The Anti Hero ⥤ Rick Grimes

[19] The Scary Safe Zone

To be completely honest, the look on this guys face portrayed more convoluted fear and worry then all of ours combined. He arched his neck and straightened his back as the narrow cylinder of Sasha's silencer connected with the sweat coated flesh on the back of his neck.

There was an eerie silence among the manner that lasted for a couple of seconds but felt as if it were an eternity. Everyone was shocked - but fear was not one I'd say was felt by the majority.
"Found him outside. Name is Aaron. Says he's gotta camp. Nearby." Maggie relayed carefully, keeping alert as she stood in front of Aaron.

"He wants us to audition for membership." Sasha added.

Rick listened tentatively. I could see his jaw muscle contract as he clenched, before releasing his hand from his gun and stepping forward. Still, plenty of space between him and the so called 'Aaron'.

Aaron wore a blue plaid shirt, and a big navy raincoat. This was covered in the odd speckle of blood, and the damp coat of condensation. His hair was freshly cut, blonde and curly. From where I stood, the back had curled into little ringlets from the contact with sweat on the back of his neck. His hands were held in the air, and I took this time to analyse him crucially.

Weapons? A gun tucked in a holster by his right side. Left side, a satchel with a knife handle peeking. In his big hiking bag, unknown. Probably something dangerous.

Rick held up his hand, and he motioned for Sasha to lower her gun. She did so.
"My name is Aaron..." his voice was shaky at first, and then he gained strength. His eyes nervously jet around everyone in the room. "Rick, right?" His eyes landed on Rick.

"How do you know?" Abraham barked, leaning against the banister of the stairwell. Aaron choked on his words for a second- just as I thought he'd speak, he shut his mouth.

"Get his weapons." Rick instructed, a deep and angry growl to his voice. On cue, Sasha took all of his weapons that were visible, she then pat him down to no success. When Sasha was done, she pulled his bag off of his shoulders.
"I-I won't do anything-" Aaron began.
"Shut up." Rick demanded, no fear whatsoever in his voice.
"Rick." Maggie called, grabbing his attention. She crossed her arms over her chest and motioned towards Aaron. "Listen to what he has to say." She beckoned. Rick gulped, then stared at Aaron as if he was granting him permission to speak.

"And! And...it's not a camp. It's a community...and 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." Aaron looked around nervously. He wasn't surprised by the silence. I didn't say anything. Rick didn't say anything. Nobody dared let out a sound.

"I know...I wouldn't believe me either." Aaron added.

Still silence. Aaron sighed, gazing over at Sasha. "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." Aaron motioned towards the white envelop as Sasha pulled it out. "That's why I brought those."

Sasha walked across the room, and passed the envelope to Rick.
I watched as he opened it. Inside, were pictures. Grainy and slightly blurry pictures.
"I apologise in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-" Aaron was interrupted by Daryl, who leant against the wall not far from me. He had his arms crossed over his chest comfortably, but his expression proved he was on edge. "Nobody gives a shit." Daryl blurted, no regret on his face.
Aaron looked down with dissatisfaction.
"You're absolutely one hundred percent right."
Aaron kept quiet as Rick flicked through the pictures.

The first one, was of walls. Tall, strong and well built walls.

"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." Aaron had me, I was staring at the picture and for a second I had a flicker of excitement. Aaron was a storyteller and I was hooked on his every word. I followed it keenly. "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."

"Walls don't mean much." My voice was croaky as I spoke for the first time in a while. "It's not just walls you need to survive." Maybe I should have let him talk, but I think part of me was co-analysing it all. My mind was racing through the ways to test him. Debunk it all. Try to prove him wrong so hopefully I'll be wrong and he'll be right.

"Like I said, security is obviously important." Aaron began answering my question carefully. "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 flicked to the next picture, and passed the picture of the walls to Daryl. Daryl stared at the picture and I watched for a sign of excitement. There was none as he passed it along to Glenn.

"The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construc-" before Aaron could even finish his sentence, let alone word, Rick paced across the room and met him. I saw the determination in Ricks eyes as he swung his fist up.

The awful smack of flesh on flesh rang through my ears as Rick delivered a punch to Aaron's face, so hard it instantly knocked him out cold.

As he falls, both Daryl and Maggie bend down by his side. Not checking if he's alright, rather making sure that he won't spring back up. He doesn't. He's gone. Out cold.
Rick stares down at him, and for a second, shakes his hand.

I stand back, watching as Rick steps forward once more.
"We gotta secure him. Dump his pack. Let's see who this guy really is."
And like clockwork, the group begins to do so. I stand back, watching.
I head to my bag, fishing through for my water bottle. With a miscellaneous piece of rag strewn across the arm of the couch, I empty the contents of the water. Then, I pass it down to Maggie. She looks up at me, concern on her face. Then, she takes it - and presses it against his cheek.
"He'll be out cold for a while." I stared, catching Daryl's attention. "With a right cross like that..." I muttered under my breath.
"Tie him to the chair." Daryl instructed. I stood back as Michonne and Maggie pinned him to the chair. When he was stable, she returned the rag to his cheek.

I leant against the wall, watching them watch him.
"I'll go check outside." I reported to Rick, not knowing what to do with myself. Rick shook his head.
"Not alone. We don't know how many of his people are out there." He sternly bit back. I furrowed my brows as Maggie turned for input.
"We were alone. We didn't see him. He could have hurt us if he wanted to." She explained, truth in her voice.
"He seemed okay?" Michonne added. I shrugged. He wasn't one of Tarzan's men. I'd have known just by the sight of him. No...he didn't seem bad. Then again, JJ with the poor judgement.
"See anything?" Rick motioned to Glenn, who peered outside.
"Just a lot of places to hide..." Glenn replied.
"Most of the walkers cleared by the morning, storm got em. The rest we took care of." Sasha told Rick.

In a matter of seconds, there was a groan. I jumped slightly as Aaron's arched neck straightened. Suddenly everyone was on edge yet again.
"One hell of a right cross." Aaron sighed, moving around his jaw.
"Maybe it's better if we lay him down." I sheepishly confessed, deflating as Rick dismissed me instantly.
"He's fine." Rick spoke.
"Rick-" Maggie continued. "Maybe it is-"
Before Rick could say anything, Aaron agreed with Rick.
"I'm fine. It's really fine."

I gulped, looking over to Rick with a blank expression. I watched him as if he were a television show I recorded every afternoon just so I could eagerly watch it in comfort. Weird. Rick's jaw clenched.

"Well, now that you're all tied up- let's really talk."
And with that, Rick cleared his throat and the talking began.