Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter 111.

Same time, same place.

Iris looks around the old farm house, after checking it's clear she moves outside, sitting on the bench and she waits. She pulls out a cigarette lighting it with a match, Iris keeps her eye on the road as she inhales the smoke, tapping her foot nervously. "You know smoking kills right?" Iris turns her head and watches her sister walk around the porch, "everything kills nowadays" Iris says as Juniper sits on the porch bench with her.

"You made it" Juniper says, smiling over at her sister, "of course i did" Iris says, bringing the stick to her lips and taking a drag of the smoke, "does it hurt?" Juniper asks, looking at the bruise on Iris's face, "nah, 'm fine" Iris says, looking down at her feet, "how long till you have to be back?" Iris asks "thirty minutes" Juniper says.

"How'd you know about this place?" Iris asks, looking around at the fields surrounding them, "Negan brought me here once" Juniper says, "how well do you know him?" Iris asks "i told you–" "no... do you know what he does?" Iris questions, "i know he does what he has to do" Juniper answers, looking down at her hands in her lap, "what do you think he does?" Iris asks "he kills to survive" Juniper says.

The blonde looks over at her sister, waiting for her to say something, "he killed my friends" Iris says, her voice coming out quiet, "i know" Juniper says, Iris looks at her sister, confusion covering her face, "he told me he had to" the blonde adds "no... he didnt have to kill them... not the way he did" Iris says, looking back out in front of her.

"I care about you Iris. No matter what. No matter how I feel about Negan, you are more important. You're my family" Juniper says, "even if i kill him?" Iris questions, watching her sisters face as she hears Iris's words, "i want be with you Iris" Juniper says, Iris sees the hurt in her sisters eyes, telling her the girl loves the man, "maybe i can talk to him" Juniper suggests, "maybe i can get him to stop" she adds, a hopeful looking on her face.

Iris doesnt speak, Juniper holds onto her sisters hands, "maybe if i live with you he will listen and he will stop" she says "don't do anything yet... let me talk to Rick and my people and i'll figure this out" Iris says "can we meet again?" Juniper asks, "yeah" Iris says standing and putting on her bag, "same time and place" Juniper asks, following her sister down the porch steps.

"I'll see you in a day" Iris says, pulling Juniper into a hug, "be safe" Iris says before pulling away from her, "i love you" Juniper says, smiling at her sister, "i love you too" Iris says, walking away from the farm house. Iris walks back to Alexandria, staying hidden in the trees on her journey.

.......

"Is Rick back yet?" Iris questions Tobin as he opens the gate, "not yet" the man says, "did you find anything?" he asks, Iris stops and looks at the man, "uh... nothing" she says walking away again. "Hey deputy" Iris says, reaching and picking up the girl from her crib, "you hungry?" she asks, bouncing the girl gently as she walks out of the room, Iris opens the kitchen cupboards, pulling out a jar of applesauce before grabbing a baby spoon and moving to the table.

She carefully sits Judith in the highchair, Iris starts feeding Judith, sitting in silence and thinking about what to do. "Hey" Carl says, walking down the stairs, "hey kid" Iris says, wiping the food from Judith's mouth, "where'd you go?" he asks, sitting on at the table across from her, "i needed to go out for a minute, and think" Iris says.

"Did you find her?" Carl asks "who?" Iris questions looking at the boy, "I overheard you talking with dad. I know your sister is with Negan. That's where you went isn't it" Carl says, Iris looks back at Judith, feeding her another spoonful, "yes, but you cant tell anyone yet Carl... i need to speak with your dad first" Iris explains "i wont tell anyone" Carl promises.

"Do you know what I'm thinking about?" Iris asks "a plan?" Carl guesses "nah. I'm thinking about that tiger" Iris says, looking at Carl with a smile on her face as Carl laughs, "i think i need to get one for myself" she jokes "that would be pretty cool" Carl chuckles.

........

Iris looks around the farm house waiting for Juniper to arrive, "hey" the blonde says, walking up the porch steps and sitting on the bench, "i brought you a sandwich" the blonde says pulling it out of her bag, "why?" Iris asks, taking the food from Juniper, "you look like you haven't eaten in a while" Juniper says, Iris unwrapes the paper around the sandwich and starts eating, "have you spoken to your people yet? About our plan" Juniper asks, watching Iris eat.

"I havent had a chance, things have been hard" Iris admits, wiping the food from her mouth, "I can't stay long. But i want to tell you im ready for our plan. I really want to live with you" Juniper says Iris wipes her hands clean after finishing her food, "i'll talk to Rick today, I promise" Iris says, "I brought you something" Juniper says, reaching into her bag and pulling out a journal, "what is it?" Iris questions, looking down at it, "you know how i told you mom would always tell me about you? Well, i always wrote down the stories she told me. I would also write letters to you in this journal" Juniper explains.

Iris takes the book and looks up at her sister, "thank you" Iris says "same time and place?" Juniper asks, standing up and grabbing her bag, "i'll see you in a day" Iris says, standing and hugging her sister before watching her walk away again.

.........

"Hey you two" Iris says walking into Tara's house and finding her sitting on the floor with Judith, "hey" Tara says, "hey little deputy" Iris says, reaching down and picking the girl up, "you good?" Iris questions Tara, noticing from her face that something is wrong, "uh yeah, im good" she lies, Iris eyes her for a minute before deciding to leave it.

"Did you find anything out there?" Tara asks, "i might have" Iris says, looking at Judith in her arms, "i gotta talk to rick first" she adds looking up at Tara, "what is it?" Tara questions "i think i have something that can help us".