Reunion


KENZI AND GLENN SANG along to 'Hot Blooded' by Foreigner as they pulled into the campsite, the volume a little to high for everyone's comfort. Shane and Dale approached them, Shane livid. "Are you two crazy?" he questioned as Kenzi stepped out, wearing a pair of RayBans she swiped. "Are you trying to draw every walker for miles?" he ran his hand over his face as Glenn and Kenzi exited the car.

"Acctually, I think we're okay." Dale said. "The sounds were echoing all over these hills. Hard to pinpoint the source."

"I'm not arguing, I'm just saying." Shane defended. "It wouldn't hurt you to think things through a little more carefully next time, would it?" he glanced between Kenzi and Glenn.

Kenzi leaned against the open passenger door and unplugged her iPod, shoving it and the auxillary cord back into her bag, slinging it over her shoulder, and grabbed her sheathed sword. The young Russian girl gave Shane a sarcastic salute, "Whatever you say, officer buzzkill." she agreed, bumping Shane's shoulder as she walked past him, sliding her sunglasses to the top of her head.

"Kenzi's back!" the little kids in the camp screamed, flocking her.

The young Russina's demenor changed as she embraced the four little ones, closing her eyes and smiling. "Yes, auntie Kenzi's back." she chuckled, kissing each kid on the cheek.

"Did you bring us presents?" the youngest of the four, Louis Morales, asked.

Kenzi tapped the little boy's nose, "Of course I did." she answered, giving a little chuckle. She set her bag on the ground, digging around inside. She pulled out a navy blue t-shirt with a red, white, and blue circular design with a white star in the center. "Here ya go Louis." the little boy beamed and hugged the girl again before running back to his father. "And for you Eliza, I saw these and thought of you." she pulled out a pair of sparkly pink sandals.

"Gracias Kenzi." Eliza pecked her cheek, running off to show her mom and dad.

"What about me Kenzi?" Carl asked. He was on the girl's right with his arms around her shoulders.

"Well, someone's an eager бобр[1]." Kenzi tickled the little twelve year old. She rummaged through, grabbing hold of a pair of brown cowboy boots, giving them to Carl. "Here ya go big boy."

"Awesome!" Carl gasped, taking the boots and looking them over.

"Now Carl, what do we say?" Lori said, standing not too far away with her arms folded over her chest.

Looking from his mom back to Kenzi, Carl hugged her tightly, "Thank you Kenzi."

Kenzi returned the hug, rubbing the little boy's back. "You're welcome." she kissed his cheek and turned to final child, a twelve year old girl named Sophia. "And of course, the best for last." Kenzi smiled, pulling out a magenta, long-sleeved flannel and handed it to her.

"Now we can be twinsies." Sophia giggled, taking the shirt and slipping it on. "I love it Kenzi, thank you." she hugged the older girl.

"You're very welcome little one." Kenzi stood up, kissing Sophia's forehead, smiling as she ran back to her mother, Carol.

"You'd think you were Santa Claus in their eyes." Amy noted, smiling.

Kenzi giggled, slinging her backpack over her shoulder. "Auntie Kenzi lives to please her munchkins." she turned to face the blonde that wasn't much older than her.

"How'd y'all get out of there anyway?" Shane asked, walking up to Kenzi.

"Oh, some sheriff guy Glenn saved." Kenzi answered, turning back to the parked cube van. "He's a good guy. I think he'll make a great addition to our little camp."

"Hey, helicopter boy!" Morales called, his arms around both of his children. "Come say hello."

Rick walked up, looking around at everyone. Lori and Carl looked in his direction, their expressions reading shock. Carl's eyes widened and he ran to him yelling "Dad! Dad!"

Rick met his son and embraced him, falling to the ground. He got to his feet and, while still holding Carl tightly, wrapped his arm around Lori, who relaxed, as if a huge weight was lifted from her shoulders.

Kenzi watched the little family reunion and it brought a smile to her face and tears to her eyes. She walked into the RV and started putting the guns and ammunition away. Once she finished, she returned to her tent, plopping down on the cot. She pulled out a photograph from her satchel that she had with her when the outbreak first began. A group picture of her and her Fae family sitting in front of a bar at the Dal Riata. Kenzi pressed her right index and middle fingers to her lips then laid them on the photo, her lips curling into a small smile as she remembered her years spent with them.

She slid the photograph under her pillow and kicked her boots off, laying on her back. Laying on the ground under her cot was a hardcover book that she had picked up for when she went on her first run into the city with Glenn, The Complete Works of Edgar Allen Poe. Kenzi reached down and opened to the bookmarked pages, continuing where she left off.


As the sun was setting, the camp was getting dinner ready. Kenzi was chopping wild mushrooms with Amy, going into better detail about the group's run into the city. As everyone sat around the campfire eating their dinner, Rick explained his situation since awoke from a coma in his hometown's hospital. He kissed his son's head, then his wife's before meeting the eyes of his best friend.

"I can't tell you how grateful I am to you, Shane." Rick admitted. "I can't begin to express it."

A small smile formed across Kenzi's lips as she watched the fire dance over the logs. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Carl glance in her direction, giving her a small grin. She reached over and patted his knee, pulling her blanket around her tighter,

The fire from the second pit crackled when another log was added. "Hey, Ed, you wanna rethink that log?" Shane warned, looking over at the Peletier family.

"It's cold, man." Ed defended, leaning back in his chair, ignoring Shane.

"The cold don't change the rules, does it?" Shane questioned. "Keep our fires low, just embers so we can't be seen from a distance, right?"

"I said it's cold." Ed reminded, glaring at the former officer. "You should mind your own business for once."

Shane got up and went to talk to the older male, everyone else from that group glancing over one at a time. Kenzi snorted and rolled her eyes, adjusting her position so her legs were bent to the left side and she was leaning into Glenn's arm.

"Have you given any thought to Daryl Dixon?" Dale asked, looking in the direction of Kenzi, Glenn, and T-Dog. "He won't be happy to hear his brother was left behind."

"I'll tell him." T-Dog volunteered, making everyone look at him. "I dropped the key. It's on me."

"I cuffed him." Rick reminded. "That makes it mine."

Glenn sighed. "Guys, it's not a competition." he pointed out. "I don't mean to bring race into this," he glanced at T-Dog. "but it might sound better coming from a white guy."

"I did what I did." T defended. "Hell if I'm gonna hide from him."

"We could lie." Amy threw out.

"Or tell the truth." Andrea added. "Merle was out of control. Something had to be done or he'd have gotten us killed." she looked over to Lori. "Your husband did what was necessary. And if Merle got left behind, it is nobody's fault but Merle's."

"And that's what we tell Daryl?" Dale questioned. "I don't see a rational discussion to be had from that, do you?" he looked out at everyone around the fire pit. "We're gonna have our hands full when he gets back from his hunt."

"I was scared and I ran." T-Dog muttered. "I'm not ashamed of it."

"We were all scared. We all ran." Andrea reminded.

"I stopped long enough to chain that door." T-Dog went on. "Staircase is narrow. Maybe half a dozen geeks can squeeze against it at any one time. It's not enough to break through that not that chain, not that padlock."

"What's your point T?" Kenzi asked.

He glanced in her direction, "My point is Dixon's alive and he's still up there, handcuffed on that roof." he answered. "That's on us." and on that note, he got up and retired to his tent for the night.

Seeing the looks on everyone's faces, Kenzi sighed heavily. "I'll tell Daryl when he gets back tomorrow." she stated, resting her head on Glenn's shoulder. "I'm the only one who can tell him what happened and not be scared he'll gut me like a trout."

"Brave sacrifice Kenz." Amy praised, chuckling.

The dark haired girl rolled her eyes and giggled, cracking a grin. She stared into the fire, going over in her mind how she was going to break the news to Daryl about his older brother.


A/N: Translations

[1] "бобр"= "beaver"