Scarlett Greene hadn't spoken since she was twelve. After her Daddy was arrested for abuse when she was seventeen, she is sent to live with her Uncle Hershel. Her life gets better, but the trauma is still there.
When the apocalypse begins, she take...
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applesauce
JUDITH WAS HUNGRY. They all were hungry, but Judith was yelling loudly. She was telling the whole world how hungry she was, and Scarlett kept wincing as her screams got louder.
She bounced her softly as Rick glanced out the barn's cracks. "Shh, I know baby. I know. Shh."
"You did see the jar of applesauce in my bag, right?" Aaron asked Rick causing Scarlett's head to perk up. "And the vitamins for Scarlett. This isn't a trick. This isn't about trying to make you like me. It's self-preservation. Because if the roamers hear her and come this way, I know I'll be the first to go."
Rick walked over to the applesauce sitting next to Aaron's pack. Scarlett bounced Judith some more, looking to Rick for answers as to what to do. She shushed the baby softly, Judith's whimpers growing louder.
"All right, come here, come here," Scarlett said as Rick undid the cap of the applesauce. She thought he was just going to blindly trust it, but he soon took a spoonful and walked over to Aaron.
"You think I'm trying to poison your baby daughter?" Aaron asked incredulously as Rick tried shoving the spoonful closer. "I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the head. How would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you in any way help the situation?"
"Maybe she doesn't die. Maybe she gets sick," Rick told him. "Maybe you're the only one that can help her and I just lose."
Aaron looked at Scarlett pleadingly. "I am the only one who can help her because I have applesauce and we all win." Rick pushed it forward again. "I hate applesauce. My mom used to make me eat foods I didn't like to make me more manly. Salmon patties, applesauce, and onions. She was a very confused woman who tried her damnedest. I just bring the jar to show that we have apple trees nearby."
"Like you said, you'll be the first to go," Rick commented before Aaron reluctantly opened his mouth to take a bite. He swallowed it with a look toward Rick. Rick nodded, going over to grab the small jar. He took his own bite, deeming it fine enough. He soon began to feed Judith as Scarlett held the baby in a sitting position.
Scarlett sighed in relief as Judith calmed down, happily eating the sauce.
"The community is big enough. We can find a place for you to live where even when she cries, no one, nothing can hear it outside the walls."
Rick glanced at his watch as Scarlett cooed toward the baby. "You got 43 minutes."
The group of five returned with the words, "He was telling the truth," ringing in Scarlett's ears. She immediately took a vitamin for the baby before opening a packet of cookies that the group of five had brought back among a lot of other food and water.
They had enough to get them through a few weeks if everything goes bad.
Rick watched Scarlett eat the cookies, looking blissful as Carl walked over to her. He nodded, pointing at Aaron. "This, this is ours now."
"There's more than enough," Aaron told him.
"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp."
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Maggie asked.
"If he were lying or if he wanted to hurt us... but he isn't, and he doesn't," Scarlett told them, eyeing Rick. "We need this. So we're going, all of us."
Rick nodded at her. "Somebody say something if they feel differently."
"I don't know, man. This barn smells like horse shit," Daryl commented jokingly. Scarlett smirked as Rick nodded. He turned to Aaron, grabbing the map that was in his bag. Scarlett sat down, nodding gratefully at Tara as she helped her.
"So where are we going? Where's your camp?" Rick asked.
Aaron looked hesitant. "Well, every time I've done this, I've been behind the wheel driving recruits back. I believe you're good people. I've bet my life on it. I'm just not ready to bet my friends' lives just yet."
"You're not driving," Rick told him. "So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how."
Aaron looked like he wanted to do anything but. He looked around the room, eyes going to Scarlett as she rubbed her stomach. "Go north on Route 16."
"And then?"
"I'll tell you when we get there."
Rick nodded, figuring that's all they were getting out of him for now. He looked at Daryl and Glenn who were near him. "We'll take 23 north. You'll give us directions from there."
"That's... I don't know how else to say it... That's a bad idea. We've cleared 16. It'll be faster," Aaron tried.
"We'll take 23," Scarlett said to Aaron, eyes narrowed. "We listen to Rick."
Rick nodded at her, showing he was grateful. "We leave at sundown."
"We're doing this at night?" Glenn asked.
Rick sighed, running a hand through his hair. "Look, I know it's dangerous. But it's better than riding up to the gates during the day. If it isn't safe, we need to get gone before they know we're there."
"No one is going to hurt you. You're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger," Aaron pleaded.
"Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now." Aaron did not reply. He looked away, eyes staring at the barn doors. "It's going to be a long night. Eat. Get some rest if you can."
Scarlett stood up with Rick's help. He led her over to the table where they were mapping out their plans. Michonne smiled softly at Scarlett, to which the redhead returned it.
Rick glanced at Michonne. "I'm thinking you, me, and Glenn drive with that guy. Scarlett, Carl, and Judith are safer in there."
"I agree," Scarlett added. "I rather stay with them. Keep them safe if I need to."
The others nodded at the plan before dispersing. They all were eating or sleeping, gearing up for the night ahead. Scarlett bit her lip worriedly as she glanced around the room. Rick watched her shove a cookie in her mouth, and he almost laughed.
"You okay?"
"When you said that we were going, was that for real? Or are you just trying to get this guy to tell you where his camp is?" she asked. "Was it just for me?"
Rick grabbed her hand, pulling a cookie out of it. He ate it and grinned at her face. "We're going," he said after swallowing. He squeezed her hand, lifting it to kiss her knuckles. "Whatever it takes to get there. Just as long as we get there. Sometime tonight, we'll be outside his camp's walls. And without seeing inside, I'm gonna have to decide whether to bring my family in. All of you. He asked me before what it would take for me to believe it was real. Truth is... I'm not sure if anything could convince me to go in there. But I'm gonna see.
