A New Beginning

The Plan

AJ and Tyler place a map on the hood of the truck and begin planning. "Over there." AJ slides his finger to the south. "The south, why?" Tyler questions. "It's not gonna be easy, but we've cleared the east and the west. We need to clear the north and the south. More walkers will be down there too, since they're expanding, but we can handle this." AJ replies confidently. Tyler nods. "Just the two of us?" He asks. "The way I see it, we bring people who either have or don't have experience will slow us down. If just you and I go, it's a risk, but one that's necessary for us to take." AJ responds. Tyler nods. "Alright then. We have our task for the day." He slams his hand on the hood. "Let's get moving." He finishes. AJ rolls the map and sets it in the backpack. He approaches the driver side door of the truck and sets himself in the seat and puts it in drive and begins driving.

Two Hours Later

"We're fifteen miles out. How long do you think we'll be?" Tyler asks. While trying to concentrate on the road, AJ glances at his watch. 1:30. He sets his arm down and places his other hand on the wheel. "It took us two hours just to get here. We might be back before sundown." AJ responds. "As long as we get dinner, I'm good." Tyler replies. He lowers the sun visor down and lifts the cover up and looks in the mirror. He lifts his eye patch up and looks at his wound. It's healed, but still needs to be concealed. He lowers the cover and lifts the sun visor up. He sets his feet up on the dashboard and rolls his window down. He sets his arm outside and feels the wind blowing through his hair. He chuckles. Tyler's hair has grown back a little bit and his beard has grown. He places his hand on his beard and begins scratching his skin that's hiding underneath his beard. "I gotta shave this shit." He jokes. AJ glances over at him and laughs with Tyler. "You know what I still can't believe?" AJ asks while driving. "What?" Tyler questions. "How we damn near killed each other when we first met." AJ replies. "You mean when I kicked your ass and had you begging for mercy?" Tyler jokes. AJ playfully punches him in the shoulder and they laugh. "You were an asshole." AJ sarcastically comments. "I still am, just not to you." Tyler responds. AJ chuckles and continues driving.

Countryside

AJ and Tyler step out of the parked truck as they begin approaching a farm. "There a name for this farm?" Tyler asks. AJ looks at the nearby mailbox. "The Jackson's.." AJ replies. He then looks down, causing Tyler to notice. "AJ, what's wrong?" He asks approaching him. AJ looks up at him, trying not to cry. "My father.. his name was Jeremiah Jackson. He took care of me, along with Derek. It's been awhile since I heard that last name." AJ responds. He then looks up at the blue sky and sighs. "Where is he?" Tyler questions. "He's up there." AJ points up to the sky. "Along with Mom.." Tyler notices the sadness in that last sentence and he hugs him. "We don't have to search this place if you don't feel comfortable with it." Tyler says. "I'm good. Let's do it." Tyler nods and AJ wipes off the tear that was developed in his eye. They begin walking to the farm and investigate. They approach the front door to the house and they pull out their guns. "Ready?" AJ asks. "Ready." Tyler replies confidently. AJ slowly opens the door and they both enter inside. "Clear!" AJ yells. They holster their weapons and begin searching. "I'll take the main floor. You take upstairs." AJ orders. "Copy that." Tyler responds and he goes to where he was ordered. AJ begins looking in the living room. Nothing useful. He goes to the kitchen. He opens cabinets, the refrigerator, and a closet that was nearby. Found some canned foods but that's it. Tyler walks down the stairs and enters the kitchen. "Any luck?" He asks. "Only a couple of canned foods." AJ replies. They exit the house and check the backyard. There's a little shack that they notice. "I'll take the front, you take the back. If there's anyone here, we need to make sure they don't escape." AJ says. They draw their guns and slowly approach the shack. They split up and go their ways. AJ opens the door from the front and enters. He notices a sniper. "Good." He says quietly. He approaches it and grabs it as a walker grabs his foot from a hole inside the shack. AJ draws his hatchet and amputates the arm. Tyler opens the back door and nothing is worth grabbing. "Shit." He whispers. The walker growling causes him to run out to the side of the shack. He notices the walker on the ground, trying to get in and he grabs it, dragging it out. The walker glares at him and growls, showing the rotting teeth. Tyler stomps on its head five times, making the head explode like fruit. Blood and brains remain on the grass. AJ exits the shack with a sniper over his shoulder. "Nice." Tyler admires. "Any ammo for it?" Tyler asks. AJ swings the sniper to him and pulls the lever back. There's ammo but not a lot. "Only three rounds." AJ responds. "Better than nothing. I hope you're a good shot with that." Tyler comments. "Don't worry just yet." AJ replies. Tyler looks to the right and notices a barn. "Should we check it?" Tyler asks. "Yeah, there has to be something we can use in there." Tyler nods and they walk to the barn. They enter and look around. "I'll check upstairs." AJ says. Tyler nods and they separate. AJ slowly walks up the stairs with his Colt Python aimed, ready to fire when needed to. He makes it upstairs and notices three walkers. He holsters his gun and draws his hatchet, approaching the walkers. The walkers notice him and growl at him. AJ raises his hatchet and brings it down on the walkers forehead, causing the hatchet to get stuck as the walker tries to grab him. He looks around for anything else as the walkers slowly approach him. AJ yells and throws the walker down face first onto the wooden floor, causing the hatchet to enter deeper into the skull, making contact with the brain. AJ looks to his left and grabs a walker and smashes his face on the wooden wall next to him. The walker dies and he throws it against the other walker, making the walker fall down. All the walker can do is raise its arms and growl at AJ. AJ slowly approaches the walker and pulls out his pocket knife. The blade swings out and AJ plunges the blade in the undead creatures skull. He pulls it out and sticks the pocket knife in his back pocket and heads over to the dead walker to retrieve his hatchet. He flips the walker over and pulls his hatchet out and places it in his sheath. "All clear up there?!" Tyler yells. AJ looks around and notices sleeping bags and pillows leaned against the wall. "Clear!" AJ calls out. "I'm sorry this happened to you." He whispers to the dead creatures. He walks down the stairs and Tyler leans against the door. "Let's go." AJ demands.

Back to Alexandria

AJ and Tyler make it back to Alexandria. They exit the parked truck and place the map on the hood. AJ marks the Commonwealths location on the map as the others gather around him. "We met up with this other community, they call themselves the Commonwealth." He begins. "You may recognize the injury of Tyler. These people are dangerous, and will stop at nothing until we're all dead. They damn near killed Tyler and they wounded Derek. He sacrificed himself so Tyler and I could escape. When the time is right, we're going to kill them. All of them." The others stare as AJ says his piece. "I know some of you are against this, but it's what has to happen. These people murdered my wife, killed AJ's friend, they'll come after us and we need to be prepared." Tyler steps in. AJ stares at him and nods. "I want to help." A woman's voice is heard from the distance. AJ turns around while drawing his Python. "We can end this." Michonne steps out raising her hands. Tyler approaches her and begins frisking her. He came across her pistol only. "You come alone?" AJ questions. Tyler walks peeks his head out of the front gate, making sure no one else is in sight. "Are you alone?!" AJ aggressively whispers. "I am." Michonne answers. "How'd you know where to find us?" A mans voice asks Michonne. She looks at the man. "I used to live here with a group of people I used to stay with. This was my home.. until it wasn't anymore." She finishes. They stare at her. "Tyler, you have to believe that we didn't order that attack on you or your wife, but I know the others don't follow the rules. Well, most of 'em don't anyway. I know Pamela isn't evil, but she will do anything to make sure she's still at the top." She walks over the map. "Here. We can sneak in from here and remove her from power quietly." She suggests. "How?" A woman asks. "Killing her." Michonne answers. "Sounds good, but they would immediately know who did it since we're the only ones they're currently having trouble with." AJ argues. "How else would you propose we do it?" Michonne questions. "Blow the fuckers to Hell." Tyler calls out. Everyone stares at him. "We remove them and the Commonwealth from existence. Assholes won't know what hit 'em." Tyler finishes. AJ nods. "That's it. We place bombs on certain areas, especially the weakest. This is how we do this." AJ agrees.