you took a polaroid of us,
then discovered,
the rest of the world was black and white,
but we were in screaming color,
and I remember thinking
are we out of the woods yet?
• • •...
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(16 weeks pregnant — 3 months)
season 5, episode 12 (part 1)
My steps were careful as I walked closer to the metal gate that screeched open slowly, Aaron and Eric moving ahead of us, making their way inside Alexandria before our eyes.
I continued to examine the exterior of the community, though I wasn't sure how to feel considering I couldn't see the inside. Were there houses we could live in? If so, what kind of houses? Were there stores? Were there a lot of people, and were they nice?
I had so many questions and I had so many thoughts.
Rick and I found a spot beside Carl, the teenager's eyes also trained on the loud metal gate. Judith made cooing and babbling noises, her body restlessly moving around in Rick's hold.
The sudden noise of crashing caused all of us to twist our bodies, our hands gripping our weapons tightly as we spun, aiming at the loud crash we had heard. Daryl was the first to put an end to the noise, only seeing an opossum in a stray trash can.
Our bodies quickly moved back to face the gate when we heard another shriek from it, I could feel my face tingling in anxiousness as the gate opened entirely, revealing Aaron and a complete stranger.
"We brought dinner," Daryl uttered jokingly, the large opossum swinging in his hand.
The strange man sent us a gaped expression, almost terrified at the arrival of all of us. I gulped harshly, my hand tightening in Rick's causing his hand to be removed from mine, his arm moving to wrap around my waist protectively.
"Come on in, guys," Aaron said, his voice calm and reassuring.
All of us walked through the gate slowly, our feet steady as we kept our eyes peeled for anything out of the ordinary. I let out a deep and shaky breath, my body momentarily trembling.
The metal slammed behind us, causing my head to snap, seeing we were now inside the community. This was real. Alexandria is real. Deep within me, I could feel the excitement– but I was too afraid to get ahead of myself, too afraid to feel the excitement.
"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons," The stranger in the beige button-up announced, his eyes peering over us slowly. "To stay, you hand them over,"
Rick stepped forward, the warmth of his body drifting away as he moved closer to the man. "We don't know if we wanna stay," he growled, causing me to internally roll my eyes.
I knew Rick just wanted us to stay protected, and he wanted us to stay safe. But it enraged me with the way he was acting, he knew we needed this more than ever– yet he refused to let go of the fear he had.
