When I first stepped through the door into that settlement, I was dripping walker blood. I probably looked like on of them myself, honestly. I was holding a long machete, my hair was sticky with blood and hanging over my eyes, i was limping heavily and disemboweled organs clung to my already grimy clothing. I was barefooted and there must've been a predatory look in my eyes as I hadn't eaten in four days.
I was greeted at the gate by two men, both heavily armed with both blades and artillery. One looked to be of Korean descent, with sparse dark stubble and shaggy hair. The other was a tall, hardened man, his stubble scruffy and his brunet hair curly and as grimy as my own was. They both at first ignored me, presumably assuming I was another walker, but when I approached the gate and spoke, they responded with hostility.
"Do you have any food?" I asked, setting my weapon down at my feet and holding my hands where they were visible.
"Where do you come from?" The Korean one asked.
"Nowhere in particular. I was just following the bodies of walkers, hoping to come across whoever killed them and maybe get some food." I said carefully, not wanting to alarm them.
"How many walkers have you killed?" The curly haired one asked, holding a shiny silver gun at the ready.
"I don't know, probably in the mid fifties at this point." I shrugged, confused by his question.
"How many people have you killed?" Came the follow up question.
I took a deep breath. "Four."
"Why?" His voice didn't change tone, he showed no response to the fact that I'd just admitted to murder.
"They were trying to kill me. I didn't want to die." I responded simply.
"I'm Rick, this is Glenn." The curly haired one said, pushing the gate open. "Welcome to Alexandria."
I was allowed to hold onto my weapon as I was shown around the encampment. It appeared to be a full neighborhood, completely surrounded by a makeshift, but sturdy wall. There were normal people in there, even a couple
of children. I could hardly believe my eyes. I hadn't seen a place like that in almost a year, not since my last home.
I was introduced to a woman named Carol, who carried herself meekly but there was something off about her that made me wary.
"It's impressive that you survived out there for so long." She said as she handed me an armful of clean clothes and directed me to a shower.
I hadn't been properly clean in months. It was an amazing feeling to see my own skin and to watch all the dirt and blood swirl down a drain. I lingered in the shower for longer than I should've, but the heat and steam were a welcome solace from reality.
Once i was dressed in clean jeans and a ratty but still clean t shirt, I was shown around the rest of the encampment and introduced to a few new people, including a pretty young woman named Maggie, who was apparently the wife of Glenn, whom I'd met earlier.
As dusk fell, the one called Rick brought me back to what he'd told me was his house. I was introduced to a woman named Micchone, who carried a long katana blade on her back which I would've loved to take for a few test swings. She was holding a baby, which was so foreign to me I could hardly process it.
"This is Judith." Micchone told me, with a gentle smile that told me she'd had experience with kids before the end of the world. A part of me welcomed the gentleness, but another part was automatically wary and suspecting of it.
I gave the baby a half smile and held out a hand to give her a small wave, and she clung to my finger for a moment.
On the way to the room Rick told me I'd be sleeping in for the night, I noticed a boy who looked to be around my age. He was tall, taller than me, with hair that reached his shoulder. He wore what appeared to be a sheriff's hat and had a gun in his waistband. He watched from across the hallway as I was led into the room.
The door was shut behind me, and I had no doubt that it was locked. I threw myself onto the day bed that was set under a window and was asleep almost immediately.
I was awoken several hours later by a loud knock on the door of the room that was temporarily mine. I was on my feet almost instantaneously, my weapon in my hand. The door opened a second later, and my weapon lowered when I recognized the boy I'd seen earlier.
"I brought you some food." He said simply, setting a small plate on the desk that was the room's only furnishing aside from the bed.
I sat at the desk and began spooning mouthfuls of canned corn into my mouth, occasionally swapping for bites of what seemed to be some kind of fire roasted small game.
"I'm Carl." He said, watching me from the doorway.
I glanced up at him. "Mercy." I said through a mouthful of food. "Otherwise known as M."
"Mercy." He repeated. "I like it."
He was silent for a second, and I continued eating hastily.
"How old are you?" Carl said suddenly. He's perched on the end of the bed, still watching me.
"Sixteen. Why?" I scraped out the last of the corn.
"And you were out there on your own?"
"Yeah, for the past year about." I responded, setting the empty can down and turning to face him.
"So you actually know what it's like out there." Carl paused, thinking for a long moment. "A lot of the people here don't know. They've been here since it started." He looked out the window at the dimming light.
"You were out there?" I asked, studying his face. He definitely showed the signs of having been out in the wild. His eyes were deadened with the weight of having seen death, almost experiencing it, even inflicting it.
Carl nodded slowly, then looked back at me. "For a long time. I lost a lot of people. A lot of homes."
I was almost wary of his openness.
"Yeah." I said, not yet willing to spill my backstory.
"I hope you stay." He said finally, before getting up and leaving the room, closing the door behind him.
I didn't hear the click of the lock this time.
I slept soundly that night for the first time in what must've been months.
The morning came all too soon, and I could've slept for several more hours if allowed, but I was woken by more pounding on the door. I reacted less aggressively this time, but my weapon was still very nearby my hand.
"We've got a few questions for you, if you don't mind, Mercy." Rick said from the doorway.
As I followed him to what looked to be a busy building, I twisted my wild curls into a messy braid. My machete hung on the belt loop of my new jeans.
I was led to the front of a sitting room in the new building. Maybe a dozen other adults filled the room, standing and sitting in various relaxed positions.
"This is Mercy." Rick said when the room quieted. I studied the people in the room critically. Aside from a select few, they appeared normal, still soft like everyone had been in the old days. They hadn't seen the end of the world. They probably all read about the apocalypse in People magazine.
"How many walkers have you killed?" A long haired greasy looking man asked from the corner where he stood. He was one of the few who'd seen the outside, I could tell. A tactically fitted crossbow was slung over his shoulder, several bolts clipped into it.
I glanced at Rick, then delivered the same answer I'd given the previous day.
"Round fifty six, I think." I noticed Glenn and the woman called Maggie standing together in a corner of the room.
"How many people?" The crossbow man asked.
"Four. Because they were trying to kill me and I didn't want to die." I said before he could ask the next question.
This series of questions, when publicly witnessed, seemed to make the weathered ones in the room relax. The softies looked alarmed at my answer of four.
"In my opinion, she should
be allowed to stay." Rick said. Most of the people in the room seemed to agree, but a few still seemed alarmed by my last response. "It's down to a vote."
"All in favor?" Glenn said from the back of the room. Eight people raised their hands, including he and Maggie.
"All against?" Said a blonde woman, one of the softies, raising her hand high.
"Jessie-" Rick began, but he stopped himself mid sentence.
The last five people raised their hands with the woman supposedly called Jessie.
"Majority vote." Rick began. "She stays."
"Can she fight?" Crossbow man asked.
"Daryl, she survived on her own out there for a year." Rick said.
"I can fight." I assured him. Daryl seemed satisfied.
As people started to file out the door, Rick stopped me from leaving.
"You're allowed to stay for as long as you like." He began. I started to thank him, but he didn't leave me room to speak. "But if you even start to act like you might hurt any of my people, know I won't hesitate for a second to kill you. Child or not."
I was not surprised by this threat. I considered him a good leader for it, in fact. I gave him a sharp nod, and then followed him from the room.
I planned to follow Rick and ask him what I was to do to help the community, but I was intercepted by a pair of people who looked a little older than me.
"I'm Ron." The boy said. He forced his arm around the waist of the girl beside him, and she flashed him a glare out of the corner of her eye. "This is Enid. My girlfriend." He explained. An arrogant look painted his face and posture. I immediately disliked him.
"Mercy." I told him shortly.
"Nice to meet you." Ron said with an unpleasant smile. He made no move to leave. Enid looked very uncomfortable, but she didn't attempt to leave either.
"Well I've got better things to do with my time then stand around here." I said, giving him a bitter smile as I started to walk away.
"Like what?" He asked doubtfully. Clearly Ron considered himself the best way to spend time.
"I don't know, be eaten by a walker?" I said snarkily, not looking back at him. I could sense his scowl as he walked away.
I caught up to Rick shortly after my encounter with Ron.
"Rick!"
He stopped, allowing me to stop beside him before he continued walking purposefully.
"What's to be my job around here?"
I asked as I walked beside him.
"Go find Carl. He'll tell you his
jobs, and you can help him with them." Rick said dismissively.
I nodded, then headed to the house I'd last spoken to Carl in.