The Place That Remains

As soon as the truck had come to a complete stop, Maggie jumped out of the passenger door and scanned the yard for her father. He was sitting in a rocking chair on the porch and when she saw him, she waved her arms. "Dad! Dad, come here!"

Apparently, everyone who had been around had heard her and thought that something was wrong because they all came running. Glenn was grabbing bags out of the back and they all could clearly see a third person inside the cab.

One of the men in the group immediately stalked up to the car, looking between the two of them. "What do you two think you're doing?" he asked in a low, threatening tone. "Bringing some stranger in here!"

Delaney finally crawled out of the back seat after hearing this strange man bitch at them for bringing her to the farm, when clearly he had no reason or right to be. The entire group turned to look at her as she pulled her backpack onto her shoulders, but they all stayed completely silent. Maggie's father Hershel reached the group then and as his eyes landed on their newest guest, his wide eyes flooded with tears.

"Lookin' pretty good, Hershey," she said softly, using the nickname she'd given the old man when she was just a child.

The rest of the people surrounding them exchanged confused looks as the old man pulled her to him and hugged her tightly. "It's really you. I can't believe you're here! Here, let me get a good look at you," he told her, pulling her back by her shoulders.

She grinned at him while he just shook his head. "You look good, kid. A little too skinny though. Have you been eating?"

She shrugged. "I've been getting by."

"How in the hell did you make it all the way here?"

She'd been asking herself that same question over and over since she'd ran into Glenn and Maggie at the store. She sighed, looking over at her cousin, who just grinned in return. "Mostly luck," she answered honestly.

"I'm sure that's not true. You were always so smart. Just like your mother."

Delaney's smile faltered at the mention of her mother but she just nodded and quickly changed the subject. "So, you got some kinda camp set up around here, huh? Place still looks good, old man." She had spent every summer there on the farm when she was growing up and standing in the front yard looking around at the old house and the barn brought a wave of nostalgia for her.

"I try," he replied, chuckling. The man who had fussed at Glenn and Maggie cleared his throat as he crossed his arms over his chest, looking at Hershel expectantly. "Oh right, sorry." He threw his arm around her and looked to the group. "Everyone, this is my niece, Delaney."

"Niece?"

"Sister's only daughter. Came all the way from Charlotte!"

"How'd you manage that?" the leader asked, stepping forward to shake her hand. "I'm Rick."

"It wasn't easy. And nice to meet you, Rick."

The rest of the group greeted her and her uncle grabbed her by the shoulders again, turning her to face him. "What do ya say we go on in the house and catch up a bit?"

"Actually, I was kinda hoping for that shower Maggie promised first."

"Oh! Yes, of course, of course! Go on into the house. Maggie'll show you where everything is. You come find me when you're done."

Delaney stood on her tip toes to place a kiss on the old man's cheek. "Thanks, Uncle Hershey. It's nice meeting all of you," she said to the rest of the group, before turning on her heel to follow her cousin into the house.

Maggie showed her where everything was then left her alone to take the first proper shower she'd had in weeks. Sure, she had been able to clean up a bit in creeks that she came across, but she hadn't seen a working shower in a long time. She pulled on some of the new clothes that she'd gotten at the store earlier before lacing up the boots and running a brush through her damp hair.

When she made it back downstairs, two women she didn't know, along with a young blonde she did, were in the kitchen preparing food. "Hey, Bethy," she called from the doorway.

All three of them turned to look at her and the youngest grinned widely, dropping the spoon she was stirring with and lunging for her cousin, throwing her arms tightly around her middle. "I'm so glad you're here!"

"Me too, kid. It was gettin' pretty lonely out there. Lucky I ran into Glenn and Maggie at just the right time."

Beth gave the older woman a sympathetic look. "I guess that means Jake-.....I'm sorry, De."

"Mom and Seth too. But at least I found you guys," she added, attempting to lighten the mood.

Beth smiled. "Yeah. I'm so glad you did." After a moment of silence, Beth turned back to the other two people in the kitchen. "Oh! Sorry, De, that's Carol and that's Lori."

"Nice to meet you both."

"Lori is Rick's wife," Beth informed her.

Lori set down the knife she was using and smiled apologetically. "Yeah, I'm sorry about him. He's just a little stressed out these days."

"Understandable," she shrugged.

"Want to help us make dinner?" Beth asked hopefully.

Delaney smiled and nodded as she went over to the counter to help cut up the tomatoes that had come from Hershel's garden. Cooking was just another chore before the world went to shit. Now it was something special that she hadn't been able to do in months. She'd survived mostly on eating straight from a can, having no way to even heat things up. A fire would have only attracted the walkers.

Once the food was ready, they all gathered around in a circle outside to eat, except for one of the men, Dale, who was being the lookout. It was just beginning to get dark when Delaney sat down in the grass next to Maggie to eat her first hot meal in months.

"Where's Daryl?" Beth asked her father as she handed him a plate.

"Still out there, I guess. Someone shoulda went with him."

"I hope he's okay," Carol muttered, obviously worried.

This Daryl character was the only one of the group that she hadn't met yet, and so far she really liked everyone, with the exception of the man named Shane. He had a scowl on his face ever since she'd arrived and he seemed like he was up to something.

She silently ate her food as she listened to the conversations of the others. "This is so damn good," Maggie mumbled, shoving a forkful into her mouth.

Delaney agreed. "These kinds of potatoes are Jake's fav-"

Her eyes widened when she realized the words that were coming out of her mouth and she instantly cut herself off. Maggie, Hershel, and Lori had all heard the way she'd spoken as if Jake were still living and were now giving her sympathetic looks. Her chest began to ache and she stood to her feet, mumbling an apology as she quickly headed into the darkness, away from the group. She found a large dead stump just inside the tree line and she plopped down onto it, sighing as she ran her fingers through her dark hair.

She tried to catch her breath and she felt like a child for having reacted in such a way in the first place. Jake was gone and he had been for three fucking weeks but she couldn't even say his name without having a panic attack. It made her feel weak.

"Who the fuck are you?" a gruff voice called out from her immediate left. Her head snapped up to look at the man who had walked right up to her in complete silence without her hearing or noticing him, all her previous thoughts floating away from her head the minute her eyes connected with his.

"Who are you?" she countered.

The man stared hard at her for a few moments, shifting the crossbow resting on his shoulder. "You gonna tell me or not?" he asked, ignoring her inital response.

"No. You gonna tell me?"

"No."

"Then I get we're at an impasse."

"Guess so," he replied, taking a seat next to her on the stump. She wasn't sure what the hell he was up to, but she knew he must be the man that her cousin had spoken about while they were eating so she wasn't worried about her safety with him.

That seemed to frustrate him. He'd been camped out on this farm with his group for some time now and now there was a strange woman suddenly there, acting like she was entitled to be there asking him questions. "Ain't you scared of some strange man comin' up on you like this?" he asked incredulously.

A small smirk played on her lips, knowing that her attitude was getting to him. "I'm not scared of you."

He leaned forward slightly and produced a smirk of his own, now that their faces were only inches apart. "You should be."

She shook her head but the smirk never left her face. "We should get back to camp, Daryl. They're worried about you." Without another word, she stood up from the stump and walked back to the group, leaving him utterly bewildered.