Disclaimer-I don't own or make claim to the characters from The Walking Dead. I only own my original characters.

I feel the sun shining in my face. I roll over to avoid it. I don't want to wake up yet, the bed is so comfy. Wait. A comfy bed? When did that happen? Usually we sleep on the floor or a hard bed. Comfy beds are hard to come by in this world. I concentrate and start to remember. We are in Alexandria in a nice house. I brought the kids into my room for us to sleep in my comfy bed and be safe together. Rick Grimes declared his attraction to me last night. Ack. I sigh, there is no going back to sleep now. My mind is definitely awake.

I may as well get up and get some breakfast going for the kids. I open my eyes and see the door is open. Wait, I shut that and barricaded it last night! I look around seeing no sign of the kids. I sit up in the bed panicking, about to jump out of the bed. I hear someone clear their throat. My eyes swing back to the door. Rick stands there with a tray. Ack! I grab the covers and pull them up over my chest. I ended up sleeping in a camisole and underwear last night, I'm not exactly dressed for company.

"What are you doing here and where are my kids?" I demand as he walks in and puts the tray down on my lap. I look down and see pancakes and what looks like ham. Or maybe that's spam?

"They're fine," he reassures me. "They were getting antsy and wanted to go explore, check out school today. They didn't want to wake you up though, cause you were sleeping so well. You slept through them moving the dresser even, so they knew you needed some more rest. When I came to check in with you all before going on a run, they told me their worries. I told them to go ahead and go explore with Carl and Carol would keep watch over you. I just got back from my run and sent Carol home, you must have been extremely exhausted."

I look at him suspiciously as I try some hot chocolate. Mmm, heaven. I eye him. "You look exhausted yourself. You've gone on a run and come back again already? And why do you think you get to give my kids permission to do things?" I ask.

He chuckles as he sits on the side of the bed. "Well, I will admit it's been a day. But, I wanted you to sleep more, obviously you needed it. If they didn't get to go they were going to wake you up. You slept till 4pm so we all know you were exhausted."

"What?! 4pm?" I exclaim.

"Yeah, you were dead to the world," he says. "You look a lot better already, so I'm glad you got enough rest."

"So what did you come over for earlier?" I question, feeling a bit uncomfortable. I'm practically naked under the covers. Wow, 4pm. I've never slept that late before.

"Well, I came to get you to take you over to do your interview, but I decided it was more important that you sleep." he replies.

"I'm fine, I can come and do that," I state.

"Why don't you finish your breakfast first?" he says while standing up. "Come next door to my house when you've finished eating and are dressed. Make sure you eat it all though."

I agree, grateful that he isn't going to hover over me in my bedroom any longer. I wanted to call him out for giving me orders, but whatever gets him out of my bedroom the fastest is best. I'll take that up with him later. This still feels a bit awkward, like there's this big nebulous, unnamed thing between us. I refuse to think about what that is.

I dress and am quickly ready in jeans and a t-shirt and walk over to his house. He must see me coming because as I'm about to knock on his door, he opens it. "Ready?" he asks.

"Yeah, let's do this," I reply. "But first, can we swing by the school, so I know where the kids are?"

He smirks at me. "Gotta see they're OK with your own eyes huh?"

"Something like that," I say.

We head down the stairs and walk down the street. Rick points out a few items of interest and then gestures, "There's the school right there. They wrap up at 5pm though, so they should be done very soon." I walk toward it and peek in the window in the door. I see the kids working on something. Kayla sees me and comes over, slipping out of the door. "Mom, you're finally awake," she says, pulling me into a hug. She leans back and examines me saying, "You look so much better today. I'm glad you got the rest you needed so bad. Annie and I have been worried for weeks cause you have looked so exhausted!"

Rick says, "Don't worry Kayla. You have us now, we'll help make sure your Mom gets the care she needs."

I turn my head and glare at him. "Mom can take care of herself." I turn back to Kayla. "I understand why Jordan and Kira are here, but both you and Annie already graduated from high school. Why are you two hanging out here?"

"Well, there's lots of kids and I think their teacher was a bit overwhelmed. We didn't have anything better to do and it's been kind of fun to help out."

"OK," I reply. "Enjoy yourselves and I'll see you later. I'm heading over to get my interview done, I guess."

She says, "Alright, see you later at home," and slips back inside.

Rick and I resume our walk toward the interview. He tells me that Maggie, Carol and he will be asking the questions today. They do the interviews in one of the townhouses that serves as a kind of Headquarters of Alexandria.

When we arrive, Maggie is already in the living room doing something to a video camera on a tripod. Carol is sitting on a couch. I greet them both and I'm directed to sit in a wing chair in front of a window. I take a seat and look around. This is a pretty fancy place.

Maggie asks, "Do you mind if we record this?"

I smile. "Does it matter if I mind?"

Carol replies, "Of course it does. We wouldn't do anything against your will. This is sort of a 'for posterity' thing. We were all recorded when we arrived here as well."

"Alright," I shrug.

Maggie starts the recording and joins Carol on the couch while Rick remains standing behind them.

"Please state your name, date of birth and where you're from for the record," Maggie asks.

Woah. They are pretty serious about this 'for posterity' thing, aren't they?

"Sandra Jones, but I go by Sandi. I was born Feb. 11th in Idaho. Do you want my social security number too?" I joke.

Rick replies, "If you want, but that isn't necessary." Woah, so serious. OK, noted. They don't really like the jokes in this interview.

Carol asks, "What was your profession before?"

I laugh, "Nothing helpful in this world. I managed the medical records department of a large regional medical center."

Maggie looks up. "So you have medical experience, you could maybe help Denise out at the infirmary?"

I put my hand up in a gesture as if to say slow down. "Oh, I was no clinician. I wasn't involved with the patients at all. My job was to make sure the providers completed their documentation so we had accurate records and the coding and billing could be done. From what I saw yesterday, Denise is very meticulous with her records and I don't think she needs any help with that."

"Hmmmm," Carol muses. "But you managed people?"

"Yes, I had a staff who made sure the work got done."

Maggie says, "Well, I'll have to think about the best way to utilize your skills here. We try to match people with things they are good at and what they used to do often works well. But it isn't a hard rule or anything. As you explore and get to know people, look at what they do. If you see something you'd be interested in helping with, let us know. We do need everyone to help out whatever way they can in order to keep the community running."

"That's fair," I reply. "I don't expect a free ride, the kids and I are happy to help wherever we can."

Rick looks up at me. "So you're from Idaho? How'd you end up clear over here?" Rick asks.

"Well, I was born and raised in Idaho, and I met my husband at college in Utah. But we actually had lived in Colorado for about five years before all this. As far as how we ended up out here, well we took a trip to Disney World." I chuckle bitterly. "Wouldn't you know that the time I pick for an epic family vacation is when the whole damn world ends?"

Maggie stares at me in disbelief. "You were at Disney World when this went down?!"

A/N Wow, how would you survive herds of walkers at Disney World?? I'm working on Chapter 7 now, it should be up in a few days. If you liked this chapter please consider giving it a vote and I would love some comments!