Daughter of the Fallen

First Time Again

Months came and went, and a lot happened.

After the meeting, my dad had taken on the responsibility of burying Reg while my mom, Maggie, and I went to see Tara, who had just woken up.

When we walked in, we saw that Glenn and Nicholas were also there. They both looked horrible.

I checked on Glenn with Maggie quickly before going over to visit with Tara.

She soon asked about Noah and we all exchanged somber glances, none of us wanting to be the one to tell her.

I soon found out that the new guy that had come to the meeting was Morgan. He was someone that Rick knew at the very beginning of all of this. Hearing about this connection that he had to Rick sparked a kinship with me. If Rick trusted him, he had to be good.

As for me and Carl, we started to get closer again. The only problem was that him and Enid were, as well. I trusted her more than I used to but she still rubbed me the wrong way.

I had also been starting to go on more runs. Rick was asking me to go more lately which I willingly agreed. I liked going on runs. It helped clear my head.

Speaking of runs, I was currently on one. Rick and Morgan were outside the walls when they discovered a bowl like area that was completely filled with walkers. Rick immediately knew that we needed to lead them away from Alexandria and he asked me and my parents, along with a whole group, to come.

Currently, he was giving us orders.

"I know this sounds insane," he said. "But this is an insane world. We have to come for them before they come for us. It's that simple."

He looked out at the wide bowl like area that we were standing next to. "This is where it all starts tomorrow," he announced. It was hard to hear him over the sounds of the walkers. "Tobin gets in the truck, opens the exit, and we're off. He hops out, catches up with his team at red staying on the west side of the road. Daryl gets on his bike-"

He was interrupted by a loud rumbling on the opposite side of the bowl.

"You see that?" my mom called from next to me.

Rick turned in time to see that the large cargo truck that was blocking the exit of the bowl fell into the bottom of it.

"It's open!" Rick called, his voice urgent. "We gotta do this now!"

My parents and I immediately rushed to our car.

"Sasha!" Rick called. "Abraham! Bree!"

"We'll do it live!" my dad called back.

"You meet Daryl at red. Let him take them through the gauntlet."

"Yeah," I confirmed. "We meet at red."

He nodded. "Go!"

The three of us got in the car and sped off.

•••

A little while later, my mom drove the car along our assigned path, my dad picking off walkers with his rifle as we passed them, while I was in charge of keeping the radio, talking to Rick or anyone else if needed.

I leaned forward as a message from Rick came through.

"You all have your assignments," he said, clearly talking to everyone. You know where to rendezvous. Daryl leads them out. Bree, Sasha, and Abraham join him at the bottom of the hill. Glenn, you hit us when you take care of the walkers at the tractor place. That's the one thing we gotta keep ahead of. Everybody keep your heads. Just keep up."

As the message finished, I rested my head in my heads, exhaling deeply.

"How you doing, Bree?" my mom asked, looking at me in the rear view mirror.

I shrugged. "As well as I can be."

That seemed to be a good enough answer for her.

•••

After a half an hour, it was obvious my mom was getting antsy.

"You good?" my dad asked her.

She nodded. "Yeah," she answered in her "I'm tough" voice.

At both of our suspicious glances, she continued. "I'm trying."

"Listen," my dad said. "If you're still to go buck wild with the breath impaired..."

I had no idea what that meant, but hey, welcome to the life of Bree Ford.

"You already asked the question," my mom responded. "And I already answered it. If you were so worried, why did you get into the car with me?"

"Because you're my wife," he answered, probably thinking that that answer should've been obvious.

She sighed. "Look, doing something as big as this, that's living."

My mom usually wasn't this snappy, but she got that way under stress.

"There it is," she pointed.

We stopped the car at the red balloons on the side of the road.

"Bree, let Daryl know we're here," my mom told me.

I nodded and picked up the radio.

"We're at red at the bottom of the hill," I reported.

"Alright," Daryl answered. "Here comes a parade."

He soon rode up beside him. Hundreds of walkers were following behind him.

Slowly, my mom started driving next to him.

•••

Soon enough, we met up with Rick, Michonne, and Morgan at orange.

We continued driving as the three of them started firing their flare guns from behind a wall to divert some of the walkers.

It kind of worked, but the majority of the walkers kept following the four of us, as expected.

Only there was one problem. Some were starting to walk away from the group off into the woods.

My mom noticed me and my dad looking out the window.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Got some looky-loos taking a little constitutional off the shoulder," my dad explained.

"They're starting a walk out," I simplified.

"You wanna have Daryl circle back?" she asked.

"No," my dad denied. "Keep going. I'll catch up."

And with that, he got out of the car and ran after the walkers.

"Abraham!" Sasha called. She sighed. "Idiot."

I looked at her. "Mom," I breathed, not knowing what to do.

She shook her head. "Stay in the car, Bree."

A second later, he returned. He got back in the car and looked at his blood covered face in the rear view mirror.

"Well, look at me," he laughed.

My mom and I gave him shocked looks.

"You guys saw Reg," he explained. "The night he got it. That was a mess. And Pete. His face just blowing up like Pompeii right when we were cheek to cheek. I still think I got some of his brains in my ear."

He laughed as my mom and I wrinkled our noses in disgust.

"Everything is aces again," he confirmed.

We were silent for a moment before I spoke up.

"What are you doing, dad?"

He looked at me. "I'm just grabbing the bull by the nutsack, darlin'. I'm living. Just like your mother."

With that, he started laughing again.

It was only interrupted when the loud horn in the direction of Alexandria started blaring, causing the majority of the walkers to starting moving towards home.