Captive | The Walking Dead |

97

Five months had gone by and Isabella had yet to move back with anyone. Maggie had asked several times to count for her to move back in but she still refused.

She had a system in place now and she liked it. It involved her helping the people of all the communities without being tied to them.

Throughout the day she found herself going on runs and finding supplies for others. She used those supplies and either gave them to the communities or traded them for supplies. Her wounds had healed over and while she had the occasional feeling of discomfort, going on runs was much easier now. She no longer had a slight limp from the pain and she was grateful for it.

It took her what seemed to be forever but she worked her way up to trading a horse for supplies with the Kingdom.

He was a dark bay horse who looked to be more black than brown and Isabella named him Perseus.

She took him on his runs and to Alexandria every week as she kept her promise in visiting Carl at any given chance.

She and Rick obviously weren't close anymore but as weeks turned into months she found herself avoiding him less and less. She was grateful he still didn't know she wasn't living in Hilltop anymore but she knew he had a suspicion something was off.

As time went on, she found it easier and easier to visit Negan in his cell. He still tried to taunt her but she never let him hold any power over her, not anymore.

She wanted to go back to Alexandria, but Rick had yet to apologize. He'd yet to say that he was wrong in not trusting her, wrong in making the choice he did without telling her.

She didn't get frisked every time she went down there but the fact she still most of the time showed her he would never trust her no matter how hard she tried to be on good behavior.

All she focused on now was Carl and Judith. She got Carl an eyepatch she found on the road and he switched to it once his eye had been mostly healed.

He still had his long hair that she wasn't a real fan of but she knew why he kept it long. So they made do with what they had and she'd help him tie it up in different styles that he liked.

She found Judith more toys as time went on but the girl was a little over one now and was always bustling with energy.

Everyone in their communities had slowly adjusted in their new lives and lots still had to be done but they were getting there, slowly rebuilding the things they lost from the war.

They were even planning on building a bridge to help make traveling between communities easier. It would take a while but they would get it done. Yet they hadn't started to build it and she had no clue when they would.

As for Isabella, she found shelter in the woods and had built her own miniature camp. She had a tent for her and built a wooden canopy for Perseus.

She even had Bear with her now, as Carl insisted on Bear constantly missing her. She wanted Bear with Carl but she loved having him with her. She missed her dog so much and him having her back helped her sleep at night.

Her camp wasn't much, but she decorated her little tent the best she could to make it feel like a home. She hung polaroids she had of everyone she cared for, and was constantly adding to her collection from her polaroid camera.

Isabella didn't spend much time there however as she mostly preoccupied herself with going on runs, trying to help others before giving her a chance to help herself.

Just now she had arrived at Hilltop to drop off spare supplies she had that she had no need for.

She smiled at the sight of Maggie, as her belly was well visible now and she would give birth within the next month sometime.