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Daryl

So this was it. The fences and gate were just like the pictures Aaron showed us. So, so far he didn't lie. Jo was pretty convinced he wasn't a liar. He seemed like a straight up guy, but I wasn't going to trust him until he proved himself. There was a tarp covering the gate, it was good for security but I didn't like that I couldn't see what we were walking into before we knocked on the door.

We sat outside the gates in the RV and waited for Rick to decide what he wanted to do. He slowly climbed out of the car looking more tense than I ever seen him. He stopped half way out, his eyes flying over to Michonne and they both sagged in relief. He looked back at the RV and waved. The others started filing out. Rick went around to the back of the car and picked up Lil Ass Kicker. He said something to Carl across the top of the car and they both smiled. 

Rick thought it was safe enough for his family. I glanced over at Jo. I was surprised to find her watching me instead of Rick or the gate. She gave me a reassuring smile when I met her eyes, and followed the group out. Now that we were here it seemed like a risky choice. I thought about Terminus and Jo's time in Woodbury. Both of them seemed like a sure thing too. I gripped my crossbow tightly and followed her.

There were burnt out houses lining the road leading up to the gate, guess they didn't make the cut. Made me wonder how many houses were inside the community. Even from fifty feet away I could hear the laughter and voices of children playing. Everyone else was relaxed and smiling, but Rick had his gun in his hand as he led the way to the gate. Abraham and Sasha were bringing up the rear. When I glanced back at them they both had their rifles up, resting across their bodies but ready. 

The gate started to open and there was a sudden scuffle from the pile of garbage to our left. Jo whirled towards it, her hand dropping to her waist where her kukri normally was. When she wasn't able to draw it she stumbled back a step. Like her body didn't know how to respond without having her weapons where she expected them to be. I raised my crossbow and took the shot into the pile of garbage. She looked rattled as I stepped past her and bent down. The gate swung open just as I lifted the dead possum out of the weeds. The guy on gate duty looked at me with wide eyes. 

"We bought dinner," I quipped trying to make the guy not so afraid of me. Rick wanted to make this work and scaring the locals wouldn't help matters. 

Behind me Jo burst out laughing.

Everyone froze and glanced at her. Probably none of them had ever heard Jo laugh out loud like that before. Even I had only heard it a handful of times. Jo instantly quieted when no one else laughed and she noticed the others staring at her. She sobered instantly, her shoulders dropping a little. 

The guy standing in the gate had a gun up and was slowly looking over each of us. I kept one eye on him but glanced back at the rest of the group. We looked like a strong group with a few exceptions. My eyes traveled to Jo. Without her knives she was fidgeting nervously with her fingers. I was suddenly not okay with us disarming her. Out of all of us, it made her look the most like a target. Now this plan of Carol's seemed way too risky. I tightened my jaw. 

Aaron stepped forward and stood in the gate between us and the gate guy. "It's okay. Come on in guys." he said waving us all forward. We shuffled through the gate as a group. Jo was keeping close to Carol and Carl instead of being at my side like normal. It made me tense. Once we were all through the gate creaked closed behind us. I drew in a breath as I watched it latch shut. If they were going to ambush us, now would be the perfect time. 

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Jo

Once we were all standing within the gate, the man who was on guard duty stepped forward. He was in his late twenties to early thirties. He was average looking with an average build. My first impression was that he looked soft. His eyes were suspicious as they evaluated the group. I squirmed under his scrutiny and when he noticed his gaze softened. He offered me a smile and I smiled back shyly. He was entirely incompetent and I instantly disliked him. The only reason someone as incompetent as him was still alive in a world like this was blind luck. Once he moved beyond me his eyes hardened as he took in the rest of us. As happy as Aaron seemed to be to find us, this man was not happy we were here at all.

"Before we take this any farther I need you all to turn over your weapons. You stay, you hand them over," he still had his hand on his gun, but he didn't look entirely comfortable with it. It reminded me of the first time I saw Noah handling a gun. Luckily in his short time with us Noah had become proficient enough to handle himself. I wasn't so sure about this guy. If we were staying I did not want him on guard duty. 

Rick stepped forward, his shoulders set and tight. Despite his willingness to come inside he did not seem entirely convinced this was going to turn out. His gun was naked in one hand and he held Judith with the other. "We don't know if we want to stay." Rick growled aggressively.

The guard took a step back instinctively. As soon as he realized what he had done he tightened his grip on his gun and moved to step towards Rick once more. I swallowed. This could get out of hand very quickly. Aaron slipped through the group until he was standing between the guard and Rick.  

Aaron turned back to the guard. "It's-it's fine Nicholas," he said waving the other man off. I studied them both closely. It seemed as though Aaron were the more senior of the two, but I wasn't one hundred percent certain Nicholas knew that. He seemed as uncomfortable and tense with Aaron as he did with us, only in a slightly different way. Either way, it didn't endear the man to  me. 

Rick never removed his eyes from Nicholas's face as he continued. "If we were going to use them, we would have started already," Rick snarled. 

Nicholas's eyes widened and his whole body tensed. Aaron moved to stand between them as though they were Beta fish who wouldn't fight if they couldn't see each other. I rolled my eyes, wondering how the testosterone hadn't gotten me killed already.

Aaron cleared his throat uncomfortably, eager to smooth things out and keep everyone calm. "Let them talk to Deanna first."

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham yelled from the back of the group.

Nicholas swung around to face Abraham and wilted at the sight of the larger man. 

Aaron looked around at the rest of us, so he was addressing the entire group. "She knows everything you'd want to know about this place," which meant she was the woman in charge. She was the woman we were going to have to audition for. "Rick," Aaron said, turning back to him. "why don't you start?"

Rick looked beyond the group out the fence. His brows drew down in a frown. "Sasha," he called jerking his chin towards the gate.

Sasha nodded to him and turned. She spotted the loan walker ambling up the road. She lifted her rifle and took the shot without hesitation. Nicholas flinched in shock as it's head exploded in a mess of blood and bone.

Rick turned back to Nicholas, his face perfectly impassive. "It's a good thing we're here," he drawled as he strolled into Alexandria. 

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Jo

The community looked to be a walled neighborhood of upper middle class houses. They all looked newly built, though it would obviously have had to be before the turn. The whole community looked like it had been a planned development. Aaron led us three blocks west and one block north to one of the largest houses so far. There was a small area that in Europe would have been called the back garden. It was the back yard, but it was too landscaped for that. There were benches and a stone patio with flowers and a small bird bath. 

"Please," Aaron said, motioning to the patio furniture. "Make yourself comfortable." Then he turned and approached the door. He knocked twice and waited. The door was opened by a small woman, in her mid to late fifties. Aaron spoke quietly but respectfully. She looked over his shoulder at us, and her eyes widened for a moment before she nodded and ushered Aaron inside. 

Most of the group chose chairs to sit in but I didn't think I would be able to be off my feet for a while. I was too tense. So far nothing felt like a trap, though a good one wouldn't. I wrung my hands together. I don't know that I realized how much fidgeting I had done with my knives until I didn't have them all. I reached up and pulled my necklace out of my shirt and fiddled with that as I slowly walked around the edge of the garden. 

I wasn't sure how much time had passed, and I had no way to gauge it, but it felt like nearly an hour before Rick reappeared. He looked at Daryl and nodded subtly. So things were on the up and up. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding. Deanna stepped out of her house and standing on her porch smiled down at all of us. 

"Welcome," she greeted. "I just had a wonderful talk with Rick. I would like to interview each of you today. I know that the day may get a bit long, but I have arranged for someone to bring some lunch by. Please make yourself comfortable. I will try to make this as quick and as painless as possible. I realize you have all traveled a long way and I would like to welcome you to Alexandria." 

She finished speaking as though she were waiting for us all to applaud her. When nobody moved or said anything she shifted uncomfortably. Her eyes flickered to first Aaron and then settled on Rick. After a long moment, which felt a little like a power play on Rick's part, he turned back to us. 

"Carol," he said calmly. "Why don't you go next." 

Carol nodded and smiled warmly at Deanna as she scampered up the steps. Everything about Carol's body language read as non-threatening. I needed to remember that. I was here to be non-threatening and provide a unique point of view for my group. I still didn't like not being armed. I hadn't realized how much it would bother me until we were walking through the gates and something was crawling in the bushes. Not that I couldn't defend myself. I had the gun and the one knife, but I felt totally exposed and naked without the rest. I didn't like it. 

Finally I forced myself over to one of the patio chairs. It was maintenance free brown wicker with overstuffed cushions. The whole set matched. It was such an off thing to see, such an off thing to notice. I sat down in the chair and tried very hard to think like me. I began running over everything I could remember from my dissertation and my research before the turn. 

After Carol's interview Rick sent in Michonne and I lost patience with myself. I looked around. Tara and Noah were looking around curiously but everyone else was tight and tense. I leaned back in the chair, tipped my head back and forced myself to close my eyes. Sleeping was a vulnerable position and it wouldn't do any good to disarm me if I was pacing around obviously making note of their defenses. Both Rick and Daryl would already be all over that. 

Next Rick sent in Abraham. I chewed on my lip. If we were going to pull this off I should go in next. The contrast of Michonne and Abraham versus me would help cement what we were doing here. Abraham's visit was the shortest so far. As soon as I heard him come out onto the porch I snapped my eyes open and looked at Rick. 

Rick met my gaze and I shifted it to the porch. He followed it and nodded once. 

"Thank you Abraham," Deanna said warmly. 

Abraham trotted down the steps and sat down in the grass next to Rosita and Tara who were laying back, enjoying the warm sun. 

Rick waited for Deanna to look to him before he spoke. I wondered if she noticed the subtle dominance moves or if it even mattered to her. 

"Jo," he said quietly. I rose from my chair and nodded to him, flashing him a bright smile. He looked startled for half a second and if I hadn't already been staring him in the face he would have missed it. He dipped his gaze from my face and ran his eyes over me and frowned for another half a second before his expression was once more controlled. He had only just now noticed my disarmament. My eyes briefly drifted to Daryl who was standing at the back of the group, pacing a line in Deanna's perfectly manicured lawn. He seemed even more tense with me going into the house. 

As I walked up the steps I finally met Deanna's gaze. Her smile was genuine and welcoming and it reached her eyes. I forced mine to as well. I kept my shoulders down a little so I would seem smaller, though I was only an inch or so taller than her. She ushered me inside, holding the door for me and welcoming me to step into her foyer. The house was incredible, it was all polished hard wood floors and designer furniture. It looked like a page had been taken out of better homes and gardens. 

I stopped just inside the door and stooped down to removed my boots. I couldn't actually take them off without her seeing my hidden knife, but it was the polite thing to offer. As I expected she stopped me. 

"Don't worry about your boots," she said. 

I looked up at her, slightly alarmed. "But they're dirty." 

She waved me off. "A little dirt won't hurt anything." 

I nodded slowly and straightened. She led the way into a small den just off the main living room. There was a couch with a camera set up behind it and facing a large over stuffed armchair. 

"Please," she said motioning to the seat across from her. I sat down in the chair, feeling strange for being in a living room.

She moved around to stand beside the video camera set up behind the couch. "Hello, I'm Deanna Monroe. Would you mind if I film this?" 

I crossed my ankles and settled my hands in my lap. "Of course not." 

"Excellent," she said with a pleased smile. "Let's get started then, shall we?" 

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Thank you all for so much support! You are the best! I really hope you enjoyed this one. I'm so excited they are in Alexandria now! It was watching this part of the show that initially inspired me to start writing my own fanfic. 

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