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That day... the day I got hit by the car. I think about it. A lot. What it would be like if I stayed. What it would be like to be free. But I can't. I'm... stuck. Stuck in this life. But I had Connor. I had to be here. I have to be here. It's my duty to protect him. Always.
~~~
I woke up feeling Daryl leave before watching him pace the grounds before my eyes widened.
"Daryl!" I whisper-shouted, pointing towards the outside. The herd we ignored was outside, trying to pry in. Daryl ran and began to hold the door shut. Everyone began to wake up, helping him hold the door. I ran over to Carl and Judith, pulling a half-awake Connor with me. I grabbed my gun and my knife, getting ready to protect the children if the door caved.
The winds got worse, and the walkers seemed to go away, making everyone fall back. They stayed on the door for an hour, me eventually going to help.
Daryl woke me up, shaking my shoulder softly. I woke up with a groan before waking Connor up, who was lying on my lap.
"Hm?"
"It's time to get up, buddy," I told Connor softly, kissing the back of his head. He nodded sleepily, slowly standing up as I did. I smiled at Daryl, earning a smile back. It made my heart flutter.
"Hey... everyone... this is Aaron." Everyone got their weapons ready. I stood in front of the children; my pistol raised to the man, Aaron.
"We met him outside. He's by himself. We took his weapons, and we took his gear." Daryl began to roughly pat him down as I made sure the kids were behind me. Carl nodded, holding Judith close to him.
"Hi." The man spoke, making me raise a brow. Hi?
"It's nice to meet you." Aaron began his approach to Rick before being stopped by cocking guns.
"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked. Maggie came up and handed him a pistol, Rick checking it over. Rick stuffed it into the back of his jeans, making his way over to the man.
"They're something you need?"
"He has a camp nearby. He wants us to audition for membership." Sasha told us with a pointed look. Audition? I didn't trust this.
"I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights." Aaron chuckled at his own joke, everyone giving him looks.
"Um, and it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions. But it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home. I know. I wouldn't want to go back with me either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" Sasha glared at him for a moment before doing what he asked. Connor got closer to me, clutching my shirt while he watched the stranger.
"Front pocket, there's an envelope. There's no way I could convince you to come with me, just by talking about our community—that's why I brought those. I apologize in advance for the picture quality. Uh, we just found an old camera store-" Daryl cut off his ramblings. If this weren't a serious situation, I would've laughed.
