alfie, despite himself, smiled across at jesus. “talking it is then.” he said with a soft smile towards his former partner. “sounds like fun to me.”

Jesus nodded as he settled into his seat in the car, trying to get comfortable. “I’ve got a few topics in mind, but I say we talk about the weather,” he joked.

“at least let me help,” maggie smiled as she took jesus’ hand, moving to their home. “what should we make?”

Jesus nodded, holding her hand tightly as they walked. “Hmmm... Something light. Maybe a soup?” He suggested. “I think we’ve got some bread from the kingdom.”

he nodded, looking down at jesus. “well, you can at least try,” he offered. “or we could talk. whichever.”

“I’d uh, I’d love to talk,” Jesus admitted honestly. “I missed just -- just talking to you,” he claimed.

She should’ve known to keep her curiosity to herself as it appeared her hope for an intricate explanation behind this odd way of thinking wasn’t going to come from Jesus. His answer hadn’t offered up anything remotely thought provoking, leaving Cameron still confused about why his reason seemed so simple to him. “But walkers aren’t the real enemy….humans are.” She said. It frustrated her to no end that it seemed no one else understood that. “It’s fine, I’ve had less. Thank you.” Cameron replied and took the bowl before taking a small bite.

Once the food was distributed and handed out, Jesus turned to sit away from the fire, enjoying the warmth it provided but not trying to sweat to death. “Yeah -- Yeah I know, humans are the enemy. There’s... not a lot of good ones left, so when you find a good one, you need to hold onto them.”

“s’okay,” she nodded her head as she hugged him back gently. “ah.. no. not since dinner yesterday. what time is it?”

“Mid-day, nearly evening,” Jesus admitted. “Come on, let’s get home and I’ll make us some food. I’m sure Enid is starving, too.”

As she listened to Jesus’ response, Cameron wondered if that was the way she used to think before the world had ended. With the way she had been living ever since then, it had become so easy for her to forget how she used to think and feel before the chaos. It seemed, unlike Jesus, who Cameron was had shifted without her even noticing once she embraced the new world, and it was only now that she started to wonder what moment in her past had turned this old way of thinking into something so foreign to her. “Why is it that people always think they need other people? Why is it that everyone’s so afraid of being alone,” she innocently asked as if he had the answers, though secretly hoping he did so he could make her understand. “Why depend on someone who will just slow you down? Who will just get you killed? Who can turn on you? Why is it that everyone thinks the same way you do?”

“You know, I wasn’t afraid to be alone in the world as it used to be. But, now? We need people. Otherwise, we might as well be walkers,” Jesus claimed. He pulled the pot off and searched his bag for a minute or two until he produced two bowls and some plastic forks, passing her one. “It’s not much, but it’ll do.”

It wasn’t until now that Cameron realized that she had been standing this entire time and then gently placed herself on the dirty and dusty floor. They had both established that they were safe with one another and that they wouldn’t be going anywhere anytime soon anyway. She then watched as Jesus pulled out two cans of food and had been just about ready to call him greedy until she realized it was for her too, at least she assumed it was. Although Cameron had her rules about sharing food with strangers, she’d make an exception this time since he’d be eating too and she couldn’t remember the last time she had a meal that was hot. “But you do know that when push comes to shove that they’ll all kill each other if it meant their own survival, right,” she questioned, genuine curiosity in her voice. “People only protect others for three reasons: if they’re family, if they’re useful, and if they’re alone. It’s dangerous and foolish to think otherwise.”

Jesus worked the two cans into the man, sliding it into the fire to rest for a few moments before he had to shift it so it wouldn’t get too hot. “We are family,” he admitted. “Before them, I didn’t think I’d have anyone ever again, hell, before this all? I didn’t really have anyone. For the first time in my life, I’ve got people who care about me as much as I care about them. They’re genuinely good people,” he said earnestly. “Stubborn, the lot of them, too. They don’t just throw people to the walkers when things get tough.”

Desmond made sure he also kept his distance from the man. He had helped him, that’s true, but you never knew now a days. You couldn’t trust strangers, even if you had saved their lives. He shook his head and looked down. “You don’t have to thank me, I would like to think someone else would do the same for me.” He shrugged, knowing how stupid it may sound. “You okay, though? None of them got to you?”

Jesus placed his hands on his hips and took a breather for a moment while he inspected the man before him. “Sure hope so. The world’s cruel enough without people walking away and pretending they didn’t see someone almost get eaten by walkers,” he admitted. “No, I uh, I don’t think so. You?”

baby didn’t often feel tall around other men. in his mind, he was average size - but looking down at the other, he immediately felt like a giant compared to him. not that it mattered at the moment ;but it made him want to shrink down.

he cringed slightly at the physical contact, but tried not to let it show too much as he followed after the tiny man. slower, albeit, as he was never the best in gym, but he was still able to keep up.

Jesus ran until they found themselves near a river. He leaped across it using an old log from a tree that had fallen and a rock, landing on the other side safely and dry. “Here, jump on that one!” he suggested, pointing to the log and offering his hand out to grab hold when the other would jump so he wouldn’t fall.

she sighed, slowly nodding her head. jesus was right, and she knew it. it’d been hard to accept it, being so consumed with rage and sadness over the loss of her husband. she pushed herself to her feet, wiping away her tears before she turned to look at jesus. “c-c’mere,” she sniffled, holding her arms out for a hug. “what would i do without you?” she laughed sadly.

Jesus moved to wrap his arms around her, mindful of her stomach. He tightened them to hold her close. “Sorry I’m so shit at comforting,” he told her softly. “Have you ate today?”

the taller of the two men shrugged his broad shoulders. “i’ll drive.” he offered slowly, “that way you can sleep if you want to. you already know i’m a good driver.” he laughed awkwardly, but was learning, slowly, how to live with his past and the reality of their situation.

Jesus smiled at the other. “Yeah. I don’t know if I’ll be able to sleep much, but I appreciate it,” he told him before he slid into the passenger seat.

alfie went off to get the supplies, as jesus had instructed him to do, before returning some time later, a pack over his broad shoulders and a knife still in his hands.

It didn’t take long for Jesus to have his things ready and move to meet up with Alfie in front of the car prepped for them. He tossed two small bags into the back seat before stepping aside to let Alfie do the same. “You want to drive, or me?” he offered.

it was a SLOW day. baby had left alexandria a few days prior, feeling locked down in the community. not that they weren’t nice, but the young adult was not a fan of weird looks, like the ones he was getting. a quick goodbye, see you later to anja, he was out in the woods by sunrise. he never wandered too far, however, in case anything happened. not to him, but to the community  & &  he needed to help his friend out.

a startled look crossed him as a rather smaller form barrelled into him, a bit too late to reach out as he fell to the ground. eyes widened, not really sure HOW to proceed in this scenario. he was used to being the one on the ground, pushed around. help him up - say you’re sorry ? but by the time he’d come to that conclusion, the other was already talking.  & &  it would be rude to interrupt.

❝ i - UH … okay ? ❞ he offered, then, the man a hand for him to get up as the other kept the sniper from slipping off his shoulder.

Jesus reached to take the offered hand, pulling himself up in a single motion. He reached up to take hold of his shoulder, rolling it. The boy couldn’t be any heavier than him in muscle, but that height -- shit, height was always Jesus’ problem when he was around men. 

“Okay?” He repeated, brows furrowing together before he moved to slip his bandanna over his face. A natural reaction at this point. It hid a lot more than just his face -- which the other had seen anyway. “Well, let’s go, then, pal,” he told the other as he reached up to pat his shoulder before he started running past him. Snarls following his words and getting closer.

“revenge’ll help for now.” she replied, holding onto jesus’ hand tightly as she tried her best to not cry anymore. “some of these people… they were there that night. they didn’t do anything. they watched as he beat innocent people to death. they’re just as guilty as the man holding the bat and now my son won’t have a father. they’ve all got to pay.”

“Revenge never helps,” Jesus told her seriously. “You have no idea what their backstories are. You don’t know why they joined the Saviors, or why they weren’t taking action that night. It could have been out of fear, denial -- you can’t hurt innocent people because of what Negan did, Maggie.”

alfie shrugged his shoulders, looking down at the other man. “i guess i don’t feel like a part of this community yet. maybe when i do…” he trailed off. “maybe then it’ll be easier.”

“You will eventually, everyone gets comfortable here. Maybe uh, not while we��re in the middle of a war, but eventually,” he admitted before he took off to go to the home he shared with Maggie and Enid to grab a pack of supplies.

maggie’s hand rested on the grave she sat beside as tears welled up in her eyes and began to fall. she tried to put up this brave exterior, so that people believed she was okay, and for the most part she believed it too. but she was far from okay. the loss of her husband was so fresh and she was having trouble coping with it. no one could blame her for that. her other hand moved to her stomach. the baby growing inside her that she was hoping was a boy. glenn and her father influenced her everyday, in everything she did, even if they were no longer with her. it was almost as if she could still hear their voices, as if they were still there. moving her hand to wipe her eyes as she saw someone sit down next to her out of the corner of her eye. she tried to conceal a sniffle. hearing jesus’ voice, she relaxed slightly. “t-thank you,” she said quietly as flowers were placed on his grave. a sob found it’s way up and out her throat. “n-no.. thank you, but.. no. ain’t been religious in a long time. i don’t think anyone’s listenin’ anymore.” she replied, sniffling as she rested her head against his shoulder. “they t-took a father from his child. they gotta pay.” her eyes moved to the makeshift prison.

Jesus nodded his head at the words. He reached to take hold of her hand, giving it a squeeze as he laid his head on top of hers. “I know you’re hurting, Maggie, but... revenge isn’t going to take the pain away,” he said softly. “We’re going to win this war, we are, but you can’t let yourself get consumed by hatred and anger. You have to promise me you won’t, you have to promise yours and Glenn’s baby that you won’t.”

he shrugged, “maybe.” he said slowly, “but i don’t like taking things from other people in this world. there are enough people acting just to take things already…” he paused. “alright, i can do that.”

“You don’t take them. We work for everything here unless you can’t work physically, then you pay back the community in another way. Stop acting like a burden, Alfie. We’re here to help each other,” Jesus insisted.