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

64- Excuse me

Six months later. Had it been six months already? Somehow rebuilding Hilltop felt like an eternity flying by. They'd barely even made a dent in all the work that needed to get done. The task of the day was to bring in another supply wagon. On the way back they were swarmed by a group of walkers, which seemed to be a daily occurrence. They had to fight them, like they had to every day. Sweat formed across Alden's brow in the hot summer sun as he used his spear to keep the snapping jaws away from him.

Maggie cut the horse free, knowing it would run straight home. They couldn't afford to lose even one of the four horses they had because they needed them to rebuild Hilltop. Now that the horse was safe Alden slowly moved over to back up Jesus and they continued to fight. A familiar black arrow with white and gray striped wings buried itself into the head of the last walker standing in front of them, ending the fight. Flabbergasted Alden and Jesus snapped their heads to the side.

"Daryl!?" They both exclaimed in shock and surprise when they saw him standing in the middle of the dirt road. Behind him there was a whole convoy sent by the Commonwealth, their distinctive armor gave them away.

Maggie walked over and hugged him tight, neither of them cared that she was covered in rotted and stinking blood. A couple of Commonwealth soldiers advanced with their rifles raised. Alden immediately strengthened his grip on his spear, and the others tensed up as well. One step further and he'd throw it.

"At ease." A unit of a man ordered as he walked up to them. He walked beside Aaron on one side and an older woman on the other. His armor was different from the other troopers. It was orange with black accents, instead of the usual white with red. Judging from the way he carried himself he was in charge.

Upon seeing Aaron Jesus couldn't just stand there anymore. Seeing him again after such a long time made him realize just how much he'd missed him. He'd missed him and Gracie. He sheathed his knife as he ran to Aaron and launched himself at him, basically climbing in the much taller man. And Jesus gave him no choice but to kiss him.

"Yeah, okay, missed you too." Aaron chuckled as set Jesus back down. He nodded towards the mess of corpses on the ground. "You guys worked yourselves into quite the mess."

"This is a daily thing." Alden replied with a huff. He took a look back to check whether the others were alright. "We always make it out."

"And you better keep on doing that." A very familiar voice said. "Because I'm moving back in."

All they could see was another trooper walking up to them, but the voice was from someone they hadn't seen in what felt like ages.

"Tara." His jaw dropped when he watched her take her helmet off. He rushed ahead to hug her, spear discarded on the ground. "God, it's so good to see you."

"Yeah, I know. Hilltop just can't go on without me." She joked. "No, in all seriousness, Hilltop needs each and every one of us right now."

More hugs and greetings were exchanged whilst everyone from the Commonwealth looked on, gawking. They struggled to believe people could act so natural whilst they were covered in blood, mud and grime.

"How's Gracie?" Jesus eventually asked Aaron. Gracie had quickly become like a daughter to him.

"She skipped a grade, like Judith did. And she misses her favorite person a lot." He replied with a broad smile.

"I bet she does." He laughed.

The older woman stepped forward with a serene smile on her face. Her hair was cut incredibly short and she only had eyes for one person. "You must be Maggie."

"Yes." Maggie tilted her head a little bit. "What'd you mean by that?"

Alden took a couple steps closer to her. They were all on edge due to the constant stress they were under. Picking a fight with these people wasn't smart. They didn't know how volatile they were yet and they were trying to be friendly now. That didn't mean he trusted them.