A Survivor's Diary of the Apocalypse (TWD/Daryl Dixon)

S5Pt9 - Aaron from Alexandria

I woke up the next morning no silence. There was no more thunder or rain. I sat up and saw Daryl sitting and leaning against the wall.
"Morning." He said.
"Hey." I said and yawned.
I put my hair in a ponytail and Daryl helped me stand up. He touched my stomach and sighed.
"You okay?" I asked.
"Mhh." He said half-heartedly.
"Don't do that." I said.
He looked at me with a blank stare and I held his face.
"Let me know you're okay. Talk to me." I pleaded.
He grabbed my face and pulled me close. He gently kissed my lips and I breathed in slowly. He let the kiss linger and held my hand and felt my ring. I felt his and looked up at him.
"That was better than talking." I whispered.
He managed to smiled and I smiled back. I ran my fingers through his hair and kissed him again.
"I love you." I said.
"Love you too Kell." He said.
Just then the barn door swung open. We looked at it and saw Maggie and Sasha with a stranger standing behind them.
"This is Aaron." Maggie said.
Daryl automatically left my side and frisked the guy.
"We already checked him for weapons." Sasha said.
Maggie walked up to Rick and handed him a single pistol. Rick checked its ammo and kept the gun.
"It's nice to meet you." Aaron said and held out his hand, walking closer to us.
Daryl stepped in front of him and Aaron backed up.
"My apologies." He said.
Judith started crying and Rick looked at me. I nodded and held my arms out to her. I pet her hair and she quieted down.
"Is there something you need?" Rick asked.
"He has a camp. Not far from here." Sasha said. "He wants us to audition for membership."
We all looked at Aaron with a confused look on our faces.
"I-I wish there was a different term we could use. Audition makes us sound like some sort of dance group. That's only on Fridays." Aaron said, then cleared his throat. "And, it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you would all make valuable auditions, but it's not my call."
We all stared at him and didn't budge. We've been on the road for too long for something like this to happen.
"Sasha, umm, will you give them my bag please?" Aaron asked.
Sasha walked over to Rick and gave the bag to him. Rick searches through it and pulled out a stack of pictures.
"I knew that me stating Alexandria was a good place wasn't enough to convince you. And sorry about the picture quality. We just found a camera, and-" Aaron rambled on.
"No one gives a shit." Daryl interrupted.
Aaron looked at Daryl and nodded. "You are 100 percent absolutely right."
Rick was looking through the pictures when he stopped on one of their walls.
"That's the first picture I wanted to show you, because anything I say about the community doesn't seem safe unless you have a picture of it." Aaron said. "If you join us, you'll be safe. Each panel in that is a 15 foot high, 12 foot wide slab of solid steel. Nothing, dead or alive, is getting through those walls without our say so." Aaron explained then paused. "Like I said, security is an importance, in fact, there is only one more crucial ingredient for our survival, the people-"
Aaron kept rambling on about the community when Rick walked up to him. He made a fist and punched Aaron square in the jaw. He fell backwards onto the ground, Rick stood over him breathing heavy, and I just sighed.
"Did you really have to hit him?" I asked.
"Check him for anything. Carl go through his bag." Rick ordered.
I handed Judith off to Carol, and grabbed a rag. I wetted it with water and walked over to Aaron, squaring down in front of him. I began cleaning his forehead that now had a cut from Rick's punch. He slowly regained consciousness and opened his eyes. He blinked his eyes, looked at me, and smiled.
"Thank you Kelley." He said.
Daryl automatically turned around and stared at Aaron with fury. Rick walked forwards and stood by my side.
"How do you know my name?" I asked.
Daryl grabbed my arm from behind me and helped me stand up.
"Sit him up." Rick ordered.
"Rick, I don't-" Maggie said, but Aaron stopped her.
"It's fine." Aaron said.
Michonne sat him up and I saw Rick had a flare gun in his hands.
"We found this flare gun in your bag. Probably to signal your friends... So how many of your people are out there?" Rick asked.
"Does it matter how many? No matter what I say, you aren't going to believe me." Aaron said.
"It's hard to trust someone who smiles after getting punched in the face, and knows our names." Rick said.
"How about a friend who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?" Aaron said.
"How long have you been following us?" I spoke up.
"Long enough to know that you practically ignored a pack of roamers on your trail. And even through what little food and water you guys had, you didn't turn on each other." Aaron said. "You're survivors."
Rick stopped forwards and stared at Aaron. "How many?" He questioned.
"One." Aaron stated.
Rick just shook his head and backed up.
"Told you, you wouldn't believe me." Aaron muttered.
Rick was about to punch him again when I stepped in front of him, making him automatically back up.
"What if I drove you to the community? All of you. If we leave now, we'll get there by lunch." Aaron offered.
"I'm not sure how the 16 of us are going to fit in a car that you and your one friend drove here in." Rick said sarcastically.
"No. We drove in separate cars, knowing that if we recruited you guys we'd need two cars." Aaron explained.
"And you're parked only a couple miles away?" Carol asked.
"East on Ridgewood. Route 16." Aaron said. "We wanted to get closer but then the storm hit."
It was quiet as we waited for Rick to talk. But some of us were tired of waiting.
"I want to go." Maggie said.
"It's not safe." Rick said.
"What's not safe?" I asked. "Passing up a chance of a home for you, for Judith." I said and rubbed my stomach. "I want to go too."
Rick sighed but knew that we were right.
"Abraham, Rosita, Glenn." Rick said and they nodded. "If you're not back in 60 minutes, we'll come." Rick said and checked his watch.
They gathered their supplies and left the barn to go and try to find his car. Daryl took out the rest of the group to go scouting and follow behind Glenn and them.
With everyone gone, it was just me, Rick, and Judith. Rick closed the doors and I picked up Judith who was crawling on the floor.
"When the world was, well not this, I worked for the NGO. We'd deliver food to the Niger River Delta. I would have to cross enemy territory, and had a gun to my face every other week." Aaron said. "You're good people, and you're definitely not gonna kill us. And we are definitely not gonna kill you."
"Just because we're good people, doesn't mean we won't kill you." Rick threatened.
"But you won't." Aaron said.
"Don't get cocky." I said.
"Very well." Aaron nodded.
Rick knelt down in front of Aaron and pulled out his knife.
"If they aren't back in a hour... I'll drive this knife into the base of your skull." Rick threatened.
Rick walked away and offered to take Judith, but I denied it. I was bouncing her in my arms but I saw she was getting fussy.
"She's probably hungry." I said.
Rick started crushing up some acorns for her, but that just made her angrier. Judith started crying and screaming, and didn't want to listen. She grabbed my hair and started pulling on it. I grabbed her hands and tried to calm her down, but she was only getting louder and fussier.
"You searched my pack, yes? Then you know I have applesauce." Aaron said.
Rick just glared at him and continued to smash the acorns.
"I'm not doing this to hurt you. I brought applesauce to show we have apple trees." Aaron said. "And when the roamers hear her, I'll be the first to go. I'm doing this for myself."
Rick got up and grabbed a jar of applesauce out of Aaron's bag. He grabbed a spoon and opened the jar.
"Thank you." Aaron sighed.
Rick scooped up some applesauce and held it in front of Aaron's face.
"You really think I'm going to poison your daughter? You already threatened to stab me in the head. Killing your daughter will not help me." Aaron said.
"Just eat it Aaron. Get it over with." I said.
Judith was still crying in my arms and Aaron sighed with frustration.
"I hate applesauce." He pouted. "My mother used to make me eat foods I didn't like. Applesauce, tomatoes. Said it would make me manly."
"Like you said, you'll be the first to go." Rick said and held the spoon closer.
Aaron hesitated and quickly ate the applesauce with a pouty look on his face. Rick tasted some himself then walked over to me. He took Judith out of my arms and started feeding her.
"Thank you." He mumbled.
"You're welcome." I mumbled back.
I grabbed a bottle of water from Aaron's bag and knelt down in front of him. I opened the cap and offered him some water. He drank it and I drank some water myself.
"Can I ask you something?" He whispered, and I nodded. "Is she yours?"
I slightly smiled and scoffed. "If you were telling us the truth when you said you've been following us for awhile, then you should know Daryl is my husband." I said.
He nodded and bowed his head. "My apologies Kelley." He sighed.
For some reason, I didn't feel threatened by him. I sighed and he looked at me, and I decided to try and open up.
"She's still my daughter. I love her like my own." I said quietly.
Aaron looked at my pregnant stomach, then at Judith.
"You and your kids will be safe at Alexandria. Nothing can hurt you guys in there." He said.
I sighed and slowly stood up. I then walked back over to Rick, who was feeding Judith and she finally calmed down.
"When she cries, nothing will hear her." Aaron said. "It's safe there. You'll love it at Alexandria... As I said, nothing can get through those walls."
Rick glared at Aaron, then checked his watch.
"You have 43 minutes."

~~~~~~~~~~

The group came back just in time, so Aaron didn't have to get killed. They explained that they found his car, and everything about his story checked out. Everyone started debating about what we should do, and Aaron was forced to sit there and listen.
"I say we go." I said. "I'm tired of running. We all are. This is the best chance we got."
They nodded in agreement and looked at Rick.
"We have to go." Michonne said.
Rick looked at all of us, then at me and Judith, then at Aaron. He sighed and slowly started nodding his head.
"Pack up." Rick ordered. "We're leaving today."