chapter 31 : Not a big deal

Deanna joined Calvin with the police team in the basement where Nicolas was locked up and he congratulated Dawn for keeping her cop reflexes to lock this guy up with his lying story.

 "Looks like we did well making my dear wife the sheriff of Alexandria…" Shane said with pride as he gave Dawn a kiss on the neck who was congratulated by Rick.

 Calvin: (To Deanna) Aiden?

 "Pete is looking after him, he said the operation could take hours to make sure he is out of danger. Reg and I will keep our fingers crossed and pray that my boy gets through this. » She said sadly and Dawn tried to reassure her, Nicolas in the cell said he was sorry and they looked at him.

 "Deanna, I know he's a member of your community but this guy put my life and others in danger while I was going to pick up your son. I don't know what fate you'd have reserved for him, but I want to kill him myself. Can I have the cell key?" Calvin asked kindly, holding out his hand.

 Dawn: Calvin, we're not outside anymore. He must be judged...

 "And I don't give a flying fuck..."he said mockingly.

 Deanna: She's right, we are in an organized community and must behave like civilized people.

 "I remind you that if I hadn't been there, your son would have been eaten there and the others might have suffered the same fate because of him." Cal said coldly as he moved closer to Deanna and the woman looked him in the eye as if to defend her territory .

 "He's not wrong…" Shane said crossing his arms.

 Dawn: Shane !

 "Imagine if it was you or me he left there. We must take into account the actions but also the motivation for the actions and Nicholas abandoned them out of pure cowardice in addition to coming to tell a false story to accuse our people of the mission fiasco." He said angrily as Deanna reminded him that it was up to her and that she will wait for her son's version when he is out of the woods to make a decision before turning back to Calvin.

 Deanna: Thanks again for your invaluable help, we know that-(interrupted)

 "Nah fuck that, That was the last time I would help your community like this…" He said looking into her eyes before leaving and Rick looked at Deanna meaningfully.

 "You denied him his revenge when he saved your son ? I know Calvin and I can guarantee you that if he said that while looking you in the eye, then he will not help this community in the future. » Rick said angrily.

 "This community is self-sufficient and we have never needed outside help to maintain ourselves. Do you think he will attack us?" she asked and the question seemed to surprise them.

 "That would surprise me, it's not like Calvin to attack first unless the enemy is much too dangerous for his group. He had single-handedly killed a group of over 30 people but they were killers and looters, we had women and children so he massacred them before they found us.

This community is full of normal people who know almost nothing about surviving on the outside, they're not a danger to their people so you have nothing to fear. » Dawn confidently said to Deanna.

 Deanna: Not even for our resources?

 "Knowing Calvin's luck and skill at finding things, Alexandria is certainly extremely poor compared to his community. This guy has supernatural luck finding resources, you have nothing to fear from Calvin until he's offended enough..." Shane tried to reassure her without really being sure of Calvin's next actions.

 Deanna:…

 Calvin walked down the streets of Alexandria to explore a little and looked to his left and right as if wary of being watched before lighting a cigarette and starting to smoke.

On his second cigarette, while he was relaxing, he heard the footsteps of someone who seemed to want to sneak closer and when he recognized this cadence of footsteps, he immediately threw away his cigarette to sit down and pretending to think about something.

 "You were smoking…" He heard Clementine's voice behind him and closed his eyes as if this voice was a sign of bad omen.

 Cal: Me? I don't know what you're talking about...

 "Let me smell your fingers then…" She asked as Calvin rolled his eyes. He admitted that he had smoked a little and Clementine came and sat next to him on the bench, swinging her legs.

 "Don't say anything to Christina, it annoys her and we have argued on the subject several times. I'm not particularly addicted to cigarettes but lately...I've been really stressed. » He said patting Clementine's head while smiling at her.

 "Is something scaring you?" She asked him with interest, for Calvin to be worried about something was excruciatingly rare.

 Cal : It's not fear but stress, this pregnancy thing is disturbing me. I'm not afraid of having children, I already have Rachid. What stresses me out is managing a family and I don't know if I'll be up to it...I don't even know how I'll manage Tina's pregnancy. Adopting a child and conceiving one are two different things.

 "hmm, I'm still a child so there are things that I don't yet fully understand according to Lee but I believe that if you can manage people in Lincoln it's because you can take care of your family , right ?" she asked him, swinging her little legs.

 "You're also part of my family, baby girl..." He said, flicking her lightly on the forehead and Clementine, in revenge, said that she was going to report him to Christina for the cigarettes and he started tickling her under armpits until crying with laughter, Clementine swore not to tell Christina anything.

 Towards the end of the afternoon, Calvin was playing PlayStation with Clementine when someone knocked on the truck door.

Clementine went to open the door and it was Rick who knocked.

 "Cal, it's Rick..." She warned Calvin while Rick gave her a smile and Calvin came and pulled down the baseball cap that Clementine was wearing, reprimanding her for being in a hurry to interrupt their match and go open helpfully the door when she was losing the matches against him.

She stuck her tongue out at him before leaving the truck as Rick told her where the others were. He looked at Calvin who invited him in before pouring him a glass of bourbon.

 Cal: What is the honor of your visit worth to me ?

 "I came to thank you for saving the children, they told us everything they experienced outside and…(sighs) I can't help but think that we really abandoned them that day." Rick told him as he accepted the glass.

 Cal:…

 Rick: The horde, the danger, Lori who was pregnant and the screams we heard...we really had to move and...we abandoned these children.

 Cal: You thought they were dead, that's understandable…

 "Except we should have checked properly and at least tried to bury them. We abandoned those children and they would've starved to death if your luck hadn't taken you to them. What we went through after that really felt like divine punishment for abandoning them..." Rick said as he finished his drink and Calvin poured it again.

 "If we have to talk about divine punishment then I believe that we are all concerned with this apocalypse. A fucking virus that reanimates the dead to eat us, we're in the Old Testament right there. However, we always end up getting through it nigga…" Said Calvin smiling.

 Rick: Is that what you think?

 "That's what I know. This community is a new starting point for y'all, I see a lot of potential there even if the main weakness of Alexandria remains its inhabitants if you ask me.

These people have been behind these walls probably since the beginning and have no idea what the world has become outside or how to survive in it from what I observe. » Calvin said before taking a sip of whiskey.

 Rick : We already thought about it, I wanted us to take power here to lead this community but fortunately, Michonne and the others stopped me, even Shane wanted us to go slowly. I don't regret not having done anything, Alexandria is perhaps better like that...

 "No one is asking you to lead, propose the idea to Deanna to form teams. Outside, there are people and groups capable of taking this place by force so these barriers are not enough to protect you. I now have over 4,000 people in my community and nearly 700 trained soldiers and others in training. Train your Survivor ..." Calvin told him shrugging his shoulders.

 Rick : So help us...

 "Not even in a dream, everyone has their own community and their own problems. The only reason I went to Alexandria was out of curiosity and since they are good people, our neighborhood will be peaceful." Calvin said crossing his legs with a mischievous smile.

 Rick : What's the point?

 "For a reason that will certainly benefit us all in the future, trade. My men have already identified other communities that we have not yet approached and we won't do so for a long time. For now, you may not yet fully understand the scope of what I'm talking to you about, but it will come.

 Deanna annoyed me earlier, I could get up here now and kill Nicolas without you being able to stop me but there would be no long-term interest. I'd have reacted like that before but I prefer let you suffer the consequences of your naivety later, it will be much more fun." Calvin told him smiling.

 They drank again and Rick told him that Carol wanted to have a dinner to celebrate her reunion with her daughter and also thank him, Calvin wanted to refuse because it had no interest for him but he had a minimum of education so out of politeness he had dinner with the others.

The dinner was quite rich in conversation, Morgan returned with Daryl had his reunion with Duane and now Calvin was the target of a series of questions coming from the survivors that he had not known but who had joined Rick's group at prison or on the road.

 He noticed Sasha's multiple looks at him but honestly, he didn't care. The girl was pretty but he already had Christina who was completely enough for him.

These people had heard of him several times and were asked questions about Lincoln and he answered freely. He told them that Lise's operation had been a success and that she will be walking normally again very soon, they thanked him but he said nothing and a moment of silence reigned for a few seconds.

 "Your community really seems much more developed than here. They will not be worried by the absence of their leader ?" Shane asked him.

 "I left very competent and capable people to manage everything in my absence. Plus, I'm going back tomorrow so I won't be gone long." He answered calmly. 

 Dawn: Tomorrow ?! But you've only been here a few hours !

 "There is nothing in my interest here, I am only here to bring the children back to you. Sophia and Duane think they're going to go back to Lincoln with me but they don't know I'm going to leave them here.

Don't worry, I'll be able to convince them to stay..." He said before continuing to eat and as soon as he finished his dish, he thanked Carol for the invitation before wishing them good night and leaving for sleep, he was naturally someone who normally went to bed early.