new beginnings

Introduction

I followed behind my dad, armed with my gun, ready for anything as we walked through the gates. This was the place my father had been raving about.

Earlier, he said that this was the place we would spend the rest of the apocalypse, where I would be safe. It's hard to believe that, since our past struggles with finding a place to live. Every time when we think we're safe and can settle down, something happens and we have to leave again.

We walked in and, as usual, my dad started talking to the leader of their group, Deanna.

I looked around. There were paved streets, green grass, and many identical-looking houses. It looked so nice, especially compared to the cement of the prison.

Several people had come outside with Deanna to check out the newcomers. I saw men and women, all either middle-aged or young adult except for three.

There was a teenage boy, a teenage girl, and a kid who looked about ten or so. The kid was standing by the older boy, and the girl was standing by him, holding his hand.

I eyed the older boy. He had lightish brown hair and wore a beanie. His eyes were an impaling dark green and he had a pale complexion. He was fit and wore a grey jacket with a flannel shirt beneath it.

The girl holding his hand had long dark hair and was tall for her age. She didn't look happy to see all of us.

The smaller boy hid behind the older boy. He looked scared.

"Hello, everyone," Deanna greeted us, "Welcome to Alexandria. Let me introduce you all to my group."

She pointed to each person in turn, "That's Aaron, Denise, Spencer, Father Gabriel, Sarah, Bryan, Enid, Jessie, and her children, Ron and Sam."

"Nice to meet you all. I'm Rick, that's Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, Michonne, Carol, Eugene, Abraham, Sasha, and my children, Carl and Judith. We've been around the East Coast searching for a safe place for years and, let me tell you, we have many stories. We mean no harm at all and we're willing to take your directions and learn of your way of living," he spoke to the people gathered.

"That's great. I'll show you around to your houses. I'm thinking maybe three since your group is so large. Each house has four beds, you guys can decide who's staying where. We'll let you settle in today and tomorrow we'll give you a much more detailed introduction," Deanna gave us a smile and pointed to the three houses that were assigned to us.

"We have running water, but the supply has been short lately due to the lack of rain. It's all cold, so no hot showers at the moment. And please, try not to waste water. We have solar powered generators, which you will also have to use sparingly. We have a plethora of candles for the night-time in our supply garage. Denise is the manager of the food and is also the nurse, so if you ever feel sick or get hurt, she's right over there," Deanna pointed to a open garage connected to a house.

Deanna said goodbye and walked away, as did the rest of her group.

Dad turned to us, "Alright, housing arrangements. There are more beds than needed, which is good. I'll want Carl and Judith with me, so we have extra room. Who wants it?"

Michonne spoke up, "I'll take it."

"Maggie and I will share a bed, so we have three more beds. Who's staying in those?' Glenn asked.

Daryl, Sasha, and Abraham said they would take those.

"Well, there's no point in using an extra house for just two people. Would anyone be willing to share a bed with someone else?" Dad asked.

"Carol can stay with me, if she wants," Daryl said.

Carol accepted. It was clear to see that they both tried to hide their blushes.

"Great. Now Eugene, where will you go?" Dad asked him.

"I'll join Glenn's group. I can bring over a single bed from the extra house," Eugene decided.

I could see Glenn was pleased that his group was all staying together.

I went into the house with Dad, Judith, and Michonne. It looked modern and new, like it'd been built shortly before the world turned. We checked it out then went upstairs to the rooms.

I got the room with two single beds. Judith is still small enough for a crib, but Dad was sure she would be fine in a normal bed. Michonne took the room next to us, which had just a single bed, and Dad took the master, which had a king bed in it.

After a few hours of looking around I asked Dad if I could go to Glenn's house to see how they were settling in.

I entered their house, which looked identical to ours.

"Hey, Carl," Maggie said.

"Hi, Maggie," I replied and she flashed me a smile.

She walked over and gave me a hug, surprising me.

"I know you might be scared. Maybe not, I don't know Carl, but this is new to all of us. I know we've been to new places and said it would be 'the one', but I think this will be a new beginning for all of us. I hope maybe you will be able to relax enough to act like a kid, which I know you've missed out on. I saw those two teenagers, you might be able to relate to them. If you ever need to talk, bud, I'm here," she smiled encouragingly.

I watched her walk into the kitchen. I felt a new sense of hope.

I walked up the stairs to the bedrooms and talked to Glenn for a while.

"With all of this happening, I've kind of forgotten, how far along is Maggie?" I asked him.

"Twelve weeks. It might not look like much, but I feel like it's been forever already. I can't wait for it to be born. I can't tell you how much it is a relief for us to be here. Hopefully, we can stay for a long time and be safe, for once. I just want for her to not be stressed out about it," he said.

"Yeah. I hope it will be better than how my mom had Judith," I said.

"Alright, Carl. You better go back to Rick. It looks kind of late and I don't know about you, but I'm exhausted," Glenn said.

I said goodbye and walked back to our house. My dad greeted me when I walked into his bedroom.

"Hey, Carl. I found these. I thought you might want to read these. Pass the time, y'know," he handed me a stack of comic books.

"Thanks, Dad. Goodnight."

I took the books and walked to my room with Judith. She was asleep so I lit a candle so I could start reading.

'It's going to be better this time,' I thought to myself and went to sleep.