Shambles- The Walking Dead [Alden x Maggie] [1/2]

26- Killed enough

Once Alden's eyebrow was patched up they decided to head back to Alden's tent. The only things inside were an old stretcher and a duffle bag.

"Alden, you have to stop." Maggie shook her head.

"Stop what?" he asked. "All I've been doing here is trying to keep everything together."

"You're picking their side!" she objected. "There's no togetherness between us and them."

"There is for me!" he objected. "Some of them I've known for ages. They're not all bad people. They want the same as us. They want to live."

"They are bad people. You know what they did. Or did you forget? Because you're not sounding like the man I got to know."

"What you speak of was all Negan and Simon. Simon's dead and Negan's locked up. All that's left is people like you and me." He paused.

He always accepted Maggie's anger towards them because he fully understood why she could never see them as more than evil demons. Her reason for it was justified. Just as much as his reason for still believing in them was.

"Maggie," he sighed as he wiped his hand down his face tiredly. "Can we agree to disagree? We're not going to reach a compromise. Solving Justin's death and all those disappearances are our first priority for one simple reason; peace. Can we agree on that?"

She crossed her arms and bit her lip. "Fine, but you can't jump into such a tense situation as earlier. I know you care but I don't want to see you get hurt."

"Deal," he nodded. "Now, let's get on with that search."

"Cyndie's going to join us," she added, and not much later the trio walked through the forest in search of anything that stood out to them. Anything that could be a clue.

"Got activity nearby," Maggie called in over the radio as she pointed out the nearby walkers moving into the forest. "Gonna go check it out."

Something was replied over the walkie talkie but Alden couldn't make out what through all the static. Maggie and Alden hadn't talked much since they left camp and they probably wouldn't for a while.

"There's a house up ahead, off the road. Could be coming from there," Cyndie opted. "We used to live near here. Before Oceanside."

Maggie and Alden followed Cyndie into the woods, still in silence. Once they got closer to said house they heard walkers banging and growling. On the overgrown terrain surrounding the house stood a burned out truck with two burned up corpses still inside. No one would ever bother to pull them out and bury them properly because no one cared enough.

They stayed hidden behind the truck bed and took a better look at the house. A sheet of metal on the roof swayed in the wind and made a loud clattering sound each time it moved, drawing in more walkers.

"Okay, we gotta take it away before it draws more," Maggie whispered. "I'll take the lead." She carefully lifted a pitchfork out of the truck bed and handed it to Cyndie. "You get the roof. Alden and I will get them."

Alden pulled his knife out and silently followed behind her. She whistled to draw the walkers in their direction, away from the house. A small group of them turned around and headed towards them, all growling and gurgling at them. Alden huffed. There were more of them than he was comfortable dealing with whilst remaining silent. So, noise it was.

"Hey! Over here!" he yelled to call the stragglers towards them. Maggie continued to whistle and they all stumbled toward them. Their bodies swayed from side to side with each step. Once the walkers got close enough they dispatched them in tandem with their knives.