9 more months later, Negan was still defeated. 18 months in total Negan hadn't had any power whatsoever.

Trade links were established and still going strong, peace was found among everyone. Lilia's dad had moved near the Sanctuary to oversee things, keeping in touch regularly.

Alexandria had began to rebuild more, which sprung hope for a better future. That's what Lilia wanted. That's what everyone deserved, that's what she had hoped every since Carl..her pregnancy and the birth of her son. Named after his father.

Baby CJ had grown perfectly and healthily, almost bigger and bigger by the day. He was already 9 months old, crawling and bum shuffling everywhere. He never failed to amaze everyone. He babbled a few times but never said any sentences, yet.

It amazed everyone when he said his first word.

•

CJ had been sitting on the ground, playing with a few toys with Judith. They were inseparable already. He was playing and throwing things happily while Judith laughed and ran circles around him.

I loved seeing Judith with her little nephew, she didn't know what a nephew was so she continued to call him her little brother. Which everyone found quite cute. It wasn't hard to tell that everyone adored their bond.

Michonne was making some food near the kitchen island for the kids, I was sat on the floor next to CJ. "Can you say mama? Say mama?"

"He was close to saying dada earlier." Michonne said. "My money is on dada."

"Nah, he loves his mama." I smiled and looked at Michonne before turning my attention to Judith who was spinning. "Careful Judy."

I went to go and grab Judith from spinning herself to death, while doing so, CJ tumbled over after trying to use the couch to stand up. "Fuck, I gotcha."

CJ giggled. "Duck!"

I stopped moving, Judith stopped spinning and Michonne stopped making food. I looked over to Michonne in relief as CJ repeated it happily. I burst out laughing and so did Michonne.

"CJ! You said your first proper word!" I stood and lifted him up into the air and he giggled.

"CJ spoke!" Judith cheered.

"Say it again. Say...duck!" I repeated.

"Fuck!"

Michonne dropped her cutting knife on the board and snorted. I turned around to look at her, my mouth had dropped. I started laughing when I saw Rick with his eyes wide.

"Only your kid's first word would be damn swear word." Rick commented.

"He's your grandson." I smirked as CJ aimlessly giggled and Judith ran to her dad. "If Carl heard that he would've killed me."

"Which is why I'm still in the running for him to say grandpa first." He said, walking towards me while CJ was in my arms.

I carefully gave CJ to Rick, who bounced him on his side. "Wave bye-bye mama." He picked up CJ's small hand and waved it.

"Baba!" CJ babbled, waving his arm excitedly.

"Stealing my son now?" I put my hands on my hips.

He chuckled. "Go get ready to move out, we're heading to that museum Maggie suggested. I know how long it takes you to get ready."

"Finally! I haven't been out in ages." I cheered.

I turned down to Judith and placed a kiss on the top of her head. "Later Judy!"

"Bye Li!" She waved. I went over to, CJ and kissed him too. "Bye sweetie."

"Baba!" He babbled again to me.

It was strange to think about how fast things had gone. I was seventeen, with a child. Nearly eighteen which daunted on me. The same age that Beth was when she died...A few more weeks!

However morbid the sound may seem it did help put things into perspective. It meant that I could cling onto the life I had now and prepare myself for the future with my son.

Carl would've been eighteen already. I imagined it in my dreams, about how his eighteenth would've went, with his son bouncing on his lap happily, me beside him and everyone else surrounding.  CJ's first word definitely would've been dada then.

•

We all met up together at the rally point. Rick, Michonne and I met with Ezekiel and the others. It was my dad's idea to make a run into the city, but Maggie had the idea to propose a trip to visit the museum to find tools that could be used to base their designs upon.

Heading into the city, I placed a hand on my knife, or Carl's knife I should say. We have been running low on ammo in the last months, since Eugene recently was not in the correct position to create more we've had to resort back to our hand weapons. I didn't mind because it meant I could also finally use my sword that was similar to Michonne's, crafted by the Maggie's blacksmiths at Hilltop. Michonne has been teaching me ever since.

"Hey!" I greeted my dad who got off his bike. "How are you holding up at Sanc'?"

"Not so bad. Rather be at Alexandria though." He replied hugging me. "How's CJ?"

"He's good." I said. "He said his first proper word this morning. Well, two but the second one is the funniest."

"Oh yeah, what was it?" He asked.

"At first it was 'duck'." I explained. "But then when I asked him to say it again he said 'fuck' from when I said it earlier."

He chuckled. "Sounds about right for the little guy."

"He's clearly got 'Dixon blood' in him." I said with a smirk directed at him.

He tapped my black bucket hat down into my eyes, "Ya' say that like it's a bad thing."

"Come on." Rick said. "Let's get moving."

There was a walker in the door way that was dealt by Michonne with no problem. "We're good for now. Sweep protocol when we get in."

I gripped my knife in my hand as we entered the museum fully, I couldn't help but view the bloodstains on the floor to abandoned camping equipment. I heard a growl in front of me and looked up to see a walker coming round the corner, but it was quickly silenced by my throwing knife slicing into its head.

"Nice shot." Maggie said.

Thank you Enid for the lessons.

"Thanks." I replied.

We stalked into the next room that had once been a shelter, with run-down tents and ruined supplies. It was hard to miss its dome-shaped look, just barely enough to fit our whole crew comfortably. A few birds flapped around into nests and through holes in the glass ceiling.

My fingers ran over some bullet holes that marked the plaster walls, brushing across it as it chipped. I tried not to think about it as it forced my lips into a straight line. "This place is gross."

"Y'all got your lists." Rick said quietly. "Circle back here when you're done. Be safe."

"Don't be stupid." My dad nudged me.

"You highly doubt me at times father." I replied with a smirk.

I headed off with half the group, as the others went their separate ways. We walked into a big room with a grand, white staircase in the middle. I stood behind Maggie and looked around to admire what once must have been a glorious sight to behold.

"How's small dude?" I ask, referring to Hershel.

"He's gonna hate that name in the future I'm tellin ya'." She chuckled.

"I pick the best nicknames." I smile mischievously.

"Well he ain't so small anymore." She shrugged. "He's almost two, I can't believe it. How's CJ?"

"Better than ever. Said his first word today." I smiled.

"Wow! What was it?" She asked with a gleam.

"Duck.. and fuck." I stated and she chuckled.

"Oh goodness." She tried to hold her laughter.

Our laughter was ceased when a new problem presented itself, below us was a glass floor that looked down into the basement, growls echoing from it. Grabbing the straps of my backpack out of nervousness, I looked beside Maggie next to me to see if she was seeing the same thing. The glass may have been dusty but it didn't hide the mass of walkers on the lower level, clearly visible as they tried to reach up.

I looked around with everyone else, they looked unsure about crossing it. I sighed and took a step forward to go for the glass to the staircase. "I guess I'll take one for the team."

There were no signs of cracking or breakage when I went out on the glass, bouncing on the balls of my feet and it still had no impact. Michonne shrugged and followed, before cracking noises perked our heads up to the ceiling.

"Heads up!" Cyndie said.

From the second floor, a walker broke through the railing and fell down onto the glass, a stick impaled its stomach. I heard the sound of glass cracking and saw the tendrils spiral out of nowhere from where the walker plummeted. An unmistakable sound of glass straining was heard over-the-top of growling walkers. Dad shot it with an arrow.

"Onward." Ezekiel said. "We'll figure it out."

Maggie, Carol, Michonne and I took the right stairwell. Walking down the hallways, I couldn't help myself but admire the history this place held before the world ended and the past actually mattered. Before the world went to shit, I always hated the thought of learning about the past. I never understood it, why did we have to learn about something that had already happened and doesn't matter to us anymore?

Learning about famous wars, re-enacting popular battles and pretending to be vikings was cool, but not as interesting.

"I wish I came here when I was at school now." I commented as I marvelled at the things around me.

"At least you get to see it for free." Maggie shrugged.

"Yeah, and steal historical artefacts." Carol added.

"At least we get a free souvenir?" I mentioned. "Besides we don't have to visit the gift shop then."

"Gift shops are always hella over-priced." Michonne said.

"Well, at least we can tick 'Robbing a museum' off our bucket lists." I said.

"If that's on your bucket list I'd love to know what else is on there." Carol snorted.

"Disneyland?"

"God, if you were leader you'd be nuts." Michonne said.

"I would be a great leader thank you. CJ would agree." I shrug.

"While saying fuck every two seconds." Maggie said with a chuckle.

"Okay okay you got me. I haven't asked you, how does it feel to be a leader?" I asked. "I'm taking notes for when I overthrow Rick."

"I don't know, it's hard to expect it after Gregory called for the election."

"So he called the election?" Michonne asked.

"The one great idea Gregory's had." Maggie replied.

"Is he still sore about the results?" Carol asked.

"I don't know." Maggie replied. "He's being friendly. It's weird, honestly."

"The rebirth of democracy...by that guy." Michonne said. "Who'd have thought?"

"Meanwhile, I live with a king." Carol chimed in.

We all laughed and I asked, "But it works right?

"People seem to like it." Carol replied. "But there's something about a vote."

Maggie stopped. "Here we go."

We were stood in front of old pioneering equipment. It looked rather fascinating to see how people lived before the modern world of technology.

"Our blacksmiths can use these as a model to make more." Maggie said. "We can send one to the Sanctuary. Try to fix things there."

"I'm glad you won that election." Michonne said.

"I'm glad I grew on a farm." Maggie replied.

"I'm glad I got to live on that farm." I added.

Maggie chuckled. "Seems like a lifetime ago."

"Well, let's get this stuff moved." Carol said. "I pray it's not as heavy as it looks."

The moment we tried to lift it, everyone grimaced.

"Spoke too soon." I said to Carol. "I think it is definitely as heavy as it looks."

"Heavier." Michonne corrected. "Come on, we can do it. On three, ready? One, two, three."

"Wait!" I exclaimed and everyone stopped. "We seriously gonna carry this all the way back to the stairs when there is literally a wagon right there?"

Carol grinned. "You're a genius."

"Don't boost her ego." Michonne mumbled.

"Somebody didn't get effected by the 'mommy brain'." Maggie chuckled. "I swear I did."

"What the heck is 'mommy brain'?" I asked.

"'Spoke to soon'." Carol mocked my voice. "Come on, let's get it up."

"Well, I have my moments." I grinned. "Now let's get this moved."

We all managed to get it moved onto the wagon using the combined strength of all four of us. But when we tried to pull the loaded cart full of drills, ploughs, and other equipment, it wouldn't budge.

Everyone sighed and groaned.

"Hang on..I'll get my dad and them to help."

•

It took the effort of the entire group to push the wagon downstairs, using ropes and everyone's strength to prevent anyone from getting trapped and hurt.

"Alright easy." Rick said, as I gripped the rope between my hands. "Last step."

The wagon thudded against the floor as it rolled down the last step and metal scraped against the floor for a moment, the grinding noise making me shudder. The groaning of the wheels continued.

"Alright, hold, hold, hold." Rick said.

Rick hesitantly made his way out onto the glass floor, eyeing the walkers below him, only an inch of glass separating everyone from being torn by them. He made it to the front of the wagon warily, gesturing the rest of the group to continue to let the wagon down slowly.

The glass squealed threateningly below us as we pushed the wagon down the last steps and to the side.

"No sudden moves." Rick quietly said. "Just keep going nice and slow."

The wheels began to slowly turn, glass fracturing beneath the heavy and rusted wheels. I gritted my teeth so hard I felt like they were gonna break because of the pressure, or shatter because of the noise.

Ezekiel and I lifted the final piece between us. I kept my eyes down at my feet to follow the support beams below, just incase it decided to collapse, which it sounded like it would soon..

"You gotta go!" Rick suddenly yelled, causing me to look at my feet again.

The glass cracked even more, fractures shot through and across the floor below me as I looked down. I shoved the plow as far as I could to the concrete floor, otherwise we would've lost it. I leaped and pushed Ezekiel away and he stumbled to the edge of the glass for and landing on the ground facing me, only to see me disappear through the glass..

"Lilia!" He called out.

The rope around my waist made me jolt painfully but luckily it held me tightly and prevented me from hitting the ground.. or from the walkers below me to grab me.

The feeling of whiplash was the last thing on my mind, the feeling of hands on my legs, arms and ankles were the first. I barely managed to hold onto my hat, firmly keeping it on my head to stop it from being lost to the swarm of growls and hunger below me.

"Shit.." I gasped as I tried not to look, but the amount of walkers there were kept my eyes firmly open.

"Lilia!" My dad yelled.

"Dad!" I shouted back before squealing at the sudden grab of my hand from a walker.

I reached for my knife with my other hand, trying not to drop it or let my hat fall as I stabbed the walker in the head. I wondered how long the rope would hold, until it snapped and I would be dropped into the groans.

"Pull her up!" I heard Rick shout. "Hold on!"

"Well I'm not planning on letting go!"

The walkers continued to grab my ankles and pull me down. I saw my dad above me, trying to reach me while resting on the glass. My body was upright but I could feel the rope slipping from my waist. I was doing my best to kick the walkers away to lose the weight.

"Grab my hand!" He yelled and held out his hand.

I managed to brush my fingers against his but it wasn't enough to clasp my hand around his. "Pull harder!" My dad yelled to Rick.

With one more tug, I was hoisted a few inches higher and my dad was finally able to grip onto my wrist.

Then the rope snapped, causing me to be lifted into the air with only my dad holding me up. I looked up in pure terror. "Do not fucking let go."

"Never." He repied. "Guys!"

The nearest person ran over, although it risked breaking the glass, they had no hesitation to kneel down beside my dad to reach for my other hand. "We have got you." Ezekiel said, and also grabbed my other hand.

They pulled me and up and I let out a groan as I pulled myself back onto the concrete, accidentally cutting my hand on the broken edge of the glass. It teared through my fingerless gloves and cut my skin.

"Shit." I muttered. "These were my favourite gloves!"

I stood up and brushed myself off, my dad hugged my afterwards. "You alright?"

"Perfect." I breathed out. "That was a whole Theme Park trip in one."

"Huh?"

"Nevermind." I swatted him away, catching a glimpse of Maggie smiling relieved and Carol playfully rolling her eyes.

"Are you okay, Lilia?" Ezekiel asked and grasped my hand. "That should have been me, not you."

I grimaced in pain from my cut hand and sighed. "I'm okay thank you.."

"Apologies. May I?" He asked referring to my glove. He took it off and took a roll of bandages out. "There's no glass inside, you'll be fine." He wasted no time wrapping up my hand.

"Thank you Ezekiel.." I felt a tug on the corner of my lips and I smiled.

"It's no problem."

Once outside, I leaned against my dad's motorcycle and everyone loaded their supplies and hooked the horses up to the wagon.

"You gotta be more careful Lils." Rick sighed and pulled me into his arms.

"I'm fine uncle Rick!" I replied. "I hope CJ isn't a clumsy as me."

"Well he your son, so I wouldn't be surprised." He chuckled.

"Hey!" I playfully slapped his chest. "He's got Grimes blood too."

"He'll get his common sense from us then." He chuckled. "Come on, your horse is ready."

"Be there in a sec." I  nodded as I saw my dad approaching.

"Gotta go back to the Sanctuary. I'll see ya' in a bit." He said.

"Don't miss me too much!" I hugged him, before he got on his motorcycle. "Bye dad." He revved his engine, and I stepped back to go to my horse.

"Lilia!" A voice shouted as I got on my horse beside Michonne. I turned my head to see Ezekiel.

"I promise you a new pair of gloves next meeting!" Ezekiel called out next to Carol.

"It's a deal!" I yelled back.

"Safe travels." Carol said and everyone went their own way.

ˏˋ°•*⁀➷

season 9 :)

we all know what happens in season 9.

*dark but sad music*