MORNING OF THE NEXT DAY

Jonathan got up earlier. He slept less than 4 hours, but for some reason, he was feeling good. Looking at Samantha sleeping on his side, he kissed her forehead, '' Thank you for helping me out.''

Even though the situation passed, Jonathan was in really bad shape when he found out he was in the TWD universe. But now, he was a changed man. He now knew what he wanted/could do.

Smiling at the sun, Jonathan thought, ' This looks like a fucking beautiful day.'

The 'new' Jonathan knew what he wanted to do and how to, ' The SHOP will be more than essential for what I will do... It's almost like it was destinated for this.'

Jonathan decided to change everything. He wouldn't wait for things to happen. He would go out of the prison, venture into the world and save some people along the way. Of course, he would not be naive and lose his guard against strangers. It just meant that he now was more open to accepting new people.

Looking at the area around the prison, it was almost like Jonathan could see the future. He saw houses outside the fences, farms, and some barracks that sell things. Hell, he could even see the fences being gone and people living normally again.

' Is this the future or just one more dream?'

Samantha woke up soon after Jonathan and saw him smiling while he was looking outside. She felt relieved, ' At least he's okay now. I just hope he knows what he's doing.'

'' Good morning.''

Jonathan turned around, '' Good morning. How are you today? Any discomfort?''

Samantha shook her head, '' I'm good. And from what I can see, you are also happy. Anything changed?''

Jonathan smiled at Samantha, '' You really know me well, don't you? Our talk last night was mind-opening. I changed my thoughts regarding some things... everything will change now.''

'' Can you explain better?'' Samantha was curious about what Jonathan was thinking.

'' First, I now agree with Eve. While we will not accept anyone who comes to us, we have to be more open about new people. We can do better than what we are doing now.'' Jonathan said the next part with fervor, '' If we try, I believe wholeheartedly we can return to the old days, before the apocalypse.''

Jonathan already saw what the future could hold, and now he was going to actively try to reach that dream.

'' Of course, we would no- we cannot lose our fighting spirit. We cannot hesitate to kill the people who go against us. We have to reach a balance with that.''

Samantha also could see that happening. But she also thought of something, '' You will leave the prison, right?''

Jonathan looked at the ground, '' ... Yes. I have to. If I don't, things will not go forward.''

'' When?''

'' When ou- your child is born. After I know that everything is okay with everyone, I will leave. Not forever, but for some time.''

'' How long?''

'' Samantha -''

'' How long?''

'' I don't know. Minimum of 3 years, maybe even more. But I promise we can still talk with each other easily. I'll leave you guys with enough resources to deal with almost anything.''

Samantha sighed. She knew it was almost impossible to hold Jonathan back. With his 'gift', he could really help a lot of people.

'' Just promise me something.''

'' What?''

'' You will come back. Alive and well.''

Jonathan could easily live a life of a King if he stayed put inside the prison, thanks to the SHOP. He knew the world out there isn't as good as inside the prison, as a single stray bullet could kill him. But thanks to the SHOP, he is literally the best person to live outside.

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So, he promised Samantha, '' I will return. Alive and well. Maybe even more handsome.''

Samantha chuckled at the last statement, '' I look forward to seeing you all grown up.''

Jonathan returned to Samantha's side, '' You can enjoy me now too. I'll only leave when the child is born, so we still have some time to enjoy each other company.''

Samantha didnt reject Jonathan advances, '' I will do that.''

---

By the time both Jonathan and Samantha left the watchtower, it was already close to 11 A.M.

'' Our new friend must be awake. Should we go talk to them now?'' Samantha asked Jonathan, as both stepped outside.

'' Let's grab Eve and Nathanael first. We have to make sure they are good with the newcomers. Nathanael even more than Eve.''

Nathanael had a more closed mind than Eve. This could be considered something good, as he doesn't let people inside that easily. But now that the line of thought of the majority of the group aligned with being more open to new things, this could be considered a problem.

'' Sounds good.''

The duo arrived at Block 1 soon after. When they entered, Eve and Nathanael were already awake.

'' Good morning,'' Jonathan said, making the sibling note him.

'' Good morning, Jonathan! Are you okay now? You didn't look good last night.'' Eve was also a great person when it come to detail. She saw how Jonathan was last night, and he did not look good.

'' Yes, I'm good now. I had some changes of heart last night.''

'' Oh? Care to tell us about it?'' Nathanael looked at Jonathan.

Jonathan sighed, ' He will not like this... but it's necessary. I think.'

'' Starting today, we will be more open to strangers.''

When Jonathan finished saying that, Eve and Nathanael gave two different reactions. While the girl was happy, the boy was shocked.

'' But ... But you said we can't trust strangers!''

'' I did. And I still think that we can't trust strangers that easily.''

'' Then-''

'' But there are good people out there. People like us, but who don't have the same ways of handling things. Can you imagine our situation without the SHOP?''

Nathanael paused. If they didn't have the SHOP or Jonathan for that matter, they would be screwed.

When Jonathan saw Nathanael's reaction, he knew he thought about that, '' Now you see? Don't get me wrong though, there are really bad people out there. And we will have to be on the lookout for them. And that's where you enter Nathanael.''

'' Me?''

'' Yes. While it's good to be more open, we need someone to keep us in check. What if there's something wrong with a certain group of strangers that we didn't notice but you, on the other hand, did? We need that.''

It's true that with only one train of thought it was difficult to arrive at a good decision, so having Nathanael acting as the 'opposition' was a good thing.

'' Can- Should I do that? It could cause some conflicts.'' Nathanael was unsure if he was fit to do that. He was not like Jonathan, who has a lot of years on his back. Nathanael was legit 13 years old, and he was bound to make some questionable decisions.

Jonathan patted his shoulder, '' I trust you. You should trust yourself more.''

Nathanael looked at the hand on his shoulder. He couldn't help but feel emotional. ''I'll do my best.''

''I'm sure you will. Now, let's talk with our new friends. Yesterday we didn't manage to talk that much with them.'' Jonathan said that and Eve's face brighten up. '' By the way, where did you put their weapons?''

Jonathan was so off the grid yesterday he forgot to put their weapons in the INVENTORY.

'' They're in that cell.'' Nathanael pointed to on of the cells, '' Should we take them with us?''

Jonathan shook his head, '' It's way too soon. We met them for less than one day. Maybe in 2 days, we can return their weapons.''

' To be honest, I trust that group because I know them from my old Earth. But that was from behind the TV or reading about them, so I don't wanna risk now.'

Eve, finally tired of waiting said, '' Let's go!'' She was the first one to leave block 1.

Nathanael sighed seeing his sister like that. But soon, he, alongside Jonathan and Samantha also left block 1 in the direction to block 2.

When the trio arrived there, Eve was knocking on the door. It didn't take long for someone to open the door. It was Hershel, '' Good morning. What do we owe the pleasure of seeing you today?''

Jonathan took the lead, '' We need to talk. We didn't have time to discuss anything yesterday, so I thought we could do it now, while we all eat.'

Rick also appeared behind Hershel. '' Where do we eat?''

'' You decide. Here or on our block.''

'' ... If you don't mind, we want to eat here.''

Jonathan nodded, '' No problem. Give me a second to grab the food. Go to your cafeteria and wait for us there. But please leave someone to open the door.''

While block 2 didn't have keys, it was now officially the house of Rick's group, so it was rude to enter without saying anything.

'' Hershel will stay here.''

'' See you soon.'' Jonathan then left to block 1. As soon as he was out of vision, he took out a few foods from the INVENTORY. While Eve gave something for Rick's group to eat yesterday, it should be gonna by now. So, Jonathan took a lot of junk food out.

' Well, this should be enough.'

Soon after, Jonathan appeared with a mountain of food, to the surprise of everyone, '' Care to help?''

Eve and Nathaneal rushed to help. Both grabbed a few foods, '' Thank you.''

Jonathan then looked at Hershel, '' Can you take us to the cafeteria, please?''

Hershel was still surprised by the quantity of the food, but he managed to nod. He began to lead the way to the cafeteria.

While looking around the place, Jonathan asked, '' How are you guys feeling? You had a nice sleep?''

'' I think it was the first time in a good time we slept so well.''

'' That's nice to hear.''

It didn't take long for them to reach the cafeteria. When Carl and Sophia, who were reading comics, noticed the food, the shouted, '' Look at that!''

When they did that, everyone noticed the mountain of food. And Jonathan and his group.

'' Hello. Who's hungry?''