Chapter 25: chapter 25 : Mother Luck Strike Again
Several months after the snow melts, Calvin, Molly, Paul and several of their men left Lincoln to visit the community Paul discovered in Alexandrie.
Paul was driving King with Molly, Rachid and Calvin inside while two armored and armed humvee military vehicles followed behind.
Calvin's men were heavily armed, they was a trained and very well equipped fighting force and some even had grenade launchers to dissuade enemies from attempting anything.
They arrived at a certain distance from large sheet metal walls and obviously, the survivors inside would have spotted them if there were effective lookouts but they only saw one who was at the bell tower of a small church outside, near the barrier.
Calvin in the car looked at Molly.
Cal: I want him alive, hurry.
Molly: Conscious or not?
Cal: Just bring him back, if he wants to cause trouble then you can break some bones.
« OK boss . » She said smiling before getting out of the truck and speeding towards the building with equal parts speed and stealth. After 7 minutes, there was a knock on the truck door.
Calvin got out of the truck with Rachid to find Molly holding the shoulder of a young adult who was on his knees while the rest of the men surrounded them with their guns, the young man was really scared.
He was not just anyone but Spencer, the son of Deanna Monroe, the woman who led the community. Cal looked at him and he had a broken nose and a little blood in his mouth.
Cal: My poor friend, I'm sorry for this welcome but Molly is...special. Who are you and what is your name? I advise you not to lie buddy…like, honestly. If I sense that you are lying then I will cut your tendons before handing you over to the dead and then smash this sheet metal wall with a Grenade.
Spencer looked at the armed men then at Calvin who was wearing a beautiful black 4 piece suit with a coat over it, the snow had just melted but it was still very cold.
Cal even wore designer perfume and These dreadloks have been cut for a more elegant hairstyle .
Spencer didn't know why but he felt like this guy was dangerous and would do what he said if he wanted to play with him instead of answering his questions, he was extremely terrified of Calvin.
Spencer: My name is Spencer... Spencer Monroe. I am the eldest son of the leaders of our community.
Calvin: I feel that you are sincere there, it is indeed Spencer. How many are you inside?! Do you have weapons?
Spencer:…
Calvin: Spencer, I promise we mean you no harm and we're just curious how you survive. I apologize once again for the violence of our welcome. Do you think your parents could have us over?!
Spencer: Yes...they will.
Calvin: Magnificent! (points to one of the survivors) This is Dina, she was a nurse and she will fix you up a little. You'll see, she's very nice.
Soon after, they arrived in front of the big gate and Calvin fired a shot to signal their presence in front of the gate and in just a few minutes, people came in front of the gates with guns. There was Deanna, her husband Reg and their other son Aiden with the other survivors.
Cal : Hello there ! (GENERAL KENOBI !!!)
Deanna: SPENCER…!!!
Aiden: Release my brother or you will pay.
Calvin: (Ignored) Ladies and gentlemen , my name is Calvin Lincoln and I am the leader of a very successful community of survivors. Some of my men spotted your community and I came to pay you a little courtesy visit, I'm quite curious.
Deanna: What exactly do you want? We don't want any trouble and the boy you are holding is my son. Don't hurt him.
Calvin: What is your name ma'am?
Deanna: Deanna Monroe, I was a congresswoman in Ohio.
Calvin: Alright Deanna, we don't want any trouble either. We have the skills and the means to easily destroy you, we would have attacked by surprise at night by blowing up your sheet metal walls for example. We are only here out of curiosity, a bit like neighbors. Can you receive us?! You have my word that nothing untoward will happen if no one provokes my men.
Reg: Open the gates.
Aiden: DAD ?!!
Deanna: (to the others) Put down your weapons, these people are our guests.
The gate was opened and Calvin let Spencer go to his family.
« I sincerely thank you for your trust, you'll not regret it. » he said smiling innocently before entering and walking with them while his men brought the vehicles inside.
Calvin walked with his arms crossed behind his back admiring the locals, he praised Deanna and her husband for their work in this place and he was sincere.
He asked them a few questions before being directed to their house, they had an independent source of running water like them and also solar panels although in lower number and quality.
Calvin found himself in the Monroe living room to chat with the couple over a bottle of wine and they exchanged some information, he told them about his journey so far, omitting certain points and Deanna also spoke to him about the creation of 'Alexandria.
Calvin introduced his son Rachid to them and after minutes of laughter, they understood that Calvin really meant them no harm, especially if he had brought his adopted son with him for the occasion.
"I brought a gift that I'm sure you'll like…" he said before asking his men via walkie-talkie to bring a cooler. They didn't really know what to expect so they stressed until some men came with a cooler which Calvin opened for everyone to see 8 large crawfish inside.
Calvin: How long has it been since you last tasted real, fresh gastronomy?! We brought back some ingredients and I'm going to prepare some things as gifts to thank you for your hospitality.
Reg: You don't have to do that.
Calvin: I insist, you'll give me news.
Deanna: So we thank you, we will provide you with help.
Calvin: Thank you. If you allow us, we would like to sleep here tonight. Do you have any free accommodation?! We don't want to disturb and we will leave tomorrow, you have my word.
Deanna: Absolutely, I will guide you there myself.
Cal : Thank you Ms. Monroe, we appreciate your hospitality and will even seal our weapons for common safety. Civilized people respect their host's rules, so no weapons.
Reg: Thank you for your understanding.
Calvin and his group was guided to three beautiful unoccupied houses and they happily settled there. Calvin then went to Deanna to ask her something else and a few minutes later he walked through the gate with a gun in hand and accompanied by Spencer.
Calvin had told the woman he wanted to go hunting and Deanna herself volunteered to go with him, she wanted to extract information through small talk to find out Calvin's true intentions.
And although, her family did not agree with this initiative, they insisted and Aiden also accompanied them for the safety of his mother.
What the mother and her son didn't know was that they were going to experience a real shock when they attended a hunting trip with this guy, a hunting trip that only lasted 40 minutes where Calvin first tamed a beautiful black stallion that Deanna recognized, the horse had hung out near the fence a few times and the children named him "Buttons".
They had tried to approach it many times to try to tame it but it always fled until Calvin came and managed to approach the animal with immediate success and tie it up.
Subsequently, they managed to quickly find a doe and a deer that Calvin killed very quickly from afar and with a silenced pistol with a single bullet.
Obviously, they came across some walkers that Calvin killed without even alerting his horse and they returned to Alexandria where they found vehicles belonging to the community outside, it was apparently one of their expedition groups that was income.
When they returned, Nicholas reported to Deanna that Aaron had brought other survivors back into the community.
Calvin wanted to let Deanna go handle this matter and he left with his hunting spoils towards his accommodation where his men were.
As he walked quietly, he saw the new survivors that were mentioned and the surprise was a slap in the face because he recognized several faces in the distance.
There was Shane who was missing an arm, Dawn, Carl who was carrying a baby, Lise who was leaning on Beth's shoulder, a tall black man (Tyrese), a pretty African American girl (Sasha), a black priest , a pretty brunette girl that he didn't know (Tara), Carol, Daryl, Morgan whose gaze seemed very dangerous, a black woman with dreadlocks and a Katana, a tall strong redhead (Abraham), another pretty brunette a little tan (Rosita), a guy with a ridiculous haircut (Eugene), Glenn and Maggie.
« Wow ! I thought I would never see your faces again! The new world is definitely much smaller! » Calvin said while dragging his horse. The others looked at him, widening their eyes in surprise.
Daryl: Calvin !!??
Carol: It's him.
« CAL!!! » Lise shouted as she walked towards Calvin and he frowned as he saw Doctor Simmons limping towards him before picking her up in his arms while the others cheered behind.
Cal: Is this the new way of walking for SS soldiers?
Lise: You really haven't changed with your jokes about my past. We missed you so much.
Cal: I missed you too, Doctor. What could have happened to you to walk like that?
Lise: I was shot in the hip and almost became crippled. Luckily Hershel was there. A lot happened and we lost a lot of people, we'll tell you everything later.
Cal: The people who did this to you are all dead?
"Um…yeah, don't worry" Lise said with a smile while Tara lowered her gaze out of embarrassment.
The others came to greet him with some enthusiasm and Carl introduced Judith to him, he didn't see Lori and knew what would have happened so he didn't ask anything.
He asked after Rick and was told that he was interviewing one of the community leaders, it was probably Reg because he was coming back from hunting with Deanna.
He left them to go drop off his loot at his accommodation where his men were, they were only good acquaintances and not old friends who had really missed each other. Once there, he asked a few men to skin and cut up the two animals to preserve them before tying his horse to a good place where he could feed.
In the evening, someone came to knock on the door of the house where Calvin, Molly, Rachid and his men were staying. Paul came to open the door and it was Deanna.
Deanna: Is your boss available?!
"I'm here Ms. Monroe..." Calvin said as he came over, he was having a glass of wine nearby with Molly.
Deanna: Can you give me a few minutes?
"Quite…" He said and they got out to start walking in a certain direction .
Deanna: Some members of the group we collected say they know you.
Calvin: We met near Atlanta and were companions until they settled on a farm. I continued on my way to help a little girl find her parents, their looks have changed a lot since our last meeting and it seems that they have gone through certain ordeals.
Deanna: I already have a pretty instinctive opinion about them but I would like to know more. Are they good people?
Calvin: They must have done terrible things to survive outside like everyone else who wasn't lucky enough to be between solid sheet metal walls. However, they are indeed good people in the current environment in any case.