4—Welcome to Hilltop pt. 4
Mother, I know,
That you're tired of being alone,
Dad, I know you're trying,
To fight when you feel like flying...
~Unsteady; by X Ambassadors
Aibileen was grateful that Selena managed to snag two pregnancy tests from Denise without her noticing. It was important that Aibileen take the tests as soon as possible—she was starting to notice the looks Daryl would give her, and it was making her feel even more unsettled. The one thing Aibileen was truly relieved about was that, for the most part, Alexandria remained untouched by any outside forces. There'd be the occasional walkers that would either find a way to press themselves against the walls, or maybe they'd be found in the weapons that were stationed outside the walls, but other than that, there were no signs of any human life.
It kind of felt like Alexandria had become one of the only semi civilized places left.
"Are they done?"
Aibileen turned and saw Selena standing in the doorway of the bathroom. Aibileen went to Selena's house, since Merle was watching Francesca at her house, and took the tests.
"Not yet." Aibileen started chewing on her fingernails. "God, I forgot how much I hated these."
Selena snorted. "It's been a couple years since you've been pregnant last," she exclaimed.
"And I certainly am not expectin' to be pregnant now."
"Didn't you want kids with Daryl?" Selena asked.
"Maybe, given the possibility that Alexandria's really secured." Aibileen threw an anxious look her cousin's way. "I've got Francesca."
Selena frowned.
Aibileen went over to where the tests were and went over them.
Selena wasn't sure if the sigh her cousin gave was good or bad.
Merle had, needless to say, been very entertained by the toddler before him. Francesca managed to stand herself up and do some weird little baby dance on the table she was holding onto. She'd throw smiles Merle's way and kept calling him 'Moo'. It had only been about forty five minutes after the older Dixon had come over that Daryl came in.
"What're ya doin' here?" he said, looking at his older brother carefully.
"Lil' lady asked me to check on the kid." Merle looked at his brother before nodding to Francesca, who was happily sitting on the ground before him.
A series of excited squeals and giggles erupted from Francesca as she cried various forms of 'Daddy' at Daryl—the most popular one being 'dada' or 'da-dee'. Daryl couldn't help but find that to be heartwarming but also a bit of an ego boost. Each time Francesca called Daryl something similar to father, it felt like the first time she said that to him. When he'd told Aibileen what Francesca had said, she almost didn't believe him. Then she heard Francesca say it and the two of them had a little celebration—mostly Aibileen, but Daryl couldn't help but find some enjoyment in it—for her.
Daryl went over and picked up Francesca, holding her close to him. Francesca's arms wrapped around Daryl's neck, resting her head against the huntsman's shoulder.
"Where'd she go anyway?" Daryl asked.
"No idea." Merle stood up from the sofa and looked at his brother expectantly. "She ran off with that cousin of hers, though."
Daryl's brows furrowed. Aibileen and Selena had a close relationship, everyone who knew them knew that, but it became apparent that it went beyond just a close relationship—they were hiding something.
When the front door opened—again—the Dixon brothers turned when they saw Aibileen walk in, a look of surprise on her face.
"Daryl," she exclaimed. "I wasn't expectin' ya to be back so soon." She walked over and gave him a kiss. "Thanks for watchin' Francesca," she told Merle.
The older Dixon nodded once before giving his brother a look. After Merle left, Aibileen took Francesca from Daryl.
"I'm gonna feed her," she said, walking into the kitchen.
"You've been actin' weird lately." Daryl stood at the entrance of the kitchen, looking at his girlfriend anxiously.
"I've had a few things on my mind." Aibileen turned and gave the huntsman a strained smile.
"Those people in the woods?"
Aibileen had told Daryl about those people she met in the woods, back when they were leading the herd away from Alexandria. Daryl had a similar experience, from what he'd told Aibileen, about these people he met in the burnt forest. In a way, their stories were kind of similar—the people they encountered were running from someone.
"I just can't stop thinkin' about 'em." Aibileen felt her stomach knot up. She wasn't completely lying—occasionally she'd have a moment where she thought about those people she encountered. They were a young family, and whoever those Saviors—or whatever the Hell they call themselves—were, it honestly scared her knowing there'd be people with that much power. "They were so scared," Aibileen sighed, giving Francesca some cereal and a little cup of milk; Aibileen was thankful that Francesca at least had some teeth that made it a little easy to eat solid foods. "What if they'd been watchin' us this entire time?"
Daryl shook his head, walking over and wrapping his arms around Aibileen's waist.
"Those people who broke the walls when we were gone, they had been watchin' us," Aibileen murmured. "How much longer can this last?"
"We'll make it last."
"That's the thing about us, though," Aibileen sighed, "whenever the peace starts to settle, somethin' always goes wrong."
Daryl carefully lifted her face up so she was looking at him. He didn't like how she was talking. "We'll be fine," he murmured. "We're stronger now. We got the people and the ammunition."
"But what if a threat comes by, and they've got more people and ammunition than us?" Aibileen whispered. "There are bigger, scarier threats out there than just a buncha walkers."
Before Aibileen could say anything else, Daryl pressed his mouth to hers, hoping it was a big enough distraction to stop her ramblings.
"This ain't the kind of shit I wanna hear," he said, pulling back.
"I'm sorry."
The huntsman shook his head. They'd kind of veered off the topic Daryl wanted to talk about, but he could sense that it really did bother Aibileen. What happened the day of the Invasion still hung clearly in everyone's minds, but everyone endured it differently. They all had their own stories to tell. While Daryl was willing to help Aibileen with dealing with her story, he was also hoping he'd figure out why she was acting so out of place.
Author's Note:
Sorry for the wait, I had some online work I needed to turn in for school. But if you liked this chapters, I appreciate it; if you think I could improve on anything, I'll work on it. The remainder of season six will start up soon, I just wanted to show how everyone's dealing with the aftermath of the walkers and how they're adjusting to a somewhat normal life.
I own nothing in TWD. All I own are my characters and the laptop I'm using.
If you've got ideas for future updates—ideas for certain characters, possible side-plots, OC's you'd like added to the story, whatever—let me know and I'll see what I can do. Also, while some of you did leave helpful reviews on 'Silhouette', I will also need your help when it comes time for Negan's character to be introduced. I highly doubt I can write his character that well, and I just started reading the comics so I don't entirely know how he's written in that aspect [though I have a feeling it's a lot more different than the show's version], so whatever help I can get on his character is appreciated.
I've heard talk that Negan's character in the comics is just brutal, and I am kind of looking forward to that, but at the same time I'm not.
Anywho, I digress.
Leave a kind and helpful review, please.
Thank you.
Susan Strong
