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CHAPTER ONE
[ season five, episode twelve ]

A BABY IS ONE OF THE LEAST COMMON THINGS IN AN APOCALYPSE.

When talking to someone about how you would survive, having a child would be the main thing not to do. For a particular group, they were stuck with Judith Grimes. The newest 'orphan'. Abigail Greene had the pleasure of knowing both of her parents, being fond of one and okay with the other. Judith was just another person in Abi's life, someone else to look out for, to take care of. And in honour of her sister, that was exactly what she planned to do as they were headed for the alleged community.

Judith cooed as Abi bounced her softly, if you looked close enough, you would see what once was a smile. But, happiness was long gone for Rick Grimes' group. No matter how hard they tried, tragedy would always come back to spite them. Tragedy had cast its spell a few months before the very moment, ending the life of two innocent people--two innocent people who loved Judith.

Noah and Carl were sat at the wooden table of the RV, playing some kind of card game Abi never learnt how to play. Just by looking at their expressions, it was obvious Carl was winning. He had a talent for that stuff, it was the cause of many arguments between the younger teenagers. Having known each other since the farm, Carl and Abi had grown close. Most would mistake them for siblings, especially with Abi and Maggie's connection with the Grimes'.

"Oh, come on, man." Noah groaned as Carl victoriously placed down a card, both of them laughing together. "You sure you don't wanna play, Abi? Give this one some payback?"

Abi had seemingly taken a vow of silence after Hershel Greene's death. Daryl and Beth had to work hard to get an 'okay' or 'sure' out of her. One thing was for sure though, Beth Greene's death broke Abi. It tore her to shreds in the same way the bullet did to the blonde's brains. Trauma was one thing, loneliness was another.

Abi looked up, shaking her head as Judith bounced on her knee. Carl's face dropped slightly, the previous pride he held drifting far away when he saw the crestfallen look on her face. For them, one's pain was the others, after Lori's death, Abi stuck by Carl for the rest of time at the prison. Helping him with Judith, defending him when Hershel or Rick told him off.

"Abraham," Rosita called, turning all of the attention to her. "Look."

"We can make it," Abraham exclaimed, turning to his girlfriend. "We can make it."

They in fact could not make it.

Just a few minutes ago, the RV had broken down, Abi still held Judith as they all waited for Glenn and Abraham to get another battery. Judith started whining in Abi's arms, fussing around as she took notice of the fact they were no longer moving.

The blondes eyes turned to Carl, offering him to hold his baby sister, to which the boy happily agreed.

"What do you think Alexandria's gonna be like?" Carl asked as he sat with Judith. Abi bit her lip in thought before shrugging, not feeling the need to talk, especially if she didn't have an answer.

"I hope it's real, we need a place for Judith to be safe," Carl was one of the people who kept trying to get Abi to talk. They had been best friends ever since the farm. They were like siblings. He had seen every side of her. When she was angry, depressed, overly talkative. Carl knew she went through phases like this. He knew she would always get over them. He wasn't so sure this time.

The sound of an engine pleased their ears as Abraham and Glenn triumphantly returned, everyone cheering together as they head back to the RV

Headed back to Alexandria.

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ABI ABSENTMINDEDLY STARED OUT THE WINDOW, her eyes soon making connection with different large buildings. On the outside of a tall, peeled brown wall, fallen and crumpled houses came into view as they stood slackly. Some had completely crushed, showing only fair parts of the roof. Trees stood behind them, highlighting the woods they had merely escaped the night before.

Abraham brought the RV to a slow stop, following the cars movements as everybody now looked outside. Alexandria. Abi felt herself rise, having expected this place to be just like Woodbury or the hospital, she was in mere shock as they exited the vehicle. Everyone else joined her as they all stood in surprise, some of the adults feeling the same way as Abi just moments before. Kids laughter could be heard echoing from the inside, people talking with a small mixture of dogs barking.

A creak sound moved with the gate as it opened from the other side, revealing beautiful, intact houses, completely different to the ones on the other side. Abi heard a small crack, her head immediately turning in the direction of the noise, her eyes meeting with one of the houses on the outside. In a window, she was met with a girl, possibly around her age, she wore a merely purple themed outfit, her brown hair sat downwards as it shined slightly. Clean hair, just like Aaron and Eric. The outside girl was staring directly at Abi, giving the defect that Abi probably wasn't hallucination her, which would have been one of her first assumptions.

Michonne soon passed Abi, everyone walking on the other side of the girl. When the window was revealed again, no more girl. Weird.

Abi looked around frantically, only seeing her group, no sign of the girl from the window. Maybe she really did hallucinate her. They stopped just before entering, all looking in to the place.

A loud crashing sound came from beside them causing everyone in the group to raise their guns. Abi raised her knife from her waist band and held it high in the air.

Daryl used his crossbow to shoot at the possum thing that had just crawled out of a bin. He picked it up and said, "We brought dinner."

The man at the gate stood there eyeing the group. He had curly hair, a small moustache and clean clothes. Just like Aaron and Eric.

"It's okay," Aaron said to the man. "Come on in guys." They started to walk in, Abi taking one last look at the house before following her group. They all watched as the gate closed behind them. The man from before spoke up, "Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons." No movement.

"Stay, you hand them over." He said, expecting it to mean something.

Rick stepped forward, almost a little less threatening with the baby in his arms and said, "We don't know if we want to stay." Abi didn't. Beth was still out there. So was Tyreese, Bob, Hershel, Lori. Walking in here felt like abandoning them.

"It's fine, Nicholas," Aaron said to Nicholas, Abi had taken in the dirty looks he gave the group, both fearful and judgmental.

"If we were gonna use them, we would have started already," Rick spoke in a threatening way, also having noticed the glare from the curly-haired man.

"Let them talk to Deanna first-"

"Who Deanna?" Abraham rudely interrupted, his large stance towering over Aaron.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place." Aaron said. He turned to rick. "Rick, why don't you start?"

Rick turned to look at his family when suddenly he heard the all too familiar growls of a walker. "Sasha," Rick said.

Everyone turned as Sasha pointed her gun and the silenced gunshot blew the dead ones head off.

"It's a good thing we're here."

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AFTER A FEW PEOPLE, it was finally Abi's turn to be interviewed. She didn't know what to do. She couldn't not go, it would be suspicious and they wouldn't trust her. But, she couldn't let this Deanna woman be the first person she talked to. Especially since the last person was Beth.

Just before she went inside, the girl mustered the courage to walk up to her older sister. "Maggie," her voice croaked slightly, having not spoken for a while.

It wasn't that she hadn't talked. She talked to herself most of the time. It was just no one had heard her voice since the sobs she made after Beth died. Maggie turned around to faceher little sister in shock. "Yeah?" She asked softly, happy to finally hear her voice again.

"Is she okay?" Abi asked not really knowing what to say. Maggie smiled and nodded at her sister before pulling her into a hug.

Abi hugged back until she was called to be interviewed. She walked in to the house to find a room with lots of books. Abi loved reading. It was one of her go-to activities in the prison. She couldn't help the small smile that etched on to her face as she admired the books along the bookshelf.

At the sound of footsteps her hand immediately went to grab her knife but she turned to see an old woman with ginger like hair.

The woman smiled softly at the girl before gesturing to the chair, "I'm Deanna, you can take a seat if you want."

Abi nodded and sat down as Deanna sat in front of her. "Do you mind if I record this?" Deanna asked gesturing to the camera. Abi took in a deep breath before quietly replying, "No, I don't mind."

Deanna's smile grew wider as she turned on the camera. "So, what's your full name?"

"Abigail Greene. I prefer Abi though," Abi replied. She hadn't actually been called Abigail since the last time Patricia yelled at her for swearing.

"That's nice. I understand that Maggie is your sister. Do you have any other family?" Deanna asked kindly. Abi looked down as she gulped. "Well- Glenn's Maggie's husband so.. kind of?" Abi said, not wanting to bring up any of her biological family.

"I've heard many times you all think of each other as family. It's sweet, knowing that this has brought you all so close," Deanna replied.

And tore some of us apart.

"What's the scar above your eyebrow?" Deanna asked looking at Abi's face.

The hospital. When her and Beth tried to escape with Noah. When the police officers held her down on the ground causing her to scrape her face.

"I just- fell down," Abi blanked. Deanna nodded slowly.

"So, how old are you?" Deanna asked wanting to know more about the girl.

Abi's brows creased in thought. How old was she? She didn't know.

"Well- I was twelve when all of this started so- um.. I'm not really sure," she said.

Deanna nodded again. "Well, some of the kids here were around your age when it started. There's another girl - Enid - who is maybe a bit older," Deanna said with that annoying smile of hers. Abi just nodded in return.

"What do you think about the people in your group?" Deanna asked. Abi thought for a moment before replying, "They're strong. We all are. We've survived the road for months. Done stuff we aren't proud. Rick helped us through that. He may not seem it, but he's a good guy." Deanna nodded silently at the girl.

"Is this over?" She asked. It was the most she had spoken in weeks. She hated it. Deanna nodded, standing up and turning off the recording she stuck out her hand. Abi cautiously brought her hand to the woman's and shook it.

"It was nice meeting you Abigail."

Ugh, great.

"You too."

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ABI AND THE REST SOON HANDED IN their guns as everyone was finishing off their interviews. Abi had joined Carl and Rick when Aaron decided to show them the houses. It was two houses that looked good enough to hold the group. Abi hadn't spoken to anyone else apart from her sister or Deanna. She felt she was ready though.

"Both of 'em?" Rick asked as he stood beside his son. "At your disposal," Aaron replied. "I'd call dibs on that one," Aaron said motioning towards one of the houses. "It's got more curb appeal." Abi kept her gaze in front of her, examining the grand houses that were simply being offered to them whilst the men talked. "Listen, I know you're still feeling us out, but I'm glad you came." The two Grimes and the girl kept staring at the buildings in front of them.

"Anyways, Deanna's asked everyone to give you your space, so they aren't all coming at you at once. Take your time. Explore. You need anything. you call me." Abi turned her head back to the man in confusion, her low ponytail moving as she did so.

"I don't- we don't have phones. I- I meant.. I'm four houses down." Aaron said pointing down the road.

"Thank you," Carl replied. Aaron walked off towards his house as the trio walked into the one with the yellow door. As they walked inside Abi picked up the courage to speak, "Can I stay with you guys? Like- when we arrange house plans."

Both the Grimes men turned around in shock at hearing the girl speak. A smile sprung on both of their faces, happy to hear the girl talk after all those months.

Rick let out small smile break into his face as he nodded, "Sure." Abi nodded as they continued looking around. She followed Carl in to the kitchen area. He turned on the tap and water poured from it. Running water.

.

THEY HAD BEEN GIVEN CLOTHES from people in the streets already. Rick had handed Abi a few that might fit her as he went to go get in the shower. There was more than one shower in the place so Carl said Abi could go before him. After thanking him she walked into the bathroom.

She felt her jaw drop at how clean it was. Everything here was clean.

She looked in the mirror. She didn't realise how obvious the scar was above her eyebrow. It had started to become just a different-coloured patch. She brushed her finger over it as she examined her face more. The last proper mirror she came across was at her farm.

She looked very different then. She was only twelve. Now she was probably around fifteen. A teenager. She had started puberty. She knew that when Maggie had to lend her stuff at the prison. During time on the road they would have to use anything they could find.

Slowly, she pulled the hair tie out of her hair, letting her long blonde waves fall down her body. She grabbed the hem of her top, pulling it above her head. She looked at the small bruise on her stomach. She took off her shoes before pulling down her grimy jeans. She removed her small sports bra from her body as well as her underwear.

She turned to the shower as she walked inside, losing the glass door behind her. She turned on the water and gasped at the feeling of the cold water touching her skin.

She stood there for a bit, waiting for it to get warm. As the young girl looked at the floor she could see all of the dirt and blood slowly vanishing from her body and going down the drain. She turned to see shampoo as she grabbed it and put a whole load in her hair, savouring the moment it massaged her scalp. Then she moved onto conditioner, and finally body wash.

As she walked out a grabbed the towel from the side she felt fresh for once. Calm.

She looked at the dirty clothes that lay on the floor, before turning to the new ones. It was a plain yellow shirt, dark blue jeans, a small sports bra, underwear and white socks.

She quickly dried herself off before changing into the clothes. She put on her dirty converse. She picked up her dirty clothes and walked out. She was met with an already clean Carl, who was wearing a clean grey shirt and black jeans.

"Took you long enough," he joked. Abi rolled her eyes. "Your rooms down that way," he said pointing down the hall.

"The one on the right." He added. Abi nodded and began walking that way. She placed her dirty clothes down on the bed. It had a dark purple mattress, wooden frames and lighter purple sheets. There was what looked like to be torn off posters around the room. A dresser was on the left of the bed, a desk in front of it. The door opened on the right of the bed. The floor was carpet. It was nice. Abi walked over to the desk that had a pot of colouring pencils and a sketchbook.

She put her now dryer hair into a low ponytail and moved it over her right shoulder before making her way down stairs. Everyone was admiring the house. She exited and looked around. She took notice of the other house and shared a look with Carl. Rick walked over to the two, Judith in his arms. "You can look but just be quick," he said. Abi smiled as Carl said an okay. They rushed down the stairs and made their way over to the house. Carl opened the door as Carol followed the two inside.

They stepped inside and the two teenagers were star struck. "These are like mansions," Carl spoke. Abi chuckled a bit. Carol and Carl were glad that the girl was finally happier. Abi thought it was good to finally have a place. She wanted to ignore all the bad stuff, just this once.

"Mhm. And they're just giving them away," Carol said Skeptical. "Maybe they're just nice?" Abi tried to reason.

Carol started walking towards the door before turning to the teenagers that were still looking at the house. "You coming?" She asked. "Yeah, in a sec." Carl answered as Abi nodded, looking at the books on the shelves. Carol grabbed a pen and notebook before leaving.

The sound of thumping and wood creaking caught both of the kids attention. They looked to where it was coming from before turning to each other. Carl nodded as they made their way up quietly.

The thumping sound happened again as Carl got out his knife. Abi cursed herself for leaving it back at the old house. Carl grabbed the door knob and aggressively swung it open. They checked around to see nobody. Just a room full of different comics, pillows, blankets and pens. Carl picked up one of the comics before stuffing it into the back pocket of his jeans.

They decided to head back and left the house. Abi was still curious about the girl she saw earlier, but since she didn't want anyone to assume she was crazy, she kept it to herself.

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RICK HAD DECIDED that they'd be staying in the same house for the night, cautious of the fact that they'd be split apart with no weapons. Carl sat next to Abi at the table as they read the comic he had taken together. Whenever he's flip the page to early she'd swat his hand and move the page back.

Michonne walked in, toothbrush in hand and a smile on her face. "How long was I in there for?" Abi looked at the woman and smiled at her. They had gotten close at the prison. Michonne always coming back from runs with comics for her and Carl.

"God, I could not stop brushing," she said. She looked at Rick and took notice on how he had no hair.

"Huh- I've never," she tilted her head to look at him more. "I've never seen your face like that."

"He looks a bit like a hairless cat," Abi spoke up, using the fact she was talking again to her advantage to tease everyone just as she did at the farm and prison. Rick scoffed at her comment, the others laughing as Rick brushed his chin awkwardly.

They started muttering stuff to each other as Abi's eyes returned to the page. A sudden knock at the door made everyone's heads snap up. Rick opened the door to reveal Deanna.

"Rick I- wow." She interrupted herself when she saw Rick. He let out an annoyed, "Hmm."

"I didn't know what was under there," Carl and Abi shared a look as they both shook their heads. "Listen I don't mean to interrupt, I just wanted to stop by and see how you're all settling-" She looked around as she saw everyone sitting together.

"Oh my. Staying together- smart." She nodded.

"No one said we couldn't," Rick replied hand still on the door, almost like he wanted to shut in on her face. "You said you're a family, that's what you said. It's amazing to me that people - with completely different backgrounds and nothing in common - can become that." Her eyes scanned the group, "don't you think."

"Everybody said you gave them jobs," Rick said. Abi knew not to expect to be given a job since she was still a kid, but she did wonder what else she would do.

Deanna nodded at Ricks words as she looked back at the group. "Yeah, part of this place. Looks like the communists won after all," she joked. Abi didn't get it. "Well, you didn't give me one," Rick said.

"I have, I just haven't told you yet." She looked toward Michonne. "Same with Michonne. I'm closing in on something for Sasha. And I'm just trying to figure Mr. Dixon out, but I will."

Deanna looked Rick up and down before saying, "You look good." Abi bit back a laugh as she shared another look with Carl.

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THE GROUP HAD SLEPT ON THE FLOOR in sleeping bags that night, some just grabbing pillows and blankets instead. Rosita had found a nice place on the sofa, but when she saw Abi sleeping with only a blanket on the floor the woman was quick to give up the comfortable spot she had accustomed to. After a small debate, Abi accepted the kind offer and found herself resting peacefully on the furniture.

They had been advised to explore the community, meet a few people. Abi decided to stick with Carl again, since he had Judith. The three were like siblings, Carl and Judith actually being siblings. They walked the streets looking around.

They got stopped by an old couple that wanted to see Judith. They were fascinated by her. Abi guessed they hadn't really seen any babies.

Carl was bouncing Judith as Abi caught eye of Rick talking to a blonde woman as they looked at them. The blonde woman sent a small wave so Abi waved back. This caught Carls attention to as he looked at his father.

It was out of ear shot for Carl and Abi but Jessie asked Rick, "Would it be okay if the two came over now? Ron really wants to meet them."

.

RICK HAD TOLD ABI AND CARL about some boy named Ron, who was around their age. Now they were in his house as he brought them to his room.

"We're almost always here after school, so you can come by any time." Ron said. He was a boy much taller than Abi. Most people were taller than Abi. He had dirty blonde hair that was just a bit shorter than Carl's.

"You go to school?" Carl asked, shocked by the new information. Ron nodded as a smile formed on his face. Abi trailed a bit behind the two. "It's in a garage. Little kid go in the morning and then it's us in the afternoon. Probably you guys too, right"

"Probably," Carl replied as Abi just nodded, feeling uncomfortable around the boy. Just being in the house made her 'spider-sense' go off. She felt the same way at the hospital, just like something was going on that she didn't know about—something bad.

They made it to the open door as Ron walked in a little bit. "Guys, this is Carl and Abi. Abi, Carl this is Mikey and Enid," Ron pointed at the two people. Abi's breath hitched for a second as caught sight of the girl she saw in the window. To be honest, Abi expected it to have been her imagination. Just wanting someone else her age that was a girl around.

The boy - Mikey - stood up. "Hey," he held up his hand in greeting. Enid - the girl from the window - kept her eyes on her comic as she said, "Hi."

Abi couldn't keep her eyes off of Enid as Ron spoke, she was glad that she wasn't going crazy but curious on why the girl was out there. Did anyone expect her even know. "Enid is from outside too, she just came a few months ago." Ron placed a hand on Enid's shoulder, the girl obviously tending underneath his palm.

As Enid looked up, her eyes beginning to meet Ron's before they switched towards Abi, teh two girls licking eye contact as Abi felt her heart sped up. Enid immediately looked down after realising how long the girl's had been staring at each other. Carl took notice of the comic book in the girl's hands and pulled out the one he found yesterday out of his jean pocket. "Oh, um- Is this, yours?" He said waving it around the room.

"Sorry, we didn't know you guys got that house," Ron apologised. "We mostly just hang out there and listen to music," Mikey said. The radio. "That's Enid's."

The girl snatched the comic from his hand and sat it down beside herself . Abi looked around bunglingly, not exactly sure on how to communicate with teenagers other than the also awkward boy on her left. Silence filled their bodies as the group didn't know what to say.

"Want to play some video games?" Ron offered as he walked towards Mikey, standing beside the boy as he pointed his thumb towards him. "Or Mikey's house has a pool table, but his dad's kind of strict about it."

"It's okay. He's at work," Mikey shrugged before going to sit back down.

"Um.." Carl said looking down. Abi kept her eyes wondering around the room hoping words to say would magically appear. It was too much. Just a few months ago she was watching her sisters brains get blown out and now she had the choice of playing video games? She felt her breathing get quicker as Carl searched for an answer.

"Sorry, I guess we come on kind of strong," Ron apologised. "We can just hang out."

"We don't even have to talk if you guys don't want to." Mikey reassured. "Yeah," Ron agreed. "Took Enid three weeks to say something." Abi's eyes drifted back to the window girl who—again—looked away as she said, "Pull it together, sport."

Carl finally spoke up, "Let's um- let's play some video games," he walked forward as Abi's mind raced for something to do. She felt a cold touch on her arm as she turned to see Enid poking her with a comic book, she gestured it towards her as Abi gulped and politely took it from her. Enid climbed to the other side of the bed she was on and Abi awkwardly sat next to her.

She didn't know why, but every now and then she'd look at Enid, or Enid's comic.

Luckily, she would know why very soon.

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author notes-
FIRST CHAPTERR!!!

i kinda gave up on rewriting, why was it so bad.

Also Carl and Abi are EXTREMELY platonic. As well as Carl and Enid. Any other relationships between the teens that aren't family I cannot say the same.

This book is primarily going to be based on Abi's interactions with Enid, so she'll mainly be where Enid is in the seasons but sometimes I'll show her relationship with others.

Anyways
Byee </3