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.

"More than that." Maggie answered from beside Glenn, arms crossed. Glenn had his gun lied out on the table, his hand still on it. Elle and Jack made it clear they knew him personally and that he was someone they could trust, but the group took their precautions and they respected that.

There was a moment of silence before Paul spoke again. "Well I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef."

"Yeah, she ain't here." Daryl grumbled. It was clear to everyone that Paul and Daryl might not have had the greatest first impressions of each other.

"Look, we got off to a bad start," Paul started, turning slightly to face Daryl. "But we're on the same side— the living side." He looked around at everyone before turning back to Daryl. "You and Rick had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't." Something told Elle that Daryl might not have had a say in that decision. Paul turned back to everyone.

"I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching for other settlements to trade with." That gained the interest of everyone in the room. "I took your truck because my community needs things, and both of you looked like trouble. I was wrong." Rick looked slightly amused at the fact that he and Daryl looked like 'trouble'. "You're good people. And this is a good place. I think our communities may be in a position to help each other."

"Do you have food?" Glenn asked, wanting to convince himself that everything Paul was saying was true.

"We started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomato to sorghum." He explained.

"Tell us why we should believe you." Rick turned to him, tilting his head.

"I'll show you. We take a car, I can take you back home in a day. You can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer." His argument was slightly convincing.

"Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?" Maggie asked. Rick realized she had a point and looked up at him.

"Your world is about to get a whole lot bigger." He smiled.

Carl and Elle stood behind the RV, now dressed in something other than pajamas, making sure there was enough gas for the trip. They agreed to keep the previous night's events to themselves, simply because they didn't want to listen to anyone else teasing them. They acted like everything was completely normal, or at least they thought they were. They couldn't see just how different they were acting around each other.

Rick approached the two, his youngest kid in his arms. "Are you sure?" Carl asked, wondering if his father believed Paul.

"No, but if he's telling the truth, this could be the start of everything." The three of them looked over to see Michonne and Paul making their way down the steps with a couple of bags. "Look, I was going to tell you about me and Michonne, but it just happened. It just happened. Last night." Rick explained. Carl stayed quiet for a moment, realizing his father had moved on from his mother. He knew it would happen eventually and he told himself that he would be prepared. He wasn't, but Carl really likes Michonne and knows that Rick does too- just in a different way. "This is— it's different." Rick said, seeing his son's face.

"It's cool." Carl smiled. Rick nodded.

"Well get your stuff. Gabriel can take care of Judith while we're gone."

"No, I'm not coming." Carl declined, earning a confused look from both Rick and Elle. "Someone's gotta stay back, keep this place safe. A kid with a messed up face probably wouldn't make the best first impression anyway." He ended his sentence with a small laugh, showing that he was comfortable talking about it. But the way he talked about it upset Rick a little, hearing his son talk about himself in such a way.

Rick hesitated before putting Judith into Carl's arms and picking up one of the red plastic containers filled with gas. Elle picked up the second one, storing it in the same place as Rick. "Elle," Jack called out. She turned just in time to catch her bag that he had tossed.

"Let's chew up some asphalt!" Abraham shouted, wanting to get going.

Paul and Jack were catching up about what happened the night Paul left. Elle zoned out listening to their conversation, as it didn't really interest her. She wasn't with Jack and Cody when he left, she didn't have any questions left unanswered. "Wait, so how did you guys find each other? With Elle being away and all?"

"Away?" Michonne asked, sitting in the seat in front of Paul.

"Funny story, actually." Elle gave a nervous laugh, snapping out of her daze. "I was arrested." She admitted, earning surprised looks from Michonne, Abraham, and Maggie.

"Arrested? You were like, eight when the world came to a halt." Abraham crossed his arms.

"I was twelve, and it was aggravated assault. It was a school fight that went a little too far, the other kid's parents pressed charges." She explained.

"Why didn't your parents press charges on the other kid?" Michonne asked.

"I may have thrown the first punch, making him act in self defense." She shrugged. "I don't really want to talk about it." Everyone seemed to understand. "Anyways, to really summarize, we got kidnapped," Elle explained, pointing at herself, Glenn, and Maggie. "By his brother," she pointed at Daryl, "Michonne and another girl saw, met Rick and the rest of the group, told them where Daryl's brother took us. He took us to a walled off community that Jack and Cody were staying at after you left." She briefly explained.

"Where is Cody, by the way?" Paul asked. Elle then realized he didn't know.

"He um, he died. He got sick." Jack told him, noticing his sister's sudden silence at the mention of their deceased loved one. It was clear that Paul had gotten used to losing people he had cared about, as his reaction wasn't very big. He was upset, yes, but he wasn't surprised.

"He was a good kid, I'm glad we got to know him." Rick spoke from the driver's seat, looking at them through the rear view mirror. When his eyes returned to the road, he saw a sight that made him slow down and eventually stop the RV.

Feeling the vehicle slow down as well as hearing the screeching, Daryl asked what was going on. "There's a crash up ahead." He announced. There were tire marks on the road, leading up to the car lying on its side in a ditch right off of the road. There was a large puddle of blood on the road and people under the car. "Looks like it just happened."

"It's one of ours." Paul was quick to stand up and get out to survey the accident. The people who were trapped under the cars had already turned and were reaching up for him.

Paul turned around to be met with Rick's gun pointed at him. "If this is a trick, it won't end well for you." He warned. Elle wanted to step up and defend him, but she knew there was no way Rick would listen to her. With the group's history of meeting new groups, he insisted on staying cautious, no matter how familiar Paul may already be with some of their people.

"My people are in trouble. They don't— we don't have a lot of fighters." He panicked, looking around to see if any more of his people were around. "I know how it looks, but I'll play it out. Can I borrow a gun?"

"No." Daryl answered from Paul's side. "We got tracks right here." The group followed Daryl as he led them to a small building not too far from the car accident.

Rick was the first to step up to the door, knocking on it while still keeping his gun drawn. "They gotta be in there." Paul claimed. He genuinely sounded worried.

"We moving in or what?" Abraham asked, being one of the only three people who don't have a weapon drawn, the other two being Jack and Elle.

"How do we know this ain't firecrackers in a trash can?" Daryl asked, approaching Rick. Elle had no idea what that meant, she didn't think it was an expression.

"You don't." Paul said, which was fair.

"We'll get your people." Rick stated, walking up to him. "You're staying here with one of us." Paul looked back at anyone to come to his defense.

Knowing there was no arguing with Rick's plan, Elle shook her head. "That's the deal."

"Will you stay?" Glenn asked Maggie, obviously wanting her outside for her own protection, as well as their soon to be baby's. Maggie agreed to be the one to stay outside.

"Y'all go. Just be careful." She warned. Rick nodded, as he pulled out handcuffs and put Paul's arms behind his back.

"We'll be careful." Rick assured her as he closed and locked the cuffs.

"Is that really necessary?" Jack asked.

"You still carry handcuffs?" Elle asked, a slight hint of amusement in her tone as she pulled out her gun. Rick ignored them.

"Just hurry."

"You hear me whistle, shoot him." Rick turned to Maggie.

"I will." Rick started leading people inside.

"Maggie, don't—" Elle slightly panicked as Jack pulled her along with everyone else, giving her arm a slight squeeze to tell her that it'll be okay.

The building was dark and quiet for the most part. Every few seconds, the sound of walkers bounced off of the walls. As they walked further down the hall, Rick opened a door to reveal a few walkers stalking towards them. He pulled out his knife while Michonne held up her katana as they both quietly took the walkers out, letting the bodies fall while the others walked around them.

They approached a room where people were hiding. "Come on out, we won't hurt you." Michonne told them. They stood up and held their hands up, showing they were surrendering. "We're friends of Jesus, we're here to get you out." She told them as she pat them down, checking for any weapons.

"Are there more of you?" Rick asked, looking around the area.

"Two more, they ran ahead." The woman responded. Rick nodded and pointed at Daryl, Glenn, and Elle to get a head start and find the other two people.

The three of them left the room and continued down the dark hallway, hearing growls coming from walkers getting louder and they got closer. When they turned the corner, they found the walkers that were making all of the noise and killed them with their knives and quietly set the bodies on the ground.

Daryl looked at both Glenn and Elle, making sure they were ready to keep moving, when they both nodded, they continued moving through the dark hallway. The sound of metal clanging caught their attention as they quickly, yet quietly, followed the sound.

They made it to a room where one man was hiding behind a filing cabinet. "Come on." Glenn hurried him. "We're with Jesus. Let's go."

"I can't go with you. I'm looking for my friend. He's close, and he's hurt from the crash." A loud thud came from the hallway, causing all of them to turn towards the noise. Elle, being the closest to the doorway, stepped out to take a look.

"It's Abraham, he found your friend." She said. Rick was hurrying everyone to get out of the building quickly, as there were still walkers roaming around.

"Damn it." Rick hissed. The paths were muddy, and the mud was thick. The RV got stuck, no matter how hard he tried, Rick couldn't get it out by accelerating. "A storm must have passed through." He inferred. "We're stuck."

"Just like the good ol' days." Elle said, standing between Rick and Michonne's seats as she recalled back to their supply run a couple of years ago. Michonne shot her a small smile as Paul stood up behind her.

"No worries. We're here."

Everyone made their way out of the RV, weapons in hand as they tried to avoid stepping in the mud as much as they could. "This is us. This is Hilltop." Paul announced as everyone gathered around to see the tall walls that looked to be made entirely of thick logs.

They made their way up the long path, the mud getting thinner the further they went until it was just the path. Elle didn't know what to expect from this place, from what she's heard, it's much smaller than Alexandria. She believed her brother, everything he told them, yet she still didn't know what to expect.

They haven't had the best record with meeting new groups, but this could be different. Especially since they had information before even meeting the people and having someone they can trust, even if it's only the smallest amount of trust.

"Stop right there!" Someone shouted, causing everyone to quickly draw their weapons in defense.

"Woah!" Paul immediately turned around to face Rick's group as he held his arms out to try and tell them to put the guns down.

"Are you gonna make us?" Daryl shouted back. There were two men perched high up at the top of the wall on their side of the large metal gates. They held what looked like spears.

"Jesus, what the hell is this?" Elle was still getting used to everyone calling Paul 'Jesus,' as it was just a nickname used to poke fun at him every once in a while before the fall.

"Open the gates, Cal. Freddie's hurt." Paul instructed urgently as he held his hand up to convince the men to drop the spears. "Sorry about these guys. They get antsy standing up there all day doing nothing." He tuned to Rick's group, quickly squeezing out an apology as they put their weapons down.

"They give up the weapons. Then we'll open the gates." Cal spoke again.

"Why don't you come down here and get 'em?" Daryl sassed. One of the men from Hilltop that they rescued stepped up. They learned his name to be Harlem.

"Gentlemen, look, we vouch for these people. Alright? They saved us out there." He pleaded.

"Lower the spears." Paul spoke in a tone that a mother would use when her children were embarrassing her in public.

"Look, I'm not taking any chances. Tell your guy Gregory to come out here." Rick whispered.

"No. Don't you see what just happened?" Paul argued. "I'm letting you keep your guns." Rick didn't seem to pleased that Paul was stepping up to him. "We ran out of ammo months ago. I like you people. I trust you." He paused. "Trust us."

Rick waved his arm to signal for anyone who still had their gun up, to put it down while Paul instructed Cal to open the gates.

The giant metal panels creaked and they slowly opened to reveal the community. There was a large, brick house that stood tall and untouched by the end of the world. There were many little booths and there were chicken coops, plant troughs, even a blacksmith who was actively making weapons. There were trailers lined up against one of the walls were people presumably lived, with clotheslines up.

It was safe to say the group was amazed by what they were seeing. "There was a materials yard for a power company nearby. That's how we put up the walls." Paul explained. The walls looked really sturdy. A hoard of walkers wouldn't be able to take them down. "A lot of people came from a FEMA camp. Trailers came with them." They all followed Paul as he led them up the path as if the group was actually a group of tourists.

"How did people find out about this place?" Jack asked, eyeing the chickens that ran around in their coop.

"That's called Barrington House." He pointed out the large house. "The family that owned it gave it to the state in the thirties. The state turned it into a living history museum. Every elementary school for fifty miles used to come here for field trips." He explained. "This place was running a long time before the modern world built up around it. I think people came here because it would keep running after the modern world broke down."

"You sound like a tour guide." Elle told him, making her way further to the front of the group. He gave her a small laugh before he continued. "Those windows up there let us see for miles in every direction. Perfect for security. Come on, I'll show you inside." He began walking again. Daryl and Rick