A New Beginning

The Answer

Nighttime

Derek leans on his motorcycle and watches as the light disappears in the window of the mans mansion. He pulls the knife out of the leather sheath that was attached to his belt and begins heading to the mans mansion.

Inside

Derek slowly creeps his way up the stairs and cracks the door open and realizes this is the room where the stranger was sleeping. He instantly notices that the room was dark, but could somewhat see from the moonlight glaring through the window. He watches as the man sleeps in his king sized bed. He slowly enters inside the room and makes his way to the bed. He slowly raises the knife into the air. The man opens his eyes and kicks Derek to the window and immediately gets out of bed. He begins slashing but the man dodges and hits Derek in the nose, then grabbing his arm and grabbing the knife and throwing it out to the hall. Derek punches the man in the stomach, and tackles him onto the bed. Derek then relentlessly delivers punches to the mans face. The man moves out of the way and headbutts Derek, causing him to get off. The man stands up and Derek charges at him. They begin wrestling in the hallway. The man and Derek both stand up in the dark and wait for an attack. Derek charges but the man moves out of the way, and pushes Derek down the stairs. Derek grabs him and they begin falling down the stairs together in the dark mansion. They finally reach the main floor and lay there as they instantly feel pain. The man slowly gets on his feet as Derek slowly gets on his knees. The man kicks Derek in the face, causing Derek to fall on his back and remain unconscious. The man sighs and places his hands on his knees. He then heads upstairs and lights a match and goes to the closet to get dressed.

At Alexandria

AJ and the others inside Alexandria are peacefully sleeping until they hear a loud bang outside their gate. This causes AJ to open his eyes and throw the blankets off of him. He immediately gets dressed and puts his belt on. He grabs the Colt Python and runs out of his house and sprint for the gate. He finally makes it and notices a majority of people are standing there. He stands there and notices Derek with a washcloth in his mouth and a gun to the back of his head.

The Gate

"You ready for this?" The man questions with a sarcastic manner. Derek stares at the man as he chuckles. They get out of the car and the man throws Derek in front of him. He grabs his Colt 1911 and fires a round into the night. He then places his gun at the back of Derek's head and grabs a megaphone off of the hood of the car and waits for AJ's arrival.

AJ's POV

He stands there with a scared expression on his face when he notices Derek and the man outside of the front gate. "Who's ready to watch this sack of shit die?" The man questions in the megaphone. "Let him go, right now." AJ says. "I'll stay here, talk as long as you want or have you come in here, but you let him go." AJ says from inside Alexandria. The man smiles. "I don't like that, Alvin. How about I shoot your best man here and kill you all anyway?" The man questions. "It doesn't have to be this way.." AJ says worried. "You're right, it doesn't, but you people just couldn't live with me. You tried to execute me! And for that, you gotta fucking pay!" The man yells into the megaphone. AJ stands there as he can't do anything. "I'll make it easy for you. I'll count down from ten and then blow his brains out. Nows your chance to say your goodbyes." The man sets the megaphone down and AJ and Derek stare at each other. The man begins counting. "Ten." Every count makes AJ scared as he begins trembling and heavily breathing as the man continues counting in the background. "Nine." "Eight." "Seven." "Six." "Five." "Four." "Three." "Two." Before the man can make it to one, someone fires from the guard tower, hitting the mans hand causing him to drop the gun and scream in pain. Derek headbutts the man in the nose hard and the man drops to the ground. AJ opens the gate and runs out to Derek. He grabs the towel and takes it out of Derek's mouth and heads over to the man whose on the ground holding his nose. AJ aims his Colt Python at him and the others leave Alexandria and stand around AJ and Derek. "Let's just kill him. Get this over with." Derek suggests. AJ looks at him and then the crowd behind him. Some support Derek's decision while others disagree. They begin arguing. AJ stands there while holding the gun to the man as he blocks out the argument. "Enough!" He yells at everyone. They all go silent and stare at AJ. "I'm putting him in the cell where he belongs." He responds. Jake takes a step forward. "Really? You think that's the solution? He tried to kill us!" AJ turns his head to look at Jake. "It's not up for discussion." He replies with frustration. "If you people think you're better off without me or Derek, then fucking go. I'm not begging you to stay if you don't feel safe." He stands there and watches as his people have a shocked and scared expression on their faces. "Go on, nows your chance." He waits more. No one moves. "No? Then stop questioning my tactics and maybe you'll survive." AJ holsters his Python and grabs the man and sets him on his feet. "Walk." He orders and the man and AJ begin walking to the basement.

In the Cell

AJ throws the man into the cell and locks the door. The man approaches and wraps his arms around the metal bars and smiles. "You think this'll keep your people safe? By locking me in here?" He questions. He begins chuckling. AJ stares at him. "I'll bring you food and water tomorrow. You have a bucket next to you." He turns around and begins walking. "The fun is just getting started." The man calls out from behind. AJ stops and turns his head. "You know what to do with the bucket." He replies and faces forward and walks up the stairs and locks the basement door.

Morning

AJ wakes up and gets dressed. He grabs a plate of food and a water bottle and brings it to the basement for the stranger. Derek stands guard at the door, watching the mans every move. AJ walks down the stairs and approaches Derek. "Everything go okay this morning?" AJ asks Derek. Derek stands there with his arms crossed. "Haven't had a peep from this asshole all morning." He responds. AJ nods and Derek unlocks the cell door and AJ enters inside. He places the plate of food and the water bottle next to the man. The man sits with his hands locked together and looks up at AJ and smiles. "The hell are you smiling about?" AJ questions. "I'll break out of here one day and you'll see what I'm smiling about." He comments. AJ pulls out an electric razor. "We're giving you a haircut and a shave. Since you're our prisoner." AJ replies. Derek walks inside the cell and stands next to AJ. The man quickly gets up and slams AJ's back against the wall. Derek reacts quickly and grabs the mans shoulders and throws him on the bed and AJ takes advantage of this. He begins cutting the mans blonde hair. The man desperately tries getting out but can't. The man now has short, blonde hair. "Flip him over." AJ orders. Derek rolls him over and holds him down. AJ begins shaving the mans beard. Once he's finished, he looks younger and they walk out of the cell. "Almost forgot." Derek says. He grabs a blue pair of overalls and tosses them to the man. "You're gonna wear this." The man looks at the blue jumpsuit. "It's official. I'm a fucking prisoner. Hallelujah!" He jokes. AJ and Derek roll their eyes and leave the basement. AJ locks the basement door and they begin walking together. "How long do you think this'll last?" Derek asks. "As long as it has too." AJ answers. They continue walking as they feel the sun on their skin and AJ smiles.