Heterochromia Iridum

Hello, you! Here's the second installment, I'm sorry if the story is starting off a bit slow for you, it hopefully will pick up in a few chapters.

And a big thank you to the kind people that told me to continue! jeanf, Jianali, YaoiLovinKitsune, TheHungryRainbow, & strawberryfruitsnaxs . I really appreciate the words of encouragement.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters associated with the franchise. I own the plot to this story and any original characters you may see, like Katty or Calum.

Chapter 2: Stars

Katty had never met a man that had made her see stars like Daryl Dixon did. That had winded her, dazed her in a way that made her question if she was even conscious anymore. She felt like she was floating, held up by the wings of something much greater than her. His face had been inches from hers, and Katty blearily wondered why his mouth was moving but the only noise she could hear was wind and a high pitched ringing and why the only thing she could feel was a dull throb in the back of her head.

As the ringing dulled, Katty realized that her joke hadn't landed as hard as she had planned.

At least, no where near as hard as she had landed up against the concrete wall of the nearest building when Daryl had shoved her into it. She remembered her head bouncing off the wall and the air leaving her lungs as Daryl had rammed himself into her small frame to keep her pinned there while he yelled incoherent words at her.

It barely registered to her what he was yelling at her, she was more concerned with the black spots dancing in her vision and refilling her lungs with oxygen. Which was proving difficult to do with the much larger body of Daryl depriving her of air.

Normally, Katty wouldn't have complained if an attractive man had made her lose her breath, but as she fought to stay conscious, she felt she could have passed on that opportunity today.

She watched, stunned, as hands reached around Daryl and pulled him off of her. He resembled an unchained, unhinged dog and she was morbidly fascinated that she managed to elicit that reaction out of him. She stumbled as her feet finally touched the ground, and Katty was surprised to realize that she had been lifted off of it in the first place.

"- an' who the fuck do yah think yah are," His loud words were finally being formally processed through her brain, and Katty watched as Rick and Aaron dragged him a distance away from her. She noticed at the inopportune moment that anger made his accent thicker. "Stupid bitch." He spat at her as he fumed.

"Daryl," Ricks voice cut through the angry redneck's insults and Katty's thoughts, "Go cool off. Aaron, get him out of here," he ordered angrily.

Daryl didn't wait for the other male, he just angrily shrugged his grip off of his shoulder and stalked off. Aaron cast once last incredulous look towards Katty before he jogged off after him.

Eric rolled his eyes at Katty as she blinked stupidly in the direction Daryl and Aaron had gone. "Making friends wherever you go, how do you do it?"

Rick sent Eric a pointed look, to which the man put his hands in the air innocently, "I'll go see if Aaron needs help with Daryl."

Not sparing Katty the slightest last glance, though she doubted she would have seen it anyways if she had been paying attention, Eric hobbled after his significant other and their angry friend.

Katty couldn't believe that had happened. She had severely underestimated the reaction that the other man would have had, and had stupidly assumed that he would have been surprised, confused, or oddly flattered.

She really was crappy at reading people.

"What the hell is your problem?" Rick bit at her, and she flinched, directing her attention towards him. "I don't know who you claim to be, but if you cause an issue with one of mine or my family again, you will be kicked out."

Rick took a step towards her, and if Katty had anywhere to go she would have taken one back. She didn't though, considering she was already leaning against the wall for support, so the other male succeeded in towering over her and seething.

"Let me be clear, Katty. If you harm one of mine, I won't hesitate to kill you," his eyes were intense and angry and Katty believed every word he stabbed at her.

Eric had briefly filled her in on Rick's group when she was at their house showering, and she felt her stomach twist into a knot.

Regarding him, Katty couldn't make herself bristle or become defensive. She had fucked up. She hadn't had much human interaction in months, with the only regulars in her world being Aaron and Eric for months. They were different from Rick and his group. They were a different breed of survivors, ones that hadn't learned the real trials and tribulations of the world like Rick's group undoubtedly had. Fear, starvation, true horror and loss.

"Understood?" He ground out, a threatening tone lacing his features.

Katty glanced at Michonne, who also wore a stern expression. Katty understood that someone unfamiliar to them, someone that apparently knew details about one of them, was immediately perceived as a threat. She would have to figure out a way to clear up the misunderstanding without causing more questions to arise. Katty wasn't eager to disclose a great deal of information to these people, either.

"Understood," she was annoyed with how meek and small her voice sounded.

Rick regarded her, his jaw clenched. "Before we take you to Deanna, I have some questions of my own. Starting with how you know Daryl."

She shuffled her feet nervously. She knew that this would come up in conversation eventually, but Katty wasn't enthusiastic that it was so soon, without the company of the only two people she knew here, and while she was being stared down by two less than welcoming residents.

Katty decided being direct and blunt while leaving out certain details would be the most beneficial in this situation. "I don't know Daryl, never met him, didn't even know what he looked like or that he was here until Aaron mentioned it. I know Merle," she paused to look at them both briefly before she ran a hand through her hair and continued. They obviously weren't entirely satisfied with her explanation. "Merle – he found me and my friend," she couldn't make herself say his name, "brought us back to this community. Merle, I guess, mentored me – kind of – while we were there. Wasn't there a long time, just from late fall to when the spring hit, and we decided it wasn't for us and we left. Merle helped get us out."

Katty had tried not to stumble and hesitate over her words, but she failed. She hadn't told this story many times, and a lot of it she had been attempting to block from her conscious mind for a long time. At night was a different story; her dreams were often filled with the terrors that the memories of that time in her life supplied. She felt the pace of her heart jump as it crossed her mind, and she closed her eyes and tried to steady her breathing. Katty refused to let herself have a panic attack in front of these people.

"Woodbury," Michonne supplied plainly, detest clear in her voice.

Katty knew they have both seen her visibly flinch when Michonne had spoken the name of the town that Katty was describing, and she was grateful that neither of them commented on it. She didn't want to know why they knew about Woodbury; Katty had put that place behind her and she didn't want to add to her own personal collection of skeletons and scars.

Neither Rick or Michonne offered any elaboration on their involvement with Woodbury, and she didn't ask.

"Why would Merle help you leave?" Rick asked.

"We were friends – sort of," Katty said, and scowled at Michonne when she snorted in derision. "We were."

"The man that ran the town –"

"The Governor."

Katty recoiled at his name, and looking at Michonne and Rick, though they still were suspicious and distrusting of her, she could tell they understood. They were familiar with him, and Katty wondered who of theirs The Governor had hurt.

"The Governor decided to single me out, and Woodbury became something that I hated, that I wanted to leave behind. Merle wanted to continue to look for Daryl, so he stayed, but he made sure we both got out. Don't get me wrong, Merle is a piece of shit. We had our fair share of arguments. But he saved my life, so I promised myself that if I had the chance to meet him again or his brother, I would. I owe it to him."

Katty looked at them both evenly, and she was glad that her voice had ended on a strong note. She didn't exactly lie to them, she just glossed over some details. The key to a successful lie was to stick as close to the truth as possible, and be vague enough that they created their own details in the spaces between information.

"You're alone?" his voice was softer after her explanation and sounded less hostile.

Katty glanced at the ground, her thoughts continuing their morose path and roaming towards her missing best friend. It must have looked like hesitation to Rick, because his voice regained the sharp, demanding tone.

"Are you alone?"

Katty nodded slowly, her eyes meeting Ricks. "Me and my friend – uh, Caulm," she felt her throat constrict at the mention of his name. "we got separated mid to late spring, I guess. A herd got the better of us and he ran off. I don't know –" she broke off and stared at the ground, not wanting to continue. Not wanting to think of what could have happened to him.

Rick peered over to Michonne, who nodded, before continuing.

"How many Walkers you killed?" she sent him a furrowed brow at the foreign term. "Dead ones."

"Too many to remember." She shook her head.

Rick nodded, "How many people?"

Her eyes widened and she stared at him, "How many people?"

"How many people have you killed?" he repeated.

Katty picked her thumb nail between her fingers and swallowed, her mouth suddenly feeling thick and dry.

"Three," she murmured. Rick opened his mouth, but Katty interrupted him. It didn't take a genius to guess what his next question would be.

"One asked me too," her tone was defensive. "He was dying."

"And the other two?"

"Self defense," Katty levelled Rick with a stern look.

"I think I'll decide that for myself," he raised his eyebrows, prompting her to continue with an expectant look.

She swallowed again and glanced at the dirty ground before looking back at them both. "Like I said, The Governor singled me out, and he wouldn't have let me go willingly. Two of his men, they tried – they tried to," she broke off as she searched for her words. "It was the night that I got out. It was necessary, and they deserved it." Her voice was as bitter as her tone was final, and left no room for argument.

Rick and Michonne watched her for what felt like the longest few minutes of her life. She looked anywhere but them, and still could feel the continuous, burning stare.

"Deanna is still waiting," she heard Michonne remind Rick.

Rick nodded, his blue eyes still locked on her face. "Deanna will decide if she thinks you're right for Alexandria. If you cooperate, and stick with our people, it should work out,"

Katty anchored her eyes to his. There was an underlying message there, but she couldn't quite figure out what it meant. Rick hadn't been here that long, did he really already think of the residents of Alexandria as his people? Or was he referring only to his personal subset of family.

She gave him a short nod, and mustered up a small smile that probably looked more like a grimace.

"Alright."

Katty suddenly felt awkward, and guilty for upsetting Daryl. "I didn't mean to piss him off like that. It was more of a bad joke," she mumbled.

"Daryl's brother, Merle, is a sore subject." Was all Rick elaborated on the subject. "That was a really bad joke," he chastised.

She frowned at Rick. "Well, I haven't exactly had many people to practice my stand-up routine on."

Rick sent her a skeptical look, but she heard Michonne snort out a laugh. Katty smiled at the other woman.

"You picked the absolute worst person to try new material on," Michonne grinned at her.

Katty sent a sheepish look at them both. "Yeah. Kinda get that now, thanks."

The walk to Deanna felt like a death sentence with the two of them walking on either side of her. Rick remained silent and calculating most of the walk, not offering any comfort or encouraging words.

Katty had initially found Michonne intimidating and callous seeming, but the other woman had been making an effort during the short walk to keep the tension light, and would throw in odd comments or humorous, blunt explanations of Alexandria or people they passed.

She had forgotten that Alexandria had other inhabitants, and shied away when she had initially noticed random people milling about, or watching them from their verandas. They were watching the three of them curiously, and Katty noticed the leery glances that Rick and Michonne would get as well. It seemed that she wasn't the only black sheep in this town.

"They don't like you two much, huh?" she commented offhandedly.

"We've only been here about a week," Rick supplied, seemingly unconcerned.

Katty snorted loudly and unattractively. The other two sent her an odd, questioning look.

"Oh come on, really? Not even a week and Deanna has put two strangers in positions of authority?"

"She thinks that the more we're involved in the community and present, the faster that everyone will accept us."

Katty shrugged. "Fair enough. Makes no difference to me. Can't imagine everyone else is chuffed to bits, though."

She glanced around at their confused expressions and sighed. "They're not thrilled." She reworded.

"No, not really." Rick admitted. Katty didn't think he sounded like he cared.

Michonne rapped on the door quickly as they approached, and after a short moment an older man opened the door. He looked Katty up and down before extending a hand towards her.

"Hello there," he greeted kindly. "I'm Reg."

"Katty," she mumbled, shying a glance up at him. He had short, grey hair and wore tortoise shell glasses. She figured that this must be Deanna's husband.

He stepped aside and gestured them in. "Come on in, sit down. Deanna is just finishing up with Maggie and she'll be right out." Reg led them around through the hallway and into the living room.

The houses in Alexandria had surprised her so far. They were expensive and lavish and well furnished, and stood at such a juxtaposition to the rest of the world that it unsettled Katty. This house was no different. The hardwood was constructed to look somewhat distressed, but shone without a scuff. The wallpaper in the hallway matched the drapes in their living room, and complimented the neutral selection of leather and fabric furniture. Two degrees from Boston University hung on the wall, and Katty noticed that it didn't bear the name of either of the two current owners of the house. She glanced around at the books and movies that littered the shelves in the room and wondered if any of these trinkets were theirs. The rolled up maps in a metal basket, the vintage nautical instruments, the weird collection of antique boxes. Was any of this them or was this a sham they up kept to maintain a reference to the normalcy that they lost when the world ended.

She eyed the dark stain on the far wall in the dining room. It was likely from mould or water damage, and found it somewhat satisfying that even Alexandria wasn't immune to decay.

Aaron and Eric's home had been more simple, and contained elements of them that Katty had to resist in pouring over. Almost every wall had bore some unique licence plate or random sign that one of them had obtained while out scouting. The cocktail of colors of letters and numbers hadn't matched perfectly, but seemed to go together well enough. There were photos of Eric and Aaron together, and their garage was full of mechanical tools and small parts, organized into chaos. It was still lavish and completely different to what Katty was use to, but it felt lived in and welcome in comparison to the Monroe residence.

Rick and Michonne walked into the dining room and sat at two of the expensive looking chairs that were around the round, wooden table. Katty stood in the middle of the living room awkwardly, feeling extremely out of place. Walking into a house after sleeping in trees and half made tents for so long was jarring and unnatural feeling.

Behind Rick and Michonne was a grand kitchen, with a white island that supplied four more attractive wire and wood stools. Every inch of this house had been well furnished and decorated, and even though Katty had just showered, she thought she would tarnish it.

"Please, sit," Reg offered, nodding to the chair behind Katty that was decorated in a pattern she couldn't quite name.

She awkwardly perched on the end of the cushion and wrung her hands together. Reg attempted to smile at her in a comforting way, but Katty could only feel her nerves jump. She forced herself to take a deep breath as two sets of footsteps approached, and a dirty blonde head followed by one with brown hair appeared in the dining room. Katty wondered what her pulse was at that moment. This was worse than facing Biters.

Deanna was short, and probably in her mid to late 50s. She looked like she still styled her hair, and Katty wondered if these people still owned blow dryers. Deanna walked towards her with a well practiced smile and calm, watchful blue eyes. What had she done before Alexandria, Katty wondered.

The young woman behind Deanna had brown hair that skimmed her shoulders and appeared to be about Katty's age, possibly a bit older. It was hard to tell with people now, the apocalypse aged everyone. Katty tried to remember what Reg had called the other girl earlier, but couldn't.

"Hello, Katherine, is it? I'm Deanna Monroe, and this is Maggie Greene."

Katty realized that she had been staring, and quickly stood up. That was supposed to be polite, wasn't it? She shook both their hands quickly.

"Just Katty is fine." Had Aaron told everyone her name was Katherine? Katty hated introducing herself, and hoped she wouldn't have to for many more people.

"How are you liking Alexandria, Katty?" Deanna asked with an encouraging smile.

Katty shuffled awkwardly and wondered if she should sit down again. All the eyes in the room were on her, and when she felt uncomfortable, she made bad jokes.

"I much prefer an Ionic design to the simplicity of the Tuscan column, but as long as the interior isn't paired with a Corinthian order, it's alright. They're too embellished to be viewed interiorly, I think." She gestured to the columns on either side of the entry way between the living room and dining room.

The blank stares that were returned at her were enough to make Katty wish the floor would open up and swallow her whole. What was wrong with her? Shit.

"You know about architecture?" Reg asked, interested. "I was a professor, before."

"Erm, nothing past shitty jokes about concrete. Sorry." Katty cleared her throat and reached a hand up to scratch the back of her neck. Behind them and the dining room, Katty saw Michonne put her forehead in her hand and start to laugh silently, her shoulders shaking slightly. Maggie looked like she was fighting not to laugh, and Rick stared at her as if she had grown another head.

She wondered if she had offended Reg, and grimaced.

Reg, however, looked more amused than anything. "I see." He turned and placed a hand on his wife's shoulder. "I'll be in the study when you're done, dear." He then bid them goodbye with a wave of his hand and walked downstairs.

Maggie made her way over to the door, but Deanna stopped her. "Maggie, would you be alright with staying and helping Katty get settled after, and showing her around? I'm sure Rick and Michonne would like to get back to work."

Deanna looked towards Katty when she addressed her. "You won't mind if Maggie joins us for our discussion? I don't know what Aaron told you, but it's informal, not an interview really at all. Just questions."

Katty wanted to point out that interviews were composed of questions, but she suddenly acquired some IQ points and kept her mouth shut. "No, not at all." She replied hastily. Not like she had the choice to disagree anyways.

Maggie nodded, "Alright." She then offered Katty a small smile as she took a seat on one end of the black leather couch. Katty sat back down as well.

Deanna saw Rick and Michonne out, and Michonne quickly flashed Katty an encouraging thumbs up as she left. They spoke quietly at the door for a minute or two before Deanna returned.

"Do you mind if we record this? We like to be transparent here in Alexandria."

Katty noticed for the first time a tripod set up in front of the leather couch opposite her, and she looked at it apprehensively. How did these people have the novelty of video cameras, when she barely had clean water outside the town?

"Yeah, that's fine." It wasn't.

Deanna placed herself on the other end of the couch and pressed a button on the camera that made a red light appear.

"So, what did you do before all of this, Katty. Obviously not architecture," Deanna gestured all around her, and Katty wondered if 'all of this' to Deanna meant something different that it did to Katty. Had she even been outside these walls before?

"I was nobody. It doesn't really matter anymore, does it?" she shook her head slightly at the question. She doubted that waitressing and modeling and repeatedly dropping out of college were relevant anymore.

"That's the thing, Katty, it does matter." Deanna leaned forward in her seat, clasping her hands together, looking attentive and immersed in their short conversation.

"Reg used his skills from before to build those walls you see out there. They keep us safe. I was a member of congress in Ohio, and that skill set has allowed this community to prosper."

Katty thought prosper was a loose term. From what Aaron said, the already constructed community was self sufficient long before they arrived.

"Maggie worked on her father's farm before, and her knowledge of agriculture is going to be very treasured to us." Deanna smiled in the direction of the aforementioned younger female, but Maggie's eyes were fixed on Katty's.

"You look familiar, Katty." Maggie stated, squinting her eyes and tilting her head at her.

Katty didn't think she had met Maggie before, but it wasn't like she had a good memory anyways.

She shrugged, "I was a waitress and a few other things, always between jobs and in debt. I went to college and dropped out more times than I want to admit, so the only blessing the apocalypse has so far is that I don't have to worry about student loan debt now. I wasn't really good at anything worth anything."

"Aaron tells me that your dad taught you a lot about agriculture, but on a smaller scale than Maggie knows. I think that it would be very beneficial to get a different perspective."

"I know about what a farm can do, with the proper equipment and systems in place. It's hard for me to get use to doing it with what we have here," Maggie admitted, crossing a leg over the other and sending a disarming smile her way. She was pretty, Katty thought honestly.

"I don't know everything he does," Katty immediately countered, and then paused. She should probably be trying to sell herself, not convince them she wasn't useful. "But he did teach me a lot. After we moved from England when I was a kid, we lived in a bunch of different states, so I have an idea what can grow well under the weather conditions that Virginia has. If I can get to a supply shop, we could start."

Deanna politely waved her away. "Let's not be too hasty, you just got here after all. We won't send you out right away, you should get settled first."

Katty could feel her face fall, but it was understandable. They didn't trust her. She didn't trust them either.

"Your family was largely into herbalism as well, is that right? We don't have anyone that knows about that here," Maggie added. "We do have one doctor, and thankfully we haven't gone through a lot of supplies, but working with what's around us would be better in the long run."

Katty nodded at her. She agreed with that. It had been useful when her and Calum were travelling, if they got cuts, scrapes, or blisters. Minor injuries, she could deal with. Katty wasn't sure how much she could help on the larger scale though. They didn't need to discuss that now, though.

"How long have you people been here?"

Deanna smiled. "Since the beginning of it all. Maggie joined us from Ricks group about a week ago, and other people trickled in at he beginning, but myself, my husband and our two sons were the original Alexandrians."

"You haven't been outside these walls?" Katty asked, incredulous of Deanna.

"We all have jobs, and mine involves staying inside these walls and being aware of everything that goes on. We have scouts, like Aaron and Eric use to be before he got hurt. There's a collection of people that do supply runs, so we do have people that go outside the walls, Katty. We aren't completely naïve."

Katty disagreed, but she wouldn't start that conversation. How had a community that had been here almost two years not have figured out how to grow their own food yet. Katty doubted that anyone outside of Rick's group knew how to proficiently defend themselves, and she thought that Alexandria was lucky that a group like The Governors hadn't come through and slaughtered them all.

They talked for a while longer, about how Alexandria was run, who to talk to if she had any concerns, before Deanna decided to wrap up the conversation.

"I'm willing to take a chance on you, Katty. I don't know how you feel, but I think that this could be a mutually beneficial situation. How do you feel?"

"I don't know, to be honest. It's been a long time since I've been around people and everything feels wrong." Katty wrapped her arms around herself before continuing. "I'm going to fuck it up." Her words were crass, but she didn't know how else to explain it.

Deanna flicked the video camera off and stood up, which Katty followed in. She walked her over to the window behind Katty and pointed out it.

"This is the start of civilization, Katty. A chance to rebuild, and you can be apart of it."

Looking through the window, Katty didn't just see the residents of Alexandria. She saw people that would inevitably die, in one way or another, gruesome and quick or slow from famine and sadness, and she averted her gaze.

She tried not to see the similarities between Alexandria and Woodbury, she tried not to wonder if Deanna was a carbon copy of The Governor, she tried to find a reason to believe that this could be a new beginning for her and not the end.

"I'm willing to try." She said, mirroring her thoughts and turning to Deanna.

Deanna smiled and looked her in the eyes, and Katty wondered if she knew what she was thinking.

"A few of our members are out on a supply run right now, Heath and his group. So while we figure out a place for you to stay, I'm sure they won't mind you staying in that house. It's smaller, but just as nice as this one, I promise." Deanna thought Katty would care. She frowned when she heard she wouldn't be staying with Aaron and Eric, like she had assumed. Katty knew that it was selfish, they weren't her best friends, technically they barely knew her, and they obviously wanted to have moments alone when they could catch the time.

"That's fine," she said instead of what she actually thought. She didn't sleep much at night anyways, so it probably wouldn't make a difference.

"Okay, well I think that's enough for today, don't you?" Deanna didn't wait for a reply before she continued. "Maggie will get you set up and tour you around, and I'm sure I'll talk to you tomorrow, Katty."

Katty couldn't get out of that house fast enough, and resorted to waiting for Maggie on the front porch after a brief goodbye to Deanna and Reg.

Maggie came out of the door, took one look at Katty's face, and laughed. "Painful, right?" she commented as they walked away.

"I thought she was trying to recruit me to drink the Kool-Aid." Katty muttered with a frown. The woman had high hopes for Alexandria, Katty just wasn't sold yet.

Maggie laughed carelessly. "We all had to go through that spiel, I'm afraid."

Katty peered at her around her hair, "Sorry you had to sit through it twice, then."

She waved her away. "That column joke you told was punishment enough, it made sitting with Deanna look easy."

It was Katty's turn to laugh. "I'd try to comfort you and say that I have better ones, but I don't."

"Something to look forward to, then."

"Exactly." Katty looked around at their surroundings. "So, tour guide, tour me around."

Maggie rolled her eyes before squinting in the distance. "Glenn! Come meet Katty!"

Katty inwardly cringed but attempted to appear friendly. She didn't really want to meet anyone else today, to be honest.

The man named Glenn approached, and Katty was surprised to find another person around her age. He was of Korean descent, with dark hair and dark eyes, and approached them with a smile. He quickly reached out a hand to lovingly squeeze Maggie's side, and she laughed.

"Katty, this is Glenn, my husband. Glenn, this is the newbie."

Glenn extended his hand towards her. "Nice to meet you. Cool eyes," he commented, peering at her interestedly.

"Right? I thought she looked familiar," Maggie added, and they both stared at her. "I think it's the eyes."

Katty didn't want to ask her if she shopped at Victoria's Secret. Before the apocalypse, she had gotten lucky in California and had been scouted while waitressing. Katty got offered a chance to audition to be an underwear model. She had initially thought the man that approached her was trying to trick her into doing porn, but was surprised when she Googled him on her break and found he was a legitimate source. She had signed a two-year contract with Victoria's Secret a few months before the world stopped, and had gotten a few pictures of her up on the website, modelling their swimwear.

She didn't exactly like modelling, but it was better money that serving, and Katty had a lot of student loans to pay off.

But already being a repeated drop out and a waitress didn't paint her in the most accomplished picture in the apocalypse, and Katty didn't want to add to that list by disclosing she was a model as well. So she simply shrugged and refrained from advertising that.

"Maybe I just have a common face," she offered.

Maggie squinted at her for the second time that day, "Not really, but oh well." She looked around Alexandria, and then back to Katty. "What have you done or seen so far?"

"Well, I've gotten all my shit taken away from me, I've stolen clothes from Rosita, and I've offended Daryl, for starts."

Glenn let out a startled laugh and looked over to her with a grin. "What happened with Daryl?"

"I called him hot."

Glenn guffawed and stopped to rest his hand on his knees while he laughed. "You've got to be fucking kidding me."

"Language," Maggie snapped and swatted at him, which Glenn effectively ignored.

"No, I'm sorry, you called Daryl, like Daryl Dixon, hot? To his face?"

"It's been a difficult day. I've found out I'm not as funny as I think I am."

They both laughed at her sullen expression.

"I know I'm taken and everything so options are slim, but Daryl? Really?"

Maggie picked up a small rock and chucked it at him. Katty rolled her eyes at Glenn's disbelieving expression and laughed lightly.

"I'm more into the rough, manly, dirty vibe he's got, Glenn. It really makes me –"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence," Glenn groaned and slapped a hand to his face. Maggie and Katty both cackled at his discomfort.

"I'm kidding, calm down," Katty laughed. "He hates me now anyways, so it's a mute point."

She would have to think of a way to apologize to Daryl, Katty mused. She wondered how difficult it would be.

They walked around the streets of Alexandria with Glenn and Maggie taking turns explaining the different buildings to her. The infirmary was a smaller white building, located beside the small body of water and across where Aaron and Eric's house was. There were many different homes along that particular block, and Glenn and Maggie supplied the names of who lived in which home when they could, but they weren't entirely sure at times either.

The church was located at one end of Alexandria, with a dark roof and a pointed section at the front of the building. Everything was well preserved and well maintained, with odd touches like lights along the sidewalk where trees were planted. The solar panels were just inside the main gate, and they pointed out the building that housed the armory and the Alexandria inventory, which someone named Olivia was in charge of.

They also explained their jobs to her; Maggie was currently Deanna's assistant, and Glenn went on supply runs. Katty wondered if she would get a chance to leave the walls, or if Deanna would want to keep her under a constant, watchful eye.

A lot of the residents were walking around, chatting with each other and sending Katty curious glances, but thankfully, no one approached them. She had had enough of being sociable with everyone, but was thankful that she seemed to get along well enough with Maggie and Glenn.

A small, quieter part of Katty wanted Alexandria to work out and prove to be something worth protecting; Katty was just finding it difficult to believe that such a place existed after being outside for so long. She decided that tomorrow, she would try more to introduce herself, not only to the other people that lived here, but to Alexandria itself. Maybe if she proved that she was worth more than her previous job as a waitress or her dad's knowledge, they would let her tag along on supply runs. She was quick and somewhat competent, or so she thought.

They ended the tour with the house that she would be staying at. All of the homes were large and fully furnished and Katty wondered where the original inhabitants had gone. Deanna had stated that a man named Heath and two other men lived here, and they were all currently out on a run. Most of the homes in Alexandria were composed of four bedrooms, three bathrooms, an attic and a den, so there was one empty bedroom available in Heath's house that Katty was given. She was nervous to be in a home with three men who she didn't know and she wondered when they'd return and if they'd care she was there for the time being.

Glenn and Maggie explained which house they were in, one which was a few houses away, and that they would try to introduce her to whoever was around from their group tomorrow. Tomorrow she was supposed to go over to the infirmary at some point to familiarize herself with what Alexandria already had in supply, and help organize supplies.

When she walked in the house after Maggie and Glenn had said goodbye and gone back off to their respective duties, it was the same story as all the other homes. Vaulted ceilings, skylights, and everything looked like it had been chosen from Style at Home Magazine. The walls and furniture were muted and pretty with random splashes of colour in the form of throw pillows, area rugs, and art on the walls.

The kitchen was pristine like the rest of the house, with purposely distressed and faded wood, lighting along the bottoms of the cabinets, and granite countertops that perfectly matched the backsplash of the wall. It made Katty uncomfortable; she felt like she didn't belong.

She walked upstairs and opened a random door. Katty's backpack had been placed on top of the bed, so she assumed it was the free room that was hers for the time being. The hardwood was light and the walls were painted a colour that was somewhere along the spectrum between grey and mauve. She immediately hated the color. The bedspread and headboard were light, with rod iron curling to make a headboard in a weird design that Katty assumed was meant to be modern. There was both a seat at the end of the bed as well as a light coloured fabric armchair in the corner, but upon closer inspection, the one at the end of the bed also opened and acted as storage.

She had a bathroom attached to her room, which was dark and mostly tile and some other expensive, smooth rock which acted as her counter top. There was a large tub against one wall, behind large glass doors. Katty thought it was odd until she noticed that the shower, with two heads available to use, was apart of the large open area.

The two rooms were larger than most of her apartment back in California, and Katty wondered how people were ever able to own enough useless stuff to fill it.

She noticed that she hadn't been given back any of her weapons, and they had even taken the ones that were left in her bag. Just great, she grumped. New, unfamiliar environment and she wouldn't have anything to protect herself with the first night.

Katty immediately went into the kitchen and grabbed the biggest knife she could find before checking all the doors and windows to make sure they were locked, and going upstairs again.

She didn't feel right going through the other inhabitant's bedrooms. It felt like an invasion of privacy in a world where privacy was a scarce commodity, and she didn't want to be the one to take that away.

Katty wandered over to her window, and when she peered out it, her eyes immediately found a figure sitting on the railing of the house beside the one that Glenn and Maggie had pointed out as their own.

Daryl.

She chewed her full lips and watched him for a few minutes, contemplating how she was going to apologize to him. He was smoking, and she could just barely see the tendrils of smoke twisting in to the air and disappearing.

It reminded her of Calum, and how he always let out a whoop when they found a fresh pack of cigarettes. She'd never smoked a cigarette before, being scared off by her dad that it would turn her teeth and nails yellow. Ironically, dying of lung cancer was the last of anyone's worries right now.

Thinking of Calum gave her an idea how to make peace with Daryl, and she quickly checked her bag to see if the item in question was still there.

She let out a happy noise once she found it. Success!

She would deal with it tomorrow though, she procrastinated as she decided her few clothes, hygiene products and things she had collected on the road should be unpacked.

If Katty had gone back to the window and looked for a little longer, she might have noticed the direction that Daryl was facing. Or the fact that his head was slightly inclined towards her window as he breathed another cloud of nicotine out. But she didn't. So she didn't.

Stars, indeed.

A/N: You finished the chapter! Yay! Please leave a review and let me know what you think, I'm still getting the hang of writing in this universe and trying to include all the characters sufficiently and respectfully.

I plan to try to keep everyone as in character as I can, and I'm going to avoid bashing on Carol or Jessie or anyone else; the show does a good job of showing dynamic relationships and I want to be able to do that too.

See you next time!

-Submechanophobia