The Rocking Dead: A New Beginning

Chapter 8: Alexandria and More Friends

Tom's POV: Axl got out and ran up to our car window.

"You seeing this?" He asked.

"Yeah. Do we trust it?" Jeff asked.

"Yes." I immediately said.

"But how do we know it's safe?" Axl asked.

"Just trust me on this." I replied.

"He was right about Negan. Maybe we should listen." Eric said.

"That could've been a fluke." Axl answered, "We can't guarantee they'll be ok."

"Just trust me. Please." I said. Axl was silent, going to get Joan and the others out of their car. Eric, Jeff and I got out of ours and walked over. We could hear a horse galloping up behind us. When I turned to see who was there, I immediately recognized the man. My dream world does exist.

"Can I help you folks?" He asked.

"Sorry, we were just looking for somewhere to stay and stumbled upon here. We can go." Joan said.

"How do we know we can trust you?" He asked, squinting from the sun.

"We just escaped from this crazy guy Negan's place. Guy is fucking insane." Nikki said.

"Look, we're not trying to cause trouble, we just need a new home. We'll take off and leave you guys be." Joan said. Everyone was silent for a moment.

"Name's Rick Grimes." He said, "Welcome to Alexandria." We all looked at each other in disbelief.

"I knew it." I quietly said. Eric looked at me as if he wanted to say something, but stayed silent.

"Good call Keifer." Axl said. We all followed Rick inside. He got off his horse to show us around. Some of these people - actually, most of them - looked familiar. I remember almost all of them from my dream. Michonne, Carl, Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, so many of them.

"Sebastian!" Rick calling out snapped me back to the present.

"What's up?" A tall blonde man came over. The moment he removed his sunglasses, I knew it was Baz. "Damn, you found some of our friends." He smiled at us.

"Our friends?" Blackie asked. Just then Rachel Bolon appeared, seemingly out of nowhere. To be honest I'm more suprised his nose chain is still in compared to actually seeing him.

"So what the hell have you all been up to? Find each other in the woods or something?" Rachel asked.

"We all went to visit Keifer while he was in the hospital and the outbreak started then." Axl explained.

"Hospital? What the hell happened to you?" Sebastian asked.

"You didn't hear?" Jeff replied, "Our bus was in a bad crash. He was in a coma afterwards."

"Shit. Well, you're still alive and that's what matters." Sebastian replied, "Want me to get them settled?"

"Go ahead. You're pretty familiar with them." Rick said before walking off. Sebastian showed us around Alexandria and introduced us to as many people as possible. Eventually, we were put into our own houses. Eric and I are together, of course.

"Come here." He said once we were inside. He wrapped his hands around my waist before planting a kiss on my lips. "Feel better now that we're here?"

"This is the place from my dream." I said, "These people are the good ones. Rick, I recognized him immediately. The others around here as well. Michonne, Rosita,  I remember them all. I'm just glad we're out of that God forsaken sanctuary." Eric planted another kiss to shut me up. I couldn't help but chuckle when he pulled away.

"Still works." He said. I smiled at him, taking in every detail of his face. Within moments, he seemed off. As if he was fading away.

"Eric?" I asked, trying to snap him back. No response. Instead, he became unsteady. I held onto him so he wouldn't fall. "Eric?" I asked again, raising my voice slightly. Suddenly, his eyes rolled back into his head and his legs gave out. I was able to catch him before he hit the floor. "Eric!" I yelled, starting to panic. I got him to the couch and laid him down. Despite me shaking him and calling his name, he wasn't waking up.

This can't be happening...