With the dim lights of the housing and the moon being her only source of light, Clary walked through the barren streets of Alexandria. The only thought in her mind was that of Carl. She had seen the blush upon his cheeks as she pulled away, knowing very well the same tint was upon her skin. She didn't know what had overcome her, leading to her now wanting to beat herself up for allowing Carl to see a breach in her emotional armor.
For so long she had been trying to keep him out from being so close to her heart, but he had found his way through without her even realizing it. However, the thing that terrified her most was not of the act of opening herself up to him but rather by how comfortable she feels doing so. She didn't feel fear, not like she had before. It felt different, like something had changed but she couldn't pinpoint when it had.
Pushing away the thought, she walked with the intention of reaching the small plot of land sectioned off for crops, knowing that Maggie was there. Before she had left her home, there had been a note left on the counter by the woman, letting her know she would be there for a while to work on trellises. She invited the girl to visit her and help her out, the girl having no doubt in her mind that she wanted to spend time with the woman that had done so much for her. Not wanting to dwell on the access she had given Carl into her heart, something that terrified her deeply yet almost liberated her, she would rather use her restlessness to help.
Approaching the plot of land being used to farm, Clary saw Maggie shaping pipes into trellises, starting on the second one. The woman's head perked up as Clary made her way closer, a smile appearing on her face. "I wasn't sure if you'd join." Clary shrugged. "Of course I did, you really shouldn't be doing all the work, considering—" Maggie raised her eyebrows as Clary motioned towards her stomach, letting out a soft laugh. "Hey, I am still very capable of doing work." Clary nodded, raising her hands in defeat. "I know," Clary responded before making her way to the trellises and holding onto them. "Doesn't mean you have to though. I'm here." Maggie's smile grew as she nodded, placing a hand on the girl's cheek. "Yes, you are. And you are doing a great job holding those trellises." Clary rolled her eyes playfully as Maggie pulled away to grab a piece of twine.
As Maggie began to tie the trellis together, she noticed the silence from the girl. Worry pricked at her heart as she finished tying, not reaching for another piece but rather facing the girl. "Something on your mind?" Maggie asked the girl, who stayed silent. Clary thought for a moment, wondering what she could tell the woman before she nodded softly. "How do you know when you care for someone? Like I know with family you just know it. Like with the group, with Enid, with you and Glenn, I know how much I— I love you." Maggie smiled softly at her admittance, never getting tired of her words. "But... romantically? I— I'm not so sure." Maggie's eyes widened as she realized the girl was probably talking about Carl.
After a few moments, Maggie looked to the girl. "Why do you say that?" Maggie questioned, chasing Clary to shrug. "I thought what I had with Carl was friendship. We work well together, train well together. Sometimes I feel like he knows me better than I know myself." That thought caused the girl to laugh, causing Maggie's gaze to soften. "But I thought it was just that: friendship. But when I mentioned that anything more would never happen between us, he seemed sad. And I hated that I made him feel that way because I— I care about him." Clary clenched her jaw as she said those words out loud, realizing her admittance meant a lot more than just caring for him. "I mean, he's my only other friend besides Enid. I've spent a lot of time with him and it's not filled with fear like it was before. But now I'm scared because what if I start to care for him past friendship?"
Maggie smiled softly before placing a hand on the girl's arm to comfort her. "You don't have to be scared, Clary. Carl cares about you, and in what way? I think we both know." Clary's eyes widened softly as she realized that her feelings were not hidden, and neither were his. "He wouldn't want to hurt you or scare you because you mean a lot to him, that much is obvious." Clary sighed softly. "So how do I know how I feel about him? This whole thing, it's new to me. With Ashton we— it just kinda happened and pretty fast. This is slow and careful and I don't know—" Clary's voice was cut off as the two heard a new set of footsteps approaching. Maggie looked towards the sound before giving a nod to Clary, signifying the conversation would have to wait. "We get the trellises in, we can start growing vertically. Double our yield of tomatoes per square foot."
As Maggie looked to Clary, she nodded as she realized she was redirecting their previous conversation as Glenn made his way up to them. "Hey, you two. How's it going?" Maggie shook her head to the man. "Still haven't seen a single bud. We can only keep stretching our rations so far." Both Clary and Glenn looked to Maggie to see disappointment cloud her gaze. Glenn was the first to respond. "It'll grow. We're gonna be okay." He gave an assuring look to both his wife and the girl besides him until all three heard a gate open.
Looking towards the source of the sound, they saw Denise rushing out of the area their lockup. She talked hurriedly to Abraham before they all went down into the holding area. Before Clary has gone to Carl's, she had stopped at Enid's to apologize for sending her away and to check on her in general. Clary had learned from Enid that Rick and Daryl had brought in someone they had found, but that had been all Enid could find out.
Glenn, Maggie and Clary were quick to run towards the lockup, getting there as Denise and Abraham exited. Before Clary could speak, Glenn questioned the two, "What happened?" Denise shrugged, looking frazzled. "I was coming to check on that man that Rick and Daryl brought in and he— he's just gone." Denise stayed behind as Abraham joined the three before they ran to Rick's home.
Their footsteps hit the asphalt harshly as they approached the home, stopping only as they saw Daryl walking down the road. He looked confused as he saw them running, his eyes landing upon Clary. "Jo? What's goin' on?" Daryl questioned, worried as he saw her dark gaze. "The man you brought in wasn't in lockup. He got out." Daryl clenched his jaw before joining the group, entering without knocking before hearing voices. Clary could distinguish Rick's but not the other voice, the distance warping the sound. The four of them rushed towards the noises, going up the stairs and pulling out their gun as they saw a figure seated on the stairs. Clary looked up, seeing Carl with his gun aimed at the figure before allowing it to fall to his side. As the man stood, Clary's eyes widened as she saw the familiar long hair and beard.
"Jesus?"
All eyes turned towards her before going back to the man, who smiled as he saw the girl. He had believed that the girl was dead, taken long before her time. But there she was, standing right in front of him.
"Commander Dean, it's good to see you're alive."
As her gun lowered, a slight smile arising upon seeing the familiar face, everyone watched the two. Seeing as the girl seemed to know the man, Glenn, Maggie and Daryl holstered their guns as they knew she wouldn't be friendly with anyone she didn't wholeheartedly know and trust. However, seeing the two interact, Rick clenched his jaw. It seemed as if there was more to the past of the girl that had been hidden, one that Jesus was a part of.
With that in mind, Rick holstered his gun. "You said we should talk. So let's talk."
•••
The dining room of the Grimes household was silent as all members of the group simply stared at the man seated before them. Clary sat at the end of the table between Glenn and Maggie, her eyes resting easily upon Jesus as he sat across from her at the head of the table. The girl couldn't help but think she too was being questioned as she sat across from Jesus, Rick looking warily between the two of them.
The only other thing that comforted her besides Glenn and Maggie on either side of her was the presence she could subtly feel behind her. She didn't have to turn to know it was Carl that stood behind her, his usual bright blue gaze dark with caution. However she, although aware of his presence, did not see the protectiveness in his stance or his fingers grazing his gun, ready to defend her if need be. Carl did so as he didn't know if Jesus was still her friend, meaning he had to be ready to defend her against the man or even against his father if he tried to get her to admit anything. No matter what, she would be protected, even if she didn't know it.
Clary stopped thinking of the tension in the room as it was split only as Rick focused his attention on Jesus, the man hostile towards her friend. Clary hoped she could still call Jesus that, considering she hadn't been around for months. Rick directed his attention to the man, "So how'd you get out?" Rick questioned, to which Jesus shrugged. "One guard can't cover two exits or third floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?" Daryl circled the man. "Right," he said sharply, his eyes like slits as he watched Jesus carefully as if he would run. Jesus looked at him, letting out a soft laugh and turning back to the others. "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. Fifty-four?" Maggie was the one to respond. "More than that," she declared, Jesus' eyes meeting the woman's for a moment before looking to Clary.
The two's eyes met and she couldn't help but remember so many instances in her past where he had helped her. He had trained her in his style of fighting, their constant interaction allowing for communications between their two communities to remain strong. He remembered her too, but he said nothing as he glanced away. "Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef—" Daryl stepped forward. "Yeah, she ain't here." Jesus sighed, turning to the hostile man. "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." Jesus kept his eyes on Daryl for a moment longer before he turned away.
Soon, his eyes fell upon the people surrounding him, his gaze meeting that of each person's. "I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with." He turned to Rick and Daryl. "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." Glenn leaned in, placing his elbows on the table. "Do you have food?" Jesus nodded. "We've started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum." Rick leaned back in his chair, watching the man with a skeptical gaze. "Tell us why we should believe you."
Clary saw the doubt in everyone's faces, but she knew it was true. Although only visiting the community a few times, she had heard of the things they had through Leon as they continued to grow. "Because I've seen it."
All eyes turned to Clary as she spoke, the girl suddenly feeling back at home with the eyes of others in her in disbelief. Clary sat up straighter, not wanting for them to doubt her. "The Hilltop and Solaris were each other's first trading partners. In exchange for our members going to train them and trading with whatever we scavenged, they gave us fresh produce. We were still in the early stages so it wasn't too much." Clary paused for a moment. "I didn't get to visit much as I was still in training when the alliance was formed. But Leon, my mentor and the Commander, would tell me of what Hilltop held when he returned from his visits." Clary's eyes met Jesus' before she gave him a small nod, to which he returned it.
With one last look to the girl, Jesus turned back to the people surrounding him. "If you don't believe her, although you should, I can take you there. If we take a car, we can go and I'll have you back within a day and you can all see who we are and what we have to offer." Clary saw someone move from the corner of her eye, turning slightly to see Maggie lean forward. "Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?" Clary smiled softly, hearing the words come from Maggie's lips.
As Jesus leaned back in his chair, Clary already knew the words he would say as he had said them to her and her group long ago.
"You're world's about to get a whole lot bigger."
•••
Tom Payne as Paul "Jesus" Rovia
•
"You will survive, you're too much of a fighter to give up. But be careful with where that path leads you, because the people you care about may not be able to follow."
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Thank you guys so much for 3k reads!
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I can't thank you enough.
Much love <3