AFTERMATH

part one

Its been weeks since negan and the saviors were defeated, weeks since Daryl and Judith have seen any of the other survivors. Daryl comes upon a huge rock. He sets judith down and sits next to her. Judith starts fussing. "Daddy..." Daryl picks her up, and places her on his lap. "Dont worry, lil ass-kicker. We'll see your daddy again. He's survived so much." He kisses the top of her head. Daryl tenses up as he hears a gun cock behind them. "Whats your name, and what are you doing on my property?" He sets judith down, he gets up, hands in the air, "I'm just resting. We've been walking for so long." The woman aims at his head. "What is your name?" He looks at Judith, "I'm Daryl." She lowers her gun, a slight smile appears on her face. "Daryl Dixon? Is this Judith?" He nods. "How do you know...well i'll be..." Rick comes out, bandages on his head and hand. He limps over, Judith runs up to him. "Daddy!" He hugs her tight. "Daryl, thank you for protecting her." He just shrugs his shoulders. "Just did what i had to. "The woman motions towards the house. "You must be starving. Come, im cooking up some lunch. It's not much, but theres enough for everyone." Daryl grabs her arm. "Whats your name?" She pulls loose of his grip. "Jessie." She grabs his arm and twists it behind him. "And if you EVER, grab me like that again, you'll be sorry. Got it?" He nods. "Yes, I got it. " she lets go and they head into the house.
Inside, Daryl is walking around, inspecting every inch of the house. Rick is sitting in a rocking chair, holding judith. Jessie hands him a cup of juice for judith. "What is up with your friend there?" Rick laughs, "he's not much of a people person, hes alot better than he used to be though. He blames himself for several of our friend's deaths at the hands of Negan." Jessie drops the glass she had just picked up. "Don't say that name around here. Please." Rick looks at her. "He's dead. If he hurt you in the past, he can never hurt you ever again." She cleans up the glass. "I was one of his wives. He killed my family. He was an evil man. Tell me, did he die quickly? Or did he suffer?" Rick sighs. "It was quick. A clean shot right between the eyes. " she closes her eyes. "Damn, he should have suffered, like my family. Okay, lunch should be ready soon. Daryl, go get washed up, theres towels and some spare clothes in the bedroom down at the end of the hallway." Daryl goes into the bedroom. He picks out a black button down shirt and some black jeans. He goes into the bathroom, gets undressed, and hops into the shower. He turns the water on, which quickly warms up. " oh man..." He washes up, turns the water off, and dries off. He looks in the mirror. He fonds some bandages, and he covers some of his wounds, then gets dressed. He comes back out to the kitchen as Jessie places the food onto the table. " perfect timing. Lunch is served. " they all sit down. Jessie holds her hans out, they all hold hands. Jessie closes her eyes"god, thank you for the food we are about to partake in, and we pray that the other survivors return to us soon, unharmed. Amen." They start passing the food around. "We got real lucky, a Deer came along, now we got meat for a while. It was a huge one." Daryl digs in. " mmm, you know how to cook." She smiles. They finish up. Daryl grabs his dishes. She stops him."no, you go get some sleep. I'll do the dishes." He sets them down. "You sure?" She nods. "Yes. You look exhausted. Go, second bedroom on the right." He heads down the hall, and into the bedroom. Once inside, he takes his shoes off and flops onto the bed, quickly drifting off into a deep sleep.
The next morning, Daryl wakes to the bedclothes moving beside him. He quickly lifts the covers, and out pops Judith. He smiles."what are you doing?" She just smiles and giggles. "Daddy made breakfast." He picks her up, carrying her upside down, he takes her out to the kitchen, Judith giggling all the way. Rick looks over and starts laughing. "She woke you up?" Daryl nods. "Yep. I was gonna wake up soon anyways." He flops her back upright, setting her down. She runs over and sits on a chair at the kitchen table. Daryl goes over to Rick. "You doing okay?" Rick sighs, his eyes red and puffy. "As okay as I can be considering." Daryl hugs him. "Has Michonne or Maggie been around? Or Carol?" Rick shakes his head. "Haven't seen anyone else since the explosion, and the last fight with Negan." Daryl grabs a plate, puts some food on, and sits next to Judith. He puts some of his food on judith's plate. She smiles at him. "Thank you uncle Daryl." Everyone laughs. Daryl looks at Rick. "Uncle Daryl?" He smiles and starts eating. Theres a knock on the front door. Daryl jumps up, grabs his crossbow, and runs over to the door. He peeks out the peephole. He unlocks the door, opening it. Carol comes in, Daryl hugs her tight. "Oh my God, you're okay." Carol smiles. "Of course I am." He closes and locks the door. Rick comes over and hugs her. "Have you seen Michonne? Or Maggie?" She shakes her head. "No, last I saw them was in the sewer." Rick makes a plate and sits next to Judith. "Get yourself some breakfast. Before it gets cold." She grabs a plate, gets some food and sits next to Daryl. She looks at Rick, who is pushing his food around the plate, occasionally taking a bite. "Rick, we will find her. Dont worry." He sighs. "I'm losing everyone I love. How can I not worry?" There's a loud hang outside. Rick and Daryl jump up, peeking out the window. An old beat up pickup truck pulls into the drive, smoke pouring out of the engine. Jessie looks out, her face lights up. "He made it!" She opens the front door, two men come in. "Jessie! Who are these people? And why are they eating our food?" She looks at everyone. "That is Rick and Judith Grimes, Daryl Dixon, uh...." Carol stands up. "Carol Pelletier." She hugs one of the men. "They killed Negan. The saviors broke up and scattered. " the older man steps forward. "My name is Andy, I'm Jessie's dad, this is David, her older brother. So, you guys killed Negan?"
Rick nods. "Well, we had help from Hilltop, Alexandria and the kingdom. Many of our group are still missing, so, we won't be in your way very long." Andy shakes his head. "No, you're okay. You may have saved my daughter's life by killing that monster. You can stay as long as you need. Who is in that grave in our yard?" Rick closes his eyes, trying not to cry. "My son, Carl. He was bitten." Andy pays him on the shoulder. "Sorry, I lost two of my son's to the dead. Had to put them down. Hope you weren't the one who had to..." Rick shakes his head. "I was too much of a coward. I couldn't do it. My, uh, wife did it." He gets up and goes to the stove. "I made breakfast if you're hungry, sorry for using your food..." Andy smiles. "Dont worry about it. You guys deserve a good meal." They all get some food and sit at the table. David looks over at Carol. "So, are you rick's wife?" She shakes her head. "No, she's still out there, somewhere. We were all separated after defeating Negan. There was some explosions, it was a mess, we just started walking, and ended up here. " After breakfast, Daryl, Jessie, david, and Andy are sitting on the porch, cleaning their weapons, talking. Rick looks over at Judith playing in a sand box. "She's all the family I have left now." Daryl looks up from his crossbow. "You have us. We're family." Rick smiles. "I mean blood relations. This is it, as far as I know." Daryl spots. "Well, I have no family left. After my brother turned, that was it. If it wasn't for these guys, I'd either be dead, or all alone." Judith comes running over, jumping into Daryl's lap. "In hungry." Daryl laughs. "She eats like an army." They all laugh. The bushes across the way start moving, leaves rustling. Daryl puts Judith down. "Stay here with Carol." Daryl and Rick slowly walk towards the bushes. Several walkers lunge towards them. Daryl stabs one in the head, Rick puts several down until they're all down. Daryl sighs, "that was too close. Its not safe here." Jessie rolls her eyes. "Its not safe anywhere. You can't really trust many living, and we are outnumbered by the dead. We just have to keep our eyes on our surroundings better." Daryl spins around, shooting his crossbow. A large deer falls to the ground. "Sweet! We got enough meat to last a while, Rick, help me carry this to the porch." They both grab a hold of the deer, and carry it to the porch, where Daryl gets a knife and a saw. He cuts the deer up. "Carol, go see if you can find something to wrap this meat up in." She goes in. Carol comes back out with a roll of plastic wrap. He finished up, wrapping the meat up. They take it inside, placing it in the freezer. "Lucky they got a generator." Rick grabs his gun, and a bag. "We need some supplies. I noticed a sporting goods store, there may be some stuff there we can use, and next to it is a grocery and a drug store. Daryl, you come with me, Carol, you stay with Judith. Andy, David, you guys want to come with?" Andy shakes his head. "I'll stay here with the girls, keep them company." David stands up. "I'll go." Jessie grabs her backpack and her gun. "I'm in." Daryl looks at her. "You sure?'" She nods. "Yes. I'm sure." They open the door and head on down the road.