Rick's head hurt. That was the first sensation he was aware of. And he remembered, dimly, from a time before all this shit went down, that being woken by your head hurting could only mean one thing.

But why would he have been drinking last night? And then the memories came back, and he opened his eyes. He was lying in a bed, a real bed. There were sheets on it and everything. Sure, the room he could now see in the early morning sunlight might need some dusting, and the windows were none too clean. But there was a quiet outside in the street that he could hardly recall experiencing before. And it came to him.

They were safe. All of them.

Rick sat up and rubbed his eyes. He could see his pants and cotton shirt lying in a heap on the floor at the bottom of the bed. He retrieved the pants and pulled them on. Another strange sensation. All his clothes were clean. No, better, they were brand new.

Aaron had sent round people in the late afternoon yesterday who had brought him clothing, toiletries and food. They had also brought diapers and baby things for Judith, and clothes for Carl. He thought he saw some comic books and DVDs in Carl's pile, too.

And then Rick remembered the other wonderful things they had enjoyed yesterday: Electricity, and properly cooked food. Hot showers. Judith had had more of that apple sauce, and loved it.

Those thoughts got Rick off the bed. He had just remembered that his bedroom (his!) had an en-suite. He went in there now and turned on the light. Right across from the door was the sink, with a vanity cabinet above, and Rick could see himself in the mirror. He thoughtfully stroked his beard, then, making up his mind, purposefully strode into the room and started rummaging in the cabinets. Finally, from a drawer under the sink, he extracted an electric razor.

He looked at his reflection again. The face in the mirror suddenly looked wild to him, like an animal. He had agreed to come here, even though he had had this intuition that it was a bad idea. He was so glad his intuition had turned out, for the moment at least, to be wrong. If they were indeed given this fresh start, then, Rick decided, he'd do it properly. And for that, this beard had to go.

Shortly after arriving in Alexandria Aaron had introduced them first to a guy called Tom, who shook everyone's hand and wrote their names on a clipboard. "I am the quartermaster, I guess. Or maybe I'm in real estate, but I can't be very good at it, I haven't made my fortune yet."

Nobody in their group had smiled at this, but Tom took this in his stride. He'd probably dealt with many groups like theirs, and just continued with his speech.

"Each of you will be given a new home. We're still a small community, and lots of houses are empty. The reason they ask you to liaise with me is because I know what's available. Also, we need to keep track of where people are living. You know for… emergencies and so on, and so we can keep on top of the headcount." He looked at them all inquisitively. "Have you discussed preferences for your… living arrangements yet?"

Carol spoke first. "We have, actually." She indicated Michonne, Sasha and Tara. "We girls wouldn't mind sharing. We could do with some peaceful domesticity, and a tidy house, for a while."

Tom smiled at Carol. "I think I've got just the thing for you. Oh yeah, I forgot," he addressed them all. "We try to house new groups as close together as possible. Unless anyone has any, err… objections?" If anyone did, nobody raised them.

Abraham stepped forward. "Me an' Rosita here, we'd appreciate if we could be housed together." Rosita rolled her eyes. "You sound like you're expecting to be assigned a bunk in the barracks, Sergeant Ford." She nudged Abraham and looked meaningfully at Eugene. Abraham cleared his throat. "Yes, can we kindly request an abode large enough to accommodate our friend Eugene here, too."

Gabriel spoke next. "I talked with some people from the church earlier. They said they could use my help. Noah here," he put a hand on the boy's arm "said he'd like to help, too. They have offered us places in their dormitories."

Tom nodded and made a note. "Next?"

Glenn said, "Maggie, my wife, and I would like to have a place together if possible?" Maggie beamed at Glenn and took his hand. "Of course it's possible," nodded Tom. "We have a few condos for couples. Would that suit? Only, the houses are mostly pretty big and we don't want to waste space, even if we're still not at capacity." Maggie smiled at him. "Sounds great!"

Tom looked at Rick next. "And that leaves you, yes?" Rick nodded. "My son Carl, Judith here, and me." Tom made another note. "That'll fit nicely. Now," he put down his clipboard "you will be shown your new homes. If you," he indicated Rick, Carol and her party, and Abraham, Rosita and Eugene "would come with me. My colleague Sonja here will take Maggie and Glenn. The condos are in a different part of the community, but I promise, it isn't very far."

They started trooping out of Tom's office. "Listen, everyone," Rick raised his voice slightly. "Let's meet at Carl's, Judith's and my new place tonight at seven, for a little celebration. I think we've earned it." There was agreement all around. Rick said to Glenn and Maggie, "I am sure Tom here can give you directions to the house?" He looked at Tom, who nodded. "And maybe the rest of us can go to our place first? Then the others know where it is. And I need to put down Judith for a nap soon, anyway."

Tom looked around. "Right then, follow me."

Rick had noticed that Daryl had been skulking at the back of the group throughout the proceedings, and that he hadn't spoken up to be given a place to stay. For now, Rick said nothing. He had some idea what was going on in Daryl's head, and he'd deal with that later.

On his way down the stairs Rick marveled again at the quiet and the cleanliness of this house. His house… it was still hard to fathom. He had paused at Carl's door but hadn't heard a sound. He'd let the boy sleep as long as he liked today. When had any of them been able to do that last?

Judith was also still in her crib in Rick's bedroom. She'd been out like a light last night and hadn't stirred now when Rick had carefully replaced the blanket she had kicked off during the night. There had been a baby phone with the things the Alexandria people had brought them last night, and Rick was carrying the receiver with him down the stairs. It felt strange, leaving his baby out of reach, but Rick hadn't had the heart to wake her. And if he'd really decided to give this place a go he had to lay off the paranoia sooner or later.

At the foot of the stairs Rick came to a stop. He couldn't suppress a grin at the sight that met him.

Daryl was sprawled on the sofa, fully dressed. He hadn't even taken off his shoes. That made Rick's grin vanish. Apparently he wasn't the only one who still didn't trust the peace entirely. Deciding to let Daryl sleep it off Rick continued quietly to the kitchen.

On his way he noticed the empty whisky bottle on the floor next to Daryl's hand. Rick remembered that it had been a new bottle last night, and he didn't remember Daryl sharing it with anyone. As was his wont the man had kept his distance from the others all evening, and even though Rick had been meaning to have a word with him he hadn't gotten round to it.

After dinner Daryl had disappeared from the house but Rick could see him though the open door whenever someone had come or gone, pacing on the veranda. Rick had had sympathy with what was going on in that shaggy head, but it had also made him a little sad that one of their number wasn't getting much enjoyment out of the evening. Rick was glad that Daryl had at least decided to stick close.

Rick rummaged through the cupboards for mugs, creamer and sugar. The Alexandrians had also brought coffee, real coffee. It was probably stale as hell, but it would be a huge treat nonetheless. He also found a French press. Lori used to have one of these, and Rick had always thought that was such a girl way to make coffee. Now he was glad for it, and he was glad for the nice memories of Lori it brought.

Rick filled the kettle from the tab and placed it on the gas stove. This normal, everyday ritual filled him with calm. Maybe things would be all right.

He was just pouring the boiling water onto the coffee when there came a small bump from the living room, and a few seconds later Daryl appeared from behind the sofa and walked over into the open plan kitchen area.

"Morning. Coffee?"

Daryl was rubbing his face with both hands. Rick knew the man hadn't had a shower the other day, and he looked a real mess, not helped by that bottle of bourbon. Rick didn't mind, though, they'd been through too much together to feel bothered about these things.

"Yeah, thanks. I'll just go and have a piss, first." Daryl turned towards the front door and took two steps, then seemed to remember where they were and turned toward the downstairs bathroom.

"Sorry…" Daryl grunted in passing.

Rick chuckled. "Old habits die hard, eh?"

When Daryl reappeared he made a beeline for the coffee mug Rick had placed on the counter. He took the mug in both hands and inhaled the scent of the milky liquid. "Hmm... Only thing I miss about civilization is coffee."

Rick made an assertive noise. "How's the head?"

Daryl grunted. "That last bit o' whiskey must've been off. Have had worse, tho'."

He blew on his coffee and took a careful sip. His eyes close slowly in obvious appreciation. Rick realized he was staring at his friend and quickly looked away.

Instead he turned around to fill up the coffeemaker again. He could drink this all day. Then he started opening cupboards again, looking for the cereal he knew had been stowed there yesterday by the women who brought the supplies. He hesitated a moment before turning around, holding a Cheerios box.

"Why didn't you speak up yesterday, when they allocated us our places?" Rick half glanced over his shoulder and caught Daryl's shrug from the corner of one eye.

"Dunno if I wanna be put in some fuckin' condo, or share some place with no fuckin' strangers. Reckon I can pitch a tent somewhere, more m' style."

Rick could tell there was more to it, but Daryl wouldn't voice those thoughts. All the others had known what they wanted, had made plans. Daryl's life had never been organized by anybody, including himself, and while he hadn't expected to be asked by any of the others if he wanted to share with them he must have suddenly felt like an outsider again.

Rick turned around fully now. "That's a shame. I was hoping you'd stay here, with us."

Daryl looked up. Rick couldn't read the expression in his eyes because the other man quickly looked away again, but he thought he saw hope there. However, Daryl's voice sounded gruff, almost unfriendly, when he finally spoke.

"Wha' for?"

Rick stepped closer to the counter where Daryl stood looking uncomfortable.

"Well, I'll need help looking after Judith, and I have a feeling Carl will turn out to be a handful if we give him half a chance. 'sides, I got used to having you around."

Daryl stood unusually still, like he was expecting that if he moved, this moment would evaporate like a dream. Finally, looking as if bracing himself, he glanced back at Rick, who held his gaze.

"Do you mean it?" Daryl's voice sounded rough.

"Course I do. Why wouldn't I? This," Rick indicated their surroundings, "means nothing. You're my brother, and I trust you with my life. I trust you with my kids."

Daryl was spared an answer by a knock on the front door.

Rick pushed himself off the counter and walked over to the door. He had locked and bolted it last night. No reason to get sloppy now. He looked through the spy hole, then unlocked the door and unhooked the chain. Rick opened the door to reveal Aaron standing on the porch, beaming.

"Morning, Rick." Aaron stepped closers, and Rick motioned him inside. "Hey, Daryl," he gave a little, nervous wave in the direction of the kitchen where Daryl had come into view. "Hope you guys slept all right?"

"Yeah, great, thanks Aaron." Rick closed the door and stepped over to the visitor. "Seriously, I mean it. Thank you."

Aaron waved him off. "'s nothing, really. But," he hesitated for a moment and looked at Rick. "Would you mind coming round to the community centre? Deanna and the others from the council would like to talk to you. Just you, for now," he glanced apologetically at Daryl. "They'll want to meet you all properly as soon as possible, but they have asked me for now to just bring you."

Rick looked slightly surprised, but didn't see why he should refuse. He didn't believe now that Aaron meant them any harm, and neither seemed anybody else in Alexandria, at least for the moment. Rick looked at Daryl, who nodded.

"You go, I got it. I'll look after Judith, and I can give Carl his breakfast." Daryl grimaced. "If he lets me."

Rick nodded. "Thanks, Daryl. I'll come back right after, and then we can figure out the rest of the… stuff. Just gimme a minute," he added to Aaron and went over to a dresser. He opened the top drawer and took out a gun. He turned to Aaron. "Feels wrong, to be out without one. Hope it won't cause a problem?" Aaron raised his shoulders. "Not with me, man. I totally get it."

With another nod at Daryl Rick followed Aaron over to the door. Door knob in hand he hesitated briefly and looked back at Daryl, who motioned him on. "Don't worry, man, I'll keep an eye on things. Won't let me guard down."

"I know. 'preciate it, you know that." And with that Rick stepped out into the early autumn light and closed the door.