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

31- Weirdos

Alden woke up in the middle of the night. The world outside was still dark and quiet. He sat up and looked over at Maggie. She was still fast asleep. He often woke up in the middle of the night, he never seemed to be able to fall asleep again. He decided to get some fresh air. He grabbed his shoes and put them on quickly.

Before he headed out he decided to check up on Hershel and Hope in the other room next to theirs. He pushed the door open carefully and peaked inside. Hope was fast asleep in her bed with pink princess sheets and a white stuffed bunny rabbit clenched tightly in her hands. However, Hershel's bed was empty.

Alden let out a deep sigh. This wasn't the first time Hershel had snuck out at night. Alden wasn't afraid that the boy was in any danger. He was smart enough to stay inside the walls, but he still wasn't supposed to be out at night. He closed the door just as carefully as he'd opened it.

The next thing Alden needed to do was find him. He made his way down the stairs. Even after years he hadn't gotten completely used to the grandeur of the manor. It felt weird to live there. It wasn't weirder than living in a prison or an old factory, but it was a lot more beautiful and luxurious. He went outside and let the cool night air breeze past his face. He gave a wave to Marco, who was on guard duty for the first half of the night. That was Alden's luck, it wasn't odd to see him walk around at night whenever he couldn't sleep. Any other person wandering around would have been more cause for concern.

Now he had to look for Hershel and he already knew where he wanted to check first. It was where he thought Hershel would go most likely at an odd hour such as this; by the graves.

That was exactly where he found him, sitting in front of Glenn's grave with his legs pulled up to his chest. He looked up at Alden when he heard him approach.

"Hey, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in bed?" Alden asked. He kept his voice muted because he didn't want to wake anyone up.

"I couldn't sleep," he muttered back, resting his head on his knees.

"Yeah, me neither." He sat down next to him in the grass. "Still think you should be in bed though. You're not supposed to be out here at night. You know that, bud."

"You're not supposed to be out here either," he shot back. "No one's supposed to be outside at night."

"Touché," Alden chuckled. They stared at the grave in front of them for a while. Alden knew exactly why he'd snuck out here and he couldn't blame him. "I won't tell your mom you snuck out," he said softly. "I promise."

"I wish I could meet him," Hershel said after a couple seconds of silence. "I can't tell mom because it'll make her sad."

He pulled the little boy close, "she still misses him very much." He blinked away his own tears. He would carry that guilt till the day he died. "I miss him too."

"Mom told me you used to be friends." He looked up at him. "But you never talk about him like mom does, why?"

"Because it hurts," Alden sighed deeply.

"Why?" he simply asked again as he pulled back. He wanted to hear every story about his dad because it was the only way he could feel connected to him. He didn't even have a picture.

Alden couldn't tell him the whole truth. That truth hurt too much and would only make him a bad guy in Hershel's eyes. Maybe later, once he was older, he would tell him the whole truth, but for now he would keep parts of it obscured. He doubted that anyone else would ever tell Hershel about the role he played in Glenn's death. Alden and Maggie had never discussed how to bring up this subject to Hershel, or what to do when he started asking questions. Alden would rather wait and restart this conversation tomorrow with Maggie there. But Hershel wasn't waiting that long and this was his story to tell.