Phoenix

Author's Notes:

I guess if you're reading this, you made it through Chapter 14 and decided to see this through to the end. I am glad that you did.

Thank you to everyone who joined me in this adventure. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I enjoyed writing it.

Chapter 15

FOUR YEARS LATER

The serum continued to work. Everyone was periodically tested for their capsule level and given booster shots of the serum.

The walker population decreased significantly, either killed or decomposed. Most people continued to live in rural areas at the beginning. Later, though, as cities were cleared, infrastructure started to return. It was easier in cities where the population wasn't so spread out so that is where there was power, water, sewage and other things that had been missing. Some people, however, were still very wary of living in close proximity to a large number of people after what happened.

There were still some bad people preying on others, but there always were and always would be. Law enforcement was re-established early on to help deal with these people and protect the others. There was also a new military but they were mostly tasked with cleaning out the cities that were being re-established.

HOME

The group stayed at PRD for a while, but as the population at the complex rose, they started feeling antsy. What was remaining of core group decided to return to Greene farm. It was Hershel's idea. He was eager to go home and wanted to have his whole family there. They ended up fixing and enlarging the house, building a new barn and re-establishing the gardens and livestock. It turned into a productive farm and life was good.

Hershel was the proud patriarch. He didn't do as much of the day-to-day heavy work on the farm as he had years ago. He was happy to help where he could and spend time with his children and grandchildren, something he thought he'd never get to do.

Rick and Maggie were married in ceremony, although they as far as they were concerned they had been married for years. Carl was able to spend the last couple of years of his youth just being a kid again. Judith was thriving and, thankfully she won't have memories of the dark days. In addition, Rick and Maggie adopted Christopher and Katelyn, six year old twins orphaned by the Governor. Maggie had not been able to get pregnant. While others disappointed for her, she was perfectly happy raising Carl, Christopher, Katelyn and Judith and being a loving aunt to her niece and nephew

Beth, Chase and their two children were enjoying life on the farm. Chase was sought after to treat folks in the area for a variety of maladies. He generally handled the human patients while Hershel returned to his true calling and took care of the four-legged ones. Leigh was beautiful, happy and healthy. She was best friends with Judith. They were inseparable and so close in age one might have thought they were the twins.

Beth and Chase's son was born one year after losing Glenn and Daryl. They thought of naming him Daryl or Glenn or both, and they surprised many people when they didn't. While they loved both names, they decided they wanted something that would honor Glenn and Daryl and the men that they were so they named him Jason Sloane Kendall…Jason meaning "healer" and Sloane meaning "warrior."

T-Dog married a wonderful woman that he met at PRD. They stayed at farm for a while after PRD, but went in search of her family in Florida. It was almost a year later when they heard from him again. Basic postal service had been started; however, living in the country, delivery was a bit inconsistent to say the least. The letter was brief, but let them know that they found her brother and father so they decided to stay in Florida.

Michonne never spoke to anyone about what the Governor had done to her. She was invited to the farm along with the rest of their family, but she opted for a nomadic lifestyle. She did, however, return to the farm a couple of times a year. They had tried several times to get her to stay, but she had a way of living that suited her and she was happy with it.

Even though they knew they may never see T-dog again and rarely saw Michonne, they were family and would always be welcome.

PHOENIX

Rick got reflective occasionally, especially on certain anniversary dates, and he would think back over their journey.

Over the course of the struggle, they had gained many allies, some of whom had become friends and some of whom had become family. They knew they were lucky. Not everyone came out of this with as much as they did.

He would remember both the good and the bad times. There were the good times like finding the farm, finding the prison, PRD, and, maybe the best of all, the birth of the next generation. There were the bad times like Carl getting shot, losing the prison, and the Governor and all of the evil that came with him. Then there were the people they lost: Sophia, Lori, Carol, Glenn and Daryl, among others.

He would think of the early days of immunity, when they first found out it even existed. He would remember how they talked, or rather joked, about Glenn & Daryl's immunity being passed on to save others. And how, ironically, it was their lack of immunity that ultimately saved everyone. To this day, he has never witnessed such brave and selfless acts.

He knew very few probably would ever know the names of the men that performed those acts. Sure, there may be an obscure mention somewhere along the way in a history book not yet written, but it was unlikely. Yes, Rick would have liked to make it sure everyone knew who saved them. He wanted them know who gave them the gift of having a second chance, but the realist in Rick knew differently. There were probably thousands of men and women who performed incredible acts for the betterment of others, yet received no recognition and never were mentioned in the history books.

In the end, it didn't really matter to Rick. He knew and he would make sure his children knew and that their children would know, and they would make sure their children would know. He was a better man for having known Glenn and Daryl and it was his mission to live every day to the fullest in deference to their sacrifice. To do less would be a disservice.

It was close but the human race did not vanish from the face of the earth. We did not become extinct. We may have been through trial by fire, but like the Phoenix, the human race was able to rise from the ashes. And it did so tethered to the souls of heroes.

The End