Welcome to Alexandria

Morgan

Morgan had followed Rick home after he helped him get the murder site cleaned up. Daryl and Aaron had moved the bodies to a storage building. Women had swooped in and taken the grieving women away. Rick had introduced him to a man named Spencer who was wandering around the area. His dad had been killed by the man that Rick executed. Morgan had been searching for Rick for months and he was saddened that their reunion had been marred by finding Rick covered with walker muck and human blood. Morgan wasn't here to judge Rick; this world forced good people to do terrible things. Morgan had found a way out of his own pit of despair and he was hoping that he could finally join Rick's group. Not leaving Kingsborough with Rick when this all started had been a terrible mistake that had eventually killed Duane.

Rick had opened the door to his house, "My house is your house, but it isn't just my house. It's time for you to meet the family."

The house was sparsely furnished but there was a sectional sofa off to the right and Morgan saw a silver haired woman sitting with Rick's son Carl. The boy was taller now, almost more man than boy. He tamped down sorrow that he would never see Duane as a young man and concentrated on the woman. She was holding a baby and he wondered if this was Rick's baby girl. Had this baby made the journey from Georgia? Could that happen?

Carl met him with a handshake. Morgan had to smile at the boy's obvious curiosity. Carl must be worrying that this stranger posed a threat to his family. "I'm alright now. I really am."

Carl looked into his eyes and smiled, "Welcome to Alexandria. Come and meet Judith and Carol."

Morgan remembered seeing Carol at the fire pit. She had been at the meeting that ended with two men dead. She must have slipped away in the chaos to check on the children. She was calm and collected. Death was no stranger here either. She exchanged a look with Rick, "Go get a shower, Rick."

Rick nodded, "This is Morgan Jones. He saved my life when I was wondering around my hometown in a daze when this all started. Morgan, this is Carol. She takes care of all of us." Rick excused himself to clean up.

Carol was beautiful. Morgan just wanted to stare at her for hours. Her silver hair must belong to her mother because her face seemed too young to be framed by silver. The color fit her though. The silver accentuated her blue eyes. She didn't belong in this world. She was too clean, too pretty, and too fragile, but she was here. There was a resoluteness in the face that warned him that Carol had layers of protective coverings.

She shook his hand and he could feel callouses. She hadn't gotten those from playing golf at the country club. She seemed uncomfortable with his attention. Beautiful women are used to men admiring them and accept it as their due yet Carol seemed slightly apprehensive. He represented the unknown and Carol was cautious in dealing with the unknown.

He turned his attention to Judith who laughed at him and came into his arms easily. The feel of a human child in his arms brought tears to his eyes and he saw Carol's wary face soften a little. Her eyes were sad as they regarded Judith and he wondered what it was about this little darling that seemed to bring her sorrow.

Michonne came in with Daryl then. She shrugged off her coat and came over to him and held out her hands to take Judith. The baby went to her and he saw that there was more to this woman than being a warrior. He saw why Rick had referred to his group as his "family". Michonne was another surrogate mother to Judith and Carl and he wondered how close she and Rick were.

Carol left the room to heat up a late supper for them. Daryl followed her out and he wondered what their story was. Were they together? He hadn't seen them touch and he was certain had he been away and been as close to death as Daryl had been he would have hugged Carol when he got home. Daryl's eyes had met hers when he came in the house and he had favored her with a nod and almost smile.

He and Daryl ate hot vegetable soup and peanut butter sandwiches in the kitchen. The house was noisy with so many people and he sensed Daryl needed to decompress after his trip and coming home to find Rick with a gun in his hand. Maybe he did too. He had been alone a long time and Alexandria didn't seem quite real to him. Rick's family was real; it made him happy to sit in this kitchen. Michonne came in for a bowl of soup and a sandwich. Carl followed her with Judith who decided to sit on Daryl's lap. The soup was delicious and he complemented Carol. Daryl's eyes narrowed at him, but he chimed in with a "Thank you" of his own.

He met more of the family after that. Maggie, Glenn, Sasha, and Father Gabriel had come by to meet him. Glenn sporting a bandage and an arm sling from a recent injury. Later Eugene and Abraham joined them with the good news that Tara had woken up. Morgan didn't have a clue who Tara was but he still felt a share in the joy of her recovery. All human life was precious and her survival should be celebrated.

Michonne interested him the most. She had been with Rick and Carl when they took weapons from him. He had dreams about her after she left. Most were very pleasant. Beautiful and strong and though she physically looked nothing like Carol he could see that they were alike in some ways. Strong and resilient. Michonne was wary too, all survivors were wary now. Michonne wasn't as guarded as Carol and her smile lit up her face when she held Judith. Rick had finished his shower and he was talking to Michonne as she played with Judith. Morgan wondered if they were together.

Morgan felt the exhaustion of the long trip come over him. He needed some space. He and Rick would talk tomorrow. Carol spoke to him, "This place has a full basement with a bathroom. There is a fold out couch down there. Carl can show you the way." Carol must have recognized that he was weary. Rick had said that she "took care" of everyone.

Carl jumped up and Morgan said goodnight to everyone. The basement had a laundry room and a full bathroom, but it wasn't completely finished. The walls were unpainted drywall and the floor was concrete. He did see a wood stove down there. A dash of reality in a fairy tale land of Alexandria.

Carol appeared with sheets, blankets, towels, and pillows. "Is this alright?" She seemed anxious to go upstairs and Morgan decided to keep her talking.

"Has anyone checked out the wood stove?" He motioned toward the stove and Carol followed him over to it. "It's going to be a lot colder here than it is in Georgia."

"I'll have Daryl look at it. Rick isn't the handyman type." She was poised to flee and again he kept her there.

"I can check it out in the morning. This is a nice space down here. We could put up some walls and make a bedroom back there and still have a big room down here. You know for the odd sojourner that passes by." He was teasing her a bit. Carol eyed the space and he saw her inner fixer upper seep out.

"There is a building with building supplies here. We could find some studs and drywall. It needs mudded again before we could paint." Carol wasn't paying any attention to him. He understood. He used to rattle off to Ginny about his next home remodeling project. Her eyes would be glazed over by the end of the first sentence.

"Need to cut some wood too. Might find some already cut and dried and bring it back."

Carol nodded. "I haven't been down here except for doing the laundry. I'm a little claustrophobic. Silly thing to be afraid of in this world. Good night, Morgan. Welcome to Alexandria."

"It's alright to be afraid. It's our subconscious keeping us alert. Just can't let it control us." Carol looked at him then and he saw again that she was too tightly controlled. "Good night, Carol. Tomorrow we can go look to see if they have what we need to finish this room."

Carol gave him a wry look as if she had just recognized that she had brought down a blanket and was now committed to working with him on a project. He favored her with his most innocent smile.

"You got everything that you need?" Daryl's voice startled both of them. He had come down the uncarpeted steps silently as a cat. Morgan thought Daryl looked a little territorial but not in a bad way.

"Carol and I were just talking about the wood stove and finishing the downstairs. There is room for a family room, storage area, and a bedroom down here."

Daryl looked at the wood stove. "This could help keep the house warm this winter." He looked around the space. "There is room for a safe room in here too. There were walkers inside the walls tonight. We need a place to bring Judith if that happens again."

"We could put it here," Morgan chose an area close to the bathroom. "The plumbing is already here. The back wall is concrete blocks and we could build the other sides out of concrete and reinforce it with steel. Put a steel door on it. Put supplies in there."

"Put plenty of lights in there." Carol shivered at the thought of being stuck in that space.

"We'll add backup battery lights too." Daryl spoke quickly. "Let's go upstairs and let this man get some rest."

Morgan showered quickly and pulled the couch out. It was more comfortable than sleeping in car or an abandoned house. He could hear water running and people moving around upstairs. It felt like home. He closed his mind to the outside world and prayed to his creator. He wasn't sure why he had been led here but it seemed to him that this odd gathering of people who called themselves a family needed his help.

Carol

Carol had come home to check on Carl and Judith immediately after Rick executed Pete. She had decided today that keeping a doctor around might be more sensible than killing him for being abusive. Jessie, Ron, and Sam were living in a different house and maybe Pete would settle down and stop drinking. She had told Rick, "Not now" when Pete showed up drunk on his ass in the hope that Rick would let P ete show his true colors and Deanna would get that she needed Rick.

Pete killing Reg had stunned her. Deanna's ordering Rick to kill Pete had been another shock. So much blood spilled unnecessarily. The distinctive smell of human blood had hit her like a brick tonight. It brought back the smell on Mika when she had put the knife through her skull. That smell had been all around when she carried Lizzie's lifeless body back to the house. She and Tyreese had buried both bodies and she had scrubbed her hands trying to get the smell to go away.

Carol had left then to check on Carl and Judith. Part of her wanted to go with Jessie and comfort Sam. She resisted however. Sam wasn't her concern. He had a mother and a brother to take care of him.

Later Rick brought Morgan home and she understood that he was now a member of their family. She could sum up him physically: wiry build, around her age, African-American. Attractive but not handsome. He was personable, nice smile, polite, and oddly enough in this deadly world, gentle. He didn't talk much but he noticed things. She wasn't invisible to Morgan. He saw her and he showed that he liked what he saw. It had felt strange to have a man enjoy looking at her. He was checking her out in the living room and in the kitchen. The man had been out there too long.

Daryl didn't notice, but Daryl hadn't noticed much about her lately. He jeered at her new clothes but that was about it. He had taken a job of recruiting survivors to become new citizens of Alexandria and was out traveling with Aaron. She missed him; Daryl was her closest friend and he seemed to be drifting away.

She had brought the bedclothes to the basement because Michonne and Rick were talking and she didn't want that interrupted. Rick's attraction to Jessie needed to stop now. Michonne was good for Rick and she knew Rick needed to talk about killing Pete. Carl and Judith were upstairs. Daryl had went off to take a shower and to sleep in his nest in the house's former den. It was easier to just take them down than to find someone else to do it. She had planned to be in and out in no time.

Once she was downstairs Morgan had drawn her in by talking about to fix up the basement. That brought back bittersweet memories. Ed would start some project, screw it up, go off to get drunk with his buddies, and then she would fix it. Sophia would play close by content just to be close to her. She liked working on renovations and she was good at it. Carol wondered what it would be like working with a man like Morgan. Would he be so damn genial when the project went south?

Not to worry, Rick would claim him to reinforce the walls and to build barricades. Carl and Rick had raved about the defenses Morgan had around his place and he had been bat shit crazy then. He was in his right mind now and Alexandria needed him to design and build stronger defenses. Morgan wouldn't have time to spare after they got started, but maybe she could finish what he started.

Then as she was about to leave Daryl came downstairs. He had showered and dressed in clean clothes and combed his wet hair back from his face. It gave her a sudden burst of happiness that tonight Daryl would be sleeping here in this house. He and Morgan chatted about renovations and all she wanted was to talk to Daryl. Maybe open the whiskey that Mr. Thompson had given her. That brought back memories of the prison when she and Daryl would sip a glass of whiskey and talk while they worked on whatever needed to be done.

They left the basement together and Daryl put his hand on her arm when they were on the main floor. "I want to tell you something."

"I need to talk to you. I need to talk to somebody." Carol hated how damn weak she sounded, but always being strong and stoic wasn't who she wanted to be. She hadn't let herself feel anything while that kept the sorrow from overwhelming her but it didn't go away either. It was time to start letting her dammed up emotions out. Maybe talking with Daryl would be the first step.

Daryl stepped closer and put his other hand on her other shoulder forming a circle, a complete circuit. "Let's go make some coffee and talk."

Carol saw Rick standing in the doorway to the kitchen. He cleared his throat, "Abraham is here and he wants to talk. We need you to tell us about what is going on out there. We need you too, Carol."

Daryl bit his lip, "I'll be there in a minute. Just got to tell Carol something." Daryl waited until Rick left. "Aaron and I wouldn't have made it back without Morgan. There is a seriously fucked up group out there calling themselves the Wolves. I need to talk to them."

She rested her hands on his arms strengthening their connection. "We can talk tomorrow. What was it that you were going to tell me?" She shifted back to cool collected Carol. She was a good default persona.

Daryl flushed a little, "I hate the flowered sweater, but I really like the blue one. Seeing you wearing different clothes made me angry. Like you were turning into a new person, but I think you look real pretty in the blue one." He dropped his hands but she found the courage to hang on.

"Thank you, Daryl. I like the blue one too. I'm going upstairs. You can tell me tomorrow about what you found." Daryl had just told her that she looked "real pretty" in her favorite sweater and maybe for once she was not going to spend her evening evaluating the latest threat. She was going upstairs and doing some soul searching.

Judith was asleep and she tiptoed in and tucked the covers around the baby. It had been so cold out there tonight by the fire pit. Michonne had given her the side eye when she had talked about how often Rick had saved her. Michonne thought it was all part of the act because she hadn't known the Carol that had to be taught how to fight for herself. Rick had saved her and the others. He wasn't always right but he did his best.

Rick hadn't saved Sophia. His best wasn't good enough then. Carol had forgiven him that eventually, but she had never forgiven herself for waiting on that guard rail for someone else to save her daughter. Carol sat down in the rocker by the crib and let herself remember that day. The heat of a Georgia summer baking the asphalt and the smell of the walkers still in the air. Sophia running into the woods and everyone telling her to wait and let Rick do it. That had seemed right to her and she had waited for Rick while the others gathered around her.

She had wished for a long time that she and Sophia had both died that day. That God was punishing her for wanting Ed to die. She had done more terrible things since then than wishing an abusive husband to die. There was blood on her hands now. She was damned for that surely. How do you come back from the things that she had done.

Morgan Jones had held Judith tonight. Today he had saved Daryl and Aaron. His mind had broken from the weight of his grief after his wife and son were killed. He had done terrible things but he had come back. Do things happen for a reason? She wasn't the only person in Alexandria who was struggling with grief, guilt, regret…and rage. Maybe Morgan Jones was here to show them how to live with some measure of peace and happiness.

Carol went to bed after praying for a night without bad dreams.