The Beginning of the End

Jesus was an escape artist in every sense of the word. We had only returned home with him the night before, locking him up in the same house under construction that Rick had once been placed him. I was awoken early this morning by Daryl, most people being up at the crack of dawn already hustling around town, with word that Jesus had been sneaking around the community most of the night. It wasn't until he broke into Rick's house to speak with him that he was caught by Carl. I'm sure he was only caught through because he wanted to be. Based on our already previous knowledge of his cleverness, we should have known.

But, Jesus wanted a talk so we granted him that. He could be trying to shoot sunshine and rainbows up our asses just to get out, but so far he seemed harmless and we were in no position to turn down a discussion. We now sat at Rick's dining room table. Jesus on one end and Glenn on the other with a gun placed on the table, his hand tightly gripping the metal in case he tried anything. Maggie, Michonne, Carl, Daryl, and Abraham joined us, each of us intrigued by what he possibly had to say.

"So how'd you get out?" Rick asked, starting off the conversation.

"One guard can't cover two exits or third-floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?" Jesus explained, mocking Rick with his question, implying that everything eventually moves from order to disorder. In his mind it was only a matter of time until he escaped, only in his case it didn't take him any time at all.

"Right," Daryl cut him off, staring down at Jesus as he hovered to the right of him. Daryl's face showed clear distaste and caused Jesus to shift in his seat uncomfortably.

"I checked out your arsenal," he confessed. He really was out snooping around for quite a while and didn't attack anyone or make a break for it. I leaned forward on my chair, propping my chin upon my hands, very eager to know where he was going with this. Why he called us for a discussion rather than bolting when he very clearly gathered all the information he needed already. "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?" He questioned.

"More than that," Maggie spoke up, her arms crossed tightly across her chest as she eyed him.

Jesus then smiled briefly, "Well, I appreciate the cookie." Something he stole on his quest through town. "My compliments to the chef."

"Ya, she ain't here," Daryl snapped, growing tired of him.

Jesus sighed, shifting his weight to look at Daryl. "Look, we got off to a bad start. But we're on the same side-- the living side. You, Rick, and Scar had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't," he shook his head. "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 you guys 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."

Jackpot, there it is.

"Do you have food?" Glenn asked.

"We started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum--"

"Tell us why we should believe you," Rick cut him off, swinging his hand around.

"I'll show you," Jesus simply stated. "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 asked, leaning forward in her chair. "You mean you're already trading with other groups?"

Jesus finally leaned back in his chair, a smile beaming across his face, "You're worlds about to get a whole lot bigger."

-------

By early afternoon we were all crammed in the RV, on route to Jesus' community. I stared out the window absentmindedly, watching the passing trees as my back rested up against one of Daryl's shins. Maggie fell asleep along the way, Glenn's hand gently placed over her pregnant belly as Abraham held a quiet conversation with him. I could feel Daryl's weight shift underneath me, his face hovering close to my ear when he said, "Are we sure about this?" His hot breath fluttered over my cheek and made me shiver.

"We have to be. If this works out, it could be the beginning of the end of all our problems," I answered him, turning my head back in the slightest so I could look at him. He leaned back again, bringing his finger up to his lip as he stared out the window, a nervous tick he had. "You thinking about Terminus?" I asked, my head still turning to him. My face pointed towards the window, keeping our conversation between the two of us. When he took a while to answer me I knew he was and I confessed, "I am."

"Aaron turned out alright," Daryl said, his way of trying to ease both of our thoughts.

"I still have dreams about that trough. Those sounds I heard wake me up every once in a while," I said, "and when I wake up, I realize we're still in that nightmare."

My eyes fluttered away from the window and toward him, he was staring me dead on like he had been watching the side of my face the entire conversation. He finally dropped his hand from his lips. His thumb brushed over the scar on my face, there was no pain when he touched it. The once jagged skin is now just a maze of healed tissue. "Ya," he exhaled softly, his thumb trailing down to the bottom of my jaw. It was like he was saying that my scar was what jerked him awake at night.

"You weren't even there when it happened." He said nothing, but I answered his thoughts anyways as his hand finally dropped from my face.

"Just reminds me of what it felt like--"

Daryl was cut off by Rick swerving the van before bringing it to a steady halt. I had to snap out of the conversation we were having, but my thoughts couldn't help but jump to what he was possibly about to say.

"What's going on?" Abraham asked, propping himself up from his seat.

"We got a crash ahead. Looks like it just happened," Rick answered, now pulling the van over to the side of the road. I sat up from my spot against Daryl's knee, peering out through the front windshield. A can had been flipped over onto its side when hitting the ditch. A pool of blood smeared across the pavement from two body limbs that had been sliced off in the wreckage.

"It's one of our," Jesus sucked in a breath, getting up quickly to get out of the RV and help his people.

I watched as Rick side-eyed Michonne, pursing his lips together in frustration. Against our better judgement, we followed Jesus out of the van, Rick instantly raising his gun on Jesus as he stared down at the walker trapped underneath the side of the car.

"If this is a trick, it won't end well for you," Rick said, his voice eerily calm.

"My people are in trouble. They don't-- we don't have a lot of fighters. I know how it looks, but I'll play it out. Can I borrow a gun?" Jesus asked.

"No," Daryl immediately shot him down, "I got track right here," he said, grabbing Rick's attention to show him. The bloody shoe prints lead inside the vacant office building.

We approach the building slowly, Rick banging on the window to draw forward anything dangerous that lurked inside.

"They gotta be in there," Jesus said, his tone rushed.

Rick turned around slowly, eyeing him. You could see it on Rick's face that he wasn't trusting Jesus. He thought this could be a trap.

"We moving in or what?" Abraham questioned.

"How do we know this ain't fireworks in a trashcan?" Daryl spat, pacing around behind Jesus.

"You don't," Jesus threw up his hands in frustration.

"We'll get your people," Rick finally said after a long pause. "You're staying here with one of us."

Jesus turned his head to look at the rest of us, his eyes wide, clearly not wanting this to be the only option. He wanted to go racing in there, he wanted to save his people. Or, does he needs to be in there? This was a part of his plan all along and him staying out here ruined their trap for us.

"That's the deal," Michonne nodded her head towards him.

"Will you stay?" Glenn asked Maggie and she instantly agreed.

"Y'all go. Just be careful," she bid us off.

Rick handcuffed Jesus in the meantime, making sure he was unable to try anything. "You hear me whistle, you shoot him," Rick ordered Maggie.

"I will," she exhaled, raising his gun on his back.

Daryl held the door open for us to enter. I going in last so we could each pair off in twos. Daryl shut the door quietly behind me, easing closed not to draw any attention toward us now that we were inside.

I could hear the screeching of a walker as we steadily made our way down the main hallway. Rick and Michonne veered right down the first turn, checking the offices along that wing. Glenn and Abraham then veered off next, leaving Daryl and me to venture the furthest in, checking the back offices. I could hear the hissing growing louder then further down we went. I gripped my gun tightly in my palms, the weapon hovering out in front of me. Daryl kept next to me as we approached the first office, the walker groans coming from within it. The first one staggered around the corner, Daryl lightly brushing my arm to push me out of the way as he lunged at its head with his knife. As the walker fell to the ground, within seconds my ears realized that the screeching hadn't stopped, leaving me to yank my knife from my pocket. As expected, a second walker emerged from the office. I threw my arm forward, sinking my knife through the bottom of the tall and slender walker's jaw.

A clatter then came from inside the office, causing us to quickly snap back into defence. Daryl looked over at me, nodding his head before running into the office. One of the office chairs wheeled backwards upon us entering. Daryl gripped onto it, yanking it back to reveal a man crouched down in the corner, his hand raised in surrender.

"We're with Jesus, come with us," I spoke quickly, my gun still pointed at the man for protection. He complied, not saying a word as he followed us out of there. We met back up with Abraham and Glenn on the way, Abraham carrying one of the men that had been badly injured in the crash.

We were back in the RV in no time, other than those who died in the wreckage, all of Jesus' people were accounted for. It was relieving to walk out of that building, my trust slowly becoming a little bit higher in people. There was less tension and stress in the air for the remainder of the ride to Jesus' community. Meeting more of his people and holding small conversations with them we could tell that they were not bad people. They had been out on a run for medication, one of their team members being a doctor, Glenn and Maggie held his ear for quite a while.

"Damn it," Rick cursed under his breath as the RV rocked forward before stopping completely. I could hear him hitting the gas hard, the tires underneath us spinning harshly, but not moving us. "A storm must have passed through. We're stuck," he said.

Jesus got up from his seat, looking out the windshield, "No worries, we're here."

We all filtered out through the side door, dropping down into a pile of watery mud. I followed Jesus out, my gun still in hand as my eyes glanced up at the wall ahead of us. Wooden logs maybe fifteen feet tall sat side-by-side in the ground, surrounding the entirety of the property.

"That's us. That's the Hilltop," Jesus welcomed us.