Hi readers,

First of all, a HUGE thank you to everyone who has read/followed/alerted this story so far. You all have been major encouragement to get the ball rolling on this and other stories I have in my queue.

I have written an outline for where I want to take this story for at least through chapter 9. I have a mental image of where I want to end the story (much further down the line), but that could change as I continue to write and feel for these characters more.

Hope you enjoy chapter 2! It's a bit long, but well worth it!

Allie rolled over onto her side, and her eyes fluttered open. She had been sleeping on and off for the past two days, regaining her strength. A man who had introduced himself as Jesus had brought her food. Rick had stopped by at one point to let her know that when she was ready to talk, he would be waiting for her. When Rick had brought her to the Hilltop, he had mentioned that he and some of the other leaders of their group would just like to know where she had come from, and how she had made her way to Virginia.

She swung her legs to the side of the bed, and mustered the strength to stand. The last few weeks of little food and water had taken a toll on her body, and the rest has helped to recover some of the weakness she had felt. She walked over to the dresser in the room, where Jesus had placed a pair of jeans and a t-shirt for her to wear. Allie shed the tank and sweatpants that she had worn to bed once she arrived at the Hilltop.

Looking in the mirror, she brushed the hair out of her eyes. She had been able to shower once she arrived and had slept for a while, and she had the ability to carry herself into the bathroom. Her hair had managed to dry itself flat, which made her let out a small smile as she looked at herself. After a deep breath, she put on her shoes that were at the foot of the bed, and began to head toward the stairs to look for Rick.

At the bottom of the stairs, a woman was speaking with the gruff man who had been with Rick when she was discovered. His long hair was covering most of his eyes, but as he listened to the woman who stood there, his eyes had made contact with Allie's. They looked at her with little emotion, more just noticing that she had made a presence in the room. The woman turned and looked at Allie.

"Ah, there you are," she started. "We've been waiting for you to come down. How're you feeling?"

Allie shrugged. "Much better than before. Do you happen to know where Rick is? He had mentioned that once I was ready, he wanted to talk to me."

The woman looked to Daryl. "Can you go find Rick, let him know Allie's ready to talk". Daryl gave her a slight nod, and looked at Allie one more time before leaving the room.

The woman went over toward Allie. "He'll go get Rick, why don't we go into the office and get comfortable? I'm Maggie, by the way."

Allie nodded and followed Maggie. "Nice to meet you. And thank you for letting me sleep forever, it had been a while since I could peacefully lay down somewhere".

"Of course, you're our guest here. Need to make sure you get your strength back for what's next".

Daryl returned with Rick a few minutes after Maggie and Allie had made their way to the office. The two were exchanging small talk about the structure of the community that she, Rick and others had built up since the war. Rick looked over to Allie.

"Hey. How're you feeling?"

Allie looked to Rick. "Better, thanks. Can't complain about a shower, sleep and comfortable clothes. You grabbed my car?"

Rick nodded. "When we got you into the car, you opened your eyes again and told us to get your car. Said you had all your stuff in there. Passed out once you said that. Stuff's all still in there, didn't want to move it til we had a chance to talk."

"Thank you. You don't know how much this all means to me. What do you want to know?"

Rick leaned himself on the desk in the office as Allie sat herself in to a chair. "How'd you find your way to Virginia? Last thing I knew, you were in Chicago"

Allie nodded, "I was. As soon as the world started going to shit, Shane called me. Told me to get my ass down to Atlanta, said he wanted me to be close to him. I hopped on the last plane out of Chicago, someone turned on the flight. That's when I learned you gotta hit them in the brain to get them to stop. Made my way to the old house, took all the backroads cuz the main ones were swamped. When I got the the house, everyone was gone. Stuff was gone, which meant he had left willingly. And then I made my way to your house. Used my spare key to get in, but no one was there. Things were gone. Clothes, food, photo albums. I knew they were alive, just didn't know where they went"

"They left together. Lori, Shane, Carl...they were all together."

"Were you with them?"

"Found 'em after I woke up, I was out for a while after the shooting. Once I gained my strength, I managed to find the group"

Allie took a second to take in what was being shared with her, and started to think of what she should share with them. She had a long story behind her, and wanted to share with Rick, but was uneasy to ask about her brother, and the rest of Rick's family, as she was yet to see any of them.

"He's dead, isn't he?" Allie asked, looking directly at Rick. "Shane's dead, right?"

Rick looked at her for a minute, inhaling deeply before slowly nodding.

Allie inhaled sharply, and felt her eyes begin to water. She nodded quickly to herself, and took another deep breath.

"I knew it all along," she said. "Just takes a second to let it settle once you know for sure. What about Lori? Where is she?"

Allie looked over to Rick again, where he looked at her, lowered his eyes, and shook his head again.

"Carl?"

Another shake of his head.

Allie breathed heavily once again. "Ok. Now I know. It's better to know. I've basically come to grips with the thought of never seeing anyone I knew again. You finding me was a miracle, if nothing else."

"What happened after you didn't find them?" Rick asked. "Where did you go?"

Allie folded her hands in her lap. "I wandered around for a few days, scavenged some houses where the owners had clearly already left. Found myself a group that was running around, and we found an abandoned community. Worked to build it up again. It was called Woodbury."

Maggie and Daryl immediately looked to Rick at the mention of the community that had raged war against them previously. Rick walked over to Allie.

"Woodbury? We know Woodbury. How long were you at Woodbury?"

Allie looked to all of them, noticing their uneasiness at the mention of the town. "Longer than I should have been. The guy in charge, Philip, he was fine when I met him, you know? He looked after me, made sure I had everything I needed. Charming, you know? But, as the group kept growing, he just got...his ego took over. His daughter died, and I couldn't talk to him anymore, he didn't look at me the same. He was cold, unwavering. And then, I found out he was taking out innocent people, and everyone was just letting him and I couldn't take it. So this one night, there was a big event, they were taunting these walkers...and I just snuck out of the arena. I went to my room, I packed my bag, and I fled. Snuck out around the walls. Just left. Found myself a car not too far out and I just drove. Drove as far away as I could. Made my way to Ohio. Ran with a few different groups until they were ambushed or their path didn't flow with mine. Eventually found my way to Virginia. Kept hopping around until a few weeks ago, I just ran out of energy. I lost the will to keep going and I just parked myself where there was food still. Found the store you found me in. And I just crawled up and I was waiting to die there. I prayed that God would send me a sign. Anything to tell me whether to live or die. And then you showed up, so I guess that was my sign."

"Did you know Michonne?" Maggie asked, coldly. "She was at Woodbury, did you know her?"

"Michonne? She was the one who found me with Rick and that guy, right?" Allie said as she nodded toward Daryl. "You know, I think I remember maybe seeing her from a distance, but I don't think we ever actually met. I kinda ran with the people who started it all up, mainly with Philip and Penny, til she died. Then I was alone for the most part."

"Andrea," Daryl huffed out. "And Merle? Did you know Merle?"

"Merle? That asshole?"

"Watch it, princess" Daryl started towards her. " 's my brother you're talkin bout".

Allie looked away awkwardly toward Rick. "Sorry, I had no idea. Although now that you're talking, I may be able to see the resemblance. Merle and I would talk, shoot the shit from time to time. We were friends, I guess. Andrea had just arrived when I was on my way out. Another reason Philip never knew I was gone. He was all wrapped up with her, he didn't even notice I was gone."

Rick sighed, realizing the girl who had been like his little sister had been so close to him and the rest of the group, but they had no idea that she was even there.

"Were you there when he took me?" Maggie asked harshly. "Were you there when he tried to kill my husband?"

Allie shook her head. "I don't know anything that happened after I left, I didn't ever see anyone from the town again."

"So you weren't there when they pitted me against my brother?" Daryl asked.

Allie shook her head once again. "I've never seen you before in my life. I had no idea you were related to Merle, I didn't know you guys even knew Woodbury, or Andrea. If I had known, I would have fought my way to you guys." Allie looked over to Rick. "You're my family. You're the one piece of the world before that I have left. I wouldn't do anything to lose that."

Rick took a minute to think, as he put the pieces together of Allie's past few years. He walked over to the desk and leaned over it, as he inhaled deeply. He turned to Allie and looked into her eyes.

"How many walkers have you killed?" he asked.

Allie thought for a few seconds. "It's been so many, I can't even estimate. I don't know, maybe somewhere around 500? It's been so long, I have no idea."

"How many people have you killed?"

Allie looked to Rick, looked away for a few seconds, then looked back to him. "27".

"Why?"

"Any time I killed someone living, it was always in self-defence. There are people out there, bad people, people who want nothing more than to live, and will do anything to live better than anyone else out there. People have come at me with guns, knives, axes, anything they could get their hands on. Most of the people were in Ohio, maybe 3 or 4 in Virgina. One in Georgia, it was a guy who was trying to get my backpack. Came at me with a machete, and I shot him."

Allie looked to the others in the room. "What else do you want to know? I'll tell you anything. I don't have anything to lose. I'm alone, and I need other people to survive. I won't make it another day on my own out there."

Maggie looked at Rick, who gave her a slight nod. She looked to Daryl, who gave her the same cold stare that often found its way to his face. She then looked to Allie and sighed.

"You've got family here, you can't go back out there when you've got family here. Maybe once we know you more, the rest of us will find you family as well."

Allie smiled for the first time in a long time. She looked to Rick and said "Thank you. Thank you, Rick."

A few minutes later, Rick had walked Allie to a garden, where Judith was playing. They looked to her from a distance, not intruding on her playtime.

"This is Judith" Rick said. "She was born while we were at the prison near Woodbury. That's how we lost Lori".

Allie covered her mouth and fought back the tears that welled. "Oh poor Lori,"

"When the world turned at first, Shane thought I was dead. And he had every right to think I was dead. He took care of Lori, and Carl. And he took care of Lori in the way I couldn't at that time."

Allie's head swung toward Rick. "You're saying...Judith…"

"Is Shane's. She's your niece, and you're the only biological family she has left. I knew that once we talked we'd have to keep you here. We can't keep you away from her."

Allie sighed again. "Well, it's a new beginning. Let's build back the family we had before this world turned to shit."

OOOOOOOOOHHHHHH! Allie was at Woodbury! I may write in a few flashbacks over the coming chapters, but none of her Woodbury story has too much impact on the person that she is now. Next chapter should have some more Daryl/Allie interaction. And sooner than later she will also meet Negan.

As always, read and review. No flames, por favor.

Peace. Love. Lo.