and just like the first two times I didn't respond. It wasn't even that long before that I'd woken up, I wasn't even sure if it was noon yet.

I didn't really go anywhere since I'd woken up. I sat outside the tent in the sun, the furthest I'd gone was to go pee, before returning back to the same place.

Carl, who was standing to my side, finally shuffled away a few awkward moments later. I could see him going out of the side of my vision, but I hadn't really looked at him. Instead, I stared out into the forest, wondering briefly how long I could go on my own without being eaten

"Not his fault y'know."

I looked over at Daryl. He was a few feet away from the tent, toward the wooded area, leaning against a tree. He'd said a few moments before Carl walked over that he was going to take a piss.

"At the dinner, his old man was pushin' it out of him. They wouldn't have left it alone."

It took me a second to realise Daryl was talking about the dinner, when Carl told everyone I couldn't read. That's why Daryl thought I wasn't talking to him.

I didn't think Daryl noticed that I wasn't talking to him either.

I didn't know why I wasn't talking, usually there's an ultimate reason, I'm not particularly fond of that person (Lori) or I'm mad at them because someone else is also mad because that person did something to that other person's brother (Rick). Or they made me feel creeped out and guilty (Carol). There wasn't a reason for it this time, at least not toward Daryl. He'd said a few things here and there since we woke up, but I didn't say anything back.

It wasn't because of Carl telling everyone at the dinner that I wasn't talking to him, or maybe that was part of the reason, I felt embarrassed but I didn't feel mad about it. Thinking back to when he took the gun, that made me angry, it made no sense to me why he did it. And then, Lori was blaming me for things Carl started? Back at the school when he went into the kitchen of the cafeteria, I didn't think it would be fun, I followed him hoping I could get him out so we wouldn't get in trouble. Then, he stole a gun, and I get in trouble after making him put it back so we didn't get in trouble.

Maybe my plans need some more work

I was just so tired, and so done. I missed the days when even Daddy wasn't home and I was alone. Which was ironic considering at the time, I sometimes wished for him to come home early, or that maybe I actually had a friend so I had something to do. But now, it was starting to seem like solitude really was the best way to go.

I glanced over to where the cars were parked when I heard Shane raising his voice, he wasn't being very loud, but enough to know that he wasn't happy. He and Rick had been standing beside one of the cars talking for a while, the conversation had been intense for a while, but now it was becoming more agitated.

Maybe I'll go for a walk, I stood up and took a few steps before Daryl's voice halted me.

"Hey," I glanced at him as he continued, "goin' huntin' soon, not sure when I'm gonna be back."

For a brief moment, I wondered if he'd let me go with him, then I remembered Sophia.

No one's letting me go into the woods after another little girl just got shot. I knew I wasn't going anywhere, so I nodded and kept walking. Then I wondered why Daryl bothered telling me, why would he care if I knew he was hunting?

I was walking by the group's camp when I wished I'd walked behind the RV instead, I just kept my head down and kept going. After passing the camp and the RV, I came across Glenn. His back was to me, staring off into the distance with his hands up near his face. I stepped around him out of curiosity to see he was holding binoculars.

"Hello, farmer's daughter." he mumbled.

I followed the direction he was looking in, putting a hand over my eyes to shield the sun In the distance I could make out Maggie walking in our direction carrying a basket, she was wearing a green tank top and jeans.

I looked over at Glenn, he didn't seem to notice I was there, after a few seconds, I poked his side. Glenn practically jumped out of his skin, he fumbled with the binoculars trying to catch them after losing his grip. Once he caught a hold of them, he looked at me with wide eyes.

"I-I was just, y'know, just checking things out." He fumbled over his words and when he got them out his eyes widened more and he looked almost horrified.

We both turned around when we heard the sound of a car starting. Shane was walking toward us, away from Rick and the car. Rick got into the car and closed the door. I watched as T-Dog waked up to the passenger's side and got in.

"Hey," Shane said when he got to me, "you sleep all right?"

I just shrugged.

"Where are your shoes? Go get them on, gonna show you something."

I had to think about it for a minute before remembering I left them in the house when we all went in there for dinner. I walked passed Shane toward the house, I was curious about what he was talking about, and wasn't sure if I really wanted to be around him. But ultimately, I decided that I just didn't care, Daryl was going to be gone anyway, and Shane did say he would teach me how to shoot.

I walked up the porch steps and opened the door to the house. My running shoes were right by the door. As I put them on, I already couldn't wait to take them off. I left the house to see Shane had been waiting for me.

"We're gonna go out to the chicken shed," he told me, looking around as he walked, as if checking if anyone was close enough. We walked passed Maggie on our way and she smiled at us.

"Morning," Shane greeted her.

Once we got to where the chickens were fenced in, we went inside the shed.

"This was the only place I thought we could do it. We need a table, and it's best to have some privacy from the others, most of them won't agree to this. Don't worry about that though, I'll keep working on it, they'll have to understand that even you kids need to learn to defend yourselves. We're not going to be by your side twentyfour-seven. There's going to be a time that you'll need this skill."

Shane was moving stuff out of the way on the workshop table. He wiped some of the dirt and dust off before reaching into his back pocket and pulling out his blue handkerchief. He laid the handkerchief on the table.

"We're going to start with gun assembly and cleaning since you can't do target practice yet. That isn't a bad thing though, because once you know how to use a gun, you'll need to know how to take proper care of it. Especially if you want it to take care of you."

Shane pulled his gun out of it's holster and laid it on the table.

"My piece is a bit more advanced, but Dale's been guarding the gun bag since Carl . . . anyway, I figured it would be better to start somewhere rather than nowhere. It's heavier, got better balance and twice the ammo as the one we would've given you for training."

Shane motioned for me to go closer to the table so I did. I looked up at him as he leaned his elbows on the table.

"Do you know how to unload it? Always make sure the chamber is clear of any live rounds before starting this."

I pressed my lips together, looking down at the gun. After I thought about it, I put my hand on the butt of the gun, attempting to get the magazine out. After I struggled for a couple seconds he reached for it and helped.

"Now you're gonna hold down this metal bar, it goes straight through to the other side, you see?" he said pointing his finger at it. "Pull it toward the trigger, while holding the top. Slide the rail off, gently. Nice, you got it."

I breathed out, trying to alleviate some of the anxiety. So far it seemed I was doing everything right. He pointed to the silver spring inside of the rail so I put the other side of the gun down.

"Take out that spring out there." I followed his instruction slowly, the spring was a little difficult to get out, but I got it.

"Under that you see that metal rod, that's the barrel. You're gonna get some grease on your hands from that. Every so often you're gonna wanna oil up the barrel. It's fine for now."

I took the barrel out, it felt oily.

"You're halfway there," he smiled.

I felt the corners of my mouth lift, feeling a small swell of pride. It was the best I felt so far that day.

He continued with his instruction and I followed it slowly, making sure not to mess it up. I was done a few minutes later, he said he'd already had the gun cleaned so I didn't have to do that. Next he showed me how to put it back together.

"Be sure to put the spring back in the right away, and make sure it's level."

It took me a lot long to put it all back together then it did to take it apart, twice Shane had to correct me on a part and did it himself.

"Nice job, was that your first time disassembling?"

I nodded.

"You did great. Want to see how much you can remember yourself now?"

I nodded and went back to the gun. He still had to correct me a few times but I did better. At one point I glanced at him and something caught my attention, it was the necklace her wore. Shane was leaning forward on the table making his necklace dangle, causing it to be more noticeable. I'd noticed it a few times, it was a number 22 pendant hanging on a long chain.

"Why do you wear that?"

Shane looked confused for a moment before following my eyes, "oh, that. It's my number, my favourite, my lucky number." he chuckled a little, "though it never proved to be very lucky. My birthday's on the twenty-second, and it was my football number in highschool. I used it for a lottery number all the time, though maybe I shouldn't have. Never won anything."

"Oh," was all that escaped my lips. I stared at the number before looking back to the gun.

Third POV

Maggie was giving Lori a few eggs from the basket she was holding, she'd just finishing collection them from the chicken coop. Lori took the eggs and thanked her, she was going to cook them over a fire for the rest of the group. Maggie walked away from Lori, planning on going into the house, but stopped. Her eyes wandered over to Daryl's tent. She stared for a few moments, contemplating.

Daryl was staring down at a broken bolt in his hand, he knew he'd have to make or find more at some point. He was fiddling around with it, contemplating how to fix it, when really, he was stalling.

He glanced up at the tent, planning on taking it down. He was going to fifteen minutes prior, but there he was stalling. He told Toby he was going hunting before she walked off, but he didn't get out how long he might be gone for. He would've found a way to explain it but she'd walked off too quickly. He was hoping to hunt down a deer at the least, bring back some real meat, full meals for them.

Daryl sighed to himself and went inside the tent to start rolling up the sleeping bags. He planned on figuring out something for Toby before he left, she'd probably just end up staying in the RV. He'd let Dale know.

When Daryl came out of the tent with a rolled up sleeping bag under his arm, Maggie made up her mind and began to make her way over to him.

Daryl was going through his bag when she approached. When he saw her, he stopped what he was doing, stood up straight and stared her down.

Maggie bit her lip, hesitating, "Daryl, right? I'm Maggie."

Daryl gave a nod, his expression neutral, "I know that."

"Oh," she said. "I wanted to say I was sorry, again . . . for last night. I shouldn't have snapped at you."

"mm-hmm," he said, crouching to seal his bag.

"I just . . . I didn't know she was on her own, and it seemed like no one was really paying attention to her. It got on my nerves a bit."

"Now ya know why no one looks at her," he scoffed, tying his sleeping bag to the outside of his bag.

"I don't follow."

Daryl stood, slightly scowling, "no one knows what to say to her, so they don't say nothin'. And now after last night it's an even worse shit show than it already was."

Maggie squinted at him, she didn't really understand what he was trying to say. He didn't seem to be very clear.

"Where is she now?"

"Fuck if I know. She walked off pretty quick, best to just leave her alone."

"You're not worried?"

He shook his head, his expression grew softer as he stared off passed her. As if looking to see if he'd spot Toby, "nah. After that kid got shot I doubt she's gonna go out there," he motioned behind him to the wooded area. "An' now that we know what's in that barn of yours, she ain't goin' anywhere near it."

"Right . . ."

"That all you came here for?"

Maggie looked down at the basket in her hand and grabbed two eggs out with her free hand. She offered the eggs to Daryl, he hesitated for a moment before taking them.

Maggie gave a nod before turning away.

"Wait."

Maggie turned back to him.

Daryl looked at her then down to the basket, "how much you got there?"

She held out the basket, "take what you like."

Daryl gave a nod of thanks and took two more with his other hand.

"Me and Glenn are taking a run into town. There anything you need?"

He shook his head, "didn't you two just go for a run?"

"What can I say? People keep coming up with stuff they want."

Daryl gave a grunt, as if that was some kind of regular answer. Maggie stood there for a moment awkwardly.

"Well," she said, turning away again, "if there's anything you need just ask. I'd be happy to help, if you needed it, with Toby I mean."

Daryl pressed his lips together, briefly glancing at his tent.

"Wait," he stopped Maggie again once she was a few feet away. Maggie turned back to him again, seeing he was staring at the tent.

He finally looked back at her, "there is somethin'."

Glenn and Maggie were riding horses side by side. Glenn found his legs were sore from riding, he wasn't used to having to keep his balance on a horse, he was trying his best not to wobble side to side. He hoped Maggie didn't notice his struggle.

She did.

It had been awkward and tense between them since the group found out about the Walkers in the barn.

"Could we talk about something?" Glenn asked anxiously. He was afraid of her silence, she hadn't said a word since she brought the horses out for them and they were now riding into the town.

"What happened to Toby's father?" Maggie had been in deep thought since her talk with Daryl.

Glenn's eyes went wide, it wasn't what he was expecting. "Woah, okay. Wow. I was actually hoping we could talk about why your dad keeps a barn filled with Walkers."

Maggie shook her head dismissively.

"It's creepy, you know that right? If you'd seen Atlanta you would not have a barn full of Walkers."

"We're not talking about this."

"He thinks they're sick, and you agree with that?"

"Stop," her head jerked to face him. She sighed and looked away, "could you just answer my question. Please?"

"Why? Why do you want to talk about that?"

"I want to know. Why not? Does anyone talk about it?" They stopped in front of the pharmacy and she hopped off her horse.

"No, not really." Glenn said, then grunted as he hopped off next. "Why would we? There's nothing to talk about, he's most likely dead anyways."

Maggie paused as she was tying the horses reins to a post. "Wait, you don't know?"

"No one does. Shane said her dad left, then didn't come back."

"So, he knows?"

"No, he found her after."

Maggie looked away, starting to tie the reins again, "that's horrible."

Glenn shrugged, "I don't know if I buy it."

"What? What do you mean buy it?"

Glenn shook his head, "nothing. Nevermind."

"No, say it," she said, stepping up to him.

Glenn avoided her eyes, then lifted his hand to fidget with his hat, "I don't know . . . Sometimes I think she just said that."

"Why would anyone just say that? You think she made it up?" Maggie narrowed her eyes in bewilderment.

"Maybe so she wouldn't have to say anything about it? And we wouldn't ask? Maybe she saw him die and decided to pretend it didn't happen."

"What made you come up with that theory?" She turned away opening the door to the pharmacy.

"Don't you find it hard to believe? That he would just leave her?" he asked, walking in behind her. "That anyone would just leave their own kid? Look at Lori and Rick, Carl's their life. And Carol, she's barely left Sophia's side. And she's not even conscious. I just . . . I can't see it."

Maggie stared at Glenn, she agreed it was a hard thing to picture, a parent leaving their child behind. She turned away from him to grab a shopping basket and began to collect what they needed from the shelves.

"Why are you asking about it anyway?" Glenn asked her. "You'd be better off asking Shane, he'll know better. Or Daryl."

"Daryl's taking off for a while, couple days maybe," she said, taking an item off the shelf and placing it into the basket.

"Yeah, hunting trip or something Rick said. How do you know?"

"He told me himself, asked me to look in on Toby while he's gone."

Glenn was surprised, he couldn't imagine Daryl talking to Maggie, he couldn't imagine him asking her that either.

"So, avoid the father subject," Maggie thought outloud.

Glenn squinted at her as she searched the shelves, "what do you mean avoid?"

"I mean it's on the Do-Not-Mention list."

"So there's a mention list? And what's on that?"

"Haven't figured it out yet," she admitted, "thought I'd try and spend some girl time with her."

"And do what exactly?"

She shrugged, "Daddy asked me to put together dinner tonight, I'm gonna see if she'll want to help out."

"Dinner? When you said girl time I thought that meant you painting her nails."

Maggie scoffed, "fresh out of that, Beth used up the last of it."

Maggie doubted painting nails would be among Toby's interests, half the time Maggie saw her she wasn't even wearing shoes. Maggie noticed last night when they were cleaning up for dinner that she'd left her shoes inside. After thinking about it, Maggie decided shoes were an easy enough topic to bring up to the girl.

Maggie leaned toward Glenn to see what else was on the list he was holding.

"I'll go check out the back," she said, walking away. She walked to the back and hopped over the counter, behind the counter was where they stored the medications. Maggie began sorting through the bottles on the shelf, reading the labels.

Glenn sauntered through the aisles, grabbing things that were on the list, and other items he thought may be useful. When he reached the feminine hygiene section, he stopped and thought for a moment before grabbing all the pads and tampon boxes that were left. No one had asked for them this time, but he figured he'd be sent out for them at some point, he knew they'd come to good use and the girls may be grateful for having them.

"No! No! GLENN!" he heard Maggie screaming at the top of her lungs. He turned in her direction to see a Walker that had been trapped on the other side of the shelf reached through and grabbed a hold of her wrist.

Glenn dropped the basket and ran toward her while calling out her name, as he passed a column he tore one of the shelves off, the items on it falling to the ground. Maggie had managed to get free from the Walker and scramble away when the shelf fell from the Walker pushing it.

Just as the Walker lunged for her, Glenn jumped onto the counter and swung the shelf at the Walker's head, knocking it away.

When it was down Glenn jumped down, dropping the shelf.

"Did it get you? Did it bite you?!" He asked frantically, taking hold of her shoulders. Maggie couldn't answer, she was shaking and gasping for air. Glenn quickly looked her over before pulling her into a hug.

A little over an hour later Maggie and Glenn returned to the farm. Once again, Maggie was silent the whole way.

"Do you want me to take them back?" Glenn asked as they hopped off the horses.

Maggie nodded, "thank you." She took their bag of supplies and walked toward the house. Glenn watched her go, he couldn't stop thinking about what would've happened if he hadn't gotten to her in time. He felt guilty, thinking that from then on, it was best he went alone.

Maggie was thinking about the ones they kept in the barn, comparing them to the one that attacked her. Her mind that once had hope for those people, was filled with doubt.

"You're back," Hershel said as she walked in, "you took a long time. I was worried."

"Well you don't need to be, Glenn and I checked out some of the other places on that block, wondering if we could find something," she lied.

"How was it?"

"Good, got everything on the list." Maggie dug through the bag, grabbing two of the pill bottles and placing them on the kitchen table in front of him.

Hershel picked one of the bottles up, sighing as he looked it over. Maggie noticed his troubled expression quick.

"What's wrong?"

Hershel hesitated, avoiding his daughter's eyes. Maggie didn't push him, she waited patiently.

"Sophia woke up, while you were gone."

Maggie's eyes widened, she felt relief but her father's expression made her nervous, "and? How is she?"

"She had a seizure. She lost consciousness again . . . I had no way of knowing exactly how much blood she'd lost. She lost too much blood for her body to repair itself. I can't risk a transfusion if Carol doesn't know her blood type."

"But . . . I thought she was getting better, she was-"

"-I know. I was wrong. Her organs may be shutting down, and soon she may not be able to breathe on her own if she gets worse."

Maggie sat down across from her father and dropped the bag, "what about the respirator?"

Hershel just shook his head. Maggie knew why, the respirator was pointless if her body was dying.

"Does she have a chance?"

Hershel was staring at his hands on the kitchen table, "a small one."

"It was a small chance before too right? She could pull through?"

"It's different now. I have no way of knowing what's wrong or how to take care of it." Hershel stood, "there's nothing I can do."

Maggie thought it all over, she thought hard about her next words. She knew that it may not have been respectable to bring it up with a dying girl in the next room, but she felt she had to.

"Then what?"

"Pardon?" Hershel turned to her.

"If . . . if she dies. Then what? You kick them off the land? Force all of them back out there?"

Hershel took a deep breath, Maggie was present early that morning. Rick was trying to talk Hershel into letting them stay even when Sophia was recovering. He had a feeling she would bring it up.

"Rick was trying to make his case. It'll be hard. They'll have to be careful. But he was being dramatic. They're a strong group. They've done well on their own. They're just gonna have to go out and find their own farm. There's plenty of them now to chose from."

"There aren't. Every one of them nearby is burned out or full of Walkers."

"Walkers?" Hershel echoed, disappointment lacing his voice. "So we just keep these people here forever? How are they my responsibility? I did what I could for that little girl."

"'A new command I give to you, love one another as I have loved you'. That's what you told me, right? Love one another. That's what you told me."
"Is this about you and the Asian boy? Do you want me to-"

"-No." Maggie's voice shook slightly as tears burned her eyes. She wasn't planning on telling Hershel. She was never sure how to feel about the virus now plaguing the people she once knew. But Hershel led her and Beth to believe they could get better. Maggie shoved all her doubt away, not wanting to think the worst, but her close encounter had unburied all of it.

"His name is Glenn. He saved my life today when one of the people you think is sick tried to kill me. How's that for dramatic? Things aren't what you think they are. They aren't. Don't do this. Okay? It's not about me and Glenn. It's not about me and you. It's about you. It's about who you are, who you're gonna be. Having a strong group won't stop things like that-" Maggie pointed to the direction of Sophia's room, "-from happening."

"Maggie-"

"-And even if they are just sick, that doesn't make them any less dangerous."

The two heard someone clear their throat. They turned away from each other to see Guillermo in the doorway holding a small cardboard box. "I've done what you asked," he said simply.

"Thank you, son. You can just set that down."

Guillermo stepped forward and placed the box on the table beside Maggie. Then instead of leaving, he stood there expectantly.

When Hershel realized why he was still there he dismissed him, "I'll find you if I need anything else."

Guillermo gave a nod, and then left.

Maggie stood and leaned over the box, "he harvested the potatoes?"

"He asked to be put to work. He was in the stables all morning."

"He did that?" Maggie asked, surprised. When she was getting the horses for her and Glenn earlier she noticed it had been cleaned up. She thought her father or Patricia might've done it.

"I know you want to talk about this. But I need to talk with Carol," Hershel said, walking around the table to make his way out of the kitchen.

"What're you going to say to her?"

"Nothing that will be easy," he said. After Hershel left, Maggie did too. She wanted to get her mind off of things and decided to go find Toby.

When Maggie went outside she saw that the car Rick took earlier was back. He left so they could find a good place for target practise. Glenn walked up to Maggie as soon as he saw she was out.

"Rick and T-Dog said they found a good place for the gun lessons, we're heading out now. You want to come?"

Maggie thought it over before shaking her head, "who's staying?"

"Uh . . . I think Lori's staying with Carl Guillermo. Carol obviously."

"Where's Toby?"

Glenn motioned toward the RV, "Dale's talking to her."

Maggie nodded and began making her way around him.

"Hey, could uh, can I see you tonight?"

She rolled her eyes, smiling at him, "you're seeing me now."

Maggie turned away before he could say anything else, she enjoyed teasing him.

After Rick and T-Dog came back, Toby's lesson with Shane ended and he was getting ready to leave, her confidence lifted after he remarked that she was a quick learner and was impressed how fast she had got on. Before Shane had to leave, Toby was able to assemble and disassemble his Glock without any instruction, though there were times she was hesitant on the next step but she got it eventually.

Afterward Toby went on her way back to Daryl's tent to find it gone along with him. She felt her stomach lurch. She knew Daryl was leaving but she didn't think it would be more than the day. She wished he had told her but she shoved that thought away, Daryl didn't owe her anything, she just needed to keep quiet and be thankful he even let her share his tent.

Dale went up to her only a few moments of her seeing that Daryl was gone, he told her she was welcome to stay in the RV and he would let her have the bed that night. Toby didn't say anything to him, she just nodded and looked at her shoes she desperately wanted to rip off.

Her session with Shane had made her feel better, but seeing that Daryl could be gone for a while brought back what she was feeling all morning. Though, she wasn't sure what it was, she wasn't sure if she was just tired, or depressed, or both.

When Dale walked away Toby planned on taking her shoes off right then and there.

"Toby?"

Toby whirled around to Maggie.

"Hey, are you doing anything?"

Toby shook her head.

"Would you like to?"

Toby's gaze was averted to two of the cars pulling out of the driveway, leaving to go train. Then she nodded at Maggie, wanting to keep busy.

"What are we doin'?" Toby asked as she followed her.

Maggie turned her head to her as they walked, "I'm just getting dinner ready, with Beth, Jimmy, and Patricia going out to shoot I'll be on my own. Thought we could spend some time together."

Maggie narrowed her eyes a little at Toby's feet while they walked, she was shuffling along slowly. Maggie couldn't describe it, but there was something off about the way she was walking.

"Everything okay?"

Toby nodded. As she had started walking with Maggie she noticed the big toe on her right had begun to sting horribly. She didn't understand why, she tried to hide her discomfort, assuring herself she'd be taking her shoes off in the house.

As soon as they did get into the house, Toby dropped herself down to take her shoes off, she needed to see what was wrong with her toe. Toby cringed when she saw, her toenail was broken, the tip of it seemed like a regular hangnail but it started splitting down the middle.

Maggie was a few feet in front of her but noticed her expression and came closer.

"What happened?"

"I dunno." Toby reached down, the only thing she could think of was trying to rid of some of the nail. Maggie grabbed her hand in protest.

"No, don't touch it, you'll make it worse. Come on." Maggie pulled Toby to her feet and led her to the kitchen, instructing her to sit on a chair. Maggie crouched down to assess the damage done to her nail, wondering what caused it. She also noticed that Toby feet were red and slightly swollen, she saw a few blisters as well.

"This looks painful, why didn't you tell anyone?"

Toby was confused, what was she supposed to say? I walk around a lot so my feet hurt. What would that do?

"Is this why you don't keep your shoes on?"

Toby just shrugged, Maggie's attention confused her to no end. She didn't understand how she knew that, why would she pay that much attention to her? Maggie stood and left the room, returning a second later with Toby's shoes in hand.

"Give me your foot," Maggie instructed, when Toby held out her right foot with the injured nail she shook her head, "the other one."

Toby gave her left foot to Maggie and Maggie put the shoe on her. Toby watched her curiously and Maggie felt around the shoe for her foot, when she pressed her fingertips to where the tips of her toes would be, Toby winced slightly.

Maggie took the shoe off and looked over. She turned it around to the bottom, expecting it before noticed the sole was tearing off the shoe. Maggie pulled at it to show Toby.

"No wonder these are bugging you, they don't fit."

Toby stared at the shoes that were now on the floor, "they fit before."

"Well you're a growing girl, from the looks of them you've had them for a while."

Toby nodded, thinking over Maggie's words. So much had been going on that it never crossed Toby's mind she would grow out of her shoes, or anything else. Now, she felt a small bit of excitement whirl within her at the thought of growing taller. Her and Carl were the same age, yet Carl had a few inches on her. She knew she looked younger than her actual age, and the idea of not looking so small and young gave her something to look forward too.

Maggie excused herself, making her way to Beth's room for her nail kit. Maggie wished she'd been aware of this earlier, then at least she would've had the chance to look for shoes on her run with Glenn.

Maggie retrieved Beth's nail kit and went to the bathroom to fill a small tub of warm water. Maggie went back to Toby, placing the tub under Toby's feet and instructed her to put her feet in.

"Why?"

"I'm just going to clean your nails a bit, those blisters too. You don't want an infection."

"I can do it," Toby said quietly, she was confused why Maggie wanted to do this.

Maggie just shook her head, grabbing a hold of Toby's ankles gently and guiding them into the water. She used the soap she brought down to scrub around Toby's nails.

Taking a closer look, Maggie could see a couple of her toes were red and swollen in the corner of her nail. Maggie got the nail kit out, planning to scrap the dirt from under her nails and trim them to prevent any ingrown nails.

Toby's foot jerked when Maggie was about to start cleaning the dirt out with the small silver tool.

"Wha-what's that?"

"It's just to help me clean your nails," Maggie assured her gently.

Toby looked uncomfortable and felt unsure, but there was something about the way Maggie was looking at her that made her relax.

Maggie had a decent amount of questions for her. She thought long and hard as she continued treating Toby's feet, trying to figure out a way to bring it up delicately. She was trying to come up with the right thing to say or ask.

That was when Maggie realised; that was why it was so hard for the others, that was why no one knew how to talk to her. There just was no right way, no matter how careful or gentle you were being and what you were saying, it could still end up horribly wrong. There wasn't an easy way to bring it up, so why bother trying to find it? Why not just ask?

"Do you miss him?" Maggie asked as she finished cleaning the nails on the one foot, moving on to the next. "Your dad?"

Toby looked taken aback, which she was. She was distracted from watching Maggie's actions with her feet, instead looking to Maggie's face, trying to figure out why she would ask that.

"Yeah," Toby nodded, answering quietly.

"Do you want to talk about him?"

Toby thought her question over, it was something she'd never thought about. Sure, her father had been brought up, Shane talked about him, about how he was sorry. She and Daryl had the vague conversation when Merle first went missing, about if they thought they were dead. Daryl said no one can kill Merle but Merle, and Toby was certain that her father was alive.

But no one ever asked if she wanted to talk about it, and now that Maggie had brought it up, Toby realised that she did want to talk about him.

Toby wasn't sure how to answer. Maggie watched her expression thoughtfully. Toby looked unsure and didn't bother hiding it, she was staring at Maggie, her expression soft and nervous.

"We don't have to-"

"-I should've stayed in the car." Toby blurted her thoughts, cutting Maggie off.

Maggie looked back at her, surprised. To Maggie, that statement didn't mean much, she didn't know what Toby was talking about, she had no idea the actual events of that night. But she knew it meant something to Toby.

"What do you mean by that?"

Toby was silent for several moments, "we were goin' to Atlanta, but there was a bunch of cars so we had to stop. we waited for a really long time. Then . . . he told me to stay put . . . he didn't come back. I know everyone thinks he's dead."

"What do you think?" Maggie asked after processing the information.

"He's not dead, he's just . . . not here. I don't . . ." Toby stopped a moment, blinking her eyes as she looked away from Maggie, trying not to cry. "I don't get it. I don't get why he didn't come back."

"Hey," Maggie grasped Toby's knee tightly, in attempt to provide some reassurance. "I may not understand what your feeling, I don't think any of us can. But you have people here, you may not know them all that well, but they're behind you. So if you need anything, or just want to talk . . . they'll help."

Toby looked back at Maggie, confused.

"Take this, for instance," Maggie motioned to the girls feet, "you were in pain, you could've told someone. They would've helped. Everyone is going through a hard time right now, we all need to help each other. They care, they want to help you. And it's not just this, it's anything, everything."

Toby thought her words over, a look of disbelief crossing her features, "like who?"

Maggie didn't miss a beat, "like Daryl."

Toby just shook her head, "I'm just a dumb little kid, no one gives a shit."

"That's not true."

"I know it is. I know where I stand," Toby stared at her feet while Maggie lifted her feet out of the small tub. After that short while, she was finished cleaning and cutting Toby's nails.

"Well, I give a shit."

Toby scrunched her nose at this, "Why?"

"Because that's where I stand," as if to give more emphasis, Maggie stood up with the small tub in her arms and left the room. She came back only seconds later and dried Toby's feet with a towel.

"Now come on, got some work for us to do."

Toby stared down at the peeler in her hand, "what is this?"

"It's a peeler," Maggie answered skeptically, she reached and took it from Toby's hands. She did a quick demonstration, "see? Like that. You said you peeled potatoes before."

"I have. But I never used this, neither did Daddy."

"What did you use then?"

Toby hesitated then reached down to her thigh, she brought one of the knives out of her sheath and leaned over to the sink to wash it off. Maggie watched her closely. When Toby rinsed the knife off she began peeling a potato with it. Maggie watched her movement, she definitely wasn't going slow, it wasn't her first time doing it that way.

Whatever works for her, Maggie thought.

Maggie had the vegetable laid out of the table as she and Toby sat. She was planning on doing it all on the counter but after seeing the state of Toby's feet, she thought the girl would be grateful to sit down.

Maggie was peeling a carrot as Toby did the potatoes. Maggie told her to just leave the peels on the table and they's clean it up later.

"Do you miss school? Your friends?" Maggie asked.

"I don't have friends," she said simply, focusing on her potato.

"Oh come on, I'm sure you had friends, or even one."

Toby shook her head, "kids are mean. Daddy says they ain't worth the time anyway."

Maggie furrowed her eyebrows, she wasn't expecting Toby to bring up her father nonchalantly.

"I've had a fair share of bullies in my time. But it doesn't last long, they get bored, lose interest. Did you ever talk to the teachers? I'm sure they weren't that bad."

"The boy that sat behind me pulled my hair really hard. One time he cut it."

"Did he get in trouble for it?"

"No, I did for pushing him, they sent me home," Toby said. She didn't mention that the school couldn't get ahold of her father to take her home because they didn't have his number. They made her wait in the principal's office until school was out and they sent her home.

"He cut your hair? And you got in trouble for pushing him?"

Toby paused her actions for a moment, "he hit his head on a desk."

Maggie's lips parted slightly, shock and concern taking over.

Toby looked up at her, noticing her expression. "I didn't really mean to do that. I didn't think if I pushed him he was gonna end up bleedin'. I just wanted him to stop."

I really didn't mean for it to go in this direction, Maggie thought with concern.

"You know, they say that if a boy is mean to you that means he has a crush," Maggie was trying to lighten the mood.

Toby thought over the word she used, it sounded familiar, but she never understood it. She heard it a couple of times from the kids as school. "That's when . . . when someone kisses you, right?"

Maggie looked a little surprised, she didn't expect Toby to ask her the meaning, Maggie took a deep breath, planning on explaining it to her, "well-"

"-I asked Daddy what that meant. He got mad."

Maggie furrowed her eyebrows, "why would he get mad?"

Toby shrugged, "he said that he was right and I shouldn't be goin' to that school no more."

"He said that? He didn't want you going to school?"

"He said that he didn't want those little whores puttin' nasty thoughts in my head."

Maggie was silent once again staring at Toby. But this time she felt almost horrified, was everything she brought up going to blow up in her face? Toby felt Maggie's eyes on her and looked up again, taking in her expression. Toby was confused and concerned, she was trying to figure out what she did wrong.

"Oh," Toby said when she realised. "Right, that's a bad word. Sorry."

"What else did he say?" Maggie was thinking of more and more questions. Before when she wanted to do this with Toby, she thought her questions would be answered and everything would clear up. But Toby was making the list longer with everything she said.

"That parents gotta control their kids. Children oughta know they should be seen not heard. I don't remember it all, he went on for a while that time. I don't think he was mad at me though."

Jesus H. Christ, Maggie exclaimed in her head. Did this guy have her stuck in the fifties?

Maggie and Toby continued preparing the food. When Toby was done peeling, Maggie showed how she wanted them cut up. Maggie tried not to say much other than about dinner, she had tried to think of something but was slightly afraid of what she would hear as an answer.

When Maggie started to finally cook, she reminded herself how lucky they were to have a gas stove. She fried the vegetables on a different pan then the potatoes, adding some different spices and such.

Toby was silent as she sat at the table, waiting. She wasn't sure what to do with herself. It didn't take Maggie long to finish.

"I'm not sure when they'll be back from training, I think Daddy's busy with something, he'll come for it when he's ready, so we'll just eat."

Toby looked up in surprise as Maggie brought two plates with the food to the table.

"Me?" Toby asked.

"Of course. You helped me make it, eat up."

"Thank you," Toby felt grateful, she was hungry. She hadn't eaten much of her dinner the night before and didn't have the chance to eat during the day. Well, she might've, if she asked anyone, but she didn't.

Maggie told her she could use the salt and pepper if she liked, which were in the centre of the table. As they ate, Maggie observed that Toby didn't reach for either, nor did she pick up her fork. She ate with her hand very slowly and was taking small bites. Maggie made a note of how the potatoes on Toby's plate were the first and quickest to disappear.

When Maggie was finished Toby still had a few bites left.

Maggie stood, "I'll be right back. I'm gonna go see if Beth has an old pair of shoes you can borrow. Next time I go into town, I'll find you something."

Toby didn't have the chance to react or say anything as Maggie walked away. Why would she do that? They're just shoes. Why does she care so much that I have them, Toby silently questioned.

Maggie was upstairs for a few minutes, first she had searched under Beth's bed, but didn't find what she was looking for. She was sure Beth had an older pair of shoes somewhere, Beth always had trouble throwing things away, including clothes that didn't fit, she always wanted to keep them around in case. It was something she got from her mother.

Maggie moved to the closet, going on her tiptoes to look at the top shelf. When Maggie heard something she averted her gaze to Beth's window, seeing that the cars were back and everyone was getting out. Maggie left Beth's room, planning on asking her about the shoes.

Toby's POV

When I finished the last few bites of my food, I stood and took mine and Maggie's plate to the sink. I wasn't exactly sure how Maggie's dad was, but my Daddy hated dirty dishes in the sink. You use 'em you wash 'em. So I started to wash them so no one would get in trouble.

When I finished one of the plates I stopped what I was doing when I heard the front door being thrown open. I heard quick footsteps, someone was running in the house. The boy that often stayed close to Beth ran into the kitchen, yelling for Maggie and Hershel. I heard the name Jimmy being tossed around so I was sure this is him.

Maggie was the first to come down, "Jimmy, what is it?"

Before he could answer, Hershel came into the room, "what's going on?"

"We-We just got back, I saw it, in the field."

Hershel hurried out of the room passed Jimmy, Jimmy and Maggie followed him. A second later I heard the door open and close once again.

Confused and curious, I wiped my wet hands on my shirt and rushed after them. When I got outside I saw most of the group was gathered some ways away, passed the RV. Hershel pushed passed them to get by. I started running then, wanting to see what was going on.

When I got to the group I went around to the side of them, seeing Shane, his gun was drawn.

"You can't be fucking serious." Shane exclaimed.

I followed their eyes, Hershel had his hands out, slowly approaching a Walker. It was really skinny, its clothes were torn and barely hanging on to it's body.

Rick was a few steps in front of Shane. He turned his eyes to Shane's drawn gun, "put it away Shane."

"Be careful," Dale called out, "I don't need to tell you how dangerous a bite from one of them is."

"I've done this a few times before, you know." Hershel said, not looking his way. "They're only really dangerous when there's more than one."

"Hershel, I don't think you should-"

"-Go over there and get his attention," Hershel cut Rick off.

When Rick didn't move, Glenn went, going forward and around the Walker, "Hey, ugly! Over here."

The Walker turned around, beginning to follow Glenn. Shane began to raise his gun, Rick noticed immediately and reached out to force it down.

"Stop."

Shane shook his head, "Rick-"

"-We are guests here, this is Hershel's land this is what he wants. We respect it until we can make him see he is in the wrong."

"This isn't right, to have those things so close, and you're gonna let him add more to the collection?" At that point Hershel had gotten the Walker from behind, holding it and guiding it toward the barn.

"I get that you want to earn his trust so he'll let us stay, but jesus, this is nuts!" Shane continued, "Why would you want to stay here?"

"We'll make him see-"

"-How?!"

"Now is not the time, Shane."

"Maggie! Jimmy!" Hershel called out, "go around back and distract the others while I throw this one in."

"Looks like he has his own system going," Dale commented.

I looked up at Shane, he was staring daggers into Rick. But Rick wasn't looking at him anymore, he was watching Hershel and Glenn. Shane shook his head again while running a hand over it. He turned abruptly, glancing at me as he walked away. He was really angry.

I turned away from the scene to watch him. Shane stopped only a few feet away, he seemed to be trying to calm himself down.

I stepped closer to him. I didn't understand why they wanted to let the Walkers stay there, and Shane seemed like he didn't understand either. He looked at me after a moment, as if feeling my gaze.

We stared at each other for a moment, I could tell he was thinking. Then he motioned with his hand for me to go to him. I walked toward him, as he kept motioning, wanting me to go quicker.

He turned around, walking further from the rest of the group and wanting me to follow. When I caught up to him, he put his hand to my back, he wasn't pushing but it being there left me know he wanted me to be quick.

"Screw this. Why are they okay with this? I'm not, I can't be. It's ridiculous. Those things aren't sick, they aren't people, they're dead. They want to ignore the danger and play house, fine, but I'm not doing it and I'm not letting you get wrapped up in it."

I wanted to ask where we were going but I didn't have much of a chance with his rambling. When he stopped, I waited to see if he'd say more. After a few moments, we got to the cars.

"Get in," he said, stepping away from me to the drivers side. I continued on to the passengers side, hesitant and confused. When he was in he reached across to open the door for me from the inside.

"Let's go, we don't have much daylight left," he said hurriedly.

I looked back to the group who hadn't noticed that we had left. I got into the car and closed the door. Shane started the car and put it into gear.

"One day they're gonna be putting one of those assholes in there and they're all gonna come flooding out. And what if that happens if neither me or Rick is anywhere nearby?"

"Where . . . Where are we going?"

"Target practise. You're learning how to shoot, today."

Yay! it's finally done, let me know what you think! Feedback is appreciated, and let me know if you have any ideas or suggestions -Penn

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