Invasion

I woke up feeling more well-rested than I have in a long time. All of us were up by now, ready to take the day to explore Alexandria as Deanna asked us to. I was excited to look around the place, but I still couldn't shake that nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I walked out the front door and onto the porch. I hadn't seen Daryl all morning. He had gotten up early, sitting outside and cleaning his arrows. I could tell he was still keeping watch for us, unable to shake that burning protective nature he always had.

"They told us to explore. Are you coming?" I asked. He sat against the banister, placing his arrow back in the holster before looking up at me.

"Nah, I'll stay," he declined my offer.

I dropped my head at his response. "You know, I used to drive around neighbourhoods like this one with my friends," I paused, looking up at a little boy walking by with his dog. "We used to pick out styles of houses we liked… excited about our futures, thinking one day we'd have one of our own."

"Well, here we are," he said as he brought his knees to his chest, staring up at me.

I looked over at him, "I'd be nice if you came with me," I confessed.

He dropped his eye contact with me, fidgeting with his hands, "Maybe tomorrow."

I sighed, "I'll be back."

Everything felt surreal. Walking down the street seeing house after house that looked more like mansions. This community looked like it had been plucked straight from a catalogue, houses you only dreamed of one day living in. They were all colour-coated to appear somewhat similar and match into the aesthetics of this once wealthy neighbourhood. Cookie-cutter houses with blue or gray panels structured together with white pillars, balconies and porches. Each front yard had its own layout of landscaping that had clearly been closely tended to as the residents lived inside these walls all this time.

I passed by a house with an older couple sitting out on their porch, enjoying the cool breeze on this hot summer day. Carl stood on the porch with them, holding Judith as the couple pinched her cheeks. It has probably been a long time since anybody has seen a baby. Taking all of this in was almost overwhelming, going from one extreme to another. So many thoughts swirled around in my head. This is everything we had fought so hard to one day be a part of. To have somewhere to call home, to start a life, to actually live. Yet, I still feared it. I feared what this place could turn us into. I feared growing soft, becoming just as vulnerable as the people we now lived with. There needed to be a balance. As much as it terrified me to leave these walls again, I knew that if I wanted to remain resourceful and helpful I would need to go back out there from time to time.

I then thought back to what Rick had said about everyone getting jobs to do their part around here. I wondered what job Deanna could possibly give me. I felt like my interview didn't give her much to go off of. I thought that I'd possibly be given the job of a runner, but she assigned that to Glenn, Tara, and Noah. Deanna already had two of her own people as runners, one of them being her own son. Unfortunately, they had just lost one of their men on that job. It was no surprise to me when she appointed Glenn in that role as well. I just thought I'd be paired with him. They went on a small trial run early this morning, learning how to work together and rely on one another.

Maybe there was something else she had in mind for me though? She said I was good at reading people, but I couldn't really imagine any sort of job where that would come in handy. I just prayed that I wouldn't be assigned anything that kept me trapped behind these walls for most of my days. I knew that we were free to leave when we pleased, but if my job was to watch over the younger kids, or alternate gate watches, or help manage supply distribution, I'd feel as good as useless. And if my job didn't involve something outside of these walls, I'd never leave. No one would want to go out there for a nice stroll in the woods, it would need to be for a purpose.

The sound of people shouting at each other from the main gate caused my head to step around. I wasn't too far from there and took off in a sprint down the road. I slowed to a jog when I already saw people crowding around Glenn and Deanna's son, I believe his name was Aiden. They were back from their dry run.

"You three need new gigs!" Aiden yelled at Glenn, Tara, and Noah. "You're not ready for runs yet."

"Yeah, pretty sure you got that backwards," Glenn yelled back as he tried to walk away. Aiden handed his gun off to his partner, trying to catch up with Glenn.

"Hey. Hey," Aiden called out, grabbing Glenn by the shoulder. Glenn rolled his eyes, turning to Aiden. "Look, we got a way of doing things around here--"

"You tied up walkers," Glenn cut him off. They did what?

"It killed our friend," Aiden fought. "Look, I'm not having this conversation. You obey my orders out there."

I walked up closer to them as more people approached. Daryl finally got up from the porch, coming to check out what was going on. I kept a close eye on Aiden, getting dangerously close to Glenn's face.

"Then we're just as screwed as your last run crew," Glenn shook his head.

Aiden stepped even closer to Glenn, his voice much quieter now as he cocked his head, "Say that again," he challenged him.

"Hey, why don't you just back off," I said. I hovered my hand over Aiden's chest, not stepping in between the two men, but still trying to create some distance between them.

Aiden brushed my hand away, shoving Glenn's chest back. "Come on, tough guy," he provoked Glenn.

Glenn kept himself calm, not reacting to Aiden's taunts, "No one's impressed, man."

"Aiden! What is going on?" Deanna's voice shouted as she approached the scene. She was frustrated with her son.

Aiden smiled at Glenn before turning to look at his mother, "This guy's got a problem with the way we do things," he gritted his teeth. Glenn couldn't see Adien's face as he turned around to look at Deanna, but I could. "Why'd you let these people in?" he asked.

"Because we actually know what we're doing out there," Glenn spat. In that split second, I could see it in Aiden's face, the anger. I knew what was coming. Aiden's lips pursed into a line and he began to swing his arm around.

"Aiden!" Deanna shouted.

Glenn ducted out of the way from the blow before I grabbed Aiden's arm. I swung his elbow tight around his back, jabbing it up as far as I could, just as my foot collided with the back of his knee, causing his legs to buckle. Aiden's partner Nickolas ran at me, causing Daryl to instantly react. Daryl's body collided with Nicholas', lifting the man from his feet and slamming his back down to the ground in one swift motion, pinning him. Rick quickly ran up to Daryl, grabbing him by the shoulders as Daryl's forearm cut off Nickolas' airway.

"I said that is enough!" Deanna screamed, her voice cracking as she tried to get everyone under control.

"Whoa, whoa, let's not do this now," Rick said to Daryl, trying to calm him. Daryl finally let go of Nickolas as he sucked the air back into his lungs.

Aiden then tried to harshly shrug me off from his arm, causing me to twist his elbow tighter into place, "You wanna end up on your ass again?" I asked. He finally eased up, relaxing his body and calming down. I let go of him.

"I'm cool, alright," Aiden said as he straightened out his shirt, getting back to his feet.

Rick now tried to hold back Daryl as he paced around in circles fuming. He looked like a rabid dog, wanting to rip Nickola's head clean off for charging at me.

"I want everyone to hear me, okay?" Deanna collected herself, clearing her throat so everyone standing around could hear. "Rick and his people are part of the community now in all ways as equals. Understood?" She shouted even louder. She then looked up at her son who had started this whole mess, her brows furrowing with anger.

He shrugged his shoulders, smiling, "Understood."

"All of you, turn in your weapons," she instructed. "Then you two, come talk to me," she looked back at Aiden and Nickolas, disappointed. "One last thing," Deanna called out before people began to walk off. "Scar, I said I was narrowing down on something for you," Deanna looked over at me.

"Yeah?" I nodded my head, eager to know what she was about to appoint to me.

"I wasn't sure if this is where I wanted you just yet, but it's clear they need a level-headed leader," she said, looking back at her son. She then spoke to the group as a whole. "Scar is in charge of the supply runs now, you listen to her."

Me? In charge?

People then began to walk away, listening to Deanna's statement and digesting it. Our people remained as she looked over at me, "Do you accept?" she asked.

"I do," I nodded my head. She smiled brightly and I could hear Daryl scoff. I knew he didn't want me going back outside those walls every day, but that's something he'd just have to deal with. We couldn't watch over each other every second of the day anymore. There were more people who relied on us now.

"And Rick," Deanna said, now looking over at him, "I'd like you to be our constable. That's what you were. That's what you are," she said, "And you, too," she turned her head to Michonne. "Will you guys accept?"

Rick and Michonne looked at one another, a small smile playing across Michonne's lips like she was surprised. "Okay," Rick agreed.

"Yeah, I'm in," Michonne seconded.

Daryl scoffed for real now, making sure everyone heard it. He turned and walked off from us. I don't know why he held so much distaste for this place, this is what we were all looking for. Why not embrace it?

---------

Later that night, well after the sun went down I sat around the dining room table with Carl and Noah playing a game of cards. Everyone sat around in sections, holding their own conversations or playing games as we wound down before bed. The sound of Rick coming down the stairs caught all of our attention. I turned in my chair watching him walk into the room fully dressed in his uniform. I smiled, thinking back to that day in the alley. The assertive, determined, strong-willed man, just trying to get back to his family. The type of man who helped out anyone that crossed his path on the way. Even if it was a lost, fragile girl with no hope.

He walked past us to the front porch where Daryl still remained. I then watched Carol get up from his seat and follow him out. I got up soon afterward to see what was going on.

"We good?" Rick asked Daryl as he lit up a cigarette.

Daryl nodded, "Yeah. You a cop again?" he asked. I leant up against the banister, listening.

Rick sighed, "I'm trying it on for size."

"So we're staying?" Carol asked. She was dressed up in a cream button-down shirt with a baby blue cardigan thrown over her shoulders. Her plan was to be invisible here, not show her true colours. She'd do the baking, the cleaning, participate in the book club, so no one would suspect a thing of her as she felt the place out.

"I think we can start sleeping in our own homes. Settle in." Rick answered.

"If we get comfortable here, we let our guard down--" I said, "This place could make us weak."

"It's not gonna happen," Rick said, his eyes peering up at me. He then walked over to the edge of the porch, looking over the street. "We won't get weak. That's not in us anymore. We'll make it work. And if they can't make it…" he turned around to look back at us, "then we'll just take this place."