Alexandria

Judith was sitting on her lap, content with being held while MJ prowled the room looking for things to destroy. He had wiggled down, and made it for a decorative vase sitting on a table with flowers in it. The flowers had gone flying and the water he dumped on the table, happily spashing away. RickyJo had apologized to the woman profusely. They had been out on the road so long, its all the small boy knew. Keeping him alive and safe had been the priority, teaching him manners had not. After growing bored with his water mess, MJ toddled over to a book shelf. His hair was getting long and RickyJo had tied it up in a little ponytail, which bobbed as he walked. He pulled at one of the books, finding that it fell to to floor making a loud bang, he clapped his hands in delight. Then he started pulling each book out, letting it fall to the floor. Deanna could see that the boys' mother was ready to get up and stop him.

"Its quite all right," Deanna assured the woman, "I haven't seen a baby in such a long time. Just let him have his fun." RickyJo turned to be sure the woman meant it and wasn't just being nice. She could see Deanna was watching her son with a soft wistful look and a smile on her face. RickyJo guessed maybe the woman was thinking about her own sons when they had been that age. MJ was cute, espeecially the curious look on his little face. It struck RickyJo suddenly that the reason her son was so excited to touch everything was that he had never been in a real house before. Sure they had taken shelter in a few abandoned homes, but none of those had been nice and clean like this one. And thinking of that, she shifted nervously in her chair. The house was so clean it made RickyJo notice how dirty she was. Her hair was greasy, and her fingernails were dirty. She couldn't remember the last time she had washed her clothes. Her boots were muddy and she hadd worn them in, walking across this woman's clean floors with them on.

"I can tell you are nervous," Deanna told the woman, "why don't you start by telling me why." RickyJo sat quietly for a moment. She was trying to decide if she should make up a lie or tell this woman the truth.

"The last time I got taken into a new camp," RickyJo explained, "they were really nice to me, just like you all are. Then they took me into a room where they were butchering up other people to eat them. And they said if I didn't want to join them they were going to eat me and my baby." Deanna was speechless. She had heard a lot of terrible things, but that one took the cake and the icing.

"You were by yourself then?," she asked once she had recovered. RickyJo shook her head.

"I was with my baby's father," she said.

"Thats Merle?," Deanna asked, "the one with the missing hand?" RickyJo nodded. Deanna didn't say anything about it, but she found it interesting that this woman was referring to Merle as her baby's father. When Deanna had talked to him, he had been calling her his wife. She wondered about the status of the relationship. After all this woman was beautiful and kind enough to take care of a baby that wasn't her own. And Deanna had two single sons.

RickyJo looked down, smoothing the back of Judith's hair. She really hoped Deanna wasn't going to ask her about why they had left the group. She didn't want to get into all that. Mostly she just wanted to forget it. Deanna didn't ask about that, she had already heard the story in different variations from the other people she had talked to. She knew this woman had been through a terrible ordeal. Deanna was more interested in the other things she had heard about this woman. Things that could be a huge asset to her and the people she was responsible for.

"I heard you know a few things about gardening," Deanna said. She could see the woman let her breath out in a sigh of relief. Growing plants was something RickyJo would be happy to discuss. In fact she had a few things she wanted to say to Deanna about it. Things she had noticed as soon as they entered the community. RickyJo wasn't sure how much to say right now, she didn't want to insult the woman by suggesting she was doing anything wrong,

"Can I be blunt with you?," she asked Deanna. Deanna smiled.

"Of course," she answered.

"You are growing a lot of grass here and not enough plants," RickyJo started. "People can keep going on runs, but eventually all the stores in the surounding area will be cleared out. I would start planting now, or people are going to starve later."

"We do have gardens that you haven't seen yet," Deanna told her. She liked what the woman had said. RickyJo was already taking active interest in the well being of the community and those were the kind of people she needed here.

"Is it a quarter acre per person worth of gardens?," RickyJo asked. Deanna shook her head. She doubted they even had one quarter acre of plants total. "Then its not enough," RickyJo told her. She was nervously watching the older woman for her reaction. Maybe she shouldn't have said anything, even if it was the truth. Deanna stood up and held out her hand to RickyJo. After shifting baby Judith around, RickyJo stood so she could shake it.

"Welcome to the Alexandria Safe Zone," Deanna told her with a big smile, "I have the perfect job for you."