Familiarity

Chapter Seven

Author's Note: Hello my wonderful readers! How are you liking the story so far, any feedback or things you'd like to see? I'm open to it all. I work very hard on each chapter to make sure you continue to have a good experience with this story. Love you guys! (:
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Daylight slowly poured through the cracks, lighting the darkness that filled the barn's interior, reminding Mabel and the others that they had survived another day. Rays of light shined down over Mabel's face, and with a small groan her eyes peeled open. Once her sight adjusted, she could see the others moving around, but her eyes focused on Maggie as she sat up.
Maggie took a deep breath and, with Sasha right behind her, pushed open the doors. A gasp escaped her lips at what she found outside; the strength of the storm had knocked over trees, taking out the walkers who had caused them much grief the night before. With a look back at Sasha, the two of them headed. Mabel rolled up her sleeping bag, placing it near her backpack until needed once more. The smell from the barn was starting to get to everyone, including her, but she kept it to herself and didn't complain.
"Hey, need help?" a husky southern accent filled Mabel's ears, and she instantly recognized it and turned to smile at Daryl, who stood behind her looking down. "I'm actually finished, but I wouldn't mind the company?" Daryl nodded awkwardly, sitting on the ground beside her while she watched. He felt strange under her stare, almost nervous.
"So..y'were a mechanic?" he asked, trying to think of something else. Mabel nodded with a slight smile, "Yeah. I wasn't the best at it, though, as I said last night. But it was still something I enjoyed...most of the time at least. What did you do before all of this?" she asked him, and Daryl froze. What could he say to her? That he was just a low-life redneck who followed his older brother around like a lost puppy, going along with whatever he had planned for the day?
"I did a lot of nuthin, really." he mumbled softly and she looked at him curiously. "Well, maybe regular jobs weren't your thing, I can understand that." Mabel smiled at him, and Daryl felt his heart skip a beat. He opened his mouth to reply, but was interrupted by another voice.
"Hey...everyone," Maggie's voice rang out as the barn doors creaked open, and the group turned their attention over to her as she entered, followed by both a man and Sasha. Maggie turned to face the man as he stepped in, "This is Aaron." As soon as she spoke, guns were pointed his direction as everyone moved forward to look at him, and when Daryl went to check outside She continued. "We met him outside. He's by himself- we took his weapons, and we took his gear." she stated calmly as Daryl patted him down, Mabel watching the man carefully.
Aaron looked to Maggie and nodded as Tara closed the doors, and then he turned his head back to face the rest of the group, swallowing the lump in his throat. Everyone was quiet as they observed this man. Finally, he spoke, breaking the tension. "Hi," he started softly, interrupted by Judith's cries as Rick handed her over to Carl.
He held his hand out to Rick, who was eyeing him like a predator would their prey, "It's nice to meet you-" he started to walk forward, but stopped as Daryl followed, making it clear to the man that wasn't a good move. Rick looked behind him to Maggie and Sasha, "You said he had a weapon?" Maggie moved passed Aaron to Rick, holding out a small handgun which Rick took quickly, checking it for bullets before tucking it into his jeans as he looked back to the stranger.
"There something you need?" Rick asked softly, his tone cold and almost uncaring. "He has a camp nearby," Sasha said quickly, "He wants us to audition...for membership." The man looked at her for a moment before licking his lips. "I...wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights." he stated the last part as a joke and smiled, but when no one found it the least bit amusing he continued. "Umm, and it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions, but it's not my call...my job is to convince you all to follow me back home."
Rick shifted from one foot to the other as he stared at him. Aaron laughed softly. "I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" he asked looking back at her, and Sasha looked hesitant before doing as he said. "Front pocket, there's an envelope." Rick took the bag and started to shuffle through it. "There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community. That's why I brought those," Aaron stated looking around the barn.
Rick looked inside the envelope. "I apologize, in advance, for the picture quality. We just found an old camera-"
"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl said in unison, and Aaron turned his head to look at him. He nodded, "You're...absolutely, one hundred percent right." He turned back to face Rick, who pulled the pictures out and began to look through them. "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." he looked around once more, "Each panel in that wall is a fifteen foot high, twelve foot wide slab of solid steel. Framed by cold rolled steel beams, and squared tubing. Nothing, alive or dead, gets through that without our say so." Rick looked up at him as he continued, everyone listening with interest. "Like I said, security is obviously important. In fact, there's only one recourse more critical to our community's survival: the people."
"Together, we're strong," Aaron sated quickly, and Mabel could see Rick as he turned to look at Michonne. "You can make us even stronger." There was silence, and as Aaron began to bring up the next picture Rick moved forward, bringing his arm back as he punched the man hard in the face, knocking him out as Aaron fell to the ground. He turned back, and Michonne looked at him with wide eyes. "Just so we're clear, that wasn't a 'let's attack him' look. It's a 'he seems like an okay guy to me' look." she hissed at home as he stood next to her. "We gotta secure him," Rick looked to his son and pointed to the ground as he spoke, "Dump his pack. Let's see who this guy really is."
He turned to Mabel and the others. "Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are."