May 3, 2011

~*~ MD ~*~

Merle leads the way in the RV on the road to Alexandria. Behind him are the Kingdom and Solomon vehicles. He left the majority of his own people behind, with no reason to transport the kids to a questionable community. With just Olivia and Jesus to represent Hilltop, they are hitching a ride in the RV.

Ezekiel is definitely a unique personality, enough so to make Merle really wonder what sort of life the man led before. The king at least left his tiger behind for what is essentially a diplomatic trip.

Solomons Island sent a quintet, although only one of the two leaders. The four accompanying her are the strangest mix of scientist and fighter he's seen since Eugene started training. Camille seems like a reliable woman, and he can't deny she's managed to get a community with few initial survival skills to a good level of success.

"How certain are your friends that Alexandria is ready for this meeting?" he asks Jesus.

The young man sighs. "Aaron says the leadership is still convinced that they're the model community for surviving until the government returns to fix things."

"So no progress or improvements being made?"

"None other than community gardens that won't be enough to feed the community through the growing season. At the rate they're going, they'll eventually need to try to raid supplies in DC."

Merle can't criticize a community for not wanting to shift perspective entirely. His own is now a hybrid of normal before life and the necessity of current life. But even with the vast quantities of supplies they're gathering from distribution centers and abandoned locales, they might last two years at most without the agricultural steps they've taken.

"Is the problem just the leadership or the community in general?"

Jesus looks to Olivia, who sighs. "A little of both," the brunette answers. "If you can tip the community to believe, I don't think Deanna will stonewall, though. But I don't think you can convince her."

"She was a congresswoman before, right?"

"Yes, from Ohio. Her husband was a professor of architecture, which is how the walls got built successfully."

Merle looks up to the rear view mirror to meet Carol's eyes where she's seated on the little sofa with Olivia. She looks thoughtful, as does Hershel from his spot at the dinette table.

"How do we want to approach?" he asks. He doubts a woman like Deanna is going to listen to him easily. Her husband, maybe. Architects usually have a healthy respect for his type of background.

"Let Carol take the lead," Hershel suggests. "She's a nurse and a mother. That'll go over better than a man presenting ideas."

Olivia's nodding agreement, so Merle relies on their advice. "You up for a challenge, Mouse?"

His wife grins at the old nickname. "I doubt she's as much of a challenge as Lori was in her early days."

He laughs at that, drawing puzzled looks from the two Hilltop folks and Bryce. The rest of the fairly short trip is spent with telling that particular backstory and solidifying plans on how to keep Alexandria from being the weak link of the Virginia communities.

No one wants a Terminus-type takeover here, not at all.

~*~ CP ~*~

Carol watched as the gates of Alexandria open to reveal a trio of men. Jesus's quiet tip identifies them as the recruiting couple and Deanna Monroe's son Spencer.

She's already not impressed. A leader who thinks she's above being at an arrival point? Carol's only ever missed newcomers since the pregnancy, and even then another council member took over. If there's only one of you as a leader, it's even more important.

Since Jesus and Olivia already know the trio, they make the introductions. Aaron and Eric are friendly and fit the information she received from the first group in Virginia. Spencer, she doesn't have as much background on, but Olivia seems fairly happy to see him. She'll trust the other woman's judgement for now.

"I assume we'll be meeting your mother somewhere that doesn't involve leaving the community gates open?"

Her remark startles the men into remembering they're in the open. They didn't see any signs of herds in the way here, but Merle pulled over twice to take care of small groups of walkers.

She points to the approaching straggler and sighs. When she unsheathes her knife and goes to intercept, she wonders what sort of impression she's giving.

It's an easy dispatch, a walker already partly damaged and missing an arm. While she's not gone on supply runs regularly, she's been trained by a variety of family members, just like Sophia. She cleans her blade on the tattered clothing and heads back to the waiting group.

"Good form, darlin'," Merle quips.

She favors him with a bright smile before turning back to the Alexandrians. "Shall we?"

After a speculative look toward the downed walker, Spencer motions them inside while Aaron and Eric secure the gates behind them.

Ezekiel and Camille, along with their escorts, seem to be willing to follow the lead set by those with prior knowledge of Alexandria.

"Your father arranged to have all this built?" she asks.

It's the right question to start off with, because Spencer's description of the rush to get the wall up fills in the time they spend walking through the community.

She eyes the woman standing on the porch of the house and thinks she would guess politician even without prior knowledge. Pushing aside the thought, she accepts the offered hand and introduces herself and the other community leaders, ending with Olivia.

That gets an interesting reaction from the natives. She doesn't think they expected so many communities or one of their former people as a leader of one.

Deanna invites them into her living room, introducing her husband along the way. The Kingdom and Solomon escorts stay outside with Bryce, Aaron, and Eric.

"Olivia, it's good to see you're doing so well." To Deanna's credit, she does sound sincere. "Did all of those who left here settle there?"

"Just myself and Enid. Denise and the others are at Homestead."

That's where Carol lets some of her congeniality slip. "Denise fits in so well with our medical staff. You must really miss having a doctor of her caliber here."

"It was my understanding that Denise is a psychiatrist."

"You do realize doctors don't specialize until after medical school? She's been cross-training with our other doctors. Delivered a baby in March."

"Don't forget assisting with the surgical repair on Mrs. Ward's broken arm," Hershel adds. "And assisting me with veterinary surgery."

"And the others?"

Carol gives her points for sounding genuinely concerned, but she makes sure her voice carries every ounce of disapproval it can. "Jessie's doing well, and both boys are receiving physical therapy for their injuries."

That startles the woman's husband into speaking. "Physical therapy?"

"Broken bones always require physical therapy, but Sam's doing well. X-rays of his fingers indicate no corrective surgery needed. Ron's shoulder will probably never be completely functional, but we're hopeful to at least give him more range of movement."

"What is wrong with his shoulder?" Reg Monroe sounds horrified.

"Repeat trauma that went untreated. If we had access to an orthopedic surgeon, there's enough damage to his rotator cuff to benefit from surgery. But none of the doctors from any of the allied communities have orthopedic experience."

"And joint surgery is not something we want to make a fourteen-year-old boy a guinea pig for," Hershel adds.

"What do you expect us to do?" Deanna asks.

"At this point, nothing. I assume your criminal doctor is keeping his hands and fists off your other residents?" Carol doesn't try for real diplomacy with that.

Deanna sighs. "Pete is keeping to himself. Mostly drinking, as far as we can tell."

"Hilltop would like to offer training for medical staff. We can't get someone trained to physician level within a year, but we can at least manage a nurse," Olivia says.

"And if your physician is still showing no improvement, you are welcome to bring patients to any of our communities," Ezekiel says. "We will provide you with a list of which specialists we each have."

"And what will Alexandria owe in exchange?" Deanna asks, looking wary.

"For medical needs, nothing. We are all in agreement that medical expertise will be shared freely." Ezekiel nods toward the other leaders. "And that no community will suffer hunger."

"It's the reason for the alliance meeting today. Leaving Alexandria out of the loop leaves it vulnerable. We already have examples of predators going after three separate communities." Carol pauses to let that sink in.

"How large is this alliance?"

"The three Virginia communities number around four hundred. In Georgia, our largest community so far is approaching two hundred and fifty."

"That's your community, correct? Homestead?"

"Yes." Carol withdraws a packet of black and white photos from her messenger bag and offers them to Deanna. None of the photos give away geographic location, but Jazz's penchant for random photography gave them a wide selection.

Deanna flips through the photos. "How much of this is pre-existing buildings?"

"Nothing in those photos was on the property before the outbreak except the barns. Just like your husband was an architect before, mine owned a construction company."

"They just helped us complete an additional wall structure at Hilltop," Olivia volunteers. "Now we have the space for livestock and to grow more than the bare minimum in crops."

"We even have greenhouses now," Jesus adds. Considering he helped build them, Carol understands his pride.

"I can understand the humanitarian angle of medical care and food, but why construction help? What's the catch?" Deanna is frowning, while Reg and Spencer look over the photos.

"We are treating it as a pass-it-on situation. We helped Hilltop. They'll help Alexandria. Having multiple communities involved in agriculture protects everyone in case of crop failure or natural disaster."

"So we may be called upon to assist another community?"

"Within your abilities and areas of expertise, yes. It could be years before all of the communities are strong enough to set up some sort of commerce." Carol shrugs, knowing kindness for kindness sake was a hard concept for her at first, too.

"And would we be required to follow the harsh consequences for crimes that your people do?"

"No. But you will be required to notify the allies if you exile someone for a violent crime. We aren't taking in your problems to put our own people at risk." Ezekiel's voice is firm on that. As one of the closest communities, it's understandable.

Carol can see the yearning not to be solely in charge of her people cross Deanna's face. They're essentially offering her a way to get rid of problems without getting her own hands dirty. In meeting with the others, Homestead isn't the only ones to execute rapists or other violent predators.

"I suppose you have a list of improvements to recommend? The young lady before seemed to have an entire list before she gathered her people and left. She's your family?"

From the looks Deanna is giving Carol and Merle, it's clear that she can't directly place Honey's place in the Dixon family just by the surname.

"She's my stepdaughter." It's easier to give the expected explanation. "And she originally intended to make the construction company a family affair. I imagine most of her suggestions were security based."

"She seemed really well-versed in such matters," Reg says. "From both a construction and a more military standpoint."

"Our family is blessed with several military and law enforcement members who pass their skills along to the younger ones. But Merle would be happy to do a walk-through and review with you." Carol glances to Merle, who nods.

"We could do that now. Not all of us are necessary for sorting out the details," Reg suggests.

Carol isn't sure if the offer is genuinely looking for help or the older man wanting a one-on-one assessment of Merle, but her husband agrees easily. Spencer stays with his mother, but the other son follows the two men. She hears Merle call Bryce to go along and feels a small tendril of relief.

She pulls a notebook out of her messenger bag. "Let's start putting our expectations in writing, shall we?"

Deanna smiles, seeming on better footing with familiar territory to cover.

Carol thinks the former congresswoman will be surprised by the Dixon tenacity to make it play out for everyone's best interest.

~*~ Jesus ~*~

It's interesting to watch Carol go over the agreement already hashed out between the alliance with Deanna. For someone who has only studied psychology in passing as a nurse, she certainly has a fair understanding of how to bring Deanna on board. He can understand why Merle and Hershel pushed her to the forefront.

With Olivia there to represent Hilltop, he excuses himself midway to get some fresh air. He likes being a go-between better than an official still.

'How are things going in there?" Aaron asks.

Jesus guesses he shouldn't be surprised that the recruiters stayed with the leader escorts. He's more surprised that Alexandrians seem to be curbing curiosity.

"Better than I expected, actually. If they get the agreement signed off on, Hilltop will get started on the expansion for Alexandria in two weeks."

That gives his people time to get fields prepped and planted, without being too late for Alexandria to do the same. They won't be getting the deluxe wall that Hilltop has, nor anything so spacious enclosed. But even ten acres will be enough to tip the odds in their favor.

"Is Pete going to be a problem?"

"Not as long as he's not allowed to repeat past history."

"Good. He's been pissed off but quiet. Having outsiders might set him off."

"I hope he doesn't have that much of a death wish." There's no doubt in his mind that the Homesteaders, even Hershel, won't hesitate to end Pete if given reason.

He glances around and steps close enough his voice shouldn't carry. "If he leaves these gates, we need to know."

Aaron nods, and from the glint in the man's eyes, Jesus wonders if he's hoping Pete will.

"I was hoping Honey would come today," Eric says, bringing the conversation back to fit for public consumption.

"They worried she might clash with people here during negotiations. She's working on an expansion of our septic system."

With Eugene's ingenuity, they're saving Hilltop from an ugly problem in the future when the population grows.

"Makes me curious how ours will hold up, with no service people for the sewer system."

"Hopefully, that's part of the tour they took Merle on."

"You've been down there, right? Is it really as inclusive as they implied?" Aaron asks.

"Yeah, it sure seems to be. Christopher is a essentially part of the Dixon family, and Honey's older sister is happily married to a woman. Expecting a baby girl even. There's other gay couples there too."

"Parenthood is easier as a lesbian," Eric says wistfully. "I can't see too many women wanting to surrogate now."

"I guess. They have an older child who is adopted. That's a sad option now though, considering how many of the adopted kids at Homestead saw their parents die."

"At least there's little need for group homes," Eric mutters.

It was a thing he found he had in common with the younger half of the couple… a youth spent in the foster care system.

"Thank God," Jesus can't help muttering. While Homestead does have Patricia's fosterlings, he saw no evidence of them being treated as anything less than her actual children and as Dixon cousins of some kind.

Enid's foster relationship with Olivia remains slightly less than family by the girl's own choice. He knows Olivia certainly cares for the teenager better than any individual foster mother he ever had.

One of the Kingdommers joins in to ask about orphaned children and their progress, and the rest of the time while the leaders meet passes in comparisons of the youth adaptation to the new reality.

~*~ CP ~*~

They're in front of Deanna's house, preparing to leave when the trouble starts. To be honest, Carol's surprised it took as long as it did for Pete Anderson to show up.

Part of her doesn't like being passed back to put multiple bodies as shields, but she tamps it down viciously. It isn't Carol being shielded here, but her unborn child. Even Ezekiel's people take part.

The gun in Pete's hand waivers and she wonders if he really even knows how to shoot it. It's not as easy as movies imply. She's catching glimpses around large bodies as Deanna tries to talk the man down. He keeps screaming about betrayal and siding with kidnappers.

The gunshot still startles the hell out of her.

"Carol! I need you!" Hershel cries out. She pushes her way forward.

Camille and Hershel are both kneeling next to Deanna on the ground. The Alexandrian leader is beginning to go into shock, a bloody wound in her shoulder. Hershel is applying pressure while Camille begins barking orders at the shellshocked Alexandrians.

"Run ahead and start prepping in their infirmary," Hershel orders when he sees her.

Olivia doesn't wait for anyone else, but tugs Carol's arm to lead her away. She gets the barest glimpse of Pete Anderson on the ground, choking to death on his own blood from the knife in his throat.

The two women crash into the infirmary building, and Carol quickly assesses woth Olivia's help. By the time Deanna is carried in on a makeshift stretcher, she has an IV prepped and ready.

"We're going to need blood," Camille says. "Anybody know her blood type?"

"She's O positive," Reg says. There's blood spatter on the man's clothes and he's shaking. Shock, Carol suspects.

Carol pulls him away from the two medical professionals working on his wife. "Do you know your blood type? Or your boys?"

It takes a minute for him to process. "I'm A positive. So are both boys. Oh Jesus, where do we get blood?"

She guides him to a bed to sit. There's too much blood on his sleeve and she remembers Merle's lessons about bullets passing through people. As she cuts away his sleeve to see the bullet graze on his upper arm, she yells for Merle.

"Get your butt in that chair. We need blood."

Merle takes a seat as she examines Reg amd determines a pressure bandage is sufficient until she can stitch the wound. "Don't worry about blood. I have at least two donors who are type O with my people here and I can send for more if no one else here knows their type and matches."

She's a match herself, but can't donate. So's Hershel, but he's more needed as a surgeon. But Merle and Bryce can both donate.

With Reg reassured and both sons stuffed onto the bed next to their father by Ezekiel and his man Jerry, she scrounges supplies and sets up the blood draw on her husband. He snags her arm with his free hand and kisses her knuckles.

Spotting distressed folks in the entryway, she hustles over. "Go bring me juice, Gatorade, or water if you don't have those."

A woman scurries off, leaving Carol to turn and see she's not immediately needed with the surgery. One of Camille's people is stepping in as assistant there. Since Carol's about ninety percent certain the awkward man is medically trained more than she is, she returns to the Monroe males.

"Will there be enough blood?" Reg asks as she unwraps his arm.

"There should be and there's plenty of saline solution, too." She snags a suture kit from a nearby cabinet and irrigates the wound. It's almost more a burn, but it still needs stitches. She numbs the arm while listening in on the two doctors' discussion.

"They've stopped the bleeding," she relays, keeping her wince internal. That much blood loss in a shoulder wound has to be the subclavian artery. Blood loss might not be the worst part, but nerve damage instead.

Reg doesn't even be seeming to notice that she's stitching him back together. His eyes are glued to Deanna, as are Aiden's. Only Spencer is watching Carol, and she thinks he's probably in shock as well.

"Neither of them are the type of surgeon for this, are they?" Spencer asks.

"No, but Hershel might be the best choice. He's handled gunshot wounds as a veterinarian before." Emmett Carson's a cardiac surgeon, but by the time he can get here, they'll be done, she thinks.

"It's karma," Reg says softly. "We stood by while those boys were hurt."

Carol can't deny that thought skipped across her mind. The shoulder wound in a woman who allowed a boy's shoulder to be crippled does seem to be a karmic balance moment.

She finishes the stitches and scrubs her hands. It's just in time for Merle's donation to finish, and she passes him a bottle or juice and goes to summon Bryce. The other man takes Merle's spot in the donation queue and Carol brings the blood to the doctors.

"I've got a second one coming. This one's O neg, but the next is O pos like the patient."

Hershel nods almost absently. "Try to find two more at least."

She nods and moves off, a little in awe of the two's skill as they work on inspecting the wound.

She steps out onto the porch. "I need two more blood donors, either O positive or O negative."

Ezekiel is the first to step forward. "I'm O positive."

Jesus follows. "O negative."

She gets them both settled for donating, and Jesus smiles a little ruefully at her. "Figures that the world had to end for me to be allowed to donate blood."

It's one of those lingering prejudices that pisses her off, so she brushes a kiss on the young man's forehead as she finishes. Knowing just how young he is, she can't help the gesture.

She goes to check on Merle, who is working his way through another bottle of juice and a bag of trail mix someone's brought. He glances toward Jesus.

"Think you about gave the guy a heart attack."

She frowns. "It's a sad state of his previous life that affection scares him."

"I think he's getting used to it over time. You did."

Maybe that's what draws her to Jesus. At least with as bad as things got with Ed, she had Sophia. At least now, the young man has plenty of ready affection given freely.

Before she does the rounds on her three donors she gets an update on Deanna's surgery so she can update jer family. As Hershel explains the damage and repair, she realizes Deanna got really lucky. They were able to repair the artery with only the incision along the clavicle, sparing her more extensive surgery, and they didn't need to take a vein from her thigh.

As for nerve damage, only time wil truly tell, and the broken collarbone is going to be a bitch to heal. But she's alive, unlike Pete Anderson.

All Carol can think there is good riddance.