Ephemeral - Alia Dixon

1

"That shit looks awesome" I say with a grin, staring at the house infront of us. They offered me, my dad, my brother and Carol and the others a house.
"Language" my dad says but I just shrug before making my way to the front porch. It has a swing on it and even some plants that look like they've been taken care of. Slowly, I open the front door to see a huge living room infront of us, a sofa, picture frames ( not like my dad and I had any pictures) and even a kitchen. I watch as Carol walks over before she lets the water running from the tab. My jaw falls to the floor. Immediately I call dibs on the shower. When I walk up, I notice that they've even brought us some new clothes. I can't contain the smile on my face as I start undressing and step inside. 
A groan leaves my lips as the water colides with my skin and the best thing about this: it isn't even cold. It's warm. I squeel happily as I let the water embrace me. The drain starts filling with dark, grey water from my body as I wash every reminder from the outside world off of me. Well, not all of them, there are still my scars. 
Scars from when I cut myself with the knife when my dad first brought me hunting, scars from all the incidents and fights we've been having the past two years. Our last fight was with the Govenor. Sadly, we lost the prison but maybe it's not too bad after all. At least we have running water, a house and walls now. Though, I miss the prison and the people we've met through it. 
A frown covers my face at the reminder of how many people we've lost. 

Everyone's already gathered as I step outside with a smile.
"How was the shower?" Carol asks me, clearly amused by my antics.
"It was awesome. I feel so clean" I say excitedly and she chuckles.
"Can we check the place out?" my brother asks my dad. 
"Sure but make it quick" Rick says and off my brother and Carl go. I watch after them for a second before I walk over to Rick and take Judith off of him. She smiles as she sees me, making me smile back at her in return.
I scowl as I see my dad gutting the possum he just shot outside. "Dad" I say and he looks at me confusedly.
"What?" he asks and I roll my eyes.
"Do you have to gut that thing on the front porch?" I ask him. He just stares at me for a second before he gets back to what he's doing, making me shake my head at his antics.
My dad and Rick are very sceptical of this place, leaving them to search around the house and even come to the conclusion that we all sleep together in the same house and in the same room. Not that I mind. We've been doing that for what feels like forever anyway. 

The next morning we're all up pretty early before Carl, Allen, Judith and I decide on walking around the place a little bit. It's nice with big houses everywhere and lots of people. We even meet an elderly couple, making me smile as they talk to us.
"She's beautiful" the woman says, making me chuckle at the way they only have eyes for Judith. We spot Rick in the distance, talking to a blonde woman, watching us with the couple. I wave at them with a smile. Both of them wave back at me. They seem to be talking about something again before Rick walks over and introduces himself. 
"Hey, uhm, that woman over there has a son your age and he asked if you wanted to come by" Rick says. Carl, Allen and I look at eachother sceptically before we all nod and walk after her. By the time we arrive at her house, she's on the front porch, greeting us with a smile.
"Ron!" she shouts and not much later a boy opens the door, his brown curls sticking into every direction. 
He smiles at us. "I'm Ron"
I smile back at him. "I'm Alia, this is my twin brother Allen and this is Carl" 
They greet eachother with a nod before Ron takes us inside. "We're almost always here after school, so you can come by anytime"
"You go to school?" Carl asks a little surprised. 
"It's in a garage. Little kids go in the morning and then it's us in the afternoon. Probably you, too, right?" he asks us and we all nod. We can already hear that someone's playing a video game or something as the sound comes from behind a half open door.
"Probably" Allen says a little sceptical but I nudge him with my shoulder as we walk into a room, Ron first.
"Guys, this is Allen, Carl and Alia. Allen, Carl, Alia, this is Mikey and Enid" he says, introducing us to a girl and a boy our age. I smile politely at them but Enid doesn't even look up from her comic.
"Enid's from outside, too. She just came here eight months ago" Ron says, putting his hand onto the girl's shoulder, making me wonder if they're a couple.
"Sorry," Carl says suddenly before he takes out a comic of the back of his pants. "Is this yours?"
Ron chuckles. "Sorry, we didn't know you would get that house"
"We mostly just hang out there and listen to music" Mikey says and I softly nod, trying to seem interested. "That's Enid's"
Enid quickly takes a glance at the comic before she practically rips it out of Carl's hand and throwing it onto the bed next to her. We all stand there in awkward silence before Ron speaks up again.
"You wanna play some videogames?" he asks, walking over to the tv. "Or Mikey's house has a pooltable but his dad's kind of strict about it"
"It's okay" Mikey says, waving it off. "He's at work"
I wait for the boys to say anything but none of them seem to get the words out.
I look at them with my face scrunched up in surprise and annoyance. I have never seen them shy before, definitely not my brother.
"Let's play some video games" I say for the both of them before walking over to the console.
"Yeah, let's play some games" Ron says, trying to lighten the mood, making me smile at my brother and Carl who then proceed to walk over too.

We spend the rest of the afternoon gaming before we find ourselves back at our place in the room, Allen and Carl now shared together. It's nice, two beds with blankets and pillows, there were even some pictures on the walls but someone tore them all down. 
"How was Ron's house?" Rick asks as he walks inside.
"What do you think of this place?" Carl then asks him.
"Well, I think it seems... nice"
"Yeah" Carl breathes out. "I like it here"
Rick then looks at me and my brother. "And the two of you?"
My brother shrugs. "It's nice. I like the people around here"
"But" Carl interferes. "They're weak. I don't want us to get weak, too"
"Hmm" Rick breathes out but says nothing further. 

My room's just like my brother's and Carl's. A bed for me with blankets and pillows along with a closet and a desk. Slowly, I let myself fall back on it and close my eyes. 
"You like it here?" my dad asks as he steps inside. I just stare at him for a few moments before skipping aside a bit for him to lay down too. He lets himself fall back, making me chuckle.
"I do. Do you like it here?" I ask him but he stays quiet, causing me to sigh.
"Dad, you have to give them a chance"
Now he sighs too. "I know" he says quietly.

I get where it comes from. We haven't met many nice people since the world ended and my dad's just afraid that this place isn't what we think it is. Maybe he's right. But maybe he isn't.