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

40- Quiet

Late the next morning they finally made it to Hilltop and Lydia had been sticking close to Daryl the whole time. Alden figured she liked that he was quiet. Once they got close to gates they opened up and people flocked outside to greet their loved ones. Almost immediately Hope and Hershel ran for Maggie and Alden and they had a pretty awkward group hug in the snow.

"You look like crap," Hershel insisted after he freed himself from the hug, which Hope didn't want to leave yet.

"We had to go through a snowstorm," Alden replied.

"I want to go through a snowstorm too," he muttered back with his arms crossed. "Rose and Earl wouldn't let me go outside last night."

Hope let go of the hug and ran to Tara instead. She picked her up with ease and began to tell her a story to make her laugh.

"Next time one hits I'll take you out and make you want to get back inside in a minute. They're really not as fun as they seem," Maggie laughed.

"No, I won't," he objected.

"Then you're much tougher than me, kiddo." Alden laughed. "I got to get all these people inside. They're freezing."

"Are they all going to live here?" Hershel gasped. "We don't have enough room."

"Most of them, yes," Maggie said. "But it's alright, we'll make it work."

It didn't take long before they got everyone inside to warm up in front of the fire. Maggie and Tara got everyone settled, handing out living quarters inside the manor and the trailers outside. They came up short, but they already knew that in advance. But it still sucked to see it unfold for real. Everyone without a room would have to squeeze into the manor till the winter had passed and they could be moved into tents outside till they had built enough new structures to move everyone into. Building was always a slow process and many people would have to go without a real place to call their own for months.

Exhausted from the trip, Alden settled on the couch near the fire. He was glad to be out of the cold. Right when he felt like he might doze off there was a rough tap against his shoulder.

"Lydia's going to Alexandria," Daryl said. "It's better for her."

"Agreed," he nodded. He got up and pulled Daryl to the side so that they could talk in relative privacy. "That kid's broken. She's hurting. Keep her close and keep her safe."

He and Daryl had never talked much because Daryl wasn't much of a talker and always stuck close to those he considered family. Alden knew he wasn't family. Yet he also knew that Daryl would lay his life down willingly for every single person here, as long as he didn't really have to talk with them.

"Since when do you care?" Daryl grumbled.

"Since I realized how wrong I was," he replied. "Just look after her. It's what I would've done if she stayed here."

Daryl nodded, once again proving that he didn't talk much. But now Lydia had someone to look out for her. And Daryl was the closest to being able to understand the way she was feeling.