May 3, 2011

~*~ Olivia ~*~

Once the initial rush is over, there are too many people in the infirmary, so Olivia steps outside. The surplus Kingdommers and Islanders are gathered outside, along with several Alexandrians.

"Olivia! Is there any news?" Aaron's genuine distress is reflected among the others.

"They've gotten the bleeding stopped, but are still working on the wound. Her collarbone is broken and she's lost significant blood, but they're optimistic. Reg was also injured, but that just needed stitches."

"Do they have enough blood? I don't know my type, but they can test for that, right?"

Eric nods along to Aaron's words. She glances around those gathered. "Who here knows their blood type?"

Of the dozen or so hovering Alexandrians gathered, only three raise their hands. All of the Islanders do and only one Kingdommer.

"Any type O?"

Only one of the Islanders notes as being O positive. She sighs. Hilltop's doctors, once provided with the supplies, went through their population just like Homestead. Solomon probably has done the same.

"Alright. Can you escort me to the vehicles? I need to call Hilltop for supplies." She pauses. "Did anyone move Pete out of the street?"

"We did." Aaron motions between himself and Eric. "He's in his living room, for now. Jesus made sure he wouldn't rise again when he retrieved his knife."

Olivia knew her friend was deadly accurate with his knives against walkers, but today is the first time she's seen him throw one. As soon as the gun fired, the sickening thud of the knife followed. She hopes Pete suffered a lot before Jesus ensured he wouldn't turn.

They walk with her, along with Tobin and Francine. The tall man keeps glancing back.

"Why do you need to go to the vehicles?" he asks.

"I need to radio Hilltop for supplies and to bring one of our doctors here. He has more human surgical experience, and there are supplies we can use here to test blood type."

"What are the doctors here already then?" Tobin asks, sounding confused. "They're saving her, right?"

"They're saving her, yes Hershel is a veterinarian. Camille was a coroner." She lets that sink in. The whole reason Alexandria excused Pete's behavior was that he was the right kind of doctor when Denise wasn't.

They've reached the gates and get them opened. She fishes out the RV keys Merle gave her and unlocks the vehicle. Aaron steps inside, watching as she gears up the radio.

Once the Hilltop comms watch responds, she sends them for Harlan.

"Is he the doctor?"

"His brother, actually. Also a doctor, but an obstetrician. But he's council, so it's best to let him organize it."

"I suppose we'll be relying on everyone else for medical now."

"We already offered, and it's possible someone will be willing to relocate with Pete gone."

"Do you think Denise would come back?"

"She might, but I mostly hope she won't. She's happy there. You know she'll never be truly accepted here any more than you and Eric are."

"You sound angry on our behalfs."

"That's because I am." And she knows Hilltop isn't currently much better, but at least she is more hopeful for change there.

The radio comes back online and Harlan's familiar voice greets her. She explains the crisis here and he sighs.

"You've got the radio equipment in case the joined the alliance, right?" he asks.

"Yes. I can ask Merle to start the installation, but he's donated blood so he's on resting status for a little while."

"Probably could get the rest of them up there by then. I'll het everyone organized and ask the Homesteaders to escort my brother. Someone needs to lead a supply raid. This will empty out our blood typing kits."

"I'll get that arranged. We can try to raid some of the blood donation centers. Relay what happened here to the other communities for me, please."

"Will do."

"I'll let Merle and Carol know their people are shifting here with supplies then. We'll check in again once the radio is installed in the infirmary."

"Stay safe." Harlan signs off and she shuts down the equipment.

"You're really good with that," Aaron comments.

"A lot of training. I didn't want to rely only on the comms watchers to be able to communicate, and all our vehicles have smaller scale radios than the ones we'll set up here."

She locks the RV up after they're both out, but unlocks the storage compartment and passes the two radios and boxes of equipment out to everyone.

"Let's go see about getting these set up."

It feels good to be a respected part of the solution.

~*~ Spencer ~*~

His mother is still unconscious, but the doctors seem optimistic of her chances. His father's at her side, although how alert he is due to his own medication isn't clear.

Aiden's already outside, so he goes to join him. There's not much of a crowd of their own people, mainly Aaron and Eric with the visitors. His brother is ignoring everyone, so Spencer sighs.

"Will your people still be leaving or do you need accomodations for the night?' he asks Ezekiel. He prays not all of them are leaving, considering they need at least one of the doctors.

"We are awaiting the arrival of assistance from Hilltop. Then we'll determine if our presence is still needed," the older man replies.

"What assistance?"

Olivia gives him a wan smile. "One of the Hilltop doctors is a cardiac surgeon. He'll be here with extra medical supplies and stay at least until your mother is beyond any danger."

He motioned toward the building behind him. "If she needs more blood?"

"Part of the supplies he's bringing is blood type kits for those that don't know their type. One of the Islanders is also a match. They should be arriving any time now."

He steps forward enough to get a good view of the roof opposite. "What are they doing?" Two of the people on the roof are the men who toured Alexandria with his brother and his father.

"Installing the radio antenna agrees to in the alliance," Ezekiel replies. "They are showing two of your people how it works."

He nods, feeling a little numb by the day's events. "And Pete?"

"Will not rise. We placed his body in his home until it's decided what to do with him." Aaron sounds as tired as Spencer feels.

Spencer doesn't like the idea of the man sharing space with the honorable people laid to rest at Alexandria. "We'll arrange to dispose of his body. Bury him outside the gates somewhere."

"I'll pull together a few volunteers."

He knows Aaron's word is good. His mother might disagree when she wakes, but he doesn't think anyone else will object.

"How long until they arrive?"

"Anytime now, if they left fairly quickly. It wouldn't take much for Homestead's remaining people to load up and escort Dr. Carson."

Olivia seems assured of that, so he takes a deep breath. "We'll need to bring their vehicles inside the gates of anyone staying. I'm sure they'll want their own beds if possible."

It's safer for everyone, too. He may not be a security expert, but vehicles outside the gates is a lure no one needs.

"How is everyone responding?"

Aaron shrugs. "Most are glad he's gone and don't care how. A few don't think he should have been killed."

Spencer scoffs. "They were going to do extra work to feed and house a killer? I doubt it." He didn't even see who killed Pete, and he should probably find out to thank them.

A shout from the roof makes everyone look up. Tobin points toward the gates, so he assumes the travelers have arrived.

"Let's go let them in."

He recognizes Honey Dixon easily from her prior visit as she drives the RV through the gates when he motions her forward. She parks it where the Georgians parked before. The big pick-up he remembers from the prior visit pulls in behind her, a heavily loaded trailer attached.

When the visitors unload, he only recognizes one other adult from the prior visit is a man whose name he can't immediately recall. The rest are all new, although the little boy is along again.

Olivia brings the new doctor to him. Carson's nice enough and falls in beside him for the trip to the infirmary. "How long will you be able to stay?"

"I came prepared to stay at least a month."

Spencer doesn't realize just how tense he was by the uncertainty until the man utters those words. For the first time since Pete Anderson pulled that gun, he feels himself relax.

~*~ MD ~*~

Merle heads back into the infirmary. Reg Monroe is awake, still sitting at his wife's side. He's glad to see that Deanna's actually awake now too.

"How is everyone coping?" Reg asks.

"As well as can be expected. Spencer seems to be doing his best to fill his mother's shoes for now."

"This is the downside of a single leader system, isn't it?" Deanna says. Her voice is hoarse and strained.

"A little bit. But it's also viable if you have a designated chain of command. As a former congresswoman, you should be familiar with the designated survivor idea."

"It seems an act of nepotism to appoint my own son." She glances to Reg. "Or husband."

"Sounds like a question to ask your people. We didn't elect our council at Homestead, and it's done well so far. But there are seven of us, and I'm related to most of them."

"Which explains how three of you can be so far from home," Reg says.

"There are always at least two of us on property. We even have a backup plan on who's in charge beyond the council. That's what you need to set up here."

The couple exchanges a look that's tinged with exhaustion. He can only imagine how terrifying today has been for them.

"Dr. Carson's agreeable to being here a month. Once that's up, other doctors will rotate to staying here for a month at a time, the ones without family obligations. That'll give you about six months worth."

"Are there really that many doctors available?"

"Amazingly, yes. We can only contribute one of ours to the rotation for now, but you're at least familiar with Denise."

"She's willing?" Deanna asks and he can tell he needs to cut this short.

"She's willing. We'll send her up with an escort in October. It'll be a good time for another veterinary round as well, so she'll have a little company while she's here."

He thinks it's probably when he'll send Scout up to get her analysis of Alexandria's progress.

"Thank you, by the way. I understand you donated blood."

He just smiles at Deanna. "I've been a universal donor all my life. Just lucky there were enough of us here today to contribute, and your people will know going forward. I'll let you get some rest."

He leaves them huddled together, Reg smoothing his wife's hair gently.

~*~ CP ~*~

Carol is part of the group that escorts the departing people to their respective communities, while Merle goes to report their agreement to the Monroes.

Camille's group has already pulled away while Ezekiel's is still loading up.

"We will see your people at the Kingdom in two days?" the flamboyant man asks her.

"Yes, as long as nothing changes here." They're staying to give Alexandria time to settle after the chaos and to give them a little extra manpower if needed.

"Good. My people are anxious for the veterinary check. None started out as farmers and need reassurance."

"From what I hear, they're doing quite well. We've all learned new skills, haven't we?"

Something flits across the man's face at that, but it's gone before she can put a name to the emotion. "Indeed, we have."

"You should get underway to guarantee reaching home before dark."

"We will. And Mrs. Dixon? Congratulations on the new addition to your family."

Carol arches a brow. "Don't tell me it shows already?" That would explain the Kingdommers willingness to be involved in shielding her from Pete.

Ezekiel laughs, a rich sound. "No, it does not. I overheard your older children when they got here."

Even Logan got involved in the inspection that she truly was alright when she forst emerged from the infirmary.

"Thank you. We're looking forward to November."

"A family, especially children, is such a blessing in these trying times." He swings into the passenger seat of the big SUV his people are driving. "Take care of all of them."

She smiles and waves, stepping back through the gate as they're shut and locked behind her. The team who buried Pete returned while the others were leaving, so hopefully the gates are sealed for the night.

"Carol?"

She looks to see Eric waiting for her attention. She smiles at the man and he continues.

"Would your people like to eat dinner at our house? Just spaghetti, but I can make enough for everyone."

"Even if Mama says no, we're saying yes," Honey replies. "He makes amazing pasta."

That gets a shrug out of Eric. "I'm just enhancing the canned sauce. It's not made from scratch."

"Oh, sweetie, it can take a lot of skill to get canned anything to taste as good as it should, and if the bottomless pit there praises your food, you're doing a good job with it."

"So, that's a yes?"

She nods. "We'll bring disposable dishes and cutlery from our stores, but if you feel up cooking for nearly twenty extra people, we'll be there."

With that reassurance, the man hurries off. "Jazz, grab the ingredients for some sort of bread and get someone to show you the way."

He nods and pulls a bucket from the trailer and shifts some things around to retrieve a few extra things from other supply buckets. He snags his sister and Logan to escort him, leaving Carol to finish finding the paper plates and other items with Miguel's help.

Merle reappears before they're done, so he helps corral their people while Elias leads the way. This isn't where they expected to spend the evening, but at least they were here during the crisis. She shudders to think what would have happened if Pete lost it without skilled medical staff on hand.

~*~ Jesus ~*~

There are far too many people crowdes into rhe admittedly spacious house Aaron and Eric share. Jesus edges out to the porch and perches on the railing. The night is nice enough, ao he enjoys the sensation of not having two dozen people underfoot.

"Figured you would be out here."

He finds himself presented with a plate of food, with Jazz smiling slightly at him. He takes the food after checking that Jazz has his own plate.

"It really is good spaghetti," he comments before taking a bite. Eric cooked for them when they were here before.

Jazz follows suit, nodding agreement as he leans against the corner post. They get most of their food eaten before he speaks.

"You doing okay?"

Puzzled, Jesus frowns a little. "Yeah, why?"

"They said you stopped him from hurting anyone else."

Oh. He mostly put it out of his mind, to deal with later. The idea of having someone to listen to him about taking yet another life didn't really occur to him.

"I've had to kill before, Jazz."

"So have I, and they were bad men, but it still gives me nightmares sometimes."

There's the answer to what he wondered after Jazz's overprotectiveness toward Patrick and the others.

"Nightmares are normal. What do you dream about?"

"The really bad ones are where I don't get the guy trying to shoot Shane in the back."

Jesus can understand that. He figures tonight will feature him not being fast enough and someone like Carol or Olivia suffering for it.

"Funny how the mind worries more over missing than the actual deed. I figure it's to remind us of why it was necessary."

"I guess." Jazz takes Jesus's now empty plate and fork, but instead of moving inside, he drags him into a one-armed hug. "Thank you for keeping my family safe today."

Jesus almost hesitates too long to return the hug, uncertain of how to respond. But when he does, Jazz relaxes rather than tenses.

He knows he shouldn't encourage the affection, but he allows himself another minute before letting go. Jazz doesn't comment and just takes the plates and forks inside to discard in the trash.

Throwing that knife today was more reflex than thought, but he's even more glad for it now.

~*~ SW ~*~

Shane leaves the watch room after the evening report with a heavy heart. He put off notifying the Andersons after the earlier reports and requests, but now he's got to take care of it.

It doesn't matter that Pete Anderson is a disgusting bastard, because his family will probably still mourn him in some fashion.

It's a flashback to one of his least favorite duties as a deputy. He knocks at Jessie's door, and she's a smart woman who reads his expression easily.

"How bad is the news?"

He can see both boys in the apartment, listening intently as Ron pauses the television show.

"Pete attacked Deanna Monroe today. Shot her and her husband. A witness responded with deadly force." They don't need the details of who or how unless they ask.

"Oh, God." Jessie steps backwards, finding the couch arm. Ron reaches up to balance her.

"Is Deanna going to be okay? Or Reg?" she asks.

"Yes. Hershel and another doctor operated on Deanna, and Reg only required stitches."

"Good."

He isn't surprised when Jessie starts crying, just a little, as does Sam. Ron looks angry at his mother for her tears, and Shane doesn't want harsh words said.

"How about we take a walk, Ron?"

The teenager slips out from between his mother and brother. They move to comfort each other, and Shane leads Ron outside.

"How can they cry over him?"

Shane remembers his own mother mourning a man not worth her tears. "You loved your dad once, right? Hoped he might get bettee one day?"

Ron nods, hugging himself as they walk. "When I was Sam's age, maybe."

"What they're crying for is mostly that any hope he can change and be a good person is gone now. He'll never be more than the man you had to move to escape from now.'

"Why don't I feel like that then?"

"Maybe you will, eventually, when it's had time to sink in. Maybe you won't ever. Both responses are valid. I never did feel any grief over my dad being gone."

By contrast, losing his mama and Grandma Jean still hurts to this day.

"Was he like mine?"

"The alcoholic part, yeah. And he was a mean drunk, but he stuck to words and not fists."

"Sometimes words are worse. My dad might get tired quick of hitting me, but he could go on for hours telling us how we ruined his life."

Shane knows the feeling. "I know you normally go to Merle or your friends, but if you do need someone to talk to, come see me."

"I don't want to hurt Mom or Sam by being angry."

"Walk away if you need to. They've got each orher to grieve. They'll understand. Be as angry as you need to be."

The teenager studies him as if determining his honesry level. "Alright."

"I mean it, Ron. Don't bottle it up because it feels inappropriate to be angry or relieved he's gone. Come talk to me, anytime."

Ron nods and falls silent, but he's circling them back toward his home. Shane doesn't press him further. He'll talk when he's ready.

When they reach the door, Ron pauses. "Thanks, Shane."

"You're welcome."

Once the teenager's back inside, he takes a slow pace in going to get Anaya from Daryl and Lori's. Hopefully, Ron will take his advice and not let his conflict over lack of grief fester the way Shane did.

The boy doesn't deserve his father to haunt him like that.

~*~ Aaron ~*~

Aaron slides into bed next to Eric and kisses his bare shoulder gently. Their guests are either back at the RVs or settled into their spare rooms for the night.

"You okay?" he asks. It's been a hell of a stressful day, and he knows if he's barely processed what happened, Eric will really be struggling.

"Just wondering why we let it go until someone nearly died."

"We're still thinking we're in a world where there's a legal system to protect us from making the hard decisions."

"I guess. I never expected Pete to end up that crazy gunman like on the news. As awful as he was to his family, that's an entirely different kind of crazy."

"At least he didn't do it when he was the only doctor here."

"Maybe he realized he wasn't irreplaceable anymore and snapped."

"Maybe. It's as good a guess as any."

Eric's quiet for a minute. "Would you ever consider leaving here?"

Aaron startles at thise words. "Seriously? And go where?"

"It's not like we don't have choices now. But Olivia says Denise is so happy at Homestead, and they wouldn't think it's weird if we wanted to be parents there."

"Eric? There's no guarantee we could be parents there either." Parenthood is one thing they put off, to both their regrets.

"No, but we wouldn't be excluded from the possibility there." Eric rolls to claim a kiss. "I always wanted to teach one day. I don't know that they'll ever change enough for me to do that here."

Aaron takes a while to answer, thinking it over as he rubs a soothing hand down his partner's back. "We'll give them til winter and go visit, at least."

Eric always asks for so little for himself. How can Aaron deny him better opportunities? And a teacher would risk so much less, be so much better protected.

Hopefully, Homestead will live up to its growing reputation.

~*~ Spencer ~*~

Spencer sits in the dark living room with juat enough whiskey in his glass to take the edge off so he might sleep. He still can't get the image of his mother helpless and bleeding out of his head.

Aiden seems to have set it aside already. He went to bed an hour ago, shrugging off Spencer's efforts at conversation about what happened today.

He could go back to the infirmary, but he doesn't want to be underfoot and irritate the medical staff. Both Dr. Carson and the visiting veterinarian are sleeping in the infirmary, so his mother is well cares for.

Although he can't complain about one of the visitors putting an end to Pete's rampage, he feels inadequate. He was there too, and unarmed and untrained in any close combat needed to disarm the man.

It's something he needs to remedy. Alexandria can't keep pretending there are no bad people left in this world. He's heard enough of the bad groups out there to not want anyone falling prey to anyone like them.

He reaches out to open the notebook with the alliance agreement. If he can't sleep, he can always memorize the damn thing and see if he gleans any ideas about moving Alexandria forward.

He wonders how horrified his mother would be if he began visiting other communities. He and Aiden have done supply runs, but that's home every night. To learn all he needs to know, he'll need to be away for days or weeks at a time.

That's a discussion for once his mother is recovered, though.

That decided, he gathers his drink and the notebook to head upstairs. Maybe things won't feel quite so overwhelming in the morning.