"HOW WAS DENISE'S?"

Vivian's eyebrows furrowed as Debbie stomped up to her room, "Okay, then."

She had gotten the younger kids fed and bathed and put into bed before the boys and Marcie got back. Once Finn got back from his long day of construction, Vivian headed over to the Grimes household to meet up with Rick.

He was laying on the couch, his arm over his eyes, 

"Long day at work, honey?" Vivian asked as she straddled his hips,

"Yeah." He mumbled, his hands moved down to grab her hips, "It's good to be home."

"Where's Daryl and Marcie?" She asked, noting their boots missing from the front door,

"Watching over a guy till some other guy can take over." Rick responded,

Vivian raised her eyebrows, "You found a guy?"

Rick sighed and shook his head, "Crazy day."

"You wanna talk about it?" Vivian asked as she unbuttoned his shirt slowly, revealing the t-shirt underneath,

"No, not right now." His hands moved to her ass, "I just want to turn my brain off for a minute."

She smiled, "I think I can help with that."

Rick brought her upstairs and tossed her onto the bed. She tried her best to keep it down, to not wake up Michonne and Carl. Once the two of them were satisfied, they fell asleep in each others arms.

That is, until Vivian was woken up by the door opening.

At first, she thought maybe it was Liam, who had a habit of sneaking into her room when he had a bad dream.

Then she remembered she was in Rick's house... not hers.

Vivian sat up with a gasp, reaching for the blanket to cover up her bare chest. Rick followed suit, grabbing his gun and aiming it at the stranger that stood next to their bed.

The man raised his arms in surrender, 

"We should talk."

Jesus waited outside the room while Vivian and Rick quickly got dressed, "I thought you said Marcie and Daryl were watching him." The brunette hissed,

"I thought they were." Rick grunted, tugging on his jeans.

They heard voices outside the door and the couple opened the door to see Carl aiming his gun at the newcomer,

Vivian stepped out, with Rick moving passed her, his bare torso brushing her shoulder and she handed him a t-shirt to put on, "Carl, hey, um..."

The front door slammed closed and Daryl, Marcie, Glenn, and Maggie rushed up the stairs, aiming their guns at the man,

Marcie's eyes wandered over to Vivian and Rick, the latter putting a shirt on. She smirked at the two, her eyebrows raising and Vivian rolling her eyes at the woman,

"It's- it's okay." Rick motioned for them to lower their guns, "You said we should talk. So let's talk."

They all gathered in the dining room, Daryl was pacing by the sliding door while the others relaxed, sitting at the counter or at the table. Marcie played with the handle of her knife, not trusting the man. 

He had a way of getting out of sticky situations.

The sun had began to rise and Vivian could hear Judith's rustling coming from the baby monitor. She quickly went to grab the toddler, changing her diaper before placing Judith on her hip before rejoining the conversation.

"So, how'd you get out?" Rick questioned him,

"Two guards can't cover two exits and the third floor windows at the same time." He smirked at Marcie, "Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?"

"Right." Daryl grunted from behind him,

"I checked out your arsenal." Jesus stated, "I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. You're well-equipped, but your provisions are low. Well... not so low with the truck you brought in. But still low for the amount of people you have. 54?" He guessed,

"More than that." Maggie answered, her arms crossed over her chest,

Jesus sensed the tension in the room and tried to break it, "Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef."

"Yeah, she ain't here." The hunter growled,

He turned to face Daryl, "Look, we got off to a bad start.  But we're on the same side, the living side. You, Marcie, and Rick had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't. I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with. I took your truck because my community needs things, and the three of you looked like trouble." He smiled at Marcie again and Daryl rolled his eyes, "I was wrong. You're good people. And this is a good place." His eyes moved over to the woman with the toddler on her hip, "I think our communities may be in a position to help each other."

"Do you have food?" Glenn asked, 

"We've started to raise livestock." Jesus answered, "We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum."

Rick narrowed his eyes, "Tell us why we should believe you."

"I'll show you. If we take a car, I can take you back home in a day, and you can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer." Jesus replied,

Livestock, vegetables, people... this group was thriving, actually living in this world.

They were doing more than just surviving.

And Marcie wanted to see it.

Maggie leaned forward, seeming really interested in what he said, "Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?"

Jesus smirked, "Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger."