Chapter Text
Jake
"Don't move a fucking muscle, kid."
Jake Macklin froze dead in his tracks. The husky voice of a man behind him wouldn't have been enough to stop him, but the sound of his rifle was. What an inconvenience.
"I'm turning around, don't shoot." Jake sounded bored, because he was. He always ended up on top of these situations. Always.
"Put all've your weapons on the ground and put your hands up. Don't get any funny ideas, kid. I'm not the only one here."
Jake scanned the forest, seeing nothing. Then he scanned the forest using his telekinesis. He felt four more bodies hidden behind trees. The temptation to pull at them was strong, but he didn't know their intentions quite yet.
"Nice and easy, that's it." The man that was giving commands was short and fat. His jean jacket did little to cover up his bulging beer belly. A wild black beard sprouted from his chin. His snarly black hair tangled in with his beard hairs as it descended past his shoulders.
"I don't have any weapons." Jake said. "You can even search me if you want, but i'm telling the truth."
"I've heard that one before, kid. You stay still, my trigger finger is itching today." The man laughed.
Jake felt a disturbance coming from the trees. One of the other men stepped out and roughly patted Jake down. Like he said, Jake didn't carry weapons anymore. It was useless to him. Why burden yourself with a gun or knife when you can simply take from another?
"He's clear."
"Wow, you were tellin' the truth." The fat man smiled a yellow smile. "Now, let's get down to business, shall we?" He lowered his gun. "Do you know who I am, son?"
"Not a fucking clue." Jake sighed. "Should I?"
"I don't know, should you? You see, i'm out huntin for a certain dickhead from this quant little town called Alexandria. Heard of it?"
A town?
"No, I haven't."
The man creeped closer. "Funny thing is, in this world now, I can't tell when someone is telling the truth or lying to me anymore. You said you had no weapons, and that was the truth. But how do I know you're telling the truth now? You see my problem?"
"Listen, dude, i'm not hurting anything out here. I'm just wandering around, taking in the lovely dead forest. Do you mind if I just walk away?"
"Can't let that happen, champ. I've already told you too much. Would you mind coming with me?" The command was disguised as a question.
"I'll pass."
"I'm afraid I must insist." The greasy man lifted his gun.
Except he couldn't.
His entire body was frozen in place. His eyes went wild, the only sign that he was struggling to break Jake's control. The other man, the one who searched him, was too dumb to realize what was about to happen. He took a nice fly to the top of the nearest tree and found his stomach impaled with a thick branch.
The other three men tried to flee, but Jake snatched them all and dragged them to the center without moving a muscle. Each one pulled out their pistol and aimed it at their own heads.
"It's been nice knowing you guys, really." Jake smiled as he forced them to kill themselves.
He unfroze the fat man, but not for long. He ripped the knife from his belt to examine it. The blade was sharp and shiny enough for Jake to check his hair in it. He always liked how, with his power, he could force his brown hair to stay in place, swept to one side along his forehead. He still couldn't change his eye color though. He hated his blue eyes.
He admired the curved tip before plunging it into the man's head as he ran away. He ripped it back, this time with the man's rifle.
Jake shot each man a couple times in the body. Although he didn't have to do this, he liked to make his messes look normal. He couldn't explain the man in the tree, but hey, he had to have some fun in the apocalypse, right?
Another presence.
Jake turned around to see a middle aged man holding a gun to his temple. The end was as cold as the look on this man's face. His salt and pepper beard and ragged black hair did little to soften his appearance.
He spoke in a southern drawl. "What the fuck are you?"
First, Jake locked the man's finger so it wouldn't pull the trigger on his pistol. Then, he decided he would have a conversation with this man. Something about him didn't seem so bad. Even if he was holding a gun to his head.
"I think you mean 'who are you', sir. I'm Jake. What's your name?"
"I saw what you did to those Saviors. They killed themselves without hesitation, and then the knife...how is that possible? I must be dreaming or something, or you aren't human."
"I can assure you i'm human. Now, about that other business, it's really a long story. A story I don't know the beginning of and don't have the time to tell to a stranger whose name I don't even know."
The man hesitated. "I'm Rick Grimes."
"Nice to meet you, Rick." Jake froze Rick in place. He stepped aside, watching as Rick's eyes followed him with frantic worry. "I'm not going to kill you, Rick. You seem like a nice guy. This is just for my own safety." Jake tore Rick's pistol out of his hand, along with the machete hanging at his waist. He made sure to take the handheld radio as well.
"There, that's better." He unfroze Rick.
"How...how can you do that?" Rick grabbed his chest to reassure he was still alive.
"I honestly don't know how, man, that's the sick part of it. One day, it just fucking happened. And then the apocalypse happened, so I mean, I don't know?"
Rick tilted his head as he examined the 17 year old boy before him. He was thrown off on how to deal with him. It was obvious there was no way he could kill Jake in one on one combat. It was terrifying to him, Jake could tell.
"Do you have any idea how dangerous you are, Jake?"
"Yeah, that's kind of why i've tried to stay away from people this whole time."
"I...i'm sorry, i'm just trying to comprehend this. So, you have like telekinesis or what?"
"Yeah, telekinesis. I can move stuff with my mind. I can kill the dead by throwing them against walls. I can choke people without even looking at them. You saw how I carved up those men without hardly moving." A thought occurred to Jake. "Hold on, you knew them, didn't you?"
"They're part of a larger group called the Saviors, ran by this man called Negan. They...they killed one of my friends and have enslaved my community. We give them half of everything every couple of weeks. You just killed five of them, probably out on the hunt for..."
"For whom, Rick?"
"Me."
"Why?"
Rick half-smiled. "Long story."
"Well listen, Rick. If you need help taking out these guys, i'm down for it. It sounds like you're having a hard time with these Saviors or whatever. What do you say?"
Rick was silent.
"Oh, right, the telekinesis. I get that can be hard to wrap your head around."
"I'm going to be completely honest with you, Jake. I can't trust you. You could have killed me ten times by now, and still can. I'm not just going to lead you back to my home, where my children sleep. Where my family sleep. I just need to pretend like I never met you."
Jake was tempted to freeze Rick, force him to take him back to his home, but something stopped him. Maybe he could talk to him without forcing his hand? It's worth a try.
"I can control it. I don't have this bloodlust to kill people, I hope you believe me. I can be trusted. Those people tried to kill me, you would have tried to kill me, but you know why I haven't killed you? Because I can sense that you are a good person. A father, like you said. I had a family once, I know what it's like to lose them. I wouldn't ever do that to someone like you."
"Even with you saying that, I still can't take you back. I hope you understand." Rick rubbed his head as if he were trying to clear it. He turned to walk away, but Jake wasn't going to freeze him. He had to prove himself to Rick.
"You need help with these Saviors, Rick. Imagine what I could do to these people under your command."
Rick paused.
"I could be a super soldier for you. I can do more than killing. I can move bullets in midair, cause them to miss their target. I can jam guns, start cars, lift people into the air, make people follow you. All you have to do is ask."
Rick turned around. "I can't control you. This could all be a trap, and I would be falling for it hook, line, and sinker."
"You're losing this war your in. I can change the tide...for either side."
Rick was definitely freaked out by the whole situation. He stared at Jake long and hard. It was almost if he were trying to shoot him down with laser beams.
"Fine, but I swear to God if you do anything to harm anybody, I will find a way to kill you. You better believe that."
"Understood."
"And nobody is to know about...you. Whatever you call it, telekinesis. That stays under wraps, got it?"
Jake smiled. "Understood."
Rick sighed. "Fuck it, let's go home."
As they were walking, Jake handed Rick back his weapons. After a moments' thought, he handed him the knife and rifle he stole from the Savior.
"I don't need them anyway."
"I believe you."
After a long trek through the forest, the two men came upon a road. Rick led them down the beaten asphalt for half an hour. A gate became visible over the wreckage of a neighborhood. Armed guards stood on the wall on either side.
"Here's the story: I was coming home and ran upon you in the woods. Those Saviors were harassing you, and I helped you kill them. Understood?"
"Crystal clear."
Next Time: Jake becomes acquainted with his surroundings, while Rick has serious regrets about letting him into Alexandria. :) Hope you like the story so far!
~TheChuckles