Tomorrow Will Come

Three

When Mary finally got home the next night, she fell onto the sofa, exhausted.
"Long day?" Michonne laughed, and Mary nodded.
"Glad it's Friday. The weekend. And it's my weekend off from helping Siddiq. My Daryl weekend." Mary pointed out, and Michonne nodded with a smile. "Had RJ's friend in the infirmary today. Kyle. Fell off his bike and dislocated his shoulder. I got to pop it back in, all by myself."
"Well done." Michonne nodded, impressed, and Mary smiled back.
"Mom?"
"Yeah, sweetie?"
"I wanna join the council. You said there's a place for me when I want it. And I want it, I'm old enough, and I want my voice to be heard. Because my voice is Carl and daddy's voice now. And I... I need to help Alexandria."
"Yeah," Michonne nodded with a smile, "I can make that happen. Council meeting tomorrow, I'll let them know. When you get back on Sunday, we'll call a meeting, get you up to speed."
"Thanks." Mary nodded, smiling as she got up from the sofa, and went to finish dinner, knowing Michonne had made it, ready to cook for when Mary returned from work.
"Hey, Mary?" Michonne called, and Mary turned her head, an eyebrow arched, "I'm proud of you. I know we don't agree on everything with how Alexandria is run right now. But I'm so proud of you."

The next morning Mary woke up with a smile on her face; it was the first weekend of October, which meant it was her weekend to camp with Daryl. It was her favourite weekend of the month, the one where she felt the most alive, the happiest. She loved being outside, loved how free it felt.
She pulled her cropped hair into a ponytail, then dressed and put Carl's hat on, then jogged downstairs. Mary grabbed an apple for breakfast, and ate in silence - it was so early that even RJ was still asleep. Where Daryl was staying wasn't too far from Hilltop, so Mary decided she'd stop off there tomorrow, and she grabbed some paper and a pen, writing a letter.
Dearest Maggie,
I hope this letter finds you and Hershel in good health. We're all okay here, in fact Uncle Sid says I'm almost ready to be an "official" doctor, so that's pretty exciting. I miss you, and Hershel. I miss everyone a lot.
I met someone the other week, and I'm going to see Uncle Daryl today, so I'm hoping to see him again. They need help, Maggie, they need a place to stay, but mom won't let them in. I don't know why, but this one, this time has really touched me. I just want to help them, so I've decided I'm gonna take my place on the Alexandria council, and hopefully maybe I can help change her mind. 
I read a really cool book yesterday, about bees. We don't have any hives here, but they do at Hilltop and The Kingdom, so I might talk to Jesus about us getting a colony too. They seem like really cool creatures, and RJ loves honey on his toast, so I think he'd appreciate getting a hive - maybe he'll even be a beekeeper one day! That'd be cool. Anyway, if we do get some bees, I'll send some honey over for you. They say it's one of the only foods that doesn't expire, so I think that's just another really cool reason to get some, and the honey is an antiseptic; me and Uncle Sid use it on wounds, AND it's an antihistamine, which is even better because Daisy gets allergies. Anyway, I think that just summarises that bees are basically the coolest things.
I hope you're okay, and your community is doing well.
Lots of love, Mary G.

On her way to Daryl's tiny camp, Mary went to where she'd seen Toby the month before, and got Julius to stand, so she could look around clearly. Sure enough, she heard a rustle in the trees, and her slingshot was loaded and ready to shoot.
"Hey, stranger." Toby grinned, emerging from behind a tree.
"Hey. You're still here." Mary nodded, lowering her slingshot.
"Why wouldn't I be?"
"It's weird. It's been a month."
"That long? Why'd it take you that long to come back?"
"Because I was busy. And I only come out once a month, usually."
"Why? I figured you was hunting. Why do you only come out here once a month?"
"Because my mom would kill me if it was much more," Mary laughed softly, "she doesn't like me staying out overnight often."
"You stay out overnight?"
"Yeah. With my Uncle. He lives out here."
"Why not with you?"
"You ask a lotta questions." Mary commented, suddenly a little worried - Toby was either very nosey and curious, or someone who wanted the information so he could hurt them. Mary felt like it was the first.
"That just interests me more. Did he piss off your dad so much that he kicked him out?"
"You're a dambass." Mary smiled sadly, and Toby looked at her in confusion. "How many kids have parents now a days?"
"I'm sorry." He whispered. "When?"
"Coming up six years now. Doesn't seem like it's been that long. It feels like I saw him yesterday. But it also feels like it's been forever."
"Just you? Or do you have siblings?"
"Yeah," Mary grinned, "I do. They're... Theyre my everything."
"How many?"
"Two brothers, and a sister. And a step brother." Mary answered.
"That's a lot." He laughed, and Mary rolled her eyes. "They all live at home?"
"No. I... My older brother passed away when I was six, and my little brother, the middle brother died before I met him. He was two. Then my sister is ten, and brothers just turned six."
"How did you not meet your brother if he was only year younger?" He asked in confusion, and Mary rolled her eyes again.
"He was the step brother. But it's all the same. I mean, technically the others are all half siblings too."
"Next level blended family. Makes me feel boring." Toby commented, and Mary rolled her eyes yet again, but not before letting out a tiny smile. She jumped down from Julius, and looked Toby in the eyes. They were blue, and it reminded her of her father and older brother.
"Why do you live out here? It's pretty stupid. I mean, I know you said your mom doesn't trust going to a community, but it could help, so much." Mary tried, and Toby just shrugged.
"Just how it is."
"You're gonna die. You could die, being out here. It killed so many of my friends. You could try..."
"No. I can't. I don't think we even want to. Don't know if we can trust them."
"You're willing to risk your life for that? Your parents lives? 'Cos I'd have persuaded my dad to do anything if it meant he'd be alive a little longer. You have a group, a family, don't you want..."
"I get it, you know," Toby said softly, and Mary looked up at him, "I get that you're trying to help. That you don't think I understand the impending loss of my family. But I don't have all my family still here. My dad died a few years back. He was amazing. A proper fighter. We'd been going for so long. So long. And then one day he just... He just died. He didn't even get bit. He just... One day he got sick. Fever. Chest pains. He'd had a heart murmur since he was little. A few days after he got sick, I woke up, and he was dead. And I had two sisters, and a... a baby brother. Sophie, she was the oldest. Ten when it started, so she'd be twenty now. She died a week in. Bite. And my little brother..."
Mary's eyes misted over as she saw the pain in Tobys face, and held back a tear as he began to cry. "Sammy was two years younger than me. Two when it all started. And he'd just been diagnosed with type one diabetes. Literally a week before. Shitty, but manageable. Low blood sugars were easier to deal with; juice, sweets, even sometimes when we were desperate some sugar cubes. But his diet was awful after the world went to shit. We tried. Put his diet before anyone else's. My parents would starve, just to make sure he was okay. We'd almost die trying to get insulin for the high blood sugars. We dealt with it. Kept him alive, for years. Then when he was seven, we just... Just didn't have any insulin left. Couldn't find any. Anywhere. My uncle died breaking into a pharmacy for him. I almost died trying to find some in a hospital. After the insulin ran out... It wasn't long before he fell into a coma. Diabetic ketoacidosis. He... It broke my heart. Diabetes is manageable. He'd have been fine if we'd just had the meds."
Mary nodded slowly, and put a hand across, holding Toby's hand. "Your other sister?"
"She raises hell. Still here. Thank god. Jennie. She's my twin. So I guess... Honestly, I'm not even a hundred percent sure how old we are. Not sure how much times past. We were five when everything happened. So we're, what, like fourteen? We're lucky. Lucky to be here. Not many people our age are."
"When's your birthday?" Mary's asked, and Toby's face was filled with confusion.
"May. Why?"
"Your birthdays passed. You're fifteen. It's been  about ten years. I was four at the start, and I turned fourteen last month." Mary declared, jumping back onto Julius' back.
"You going?"
"Yeah. Talk to your mom. And Jennie. Because I... I can work something out for you. Somewhere you'll be safe. I'll meet you here tomorrow. You can trust me." Mary said simply, going to leave.
"Hey. How do I know? Trust is pretty rare these days." Toby demanded, and Mary sighed, then untied her light green bandana from her wrist, and threw it down to Toby.
"This has been with me since before the Turn. Brought me a lotta luck. And I'm pretty sentimental. So I wanna keep it. But I'm gonna trust that when I come back tomorrow, you and my lucky bandana will be here. I'm gonna be really pissed if I'm wrong."
Then, without another word, Mary cantered away, leaving Toby dumbfound, and tying the slightly stained bandana around his skinny, tan wrist.