THREE WEEKS PASS
Rick's POV:
I busted through the door, a few men following me into the house to check it out. We saw no sign of trouble, so I gave the signal for the rest of the group to follow us in.
We have gotten better at clearing houses since Hershel's farm. The group took the loss of Aspen hard. I looked to her as a daughter, and then one second she was just gone. I replayed the last look on her face as I told her I killed her father. The look of hatred.
Everyday I wished I had convinced her to stay, to not have gone off by herself. If her boyfriend Thomas had done something, maybe it would have been different. I know I shouldn't blame him, but I did.
We all took her loss in our own ways, but Daryl took it the hardest. He became detached from the group and had barely said a word since the day she died. He often went out on long hunts, coming back with his clothes stained with walker blood.
Glenn also became cold, he still was with Maggie, but their relationship was more strained than before. Maggie also was taking the loss hard.
Lori was pretty far along with her pregnancy, and we needed to find a solid, safe place to stay. We had found house after house, but soon walkers would show up and we had to move on. I couldn't do this much longer.
We set up some stuff, but didn't unpack much. We had learned that we needed to be able to leave at a moments notice. We took out some squirrel we had caught earlier that day and built a fire in the fireplace. We had just begun to sit down and eat when Glenn came sprinting in.
"Guys, walkers are headed this way! And a big herd too! We need to leave." And he took off again.
We all jumped up and Hershel put out the fire. I ran to the window and saw a huge herd of walkers coming up on the front of the house.
"Everyone out the back, now!" I lead the group out of the back door and quietly into the woods. After a while, we found a clearing that was far enough away from the house that I felt safe stopping.
"I'll take first watch, everyone settle in, but stay close together. No one go off without telling someone." I watched everyone settle in and Thomas started to make a fire.
"No!" I yelled, startling everyone. "No fires. It will just draw attention." Thomas glared at me.
"So how do you suppose we'll see, Sheriff?" Thomas retorted. He had been calling me Sheriff ever since Aspen died and it really got on my nerves.
"I guess you'll have to be more careful, won't you?" I countered. He huffed and stalked off.
I saw Daryl take off into the woods and I followed him. "What are you doing?" I asked.
"I'm goin' huntin." He said, still not stopping or turning around.
"Daryl, wait!" I grabbed his arm.
"Don't ya touch me!" He yanked his arm away, but stopped.
"What's your problem man?" I asked.
"What's my problem?! Really?! Ya gonna ask me that?!" He glared at me.
I sighed and rubbed my face, knowing exactly what his problem was. "Listen man, I get it, Aspen's death was hard on all of us..."
"Nah! Ya don't get it! Ya don't understand, and ya never will!" He stormed off, but I continued to follow him. I knew Daryl could handle himself, but he had been especially reckless since Aspen died.
We walked through the woods for a while, me still keeping my distance from Daryl. The sun set, and I was getting antsy. We needed to get back to the group.
"Daryl, it's getting late." I said, trying to get him to turn around.
"Fine, then ya go back." He said, picking up his pace.
I huffed, but kept following him. All of a sudden the woods stopped and we were thrown into a huge empty field.
Except the field wasn't empty, there was a prison in the middle of it.
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Glenn's POV:
Once Rick and Daryl got back from their "walk," we decided we needed to go to the prison. If we could clear out a potion, than it would be secure. After all, they had said they saw multiple fences and the prison itself looked fairly intact.
We decided that we would wait out the night since it was already dark, and then head for it in the morning. People started to grumble once they realized that we were going to have to stay in a dark, open field for a night.
"Would y'all rather try and clear out the prison in the dark? With no lights, and not knowing who, or what, is inside?" Rick asked the group, shutting down most of the complaints.
We all got settled as Rick came up to me. "I'm worried about Daryl." He said in a hushed tone.
"Why? He's a grown man."
"I know, but when I was out in the forest with him, he wasn't his usual quiet self. He was very loud and he wasn't willing to talk about anything. I know he's normally stubborn, but he was very stubborn tonight." He scratched his chin, staring at Daryl who was settling down by a tree on the other side of the clearing.
"Okay? And what would you like me to do? Go have a heart to heart conversation with him?" I asked. I knew Rick's thoughts were in the right direction, but I didn't know what he expected me to do.
"No, just, will you help me keep an eye on him? He's a valued part of this group and I don't need him making a stupid mistake that gets him killed just because he's distracted."
I sighed. "Alright."
"Thanks Glenn. Goodnight."
"Night Rick." I watched him walk over to his wife and child, putting his arm around Carl. Lori was far along in her pregnancy, so I figured this prison could be heaven for her if it worked out.
"What did Rick have to say?" Maggie said, walking up to me.
"He just asked me to keep an eye on Daryl for a while. He said that he wasn't himself when they went into the woods. He thinks Daryl might endanger himself by doing something stupid." I said as she sat down beside me.
"I think he just needs time to recover. He'll be back to his normal self soon."
"But how long Maggie? After all, it's been weeks since Aspen died. How much time does he need? It still hurts for me, but I'm not thinking of her every moment now."
"But you weren't in love with her, now were you? If I died, would you be fine after just three weeks? Especially in this world where you'd probably never find someone to love again?" Her voice dropped. "That is, if you even love me anymore."
"Maggie!" I said.
"Well, all we've been doing is fighting recently! I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't want to be with me anymore."
"Maggie," I started, turning towards her. "I still love you will all my heart. I will never leave you, and don't think for one moment because we are fighting that I don't love you." I pulled her in for a long hug.
"I love you too Glenn." She whispered, pulling away from me, but leaning into my side.
"I miss her so much." She said, starting to cry.
"I know, I miss her too. Shh. It's okay. We'll be okay."
Maggie soon stopped crying. "Goodnight Glenn."
"Goodnight"