Chapter sixteen: Brand New Nest.
Ahead of us was a set of giant gates, spikes similar to those at the Prison lined both sides of the gates, Walkers were caught in them, with holes in their heads luckily; there were watch towers on either side as well and at the top of the right hand one, I spotted Sasha and nudged Tyreese, who looked up and laughed loudly, drawing her attention to us. I watched as her eyes widened and she called out over her shoulder for the gates to be opened quickly.
Behind the gates was a large community, the houses on the streets looked to be brand new and remarkably pristine compared to those we had seen before. An older woman and a younger man were stood waiting; glancing up at Sam, I pressed my lips together, pulling Judith closer, cradling her head protectively as Jonah sped up.
"What the hell is this?" He demanded and Aaron paused, gesturing to the street.
"This is Alexandria, our community." He answered and Jonah narrowed his eyes.
"I don't like the look of this, where is everyone?" That was a valid argument that put my teeth on edge. Jonah was right; there was no one around aside from the woman and her son and Sasha.
"It's evening; they're probably at home or asleep." Eric soothed and Jonah bristled, Phineas slapping his shoulder comfortingly.
"C'mon, there's nothin' to worry 'bout." He whispered, pulling back and joining Eric and Aaron as Tyreese powered on through the gates to embrace Sasha. "Ellie, c'mon, don't loiter out here." He added, and I was aware that Sam had stepped right behind me, bringing up the rear was Jonah, who was very nervous about coming through the gates.
"Welcome to Alexandria, my name is Deanna, this is my son Spencer." The woman said warmly, shaking Phin's hand and then Tyreese's. Jonah scowled and Sam and I didn't offer our hands, she wasn't bothered. "I'm sure Aaron told you about this, but I like to have a few moments alone to talk to everyone new here, separately."
"No," Jonah interjected, "no one told us that we'd be split up."
"Yeah, that's not gonna work for us, not with our group bein' vulnerable." Sam agreed and I thought Deanna looked a little taken aback but thought on her feet.
"Alright, we can talk here then." She allowed, calming the boys a little bit, but not enough. They kept looking around as though someone was going to come up behind us and whip them with snakes on strings. "Where did you all come from?" After a stony silence I huffed and stepped up to answer her questions.
"The four of us redheads are from Tallahassee, Florida," Deanna's eyes fixed on Judith as she nodded, taking in that none of the men in the group were her father. "Tyreese is from Jacksonville, Florida." Spencer was busy stink eyeing my brothers, almost as though he couldn't understand why they were son on edge.
"So, you four are siblings?" I nodded. "Ah, that makes sense then…now, who is this little angel?"
"Her name is Judith Grimes," I replied slowly and Deanna snapped up straight, looking confused. "Our group was split up a few months back when our community was attacked, we grabbed her and ran, lost track of everyone else." I explained and she nodded like she knew the story. "I doubt we'll find them now."
"You might be surprised," she replied slyly, nodding her head. "What did you do before this?"
"These three were engineers, talented too and I was an artist." I said and Tyreese stepped up.
"I was an NFL player, retired though." He added and Deanna smiled, nodding as she glanced at her son.
"Spencer will show you the way to you accommodations, there will be running water, fresh clothes and plenty of food. In the morning, we can get you acquainted with the people who live here."
After a few minutes, we followed Spencer, the sky was a lot darker now than it had been when we'd arrived and we were brought to a house in the middle of the town, it was big enough for a group three times our size to lodge in. Spencer left pretty quickly after handing Sam the door key, saying he'd get more copies the next day; we spread out and checked the place over. Just like Deanna had said, there was running water, hot running water at that; I kept Judith in a room with me for the night, setting up the travel crib Phin had found on the way here.
After feeding, bathing and changing Judith, I put her to bed and took up sitting by the window.
"You should sleep." Sam said seriously, standing shirtless and dripping in the doorway with a towel slung over his shoulder.
"You should put a shirt on." I shot back, eliciting a rare laugh.
"Drop dead sis…seriously, go shower and get some sleep, she'll be fine here with the four of us awake." He repeated and I sighed, scowling as I grabbed some fresh clothes and headed for the steamy bathroom.
I took my time in the shower, making sure that I was spotless before rubbing lotion all over my body and getting dresses in loose slacks and a comfy sweatshirt. My hair was a mess before being brushed and braided; I must have used half a tube of toothpaste just brushing my teeth as well.
"Come on sis, other people need the shower." Jonah called and as I exited the washroom, I noticed that he'd calmed down considerably.
"See? There was no reason to be so squirrely earlier, was there?" I said mockingly and he rolled his eyes, flipping me the bird as someone knocked on the front door. I had Sam shutting the door to where Judith slept, staying with her as I crept down to the kitchen, finding a sharp knife as the knocking came again. "Who is it?" I called and there was no answer.
Taking a deep breath, I reached to open the door, Phin and Tyreese moving into the lounge like ghosts, ready for anything. There was a familiar face on the porch, stood in a cowboy's hat and flannel shirt and my heart raced.
"Ellie," I felt my eyes fill up as I reached out and pulled Carl into my arms, his wrapping around me as best they could. "Sasha said she'd seen you, she said you had Judith."
"Yeah we do, we do, she's upstairs with Sam." I could hear her crying through the floor. "Sam, bring her down!" I shouted and the door opened.
"Who is it?" Sam yelled back and I laughed.
"It's Carl," there were frantic footsteps then before he appeared at the top of the stairs, the baby in his arms reaching for her brother. "Are the others here with you?"
"Yeah, all of us," he replied, taking Judith and holding her close. "I told them it would be this house, they didn't listen."
Kissing her forehead, Carl turned and whistled into the darkness, other people bleeding out of the shadows and onto the street front.