Tom's POV: Why me? Why does everyone think I should be the new leader? I lost my fucking marbles all in an attempt to find and kill Negan. The whole thing resulted in Joan's death. How can the people of Alexandria and the other groups trust me after that? I truly don't think I'm fit for this.
God, I miss Jeff and Joan so much. It's been four months since I've lost him, and two since I lost her. Ever since her murder at the hands of Negan I've isolated myself from everyone. Blackie's taken charge of my roles, leading both our group and Alexandria. God bless him, I can't believe I could barely stand him upon reuniting with him in the woods. Now the guy's all I got, and he's too good of a friend to me. I shouldn't say he's all I got, there's Sebastian and the others in my group, then Axl's group, who've been great with trying to help me process everything.
"Tom." A knock at my bedroom doorway snapped me back to reality. Blackie stood there for a moment before walking in. "You gotta eat man. You're only eating once a day if at all and are almost nothing but bone." He handed me a sandwich. I slowly sat up on the bed and grabbed it without any hesitation. "Boy that's the most I've seen you willing to eat."
"I'm trying to get back on my feet." I said, "Taking some time away from everything has been helping me cope and push the depression back."
"That's good to hear man." Blackie said, "I fucking hate seeing you like this, especially knowing I went through the same shit after Ella."
"I wanna get better, I really do." I said, "Its clear everyone's determined to have me as the leader, and I can't let them see this side of me."
"Well it's not good to let this side of you be hidden." He said, "If you don't let it out it gets worse. Besides, everyone agrees that this makes you seem more like them, and it assures them you'll be compassionate instead of ruling with an iron fist."
"How does insanity prove I'll be a good leader?" I asked.
"You know what I mean Tom." Blackie stood up and went to leave. "Oh, by the way, we have some new members of the family. You might wanna come down and meet them."
"Tell them I'll catch 'em another time." I said.
"Tom." Blackie said, "You'll wanna come say hi now. Trust me." He nodded before leaving. I guess I need to go meet the new people. I slowly got up and changed into something nicer instead of my dirty pajamas. My classic low cut shirt and leggings. After freshening up a little, I made my way downstairs, a little hesitant to set foot outside again. I was terrified about what everyone would say about their reclusive and depressed new leader.
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Axl's POV: "How the fuck did you survive?!" I asked, still in disbelief.
"Simple, the two of us literally ran into each other backstage, and we took off in the opposite direction." Slash said.
"I'm just - I can't believe-" I could barely get a full sentence out, "Do you know if the others made it out?" I'm still in disbelief that my band mate is standing right here.
"I don't." He answered, "I didn't see anyone before I ran."
"I talked with Tom and he might be down soon, but I don't know." Blackie said as he walked over, "He's really not doing good. The only positive note is that I got him to eat."
"Did you mention it's him?" Sebastian asked.
"I just said he'll want to come down and meet him, hoping the mystery would intrigue him." Blackie answered.
"Jesus Christ Blackie." Sebastian facepalmed, shaking his head.
"I'm sure he'll come down." I said, "If not I'll walk right up there and tell him who's here, then he'll have to come check it out.
"Look, we have to be patient with him." Blackie said, "He didn't fully make it through the stages of grief after Jeff's death, now he has to do again with Joan. He's going through the depression stage now, so we have to be understanding."
"You seem like an expert on this Lawless." I said.
"Yeah, well, I'm not gonna go into detail on that." He said.
Eventually, Tom came out of his house.
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Tom's POV: I took a deep breath before walking outside. The sunlight made me squint, so I just stared at the ground as I made my way up to Blackie and the others. Once I got closer I looked up, surprised to see Slash standing there with a long-haired blonde man.
"Welcome to Alexandria." I started my introduction. Once the other man turned around, I stopped dead in my tracks, forgetting everything I was about to say...
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The Rocking Dead III
FanfictionBook 3/6 Negan is finally dead, Rick was bitten, and Joan was murdered. Now, our group of rockstars must pick up the pieces and continue with their lives. Tom now must take leadership over Alexandria, a sanctuary he's been at for only a year. Axl an...
