𝗗𝗜𝗦𝗧𝗨𝗥𝗕𝗜𝗔- rick grimes

THIRTY FIVE

THIRTY FIVE

JUST AS THEY PLANNED, THE GROUP left a little after sun down. Rick, Glenn, Aria and Aaron sat in the car leading the others in the RV behind them to their destination— Aaron's community. Aria conveniently enough sat in the backseat, behind Glenn who was driving, with Aaron next to her. She had no problem with the man, therefore opted to be the one to sit in the seat beside him instead of driving like she originally hoped for. None of them seemed to have an issue with the idea, seeing as how all Rick had to do was turn in his seat if Aaron tried anything, which he never did.

Her attention was focused out the window beside her, she watched as the dimly lit trees faded together at their speed. She wondered what it would be like— what Aaron's community was like. Would they actually welcome them with open arms even though they technically kept Aaron hostage for an entire day? She knew Aaron only wanted to recruit them before handing them off to whoever else to test if they were reliable enough to stay within the walls of the place they had built.

It caused her nerves to skyrocket as new thoughts flooded her mind. She could only hope that what she thought wouldn't be true. That Rick would also join them inside, become part of the community even though he said otherwise.

The thoughts that clouded her mind vanished for a second as Aaron's voice sounded throughout the car. "Um, i'm trying to collect all fifty states. Put them all on a wall in my house."

Her eyebrows raised at his words, his own house. Her eyes trailed from the many license plates in Rick's hand that he grabbed out of the glove compartment and to Aaron. "You have your own house?" Her voice came out shocked and seemingly interested, maybe even a bit hopeful.

Aaron nodded, gesturing to the pictures in his bag. "See for yourself."

That was all it took for the woman to reach down in between them, grabbing the envelope that the pictures were still inside of. Her eyes raked over the pictures, one in particular catching her eye: it was a house, more specifically the porch just as the sun started to rise. Aria looked back to Aaron who held a smile on his face as he watched her face lit up at the pictures on her hand. She flipped through some more. More houses, other areas and what else in the walls that looked to be surrounding the houses. Only one thought came to mind when she saw a regular occurrence, there wasn't any people in the pictures.

"Why is there no people in literally any of the pictures?" Aria asked, hostility and defense in her tone. Her eyebrows knitted together as she looked back to Aaron waiting for his answer. "Oh, I took a picture of the whole group, but I didn't get the exposure right. When I tried to develop it later, it just—"

Aria's face turned towards Rick, her eyes narrowing as she began to question Aaron's motives now. "Did you ask him the questions?"

Rick looked over his shoulder, muttering a simple no. The woman was baffled, usually he'd ask before even getting the others name. To her surprise she glanced back at Aaron, asking him the questions herself. "How many walkers have you killed?"

Aaron's face quickly contorted in confusion, completely taken aback by her out of place question. "I'm sorry, what?"

"How many walkers have you killed?" Aria repeated, drawing each word out slowly. Aaron, still mildly confused and slightly concerned now, began. "I don't know.. a lot."

"How many people?" She continued, it was routine by now.

His voice came out in a whisper, eyes widened. "Two."

She pressed further, her voice quieter and not as aggressive as her other questions came out to be. "Why?"

"Because they tried to kill me."