Chapter Four: Changing Tides

The coming mornings have been getting easier and easier for Alice to wake up to. The first week, she didn't even want to leave her room. But slowly enough, her new friends had been able to coax her out of her hidey hole.

"We've got a few others who live here, but during the Winter months they go away for a few weeks at a time. My brother Bobby, his wife Felicia, and another friend of ours, Gary. Me and Terry hold the fort down, make sure no walkers or bandits come and burn it down or some s**t." Cara was explaining.

Alice was still getting used to the whole schedule of the place. She was allowed for a little while to skip out on her new duties, but recently her new caretakers have been stressing the importance of not being a dead weight.

"You can help Cara fish on the river tomorrow, if you'd like," Terry suggested, washing their breakfast plates in the sink.

"I've fished before, with my dad," Alice responded, placing her empty mug on the counter next to him.

"Well then you know what you're doing!" He exclaimed, placing a plate on the drying rack.

Cara laughed,"Yeah, maybe you can show me some tips. Normally I don't do so much hunting, but Terry here has some back problems as of late, so I've been the man of the house."

Terry laughed, and soon enough, so was Alice. It almost felt wrong to laugh so early on after her father's death. But she ignored the feeling and let it out. It felt good to laugh again.

The next day, there was a knock at the door.

"Who do you think it is?" Cara whispered to Terry on the sofa. Terry shrugged his shoulders, standing up ever so gently and scuffling to the door. Alice sat in the arm chair, afraid something bad might happen.

"Who is it?" Terry called from the crack in the door.

"It's us, Terry. Felicia, Bobby, and Gary!" A female yelled from behind. Terry quickly unlocked it, welcoming their friends inside.

"You're home earlier than usual," Cara said, standing. Alice sat quietly in her spot, watching the adults exchange greetings and hugs. The last person who walked in carried several large dead animals.

"Gary, always being the strong guy," Bobby said, smirking. Gary let go of them, letting the meat thud to the floor. Alice grimaced at the blood stains on his clothing, and the smell of dead animals that lingered in the house.

"Put them in the storage room," Terry said.

Gary and Bobby picked the meat back up, waltzing it across the room and through a door that Alice hadn't ventured through just yet.

The woman, Felicia, turned her head. "Who's she?"

Alice's eyes darted back toward her feet nervously.

"She the daughter of an old flame," Cara replied.

"An old flame? You mean guys actually dated you?" Felicia burst out laughing. Cara punched the dark skinned girl's arm.

"Stop it. Listen, his radio picked up on my frequency, I recognized his voice and decided to try and find his kid, like he ordered whoever listening to. I succeeded, that's all that counts, right?"

"Whatever," Felicia said, still smiling after the laughing fit.

Alice shifted her position, feeling like an outcast again. She looked up at them, waiting for something else to come from their mouths.

"Well? Name?" Felicia said after staring at the girl for a good 10 seconds.

"A-Alice," She uttered, unable to find confidence in herself.

"Alice? It's a cute name. I like it."

Alice smiled, though she still didn't feel like she belonged much.

"I'll be sharing a room with you now," Cara told Alice.

"I thought that-" Alice began, but knew it wasn't her place to argue.

"I was in my brother and sister-in-law's bed these past weeks. They deserve their, uh....privacy. There's a trundle under your bed, that's where I'll be."

The two men came back in through the mysterious door, laughing about something they said to each other in the other room.

"Good news, Gary," Terry said, smiling.

"What?" Gary asked, looking over at the old man.

"We're shifting bedrooms."

"What? No, I don't want to!" Gary whined.

"To bad. Don't want to creep the new girl out by making her share one with any of you, so she get's your bed and Cara get's mine."

"This s**t isn't fair!"

"Life isn't fair. Suck it up, baby." Terry entered the hall and walked toward the end of it.

Before Alice could say anything, Cara said,"The girl's name is Alice. There, now everybody knows. Let's get dinner on the stove. I'm in the mood for some good venison."

"Looks like I'm cooking tonight," Bobby said.

"Sounds good to me," Cara replied.

Everyone filed out of the room, returning to their bedrooms to rest before the meal. Alice sat alone in the living room, wondering how she thought of these new arrivals.

She decided that she liked them.