Not Your Daughter

11

When dad and I get back to the sanctuary, I climb out of the truck and go to the door. I open the door and start to head over to the elevator, but my dad stops me. 

"We have one more stop first," he tells me then heads in the opposite direction. 

I follow him into a room with lots of shelves that are filled with stuff. 

"What is this?" I ask him. 

He holds his arms out as if he is presenting something, "this is the storage room."

There is so much stuff in here

"Pick out whatever you want," he tells me. 

I look over at him, "Really?" I ask.

He nods, so I make my way around the room, looking at all the stuff and taking some stuff off the shelves. 

By the time I was done, my arms were filled with stuff, it was like I had just finished shopping but none of the stores had bags. 

I got a stack of books, a journal, and a few pencils and pens, another sketch pad because the one I have is almost out of paper, a red blanket, and a few shirts and some pairs of pants. 

I also found a few band posters, Nirvana, Queen, and The Clash. 

Carl and I had found a few CDs a few years ago, but they didn't go very far because they got crushed in the bottom of his backpack. 

I walk over to my dad and he takes some of the stuff out of my hands. I rest my arms a little, then we walk out of the room. 

When we get to the elevator, I expect my dad to press 2, but instead he presses 11. 

"Dad, my room is on the second floor," I tell him. 

He shakes his head, "Not anymore."

I open my mouth to say something but close my mouth a second later. I'm not even gonna ask because he probably won't give me a verbal answer. 

The doors open and we step out of the elevator, I follow my dad down a long hallway, and he stops outside an open door. 

I peek into the room and see a big bed in the middle of the room. I glance at my dad and he has a big grin on his face, "Is this my room?" 

He nods, and then I step all the way into it. It is a very big upgrade from the second-floor room. The bed is much bigger, there's a dresser, a nightstand, and a desk. 

There are also two windows with a much better view than the last room. I look over and see a door. I opened it to find a bathroom. 

My own bathroom?

"My room is just down the hall." my dad tells me. 

"Who else lives up here?" I ask him. 

He shakes his head before saying, "No one, this is our floor. There's a living room and kitchen down that way along with another bathroom." he tells me, pointing down the hall. 

"Thank you, dad." 

He nods a thank you before walking out of the room, leaving me to unpack. 

---

I must say, my room looks pretty good. I hung up the posters and put all the other stuff I got away. I don't think I've ever been prouder of myself. 

I hear a knock on my door and look over to see my dad stepping into my room. 

He looks around my room at all my stuff put away, he has a really happy and warm look on his face. 

"This looks great," he says. 

"Right?" 

He nods as he continues looking around the room. "I have a few things for you..." he says, stepping out of the room and then coming back with some stuff in his hands. 

I look down at the things and quickly recognize what they are. 

"So, I went back to our old house a couple of years ago, and I found these and thought I would keep them."

He holds out the two things, there's a picture of me, my parents, and Ethan from before he got super sick, and a red stuffed dog. 

It took me a second before I realized that it was my old stuffed dog from when I was little. 

11 years ago... 

"Okay Mad-dog, you can pick one thing from this place," Negan says to Maddie as he sets her down on the ground. 

She runs off in her soccer jersey with a big grin on her face. 

Negan promised her that if she could score a goal at her soccer game, then he would let her pick whatever she wanted from the toy store. And since she scored a goal, she gets to pick a toy. 

Negan followed Maddie through every aisle of the store, he watched her as she looked at Barbie dolls, board games, legos, and all kinds of stuff, but none of them seemed to strike her fancy. 

She kept walking until she found a big glass bin that was filled with stuffed animals. 

She climbs onto the side of the bin and digs through it for a few minutes before pulling out a little shaggy red stuffed dog. She holds it up at Negan with a smile on her face. 

"Is that the one you want?" he asks her. 

She nods with a big grin, then the two of them leave the store. 

...

"Thank you dad," I tell him as I give him a hug. 

"Of course, kid." 

When we pull out of the hug, I see one more thing in his hands. 

"What is that?" I ask him. 

He holds it up to reveal a leather jacket, similar to the one he has. 

"Welcome to the saviors, Mad-dog." 

//