rag doll | TWD

[51] knots untie

"JJ and Daryl?" Rick clarified. "Since when?"

"Since...however long I've been with the group."

"The prison? JJ and Daryl...the prison?"

"They weren't together. But it was clear there was something. Or at least it was clear to everybody else."

"Who else knows?"

Michonne shrugged, "Maggie, Glenn, Carl..."

"Carl? Carl knows." Rick huffed, rubbing his face. 

"Rick, now is not the time to be stressing about who your sister is sleeping with." Michonne bluntly told him, causing him to stress even more. "We have more to worry about than that."

Carl, who had missed the excitement was late to the party. He snuck up behind Jesus, holding his gun. "What are you doing in our house?"

"I'm, uh, sitting on the steps, looking at this painting, waiting for your mom, dad, aunt and uncle to get dressed. Hi, I'm Jesus."

The two doors opened, and Rick and JJ refused to make eye contact with each other. 

"Carl," Rick noticed, still not wearing a shirt. Carl shared passing looks with the four. "hey, um..."

Then, Glenn and Abraham hustled up the steps with their guns. 

"It's okay." Michonne calmed. 

"You said we should talk. So let's talk." Rick decided. 

♮♮♮

The group met downstairs, some sitting at the kitchen table, others standing. 

"So, how'd you get out?" Rick inquired. 

"One guard can't cover two exits or third floor windows. Knots unite, locks get picked, entropy comes from order, right?" 

Daryl answered quickly, pacing behind the escapee. "Right."

"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?"

Maggie, who'd been given the all clear by Glenn to enter, spoke up, "More than that."

"Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef."

Daryl took a step forward, "Yeah, she ain't here."

Jesus turned towards Daryl, "look, we got off to a bad start. But we're on the same side- the living side. You, Rick and JJ 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 the three of you looked like trouble." 

JJ sat back in her chair and crossed her arms. 

"I was wrong." He emphasized to her. "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?" Rick asked. 

"We've started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to Sorghum."

Rick threw his hand up, "tell us why we should believe you."

"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?" Maggie went back. "You mean you're already trading with other groups?"

Jesus grinned, "your world's about to get a whole lot bigger."