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Intruder
Katie and Rick fell asleep, legs tangled and intertwined, arms around each other.
They were woken up the next morning by an unknown voice whispering, "Rick. Rick, wake up".
The couple jumped out of bed and grabbed their guns off the bedside table, pointing them at the intruder, not caring that they were completely naked at the time.
"Sheriff, I'd like to report a peeping Tom," Katie said slyly.
Rick tilted his head to the right slightly, staring down the intruder, who Katie assumed was the man that they had found the day prior.
The stranger laughed at Katie's joke.
"We should talk," the man said.
"I'll give you a minute to get dressed," the man said, walking out of the room.
"Who the hell is that?" Katie hissed quietly.
"The asshole I told you about last night," Rick said angrily, pulling on his pants.
"You realize he's outside, alone in our home in the same hallway that our children sleep in, right?" Katie said, as she pulled the tank top over her head.
"Shit," Rick said running out of the room without a shirt on.
The man was sitting on the steps, Carl had his gun to the man's head.
"Carl, back up," Katie said.
"Keep your gun up, son," Rick said.
Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, and Abraham ran into the house and up the stairs, guns out.
"You said you wanted to talk. Let's talk," Rick said.
They stood at the top of the stairs glaring at the man who called himself Jesus.
Staring was an understatement.
If looks could kill, Katie would be considered a barbaric murderer.
Rick picked Jesus up by his collar and held his hands behind his back, leading him down the stairs.
Katie held her gun to the back of his head while they walked.
They sat down at the dining room table.
Katie placed her gun on the table in front of her so that she would have easy access to it.
Maggie, who sat next to her, did the same.
As did everyone else at the table.
Daryl refused to sit down. He walked behind the table, pacing back and forth behind Jesus.
Katie could tell that he obviously had some sort of vendetta against this guy.
"So, how'd you get out?" Rick asked.
Katie leaned forward slightly, curious to hear the answer.
"One guard can't cover two exits or third floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?" Jesus said, a smirk forming on his lips.
"Right," Daryl answered gruffly.
"I checked out your arsenal," Jesus said.
Katie's eyes widened and her hand moved slowly towards her gun on the table.
"I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. You're well equipped, but your provisions are low. Very low for the amount of people you have. 54?" Jesus added.
"More than that," Maggie interjected.
"Well I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef," Jesus said, looking at Maggie.
"Yeah, she ain't here," Daryl interjected quickly.
Katie always wondered why he was so quick to protect Carol. He always jumped in to protect her, even when she isn't there.
Katie wondered when he would ever knock down that emotional wall and figure out his feelings, especially his feelings for Carol.
Jesus turned to face Daryl.
"Look, we got off to a bad start. But we're on the same side. The living side. You and Rick had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't. I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with. I took your truck because my community needs things, and both of you look like trouble," Jesus said.
"Oh, honey, if you thought they were trouble, just be glad that they didn't send us on that run," Katie said, motioning to herself and Maggie.
Glenn and Rick both masked their laughs with coughs flawlessly.
"I was wrong. You're good people. And this is a good place. I think our communities may be in a position to help each other," Jesus said.
The group was silent for a moment.
"Do you have food?" Glenn asked.
"We've started to raise livestock," Jesus replied.
"Hopefully it's not pigs. That can end badly. For everyone," Katie said, remembering back to the prison and the disease that almost killed her and Glenn.
It was spread by the pigs.
Jesus looked confused for a split second, but then regained a straight face.
"We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum," Jesus added.
"Tell us why we should believe you," Rick snapped.
"You're not the first guy to come around saying that he has a place. The last guy who pulled that, showed up at a time when we didn't trust. We tied him up. Tortured him a little. Broke his boyfriend's ankle. And that was us showing mercy. It wasn't my choice to show mercy. When I feel threatened, I reach for a machine gun and let lead rain onto the land. I don't care. And I don't trust. So you better have a damn good reason," Katie said.
The group knew she was exaggerating Aaron's story, but the effect it had was good.
Jesus thought that they were serious.
They needed to instill fear in him.
"I'll show you. If we take a car, I can take you back home in a day. And you can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer," Jesus said.
"And if we don't like what we see?" Katie asked fiercely.
"Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?" Maggie interjected.
Katie and Rick looked at each other. They seemed to be thinking the same thing. Meeting other groups didn't always play out well for them.
"Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger," Jesus said, laughing.
