"Falling in love. And say, it's crazy. Falling. You see? We don't say 'rising into love.' There is in it the idea of the fall." -Alan Watts
This isn't just some story where the boy and girl fall for each other, and everything is okay. It's a story w...
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Aaron was from a community called Alexandria. He wanted us to join, and on the way back to the rest of our group, he stayed nearly silent. We arrived at the barn and were about to introduce him to our group.
"Hey, everyone, this is Aaron," Maggie said as we pushed him through the doors.
Everyone was now alert and ready as they held their guns up to him.
"We met him outside; he's by himself. We took his weapons and gear," I explained and walked into the barn.
"Hi," he sighed.
As soon as he said that, Judith started crying. I took her from Rick, and she began to calm down almost immediately.
"It's nice to meet you," he greeted and took a step forward. Everyone reacted by aiming their gun at him.
"You said he had a weapon?" Rick broke the silence.
Maggie handed Aaron's weapon to Rick, and he tucked it behind him.
"Something you need?" Rick questioned.
"He says he had a camp nearby; he wants us to audition for membership," I answered, emphasizing the word audition. It was weird. It was a word only used for acting, not joining a post-apocalyptic group.
"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. Um, 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. I know," Aaron nervously rambled.
"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? Front pocket, there's an envelope. There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community."
He passed us pictures of the so-called "Alexandria Safe Zone." As I held Judith, I peered over Rick's shoulder.
"That's why I brought those. I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last--" Aaron was interrupted by Daryl.
"Nobody gives a shit," he spat, causing me to send a glare at my uncle, like a mother to their child.
"You're absolutely 100% right," Aaron agreed.
"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 15-foot-high, 12-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," Aaron continued.
