𝕥𝕙𝕖 𝕡𝕒𝕚𝕟𝕥𝕖𝕣 𝕠𝕗 𝔸𝕝𝕖𝕩𝕒𝕟𝕕𝕣𝕚𝕒 // Daryl Dixon

𝐭𝐰𝐨

Sitting in the shed of the house where the city's inventory was managed, Sam was busy emptying, counting and replacing the contents of the shelves.

Today was the day of the big inventory that she and Olivia did every month or so to give then a detailed list of missing things to Aiden. The youngest son of the Monroe family had lost a large part of the team that was in charge of the supply mission about a month ago during a run in a city nearby. This would be the first time they had to reorganize one since then.

When she arrived in Alexandria, Sam was assigned a job like everyone else. Deanna made it a priority to get everyone to cooperate in order to ensure some semblance of society. Of course, she was unable to resume her job as an artist, which provided enough income to support herself before the dead started walking. She still did a lot of drawing and painting, because she always had a visceral need for it, or even at the request of the other residents, but it would never replace a real useful service to the community.

A few weeks after her arrival, and after giving her some welcome time to adjust with Caleb, who was not yet two months old and therefore required her full attention, Deanna offered Sam the position of part-time manager, shared with Olivia. Sam naturally accepted and was given the afternoon shift, allowing her to take full care of Caleb in the morning and keep him with her during the afternoon, which he spent mostly napping.

Today, however, the two women had been together all day to finish work and Caleb had stayed with Bob and Natalie Miller, a couple who had had five children and been grandparents twelve times and who particularly enjoyed the child's company.

In the middle of the afternoon, the familiar sound of the city's gates came through the window and Sam instantly looked up. No teams were out and she knew there were no missions planned for the rest of the day. Olivia noticed her face light up and relieved her of her duties with a smile.

"Go ahead, I just have to copy the list down. I'll take care of it, go see what's going on."

"Thanks Olivia !" Sam exclaimed already heading for the door.

The sun blinded her as she exited the house and headed for the city's entrance.

She quickly made out the limping figure of Eric who was leaning with difficulty on his right foot. Sam quickened her pace to meet him halfway and supported him in a tight hug.

"I'm so glad you're home. What happened to you? Where's Aaron?" she asked worriedly not giving her friend time to answer.

Eric let out a laugh as he let Sam guide him to a nearby bench. "I hurt my ankle, nothing serious don't worry. And Aaron is over there, he's fine too." He said pointing in the direction where his boyfriend stayed.

Sam raised a hand to shield her eyes from the sun and watched, to her relief, the first gate close behind Aaron. But her friend was not alone, far from it.

"You found people!" she exclaimed excitedly.

"Yes fifteen" replied Eric with a satisfied look. "It is the first time that we cross the road of a group so consequent, they seem to be good people they helped us well outside."

To say that Sam was surprised would have been a mild understatement, fourteen new survivors was more than unexpected.

"Come on, I'll walk you home," she said as she grabbed Eric's arm again and placed it around her shoulder.

"Aaron!" exclaimed Sam as she arrived in front of Deanna's house where the entrance interviews were traditionally held.

She swung the bag that hung from her shoulder behind her back and hugged her friend laughing with relief. Aaron then turned back to the rest of the people waiting on the front porch.

"I'd like you to meet Sam!" he introduced her as he slung his arm over her shoulder and then recited the names of everyone present :  Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Tara, Sasha, Gabriel, Abraham, Eugene, Carol, Daryl, Michonne, Noah, Carl and finally Judith, the baby who was clutching the young boy's neck. Sam learned that Rick, the leader had already entered to answer Deanna's questions.

"Nice to meet you all" replied Sam with a big smile on her face.

She reached into her bag and pulled out two large glass bottles of water and a stack of cups and placed them on the wood of the porch accompanied by a box of cookies.

"It will take several minutes per person, so you can have that while you wait," her smile dropped a bit as she received a few wary looks that finally landed on the bottles.

"Oh" she said when she realized their discomfort. She then grabbed one of the paper cups and poured some water from the two bottles into it, and brought it to her mouth to drink it. Sam knew it wasn't the most polite action but knew that they just needed to see if they really could trust her.

"And for the cookies, the package has never been open. All safe!" she added in a reassuring tone.

"Thank you so much" Maggie smiled relieved as she passed the cookies to the rest of the group.

As a silence gradually settled in, she took the opportunity to have a better look at the newcomers. Sam's eyes widened a little as she saw the beast hanging from an arrow in the hand of one of the men, Daryl if she remembered correctly, who was walking impatiently back and forth across the porch. Her surprise was short lived as the door of the Monroe family's home opened to let Deanna out accompanied by a bearded man, Rick Grimes.

Later in the day Sam finished to give Maggie and Glenn a tour of the second house while Rick and Aaron were in the other one.

"There should be clothes for everyone in the closets, take whatever you need and don't bother to ask if you need anything." Sam smiled as she handed Glenn the key. "Deanna asked the others to give you some time, however, expect a little welcome party in the next days" she added with a chuckle.

"That's..." began Maggie, leaving her sentence hanging.

"A lot to take in," Sam finished for her. "But you'll adjust quickly, just take it day by day and allow yourself to breathe a little. I guess you must have had a long time on the road. You deserve it." Sam placed a hand on the young woman's shoulder and walked away after a final wave in the couple's direction. Glenn and Maggie stood for a moment watching her walk away still assimilating this radical change in their lives.

On the way to Bob and Natalie Miller's house, Sam passed Daryl who just finished his interview with Deanna. He still had his possum hanging from his arrow and seemed to be looking around for the rest of his group.

"Hey ! The houses are over there." She told him, pointing to the two large houses she had just left. "And enjoy your meal" Sam finished pointing to the animal with a small smile.

"Thanks" he mumbled before taking the direction indicated.

A little Caleb asleep on her shoulder, Sam took the way of the house impatient to find Aaron and Eric to hear more about their journey.

"Fifteen people," she whispered to the sleeping child. "Can you believe that sweetheart?" Sam placed a soft kiss on the baby's head far from imagining how much this new arrival would change.

Hey there,
so I don't know what to think about this chapter, it's pretty boring. But at least the group is here so the serious stuff is about to start haha.
Tell me what you thought !
Have a wonderful day, evening, or whatever time it is when you read this ! And thanks for giving this chapter a bit of your time :)

xx