Alexandra(Alex)'s *POV*
"Welcome to Alexandria." The curly haired guy said, as we entered the gates. We all stopped in front of Aaron, as soon as we heard the gates close. My eyes traveled around the place, seeing houses and trees and fresh green patches of grass.
"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons. Stay, you hand them over." He spoke.
"Like hell you are." I said, holding onto my gun and my knife which was currently on my sides of my pants.
"We don't know if we want to stay." Rick said, holding his gun on one hand, and Judith with the other.
"It's fine, Nicholas." Aaron sighed.
"If we're gonna use them, we could have started already." Rick said.
"Let them talk to Deanna first, okay?" Aaron told Nicholas.
"Who's Deanna?" My head turned at the sudden voice, and saw Abraham furrowing his eyebrows, as he asked who the hell this Deanna was.
"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place." Aaron explained. "Rick, why don't you start?"
"Sasha?"
We all turned around as we heard a walker growling and coming towards the gates of the community. Bob stood beside her and watched as she raised her long gun, and shot the walker in the head."
"It's a good thing we're here." I said, looking at the guy Nicholas, then we all began to walk away and follow Aaron to wherever.
-
I walked around in a living room of Deanna's house, looking at all the books she had upon her bookshelves. I looked out side the windows to make sure no one was watching us as well. My head turned as I saw a older woman enter the room.
"You must be Alexandra," she smiled. "Welcome to Alexandria." She emphasized the community's name.
"Alex. That's my name."
"Well, Alex, I'm Deanna Monroe-"
"What's the camera for?"
"To record the interviews. We like to go back and just see if we missed anything- figure out a job for you."
"A job?"
"Well, if you want to stay here you have to do something." She explained.
"So? What's this job I have?" I asked, feeling kind of annoyed and tired.
"I have to learn something about you first, in order to find that job." She spoke. "So tell me, how long have you known your group? How'd you meet them?"
"Long enough to trust them, vice versa. One person I've known the longest. Daryl and Michonne saved me- took me back to their p- to their camp." I said. I didn't want to mention prison, probably because I didn't want to talk about it.
"Who do you talk go the most? Anyone you confine in more than anyone?" She asked, staring at me.
"Daryl." I answered quickly. "And Glenn."
"How about that one person you said? The one you known the longest."
"Oh- his name is Ryan. We used to be uh, you know."
"No, I'm afraid I don't." She said, giving a small smile.
"We were best friends since high school, engaged. Split up just before the world went to shit."
"What happened?"
"Fights. We didn't agree on stuff that much, guess we just drifted apart." I explained, not wanting to get into detail at all.
"So, tell me about you. What's important to know?"
I hesitated at the question, until I thought of something to say. "I don't ever let my guard down."
"Hm." She hummed.
"Ever."
-
The warm water fell onto my hair and then on my shoulders, then on the rest of my body. It finally felt good again to get clean, and to have fresh water.
My wet dirty blonde hair was knotty and all tangled up. I grabbed a brush off the bathroom sink counter and ran the brush through the tangles. After it was all brushed out o wondered if there was a blow dryer, because I didn't want my hair being all wet when I went to bed. I bent down and opened the cabinets and saw an silver old blow dryer.
"That'll do."
After my hair was dried and threw on some clean clothes Deanna gave us. I threw on my bra and underwear, then a black loose v-neck shirt and some light blue jeans and socks, leaving my boots off.
Rick gathered the group into the house him, Carl and Judith were given at Alexandria. All of us filled up the living room, finding a spot I noticed Daryl sitting in the far back near the window and Judith's crib, while ripping apart the possum he had killed just outside Alexandria.
Rick had decided that it was best for all of us to stay together, and that we can't allow them to separate us or make us weak. Some of us disagreed, some agreed. I agreed. We don't know these people. We don't know what they're capable of, or what they're all about.
We can't take any chances.
I looked at everyone who were scattered across the living room floor of the house. My eyes made it towards again Daryl who was staring out the window. All of our heads turned to the door, and saw that Rick had opened it and Deanna showed up.
"Rick, I - Wow." I saw Rick looked a bit annoyed by another person being surprised at him being cleaned and freshly shaved. "I didn't know what was under there. Listen, I don't mean to interrupt. I just wanted to stop by and see how you were all settling. Oh, my-" She turned her head and saw all of us sitting down and some standing in the room all together.
"Staying together. Smart." Deanna spoke.
"No shit." I muttered to myself, feeling tired.
"No one said we couldn't." Rick defended us.
"You said you were a family. That's what you said. Absolutely amazing to me how people with completely different backgrounds and with nothing in common can become that. Don't you think?
"Everybody said you gave them jobs.
"Yeah. Part of this place. Looks like the communists won after all."
"Well, you didn't give me one, or Alex." I heard Rick say my name and turned to look at them.
"I have. I just haven't told you yet. Same with Michonne. I'm closing in on something for Sasha. And I'm just trying to figure Mr. Dixon out, but I will. And as for Alex... I'm not too sure yet. You look good." She said, then looked at us and walked out.
"I'm gonna take first watch." Daryl had said, getting up getting to leave the house.
"You should get sleep, Daryl. All of us should." I spoke. "I don't trust them yet, but we all should sleep. No one should be taking any watches any more."
"Like hell I am." He said harshly, as everyone stared at me. "I'm gonna go take first watch." He repeated then walking outside. I sighed and turned back to where I was originally standing, as I saw Glenn looking at me.
"What?" I asked.
"Nothing." He smiled. "Haven't seen that harshness from him since- you know..." He motioned towards Maggie.
"I don't think he's over it. I don't think any of us will be. But we'll get there."
"Yeah, we'll get there." Glenn said.
"I'm going to go check on him." I smiled.
"Mhm." Glenn hummed.
"What now?" I said, looking at him.
"Does 'check on him' mean something else?"
"Oh shut up. We haven't even made any- any physical contact in a while. I don't think he'll ever be in that mood, unless he's scared he's about to lose me, or when I'm scared I'll lose him."
"Yeah- sure." He said, hearing the sarcastic tone in his voice. "But what happened between you two? I thought you've kissed plenty of times before and even talked about your feelings?"
"I don't know... Things change. I guess after losing the prison, losing Hershel and Beth... I guess he just doesn't want to love people or else something bad might happen." I said, sighing and not making eye contact with Glenn.
"He'll come around. All of us will too."
"Yeah."
I walked out the front door and onto the patio, into the darkness, with moonlight as the only light guiding me. Daryl was sitting down on the steps, still doing whatever he was doing to the possum.
"Hey." I spoke, standing across from him, leaning on the porch wall.
"Hi." He mumbled. It stood quiet between us, because I had no clue what to say- I should've made something up in my head. I looked out at the town in front of me, and the metal wall. I could feel Daryl's stare at me, making me nervous like some teenager, who I once used to be a long time ago. "What's up?" Daryl's voice broke to silence.
"Just wanted to check up on you." I said.
"You don't need to." He said, with a little bit of harshness in his voice.
"I know." I smiled, walking over and sitting across from him. My knees bent as I sat down, making my arms rest on my knees, as my hands held my head up. "What do you think? About this place? You think it's gonna be different?" I asked, looking straight ahead at the dark blue sky and scattered stars across the sky, then back at the steps my feet were placed.
"Don't know. All I do know is, I'm not letting my guard down. We can't become weak, not now." He replied. "And yeah, it'll be different- hopefully."
"We won't become weak. We need to rest, but resting doesn't mean we'll become weak." I sighed, looking at Daryl who was already looking at me. "I haven't know this group for a long amount of time, but I know enough to know that each and every one of you is strong. I don't think I'm that strong as you guys, but we are all strong. We won't become weak."
Daryl doesn't answer. Instead, the sound of the door to the house, opens behind us, leaving me and Daryl not alone. "Nice speech." We turned our heads and saw Rick walking towards us.
"You heard me?" I asked.
"In case you hadn't noticed, you talk really loud for someone who's whispering." Rick answered, giving a small smile.
"I do not!"
"Yeah, you do." Daryl said, smiling very very small.
"Cmon, no I don't." I said, looking back and forth between Daryl and Rick.
Rick laughed, walking closer to the both of us. "Okay, you don't." Rick stood behind us, looking out at Alexandria.
"It will be different..." Rick said.
It will be different...
--
A/N:
Thanks for reading the first chapter of "Confined in Fear"'s sequel, "Confined in Hope"!
❤️