I do not own…
Once Rick gave up his gun everyone else followed after him and Angelina placed their weapons in a bag before. Everyone was to be blind folded expect for Rick and Hershel who were driving the cars since they want to leave them behind. After a long debate and arguing Angelina drove Dary's bike behind them and Daryl was blind folded and riding her horse that was tied up next to Morgan's.
About a few minutes later they reached the prison and Rick and Hershel couldn't believe their eyes. Rick recognized Gabriel, who was working on the gate with three men that he didn't know. Then he saw Nathan and Jesse on the towers with their guns at the ready. There was another man on another tower but he couldn't see who it was since the sun was in the way. When they reached the wire gate Amy opened up the first one and Duane opened the Main gate. Once they were in the courtyard Morgan told everyone to take off their blindfolds and got out of the cars. When they did Morgan and Angelina ushered them inside with Nightwing, Gambit and Colossal behind the new group. They reached cell block C waiting room and Morgan went to get Vlad while Angelina watched them. Daryl couldn't help but glance at her every once in a while as they waited. It wasn't long till Vlad came out with Morgan by his side.
"Rick, it's been a long time." Vlad said and shook the mans' hand.
"It has." Rick said
"So this your group." Vlad said, looking at everyone.
"Yes, this is my wife Lori and my son Carl." Rick pointed to. "This is Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog, Carol, Hershel and his two daughters Maggie and Beth."
"Alice will be glad to hear that you found your family. So since you are here I assume that you want to stay." Vlad stated "But to stay here you're going to have to earn your keep and follow our rules."
"We understand that." Hershel said
"The jobs that we provide here are cooking, washing, hunting, guard post, scavenging, helping fixing the wall and tending to the animals and garden. As for weapons the only time you can handle a gun here is when you're hunting or guarding post." Vlad said "The rest of the rime you will handle blades or other weapons that won't waste ammos inside the prison. We'll put your guns in the weapon room and it will only be used in case of a war. Anyone that tries to steal from the weapon room or anything else will be punished or worse...exile. Do you understand?"
He looked at them and only one or two had a problem with the gun situation, especially Rick's son. He'll have to watch out for them and have a talk with Rick about his boy. After looking at the whole group it seemed that they haven't lost themselves yet.
"We understand." Rick said
"Good. Now Morgan will show you around on where everything is and then to your cells. Do try to stay together and not get lost. This is a big place after all. Dinner will be ready at 6 pm and curfew is at 10." Vlad said "The dogs will be on guard so I wouldn't recommend wondering out at night. Tomorrow, if you still wish to stay here I will explain the rules that you must follow. Do know that if you break these' rules you'll find yourself exiled outside these walls."
Everyone nodded in understanding and went to follow Morgan until Vlad stopped Daryl.
"Daryl Dixon is it?" Vlad asked
Daryl stopped and looked at him with a cautions look, wondering how he knew his last name.
"Yeah, what of it?" He said
"Follow me. There's someone I want you to meet." Vlad said and opened the cell door.
Daryl followed after him cautiously. Vlad walked up the stairs and went into one of the cells. Daryl waited at the bottom till he came back out with someone with him. His breath was caught in his throat at who he saw.
"Daryl?" Alice smiled
Vlad held her up the waist and hand as he helped her down the steps.
"Well are ya just gonna stand there or are ya gonna hug your baby sister?" She smiled
Finally snapping out of his trance and he quickly but carefully hugged his little sister.
"Is it really you?" He asked
"It's me, Daryl. It's really me." She whispered
Chris came out of his cell room when he heard a familiar voice. When he got to the catwalk he saw his uncle Daryl hugging his mom.
"Uncle Daryl!" Chris smiled
The kid ran down the stairs before jumping in his uncle's arms.
"I knew you would find us. I knew it." Chris said
Daryl couldn't believe that this was real. After so many months have passed he was starting to lose hope that he'll ever see his sister and nephew again. He couldn't stop himself from tightening his grip on them.
"Uh...uncle Daryl...you're squeezing me too tight." Chris groaned
Alice was able to get out of her brothers' grib before walking over to Vlad and kissed him.
"Thank you for bringing back my family." She whispered
"Hold up." Daryl said before putting Chris down. "What's going on here?"
"Vlad is my new man, Daryl. And this is our child." Alice said as she rubbed her belly.
Daryl glared at Vlad. Just like Merle, he was very protective of Alice. Even though he didn't like it he saw how Alice was glowing and had a smile on her that he hasn't seen in years with a man.
"So you finally dumped the asshole." Daryl said
"No, he left us to die." Chris said
"He did what?" Daryl growled
"He left us to die when walkers surrounded our old group. Luckily for us Vlad was there to save us." Alice said
"Then dad found Papa with another woman. Mom shot them both in the leg before leaving them for walkers." Chris added
Daryl raised a brow that. Before anyone else could say anything the cell door opened again.
"Well I'll be damned. Looks like the family is back together again." A familiar voice said
Daryl quickly turned around, with wide eyes.
"Merle?" Daryl muttered
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When the tour was over Morgan showed them to cellblock B, the place that they sleep in. Rick and his group started to bring their stuff in and started unpacking silently until Carol finally said something.
"Are we really going to give up our guns to this guy?" She asked "I don't know if I'll feel comfortable with that. How do we know that we can trust them?"
"If they wanted us dead they would have done that when we were on the road. Nathan and Jesse were special Ops Marines, along with Vlad. Angelina was in the Airforce and a woman you don't want to cross while holding a gun." Rick said
"I agree with Rick. This is their home. And we're gonna have to respect that, along with their rules." Hershel said "We can't be picky after what we all went through. We owe these people our thanks and gratitude."
"Yeah but I don't think we should drop our guard down just yet." Glenn said
"Trust me, they won't either. Just like what Vlad said...we have to earn our keep here...but we also have earned their trust." Rick said
They all agreed before continuing on what they were doing. When dinner was ready Jesse went to their cell and announced that it was dinner time. They followed him to the cafeteria and saw Daryl there talking to Merle. Rick's group was shocked to see Merle Dixon alive and here of all places.
"Well if it ain't Officer Friendly that cuffed me to the roof and the fuckers that left me there." Merle sneered
Rick, Glenn and T-Dog looked like they were ready to fight when Merle got up. Gratefully, nothing happened when Vlad cleared his throat. He and Alice were by the entrance of the Mess Hall.
"Merle, this is not the time or the place to settle old scores." Vlad said "These people are our guest. And you will show them some manners."
"Don't worry, Ghost, I'll be good." Merle smirked and mockingly held his hand up in surrender.
Everyone seemed to calm down and went to the buffet area to pick out some food. They were all starving but did their best not to show it.
"Don't worry, Officer Friendly, Vlad and I know how to keep him in line." Alice said before hugging the man. "It's good to see you again."
"Same here." Rick smiled before looking at her bumped. "Well look at you. You're glowing. How far are you?"
"About eight or nine months. So the little one should be coming soon." Vlad said as he walked behind his mate and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I'm worried that our baby will be stubborn like her because no matter how much I tell her to settle down and not do any labor work she still does it."
A few members of the groups laughed at that.
"And I keep telling him that I'm fine and I don't like laying around or let others do things for me." Alice said as she looked at Vlad.
"Even your brothers agree with me." Vlad said
"Hey are you trying to get us killed, Ghost. She's very violent and scary when she's pregnant." Merle said
Alice flipped him off before talking to Rick.
"I believe this is your wife?" She asked when she saw Lori.
"Yes, this is my wife, Lori. And that is our son Carl over there." Rick said
She saw his son sitting down, eating with Beth, Maggie and Glenn. When she looked back at Rick and Lori she can see that there was some distance between the two.
"He looks just like you Rick." She smiled before looking at Lori. "How far are you?"
"Seven or eight months I think." Lori said
"So...what are you hoping to have? Boy or girl?" Alice asked
"I...We're still not that sure. I'm fine with either one." Lori shrugged "How about you?"
"I was hoping for a girl. But I know for sure that it's a boy." Alice smiled "I can't wait to see him."
Just when she said that both of their babies started to kick.
"Oh." Alice and Lori said
Alice smiled and looked at Vlad and Rick.
"I think they want to meet each other." She smiled
"Not even out of the womb yet and my boy's already a ladies man." Vlad joked "Looks like we're gonna be n'laws."
Rick lightly chuckled while Lori just gave them an unsure smile.
Minutes later Chris came in running in the room with Sophia and Duane not too far behind him. When she came in it was like time stopped for Rick and the others. None could move when they saw the female pre-teen that they lost and couldn't find.
"Sophia." Carol said, almost crying.
Sophia looked at the woman with a confused look and it broke Carol's heart. It was like she didn't know who her own mother was. When Vlad and Alice saw this they knew this was bad. They didn't know how to explain to the woman that her own daughter had lost her whole memory of her and everyone else.
"Sophia. Honey? Sweetie? It's me. It's mommy?" Carol said
She tried walking up to Sophia but the girl backed away and ran into Alice's arm.
"Rick, can you and your group follow me in the hallway please." Vlad said
Rick, Carol, Daryl and Glenn followed him, Nathan and Eileen outside. Eileen hurried to their cell so she could get the photos of the girls' injuries.
"What did you people do to her? Why did she…?" Carol cried
"Ma'am you must calm down." Nathan said
"I found Sophia about almost eight months ago. I saved her from some walkers when I found her and she had a sprain ankle and...a very big bump on her head." Vlad said "She fell off a cliffed and ended up losing her memory. The only thing she was able to remember was her name."
Eileen came back and showed them the pictures. She took them just in case they didn find her family. Everyone looked at them and saw the swelling bump on Sophia's forehead.
"Vlad had looked for her parents for weeks. He and Alice had done everything they could to trigger any memory for her." Eileen said "But...I'm sorry…she can't seem to remember anything. Hopefully, with you here it might help. But it might take some time."
"Why did she go to Alice when she was scared?" Rick asked
He had an idea of what happened and knew it was going to be hard on Carol when she hears it.
"When we couldn't find Sophia's parents for a couple of weeks Alice and I took her in as our own. She and Alice have gotten really close." Vlad said
Carol glared at him and ran up to slap him but Daryl held her back.
"She is not your daughter! That is my baby you hear me! Mine!" She cried
"Calmed down, Carol, calm down." Daryl said
She couldn't hold back her tears and just slumped down as she started crying. Muttering that her baby doesn't remember her.
"I'm sorry Rick but...I have to warn you that Alice and I aren't just gonna let her take Sophia away from us. We'll let them talk and see if her memories are back." Vlad whispered to Rick. "But when she does remember that's when we'll let her choose who she wants to be with."
With that said he left them in the hall.
After dinner everyone went back to their cells in silence. Vlad walked up the steps of the catwalk and saw Alice and Sophia's room with the kids in her arms.
"Are we having a slumber party in here or what?" Vlad teased
"Dad, is Sophia no longer my sister?" Chris asked sadly
"Why do you ask that?" Vlad asked as he sat down on the edge of the bed.
"Because that lady said that Sophia was her daughter. Does that mean she has to go with her?" Chris said
"I keep telling him that I'm not going anywhere but he won't believe me." Sophia said
He and Alice looked at each other and sighed. This is why he didn't want them to get too attached to Sophia. He knew it would break their hearts when she had to go. So he took Chris in his arms and kissed his head.
"Yes, it's true that Carol is Sophia's mother but we're not going to let her take Sophia away from our lives. But we're not going to send that woman away. She may be the key to bring back her memories and we all want that, right." Vlad said
"No." Chris pouted
Vlad chuckled.
"Now Chris don't be selfish." He said
He looked over at Alice who was trying to hide her smile behind Sophia's head.
"But...when she does remember it is her choice to choose to either stay with us or her mother. And if she does choose her mother it doesn't mean that she'll be gone from our lives." Vlad said "You'll still see her around the grounds of the prison and you two can still look at each other like siblings. Okay?"
"Okay." Chris muttered sadly.
"Alright sweetie let's get you to bed." Alice said, getting up from the bed.
"Shouldn't you be resting yourself too, love?" Vlad smirked
"Shut it." She smiled and led Chris back to his room.
When they left Vlad told Sophia the same thing.
"Sophia, I need to ask you something. When you saw that woman Carol, did anything trigger your memory?" Vlad asked
Sophia shook her head no but Vlad knew that was a lie.
"Now Sophia, what have I always told you about lying to me or your mother." Vlad said sternly.
"That you'll always know even if it's a good lie." She said
He nodded.
"A little. Just a little blur of her image...but also of a scary man." She said
"Scary man? Was he someone from that group?" He asked
"No. I don't know who he was but just seeing him in that image I felt terrified and wanted to hide." Sophia said
"It's okay, you don't have to worry about him anymore. You know that your mother and I will always protect you no matter what." He said and kissed her forehead. "Good night, angel."
"Goodnight dad." She said before going to sleep.
He left her room and closed the sheets behind him. When he entered his and Alice's room she was already sitting down and was in deep thought.
He took off his shirt and put on some comfortable sweatpants before he sat down next to her and pulled her in a hug.
"I know how you feel, love. But it will be her choice. We can't do anything to stop it." He said and kissed her shoulder.
"But she is our daughter Vlad. Maybe not by blood but she is ours now." She said and looked at him with glowing red eyes.
"Alice, I love her like a daughter myself. We could have used our powers to trick them and they wouldn't have recognized her at all. But we know that would be wrong." He said
She looked down with sadness in her eyes.
"I want to know what kind of mother she was before we let her near Sophia. I want to know why she wasn't looking for her when she was in the woods and how she got separated from their group." She growled
Vlad smirked "You do know that not every mother is perfect, right?"
"Don't act like you don't want to know either." She glared
Well she got him there. He too wanted to know and mostly he wanted to know who this scary man was and when he finds out who he was he was going to kill him. Knowing well that if Sophia's conscious mind was scared of this man Carol must have married an abusive man that took his anger on his family.