~~ BEGINNING OF PART TWO ~~
I stood with Rick upon the fields, looking out over the impressive expanse of crops with a soft smile. He looked proudly down at the row of corn stalks, rising almost two feet from the dirt, and let out a relaxed sigh.
It had been a strenuous few weeks. The first couple of days after Woodbury had been reduced to a pile of ashes had been such a haze of stress and panic that I barely even remembered it. We had all made a mad scramble to clear out enough room for the sudden influx of people, ridding D-Block of biters, going on run after run to ensure we had enough food and supplies to support a community this size. Daryl and I had spent more time outside of the fences than within them. If we weren’t on a run, then we were out on a hunt; if we weren’t on a hunt, then we were on watch; if we weren’t on watch, we were out in the forests, looking for any possible sign of the Governor’s whereabouts. The two of us barely had an hour alone these days.
Not that I entirely minded. His company was oddly comforting, almost homely in a way I was not at all willing to either admit or attempt to understand.
Now that everything had calmed down somewhat, we had been less stressed out. Our days had become more structured, less chaotic. We had an actual schedule for watches, which made choosing which day to go out on a hunt much, much easier, and gave us a little more free time – most of which Daryl and I usually… spent with each other, anyway.
Today, however, I had chosen to come out an enjoy the mid-springtime sun with Farmer Rick. Once things had finally settled down around here, he had officially decided to “retire” from all leadership duties – which had started an entirely new form of chaos. Of course, no one had particularly wanted a repeat of what had happened with Philip, so the scramble to figure out what to do about leadership roles had been an irritatingly long, drawn out affair. Finally, the community as a whole had decided upon a council. It was the best way to avoid giving one person too much power. Eight members, from all different walks of life, were elected to be the voice of the people. The first six of which had been an easy choice for almost everyone.
Hershel, Karen, Claire, Daryl, Michonne, and Tyreese.
Each of them represented something different, had different views and opinions, yet none of them were what one would call… “problematic”. So far as everyone knew, of course.
The final two, however… They were somewhat of a challenge.
Hayden was a simple man, a plumber and handyman that had pretty much been vital to the development of Woodbury since the beginning. He was elected in order to assist the council in decisions regarding upgrades and repairs to the prison, to which he had proved almost instantly helpful – organising a repair of the pipes and giving us actual running water.
His complications came from his previous relationship with another member of the council. He and Claire had been married once, before the world had turned into a post-apocalyptic nightmare. They had been in the midst of a rather ugly divorce when the proverbial shit had really hit the fan. It had become almost an unspoken rule back in Woodbury to never find yourself caught in the same room as the two of them. They were practically nuclear, always biting at one another, never able to make it through an actual conversation without it turning into a heated argument. Which, obviously, made council meetings quite… interesting, to say the least.
Of course, the squabbling ex-couple did agree on one thing. And one thing only.
That I was a cold-hearted, murderous bitch that deserved to die.
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The Monsters Among Us ➳ Daryl Dixon
Fanfiction𝘋𝘢𝘳𝘺𝘭 𝘋𝘪𝘹𝘰𝘯/𝘖𝘳𝘪𝘨𝘪𝘯𝘢𝘭 𝘍𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘦 𝘊𝘩𝘢𝘳𝘢𝘤𝘵𝘦𝘳 Not human. She was not human. They all knew it. Could almost feel it, but couldn't make sense of it. That was why they were afraid. Not because of what she used to be Before. But...
