Too Far Gone // D. Dixon

chapter thirteen

When the group finally returned, they were not empty-handed.

The stack of canned goods had been so substantial that Rick and Maren's brains were unable to process what that meant for the group. There was enough to last them a while. A good, long while.

"This," Rick motions towards the food, "this is ours now."

Aaron nods his head, "There's more than enough."

"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp," Rick said, turning back to the rest of the group. Carl rolled his eyes.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl asked, feeling frustrated with his father. He understood, after all they've been through, trusting people is the most difficult thing to do. But they had to trust someone at some point, they'd have to in order to stay alive.

"We need this. So we're going, all of us," Michonne spoke up, taking charge, "Somebody say something if they feel differently."

"I don't know man," Daryl started, "this barn smells like horse shit." Maren laughed with Daryl for a moment, before turning to look at Rick again. The group looks at the pair, making Maren clear her throat uncomfortably.

"I have a condition," Maren stood up, looking back at Aaron on the floor, "The first sign of something...anything at all...I am not staying. I mean it. The first sign of trouble there is, I'm gone." Maren looked back between Rick and Daryl, they nodded in understanding.

"There is no trouble at our community-" Aaron retorted back, but stopped himself when Maren walked towards him. He watched the girl, noticing how she was so calculated and conscious of herself and the way she carried herself. He wondered what had happened that had made her that way, so careful and so cautious of other people.

"That's what they all say," Maren scoffs, "People will say whatever they need to, do whatever they think they have to, in order to get whatever the hell it is they want now. Trust me, buddy. I've seen it."

"So..." Rick squatted in front of Aaron, "where's your camp?"

- TOO FAR GONE -

Glenn had driven the car, letting Rick ride in the shotgun seat while Aaron sat between Michonne and Maren in the backseat. The rest of the group were set behind them, following cautiously behind them in the RV.

It felt weird to be in a car again, after having not been in one for a while. They'd been on foot for the last few weeks, truding forwards despite the terrible blisters on their feet and the endless sweat beading off of every orifice. This was nice.

Rick had reached into the glove compartment to investigate, finding loads of license plates. Rick looks through them, noticing that each one is different.

Aaron smiled, looking at each one with a laugh, "I'm trying to collect all 50 states, put them all on a wall in my house."

"You have your own house?" Michonne asks, looking at the man in amazement. Whatever this community was, it was sounding better and better by the second. Too good to be true. Aaron nods, motioning for her to look at the pictures.

As Michonne gets finished with each one, she hands them to Maren to investigate. Maren can't believe the pictures. The walls look sturdy, the houses look new, there's electricity and even solar panels. This place was the real deal.

This place looked like the old world.

"Why don't you have any pictures of your people?" Michonne asks, looking at Aaron again. This pulls Maren's attention back to Aaron. That was a fair point. Maybe they were hiding something. Something like that wearhouse she'd spent so long in through the winter.

"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-"

Michonne cut him off, looking at Rick, "Did you ask him the questions?" To which Rick shakes his head no.

"How many walkers have you killed?"

Maren looked up at that question, understanding that as the questions he had asked her. She listened in now, paying closer attention to what he had been looking for.

"I'm sorry, what?" Aaron questions, making Michonne repeat herself, "I don't know...a lot."

"How many people have you killed?"

Aaron pauses for a moment, "Two."

"Why?"

"Because they tried to kill me." Aaron's answer struck home for Maren. She had been forced to do the same. She'd been forced to kill them, as a way for her to escape their clutches.

Rick continues looking through the car, finding a listening device. Glenn looks over, shock flashing across his features.

"You were listening to us?" Glenn asks worriedly, looking back at Aaron.

"I already said I was watching you. Yes, I was listening. That's how I know-" Aaron explained, being bombarded with anxious question after question.

"It means his people could have one, too. They could have heard our plan, this isn't safe-" Rick was interrupted by the sounds of walkers slamming against the car.

Glenn shouted as he continued to drive through the walkers, blood spattering against every window of the car as he sped up. It had gotten to the point where the windshield was completely covered in blood, nothing could be seen from inside. After a while, Glenn stops the car. The walkers were still coming for them, but they were still a bit ahead of them.

Rick and Glenn got out of the car, looking back for the camper. It was gone. The rest of the group had gotten away from the horde, gone off somewhere else. The walkers' snarling made them race back to the car.

"They're okay?" Aaron asked, and Michonne responded. Glenn tried his best to clear the windshield of the blood, but it was still streaking. It would have to do for now. They had to get the hell out of there before they became walker food.

"All right, we can take a left a couple of miles up 23. Jefferson Avenue." Rick hurriedly spat out at Glenn, looking at the map in his hands.

"Jefferson Avenue." Glenn repeated, hoping to remember it. He turned the key in the ignition, but it didn't start the car. Fuck, Maren thought to herself, this is it.

"We gotta get outta here!" Aaron said, panicking at their current unmoving state of being. The engine sputtered, making every noise except the sound of starting. The group groaned, growing incredibly impatient and anxious with each passing second.

"Let me see what I can see." Michonne said, getting out to check the engine. The problem became painfully obvious, with pieces and chunks of walkers being stuck within crevices of the car itself. No wonder the son of a bitch won't start, it's full of dead walker body parts.

They were all interrupted by a red spark in the sky, it was a flare. The look of sheer panic on Aaron's face worried everyone. If he was scared, they most certainly should be too.

"Shit," Aaron spoke low, a look of pure fear on his face.

"Who did that?" Rick asked hurriedly, looking back at a shaking Aaron.

"I need to leave, this is over," Aaron said, scooting over to the door. He was fighting desperately to get out, but the door was locked.

"The fuck you are," Maren spat, moving towards Aaron, "you aren't going anywhere."

"What's going on?" Rick asked him again, but he was in a tizzy. Aaron was shouting, watching the walkers get closer and closer to them.

When Aaron finally ran out of the car, the group was left with no choice but to follow the man.

"Leave him! We need to find our people." Rick shouted at Michonne, holding his weapon up in a defensive position.

"They saw that flare. They'll think we shot it, this is how we find them." Michonne responded and off they went.