Ephemeral - Alia Dixon

29

"You gonna be alright?" I ask Ezekiel, who smiles at me.
"Of course" he says and I move over to Henry.
"You gonna look after your father, okay?" I ask, making a few of us laugh before I give Henry a hug. I bite my lip, nodding. Everything is going to be okay. I put my foot into the saddle and get onto my horse. 
"Let's go!" Michonne says and we all get going. I wave at my people as my horse moves to the gate, watching as the children eagerly wave back at me, making me smile.

The way to oceanside is a little long but we manage to keep entertained with stories and talking about some stuff.
Scott is walking in the front, stopping us as he takes a more careful look at something. I narrow my eyes at the footprints infront of us.
"Alia" he says. I look at Michonne for a second before I get off my horse and meet him by the footprints. 
They look clean and flat. 
"Not walkers, right?" he asks me and I shake my head.
"Most definitely not" I state before we get up again and walk towards the wagon.
"Prints are flat and clean. Not walkers" I state and she sighs. 
"The Whisperers never travel alone, right, so it's gotta be somebody else" she says.
"Could be her spouts" Scott suggests.
"The longer we spend out here, the more likely we are to bump into them. If it's just one scout, I like our chances. But we have to be as quiet as possible," Michonne says, looking back at Luke. "Right?"
"Yup, that was meant for me" he says, making me chuckle as Michonne gets the wagon back going and I walk over to my horse again.

"We're going to stop at the library" Michonne says loud enough for me to hear.
"Need new books?" I ask and she grins at Judith.
"Something like that" she says, making me chuckle.

The library is empty as we move in. No movement at all. I start looking through all the books, finding some cool ones. I start gathering a few on a pile when I hear Luke scream.
"What happened?" Michonne asks as we run over, finding him between to shelfs. 
"There was a man. He saved my life. He just ran out! Who the hell does that!" he says and I take a run out of the door. Sadly, we don't find the guy anymore and when Michonne and Luke come out, Judith following them with my stack of books, we keep going. I see the sad look on Michonne's eyes though.
"What's wrong?" I ask her, her and Luke looking to the floor.
"Seddiq's dead" she says, my face dropping.
"What?" I ask her in denial. No, Seddiq can't be dead not after how Carl... 
And Coco? Rosita?
"Got killed. We need to get to Oceanside and then I need to get back to Alexandria as soon as possible" she says and I nod.
"I want to come with you, if that's okay" I say and she nods before we all get going again.

We arrive in Oceanside not much later, Rachel and Cyndie already waiting for our arrival.
"When was the last time you had new people in here?" Michonne asks, now probably going to be very careful about having new people here since what happened to Seqqid. I can't believe he's dead and that I won't see him again when we get back. That he won't come visit anymore.
"Since way before the fire" Rachel states.
"Dante showed up in Alexandria way before the fire. We can't use that as a marker or Alpha's return anymore. Whatever process you were using to vet your newest people here, you have to put them through a different one" Michonne says before some screams are heard. We all look at eachother with alerted looks before we run over to where they come from. We see as a few men and women try to hold another man back who's desperately fighting against their grasps. 
"Who the hell are you?" Michonne asks.
"He was trying to steal a sail. And then probably also a boat"  Jules says.
"Let me go!" the man shouts, still fighting. I look to my right, seeing Judith standing there with a slightely frightened look. I walk over to her, stopping right next to her.
"Where did you come from?" Michonne asks but he keeps fighting. Clearly she's had enough as she takes out her katana and holds it infront of the man.
"I swear to God, I'm not gonna ask you again" Michonne says warningly.
"I'm just trying to get home. I don't want to cause any problems. I just wanna get back to my family" the man says desperately. 
"Michonne, this is the guy. This is the guy. He saved my life at the library. How you doing, pal?" Luke says, trying to be nice.
"And also the guy that's been sneaking around, messing with the security system. In the past, we've hung men for less than that" Rachel says.
"And he might be a Whisperer" Michonne says, getting dangerously close to the man.
I take a step forward. "Okay, step back Michonne" I say but she doesn't listen.
"He was taking books. He- He had pictures of his family with him. He had a backpack with stuff. Does this seem like a Whisperer to you?" Luke asks.
"We don't know what a Whisperer looks like anymore, Luke" Michonne shouts into Luke's face. 
"Come on. Let me go" the man pleads, resulting in Michonne holding her katana back into his face.
"You're gonna answer our questions. Who are your people?" she asks, all of us turning our heads as we hear groans. 
"Walkers" I say, walking towards the sound.
"They breached the fence" Rachel says, sprinting after me. I take out my machete and start slicing some heads when I hear Michonne shouting for Judith. I frantiqually look around, seeing her nowhere near.
"Mom!" we hear her voice a bit further away. Michonne immediately starts running for her daughter. I continue helping the others until we're done before I walk towards where I see Michonne and Judith now standing.
The man we've talked to earlier has a cut in his leg and is limping as the guards lead him away. 
"Did you do this?" I ask Judith looking at her.
She nods, making me grin. "Definitely a Grimes" I state, making Michonne smile at me and Judith.
"What are we going to do with him?" I ask Michonne, her getting serious and worried again.
"I don't know. He could be a Whisperer" she states.
"But he could also just be a regular person passing by and searching for a home, Michonne and you know it" I say, her looking at me with a clenched jaw before she walks away.
"You shouldn't just trust people like that, aunt Alia" Judith states.
I smile at her sadly. "I don't trust him. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. You would like someone to give it to you when you're out on the streets alone, no?" I ask her, her starting to think.
"I guess" she says, making me smile.
"I know" I say and chuckle as I lead her away.