FOUND LANDS.

chapter eleven, possibility.
[ season five, episode eleven ]

IMMEDIATELY EVERYONE'S GUNS ARE drawn and pointed at the man. Maggie and Sasha stand beside him.

His name is Aaron.

"We met him outside. He's by himself." Maggie informs them. Daryl begins to pat him down aggressively. "We took his weapons and we took his gear."

Theo's rifle is leveled at the man's chest. He's ready to blow his heart out if he has to. Theo's become a better shot since the prison, thanks to Sasha's tips and the silencer she gave him.

"Hi." Aaron says once the door is closed. As soon as he speak, Judith starts to cry. Rick hands the youngest of his children to Carl. His oldest has her pistol out and ready.

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asks. Maggie walks forward and hands Rick the small revolver the man carried.

"That's it?" Theo scoffs. Aaron glances over at him.

"There something you need?" Rick asks. Aaron looks back to the leader.

"He has a camp nearby." Sasha answer. "He wants us to audition for membership."

"Audition?" Odessa cocks an eyebrow.

"I wish there was another word. Auditions makes it some like we're some kind of a dance troop. That's on on Friday nights." The man attempts to joke but no one laugh. No one even cracks a smile. "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. I know. If I were you I wouldn't trust me either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?"

Cole's eyes widen slightly at the fact the man already knows Rick's name. Weird. It's very weird. Sasha does walk forward and hands Rick the man's bag.

"Front pocket, there's an envelope. There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community. That's why I brought those." Rick pulls out the envelope. "I apologize in adjacent for the picture quality. One of the women in our community just found an old camera store on her last solo run—"

"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl cuts him off.

"You're absolutely one hundred percent right." Aaron says. He looks back at Rick. His eyes move to Odessa who looks over her father's shoulders at the pictures. "That's the first picture I wanted to show you because nothing I saw about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe. If you join us, you will be."

The first is a picture of a wall. It's metal sheets held up by lumber.

"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." Aaron informs them. Rick stands. "Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say so."

"Until they do." Cole says gruffly.

Aaron's eyes shoot to the man. "It hasn't happened yet. 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 every stronger. The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construct—"

Odessa winces when the man is knocked smooth out by her father's fist. The old her would sympathize with the stranger but now after their past with strangers, she doesn't feel an ounce of emotions for the man.

She does not like men she doesn't know. She can't after what's happened to her.

After a couple minutes, Aaron is awake and smiling. "That's a hell of a right cross, Rick." He says.

"Sit him up," Rick instructs.

"I think it's better if—"

"It's okay," Aaron cuts Maggie off.

"He's fine. Sit him up." Rick says. Michonne grabs the man and pulls him up.

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

"How many of your people out there? You have a flare gun to signal them, how many of them are there?" Rick gets straight to the point.

"Does it matter?"

"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?" Aaron says, "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."

"Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face." Theo quips.

"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?" Aaron asks. Odessa and Carl share a look at this new information.

"How long have you people been following us?" Daryl growls.

"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." Aaron tells them

Silence.

Then Rick breaks it. "How many others are out there?"

"One." Aaron replies. Rick shakes his head. "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 the eighteen of us are going to fit in the car you and your one friend drove down here." Rick says.

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

"And you're parked just a couple miles away, right?" Carol asks.

"East on Ridge Road, just afternoon you hit Route 16. We wanted to get them closer, but the the storm came, blocked the road. We couldn't clear it." His response is quick. Odessa would've believed him a couple months ago. But now all her mind can say is that this is rehearsed line so he can lure them to his "community" to kill then. That would be a mistake.

"Yeah, you've really thought this through." Rick's mind is the same as his daughter's.

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

"I mean, yeah." Theo nods.

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

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

"There's only one way to find out." Michonne glares at him.

"We don't need to find out." Rick argues.

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

"Me neither." Maggie speaks up.

"Your way is dangerous, mine isn't." Rick tells her.

"Passing up someplace where we can live? Where Judith can live? Where Odessa can maybe get the help she needs? That's pretty dangerous. We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're gonna do." Michonne brings Rick's children into it and she knows she's got him.

"Then I will, too. I'll go." Glenn speaks up.

"Abraham." Rick looks back at the man.

"Yeah. I'll walk with them." The ginger agrees.

"Rosita?" Rick looks to her.

She nods, "okay."

"Cole?"

"Yep."

Rick walks up to Glenn, "if there's trouble, you got enough firepower?"

"We got what we got." Glenn replies. Rick Glenn Aaron's pitiful revolver.

"The walkies are out of juice. 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." Rick says.

"I've got the area covered." Daryl walks out of the barn.

"Alright, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot." Rick says. When everyone else is out of the barn, Rick looks at his two oldest. "Stay together." 

They nod and they leave the barn.

─────────

The six walk along the road.

"Eyes open, everybody. Weapons up. You see someone coming at us, you fire." Glenn instructs.

"So if we someone, we just shoot them?" Michonne questions from where she walks beside Cole.

"That's a good question." Maggie pipes.

"What if they're someone like us?" Michonne then asks. "What if Aaron is telling the trust? What if they're someone who has nothing to do with this?"

"We're six people with guns. No one's coming up to say hello." Cole looks at her.

"But that's exactly what happened." Michonne meets his eyes.

He nods, "that's fair."

"If it's someone like us, we should be afraid of them. He said he was watching us, right? That means he saw us yesterday. And after everything we've done, why would he want us to join his group?"

"People like us saved a priest. Saved a girl who rolled up to the prison with the Governor. Saved the Governor's son. Saved a young man who attacked the prison. Saved a crazy lazy with a sword." Michonne lists. "He saw that."

"I don't what he saw." Glenn says.

And in the distant, hiding behind a tractor, is a man watching them.

Several minutes later, when they round a curve, they realize Aaron hadn't lied. Because behind some fallen trees are two vehicles.

A car and an RV.

"He was telling the truth," Michonne notes as they make their way in front of the vehicles.

Suddenly, a branch snaps and leaves rustle. Instantly, the six are ready to fire into whoever is in the bushes.

"Not one step closer, asshole!" Glenn snaps harshly.

They wait for someone to emerge from woods but it's only two walkers. Rosita and Abraham quickly kill them.

They clear the RV and the car. They bring it back to the barn where everyone waits.

They unload all of the cans. "This, this is ours now." Rick holds up one of the cans.

"There's more than enough." Aaron replies.

"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp." Rick says.

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl looks at his dad with furrowed brows.

"If he were lying or if he wanted to hurt us... but he isn't and he doesn't. We need this. So we're going, all of us. Somebody say something if they feel differently." Michonne speaks up. She knows how bad they need this.

"I don't know, man. This barn smells like horse shit." Daryl speaks his piece.

"Yeah. We're going." Rick caved and Theo smiles, "so where are we going? Where's your camp?"

"Well, every time I've done this, I've been behind the wheel driving recruits back. I believe you're good people. I bet my life on it. I'm just not ready to bet my friends' lives just yet." Aaron says.

"You're not driving. So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how." Michonne tells Aaron.

"Go north on Route 16." Aaron tells Rick who's laid out a map.

"And then?" Michonne asks.

"I'll tell you when we get there." Aaron counters.

"We'll take 23 north. You'll give us directions from there." Rick says.

"That's— I don't know how else to say it— that's a bad idea. We've cleared 16. It'll be faster." Aaron tries to argue.

"We'll take 23. We leave at sundown." Rick confirms. Cole shakes his head with a scoff. They're all cautious of new people after what they been through but doing something like this at night? It doesn't seem safe.

"We're doing this at night?" Sasha asks.

"Look, I know it's dangerous. But it's better than riding up to the gates during the day. If it isn't safe, we need to get gone before they know we're there." Rick looks around at his people.

"No one is going to hurt you. You're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger." Aaron butts in.

"Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now." Rick says. Aaron doesn't speak.. "It's going to be a long night. Eat. Get some rest if you can." Rick exits the barn. Michonne sighs and leaves after him.

Odessa watches as her people eat from the cans. "Des?" Maggie holds a can out for her.

She shakes her head, "I'm okay."

It's not a second later when Daryl shoves a can of S-Getti Noodles in one hand and a spoon in the other. "Eat." He says gruffly.

"Daryl, I said I'm okay." Odessa says. She puts the food down and Daryl hands it back to her without a word. "I'm not eating!" She snaps.

Everyone goes silent and stares at her. She puts the cans down and leaves the barn. She glances at her dad and Michonne before making her way to the RV. She walks inside.

She's reminded of Dale.

Tears spring in her eyes.

Dale. She misses him.

Her fingers brush against the watch.

Dale, he would be so disappointed in her. And that makes her cry more.

That night they separate. Michonne, Glenn, Rick, and Aaron are in front of the RV in the car.

Odessa sits at the table with Carl beside her, he's holding Judith. Theo and Noah sit across from them.

"She talked about you," Noah starts. Odessa's eyes snap to him immediately. "Odessa this and Odessa that." He smiles.

"All good things?" Odessa asks quietly.

"All good things." Noah nods. "She would tell me everything that reminded her of you. A painting in Dr. Edwards office, a food served in the cafeteria, the name of a medicine, something Dawn said. Someone everything was linked to you with her. Not a day went by where she didn't say your name."

Odessa smiles. It's genuine.

"She loved you so much." Carl says. Odessa looks at him and lays her head on his. He doesn't say it but Carl hopes he finds love like Odessa found with Beth one day.

Their love was something people envied. They found each other in the apocalypse and fell in love. They were soulmates.

Suddenly, Abraham slams on breaks. Odessa yelps.

"Bitch nuts!" Abraham cries. Daryl rushes forward to the front of the RV to t look at the herd in front of them. There are a bunch of walkers.

"Our people," Cole breathes out as the car continues on in front of them, hitting every walker in its path.

"They'll be okay," Daryl says to the younger man. Outside the RV, a flare goes up. They all watch it.

"Follow it." Theo says.

"What?" Abraham, Cole, and Daryl all look back at him.

"Follow it, seriously. Michonne will think we think it's them. They'll follow it. So should we. That's probably Aaron's one guy. That's where our people will be going." Theo tells them.

So they do what Theo says. They follow the flare and as a result they find an injured man trapped under a car when they follow the flare. He claims he's Aaron's one person.

They park in an alley. The man, Eric, tells them to go into a building. Cole and Theo help him into a back room and set him down. Maggie checks him and bandages his injured ankle.

As Carl and Odessa sit side-by-side, a sudden knock makes them both jump. It's Daryl. They both shoot upwards and rush out the door.

They rush out with Maggie in front of them.

"Dad!" Both children cry as they nearly tackle their father in hug. He squeezes his eyes shut as he holds his children. When they pull back, he asks, "your sister okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, we're okay." Odessa answers.

"Eric? Eric?" Aaron panics. "Eric?"

"In here!" Eric calls from inside. Aaron rushes inside at the sound of his friend's voice. Rick and the others follow him inside.

As they wait on Aaron to come back outside to them, Rick enters the room where the two men are. He stares at them. He then walks back out.

"Excuse me." Aaron walks out of the back room. They all look to him. "Excuse me. Everyone. Thank you. You saved Eric. I owe you. All of you. And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria. Now, I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight. Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."

"That sounds fine. But if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there." Rick points away from the back room.

"You really think we gotta do that?" Theo asks.

"It's the safe play. We don't know you." Rick doesn't answer Theo.

"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me." Aaron hisses. It's the first time he's shown any type of negative emotion in front of them, expect fear.

Glenn steps in and begins talking to Rick. Rick calms down and allows Aaron to sleep in the room with Eric.

Everyone gets comfortable for the night. Odessa lays down and curls into herself. Judith lays beside her on a blanket.

Alexandria.

It has a nice ring to it Odessa realizes.

The next day, the goddamn RV breaks down. Odessa, Glenn, and Abraham all hover over the engine.

Abraham hits the vehicle. "Can't win. Might as well paint it red and out a ladder on it."

"All we need is another battery." Glenn tells him.

"Where the hell are we gonna find another battery?" Abraham asks.

"Right over here," Odessa says. Glenn and Odessa lead Abraham to the door of the RV. Glenn pulls open the bottom step and Abraham makes a sound of disbelief when he sees the battery.

"How'd you know those were there?" Abraham asks.

Glenn and Odessa smile and share a look. Their eyes remain locked as Odessa says, "we had a good teacher."

"Come on," Glenn nods inside and the ginger walks up the steps.

The last two remaining of Dale's "grandchildren" fix the RV. That's what Dale called them, his grandchildren. They were family and they always would be.

Dale lives on through Glenn and Odessa.

Later, they come to a stop outside the gates of the community. The Grimes family and Michonne get out of the car.

Odessa and Carl stand together as they stare at the gates. Inside, there is the sound of laughter and children shouting.

The group shares a hopeful look.

This, this could be it.

This could be home.

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word count: 3,113

we're officially in the alexandria story arc!! i'm so so so excited for y'all for read it. so much happens in such a short time.

next chapter we meet a new character!! i'm so ready for y'all to meet her. she's very very important to the plot of the story and cole's plot if yk what i mean 😉.

anyway, i don't really like this chapter all that much. but it's okay, it's better than some of the ones in this act.

and what's up with odessa?? she's not eating :((. my poor girl. i love her so so much. i need to stop hurting her. but am i? mmmmmmmmmm no.

i loved writing the little glenn and odessa scene with the rv. dale is still very much alive with them and lives on through them. he would be so proud of them but odessa thinks he'd hate her. he would understand now that everything she's done was to make sure she and her family stay alive.