Chapter 101-Getting better

Alden's P.O.V

Alden walks into the big cabin after ensuring no more of the raiders were left in the camp. In the cabin stood Deacon, Rikki, and three others. "Any more?" Deacon asks Alden, who shakes his head, his eyes tired. "Alden, this is Boozer, Sarah, and Addy. This is Alden."

"The new guy you brought in," Boozer says. Boozer is tall and has a muscular build. He is adorned with tattoos all over his body, including his bald head. He had a knife gauntlet on his left arm. Sarah was of average height with a slim build. She had blond hair and blue eyes. Addy was tall and muscular. She had black hair and brown eyes.

"So, why did they attack Lost Lake?" Alden asks.

"No damn idea, they just showed up a year ago. First, they took out two camps over the mountains. Wizard Island and Diamond Lake. Used freaks to overrun the camps and blew up most of Wizard island." Alden nodded, knowing that 'freaks' were their own personal term for the dead. "They came here next, and we've been doing our best to get rid of them, but there are too many, they just keep coming, and we haven't found their camp." Deacon explains, his tone filled with frustration

"Deacon, they burnt down houses, our crops. We don't have enough food to survive the winter without that," Rikki tells him. "Half of our people are dead."

"I know, Rikki!" Deacon says in anger. He takes a deep breath and looks at her. "I know."

"I can help you," Alden says, making them all look at him.

"How? What are you going to do to stop these fuckers?" Boozer asks.

"I can't do anything to stop them. But I can get you somewhere safe."

"Are you talking about this community you come from? The One Across the DAMN COUNTRY?" Deacon asks Alden, his tone emphasizing the last two words.

"Look I know it's a long shot, but it's better than nothing. There are people there. More than you can imagine." Alden tells them.

"How many communities are there?" Sarah asks him, curious.

"Seven," The trio stared at him wide-eyed as Alden continued "Richmond, Hilltop, The Campgrounds, Alexandria, The Kingdom, The Sanctuary, and Oceanside."

"And they'd just take us in?" Deacon asks, not believing the man.

"I don't know how things are here, but there, we have an alliance. We help each other, trade with each other, and protect each other. We're a family. We would die for each other. We help people. That's how we build the new world. There are hundreds of us, maybe a thousand altogether, maybe More then that after the months I've been gone. Daryl's the one in charge. He's a good man and one of the leaders of the campgrounds, and the other leaders in the other communities would help."

"What's the catch?" Boozer asks.

"There is no catch!" Alden answers firmly. "I'm not trying to lead you to your death. If I wanted any of you dead, I could have killed you tonight or killed Deacon last night."

"If these places are so great, why did you leave?" Addy asks him. Alden stays silent for a moment before he sighs.

"We got a war with Richmond, the leader there was a bitch named Joan...she sent men who attacked us when we tried to let them into the alliance. We caught one of them and put him in a cell, he got out, and he...he...he killed my girlfriend and my unborn child." Alden tells them, doing his best to keep his voice from breaking. The five of them stare at him in shock as Alden wipes the tears from his eyes. "I needed to clear my head, so I left after we killed her and Richmond joined the alliance."

"It's the best chance we have. There are less than two dozen of us now. We're low on food, ammo, and medicine." Rikki tells Deacon, eyes hopeful.

"May I remind you it's in Virginia?" Deacon said flatly.

Boozer snarled "Dammit Deek it beats staying here waiting for those fuckers to come back!"

Deacon sighs, knowing his friend had a solid point, and looks at Alden. "You are sure that they will take us in?" Deacon asks Alden, who nods.

"I'm a hundred percent sure. We leave tomorrow; we could be to the campgrounds in a week, maybe less," Alden explains.

"Give us a minute to talk," Deacon says. Alden nods as he leaves the cabin.

Deacon's P.O.V

Deacon looked at Rikki, Addy, Boozer, and Sarah. "What do you guys think?"

"We won't survive the winter here, Deek. We barely made it through last winter. They'll attack again before the end of the week," Boozer says.

Sarah added "And yes it's a long way, but we would have hope instead of waiting to get killed."

Deacon looked at the others, who nodded, agreeing with them. "Okay, start packing what we need. Rikki, make sure the bikes and cars are filled up on gas," Deacon tells Rikki, who nods as she leaves. "Addy, Sarah, go pack up the infirmary. Boozer, go get the guns," Deacon tells them. They nod as they leave the cabin.

Daryl's P.O.V

Six days later

Daryl walks into the big cabin after Morgan had told him Alden was on the radio. Daryl walks into the radio rooms and grabs the radio. "Alden," Daryl says, eyebrows raised

"Daryl." Alden says. "I need you to meet me. I got a group, a big one. I didn't want to bring them all to the campgrounds without talking with you first."

"How many people?" Daryl asks him, feeling like history was repeating itself.

"Twenty-three," Alden tells him. Daryl stays silent for a moment before he speaks.

"Where are you?" Daryl asks.

"You remember the farm we found the plow at?" Alden asks.

"Got it. I'll be there soon," Daryl says as he sets the radio down and motions for Morgan to follow him. "Get the truck. I'm gonna get John and Shane," Daryl tells Morgan, who nods as he goes towards the truck. Daryl goes up to John's cabin and knocks on the door. John opens the door after a minute and looks at him. "Come on, Alden's back. He's got a group. We gotta meet him."

"What?" John blinked, startled at the sudden news.

"You heard me, come on!"

John nods as he hastily goes into his cabin, and Daryl leaves to find Shane, wondering where the heck Alden went to find a group similar to his.

Alden's P.O.V

Alden sat with his back against the truck while waiting for Daryl. He stood when he heard Daryl's bike. He noticed the others tense as he saw the bike and the truck pull into the farm and stop. Alden walks up to the bike as Daryl climbs off of it. Daryl hugs Alden as Shane, Morgan, and John get out of the truck. Daryl lets him go and looks at him, up and down. "You okay?"

"I'm fine," Alden tells him as Morgan hugs him. After, he hugs Shane and John.

"Where did they come from?" Daryl asks as he looks at Deacon's group.

"Oregon." Alden answers.

"Damn, man, you went all the way to Oregon?" Shane says, eyebrows raised. Impressed as hell and looking at the nearby people, also impressed.

"Which one is the leader?" Daryl asks him.

"Um, Deacon, Rikki, come here," Alden says. Deacon and Rikki walk up to them. "This is Deacon and Rikki. They are the leaders. That's Daryl, Shane, Morgan, and John."

"Nice to meet you, Alden told us alot about all of you." Rikki says as she shakes their hands. "Sorry about all this."

"It's fine," Daryl tells her. "You guys can stay in the campgrounds for the night. Tomorrow, I can radio the others."

"Can everybody stay at the campgrounds?" Deacon asks him.

"We can set up some tents, and we have a few cabins opens," John tells him. "Do you want all of your people to stay together?"

"It doesn't matter. These people just need a home." Rikki answers.

Daryl nods as he looks at them. "They all know how to fight?"

"Yes, they do," Deacon answers.

"Ezekiel could still use some fighters," John tells Daryl, who nods, knowing the Kingdom's fighter numbers never fully recovered from the last two wars.

"Get your people loaded up. We'll take you to our camp." Daryl tells Deacon and Rikki, who nod as they walk away. Daryl goes to his bike and grabs his radio. "Campgrounds, you copy?" Daryl asks.

"What do you need, Daryl?" Madison asks him.

"Can you set up tents outside? We're bringing back a pretty big group. Get some blankets and put them in the big cabin," Daryl tells Madison, who pauses...clearly surprised by that.

"We'll get them set up, Daryl." Madison tells him before the radio goes silent. Daryl puts the radio in the saddle bag and looks at Alden.

"You trust 'em?" Daryl asks him. Alden nods. "Okay, that's enough for me. You staying?"

"Yeah, I'm going to stay. I've been away from home long enough."

Deacon's P.O.V

Deacon stopped his bike inside of the campgrounds as the gate closed behind him. He climbed off his bike and looked around the campgrounds. "Alden wasn't lying," Sarah says as she walks up beside him. "This place is amazing."

Deacon nods as Daryl walk up to them. "We got a cabin free. Can you two and your friend, with one hand, share?" Daryl asks them.

"Boozer, his name is Boozer, and yeah, that's fine." Deacon tells Daryl, who nods as Deacon motions him over to them, following the Archer through the area.

"How many people live here?" Sarah asks him.

"Twenty-four." Daryl answers. "We have three kids, Morgan's daughter, and my son and daughter."

"How old are they?" Sarah asks.

"My kids are three, and Coco is five months old."

"You had kids during this?" Boozer asks him, clearly not having seen many children since the Fall.

"What's the point of surviving if you don't live as well?" Daryl answered his question with another question...soon turning to them as they get to the cabin. Daryl turns and looks at the new people. "Once you get settled in, you can come to the big cabin and grab some food," Daryl tells them as he walks away.

"Thank you," Sarah tells Daryl, who nods.

Negan's P.O.V

Negan walked up to Alden as he sat on his porch. The two stood there staring at each other...till Negan gave his trademark smirk and asked "How was your road trip?"

"Great, I didn't have to see you for three months." Alden says, rolling his eyes, making Negan chuckle as he sits down beside him.

"Did it help?" Negan asks as he looks at his former soldier. Alden stays silent for a moment.

"I had nightmares every night for the first two months, and one day I ran into a family needing help. A woman, a man, and her two boys. I helped them kill the small group of walkers and told them about a community I had seen a few days before. I stuck around for a few days, and I saw them in the community. They were safe, and after the nightmares stopped, I still get them every once in a while, but I helped those people get what I never got."

"And these people?" Negan asks as he looks at Deacon's group, curious...then said "Huh maybe we should go on road trips more often. Daryl went on his, found his group, now you find yours."

"Tch, I wouldn't recommend it," Alden smirked but then said. "They needed help, so I helped them."

Negan nods as he stands up. "Let's go eat, and welcome back." Alden nods as he follows him.

Thanks for reading. The next chapter will pick up the next day and show where Deacon's group goes, and then we'll probably go into another timeskip for some other ideas I have. As always, suggestions, ideas, and feedback are welcomed. Until next time.