Future Ghosts • TWD

157. Ain't Kids No More.

Things were tense. Really, super tense with Maggie being back and Negan being allowed to roam free in Alexandria. Maggie had come back with a few new people, who also hated Negan simply because of what Maggie had told them about him. Not only that, but Alexandria was struggling. With Hilltop burnt to the ground, more people were in Alexandria, which meant more demand for food. The problem with that was that there was almost no food. Not enough to last.

In fact, "One week," Gabriel announced to the room. One week of food for three communities in one.

"That's it? From that last run, just a week?" Daryl asked, his eyebrows furrowed.

"We can make it work," Aaron said. He seemed sure of it, but Rosie wasn't.

"Make what work? We run outta food, we starve to death. How do we make that work?" she asked. She didn't mean to sound annoyed, but it was pretty hard not to when you have just been told that you and everyone you love will be out of food in just seven days.

"We just took in two new communities. We have no crops, no backstock," Carol reminded them all. It was in moments like this that Rosie really, really missed Hershel. And the old Hershel, not the young one. The young Hershel was good, too, but the old Hershel knew farming like it was the back of his hand. They could've really used that at that point.

"We can get there," Aaron insisted. Rosie wasn't so sure about it. They needed another plan. One that would work quickly. "We got people out there right now, scavenging houses for materials." The problem with scavenging houses for materials was that houses didn't just restock every night. You take from a house, everything from that house is gone for good. They were bound to run out eventually.

"And they're slowing down," Gabriel added solemnly. Exactly what Rosie was thinking. "It's a little hard to put up a wall with broken tools and an empty stomach."

"Our people are good hunters," a woman spoke up from the corner. Rosie looked over to see one of the new people who had come with Maggie. She wasn't sure what the woman's name was, though. Rosie glanced over to Maggie to see what she was thinking. Whatever she was thinking didn't seem happy, from what Rosie could see on Maggie's face. The woman went on, anyway, though. "Frost and I could take a group out," she offered.

"Our ground's all spent. That last big horde scared all the animals away," Daryl pointed out. Even though the Whisperers were gone, their effects still persisted. They were still managing to fuck up Alexandria from the grave. "We can find new territory."

"We don't have time. We need food. Lots of it. Now," Gabriel said. And he was right. They just didn't have time. A week. That was it.

The room was quiet for a few moments. At least, until Maggie hesitantly spoke up. "I know one more place," revealed. A few of her people glanced over at her. Some looked nervous. Anxious. But she went on. "The place I lived before this. Where we lived. Meridian. It's got plenty of food, water, crops, and animals."

"Yeah, and now it's gone," a boy in the corner said. Rosie had heard Maggie call him Elijah before.

Maggie sighed and looked down at the floor. "So, what happened out there?" Rosita asked.

Everyone was eerily quiet and it made Rosie's stomach hurt. Something had gone wrong out there. Something bad. But, God, things go wrong everywhere, all the time.

After a moment, Maggie decided that she would tell the story. She pressed her lips together, taking a deep breath. "We were on a mission. Leading walkers away. Duncan, Agatha, and Frost took the last shift at the front of the herd. Going miles out. I circled back with Elijah and Cole. On the way back home, things kept going sideways and we got stuck out on the road. Looking back now, I don't think that was an accident. All of a sudden, we heard these screams in the distance. We raced back home. But it was too late. Most of our people had been slaughtered. And the rest of us barely got away with our lives."