New Beginnings *6 years later* (December)

*Six years later....*



'Hey dad. It's been awhile since the last time I was here. So much has happened. I hope in some ways, I made you proud.


We had to move on. What we found became unsafe. We found a new way. We managed to build a community in the trees. Tree houses. Our area is secured by fences, much stronger than the walls of Alexandria. We're playing it as safe as we can. I'm the leader...I didn't want to be, it just...happened. I guess you can relate to that. I always blamed you, but I now realize the responsibility fell on you like it did me. I never said it, but I know you did the best you could. I'm sorry for the times I doubted you...and I should have told you ...I was proud of you.

The new community is thriving. Glenn and Maggie had twin boys, they're going on six. Noah, the youngest twin, is deaf. He seems more in tune to the world than anyone. You would think such a handicap would be condemning, but I think he's going to grow up. Have a life..



Daryl trained the wolf to be Noah's 'ears'. They're inseparable. Logan, the older twin also helps.


You wouldn't believe how much Judith has grown. 8, going on 30. She reminds me of me at that age. I'm paying for the hell I put you through.


Mikko and Eugene had a daughter., and so did Michonne and Daryl.


Beth and I....we cant. We tried. We have Judith,I but I can see the longing  in Beth's eyes when she plays with the kids. I wish things could be different, but this is just how it is.



We found some of the old group. Aaron, Gabriel, Jesus  and Rosita. They were being held prisoners at sanctuary. Dwight, Daryl and Mikko rescued them  when they went back for Sherry. Gabriel saved Sherry. Not our Gabe...a Savior that finally had enough of Negan's shit. So, we have two Gabriel's now. Sherry was badly injured. I never thought Dwight would fit in here, but he's an active and loyal part of the community.


The Saviors have been quiet. I know Negan is planning an attack, I just hope I can keep us one step ahead of him. We have too much to lose.

I miss you, Dad.


I love you.
~Carl.



The snow continued to fall, covering the mound of eaeth as Carl placed the folded, tarnished paper against the headstone. The flannel long sleeve did little to shield him from the elements. Nearing the end of December, the days had become shorter. Everyone back at the community we're planning for Christmas, but even after all this time, there was a heaviness in Carl's heart.


The young man placed his palm against the grave, a heavy sigh finally breaking the silence.


"Love you, dad. "

At the grave Rick read his son's letter with a heavy heart. He was told once by his own father that the dead don't miss the living, but now Rick knew that to not be true. Death had allowed him and Carl moments together to talk face to face, to even share a touch. But she couldn't always grant that request and this was one of those times.

But Rick was proud of Carl. More than words could ever say. And while he wished he was alive to be with his son and daughter and the rest, he knew the choice he made back then was the right one. Had he not done what he did, Those twin boys wouldn't have a father, and Maggie...Who knows if she would have been strong enough to go on.

But Carl was strong enough, he was proving that everyday. Rick couldn't be more proud of the man his son had become.

He lay an unseen hand on top of Carl's chilling the boy's hand more then the winter cold.

Love you too, son.

It had been six years since the mall became unlivable. Their enemies grew in numbers outside and inside the mall. Not only did Negan not leave them alone, but they had suped up Walkers after the mall because of the supers inside annnnnd she might have let the Joker inside which complicated things more.

If that wasn't enough, A freak storm hit the mall hard and knocked out all electricity along with any security they did have and they could never recover. Add Bruce's failing mental health and anyone could see why the group needed to get the hell out of dodge and not tell anyone! Of course Mikko had let Wade know and invited in along for the sake of their son.

Now Mikko was married to Eugene and the two had A daughter named Evelyn. It didn't go over to well with Anton at first but now...it's still pretty touchy. It had taken time but she did prove herself to the group. to Michonne and Carl. And now her job? Search and collect.

That's what she was out doing today. It was cold it was snowing and she was happily singing Christmas songs as her and her reluctant partner, Glenn went looking for warmer blankets in a nearby neighborhood.

We need a christmas tree this year. She told Glenn midsong. next house we hit I'm going to look for tree ornaments and we'll decorate all of our homes for christmas. Really brighten things up, the kids will love it.

It was then that Mikko's stomach let out a loud rumble. she patted her belly. First food. Did we bring snacks?

Don't move. Just...I'm coming to you.

Beth was playing with the children when Anton decided to climb to an unsturdy branch. The boy moved to the edge of the high branch and was refusing to come back to the others. She was trying to talk him back when his four year old sister decided she would go get him herself and now she too was on the branch!

Now Beth was trying to get a small child and an insane 11 year old off a very high tree branch that was threatening to break while also attempting to make sure the other kids stay out of trouble.

Anton. Don't. Bite.Yoursister!!!! ANTON!

Maggie was spending some time away from all her boys. Glenn was out hopefully not getting eaten and Beth was watching the kids, so Maggie was taking this rare alone time to work in the garden. Winter was the worst for their small amount of plotted land. It took a lot of work making sure that food didn't freeze over or die.

So far they were doing pretty good. Maggie laid down more mulch to keep the ground as warm as possible, and placed plastic tarp over the more sensitive plants to add extra warmth.

She was in the middle of laying the tarp when she heard Beth yelling, Maggie's first instinct was to run over and see what was going on but then hearing that Anton was acting up she just shook her head and continued what she was doing. Beth could handle the small child. Maybe.

So much has happened over the last six years. The move from the mall, their time on the road until a suitable location was found to begin the construction of their tree community. The birth of their twin boys. Noah, their youngest twin was born deaf. That in itself presented challenges, but despite the little one's handicap, he was a happy child. Luckily both Laz and Eugene were fluent in sign language and taught those within the community that were willing to learn.

The community was thriving. They had managed to sustain a farm, and with the scavenging runs and Daryl and Michonne's hunt, things were as good as they possibly could be.


The community trusted Mikko enough for Glenn to go on runs with her. It took some time, but Glenn felt safe around her....for the most part. Until she became hungry. The woman made it a habit of trying to scare him. But for the most part, he considered her a close friend...


It was another run. This time, for warm blankets and clothes for the growing community. Fortunately it was not a food run this time, otherwise their search would have pushed them out further, separating them from their family for days. Those trips always made him anxious. It was hard enough being away from Maggie, but with two small boys, the separation was suffocating...


..and Mikko was singing. Oy. Not that she was horrible at it, but the world was overran by the dead...


"Shhh...I don't think that's a good idea..." He reminded her. She had no fear of the dead, but he would be a snack for them. Adjusting the pack on his back, he gave a nod, agreeing that Christmas decor would be welcomed by the little ones. And then her last comment and question halted him in his tracks. She was hungry.. That always made him nervous. She never missed the opportunity to tell him how tasty he looked.  

Unshouldering the pack, he began digging around until he unearthed a bottled water a a folded piece of foil, handing it to her. "Daryl sent deer jerky. It tastes better than Korean..."

Sometimes Mikko did forget that others needed to be more careful out in the world than she did. When Glenn reminded her to be a tad quieter she finished her song in a whisper.

Fully aware that her cannibalistic habits made Glenn nervous she grinned and slid closer to him as he presented to her the deer meat. arigato gozaimashita. She thanked him as she took the meat.

But to be fair, I never had Korean. I hear the BBQ is delicious.

She unwrapped the jerky and took a bite as they came to the next house. She motioned towards the front door that was closed with a padlock hanging from it. After you...

The last six years had been filled with ups and downs. More ups as time progressed. Life began getting better for Eugene after leaving the mall and the toxic atmosphere. It was definitely good to get away from Wade, he never really cared for him.

He and Mikko had becane an item. They were now married and had a daughter of their own.


Eugene played an important part withing the community. Creating things that would make their lives much easier. Making bullets and his current project, rebuilding an old CB radio that would hopefully help Aaron and the other recruiters with locating other survivors.. communities. He also helped Lexi with teaching the community's children. The man was always busy.

The last six years had made him a little braver. While still reluctant to engage in confrontation of the human kind, he was now confident enough to take down walkers..

Mikko was out in another run with Glenn. He always hated when she was away, but it was a necessity to keep the community thriving. He always tried to keep himself busy...

Today was no different. Bundled up to stay warm, he noticed Maggie working in the garden. Munching contentedly on a pickle, he headed over to see if he could be of assistance. He stood for a moment, chewing the cucumber goodness before offering a hand, but before the offer could pass his lips, yelling caught his attention...

Obviously his adopted son was giving Beth a hard time.


"Gaging by the sounds and distressed tone of your baby sister, it is a fair assumption that she has her hands full.." He noted the obvious, then turned to head in the direction of Beth's voice..

Okay, so the jerky seemed to be a winner...good! Hopefully it would be enough to tide her over and today wouldn't be the day that she decided to try him out ..

"Jerky is better..." He tried to assure as they moved in on the next house. Walking a head of her after she had expressed hunger was not something he wanted to do.. he trusted Mikko, to an extent.


Keeping what be hoped was a casual eye on her, he pulled his knife and removed the unlatched lock...

It was better to be safe than sorry, just in case the place was housing Walkers, or other inhabitants. It seemed quiet, but that usually meant nothing...

As the door swung open, a grotesquely mutilated walker stumbled out. It was quickly dispatched, but it was only the first of a dozen..

The walker that stumbled out the door took Mikko by surprise but luckily Glenn had it under control. She took out her own bladed weapon and stood between Glenn and the other hungry walkers. If she got bit it was just a mild, painful inconvince. If he got bit...She wasn't sure how she would tell the rest of the group.

She took out the nearest walker to her and moved further inside the house.

The place looked pretty nice other then the bodies roaming around, and the smell. Hopefully once they got all these walkers out of here they could find enough things they needed and head back home.

Guess we know why there was a padlock on the door now. Maybe we should have knocked first.

Maggie heard the crunching noises of Eugene's chewing as he walked closer to her. She stood up and wiped her hands off on her pants. She was almost done covering the plants and getting them ready for tonights snowfall. With any lucky they wouldn't lose any of their crops.

When one of the children was heard crying and Beth fussing, Maggie glanced over at Eugene. Maybe now was time to go see if her sister needed helped. There was no doubt that Mikko's son was the one causing all the trouble.

no offence, Eugene. But something needs to be done with Anton. She told him as she followed him to the commotion. Last week he attacked Noah and how many times has he had to be peeled off Evelyn? Maybe Wade should take him for a while....

There was a moment when the group wasn't sure where they were going to go or what they were going to do. With Carl's leadership and everyone pulling together they all made it out alright in the end. Laz was forever grateful that the group welcomed Lexi and himself along with Kai into their group. He made sure that he did everything he could to help out.

When they finally found a place to settled down in Laz quickly got to work helping build homes and set up a strong fence. When Maggie and Glenn found out that Noah had been born deaf his knowlege in signlanuage came in handing, Eugene helped out a lot with that too as there was a whole community basically learning a new language.

When Kai was three Lexi got pregnant and Laz was overly estatic! He devoted every moment he could to be there for her and take care of her every need.

Lexi gave birth to a little girl who had him wrapped around her finger the moment she came into the world.

Now Kai was 8 and little Zoe was 4. Same age as Evelyn which was nice as it gave the two youngsters someone their own age to play with without worry about being wrestled around by the boys.

Laz still felt that school was important and had been trying to get Kai to pay attention to a small math lesson. He tried to keep 'school' to just two hours a day. But when the others were playing around it was really hard to keep his own kid in his seat. Evelyn would sometimes sit and listen to stories about the stars and dinosaurs. Anton liked learning how to paper fold. so at least his lessons weren't always a waste.

Alright, you can go. But don't get in any trouble. Especally don't get into any trouble with Anton...Again.

The two fought through the hoard, taking them down as they poured through the door...maybe this house was a bad idea. But Glenn knew, if a location was overran, that usually meant supplies and needs were inside. Most people wouldn't bother if the risk was too high..


Adrenalin pumping from the excetion, Glenn looked at Mikko when she joked about the lock, a half smile that may have been a whole one if not for the first walker that had came a little too close...


"Piece of cake.." His tone unconvincing as he worked at regaining his composure, slinging the blackened chunks of flesh and dark blood from his knife as they cautiously stepped inside...


"Maybe we will hit the jackpot here.." Because he didn't want this trip to take days. He wanted to get home to Maggie and his little ones, and he was sure Mikko missed her family, too...


Cautiously moving towards one of the bedrooms, the pair were about to find out that not only walkers resided here...

....and the group of walkers that were passing outside also held a bigger threat....

The place is pretty big, and I doubt anyone else would bother loot the place with those things in here so I say there's a good chance we'll find what we need and we can go home.

Mikko grabbed a coat that was hanging on a hook right next to the door. Look, already finding some nice things. Leather, and only a little too big for me. She said as she slipped it on and admired the new clothing in the reflection of some glass. I bet eugene would look hawt in this. I call dibs!

Seeing that Glenn was moving on to another part of the house she quickly caught up to him. Not learning any lesson from only a few moments ago, she grabbed the door knob of the bedroom and pushed the door open.

Anyone home?

Sandy was a bright and feisty child. Though with her parents being Daryl and Michonne no one would expect anything less. She got along well with the adults as long as they weren't telling her what to do. Though she listened to her parents she wasn't keen on following the orders of anyone else. As for the other kids, the four, almost five year old disliked all of them.

They were too loud, the girls were too preppy and the boys always tried to kill her bug friends and knock over her mud cities. She got along ok with Noah mostly because he was quite, and fought the most with Kai.

Sandy's birthday was coming up soon. She didn't really care, it wasn't anything special, she might get a cake if her parents found the stuff to make it, and she might get a gift. It didn't really matter to her she was content spending time outside by herself.

that's what the young girl was doing while the others were driving Beth crazy.

She was spending her time away from the others, hidden from the group behind bushes trying to feed a caterpiller she found. The snow made the ground too hard to build anything so she settled for making sure her bugs were well fed. She also has small pieces of fabric in her pockets that she laid over the critters to warm them up.

Eugene momentarily paused in his tracks when Maggie expressed her concerns regarding their son. He definitely understood Maggie's concerns, he constantly worried about their daughter, and Mikko was aware of that.

Poor Noah, the child was unable to hear. If Anton went after him, it could certainly end terribly.


"I understand your concerns. I promise Mikko and I are working on getting his behavior under control. My apologies, I was unaware that he went after Noah and I assure you that neither of us will take this lightly.."

suddenly an acorn came flying at Eugene's head, then another, then one at Maggie's head.

Go away! Where's mom!? I'm hungry! The boy yelled. The children being hungry wasn't usually a big deal. They had food and the kids could eat what they wanted, but Anton yelling that he was hungry was usually a caused for some concern. Thankfully the boy was small and could be easily controlled (held down) so as not to hurt anyone.

What was worrysome in this case was he had his little sister by his side on an unstable tree branch.

He threw the last of his acorns at Eugene and Maggie.



Dodging the acorn attack, Maggie tried to get her own children's attention. Boys come here! She called (and signed) for them to get to her side.

"...yeah. All yours..." Glenn replied with an unseen roll of his eyes as he moved to the next room, obviously uninterested in the jacket, and still slightly shaken by the close call. Approaching with flashlight in hand to illuminate the dim area, Mikko beat him to the door and pushed it open before he could caution her...

..of course she didn't learn! And it would be him to pay the price. What appeared to be a fast moving walker rushed at Glenn, taking him to the ground, but instead of chomping teeth threatening to tear into him, a knife's blade came inches from his head, but he managed to roll from beneath the attacker, the blade making brutal contact with the hardwood floor...


Glenn was quick to make it to his feet, eyes widened in horror as the 'walker' slammed into him again, pinning him against the wall...


"Yoooou do not belong here.....the world belongs to us...." Came a low eery hiss as the creature placed his knife against Glenn's throat...

Behind them, walkers began to pour from the room....

Holy shit!! What to do? What to do?!

Hey, guys. can't we talk about this?

Something was off about these guys, they looked dead but weren't acting one bit like the walkers she was use to, even the hunters she had mistakenly created couldn't speak or use weapons! Damn undead needed to stop evolving! And she needed to think of something to do before Glenn was dead.

Finally deciding to act just as walkers began to come out of the room, she pulled a knife from it's holster and attempted to stab the man holding Glenn in the side of the neck from behind. Attacking might cause the man to injure Glenn, but not doing anything would cause Glenn his life, she needed to save her friend.

Dude I just wanted a jacket not the whole world...

This was bad...really bad! And the situation was only getting worse! Knife still pressed against him, the 'evolved'  walker attempted to grab Mikko's wrist to disarm her of the knife. It was enough of a distraction for Glenn to grab the man's arm and twist it at a painful angle, which caused the man to struggle....

Having had experience with the Whisperers thanks to Lexi, he knew these were not evolved walkers....

"They're not Walkers...." He told Mikko, struggling to get the attacker to his knees. Mikko had known Glenn long enough to know he tried to avoid taking human life...

The walkers were closing in, cutting off their escape routes...

And the acorns but their target. Eugene certainly never had quick reflexes. "Cut that out and get down here right now!" He scolded, growing worries for his daughter. He moved toward the tree, prepared to attempt to climb up if need be...


Unlike his naughty stepson, Maggie's twins were quick to respond to their mother. Well, Logan was, anyway. Noah had ventured off and was distracted by Sandy and her bugs. The boy was close to her. With a frustrated roll of his eyes, Logan gently grabbed his deaf brother's wrist and rugged him towards Maggie...

The man took hold of Mikko's wrist but let go when Glenn attacked. Then she was imformed that they weren't walkers. That put a small grin on her face. Glenn might not like killing people, but Mikko had no issue with it. Plus this was a bit a of good luck! She needed food for Anton.

Pulling out another knife she plunged it into the nearest man's eye, pulling the blade and the man's eye out in the process.

She didn't have a gun on her, which was probably a good thing because she would be making a lot more noise right now.

Looks like Anton is going to eat well for a while if we can get all these guys back home....

No! You not my dad! I don't have to listen to you! Go away! Anton grabbed little Evelyn and tossed her off the tree at Eugene. Maggie held her two close and let out a loud gasp as she watched the little girl fall from the tree.

Mom said I can eat people that dead. If she dies I can eat! The boys mother tried to teach him that he wasn't allowed to eat the living, especially those in the community. It seemed he took those teachings and twisted it to mean he could kill someone first then they were fair game.

Beth had just about enough of this kid, but seeing him toss is sister down put her over the edge. Anger pushed aside any fear she had and Beth climbed up to the boy grabbing a hold of his shirt. He was so distracted with Eugene The boy didn't even notice her till he was grabbed.

Anton struggled in Beth's grip. Twisting his body and biting at her. But she held on tightly, pulling the child to her and thankful that he was so small.

You are going in time out box!

The 'box' was more of a shed with toys and a bed, a place Anton could be put away from others to calm down or when he was eating. Usually he would be joined by his parents, or just Mikko if it was food related. But this time he needed to cool off on his own.

Honestly it was no wonder Wade abandoned the child. Though Beth would never say that out loud. Poor Anton still thought that Deadpool would come back for him. six years and the kid still had hope.

Hearing that he was going in the box put the boy in a fit, but again, he was small getting down the tree was difficult and Beth did get scratched up and bit a few times.

Once on the ground she dragged him to Eugene.

Is Evelyn alright?