When the dead roam - (Daryl Dixon)

Chapter 89 - A tiger...

It was too good to be true. Three like-minded communities in a run down, death ridden, post apocalyptic world was even more ludicrous than she could ever imagine and yet there she was, stood on the outskirts of The Kingdom, listening to Jesus explain his plan to Rick. Louise still didn't understand how Jesus had such connections between communities but she knew they wouldn't join the fight without a lot of convincing - and if Jesus was the way to do that, so be it.

The young girl sat on the hood of the vehicle, studying her surroundings and waiting rather impatiently to proceed with their task. Her fingernails were stubby, barely visible from the anxious chewing that had taken up the majority of her morning. She sighed heavily and shook her head.

"You need to surpass a certain level of narcissism to call yourself the king" she said bluntly.

Jesus looked towards her. "The name came from his people. They look up to him. He's a good man, Lou"

"That doesn't negate my point"

"If he's such a good man, why're we sittin' 'round 'ere for?" Daryl asked, leaning out the car and shouting over the roof. He used the floor of the vehicle as a mount and rested his arm on top of the door.

Jesus smirked as the sound of hooves hitting the concrete echoed behind them. Two men rode towards them, dressed head to tow in metal armor - bar a pretentious helmet. Swords were strapped to their backs and protective pads on their elbows; if Louise didn't know any better, she'd think she was hallucinating.

"We're waiting for them" he said proudly, pointing over the abandoned vehicles towards the horses.

"Who dares trespass on the sovereign land of -" the strange male stopped kid sentence, his eyes focused on the long haired male that accompanied their group. His façade faltered and the overly-pronounced accent dropped. "Oh shit, Jesus, that you?" Jesus smiled and held up his hand in greeting. "Who are all these people, Paul?"

"Paul, huh?" Lou asked, suddenly more weary than she was before. She pursed her lips and raised her eyebrows. "Interesting"

Jesus rolled his eyes at her and moved to stand in front of him. "Hi Richard, nice to see you"

"It's good to see you too. Your friends, who are they?" Richard asked, gesturing towards group. Louise nodded at Rick and slid off the car, wiping her jeans and joining him at the horses.

"This is Rick Grimes. He's the leader of a like-minded community" Jesus explained, pointing at Rick. "These are some of his people. We would like to request an audience with King Ezekiel"

Richard dismounted the horse and walked towards them, gun in hand. He bent down slightly and looked through the vehicle windows at the small group of Alexandrian's that still sat inside. "Get out the car" He waited patiently for them to exit before he continued. "You say they're a...like-minded community? Like-minded how?"

"We live. We trade. We fight the dead...sometimes others" Jesus explained briefly.

The armored man nodded. "Line up"

"'Kay, this is a waste'a time. C'mon, let's go" Daryl grumbled, turning back around and beginning to walk away.

"Maybe you're right. The king is a busy man and it's a dangerous world. We don't usually allow a pack of strangers to walk through the door"

"We wanna make the world less dangerous" Michonne spoke up, taking a small step forwards. "And we are all here to show the King how serious we are about that"

Louise forced back her laughter at the words that escaped her friends mouth. The king. Never in her life had she heard something so ridiculous...but her curiosity was stronger than her urge to leave.