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OCTOBER 7TH, 2013
Reaching a large gate, Reign stayed behind, lingering behind the group as the gate slowly opened, the sound of wood and metal scraping against asphalt making her ears ring. She adjusted the mask on her nose and shoved her hands in her pockets as the group continued to walk.
"You three need new gigs. And you need to go see Deanna. You guys obviously aren't ready for runs," Aiden demanded. Stopping angrily, Glenn turned on his heel, getting in Aiden's face. Sensing shit was about to go down, Reign stepped back.
"We're not ready. We're not fucking ready? Are you fucking crazy? You kept a walker on a leash that almost killed a teenage girl, what part of that is okay to you!?" Glenn spat, pointing at Aiden with a sense of aggression. This gathered attention.
Reign felt dozens of eyes burning on her as people began to notice the strange girls presence. But, Aiden continued to argue, "I said what I said!" This sent Glenn over the edge, and he sent Aiden to the ground with one punch.
Almost like an instinct, a bigger man in a leather jacket with shaggy brown hair kept Aiden pinned down. An older man with graying brunette hair ran to the scene, as did a concerned teenage boy with shaggy brunette hair and a sheriff's hat, carrying a baby, and a taller girl with long brunette hair.
An older woman, also with brunette hair, ran to the scene and began shouting orders. "This is ridiculous! Aiden, get up! Rick and his group are apart of Alexandria now! They are doing us a favor, and you need to respect that!"
"Deanna," the man with the greying hair nodded toward Reign with a southern accent. His blue eyes locked on hers. Reign wasn't annoyed, or pissed off or scared by Glenn's outburst. Underneath that mask, she smirked. She'd been wanting to hit that Aiden kid all day.
Deanna turned around and locked eyes with Reign as well. "Um, hi. Sorry for the... rude introduction. My names Deanna. Are you with Rick and his group?"
"Found her stalking us in the woods," Nick spoke up. Reign rolled her eyes.
"Actually, I was trying to not get my ass shot, and your stupid walker friend almost killed me. Kerosene, by the way," Reign nodded as she spoke through gritted teeth.
"What's with the attitude, kid?" the man who once held Aiden down spoke up in a rough southern accent as well.
"Reasons. Things. None of your business," Reign shrugged.
"You need to get to the infirmary," Tara spoke, walking away from the scene, "You're still bleeding like crazy." Reign was reluctant to follow her, but she didn't want to bleed out everywhere, so she still did.
With a sigh, knowing that the new weird girl was going to be a handful, Deanna motioned for Reign to follow her. And, reluctantly, she did.
Alexandria didn't smell like the woods. Alexandria smelled like a town. Like a place someone could call home. Houses and buildings lined streets dusted in fallen leaves of a variety of colors, which crunched under Reigns boots.
They made there way to what looked like a city building or a bigger white picket fence home. Tara softly opened the door, a small bell ringing over head. The air was cool, and it smelled exactly of a doctor's office.
The lights softly flickered over head. There were beds and chairs lined up, some occupying people, some of those people hooked to machines and some seemingly sleeping, or talking to loved ones or twiddling their thumbs.
Among them all was a blonde woman with glasses, a sweet smile on her face as she noticed the injured Reign being escorted by Tara.
"Hello there," she grinned, "have a seat! I'm Denise. Consider me the camp nurse of Alexandria."
"Kerosene," Reign nodded, taking a seat on one of the hospital beds.
"Ooh, cool name," Denise smiled, "What seems to be the problem?"
"Aiden was being a dick. Shoved her into a fallen tree and she cracked her head open. I can't necessarily see the damage but it's bleeding pretty bad," Tara spoke, removing the now ruined blanket.
"Of course he was," Denise sighed, "Don't take it to hard. Aiden is just that; a dick. Is this also just a normal check up? Seems you've been out there for a while?"
"Yeah... I guess so. That's fine with me," Reign nodded.
"Alright. Let's get you in and out, nobody wants to spend their first day in the nurses office," Denise joked, slipping on some simple blue rubber gloves.
She swivelled her chair around to the other side of the bed, and with a gentle touch began to examine the slice in her head. "That's a good centimeter laceration right there. Nothing a staple can't fix."
"A centimeter? And it bled like that?" Tara inquired.
"The scalp has more blood cells closer to the surface of the skin than most places," Reign piped.
"You seem to know your stuff! Girl scout?" Denise spoke, grabbing her medical stapler and a few other things.
"No. My sister was a paramedic before everything hit," Reign nodded. Denise quickly got the staples done, and her wound bandaged before carrying on to a concussion test, where it was confirmed that Reign was okay.
Then came the normal check up. Apon taking Reigns vitals, Denise noticed something on Reign's inner wrist.
"Kerosene? Have you noticed this?" she asked. On her inner wrist was a label scarred into the flesh, like a tattoo almost.
"Oh. Yeah... Uh, I do," Reign simply nodded. Not wanting to upset her further, the checkup continued and a couple wounds were stitched and bandaged before the same woman from earlier walked in.
"Kerosene? Are you done?" she asked.
"Yeah, she's all set," Denise smiled as Reign jumped up from the bed.
"Awesome! I'm Deanna. I'd love to talk to you about a few things, if you'd follow me?" Reign was reluctant, but she followed Deanna to wherever she was being taken.
Leaving the infirmary, the pair stepped into the cool outdoor air. The sun still beat down on them, but not as bad as it did underneath the trees in the forest. Brushing away the hair that fell out of her ponytail, Reign was led into a nice, cozy home. Past the living room into an office. She was directed to sit in a comfy looking office chair. Opposite her, Deanna, and between them, a tripod holding a camera, pointed directly at the chair in which Reign sat.
"Do you mind if I film you?" Deanna asked.
"Why?" Reign muttered. She picked at her nails, a nervous habit she never could shake.
"It's like a log of Alexandrian residents. Their personalities, who they are. Who you are. So, Kerosene, who are you?"
