#Mini Bread Bowls

[darknightwolves]

Homemade Chilli Cheese Bowls Recipe

This is gonna be two separate recipes into one, one for the mini bread bowls, one for the chilli. I’ll be putting the bread bowl recipe first since it’ll need to be made long before the chilli then of course I’ll be putting the chilli recipe next. And of course, being a vegetarian dating a meat-eater, I’ll also make a blog post later on for a vegetarian chilli recipe, which is literally all the…

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#10/10 #Book #Books #Bowls #Bread #Bread Bowls #Butter #Cheese #Chef #Chili #Chilli #Cook #Cook Book #Cooking #Cozy #Homemade #Hot #Mini #Mini Bread Bowls #Recipe #Spicy #Tasty #Update #Warm

[morhath]

hmm I want some kind of nice little baked good but crucially I do NOT want to have to clean any dishes while I am waiting for a new dishwasher

#might get a bowl or two dirty anyway and make some mini bread puddings with this last bit of sourdough #life #food #baking

[savventeen]

me, realizing i just burned my mini pies:

cooking like a chef i’m a no-star michelin :(((((((

#IDK WHAT I DID WRONG THIS TIME #maybe my mom’s oven is just a lot more powerful than mine shdjdkfjjfjf #at least the filling is still good #people can treat them like mini bread bowls lol #savv speaks

[kaptain-k-pop]

I think I alienated my family by referring to my mouth as my 'bread-hole'

It's not that weird!!! If you can call it your piehole what's wrong with breadhole?!

Bread and I have a special connection <3

Sorry the rest of you are so judgemental and you don't Get It 🙄

#i'm not the wrong one they are #plz ignore me i've been drinking <3 #just had a big bowl of gorgonzola ale soup and 2.5 Big Thicc slices of beer bread and a tall strong cider #(plus some little mini sippys of a couple different whiskeys at a distillery we stopped at on the way #and half a wine tasting which i split with my mom) #time to go back to the hotel and fall asleep at 10 pm <3 #hashtag family roadtrip <3 #kjersten overshares #kjersten talks too much #anyway tl;dr; Bread is love. Bread is Life. Bread is Special. Bread Understands. <3

[miss-floral-thief]

Oh rice is yellow that’s unexpected

#personalice #maybe that’s the kind they use in their kimchi bowls #tho I feel like I had one bowl forever ago with an egg and it wasn’t a diff color #I guess it doesn’t matter too much lol #at least I have a semi reliable side if their fry? bread isn’t good #tho idk why they wouldn’t just do a regular French/Viet mini baguette like their last steak option #but either way unless it’s amazing I’ll #prolly try the wrap next time or stick to my usual chicken or waffle nugget order lol #they do have crepes too but unless I rly want a crepe I wouldn’t go outta my way #tho maybe a mini/half size that’s also half the price would be good #I wish they’re bring back the steamed/fried buns tho

[sarahscribblesinitalian]

Cuban Mini Melts These tiny Cuban sandwiches filled with ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles will impress your Super Bowl® guests.

#super bowl #sandwiches #sandwich bread #oven #cuban mini #mustard

[xxivkay]

Cuban Mini Melts Delight your Super Bowl guests with these miniature Cuban sandwiches, filled with ham, Swiss cheese, mustard, and pickles.

#cuban mini #sandwich bread #cuban #sandwiches #guests #mustard #super bowl

[recapitulation]

meal ideas!

low energy ("do not ask me to do any prep work at all, so help me god")

mozzerella cheese wrapped in pepperoni ("pizza tacos"!)

hummus and pretzels or naan (putting the naan in the microwave for like 10 seconds...heavenly)

canned chili (with shredded cheese and sour cream if you have it! boom done!)

instant miso soup (warm and lovely! put tofu in it for protein!)

cheese and cured meat, olives, canned fish, crackers, dried fruit, or whatever easy "charcuterie" type items you like

alternate bites of apple and spoonfulls of peanut butter (mixing honey or chocolate chips to the peanut butter is my favorite)

a "deconstructed sandwich": bites of lunch meat, pickles, cheese, cherry tomato, etc (I love roast beef and white cheddar for this)

yogurt and granola or fruit

put frozen potstickers + frozen edamame in the steamer/rice cooker, chill elsewhere with a timer set, then boom

tortilla chips + canned refried beans + cherry tomatoes + cilantro + jarred salsa con queso (or warm shredded cheese on top of the chips in the microwave for 30 seconds)

bagel + cream cheese + lox

microwave scrambled eggs (add things like green onion, soy sauce, or anything else you like!)

cottage cheese and fruit (mixed together or just on the side)

bowl of shredded rotisserie chicken + buffalo sauce + a bit of mayo + green onion (use a kitchen scissors to cut them right in!)

medium energy ("I'll boil water but don't ask me to chop shit")

boiled eggs and fresh veggies (put a little salt on top of the eggs!)

buttered noodles (my go-to nausea meal, it has never failed me. ideas of things to add: frozen peas, imitation crab, roasted garlic)

baked potato with toppings (I like cheese, bacon, broccoli, green onion, and sour cream)

quesadilla (add some canned beans, cilantro, or avocado!)

pot roast (requires a lot of time but not a lot of actual work. I love it with peas!)

cuban sandwich (bread, swiss, pickle, mustard, ham... my favorite thing to panini-ify by far)

pan-fried tofu with scallion sauce (this sauce goes well with everything and tofu is no exception)

pancakes or waffles! (I love mine with jam)

ham, pickle, and cream cheese roll-ups

fried eggs (with toast and lots of butter...so comforting)

fruit smoothie (bananas, frozen strawberries, yogurt...or whatever!)

I hate salad but could write essays on this copycat olive garden salad (throw it in a bowl! chopping required if you use onion)

spaghetti (controversial maybe but angel hair > spaghetti noodles)

pasta salad (olives broccoli fresh mozerella... those little mini pepperonis... yeah)

stir-fried thai garlic shrimp (I like using the mini frozen salad shrimps, it's easy! use jarred minced garlic to avoid chopping!)

tuna mayo onigiri

slow cooker ribs

buffalo chicken wrap (or any number of other wrap options! shred pre-cooked rotisserie chicken to make it easier)

if your local grocery store sells pre-cooked gyro strips, that can turn into an easy wrap with store-bought pita & tzatziki with tomatoes and onions!

couscous and chickpeas

tortellini + pasta sauce + spinach

high energy ("I don't mind chopping some things up!")

stuffed shells with spinach

chicken and roasted garlic (oh my god.....one of my all time favorites)

beef tacos (I like mine with cilantro and onion, and when I'm feeling especially high energy I love a tomatillo salsa)

chicken alfredo

tom kha gai (a thai soup and my absolute favorite! you just need access to galangal)

lasagna! (freezes well and then boom! low energy meal for later)

pad thai! (not as hard as you'd think, as long as you have access to tamarind paste!)

potstickers! (this is a lovely group activity if you want to cook with housemates!)

rice and beans

bang bang shrimp (ogughfhgfuh I love it. you can also do bang bang tofu!)

minestrone soup (so many nice veggies!)

fried rice (put whatever you have on hand in there! broccoli, peas, carrot, and beef is my favorite combo)

broccoli cheddar soup

spring rolls and peanut sauce

skewers (such as beef, onion, zucchini, bell pepper... you don't need a grill, oven works!)

roasted turkey with garlic parmesean asparagus

pork chop with mashed potatoes

panang curry

chicken gnocchi soup (use store bought gnocchi or make your own if you have a high energy day!)

bibimbap (super customizable depending on what veggies you like best)

butter chicken

plus! things that have helped me meal plan:

whenever you think of a meal you'd like to make, take 3 seconds to google search it, take a screenshot of the image results, and put it in a "food ideas" folder. instant visual menu!

the concept of "meal prepping" makes me recoil but I've learned that it can simply mean preparing shredded chicken, boiled eggs, or some other simple protein that you can customize throughout the week. shredded chicken can turn into wraps, salads, pasta dishes, etc... you don't have to meal prep yourself into the same meal all week!

when I have difficulty working up an appetite, I'll scroll through my favorite restaurant menus! there might be some foods I can't make at home, but many times they're very simple to recreate because the ingredients are literally listed!

#brought to you by: i see people complaining about coming up with meals for the week #and im like..this is my favorite thing to do........let me be your meal brainstormer #additionally brought to you by: eating something is better than nothing so some of these may not be complete textbook 'meals' #but sometimes you feel like shit and just need something! so! #also this energy scale is tailored to me personally so if some categorizations dont make sense to you thats bc its about me <3 #food #i might update this with dessert ideas too later. or just add to it in general

[mechtasims]

Hey loves! Here's a cute set to go with your kitchens. I hope you enjoy and as always, let me know if you run into any issues. ^-^

Butter Dish | 8 Swatches | 5.8K Polys Egg Bowl | 8 Swatches | 4.9K Polys Flour Bowl | 8 Swatches | 3.2K Polys Heart Pie | 6 Swatches | 6.2K Polys Island | 8 Swatches | 1K Polys | 146 Slots Kettle | 6 Swatches | 5.9K Polys Mini Cakes | 6 Swatches | 8.3K Polys Pot Holder | 20 Swatches | 4.6K Polys | 1 Slot Stand Mixer | 8 Swatches | 11K Polys Heart Bread | 1 Swatch | 2.4K Polys

Download [Patreon - Early Access]

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[harrywavycurly]

Sarahhh that thing with Eddie hearing you talk to someone on the phone can you do it where he hears you talking about him in bed please!!!!!🫠💕

Hiiiii babes!! I’m laughing because I have like 3 other asks about this in my inbox and I honestly didn’t even think of doing this so of course I’ll do it for y’all! I hope you enjoy this😂💖

TW: lots of sex talk, mentions of oral and choking

*Eddie thought he’d surprise you with lunch but turns out he’s the one getting surprised*

“No he’s never done that.” You answer as you get comfortable on the couch after you prop your phone against your bottle of water on the coffee table. You’re currently in the middle of a catch up session with one of your oldest friends, you’ve been on FaceTime with her for the last hour and now as usual the conversation has moved on to talking about your relationship with Eddie. “He doesn’t really like a lot of PDA.” You add as you take a few pieces of popcorn from the bowl that’s sitting in your lap as you watch your friend make lunch through the phone.

“He doesn’t like it? Why?” She asks as she puts two pieces of bread in the toaster. You just shrug as you eat another handful of popcorn. “Has he ever choked you in the middle of it?” You nearly spit out the half chewed popcorn in your mouth making your friend laugh as she wiggles her eyebrows at you.

“You went from asking if he grabs my ass in the mini mart to now asking if he just randomly chokes me in the middle of having sex?” You confirm just to make sure you actually heard her ask what you think you did. She just laughs and nods as she begins making herself a sandwich. “I mean no he doesn’t just choke me all willy nilly it’s usually a…sort of vibe that’s known from the beginning that it’s gonna be one of those kinda nights.” You explain as you reach for your cup of juice from the coffee table.

“Ohhhh I see so you two are kinda freaky huh? Love that for you.” You just roll your eyes as you take a sip from your cup. “How often is he giving it to you?” She asks before taking a bite out of her sandwich, you purse your lips and raise an eyebrow as you put the cup back on the table.

“I mean you’re going to have to be more specific.” You watch her give you some playful side eye as she takes another bite out of her sandwich. “Do you mean how often do we have sex in general or how often do we have a quickie…or how often am I getting bent over and sent to pound town?” You can’t even finish your sentence before she’s laughing and covering her face because you know she hates the expression of pound town.

Eddie feels his cheeks get red and he wants to die on the spot, he knows he should’ve let his presence be known the moment he entered the house though the back door but he didn’t want to disturb you. But now he’s very much wishing he did as he can’t help but overhear your very personal conversation with your friend. To think all he wanted to do was surprise you with lunch from Benny’s since he managed to get off work early.

“Jesus you have categories? Well okay the how often are you two having quickies and where are these quickies taking place?” You can’t help but smile as a memory of you and Eddie in the back of his van creeps into your mind.

“I mean like once a week sometimes? The man drives a van…it’s like made for quickies he even has a pillow and blanket back there because he knows I refuse to just lay down on his gross ass carpeted floorboard.” Eddie runs a hand over his face as you talk and explain that he drives a damn shaggin waggin.

“Once a week isn’t bad…that’s about the same amount of times I can convince Tyler to go down on me.” You make a gross face at the mention of her current hookup buddy.

“You shouldn’t have to convince him to go down on you…Eddie is perfectly content with having his face between my thighs all night…once he even fell asleep down there.” You watch her eyes go wide as she shoves another bite of sandwich into her moth. “I mean after I finished of course…he’s a gentleman.” You add making her just laugh and nod her head in agreement, Eddie is a total gentleman.

“Does he do that fancy tongue and finger combination thing?” She asks and Eddie swears his face is the same shade as a tomato as he lets out a silent groan and runs his hands through his hair.

“He does oh and sometimes he does this thing with his pinky where-” before you can finish your sentence you heard something that sounds like a door slam making you jump a bit.

“Hey baby!” You hear Eddie’s voice coming from the kitchen making you smile as you look over the back of the couch. “I’m home and brought you lunch.” He shouts as you grab your phone and head into the kitchen after putting the bowl of popcorn on the coffee table.

“I’ll call you back later.” Your friend just smiles and nods before both of you say goodbye and hang up. You slide your phone into your back pocket and grin when you see Eddie standing there with a bag that says Benny’s on it. “Oh you’re just the best.” Eddie just laughs and shakes his head as he places the bag on the dinning table.

“You know me…always a gentleman.”

#eddie munson request #eddie munson scenario #eddie munson imagine #eddie munson au #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson x you #eddie munson x fem!reader fluff #eddie munson x fem!reader #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson x y/n #eddie munson x you fluff #eddie munson blurb #eddie munson fanfiction #eddie munson #my little dungeon master baby #tw choking

[relentlessly-tired]

Reasons for me to get skinny/rewards/plans+anti binge.

To motivate/trigger myself :)

REASONS:

To look good in all clothes

Abs

Skinny legs

Smaller boobs

Pretty face

For my (gymbro) boyfriend

To be carried easily

Bikini's in summer

Confidence

To look better than the other girls

To be happy

To be more comfortable running/working out in public

To be seen as "small" and "petite"

To be as skinny as my sister

GOALS/REWARDS:

55kg: Hair and skincare stuff

52kg: bikini

50kg: septum peircing

48kg: new clothes

PLAN:

Workout:

Do some form of intense enough cardio everyday e.g. running, cycling, stairmaster.

Keep steps up AS WELL as cardio, minimum 10k, but aim for 15k

Bodyweight workout every-push ups, planks, pull up progressions

Weight training in the gym 2-3 times weekly

NEVER eat school lunch

Avoid eating out

MEAL PREP!! (Chickpea salads, chicken breast, soup, porridge, cut up carrots, etc.)

DRINK A SHIT TON OF WATER (when I wake up, before eating, during eating, after)

Big cup of tea every after school and then after dinner.

Utilise coffee, gum, mints

No fizzy drinks

Diet:

NEVER finish dinner

NEVER eat anything after dinner

NO SWEETS OR JUNK FOOD UNLESS PLANNED IN ADVANCE (only junk acceptable is a) pastries from bakery or b) chocolate on occasion.

AVOID bread, pasta, noodles etc.

Eat breakfast and eat throughout the day TINY small portions.

OMAD on occasion

DO NOT BINGE AT ALL EVER

FOODS TO PRIORITIZE:

yogurt- especially the protein kind. Good if craving something sweet.

fruit- avoid bananas (binge food)

Vegetables- carrots as snacks, incorporate other veg throughout day e.g. salads

eggs- specifically boiled

lean meats

MEAL IDEAS:

Breakfast:

Protein yogurt (may add sprinkle of cereal and fruit if extra hungry)

Boiled eggs

Carrots and hummus

Fruit

Little bowl of cereal

Fruit smoothie

Porridge

Lunch:

Chickpea salad

Boiled eggs

Carrots and hummus

Protein yogurt

Fruit

Smoothie

Boiled veg and chicken

Snacks:

Carrots

Yogurt

Fruit- apples, oranges, berries specifically

Ham slices

Chicken slices

Mini mini bowl of cereal

DO NOT BINGE:

Think about everything. Think about how unhappy you are with your life. Think about how long you've been doing the same old shut for? Don't you want it to be over? Don't you want to finally get what you want and be happy? Don't you want to finally be able to move on? Think about how long ago you could've gotten there if you hadn't binged all those times?

Think about where you could be so soon if you just stick to it, for a short while. Food is always there. Food is around you all the time in abundance. You ALWAYS have the choice to eat. So CHOOSE not to.

Don't make excuses. NEVER make excuses. There are no reasons that you binge other than the fact you want to. You are in control. You are always in control. Every time you binge, that is your choice. Your doing. Every time you reach for that bread, you could just as easily remove yourself from the situation. Walk away.

Hunger is only temporary. You will always get to eat again. Remember your reasons. Think about your future. Think about your rewards. Not binging will always be worth it.

You have the ability to be skinny and lose the weight so do it! I know you can!!

Hw: 68kg

Sw April 2024: 60kg

Cw may 2024: 57kg

#ed dairy #ed rant #tw 3d vent #an@rexi@ #ed relapse #i wanna lose weight #light as a feather #pro for me not for thee #i wanna be tiny #⭐️ve

[deathbecomesthem]

Roomies 4 +18 ONLY

Eddie Munson x Best Friend Reader | 2.2K - Previous Part

*This series will/does contain smut, angst, and fluff. Each chapter will have its own warnings for any potential triggering contents.

This chapter contains some angsty feelings. The aftermath of some interesting choices between best friends.

---

The alarm is unnecessary. You didn’t sleep. You laid in this bed and let the dread build. At 3:28 in the morning, you put your vibrator back in its spot in the top drawer of your bedside table. It just laid next to you for hours, as if acknowledging it meant you had to acknowledge the fact that you and Eddie… what exactly? You don’t even know. It’s Eddie.

It doesn’t matter right now, because that alarm means you have to get up and take a shower. It means you have to get to the coffee shop and start the mundane tasks involved in over-caffeinating the general college town population. It means you can sneak out of this tiny, two-bedroom apartment before Eddie even wakes up. Thank god for the opening shift.

Except that you hear the distinct sound of the door next to your own open at exactly the same moment yours creaks open. Time stands still, both of you stare at each other like deer caught in headlights. Neither fight nor flight, only freeze. And then you realize you’re dressed in a too small bath towel and nothing else. 

“Oh shit, I’m sorry,” you crouch a little, trying to get more coverage from the faded blue terry cloth rectangle you have wrapped around your center, “I thought you’d be sleeping. I’m sorry.”

Eddie averts his eyes after making a clean sweep from your head to your toes, and sighs, “shit, I’m sorry. I just need to take a leak. Uh, can I do that before you get in there?” Eddie’s eyes are focused on a small water spot on the ceiling waiting for your answer. The nightlight in the hallway outlet is the only illumination, but plenty to see the way the apples of his cheeks are turning tomato red.

“Yeah, I’ll wait in here,” you rush back to your room and close the door a little too hard and cringe away from it. The time spent sitting cold and naked on the edge of your bed is plenty to consider the regrets. Eddie’s seen you in your bikini, which leaves less to the imagination than the towel, but things are different.

“All clear. Have fun!” Eddie’s voice calls through the door at you, and you can imagine the grimace on his face at his own words. “Sorry, I’m just gonna go back to bed now.” You wait in your spot until you hear his heavy footsteps move past your door, and the sound of his door closing. 

What the fuck did I do. I ruined everything, that’s what I did. This is the first time you think this today, but it will be the mantra that echoes in your mind over and over. What the fuck did I do?

—

Dry skim milk cappuccino, breve latte, dirty chai, black eye. The drinks don’t stop coming for hours, and you're happy to  shut off your mind while you make the espresso machine perform for you. You ignore the way your hands tremble, over caffeinated and under rested, they still move and answer your requests without fail. Muscle memory, what a gift.

“You taking your break?” Megan points to the clock behind your head. You’ve been standing at the barista station for 4 hours, and you’ve only got 2 left for the day. You consider pushing through to the end, but can already hear your manager’s voice reprimanding you when she looks at your timecard.

“Yeah, I’ll be back in 30.” You wipe the frothing wand and rinse out the portafilters before heading to the food station for a bowl of chicken soup and a half of a stale mini baguette. Whole wheat and hard as a rock. The table in the corner is empty, so you make a bee line, grabbing a discarded campus newspaper on your way. 

You tick down stray answers in the crossword while dipping, letting the bread soak up the broth from your soup when the next page catches your eye. The classifieds. Apartment rentals. It can’t hurt to look, you think. You’d never leave Eddie in a lurch, but what if you could find something next month, let him find someone to replace you. He’d be better off anyway. He’s too sweet to say it, but it’s true.

You ignore the small voice in the back of your mind that’s yelling, this is what you always do. You run away and miss out on good things because you get scared. But you’re not just scared, you’re humiliated. A part of you thought that your little display last night would end with Eddie in your bed. That he’d know instinctively that you want him, and he’d answer your call without you having to actually say anything. 

Stupid, stupid, stupid child. 

Looking for a female roommate, no pets, 3 bedroom apartment, $175/month. You circle that one. Close to campus, nonsmoking, one bedroom unit, $250/month. A little out of your price range, but you circle it anyway. 

By the end of your lunch break you’ve got 6 leads on available apartments, a half eaten soggy baguette, and a bottomless pit of regret in your stomach. 

—

Eddie slept, but was plagued with dreams of your smiling face. That’s all that he can remember - your face accompanied by a deep longing to reach out and touch your skin. He never could, he just kept seeing and wanting, but never reaching. When he woke up for work at 11:00 in the morning, you were sitting in that corner booth at the coffee shop looking for apartments. It would break his heart to know that. 

But he doesn’t know that. He knows that he fucked up last night, even if it’s not clear how. Or why. Or what happened. If something happened. Did something happen, or did he just imagine it? Fuck this fucking noise. His mind is too busy, and it’s not saying anything that makes sense. He wants to sit down and talk with his best friend about it. Let them help make sense of things. He wants to sit with you, his head resting in your lap while you run your fingers through his hair, and tell him he’s thinking about it all wrong. He’s overthinking. It’s not as bad as he thinks.

The fact that he can’t talk to you right now means it is that bad, but he it’s useless to wallow. His work shift at the bar located beneath the hardwood floorboards of your shared apartment ends early. He’s going in before opening to do some handyman work in the bathrooms, and the prep work for the evening crew. He takes the opportunity to not work until 3:00 a.m. whenever he can, especially when Marty offers to pay him cash under the table for his troubles. It also means he can go to the good grocery store, the one that isn’t the shitty 24 hour foodmart that’s the only open joint in the tri county area at 3:30 in the morning. The peanut butter is low, and he wants to grab a can of Maxwell House - a part of him thinks he insists on keeping it in the house just to get under your skin. No Kenya AA or Brazilian Peaberry for Eddie Munson.

So, he does his work and lets his mind leave him for the hours he snakes, caulks, screws, scrubs, chops, and peels. He works in the peaceful silence of the still slumbering college town bar, and walks out several hours later with a handful of cash and grease jammed under his fingernails. The echo of your voice saying his name, Eddie!, at the height of your pleasure the night before only made his feet stumble a few times. He can let it get quieter and quieter. He can let himself forget it. What he can’t do is let one night of stupid behavior ruin something the two of you have spent over a decade building. Pussy comes, and pussy goes - but you are forever.

Pussy comes and pussy goes. He thinks again to himself. He ignores what that small voice in his head adds, but what he wouldn’t give to be able to touch you and make you his.

—

You finally come home at 5:00. It’s much later than you should be going back to the apartment. You spent the interim hours wandering the streets of downtown looking for any “For Rent” signs displayed in apartment windows. You wasted time in the used book store, running your fingers along the spines of the Science Fiction paperbacks. You sat in the arm chair in the back of the shop and looked at the battered collection of Baby-Sitter’s Club books while your eyes grew heavy. And then you decided that the only thing left to do was face the music. Of all days for Eddie to not be closing down the bar.

Eddie’s in the shower. When you open the door to the apartment, you can hear the faint sound of water running from behind the closed bathroom door. A vision of wet curls and rivulets of water running down sharp shoulder blades invades your mind for a split second, but you will it away with a sharp shake of your head. You’re tired, and you think you might be able to get away with a long evening nap that can turn into a night spent alone in your bedroom without any complaints from Eddie. Maybe. 

You spot the note as you’re hanging up your purse. It sits on the small kitchen table, red ink impossible for you to miss, in that scrawling chicken scratch that’s so familiar. 

Not sure when you’ll be home, and if I’ll be around. I ran to the grocery store earlier. I got that wine you like and grabbed a couple of cannoli. You can have 2 of them. Just 2. I swear to god, if you eat my cannoli, I will hunt you down. There’s some de-icer on the counter, since you’re incapable of getting it yourself. I grabbed your library loans while I was out. We can grab some dinner tonight if you’re up for it. 

-E

You stand holding the paper in your hand for a long time. You don’t know how long. You see the bottle of Malbec sitting on the far end of the counter next to a yellow spray bottle of de-icer. You don’t notice that the sound of the water coming from behind the bathroom door has stopped. You’re lost. Overwhelmed. You think about the time you spent furiously looking for an apartment. You think about how badly you wanted to run away - from what? From this? From Eddie? How could you ever want to run from him?

You’re still staring at his sloppily written words while you drift down the hallway. You don’t even hear the sound of the bathroom door open. When you glance up, you see Eddie. The man that bought you treats today. The man that has stepped between you and flying fists. The man that offered you a home when you didn’t have one. 

In the 5 seconds you look at him, your eyes see more than should be possible. His wet curls cling to his shoulders, drops of water traveling from their tips down his chest. Black ink and splatterings of freckles and moles. The towel, too small - just like your own - sits low enough on his hips that your eyes can travel along his happy trail and into that meadow of abundant wiry hair peeking out. His feet, long and flat, stay planted in their spot. He waits for you to look away, but his eyes stay fixed to your face. His chest does not flush, he does not attempt to hide himself.

When your eyes finally flick to the wall, Eddie makes his way towards you. You’re frozen in your spot, but your mind is racing. He’s going to come to me. He’s going to let me touch him. You think about kissing his chest, letting your tongue catch the stray drops of water left behind by the showerhead. But Eddie moves beside you, he passes you by. You can smell Irish Spring and tap water. Your shaking hand reaches for the door handle. 

“So, what do you think? Dinner?” Eddie’s standing at his door, a wide smile on his face. Your favorite smile. “Unless you’ve got a hot date or something?” He twists the knob, but doesn’t move to go into his room, waiting for your answer.

Nothing is the same, but everything is the same. From here on out, the only way this will work is utilizing double-thought. Letting two things be true at one time. Eddie is your best friend. Eddie is a man that your whole body aches for. These are two true things that matter, but one of those truths can only exist in the darkness of your bedroom. One of those things can only be acknowledged when you’re alone for fear of ruining the most important thing in your life.

“Sure, Ed. Chinese and cannoli. Roll a couple of joints.”

#eddie munson fanfic #eddie munson x reader #eddie munson smut #eddie munson #eddie munson x you #eddie munson fluff #eddie munson angst #eddie munson imagine

[cripple-punk-dad]

Dumpster Diving (In the U.S!) 101

Alright so here's the skinny:

People throw away perfectly good shit all the time. They throw away food, electronics, clothing, stuffed animals, blankets, literally anything you can think of. I have gotten: four pairs of perfectly good work/cargo pants, a sealed loaf of expensive cinnamon brioche bread one (1) day past the best by date, a whole ass bike without the tires (I kept the chain for Purposes), an entire $1 bill that was slightly ripped, multiple overflowing bags of designer clothing that were in perfect condition, a large ceramic bowl (unbroken), two cat leashes, a red beanie, two pairs of sweatpants, a full bottle of SHOUT detergent, a full bottle of Tide detergent, three little stuffed animals, a half full bottle of sunscreen, a RayBan sunglasses case, two pillow cases, a mini blender (working), two unopened eyeliner sticks, and two different kinds of makeup remover. In the last month.

"But, Tony," I can hear you saying, "Isn't that stealing? Isn't that illegal?"

My answer? No! It is not illegal in the United States to dumpster dive! It is, however, illegal to trespass on clearly marked or clearly assumed private property. So, if a dumpster is behind a fence, or marked as private property, then you are risking a visit from the cops if you decide to dive there. There are also different laws and ordinances in different states and even cities, so definitely do your research before you go end over end into your nearest dumpster.

#punk #punk culture #dumpster diving #diy or die

[gingerjolover]

masterlist :')

requests are currently CLOSED (asks are always open to submit ideas but will go to the bottom of the list🫶🏻)

while some of my writing is PG/PG-13, this blog contains content unsuitable for minors. 18+ only, minors gtfo!

**-** smut

who I write for!

Lucy Dacus

Unspoken - Lucy and crew!reader don't have to say it but they're in looooove

Warm Like the Breeze - Lucy and her gf cuddle on a daybed before tour

Sweet Angel - Lucy's gf has chronic pain, so she wears many different hats - nurse, dog mom, and sweet angel from heaven above

Pet Names - blurb

**Dom!Lucy** - blurb

**Bothering Lucy** - blurb

What I want - mini fic (gingy’s halloweekend)

Lazy Day - mini fic (gingybread's holidaze)

Julien Baker

Sleep It Off - Julien has had a rough few weeks, resulting in some conflict with her soft!gf :(

Dirty Shirlies - Julien doesn't like when randos talk to her girl (possessive!julien in the house)

Pet Names - blurb

Julien's Accent - blurb

#28 This is not what I expected - six-word prompts (mini fic)

**Electrolytes** - after a separate night out, julien just wants to spend time with her gf <3

Possessive + Protective - blurb

Taking care of you - blurb (TW: ED)

Princess - blurb

#30 I can't risk losing you again - six-word prompts (mini fic) (gingy's halloweekend)

Ariana! What are you doing here? - soft!gf is doing jb's makeup on Halloween and she just can't sit still (gingy's halloweekend)

Pumpkin carving - blurb (gingy's halloweekend)

Detangle - Julien's gf helps her get unready after BG's Halloween show at the Hollywood Bowl :') (gingy's halloweekend)

Ice Skating - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

Looooover - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

(Ginger)bread House Battle - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

Mini Telecaster Ornament - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

Winter Wedding +1 - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

The Love Nest - mini fic (controversially young!gf universe)

Phoebe Bridgers

Taking care of you - blurb (TW: ED)

Lasagna - Phoebe's had a long day at the studio and her gf knows exactly what to do when she needs comfort

**She's a biter** - blurb - part 1 - part 2

Pet Names - blurb

Pumpkin Patch - blurb (gingy's halloweekend)

Mistletoe - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

Katie Gavin

Don't let Go - Katie teaches their sweet (and scared) gf how to rollerbade!

Pet Names - blurb

#22 I don't want to hear it - six-word prompts (mini fic) (gingy's halloweekend)

Happy Not Birthday - katie's gf hates her bday but loves katie <3

Early morning walk - christmas morning domestic vibes

Jo Maskin

Hidden Meanings - Soft!gf reader always gifts flowers for Jo with hidden meanings <3

#4 Don't talk to me ever again - six-word prompts (mini fic)

Missing you - blurb

Pet Names - blurb

For the bit - mini fic (gingy’s halloweekend)

Untitled V-day Fic - (gingy's cupid shuffle)

Naomi McPherson

Calming you down - blurb

#7 I can't stop thinking of you - six-word prompts (mini fic)

Pet Names - blurb

Mornings - mini fic

Mornings Pt 2 (Bob the Builder) - mini fic (gingybread's holidaze)

Taking care of drunk soft!gf - blurb (gingy’s halloweekend)

Pumpkin seeds - blurb (gingy's halloweekend)

NYE Jealousy HC - blurb (gingybread's holidaze)

Untitled Angst - preface

You're Losing Me - Part 1

You're Losing Me - Part 2

You're Losing Me - Part 3

You're Losing Me - Part 4 (Coming soon!)

Boygenius

Types of dates - blurb

Commitment styles - blurb

MUNA

Couple Halloween costumes - blurb (gingy's halloweekend)

Munagenius

The Group Chat - blurb

"We're munagenius's gfs, of course..." - blurb

#lucy dacus x reader #masterlist #request please! #phoebe bridgers x reader #julien baker x reader #muna x reader #rpf #katie gavin x reader #josette maskin x reader #naomi mcpherson x reader

[juneberrie]

i don't want you like a best friend - cato hadley

₊˚ʚ 🌱 ₊˚✧ ﾟ. cato hadley x fem!reader

author's note — ꩜ oooooh my first cato fic!! i hope you guys like it ♡

word count — ☆ 1.2k

warnings — ✦ooc clove probably, cato calling reader "shortstack"

the world stopped when his name was called. my lungs seem to shrink in my chest and my surroundings start to spin. he can't go, he can't go into the games. he can't leave me.

cato steps up to the stage, weaving through the crowd of people. he stands there as some capitol person rifled through the other glass bowl, searching for some poor girls name. he locks eyes with me and shakes his head ever so slightly.

"clove kentwell," the announcer says. a young girl starts to walk forward but before she even made it three feet i scream.

"i volunteer! i volunteer!" i push forward, risking a glance at the girl, clove, who glares at me before realizing why i volunteered. she sighs and gestures for me to proceed.

on wobbly feet, i step up to the stage next to cato. he doesn't even listen to the announcer's speech about the honor we'll bring to our district and what not. he turns to me with a look that says i'm going to kill you and thank you at the same time.

we're ushered into the building and corralled into separate rooms. cato looks back at me with an unreadable expression before the peacekeepers shove us both behind doors.

two minutes pass, but nobody comes in to say goodbye to me. i sigh and turn to the window before hearing the door open. through the reflection in the window, i see clove standing there, flanked by peacekeepers.

i turn to face her and we size each other up before she says something. "so, you and cato?"

immediately i feel my face heat up. "no- i mean, we're friends, is all. nothin' else."

she laughs and takes a step towards me. "sure. anyways, i wanted to wish you luck."

"you're not... mad? that i volunteered for you?" her name clicks and suddenly i register who she is. clove kentwell, one of the academy's top fighters. she's on track to volunteer and become a victor before she's even 17, and she would've become one of the youngest victors if i hadn't volunteered.

"i mean, i'm kind of pissed, but i get more training. better odds of winning next year," she states. one of the peacekeepers informs us that her time is up, and as she walks out of the room, she calls over her shoulder, "may the odds be ever in your favor, lovergirl."

after a while, the peacekeepers escort me and cato into the train station, where his family and clove stand at the front of the crowd. as the train pulls out of the station, cato's little sister screams his name, waving her arms wildly at her brother, and he waves back with a giddy smile. clove catches my eye and winks, and i roll my eyes and turn away from the window.

enobaria stands behind us, along with the announcer, whos name i learn is florentino. she quickly explains what will happen when we get to the capitol; the parade, the training, the interviews. she tells us to start thinking of ideas for angles we could use in the interviews, then instructs us to get something to eat and rest before we arrive.

she and florentino disappear behind a door, leaving me and cato alone.

i make a beeline to the mini-buffet laid out on the table and grab some sort of roll, which when i bite into it, is actually a cheese stick wrapped in fried bread theres a little label beside the plate that says "tequeños". these are the best things i've ever tasted in my life. i moan as i bite into another one, letting the flavor explode in my mouth.

i hear cato laugh behind me and reach to grab one. "are these really that good?" i nod fervently, grabbing a glass of water.

we eat in silence for a few minutes before i get up, announcing that we might as well try to sleep. cato agrees, but he doesn't move.

"hey, uh." i turn back, my hand on the door handle.

"yeah, cato?" something in his face changes when i say his name, but its gone before i can register what it is.

"don't let the bedbugs bite, shortstack," he says with a smirk. he follows me to the hallway where enobaria told us our rooms would be. our rooms are right across from each other.

i step into the room and shut the door behind me. then, i jump face first onto the big soft bed. it feels like heaven on earth, with its silk sheets and fluffy pillows. i kick my shoes off and rummage around in a drawer, finding a pair of silk pajamas to change into before i burrow under the covers. just as im drifting off to sleep, someone knocks at my door.

i groan and get up to open it.

cato's standing there, shirtless and wearing a pair of grey sweatpants. "hi shortstack."

"cato," i grumble. "its like, 2 am. what do you want?"

he looks around before stepping into my room. "just wanted to talk."

"and it couldn't wait until morning?" he shakes his head and sits down on my bed. i join him and flop onto my back. i almost fall asleep with the silence stretching between us until he clears his throat.

"the rooms are nice, huh?" he says. filler talk. "way better than the dorms at the academy." the dorms we have in the academy are standard issue, with a twin size bed, a window, a desk, a chair, and a wardrobe. nothing like the opulent gilded queen size bed and dresser with an en-suite bathroom the train has.

"yeah," i yawn. "they are pretty great." i close my eyes. i feel cato put an arm around me.

"sorry for waking you up," he offers, letting me curl up into his side. i throw an arm over his chest and make a sound of assent. "y'know, you didn't have to volunteer."

"i wanted to," i defend. "its not like i was going to let you go into the arena alone, cato."

"i would've preferred that," cato snaps. he sits up and rubs a hand over his face. "i don't want you to.."

"to what, cato? to leave my best friend?" i retort, opening my eyes and shooting up. the words pain me to say; i know thats all i am to him. a best friend. "i thought you would've been glad that i volunteered. the games are all we've talked about since we were ten. and what better alliance than best friends?"

"exactly! i don't want you like a best friend," he yells. he stands up and starts pacing. "you're much too special and kind and pretty and strong to be my 'best friend,' n/n. i don't want to see you get hurt. how would i be able to live with myself if you got hurt in the games, huh? how could i call myself a victor and be happy if the one person who actually made me happy wasn't with me?"

we stare at each other for a few moments. his heavy breathing and my short sniffles are the only sounds in the room. slowly, i stand up and take tentative steps towards him.

we stand face to face, chests almost touching but feeling miles apart. my hand brushes against his for the barest moment and he grabs it, locking our fingers together.

"you mean it?" i whisper, looking up at him.

"i mean every word when it comes to you," he breathes.

#cato hadley #cato hadley x reader #thg #thg x reader #the hunger games #the hunger games x reader #[🧸] dear diary

[sourwolf-sterek32]

Found You- Part 4

Summary: Nearly 10 years ago, you left home after a bad incident with your parents, Rick and Lori Grimes. In that time, you married a redneck down south and started a family. But it all came crashing down when the dead started to walk.

Pairings: Daryl Dixon x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 10.3k

Warnings: language, violence, blood

PART 1 - PART 2 - PART 3

A/N- To the beautiful woman who has commissioned this mini series, thank you! And I hope you enjoy this new part.

*Months Later*

It had started out as a normal, average day in Alexandria, but life as you knew it turned from peaceful to chaotic within the span of 24 hours.

"Boys, breakfast!" Daryl shouted over his shoulder while flipping pancakes from the frying pan to the plate.

The word 'breakfast' was like a trigger word in the Grimes-Dixon house because every single resident suddenly appeared out of nowhere. Daryl rolled his eyes but didn't stop the greedy hands stealing pancakes from the stack while you stood beside him making your sons sandwiches for school.

"I'll never get sick of waking up to this." Michonne commented, leaning between you both to take a couple pancakes from the bench.

"You and me both." Your father agreed, the two of them vanishing with the food just as quickly as they had appeared.

"They're a little on the burnt side, baby brother." Merle commented walking out the kitchen with a pancake in his hand.

"Make 'em yourself then!" Daryl shot back.

"I think they're good." Little Dean piped up shoving one of the pancakes in his mouth.

"Thanks, kiddo." Daryl smiled, reaching down to ruffle his son's hair. "Why don't ya put it in a bowl ‘n pour some syrup over it? Not too much though."

You put the knife down and pulled out two bowls from the cabinet above your head before holding them out to Dean. He flopped his bitten pancake into one of the bowls before grabbing a few more pancakes from the stack. He evenly divided up the food in the two bowls, one for him and one for his brother like he did every morning.

You went back to cutting up the sandwiches while watching Dean out the corner of your eye with the syrup to make sure he didn't drown the pancakes in too much sugar. But after all this time he seemed to have finally mastered the right amount of syrup to pancake ratio.

Ricky walked into the kitchen a couple minutes later and sat down at the table beside Dean who slid his bowl of pancakes over which Ricky eagerly started to eat, mumbling a 'thank you' with his mouth full of food.

"Ricky, what time-" You started to say before he cut you off.

"I don't wanna be called Ricky anymore." He announced, putting his fork down and looking over at you across the kitchen.

You paused mid slice through the bread before you glanced over at Daryl who met your gaze with an equally confused and surprised expression.

"Okay." You said slowly while turning to give him your full attention. "What do you want to be called?"

He shrugged his shoulders, "dunno."

"Your proper name is Richard." Daryl said, putting the frying pan in the sink before turning to face the boys. "What 'bout that?"

Ricky scrunched his face up, "doesn't Richard mean Dick?"

Merle's laughter echoed out from the lounge room at his nephew’s words but you pointily ignored the eldest Dixon and looked back over at your son.

"Where did you hear that?"

"Carl." Ricky answered, looking down at his empty bowl with an unreadable expression.

"Carl! Get in here!" You shouted, folding your arms across your chest as you leant back against the bench and a few seconds later you brother walked into the room.

"What?" He mumbled, rubbing his tired eyes like he had only just gotten out of bed.

"Why did you tell my son that Richard means Dick?"

That questioned seemed to snap Carl out of his tiredness and he stood up a bit straighter as his eyes swept between you, the boys, Daryl and back to you before he sighed.

"He was talking about not wanting to be called Ricky. I thought it was better for him to hear it from me rather than some other kid at school."

Ricky rolled his eyes, "you just wanted to end the conversation so you could go make out with Enid."

Daryl quickly covered up his laugh with a fake cough and you smirked behind your hand as Carl's eyes widened like his biggest secret had just been exposed. That kid definitely had a crush on this Enid girl.

"He's always hanging around Enid." Dean informed, looking over at you and Daryl.

"I am not." Carl exclaimed defensively.

"Isn't she dating Ron anyway? Why do you spend so much time with her?" Ricky questioned.

"I'm not discussing this with a couple of children."

"Children?" Ricky repeated, with a small chuckle of disbelief. "I'm not even two years younger than you and could kick your ass."

“In your dreams."

"Okay. Let's go." Ricky abruptly stood up from his chair, but Daryl was quick to move and stepped forward, grabbing his son by the back of his shirt.

"Alright, that's enough." Daryl ordered.

"We don't fight with family." You stated, pushing yourself away from the bench and walking over to them.

"Dad and Uncle Merle fight all the time." Ricky grumbled.

"Uncle Merle and I argue all the time. But we don't physically fight." Daryl explained, pushing Ricky back down into his chair.

Merle chose that moment to walk back into the kitchen with a shit eating grin. He opened his mouth about to correct Daryl and inform the kids that the two of them had definitely fought physically while they were younger and even when they were adults, but you quickly pointed at him and gave him a stern look causing Merle to snap his mouth shut instantly.

"We don't fight family. Okay? There's too much we have to fight these days, we shouldn't be fighting each other too." You simply explained, looking between the Dixons and Carl. "Now, Carl come get some breakfast. Boys put your bowls in the sink and go get changed for school."

"Thanks, and I'm sorry." Carl apologised, looking over at Ricky.

"Sorry too." Ricky replied.

Carl nodded before he swiped a few pancakes from the plate on the bench before he walked out the kitchen and went back upstairs to his bedroom.

"You would've won the fight." Dean whispered, leaning over to his brother.

Ricky smirked a little and Daryl snorted as the boys stood up and put their dishes in the sink before wandering off to go get ready for school.

Merle watched them walk off before he turned back towards the two of you, "they're definitely Dixons."

"I don't know if that's a good thing." You sighed, picking up the knife to finish cutting the sandwiches into triangles.

"It probably ain't. But it's funny as fuck." Merle responded.

Daryl rolled his eyes, "don't ever tell 'em about the fights we used to have."

"So, I shouldn't bring up the time you kicked me in the nuts, and I gave you a bloody nose when we were their age?" Merle asked, although by the sheepish tone in his voice it was clear he already knew the answer.

"Never tell that story." You said over your shoulder.

"Oh, come on. It had a nice ending. We made up 'n went squirrel hunting... then nearly got lost in the woods, but we made it back in one piece."

"Barely." Daryl muttered, walking over to the sink to start washing the dishes.

"I got the dishes. You get your brother out the house before I throw this peanut butter sandwich at him." You instructed, wrapping one of the sandwiches while Merle snickered from across the kitchen.

"On it." Daryl replied, leaning over and placing a gentle kiss to your temple before he walked out the kitchen, grabbing his brother's arm along the way and dragging him out the room.

You chuckled softly under your breath, wrapping the last sandwich before placing them both on the kitchen table for your sons to grab soon. You got to quick work with the dishes and your father wandered back in with his and Michonne’s plates and grabbed a towel to help.

You handed your father a bowl which he took and began to dry off with a towel, but your eyes lingered on the butterfly stitches still covering the worst of the cuts on his face after the fight he had with Pete not too long ago.

Pete had been dangerous. He needed to be stopped and although a lot of the civilians in town were now fearful and untrusting of your father, you backed him 100% for what he did. Pete had to be stopped, so Rick killed him. It was as simple as that.

"How's the face?" You asked, eyeing the still healing bruises and cuts.

"It's probably seen better days." Your dad admitted with a chuckle. "It's fine though, doesn't hurt."

You nodded satisfied with that answer before you went back to washing the last bowl in the sink before pulling the plug to drain the water.

"Did Daryl tell you that we're doing a test run today?" Rick asked a few seconds later.

“Yeah. Are you sure you don't need me out there? I can help."

"I know you can." Rick smiled, putting the bowl down to look at you. "But we need to keep a few fighters here to look after everyone."

You sighed but didn't argue any further.

A few days prior Rick discovered a giant horde of walkers stuck in the quarry not too far from town. The horde were trapped inside by two semi-trucks blocking the exit, but apparently the trucks looked very close to shifting and once they did, that horde would be led straight to Alexandria.

A horde that size would barge straight through the walls, destroying everything.

So, a plan was set.

With Daryl on his bike, and Merle and Abraham in a car, they were going to lead the horde 20 miles away in the opposite direction. Rick had put together another group to be on either side of the horde and redirecting the dead if they started to veer off track.

The plan sounded simple enough, but you knew it had the possibility of turning south at the drop of a hat.

"Fresh coffee anyone?" Carol asked from somewhere behind you.

You turned around to find the woman standing by the bench pouring herself a cup of coffee. How long has she been standing there for?

"I'd love one, thanks." You wiped your hands on the end of Ricks towel before walking over to Carol who handed you a mug with a gentle smile.

You took a sip of the coffee before making your way out the front door to enjoy the warm drink peacefully on the porch.

"You got a better idea bro?" Daryl's voice snapped.

You looked up to find him and Merle by the motorcycle on the road in front of the house. Daryl was knelt beside the bike and seemed to be securing something with a cable tie while Merle stood behind him with a disapproving scowl.

"Yeah. Don't fucking break it next time."

"Real fuckin' helpful, thanks." Daryl muttered, glaring up at his brother over his shoulder.

Well, so much for drinking your coffee in peaceful silence.

Ricky suddenly walked out the front door with his backpack in his hand, "can I help?"

You looked over at the brothers by the bike before glancing through the front window at the clock on the wall inside the house.

"Only for a few minutes otherwise you'll be late for school." You explained.

"Come hold this for me. You'll be better help then your one-armed uncle over here." Daryl muttered, pointing the spanner at Merle.

"Screw you too." Merle responded.

Ricky dropped his backpack by your feet before running down the porch steps eager to help his dad with the bike. You leant against the railing sipping on your coffee while you watched the three of them together.

Daryl was patient, explaining things to Ricky while he worked, and your son nodded along with a hard look of concentration on his face trying to soak it all in.

"Ricky forgot his sandwich." Dean's voice suddenly said.

You glanced over your shoulder to find your youngest walking out the door with his backpack over his shoulders and his brother’s sandwich in his hand. He spotted Rickys bag by your feet and unzipped it, placing the sandwich inside without having to be asked and you smiled proudly at him.

"Thanks, sweetie. You ready for school?"

Dean nodded, "Carl already left though. He went out the back door."

Carl always walked to school with Ricky and Dean. Why would he sneak out the back door without them?

"He's ditching us for Enid." Dean further explained noticing your confusion.

Of course, he was.

"I can walk you boys to school if you want?"

"It's just down the road, mama." Dean rolled his eyes like your offer was totally ridiculous and you smiled softly at his reaction, but sorta hurt at the same time.

When did your boys get so grown up? It wasn't that long ago you were pushing them around in strollers before the dead were walking.

Time was going too quick.

"Can I just be called Rick? Like Grandpa?" Ricky suddenly said, standing up from where he had been kneeling beside the bike. He looked between Daryl and Merle before glancing over at you with wide hopeful eyes wanting your approval.

"Of course, sweetie. Rick is a good name, isn't it?" You said, glancing down at Dean who nodded.

"I think Rick is a mighty fine name." Your father suddenly said, walking out the front door with Judith in his arms.

"Of course, you do. You're bias." You replied quietly over your shoulder before looking back at Ricky. "You boys should head to school before you're late."

Dean quickly grabbed his brothers backpack before racing down the porch steps and jogging over to him. Ricky grabbed the bag, slinging it over his shoulders before they both waved goodbye as they walked down the street.

"Have a good day!" You shouted after them.

You leant back against the porch railing and watched your boys until they disappeared around the corner in the direction of school.

"Are you able to watch Judith? I gotta talk with Tobin and the others before doing the test run." Rick suddenly said, walking over to you.

"Of course."

He handed you the little girl who had gotten a lot bigger since you first arrived at Alexandria. Why were they all growing up so fast?

"Dixon’s, you good to head out in 20?" Rick asked, walking down the porch towards them and they both nodded.

"I'll go tell Abe and the others." Merle said, already making his way to the house next door.

Daryl continued to tinker away with his bike, and you finally got to enjoy some peacefulness with your morning coffee. Judith sat on your hip while you sipped away at your coffee enjoying the beautiful morning.

You sat down on the porch swing and bounced Judith on your knee. Your baby sister babbled away happily with not a care in the world. She had no idea what was going to happen tomorrow with the horde. So much could go wrong. So much could-

"Stop." Daryl's voice suddenly called out, snapping you from your thoughts.

He walked up the porch steps wiping grease from his hands before tucking the red rag into his back pocket and sitting down beside you.

"I can hear you thinkin'. Stop." He elaborated.

"I just have a bad feeling about this."

"It's gonna be fine. That's why Rick wants to do this test run today. If we find any issues with the plan, we will fix 'em before tomorrow."

Daryl pulled out a packet of cigarettes from his vest and lit one with his zippo before taking a deep drag. He exhaled the smoke with a turn of his head and held the burning cigarette away from Judith who was still in your lap and now fiddling with the dog tags around your neck.

"There's nothin' to worry 'bout." Daryl reassured.

You nodded, "I guess you're right.”

The two of you sat in comfortable silence with your coffee and cigarette while Judith cooed and babbled softly to herself. Once Daryl finished his cigarette he reached over and picked up Judith from your lap and held the little girl against his chest, and you weren't surprised when she fell asleep against him almost instantly.

"I kinda miss the boys being this small." He randomly commented.

You glanced over at him taking in Judiths sleeping form and Daryl’s warm smile as he rubbed her back soothingly.

"They look cute as babies, but at least now we don't have any diapers to change or 3am feedings with the boys." You pointed out.

"That stuff ain't so bag."

You raised your eyebrows, "yeah? I'll tell my dad that and he'll have you on diaper duty for Judith."

Daryl snorted softly and opened his mouth to respond, but didn’t get the chance.

"Ready to get this show on the road?" Abraham's voice called out.

You looked up to find the redhead and Merle walking out the house next door. Daryl sighed but stood up and you did as well before he gently handed Judith back to you, the little girl still fast asleep.

"I'll see you later. Be safe." You said, leaning over and placing a gentle kiss to his lips. "Carol's making a casserole for dinner. Try not to be late."

Daryl smiled, kissing you again before pulling away, his hand on your shoulder.

"Yes, ma'am."

You rocked Judith in your arms and watched Daryl join up with Merle and Abe before they walked away in the direction of the main gate where Rick and the others were no doubt waiting.

-

"I think Ron blames me for his father’s death. He hates me now." Jessie admitted with a heavy sigh.

You and Carol had decided to check in on Jessie after Pete's very public death recently. She was relieved that her abusive husband was dead, but her eldest son wasn't too happy.

"He'll come around." You reassured, not really knowing what else to say in this situation.

"How do you know?"

That was a good question.

You didn't know. You didn't know Jessie or Ron very well. But you had forgiven your father. The situations were drastically different, but if you could forgive Rick after spending over a decade hating him, you were sure Ron could forgive his mother.

"How do I know?" You repeated and Jessie nodded. "Because I used to hate Rick."

Jessie's eyes widened into saucers at your words, but you weren't going to tell her the details of that. It was none of her business and you and Rick had moved on.

"Why did you hate him? Rick is such a nice man. He's always so kind and helpful, and I know a few people are weary of him after he killed Pete, but don't worry, I'm not. Rick is a good man."

Right, you had forgotten about Jessie's massive crush on your father.

And now you remembered why you avoided hanging out with her. It felt like the real housewives whenever you hang out with her and the other mothers of Alexandria, all they did was gossip and talk about how attractive Rick Grimes was. You hated it.

"He is a good man, isn't he Y/N?" Carol responded, glancing over at you while hiding her smirk behind a coffee mug.

She knew you didn't like Jessie when she talked about your father. It was just weird listening to a woman gush and swoon over Rick like he was some kind of movie star.

You nodded, trying to play nice, "he is."

"He really is. You're both lucky to have him in your lives. I'll admit, I wasn't too sure of him when you all first showed up, but once he shaved that beard... oh, boy." Jessie continued to ramble, but you drained out her words and turned your attention to Judith who was playing with her toys on the carpet.

"Y/N?"

You looked up to find Jessie standing in the doorway. You hadn’t even realised that she got off the couch.

"I was just saying if Rick ever needs his hair cut, can you tell him that I'll be happy to do it?" She said with a bright smile before she walked out the room.

"I wonder why." You muttered under your breath.

Carol chuckled from the other couch, "give her a break. She just has a little crush on him."

"A little?"

"Okay. A big crush."

"It's gross." You responded.

Carol smirked, "it's entertaining."

"Well, I'm glad my uncomfortableness is entertaining for you." You said sarcastically.

Carol rolled her eyes before standing up from the couch and picking Judith up from the ground. "I'm gonna start making that casserole for dinner."

You quickly stood up too, "don't you dare leave me here with my dad’s wannabe lover."

"It'll be rude if we both just suddenly leave." Carol pointed out.

Yeah. That was true.

Jessie finally returned with a fresh cup of coffee but paused when she noticed you both standing.

"Sorry I-" Carol started to say but you cut her off.

"Sorry I need to go. Now that Pete is gone, it's just me and Denise with some form of medical background. I should go see how she's going. Bye."

You were out the door before either woman could say anything else. Was that rude? Probably. But if you had to sit there and deal with Jessie's over friendliness towards you just because of her crush on your dad, you would snap.

So, you began to make your way down the street because your excuse to leave was actually true. Neither you nor Denise were qualified to be a doctor, but you were the only choice Alexandria had.

You walked through the front door of the infirmary to find Denise sitting on the floor with an open book in her lap and thicker medical textbooks stacked up beside her.

"Hey. How are you doing?"

Denise looked up at your voice, pushing her glasses back in place as she gave you a tight smile.

"I'm okay... it's hard being the new doctor. I'm a little nervous." She admitted.

"I might not be as trained as you, but I still have some medical training and I'm always here to help."

Your words seemed to relax the other woman slightly as she closed the book in her lap and looked up at you properly.

"I'm a psychiatrist. I went to med school. I was even going to be a surgeon, but after the panic attacks I got really interested in psychology. Now I wish I had stuck to being a surgeon." She chuckled nervously. "I'm really trying to lower expectations here."

You smiled, "you and me both. But we can learn and get better together. What are you studying at the moment?"

"Veins and arteries." She answered, picking up the textbook. "Not very exciting."

"Well, let's make it exciting."

The next 30 minutes were spent sitting on the floor of the infirmary together studying the textbook about veins and arteries which, yeah, wasn't that exciting, but Denise appreciated the help.

Denise began writing a cheat sheet on a blackboard and you grabbed a piece of chalk to help her when sudden screaming erupted from outside.

"What the hell?" Denise questioned, looking up from the cheat sheet in confusion.

You were already on your feet and rushing to the window to see what was happening. Your mouth parted in a silent scream when you saw a man standing in the middle of the street cutting the limbs from a dead body on the road.

What the fuck?

A woman suddenly ran screaming from her house across the road, catching the man’s attention and you watched in horror as he threw the axe at her, the blade spearing straight through her chest. Another man marched out the very same house with a knife in his hand, no doubt the reason why she had been screaming in the first place and the man grinned when he saw her dead body.

Holy fuck.

Alexandria was under attack.

"What's going on out- Oh my God!" Denise shrieked, seeing the bodies across the street.

Both men spun around at her voice, and you quickly covered her mouth with your hand and pulled her down below the window out of sight. You held Denise in front of you, neither of you daring to speak. Denise kept her petrified eyes locked with yours and you slowly lowered your hand from her mouth before putting an index finger to your lips in a hushing motion.

Denise nodded ever so slightly before you lifted your head and peaked out the window to find both men marching towards the infirmary. You quickly reached for your knife, but nothing was there.

Looking down you came to the horrible realisation that you had forgotten to put your weapons belt on this morning. It was still sitting on the desk in your bedroom. You hadn’t even thought about it, hell, if you were being honest, you probably hadn’t worn it for a while. You had become complacent in Alexandria. Too complacent.

You spared a quick glance to the front door but knew there wasn’t enough time to lock it.

Shit.

"They're coming. I need a weapon." You whispered, your eyes frantically scanning the room for anything you could use before Denise grabbed a scalpel off the bench beside her.

"I-I can't fight. I don't know how.”

You took the tool from her and stood up, ushing her across the room, "hide in the back room. Use the scissors on the desk and stab anyone who enters. Got it?"

You didn’t wait for her to answer before you closed the door, shutting her away safely before you ducked down behind one of the gurneys just as the front door slammed open.

The men slowly entered, surveying the room as they walked around. You watched their boots from under the gurney, the scalpel gripped tightly in your hand.

"Come out, come out, wherever you are. We know you're in here."

One of them began walking in your direction and you raised the scalpel in front of you defensively. Just as the man stepped past the gurney, you stabbed the blade through his thigh, sliding it in deep to hit the artery.

The man shouted in pain, and you yanked the scalpel out, relieved when blood instantly started to gush from the wound. You jumped to your feet and sprinted across the room away from him and only just managed to duck out the way when his axe came flying through the air. It whizzed past your head and imbedded into the wall behind you with a loud bang.

The man began to rush towards you, but only made it a few steps before his body collapsed to the ground from blood loss, his entire pant leg stained a deep crimson.

The commotion caught the other guy’s attention because he walked out the small room he had been searching and froze when he saw his friend lying on the floor in a pool of his own blood. His dark eyes flashed over to you and his expression hardened.

"You're fucking dead."

You spun around and grabbed the wooden handle of the axe to pull it from the wall, but it was stuck. You could hear the man getting closer behind you as you pulled and yanked at the axe, but it wouldn't budge.

His footsteps thundered behind you, and you ducked to the left and turned to face him just as the man swung his knife but missed and stumbled forward from the momentum of the swing not expecting you to dodge it. You slashed the scalpel across his throat and jumped backwards trying to put some distance between you.

The man opened his mouth, but no words came out as he grabbed his neck just as blood began to flow from the thin but lethal cut. He gasped and choked, blood seeping between his fingers at his failing attempt to stop the flow, and within a minute, he was dead on the floor.

You quickly knelt and pried the knife from his hand before stabbing the blade through his skull to stop him from turning.

"Denise, it's all clear. You can come out!" You shouted, walking over to the other guy who was now also dead, and you stabbed his head too.

The door to the back room creaked open and Denise hesitantly stepped out with the scissors gripped in her hand tightly. Her eyes flashed between you and the dead bodies in pure shock.

"How-how did you do that?" She stuttered.

"Femoral artery." You said pointing at the first guy before pointing to the other. "And carotid arteries. Turns out that textbook was actually useful."

Denise just stared at you in shock before shaking her head and letting out a hysterical laugh. You smiled, laughing with her. Nothing about this was even remotely funny, but you couldn't help it.

"Do you think there's more?" She asked once she managed to stop laughing.

Your stomach dropped.

The boys.

The clock on the wall told you that school was finished for the day. Where would your kids be?

"I have to find my kids."

"What do I do?"

"Stay here. Lock the door behind me." You instructed and Denise nodded following you to the front door. "I'll come back as soon as I can."

"Go. Be careful." She replied, giving you a nervous smile before you walked out the door and she hurriedly locked it behind you.

You ducked around the side of the infirmary and jogged around the back of Alexandria along the fence line behind the houses, using the buildings as cover compared to the open main street. People were still screaming, and you wanted to help them, but not until you knew your boys were safe. They were the only things that mattered.

Suddenly a crash boomed across the community and the tall wall beside you shuttered before a very loud horn sounded and didn't turn off.

Where the hell was that coming from?

You didn't get long to wonder what was happening because the next thing you knew, your body was slammed into the metal wall, hard. You threw your arm back, trying to stab whoever was attacking you, but they knocked the weapon from your grasp.

The person spun you around, your back now pinned to the wall and you came face to face with a 'W' scarred into the man’s forehead.

Wait... Daryl told you about the people that jumped him and Aaron during their last run out the walls, he said they had W's on their heads. This had to be them.

The man in front of you snarled, exposing his crooked yellow teeth before his hands wrapped around your neck tightly.

He lifted your body until your feet weren’t touching the ground, your back pressed against the wall behind you. The fingers around your throat were like a vice getting tighter and tighter by the second.

The horn was still blasting loudly in the background, drowning out the screams of civilians and you stared at the scarred W, thinking this was the end.

-

Daryl hadn't been expecting to lead a horde of walkers away from Alexandria today.

The test run had turned into the real thing when one of the trucks blocking the horde in the quarry tipped over and that was all it took for the horde to spill out.

The plan was simple enough. He just had to ride his bike alongside Merle and Abraham in their car, leading the horde down the main road in the opposite direction of Alexandria. The others were going to be on either side of the horde, stopping any stragglers from wandering off and leading the horde away from the road.

It was a simple plan.

So how the fuck did it go so wrong?

Daryl had no idea, but there was shouting and commotion coming from the walkie talkie strapped to his shoulder and he had no clue what was going on.

"Rick!" He shouted into the walkie, raising his voice above the loud rumble of his bike's engine and growls from the dead behind him.

"I'm here."

"What's goin' on back there?"

"Half of them broke off. They're going toward Alexandria." Rick responded through the walkie.

Daryl's heart skipped a beat. Half of the walkers were now heading towards Alexandria? Towards his wife and kids? How did half the horde suddenly turn back around in the opposite direction?

"Towards you?" Abraham's voice questioned over the radio.

"We ran ahead. There's a horn or something loud coming from the east. It's not stopping."

Daryl reached for the walkie on his shoulder and held in the button before shouting, "I'm gonna gas it up, turn back."

"We have it. You keep going." Rick ordered.

Daryl gritted his teeth and shook his head. No, he couldn't just keep going, not when his family were in danger.

"They're gonna need our help." He said instead.

"Gotta keep the herd moving!" Rick insisted over the radio.

"Not if it's goin' down, we don't!"

"The rest of that herd turns around, the bad back there gets worse."

Daryl kept his hand on the walkie, but remained silent as a million different thoughts and scenarios ran through his head and he had absolutely no idea what to do. Rick always called the shots and Daryl usually agreed, but not with this. Not when you and the boys were back in Alexandria where half the herd were heading.

"Daryl?" Rick called through the radio.

"Yeah, I heard ya." He reassured before dropping his hand with a heavy sigh.

He glanced over his shoulder at the herd of walkers behind him before looking over at his brother in the passenger seat of the car. Merle was already looking straight at him with a shake of his head, knowing exactly what Daryl wanted to do.

He rode the bike over closer to the car, "hey! We gone five miles out yet?"

"Give or take some yardage. You got a reason for asking?" Abraham questioned, glancing over at him from behind the wheel.

Merle was still shaking his head, but Daryl chose to ignore it.

"Next intersection we're gonna spin around 'n go back."

"We have our orders, baby brother." Merle reminded. "The plan is to go 15 more."

"Yeah, I'm gonna change that. Five's gonna have to work."

"The magic number's 20. That's the mission. That's making sure they're off munching on infirm raccoons the rest of their undead lives instead of any of us." Abe responded sternly.

"You wanna go, ain't no way we can stop ya. But without you, they could stop us." Merle pointed out, motioning towards the dead behind them. "Y/N can take care of herself. Alexandria will be fine."

Daryl glanced between the two men in the car for a moment before focusing back on the road ahead, deep in thought.

What the hell was he meant to do?

He couldn’t just not do anything when his wife and kids were going to be in danger. And why was a horn honking near Alexandria? Something was definitely wrong, he could feel it in his gut, but he couldn't just leave his brother and Abraham to do this by themselves, could he?

He remained silent, riding the bike for another minute beside the car when his eyes caught a glimpse of an old, faded Alexandria sign on the side of the road from the old days, and that was all the convincing he needed.

"Nah, I got faith in ya!" Daryl shouted, sparing one last glance at his brother and Abraham before he turned the throttle and sped off down the road.

"Daryl!" Merle yelled, but he was already gone.

-

The man’s bruising grip around your neck was getting tighter. Your vision was starting to fade as you tried and failed to pry his fingers away.

You were going to die. This was it.

"Get away from our mum, asshole!"

A gunshot cracked through the air and the man choking you instantly released you with a cry of pain.

Without him holding you up, you collapsed to the ground on your hands and knees gasping and coughing trying to get air back into your lungs as you grabbed your tender neck.

“Touch her again, I shoot you again.” A familiar voice warned.

Your head snapped up so fast you nearly gave yourself whiplash. But standing off to the left was Ricky with a handgun drawn and Dean beside him with his slingshot raised.

Holy shit.

The big man that had been choking you was standing to the side holding his now bleeding arm, but his hard eyes were locked in on Ricky. You reached blindly for your knife that you had dropped earlier just as the man began to charge straight at the kids.

“NO!” You screamed jumping to your feet just as Ricky squeezed the trigger.

The man stumbled back a step grabbing his chest before dropping to the ground, dead.

Ricky killed him.

You quickly picked up your knife from the grass before stabbing him through the skull to make sure he didn’t turn.

"Mama!" Dean called, rushing over and before you could do anything, he flung his arms around your midsection and hugged you tightly.

You sighed with relief and hugged him back before glancing over at Ricky who was still standing there with a trembling gun pointed at the dead man.

You released Dean and slowly walked over to Ricky. His eyes were wide and hands shaking while he stared down at the dead body in pure shock.

“Hey. Hey. It’s okay. Give me the gun.” You said gently, carefully reaching down and grabbing the top of the Glock before slowly pulling it out of Rickys grasp. “That’s it. It’s okay. We’re all okay.”

Ricky nodded, his wide eyes finally shifting away from the body until bright blue met your hazel eyes.

“I shot the hell out of that guy, huh?”

You snorted softly at his choice of words before kneeling in front of him and grabbing his shoulder with your free hand.

“You did the right thing, kiddo. You saved us.”

“I just did what dad and Grandpa would’ve done.” Ricky mumbled, shrugging his shoulders like he was trying not to make this a big deal.

It was a big deal though.

He just killed his first person. It was a huge deal, and if the way his body trembled a little in your hold told you anything, he knew it too. Although, like a true Dixon, he wasn’t going to say it.

"Are you okay?" Ricky asked, his eyes shifting down to your neck that was probably already starting to bruise.

You nodded looking both boys in front of you up and down for any injuries, but they seemed to be okay.

"I'm fine. Are you both okay?"

Ricky nodded, glancing over at his little brother, "we're good."

“Where did you get the gun?”

“Rosita.”

“Rosita?” You repeated in confusion and Ricky nodded. “Where is she now?”

“Fighting. She gave me the gun and told us to run and hide.”

"Why are they attacking Alexandria?" Dean asked, glancing over at the dead body.

"Because they are bad men. Really bad men. So, I need you both to be brave for me, okay?"

They instantly nodded before you stood back up and walked over to the dead man. You went through his pockets trying to find anything useful before locating a pocketknife.

Better than nothing.

"Dean, here. To open the pocketknife, you flick the blade open with your thumb just like this.” You demonstrated, holding the knife out and opening it in front of him. “To close it, you do this. So, open, like this. And close like this. Here you try.”

Dean quickly tucked his slingshot in through his belt and grabbed the pocketknife before repeating your actions to open and close the knife with ease.

“Perfect. Good boy. If you have to use it, stab 'em with the pointy end." You instructed and Dean nodded before you held your hunting knife out to Ricky who took it without hesitation. “You okay?” You asked carefully, knowing that killing a man wasn’t easy, especially for a kid.

“I’m good. What’s the plan?” Ricky asked, determination on his face.

“We're going to our house. We’ll be moving quickly and quietly, so stick to me like glue."

"Like glue." They both repeated.

You nodded, "c'mon."

To your relief, the boys listened and were right behind you with each step as you rushed around the back of Alexandria in the direction of your house.

Not even 10 steps later, you ducked down behind a cluster of bushes, pulling your sons down beside you when a man with a machete stepped out the back door of a house.

Droplets of blood beaded down the stained blade while the man stormed around the side of the house, heading for the main road completely oblivious to you three hiding nearby.

The boys remained silent beside you, their wide eyes watching the bad man nervously and once he was out of sight you motioned for them to follow before continuing to make your way to your house.

Ricky and Dean followed you like shadows all the way to the house and you opened up the back door only to be met with a barrel of a rifle.

"Easy. Easy. It's me." You hurriedly said, raising your hands as you looked over the gun at your brother.

His eyes widened and he quickly lowered it before stepping to the side letting you three into the house. You locked the back door behind you before glancing around the house, realising that Carl was alone.

"Where are the others?"

"Judith is locked in her room. Carol is out there somewhere, and Dads group isn't back yet." Carl answered.

Shit. Okay. That meant most of Alexandria’s fighters weren't here.

Carol, Maggie, Rosita, Tara and Aaron. Were they the only others left in the town that could fight? Surely there were others that could fight. There had to be.

"Okay. You boys stay inside, guard the house and protect Judith." You ordered.

Carl nodded, "nobody is getting inside this house."

"Wait, you're not going back out there, are you?" Dean asked in sudden panic.

"That woman nearly killed you." Ricky reminded.

"I have to go. These attackers don't have guns, so I can't let them find the armoury." You explained because if these people found all the guns, the community was screwed.

"Then I'll come with you." Ricky responded.

"No. You need to stay here. Give me the knife and take this.” You said, holding out the Glock towards him.

“But you need it.”

“I’ll get a gun from the armoury. Take it. Protect Judith and protect each other, okay?"

Your eldest looked like he wanted to argue further but realised now was not the time, so he reluctantly nodded trading the knife for the Glock before you glanced over at Carl.

"We got this." Your brother insisted. "Go."

"Lock it behind me." You instructed, walking through the back door once again.

You didn't leave until you heard the click of the bolt confirming that the door was locked.

The armoury was priority number one.

You needed to secure the armoury, get a gun and then find the others. One-on-one against these guys would be bad but if you were together, you'd stand a chance.

The loud honking had finally stopped, but you barely noticed while you ran along the side of the house, peaking out into the main street.

There were a few attackers running around with various melee weapons, but none had any guns. Good.

Once the attackers had turned their backs, you sprinted along the side of the street while they weren’t looking. You ducked and weaved out of trees and bushes for cover until someone suddenly stepped out from behind a porch and yanked you behind the porch steps.

You raised your knife to attack the person, but then they quickly lowered the bandana from their face and removed the black hood over their head.

"Carol?" You whispered in shock.

She was wearing their clothes and had W painted on her forehead with what looked to be blood. She was camouflaging with them. Genius.

"It's me. Here."

She pulled out a scoped rifle from her shoulder which you quickly grabbed, pulling the bolt back to check the chamber before throwing it over your shoulder with the strap.

"You went to the armoury?" You asked as she pulled out a handgun and handed it over as well.

"Yeah, it's secure. Olivia is locked inside with a gun to shoot anyone who tries to enter." She explained like she could read your mind. "There's not many left. Morgan doesn’t want to kill them, but you can."

Wait, Morgan was back? Why was he back and not the others?

"You can count on me." You replied, figuring those questions could wait.

Carol handed over spare magazines which you hastily pocketed before a scream across the street caught your attention.

You leant out from behind the porch step and quickly pulled the rifle from your shoulders when you spotted a woman sprinting from a man with a knife.

Holding the butt of the gun securely against your shoulder, you lined up the crosshairs of the scope with the man before aiming slightly in front of him and squeezing the trigger.

"Nice shot." Carol observed from beside you as the man's body fell to the ground, dead. "I can blend in with these people, but I need you up high with that sniper. Can you do that?"

You glanced up at the house behind you noting the upstairs window. That would work.

"Give me a minute to get into place and I'll be your sniper."

Carol nodded before you jumped to your feet and rushed up the porch steps into a stranger’s house. You had no idea whose house this was, but it didn't matter. Nobody was inside and within a minute, you had the window open on the second floor with the sniper raised.

Carol was still hidden by the porch steps waiting for you to get into position. You weren't entirely sure how to signal to her that you were ready, but when you spotted another attacker across the street, you lined up the sights and fired a shot.

The man, like the other, instantly fell to the ground, dead.

A few seconds later, Carol dashed across the street and stabbed her knife into the two men you had just killed, hitting their brains so they couldn't come back to life.

You watched Carol through the scope as she made her way around the community camouflaging in with the attackers and stabbing them when they least expected it, and the ones that fought back, you easily shot.

She was badass. No other word for it.

During your time in Alexandria, Carol had been playing the 'innocent housewife' she had the whole community of Alexandria fooled into thinking that she was a weak defenceless woman, but you knew the truth, and despite the situation, it was nice to see her in action.

You pulled the bolt back, ejecting the empty bullet shell just when you caught a glimpse of Aaron fighting with a man down beside a house further down the road.

Actioning the bolt, you loaded a bullet in the chamber before lining up the crosshairs over the bad guy’s head, but you couldn't pull the trigger, not when Aaron was in the line of fire. He continued to fight against the man, but it was a losing battle, and he clearly knew it too.

Aaron took a swing at his attacker causing the bad man to stumble back a step at the unexpected hit and that was all you needed before you squeezed the trigger. The gunshot rung out across the community and the man fell to the ground with a bullet hole through his head.

Aaron jumped backwards in surprise, his wide eyes scanning his surroundings trying to locate where the gunshot had come from before he spotted you up in the window and he nodded his thanks. You gave him a two fingered salute before actioning the bolt again and scanning Alexandria through the scope.

-

"Glenn. I'm in place by my best guess. You guys make it back yet?" Ricks voice suddenly said through the radio, followed by silence. "Glenn? Tobin, you there?"

Daryl's bad feeling from earlier was worsening by the second when the others stopped responding through the radio.

"Daryl?" Rick said after a few beats of silence.

He reached for the radio with his free hand, "I'm here."

"Won't be long now." Rick explained, relief evident through his tone after someone replied to him. "They're almost here. I'll get them going your way again."

"How 'bout that, brother? He's gonna be comin' our way." Merles cocky voice suddenly said over the radio and Daryl fought the urge to roll his eyes.

"There's gunfire coming from back home." Rick suddenly said.

Daryl squeezed the brakes so hard, he nearly crashed the bike as he came to a sudden halt in the middle of the road.

"What?!" He shouted into the radio.

"There's gunfire coming from Alexandria." Rick repeated calmly. "We gotta sit with it and hope they can handle it. I think they can. They have to."

"And if they can't? Y/N is in Alexandria, Rick!" Daryl all but shouted.

"I know. But we have to keep going forward for her, for them all. Can't turn back 'cause we're afraid."

"We ain't afraid." Abraham's voice pipped up.

"Going back now before it's gone, that'd be for us." Rick continued to say.

"Man, I don't give a shit. My wife 'n kids are in trouble." Daryl snapped, unable to hold back his anger any longer as he tapped the bike into gear and sped off down the road.

He couldn't risk losing them. Not now. Not after everything you guys had survived. He couldn't. He wouldn't survive if they didn't. No way.

"You think I don't know that?!" Rick snapped back. "She might be your wife, but Y/N is my daughter. She's my little girl. I hate this as much as you do. Carl and Judith are back there too, but we have to do this for them. Y/N and the others can handle whatever is going on. I know my daughter can do it and she will. Look, the herd has to be almost here-"

Ricks voice got cut off by sudden gunfire through the walkie talkie and Daryl hastily grabbed the walkie from his shoulder, heart pounding in his chest.

"Rick? Rick?!"

When he didn't receive any answers, he skidded the motorcycle to a rapid halt in the middle of the road once again.

"Rick? Rick? Rick?" He continued to shout, but no answer.

He growled letting go of the walkie and grabbing both handlebars. His fingers tightened around them as he lowered his head and took in a few deep breaths to calm himself.

He had to go back. He had to finish the job and help lead the remaining horde away.

"Fuck!" He screamed in frustration before pulling the clutch in and turning around.

-

You had lost count of the number of bad guys you had shot, but by the amount of bullet casings on the floor by your feet, it was a lot.

There was no sign of anymore bad guys though. The streets of Alexandria below were finally quiet. No more screaming, no crying, no horn honking, nothing.

Was it over?

God, you hoped it was over.

Throwing the rifle over your shoulder, you stood up from your position by the window before making your way downstairs and out the house.

You walked down the main street of Alexandria with your handgun grasped firmly by your side as you took in the sight around you. Dead bodies of innocent Alexandrians littered the empty street like a massacre. The bodies of the attackers laid dead around you too, blood staining the bitumen road and once green grass of the community.

It felt like you were in a scene from a horror movie while you stepped over the dead, stabbing them all through the skulls just to be on the safe side.

"Help-help me, p-please." A weak voice suddenly called out.

Your head snapped to the side and your eyes widened when you saw one of the Alexandrian housewives laying on their front lawn in a pool of their own blood.

Fuck, that wasn't good.

You rushed over, dropping to your knees beside the woman to find a very large gash across her stomach that was bleeding heavily, too heavily. The woman reached up, grabbing your shirt for dear life, her bloodied fingers staining your white shirt a bright crimson.

"It's okay. I got you. It's okay." You reassured, pulling your unzipped jacket off before bundling it up and pressing it down against her stomach causing the woman to cry out in pain. "Shh. It's going to be fine. You're going to be fine."

That was a total lie, and she probably knew it too.

There was too much blood. Even if you could get her to the infirmary, her entire stomach was cut open and there was no way you nor Denise would be able to do that kind of surgery to fix it.

Her body was trembling below you, but you kept pressure on the large wound because you weren't sure what else to do. Although, after a couple of minutes her fingers fell from your shirt and her body stilled.

She was dead.

"Shit." You let out a shaky sigh, dropping your hands from the bloodied jumper against her stomach.

Warm blood dripped from your fingers onto the grass as you sat there on your knees unmoving while you stared down at her.

"She's gone." Morgan's voice suddenly said.

Yeah, no shit.

You glanced over your shoulder to find the man walking over to you, his wooden staff resting on his shoulder.

"I know." You sighed, "where are the others? What happened?"

"The trucks at the quarry fell. We had to do the plan now."

"Now? As in move the horde now?" You questioned in pure shock, and he nodded. "But that horn from earlier-"

"Is drawing half the herd here, right now. Yes."

"Fuck." You hissed under your breath. "What caused the horn?"

"A truck hit the front wall. Those attackers tried to break it down. It didn't work."

"Is the wall still standing?"

"It is." He nodded, and you sighed with relief.

If half that herd of walkers was heading straight for Alexandria, you needed that wall up. Although, you weren't entirely sure how useful any of these walls would be against a large herd. If enough of them pushed against it, it would break.

You slowly stood up on unsteady feet. All your adrenaline from earlier disappearing fast as the shock of this whole situation started to set in.

"Are you okay?" Morgan asked, noticing your unsteadiness.

Nope.

"Yeah."

Daryl, Rick and Merle were still out there somewhere. The street of Alexandria was covered in dead bodies. A herd of walkers were heading straight for the community. No, you definitely weren't okay.

"I gotta go." You said, already walking off in the direction of the infirmary.

There wasn't much you could do for the dead, but you could at least help Denise with the injured. However, when you stepped through the front door of the infirmary you realised that there weren’t any patients inside, alive ones at least.

Denise was halfway through covering a woman’s body with a blanket over one of the gurneys when she paused and looked up, hearing the front door open.

Her eyes were glossy with unshed tears, but seemed to be determined to not let them fall as she gave you a sad smile and lowered the blanket over the blonde woman’s head.

"Is it over?" Denise asked, her voice so small you nearly missed it.

"It's over." You confirmed.

She sighed with relief before collapsing down on the stool by the bench that Tara was sitting at.

"How many are injured? I can help you guys-" Tara started to say before you cut her off.

"None. All the ones that were injured are dead. I tried to save... it doesn't matter." You sighed, looking down at your bloodstained shirt and hands.

"Some doctors we are." Denise mumbled, glancing over at the body under the blanket.

"At least you guys tried to save them. I mean, Holly had pretty bad wounds, there wasn't much you could do Denise, and Y/N, by the amount of blood on your shirt, I'm guessing there wasn't a lot you could do either, but you both still tried. That's gotta count for something." Tara insisted, looking between you both.

"I second that fact. You both are a lot braver than I am." Eugene said, speaking up for the first time across the room.

If you were being honest, you hadn't even realised the man was here which was probably very bad on your part, but it had been a long day.

Satisfied that your assistance wasn't needed in the infirmary, you returned back outside to find Michonne and a few of the others now inside Alexandria. But the relief of seeing them was only short lived.

After a brief conversation with Michonne, it was clear that the plan from earlier with the herd at the quarry went to shit. A lot of people died. Glenn and a few others were still missing. Daryl, Merle and Abraham were still trying to lead the main herd away with vehicles while Rick was out there somewhere trying to use the RV to drive the herd coming to Alexandria away.

It was chaos, and there was nothing you could do to help.

"Glenn will find a way to signal that he's alive." Michonne told Maggie.

"She's right." You backed up, looking between the two women. "He'll be fine. They all will be."

Maggie gave you a small smile as she nodded, but you could tell she was still worried. Hell, so were you, but you didn't want to say that aloud.

You wandered over to the ladder tied against the watch platform before you began to climb up to get a look at the truck that had apparently crashed into the front wall.

There was a large wooden tower-like structure just outside of Alexandria. It provided a good lookout point for the community. You had been up there many times, and it appeared that the truck the attackers were driving had crashed into the lower base of the tower before hitting the wall.

The tower now had a large crack through the middle of it but was still standing and must have slowed the truck down enough before it hit the wall because there wasn't much damage.

You had been expecting to find metal panels bent in or worse, fallen over, but the wall's structure was perfectly fine which was a miracle in itself.

"Open the gate!" A faint yet familiar voice shouted in the distance.

You turned your attention away from the tower and your jaw dropped in horror when you saw the mass number of walkers in the distance heading straight towards Alexandria.

Oh, no.

"Open the gate! Open the gate now!" Rick's voice shouted.

Wait, was he with the herd?

You quickly pulled the rifle from your back and looked through the scope towards the walkers and your stomach dropped when you spotted your father sprinting a few paces ahead of the herd, desperately trying to get to Alexandria before the dead.

"Open the gate!" You shouted, lowering the gun and looking down at Michonne and Maggie, who seemed to have already heard your fathers’ shouts and were yanking the front gate open.

Raising your rifle, you rested your head against the stock while looking through the scope towards your father only to find that a few walkers had stumbled out from the sides of the road, cutting him off.

Shit.

Without hesitation, you lined up the walkers and began to take them out one by one, creating a clear path for him to run. Rick spared a quick glance up at the watch platform noticing it was you with the rifle before he stopped trying to dodge the oncoming walkers, trusting you to take them out while he simply focused on running for his life.

The sudden pressure caused your finger to tremble against the trigger, but you made sure every single shot counted. You took the walkers down until your father finally sprinted through the front gate and the girls closed it behind him.

You let out a shaky sigh of relief, ejecting the last casing from the chamber before throwing the rifle over your shoulder and hurriedly rushing down the ladder of the watch platform.

Rick was hunched over by the gate, his hands resting on his knees as he breathed heavily, sucking in fast deep breaths. His body was trembling and covered in sweat like he had just run a marathon to get here which he probably did.

His left hand was bleeding from what appeared to be a cut on his palm, but other than that he didn't appear to have any other physical injuries.

"Dad, are you okay?" You questioned, rushing over.

Your voice had him lifting his head instantly and he stumbled a few steps towards you before he wrapped his arms around you, hugging you desperately.

"Thank God. Thank God. Thank God." He mumbled repeatedly while breathing heavily.

The hug caught you off guard, but you were quick to hug him back as you stared over his shoulder at the front gate where you were met with the rotten faces of walkers pressed against it, trying to get inside.

The sea of the dead had now reached Alexandria.

-

Part 5

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A/N: I hope you all enjoyed the new part to this Grimes-Dixon mini series. Part 5 is coming soon, so stay tuned!

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