𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙨𝙤𝙣𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠 ↠ 𝘤.𝘨𝘳𝘪𝘮𝘦𝘴

62: Knots Untie

Last night was.. interesting, to say the least. Carl and Elle had both admitted their feelings toward each other, Carl being more direct and actually using his words, leading to the first and second kisses shared between them. They both really liked it. After the events though, they did go into separate rooms and slept quite soundly the rest of the night.

Elle woke up to some noises at the top of the stairs. She had become a light sleeper over the years, so the soft noises were just enough to pull her from her rest. She looked at the time, it was just after seven. Nobody was usually awake at this time, most sleeping until eight. She slowly pulled herself out of bed, and tiptoed in her socks to her dresser, where she openly kept her knives.

Quietly grabbing one, she opened her door. She had expected it to creak and signal her approach, but the door stayed silent. Perfect. She looked up and saw Carl with a gun in his hand. He heard the noises as well. They nodded to each other and silently crept down the hall and towards the top of the stairs.

Elle was able to see whoever it was first, walking over to the right of the man who sat in the stairs, holding a painting that had been hanging on the wall since before they even got to Alexandria.

The man had long, brown hair, a black beanie, and a long leather coat with leather gloves to match. He looked like he was going to rob them. Carl clicked the safety off of his gun, pointing it at the man's head. "What the hell are you doing in our house?"

The man picked his head up, still facing away from them before speaking, "I'm, uh, sitting on the steps looking at this painting; waiting for your mom and dad to get dressed." He answered. Something about the man's voice was confusing Elle, she recognized it, she just didn't know how.

Carl and Elle faced each other, sharing a look that asked what the man meant by "mom and dad."

"Hi," he spoke again. "I'm Jesus." Holy shit. Rick came up behind them, putting a belt on with no shirt, Michonne coming out of the same room. Mom and Dad.

"Carl, hey, um.." Rick was thinking of every possible solution to fix the awkward moment. Nothing. Elle was shocked, she was silent. Someone came into the house, slamming the front door and running up the steps in a hurry. Jack woke up to the noise and came out of his room to see Daryl, Glenn, Maggie, and Abraham all on the stairs pointing a gun at the man.

"What the hell is going on?" Jack yawned, rubbing his eyes. Finally, Elle spoke.

"It's Paul." Paul turned around at the use of his actual name and was met by the two blondes in shock at the sight of their older brother.

"You know him?"

"So how'd you get out?" Rick asked Paul as everyone sat around the dining table, wanting answers from the stranger that sat at the head of the table.

"One guard can't cover two exits, or third floor windows." Paul had always been very talented in the martial arts. He could fall off of a building and save himself with a quick duck and roll. Carl glanced over at Michonne who was doing everything she possibly could to not make eye contact with the child of the man she slept with. Carl was okay with it, he figured Rick and Michonne had a little thing for each other and they just never did anything about it. "Knots untie, and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?"

"Right." Daryl agreed, speaking for the first time as he stood against the wall on Paul's left, gun in hand. Rick shot him a glare to calm down and not go all 'guard dog' on them.

"I checked out your arsenal. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time. You're well equipped, but your provisions are low. Very low for the amount of people you have. Fifty-four?" He guessed.