"So tell me about yourself Daryl." Deanna with a smile, but he only narrowed his eyes still clutching the tail of the dead possum that he had killed before they had entered Alexandria's high steel walls. He didn't say anything, only trying to feel her out for a hint of deceit, trying to sense the evil that he had come to expect from people who weren't 'one of them'. Deanna intertwined her fingers and sat back on the couch.
"You don't trust us."
"If you'd gone through what we have, you wouldn't trust anyone, either." Daryl grunted. Deanna leaned forward and surveyed him, he could tell that she was forming an opinion as her blue eyes examined him. She glanced down to the dead possum that he was holding.
"We have better food for you all." Deanna said but Daryl shrugged.
"We've eaten worse." Recalling rats, worms and mud snakes.
"How have you all survived this long?" the older woman asked, sounding interested.
"We fuckin' tough." he said simply with a cold impassive expression.
"I see that." Deanna smiled. "So how long have you all known each other?" she asked curiously.
"Some us have been with each other for a long time... and some of us are new." Daryl shrugged.
"Interesting."
"Why da' hell is that intrestin'?"
"Your group has evolved, you all seem like you're good at adapting, we need that." she paused and swiped a piece of her dark blonde hair behind her ear. "Can ask...how many people have you lost?" Daryl quickly looked up at her, his expression changing instantly, a flicker of sadness coming across his features. Counting back, Amy, Jim, Jacqui, Sophia, Dale, Shane, T-Dog, Lori, Merle, Hershel, Bob, Beth, Tyreese...Brandy. Daryl didn't say anything, the question of last one like a splinter under a nail a painful unknown worse than death.
Alexandria was beautiful, the large homes, the manicured lawns, hot water, electricity everything they thought was gone forever. It seemed to be a paradise, but they were always cautious, like a pack feral dogs unsure of a possibly friendly hand. Rick ran his hand down his now clean shaven face, it had become habit since he had gone months without shaving.
"Rick." he heard a female voice call, he looked over to see Jessie. He narrowed his eyes at the blondes approach, he wasn't sure what to make of her. She had been kind, almost too kind when they first arrived, running over to their new house with a basket full of of food and toiletries. She even offered to give Rick his first hair cut in months, an offer that he took but still found her hospitality slightly off. He glanced over to one of the large beautiful homes on the street, unlike the others this one seemed dark, all of the blinds were shut and there was an almost palpable aura of sorrow emanating from behind the blue door.
"What are you doing out here?" Jessie asked, putting one thin hand up to shield her light eyes from the sun.
"Who's house is that?" Rick asked. Jessie glanced over to the darkened house.
"Oh, one of our new people." she looked down sadly and shifted from foot to foot. "She's barely said a word since she got here."
"Yeah, the outside does that to you." Rick said empathizing with the faceless woman that lived down the street from where his group was.
"Is it that bad?" Jessie asked, almost with stupid innocents, Rick wrinkled his brow as he looked down at the young woman.
"It's hell…" Rick said before walking away from the blonde. Jessie swallowed and wrinkled her brow before looking back at the darkened house.
Everything was silent and still, they group were still together almost all of them huddled in the living room, even though there were bedrooms, minus Daryl who had gone upstairs to explore the unfinished room that Carl found. Rick bounced baby Judith on his knee, Carl and Noah were playing cards, Rosita was cuddled up with Abraham as they both sat against the couch, Carol was in the kitchen making something to eat and everyone else was doing for the first time in a long time nothing. Nothing, such a simple word, lack of, void, but in that still moment in the house in Alexandria that nothingness precious. There was the sound of a knock on the door and they all were instantly snapped from their relaxation, as if ready to fight at the drop of a dime, shaken by the simplest sound.
"I'll get it." Rick said, handing off Judith to Michonne who was sitting beside him on the couch. He got up and walked over to the front door, pulling it open he saw Deanna's older face looking up at him with what seemed to be knowing smile. He glanced behind her, and past the front steps there was someone else, hidden in shadow, whomever it was, was looking down head covered by a sweatshirt hood.
"I'm sorry to bother you all, but um, there's someone I want you to meet." she motioned over her shoulder at the shadowy figure behind her. "Now, I know it's still early and you all are just getting settled in but I really think this person could benefit from meeting your group, Rick." it seemed that right at the pronunciation of the 'R' in Rick's name the person's head shot up, and the smallest bit of light of the door hit their face illuminating one white eye and scars. Rick's mouth dropped open slightly and his lack of words prompted the other members of the group to look around curiously. The shadowy figure moved slowly, slowly up the stairs, and past Deanna in the doorway. No one spoke, only looked in shock as Brandy stood there.
"Holy fuck." Glenn was the first and only to form words. Rick looked down at the young woman that they all thought was dead or worse. Brandy didn't say anything, only just staring up at Rick in utter awe. Her eyes welded with warm tears, as he slowly and gently raised his hands and took her face in to both of his palms. And in the most fatherly, loving way, he ran his thumb across the scars on her face. She was gaunt, thin, and looked like she had been hell and back but there she stood.
Carol stepped from the kitchen, she was about to tell everyone that dinner was done, but she stopped dead cold, the words getting trapped in her throat when she saw Brandy standing there, as if she had just appeared out of thin air. Brandy's expression dropped when she saw Carol, standing there. She had been exiled, she was gone, that very thing causing Brandy's last words to Rick to be "Fuck you." Carol walked over to her, and without a word she just grabbed her and held her tightly. The attempt to hold it together was gone and Brandy let out a loud heart wrenching sob as she wrapped her arms around Carol and shook. A few seconds later, Daryl was running down the stairs, hearing the unmistakable of a women crying. He stopped, looking around no one was talking, he noticed how Maggie had a teary eyed smile on her face and Abraham looked slightly confused.
"Da fuck are ya'll doin'?" he asked in his usual gruff gritty tone. He glanced over to Carol, whose back was to him, she was holding someone but he couldn't tell who. "Seriously, what happen'?" Carol slowly stepped aside, and it was like a battering ram had hit him in the chest. Brandy looked at him and he looked at her, her yellow kissed brown face, the one blind eye, the scars, the lips. Safe, un-raped, Brandy stood there in the large sweater looking back at him like a ghost. Within a few a steps Daryl closed the distance between them, he grabbed her and held her tightly. She felt so much thinner than he ever remembered, malnourished, and slightly frail. Brandy's ran her fingers through his greasy hair and shook with sobs in his arms. "I-I thought-you were dead, " he choked. He felt her smile against his neck before she whispered.
"Thought wrong, Redneck."
One week prior:
"Is she still out?" A female voice asked.
"Yes, Pete says that she was really dehydrated, if Aaron had not found her when he did she would have died within in a few days." A nothing female voice said, this one younger than the first. Her brown fingers curled into a fist, her senses registering the list of anomalies, soft bed, warm breeze, clean smells. She could sense where the two unknown where in the room just by their voices. Slowly her eyes opened to slits, she was in a bedroom, the women were at the foot of the bed, their faces were obscured by her purposely limited vision but she could tell they were both white, clean and dressed well.
"How old you think she is?" the older one asked. Before the other one could speak, Brandy found every bit of strength in her body to push herself up from the bed, in one fluid motion she ripped the IV from her arm and reached over to the lamp on the side table and held it base up, ready to bash someone's head in.
"Woah!" The older woman said, putting her hands out, while the younger one backed away looking rather scared.
"Where the fuck am I!?" Brandy screamed, looking around frantically.
"Put the lamp down." the youngest one said, trying to reason with her.
"She's scared, Jessie. Let me handle this."
Brandy snarled, yanking the lamp shade off, she swung the lamp against the wall, causing the light bulb to break, leaving sharp, jagged pieces.
"Where am I?" she hissed again.
"I'm Deanna...and you're in a safe place, please let us help you…"
"No place is safe…" Brandy said, shaking her head.
"Look out the window." Deanna, smiled. Brandy glanced over to the open window and paused, she thought she was dreaming when she saw the manicured lawns, beautiful houses and walls. A woman walked down the street with her dog, there were kids, and people exchanging neighborly hellos.
"Where the fuck….." Brandy whispered, snapping her head back to the two women who made no motion to disarm her.
"Northern Virginia." Jessie told her, still looking very nervous. Brandy blinked and shook her head, in disbelief.
"Now, it would help if we knew your name." Deanna said warmly.
Brandy stared at them as her well trained brain assessed their threat level. They hadn't tried to subdue her, they were obviously unarmed and for whatever reason they saved her life, they posed no danger to her and in that moment she knew they were weak, naive to even bring her to their 'safe- zone' without knowing a single thing about her and she realized that she was the danger.
"My names Brandy...Brandy Simmons."
"Well Brandy, welcome to Alexandria."