The car you climbed into had enough fuel to take you away from this lousy place. You drove without knowing where to go, also because now it was the last thing that mattered: What you had to do now was to bring as many miles between you and this camp as possible, to find a safe place to rest and looking for something new and supplies to get stronger again. Now that the adrenaline is fading, the pain in your wrist came back, stinging and terrible, along with the swelling that was slowly increasing. You had to find a way to treat it as soon as possible. You spotted a side street and hid the car between the trees and shut off the engine. You didn’t think the men were looking for you, even though you doubted that many were alive, but you decided to stay quiet for a while, alert with your senses, ready to face any danger. A scratch at the window woke you up. A Walker smeared and clung to the glass, growling hungrily. The remnants of broken nails on the smooth and transparent surface indicated that he was trying to reach you for a longer time. You looked around in confusion, because the daylight falling through the trees warned you that you had slept for a long time. You suddenly had to collapse without realizing it, with the weapon in your lap. Sighing and half sleepy, you started the car, ready to start your own life again. You drove a few miles to a small town. You’ve seen so many in those years that they all look the same. Small, messy, empty. You got out of the car and concentrated on a place where you could regain your strength and you found a umpteenth abandoned market near a pharmacy. Although it was more important to treat your wounds, you decided to quench the atavistic hunger that bended you. When you entered the entrance to the first building, you slipped inside, ready to raid the departments from top to bottom. After weeks of dull gray and dumb food, this stuff looked like gold. You quickly went to pharmacy and looked for a disinfectant and bandage to heal your wounds. With relief, you found a roll and a bottle of expired disinfectant: It didn’t matter, it’s better than nothing. You poured it over the ulcers that came into contact with the fluid and it produced a disgusting white foam. The damaged skin burned, flooded with excessive amounts of fluid on the wound. You shook your wrists and walked out of the shop, ready to continue your journey where you didn’t know when you’ll end it. About fifty yards from the car was a group of Walkers crossing the road. They saw you and started to crawl and hobble in your direction. You stiffened because it didn’t matter how many you’ve seen in your life and how many you’ll see: The living dead will impress you again and again. Excited, they increased their speed and came up to you. With big and fast steps you reached the car and turned the key and accelerated, but the car didn’t start. You made one last attempt to settle for walking on foot. “Fuck!”, you screamed out. Then you ran and started moving away from the car and the little herd getting closer and closer became more and more numerous. You ran on wobbly legs and tried to escape the undead, who came now from all sides. You kept running even though you were tired. “It shouldn’t have happened like that…”, you whispered between your teeth. The stinging smell of rotting flesh penetrated your nostrils as they slowly approached. A shriek of tires overwhelmed the guttural voice of the Walkers as a car parked in front of you and blocked the passage. The driver opened the door and shouted that you should get in. You were petrified, undecided what to do but Rick’s words warned you again in your mind.

‘Fight the dead. Keep the living alive.’

The man in the car renewed the invitation. “Hurry up!” Instinctively you loaded the gun and turned around and shot a Walker, who was only a meter away from you, wanted to grab you by the shoulder. His head exploded with a notch in his brain. You decided to get into the car, closed the door and aimed the weapon at your savior. He saw the gun, stiffened and reassured you when he stuttered that he didn’t want to hurt you. His hands on the steering wheel trembled with tension.

“Did you come to take me with you to bring me back?”, you asked inquisitorially.

“What? Where? Back to what?”, he asked, looking startled and confused and you did not think he was one of the men from the camp. “Sorry, but can you please lower the gun?”, he asked softly, but with a high voice that betrayed his fear. You did so and in a jiffy you drove away from the herd and the city.

“If you knew where I came from, you wouldn’t ask me for it.”, you replied, tightening your grip.

“Indeed, I do not know, but I assure you I have no bad intentions.”

“And why would you have helped a stranger and brought her to your car, who tells you that it isn’t me who is dangerous?”

“It was a rash decision, but I had no choice, I wanted to keep an eye on you for a few days, but the herd forced me to cut time.”, he replied confidently. His words made no sense. “What the hell are you talking about?” You were sure you’d found another dysfunctional survivor, but at least you had guns this time.

“Don’t get upset, I can explain everything to you! My name is Aaron.”, he swallowed nervously.

“So, Aaron, what’s going on?”

“We recruit people, we save people.”

You laughed. “I don’t think you have the body of a fighter.” The man next to you was thin, with dark hair. You raised an eyebrow. “And you don’t even have a weapon.”

“If you want a proof then open the glove box. Please.”

“If you make a wrong move, I’ll shoot your brain away!”, you threatened. Hesitantly, you opened the drawer door while watching the man with one eye. Inside, you saw photos. “What’s that?”, you asked suspiciously. Aaron cleared his throat nervously. “These are the photos of the place I live in. It’s a community not far from here, it’s called Alexandria, my job is to look for people who can survive and live there and to find shelter.”

The explanation this man tried to give you seemed rather disturbing. “In what sense are you looking for people?”

“When we find a group or a single person, we watch them for a few days, whether they are good people or not, we offer them the opportunity to live in Alexandria, because the more we are the better…”

“And you tried to do the same with me?”

“Yeah, but I already told you, I didn’t have time to study you better, I took a big risk in telling you these things.”

“Why are you doing this?”

Aaron takes a few seconds to answer. He shrugged and said something that reminded you of Glenn. “Because I still trust people, because I still see the good in people.”

You sighed and decided to lower the gun and shook your head. “How I envy you…”

The man slowed down to stop the car and approached the side of the road. He turned and looked at you as he held his hands to the steering wheel. “Are you interested?”

“You have no idea who I am… Tell me: Who tells you it’s not dangerous?”

“Judging from the weapons and the blood that covers you, I’d say you’re very dangerous, but if you were the way you intended, you probably would have killed me already.”

You kept quiet and tried to assess the situation, even though one single question came to your mind: What the hell are you doing, Y/N? You escaped death and now you want to throw yourself into the arms of a stranger? Aaron woke you up from your thoughts. “What did you do with your hand?”, he asked, pointing to her, visibly swollen. Instinctively, you covered your wounds. “I broke my wrist.”

“May I ask you how?”

“Okay… I’m also going to run the risk of telling you something: I was held prisoner in a camp, I don’t know how long, I didn’t count the days, I don’t even know what day it is today. They mistreated me and at some point, I decided I had enough, I purposely broke my hand and wanted to kill everyone.”

Your eyes were bright. Your words probably made no sense, but the desire to tell everything was so great that you could go beyond reason. However, you bemoaned your crimes and burned your chance to seek asylum in this imaginary place. You shook your head sadly. “I’m not the kind of person you think I am…”

Aaron looked at you seriously and blinked. Then he nodded. “Well, I’m convinced of that, but the decision isn’t mine.” The man resumed his journey by rearranging himself on the street. “Anyway…”, he continued, “… you have to be examined by a doctor, your wounds could get infected and get worse.”

“A doctor, and where do you think we’ll find one?”, you asked disillusioned. Aaron looked at you, surprised by your question. “In Alexandria, where else?”

“Do you really have a doctor?”, you asked in shock. Aaron smiles sheepishly. “Actually, we have two doctors.”

“Okay…”, you answered. The man changed the subject. “You said you did not know which day is today, it’s the 23rd of December.”

You turned to him and didn’t believe what he said. “Are you kidding?”

Aaron smiled. “Not at all, why should I?”

You shook your head. Two months. You lost two damn months of your life at this camp. “It doesn’t matter…”

Alexandria looked like a happy and carefree city where no apocalypse had arrived. Even from outside the barriers that protect them, you could literally smell the happiness emanating from the walls of the houses. As soon as you reached the entrance, Aaron identified and warned to open the gate.

WELCOME TO THE ALEXANDRIA SAFE ZONE

MERCY FOR THE LOST

VENGEANCE FOR THE PLUNDERERS

The sliding gate opened and Aaron drove inside. As you got out, a sense of inadequacy and mistrust of everything overwhelmed you and almost suffocated you. Instinctively, your hand leads to the holster.

“You told me you were only gone a few days!” A male voice surprised you and shocked you at the same time. The man who uttered those words suddenly came out and now, as he approaches Aaron, he hugs him almost violently. Your savior turned to him and smiled. “I know, but I met this girl and it took me longer than I thought, I’m sorry.”

The two hugged and exchanged a loving kiss, so you felt an unmotivated jealousy. Why don’t you have anyone who is like these two? Why doesn’t anyone get angry because you risked your life? Why are you alone? Yeah right. Because they are all dead…

After saying goodbye, Aaron told you that the man’s name is Eric, his partner, and usually both work together.

“I went out on my own for a simple reconnaissance round, I shouldn’t be looking for anyone.”, Aaron explains as Eric puts his arm around him. You looked around without knowing what to say. The noise of the closed gate behind you tormented you and made you feel like a hermit in a completely foreign place.

“Hey, I’m sorry.” The guy who just closed the gate approached you with an attitude that seemed a bit too safe. “Before you move on, you should give us your weapons.”

Instinctively, you took a step back. “Not even in a dream!”, you answered seriously.

“Look, I didn’t ask you, do you understand?”

You frowned at him, ready to react if he made one wrong move when Aaron intervened in your defense. “Don’t worry, Spencer, I’ll take care of it, come on Y/N, I’ll take you to Deanna.”

Spencer, annoyed, gave you a grim look, which you exchanged before going with Aaron through the streets of Alexandria. The man politely asked you to leave the weapons with him before you entered Deanna’s house. “The rule only applies to firearms.”

“Sorry, Spencer is not used to dealing with strangers, you’re the first, after a long time.”

You nodded. “Okay…”

The man smiled. You stopped in front of one of the beautiful houses that made up the city.

“But who is this Deanna?”, you asked.

“It’s the person who decides if you stay in this place.”, he said, smiling. “I will bring you to her.”

You climbed the steps and Aaron knocked on the door. A woman, small and with a determined expression, stood in front of you. She smiled at you, though her eyes stayed serious. “Hello, my name is Deanna Monroe and I’m in charge of Alexandria.”, she said and stretched out a hand but you stopped for a moment, staring at her. When Aaron said goodbye, Deanna invited you to come in to her room to get to know you better. She led you into the living room where you were to sit in a leather chair. Around you, you saw a room that you hadn’t seen in a long time: A normal house. No shelter, no passage for plunderers. The walls were full of books, the windows are covered with clear curtains that illuminate the surroundings. Everything is clean and at the same time so different from the world outside the gate.

“You can sit down if you want. Sorry, but I don’t remember your name.”

“Because I didn’t said him.” You leaned your machete against the armrest and sat down. “My name is Y/N.”

“Do you mind if we film our conversation, Y/N?”, she asked politely. “Transparency is important here.”

“No problem…”

“Then we can start.” The woman was sitting on the sofa in front of you, near the camera, which was silent and staring at you. The only sign of life of the camera was the little red flashing light that indicates that it will record everything you will say. Deanna crossed her hands in her lap. Then the woman started talking. “I was a member of the council Ohio, seventeenth district.” Then she looked at you and raised her eyebrows. “And you?”

“Is that really important now?”

She shrugged almost imperceptibly. “I would like to get to know you better.”

“I studied at Princeton.”

“Princeton?” That seemed to surprise her a little. “And how did it happen that you ended up here?”

You swallowed your bitter saliva. “When the apocalypse started, I had just landed by plane, I went to my parents who lived in Atlanta, the military blocked us at the airport for a couple of days, and then, when they started throwing napalm at the city, we understood that it was serious…”

“They didn’t make it?”

You shook your head and stared outside the window in front of you. “No. But I have avenged them.”

“From what you tell me, I suppose you were out there from the beginning, is that correct?”

You nodded silently.

“You’ve traveled far from Atlanta to here.”, she said but you didn’t understand her words. “What do you mean?”

The woman leaned in your direction. “Do you know where you are, Y/N?”

Not really… When you fled the camp, you drove blind for several hours, and even the trip with Aaron was not short. You shook your head.

“You landed in Virginia.”

You raised your eyebrows. “What?”

The woman smiled but did not answer. You stayed silent for a moment, still upset by what you’ve traveled. Then you started talking again. “When my parents died, I was later rescued by another group, and they were out there from the start too.” You thought back to the prison and stifled the pain. “My family…”, you whispered.

“Didn’t they survive?”

You fixed Deanna, her outline firmly anchored behind your tears in your eyes. You took a deep breath. You don’t want to say out loud that you thought they were dead because you were afraid it might be true so you said instead: “What is this place?”, looking around you. The woman understood your situation and left the topic. “It’s the prototype of an ecologically sustainable system, a self-sufficient community with solar panels, and even an ecological wastewater filter system. My family and I were sent here by a patrol of soldiers we met while trying to get back to Ohio, they told us that they would get back us, but they never did.”

“So, were you here from the beginning?”, you asked, raising your eyebrows in disbelief.

“Yes. We have made this place a safe place. My husband, a professor of architecture, designed the fence project. The first plates were set up by him and our children. After a while, other people came and helped us grow Alexandria. But time has passed and we have been isolated for a long time. You’re one of the first to find us again.”

You leaned forward in the chair. “Because?”

“Because you’re a fighter, a survivor, I don’t think the wounds on your body happened during an unfortunate walk, and the same goes for the hand you have to treat by the way.”, she said pointing to the bandage. “I’m serious, Y/N, you could be valuable in this place, you could teach us how to become a fighter like you, and we could offer you a shelter and much more.”

“To be like me?”, you repeated. “With all due respect, Deanna, but you don’t know what you’re saying.” You got up and left as the voice of the woman interrupted you.

“I agree with you as you wish, but I want you to stay, use the time to regain your strength, then decide if you want to stay or if you want to go back out there.”

“Better close the gates, don’t let anyone in.”

“Why should I listen to you?”, she asked, narrowing her eyes.

“Because it’s all about survival now.” You walked slowly to the exit with the machete on your shoulder and turned to look at her as you finished your speech. “The people out there are killing you if they can get anything useful from you.”

“And that also applies to the person I have received in my house and who is facing me right now?”, she demanded.

You shook your head weakly and raised your shoulders. “I just wanted to find my family.”

Deanna got up and reached you at the entrance. She put her hand on your shoulder and fixed her determined look on yours. “If you want, we will be your family.”

But you only smiled at her and thanked her with your eyes…