The Lady Who Lives Outside of Town
Jesse Joel Williams is seven years old to the day when he goes to visit the Lady Who Lives Outside of Town.
It starts as any normal day. Mama wakes him up at five in the morning to give him his daily hugs and kisses before she goes out on Patrol, her usual comment of “In case I can’t come back for them,” leaving him uneasy, though he knows why she says it.
Then Granny makes him a big breakfast while Pop-Pop jokes about a feast befitting a Prince. The two of them spoil him just a little bit extra today, though if he’s honest, he’s already spoiled plenty by them… He looks just like his Daddy, so he’s been told over again.
When clock strikes ten, Granny’s off to work mending clothes and sewing scraps together, anything to stretch out what little material they have to work with. Pop-Pop walks with him to the centre of town, where all the other kids of Jackson like to hang out, before the old man bustles off to his own job.
“Heard it’s your birthday, JJ.” Peter, one of oldest boys says, jumping down from the play structure Maria insisted on having built, something about wanting to ‘keep the kids occupied’. Peter walks over to JJ, fluffing up the little boy’s hair in a playful tease before continuing. “We got you a present for it, well sorta.”
“What is it?” Jesse Joel looks between the boys who are now all circling around him and Peter.
He recognizes most of them, Peter and David being the oldest, thirteen and twelve respectively, the boys are barely a year away from being asked to join the patrols. Until then, they rule the Kids of Jackson.
Next up are the twins, Elijah and Edgar. They’re ten years old and can be kind of pranksters, all the adults of Jackson are used to chasing them away from homes and workplaces, not trusting them to behave. There’s also Benji, one of JJ’s best friends, he’s ten as well, but he doesn’t look down on JJ for being so little.
Last of all is a kid that Jesse Joel has seen before, but never really gotten to know, he thinks his name is Lukas, and he wants to trust him, but he’s still unsure.
Jesse is the youngest by far, other than a couple of toddlers, but the babies are cared for specifically by the older girls. Jesse is too old now to need to be babysat, and so, even though he’s a little reluctant, his ears still perk up at the thought of finally being allowed into the big kids group.
“We’re going to take you to The Lady’s house.”
Jesse Joel gasps softly, The Lady Who Lives Outside of Town, otherwise known simply as The Lady, is kind of like an Urban Legend to all of the Kids of Jackson.
She’s been there for years, five and a half specifically, cooped up in a little wooden house just outside of the perimeter walls. She never comes to town, hasn’t stepped foot inside of the gates in five years. She keeps to herself other than when troubles afoot. A group of Infected stumbles upon town? The Lady is the first in the fight, dispatching as many as she can before the guard can help. Raiders? Bandits? Murderers? They have to go through The Lady first.
Every single child in Jackson has heard their parents talk in hushed whispers about her, most children have caught glimpses of her house from the gates.
Jesse Joel has been obsessed with her ever since he caught a glimpse of her from Pop-Pop’s watchtower. She looked up at the tower, met eyes with Jesse Joel and JJ’s Mama immediately shooed them down from the tower, tears falling from her face so fast he never had a chance to ask why she was crying so hard.
“How are we getting out of town?” JJ asked cautiously, glancing between Peter, David and the matching looks of mischief written across their faces.
Peter explains. “We found a hole in the fence just big enough for us all to squeeze through, it’s totally rad.”
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The house up close was both, nothing and everything, of how Jesse Joel had expected it to be.
It was dilapidated, wood planks broken and splintered. It was overgrown, large bushes covered windows and small vines wove through cracks. It was eerily silent, you could lose the sound of nature just by being near the house. A chill ran through the air.
JJ was in the front, held up in the air by Peter as he tried to get the boy high enough to see inside of the windows. “Do you see anything, JJ?” He hissed, annoyance taking over him the longer he held him.
“I still can’t see!” JJ called out.
“Uhh… Peter.” Elijah whispered.
“Not now, Eli!” Peter snapped, hoisting JJ up even further. “What about now, JJ, can you see her now?”
“Not yet!” The enthusiastic little boy called out.
“Peter!” Edgar and Benji join in this time, their voices full of fear and worry. “Peter, you have to listen-”
“I said not now!” Peter yells at them. “JJ, can you-”
“It’s her!” David screams, cutting Peter off mid-word, grabbing his friend’s shoulder and pointing to The Lady descending her front steps towards them.
The next few seconds go by in a haze to Jesse Joel. He’s dropped out of Peter’s arms right onto his bum, landing with a hard thud. Before he can even look up to tell them off, the group of six have began screaming and running away, not bothering to look back to see if Jesse Joel’s following after them.
He stays seated on the ground though, even as The Lady comes closer and closer until she’s hovering over him with a stare. “Aren’t you going to run?”
Her words take Jesse Joel by surprise, not what she’s said but how she has said it. It’s almost as if the idea of him running away from her has made her sad.
“I’m not afraid of you.” He answers defiantly, though the way she stares at him is making him a little uncomfortable. “My name is Jesse Joel Williams and I’m not scared of anything, except for the monsters.”
“I know who you are.” The Lady whispers before stepping towards him. She’s hesitant, like she thinks he’ll flinch or run, but he stays still watching her.
She reaches a hand down for him. When he takes it in return, it’s her time to flinch a little. He supposes it’s been a while since she’s touched someone else’s hand. He grips tightly to it, using her to help him up, before staring expectantly.
“Would you like to come in?” She finally asks, the bright beam of the boy’s smile carving away a little of her rough exterior and she masks her own smile.
“Yes, please!” Jesse Joel follows her to the stairs, walking silently until they’re secure inside her home.
The Lady brings the boy to the kitchen table, where they sit facing each other in silence for a little while.
If Jesse Joel and the other boys thought the outside of her home was unkempt, the inside is only worse. It’s small and simple. Everything is all in one room. A bed, the kitchen, a guitar and some pictures. Her entire life in one small room, with only a door off to the side for a bathroom, or so JJ imagines.
“So, you’re afraid of the Infected, and only the Infected?” She questions him, her eyes softening only slightly to take him in. What he looks like, the features she sees that are compromised of her bestfriend and the woman she loved. He doesn’t know, but her heart skips a beat every time he speaks.
“Well yeah, the monsters are scary.” He says seriously.
She pauses. “People are scarier, JJ.” Before he can ask how she knows his name, she’s getting up and moving to the kitchen, pulling a plate down from the almost bare cupboards and fixing him something to eat. “The men that you’re named after, they weren’t killed by Infecteds, they were killed by people.”
Jesse Joel blinks, he can see the pain in The Lady’s eyes, and he wants to help her, but he’s only seven, and try as he might, he can’t quite piece it together.
“Your Daddy, Jesse… Your… J…” She can’t say it.
“My Grandpa Joel.” He offers for her instead.
Her faces falls, and she slowly begins to shake, her eyes are wild and darting all over the place. She’s trembling as she whispers. “Your Grandpa Joel…”
The seven year old is out of his seat instantly, moving to her and wrapping himself around her arm. She blinks back tears, croaks out a tiny, “Get off of me.” But then she’s crying and holding him, and he’s clinging to her tightly and whispering soft words of encouragement, trying to pull her out of it.
“It’s okay. You are okay. You are safe, you are home and I’m here.” He whispers all of the things that his Mother whispers to him after a nightmare, and holds The Lady tightly to him until the shaking stops.
She finally looks up at him, the frown on her face fading slightly as she leans against him for support.
“What about the Williams part?” Jesse Joel whispers finally, staring at her. “You weren’t killed by people.”
Ellie looks up at him, heart pounding in her chest of how is it that he knows who she is, that he figured it out that quickly. She always knew her little Potato was smart, but she’s been hiding from them for five and a half years. Ever since she tried to come back and Dina wouldn’t let her walk back into their lives.
“A soul can die too, JJ.”