MAISIE RAN UP to Beth and Hershel after reuniting with everyone else, embracing Beth and Hershel in the most loving hug ever. She missed them dearly, this hug was important to her. She felt Beth shaking against her body while Hershel rubbed his hand up and down both of their backs. Maggie soon joined the hug, a smile on her face as she rested her forehead on Maisie's shoulder. Maisie felt as if something was missing, she looked down to the floor and realized Reaper wasn't around.

"Where's Reaper?" Maisie asks, pulling away from the hug with a smile still on her face. Everyone's faces turned into one of sadness. Maisie looked at the trio in confusion, waiting for someone to answer her.

"He's inside, he's been sick." Hershel spoke softly, a hand on her back before turning to Beth, "Take your sisters inside."

Beth smiles happily, grabbing Maggie and Maisie's hands and leading them inside. Maisie looked around, she's been inside of a prison before the apocalypse, but it's been a while and she's never lived in one. She was excited but scared because the beds were usually uncomfortable.

Maisie looked over to a group who were sitting at the tables, she gave them a small smile and a wave which a woman reciprocated. Beth let go of Maggie's hand while she went somewhere else, but she was leading Maisie to a cell that was almost at the end. Once they made it to the cell, Maisie looked down and saw Reaper with a food and water bowl in front of him, they were both halfway full. Maisie frowned, kissing Beth on her forehead before she walked over to Reaper and sat down beside him. Maisie pulled Reaper onto her lap and began petting him and kissing his fur. Reaper shot up, tail wagging as he got comfortable in her lap.

"Hey, bud." Maisie greets, a large smile on her face, "I missed you so much." Reaper licked her hand before shoving his head against her chest.

After a long while of Maisie lying there with Reaper, she decided to get up and see the rest of the group. The prison was oddly empty which didn't sit right with Maisie. Her stomach had a bad feeling but she guessed it was from the lack of food. What snapped Maisie out of her gaze was a baby crying. Maisie immediately stood up and began speed walking towards the sound, she was excited to see Lori holding the baby. She was excited to see the baby. But when she made it to the sound, she saw Beth, and Rick.

Maisie tapped Rick on his shoulder, gesturing for him to hand her the baby which he happily did. Maisie moved the blanket out of the baby's face and smiled at it.

"Boy or girl?" She asks.

"Girl." Rick and Beth say in unison, a happy expression on their faces as they watch Maisie rock the baby. "Her name's Judith." Rick introduces, patting Maisie's shoulder before walking away.

When Rick was finally out of listening distance, Maisie looked at Beth with a questioning look, "Lori? T-Dog? Sophia?" Beth looked to her feet at Maisie's words. Maisie couldn't believe it. She was gone only a couple of months, she wished she was here. She looked over to Carl who was at the other side of the prison, his eyes were cold. Maisie handed the baby back to Beth.

Maisie kissed Beth's head and whistled for Reaper as they walked back into the main room. She saw an unknown man talking to Carol, his hair was red and he had a mustache. Maisie was still bleeding and she didn't feel like getting stung with alcohol at the moment so she avoided Hershel as much as possible. That was until Maisie saw the whole group inside the main room, speaking to the opposite group.

Rick was standing in front of a dark-skinned man who said his name was Tyreese and dropped his hand when Rick didn't shake it. Hershel introduced the rest of the group as Sasha, Allen, and Ben. They seemed like a group who could help them, but it wasn't her decision to make and she couldn't trust them just yet.

"How'd you get in?" Rick questions.

"Fire damage to the administration part of the prison. Wall's down." Tyreese says with furrowed eyebrows. Maisie stared at him for a couple of seconds before looking at the woman.

"That side's completely overrun with walkers. How'd you get this far?"

"We didn't. We lost our friend Donna."

"They were lost in the tombs," Carl mumbles from beside Maisie, his head down with his hat tipping over his head.

"You brought them here?" Rick snaps his head to look at Carl, his voice rising. Maisie looked away from the woman when they made eye contact so Maisie looked down at Carl instead.

"He had no choice." Hershel defends. Maisie was just now realizing he didn't have a leg. His pants were ripped and he had crutches. Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion and her eyes widened.

"You did the right thing," Maisie whispers to Carl, nudging his shoulder and giving him a wink which he smiles at.

"Keep that to yourself." Maisie looks up at Rick's words, realizing he is talking to her.

"No, I'm not gonna keep that to myself. He did the right damn thing." Maisie crosses her arms and rolls her eyes, looking down at Carl who was back with a straight face and looking down to his feet.

"He's gotta understand that we can't go on wasting what we got on people we can't trust." Rick fully turns around to look at Maisie, putting most of his weight on one foot. Maisie knew Rick wasn't going to let them in now. His body language and tone said it all.

"Stop tryin' to argue with me and focus on the main issue." Maisie squints her eyes at him which causes Rick to shake his head and turn back to the opposite group.

Rick sighs, "I'm sorry 'bout your friend. We know what that's like."

"Hershel said you could use some extra hands." Tyreese looks over to Sasha who looked Rick up and down, "We're no stranger to hard work. We'll go out and get our own food, stay out of your hair. You got a problem with another group, we'll help with that, too. Anything to contribute." This offer was perfect. Maisie wished she could've accepted them, but Rick wasn't going to let them in.

After seconds of silence, Rick finally replies, "No."

"Please." Sasha begs, "It's like "10 Little Indians" out there. It's just us now."

"No," Rick repeats, shaking his head and looking down to the floor. Maisie could see the sweat on his neck and in his hair. She knew he was stressed, and she felt horrible. She knew he was trying to process the death of Lori, so she understood why he said no. But only a little.

Rick began to argue with everyone, they all tried to convince him to make the right decision. Hershel pulled him aside so Maisie took that as an opportunity to sit down. Reaper was right at her feet, not even leaving her side for a second. Maisie saw the look on Rick's face, he was going to change his decision until he saw something. Maisie followed his eyeline, but there was nothing. Rick kept repeating some words until he walked away from Hershel and continued to look up. Carl called for him, but he was ignored.

Maisie stood up and walked over to Rick and put her hands on his shoulders, "Rick-"

"Get out!" Rick shouts which causes Maisie to jump back into Maggie's arms and Reaper to bark at him. Maggie put her arm around Maisie's shoulder and her other hand on Maisie's arm. "I can't help you. Get out! Get- get out!"

"What are you doin'?" Sasha had fear in her eyes, everyone was either scared like her or just confused. Maisie put a hand on Carl's shoulder which made him back up into her chest, searching for comfort.

Maggie let go of Maisie and walked over to Rick, "Hey, easy, Rick." She says softly, her tone reassuring, "There's no need to-"

"You don't belong here!" Rick shouts and Maggie jumps beside Maisie who pulls her closer. Rick suddenly pulled out his gun which made everyone back away from him, "Get out! Please!"

Rick began to cry and yell while he stared up at whatever he was staring at. Maisie held Carl and Maggie close to her while Carol led the opposite group out of the prison. Maisie let go of Carl and Maggie before walking over to Rick and touching his shoulder. As soon as her hand went to his shoulder, Rick turned around and pointed his gun at Maisie's head. Everyone started shouting at him, but Maisie was calm. She gave Rick a couple of seconds to realize what he was doing before she put her hands on Rick's gun and took it out of his hands. Rick looked ashamed, exhausted. Maisie saw right through him.

She looked around at everyone, her eyes telling them to leave the room and they all quickly walked out. Maisie turned back to Rick with a sigh, pulling him into a hug. Seconds into the hug, Maisie felt Rick start to shake and then he began to sob. She pulled him in closer, she wished she had been hugged like this a long time ago.

"I'm right here, alright? You're my brother, I'm here for you." Maisie whispers, blinking her tears away. It wasn't her time to cry, she could do that in bed tonight. She felt Rick nod so she pulled away from the hug and smiled at him. Rick didn't look up at her, he stared at his feet and wiped his tears before walking away.

Maisie looked over and saw Hershel standing at the cell door. He had a small smile on his face before he looked Maisie up and down, "You're covered in blood, let's get you cleaned up."

"I've been avoiding this all day." Maisie groans, stomping over to Hershel dramatically, Reaper still right at her feet.

"I know, but it's time." Hershel laughs before he crutches towards the cell beside Reaper's. Hershel pulled out a bunch of supplies from under the bed before looking over to Maisie and gesturing to the seat in front of the bed, "Have a seat."

Maisie does as told, having a seat right in front of him. After Hershel gets all of his stuff together, he grabs Maisie's hand and flips it over so he can see her scraped palms. He takes a rag out of a bucket of water and starts to gently rub around the wounds on her hands. Maisie winced a couple of times, but she was being dramatic.

"You know that woman in there?" Hershel nods his head to the cell Michonne is in.

"Yeah." Maisie says, staying silent for a couple of seconds after Hershel hums, "If she leaves, I'm going with her. She's been alone since the beginning, and I don't want her to go through that again."

"You were alone too." Hershel glances at Maisie before pulling her head closer to his face so he can see the small gash on her head properly. "This'll need stitches." Hershel throws the rag back into the water bucket before pulling out stitching supplies.

"I know, but-" Maisie shouts a cuss word when Hershel shoves the needle into her skin without a warning, "she needs someone. I needed someone when all this started, but I forced myself to separate from you guys so I could find Wyatt. She doesn't have anyone to look for like I did, she's alone. Just like Wyatt found me, she found us. The only difference is Wyatt is dead and we're alive. She's either staying or I'm going with her." Maisie felt guilt when she said her brother's name. Nothing but guilt.

"I understand," Hershel mumbles a few seconds later, continuing to sew up her wound. "Her condition isn't sturdy enough for departure. We ought to consider discussing with Rick the possibility of her staying put. We've missed you here."

"I've missed you guys too." Maisie felt as if she were a little girl again, coming back home after being in Virginia for a couple of weeks, spending time with her mom and visiting her older sister. She loved being in Virginia because that's where she was from, but the family that took care of her lived on a farm in Georgia. She missed the farm. She missed her mom. She missed her sister. She missed her brother. She missed everything that was now just a distant memory.

"Reaper missed you most. He wouldn't get out of the cell unless Daryl was taking him on a walk or he was checking on the baby." Hershel chuckles after giving Reaper a short glance.

Maisie couldn't see Reaper due to Hershel sewing up her small gash, but she felt his presence by her leg. She felt him breathing on her leg. Maisie felt halfway full again. She needed Daryl to come back. His last words were saying how he and Maisie couldn't be together, so maybe he was right. Maybe it was a good thing they were distancing themselves. They were both with their family, maybe that's all they needed.

It wasn't.

Daryl felt horrible for telling Maisie that they couldn't be together. He knew how Maisie was, he knew she wouldn't get over him saying that if he went back. Daryl tried staying away from the prison, but something was calling him back. He didn't know if he could stay with his brothers any longer, they were driving him crazy.

Maisie was going crazy just thinking of him. She hadn't seen him in so long and when she did see him, it was for not even 20 minutes. She missed the feeling of him being around her. She missed him, and it was an embarrassing thing to admit. A couple of months ago, she couldn't even stand his voice, now she misses hearing it.

"All done." Hershel patted Maisie's knees which caused her to hug Hershel and kiss him on the cheek.

"Thanks, Daddy." Maisie smiles, standing up and exiting the cell and going a couple of cells down to her and Reaper's cell. The dog was still right at her feet, almost making her trip.

Maisie cleaned the cell up a little bit before sitting on the bed which was oddly comfortable. She patted beside her which made Reaper jump on and get comfortable.

She looked around the cell, it was small, but she wasn't expecting a master bedroom. The brunette sighed, looking down at her feet before kicking off her boots which revealed her dirty socks. She felt disgusting, there was still some dry blood on her that Hershel probably couldn't get off.

"Settling in good?" Maisie looked over to the doorway of the cell and saw Glenn. He had his arms crossed while he leaned up against the wall.

"So far." Maisie nods.

Glenn stopped leaning against the cell and uncrossed his arms, taking a few steps back, "Heard some rumors that you've been missed around here. With us."

"I've heard," Maisie smiles, "missed you guys, too." Glenn gives her a small smile and nods before walking away.

Maisie smiled to herself, she missed them. She never got the chance to even think about them during the time with Andrea and Michonne because it had been stressful. Months on the road with an old enemy who was sick wasn't the easiest. Andrea and Maisie just started getting along when she left for the governor. Maisie couldn't believe she would do that. But, there was nothing she could do. Andrea and Daryl were starting to become distant memories.

- FIRST EVER CHAPTER WITH NO DAISIE SCENES (???) how do we feel about that guys ??!!
also, do yall like this chapter ?? i feel like i did pretty good on the dialogue but im not sure