ch.41

remember

   the next morning, we were back on the road bright and early. not wasting anytime, we needed to see this community.

   me head rested on glenns shoulder as we sat together on the couch, across from eugene and tara.

    my fingers twisted and turned my ring about a hundred times until glenn noticed, placing his hand on top of mine.

   "stop worrying, it isn't good for you." he stated, causing me to look up at him.

   "i'm not worried, just unsure." i corrected, slowly intertwining our fingers.

   "me too." he started, placing a kiss on top of my head, taking in the scent of my hair, "but as long has i have you. i'll be fine."

   i smiled, nudging my head in the crook of his next, "god i love my husband" i chuckled, causing him to smile.

    "and i love my wife" he mimicked, causing tara to act like she was vomiting. i shook my head, watching eugene give us a weird look.

   before i could even ask, the rv started to rumble, and slowly come to a stop. "well shit" abraham mumbled, busting out the door.

   "hold on, i'll be back." glenn rubbed my knee, taking off after him. i rolled my eyes, placing my head on the table.

   "jesus you guys are annoying." tara chuckled, shuffling cards eugene had given her. i looked up to her, giving her an "f u" look.

   "when i first met glenn back at the prison, all he cared about was finding "melanie"" she started, a smile creeping onto her face, "i thought, it couldn't be a coincidence, right? i'm glad i was wrong"

   i sat up straight, now intrigued by her choice of words, "why?" i questioned, giving her a confused look.

   "because you're not only my best friends sister, you're mine too. we're family." she smiled, fiddling with the cards, "also you and glenn are perfect together."

   a huge smile appeared on my face as she talked, "thank you, tara." i uttered, grabbing her hands in mine.

   she gave me a confused look pausing.

   i let out a breath, "for everything you just said. everything you've done, like bringing glenn back to me." i smiled, releasing her hands.

   both of our attentions turned back to glenn and abraham as they entered the rv. "everything good?" i asked, moving over by the window so he could have some room.

   "it is now, thank god for meeting dale"

    i let out a sigh nodding my head, "thank god for dale..."_____________

i felt a little shake, awakening from my nap. my eyes slowly opened, revealing only glenn in the rv.

"we're here" he smiled, bending down to plant a kiss on my forehead as i snapped myself back into life.

he took my hand in his, pulling me up to my feet, leading us out to where the others stood firmly in front of the gate.

rick stood back holding judith in his arms, watching the others in front of him.

"come on" i smiled, placing a hand on his shoulder as i walked by.

he gave a little nod, walking next to me and glenn. a rustle in the bushes caused us all to turn with our weapons raised in freight.

daryl released an arrow, a little squeak appearing next to a trash can can by the bushes.

"we brought dinner." he stated, holding up his possum as he turned to the unknown man near the gate.

the rest of us slowly turned to where the man stood, hesitantly looking at us. "come on in guys." aaron stated, motioning us to follow him.

i gave glenn a questioning look as we entered, wondering if i was making the right choice by coming here.

he placed his hand on my back for reassurance, leading me in with the others. the creaking of the gate closed behind us, making our heads turn and watch as it slowly closed.

"before we take this any further, i need you to turn over your weapons. you stay, you hand them over" the unknown man stated, causing my sister to throw a suspicious glance in my direction.

i shrugged, looking at rick, "we don't know if we want to stay." rick retorted, taking a step towards the man.

"it's okay, nicolas" aaron assured, putting his hand out for him to back down.

"if i wanted to use it, i would have started already" i scoffed, already getting offended by the man named nicolas. he rubbed me the wrong way just by looking at him.

"let them talk to deanna and jfk first" aaron ordered, causing abraham interrupt, "who are they?"

"deanna knows everything you'd want to know about this place, jfk is her daughter." aaron explained, looking around to all of us.

   "rick, why don't you start first?"

rick turned to look at us, but his eyes fell on a walker outside of the gates, "melanie" he mumbled, causing me to turn.

i raised my silenced gun, aiming for the walkers head. with one try, his head erupted into little pieces.

    the others watched until the gate closed, cutting us off from the outside world. i let out a sigh in relief, turning back around to the rest.

    it's a good thing we're here" ____________

we all hesitantly waited outside the woman named deannas house for rick who had went in to be interviewed by her and her daughter.

we all had to be, which i wasnt quite keen on but i knew my family needed this.

   i seen what we were turning into from being out in the world for too long. it only needed to be explained in two words... bad people.

rick appeared from the front door, giving us a small nod as he walked down the stairs. a short woman, following behind him.

"melanie, i think you should go next." rick stated, causing me to point at myself in shock, "yeah"

i turned to glenn, who also gave me a nod before i departed from the rest, heading to the top of the porch where she stood.

   "hi, my names deanna, this is my daughter, kennedy" she smiled, greeting me as i entered her house.

      "kennedy?" i whispered, causing a tall brown haired girl to turn around, looking at me in shock, "melanie?"

    "oh my god" i uttered, rushing to where she stood, pulling her into a hug, "baby sis."

    i huffed out a smile as she pulled away, looking me up and down, "how are you alive?"

    i shrugged, "davina is too..."

     kennedy pulled her hands to her face, crying into them as she processed everything that was happening.

     "kennedy, would you mind introducing me to your friend?" deanna questioned, causing me to turn.

"oh, sorry. melanie... kennedy's sister" i smiled, my eyes glancing around at a camera set up and book shelves galore.

    "why don't you have a seat? you guys can catch up later. " she pleaded, ushering me to a chair that was placed in front of the camera.

i nodded my head, giving kennedy a look before my body hesitantly moved to the chair.

     "i'm glad kennedy has found some of her family, we adopted her into ours when we first built this place."

     i smiled, "i'm glad she was with you guys and not out there. thank you, for taking care of her."

    deanna nodded her head, "so...rick said he was originally with you from the start, is that true?"

   "uh yeah" i uttered, a little uncomfortable with the situation, considering there were cameras and i was being held back from seeing my sister who i thought was dead.

    she nodded, "i understand your concern, i'm just trying to help you all." she assured, sending me a small smile.

   "i was a congressman. ohio, 15th district" she stated, her words caused me to scoff, "ohio sounds boring"

   she chuckled, "i liked how peaceful it was" my eyes widened realizing i had said that out loud.

    "what did you do before?" she added, moving on from what i had said.

   i fiddled with my ring, "i was a resident at a hospital in atlanta, it's where rick found me."

   she nodded, "do you have any family still alive that you know of besides kennedy?"

   "everyone out there is my family." i started, not giving her the answer that she wanted, "if you mean immediate family, i have another sister outside and glenn, my husband."

     kennedy moved to where deanna was sat, crossing her arms against her chest, "you have a husband?"

    "we met at the start, he saved me and rick from a lot of sticky situations. i couldn't have made it here without him."

   "you're a very lucky person, so am i truthfully. i have my husband reg, and my two sons aiden and spencer. kennedy topped off the cake." she smiled, intertwining her fingers together.

      my eyes glanced between the two, almost feeling a bit uncomfortable from deannas words. kennedy was my sister, not just a friend i knew from college. we were blood.

    "your appearance looks as if you would be the soft one, maybe the lover of the group" she started, earning a dirty look from me, "... but i can tell you're one of the stronger ones, the broken one, the instigator."

    i sat back, relaxing in the chair, "isn't it rude to assume?" i asked, letting my body finally calm, "it may be, but are my assumptions wrong?"

i paused, unsure what to say. before i could reply kennedy stepped in, "no, you're not. trouble usually finds her"

   she let out a soft sigh, nodding her head at ken. "you had mentioned you were a doctor, right?"

    i nodded, crossing my arms over my chest as i leaned forward.

    "okay, i think we have a job for you here." she started, also leaning forward, "how does being a doctor again sound like?"

    i raised an eyebrow, "why are you doing this? what could you possibly want from us?"

     "melanie." kennedy scolded, giving me an intense look as a warning, "what? i just wanted to know."

   deanna chuckled, "well, i want you to help us survive. i can see your abilities just by looking at you and the others."______________

   it had been awhile since i was interviewed, the rest of the group went after me. davina and kennedy reunited and we introduced the rest to her too.

    it took some time, but after a while we all now gathered around with each.

   "they're still your guns. you can check them out whenever you go beyond the wall. but inside her, we store them for safety." deanna announced as we put our guns in a bin.

    i stepped up, taking the silenced gun from around my shoulder, and then my hand gun shane had given me.

    carol had managed to get it back from the terminus people, along with glenns pocket watch, and ricks regular watch.

   "should have brought another bin." olivia laughed, rolling the guns away from our sight.

   i turned to where davina was standing next to noah, frustration in her eyes. i shook my head at her, turning to leave as the others were doing so too.

   "do you mind taking her?" carl asked, stopping me before i could walk any further.

   he held judith out to me, causing me to smile, "yeah, what are you planning to do?" i questioned, taking her into my arms.

   "me and my dad are going with aaron to see the house and i think she misses you." he smiled, walking off before i got the chance to say anything.

   "okay then" i mumbled to myself, watching as he disappeared around the corner.

my eyes turned to judith once he was gone, admiring her beautiful brown eyes.

   "hey love" i baby talked to her, which caused her to smile, letting out a coo. "who are you calling love?" i heard a voice from behind me say.

    i turned around, watching glenn walk towards me. "oh just my other boyfriend, no big deal" i joked, causing him to shake his head when he realized i was talking to judith.

    "i'm going for a walk around the community, wanna join?" i asked him, craving some time to talk with him.

     "all we have is time now, why not?" he smiled, joining my side as we slowly walked down the road.

    "davina doesn't seem comfortable, i think you should talk to her." he informed, placing an arm around my shoulder.

   i nodded, "i know, but i dont even know if i'm comfortable." i stated, moving judith to my other hip when my arm got tired.

   "none of us are, we're not going to be for awhile" he assured me, pulling me and judith closer.

    i shifted uncomfortably, watching as people's stares burnt holes through me and glenn with their eyes.

  "it's been a long time since anyone around here has seen a baby." a woman's voice said from behind us.

   we both turned around seeing rick and a blonde women walking towards us. "look who it is" i started, baby talking to judith, "say hi to daddy"

    glenn smiled, watching as i handed her off to rick, smiling as he took her into his arms, "i'll meet you guys back at the house, yeah?"

   we both nodded, turning away from the two,  "how about we meet up later? deanna told me i should check out the infirmary before my first day there" i stated, causing him to nod.

"sure" he smiled, leaning in to place a kiss on my lips, "i love you"

" i love you too."

________________________________3/12/2021

also i didn't know a creative way to properly include my characters jobs into the story, there will be hints here and there about it. so i'm just gonna say what they do heremelanie- works in the infirmary, goes on runs here and therekennedy- helps deanna but also tries to find people with aaron and daryldavina- is with sasha on watch