On the Team

The adults met in the living room to discuss the scouting trip to the mountains. Daryl, Rick, and Morgan told the group that they had found a four wheel drive suv that they thought could handle the rough terrain of the mountains. The plan was to look around about a week and then come back and report to the group.

Carol had seen the three men talking to each other but this was the first time that she had heard the details about the trip. She was pissed and Michonne looked pissed as well. Carol thought of all the times that she had watched the others go off on runs and dangerous missions while she stayed back at the prison. The more things change the more they remain the same.

"Why should it be you three to go?" she asked, her tone a little tart.

Rick gave that look. The one that said, "Just sit down and let the men handle this." The one that still pissed her off.

Daryl looked vaguely alarmed. "This ain't no trip for a woman to go on."

Michonne said, "You mean like traipsing all over Georgia by myself looking for the Governor? Or do you mean trying to survive out there with a baby is so easy that a woman can do it." Her tone was bitter.

Morgan looked at Michonne and Carol. They were physically and emotionally strong. "Are you two wanting to sign up? I think you would be good candidates." He smiled at Michonne and she smiled back.

Rick said, "You two are needed here." He still had that vaguely condescending tone that he could have when he wanted something done but didn't want to do it himself.

"Rick, you are needed here. You have a daughter and a son here. You are their only surviving parent. They need you." Carol was not going back to the Ricktatorship of the past. Rick needed to be here to protect this house and not running off and expecting everyone else to take care of his children.

Rick looked at Daryl as if to say, "Shut your woman up".

Daryl had been watching Carol. She was serious. He wanted her here warm and as safe as possible, but she wanted to be with him. She was his partner. It had been so easy to fall back into the same old behaviors. The following after Rick and leaving Carol behind. It was time to find his missing testicles. "I don't go unless Carol goes. She is right, Rick. We need to keep fighters here to protect the children. You stay this time and next time Carol and I will stay." He smiled at her and she smiled back.

Morgan said, "She'll be a complete pain in the ass, but I'll take the ninja with me if you all don't mind." He glanced at Michonne and she was smiling so he thought that he had a good chance of surviving that joke.

Rick fumed, but he couldn't refute that this house needed a leader if Carol and Michonne were going. He was needed here. He knew he had been expecting the others to watch over his children while he was gone like they always did.

The others watched the discussion. There wasn't a lot of entertainment to be had here and watching Rick getting put in his place by Carol and Daryl was better than another game of poker.

The team met at the kitchen table to discuss details. Carol had a notebook and pen. They discussed when they should leave. The group decision was to take a day to get everything together and then leave the next morning. Daryl would change the oil in the Tahoe and check everything out tomorrow. Carol, Morgan, and Michonne would go on a run for warm clothing. They had a camp stove but needed some more fuel. Carol would pack first aid supplies. Daryl laughed, "I knew Carol would plan this like the invasion of Normandy".

When Carol and Daryl went upstairs Alia was in their bed reading a book about snakes. She seemed to have taught herself how to read and was interested in learning about everything. "Who has been reading in my bed? Its Alialocks and I am going to throw her out". Daryl caught Alia up and tossed her up in the air and he caught her and put her back on the bed.

Carol laughed at them, "Alia, it is bed time. " Daryl and Elijah had found bunk beds for the two kids. The room was very crowded but at least everyone had their own bed.

Alia begged, "Just tell me some of this words". Carol was amazed at how many words that this five year could read and Alia seemed to take it personally when she encountered words she didn't know.

Carol helped her decode the words and knew that Alia would remember them the next time she read them. Alia was more than smart; she was interested in the order of things. She had made a calendar and she and Daryl would draw in the phase of the moon every night and on clear nights they would go out and ensure that they were right. She followed Eugene around when he worked on machines and asked a million questions. She was fascinated by the simplest things, bread rising or why water boiled away. Eugene would sit down with her and explain it as best he could.

Daryl pretended to read a book beside them but mostly he just listened to the two of them talk about snakes. Alia was a big fan and Carol not so much. Occasionally Alia would want him to look at a photograph. She was a little disappointed that he wasn't a fan either.

Finally, Carol shut the book and reminded Alia that it was time to go to bed. "I need to tell you something before you go. Daryl and I are going to go on a little trip to look for a new place for all of us to stay. We'll be gone for a week or so".

Daryl shut his book and watched Alia's face. She was so smart that you sometimes forgot that she was only five. Alia's face was a mixture of anger and sadness, "You don't need to go off and look for a place. We have a good place. It's the best place I have ever had."

"This is a good place, but we are going to find a better place. A place big enough so that everyone can be close together but have some more room. We need more room to grow food, maybe we'll be able to find some animals and have a real farm. We have to go to find it, but we'll be back before you know it". Daryl rubbed Alia's shoulder and tried to comfort her. He glanced at Carol and she seemed as upset as Alia.

Alia leveled her big brown eyes at Daryl and he knew he was a goner. "Are you going to find one house or a whole bunch of houses?"

"We might find one big house but it is more likely that we are looking for a place with houses close together." Daryl wasn't sure what this was about but he sensed a trap somewhere.

"If we don't live in one house, then where am I going to live?" Alia's lower lip quivered and Daryl looked ready to cry himself.

There it was thought Carol, who was going to be this child's parents? Who was going to listen to all those questions, make sure that she was clean, warm, and safe, and in the end love her every day of their life? There were younger adults here who could do a wonderful job. They would give this child everything that she needed, but Alia wasn't meant for them. The two people who needed Alia the most was her and Daryl. Alia had known instinctively and she had chosen them to be her parents.

"You will live with me and Daryl if that is what you want or with someone else if you would rather live with them." Carol kept her voice calm and collected. She wasn't going to cry in front of Alia. She might misunderstand.

Daryl gulped and then smiled at his Alia, "There are going to be some rules at my house. I ain't having no damn snake in my house. Now that is final."

Alia looked at them almost suspiciously, "Then, I can be your little girl, and you'll be my mother and father?" They both nodded. Alia turned to Daryl and smiled mischievously, "What if it is a little snake?"

Later, after Alia had gone to her bunk to sleep Daryl commented, "You just committed us to raising a five year old without asking me. Just saying".

Carol rolled her eyes at him, "Who was the one who built her a swing, took her on walks, and who is wrapped around her little finger? That would be you, I had to ask her if she wanted to live with us because you were going to cry if I didn't".

"Did you do it for me? I love her sure enough, but I don't want you to do this for me. I know that you are still grieving Lizzie and Mika." Daryl rubbed her shoulder.

"I did it for both of us. We love her and she loves us. She isn't a replacement for the children I have lost. She is just …Alia. She makes me smile just to say her name. It isn't just you who is wrapped around her little finger. I will fight that much harder to keep her safe, but I know I can't do it by myself. I need you, Papa Bear. I know that you want me to be safe, but I only feel safe when I am with you. I'll have your back when we are out there. Thank you for being okay with taking me with you." She smiled at him and Daryl knew that he wasn't ever going to leave her behind again.

The next day was busy for the team. Carol had sat down with the other members of the house and asked for input on what they should look for. Eugene helpfully wrote out three pages and everyone else made a few suggestions. The run went well and they found what they needed. Carol and Michonne made a checklist and checked things off as they packed.

Carol found herself excited about the trip. She would be walking on "new ground" and going with people that she trusted completely. Carol talked with Sarah and Rachel about Alia and they seemed comfortable with Alia being with her and Daryl full time.

Alia was worried about them not being home for Christmas just a week away now. Carol told Alia that they would try to be home. Daryl had already found her a microscope and a real doctor black bag complete with a stethoscope and a blood pressure kit. Carol knew that getting Alia a Barbie was useless unless it was Real Body Barbie and Alia could dissect her. Carol was hoping to find something on this run for Alia.

Eugene promised to continue the moon phase calendar and to watch over Alia while they were gone. He seemed to take their going as badly as Alia, but bucked up when they promised that he could always live with them. Daryl told Carol that Eugene would never leave them. He said it again and stressed the word "never" even more. Carol reminded him that Eugene adored Alia and he was endlessly patient with her questions. Daryl laughed, "He can live with us, but I am never wearing a mullet".

Carol took a walk with Tyreese the afternoon before they left. "I trust you to find us a good place, Carol". There would always be this bond between them; one forged by grief and pain. He knew that she had loved those girls and that grief would never really go away. He knew that someday he wanted to be married and have children. He had loved Karen but that romance was just starting when she died. He had seen the wagonload of bodies that the disease had ravaged. He was a man who took forgiveness seriously.

They left at dawn the next morning. Carol was excited when they got to the main highway and they turned to the left and headed toward the mountains. She wasn't sure why it had been so important to her to make this trip, but just felt right to be here now on this run with her friends. Carol had made a thermos of coffee and wrestled it away from Michonne before she drank it all. Daryl laughed at them and relaxed in his seat.

Carol was surprised at how quickly they were in the mountains. The highway was clear. There was an occasional car or truck along the highway but the lanes were open. Snow clung to the tops of the mountains and in the shadowed hollows but it was sunny and bright on the highway. They had looked at the map over and over and they had decided to stop at tourist centers to see if they could find resorts, state parks, or tourist attractions that might be good places to settle. Daryl joked that he wanted to settle at the Biltmore. Morgan said he thought that the casinos at Cherokee sounded safe. The two women shook their heads.

They stopped at a tourist center at mid-morning. There were two very ragged looking walkers crawling along the pavement. Daryl and Morgan took out three inside the center and they took the brochures and advertisements outside to study. Most had a map inset in the ads so that they wouldn't be too difficult to find.

They chose several of the brochures as "possible" but continued on the highway. The little towns they passed through looked deserted but most of the storefronts had been boarded up. There was evidence of looting but there wasn't stuff scattered everywhere. These people had taken what they wanted and not trashed everything.

Daryl noticed that there were few walkers around and the ones that he saw were literally falling apart. Walkers were not immune to the laws of science and they had been frozen and thawed too many times to be as dangerous as they were in Georgia. There weren't many people living up here when it started and that meant less walkers too.

Carol said, "Stop at that convenience store up ahead." The place looked emptied out but the door was shut on it. Daryl wrenched it open and went ahead of Carol to clear the path. There were two "ankle biters" lying on the floor but they were soon put down and out of the way. Daryl checked the restrooms while Carol looked through the debris around the counter. She found what she was looking for and showed it to Daryl. It was several pages of real estate listings in the area. There was an address for the realtor.

The company name was UR Home Now Reality and the address was on Second Street and it took them all of three minutes to find the office. Daryl used the pry bar to open the door and they were in to a large dusty room. Daryl and Morgan checked out the restroom and a small storage room but the place was empty.

The realtor had each listing in a separate folder with a map with its location marked on it. Daryl kept an eye on their surrounding while they went through listings. Michonne said, "I am not wasting my time with any property that is referred to as a "fixer-upper or starter home". I didn't live this long in the ZA to wind in a dump".

Morgan said, "Bingo! What about this one? It's a 300 acre farm with free gas. Three homes on the property and large barns. It's listed at $2,699.000. I am putting this one in the keeper file".

"Here's one with possibilities. It's a 267 acre farm with meadows, ponds, and a three barns complete with all the farming machinery. There are two houses on the property and free gas. There are large springs on the property. It's a bargain at $ 2, 299.000. "Michonne liked the sound of free gas and plenty of fresh water.

"Mountain Top Farm with 200 acres and four log homes with a view of the mountains and plenty of clean water fresh from your very own springs. This homes have solar arrays that will provide you with electricity the year round. They want $2,499.000. Sounds like these guys were planning for the end of the world. Wonder why they were selling?" Carol had read part of the spiel aloud and knew that it was the realtor's job to make the place sound good.

Morgan and Michonne came over to look at the photographs. The log houses were big but not palatial. This one went to the top of the pile. They gathered up all the keepers, locked the door, and used the map to find Mountain Top Farm.

They left the town behind and headed up a mountain road. There saw an occasional house along the side of the road and wood smoke curling up out of chimneys here and there. There were strong fences around those houses and Daryl noted that the wood piles were full. The rest of the houses were deserted and starting to give in to the weather. Daryl counted four houses had people living in them and the other thirteen were uninhabited.

Mountain Top Farm was at the end of the road. They followed the rutted road to the four houses who had looked a lot nicer in the photographs. One house was completely finished but the other three were at various stages of being finished. There were steel barns a good distance away and there were meadows, pastures, and garden spots. The frames for greenhouses were still there, but everything looked as if it would take a lot of work to make this place a home. There were fences around the orchard that looked as if it had been here a lot longer than anything else on the place.

Carol and Michonne climbed up the stairs to the deck outside the finished house. The door was securely locked and Carol felt a strange reluctance to have Daryl to force it open. She turned around and saw the whole world unfold before her eyes. You could see for forever from here and she felt sad that this dream had fallen flat. Carol saw something move on the driveway and shifted into warrior mode but it wasn't a herd of walkers or a band of marauders. It was a just a woman walking briskly toward them.

As she came closer Carol could see that she was older than she had thought. She had hair as silver as Carol's but she looked to be in her seventies at least. She was alert and friendly and seemed to be strong and healthy. She smiled at them as she came closer and held out her hand to be shaken. "Hello, my name is Lydia Coulter and welcome to Mountain Top Farm". Lydia waved her free hand at the farm. "Are you folks in the market for a new home?" Carol noticed that Lydia had held her hand the longest and that she kept staring at her.

Michonne said, "We need to negotiate the price a bit. It is pretty much a buyer's market out there." Lydia grinned at her and Michonne found herself chuckling back.

"I heard your vehicle and I came out to investigate. The realtors left a set of keys with me while they were showing the house, so I grabbed them when I left my house. Let's take the grand tour." Lydia climbed the steps to the deck and unlocked the front door.

The inside of the house was finished. Carol liked that they had put ten foot walls on this floor but had forgone the cathedral ceiling. The entire front was a big room with an open concept kitchen and a large dining area. There was a full basement and a bedroom and bath on this floor. The second floor had four good size bedrooms and two baths.

The next house was almost as big with the same plan but there were only three bedrooms on the second floor. The next house wasn't finished but it looked to be identical to the second house. The last house was longer than the others and there two bedrooms and baths downstairs and two bedrooms and two baths upstairs. The deck hadn't been finished and the kitchen was an empty except for the plumbing and electrical fixtures but Carol liked this house as much as the others.

Lydia had opened the doors for them and locked them back when they finished looking. She was waiting on the unfinished deck of the last house when they came out, "They were all dreamers with inherited money and no practical sense at all. They bought this farm from the McAllister's and began building the houses. They wanted to be environmentally friendly and they spent all their money on solar power, geothermal heating and cooling, and every expensive innovation to save Mother Earth. They ran out of money and couldn't pay the bills. They spent their long green to keep their farm green. End of story."

Daryl looked at the sun, "It's getting late. We better look for a place for tonight."

Lydia decided that she better get home before it got late, "You folks can stay with me. I have a couple of extra bedrooms. You can stay here if you want. There is a smaller house on out there. It has a wood stove and there is probably some firewood around. Which ever you want."

Carol smiled at Lydia, "We would love to stay with you. Can we drive our vehicle there?" Daryl turned around to stare at Carol. She knew better than to trust a smiling face yet she was smiling at this old woman like they were the best of friends.

Lydia said, "I'll ride with you. We have a while if you want to go look at the rest of the place. They build a cistern to collect the spring water and bring it to the houses for drinking water. They had wells dug and there were solar panels to power the wells."

Daryl and Morgan looked around the place. The barns were filled with solar panels and plumbing supplies. One barn had a disassembled log house in it according to the manifest. There wasn't much in the way of farming supplies. Morgan ventured, "We find some of those outdoor wood furnaces like we have at the house. It would heat those houses and give hot water too."

Daryl looked at the view, "It's a beautiful place but how do we defend it?"

Morgan said, "We make a line of traps and snares around the fence line and we can find fencing for the area around the house. There are people living on this mountain and we better check out the neighbors before we make any decisions."

Michonne and Lydia were chitchatting about the weather. Carol was staring at the view again. She broke in to say, "What was the name of the family that sold the farm to the dreamers?" Carol's maiden name was Carol Ann McAllister. She had never met her father's family because her mother had never told them that she was pregnant when Michael McAllister was killed in some faraway place. Carol had seen the photographs of a young looking soldier and her mother. Cheryl had collected Michael's insurance and soon married the first of Carol's several stepfathers.

Lydia said, "When Nancy died her children sold the place. They had all moved away by then. Nancy was my cousin and you look like her. Would you be a McAllister?"

Carol said, "My maiden name was McAllister but we are from Georgia. So no kin to these McAllisters".

"You're kin enough, my dear to know that there is something about this place that calls to you. I can see it in your face. I should have seen it when I first saw you. Nancy and I married brothers so my name is officially Lydia Coulter McAllister. We Coulters have a bit of the "sight" you know. I reckon you do know, that is why you found your way up here. That is why you trusted me enough to come to my house. We better get going. It's getting colder and that wind cuts through these old bones".

Daryl and Morgan walked back from the barns. It was getting colder and they were all hungry. Carol's mind was whirling. Lydia was certainly an odd duck with her talk about the "sight" and this place calling to Carol. Daryl opened the passenger door for Lydia and helped her in. Morgan followed her directions to a small house on the other side of the mountain. It was warm inside and there was a pot of rabbit stew brewing on the wood stove. The old lady raised rabbits and chickens and a garden. She was a survivor.

AN

I know I promised myself that I wasn't going to have the same characters and this homecoming is far different than my other stories. Perhaps some odd McAllister will wander home, but maybe Carol is the last of that line.

So let me know how you feel about this story. A review, please.