Fighting to Survive: The 3rd installment to Daring to Feel

Chapter 13: Audition

"Yew really mad about me smoking some cigarettes?" He asks staring me down with a side glance. Of course he thinks that's all there is to it.

"No" I huff out lowly back at him, "I'm mad because you just went off!" I try to keep my voice down, privacy not an option tonight.

"pfft, come on. I'm lookin' for shit we need to survive!" He argues back.

I try to remain calm, "I know" I grit through my teeth, "and I'm trying not to be mad but I just am. Those few seconds I didn't know where you were, they killed me."

He shakes his head at me, hair falling in front of his eyes, "yew got issues" he mutters under his breath.

"ya maybe I do got issues," I step closer to him, "but you're pretty messed up too, Dixon" I push at his shoulders before storming off to be away from him. "What a jerk" I tell myself while walking away. I sit against a wall. "I've got issues because I care?" I think more, "then he's got issues thinking that's wrong!" I deduce before closing my eyes to try and get some rest.

I wake up to the sounds of people grunting. I open my eyes and turn over and see Daryl, Maggie and Sasha pushing against the barn door walls. I stumble up and run over to help them as skinheads try to get inside at us.

Eventually everyone willing and able to help push against the door is brushed up against one another. Our bodies using one another's for strength and support. The wind howls loudly, drawing out most of the sounds of the dead and the living are making as we fight against one another. The storm is worse then I could imagine, the strength of the wind shaking the barn and knocking around whatever is outside. Eventually, we start to pile off the door, exhausted but victorious. We make our way back to the make shift areas we were sleeping at, "you coming?" I ask Daryl with a yawn. Everyone else has moved on, but he stands in front of the doors watching.

"In a bit" he says back to me. He leans forward and kisses me softly on the forehead, "sorry" he mumbles to me after that, his blue eyes sincere with regret.

"I'm sorry too" I say back in a whisper.

I smile just a little, relieved we will let this go and he smirks back for a moment, "get some rest" he tells me. I nod and lay my head down on some hay.

I wake up early the next morning and Daryl is next to me, sleeping soundly. I put my hand on his arm, letting myself feel his breathing and take a look around. A few others are up as well, just lingering in the barn. I take notice that Maggie and Sasha have gone, probably taking a look at the damage around us. Daryl wakes up soon after I do and grumbles under his breath as he sits up, "how long did you get?" I ask him, knowing he doesn't sleep long as it is anyway. I woke up around 3 A.M and looked down at my watch, he was still awake then.

"About an hour" he says back looking down at my watch. I rub my hand over his forehead, pushing the hair from his eyes.

"Hey. Everyone--" Maggie's whisper grabbing our attention a few minutes later. She walks in slowly, an unfamiliar person behind her, "this is Aaron. We met him outside." She says. We all stand now, everyone but me readying weapons, "he's by himself. We took his weapons and we took his gear." She finishes explaining. At this point, Daryl is already peaking his head outside the barn for any other people with him before shutting the doors and chaining them to keep him and us locked in together.

"Hi." He says awkwardly.

Judith fusses in Rick's arm and he gives me a head nod. I take the crying child and try to sooth her, "Shh." I look at her and keep glancing over at the strange man.

"It's nice to meet you." He says after Daryl pats him down, clearing him of any other weapons he may have had.

Rick doesn't answer the stranger, "you said he had a weapon?" He asks Maggie.

She walks up to him and hands him a pistol. He looks at it for a brief moment before placing it in the waistband of his jeans, "there's something you need?" He asks.

"He has a camp." Sasha says for him, "nearby. He wants us to audition for membership." Her tone is mixed with annoyance and hatred.

"I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe." The man tries to explain, "that's only on Friday nights." He tries to lighten the mood but none of us respond to his joke, "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." He tells us. Rick stares at him with something ugly behind his glare. His wrinkles covered by his beard but anyone with eyes can tell he's not about to trust this man, "I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into." Aaron adds on, "Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" He asks her. She adjusts just a little, her stare as cold as Rick's. She moves towards Rick, handing him a bag, "front pocket, there's an envelope." Rick unzips the front pocket, "there's 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 interrupts him.

Aaron tuns to look at him, Daryl's glare worrying even me, "you're absolutely 100% right." He responds then turns back to Rick. Rick is looking at the first photo, "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 explains, "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." Rick stands from where he was previously kneeling, his head turns momentarily to Michonne as he continue to speaks, "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. Together we're strong. You can make us even stronger." Rick begins to walk closer to the man, "the next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construc..." and he is out cold.

Rick clocks him across the face and everyone steps up closer after. I go over to Rick, handing Judith off to him and giving him a disagreeing frown, "you coulda just asked him to shut up" I comment lowly as he takes his daughter.

He adjusts her to his hip, "this way we can tie him up faster, no arguing" he comments back. Daryl is already dragging him from the middle of the barn off to the side.

"You think he's really here alone?" I ask worried. The people from terminus were monsters, and I don't want to run into anyone else who may be just as bad or worse.

He shrugs back to me, "I'm not willing to take that risk" he informs looking down at the little baby in his hands.

"So we're clear, that look wasn't a "let's attack that man" look. It was a, "he seems like an okay guy to me" look." Michonne comes over in a huff talking to Rick.

"We got to secure him. Dump his pack." Rick tells her with a straight face, "let's see what this guy really is."

"Rick." She tries to stop him but he ignores her.

"Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are."

I walk over to the man on the ground, taking out an old rag from my pocket and wiping at some of the blood from the cut Rick caused, "me and Sasha, we didn't see him. If he had wanted to hurt us, he could've." Maggie tells him while crouching down next to me.

"Anybody see anything?" Rick asks.

"Just a lot of places to hide." Glenn calls back to him while looking through some cracks in the wood.

Rick repeats, "all right, keep looking."