Solitary: The Walking Dead

Chapter Fifty-eight.

Blood stained hands.

"How long have you been out there?" Deanna asks, sitting back in her chair and watching Iris as she stands with her back against the bookshelf, her face cold and her eyes empty. "Since the start" Iris says, "how did you find the group? Did you know them before?" Deanna asks, she had asked Rick the same question but wants to know what answer Iris will give her, "i knew Rick and Carl" Iris answers, "what did you do before this?"

Iris looks at the woman, unsure if she trusts the woman, "why do you need to know?" she questions the stranger, "we believe in transparency. I like to know who the people I let in are" Deanna says. Iris moves to the window looking out at the community, catching sight of Daryl waiting outside, "I'm sorry about Bear. Aaron told me a bit about him" Deanna says.

"He protected everyone... he protected you" she adds, Iris runs her hand down her face turning back to the woman, "do you want to be here?" Deanna asks "the kids need to be safe" Iris mumbles "that's all i care about" she adds. "They shouldn't live with blood stained hands" Iris explains looking down at her hands "no one should" Deanna says, "some of us are born with blood stained hands" Iris says looking back up at the woman through her eyelashes.

"Were you born with blood stained hands?" Deanna asks, Iris slowly paces back and forth before slowly sitting on the chair, leaning forward and resting her arms on her knees. "My father had blood stained hands... he stained my hands with blood the minute I was born... they have only gotten more stained through the years" Iris says, staring at the woman in front of her.

Deanna listens to what the woman says, looking at her cold features, "i think we are done for the day" Deanna says, turning off the camera. Iris walks out of the house and makes her way to Daryl, "you good?" he asks, checking her over, "im good" she says, and they start walking together back to the group.

......

The group stands around, a woman bringing out a metal trolley, everyone starts placing their weapons down "They're still your guns. You can check them out whenever you go beyond the wall. But inside here, we store them for safety." Deaana explains, Iris looks over to Rick, he nods his head yes and she slowly takes her gun from her leg holster, laying it down.

Everyone steps back and Carol goes last, carefully the woman lifts her gun off her shoulder, acting like the weapon is too heavy for her, "Should have brought another bin." the new woman says, as she rolls the trolley away.

Iris and Daryl sit on the front porch, the woman watching as he starts skinning and gutting the possum, Rick pacing around the porch with Judith in his arms, Carol standing watching the neighbourhood. "You can look. Just be quick" Rick says to his son, Iris watches as Carl walks down the steps past her and Daryl and he walks to the house next door, Carol following after him.

Iris moves her eyes back down to focus on Daryl's work, zoning out and watching as the man's hands move precisely. After a moment, she watches him set the aminal on the ground, she looks up to see Daryl standing, turning to her and holding out his hand. She takes it and stands up following them as they walk around the houses, she looks around trying to find anything abnormal "They're right next to each other, but-" "They took our weapons and now they're splitting us up." Rick says, interrupting Carol, "Yeah." Daryl mumbles "We'll all be staying in the same house tonight." Rick says.

As the sun goes down the group start setting up the living room ready for them to sleep, Iris sits next to Daryl, watching as Rick lowers Judith into her crib in front of them. "How long was i in there for?" Michonne asks, stepping into the room, "twenty minutes" Rick answers, "i could not stop brushing" she says smiling.

Iris looks down at Judith, watching as she began to rest, a gently knock sounds from the front door, everyone stands, holding onto their knives, Iris places her hand on the handle of hers as it sits on her belt, Rick opens the door and reveals Deanna. "Wow. i didnt know what was under there" the woman says, looking at Ricks freshly shaven face, Iris sits down and watches the woman.

"I dont mean to interrupt, i just wanted to stop by and see how your all settling-" the woman stops talking, looking around at the group camped out in the living room, Abraham and Sasha on watch at the windows. "Oh my... staying together. Smart" she says "no one said we couldnt" Rick says "you said you're a family, thats what you said" she says, Iris looks up at daryl as he stands next to her, nervously rocking side to side.

"Absolutely amazing to me how people with completely different backgrounds and nothing in common can become that" she explains, Daryl sits back down next to Iris "everybody said you gave them jobs" Rick says, Iris looks up confused, she didn't get a job, "yeah, part of this place. Looks like the communist won after all" Deanna says laughing.

"Well, you didn't give me one." Rick says "I have. I just haven't told you yet. Same with Michonne. I'm closing in on something for Sasha. And I'm just trying to figure Mr. Dixon and Miss. Wolf out, but I will." Deanna says, "You look good." she adds before leaving, Rick closing the door behind her.

Everybody gets to sleep, Iris laying down by the crib with Daryl close to her, after some time she wakes from her nightmares. She sits up and looks around, noticing that Rick was no longer in the house, she picks up her coat and quietly steps over people and walks outside. She looks down at the steps to find Rick sitting, she closes the door behind her and sits next to him, reaching into her coat pocket and pulling out a cigarette and her lighter.

"Nightmares?" Rick asks, looking at the woman as her shaking hands try and light the cigarette between her lips, Iris nod yes, looking up at the night sky as she lets the smoke escape her lungs. "How do you feel about this place?" Rik asks, Iris takes a long drag of her cigarette before answering "i think we've gotta be careful".

"I think you're right" Rick says, he looks at his friend, "how are you feeling?" he asks, Iris sits in silence for a moment, letting the smoke try and relax her, "i don't know... i feel sad. But angry... I feel... I feel like I want to rip someone's head off but I also feel like I want to hide in the corner and cry. But I also feel numb" she explains. Rick wraps his arm around the woman, pulling her into him and kissing the top of her head.