Destination Life or Death

15.

We all sat quietly in the barn we had found to get away from the storm. "Hey." Maggie said while walking in. "Everyone... this is Aaron" She said stepping in with a man following her, Sasha was behind him with a gun to his back. We all stood up and pointed our guns to him. "We met him outside, he's by himself. We took his weapons and his gear." Maggie said while Daryl gave him a pat down to find anything he may have hidden. The man looked at all of us in silence before Daryl closed the door behind him. "Hi." The man's voice was friendly. "It's nice to meet you" the man spoke before stepping towards Rick with his hand out, he stopped quickly when we all pointed our guns. He put his hands up and looked around at us waiting for someone to speak. "You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked, not moving his stare from the man. Maggie walked up and handed Rick a small old black pistol. Rick didn't say anything for at least a minute. "There something you need?" Rick questioned. "He has a camp nearby," Sasha spoke from behind the man. "He wants us to audition for membership," Sasha said, looking at Rick. "I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe." he paused and shrugged "That's only on Friday nights" he said, pasting an awkward smile on his face. I put my gun down into its holder on my belt, receiving a glare from Rick. "I'm not doing this," I paused "I'm not holding a gun up to an innocent man," I said , shrugging before sliding down on the wall to sit on the ground. Rick nodded to me before turning back to the man we knew as Aaron. "Um, it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions. But, it's not my call" he paused "My job is to convince you all to follow me back home," he said looking around at all of us then focusing back on Rick, who was now making his way over to Aaron. "I know. If I were you I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into," he said, turning to face Sasha. "Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" he asked, while Sasha went to Rick and gave him the brown backpack she had been carrying. "Front pocket there's an envelope," Aaron said quickly while Rick sat the bag on the floor and opened it. I stood up and peeked over Rick's shoulder to see what the man was talking about. "I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store-" Before he could finish Daryl cut him off, "Nobody gives a shit," he spoke to Aaron from behind him. "You're absolutely 100% right." Aaron said while looking at Daryl and then turning to Rick. "That's the first picture I wanted to show you. Because nothing I say about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe. If you join us, you will be." I looked at Aaron, then at the picture that had been of a metal wall with wooden pillars helping hold it up. "Each panel in that wall is a 15-foot-high, 12-foot-wide slab of solid steel framed by cold rolled steel beams and square tubing. Nothing, alive or dead gets through that without out say-so," he paused, looking at us then back at Rick. "Like I said, our security is obviously important. In fact there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival. The people." He paused, "together we're strong. You can make us even stronger." he said not moving his gaze off Ricks. Rick walked up to him and punched him right in the face knocking him to the ground. "Why?" I said standing up and pushing Rick away from the man now passed out on the ground. "He gave us no reason to not trust him." I said, shaking my head in anger. "We don't just punch people because we don't agree with you, Rick." I paused, "If you want to turn him down, fine. But don't be a dick." I said, quickly turning away and kneeling down to wake up Aaron. Rick spoke to the rest of them while I sat on the ground. "Lets see who he really is. Dump out his pack." Rick said quickly. "Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction." he spoke to all of us. I grabbed my Katana and a small pistol. "I'm going to the right," I said , leaving the building and walking into the trees. "Dezzy, wait." Rick said from the barn. I heard him. I just didn't care.

Carl's POV-

I went to follow her but was quickly stopped by my dad's arm. "She's fine. Sit him up." My dad spoke seeming more calm than he was before. "How many of your people are out there?" My dad questioned before pulling out the small orange gun I had handed him before. "You have a flare gun. You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?" I looked at my dad and then at the man again. "Does it matter?" Aaron asked shakily. "Yes. Yes, it does." My dad spoke sternly, he was angry. "I mean of course," he paused, "It matters how many people are out there. But does it matter how many people I tell you are out there?" he asked looking up at my dad. "Because I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say, 8, 32, 444, zero--" he paused and shook his head, yet, not moving his eyes from my dad, "No matter what I say, you're not going to trust me." Aaron spoke. I knew he was right, but I knew Rick didn't. "Well it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face," my dad said quickly. "How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you on the road?" he questioned. My dad looked at Daryl and then the water bottles we had found a few days previously. "How long have you people been following us?" Daryl said while walking closer to him. "Long enough to see you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that, despite the lack of food and water, you never turned on each other. You are survivors... and you're people." Aaron said quickly. "Like I said, and I hope you don't punch me for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world." The room went silent, everyone just giving each other looks, not knowing what to say. "How many others are out there?" I asked quickly, not giving my dad time to yell. Aaron sighed, "One.