A Fresh Start

Chapter 1

1 month later...

A lot had happened after we took in the people of Woodbury. In just a month, we all had become a community. And the community we had decided to be, was the community who brought people in. No one could make it on their own in this world. Not anymore. You needed people to survive this world. I was lucky enough to find a family in a group almost a year ago. I wanted to keep that going with our new people. We had created a council. Any big decision that needed to be made, we'd gather and talk about what the right way to go about it was. We came up with three questions that would be asked to anyone we considered bringing in: How many walkers have you killed? How many people have you killed? And why? However the person or group of people we were interested in bringing in answered, determined whether we'd bring them to our camp or not. Everyone got along with one another. I couldn't ask for anything better. Rick was his old self again. Someone we could look up to. He had taken a break. We all felt he deserved it. A chance for him to step back from the weight he carried with making decisions for us. That's the whole reason we created the council in the first place. We had found a prosthetic leg for Hershel on one of the runs some of the group had taken. He wasn't using his crutches anymore. I cried the first time I saw him walk without them. Maggie and Beth as well. Another win for us. He and I had gotten even closer. I loved him very much. Carl had matured quickly. Not as rebellious as he was a month ago. All he really needed was for Rick to show him the way. Rick had wanted Carl to step away from guns. Taught him how there wasn't a need for them all the time. Often took him out to tend to the field that Hershel had turned into a garden. Hershel had taught Rick how to grow and tend to it and now Rick was doing the same to Carl. They had gotten closer. We all had and seeing that, warmed my heart. Glenn had finally let go of the anger he held towards the Governor. He had come back to us. He was lucky to have someone like Maggie to guide him, just as Rick had done with Carl. Beth and Carol had become fiercer. Beth may not have realized it but I knew Carol saw it just like I did. And then there was Daryl...what could be said about this magnificent human being that I had the honor of being with? He was amazing. There was no other word for him. After two weeks of being together, we couldn't keep our hands off the other. Sometimes putting Maggie and Glenn to shame with how often we'd  sneak out to certain guard towers in the middle of the night. And it was unlike anything I had ever experienced before. Pure bliss. Bliss that I could never fully put into words. Within the first time we'd been intimate together, I'd noticed the multiple scars he had all over his back. I of course was curious. Not only about the scars but about who would have the audacity to hurt him the way they did. He was hesitate to tell me at first. And in all honesty, I didn't want to push him on the subject. After the first time I asked, I dropped the subject. I wanted him to tell me when he was ready. It took him only a few days to tell me the truth. I learned that he had an abusive childhood. His father sounded like a sadistic asshole and was the reason for those scars. Not only the ones that were visible on his back, but the internal scars that were obviously a result of this. Now I knew why he'd put up those walls of his the first time we met. Daryl and his father being complete opposites. He withdrew from me for a while after he told me. I guess he figured I'd retreat from him after knowing the truth. I made sure that knowing the truth about those scars, didn't change my mind about how I felt about him.

"You are a much better man than your dad ever was. You are not him, Daryl. You're so much better," I had told him once he was finally able to accept the fact that I wasn't going anywhere.

I made sure to remind him of this every once in a while. I made sure he knew exactly how much I loved him. I would never want to make him feel alone like he did when he was kid. Now, a month later, we were comfortable enough with one another to not have the urge to have sex every other day. Rick was the one most relieved about this. Everyone had settled into this community and to the positions they'd been given. I was thankful to have everyone I loved, safe. Daryl and Michonne sometimes went on runs that were actually used to search for the Governor. Daryl knew I didn't like it when he went off like that. But at the same time I understood his need to find the son of a bitch. He had killed his brother after all. I'd have done the same thing. But those runs haven't been a common occurrence as of recently. He told me that the trail went cold and that there was no reason for him to keep going out. Michonne however, didn't share the same idea. She needed to find him. Needed to put an end to him. I didn't like her going out there on her own though. I was always fearful that she'd never come back one of these days. She had become a part of our family. And we cared about family. Judith was growing. She was able to sit up on her own now. I had managed to convince Beth to let me take care of her from time to time. She'd always find a way to beat me to it now and then though. We were living. Actually living. It wasn't perfect but it was home. I was actually happy. Happy to have my family alive and well. Happy that all of us were able to start over. We all had gotten a fresh start. Something that all of us deserved more than anything.