the great war (r.g)

six

they left at night. rick finally agreed to take aaron up on his offer. they were on the road again and cora found herself in the passenger seat of ricks car on their way to alexandria. "are you sure about trusting him?"

cora thought on that for a second. "well, he," she sighed. "i don't know. on one hand he was following us for god knows how long. knows god knows what about us. but then on the other hand maybe he had good intentions." rick glanced over at her, taking in her words for a few seconds.

"what do you mean?"

"well, supposedly he has a community and if he's right, maybe we can stop running in fear of walkers," cora said. she left it at that for a moment and looked back out the windshield of the car. rick did the same and put his attention back on the road. after a few moments like this, cora turned to rick and finally said "all i know is that i am hanging onto the hope that he is being truthful. for izzy's sake. i want her to have a normal life. or as normal as it can be now." rick didnt look at her this time, he seemed deep in his thoughts. somehow, cora knew rick agreed.

once they neared alexandria, rick wandered off on his own and cora took a spot walking next to rosita. she was the one person out of the group that seemed indifferent about alexandria. "how are you feeling?" rosita asked cora.

"i'm fine. i just really hope they have some sort of shower here. what about you?" cora asked her.

"i feel the same about the shower. mostly a bed, though. or even just a pillow," rosita smiled longingly.

"what about a home cooked meal? haven't had one in a long time," cora said. the more they talked about the possibilities in alexandria, the more hopeful she became.

"i can make a phenomenal home cooked meal with the right ingredients. but i've been told my cookies are even better," carol turned around to chime in.

suddenly, izzy appeared in between cora and rosita. "cookies? did you say cookies?" izzy asked, excitedly. "i haven't had a cookie in a long time. too long."

"if they have the ingredients, i'll make you a batch of cookies," carol promised.

as they approached the gates to their new safe haven, the group went silent. some were listening for voices, others in awe. the sound of children laughing and the low hum of adults chatting broke through their silence. "oh my god, kids. thank god," izzy said. she looked over to where cora and carl were standing and looking at her. "no offense but...."

"okay can we just," cora said looking at aaron and nodding towards the gates.

aaron motioned for the man sitting atop the barrier to open the gate. when he did, coras worries depleted. there were kids running around, young and old, adults were sitting and chatting on porches of houses. houses bigger than cora had ever lived in. "before we go in, i need your weapons." again, the group became weary but aaron explained it was all a safety precaution.

the group was met with a woman once they entered alexandria. her name was deanna and she was a kind woman. her intentions seemed pure; live life, not just to survive.

one by one deanna took the group to her office for an interview. when it was cora's turn, deanna asked how she came to be with rick's group, why she decided to stay, why rick trusted her, and where did her old group go. cora answered these questions lightheartedly and happily. her and deanna seemed to get along, the woman even said she liked cora.

outside deanna's office was izzy and carl sitting on a couch with judith while rick was looking out the window. "how was your guys interviews?" cora asked the two kids.

"it was good," carl said.

"she asked stupid questions," izzy told her mom. just then, aaron walked up the stairs.

"are you guys ready?" he asked the group. izzy jumped up and carl gathered judith before following aaron down the stairs.

cora looked over at rick who met her questioning look with a knowing one. "he's taking us to a house. theres two houses for us all to split." cora nodded and started walking after aaron, carl, and izzy.

the houses weren't too far away, just a block or two down the road. they were picturesque colonial houses right next to each other. "oh my god," izzy said under her breath. rick and carl started walking towards the stairs to the porch.

cora looked at her daughter and said "an upgrade from the barn, dong you think?" izzy laughed and ran to catch up with the other three, cora following shortly after.

***

there was a knock on the door. cora was fresh out of a highly needed shower. the kitchen was freshly stocked, although scarcely, with essentials. cora was snacking on the only granola bar in the pantry one she opened the door. a woman that looked about the same age as cora opened the door. "hi," cora greeted.

"hi, i'm jessie," she beamed. cora looked down at her hands; she was carrying a care package of sorts. "i live just down the street a bit. we dont get new people very often if you couldn't tell, so i just wanted to give you this." jessie handed the basket, filled with toiletries and little snacks, to cora.

rick appeared behind cora, also fresh out of a shower with a fresh shave. "who's this?" rick asked cora.

"her names jessie, she lives just down the street," cora told him. "wow, i never thought i'd say that ever again." jessie laughed and rich broke a smirk at that.

"i just wanted to drop this off," jessie motioned toward that basket in cora's hands.

"do you want to come inside?" cora offered. "it looks like there's wine in this care package?"

"yes there is," jessie told her. cora opened the door wider for her to come inside.

"isn't it early for that?" rick asked as he shut the front door.