He looked trustworthy. He was clean cut, smiling and completely welcoming. With a grin Vince turned to Ares and said
"First day on the job and you've already brought people in." Ares just nodded, looking down at his feet. "You people look like you've been on the road for awhile now." The look on his face was completely sympathetic and he looked at Irving who was lying back on the stretcher, pretending to be unconscious. "We'll get him to our hospital right away!"
"Thanks so much," said Michonne, playing it up. "It looks amazing here."
"We've got a secure fence, a hospital, a community kitchen, a school and plenty of open houses if you're interested in sticking around?"
"We'd love to," said Michonne, "Haven't been a part of a community in awhile." Vince grin grew and he said
"Perfect, I'm Vince," he shoke her hand and Michonne said
"I'm Michonne, this is Irving, Athena and Georgette." Thor whined from behind her and she said
"I hope you allow dogs."
"We do," said Vince, "I'll get some nurses down here to take care of him and I'll lead you to your new home. Do you want house together?"
"That'd be nice thanks." He turned to Ares and said
"Go tell some of the nurses to come down here. Once you're down with that continue your patrol along the road." Georgette sensed Athena's discomfort of being separated so soon from her brother but she kept quiet, acting as if nothing was wrong. They stood in the town hall as they waited for the nurses. Georgette stole a glance at Vince again. He stood tall above them all, a confident but arrogant air about him. He looked down at her and she quickly looked away, nervous and suddenly realizing that they were in the fire now. She had never felt so vulnerable then in that moment. This was the evil man that had attacked her mother and twisted her brother. She was anxious to get a glimpse of him but the only way she'd be able to tell who he was is if someone called him by his name. She knew his general description but it could be applied to anyone.
Finally, three nurses arrived. When they saw the three of them torn up and covered in dirt they gasped in shock and one said
"Are you sure you don't all want to come down to get checked out?"
"No we're fine," said Michonne, "Just need to get something to eat." The nurses carefully picked up Irving and Georgette got one last look at him before they went out the door. Thor tried to follow but Georgette grabbed onto him and said
"You're staying with us." The dog whined a little bit longer but then gave up and sat down next to her, sighing in frustration. She felt confident that nothing would happen to him in the nurses care. Vince would have no interest in bothering with a man who looked to be clinging to life.
"We can head down to the café," said Vince, "Lunch is going on and you'll find a wide assortment of things to choose from." They left the town hall in a door opposite to the one Irving and the nurses had left in. Vince must have noticed her looking back because he said
"Don't worry about him darling, he's gonna be alright." The way he spoke to her sent chills up her spine and she wanted to slap him and tell him not to call her darling but she controlled herself. As they had seen on the way in, the village was full of energy. She kept close to Athena as Michonne walked in front of them, led by Vince. Thor walked beside them, his ears alert at the new sounds. Georgette was slightly afraid he'd try to take off or try to attack Vince but he'd been good so far and she petted his soft wrinkly head. The amount of people around seemed to get thicker and soon they had reached the café. Georgette's stomach growled in hunger as she smelled the delicious scent of food cooking. "You can go get in line over there and once you're done, feel free to sit with me at that back table and introduce yourself to some of my men. After you're done I can have one of them escort you to your new home." They watched him go over and sit down at the already occupied table. The men were wearing the same gear that Ares had been wearing but Vince seemed to be more friendly with them.
"Come on," said Michonne, "We'll do what he says." The line moved fairly quick and Georgette piled her plate with as much food as possible. There were the typical meats that they had eaten on the road but there were different fruits and vegetables of all kind, something called bacon which tasted absolutely phenomenal and even cookies. Practically drooling, Georgette waited for Michonne to lead her and Athena back to the table. Vince sat at the head of the table and three other men sat on either side, leaving them enough room. As they approached all of the men turned to look at them. When she saw him it hit her like a ton of bricks. She knew it was him before Vince even spoke. His blue eyes were cold and calculating; he wore a black trench coat despite the warmer weather and if looks could kill she'd already be lifeless on the ground. She leaned over into Athena's ear and whispered
"That's him that's my brother I know it!" Before she could respond Vince got up out his chair and said
"Girls this is Jeff, Wayne and Beau." Jeff seemed to be the friendliest and said
"Pleasure to meet you ladies, you looked pretty banged up, glad you made it here." It was then that Georgette remembered the messy state she was in and Michonne said
"Yes you'll have to excuse us; we've been on the road for a long time." Georgette could have never imagine Michonne speaking so calmly and smoothly, she clearly was a good deceiver. They sat down and Thor lay on the ground next to the table and Georgette passed him a piece of steak before focusing on her own meal. She found herself diagonal from her brother. Trying not look at him she dug in.
"You'll love it here," said Jeff, "You can really become an important part of the community." Beau seemed to be smirking as he played with a fork next to his plate. In a dark tone he said
"You certainly will." His voice was deep and had an arrogant tone to it, much like Vince's. She couldn't believe the man sitting across from her was her own flesh and blood. He didn't look much like either her mother or father completely, he was a good mix and she wasn't sure at all where the black hair had come from.
"So what do you three do?"
"We're guards," said Wayne, looking at Jeff, "Occasionally do some fishing though."
"And you as well Beau?" Beau looked up at Michonne, his hands had stopped flipping around the fork. He smiled and for a moment Georgette thought he was going to laugh but Vince cut in and said
"Beau is my second hand man. Eventually I'll be passing things onto him here." Michonne nodded and Beau spoke again.
"In the mean time I like to hunt."
Once Vince was gone Ares ran back home. He needed to tell Carlotta and Judith about the others. He'd only be away from his post for a couple of minutes. He dashed up the stairs and banged on the door quickly. Carlotta answered a second later and he barreled in past her.
"They're here!"
"Who's here? Aren't you supposed to be working?"
"Michonne, Georgette, Irving and Athena are here!" Judith came out of the other room and said
"What's going on?"
"Your brother is nearby too! Everyone else is with him!" As fast as he could he explained the situation, the others arrival, their plan of attack and how the others were staying out at Fort Proctor." Judith looked elated and she said
"My brother's alive! I'm going to see him again soon won't I?!"
"I don't know," said Ares, "We can't let Vince know that we know them in any way so it might be awhile." Judith looked downcast and Carlotta said
"What about Sarah."
"Michonne told me she passed away after escaping the fire. But don't worry she didn't die alone, she was with Pedro and Odilia." Carlotta looked sad and said
"Everything I know was taught to me by her."
"She's in a better place now."
"She'll be our guardian angel," said Carlotta, her voice cracking with emotion.
"Where's Michonne and the others who came into the village?"
"Irving's in bad shape so he's down at the hospital but the other three went to get something to eat and then to their new house." Seeing Judith's overwhelming excitement Carlotta said
"We really shouldn't try and go see them. Ares is right, we can't let Vince get suspicious." She thought for a moment and said "Although I was going to go down to the hospital and inquire about a nursing position there. When I go I'll check in on Irving. Maybe he'll be awake and he'll see me."
"What will I do?" Carlotta smiled at Judith and said
You can come along with me. Hopefully I'll get Candice back and you can both be my apprentices." Ares nodded and said
"I better get back before anyone notices I'm gone, I'll see you guys later. Be safe."
"You too," said Carlotta, "Watch your back."
The water was extremely choppy and the flimsy metal boat they had recovered from underneath the bricks was not holding up like Daryl would have hoped. All together they did weigh a lot and Carl was working his hardest to get the rising water out of the boat with a bucket. They had successfully been able to float down the Mississippi River canal without issue but they had gone east down a small river to avoid being seen from the shores of the village. They were now out on the open ocean and a slowly approaching outcrop of land in the distance was their destination. It was clear the boat was going to sink and he said
"We needa get to shore, we ain't gonna make it all the way there in this." He saw Beth's look of apprehension. "We can either get eaten by gators out here or stand a fightin' chance on shore."
"Alright," she said, "Let's go in." It didn't take long for them to get to shore as the waves pushed them in that direction. One by one they got out onto the muddy shore, abandoning the boat. Without saying a word to each other they began to move south in single file. Hand on his knife, Daryl kept an eye out for gators. When he heard someone gaps he turned, ready to attack. Instead it was just Odilia, who had gotten her foot stuck. With a disgusting squelching sound she managed to pull it out. Looking disgusted she kicked her foot out, trying to get some of the chunks of muck off. She looked up at them and Pedro in particular who was giving her an amused look.
"Weren't you raised here?"
"Ya but that doesn't mean I like the mud," she said with a laugh, "I prefer to be clean."
"I remember differently," said Beth, "When you were little you always liked playing in the mud." Smiling Odilia said
"That was a long time ago when I didn't understand that it was bad to smell like shit."
Georgette was done with her meal and was ready to leave. She'd had enough exposure to her brother to know that he was a dark, evil person. Michonne must have sensed her distress because she got up and said
"It was nice talking to you gentlemen." She turned to Vince and said "You can just give us the address to our house, we can find it ourselves I'm sure."
"Oh no," said Vince, "We'll have someone escort you." He looked down the table and said "Jeff? Care to help these folks out?"
"Don't mind if I do." Georgette felt relieved that he hadn't asked Beau to do it. Then again, she was sure that his job position was much higher and more sinister than escorting people to their homes.
"Thanks for everything," said Michonne, shaking Vince's hand.
"Dinner's right before sunset same place," he said, "You can join us or bring food back to eat at your home." Georgette felt Beau's eyes on them as they left, sending a chill up her back."
As soon as they had disappeared from sight Vince turned to Beau and said
"Which one you want?"
"I don't know," he said, "The black woman is too old and that chink looks like she'd put up too good of a fight."
"The brunette then?"
"I don't know," said Beau, "There's something about her."
"Something you like?"
"No," said Beau, his eyes narrowing, "Something different." Vince laughed and said
"Well if you don't want her like that then I'm moving in."
"Go ahead;" said Beau, "I'll just be keeping a close eye on her though."
Their new house was a story off the ground, for what Georgette assumed to be flooding. It looked new and well taken care of and when they went inside it was completely furnished.
"This is a good deal," said Michonne, "If only their leader wasn't a nut job." Athena laughed and said
"He's a complete psycho." On a darker Georgette said
"Did you see my brother?" Michonne nodded and said
"He's as dark as your mother described him to be."
"What am I going to do?"
"Ignore him," said Athena, "Don't pay attention to him."
"But what are we going to do once we attack? He clearly wouldn't side with us."
"You don't know that," said Michonne, "We just have to wait and see what happens." Wanting to clear her mind she said
"You don't mind if I go check on Irving? It won't look suspicious or anything, he did come into town with us."
"Go ahead," said Michonne, "We'll stay here and check the place out." Making sure she had her knife she left the house and headed down the stairs. It was sunny and the bright exterior of the village gave no indication the true darkness that lay within. Anyone could be tricked into living here. She kept her head down as she moved quickly in the direction that she assumed was the hospital. People passed by her with buckets full of fish, clothes to be washed and children ran in the streets. She was on collision course and she bumped into someone and looked up. Her heart went cold when she saw Beau looking down at her. Trying to avoid any communication she said
"Sorry," and tried to rush past but she heard him say
"Georgette, that's your name right?" She nodded, trying not to look fearful. Putting on a brave face she said
"And you're Beau?" He nodded and said
"Welcome to the town, hope you enjoy your time here." She didn't like the way he had phrased the welcome. He had talked like she had limited time. Brushing it off she said
"Where's the hospital?" He raised his eyebrows in surprise and said
"It's just down this road to the right." Stuffing his hands in his pockets, she was on the alert, making sure he didn't pull out a gun or a knife. "Why you headed there?" She blurted out the only thing that came to mind.
"To see my husband."
"Your husband?"
"Yes, we brought him in with us but he was in critical condition so he got sent to the hospital right away." Suddenly he was smirking again and he mumbled something under his breath. The only word she had caught was Vince.
"Well I won't hold you any longer then." And he walked off, looking back at her once with the same smirk. Trying to put him out of her head like Athena had said she continued on, finding the hospital where Beau said it'd be. When she walked in there was a front desk set up.
"Hello," said the nurse, "Are you here to see anyone or for treatment?"
"I'm here to see my husband, Irving, he was brought in only an hour or so ago."
"Yes," said the nurse "I'll take you there." She got up and Georgette followed her into a hallway. There was one wide open room at the end with numerous beds lining the wall. Irving was the only patient, in the bed at the far end. The nurse left her alone and she hurried over to Irving, who was alert and sitting up upon seeing her. She noted a new eye patch that covered his empty eye socket.
"How do you feel?!"
"I'm fine," he said, "They just gave me some antibiotics 'n other pain meds."
"Good," said Georgette, leaning and quickly kissing him before sitting at the end of his bed. "When can you be released?"
"I would like to be now."
"Well you need to stay until they can tell you you're ok to leave."
"I thought we weren't trustin' these people."
"I trust the nurses," said Georgette, "They probably don't have a clue what Vince is really like." Vince shrugged and said
"They gave me this eye patch." He lifted it so she could see his now cauterized eye socket.
"I think it makes you look good."
"Thanks," he said with a smirk, "Gonna have to get used to only seein' out of one eye though." Needing to tell him she said
"I met my brother."
"How is he?"
"Scary," said Georgette, "He makes me uneasy."
"Well your ma did say he'd be like that."
"Ya I know," she said, "I was just hoping it wouldn't be true." Their conversation was interrupted by the door opening on the far end of the room. She heard the nurse's voice again.
"We have excellent facilities here. All the equipment we need, a huge amount of beds for patients and a ton of different medications." Georgette looked up to see Carlotta and Judith enter the room behind her.
Carlotta saw Georgette almost instantly sitting by Irving's bed. Her eyes went as wide as saucers and she opened her mouth to speak. Carlotta shoke her head slightly, reminding her that they couldn't recognize each other. She closed her mouth and shrunk back down onto Irving's bed.
"Here we have our only patient in at the time. We always have people coming for medication but rarely do we get anyone injured enough to stay overnight." They walked over to the foot of the bed and the nurse said "Sorry to intrude, these two are just interested in becoming nurses here." Georgette grinned and said
"Oh no problem." Carlotta put her hand forward and said
"I'm Carlotta and this is Judith." Uncontrollably smirking, Georgette shoke her hand and said
"It's nice to meet you. This is my husband Irving." Irving, who was in the middle of taking a drink of water nearly choked.
"Husband?!" Georgette had forgotten to inform him of the façade she had created.
"Yes husband." Irving put the cup down and shoke Carlotta's hand and said
"Pleasure to meet you ladies." The nurse backed away and said
"We can continue our tour, I want you guys to see the ultrasound machine we have, it's amazing." Once they were gone Irving said
"I ain't your husband."
"I know," said Georgette, she couldn't help but feel slightly insulted. "But I told Beau that so that's what we're going with." He seemed to get over the initial shock and must have seen the hurt in her eyes.
"I ain't your husband yet." She leaned in and kissed him again and said
"I love you."
"I love you too sweetheart."
The fort was as Beth had described it, crumbling and decrepit except for one room which somehow still had a roof over the top.
"Well this looks cozy," said Odilia sarcastically. Beth shot her a look and she said "I'm just joking, it's better than sleeping out in the woods or somewhere where Vince could find us." Daryl threw down their bag of supplies and said
"This'll be good."
"He won't even know we're hear," said Beth, looking at her husband with a smile.
Outside sitting on the edge of the crumbling stone wall, Carl and Candice dipped their tired feet in the water.
"Think we'll be able to really do this?"
"I think so," said Carl, "If anyone can pull it off your dad can." Candice looked out over the water and into the forest they'd just come out of. It was beautiful as the sun set over the water, turning it a deep orange color.
"I'm just afraid," she said, "That'll lose my parents or my sister or you." Carl put an arm around her and pulled her closer.
"You're not gonna lose me." He kissed her on the temple and as usual, Candice's face grew bright red.
Thanks DarylDixon'sLover, stateofgrace-xo, Caitiann and for commenting :) Just as a side note any racism or prejudice expressed by the characters in the story are in no way a reflection on how I actually feel. Obviously Vince and Beau are nasty people. I'm in no way a racist or prejudice in any manner. I love all people :)
Thanks for reading,
Wanderlustt
