Chapter 5

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Dani looked around the inside of the Alexandria Safe Zone and was stunned. Everywhere she saw where tall McMansions and carefully landscaped lawns with beautiful flowers. It was so welcoming to her, so comforting and yielding.

And yet, it made her worry even more, for it was too much like the world before it went to Hell. She knew it was too dangerous to even think of going back to that again. Still, she played along and only showed a hopeful glance at the young man approaching them, welcoming them to their new home. He introduced himself as Nicholas. However, Nicholas said there was one condition;

"You have to turn in your guns," he said. This made Dani cringe.

"We may not even stay here," Rick replied, keeping his hand on his hand gun. "So there's no point."

"It's up to Deanna who stays here," Nicholas said. "I'll take you to her. Then you can decide if you want to stay."

Rick looked back at his group and nodded to them. He followed Nicholas to a set of townhouses around the corner. Dani and the others held back at the gate, anticipating what will happen next. Already, she didn't like the gun control law here. "Gun control, during the apocalypse. That's insane," she mentioned to Carol. Carol nodded her head in agreement.

"It looks like these people holed themselves up right when all of this started," she told her. "Of course they would think guns are unnecessary here."

"Still, it looks safe," Michonne added. "Look at these walls. They're strong enough. Maybe to hold up against a tank."

"I don't know," Dani said. "You have to admit, no guns being in here wouldn't really keep us safe."

"Well, they seem happy," Michonne pointed out to some children by a large pond playing with toys and laughing. "This is a perfect place for Carl and Judith."

Carl was holding his little sister, smiling at the prospect of finally being happy here. Dani noticed, however, when his smile turned into a small frown. She walked over to him, placing her hand on the back of the little girl's head. "You all right, Carl? Do you like it here?"

Carl looked at her sadly, holding his little sister tightly against him. "My mom dreamed of this place for us." He then looked down at Judith's face, smiling faintly at her. "For her. It's what she wanted. She was so worried when she got pregnant. She feared what would happen to Judith." He then looked around Alexandria and smiled. "Mom would have loved it here. But I don't know. It seems like a dream."

Dani understood. They had all been out there too long to become civilized once again so soon. But a place of safety, a place with houses, food, supplies and people! Good people! People who won't beat you or starve you or make you do things you don't want to do! People who actually keep their children alive! People who are actually the greater good! It just has to be true! She kept telling herself over and over in her head as she looked into this sweet little baby's eyes. This is what Rick and his group was looking for; a place for this little girl to live. Judith giggled at Dani, giving her a big smile. Dani returned it, patting the top of her head. She thought to herself that this little girls' mother would be happy as well.

"Look up," Daryl ordered as he looked over at the townhouses. She saw Rick approach, nodding his head to them, waving for them to come over. All of them walked over to the townhouses where they were greeted by a heavy set woman with black rimmed glasses pushing an empty cart.

"Hi," she smiled at them. "My name is Olivia. Welcome to Alexandria Safe Zone." She them waved to the cart. "Before I can show you to where you will be staying, I will need all of your firearms, please."

Dani was very hesitant. It didn't seem like a safe prospect for her to give all of her guns to this stranger. But Rick said it was all right. "We can decide tomorrow if we stay or leave. It's getting late, and we're all tired."

At that moment, Dani heard an older woman's voice speak to them from the balcony of the townhouses. "You can retrieve your firearms when you leave these gates to go hunting, running on errands or target practice. But while you are within these walls, you have to check in your guns to Olivia." Dani looked down at her Winchester and shuddered a little. She hadn't been away from her gun since that night. She vowed never to lose her weapon again. But if she were to stay for now, she had no choice. Solemnly she placed her rifle on the counter, along with her hand guns. She stepped back as the other complied with this woman's demands. Obviously she was the leader of this place. She had long brown hair, obviously dyed, and appeared to be in her fifties. She dressed in some kind of dress suit. A dress suit in the apocalypse!

"My name is Deanna Monroe, and I welcome all of you to this sanctuary," she went on from up high on her balcony like a reigning queen. Something about that seemed a little unsettling to Dani. "Now, I understand there's a woman among you who drove here with a 1970 Dodge Challenger?"

It was apparent to Dani that Rick had told Deanna all about her. Of course he did. She really wasn't one of them. Just a tag along. Dani stepped up and held up her hand. "That would be me, Ma'am."

Deanna smiled at her. "So you're Danielle Evans. Rick told me some things about you."

Dani shrugged. "Not very much to say. I only met them two days ago."

Deanna walked down the stairs and greeted Dani with a handshake. "Is it true that you were out there by yourself before you met Rick and his group?"

Dani nodded. "Yes, Ma'am, for weeks."

Deanna gave her a pat on her shoulder, looking directly into her eyes. "Why don't you drive your car in? Aaron will show you where you will be staying. You can park the car in one of the garages."

Dani almost blinked at that statement. One of the garages?

"And, after you've settled in, come see me for an interview." Deanna turned her attention to Daryl, still holding that possum by the tail. "Daryl Dixon, you're up." He shrugged and followed her up the stairs into her home. All Dani could think about as she was seeing this was that Daryl was not going to be spoken to very easily. And she knew she wouldn't hold up well. Too many skeletons in her closet to speak of.

Dani drove her car slowly down the street, following the rusty car that Aaron was driving. Rick, Michonne and Carl joined her, with Judith sitting in Carl's lap. The low rumble of her engine had the residents stop and stare at her car. Some of the older men pointed out to her and gawked. Great, she thought to herself. I haven't been here less than ten minutes and already I'm drawing unwanted attention.

Still, it did make her feel slightly more special having a really cool car!

Aaron came to a stop in front of two large houses. He got out of the car and pointed to the blue house at the end of the street. Dani pulled up in its driveway, turned the car off, and got out to view what would be their new home. It was a very large house, almost like a mansion. She figured it had to have four, maybe five bedrooms. A house like this would have gone on the market for at least a million! And it's theirs now! But what else does it have?

"These are the two houses that you will be staying tonight. They both have electricity and hot running water," she heard Aaron say. She immediately turned to him.

"Hot water? Are you kidding me?"

Aaron smiled at her and nodded. "I'm not kidding. We have our own plumbing and sewage system. And we have our own electricity grid. Every comfort you can think of."

Dani looked right up at the house and smiled. "I had kissed those things goodbye!" She then turned to Rick. "I'm going inside to check it out." The one thing she had craved for so long was a decent hot shower. She felt so filthy!

After looking around the house, turning on the faucets and turning them off, she raced upstairs for the large bathroom she found on the left side of the hallway. She knew it was kind of rude to take the first shower first without asking, but the way she figured it, she helped these people two nights ago with the food and water she had on her. And Jesus! Her body really needed this! She stripped her dirty clothes off and jumped in the shower. She turned on the faucet and smiled as she felt that familiar warmth of the water splashing across her face, a feeling she had almost forgotten since this whole thing began. She soaped up with a little bottle of liquid soap, and laughed as she saw the dirt wash away from her skin.

And then a thought came to her. A dreadful thought of guilt. Her family didn't survive to see this. They all died horrible, agonizing deaths and the hands of the living and the dead. How could she have any kind of joy over something like a warm shower? They'll never have that. They'll never have any of this! Dani felt her tears build up in her eyes, her lower lip quivering. She took very hard deep breaths to suppress them. She can't cry anymore. Tears don't help you. They make you look weak. She even chastised herself for showing a couple of tears that day she met Rick and his group. She wondered if that was the reason they had her tag along; because they deemed her weak and therefore not a threat.

Shaking off these dark thoughts, she washed and conditioned her dirty hair, feeling how clean her follicles were. She wanted to shave her pits and legs, but knew she didn't have time. She took too long as it is. She turned off the shower and got out, finding a fluffy robe in the bathroom closet. She put it on, and gathered her dirty clothes. She then wrapped her hair in a towel. She then stopped and saw a blurred version of herself in the mirror covered with steam. She almost wanted to wipe the condensation off to see herself, but didn't feel ready for it. She opened the door, and was startled by Rick standing there.

"Sorry, Rick," she said as she was stepping out. "I didn't mean to take too long."

Rick nodded at her. "I don't blame you, Dani. Hot showers are very hard to come by out there." He stepped inside. As she walked down the hall, she heard Rick call out to her. "Hey Dani." She turned to see him poking his head out the door. "Make sure you don't tell too much to Deanna about yourself."

Dani took a step towards Rick, carefully observing him. "What for," she asked.

"We don't know these people. We don't know if we can trust them, or if they can trust us." He then stepped over to her, his eyes keeping his gaze on hers. "And frankly, I think there's a lot you're not telling us."

Dani gave him a puzzled look. What the hell was he saying?

Rick leaned into her. "Whatever you had to do, I believe it's because you had no choice. You're no monster or demon, just human. But to these people, it could be a problem. It's not just you; it's us as well who are at stake. These people never had to do what we did to survive."

Dani remained silent. She wanted to say something, anything, a lie or to defend herself, but it was clear Rick knew. He just knew because he could figure out a wounded soldier like himself.

Rick kept speaking to her. "I told Father Gabriel this when we first met him that I would do anything to keep my family safe. I'm telling you that as well. I mean anything! You hear me?"

Dani nodded. She got it loud and clear. She finally spoke up and looked directly into his eyes. "Rick, I can tell you and your people are good people. And I would never hurt them." Then she gave a small sigh. "I understand. And for you guys I'll play along with Deanna, give her what she wants to hear. But you do know that the longer we were out of civilization, the harder it will be rejoin it again. "

Rick nodded. He proceeded to walk towards the bathroom door. He stopped and looked back to Dani, his vigilant eyes staring at her. She also nodded, letting him know she understood. He entered the bathroom and closed the door. Dani's heart sank a bit, and felt some relief that he didn't question what she had done. Would he understand? Would anyone understand? She knew instantly Deanna wouldn't get it at all. Things were just too cozy here. This place had remained untouched since the beginning, and the people were kept safe from the horrors of the outside world. They were now caged pets, pampered, and cared for and at risk.

She walked into a bedroom and was amazed to find clean clothes in a laundry basket, sitting on a bed. She reached in and pulled out a white peasant blouse that tied in cotton strands in the front. And a pair of dark blue jeans was there as well. Bras, panties and other items of clothing were in there. She hurried and put them on, and amazed that for the first time since college, she could wear a size six! Jesus, she had lost that much weight! Her mother would've been so….

She stopped herself from thinking. It was hurting too much.

She then caught herself in the reflection of the mirror attached to the dresser, and thumbed the scar on her right side of her body. She then turned to view her back, and for the first time she saw the scars that had been etched across her back. She had never seen them before and shuddered at how she received them. She wanted to forget so much. It wasn't going to be easy.

She felt someone watching her and turned to the bedroom door. It was slightly ajar, and to her relief she didn't see anyone. She didn't want anyone to see them. It would be too much to explain. She knew she had to stick to her story. She only hoped she could pull off her rouse to Deanna. She seemed too smart and observant.

After Dani had gotten dressed and dried her hair, she looked at herself in the mirror and smiled to herself. For the first time in a very long time, she felt so pretty and clean. Like a real human being is supposed to feel. She pulled on her dark brown boots and walked out into the hall. She walked downstairs to find Carl and Carol looking around the house. Carol looked her over and gave her a smile. "Not bad, Dani," she told her. "You could pass as one of them."

Dani shrugged. "Maybe, but I don't feel like it yet." She walked to the door and told them she'll be back. Carol mentioned to be home before dark, as a joke. Dani giggled.

As she opened the door, she was greeted by Daryl gutting his possum on the front porch, pulling its guts out and slapping them down on the wooden planks. Dani sighed and shook her head. She got why he was doing this. She understood that behavior. He looked over at her as she walked down the stairs. She stopped to look at him one last time before she went for her interview.

"How did things go in there," she asked him as he worked on his dinner. He shrugged and grunted.

"She don't like me, that's for sure," he replied, skinning the possum as he talked, not looking up at her. "I can tell."

"Well, she might have like you, even with that possum you've been carrying around." She then gave out a big sigh and said, "wish me luck." She began to walk towards the townhouses, not noticing that Daryl had stopped skinning his possum for just a moment to take a glance at Dani as she walked away.

"What do you think of this place, Danielle," Deanna asked her as Dani sat in the armed chair, noticing a camera filming her. "What's your first impression?"

"Well, it's like it's never been touched. I must say, you have been blessed with that."

"Where were you when all of this happened?"

"I was in Downers Grove, outside of Chicago. I had an internet film critic show with my brother. It was popular. Not like Nostalgic Critic, but we occasionally worked with him from time to time." Dani paused for a moment. And then she continued. "When all of this happened, we gathered as many of our friends and family together. Even though the news reports said to go into Chicago itself, we tried for DC. We decided since it was our nation's capital…" she trailed off, feeling guilty.

"So, you are the only one left of your friends and family, Danielle," Deanna asked her sympathetically. Dani nodded in response.

'Yeah, I'm the only one."

Deanna leaned over to her, her hands clasped together over her knee folded over her leg. "How is it that you've managed to survive all this long? It's amazing to me that you were out there by yourself before Rick and his group found you."

"I came from a big survivalist family," Dani continued. "My Dad was a Vietnam Veteran, taught us all from an early age how to fish, how to hunt, how to fix cars, everything about electricity and such. He was kind of a mad genius in a way." Thinking about him made her heart ache. "My brother took to it well, but I didn't really. I was just a typical suburban woman. But when all of this happened, what he taught me really saved my life."

Deanna gave her an assuring smile. 'You know, I bet it's hard, especially for women. We women have always been seen as easy prey. But, I do know that in basic biology, the female is deadlier than the male." She cocked her head a bit, still looking at Dani. "Wouldn't you agree with me, Dani?"

Dani shrugged. "I don't know. I just tried to avoid anyone and just stay alive." She then stopped herself and decided to lay on the drama a little thicker. "When I lost my brother to the herd, the one thing that kept me going was his final words to me, to come here, to live. I live for him. That was his car you saw out there earlier. It's all I really have of him, except for his cds. And really, all I want to do is just be who I was before."

"And what was that, Danielle?"

"Just to be me again. I wish I can review movies like I used to, but Hollywood isn't cranking them out anymore. And nobody really cares for that anymore. I guess I just want some peace after over a year of chaos. I want some normalcy again. I want to wake up and not fear who or what could be lurking outside my door. I want to feel a breeze on my face and not worry about what's sneaking up behind me. I just want to feel safe." She looked up at Deanna, looked at her imploringly. "Could this be that place for me?"

Deanna smiled right back. She stood up and held out her hand. 'It is that place, Danielle. I assure you. You are very safe here."

Dani took her hand and shook it. "Thank you, Deanna. You seem like a very nice lady."

"I think I may have something for you, but I have to wait until I interview the others. You just walk around and see what we have. And I guarantee you will love this place." Deanna ushered her to the door and smiled back at her. "You will see how well this place runs."

Dani left her home, feeling a little relieved and smirked to herself, for she knew she should have won an Oscar for her performance. She just hoped that Deanna didn't catch on. She decided to walk to the pond and walk across the bridge, feeling the warm air on her face. She caught a slight breeze and smiled to herself. No matter how she wanted to fool Deanna, she couldn't fool herself. She enjoyed this way too much. She continued to walk on, not wanting to meet people right away. She didn't feel comfortable just yet. To her relief, most of the people she walked past merely greeted her with a smile and a wave hello.

As soon as she got back to the blue house, she was greeted by Carol who asked her how her meeting went with Deanna. "Fine, I think," Dani told her. "Made her believe I needed this place more than even I believe it."

"Good," Carol replied. "Rick says we are all to stay in the same house tonight, just for safety." She then walks down the steps and sighs as she looked around large houses on the block. "It makes me wonder why they're just giving these mansions away like this. Rick said that these two houses are to be ours tonight, and tomorrow they're assigning us our own homes."

Dani's eyes widened. "That's strange," she said. "These houses are huge enough to fit at least two small families."

"We shall see." Carol said before making her way back inside. Dani stood outside for a moment to take all of this in. These luxuries she saw seemed real, but she had to remind herself that they can't live like this. It's too much like home. It can't be that way.

Later that night, they all settled in, grabbing their sleeping bags and pillows, making room on the floors and sofas. Rick had told Dani earlier that night that she was very welcome to stay with them, and that it was still a good idea to be with them for now. She agreed. And couldn't get over his shaved face. "Now I won't call you Grizzly Adams anymore," she chuckled at him. Rick seemed annoyed by that comment, but he returned her giggle as well. At least they were on good terms with each other.

As they were getting ready, there was a knock on the door. Rick answered it and saw it was Deanna. She stepped inside for a moment and nodded in approval of what they were doing.

"Staying together," she observed. "Smart." She then smiles at the group. "Just look at all of you. I think that it's amazing that people like yourselves from different backgrounds who had nothing to do with each other before all of this could find one another and stick together like you all have."

"You haven't assigned us any jobs yet," Rick added. To that Deanna nodded.

"I have something in mind for you, Rick." She then looked around his people. "I'm still trying to figure out Michonne and Sasha." Then she cast a glance at Daryl. "And I'm sure I will find something for Mr. Dixon." She then wished everyone a good night and left.

Daryl snorted at that comment, making Dani a little uneasy. Obviously he doesn't want to be here because he felt like he didn't belong here. He must have been a biker before all of this, running with a rough crowd. And now, he's a sheriff's right hand man and trusted friend of Carol. Deanna was right about that, the end of the world can make you allies with the most unlikely people. But his attitude was putting her off.

Maggie handed Dani a pillow and blanket. Dani thanked her for it. She stretched herself onto the rug and covered herself with the blanket. One by one, everyone said good night, except Daryl. All he did was growl. Glenn made a slight chuckle. As she laid on the floor, she stared up at the ceiling. She started to remember the day she arrived at Tobias' with Mike and David, and how relieved they were to find what they thought was a safe place.

"Welcome," Tobias had greeted them at the gate of his sanctuary, which was an elementary school walled in by trailers and concrete. She remembered his big smile and steel blue eyes. He was in his fifties but in excellent shape. "You people look tired and hungry. We'll take care of you and give you whatever you need. All I ask is that you give us a little help."

She remembered how that statement seemed reasonable. She recalled nodding her head to him as Michael introduced Dani and David and himself to him. "We'll help through the winter. In the spring, we are headed for Washington DC. But we will definitely help you with whatever you need. We are just so grateful to be here!"

She remembered being shown to their own tent in a classroom that they would share with at least 5 other families, thinking how ingenius that was. She also remembered that when she and Mike thought everyone in the classroom was asleep, she and Mike made love for the first time in months.

"It's going to be all right now, Dani," Mike whispered to her, holding her so tightly against him. "We have nothing to fear anymore."

She awoke to the sound of boards creaking. She looked over to her right and saw Rick walking towards the kitchen. She then turned on her side, trying to sleep. She heard the drawers in the kitchen opening, and Rick picking through cutlery. Just what the hell was he doing? She then heard him come back to the living room and assume his place next to Judith's crib.

Dani tried to sleep again, but it was of no use. Abraham was snoring like he was sawing logs. And Glenn kept tapping on her head with his feet as he slept. She started to get annoyed, and hoped that this would be the last sleepover bullshit she would ever have with these guys for a very long time.

She sat up and stretched her arms. Figuring that the night air would do her some good, she got up and walked to the front door. She stepped outside, closing the door behind her. Tracing her hand along the white wooden bar of the porch, she breathed in the air into her lungs, and listened for the crickets in the distance. She heard none.

"Can't sleep," Daryl Dixon's voice boomed from behind her. Startled, she turned around and saw him sitting up in the back corner of the porch looking up at her. He stood up and pulled out something from his pocket, and began to walk towards her. Dani nodded.

"Bad dreams," she said softly. She noticed Daryl was pulling out a cigarette from a pack. And felt very tempted and decided to ask, "May I bum one off of you?"

Daryl handed her one, and lit the cigarette for her. She breathed in the smoke, feeling it set her lungs on fire once again, and blew out a cloud of smoke. She felt the back of her throat start to feel scratchy. But she didn't care. She so needed this!

"I didn't figure ye for a smoker," he said has he sat up on the ledge of the fence. Dani shrugged at him, taking another drag of her cigarette.

'I quit five years ago, but one thing I've learned about this world is that a walker bite can kill you faster than lung cancer." Daryl gave a light chuckle at that comment.

"Good one," he replied, lighting his own cigarette. "So, you like it here?"

"I don't know," she said. "It doesn't seem real. Like how it is now."

"It's a good place for Rick's kids though," he spoke. "They need to be here. Not in some cell in a prison or on the road."

"Prison," Dani asked. 'You guys stayed at a prison?"

Daryl huffed on his cigarette again. "We didn't stay there, we found it and ran it. It was going well, until this guy we were fighting with, this guy who called himself the Governor, tried to take it from us." He paused. "He took two of our friends, Michonne and Hershel as hostages. Bastard even had a tank. Threatened to kill them and wreck the fences with the tank. Ended up killing Hershel." He paused again, obviously this was painful for him. "That was Maggie's dad."

Dani began to feel melancholy. "I'm so sorry about that," Dani replied. "And the Governor?"

"Michonne ended up getting' him in the end. But we lost everythin'. Our people, our friends, everyone." He then flicked his cigarette onto the lawn. Dani followed suit. "We learned then that no place is safe."

Dani folded her arms across her chest and nodded. She understood that statement all too well. "Is that how you feel about this place, Daryl? You don't feel that this is safe?"

He grunted when she asked him. But he answered her. "They ain't cannibals, or we would have been at the trough by now, getting' gutted and skinned. And they ain't psycho cops with an ego trip. But that don't mean shit now. They could be just dumbasses who are fuckin' lucky." He then looked right at Dani, and she saw a hint of sadness in his face. "Right now, I'm thinkin' it don't feel right to be easy about this. But all I care about is my people getting what they deserve. They deserve this." He waved over to the whole block. "Not crammed into some boxcar or sleeping in a barn."

Dani looked at him with concern in her eyes. "And what about you, Daryl? Don't you feel that you deserve this?"

He scoffed and walked back to his corner. "Don't matter what I think. I just know."

Dani took a step towards him, placing her left hand on the side of the house. She watched as he sat down on the porch and laid his head down on a pillow, trying to prove to her that he was more like an animal now than human. "Gotta sleep," he told her.

Before she entered the house, she looked at him one last time and said, "you know, all of us may have been out there too long, but it's never too late for second chances. Hell, even an outdoor cat needs a home, Daryl."

As she proceeded to walk inside, Daryl called out to her. "What'd you say, Dani?"

She stopped and stepped back to look at him. "An outdoor cat needs a home too. My mom would say that to us all the time. She was a very big cat person."

She couldn't help but notice the look Daryl was giving her. It was one of shock, as if he heard those words before. She decided to not let it phase her too much. "Good night, Daryl."

As she opened the door, she heard him say very gruffly, "G'night."

She walked in and tried to sleep on the floor. But from what she gathered, fitting in was going to be difficult. And between Abraham's snores and Glenn's kicking, it was going to be a long, sleepless night.

That's all for now! Thanks for reading! I'll post more when I can!