Tomorrow Will Come

Four

Mary left Daryl's camp the next morning with half a dozen dead rabbits in her bag, and fistfuls of wild garlic.
"Sure you don't want me 'nd Dog to take you half way?" Daryl asked protectively, but Mary shook her head.
"Nah, I'm gonna swing by Hilltop, see Uncle Jesus, Uncle Al, Enid, and Tara. Thanks though." Mary assured, mounting Julius.
"Alright. Stay safe, Mar'gold."
"You too, Uncle D." Mary grinned, bending down and kissing his cheek, then leaving.
"Stay safe! No funny business!" Daryl shouted after her, and Mary just laughed, trotting away. The ride to Hilltop wasn't too long, just an hour, and Mary was greeted with open arms, hugging Jesus tightly.
"How are you, kiddo? Wasn't expecting you, everything okay?"
"Yeah, yeah, I was just in the neighbourhood." Mary nodded, smiling broadly.
"Well, it's good to have you."
"Any new letters from Maggie?"
"Not yet. You got one to leave for her?"
"Yeah. Can you make sure Hilda and Midge get it? Give it her?"
"Of course." Jesus nodded, patting her shoulder. They walked to the house, and Jesus grabbed Mary a drink of juice.
"I can't stay for long, just wanted to drop Maggie's letter off and say hi." Mary explained, and Jesus nodded with a smile.
"Go on. I know you wanna go see your Uncle Alden." The man laughed, and Mary grinned, then went to where the blacksmiths worked, seeing Alden and Earl shoeing horses.
"Uncle Al." Mary smiled, and Alden rushed over to hug her.
"Everything alright?" Alden worried, and Mary nodded.
"Yeah, just in the neighbourhood. Do you have a sec?"
"Always." Alden nodded, and they went to sit on a bench.
"When... When we were at the Sanctuary, do you remember that man? The man who said he was my brother?" Mary asked slowly, digging through her memories.
"Yeah. Yeah, John. What, what about it? I didn't even know you remembered that."
"What did you know about him? About that day?"
"Not much. I didn't know him well, you'd have to ask... Really, you'd have to ask Negan probably. He's most likely to know more, if he remembers. I know his name was John. He was from the South East, but I can't remember for sure which state, maybe Georgia or Floria or one of the Carolinas, I think. He was a college student when everything happened. That's, that's all I know, really."
Mary nodded slowly, thinking about what Alden had said. "And what did he say? That day?"
"He was just really insistent you're his sister. Kept calling you Ladybug."
Mary froze again that word. Ladybug. She knew it, she knew that pet name. She remembered someone calling her it, but she didn't know who. But someone once did. "What do you think?"
"I think," Alden sighed, "I think he was someone who'd lost a lot. I know that if I was him, if I'd lost a little sister, I'd believe she was alive until I saw the body, because I wouldn't want to think she was dead. When you love someone that much, you don't want to think that. I think he was a sad young man, grasping at straws for a little girl who was gone. But at the same time... At the same time, he knew your name. How many kids your age have your name? Mary isn't exactly the most common baby name. And... You had the same dark hair, same dark eyes. But I don't know. Mary, I think he was just a sad man. I mean, come on. If you had another brother, you'd know. Your brother and dad would have told you."
"They would have," Mary nodded, "if they knew."
"What do you mean?"
"I was Carl's half sister. We had a different mom. What if... What if John and me had the same mom?"
"Mary. Mary, I don't think so. Okay? He was scared. He was grasping at straws. You'd have known, honey, you'd have known if you had another brother. It's too much of a coincidence." Alden soothed, and Mary sighed, then nodded.
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right." She said reluctantly, and Alden took her hat off, and ruffled her short hair.
"You're okay. You're gonna be okay." Alden whispered, hugging her suddenly, and Mary let out a shaky sigh, then nodded.
"Yeah. You're right. It's all fine. It's too much of a coincidence."

"One green bandana." Toby's voice called as Mary rode into their meeting spot, and Mary held back a smile, but it fell when she saw that he wasn't alone; a middle aged woman was beside him. "I had to," Toby said quickly, "if you're helping us, it can't be a secret."
Mary nodded slowly, holding back the anxiety in her veins, the fear of talking to yet another new person. "Hi. I'm Mary. Grimes."
"We know." The woman said sharply, her hand clinging to a machete.
"I'm gonna have to ask that you put those down." Mary demanded, her fingers crawling into the pocket of Glenn's jacket, and wrapping around her slingshot. Toby nodded firmly to the adult, and she placed their weapons on the floor. "I can help you. But you have to trust me. And I have to trust you."
"You can trust us." Toby insisted, and Mary nodded slowly, then turned to the woman by his side. She knew from what Toby had said that she must be his mother, and was the woman in charge.
"I got some questions. Okay? Your name. Who you was, where you're from. How many Walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? And why?"
"Nira. Nira Jackson. I was born in India, moved to the states when I was seventeen, married Toby's dad later. I was a teacher. And I've killed too many to count. Two people. They were gonna kill me."
Mary nodded, sure that her father would be happy with that answer, then sighed shakily. "Tell me about your group? Is there any kids, anyone disabled, anyone pregnant?"
"The twins are fifteen, then we have a seven year old. Holly. She's an orphan, we found her about a year ago. Jennifer has an amputated arm," Nira explained, "we were in a community, until about three years ago. It got overrun, and we've been here ever since. Why? Why do you want to help us?"
"Because when I was five, my group was dying. I was dying. And a man came over, and said that he had a community, and we could join them. And we didn't trust him, not at first. And now I call him Uncle Aaron, and he lived next door to us and is a second father to me. He helped raise me and my brother and sister, and I look after his daughter and plait her hair every morning. He saved my life. I think I should return the favour."
Nira looked at her and nodded slowly. "How do I know this isn't an elaborate trick?"
"You don't. You've gotta trust me. One mile south of here, there's a porta-cabin. It was a community outpost, but we don't use it anymore. You can stay there. I'll come back this time next week, and take you to our community."
"How do we know there aren't a dozen of your people out there waiting for us?"
"You don't," Mary shrugged, "I can either take you there, or you go alone. Your choice."
"You can take us. Because if your people are there, it'll be you that we kill. I hope you all know that. I will kill you, then them, if it's a trick." Nira said simply, and Mary nodded.
"Okay." She replied simply. Mary dismounted Julius, and passed Nira her backpack. "There's six rabbits in there, and some garlic. Figured you need it more than me."
"Why are you just giving it to us?" Nira asked suspiciously, and Mary smiled softly.
"I'm not giving it away. It's an investment. An investment in the future."

Mary stayed at the porta-cabin until she knew the group was settled. Nira had been truthful with the group size; two teenagers, five men, three women, and a little girl, and Mary respected her for that. She also respected the sheer strength in the group - it was clear they were fighters. They were strong and brave. The porta-cabin wasn't massive, and the group didn't have nearly enough room, but it was secluded, so while only eight of them would be able to sleep in the floor, the others could sleep outsize, and someone could keep watch.
"There's a water tank," Mary explained to Toby, "so there is running water. Should be enough to last a week. I'll come back and get you."
"Thank you." A girl said suddenly, and Mary turned around to see a teenaged girl, about her age, with long, thick black hair. Mary nodded back at her, giving her a tiny smile.
"Mary. Grimes."
"Jennifer Cameron. Jennie." The girl grinned back, putting a hand out to shake Mary's.
"Nice to meet you."
"I can promise you," Jennie laughed softly, "it's even nicer for us to meet you."
"I'm gonna go get some rest. See you in a week?" Toby asked Mary softly, and Mary nodded.
"I promise."
"What's your community like?" Jennie asked gently when it was just them, sitting on the grass by the cabin. Mary sat beside her and smiled softly.
"It's home. Everyone contributes. We have a council, and a school. We grow all our own food, and trade. Kids our age, we go to the school in the morning, and learn our trade in the afternoon. I'm on my way to becoming a doctor, and I've got a little project on the side."
"What's that?"
"We have electricity, so I've created a database. Everyone in our community, and others, are on it. Name, date of birth, place of birth, residence before the Turn, parents names. I've created family trees for everyone, and lists of the dead. Every dead person everyone can remember. I'm hoping that one day, one of the dead will correlate to a cousin on someone's family tree, and they'll get some closure. They'll know. And if we find someone, they go on it. And maybe we find out that their missing second cousin is still alive and here. It's a long shot in pretty much every case. But it could help. Helped a few people in some communities find out what happened to old neighbours. I'm hoping one day I can reunite a family."
"That's... I don't have words. That's amazing." Jennie whispered in awe, and Mary grinned.
"Draw our your family tree. I'll see if we know any of them." Mary said softly, and Jennie grinned. Mary grabbed her a notepad, and Jennie wrote out her family tree, starting with both of her grandparents, and fanning out to herself, her aunts, her uncles, her cousins.
"I'll see. See if we know any of them. Is there any friends you want me to look out for? Neighbours?" Mary asked, and Jennie wrote out a long list of names, some of them including approximate death dates. "That could help a lot of people, you know?"
"I hope it does." Jennie smiled softly, and Mary couldn't help but grin.