A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S9Pt1 - Back To Normal... Sort Of

~~~~~ 1 Month Later ~~~~~

Since the defeat of Negan, all the surrounding communities, those of Alexandria, Hilltop, The Kingdom, The Saviors, and Oceanside, started trade with each other. The transition of leadership has been a work in progress, and the title of Saviors still carried a bad name. I don't think that'll ever go away after what's happened. Still, there has been tension, but not only between us and the Saviors, but with the Hilltop and Alexandria. After the war, Maggie was voted by the people of the Hilltop to be their leader, and naturally Maggie accepted. Gregory was still in their ranks, but Maggie ran everything and transformed the Hilltop into a bustling community. Most of our food is grown at the Hilltop, and all trade goes through her. Yet, I've noticed that Maggie and Jesus have been speaking in private, and occasionally Daryl would join them. They never spoke around anyone else, and I never could get any information out of Daryl, so for now, I let them be.
I also learned that Gabriel after being taken by the Saviors a month ago, he developed some sort of eye infection. As a result, Gabriel is now partially blind. He is recovering and improving by the week, but we don't know what the future holds for his eyesight. In the meantime, he has gone back to running the church in Alexandria, offering his services to anyone who seeks it.
It was no shock that Morgan what struggling with trauma and delusions. After what we've all been through in this life, it becomes a normal thing to lose parts of yourself. Unfortunately for Morgan, he's lost too much to remember who he is. So, he left. He told us he's not safe to be around, and better alone, so he took off. We don't know where, but we hoped for the best.
Ezekiel stepped down from his role of King, but returned to the Kingdom as their leader. Carol stuck around with them after finding herself after all these years, only from the help of Ezekiel. They were close with each other, and took young Henry under their wings, and lived in peace there together.
Besides all that, everyone has been hard at work to build up civilization and begin to co-exist with each other. We've got back to normal at Alexandria, and the repairs make it looked like it was before. We've also marked our roads properly, forming common trade and travel routes. We still used cars but started to rely more on horses and horse-drawn carriages as mode of transportation.
Also, Jadis, the last remaining person of the Scavengers, joined the group. We welcomed her into Alexandria. She is still adjusting every day to understand how things work now, but she's figuring it out.
Things were really starting to come together. We really were building the New World, where people started to work together again to fight the dead, the common enemy. I couldn't help but go to bed every single night now knowing that Carl would be proud. But also, every night I went to bed, I stared at Lucille, Negan's bat, kept in the corner of my room.

~~~~~ 2 Months Later ~~~~~

"Happy birthday to you." I sang.
"Happy birthday to you." Rick sang.
"Happy birthday, dear Judith." Everyone sang. "Happy birthday to you."
We all clapped our hands and Judith clapped with us, pure excitement seen all over her face.
"Blow out the candles baby." I said.
She leaned forwards in her chair to blow out the candles on her small homemade cake. It took her a few tries, but she eventually got them out.
"Yay." We cheered.
Rick took a picture of her on a Polaroid camera and showed it to me, before giving it to Michonne for them to keep. Rick then bent down and kissed Judith's head, and she smiled at him.
"Thank you daddy." She said.
"You're welcome Judy." Rick said and pet her head.
Rick then grabbed a knife and cut the cake, giving Judith her slice before everyone else. She dug into it and after a few bites she started to purposefully make a mess, but it was her birthday so she was allowed to have fun with it. I took a bite out of my cake when Daryl finally arrived and walked over to me.
"Hey." I said when I saw him. "How are the babies?"
"They're down for a nap. All good now." He said.
I nodded and grabbed a forkful of cake and held it up to Daryl's mouth, and he ate the cake. He then licked his lips and nodded at me.
"That's pretty damn good actually." Daryl said. "Thanks."
I just smiled and nodded at him, and saw a little bit of frosting was left on his lip. I then leaned forwards and softly kissed his lips, taking the frosting off. He gently grabbed my face and held our kiss until Judy interrupted us.
"Mommy." She said.
I laughed with my lips still connected to Daryl's, and then pulled away to turn around.
"Yes honey." I said.
"Come here." She said and hit the table in excitement.
I just laughed at her, and before I walked away Daryl quickly kissed my cheek. I then pulled a chair out and sat next to Judith who had cake covering her fingers.
"What is it, birthday girl?" I then asked.
She then stuck out her hand and swiped cake across my cheek. Everyone who was watching started laughing, and I gasped in shock.
"I got you mommy." Judith then giggled.
My mouth then started to curl upwards into a smile, and Judith laughed out loud. I then put my finger in her cake and grabbed a glob of frosting.
"Oh I'm gonna get'cha." I then teased.
Judith then hopped off the chair and squealed as she ran around the dining room. She dodged around people and ran into the living room and put the couch between us. She couldn't stop giggling and I laughed as I slowly chased her around the couch. I finally caught her, and once I did I swooped her up in my arm and touched her nose with the frosting on my finger.
"Awww." Judith said. "You got me."
"Yes I did." I said playfully and then kissed the frosting off her nose. "I love you."
"I love you too mommy." Judy said.