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ARIA SLOWLY POURS some cold water onto Aaron's face, her head tilting to the side. She hates when people choose violence over a civilized discussion—it irks her so much, she can feel annoyance pumping through her body right now.
"Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are." Aria clenches her jaw tightly at Rick's statement, her eyes rolling. Not everyone is bad, they can't live afraid and that's exactly what they're doing now. Aria stands to her feet, sending Rick an intense glare. "He could've done something to me when he had the chance—he didn't." She speaks up, looking the man in the eyes. Aria appreciates everything Rick has done for this group, but sometimes, he can be wrong. This group needs a place to stay, they can't continue to starve and go thirsty, they need a community.
"Anybody see anything?" Rick calls out, ignoring Aria's statement which aggravates Aria even more. Tugging at the end of her dirty hair, Aria groans lowly, turning back around towards Aaron. She kneels down next to him, pouring a little bit more water on his face, ignoring everyone around her. As Aaron slowly wakes up, he looks up towards Aria, a small groan escaping his lips. He chuckles, his pearly whites showing and Aria suddenly becomes wary of her appearance. She's sure her teeth are yellow and dirty but she can't help it, it's an apocalypse for crying out loud.
"That's a hell of a right cross there, Rick." He utters and Rick licks his lips, his head tilting to the side. "Sit him up." Aria, Maggie and Michonne each turn around, their heads shaking. "I thinks it's better if—" Maggie begins but Aaron cuts her off. "It's okay." He groans and Aria turn back towards him, a hesitant look on her face. "He's fine. Sit him up." The three females grab onto his shirt, gently pulling Aaron up to a sitting position.
Aria crouches beside Michonne, her eyes staying glued onto Aaron as she studies him. He doesn't look like someone who would harm others for fun, he looks like someone who would protect their family no matter what happens. "You're being cautious. I completely understand." Aria pushes her bangs out of her face, glancing over at Daryl and Rick before looking back over at Aaron. "How many of your people are out there? You have a flare gun. You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?" Rick questions, holding out the small flare gun in his hand. "Does it matter?"
"Yes." Rick growls, his eyes narrowing at Aaron. "I mean, of course, it matters how many people are actually out there, but does it matter how many people I tell you are out there. Because I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say—eight, 32, 444, zero—no matter what I say, you're not going to trust me." Aria purses her lip, replaying what he said in her mind. It's true—her group has been through a lot and they aren't very trusting. "Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face."
"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?" Aria freezes slightly, her eyebrows flying up. That was him? How long as he been following us? Rick clenches his jaw, glancing over towards an antsy Daryl. "How long you people been following us?" Daryl growls, stepping forward as he glares down at Aaron. "Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. Long enough to see that despite a lack of food and water, you never turned on each other. You're survivors and you're people. Like I said, and I hope you won't punch me for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world."
And cue the applause going off inside Aria's brain. That was well said and it sent chills up her spine. After a few moments of agonizing silence, Rick steps forward, narrowing his eyes. "How many others are out there?" Aaron takes a deep breath and Aria slowly raises to her feet. "One." Rick shakes his head briefly and Aaron sighs, looking around at the group. "I knew you wouldn't believe me. If it's not words, if it's not pictures, what would it take to convince you that this is for real?"
"What if I drove you to the community? All of you? We leave now, we'll get there by lunch." Aaron suggests and Aria looks back at Michonne, hope shining in her blue eyes. "I'm not sure how the 16 of us are going to fit in the car you and your one friend drove down here in." Rick scoffs, killing the hope in Aria. "We drove separately. If we found a group, we wanted to be able to bring them all home. There's enough room for all of us."
"I'll check out the cars." Michonne speaks up and Aria turns towards Rick. "There aren't any cars." Rick whispers, his eyes staying glued on Aaron's body. "There's only one way to find out." Rick shakes his head, his eyes rolling. "We don't need to find out."
"We do. You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not." Michonne tells him, her eyes narrowed. "Me neither." Maggie sides with Michonne and Aria blows out breath, her fingers rubbing together. "If he's telling the truth—we need this, Rick. We can't continue living like this." Aria utters, looking around the room as she does so. Rick shakes his head, lowering his eyes towards the ground. "Your way is dangerous, mine isn't."
"Passing up someplace where we can live?Where Judith can live? That's pretty dangerous. We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're gonna do."
