As tired as I was, I couldn't get to sleep. I still don't know why; the new surroundings, the strangers sleeping in houses next to me, no humidity, clean sheets, or maybe Daryl snoring downstairs. I probably got around an hour of sleep before my body decided that five minutes before sunrise means time to get up. My legs ache as I walk into the clean hallway, and find the bathroom. Do they have running water? I shut the door behind me and strip out of my torn, mud-clumped, and sweat stained clothes. My fingers shake as I grip the shower knob and slowly turn it.
A cascade of fresh clear water pounds onto my body, waking me up and bringing a smile to my face. I haven't had a shower since everything went to shit. I look to my right and see soap and shampoo on the shelf. I begin to laugh and cry as I wash the dirt from my skin and hair. Why do I deserve this and my family didn't? I turn the water off as the thought sneaks into my mind. I could have saved my dad. I had a gun. He told me to hide and protect my mom and sister, but I could have stopped those men. My mom wouldn't have gone crazy and disappeared. My sister wouldn't have killed herself while I slept.
I quickly get out of the shower and force myself to look at the face in the mirror. My face is skinnier than I remember. My hair is too long and thick, but that's not new. I shake my head at myself.
"It's not my fault," I tell myself hoping that saying it aloud will make it believable. "Dad would have sacrificed himself for us no matter what or when. Mom was bound to lose it. She could barely handle real life. And…Chelsea…" My lip quivers as I say her name. "She was scared. That's not on me."
I close my eyes and grip the sink as I take a few deep breaths. I wait until my thoughts repress again because, let's face it, they won't ever go away. My eyes flit open and I find a towel hanging on the wall. I wrap it around me and open the bathroom door. I lean over the balcony and sigh when I hear soft snores drifting up to my ears. I go into my room and shut the door quietly.
I dry myself off and look at my dirty clothes that I brought with me. My curiosity gets the best of me as I search the dresser for clean clothes. Lo and behold, there's various sizes of clothes. I pull out some jean shorts and a red tee shirt. I find some clean underwear and bras as well in various sizes. This place, man. I get dressed and shake out my hair. It usually curls by itself, so I decide not to bother looking for a hairbrush.
I tiptoe downstairs and into the kitchen. It feels so odd to be in a real functional house. I open the fridge and gasp. There's food. I glance into the living room to find Daryl in a deep sleep, snoring away. I take out two eggs and start to make breakfast. I find a box of Cheerios and shrug. That's the only other breakfast type food in here. When it's all done, I stand with the two plates of food deciding whether or not to wake him up. I walk silently into the living room and place the plate on the ground next to the couch.
I eat my food in the kitchen so I don't disturb the strange man sleeping on the couch in the other room. His chest slowly rises and sinks as he sleeps. My eyes are hypnotized at seeing another person resting. It's been only a few weeks on my own, but it's still weird to me. I finish my food and put my plate in the sink for later. I go upstairs and put my shoes on. I slip outside without Daryl waking up. The brisk morning makes me take in a deep breath. This place is even prettier in the morning light, as with most things.
I step down the porch steps and on to the sidewalk. It seems that everyone is still sleeping, but then I see a woman walking ahead of me. I follow behind her and call out to her. She spins around with a confused face as she tries to figure out who I am. I catch up to her and smile.
"I'm Leah. Um…Rick brought me here last night."
A smile cracks her face. "Oh! He said something about a new person, but I forgot until just now. I'm Olivia."
Olivia leads me to the pantry and explains when and what I can take. She also goes on to explain where things are such as the doctor, where Rick stays, the garden, the watch towers, and where the armory is. Olivia seems nice and genuine, but it gives me anxiety. This place can't possibly stay afloat with such nice people, right? Olivia says my name, apparently she asked me something while I was spacing out.
"Do you know what you're good at?"
I shrug. "What do you mean?"
"We might need some more people on watch duty, or to go on runs. But if that's not your thing, I'm sure Maggie can find something for you to do here."
"Maggie?" I ask even though I'm not really interested in staying around and doing boring jobs.
"She is one of the top dogs around here," she laughs. "She's really sweet. I'm sure you'll meet her today."
Olivia wasn't wrong. Maggie soon showed up and asked me to go for a walk with her. She gave me a proper tour of Alexandria, and asked me about how I survived so far. I tell her in brief detail to avoid intruding thoughts from bubbling up again. She notices that I'm not telling her everything and says that she's always here to talk.
"How are you with a gun?" She suddenly asks.
"I'm decent, but…I don't want to kill people…" I say quietly, remembering what Rick asked me last night.
Maggie smiles a contagious smile. "How are you at scavenging? Would you like to go on runs?"
I nod and look around. "That's the only way I am alive."
Maggie tells me that Glenn and another person are going out on a short run into town to see if there's any more medical supplies on a street that they cleared of walkers yesterday. She leads me to the armory and I stand in shock at the number of weapons they keep. They could have a small army here and have extra. I stop her and tell her that I have a gun, but she smirks and hands me more ammo. Rick must have told her already what gun I had.
"I'll tell Glenn that you're going with him. I think he's getting ready to head out now."
Maggie and I go separate ways as I head towards my house. It's going to take some time getting used to calling it my house. I walk up the porch and go inside. I peek around into the living room and a frown tugs at my lips. Daryl is gone, but the plate of food is still there. He didn't even eat it. That's kind of a waste. I pick up the plate and put it on the counter.
I go upstairs and grab my gun and stop as I see the pictures of my family sprawled across the floor. I pick up one of me and Chelsea and place it in my pocket. She was always my good luck charm. I go outside and walk over to the line of cars where I see Glenn, some other guy, and Daryl talking. Judging by the tone of voice, Daryl isn't too happy about something. I stop when I'm next to them, and wait for them to tell me what's going on. They all stop talking as soon as I'm close and Daryl storms off to a motorcycle. Glenn forces a smile and tells me good morning.
"This is Heath," he says gesturing to the black man in glasses and dreads in a hair tie. "Heath, this is Leah. We found her last night while trying to find supplies."
Heath shakes my hand. "Welcome to Alexandria."
I smile at the first human contact that I've gotten in weeks. "Thanks. So are we ready?"
Glenn follows Daryl's loud motorcycle into a small town not far from Alexandria. The place looks as ransacked as it possibly can be. Glenn and Heath make small talk about Maggie and her apparent pregnancy. She didn't seem pregnant to me. Although, she was wearing a jacket that covered her belly. I look out the window and into broken shops. A few walkers look our way, but don't follow because we are going too fast for their attention.
"Where is he going?" Glenn mumbles angrily.
He parks the car on the street and gets out. Heath and I follow suit and step outside. Daryl keeps driving further from us until we can't hear his motorcycle. I look around the street and notice something on top of one of the buildings. There's a makeshift tent blowing gently in the breeze.
"Hey," I say quietly and point towards the possible hideout. "Should we check it out?"
Heath looks up to it. "That's new, Glenn. We should check it out."
Glenn looks at me and shrugs. "Leah, you go. That building has a fire escape around the back. Heath and I are going across the street to break a safe we found yesterday."
Heath looks at Glenn suspiciously, but listens to what he says. It's getting clear who pulls rank around here. I go around the building carrying the bag that Heath loaned to me on the car ride over to carry anything useful I find. The alleyway reminds me of something out of a superhero movie. I've never actually been in one before. I go around the back and find the rusty fire escape. Before I go up, I look around to make sure no walkers are around to grab my legs.
My hands grip the bars of the ladder as I get up to the first landing. I'm already out of breath when I get there that I regret saying anything about the tent. However, I need to keep going. I climb up the next and the final ladders to the top. The tent is blowing still in the breeze. I can see now that it's made out of stained sheets and duct tape. I silently walk around to the front and stumble backwards when I finally see who is inside. There's blood everywhere. I stifle a scream as the wind pulls the flaps of the tent up to show more of the horrible scene. A body lay motionless on top of a sleeping bag.
I swallow my fear and step closer. The smell is horrible and flies are buzzing around the blood. I see a bulky bag near the body. I'm sure something in there will be useful. I step closer and freeze as the body stirs.
"Oh shit," I mutter as the walker sits up.
I quickly back up and reach for my gun. The walker shuffles to its feet and lunges towards me. I point the gun at it, but I can't pull the trigger. Blood drips from their wrists, and their hair is a mess. I step backwards again, gun still raised. It snarls at me and reaches out. I pull the trigger as it lunges at me again. The walker lands on me and I scream loudly not sure if I hit my mark. My head smacks the ground and I black out.
