The other Dixon- The walking dead fanfic

XXII

I had to admit, I surprised myself but staying with the group all night. I almost left multiple times to go back home. I didn't miss Jay, but I wanted to see him. This is the longest I've been without him since we met. I don't know why I felt like this, but I didn't like it. I looked down at his jacket, which was still around my shoulders, why do I take this instead of my own?

I took the jacket off with a frustrated sigh, throwing it it besides me onto the cold, hard floor, allowing the cool, night air to hit my arms, immediately standing the hairs on my arms up.

I was still sat on the steps when everyone else began waking up, I didn't really feel like going inside, a lot of the people were giving me weird looks. I looked up when I heard the door open. Glenn stood at the top of the stairs, a granola bar and water bottle in hand, he walked down the stairs, sitting next to me, holding out the two items.

I took the water, unscrewing the lid, hesitating for a second before drinking it. He motioned towards the bar but I shook my head, wiping my sleeve on my mouth as I screwed the lid back on,
"I'm not hungry, thanks though". He looked at me weirdly before tucking it away in his pocket.

"Hey," He said, snapping me out of my haze, "We're gonna get moving now, come on" He stood up, holding out his hand for me to grab.
"We're going back? Like now now?" I asked, looking up at him,
"Now now" I smiled, grabbing his hand, standing up and walking into the building.

Everyone was packing their stuff, I only had no bow, which was on top of a couple crates. I walked over, picking it up, placing it around my shoulder. I could feel a couple people watching me, but I didn't care all that much, I just wanted to get home.

---

I was in a state in between being awake and asleep basically the whole car journey, I only really woke up when I could hear the distant chatter of children. I sat up, looking to my brother who sat next to me, a small smile on my lips as I saw the walls outside the window.
"You ready?" I asked him. He looked out the window at the walls, then back at me,
"Yeah.." He opened the door, climbing out the car to meet the rest of the group, who were already waiting.

I stood on the left of Eric, helping him walk with Aaron, who was on his right. The doors opened to reveal Nicholas and Aiden, waiting for us. A loud clatter besides us made the whole group jump, I reach for my pistol with my free hand but Daryl beat me, shooting in the direction, it was just a possum.
"We brought dinner." He said to the two boys who looked dumbfounded as my brother held up the dead animal, an arrow piercing its head.

The gates closed behind us and we all stood there awkwardly, the two boys examining over the group. I looked up the hill, a small crowd beginning to form, watching the newcomers take in their surroundings.
"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn in your weapons" Nicholas said, stepping forward. There was no nice way to say this, I didn't like Nicholas. Not a bit.
"Nick, it's fine" I said, purposefully using the nickname I knew would irritate him,
"I'm sorry, when did you start making the calls around here?" He asked. I made sure Aaron had a good grip on Eric before I let go, walking up to the man. Sure he was way taller than me but I didn't care, I approached him, staring him in the eyes,
"When did you start making the calls around here?"

A distant voice distracted the two of us and the whole group turned to see where it was coming from,
"Is she okay?" I heard someone yell. Fighting his way towards the front of the group was Jay. He stood at the front, looking over the group until his eyes landed on mine.

He rushed towards me, pulling me into a tight hug. I didn't care, I hugged him back, actually enjoying it for once,
"Dinner, you said" He quoted me, pulling back from the hug, checking me over for any injuries, "Oh yeah.. I totally meant dinner tonight" I joked. He laughed, letting go of me, glancing over the group again until he saw Daryl.

"Is that...?" He asked, looking between me and my brother,
"In the flesh" I said, turning around to look at him. I don't think I had ever seen Daryl look more awkward in my life. Luckily for him, Deanna approached us, telling me to help Eric to the infirmary whilst she interviewed the others.

---

It was the next day and I could see basically the entire group exploring the area, meeting people and making friends, all except Daryl. We lived directly opposite them, which I guess worked out quite well.

"I'm just gonna run across the street real quick" I told Jay, who was washing up some dirty plates in the kitchen. He paused, throwing a tea towel over his shoulder before nodding at me, "Just be home for dinner" I laughed, shaking my head as I pulled on my converse, tying the laces before walking out the door.

"You not wanting to look around?" I asked, making the man look up. He was playing with a knife, sitting out on the balcony,
"You stalking us now?" He asked making me chuckle,
"No, I'm the house across the street." I pointed to it and he nodded,
"How'd you end up with that one? It's massive" It hit me suddenly he had no idea anything about my life after I moved away.
"It was my mum's, before this all kicked off." His eyes widened, We had been lucky when we moved down. My mum met David and well, it's safe to say he had money. Definitely an upgrade from living with my father.

I looked down at him, he was leaning against the fence, his knees tucked up towards his chest, "Do you wanna go for a walk?" I asked him, pointing towards the walls with my bow. I had managed to persuade Deanna to let me keep it on me, she wasn't happy about it, but it worked.

"Outside the walls?" He asked, looking at me, a slight bit of excitement in his eyes.
"Yeah, there's a route I used to take to clear my head." He watched me for a second before getting to his feet, picking his crossbow up,
"Lead the way then." I smiled at him, I half expected him to say no anyway, before turning on my heels, walking down the stairs with a slight bounce before heading straight towards the wall.

word count: 1, 151
total word count: 20, 822