Mum, Maggie and dad searched the man again before beginning to tie his hands up. I was standing close to Michonne so I heard her conversation with Rick. "So, we're clear. That look wasn't a "let's attack that man" look it was a "he seems like an okay guy" look." Michonne told Rick, they must've exchanged glances before Rick punched him across the face.

"We gotta secure him. Dump his pack. Let's see what this guy really is." Rick said to Carl, completley ignoring Michonne.

"Rick-" Michonne started.

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

"Me and Sasha, we didn't see him. If he had wanted to hurt us, he could've." Maggie told us.

Rick ignored Maggie. "Anybody see anything?"

"Just a lot of places to hide." Sophia responded, looking out a window.

"All right, keep looking." Rick continued.

Aaron began to come back to consciousness. "That's a hell of a right cross there, Rick."

"Sit him up." Rick ordered.

"I think it's better if-" Maggie started.

"It's okay." Aaron interrupted.

"He's fine. Sit him up." Rick indicated to a beam he could lean against.

Aaron nodded. "You're being cautious. I completely understand."

"How many of your people are out there?" Rick asked. "You have a flare gun, you have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?" Rick showed the orange flare gun that Carl must've found in the bag.

"Does it matter?" Aaron questioned.

"Yes." Rick answered, instantly. "Yes, it does."

"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, thirty two, four hundred and forty four, zero... No matter what I say, you're not going to trust me." Aaron explained.

"It's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face." Rick reasoned with him.

"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the middle of the road?" Aaron asked.

"How long you people been following us?" Dad questioned.

"Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your tail. Long enough to see that despite a lack of food and water, when one of you fainted you came together to help her, you never turned on each other... Even when the little one-"

"Only I can call her little one, so watch your mouth." Abraham crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sorry... Even when she held a gun to the one with the mullet. It wasn't loaded." Aaron informed us.

"You weren't meant to tell them it wasn't loaded." I rolled my eyes.

"You didn't hold a loaded gun at me?" Eugene questioned.

"I was never gonna shoot you, not Eugenius. I still don't like you but ain't gonna murder you." I told him.

"You're survivors." Aaron continued. "And you're people. Like I said, and I hope you won't punch me again for saying it again, that is the most important resource in the world."

Rick stepped forward. "How many others are out there?"

"One." Aaron answered. No thinking about it, no avoiding eye contact, no tell tale sign of lying. "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."

"I'm not sure how the sixteen of us are gonna fit in a car you and your one friend drove here." Rick shrugged.

"We drove separately. If we found a group, we wanted to be able to bring them all home. There's enough room for us all." Aaron tried.

"And you're parked just a couple miles away, right?" Mum raised her eyebrows.

"East on Ridge Road. Just after you hit Route 16." Aaron replied. "We wanted to get them closer but then the storm came and blocked the road. We couldn't clear it."

"Yea, you've really thought this through." Rick nodded.

"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here. You know, light the barn on fire while you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit. You can trust me." Aaron attempted.

"I'll check out the cars." Michonne volunteered. 

"There aren't any cars." Rick denied.

"There's only one way to find out." Michonne raised her eyebrows.

"We don't need to find out." Rick shook his head.

"We do." Michonne insisted. "You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not."

"Me neither." Maggie agreed.

"Your way is dangerous, mine isn't." Rick pointed out.

"Passing up some place where we can live? Where Ellie, Sophia and Carl can live? That's pretty dangerous." Michonne argued. "We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves... So, that's what we're gonna do."

"Then, I will too." Glenn chimed in. "I'll go."

Rick sighed and turned to the ginger. "Abraham."

"Yea. I'll walk with them." He nodded.

Rick turned to Rosita next. "Rosita. Can you go too?"

"Okay." She nodded.

"Can I go as well? I wanna get out of this barn." Sophia stepped in.

Rick's eyes softened when he saw her expression but he looked down to hide it. "That's up to Daryl and Carol but I think you can."

Dad nodded. "They'll keep her safe. Not that she can't handle herself." 

She smiled before looking over to mum who smiled back at her. "I trust you, sweetheart... But, I'll come too, just to keep an eye on you."

Sophia smiled and nodded. "Thanks, mum."

"If you're not back in sixty minutes, we'll come... Which might be just what they want... If we're all in here, we're a target. All right, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot."

I started walking out with everyone but Rick put his hand on my shoulder. "I want you to stay here with me. You're good at wearing people down. If this guy is hiding something, I want to know it."

I nodded and gave him a two fingered salute. "Aye, aye, Mother Goose."

"And we're back to that." Rick sighed with a smile before watching where everyone was heading off too.

I went over and sat in front of Aaron with my legs cris crossed. "What did you do before this?"

"When the world was still the world? I worked for an NGO. Our mission was to deliver medicine and food to the Niger River Delta. Bad people pointed guns in my face every other week. You're not bad people. You're not going to kill us. And, we are definitely not gonna kill you." Aaron explained.

"Just because we're good people doesn't mean we won't kill you." Rick said from the door.

"He means kill in self defence. We're not gonna kill you unless you try something first. So, you don't need to worry." I smiled.

"I wasn't worried. But, thank you." Aaron nodded at me.

"If the seven of them aren't back in an hour. I'll put a knife through the base of your skull." Rick warned Aaron.

I pursed my lips together. "Better hope they aren't slow walkers, aye?" I tried to make a joke to Aaron but he just looked at me concerned. "I still don't trust you, but I don't hate you if it helps." I shrugged. "Are you a cannibal?"

His eyes widened. "A cannibal? Why on Earth would I be a cannibal?"

I took the bandage off my arm where the skin underneath was still healing. It wouldn't scar but it wasn't fully healed yet. "Man named Gareth took a bite outta me, chewed and swallowed it right in front of me."

His jaw dropped slightly. "I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I promise you'll be safe with us... What's your name?"

"I'm Ellie. Ellie Dixon." I introduced myself.

"You have a lovely name, Ellie Dixon." He smiled at me. 

Suddenly, my stomach rumbled. "And we're back to being hungry." I complained, putting my elbows on my knees and my head in my hands.

"There's a jaw of applesauce in my bag. You can eat that. I don't need it." Aaron offered.

"No, it could have something in it." Rick said when I looked up to him hopefully.

"This isn't a trick. It's me wanting to feed a hungry child." Aaron stated. Rick looked conflicted before taking a spoonful of the applesauce and walking over to Aaron with it. "You think I'm trying to poison your daughter?" Rick's hand nor facial expression changed. "I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the head. How would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you in any way help the situation?"

Rick squated down. "Maybe she doesn't die. Maybe she gets sick. Maybe you're the only one who can help her and I just lose."

"I am the only one who can help her cause I have the applesauce and we all win." Aaron argued.

"You know, I'm not that hungry anymore. I'm good." I lied, but this didn't help the situation.

Rick shoved the spoon in Aaron's face. "I hate applesauce." Aaron complained. "My mum used to make me eat foods I didn't like to make me more manly. Salmon patties, applesauce and onions. She was a very confused woman who tried her damndest. I just bring the jar to show we have apple trees nearby."

Rick pushed the spoon closer. "You want to feed a hungry child, right?"

Aaron glanced at me before eating the applesauce off the spoon. A very distasteful look came across his face as he swallowed. Rick then finished off what was left on the spoon before going to get the jar and handing it to me. "You want some?" I offered Rick.

"No, you can eat it." Rick shook his head.

"I'll save some for Sophia and Carl." I stated, looking up to Aaron. "You want some water?"

"Don't give him water." Rick ordered.

I nodded. "Sorry, Aaron. Thanks for taking the applesauce plunge for me though."

He smiled at me. "It's alright."