"You've seen the holes out there," Gray said while eyeing the outside. "You probably saw me digging them when I first spotted you guys." Rick crossed his arms. "I noticed."
"And you probably noticed that my things look out of place, like my truck or me being here by myself, but what I'm about to tell you is only to earn your trust." Rick's gaze narrowed, his hand resting on his hip. "Go on." He started telling Rick that he had means of acquiring tools, materials, and food didn't matter what it is.
Rick let out a short laugh, not unkind but skeptical. "You've been alone a long time, Gray. Maybe this is how you cope."
"You don't believe me, do you? If I showed you proof, do you promise you won't freak out?" Gray told Rick with a serious face.
"Sure, if you can show me that you can get these things, I'll believe you, but why are you telling me this anyway?" Rick said with some confusion in his tone.
"Well, as you can see, I'm planning to reinforce this prison, make it a fortress, truly make it a haven for people, but I need help. I can't do everything by myself, okay, maybe I could, but people need to earn their safe place, you know?" Gray kept going.
"Who would want to build a safe space for ungrateful people who expect everything handed to them? I wanna build this thing, and to save time, I decided to let you in on my little secret."
Rick looked at Gray for a few seconds and finally said, "I get that, trying to keep people safe, but what you are implying is just crazy talk and..." he quickly got quiet as Gray seemingly out of nowhere pulled out an 8-foot 2x4.
Rick froze. His eyes darted from the board to Gray's empty hands. "You can get anything?" Rick asked quietly. Gray smirked at Rick, "Where do you think I got those steaks?"
Rick looked towards the truck and, seeing his pregnant wife, he looked expectedly at Gray. "What about medical supplies?" Gray got confused and looked at where he was looking. "Ah, I can do you one better. I can get her baby delivered safely, since I can get whatever she would need, since I'm a trained doctor." I mean, I'm technically not lying; I do have all this medical knowledge. If anyone could deliver that baby safely, it's me.
"So, what do you think, we got a deal? I provide everything this group would ever need, and you guys help me defend this place and help with the construction." Rick's breath shook slightly. Then, instead of offering his hand, he pulled Gray into a sudden hug. Gray blinked in surprise but didn't pull away.
"So, I'm guessing this is a yes?" Gray muttered, Rick chuckled, stepping back. "Yeah. It's a yes."
"Perfect, for now, though let's keep this between ourselves, yeah? tomorrow morning, we can tell the rest of the people," Gray said to Rick while they walked back to the group.
Once back from their talk, Gray went inside the truck to buy a change of clothes for everyone. Walking outside, he put the whole stack on the hood. "Olive branch".
Looking over at them. "Tomorrow morning, a few of us will clear out the prison. I know ammo's tight and you don't all trust me yet… but tomorrow you'll see why you don't need to worry about that." His eyes swept the group, catching Daryl's scowl. "I've got two spare beds inside—California kings. Fit three if you don't hog the covers. Shower's hot, plenty of water. Just ask."
Rick was murmuring something to Lori when Daryl stepped forward. "You're telling me you got all this while the rest of the world's gone to hell?" Gray just shrugged. "You're welcome to look for yourself."
Daryl went in first, his boots thumping against the floor. His eyes scanned the neatly stocked ammo, the gleam of the M249 on the table. "Overcompensating much?" he muttered. Gray only smiled.
Soon, everyone had poked their head inside, taken showers, and slipped into clean clothes. Laughter drifted from the table—a sound they hadn't heard in weeks.
Outside, Rick walked the perimeter with Daryl and Gray.
"Guess you two got friendly," Daryl said, eyeing them. "You'll know why tomorrow," Gray replied. He stopped mid-step, raised his rifle, and dropped a walker a hundred yards away.
Rick and Daryl gave him a sidelong look. "I'm a good shot," Gray said, still walking.
Making it back to the group, Gray was stopped by Hershel, "Thank you for what you've done, son. I don't think we've been this stress-free for a long while." He said, "Don't worry about it, just the first day of many to come." Smiling at his response, Hershel went back inside the truck.
Finally, at night, people started getting ready to sleep. Gray saw they left the bed above the cabin for him, "I'm sleeping in the cabin tonight; it looks like you guys could use some rest." After that, everyone started taking places on the bed above the cabin. Hershel, Maggie, and Beth fit just right, on the other bed, Lori, Carl, and Carol. Rick and Glenn had a sleeping bag on the floor while T-Dog and I slept in the cabin, Daryl decided to sleep outside.
The next morning, they gathered in the yard. Rick stepped forward, looking unsure about what was about to happen. "Alright, listen up," he began, scanning the group. "Last night, Gray told me something… wild. I didn't believe him at first. You probably won't either. But I've seen enough to give him a shot. So, before you judge, just… watch."
Rick stepped back. All eyes turned to Gray. "Morning, folks," Gray said, hands tucked in his jeans. "You've been living on the road, moving every day, some days not knowing if you were going to make it or not. I can change that. Problem is… It's gonna sound crazy."Carol frowned. Glenn crossed his arms. Daryl muttered something under his breath."I can… acquire things," Gray continued, his voice steady. "Anything we need. Food, fuel, weapons—""—and you just happen to have a magic pantry in the middle of the apocalypse?" Daryl cut in.
Gray smirked. "Something like that." Then, without another word, he turned, and with a low, metallic whump, a smaller EarthRoamer appeared behind him. The group froze—eyes wide, jaws slack. Glenn actually stepped back. "That… wasn't there a second ago," T-Dog whispered."Nope," Gray said simply.
Rick glanced at the others. "Told you." The whispers started, half disbelief, half awe, but Gray cut them off. "Questions later. Right now, we clear the prison."
Gray finally addressed Rick, "So, I was thinking that for today's task we should probably only use as few people as possible, you know, tight spaces and all."
"I was thinking the same thing. If you can provide the ammo, I'd rather we don't risk any more people than we have to." Rick looked behind the closed gate, where all the walkers were roaming around. "Perfect, I was thinking of giving you and Daryl here some AR-15s with some extended mags, maybe a handgun for the tighter spaces."
"Now I was thinking of it being just you, Daryl, and me," Rick's brow furrowed. "You're the one with the magic tricks. If you get bit, we lose the edge you bring. I'm not riskin' that." At this, Gray only smiled and took a stance with his rifle. In less than 2 seconds, 7 shots rang, dropping 7 different walkers, all headshots. The yard went silent except for the soft thud of bodies sliding down the chain-link. "I can handle myself, Rick, but if it makes you feel better, I can stay behind you guys; either way, I'm going." Ain't no way I'm letting Big Tiny die.
"Show off," Daryl muttered while looking at the dead walkers.