Alone

Chapter: 4 // all I want •

Jesus and I sit on the steps, as Rick and Michonne get dressed and he examines a painting on the wall when Carl comes out of his room and hoists a gun at Jesus' head, "what the hell are you doing in our house?" Jesus grabs my thigh before I could get up and confront Carl, he renders me silent. "I'm, uh, sitting on the steps, looking at this painting. Waiting for your mom and dad to get dressed." And I want to tell him Michonne isn't his mom, she died, but I know it's not the place.

"Hi...I'm Jesus," the door creaks open, Rick comes out shirtless in the midst of adjusting the belt on his waist with Michonne following closely and protectively behind. "Hey, Carl, um-" Rick stutters, and the front door flies open, more of Rick's people climb up the steps with guns at Jesus head.

"Put one right between my eyes," I tease them, pointing my finger at the space between my brows and Jesus nudges me and stares me fiercely in the eyes.

"It's okay," Michonne reassures the itchy trigger fingered people. "You said we should talk," Rick starts, "so let's talk." He runs his thumb over my knuckles, I take a deep breath and scoot my knees in up to my chest.

...

"Look we got off on 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 for other settlements to trade with, I took your truck because my community needs things, and both of you looked like trouble. 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." I feel befuddled, uncomfortable, because last time I checked Jesus was kicked out of the Hilltop Colony because of me.

"Do you have food?" Glenn questions, his shoulders hunched over his elbows on the table.

"We stared to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow, anything from tomatoes to sorghum." Jesus answered simply.

"Tell us why we should believe you?" Rick throws his arms up.

"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 is unsurprisingly calm about all of this, which should remind me of why I'm deliriously in love with him but it only makes me wonder why should he be calm if this group is anything like the saviors.

"Wait, you're looking for more settlements? You mean you're already trading with other groups?" Maggie asks.

"Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger." Jesus smirks at Maggie, and I feel a familiar line crawling down my spine that I can't pinpoint exactly where it arose from.

Rick, Michonne, Abraham, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie get on the van with Jesus. I pull him aside.

"Jesus, when did you start working for Gregory again?" I hiss angrily, he grabs my shoulders and stares at me with reassuring eyes.

"I'm not working for Gregory, I'm working for the community, the people, Priscilla. I came back on my own. Gregory didn't invite me." And with that, he jumps in the van and it screeches off before my eyes. Jesus is gone.

Aggrieved, I storm off to the gate and climb up the top when no one is looking, but before I could get on other side, I hear my name.

"Priscilla, wait up!" I see Carl on the other side of the fence, his bag slung over one shoulder. He starts to climb up the gate and I proceed to come down on the other side.

I walk faster than Carl, into a deeper part of the woods far from Alexandria. "I think we should stop here," he sounds out of breath. I sit on a thick fallen tree and he settles for a spot on the ground, he takes a swig of water before offering me any and I quietly refuse.