Don't look back

Forty nine

"Hey, Mary Moo," Glenn said quietly, "I know it's early, but I see your daddy coming."
Mary shot out of bed, and ran outside, Glenn on her heels. "Daddy!" She shouted, running into his arms the second he got out of his car.
"Hey, baby girl!" Rick laughed, hugging her tightly.
"What's the bus?" Mary asked in confusion.
"This is the people from Woodbury. And guess what? There's some kids."
"Who?"
"A boy a little older than Carl, a little girl a few years older than you, a little boy a bit older than you too, and a toddler."
"A little girl?" Mary asked excitedly.
"Yeah. Are you gonna go meet her?" Rick smiled back.
"But daddy, I'm shy at new people."
"Shall I go over?" Rick sighed with a smile, but before Mary could reply, Carl grabbed Rick's arm.
"What is this?" He hissed angrily.
"They're gonna join us." Rick replied, his voice firm. Carl scoffed, then walked away.
"He's changed." Mary mumbled, and Rick kissed the top of her head.
"Let's go get you to meet this little girl." Rick said, changing the subject, and walking over to a little dark haired girl and her mother.
"Hey, this is my little girl, Mary, and she's desperate to meet your daughter." Rick smiled to the woman.
"Hi Mary." The woman smiled softly. "Molly, say hi."
"Hi! I'm Molly." The child smiled happily.
"I had a friend called Molly," Mary whispered, "remember?" Rick smiled at her gently, and kissed her forehead.
"Introduce yourself, go on. Sorry, she's very shy."
"I'm Mary," the little girl breathed, "and I'm four."
"I'm seven." Molly smiled. "We can be best friends."
Mary smiled shyly, then passed Molly one of her wooden Noah's Ark animals, the horse. "Thank you!" Molly grinned, then put her hand in her hair and took out a pretty hair grip, then attached it to the end of one of Mary's cornrow braids.
"Thank you." Mary smiled happily.
"Mary, what are you wearing?" Rick laughed suddenly, looking at Mary wearing one of Carl's shirts, "Okay, you're in pyjamas. Let's go get you dressed."
"Okay. Bye." Mary smiled softly to her new friend.
"Bye! We'll play later." Molly nodded seriously as they walked away.
"See? She seems nice." Rick smiled softly. He took her to her cell, and smiled softly. "What clothes are you gonna wear?"
"Dungarees." Mary grinned, and Rick passed her the dungarees and a shirt. She got changed, then grabbed Rick's hand. "Are they all nice people?"
"Yes. All the nasty men are gone. Okay? It's families." Rick assured gently.
"Okay. Daddy, are we safe now?"
"Yes. We're going to be safe and happy and this is... Hopefully this will be our forever home."
"Good." Mary grinned, then her smile fell. "Daddy, when is Carl gonna be nice again?"
Rick didn't know how to answer her question, so he simply sighed, then said teasingly, "You've been spending far too much time with Daryl. Going to, not gonna."
"Uncle Daryl." Mary mumbled, and Rick laughed softly, then ruffled Mary's hair. "Careful," Mary giggled, "you'll ruin my pretty braids."
"They are very pretty." Rick smiled, kissing the top of her head.
"Daddy, will Maggie and Glenn and Daryl and... And you... Will you still love me most? Will you still love me the most even though there's new children?"
"Of course we will," Rick soothed, going down on one knee to talk to Mary on her own eye level, "why ever would you think not?"
"Because... They're not as skinny and little as me, and none of them looked like they were crying. And they're older so they're cleverer. And I bet they don't wet the bed." Mary whispered, beginning to cry.
"Hey, hey. Calm down. No one could ever replace you. We all love you dad to much for that. And I think your the only kid Daryl even tolerates, let alone likes, so he definitely won't replace you. And I love you far to much, as do Maggie and Glenn. Okay? And it's okay that you wet the bed. I don't mind."
Mary nodded slowly, then hugged Rick tightly.
"These people are scared. They're not strong like us." Mary whispered as they hugged.
"No," Rick shrugged, "most of them aren't."
"Shall we teach them how to shoot the guns and stab?"
"You're not. Okay? This can be like normal, like it was before. We just have to work on it."
"Okay," Mary smiled softly, "let's go do something."
"Well, we've brought a lot of food over. Why don't we sort that?" Rick suggested. Mary nodded and helped Rick unpack all the food, as the newcomers settled into their cells in the other cell block.
"Hello Mary." A little boy giggled in a teasing voice.
Mary span around and looked at the child stood there. It was a small boy grinning up at her, a smile incredibly wide, with large white teeth, and two dimples, one on each cheek.
"My name is Tommy. My daddy told me your name. Your daddy saved us."
"He's a nice man like that." Mary nodded shyly.
"Do you wanna play? I have three race cars and some dinosaurs." Tommy smiled seriously.
Mary looked at Rick nervously and he nodded. "Yep, go play. Eat this though. You've had no breakfast." Rick said, passing her a protein bar. Mary smiled and ate it, running to her cell and getting Mr Snuggles, her Noah's Ark, and her plastic train, then going back to Rick and Tommy.
"Can we play outside?" Tommy asked Rick.
"Sure." The man shrugged. The two went outside, Mary nervously turning her head back every so often.
"Where can we play?" Tommy asked.
"Here." Mary nodded, pointing to just below the guard tower.
"You okay, Mary Moo?" Glenn shouted from inside the tower. Mary nodded, only happy to be there as she knew Glenn was looking over her.
"It's so cool you have a train. And a boat. And a monkey!" Tommy grinned.
"It's called Noah Ark. And my monkey is Mr Snuggles." Mary whispered shyly.
"I'm five. How old are you?"
"Four. Almost five. After summer."
"Cool! There was only big girls and boys at Woodbury." Tommy sighed.
"It's just me and My Carl and Judith."
"Is Carl your brother?" The little boy asked.
"Yeah. And Judith. Sophia was my friend but she died."
"My sister died." Tommy nodded sadly.
"My mommy died." Mary whispered shakily.
"Don't be so silly, mommies and daddies don't die!" Tommy laughed.
Mary looked at him then stood up quickly, her eyes teary, and she grabbed her toys possessively. "My mommy died. She had a baby. She didn't want to be a Walker, so Carl shot her. Mommies die. And daddies. Everyone dies!"
And with that, Mary ran away, leaving the little boy confused, and Glenn looking down in worry.