After the Last Dawn - TWD

Chapter 18

More than five hours had passed since Maggie and I left the house in search of the supplies we needed to treat Annette.

Five fucking hours. Time really does fly when you're in danger. That's what they say, isn't it?

It was 1 p.m. when I parked the car in front of the Greene house. As soon as we got out of the car, the front door opened and a blonde woman ran up to Maggie and hugged her.

"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?! What's all this blood?" Beth asked worriedly.

"She's in one piece. Just like I said I'd bring her." I answered for Maggie as I went to the back of the car to make sure everything was okay. After all, the forced escape might have damaged something. Luckily, everything seemed to be intact.

"It's not my blood. How's Mom?" Maggie asked, holding the younger girl's shoulders. Beth bit her lip and looked at her sister with tears in her eyes. She looks like a puppy when she's sad.

"Her condition has worsened. Her fever has been rising for a while now." Beth said with a tense, tired voice.

"Well... let's not keep them waiting then, shall we?" I asked as I took the bag out of the bucket and gestured for them to take it. They took the bag on one side of the handle with a little difficulty and carried it together into the house.

I picked up the x-ray machine and carried it into the house, doubting that the wheels would work on this floor. As soon as I set the machine down, the door opened again, this time with Hershel inside.

"Hi. Is this what you need?" I asked, pointing at the x-ray machine.

"Yeah, let's test it now to see if it works." He says as he starts fiddling with some things I don't really understand. Suddenly the screen shows some information about the machine.

"So how is it?" I asked after a few seconds of analyzing the information that appeared on the machine.

"It's in perfect condition. Thanks for your help. With everything." Hershel says as he offers me a handshake, which I accept.

"It's nothing. Just returning the favor." I say, putting my hand on my waist where I was shot. "But let's not talk about it. You need to take care of your wife right now."

He nods and starts to bring the X-ray machine into the house. "Jimmy! Otis! Come and get this thing in the bedroom!"

"Want me to help?"

"No, son. You've done enough. It's up to us now. Besides, we took Annette downstairs. That makes everything easier." The elder Greene says this at the same time the other two men come out of the house.

As I walked through the door, I saw Beth, Patricia, and Maggie taking things out of the suitcase and the two men taking the machine into the same room where Hershel had taken the bullet out of me. Luckily for them, the house was big and the machine went right through the doors.

I looked at the women again, especially Maggie, who was wearing dirty clothes from our little adventure at the hospital. I approached her and put my hand on her shoulder to get her attention. She looked at me doubtfully.

"You need to take a shower." I replied, looking her up and down. Even though she's dirty, she's still fucking hot. She looks at me amused.

"Are you saying I stink?"

"Did I?" I put my hand to my chin and pretend to think, "No. I'm sure I'd remember if you did. Did I say something, Beth?"

"Don't put me in the middle of your flirting." As she left, Beth hummed and went into the bedroom with a few things in her hands.

"We're not flirting!" Maggie and I yelled at the younger girl, who pretended not to hear us. Patricia followed soon after, saying nothing, just smiling mischievously.

"Now I'm serious. Get that blood out of you. Think about it. Relax." I replied with a serious look on my face.

"Right. Okay. See you later." She said, already staggering to her room upstairs. I sighed as I went outside to sit on the swing in front of the house.

It was quite an exhausting experience. Fortunately, nothing went wrong and Maggie managed to protect herself. I stared at the room in front of me for a while. I honestly didn't know how long.

I was pretty tired and I didn't know if I could sleep without having a nightmare. I hate nightmares. Maybe I'm in a nightmare, that's why I hate this world so much.

I shake my head to get the negative thoughts out of my mind. It's not good to think about unnecessary things.

I got up from the swing and went to the bedroom. I also need a shower.

…...............

When I came out of the bathroom, already dressed in sweatpants and a tank top, I went into the room I was using to leave the weapons and used clothes. I took the opportunity to pick up a book and then went down to the second floor, where almost everyone was, except Hershel, Patrícia and, of course, Annette.

"How's it going in there?" I asked as I sat down next to Maggie, who was showered. She was visibly tired and almost asleep, but she was alert, as if she was forcing herself to stay awake in case something happened.

I think the hospital has affected her more than she admits.

"Nothing's happened yet. They've already been there for two hours." Beth informs her, as she sits in an armchair with Jimmy. Both of them curled up.

"Two hours?!" I muttered, totally amazed at how much time had passed and which I hadn't realized.

"You sort of hung up after you arrived." Maggie replied quietly, since she was the only one listening. I put my hand to my face and relaxed in my seat. My brain had completely shut down.

"And how are you feeling?" I asked, a little worried, since she had apparently never killed a zombie before. Besides, she'd finally had a real chance to think about the whole moral dilemma situation and the trance she'd experienced while crushing the zombie's head.

"I'm fine. Don't worry, Big Guy." She pats my arm, leans into me, then closes her eyes. Does she think I'm a pillow? I would have complained, but she seems comfortable and already asleep.

"Tch... Well, my ass." I grumbled as I covered her with the sheet next to her. Looking up, I saw that everyone else had amused smiles on their faces, but looked away when I made an annoyed face at them.

Ignoring that for the moment, I began to read the book I had brought from my room. It was a book on edible and inedible plants. It was quite interesting. Besides, it would be very useful out there.

By the way, tomorrow is my last day here, isn't it?

…...............

Two hours have passed since I opened the book and started reading, and still no news from the makeshift operating room. Everyone was already asleep in another corner of the room. Except me, of course.

As I turned another page in the book, the door to the operating room suddenly opened and Hershel and Patrícia walked through. I quickly shook Maggie awake.

"Five more minutes." Maggie complained as she straightened.

"Maggie, it's your dad." At that moment, Maggie opened her eyes and stood up.

"Dad! How's Mom?" Her loud question startled the other sleepers, but it wasn't long before they woke up and walked over to Hershel, who was visibly tired, but with a small smile on his face.

"She's okay now." They all sighed before hugging each other, relieved for sure. "Now she needs to rest and recuperate. So, no noise and no visitors."

"Wouldn't it be better to have someone keep an eye on her? In case something happens?" I decided to ask after everyone had calmed down a bit. Hershel put his hand to his chin and thought for a second before nodding.

"I'll do that. That way, if she needs anything, we won't have to wake everyone up." Everyone nodded. "Well, after I shower and get some sleep. Beth, can you stay with your mom until I wake up?"

"Sure, have a good rest." As she said this, Beth entered the room, followed shortly by Jimmy.

"He's like a puppy following his master." Otis joked, making everyone in the room laugh.

"Well, I need a shower and some sleep too." Patricia says as she starts up the stairs, but stops halfway up and turns to her husband. "Are you coming?" Otis doesn't answer and follows her.

"Uh... puppy." I couldn't resist making the joke that made Maggie laugh while Hershel smiled. Otis and Patricia must have heard, because I heard a groan and a muffled laugh.

"Maggie, can I talk to Dean? Alone?"

"Sure. See you later." She replied as she went upstairs. As soon as she was out of sight, Hershel sat down in a chair across from me.

"First of all, I want to thank you again for going to that place with Maggie. God knows what would have happened if she was alone." He spoke as he rubbed his face. I shivered slightly. He may not know, but I do. It wouldn't have been pretty.

"No need to thank me. Maggie is my friend. In these times, every friendship needs to be cherished and protected." I answer and see him smile slightly.

"You're a good boy, Dean. Which brings me to the reason I wanted to talk to you." He says quietly. "I know that when you arrived here, we agreed that you would stay for three days. The day you arrived doesn't count, of course, so tomorrow is your last day here. You have to leave the day after tomorrow, right?"

"That's the plan. I was planning to pick up some supplies somewhere near here tomorrow." I answer as I look out of the window.

"What if you didn't have to go?" I look at him the moment he says those words. "You don't have to leave. Everyone here likes you and you've proven that you can be useful. You'd have a roof over your head, people you know, you'd be safe, and you wouldn't have to worry about food. So what do you think?" He asked with a slight smile. I just need a few minutes to think.

It would be incredible. To be in a place like this where there's not a lot of danger and I don't have to worry about food or zombies. But it's not all flowers. At any moment, this place would turn into an impossible place to live. I would also have to obey Hershel as he is the leader of this small group. I would have to abandon all my plans for the prison, a place I knew I could make safe. Besides...

"Before I answer I want to ask you a question." I say lightly. I control my voice to show the seriousness of the matter.

"What?"

"Would you be okay with me killing zombies?" As soon as I asked this question, I immediately noticed that his expression changed from discomfort to denial. "Obviously I don't think so. It would be great to stay here, but... we have different opinions, methods and values. It wouldn't be long before there was a fight. And I like you, Hershel. You're a good man, an excellent father, husband and doctor. So I want to leave here on good terms with everybody. Do you understand?" - I ask. The old man is silent for a moment, then nods.

"You are right. Very well. I'll accept your decision. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to take a bath and get some sleep. You should do the same, my son." Without another word, he got up and went upstairs. I'll wait a few minutes and do the same.

But I didn't want to sleep. Despite the busy day, I wasn't completely tired. I'll take the opportunity to make plans and pack my things to leave the day after tomorrow.

I'd like the Greene family to come with me, but Hershel is stubborn. And the rest of the family wouldn't follow a stranger, so to speak. Even if that stranger had already saved one of their lives. Maggie wouldn't leave her family. And I wouldn't ask her to.

Well, that was it. There was no point in dwelling on things that couldn't be changed. I could force them to see reason, but who knew if they would trust me again. In a group of survivors, trust is essential.

After a while of getting my things together, which included replenishing the ammunition in the magazines, I began to formulate a plan to get to the prison.

As I said, I have no idea of the exact location of the prison. I only have a rough idea of where it might be.

How do I know? I don't really know. It's just a hunch. As far as I know, the prison wasn't that far from Woodbury. If the communities were that far apart, the Governor wouldn't have made such a mess of the tank.

So it seems to me that the prison is just south of Greene Farm. Which, frankly, was just a straight line. Hard to get lost. At least in theory. In practice it's much harder.

Life is full of obstacles. And life in the apocalypse was full of zombies. And people. Many factors could affect the plans.

I'm torn from my thoughts when I hear a knock at the door. I look at my watch and realize that three hours have passed since we started packing. It seemed like less time.

"Come in." I say as I close the card. The door opens and it's Maggie who opens it, interrupting my plans.

"Hey. What are you doing here?" she asks as she closes the door behind her.

"Planning my trip. Leaving without a set route is kind of stupid." After I answer, I clear a space on the bed where my things were for her. Maggie got the message and sat down.

"You're really leaving, aren't you?" she grumbles, and I can't help the micro-smile that appears on my face.

"I know you'll miss me, but... you know." I joked to lighten the mood, but it didn't help. It was a complicated situation. She didn't know if she'd see me again, and I honestly didn't know if I'd see her again. Canonically, Maggie survives to the end of the series and even gets her own show. That's what I've heard. I know more or less what it's about, but I didn't want to watch it.

But now it's real life. Anything can happen. And anything will happen. She could get sick or be bitten by a zombie because she defended someone. Or worse, someone could come along and do something to her. Just thinking about it makes me want to give up my plan and stay here.

"You think too much," Maggie scoffed. Maggie scoffed as she poked me in the shoulder.

"What?" I asked.

"You think too much sometimes and your eyes get blurry." Maggie points at me as she speaks.

I frown in surprise. "I don't." I try to deny it, but I really do tend to think too much.

"I don't know how you haven't been bitten yet." Maggie snorts when she sees my failed attempt at denial.

"Whatever. I usually think when I'm in a safe environment." I admit the inevitable. You can never beat a woman in an argument.

"And you still want to leave." She said, crossing her arms. A lump forms in my throat.

"Look, Maggie, I..." I started, but she cut me off.

"I already know. I heard you and Dad talking. I also know that you weren't telling the whole truth." Maggie announced, catching me off guard. "And that's okay. We all have secrets. As long as those secrets don't hurt my family, I don't care."

I looked at her for a few seconds, noticing that despite the sadness of the situation, there was also acceptance. "There isn't. Don't worry." I reassure her as I lightly tap her forehead with my fingertips. That's what Itachi does with Sasuke.

"There! What was that for?" Although she complains, she still has a small smile on her face.

"How do you really feel? You know, after everything that happened earlier." I asked as I lay down on the bed. Maggie followed my lead and lay down next to me. We both stared at the ceiling, far away from each other.

"I'm fine. I've had time to think about everything and come to terms with the fact that the world is basically over. She jokes, which makes me snort. "What helped was knowing that everything I did was to help my mother. To save her. I'd do it all over again if I had to. I'd do anything for my family." She plays with her fingers as she looks earnestly at the ceiling.

"I understand. Don't worry." I reassure her, letting her relax more.

"But it wasn't all my fault. I don't know what I would have done if you weren't here. I don't even know how to thank you." Maggie says, turning her head from the ceiling to look at me. After saying that, an idea comes to me and I can't help the mischievous smile that appears on my face.

Seeing my smile, Maggie practically read my mind and smiled in amusement. "Do you have to ruin the moment?"

"Of course!" She joked, giving a toothy grin as she rolled her eyes as if what she had asked was a stupid question. We both laughed out loud.

"Idiot." She muttered as she punched my arm.

"Hey! That's not how thanks used to work." I joke. After that, we stood there for a long time, just talking.

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Longest chapter. It took me longer because my cell phone was stolen. Yeah, that's right. My luck is that I write and save it in the cloud. But it still took me a while to remember which account I had entered and the password. After a while I finally did and here I am.