After running for miles and finding nothing, I decide to go back to camp. This is just ridiculous. I bet he's already back at camp. Once I make it back, Rick pulls me in for a hug.
"Don't you ever do that!" He scolds as he pushes me away from him. I smile.
"Yes dad." I head inside and see Merle sitting next to Daryl, sleeping on his shoulder. Daryl goes to stand but I shake my head and sit on the other side of him next to Belle. "He sure is a good runner." I laugh as I put Belle's head in my lap.
"Always has been." Daryl says as I lay my head on his shoulder and slowly doze off.
I wake up to Belle moving off my lap. I lift my head off of Daryl's shoulder and watch Belle go outside with Aaron. I stand up, leaving a groggy Daryl, and follow the two outside from a far. They stop by the river she'd barely survived the night before. I try to listen but can't hear a thing, once they turn around to come back, I start walking toward them.
"Hey mom!" Belle beams from beside Aaron.
"Hey!" I greet. Aaron sends me a smile. "I was just wanting to meet the boyfriend." I say as they reach me. He smiles at the thought.
"Follow me." We pick up pace into the building. Once we enter, he brings me to a room where a man lays with crunches not too far from him.
"What happened?" Belle asks from beside me.
"Belle!" She looks at me with big eyes. "You can't ask questions like that." I scold. The man just shakes his head.
"It's the apocalypse." He says as he sits up. "When we were running, I twisted it." I nod and extend my hand.
"Madison Grimes."
"Eric Raleigh." He smiles as he shakes my hand.
"Isabelle Dixon." Belle says with a smile as she shakes his hand.
"Aaron!" I hear my brother yell. We all walk out of the room and see him. "Let's get to this place of yours." Aaron sends him a smile.
"You believe in us now?" He looks at me with a small smile.
"If my sister believes in you, then so do I." Before we know it, we all cram into Ricks vehicle. I smush myself in the back truck area with the kids, Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and Merle.
"Let's get going." Daryl says.
"We're all going to die back here before we even get there." I joke. After about ten minutes, Aaron tells us to leave the vehicle. We do as told and follow him to a tall metal wall.
"How do we get in?" Espinosa asks. Right as she asks that, a man stands tall over the tower with a stick. The stick holds an arrow piece at the end for damage.
"Stop right there!" The man says sternly.
"Son of a dick!" Ford exclaims from behind me.
"Terry, it's Me. It's Aaron and Eric." The man smiles and nods at him. The gate soon starts coming up. Once it's up, the man comes to us.
"Aaron. We were so worried about you guys. We thought that group killed you guys." Terry sends us a shy smile. "No offense." I smile back at him before he gives us a stern look. "Before you enter, we will need to take your weapons." My smile drops. I look around me and notice everyone has their weapons out. When he sees us holding onto our weapons, he speaks up again. "To enter Alexandria, weapons will have to be left at the door."
"We're not sure if we even want to stay." Rick says. I roll my eyes.
"You said you'd give it a chance." Belle says.
"Not without weapons." Ford counters. She gives him a glare before I hug her from behind and force her to look anywhere but him.
"Just let them meet Diana first."
"Who's Diana?" I ask.
"She's the lady that knows everything you need to know. You'll just have to pass a quick interview first." Aaron beams.
"An interview?" Carol asks in disbelief. Aaron leads us to a tall, White House in the middle. He smiles at us.
"Let me speak to her before you go inside."
"Okay." As he steps inside, I feel a tug on my arm. The tug on my arm causes my stomach to hurt. The hurt in my stomach causes vomit to make its way up my throat. I quickly step off the porch and throw up on the side of the house. Next to me, I hear another person throwing up. Maggie. Once I finish, I stand up and feel my hair drop. I turn and see Daryl was holding it back for me.
"Why did you throw up?" Abe asks from behind us.
"I can't handle the sound." Maggie says.
"That's why I went away from you." She just shakes her head.
"I already knew." As we start walking back to the porch, Maggie and I fall behind with interlocked arms. "I think I know what our sickness is." I furrow my eyebrows at her. She stops and pulls me away from the group a bit more. "What if we're pregnant?" My jaw literally drops to the floor.
"No Maggie. There is no way. We already have Judith, we can't handle two more babies." She smiles as she throws her arms out.
"Look what we could have here." I smile at her and nod.
"We'll go to town later. Just the two of us." She nods and we head back in. I look around and notice Rick and Judith are gone. "Why did he take her?"
"Father of the year." Daryl says from across the porch. I take a seat on the steps and rest my head in my lap because I know that Daryl's guard is now up and won't want to be near me with these new people. I hear a creak and a hand go on my back.
"Ye okay?" I nod to Merle's voice.
"Yeah, just don't feel the greatest." Everyone gets their interviews, but I make sure I'm the last to go. I stand from my spot in the rocking chair with a tired Judith as I walk past Espinosa.
"Good luck." She whispers as we pass. I stand in front of Diana, who has a video camera sat behind her.
"Hi, I'm Diana. You're the Madison I've heard so much about?" I nod and point to the camera.
"What's that for?"
"Memory. As long as you don't mind." I shake my head.
"I'd rather not have it." She nods and takes it down.
"Make yourself comfortable." I nod and lay Judith down on the couch before walking back and forth around the room. "You can sit." I nod.
"I will in a moment." She nods before taking her seat back.
"Are you and Rick a thing?" I stop and raise an eyebrow at her.
"No. He's my brother."
"You have his child right here." I shake my head.
"It's a long story." She nods and crosses her leg.
"We have time." I narrow my eyes at her, causing her to shift a bit. I take a seat by Judith's feet. I look and see Judith's eyes closed.
"She's not either of ours." I look back to Diana and watch as she jots that down in her notebook. "My ex and his ex wife had her. Rick had to put her dad down and her mom died during birth."
"Was that hard?" I nod.
"We were in a prison then, so it wasn't too bad."
"For the boy, Carl. He said he had to put her down." I nod.
"We got locked in one of the rooms in the prison when her water broke. We didn't know how long we would be in there. I had to perform a C-Section to deliver her. I couldn't give her to Carl, so he chose to put her down." She just nods.
"And you're with Daryl?" I furrow my eyebrows and stand up. Why am I with every guy in the group all of a sudden?
"What does this have to do with the interview?"
"If we're going to put you guys in houses, we would like to know who gets along."
"We are all family. We all get along." As I say that, Judy wakes up.
"Ow, ow." She says as she points to the window.
"Just one second, please." She nods as I grab Judith's hand and allow her to walk out the door. When I open it, Daryl is the first to meet me.
"Are ye okay?" I nod.
"That was fast." Carol says. I just shake my head.
"We're not done." Daryl grabs Judith and I go back inside and take my seat again.
"I understand that you're the leader?" I shake my head.
"There is no leader." She nods.
"But everyone looks to you and your brother?" I nod.
"If something needs fixed, we're the ones to fix it."
"What were you before all of this?"
"I was in the military."
"And what have you done for your group?"
"What do you mean?"
"What was your purpose? Did you go on runs, watch the kids?" She trailed off.
"I mostly went on runs with Glenn." She nods.
"Are you willing to die for this community?"
"If my group and I chose to stay, I will do everything in my power to protect my group." She thinks for a moment before standing up.
"You are free to go. Aaron will bring you guys to your houses." I shake my head.
"We only need one." She just smiles even bigger.
"Please, we have more than enough room for you guys to take a few." I nod before walking out and following Aaron to our new homes. He shows us three houses, bids his farewells, and leaves. We all gather in one house's living room and take a deep breath.
"Are we staying?" I ask, knowing it's the question on everyone's minds. After a few moments, Carl speaks up.
"I think we should stay." Belle elbows him with a smile.
"Carl saw a girl!" I smile at the interaction. This will finally allow them to be kids. Rick goes to shun the kids, but I beat him to it.
"Kids need to go upstairs. Adults, find a spot and get comfy."
"Who's house is this?" Belle asks before they start for the stairs. I look around.
"We'll figure that out in a minute." She nods before they grab their things and race upstairs. "We're going to take a vote." I think back to the vote we took with Dale and feel a small pain shoot through my heart.
"Raise your hand for staying." Rick says, earning quite a few hands in the air. "Now for leaving." No hands raise and I smile as I take a seat beside Daryl and lay my head on his shoulder. He runs his hands through my hair, making me a bit sleepy.
"Looks like we're staying!" Maggie says, excitement lacing her voice. I smile as she gives me a big hug. Once she pulls away, Rick stands in the middle with a big smile on his face.
"Since we're staying, who wants to take this house?"
"Shouldn't we pick roommates first?" Glenn asks. I look at Maggie and she looks at me at the same time. Her and I laugh as we realize what just happened.
"Are ye in high school?" Daryl grumbles from below me. I just laugh and nod.
"My people, come this way." Maggie and Glenn sit on the couch next to us. I sit up and see people starting to group up. I look at Merle and see him off to the side. "The hell you standing over there for?" He looks at me with a small smile before looking to Daryl.
"Oh no." He says as he stands.
"Oh yes." I smile as I stand. "Join the family!" I exclaim with open arms. He embraces me and I can hear Maggie laughing from behind me. I let go of the hug and see Merle still has his tongue stuck out at Daryl.
"Told ye she likes me more." I roll my eyes and head upstairs. I look in the room the kids are in and see Belle and Carl fighting with sticks? Where the heck did they get sticks? And Judith jumping on the bed.
"Hey!" I exclaim, causing everyone to stop and look at me. "Where did we get sticks?"
"The closet."
"And why are we jumping on the bed?" Judith looks scared as I join her and grab her hands. I stop after a bit and look to Belle and Carl. "Are you going to join?" They smile and we all start jumping. I jump a bit when someone clears their throat. We all stop and see Rick standing at the doorway with a smile.