90 Chapter 90 Meeting People

John talked with Deanna for a while longer. Then Deanna led him outside and brought him over to Aaron's house. She asked Aaron, "Can you set John up at one of the houses."

Aaron nodded and had John follow him. They walked for a short while and arrived in front of a light gray, 2 story house and a white, 2 story house. Aaron said, "Alright, one of these is yours now."

John looked at the houses and said, "This is a lot of space for one person."

Aaron laughed, he said, "I don't disagree with you, but we have plenty of space. If I, was you, I would pick the gray house, it has more curb appeal. Anyway, Deanna asked everyone to give you some space, so they aren't all coming at you at once. We haven't seen new people in quite a while, so they will be a little enthusiastic. Take your time. Explore the area."

John nodded and said, "Thanks for guiding me."

Aaron started to walk away but stopped. He said, "If you need anything call me. I don't-- we don't have phones. I-- I meant... I'm four houses down."

John said, "Okay, see ya." John then walked into the gray house, while Aaron walked back to his house. John looked around the house and thought, '800,000 is a little much. Sure, it has solar panels, which save on electric cost, but the inside is kind of basic. John walked through the whole house, finding nothing interesting, John walked into the kitchen and dumped his pack out onto the counter.

A whole bunch of random stuff poured out onto the counter. Mainly different types of food and drinks. His giant tub of instant coffee, some batteries he looted, some rope, a blanket and an extra set of clothes.

John organized all of the random stuff before he took the extra clothes. John then walked to the bathroom and set the new clothes on the counter. John turned on the shower and then took off his clothes, and hopped in. John scrubbed himself, getting all the dirt and grime off of his body. Even though he was only outside for a little while, he got very dirty. Dirt was falling off of him in droves, a layer of dirt was on the floor. After John was fully washed and his hair was once again silky smooth, he got out and dried off.

When John finished drying himself off, he pulled out a razor and shaved his somewhat unruly facial hair. When he saw himself in the shower, he sighed at how fast his beard grows. John was just finishing up, when he heard the doorbell ring. John wrapped a towel around his waist and then walked down the stairs, going straight to the front door. John opened the door all the way and saw a blonde woman standing there, holding a basket.

Her hair was pulled back in a loose, low ponytail, a strand of hair hanging in front of her eye. She was wearing a gray shirt and a blue plaid shirt over it. The plaid shirt was open, and John could see a good amount of her chest. In the basket, was some toilet paper, and some food, there were also other essential items.

The woman was kind of shocked seeing John's muscular body, he looked like he was sculpted by the gods. John brought her out of her daze when he said, "Hello?"

The woman said, "Hi, I work in the pantry. Deanna asked me to bring this over for you." John grabbed the basket from her, you could see the striations in his chest."

John said, "Thank you, I was just cleaning up."

The woman said, "I can see that. You still have some shaving cream on your chin."

John said, "Oh."

The woman said, "My name is Jessie by the way." She then extended her hand and John grabbed it gently.

John said, "I'm John, nice to meet you." John was going to turn away, but Jessie stopped him.

Jessie said, "You know I used to be a stylist and like 12 other things. I could give you a trim if you wanted."

John nodded and said, "That would be great." John then invited Jessie to come in. John walked over to the table in the dining room and set the basket on top. John grabbed one of the chairs and picked it up, he brought it to the porch out back and set it down.

Jessie was following him around while he did this and when she saw him sit on the chair on the porch, she walked behind him. She then started to cut his hair some, while she asked him some questions.

Jessie asked, "What is it like out there?"

John said, "It's fine out there as long as you know what you are doing."

Jessie said, "Do you know what you're doing?"

John answered with a question, "Do I look like I know what I am doing?"

Jessie said, "I think so, I mean look at you. You look like you are made of steel."

John said, "Thanks, I work out a lot."

Jessie said, "That is plain to see." Jessie then asked a few more questions about John and what he has been through. It didn't take long for her to finish cutting John's hair, she only trimmed about an inch, at the same time she was tidying it, making it look a little better. John had really thick hair, so it kind of needed to be thinned out some.

John stood up and offered something to eat to Jessie, who quickly agreed. John grabbed a cup from the cupboard before he poured some Coke for her, then he grabbed a bag of kettle corn and poured it into a bowl. John then brought it to the living room where Jess was sitting on the couch.

John said, "I'm gonna go put on some clothes, then I'll come back down, and we can chat some more." Jess nodded as she ate some kettle corn. John then walked away, and he could feel Jess's gaze on his back.

John walked up the stairs and entered the bathroom. Then he put on the clothes that were still on the counter, next to the sink. John put on blue jeans, gray button up shirt before he left the bathroom. John walked back down the stairs and went to the living room. He next to Jess and talked to her for quite a while before the doorbell was heard once again.

John stood up and walked over to the front door. John opened the door and saw Deanna standing there. Deanna said, "Wow! I didn't know what was under that unruly beard." John groaned when he heard this.

Deanna looked inside and saw Jess sitting on the couch she said, "Hmm, I see you have acquainted yourself with Jessie. Looks like she even cut your hair. Anyway, I don't want to interrupt. I just wanted to see how you are settling. I'll leave you alone now."

Deanna then left and John closed the door. Then he walked over to the couch and sat down again, he talked with Jessie for about an hour before she said, "Alright, I have to get back to the pantry. It was nice meeting you."

John smiled and said, "You as well. See you later then." John then walked her to the door and opened it for her. She brushed past John and left the house, she waved when she reached the end of the driveway, then she continued walking. John watched her walk down the street, but he noticed a kid around 8 looking over at him through the window. The kid was staring at him, John just closed the door and walked back into the living room.

John sat on the couch and finished the kettle corn and soda before he cleaned up the trash and put it in the bin. John then walked into the dining room and picked through the basket. He took everything out and started to put it where it should be. He put the toilet paper in the bathrooms, the cleaning supplies in the closet, and all the other things where they should be.

When John finished, it was 2:25 pm. John grabbed his sword from the kitchen counter and attached it to his waist. Then he walked to the front door and left his house. John walked down the street, looking around and seeing people doing chores and stuff. John continued walking and found himself in front of a garage.

The garage door was open, and John saw some kids around in their teens sitting in chairs in front of a man who was drawing on a whiteboard. John walked into the garage silently and stood behind one of the kids. He then observed as the man taught the lesson, the man had his back to John and didn't notice him for quite a while.

When the man saw John, he was first confused because he had never seen this person before, but he ignored him. The kids had noticed this and the girl he was behind was very shocked to find John standing behind her. She hadn't noticed him at all.

The teacher noticing that the class was distracted, clapped his hands to get their attention. He said, "Attention, we have an observer, but that doesn't mean you don't pay attention. This is important." The kids all turned their heads back to the front and started paying attention to the board.

John watched along for a couple minutes before he walked out of the garage quietly and continued his little exploration. John saw an old man having some trouble getting up the stairs, so he walked over and gave the man a hand. When he was at the top of the stairs, the old man said, "Thank you, Sonny."

John smiled and said, "No problem, Sir. Have a great rest of your day."

The old man said, "You too, Sonny." John waved as he started down the street once again. John walked around some more, he noticed there was a pond in the middle of Alexandria. He saw a gazebo in the distance. John walked down the stone path and to the gazebo, he looked at the pattern of wood. It was quite stunning, there were patterns of different flowers, John walked up the steps and sat down in the gazebo.

John then closed his eyes and felt the gentle breeze against his face. John sat there for quite a while relaxing, but he was interrupted when he heard some footsteps approaching him. John opened his eyes and looked to his left; he saw a 60-year-old man walking up the steps. The old man wore dress dressy clothes and he had glasses on his face, overall, he looked like a scholar.

The man walked into the gazebo and sat next to John. He said, "Hello, I'm Deanna's husband, Reg. I noticed you admiring the gazebo and came over to have a chat."

John said, "Nice to meet you. I'm John, but you probably know of me by now. I like the craftsmanship of this gazebo. I assume that has something to do with you."

Reg said, "Yes Deanna has talked to me about you, asking for advice. It seems she cannot read you, like she can other people. And yes, I did plan this structure."

John said, "Your work is quite impressive. I have some experience with wood working as well. I like the pattern you designed; it really fits with the surrounding scenery."

Reg said, "Thank you. I worked on this gazebo for a long time. I'm happy someone else can understand all the finer details of this structure." John then talked with Reg for many hours discussing different ideas they have had about architecture.

John then left the gazebo and started walking back to his house. When he was passing by Aaron's house, Aaron came out of the front door. He walked over to John and said, "Hey, John. Do you want to join us for dinner tonight."

John said, "Sure." John then followed Aaron into his house. He immediately smelt something delightful. The inside of the house was very different from John's house, the interior had definitely been decorated according to their tastes. Meanwhile, John's house only had some basic design so it wouldn't look completely basic.

Aaron walked into the dining room with John following behind him. John and Aaron sat down at the table where Eric was already waiting for them. On the table was spaghetti and meatballs and garlic bread. Aaron then served them, and they began to eat the spaghetti. John had a mountain of spaghetti on his plate, John ate a forkful and said, "This is very good."

Eric said, "Thank you, before all this happened, Aaron and I went to Italy and I fell in love with their cuisine. I have been practicing this dish for quite a while."

John said, "Oh, I have been to Italy multiple times as well. Your cooking is very good, much like the restaurants there."

Eric said, "Oh, I don't think so. Those men and women have been practicing for way longer than me."

Aaron said, "You look way different from before."

Eric nodded and said, "Yeah, very different from when we first met."

John said, "I understand that. My beard grows very quickly. Sometimes I even braid it like a Viking, my friends would laugh at my plight."

The rest of dinner was spent eating and drinking wine. When they were done with dinner, John left the house and walked back to his house. He walked inside and then went to one of the bedrooms before he locked the door and lay down. John pulled out his radio and talked with Amy for a while before he closed his eyes and slept.