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Maggie Rhee had a face like a road map, creased and wrinkled with years that had long-surpassed those lived by her father. Her hair had finished turning a pale silver-gray over a decade ago, and her eyes weren’t as sharp as they once were when she could clip a walker at 100 yards, not that she had needed to. The dead had been scarce for a long time, and the only threat came when one of the people in her community passed away. Quarantines and keeping the elderly housed in their own area had kept them outbreak-free for many years.
She lived with those elderly now in her own log cabin at Hilltop. She’d passed her torch of leadership onto Hershel long ago. He had survived too, now a man older than any of her family had been when the new world started. He had inherited his father’s eyes and bravery, and she had taught him all she could. The world belonged to people like him and Judith, married with their own children and grandchildren, all of them set to keep building up the world their parents had built back from the brink of extinction. Soon life before the dead rose again would be nothing but a part of history, a story told but not truly remembered.
Many of her new family were already gone. Rick had passed a few years back. Losing him had broken Daryl, who followed him shortly after. It had broken Michonne too, but she’d managed to weather the storm somehow. Others had been lost over the years—Carol, Eugene, Eric. Some were still hanging on, and some she thought might never die. Jesus was still teaching spin kicks to the children in the community center on the edge of town. Carl, haggard as he was, could still nail a target with a throwing knife if the mood struck him. Tara and Aaron lived together like a couple of old spinsters, with a slew of pets and an ever-growing collection of oddities. Back before Maggie had become too old and tired to visit Alexandria, the pair could make her laugh until her bones ached.
But that was over now, much like a lot of things in her long life, and she knew that it was only a matter of time for her. She hadn’t been out of her bed in days, and she could see it in Hershel’s face when he came by to give her reports or read to her. He was preparing for her to leave him, and so was she.
“Carl came today,” he said, settling into the chair next to her bed. He scratched at the tuft of gray hair on his chin. “For a second, he looked just like Uncle Rick up on that horse.”
“How are the grain stores?” she asked. She could feel the cold coming in her aches and pains, and she wanted to keep the conversation going as long as possible. Something deep in her soul told her this was the last time she’d speak to her son in this life.
“Nearly full. Little Mags keeps bringing home stray cats.”
“That’s good. They’ll keep the mice out,” Maggie said, smiling fondly at the exploits of her great-granddaughter, her skin creasing at the corners of her eyes. “Did Carl say anything about Alexandria?”
“Said they had a dust-up with some folks. But it was just a few and they were alone,” he said. “We’re keepin the gates locked and doublin the guard just in case.”
“Did they lose anyone?”
“Couple injuries. Nothing serious.”
“Good,” she said, shutting her eyes. She fell asleep before she could stop herself, dozing for a moment until Hershel’s hand sliding onto hers brought her back to consciousness. It wouldn’t be long. She'd felt herself slipping away into something far deeper than sleep.
“Can I get you anything, mom? Water?”
Maggie forced her lids open, looking at Hershel’s eyes, the shape and deep brown color so reminiscent of Glenn’s that it had always made her heart hurt a bit.
“You’re the greatest thing I ever did in this life, Hershel Glenn,” she said, finding the strength to turn her hand over and squeeze his. “I love you. And Judy and the kids and Maggie and Georgie and Beth. You tell them all that.”
Tears welled on Herhsel’s bottom lid and he nodded.
“I love you too, mom,” he said, struggling to speak without his voice cracking. “Tell dad I said hey, okay?”
“Next to him,” she mumbled quietly. They had created a cemetery outside the walls when life settled, but Glenn and Abraham and some of the others lost in the war were still buried in a tiny plot inside. She had made sure there was space for her when the day came.
“I promise,” he said, thumbing over the creased skin on the back of her hand. Aiming a soft smile at him first, she let her eyes close again, knowing that she would never open them again. Slowly, the pressure of Hershel’s hand on hers faded away, and she stepped from one plane into the next, pleased that she’d done as much as she could to improve the place she was leaving behind.
The next world was dark at first, and she wondered if maybe that was all the afterlife was—a vast expanse of black. It would be hard to find Glenn and her other family there, but she had an eternity to look. She had been through much worse than the dark.
Slowly though, light faded in at the edges, until the world around her filled with sunlight and warmth. She could smell grass and flowers.
“Maggie.” His voice was soft at first, disbelieving. “Maggie,” he said again, louder that time. And she turned toward him, sobbing the second she saw his face. It was exactly like she’d remembered it in every thought and every dream, his kind eyes looking at her like she was the sun and the moon and every star in the sky. They collided on the grass, embracing and falling to the ground in each other’s arms. Her hands traced every contour of his face and skin and he did the same to her, each of them claiming kisses that lasted both a second and an eternity. When she finally noticed her hands, fingertips buried in his dark hair, they were unblemished and youthful. She was again and had always been his Maggie.
It took time for her to realize where they were, laying on the soft grass outside of Alexandria. There were butterflies.
“Is this all there is?” she asked, looking up. The gate was wide open and she was certain that she saw Rick and Daryl standing together in the guard tower, not keeping watch so much as they were taking in the scenery together.
“No. We just knew you’d come here first," he said. "I knew.”
He took her hand and guided her down a worn path, the trees outside of Alexandria giving way to those outside of the prison she'd once called home. Kneeling in the garden, healthy and whole again, was her father, tending to crops that she felt probably didn’t need any real tending. She embraced him next before stealing a tomato riper and sweeter than anything she'd ever tasted. Juice running down her chin, she had a brief urge to tell both men everything about her life that they'd missed, but calm overtook her instantly, reminding her that she had nothing but time. She could recount everything with a clarity beyond the mind she'd left behind, and she looked forward to slowly sharing every story she had.
Her thoughts were interrupted by Beth's soft singing floating through the garden, and she raised her voice to join in until her sister came around a corner, the sun glinting off her golden hair. She hugged her too, happy that she'd been right all those years when she dreamed about the people she loved being somewhere beautiful and safe.
Together, she and Glenn visited everywhere they’d been together—the farm, the pharmacy where their souls had first truly met, the dozens of houses and cars they’d shared during their life together. He told her the world was open to her, anywhere she remembered or had ever wanted to go or could imagine into existence. And she set off on her own for a while, an overwhelming sense of peace in her heart telling her that she could be back at his side in an instant.
At Hilltop she found Sasha and Eduardo and hugged them both. At her college, she reunited with old flings and friends. Still, it wasn’t long before she made her way back to Alexandria, her hand twining with Glenn’s the second she stepped through the gates. Rick and Daryl were there to say hello as were the others. Surrounded by them all, she felt a sense of home that surpassed anything she'd ever known before.
“I almost forgot,” she said, turning to Glenn and leaning onto his shoulder. The sun was setting and the brighter stars were already visible in the pale indigo sky overhead. “Your son wanted me to say hello.”
Glenn smiled wide and kissed her forehead. They would never be apart again.