February 14, 2011
~*~ DC ~*~
Denise isn't sure what to expect when they pull onto what looks like a gravely path into the woods. Honey warned them that there was a new set of gates for Homestead, completed while they traveled. It's why her people came out to guide them in, instead of them just letting themselves inside.
The idea that no humans stand guard in person on the gates is a little unsettling, but so's the implied size of the place. The road curves just a bit and the highway behind them disappears. That's when she sees the gate. It's open, the other vehicles already trundling through.
As the bus pulls fully through the gate, she glances behind to see a tall man closing and locking the gates behind them. He's got a rifle slung across his back and another gun on one hip. He swings up onto a horse big enough for her to think of the Clydesdales from those TV ads and trots up alongside the bus as they move along at the end of the caravan.
Honey opens a window to call out to the rider, who seems even taller on the huge horse. "Don't tell me you're out this far solo, little brother."
"Shane's up at the front," he answers.
From details Honey and Christopher have given them about Homestead in general and her family specifically, this must be Jasper.
"Miss me, pipsqueak?"
"Little bit, Hannah-Banana." The teenager is smiling at his sister.
"Hannah-Banana," Logan giggles and perches on a seat to get a better look. "Hi, I'm Logan. I like your horse."
Jazz returns the greeting. "Want to ride with me through all the gates?"
The boy lights up as if all his Christmases and birthdays have come at once. "Can I, Honey?"
"Sure. Tim will pause at the next gate so you can hop out of the bus."
The siblings chatter through the window, mostly about the animals. Apparently, Honey missed a lambing while she was gone. Denise can't quite imagine not only flocks of animals, but calmly breeding more in the apocalypse. Even Hilltop, which has livestock, didn't seem to be progressing on that scale.
She glances at Jessie, who looks just as overwhelmed, but Sam's glued to the conversation like Logan and Ron's even looking interested. The fact that he's seeing a teenager not a lot older being treated as an adult probably helps. The weaponry Jazz carries is not for show. He's too comfortable with it, and up close like this, she can see he has a hunting knife strapped on the opposite hip from his gun and she can see the hilt of another in the top of one boot.
They reach the next gate after winding through an abandoned neighborhood with large yards and older houses. There's signs of preparation for farming around the houses, especially the further they go away from the first gate.
"Are they going to really grow this much food?" she asks.
"Out here it's more if an experiment for biofuel and animal feed, although depending on what they plant, it'll probably end up feeding us too," Honey explains. "Did y'all get that biofuel plant disassembled?"
Her brother answers. 'Yeah. Couple days ago, but Eugene, Gage, and Jim are tinkering on the reassembly for any improvements. We're about to see it now."
He points to a large steel building just before they reach another gate. It has a massive door like Denise is used to seeing for industrial buildings, but the door is shut. It's getting later in the day, so she supposes people are done with work for the day. Honey was very clear that work shifts are only mandatory for six hours, although run teams end up with more by the nature of their work.
As soon as Jazz has the second set of gates locked, he leads the horse to the other side of the bus, where Logan is waiting impatiently, to everyone's amusement. He lifts the boy up onto the horse just in front of the English style saddle and swings up behind him with ease of practice. Logan's beaming, the happiest she's seen him since they left Jesus behind, and Jazz nudges the horse off the road to trot through the fields once they clear the trees and reemerge into farmland. Stella, who followed her boy out of the bus, scampers after them.
This area looks like it was always farmed, not being converted. Some fields still have crops growing, winter specialties, she guesses, and she can see an orchard in the distance. Jessie's looking out the windows with a look of wonder on her face. After living on canned goods, she supposes the idea of regular fresh fruit and vegetables is a little overwhelming.
"You may get a little tired of a certain vegetable or fruit in season," Honey says, expression kind, "but you won't go hungry. Might be a little less meat than you're used to while we establish larger herds and flocks, but we get a good serving at least once a week. Lamb, carabeef, venison, and pork mostly. Regular beef, we're probably a few years down the road before it shows up more than once or twice a year. Poultry's mostly reserved for egg production, but you can always tell when they've ended up with too many roosters when we get a chicken dinner."
Sam turns to her, wide-eyed. "You eat the lambs?"
She ruffles his hair reassuringly. "Not the little ones. Why they still call them lambs when they're mostly grown, I don't know. But don't worry. They aren't babies. If you want, Jazz will be happy to show you the sheep farm tomorrow and explain it all to you."
The boy looks to his mother for permission and Jessie nods. Denise thinks she might normally be wary of sending her child off with a virtual stranger, but he's Honey's brother, and he's obviously good with kids, from the overjoyed look on Logan's face as they trot back alongside the bus in time for the next gate.
"Honey! Did you know Imbri is going to have a baby?" the boy calls out. Denise feels a little nervous, seeing the boy sitting alone on the big horse as Jazz closes the gates behind them, but she's standing as calmly still as a carousel horse.
"Yes, I did. It takes a long time for a baby horse to grow though."
"A whole year! Jazz says she'll have her baby in the fall."
The teenager's back and up in the saddle. "Hey, Logan, want to beat Honey to the village?"
The boy agrees, and flashing his sister a grin, Jazz urges the mare to a gallop, catching up and passing the lead vehicle even as Tim gets the bus moving again. The winding driveway brings them into view of a cluster of cheerfully painted buildings arranged like a miniature apartment complex. She guesses that's the container village she's heard about.
Beyond the village, she can see a sprawling building that looks like three cobbled together, next to a cottage and a more traditional style house. But they pull just beyond the village toward a big building that must be the community center Honey enthuses about as the center of social life here.
Two of the vehicles leave the main drive, moving toward a big barn-like structure that has several vehicles parked around it. She can see more steel buildings behind it, along with enough semi-trailers parked to resemble a fleet yard. The RV stops near the community center and Tim pulls in behind it.
Denise feels her anxiety spike now that they're here and have to meet more people. The group obviously waiting isn't a large one, just a grey-haired woman with a pixie cut alongside two women who look too much like Honey to be anyone other than her sisters, and a shorter blonde teenager who resembles the older woman. Jazz is stopped next to the woman, but whatever conversation ends as Tim opens the bus doors. He takes the reins from another rider, a big man with curly hair, and leads it away, still riding tandem with Logan.
Exchanging a nervous look with Jessie, they follow the Homesteaders off the bus. Sam takes his mother's hand and Ron hovers protectively. The Shirewilt folks are looking equally nervous, even though Noah is with them. The group of seven is comprised of a family of three with a boy just younger than Logan and Sam, three single men, and one woman who doesn't seem a lot older than Honey.
The welcoming committee seems to be derailed by greeting their returnee. Honey is lost amidst a group hug. The grey-haired woman must be her mother, based on her seeming inability to let go of the young woman even as the other three peel away. It just means the curly-haired man steps in and squashes Honey between them by putting his arms around them both.
"Where's Daddy?"
"Still cleaning up. They had a clogged pipe in the septic system for the nursing home, so he and Henry were pretty rank by the time it was fixed," her mother explains.
"Eww, poor Daddy." She grins. "Did you hose him down in the yard like he always tells you to do with us?"
"I considered it, but no, they went down to the contamination showers." Honey's mother indicates a small container building near the gates that Denise missed coming in.
That question answered, she finally turns her daughter loose and introduces herself and the others to the newcomers. They all end up with drawstring bags of necessary items and assignments to quarters, which Denise is grateful for, because she misses the ability to shower after days on the road.
The Dixons split up to lead people off, and Denise is grateful when their guide is still Honey. The young woman leads the way to the closest building, opening the door on the bottom floor to motion Jessie and the boys inside.
Denise watches from the doorway as her friend explores hesitantly. Sam's delighted with the bunk bed alcove, claiming the bottom bunk with enthusiasm that makes even Ron smile.
"Jessie? If you want to let the boys shower down here, you can borrow mine upstairs. My roommate won't mind."
The blonde looks hesitant, but Ron surprisingly urges her to take the offer, even as Sam disappears into the bathroom with a shout of "first dibs!"
Honey leads the two women up the stairs to the backside of the building. "Lady in the apartment behind yours is Michonne. You need anything and can't find me, you can rely on her, or Glenn and Maggie upstairs on your side closest to the center."
The stairs lead up to a cozy area with seating on both sides of the porch. Honey opens the first door and calls out for a Lydia. "She's probably down helping with supper. I'll grab a change of clothes and leave you to it."
"Where are you going to shower?" Jessie asks. "I can wait."
Honey shakes her head and points at the next building. "I'll shower at Eugene's. He won't mind." She bustles around the small apartment, snagging clothing from a bookshelf turned clothing storage and draping the items over her arm. She still has her travel duffel over one shoulder, so Denise images she's got toiletries in it.
"Denise will be right next door." They leave Jessie to her shower and step next door.
Unlike Honey's apartment, this one has a full-size bed instead of bunk beds. Denise sets her bags on the neatly made bed and surveys her new home with less trepidation than she had been feeling. It reminds her of the tiny studio apartment she leased in med school and the familiarity eases some of her anxiety.
Just as with Jessie's apartment, Honey explains the basics before leaving Denise to her own devices for a while. As soon as the door closes behind her new friend, she sits heavily on the bed and surveys her new domain.
It's been occupied before, she can tell, because while it's been thoroughly cleaned, she can see a crayon scribble on one wall near the bathroom that wasn't quite removed. She gets up and browses the bookshelf, which has about a dozen volumes, and wonders how many were left behind versus being in the apartment as part of the newcomer welcome. Her own books are still on the bus, but she's been reassured that they'll be delivered when it's unloaded.
The fridge and one cupboard reveal a decent enough supply of food, much along the lines of the grocery store goods available in Alexandria. She takes a root beer from the fridge, smiling a little. Honey's sometimes odd conversations make sense now. Several items are things Denise mentioned as preferred, and the comforter on the bed just happens to be Denise's favorite color.
But even cold root beer can't outrank the idea of a hot shower in a place all her own, so she puts the half-full bottle back and goes to take advantage of privacy and modern plumbing. She not only feels safe here, but welcome.
~*~ CP ~*~
Carol stops by her office after helping settle the new people into quarters. Several useful skills among this group, even without thinking of the doctor Hershel will need to settle in. She's young, probably not long out of medical school, and Christopher's quiet assessment is that she would need mentorship much like Cricket.
The door opening as she adds notes while they're still fresh. Merle smiles when she looks up, crossing to her office and leaning in for a kiss.
"Did you go see Honey?"
"I saw that engineer of hers running up the stairs to his place like Christmas came early. Figured I'll see her later."
Carol laughs. She supposes she might choose similarly. "Young love."
"Aren't we supposed to have another rugrat now?" He looks around as if Carol's stashed Logan away from somewhere.
"He met Jazz on the way up. More importantly, he met Imbri."
"Jesus. We'll be lucky to get the kid out of the barn for a week if he's as critter mad as Jazz."
"At least we know he'll adjust well. He's a beautiful kid, Merle."
He kisses her gently. "Then he'll fit in well with his new mama."
She enjoys the leisurely affection before tapping her notebook. "Got some new folks for your crew." They were aware of the past jobs of the newcomers thanks to their own people, but it was no guarantee they wanted to continue. Only one of the seven Shirewilt folks were living there before, which works out for Homestead that several have good hands-on skills already.
"The two blue collar guys want to keep building?" Merle checks the list and nods thoughtfully. "Pool installer will be a foundation guy pretty easy. Sheetrock we don't need as much, but I'll bet he's done framing too at some point."
She nods, leaning into the massage he's giving her with one hand while sidetracked by the notes.
"Another attorney?" Merle laughs. "We've got enough for a law firm now. But considering the other two adapted well, I guess this one will to."
"He's not as young as Andrea and Michonne, and he actually wants to join the building crew too. The mail carrier says he'll do runs, and it about launched an argument between the married couple, but the sheetrock guy's wife says she's training for runs too."
"Scout's never going to turn down a woman wanting to train up badass."
"That's what I told her. The last of the Shirewilt people was a florist and facinated with the farm. I'll introduce her to Lenore at supper."
"What about the other lady? The one with the boys?"
Something in his voice makes Carol reach out to rub a comforting hand across his belly. The comparison is probably haunting her husband: an abused woman with two sons.
"She wants to try a few things before she decides."
"Good. Whatever she needs."
Carol slides out of her chair and hugs him tightly. She already intended to keep a close eye out on Jessie, too familiar with how worrying unexpected freedom can be. But with this reminder of just what the woman escaped, she knows it'll be for more than just Jessie's sake.
~*~ EP ~*~
Eugene hesitates to open his own door. The woman exiting Honey's apartment explained she was borrowing a friend's shower and mentioned Eugene's own name. He meant to be there when the travelers returned, but he got borrowed to go on a run down to the warehouses by Glynnis, and no one ever really turns down requests by the older woman.
He can't just stand on the porch all day, so he turns the knob and steps inside. He can hear the shower cut off as he shuts the door. Her gun, knife, and holster are in the usual place. Her boots are tossed out of the walkway, and a heavy duffel is sitting in the recliner.
"Eugene?" Honey steps into view. Her long hair is wrapped into a towel, and she's holding another, drying off even as she smiles at him. The casual glimpses of bare skin as the towel moves settle his nerves. She's not just borrowing the shower if she's so comfortable flashing skin in front of him.
He moves forward and her smile widens as she tosses the towel aside to land forgotten across the toilet seat. "Did you miss me?" she asks, voice husky with invitation.
"With all that I am." She's in his arms then, kissing him fiercely. He returns the kiss with enthusiasm, running his hands along her bare back and thrilling at the idea that she's home and she still wants him.
edited scene
She collapses on his chest, peppering his face and throat with small kisses. He runs his hands along her back, enjoying the feel of her against him. She braces on her forearms, her expression one of contentment. "Missed you too," she says softly.
He can determine that much. He's never had someone want him so badly he ended up tangled in his clothing. He never did get completely free of his pants, and his shirt and vest are still in place. His chest aches with the emotions he won't yet reveal to her. This is enough for now.
He reaches up into her damp hair to coax her down for a long kiss instead, trying to put into the action what he won't risk with words. She responds easily, propping on one elbow to snake a hand between them and work on his shirt buttons.
"You kept working out," she says softly. He smiles a little, her clever fingers exploring the changes in his body.
"Your sister and Tara worked with me." It wasn't the weight he wanted gone, so much as he wanted to not be left behind the next time she ventures out in the world. So, he kept up the daily runs, four days a week, and Cricket helped him adapt his PT the two days a week Honey had him doing. He hasn't lost weight so much as developed muscle in ways he's never had before. It helps not being responsible for feeding himself. No one diets at Homestead, but it's definitely far healthier than he ate before.
He can do a mile at a run now. It's progress he never thought possible for him.
She leans down to kiss him, one hand curling around his hip. "I want you to be safe."
"Guess you'll have to keep me on task then."
Her smile is brilliant. "I can do that. You really want me underfoot like that?"
"Every day," he admits.
"And the nights?"
She looks uncertain, and it's such a foreign concept to see her experience that he can't help but risk himself to make her feel better.
"All of them, if you'll have me."
Her response makes them late for supper, but at least he makes it out of his clothes this time.
~*~ SW ~*~
"Hey, Mrs. Walsh." Shane drops his voice into the lower register he knows she loves. He captures her from behind as soon as she shuts the refrigerator behind the dinners neither of them have any intention of eating yet.
Scout wriggles to turn in his arms, her kiss hungry and anxious. In making sure they help all they can, they haven't even been home other than to shower and change. Even now, they won't stay the night here, but they're both craving just an hour alone.
But while two months ago, sex in the kitchen was well within their habits, now the room's too oriented toward their nine-year-old daughter. He lifts her, grinning when she helps by wrapping her legs around his waist. The path to their bedroom is stumbling, interrupted by the need to kiss until neither of them can breathe.
While there's the urge to rush, he resists. Once she's on the bed, he hovers over her, glorying in how perfectly he fits against her. She tugs his shirt free of his waistband, sliding work roughened fingers along his back. When he comes up for air, she tugs the garment over his head.
"You trying to get me naked first, baby?" He smirks at her and one of her hands tweaks his nipple just the way he likes.
"Just trying to give you a hint," she replies, and that look she's got right now, that's the one that reminds him that all her stunning intensity is reserved for him. How he got so fucking lucky in a life spent in shallow pleasure, he'll never understand.
edited scene
She's twitching periodically, but reaches out to capture his hand and kiss the palm. "Love you."
He nuzzles at the sweaty skin along her spine. "Love you too."
Reluctantly, he rolls to the side, taking her with him to cuddle close.
"Missed losing control with you," she says softly.
He's missed it too. Not many women in his past wanted to meet him in sheer physical demand, but she always has. "Have to make time for it."
"Yeah."
He wouldn't trade parenthood with her for anything else, but this? The pleasant ache of sex that borders being too fast and too rough? That's something they both need now and then.
"We'll just trade kid-free nights with Daryl and Lori," he suggests and she nods. It's not as much of an offer for the other couple right now, with Lori post-partum, but that won't last forever. And hell, they might appreciate just alone time regardless, especially once Judy can miss a nursing session with a bottle of the milk Lori's been pumping 'just in case'.
But for now, they've got four more hours before the teenage extra help Lori's got for the evening will need to head off to bed. He nudges Scout onto her stomach and reaches for the massage oil. They've skimped on working on her shoulder since Judith arrived, so he's going to make up for lost time tonight.
