Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Split Decisions

"Hey... everyone," Maggie greeted as she walked into the barn, followed by a complete stranger. "This is Aaron." She introduced him. The sound of guns cocking made Parker jolt awake, using the wall to push herself onto her feet, Daryl grabbed her bicep, holding her steady for a second so she could fully wake up. When no one else moved to pat Aaron down for weapons, Daryl stepped forward, patting the new guy down. "We met him outside. He's by himself," Maggie continued to explain as everyone looked to her and Sasha for answers. "We took his weapons and we took his gear." Maggie stared at him, expectantly waiting for him to say his piece.

"Hi," Aaron greeted nervously. Judith began to cry in Rick's arms and he handed her off to Parker, who was quick to wrap her niece into her embrace, shushing her quietly. She stood beside Rick now, rocking his crying daughter in her arms as everyone cautiously eyed Aaron, not knowing what his motive was. One thing was for sure, he looked anything but threatening. "It's nice to meet you," Aaron said awkwardly, taking the smallest step forward only for everyone to re-aim their guns at him. He stopped dead in his tracks, his hands just barely raised above his waist.

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick peered at Maggie through the corner of his eyes and she handed Rick a small pistol, which he checked for bullets before tucking it into his waistband.

"Did he want something from you?" Parker asked the two. "Or are you just here?" She narrowed her eyes at Aaron.

"He has a camp nearby," Sasha answered. "He wants us to audition for membership." Parker and Rick gave Aaron the same look and he laughed slightly.

"I wish there was another word," He quickly defended, "Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights." No one said anything. Didn't crack a smile. Not even a laugh. "Um, and it's not- it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions. But it's not my call." He looked around at everyone who surrounded him. "My job is to convince you all to follow me back home. I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into." He twisted around, looking at Sasha. "Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" She slowly walked over to Rick, taking his pack off her shoulder and passing it to him. 

"This is some sort of trap, it won't end well for you," Parker warned him as Rick crouched down on the ground to go through it.

"I assure you, it's not," Aaron stated, his hands fidgeting nervously in front of him. "Front pocket, there's an envelope. There is 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. We just found an old camera store last-"

"Nobody gives a shit," Daryl interrupted, tired of hearing him talk. Aaron turned to Daryl, nodding instantly.

"You're absolutely one hundred percent right." He agreed, the words flying out in one sentence. "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. Each panel in that wall is a fifteen-foot high, twelve-foot wide slab of solid steel. Framed by cold-rolled steel beams and square tubing. Nothing, alive or dead gets through that without our say-so. Like I said, security is... obviously important. In fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival. The people."

"The last time someone said something like that, it turned out that they ate people," Parker spoke during one of his pauses. "So you'll have to forgive us if we don't exactly trust you."

"I understand. But I can assure you that we don't eat people. Together we're strong. You can make us even stronger. The next picture, you'll see behind the gates." Parker and Rick shared a look but for whatever reason it seemed that Rick had other ideas.