JP - Harper, TJ, Kelly

Posted on Tue Apr 7th, 2026 @ 9:16pm by Council Member Timothy Cotton & Survivor Harley Bell & Survivor Kelly Cardona

952 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Winter's hope

The people of the Homestead had welcomed her with a certain level of caution and schepticism. The part that really upset her was that they had taken her weapons and hadn’t given them back yet. Harper ingested the antibiotics they had offered her after insisting on reading the label herself and analyzing the pills as if she was a pharmacist herself. They had checked out.
She lowered herself into the hot bath in the lovely rustic bathroom, feeling the first warmth and comfort she had experienced since she had left the stadium over a week before. She let the soothing water flow over her shapely body, washing away the chill, the dirt, and the grime. It did nothing, however, to remove the bite of worry for her brothers and the guilt that she had found a warm place to rest her head, while they might still be cold and alone.

She stepped out of the tub and grabbed a heavy gray towel, running it over her skin slowly. She was careful to avoid the scratch on her torso. She brushed her teeth with the toothbrush they had provided and then looked at the outfit they had given her. She had no clean underwear, so she had to settle for slipping into the black leggings she had been given without them. She pulled on the black t-shirt without a bra and the rather nice tan sweater they'd given her with it. After adjusting her long blonde hair in the mirror. She stepped out into the hallway again. She saw Kelly there waiting, but there was a man standing with her as well.
“The warm bath was a Godsend. It’s been weeks…honestly, that was truly amazing.” She said with a grin, stepping toward them. She looked at the man, her cool blue eyes settling on his face. “I’m Harper.”

TJ nodded and smiled, "Nice to meet you formally Harper. I'm TJ, Kelly's other half." He said with a grin, "We met earlier when you were in the woods. We're going to show you around the place, let you see where everything is so you won't feel so out of place." He explained.

“Oh, sorry. How rude of me to forget.” Harper said, flitting her eyebrows. “It was a..strange situation. I didn’t even take note of everybody. A tour sounds nice, but…I gotta ask, when am I getting my weapons back? I’m…a little nervous eithout them.”

"Quite alright, you had other things on your mind." TJ replied easily. He exchanged a glance with Kelly when Harper asked about her weapons. "It will be discussed at the council meeting." He replied simply.

“All due respect, but I don’t know any of you from Adam. I don’t know if it’s safe here and a girl needs to be able to defend herself.” Harper insisted. “How long do I need to wait for this ‘council meeting’ of yours?”

"With equal respect, we don't know you either, I do know we took you in, got you a bath, some medications and clean clothes when we could have just shot you. I think that shows our good intentions. You see? It cuts both ways Harper. Just be patient."

Harper was preparing to push the envelope. It was her way, as anyone who knew her would say. She was certainly no wall flower.

“I’m much more useful alive than dead. You wouldn’t be the first people to take me in and want something in return.” She said, pushing, but not adopting an unfriendly tone. “You could be cannibals. You could be a weird polygamist cult that didn't shoot me because you like blondes, or maybe you really are just a nice group of people…I haven’t seen too many of those left, TJ. They’re all dead.”

Harper frowned, her blue eyes lingering on the man’s. She wouldn’t be easy to manage, but she also didn’t want to push too far. The expression on her face communicated genuine wariness and not just an act to win an argument. She was, after all, a woman sll alone in a world of walkers and men with guns.

"No doubt you are more useful alive than dead." TJ replied his voice easy and his tone even, respectful. "I don't think you really believe we're cannibals or polygamists. Captain Reynolds is married to one of our doctors and they have a son and Kelly is my fiancée." He shook his head, "No, they aren't all dead. We are a group of nice people trying to make a start in this new world we're in with this community, so we need to be careful as well. However we do want something from you, your friendship and trust."

“I totally understand your worries Harper, being amongst strangers isn’t much fun especially now.” Kelly offered understandingly. “We have a pregnant woman amongst our group too, you’ll get to meet her as well. We were all strangers to one another until we became part of this colony trying to survive.”

"Well." Harper said, crossing placing her hands on her hips and looking at both of them disapprovingly. "S'pose I'm not ready to wrestle and hog-tie both of you at this point, so I guess I'll just have to make do."

"Yes, I suppose you will." TJ returned with a smile. "As I said earlier be patient."

“It’s not so bad” Kelly smiled. “You’ll find we’re a great bunch once you get to know us all.”

TJ nodded, "Kelly speaks the truth. It isn't bad. I think you will see that just give it some time."

 

RSS Feed