Beth poked around in the kitchen, her hand gliding over the granite counters as she took in her new surroundings. It was going to be weird staying in a strange house, she felt it might even be weirder than sleeping in the woods. She thought back on what Christie and Mitchell had told them and felt sure that this Reichert man would say they couldn't stay and would have to move on. She had never known the feeling of insecurity until all of this had started. She'd always been safe and happy on her family's farm. The biggest worry she had before was which college she was going to get accepted into. That seemed so silly now. And it seemed so long ago.
"Dreamin' of all the good food you're gonna make us?" Daryl asked as he stepped in from the backyard.
"Why would I be doin' the cooking?" she gave him a quizzical look.
"Well I figure it would be you or one of the other women." he shrugged as he opened cupboard doors.
"We'll see about that." she smiled and continued to wander around.
"Right, we might be back out in the woods tonight."
"To be honest, I think I'd be more comfortable." Beth confessed. "It's weird bein' in someone else's house like this."
"They're dead, they won't be needin' it." he thought it was pretty easy to understand. Dead people don't need fancy houses like this one, so why worry.
Beth stared at him in shock. Sometimes the things he said shook her. "I'm gonna look around upstairs."
She walked along the upstairs hall and passed an open door, seeing Lori lying on the bed fast asleep, she decided to be as quiet as she could. It was a nice house, she just couldn't shake the feeling that not all was what it seemed here. She hadn't said anything to anyone since the others seemed eager for a little peace and quiet, and she neither blamed them or begrudged them a little comfort.
"Dad, I see that woman comin' back!" Carl came running from one of the rooms down the hall, flying past Beth.
"Moment of truth?" Beth muttered as she went to take a seat on the stairs, noticing Lori still asleep apparently undisturbed by Carl's yelling.
"Hey." Rick opened the front door and let Christie and the man he could only assume was Reichert in.
"Hey." Christie nodded to him. "See, already playing the good mannered host." she playfully elbowed Reichert.
He wasn't exactly what Rick had been expecting. Listening to Christie and Mitchell talk about the man, he had expected a large, intimidating man. Instead, the man that stood before him was short, the little bit of hair he had left clinging to his head was gray which matched his full beard. He was rather round, and Rick could imagine him rolling around like a ball if he was knocked over.
"This is Rick." Christie started the introductions, trying to remember the names she'd heard earlier. "Daryl, Carol, Carl, T-Dog, Maggie, Glenn and Hershel." she pointed to each in turn. "I could be wrong, but I think there are couple people missing."
"Lori is upstairs napping." Rick looked around. "I guess Beth must be, too."
"So, there are ten of you?" Reichert asked as he motioned for everyone to sit. "That is a lot of people." he chose a large armchair for himself.
"More people to help out around here." Christie pointed out.
"And more people to feed." he countered with a fatherly smile to the young woman. "And there are no more of you expected to be showing up?"
"We did get separated from one of our group." Hershel replied. "A young woman named Andrea."
"Oh yes, Mitchell mentioned that." he nodded as he looked around at the assembled group. "You do realize it would not be a free ride?"
"We were told we'd have to pull our weight." Rick nodded. "None of us are afraid of hard work."
"Good, good." Reichert smiled. "And you understand our rule on weapons?"
"The bit that we were told." Rick nodded yet again. "We can't have any weapons until we're given approval."
"And even then, you do not get to carry weapons around inside those walls." Reichert informed the group.
"What if a walker gets by your guards?" Daryl asked, very uneasy at the thought of not having any way to protect himself or a member of his group.
"Our walls are strong, and we've got good men and women guarding us."
"Everyone makes a mistake, once in a while, someone's bound to slip up." Daryl argued.
"Are you always this argumentative?" Reichert asked as he looked Daryl up and down.
"Yes." he answered without even considering his answer.
"Good." the little man smiled. "I don't like when people seem to eager to kiss ass."
"Does that mean they can stay?" Christie asked impatiently.
"You do realize, don't you, that if any of them make a mistake, it's your neck on the line?" he asked her, wanting her to be fully aware of the consequences of Rick's group fouling things up.
"Yes, I know." she nodded. "And I explained it all to them."
"I'll give you lot a one week trial period then." Reichert got to his feet. "She'll keep an eye on you, and no doubt Mitchell will be checking in on you quite often."
"Understood." Rick took a deep breath. He hoped he was making the right decision for the group.
"I'm gonna assume you're the group leader." Reichert turned to eying Rick. "Interesting." with that he turned and headed for the door.
Rick looked at Christie for an explanation, but all she could do was shrug. She had no idea what Reichert meant by that.
"You coming, Christie?" he asked as he opened the door.
"Uh, yeah, I am." she got up from her seat and headed into the foyer. "I'll be back tomorrow at 7 a.m." she informed them. "We'll get you started on your chores."
"We'll be waiting."
They watched as the pair left and headed down the street side by side talking and occasionally looking back to the house they'd just left.
"I hope you know what you're getting us into." Daryl sighed, still not happy with the weapons situation.
"At least for tonight we've got a safe place to sleep." Carol pointed out.
"We don't know that yet, do we?" Daryl asked as he headed upstairs to claim a room for himself. He passed Beth on the stares and they exchanged a look that let the other know that neither of them was sure this was a safe place.
"Only time will tell." Beth whispered.
"Guess so." he replied quietly as he headed past her.