[Finished] Living Among the Dead

27. Knots Untie

Rick, Daryl, Carl, Michonne, Glenn, Maggie, Abraham, Sev and I are sat around a table with the man Daryl and Rick brought back last night. Well most of us are, Daryl is standing and glaring at the stranger.
The man is thin, lanky looking, with long brown hair and a neat brown beard to match. Apparently the man calls himself Jesus, and in looks it's pretty fitting.
"So," Rick asks. "How'd you get out?"
"One guard can't cover two exits or third floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?" Jesus replies, whimsically.
"Right," scoffs Daryl.
"I checked out your arsenal. 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?"
"More than that," corrects Maggie.
"Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef."
"Yeah, she ain't here." Snaps 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 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."
"Do you have food?" Glenn asks.
"We've started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum."
"Tell us why we should believe you," Rick demands.
"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."
"Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?"
"Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger," Jesus sits back and smiles.

"You ain't comin' with," Daryl seethes, glaring at me.
I roll my eyes, "Daryl, Denise gave me the clear. Maggie's going, and so am I."
"You ain't Maggie."
"No, I'm not. And you are not in charge of me. Sev's staying behind and watching Mason, and I'm going to see this new community. End of us story, not up for discussion."
"Why you gotta keep puttin' yourself in danger?"
I snort, "I'm not the one leaving Alexandria every single day with Rick."
"It ain't the same."
I shake my head, "You know what, fuck off. I don't know why I thought we could actually end up being something. I should have known someone like us being with someone else like us would just end in fight after fight. Well I'm done fighting. When I've had the baby, you can have as much say as you're comfortable with in what happens in her life, but keep your opinions on my life to yourself," I walk past him, about to leave when he speaks, his tone of voice completely different to the argumentative one he'd been using.
"Her?"
I stop, and turn back around, seeing his face has softened. "I don't know for sure, but when I dream about her, she's a little girl... I wasn't wrong about my last three, so I don't think I'm wrong this time. But you never know, could be a boy," I shrug.
"You dream 'bout her?"
I nod, "Yeah. Whenever I've been pregnant I always dream about the baby. Scared the shit out of me when I was carrying Mason... don't know if I was more scared when I'd only just had him and started dreaming of another little boy... and then I dreamed of Tonia and was thrilled... when I started dreaming about this one... well I'd kind of hoped I was dreaming of Tonia again... but Tonia was blonde..." I sigh, then think of Mason's words from the day before and ask softly, "Mason wants to know if he can name her... or him. I told him it was up to you."
"Why me?" He grunts.
"Because she's your kid, too. I named my two boys, never really felt the need to name Tonia... although I did try to talk Tyler down from such a... unique name. At least I got him to change his mind from Rainbow," I chuckle at the memory.
"He got any names thought of?"
I nod, "Hunter for a boy, and Hope for a girl."
"Why Hunter?" He asks.
I shrug, "Don't know. But I really like Hope."
He eyes me for a second, his face showing something almost similar to affection on his face before he mumbles, "I like Hope, too. But if your wrong, mind if I name the boy?"
I smile softly, "Of course you can name your son... hell, if you want you can name her if I'm right. It's completely up to you."
He nods, "Wouldn't mind me naming a kid after my dead beat brother?"
"I may not love the name Meryl, but he meant something to you, so of course you can name our son after him."
He nods once, and then walks past me out the door to go start loading up the truck for our trip.