"I like the suit by the way. Taylor make it for you?".- Michonne Hawthorne
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
-Chapter Summary:-
Taylor, Henry, Daryl, Connie, Lydia, and Dog are back in Alexandria as they rest up before setting out for the trade fair. Taylor is constantly reminded of the grim past.
•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•
-Chapter one hundred & one; Scars-
•••
-Five Years Ago-
TAYLOR
IT HAD BEEN FIVE MONTHS SINCE
Daryl dumped Taylor off in Alexandria, and in those five months, she hadn't seen him once.
Even after she saved him, her ever-growing baby bump left no room for argument, and he sent her off to Alexandria to have the baby.
It wasn't the fact he sent her away that pissed her off, as he was only doing what was best for her.
It was the fact that he never came to visit her; he hasn't once in the five years.
She was due to give birth any day now, and Michonne was coming up close to her due date as well.
Not only that, Jordyn was due to have the twins any day now also, and all these pregnancies seemed to have the four communities on edge.
Taylor just wanted her father figure back, and that's what drove her out to the river that, if Rick did survive the explosion, would've ended up in, and any traces that he was still alive would be around here.
The only thing they found was his colt python revolver, which Michonne cleaned and took ownership of.
If Taylor found something that showed signs that Rick was alive, or even found him, it would surely bring Daryl back.
But instead of finding Rick, she found Daryl, who walked up to her with a not so happy look on his face.
"Ye shouldn't be out here," He lectured her, "baby's due any day now.".
She rolled her eyes, glaring over at him, "Well maybe I wouldn't be out here if you didn't abandon me.".
"What do ye wan' from me girl, huh? I took care o' ye for three fuckin' years! I'm the reason yer still breathin'!" He yelled.
She fought back the tears as she walked past him, "Then maybe I'd be better off dead so Merle could still be here.".
After their run in, Taylor hoped she wouldn't be seeing Daryl again for a very long time, but instead, she saw him merely days later...
-Present Time-
TAYLOR, CONNIE, DARYL, HENRY,
and Lydia and Dog all stood outside the gates of Alexandria.
The only reason Aaron didn't let them in was because they had Lydia, and he said he needed to consult with Michonne first.
Taylor knew Aaron didn't trust Lydia...not after what her people did to Jesus.
The only reason she wasn't mad at Lydia was because she didn't kill Jesus, but it was rather Alpha and her people.
Aaron came back with Michonne as the two climbed up onto the guard perch.
"Henry an' Taylor are hurt." Daryl said, "Ye were closest. I wouldn't have come. We had no other choice.".
"What about her?" Michonne asked, referring to Lydia.
"She's with us." Henry replied, and Daryl gave Michonne an encouraging nod.
She turned back to Aaron to consult with him before looking down at the guard at the gate, "Open it!".
-Flashback-
TAYLOR SAT AT THE DINING TABLE
in her and Lee's home, going through her old photo album that held all the pictures she collected over her years in the apocalypse.
She collected all sorts of things like stickers, pins, scrapbookings, and of course, her polaroids.
She found the one of her, Daryl, and Merle back at the quarry camp, and she couldn't help the tears that pricked in her eyes.
Hearing a knock on the front door, she closed her photo album and got up, walking over to the front door and opened it, revealing Jordyn, Michonne, and an unknown woman.
Taylor smiled politely, "Who's this?".
"This is my friend Jocelyn. I was wondering if she could stay with you and Lee until we find her a house." Michonne explained.
Nodding, Taylor opened the door wider, "Of course. You three take a seat on the couch. I'll start brewing some tea.".
Jocelyn gave her a small smile as she and Michonne walked inside, "Thank you.".
Jordyn then walked up to her and whispered, "Heard you had a run in with Daryl the other day.".
Sighing, Taylor gestured for her to come inside, "I'll tell you about it later.".
As Jordyn stepped inside, Taylor closed the door before rushing off to whip up some tea.
-Present Time-
AFTER SIDDIQ POPPED TAYLOR'S
shoulder back in place, which hurt like a bitch, moved on to stitching up Henry's leg, and Lydia stayed to comfort him though the painful process while Taylor retreated outside to the front porch of the infirmary with Michonne, Daryl, and Connie.
Michonne gave her a concerned expression, "How'd you dislocate your shoulder?".
"By fucking Godzilla." Taylor remarked, sitting down by Connie, "I'm alright, though. Nothing I can't handle.".
Michonne then turned to Daryl, "So, where to now? Straight to the Kingdom?".
"Well, 'obably not straight, but, yeah. I promised Hailey I'd play the carnival games wit' her." He replied, cleaning his face and hands of blood with a bowl of water.
Sighing, Taylor got up, grabbing a cloth beside the bowl and dipping it into the water before lightly grabbing his chin with her free hand, "You keep missing spots.".
She cleaned off a splotch of blood from under hise nose as he said, "Besides, Carol should know.".
Connie held up some writing to Michonne, and she gave a small smile in response, and horses could be heard in the distance.
Michonne went to step inside the infirmary, but Connie stopped her, and told her 'Thank you. For everything.' in sign language before Michonne walked off.
Smiling at her work, Taylor sat down the rag by the bowl, Daryl's face now fully clean, "There. Much better.".
She turned to Connie, gesturing for her notepad and pen before writing down, 'Keep an eye on Daryl. I need to pick some things from my house.'.
Connie gave a smile with a thumbs up before Taylor walked off, Daryl calling after her, "Hey, where ye goin'!?".
"My house." She replied, "I need to pick up some things. I'll be back in a little bit.".
She then walked off to her, Lee, and Hailey's house, rolling up the garage door before stepping inside the garage.
-Flashback-
SIGHING, TAYLOR PUT THE
cassette tape into the radio before pressing play, music filling the garage as she sighed, resting her hand over her baby bump.
This would be the first time she'd stretch to dance in years.
She hadn't danced since before the world fell...when things were normal and she had time to worry about things like that...
She knew dancing most likely wasn't the safest thing for the baby, but she was desperate to find something to get her mind off of Daryl.
All she could ever think was him...Daryl fucking Dixon...and she could never stop thinking about him.
She was tied to him by a thread, the rest of their bond broken and forgotten.
Shaking the thoughts out of her mind, she began her stretching and when she went to touch her toes, and she pulled something in her leg, causing her to cry out in pain, immediately standing back up as she took deep breaths.
Lee walked inside with a concerned look, "Um...are you alright?".
She nodded, sighing as she sat down in a nearby chair, "I pulled something in my leg while stretching.".
"Stretching for what?" He asked, walking up to her and kneeling down in front of her as he gently grabbed her leg.
"...Dance..." She meekly said, knowing he wouldn't be happy with her answer.
He groaned, "Taylor, you shouldn't dance with a baby in your belly. You and the baby could get hurt. You already hurt your leg.".
She burried her face in his neck, "I just wanna forget him...I just wanna move on...".
He hugged her, "I know you do, baby...I know you do...".
-Present Time-
TAKING A DEEP BREATH, SHE
looked over the two outfits she made herself.
One was for her, and the other was for Daryl.
Alexandria had a small little dance group that one of the parents started, and a group of residents signed up, mostly teenagers, and of course, Taylor joined, wanting to bring a piece of her old life back.
The group had been practicing for months, and finally, each dancer got their roles in each dance, and Taylor received a solo.
She made herself her own outfit for her hip hop solo, but the catch was, each dancer was aloud to bring one of their parents for photos after the recital.
Originally, Taylor thought about asking Joel or Tommy to be her plus one, but now that Daryl was back in her life, and hopefully for good, she wanted to ask him.
Her outfit was a simple tight fitting black spaghetti strap dress, and under it, she'd wear black shorts with her tights so she was covered when doing her flips and such.
The outfit was simple and easy for her to remove the tights and shorts and to exchange them for her black laced heels she'd wear after the recital for photos.
Daryl's outfit was the classic black tuxedo, which she already knew would fit him perfectly.
The real challenge would be getting him to wear it.
She grabbed the two outfits, and as soon as she turned to leave, Becca was standing at the door, "You goin' to ask Daryl to be yer plus one?".
Taylor nodded, "Yep. I hope he says yes; I have it all planned out.".
"Oh, I'm sure he'll say yes." Becca replied, "The real challenge is gonna be gettin' him to where the tuxedo.".
"When the hell did you get back?" Taylor asked her.
"Jus' now. Left Hilltop the mornin' after y'all an' stopped by Jackson to pick up Clementine. She's missed you an' Kenny." Becca replied.
"I've missed her too. I'll be with her in a minute. I gotta go find Daryl." Taylor said, giving Becca a hug before walking off to find Daryl.
She found him sitting on the bridge with Judith that went over the large lake in Alexandria, and as the young girl stood up, she looked over at the older woman, and a bright smile spread across her lips, "Aunt Taylor!".
Judith ran up to her Aunt and brought her into a tight embrace, "You're back! And Uncle Daryl's with you!".
"That he is. Are you gonna be at my recital at the trade fair tomorrow?" Taylor asked her.
Judith looked a bit sad, "I wish, Aunt Taylor. Mom said we're not going to the trade fair.".
Taylor smiled, placing her finger under Judith's chin and lifted her head up, "It's okay, Jude. I'll do my routine for you when we get back; I promise. I'll even get you a candy apple. I know you've been wanting one forever now.".
Judith perked up at this, "Thank you so much, Aunt Taylor! I gotta go now; RJ probably needs me. I'll see you later!".
Judith skipped away happily as Daryl said to Taylor, "Yer good wit' her. Have been since the prison.".
"I got practice with Chloe. She and Judith really helped me with raising Hailey." Taylor smiled sadly.
Daryl nodded, "Ye uh...tell her 'bout Chloe?".
"Tell Hailey about Chloe? Um...a little. Anyway, the Kingdom is having a dance recital tomorrow, and I was wondering if you'd go as my plus one. You don't have to do much. You just have to get pictures with me afterwards." She explained.
"Oh. Um, sure. I'll be yer plus one." He agreed.
She smiled brightly, "Thank you so much. The only thing is is that you have to wear this.".
She handed him the tuxedo, "...A tuxedo...".
"Isn't it handsome? It's gonna look great on you." She encouraged him
He sighed, slinging the tuxedo over his shoulder, "Fine. I'll wear the fuckin' tuxedo...".
"You also have to wear it to the Kingdom. You won't have time to change there. So I suggest you go get a shower and get ready." She gestured towards the direction of her house.
He groaned, "...Yer lucky I love ye...".
She giggled, "I know.".
He trudged away as Becca walked over with Clementine, Clementine smiling brightly as she rushed up to Taylor and hugged her, "Taylor! I missed you so much!".
The older woman smiled and hugged her back, "Hey, Clem. How old are you now? Sixteen? Seventeen?".
"Eighteen. I turned eighteen a few months ago." Clementine replied.
"God we're getting so old. It scares me." Taylor sighed.
"Well, atleast you're still young enough to dance in a dance recital. I saw you and Daryl talking. Are you and him okay now?" Clementine asked.
Taylor shrugged, "I mean, I think we are. I'm still trying to forgive him for what he did, but, I mean...I don't hate him like I did.".
"Hey," Becca rested a hand on her shoulder, "The forgiving process takes time. Eventually, you'll completely forgive Daryl. The wounds may never heal from it, but your bond will.".
Taylor smiled, resting her hand over her's, "Thanks, Becca.".
———
DARYL
THAT NIGHT, DARYL, TAYLOR,
Henry, Connie, Taylor, and Dog were setting out for the Kingdom.
"Remember way back when I told you you'd make a great father? You got to skip the exploding diapers part," Aaron gestured ahead at Taylor who was telling Lydia and Henry how adorable their relationship was, "but I was right. It looks like you have been a great father since day one of everything going down. And now you're being a great dad for Lydia, too.".
"A lot' changed. Back then, we were still buildin' bridges." Daryl said, patting Aaron on the back as they walked up to the front gate.
"Hey, by the way," Aaron smirked, "I like the tux.".
Daryl groaned, "Stop.".
After Taylor hugged Michonne, Daryl did the same.
"Stay safe." She told him.
"Yeah, you too." He replied.
She smiled, "I like the suit by the way. Taylor make it for you?".
He sighed, "Why does everyone keep talkin' 'bout the suit?".
She grinned, "Because no one's used to seeing you in one. It's out of character.".
He looked over at Judith and waved goodbye to her.
"She's mad at me." Michonne told him.
"It's 'cause she don' know. Why don' ye tell her?" He asked.
She scoffed, "She's not ready. Neither am I. She's a kid. She gets to kep being one as long as I can help it.".
"That's not jus' a lil' kid ye got there." He replied, resting a hand on her shoulder before pointing over to Aaron at the gate as he joined Taylor, Connie, Lydia, and Henry past it, "Dog!".
They walked off down the road as the gates closed behind them, heading off towards the Kingdom's trade fair.
———
NEGAN
NEGAN HEARD THAT DARYL,
TAYLOR, HENRY, AND LYDIA WERE
here.
Why hadn't Taylor come to visit him already; she always did.
That's when Miconme stepped inside, a glare on her face and a letter in her hand as she closed the door behind her and stepped up to Negan's cell, slipping in the letter, "From Taylor. She had to leave sooner than she thought; she's been busy.".
Negan took the letter and opened it with a chuckle, "Right. Thanks, Michonne.".
That kid had really become something else...
-Flashback-
TAYLOR
TAYLOR HATED THE ACHE IN HER
back as her baby bump felt like it weighed a ton.
She already had back problems, and this newly added weight of the baby wasn't helping.
She didn't know how Jordyn seemingly walked liked model with two baby's pressing down on her.
"Are you two alri'?" Becca asked from ahead of them as they walked across a grassy field, a large building to their left and a swing set ahead of them.
"Just fine." Taylor sighed, breathing heavily as she placed her hands on her knees.
"Maybe we should take a-" Jordyn began, but Taylor stopped her.
"No. We have to find Michonne and Daryl; they went after Jocelyn and the kids.".
"Hey," Becca pointed over to the building, it's two double doors wide open, "They're open. You think Michonne and Daryl went in there to look.".
"It's worth a shot." Jordyn agreed, slinging off her AK-47.
Taylor slinged off her crossbow, "Alright then. Let's go have a look.".
The three girls made their way up to the entrance before quietly stepping inside, each girl aiming their weapon down a hallway.
Suddenly, there were some muffled, pained screams coming from down the hallway.
"Shit, was that Daryl?" Becca whispered.
Taylor rushed down the hallway, Becca and Jordyn right behind her as the three girls busted into the room the noise was coming from.
Michonne and Daryl were hung from the cieling by their hands, and Jocelyn was there with a few of her kids.
One of them took off a scorching piece of metal shaped as an 'x' from Daryl's back.
Taylor glared, aiming her crossbow at the kid, "You fucking little bitch!".
She didn't care if these kids were merely teens and little children; they were brainwashed by Jocelyn.
These kids were pure fucking evil now...
"Let them go." Jordyn ordered, aiming her AK-47 at Jocelyn.
She said nothing, and the next thing the three girls knew, they were jumped from behind by a group of kids and knocked unconscious.
All Taylor heard was from Jocelyn, "Well done, children. Take their weapons and jackets. Then hang them up in the room over.".
"The strong survive." The children said at the same time, almost like a set of words in a ritual.
This was fucking messed up...
-Present Time-
TAYLOR'S SCAR FLARED AND
ached, a grim reminder of went down back at that school with Jocelyn and her kids.
She felt it as she stared up at the starry night sky that night out in the woods when the group had settled down for the night.
She wondered if Daryl, Michonme, Becca, and Jordyn still felt it too...
-Flashback-
TAYLOR AWOKE WITH A GROAN,
her vision a blurr as she tried to gather her surroundings.
"She's awake," She heard Jocelyn say, "go on, Linus. Do it to her just like you did to the other man.".
'This little fucking punk...'.
Linus took off the metal 'x' piece that was attached to a metal stick from where it was burning over a fire, bringing the metal pole behind Taylor.
A teenager lifted the back of her tanktop up, and the next second, the metal 'x' met the bottom left corner of her baxk as she cried out in agony.
Taylor had experienced a lot of pain over her years in the apocalypse, but this...this was a unique kind of pain.
After a few seconds, Linus removed the scorching 'x' from her back, the cool air meeting her raw flesh as the teenager pulled back dowm her tank top.
"You fucking assholes." She seethed out from behind the cloth that was tied around her mouth.
Next up was Becca to be marked, and a young girl named Winnie did her's.
Becca lashed out in pain, trying to kick Winnie from behind her, "Fuck!".
Finally, it was Jordyn's turn, and a teenager did her mark as Jordyn cried out in pain.
"Very good, children." Jocelyn praised them, "Come along now. We need to start sending out patrols. They're people will start coming to look for them soon.".
Jocelyn and the children left, leaving the tree woman hanging from the ceiling as their burn mark flared and ached.
A teenager had stayed behind to keep guard by the door, but that was quickly put to an end, as Daryl snuck up behind the teen and suffocated them to sleep.
Michonne rushed past him, beginning to help the woman down, and she started with Jordyn, "Are you three alright?".
"If you count an x mark flaring and aching on my back, then yeah." Jordyn remarked as she was cut down, rubbing her wrists.
Michonne then helped Becca down while Daryl helped Taylor down.
"Why the hell did ye follow us out here?" He lectured her, "Yer pregnant. You an' the baby could've gotten hurt.".
She glared, "Shut the fuck up with these, lectures, Daryl. I'm fucking seventeen now. I don't need you condescending every fucking decision I make.".
"Well maybe I wouldn't if I knew I could trust ye an' not run off an' have sex when yer still a fuckin' teenager." He countered.
She scoffed, "It's not like you didn't have sex as a teenager. Stop acting fucking innocent.".
"Hey," Jordyn broke them up, "would you two shut the fuck up? You're gonna attract every fucking person in this goddamn building."
"Hey." Michonne grabbed their attention, "We should split up.".
"Alri'. I'm gonna tie him up." Daryl dragged the teenager over to a corner in the room, tying his hands to a pipe on the wall.
Michonne pulled one of then off before leaving the room, and that's when the sound of a trufk engine could be heard, and Taylor rushed up to the window and saw an army truck pull up out front.
"Who the hell's here?" Daryl asked.
Becca peaked over Taylor's shoulder, "Military truck. I thought the military was wiped out at the beginning of all this.".
"So did we..." Jordyn muttered.
Taylor pulled a switchblade out from her bra, "Then me, Jordyn, and Becca'll go check it out. Daryl can go after Michonne.".
"What if they gun ye down? They could be fuckin' psychopaths for all we know." Daryl pointed out.
"There's only one way to find out. Becca, Jordyn, c'mon." The three girls snuck through the hallways, making their way to the front where they stepped outside.
Soldiers filed out of the military truck, geared up with advanced weaponry and heavy armor, one of the soldiers walking up to the three ladies and took off their helmet, revealing a man around Daryl's age, "I'm Chris Redfield. I'm with the AWO and we've been looking for Taylor Thompson.".
He looked over at Taylor as her heart ached at the name, "Me? Why me?".
"For your immunity. That, and to protect you from the WLF. You probably haven't heard anything about them in years, but they're still after you. Especially sine the Firefly organization ended in failure thanks to Ellie Miller and Joel Miller." He explained.
"Wait, what the hell do you mean?" She asked.
"I'll explain later. One of my scouts said he heard some commotion going on over here." He pointed out.
"This psycho bitch kidnapped a bunch of kids from our community. We're trying to get them back." Becca explained.
That's when Michonne and Daryl stepped out the front entrance with Judith and the rest of the kids that were kidnapped from Alexandria.
Michonne was covered in blood head to toe...
"Oh god..." Taylor muttered under her breath, placing a hand over her mouth.
Did Michonne really kill Jocelyn and all those kids...
Chris placed a hand on her shoulder, "I'll escort you and your friends back to your settlement. It looks like you've all been through the wringer.
The soldiers then helped Michonne, Daryl, Taylor, Becca, Jordyn, and the kids into the military truck before they headed home back to Alexandria.
That day...it had been a dark day...
-Present Time-
SIGHING, TAYLOR LOOKED UP AT
Daryl, "You ever think about that day? With Jocelyn...getting those scars...".
He nodded before responding gruffly, "Yeah. Sometimes.".
"...I have nightmares about it a lot..." She sais softly.
It was the next day, and the sun was now high up in the sky as the group continued to make their way to the Kingdom.
They stopped as a horse drawn carriage rolled up with Michonne and Judith in it as the group stepped out onto the road.
"Anyone headed to Kingdom?" Judith asked them, a smile on her face.
Henry looked back at Lydia with a smile as the group all hopped into the back of the carriage before they continued the journey to the Kingdom.
Today was going to be a good day.
Everyone was going to come together and be a family once more as they enjoyed all the goodies and treats the fair brought m.
Even in the end of the world...Taylor knew as long as she still had her friends and family, there was still something to fight for...
•••
To Be Continued...
Word Count: 4230
Edited: ❌
@Taylor_Frickin_Dixon, 2022
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A/n: Hey guys! Just to quickly clear up something in this chapter. As you saw, all the flashbacks connected to Jocelyn were all five years ago. You may have thought that RJ, Hailey, and the twins would have been already born at that time. Well, you're right, but it wasn't exactly five years. It was more about five years and nine months, meaning Taylor, Jordyn, and Michonne are due to give birth any day. I just thought I should clear that up, and I hope you all enjoyed the chapter. I'll see you in the next one. ^^