Ty groaned when he woke up the next day. Being on the road was hard. He'd forgotten how hard. The cots weren't comfortable but they were off the ground. The sleeping bags had come in handy. He looked to his left and saw Carol was still sleeping. He lifted his head and saw Mika, on the other side of Carol, was still sleeping. When he looked at Carol again he saw she was awake.
"Hi," he whispered.
She smiled. "Hi."
"It was rough. I'm used to sleeping with you," he told her.
"Me, too."
"I hope they come soon. I don't know if my back can take this for long."
Carol let out a soft laugh. "Aren't we spoiled?"
Ty frowned. "I'm not as young as I used to be."
"Me, either. So? Heat up water?"
"I'll have to find some wood, dig a pit."
She lifted the sleeping bag and sat up. "We'll help."
Before he could say anything they heard the key in the lock and the door opened.
"Ty? Carol?" Glenn's mouth dropped open.
Glenn stood in shock when he saw Ty and Carol "Shit," he ran over and hugged Carol, almost turning the cot over on its side. Ty got up and Glenn hugged him, too, slapping him on the back. When he pulled away he saw Carol was standing up and he hugged her again. He laughed. "Shit. It's good to see you. Together."
"Glenn," Carol hugged him and he could hear her sobbing. Ty came over and slapped him on the back.
"Sasha?"
Glenn pulled away again. "On the island. Come on," he told them as the others came inside. "Tom, Nancy and Dante," he pointed them out. "You need anything from here? We have a lot. You can leave this and get it later, if you want. We'll come clean this out later."
"The others?" Carol wiped her eyes and took a little girl's hand.
"There. They'll be happy to see you. Especially Sasha," Glenn smiled.
"She's okay?" he asked worriedly.
"She's great. We all are. It's a good place. Very democratic."
He saw Carol raise her eyebrows.
"Trust me. We all run the island. Come on. Grab what you want, if you want anything. Kash is waiting."
"Kash?" Ty furrowed his brows.
"Captain of the yacht," Glenn wiggled his eyebrows up and down. "It's a nice yacht. When we first saw it?" he shook his head. "Blown away."
Glenn waited while they gathered some things and they locked up. Glenn looked at the little girl. "Only the one person?"
"It's Mika," Carol said.
Glenn stopped and stared at her. "Hi Mika," he waved weakly.
"Hi Glenn," she whispered.
"Uh, we only have a twenty minute walk."
"We just walked two hundred plus miles, Glenn. We can handle a little more," Carol smirked.
"Wow. That far? Where were you?"
"Outside of Newnan. Atlanta would be the closest city."
"Oh. Did you go to the farm?"
"No. It's still there?"
"We should all be together," Glenn decided, "before we swap stories."
"Hershel?" Carol whispered.
He shook his head no.
"Shit," Ty sighed.
"Yeah. It was hard. Anyway, Maggie's pregnant, almost ready to deliver," he grinned.
"Glenn, that's fantastic," Carol stopped and hugged him again.
"Congratulations," Ty held out his hand.
"Thanks. We're excited," he told them.
"Scared shitless?" Ty laughed.
"Yes. Scared shitless," he admitted.
"Rick and Carl? We didn't see any notes for them," Carol prodded.
"They're there."
Ty almost pissed his pants when the yacht came into view. "I could see why," he told Glenn.
"It's a great boat. You'll all have to learn to run it, too. Maintenance."
"Really?" Carol asked.
"Yeah. Everyone does everything. Everyone gets a vote. Very democratic."
"What's Rick say?" Carol questioned quietly.
Glenn got on, took some of their things and ignored her question.
"We have coffee and water?" a white woman with brown hair, Nancy, he thought her name was Nancy, offered.
"Coffee?" he asked incredulously.
"Coffee. We grow it," she affirmed.
"Gotta love the whacked out preppers," the Asian guy, Ty thought his name was Tom, smiled.
"Cash," Glenn pointed to an African American woman.
"Island Express. It'll be a few hours. We have cabins," she pointed. "Feel free to lay down, if you want." She started the engine and the yacht pulled away from the dock.
"Oh hell no. I'm going to look around and sit outside. With coffee," Carol stated.
"You should," Glenn laughed. "I'll put the water on. Ty?"
"Yes. We haven't had coffee in months," he practically shouted.
"Water for Mika," Carol told Glenn.
"Water," the black guy repeated. "Gotcha. Look around. If you stay, it'll be your boat, too."
Ty followed Carol, still holding Mika's hand, through the yacht. "Nice."
"No kidding," Carol breathed out.
When he heard the kettle going off they went back to the kitchen area. Glenn was pouring water in a glass container. "Nice, huh?" he widened his eyes. "French press. We have coffee makers, too."
"What the hell, Glenn?" Carol raised her voice.
"Sid and Hol, along with Ralph and Trey, stared our community." He put the top on the container and got out mugs. "Cream? We have stevia. Hol wants to do a run to Florida for sugar."
Ty coughed. "What?"
"It's on the list. We debate it occasionally," Glenn shrugged. "Sasha wants to go."
"What?" Ty shouted.
"Is he a dickhead, too?" Dante tilted his head.
Glenn frowned. "No."
"Alright," he drawled before he pulled a glass bottle out of the refrigerator and poured some for Mika.
"Dickhead?" Carol raised her eyebrows.
"Rick. Uh, he had some problems," Glenn volunteered.
Ty could hear Nancy huff out a breath.
Carol sat with Ty and Mika on deck chairs drinking coffee.
"Shit, Ty. This is a nice ass yacht."
"I know. I almost pissed my pants."
"He doesn't like me," Mika whispered.
Carol put her cup on the deck and took Mika's hands. "That's not true, Mika. I don't think he knows what to say to you."
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Ty shook his head and put his daughter on his lap. "If they don't like you, we'll leave. We'll find another place," he assured her.
She looked up. "Really?"
"Yes, really. You're our daughter, Mika. There's nothing to be sorry for. The Governor would have come back. It could have been worse," he kissed the top of her head. "I don't want to hear you say you're sorry again about what happened at the prison."
Carol took her hands again. "It's not your fault. It's not," she emphasized.
Glenn watched Carol and Ty and Mika outside on the deck.
"Rhee?" Dante asked.
"The little girl. Mika. It was her sister that ran for the fences. At the prison."
"She can't do it here. She didn't seem like a lunatic fringe," Nancy commented.
Glenn shrugged. "I didn't know them well. We had people but it wasn't like here," he tried to convey. "It wasn't like family, you know? Sure, we knew each other. Like here. But here? We, me and Maggie anyway, feel like its family. I have all these cousins."
"Most of us do," Tom laughed.
Glenn grinned. "We like it."
When the island started to get bigger Carol felt more nervous. Ty didn't. He stood near the front of the boat, yacht, like he could will it to go faster. She was happy Sasha was alive. All of them, actually. It had been so long, she didn't think she could go back to being what she'd been like in the prison. Before she killed Karen and David.
She shook her head. Rick had problems. She wondered how he let them run the place. Now, being away from them, on her own without them, Rick was dickhead sometimes. She felt Mika grab her hand. Carol loved their family now. Would Ty want to stay with them? The captain, Cash, was pretty. Ty turned and grabbed her hand, pulling her and Mika closer to him.
"Sasha. I'm so happy she's alive, Carol," he whispered into her hair. She could feel tears. Carol rubbed his back.
"Me, too, Ty," she whispered back.
Rick, like the others, went down to the dock to wait. He and Carl didn't have an easy time of it, there were still some hard feelings with some of the others, but it was a good move. Carl was making friends with Trey, Allen and Monique. Him and Enid swapped music. In four months they'd be citizens of Covet Island. He could vote. He listened as they discussed island business. He made Carl do it, too. Carl didn't mind it. He'd thought kids voting was cool the first time they'd been here.
They had a nice community of thirty plus people. Rick thought they needed more people. Everyone else did, too, they were on the list, but the hotel was only so big, so building more places to live had been put on the list. It spawned a bunch of shit Rick never thought of and took for granted in the old world, so the issue had been tabled until they could figure out how to lay pipe. Whacked out preppers never thought of it, he guessed. A run to the university library and a vocational school had been put on the list, as well as a construction office in Savannah and the regional sewer office. He'd shaken his head when all of those were thrown out. They'd even discussed going to Alexandria and taking their solar panels.
He huffed out a laugh as he thought what would have happened if he'd run across them in Atlanta and had taken them back to the camp. Holly would have really kicked Shane's ass.
Beth waited with the others, except Michonne and Daryl. They had night watch with Keisha, Matt, Daisy and Jace.
Jace. He was nice and they were talking. Under the watchful eye of Maggie and Glenn. Most times she missed her daddy, but now she really did. He'd like Jace. Nice. Knew how to kill walkers, butcher and plant, everything everyone did. Beth couldn't wait until Maggie gave birth. Then her and Glenn could focus on her niece or nephew. And stay out of her love life.
She giggled to herself when she saw Abraham walk over and stand near Sasha. They'd been dancing around each other for a few months. Right after Rick left. He'd told them about living in Alexandria and Beth wrinkled her nose. She couldn't imagine not havin' anythin' to protect yourself with. She was amazed they'd been livin' like that. Then she remembered they weren't now.
She'd missed Carol. And Ty. Not that she'd talked to Ty a lot. Her daddy said he was a good man and never agreed with what Rick did when him and Sasha, with those other people, she forgot their names, showed up at the prison and Rick kicked them out. She hoped they finally found their way here.
Sasha didn't know whether she hated going or staying on 'storage area' days. She shook her head. Everyone called it that. She was happy her group, family, were waiting with her. Each time Ty wasn't there or getting off the yacht made her lose hope. One day, soon, she was going to suggest they stop. They were safe here. Happy here. Living a life here.
She glanced over her shoulder and saw Abraham. Even his goofy ass. Sasha had never been into white guys but he was growing on her. She'd asked Michonne what it was like after they got back from that stupid trip with Rick, Carl and Judith. She said it was being like with any other guy. She'd had a faraway look in her eye. Baby Dixons were on the way.
She thought Daryl and Michonne were a good couple. Before the prison fell she'd seen Rick checking Michonne out. Girlfriend did have ass for days. Michonne didn't notice. She'd spent most of the time with Carl and Daryl. Rick wasn't for her. Rick was for someone like Nancy. Sasha thought if she said something along those lines to Nancy the woman would knock her on her ass.
Rick still wasn't real popular around there. Hol told him to call her Baker. She called him Grimes. Working around them was funny. Hol ignored Rick for the most part, but Sasha could tell Rick was still suffering from wounded pride. He'd been told Hol could kick his ass. She was sure Rick would like a rematch or to best her at something. Silently she thought 'good luck with that, buddy'.
She liked them both. Sidney and Holly. Smart people. Not smart asses and valued everyone's input. Even stupid suggestions. Michonne hadn't been lying. Very democratic.
Maggie waited for Glenn, hoping Kash would get here faster. She didn't like it when Glenn went. She couldn't go. Everyone voted about maternity benefits. She couldn't work with the animals or do watch when she hit six months. She was almost due so she did nothing. She wasn't happy. She was. She and Glenn were having a baby, but she couldn't wait until she could get comfortable again. Soledad told her it was normal with a wistful look on her face. Keisha and Nancy sympathized with her.
She agreed with Sid. Rick wasn't the only one that lost.
Maggie saw Sasha was nervous and resigned. The latter was understandable but she didn't want to give up hope Ty made it out. She could it image it was worse not knowing. She knew. Beth knew.
Ty stood near the side trying not to yell at Cash to speed it up. Carol and Mika were behind him and he felt more nervous the closer they got. When the dock came into view he saw his baby sister. She stared, her mouth dropped open and she ran toward the yacht. The minute it came alongside Ty jumped over and ran to meet her. He hugged her, picked her up and swung her around.
"Sasha," he choked out. She started balling like a baby. He did, too.
"Ty," she wailed.
"Sasha. Shit," he gave a watery laugh.
"You made it," she said in awe through her tears.
"I did," he let her down and wiped his eyes. He saw the others, Maggie, Beth, Rick, holding Judith's hand and Carl. "I thought. Daryl and Michonne?"
Sasha hugged him again. "They're sleeping. Night watch."
"Carol," Beth shouted in joy.
Carol hesitated before she and Mika got off the yacht, Glenn behind them.
"Go on. We missed you," he nudged her as he walked over to Maggie and gave her a kiss. Carol had tears in her eyes. She looked so pretty. Before Carol knew it she was crushed in a hug by Beth.
"We're so glad you made it," she breathed.