Solitude -> The Walking Dead

58

Heavy breaths left my mouth at the images of walkers. I sat up abruptly, my muscles protesting at the sudden movement. A hand settled on my shoulder and I flinched away.

It was only the sound of Glenn's voice that calmed me down. He was holding Dorian with one hand and touching my shoulder with the other. I let out a sigh of relief and collapsed back on the makeshift bed.

"Are we in the clear?" I asked.

Last night there was a really rough couple of hours where all of us huddled together at the door holding back a herd of walkers trying to get in. Whenever I moved, the ache I felt reminded me of the danger.

"Yeah, the storm seems to have wiped out the majority of them." he replied.

Dorian made a sound making Glenn jump into protective uncle mode. It almost would've made me smile if I hadn't just woken up after a night of fighting off walkers.

I rubbed my eye. "Alright, I'm up."

Glenn moved so I could get up and move around. Every muscle in my body instantly sent off alarms that it didn't like that. And here I thought I was in perfect shape.

I was going to go join Rick and the others when I saw Daryl on his own on the other side of the barn. Heading towards him was practically instinct. I couldn't fight it even if I wanted to.

He stilled as I plopped down next to him on the ground. At first I didn't say anything. But we had to talk about it.

"It's okay if you're upset with me."

Talking to him alone should've been my priority. It was practically an ambush last night. I tried to justify it with a 'he's moved on' logic. But deep down I knew neither one of us truly ever felt like it was over.

He shrugged. "Not your fault."

I bit my lip at his detached comment. There wasn't a lot I could expect from him. He was handling it better than expected and I should've been content with it.

"Letting you go was. You deserved better than that." I said.

Better than the shitty treatment I gave him. All because I was scared of how loving someone who's not my family might put them in more danger. It made a lot more sense back then.

Now it just feels like an excuse that's left a sour taste in my mouth.

"Does he make you happy, Josephine?"

"Yes."

"Does he make you happier?"

The question made me freeze on my spot next to him. My palms started sweating as I felt his eyes directly on me. How was I supposed to answer that?

Regardless of what I say, he won't be pleased with the answer. It won't make a difference in the long run. I opened my mouth to reply.

"Everyone, this is Aaron." Maggie's voice spread out through the barn.

Within seconds, every single person in here had a weapon on them. It was pointed straight at the stranger who looked like he hadn't experienced a fraction of the same storm that we did.

"We met him outside, he's by himself. We took his weapons and we took his gear." Maggie explained.

Daryl went to the door to check if there's anyone else outside. After not seeing anything, he closed the door and searched Aaron. Quite roughly judging by the way he tensed up.

"Hi." he replied.

As if on cue Judith started crying. My eyes flickered to the twins who were guarded by Abby while Dakota and Tara held one in their arms. We were understaffed for so many babies.