Chapter 22: Not Good

Just when Riley thought that things were going to get better, they actually got worse. A few days went on without a hitch, but Rick was starting to lose control. She'd run in at the last minute as everything was going on. Apparently, Pete was beating his wife and Rick took it upon himself to solve the situation. Unfortunately, the solution to the problem in his eyes was to resort to physical violence. She arrived as the two were strangling each other in the middle of the street with everyone surrounding them. Anyone who tried to break apart the fight was shoved to the side, including Carl.

Things could only get worse because he decided to pull a gun on everyone and shout how no one here knew what they were doing. She could only stare in bewilderment and try and figure out what was going on inside his head.

It was only when Michonne knocked him out cold that everything started to calm. They dragged him away to a separate place to cool down and talk when he woke. Only a select few of them were allowed to hang around and she and Carl were asked to go back to the house. Judith had been left alone, anyway, and the little girl needed to be taken care of while her dad was unconscious in the basement of some house.

Carl was quite worried in the very beginning, so she left him alone for a bit while she tired to take care of Judith. It was weird taking care of a baby, but she knew how much the girl mattered to him and Rick, so she did her best. The only thing that she had a hard time doing was changing the dirty diapers. Still, she managed to do that just fine and played with her for a little while until Carl was ready to take over.

With just their luck, Rick decided to come into the house only an hour later, patched up but looking pretty weighed down. He probably realized now the weight of his decisions and how it was going to affect everything.

Carl went right up to his dad, hugging him tightly and asking if he was okay. Riley bounced Judith on her lap, watching the exchange curiously.

"Look, I'm sorry," Rick murmured.

"I heard about the meeting," Carl said.

"You're staying home."

"That's what it is now, right? Home?"

She pursed her lips, glancing down at Judith as the baby girl played with her hair. Rick seemed to be pretty hesitant about the idea, but he agreed.

"They need us. They'll die without us," Carl pointed out, shrugging a bit.

It was pretty true. These people, they really didn't know what they were doing. And while Rick maybe hadn't gone about it the best way, she would stand by him and everyone else. These people had slowly started to become a family to her.

"I might have to threaten one of them... I could have to kill one of them," Rick admitted.

"You won't." Carl shook his head.

"I might..."

"You have to tell them..."

"I told them last night."

"You have to tell them so that they can hear you," Carl clarified.

"...I don't know if they can...Does that...make you afraid?" he asked, to which Carl replied with a shake of his head. Rick took a glance over to her and she shook her head as well.

"Just...for them, you have to tell them."

Rick stood in silence for a moment, seemingly trying to grasp onto everything.

"He's right, Rick. They need to know how it is now," she agreed, slowly standing and placing Judith on her hip, moving forward. She handed his daughter to her and took a step back. "They have to know that if they don't change, they will die."

It was unfortunate that these people were so uneducated about the world around them. It had been probably over two years since it all started, and they were completely sheltered. Some of them knew bits and pieces but others knew little to nothing. And the ones that were too cocky ended up getting their own killed. Noah had been their most recent victim and that was on Nicholas.

Rick didn't say another word and retreated upstairs with Judith in hand. Hopefully, he would keep those words in mind later tonight. Sometimes he was a good speaker and sometimes he wasn't. This had to be a time where he was one. And if not, Maggie could try to step in and fix things a little.

"Hey...I think I'm going to go and find Maggie," she said, turning her head to look at Carl. "I'll be back before the meeting starts."

"Okay. Just be careful, okay?" he murmured, reaching over to brush his fingers against her hand.

Her stomach erupted in butterflies and she felt her cheeks grow warm. "I'll be fine."

She gave him a small nudge to reassure him before she headed out. There was just a weird vibe she was getting as she walked down the street and she noticed several people giving her strange looks. It was probably because she was part of Rick's group and they were all wary of him right now after what happened. And when she passed Pete's house, she could practically feel his gaze coming from the window, which caused her to pick up her pace a little.

Finally, she spotted Maggie exiting Deanna's house with a determined expression on her face.

"Hey Maggie. I needed to talk to you," she informed her, jogging a little to catch up as she moved swiftly to whatever destination was in her head.

"Whatcha need?" the woman asked, putting her hands in her pockets.

"Do you think this place is right for us?"

Maggie suddenly stopped, turning to look at her and holding her breath for a moment. It seemed like the words were lost on her lips, but she came to her senses and spoke.

"It's better than bein' out there. A lot of the people here they...they don't know how to survive. But they can be taught. This place...it can be made safe. I don't think we should move on."

It was strange how everyone was starting to settle in, even after only a few days here. The people were the only thing making it unsafe. She never really thought much about trying to have a life outside of surviving, but people believed they could. Maggie did. Even Rick was starting to believe it. Maybe they needed this place.

She didn't want to trust the people here yet, but they all seemed mostly harmless - easy to bribe and sway with fancy words and emotionally impactful speeches. That was why they needed Maggie the most in this.

"Rick he...he came back to the house. He's trying to see it your way but these people...they don't know anything," she started, scraping her boots on the pavement. "You're going to have to convince them. He'll...he'll tell them how it is and you have to be the one to make them believe it. Because Rick can't. Right now, he doesn't know how."

Maggie slowly nodded along to her words, a tiny smile coming to her lips. "And you think I can do that?"

"Yes. Deanna has you where you are for a reason, I guess." She shrugged.

"I guess so. Thanks, Riley. You want to come with me to talk to some of the others? I might be able to make them see our side before the meeting starts..."

"Ah...no I don't think I'd be any help. Not really uh...you know good at saying things."

"You just were." Maggie laughed softly.

"Ah...only when it's important, I guess?"

"Come on. It might do them good to see someone of your age helpin' out. There's still a few hours before the meeting," she encouraged.

Riley let out a big sigh, looking down at the ground and running her fingers along the ratty, frayed edge of her t-shirt. Why did she have to get suckered into doing this? There wasn't really anything else she had to do, so the only excuse she had was that she wasn't a good talker. But that was already dismissed, leaving her with nothing left on her side.

"Alright, I guess...," she reluctantly agreed, regretting the decision immediately after.

"Good. Now come on. We want to talk to as many people as we can before it starts," she said with a smile, starting to walk again.

With a small sigh, she followed after the woman and prepared herself to talk to these people. Throughout the whole day, she struggled to maintain a somewhat friendly and relaxed front, but speaking to all those people wasn't really her forte. Maggie mostly took the lead and she added in whenever she was prompted. Some of the people seemed understanding, but others were skeptical and still afraid of what Rick had done. A few of them were even angry, like Nicholas, who quickly stormed off to go and do something else and said that he was busy. He really needed to grow up.

It was only when Deanna ran into them and said the meeting was starting soon that she had to head back to the house. Maggie gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder and told her that it was going to work out before leaving with the older woman to head to the meeting. Half of her was tempted to sneak up on the meeting to snoop, but then she remembered that Carl would probably be wondering where she was and they had Judith to take care of for the night.

So with the light fading, she quickly headed back to the house, noticing Rick heading down the street in a different direction, no doubt to get to the meeting. Once at the door, she pulled it open and shut it quietly behind her, looking up the staircase to see Carl with Judith in his arms.

"Hey...sorry Maggie wanted me to go around and help her talk to people... Your dad seem okay when he left?" she asked, rubbing her arm and stopping at the bottom of the stairs.

"Yeah I think he just needed time to think about what we said. You wanna come up? I'm gonna play with her a bit before I put her to bed," he said, bouncing his sister a little on his hip.

"Yeah sure." She nodded, taking a second to look down as she started up the stairs.

One of the rooms held her little crib and toys of various sorts. They were lucky that they had all of this baby stuff here.

Carl set her down on the floor in front of a set of blocks and other toys and she sat cross-legged across from them.

"I hate not being able to go. I feel powerless," she murmured, rolling a small train across the floor to keep her hands occupied.

"Yeah...but they got this. They need us here," he said matter-of-factly, stacking some blocks.

It was true. These people knew nothing. She'd already gone over these thoughts several times today. If these people didn't recognize that they needed them, they would die. It wasn't really her problem unless she was living here. If they left, it wouldn't matter to her if they lived or died. She'd come to be a part of this group she was in and they were the ones that she had to care for right now. Especially Carl.

Her eyes flickered up to him as he cooed Judith and continued to stack the blocks even after she knocked them down. It reminded her of when they first met. His blue eyes standing out to her more than anything at first. And how they constantly fought for the first few days they knew each other until they learned to adjust to the others presence. They had been through so much and there was no doubt more to come. This world never let up.

After a while of playing with Judith, she had slowly slid onto her side and tiredly rolled the ball to her and Carl in turns. The only thing keeping her awake was the giggles of the little girl each time the ball came to her. She was nearly asleep when she heard the door open. Immediately, she sprang up, her body acting on instinct. Carl jumped up too, taking a moment to scoop up his sister and follow after her.

The two of them scurried down the stairs to come face to face with a blood-covered Rick and a newcomer she'd never seen before. The atmosphere wasn't exactly tense, but there was definitely an air of suspicion.

"Carl..." Rick slowed to a stop, reaching out to take Judith but then retracting his hands when he realized he was still covered in blood.

"What happened?" she asked, eyes locked on the newcomer. "And who's he?"

"Pete he...he killed Reg. I had to kill him..." He looked down at his hands, which were slightly shaking, but he didn't seem to feel remorseful at all. "And that's Morgan... He was a friend of mine before."

Morgan dipped his head slightly in greeting. He was much too quiet for her liking. In her experience, the quiet ones were the dangerous ones. Just because Rick happened to know this man didn't mean she had to trust him. She placed her trust in everyone else in the group, but she also knew them for much longer. She wasn't going to automatically trust him because they were friends.

"This your son?" Morgan asked, leaning against a long, wooden stick on his hands.

"Yeah. My daughter, Judith, and his...friend, Riley," Rick introduced. "Why don't you put Judith to bed and get some rest, you two?"

It was clear that was their exit. There was much more she wanted to know about what happened, but for now, she'd let it be. Tomorrow was when she could figure everything out. She doubted that she would be able to sleep tonight anyway, so maybe she could snoop in on their conversations?

With a small sigh, she turned and followed Carl up the stairs, her hand on her hip where her knife remained hidden. Morgan didn't necessarily give her a bad vibe, but she was always cautious.

While Carl tucked Judith in, she lingered in the doorway, trying to figure out what to say before she headed off to her room. Part of her wanted to say something affectionate, but she was too embarrassed. Their relationship was far too new - even if they were making steps.

"I'm...heading to bed. Good night, Carl," she murmured, blinking slowly as he turned slightly to acknowledge her.

"Okay... Night," he responded, smiling a tiny smile that made her gut twist.

Returning a smile of her own, she pushed off the door frame and headed down the hall to the room she was designated to sleep in. Sighing, she fell back on the bed, staring up at the ceiling as a whirlwind of thoughts swirled through her brain. She ended up falling asleep just the way she collapsed.


Everything started to slowly change after that night. She went to sleep expecting everything to be the same it was in the morning, but things had changed completely. People started to stand up a little straighter and kept looking over their shoulder. They carried knives now, which was a start and she slowly began to feel a bit safer.

Someone started staying on watch regularly and runs seemed to be more frequent. Glenn led them most of the time, given his skill at getting in and out of places rather quickly. She and Carl had to attend the day school now, which she wasn't exactly the craziest about. Ron didn't show up for the first few days after his father's death, but when he did start showing up, he always looked at Carl with a dark gleam in his eye. It unnerved her and every time they were around him, she kept her guard up.

Days of being caged in the community with nothing to do but the school they were given left her feeling restless. After everything that happened, she just couldn't sit still. She felt the need to do something and her solution came when she spotted Glenn getting ready to head out by himself.

She approached as he started to open up the gate and he glanced over his shoulder, pausing for a moment.

"What's up?" he asked, leaning against the wall and smiling slightly at her.

She shrugged, crossing her arms over her chest. "Nothing. Just wondering if I could tag along maybe? I hate sitting in this place all day."

He gave her a slightly amused look. "Yeah sure. You wanna go get a gun?"

Her mood immediately brightened now that she had the chance to actually go out and do something of use, or even just stretch her legs. "Okay, give me a minute."

With quick feet, she scurried back to the armory, grabbing her handgun and a military grade automatic rifle that she'd been wanting to learn how to shoot. Might as well take the chance now that she was going out. Plus, she's seen Glenn shoot one many times, which meant he'd probably be able to help. She really became comfortable with him and Maggie. Whenever she wasn't with Carl, she was usually with one or the other. They were just so friendly and she found herself gravitating toward Maggie in particular.

Guns on her person, she exited the armory and joined Glenn back by the front gate. He chuckled when he saw the oversized weapon in her hands and slid the door open.

"Have you ever used one of those?" he questioned, stepping out and signaling for one of the other men at the gate to close it behind them.

"Well...no. But it can't be much harder than any other gun," she replied, adjusting it in her hands and looking down at it.

"You're gonna have a lot of kick. Think you can handle it?"

"Sure. I gotta try." She huffed, noting how he continuously smirked at her and kept chuckling quietly.

"Come on. I'll teach you how to shoot and then you can help me look for some supplies."

That sounded perfectly fine to her. She hadn't been on a run with them before and it would give her a chance to do something and help out. So she followed after him as they headed a few streets down and then into the woods. The immediate woods around Alexandria she explored quite a bit, but these woods were more unfamiliar to her. They also seemed less quiet and more noisy, but it could just be animals scuttering about.

They traveled until they reached a clearing that was big enough for them to work.

"Okay, so here... You want to hold it with the butt of the gun in your shoulder," Glenn explained, adjusting her grip and pressing the gun deep into her shoulder. "And you want to lean into it or else you'll fly back. And then you just look through the sight and fire. This isn't as powerful as a full-blown rifle, so it shouldn't be too difficult."

"Got it. What should I aim at?" she asked, shifting her stance and leaning forward slightly, ducking her head to look into the sight.

"Practice firing first. Then you should be able to aim. You've got a good aim anyway."

Taking a deep breath, she brushed her finger against the trigger, waiting for him to move back a bit so she could fire. As soon as he did, she pressed down.

He was right, the kick was what got to her. Even though she was leaning forward into the gun like she was told, it still pushed her slightly off balance and the bullet went flying into the dirt.

"You got the right idea. Just get used to it," Glenn encouraged, folding his arms over his chest.

She nodded, swallowing thickly and then readjusting. This time, she anticipated the kick better and was able to keep a relatively upright position. She received a nod from Glenn and she kept going, getting used to it with each shot. When she was completely used to the kick, she started aiming at a large oak. Each bullet embedded itself into the wood and she grew more satisfied each time.

"Not bad, kid," he praised, patting her on the back.

"Thanks... So you're saying a regular rifle has even more kick?" she asked, shouldering the weapon.

"Yes. They're very powerful. Slow to reload, but extremely accurate and strong. Might want to wait until you grow a little before you use one of those," he teased, causing her to roll her eyes.

"Psh. I totally could shoot one if I wanted to. We find one and I'll show you how it's done."

He laughed at that and nudged her, starting to walk further into the woods. "I'm gonna hold you to that. I can see why Maggie likes you so much. I think...you remind her a little bit of Beth."

The atmosphere got slightly tense and she pressed her lips together, sighing gently. Maggie never liked to bring that up, which was understandable. If she seemed to act even slightly like her sister, it was probably why the woman tended to gravitate toward her. It was hard not to like Maggie, so she accepted that and grew to like her company.

"Thank you...by the way. For being there for her. It means a lot," he murmured.

"It's...well I mean...we need to be there for each other. I...sometimes have a hard time with that but... After Beth, she needed it, I guess." She shrugged, looking down at the ground.

"Yeah. But anyone could have stepped up. And it was you. Don't shake it off. I know that you have a hard time trusting people. The fact that you're trying and that you did it for her... You've earned your place. The others respect you. And I'm grateful."

Crunching leaves beneath their feet settled in place of words and she took a moment to ponder his words. Yes, she had stepped out of her comfort zone to comfort Maggie in her time of sorrow and it solidified her loyalty to this group and her connection to other members of the group besides Carl. It had been quite a transition when she met everyone after they were reunited and even still, she struggled to communicate with a few of the others.

"I guess you guys have just...become my family," she admitted, pressing her lips together and trying to decide whether or not to mention her parents to him. "I just...after my parents died and my group abandoned me, I didn't think that I'd ever find something like this again. I didn't want to find something like this. Because it hurt me once and I didn't want to get hurt again."

Glenn stayed quiet for a minute, making her believe she may have said too much. She only ever really talked about her past with Carl, so this was a bit step for her and it may have been a bit overwhelming to him. But to her surprised, he took a step closer, pulling her into a side-hug.

"We're not like that. You're with us and we have your back. I do. Maggie does."

Something about his words and his warmth made her relax slightly and she nodded her head, feeling a strong surge of affection for him. But it was a different kind of affection than she felt with Carl. It was a familial affection.

"...thank you. Really," she breathed, slowing her pace slightly and sending a him a grateful look.

"You don't have to thank me. We're family," he replied with a small smile.

That short period of time was just perfect and she felt like all of her worries went away. If only there were more moments like that. And she really wished it would have stayed that calm, peaceful, and sincere moment it did. Unfortunately, there was always something that got in the way. This time, it was growling. Loud growling at that.

Both of them froze and she raised her gun, scanning the treeline. She didn't see anything, but the growling never ceased and it seemed to grow louder and then quieter. Sharing a glance with Glenn, he motioned for them to move forward and investigate. She stayed alert and as they crept through the trees, the noises only got louder.

Finally, the trees broke and they were met with a steep drop and a huge, gaping crater in the earth. The only thing more shocking than that was the hundreds - no thousands - of walkers shuffling below.

Not good.


A/N: So did anyone see the premiere of season 7? It pretty much broke my heart. I'm continuing the show but I'm so close to dropping it... but I can't because I'm too invested ugh. I'm gonna need serious therapy lol Anyway this chapter was slightly filler. Since there's a little time gap between season 5 and 6, I needed to pass a bit of time. I also wanted her to bond a little more closely with some other characters. I always had Maggie and Glenn picked out, since it would almost be like her having parents again. I'll have her interact more with others eventually, but I need the ones closest to her having the highest priority. Sorry that this chapter is kinda late...Been super busy. I'm hoping to have a chapter up Sunday but I'm really not sure. Will crank it out as soon as I can.

Also! I'm doing the NanoWriMo this year so my attention is going to be largely dedicated to the story I'm writing for that. I will try and continue with one chapter a week for this, but at this point it's a grey area. Hope for the best, I guess! Hope you enjoyed this chapter and aren't as emotionally damaged as me from the season 7 premiere :'( Thanks for reading and reviewing!