For the gifs that go along with this, see post/80237596998/twd-afterlife-part-two
gif credit obviously to the awesome anz!
Carefully watching the expressions on the faces around her, Alice found it almost funny that her journey had taken her to this place. All the way across the Nation, from Nevada to Georgia. In her relentless pursuit to find the heads of Umbrella, she had almost forgotten that there still were people around, trying to make a life. And these people somehow had managed not only to survive but to keep faith. Hope.
The revelation she had just given them seemed to have only the 'Uh-huh!'- effect. They weren't rattled by it. It didn't change a thing Knowing where the walking Dead came from, understanding what was happening was one thing. But yeah, damn, it didn't change that much. The woman with the Katana, Michonne, spoke up first "And you're after them." Not a question. A statement. Alice nodded. The elderly man named Hershel huffed "And what good will that do? What will you gain? All for the sake of revenge?" And eyebrow went up and his eyes spoke of a challenge. "Maybe peace of mind. Maybe nothing. Fact: I can't just sit here, letting them go on with their inhuman experiments. Look at what they did to me" Her hands curled into fists on her knees. She had been sitting for hours indian-style but her leg didn't bother. Nodding, Michonne gave her a look of understanding. Having spilled almost all of her secrets to them, Alice didn't know anything about them.
Well, almost nothing. It was clear that these people were the core of the big group in this prison. The young blond girl stood behind Hershel, who obviously was her father. Beth was her name Alice reminded herself. They way she always glanced over to the baby held by Rick, a man not just looking but smelling like farm-work, told stories. Ok, maybe Alice only imagined him smelling like pigs because she had seen him feeding them. Carl, his son, eyed her with a look on his face way to old for a child like this. Knowing. Dark.
A little wave of envy went through her when she first had seen Maggy and Glenn walking in. Holding hands. Standing strong, tall. But unlike Michonne, Alice was under the impression that Maggy did what she had to do just because of that. Because she had to to survive. Michonne held the look of someone having a purpose. Single-minded, driven by the same thing that drove Alice. And big plus points for the Katana. Feeling the weight of her own Machetes on her hips, Alice allowed herself a secret smile. Another woman, Carol, carrying a knife, was harder to read for her. But the way she talked and asked the right questions told enough: hardened by circumstances, driven by purpose, this woman was not to be messed with.
Oh, and she almost forgot about Daryl. No, not forgot. Standing in a corner rather than sitting down with the rest of them, she knew him. For no reason at all, she knew him. And he her. Abused, taken advantage off, left to fight alone. Difference was, he had found those people. And that was why Alice asked "Would mind me staying for a while? I could need a rest. I'd help of course. With whatever needs to be done. Got my bike, my weapons..." letting the sentence trail off, she saw a faint smile fade over Daryl's face. So it was his bike she had seen outside. It was Sasha who started the look around and nodded. So this was a mutual decision to make. Of course it was, Alice was dangerous. That she might also be the only hope in curing the T5-Virus was known only to her at that point.
Later, when darkness had fallen and Alice gathered her things from her bike, she wasn't surprised when Rick and Daryl approached her. They seemed tight. Rick spoke up with an authority she kinda had expected but missed all the time. "You're keeping something from us. That's ok. We all got our own secrets. But know this" he leaned in, his pattern of words along with his facial expression making it very clear that he meant business "If you harm anyone around here. If you think of using anyone for your irrational plans, you and I gonna have a BIG problem. You got that?" Awaiting her answer, Alice smiled when she answered "Understood. And accepted. And I wanna add that I really like your way of thinking"
With a nod, Rick left her standing, going back inside. Crossbow over his shoulder, Daryl measured her with calculating eyes. "I used to have one of those" Nodding to the crossbow, Alice continued to unpack her stuff. "Lost it?" "More like broke it. Accident. But I still got arrows" With that, she handed him the five remaining arrows. Without a word, he took them and then tipped them to his head in greeting before he went for one of the towers. Probably on look-out this night. Good. With every passing hour, she liked those people more. And that would make it even harder to go.
This night, when Alice had settled in a cold cell, the memories came. And thanks to that she couldn't sleep. Yeah, she was safe inside. Safe from the walkers, that was. But not from herself. The freak she had been turned into was with her. Inside the cell. And that was why it was cold. Not the blank concrete walls. Not the rusty metal frames of everything. Not the lack of decoration. It was herself making the room cold. Unable to deal with it, she got up and strolled around. Here and there, behind make-shift curtains she heard voices of the people trying to move on with their lives. Envy boiled through her again. She found herself outside in the yard without knowing that she went that way. The night was warm enough and the moon made it look like everything was alright. The pigs in the barn were asleep. Leaning over on the pallets framing the space, she saw the horse Michonne had been riding. It bubbles a greeting with its nostrils like horses do. With a smile, Alice' mind went back to three days earlier.
The small herd of walkers had come outta nowhere. Well, not really, but still Alice was a little surprised how fast they had gotten to her. Guess her abilities had made her a little arrogant. Or she was just getting less careful. Whatever. With her pupils dilated, she watched a large bunch of them fly away and partially explode mid-air, which gave her the space she needed. Her machetes in her hands, she went apeshit crazy on them. Arms, legs, brain. The stuff was flying anywhere and her face was a mask of hate and desperation. Trying to get onto high ground, she jumped onto a car when she heard the clatter of hooves.
`What a sight. The afro-american woman on top of the horse worse a mask of determination paired with undisturbed calmness on her face. The beautiful Katana reflected the light of the sun even after the first head went flying and blood stained it. She moved through the undead like it was nothing special. Alice liked her already. By the time she had taken care of the Walkers around her, the rider had reached her, a path of already rotted corpses marking her way. There wasn't much conversation "Got a place to stay?" Michonne, that was her name, asked. When Alice said no, Michonne simply nodded her head in a gesture to follow. So Alice had straddled her bike and slowly drove along-side her and the total calm horse. Three days they'd been traveling like this. Not much talking. But that was alright. They seemed to get each other.
The last night before they reached the prison, Alice ran out of food. Wordlessly, Michonne opened her bag and handed her a can over. No label on it "No idea what's in it" she shrugged and opened one herself. Alice shook the thing next to her head "I knew someone who could tell what's inside by doing this. No such luck for me" Turned out they both had pork and beans. The meal went on in silence. At least until Alice' spoon froze on the way to her mouth. The hairs on the back of her neck stood and her instincts went wild. Michonne was on it in a second, Katana drawn. "We're getting company. Turning to face the probably well-known threat, Michonne looked utterly unimpressed. "No" Alice breathed. "We gotta go..." And what do you know, Michonne trusted her. And that was saved their asses. The herd was enormous. They had to be fast. And the horse only could go for so long.
Back into here and now, Alice eyes went over to the gate she and the warrior-woman had passed through together. Michonne had told her to speed it up before the gate to make sure no Walkers got inside. And even though this wasn't Alice' home, riding her bike through the gates had felt just like that. Coming home. The warm welcome for Michonne had been nice to watch. Now, with the sun already rising again behind the trees, Alice felt misplaced. Again. But when she turned to go back inside, she found that she wasn't alone. Not at all. Next to the guard-tower, Daryl was leaning onto the wall, his head inclining towards the inner yard. He waited until she caught up with him. When a growl reached both of their ears, both turned around at the same time, weapons at ready. The Walkers outside the fences had doubled over night. Daryl and Alice shared a look. Yeah. Time to do something about that. But first: Breakfast.