Chapter 21

Day Eleven, Part Four

Jake found Ellie and explained the basic plan that they had come up with as far as day to day operations for the first week or so. They wanted to make sure that they cleared out all the ranches that shared fence lines with the Lazy H as well as gather as many supplies from all those places as they could. They had assigned people jobs and the living assignments seemed to be working out fine.

A bunch of walkies had been found out on the runs that day, so they were now able to give each person on fence patrol a walkie to call for backup or report an issue. The horses were ready for riding on the patrols when Billy and Tim were ready to switch the teams up and they were thinking about rounding up more horses just in case.

The garden team was working well and they would start a team tomorrow on the orchards. They'd found a number of cases of jars for canning and they would be able to start preserving fruit and vegetables immediately for the winter.

A team had brought in building supplies and they would be able to start building a new smokehouse within the next couple of days. They likely wouldn't have to do any hunting since there was so much livestock running loose in the area. Jake's plan was to start rounding up cattle, pigs and goats to slaughter and cure in the new shed, saving deer hunting for later when things were not as easily available.

They had picked a ranch nearby that they were going to use as a place to bury the walkers in giant pits and a team had already been formed to begin working on that tomorrow. They had cleared the walkers from all of the ranches that were accessible from the main dirt road that shared a fence line with the Lazy H, but there were still a handful on the other side of the road that they hadn't gotten to yet. Plus all the ranches that they had to access through other roads on the other side of the mountain. That would start tomorrow as well. They had decided that all the walkers they kill close to home would be loaded on a truck and dumped in the pits, while ones that were farther away would be located in an isolated area like a field or a barn, some place where they wouldn't be obvious to anyone passing by and they wouldn't decay and end up in someone's water supply.

While Jake explained things to Ellie, Alex went to find Sally, who was still in the barn working with Kathy. Alex didn't say anything to her, she just nodded her head at the girl and she came running. As Alex turned around to lead Sally back to the creek, she ran directly into Kara, knocking J.J.'s toy out of her hands and into the dirt. Alex hissed at the contact and the pain it caused in her ribs.

"Sssss… ow… sorry," Alex said as she looked up and realized who she'd run into. Sally bent down to pick up the toy just as J.J. screwed his face up and began to cry. Kara bounced him on her hip as she looked Alex over.

"You really should be more careful. Where's Jake? Thought I just saw the two of ya gettin' cosy down by the water a minute ago," Kara said with a nasty look. "Don't you think he's a little old for you? You can't possibly know what a man like him needs. You're just a kid," Kara pushed, getting in Alex's face.

Alex didn't back down and pushed Kara back, even though she was still holding a crying J.J. "He's been done with you for a long time, Kara. Remember the last time you left here crying because he refused you? How pathetic and sad you were, practically begging him to marry you? I remember," Alex said, pointing her finger in Kara's face. "I remember what a lying, conniving skank you were, so don't show up here acting like you're a fucking angel of light to rescue someone that sure as fuck don't want you."

Alex stepped back a little, giving Kara enough room to switch J.J. to her other hip. As she did so, Alex's hand moved to the knife at her waist, casually resting it there while Kara's eyes flitted between Alex's face and her knife.

"Are you threatening me," Kara shouted at her.

"Why, do you feel threatened," Alex shot back.

A small crowd had gathered around, watching the tense exchange. Shelly came out of the crowd and grabbed J.J. from Kara's arms. "For god's sake, Kara, knock it off," she admonished her friend. "Quit acting like the girl is stealing your husband. You're ridiculous, always stirring up trouble," Shelly said to Kara, urging her to move by nudging her with her arm. "Sorry, Alex," Shelly said as she navigated Kara away from the scene.

Alex shrugged her shoulders, repressing the urge to visibly wince at the pain in her ribs from the move. Stupid fucking ribs, she thought to herself. "Come on, Sally," she called to the girl as she walked towards the water. Sally quickly fell in at Alex's side and they walked in silence to the water's edge.

"Where we goin'," Sally asked when Alex stopped walking.

"You know anything about horses," Alex asked her.

"Not much, had lessons when I was little, but those stopped years ago," Sally answered. "Why?"

"I'm gonna head out to the pasture to check on them. Thought maybe you should get to know them, I think we'll be going out to round up livestock pretty soon and you gotta be able to stay on the horse no matter what if you want to help on those runs," Alex told her.

"That shouldn't be a problem," Sally said. "It's like riding a bike, right? Once you learn you never forget," Sally asked.

"I guess we'll find out," Alex said.

They walked to the pasture in silence. The afternoon was warm; birds were singing in the brush while hawks and buzzards circled lazy circles on the currents high in the sky. Alex pointed out lizards and other critters to Sally as they walked. They found the horses grazing peacefully in the pasture. Alex was happy to find that they were not being harassed by walkers any longer. There were some benefits to having so many people around after all.

Alex climbed over the gate to the pasture followed by Sally. Alex introduced Sally to each of the horses, minus Honey who wouldn't come anywhere near them anyway. Sally spent time petting each horse and letting them smell her scent. After all the introductions, Sally just stood petting Penny, Alex's horse.

"Why is Kara always such a bitch to you," Sally asked after a while.

"I dunno. She and Jake used to date but it didn't end well between them. I guess when he found her she thought she still had a chance with him," Alex ventured.

"Were you going to stab her if Shelly hadn't come over," Sally asked cautiously. "I saw you touching your knife. You can't stab someone while they're holding a kid, right?"

Alex shook her head. "No, I wasn't going to stab her, but not because she was holding a kid. She's not a threat that I'm worried about. She can't physically take me, so unless she comes up behind me and shoots me in the back she can't get the drop on me."

Sally was quiet for a few minutes. "Why do you let her stay?"

"Dunno. Guess she's here mainly because of the kid, there's no way Jake would have just left her out there to fend for herself. They don't have a chance of surviving out there alone. Besides, if just being a bitch was enough to get you booted, I'd be out on my ass," Alex joked.

When the horses had enough of their attention, Alex and Sally walked back to the barn. It was still going to be a few hours before they began to gather for the big meeting. The plan was to serve everyone dinner beforehand, so they could eat and meet at the same time, hopefully keeping the talking to a minimum. They found Billy and Tim going over things at the barn.

"Need any help with anything," Alex asked them.

"Could use some help in the kitchen. Looks like Betty and Norma have their hands full trying to get all the meat grilled for tonight. Think you can help them out with that," Billy asked her.

"Sure thing. Sally and I will take care of it," Alex nodded.

As they walked to the bunkhouse, Jake and Ellie came around the corner from the gardens, under the watchful eye of Kara across the yard. J.J. was nowhere to be seen. Ellie was laughing at something that Jake was saying as he gestured over towards the barn. Alex caught his eye as she and Sally crossed the yard, Jake quickly looking away and bringing his focus back to Ellie. Alex rolled her eyes and followed the girl inside to the kitchen where Betty and Norma greeted them with cheers. Alex put on an apron and settled in for the next few hours on the grill.

Meanwhile, Jake was trying to get his head on straight. He was okay once Ellie started asking him questions about things around the ranch, which had lasted for a couple of hours. And then he caught a glimpse of Alex and his head was right back in cloud of confusion. He and Ellie still had some things to cover, so Jake tore his mind from Alex and back to the task at hand.

"So I think I can figure out the rest on my own, don't need ya using me as an excuse anymore," Ellie said with a wink.

"What're ya talkin' 'bout," Jake asked her.

"It's obvious that you're here talkin' to me instead of dealin' with whatever it is that's got you all twisted up inside. I ain't your bartender anymore, so you're gonna have to find some other way to hide from your sorrows," Ellie teased.

"Don' know what'cher talkin' 'bout," Jake said, but his ears turned red, giving him away. "Fine. I got other shit ta do anyway," Jake said turning from her. "See ya at tha meetin'."

Jake found Billy and Tim where Alex had left them, arguing over something. "S' goin' on boys," Jake asked, finally pulling a cigarette out of his pocket. He'd been wanting one for hours but forced himself to wait, since there was a limited number of them left now.

"Just tryin' to figure out how many more trailers we should pack in tomorrow. Thought we had enough, but Tim here thinks we should have at least a dozen more," Billy said, looking at his brother.

"I'm just sayin' it's easier to have them here already than to try to go get them once people are already here needin' a place to stay," Tim said.

"Don't see any reason why not," Jake said. "Can always store 'em on another place if we don't have tha space jus' ta store 'em. An' we don' wanna risk someone else takin' 'em, right?"

"True enough," Billy said. "What about the new smokehouse? You got any opinions on that," Billy asked.

"What 'bout it," Jake asked after a long drag from his cigarette.

"Where do we want it and how important is it to get finished right now," Billy asked.

Jake showed him where they wanted to build the new building and told them he thought sooner rather than later was good. If winter came early this year they would be happy the building was complete before the first snow.

"Alright, we'll get it knocked out asap. Tomorrow we start digging pits and recovering bodies for burial. I know we told Kathy that we would start collecting the ID's from the dead, but I really don't like the idea of digging through their pockets, you know what I mean? Seems like a bad idea," Billy said.

"I agree. I don't want to go sticking my hands in pockets, we got no idea what could be in there. And if I don't want to do it, I ain't gonna ask anyone else to do it neither," Tim said.

"Fair enough. Don't matter to me none. Don't think Alex would care either," Jake said.

"Speaking of, I hear our little firecracker has been making friends all afternoon," Billy teased.

"Don't get me started. Told'ja what she said ta Kathy, 'bout whether or not she deserves ta stay 'ere if she ain't willin' ta kill ta keep this place safe. Al's got a point, even if some of us don't like it," Jake said. "What else's she been doin'? She piss someone else off already," Jake asked.

"She and Kara had an argument, something about you I reckon. Didn't get too outta hand, guess Shelly showed up just in time and whisked Kara off somewhere. Told her she shouldn't be so rude and mentioned something about how it wasn't like the girl was stealing her husband or something and to leave her alone," Tim said with a grin.

"I swear ta god, I don' know wha' I gotta do ta get Kara ta leave it alone," Jake said with a shake of his head. "Alex isn't gonna take much more shit from her… and I can't say as I blame 'er."

"Me neither," Billy said. "She's been through a lot and she's holding up better than I thought, especially after last night. What can we do? Should we sit down and talk to Kara, tell her that if she doesn't stop trying to start shit with Alex she's gonna be asked to leave? We can't just send her and the kid back out there, not just for being a bitch."

"I'll talk ta her again," Jake said. "Not that talkin' ta women seems ta be doin' me any good at all right now."

"Figured you talked to Alex. Went that bad, eh," Billy asked, lighting a smoke of his own.

"Fuck, man. I dunno what tha fuck happened. I tol' 'er that we gotta wait til she turns eighteen, she seemed ta understand. Then she said somethin' that made me think 'bout her bein' tha one dead in that cave an' her mutilated body an' tha thought that she almost died… I don't know how it happened, I just grabbed 'er an' kissed her like my life depended on it. I seriously fucked up this time, boys," Jake lamented.

Billy and Tim both did their best to hold their laughter in, but Tim was the first to crack, letting out a howl of laughter with Billy right behind him. Jake's face got red and he sucked down the rest of his cigarette, lighting a second from the butt. "Yeah, go'on an' laugh it up, assholes. End uh tha fuckin' world an' all I can think 'bout is Alex. S' gonna get one of us killed," Jake said seriously.

"That's why I said ya gotta get over the age thing, man. She's days away from eighteen. Seems to me like you're making a big deal outta nothin'," Billy said. "She's on board, you're on board, her daddy ain't gonna show up an' shoot ya, so I don't know what you two stubborn asses are waiting for. You said it yourself, it's the end of the world and we got better things to worry about."

Jake didn't say anything; he just let Billy's words roll around in his head a bit. Nothing the man said sounded wrong. And they definitely had more important things to worry about than his feelings for Alex. They needed to get it all sorted out and be done with it.

Jake decided that he would set Kara straight before the meeting tonight, while Alex was preoccupied. After the meeting, when it was just him and Alex at the house, he would try to get things figured out with her. It wasn't like they were getting married tomorrow; they just needed to both be on the same page about things. He just hoped that was possible.

Jake found Kara lurking around the barn, not far from where he and the boys had been talking. He hoped that she hadn't been able to hear anything that they'd said.

"Hi there, darlin'," she drawled at him. "What're you doin'," she asked as she sashayed up to him. Jake put his hand out for her to keep her distance; he could see that she was planning on putting her hands on his chest.

"What's wrong? Thought you came lookin' for me so we could spend some time together. Alone," she said pointedly. The smile on her face made Jake sick to his stomach. He wanted nothing to do with this woman. Why didn't she get it?

"I jus' came ta tell ya that ya need ta leave Alex alone. Ya got no reason ta be sayin' tha shit ya do to her," Jake said, keeping his distance. "I. Ain't. Interested. At all," he stated. "You an' me are done, have been fer years. So stop it. Leave me alone, leave Alex alone. We clear," Jake asked her.

"What do you mean, are we clear? You think you can just order me around like one of these fools," she yelled. "You don't tell me what to do!"

Jake wasn't backing down. "I'm only gonna say this once. Next time ya step outta line, it ain't gonna be me yer talkin' to. If yer lucky it'll be Billy. But if ya ain't, it'll be Alex. An' no one's gonna step in ta save ya, not after what they heard ya say ta her today."

"No one's gonna do shit to me," Kara laughed. "You wouldn't dare send us back out there. It'd be a death sentence and I know that's not something you could live with Jake Dixon."

"Alex'd send ya back out there ina heartbeat, make no mistake 'bout that," Jake said calmly. "And it ain't about what I would do, it's about what tha council will do, an' I'm only one vote. And jus' so ya know, Alex wasn't jokin' 'bout slittin' Aaron's throat an' watchin' 'im die. I don' think ya got any idea who yer messin' with, Kara. Ya think she'll give ya a pass cuz ya got a baby? Ya really wanna test that theory? I don't," Jake said. He wasn't trying to make Alex out to be some crazed killer, but he needed Kara to understand that Alex was a very real threat that should not be underestimated.

Kara didn't seem phased by Jake's assessment of Alex as a threat and she rolled her eyes at Jake's words. "Give me a break. Are you seriously telling me that all these people here are okay with a little girl running around terrorizing and killing people? Maybe she needs her mommy to put her in her place," Kara sneered.

"Ya got no fuckin' idea what'cher talkin' 'bout, Kara. Ya better pull yer head outta yer ass an' figure out how ta get along with her. You an' J.J. got real lucky an' yer gettin' a chance ta raise 'im in a safer place than ya were before we found ya. You think he's got a chance out there with jus' you ta protect 'im, by all means, keep it up. Ain't no sweat off my back one way or tha other," Jake said.

Kara tried to close the space between her and Jake, but Jake stepped back out of reach as soon as she started to take a step. "I ain't got nothin' else ta say. Jus' quit bein' such a bitch," he said as he turned to walk away from her.

Kara stood there staring after him. "This ain't over, Jake! You hear me," she called after him.

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The meeting that night was interesting, to say the least. Billy started out by introducing the official council to everyone, and then the leaders of each team that had been designated. It didn't take long for someone to complain about the makeup of the council.

"I know I'm new here, but why is there a kid on the council," a man called out from the crowd. Murmurs of agreement rolled through the crowd.

Billy started to respond, but Alex waived him off. "I'm on the council because this is my land, and it was my idea to bring you all in and give you a safe place to live. All the things you are enjoying here? That's because of me. I couldn't have made it all possible alone, which is why Jake, Billy and Tim are also on the council. Ellie seems to be an honest straight shooter, so she was offered the final spot. If you don't like how we're doing things, you are more than welcome to leave with what you arrived with," Alex said with a smile. Everyone on the council nodded in agreement. The rumbling in the crowd died down to a whisper.

"Anyone else have anything to say on that matter," Billy asked the crowd. No one said anything.

"Good. I'd just like to state for the record that I trust Alex, and so should all of you. So far, every idea she's had has been a good one and you all should be thanking her for suggesting it. Otherwise we'd all still be in the storage compound." There were a few nods around the group.

"Moving on," Billy said, "I think it's important to understand that the council makes the decisions around here. There will be no going rogue. If you want to do something, you need to have the approval of the council. If you do something without council approval, it will be immediate grounds for exile from the compound. We cannot survive as a group if we are not acting like a group." He paused for a moment to let the words sink in. "We'd like you to raise your hand if you agree with that statement. Keep in mind, raising your hand indicates your willingness to follow this rule," Billy explained. He waited while people began raising their hands around the group. After a few minutes, only two people had not raised their hands.

"You two got a problem," Jake asked gruffly, nodding his head at the two men.

"Yeah, we got a problem," one of the two men said, coming to his feet. "What if we don't agree with your council's decision? What if we think something should be done but you guys shoot it down? Are we supposed to just let you make decisions that we don't think are in our best interest?" He looked around at the group, but didn't find many sympathetic faces.

"What's your name, pal," Billy asked.

"Bob," the man replied.

"Well, Bob, what decisions have we made so far that you disagree with? Anything specific? Or is it that you just don't want to be told what to do," Billy asked. There were a few whispers that went around the group.

"I don't think I should be on the burial team, I have other strengths," Bob said.

"As I'm sure my brother made perfectly clear when assigning duties, the burial team will be rotated every two days, unless you have requested to stay assigned to the team. It's the least desirable job and we thought it was only fair to spread the fun out so that everyone has a chance to get their hands dirty," Billy said. "So, while I'm sorry you aren't happy with the assignment, you aren't alone, and it will only be a two day rotation at a time. If you really think that this is something you cannot be a part of, then speak now. I suggest you consider whether or not things will be any easier outside of those fences."

There were nods of approval; most people seemed to agree with Billy, that while it was unpleasant, it was fair. Bob looked around the group, seeing he was clearly alone in his thinking, he conceded the point and raised his hand to indicate he was willing to follow the rule. That left just one man.

"How about you, what's your name," Tim asked the other man.

"Eric," the man replied.

"All right Eric, what's your beef," Tim said.

"I don't think there should be women on the council," Eric said, getting straight to the point. "We don't need hormonal broads making decisions that put us all in danger. Besides, don't these two better serve the community by tending to the kids and the cooking," he asked, looking around to the group. He was surprised to find only glares staring back at him.

"Kathy, how many people do we have here now," Billy asked, looking to Kathy.

"There are eighty seven people here, as of this afternoon," Kathy answered.

"And how many of those are children," Billy asked.

"There are eight people under the age of sixteen," Kathy answered promptly.

"Of the remainder, how many are women and how many men," Billy asked.

"Forty women, thirty nine men," Kathy replied.

"By my math, Eric, that means there are more women than men here. And these two particular women I'd be willing to bet have been more useful to this place and saved more lives than you have in your short stay here. In fact, I believe we owe Alex a big thank you for single handedly taking out a herd of thirty four walkers yesterday." He paused while hushed voices whispered about that feat, some clearly in awe that a girl could do something like that. When they quieted somewhat, he continued. "Yes, you heard right. Alex here killed thirty four of them all by herself. Tell me, Eric, how many have you killed?"

Eric looked around the group, finding no looks of sympathy in the crowd. He opened his mouth to respond, then thought better of it and sat down.

"Just so we're clear, ya'll are all here at Alex's invitation. This isn't a democracy and it ain't some hippy commune, neither. We've got some simple rules to lay out before the group and you will have the opportunity to agree or disagree with those rules by raising your hand. If you don't like it, you've got two choices: figure out how to like it, or leave and do your own thing," Billy said.

"I'd like to add something, Billy," Alex said. He nodded to her to go on. "Do any of you know how we deal with threats here?" Heads shook around the group. "Perhaps we should clear that up for you before you have to decide whether or not you want to stay and follow the rules," she said, looking around to the rest of the council. No one objected, so Alex continued.

"Some of you may know that there was an incident last night that involved me and Zach's brother, Aaron. I'd known him for years and thought we were at least acquaintances, but once we brought Aaron in, his behavior took a turn. Last night he snuck up, beat me, tied me up and threatened to rape me. I managed to get out of the ropes and killed him when he refused to back off." Muttering began to roll through the crowd. Apparently some of them had not heard the story yet.

"Yes, I killed him. For the record, I slit his throat, and I would do it again in a heartbeat if it meant me surviving another day. So now that you all know how I deal with threats, let's talk about how you all would deal with a threat. How many of you have killed walkers," she asked. A number of hands went up throughout the crowd.

"And how many of you have killed a human," she asked, raising her hand. This time, only Jake, Billy, Tim, Ellie and Zach raised their hands.

"We are dealing with more than just the threat of the dead, people. The living are just as dangerous because we let our guards down, assuming they are good people and deserving of our help. That's why you are all here. But not everyone is trustworthy, not everyone is out to survive through hard work, they're out to take what others have worked hard for. The night before we offered you all a place here, a group of armed men showed up here and tried to kill Jake to take this place from us. Jake obviously didn't let that happen; he killed all five of them. By himself. How many of you would be willing to kill a human, in defense of this place and these people," she asked the group.

People looked around at each other before deciding on raising their hands. It was split about evenly, with perhaps a couple more people willing to kill than unwilling. Alex was pretty happy with the show of hands. She had honestly expected fewer willing to kill. She had one more question for the group, now that they had aligned themselves into camps without knowing it.

"I have one last question for those of you that are willing to kill to protect this place and these people," Alex said looking around at the crowd. She found Kara glaring at her as she looked around, but quickly averted her eyes from the woman. "Are you okay with putting your life on the line to protect people that are unwilling to do the same for you? It's one thing to protect someone that is unable to protect themselves. But unwilling is a different matter."

She stopped talking and waited for someone to say something. It was inevitable that someone would be fired up by her words, one side or another. She didn't have to wait long. Eric was the first person to stand up and ask to say something.

"I can't believe I'm sayin' this, but the girl has a point. Why should I risk my life for someone that wouldn't do the same for me," he asked.

"Yeah, if we can only survive as a group, how does someone unwilling to defend the group fit? As a group shouldn't we all be carrying an equal share of the burden," Zach asked.

There were nods of agreement around the group.

"I don't understand why those of us that are unwilling to take a human life are being singled out like we did something wrong," Kathy complained. "I am more than willing to pull my weight around here, just in other ways."

There were nods from some of the group supporting Kathy's statement and shaking of heads against it.

"The day will come when pulling your weight means defending us from other people. How will you pull your weight then," Zach asked her.

"Maybe it's the type of thing that you won't know you are able to do until it is time to do it," Sally said in a quiet, barely audible voice. Only a few people sitting near her at the front heard what she said.

"What's that, half pint," Jake asked, getting the attention of the group and quieting them down with a look. "Go on, stand up an' say yer piece, kid," he encouraged her.

Sally nervously stood up and addressed the group in the loudest voice she could muster. "Maybe you don't know if you can kill a person until you have to… until your life depends on it you don't know what you are capable of." She quickly sat back down in her place and folded her arms around her legs, trying to shrink as small as possible.

Sally's comment lit a fire under the discussion of the group, and voices were soon raised in heated debate. A number of people that had previously indicated they would not be willing to kill someone seemed to be changing their minds, based on the comments that were making their way to Alex's ears at the front. She hadn't known that Sally would be the one to ignite the fire, but she had hoped that someone would lead them through the discussion she knew the group needed to have, and they needed to not think it was being shoved down their throats. She couldn't have planned it to go this well.

Alex leaned over to Jake sitting next to her, "Smart kid."

"If I didn't know better, I'd think ya set 'er up ta say it," Jake said with a small grin.

"Didn't have to, figured someone would say it if I framed the issue right, didn't think it would be Sally though. I thought I'd be Zach," Alex admitted.

The group seemed to have settled a bit, Billy was keeping an eye on things, making sure everything stayed relatively calm. Alex stood to address the group.

"Alright. Let's bring the discussion back to the group. Anyone have anything else to add before we move on to a vote," Alex asked.

"What vote," Kathy shouted. "Whether or not to kick people out?!"

More grumbling rolled through the group.

Alex waived her hands to calm the group back down. "No, not on whether to kick you out. We are going to vote on whether or not people are willing to protect those that are unwilling to protect others. The outcome of that vote will determine what comes next. So, any further discussion?"

"If we decide we don't want to protect them, what is the next step," Eric said.

Billy stood up to address the question. "If we, as a group, decide we are unwilling to protect them, then we will discuss the matter of exile," Billy said plainly.

"That's a death sentence," Kathy yelled, clearly panicked. There were other supportive grumblings in the group.

"Yes, it is," Alex said simply. "And if we let you stay and you fail to protect the group, your inaction could be a death sentence for someone else."

"Look, we don't want to kick anyone out," Tim said. "We really don't. We have been really impressed with the hard work that everyone has put in to help make this place run smoothly. I, personally, understand your hesitation at deciding to take a human life, but I think that Sally is right; you don't know what you are able to do until you're put in the situation. I was put in that situation pretty early on, about three days into this whole thing, and I didn't hesitate. I saw what they were doing and I had to stop them. They were going to steal the town's guns and kill Billy and I, no doubt about it. Now I know what I am willing to do. I think we can agree as a group that as long as you are willing to try, willing to fight for these people, they will be willing to fight for you, is that fair," Tim asked, looking around to the group for approval of the statement. Slowly, people began to nod in agreement. Even the last few hold outs eventually agreed.

"All right, for those of you that previously were disinclined to kill to protect the group, is it an agreeable statement to you that you are willing to defend this place from attack, human or otherwise, should the need arise, to the best of your ability," Billy asked.

Everyone that fell into that group raised their hands. Alex almost laughed at how easy it was to turn the tide.

"And for the rest of you, is that enough of a compromise for you to choose to defend their lives, should the need arise," Billy asked again.

Once again, it was unanimous.

"Alright. Everyone that is here is here because they choose to be and because we have chosen to let them stay. Everyone here has agreed to defend the property from outside attack, whether dead or alive, to the best of their ability. We've explained the law of the land, so to speak, and the consequences of not following the rules, which is essentially exile. Are we ready to move on to the next topic," Billy asked the group. When no one had any objections, Billy continued.

"Everyone will have jobs; some jobs will be on a rotation so that everyone has an equal share of the burden. Please put in any work detail requests with Tim and we will do our best to accommodate everyone, though that may mean moving to a rotation schedule for more popular jobs. Also, if it becomes apparent that you are not a good fit for that position, you will be reassigned. Assignment priorities are first for the good of the group and second for the good of the individual." Billy looked around making sure that everyone understood what he was saying.

"Living arrangements," Billy said, "are fluid, for the moment. We have more than enough room for everyone, so if you aren't happy with how things are now, let me know and we can move things around. If at some point in the future there are more people, we may have to rearrange things, but we're a ways from that being an issue…"

Billy went on, explaining housing and storage and food issues. It seemed that since they had started out with the hardest stuff, people were pretty agreeable to everything else that came after. Alex wished that had been part of her plan. It ended up taking another hour to cover everything they'd wanted to cover. The last thing was the only other thing that could have ruffled any feathers.

"On a final note," Billy said, "there has been some discussion of what to do in regards to behaviors that are not necessarily an expellable offense. The council discussed this briefly earlier today, and for lack of any better ideas, we think that the simplest way to deal with minor issues is an eye-for-an-eye. We hope it doesn't ever come to that, because if you steal something we don't want to cut your hand off - if the infection doesn't kill you walkers might if you can't properly defend yourself. We don't see this being an issue - you are all such upstanding citizens - but we have to lay it out there in case something does happen. Any disputes or punishments will be determined by the council, after listening to both sides, and decisions are made by a majority vote among the council. Anyone have any objections to that?"

Crickets. No one had anything to say about Hammurabi's Code making a comeback.

"Alright. That's all I got to say. Anyone else," Billy asked, looking to his council mates.

"I'd like to add something," Alex said. "Many of you have known me most of my life. Like many of you, I have experienced profound loss since the world went to shit. I love this land; my family's blood, sweat and tears have made it what it is today and I want to share that with you. I also am not afraid to do what needs to be done to protect this place from any threat, internal or external. I hope that threat doesn't come from any one of you, but if it does, you can be certain that justice will be swift and harsh. My father would have done the same thing, I'm certain of it."

There were murmurs of agreement at her words.

After that, no one had anything else to add so Billy dismissed the group and everyone dispersed to talk about what had just happened. The members of the council stayed where they were while people trickled by in ones and twos to ask questions or volunteer for a job, several even stopped just to say thank you.

"Just wanted to apologize to you," Eric said as he approached Alex with his hand out. Alex took it and shook it firmly. "I didn't know anything about you other than you being a young girl, but you talk a good game, and you seem pretty smart, so I'm on board for the ride. I'm sorry for being a dick," Eric finished.

"I appreciate it, Eric. It's a lot to deal with, I get it. Clean slate, okay," she asked.

Eric nodded, gave her a smile and walked away.

"Well, there's somethin' we don't see every day," Billy joked.

"What's that," Alex asked.

"You makin' friends instead of enemies," Billy replied.

"Well, the law of averages says it was bound to happen eventually," Alex said with a smirk. She and Jake both pulled out cigarettes at the same time and laughed, then he lit hers for her before lighting his own.

Sally came up from the crowd and wedged herself between Jake and Alex; Alex pulled the girl in for a quick side hug.

"You did good tonight," Alex said. "What made you say that stuff?"

"I was thinkin' about shooting those walkers this morning. I never thought I would be able to shoot a gun or kill something, but then you showed me how to, and I did it all by myself and it was awesome. I didn't know I could do it until I had to do it," Sally explained.

Jake was a little surprised to hear the girl say killing walkers was awesome. "Ya know, killin' 'em ain't supposed ta be fun," Jake said. "We do it cuz we gotta to survive, not because it's fun."

"I know. I just meant that it felt awesome to be able to do it on my own. I want to be able to take care of myself like Alex does," Sally responded.

Alex smiled at the girl. "She knows it's not a game, Jake," Alex said. "Looks like things are winding down, should we call it a night pretty soon?"

"Actually, I was going to ask you if I could stay with Mary and Tommy tonight. Shelly said it would be okay. We just thought it would be fun to go through some of our stuff that you guys brought back," Sally said.

"I guess you can stay, but we'll check with Shelly to make sure," Alex said. Jake nodded.

They made their way over to the bunkhouse and spoke to Shelly, who was more than happy to have Sally stay with them. The kids quickly disappeared into the room the kids were staying in and soon they could hear squeals and laughter as their things were being rediscovered.

"We'll be down first thing in the morning for breakfast," Alex said. "Thanks for doing this, Shelly. It's really nice to see the kids happy, at least for a little while."

"It's my pleasure, Alex. I'm happy my little brother and sister still have a friend around, they lost just about everything else. Thanks again for bringing us here," Shelly said with a sad smile. "We'll see you two in the morning!"

Alex and Jake met up with Billy and Tim, figured out the plan for the next day and made their way to the house. After all the noise and activity at the barn, the house was almost eerily quiet. After dumping all their gear in the living room, Alex made her way out to the porch and lit a cigarette. Jake retrieved two beers from the refrigerator and met her outside.

"Hell of a day," Jake said, handing Alex a beer after opening it for her. She smiled as she took it from him. Jake sat next to her on the porch swing and took a swig of his beer then lit a smoke.

"Yeah. I can't believe how much we got done today," she said quietly. Alex scooted closer to Jake; he placed his beer bottle in his lap and wrapped his arm around Alex's shoulder, pulling her closer to him.

"We gotta talk 'bout earlier," Jake said quietly. He really didn't want to do this at all, but Billy was right, they needed to figure something out so that he wouldn't be so preoccupied all the time.

"Yeah, I figured," Alex said, taking a long drag. "You wanna start or you want me to start," Alex asked, glad they were side by side so she didn't have to actively avoid his eyes.

"I'll start, I guess," Jake said. He took a deep breath and a long pull off the beer to steady his nerves. "I'm sorry fer kissin' ya tha way I did. It shouldn'ta happened that way. Ya deserve better than that. Ya made that joke, an' all I could see was you layin' dead in that cave instead of him, an' I lost my mind fer a minute. All I wanted ta do was hold ya an' protect ya an' love ya, an' my brain got all jumbled an' I panicked. In that moment I had ta feel ya there with me."

Jake paused to take a drag. Did Jake just say that he loves me, she thought. He'd said it so calmly and just moved on. "I'm so sorry I said that," Alex whispered. "It was a horrible joke and I realized it as soon as it came out of my mouth…"

Jake raised his hand to stop her. "Al, stop. Lemme finish, 'kay?" Alex nodded.

"Was talkin' ta tha boys earlier after I panicked, told 'em what happened. Billy said somethin' that I haven't been able ta get outta my mind. Said I was makin' a big deal outta nothin', that yer jus' days away from bein' eighteen an' that it if it's somethin' we both want, we should go fer it. Ya know, since it's tha end of tha world an' we got better thangs ta worry 'bout than yer age," Jake finished with a smile. He was hoping Alex was still on board after he'd been an ass this afternoon.

"So what are ya sayin' Jake," she asked, turning to look at him for the first time.

"I'm sayin' we don' gotta wait 'til yer birthday, I'm yers if ya still wan' me," he said in a hushed voice.

Alex's eyes got big and a smile crept across her face. Followed by panic. Jake immediately saw she was terrified and he pulled away from her to give her space. "I mean, it's okay if ya don't," he said, trying to contain his emotions. He tried to read her face, but was having a hard time figuring out her expression.

"Oh! No, I mean, yes. Wait… what," Alex stuttered out. "It's just… I mean… I… ahhh." She fiddled with her hands in her lap, her cigarette long since forgotten, along with her beer. Alex let out a long sigh. "What does that mean, us being together," she asked. "I mean, I… there's a lot I don't think I'm ready for," she said, feeling her cheeks immediately turn a violent shade of crimson.

"What… Oh! I'm a' idiot," Jake said with a laugh. "I didn' even mean it like tha'," he said. "I mean, maybe, eventually someday," he said awkwardly, his ears turning bright red. He took a deep breath and tried to steady himself.

"I ain't askin' ya ta do anythin'. I ain't ready fer that neither," he said. Relief flooded Alex's face at his words. "Whatever this is, it ain't about sex. I want ta be near ya, take care of ya, let ya take care of me. I want ya ta know that I've always got yer back, no matter what. No more bossin' ya around or gettin' mad at ya fer doin' what ya do. You were trained by tha best, after all," he said with a wink.

Alex smiled at him, her breathing having finally returned to something resembling normal. She leaned into his side and Jake pulled her close. "Yeah, I was trained by the best," she said with a grin. "You mean it, no more gettin' mad at me for doin' what I've always done?" Jake nodded. "Good. Cuz I was getting pretty fed up with that shit," Alex said, nudging him in the side with her elbow. "And you're sure it's okay if we take things slow, like really, really slow? I don't want you to regret -"

"Ain't ever gonna regret nothing, not with you. Got it," Jake interrupted, taking her chin in his hand and turning her to look him in the eyes. "We don't know how much time we got with each other, don't wanna spend a minute of it regrettin' anythin'," he said, moving his lips closer to her face. He placed a gentle kiss on her cut cheek, and another on the other side.

Alex raised her chin slightly, bringing their lips to the same level. "No regrets," she whispered.

"No regrets," he said as he brought his lips to hers and pressed a gentle, chaste kiss to her lips.

Jake leaned back against the bench of the swing and pulled Alex gently into his side, wrapping his arms around her. Alex nuzzled into his chest, wrapping her arms around his waist, inhaling the scent that was Jake. Her Jake.

They sat there like that for hours, watching the stars make their circuit around the sky, sharing whispered conversations about everything and nothing at all, simply enjoying the quiet of the night and each other's company.

Alex didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but she was certain she could survive it all, as long as Jake was by her side.

"I'm glad I got stuck at the end of the world with you, Jake," Alex murmured.

"Me too, Al. Me too."