Solitude -> The Walking Dead

60

"You ready?"

I swallowed a lump in my throat as my hand found Rick's. He gently gripped it while his gaze stayed focused on the gate in front of us. The pictures Aaron showed us weren't lying about the steel walls protecting Alexandria.

Though they had opened for us.

"Born ready, always been a real people person." I replied nonchalantly.

The smirk on Rick's face was enough for me to calm down a bit. We can make this work. I glanced at Dakota and Abby who each held a twin. They nodded at me and I nodded back.

Judith let out a random noise in Rick's arms bringing my attention back to the front. She was looking at me and I found myself quickly looking away. All I could think about when I saw her was Lori's death.

There was a rustle in the trees and all of us pulled out our weapons. Something moved on the ground and Daryl shot it. As he picked it up, I realized it was a possum.

"We brought dinner." He said.

I smirked at his words allowing myself to be amused at him being himself even at a time like this. If he could do it, then so could I.

"Come on in, guys." Aaron motioned for us to step inside the gates.

Rick went first and I followed with my eyes darting around the space. It was suprisingly big, with actual houses and streets. I didn't know what I was expecting when Aaron said community but this was not what I imagined.

"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons. Stay, you hand them over." The man who opened the gate stated.

I tensed at the thought of having no weapons on me. There has not been a single moment where I've gone without a weapon since this whole thing started. Unless you count all the times I've been held hostage which is more than I'd like.

"We don't know if we want to stay." Rick argued.

Aaron turned to the man. "It's fine, Nicholas."

I released a breath I was holding at his words. Aaron was the one I trusted. His people are a different story. No one's attacked us so far so I guess they're not as jumpy as we are.

"If we were gonna use them, we would have started already." Rick pointed out.

Starting with Aaron and Eric. Instead we brought them back and patched Eric up after he broke his ankle. It was a peace offering. As close as we could get to one these days.

"Let them talk to Deanna first." Aaron told Nicholas.

I gripped Rick's hand tighter and his thumb stroked my skin to soothe me. It was an involuntary reaction on my part. Usually I was good at hiding my nerves.

But then again, usually no one was holding my hand.

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham chimed in.

Probably their leader. A community needed one, especially if it's been standing for a while. Someone needs to make the tough calls.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place," Aaron explained, "Rick, why don't you start?"

Rick was about to reply when we heard noise behind us. It was a lone walker making its way towards the gate. Rick alerted Sasha who took it down quickly and without question.

"It's a good thing we're here."

-----

My hand touched my now clean face as I stared into the mirror. I was naked, bare, in more ways than one. There was something about seeing yourself after years that messes with your head.