THE DISTANCE

Lyra and Judith were beside each other as they both babbled. Sasha and Maggie had left earlier. I was sitting down, watching the two girls

"Hey. Everyone.. this is Aaron" Maggie said as she opened the door. It was a man with brown hair. Sasha had a gun to his back. We all pulled out our guns and aimed it at the man. I stood up with Lyra in my free arm. I held her as I aimed the gun at the man supposedly called Lyra. Rick had done the same but with Judith

"We met him outside. He's by himself. We took his weapons and we took his gear" Maggie said as Daryl frisked the man. Tara closed the barn door. The chains rattling as she locked it. We were all on guard

"Hi" Aaron said. Judith began crying which caused Lyra to cry. Carl took Judith from Rick. I began shushing Lyra as I lightly bounced her up and down. That seemed to quiet her down

"It's nice to meet you" Aaron said as he approached Rick, but stopped when he heard the gun cock. Aaron had his hands up

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked. Maggie walked over and handed Rick the hand gun. Rick checked the ammo and then put it in his belt

"There something you need?" Rick asked

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

"I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights. Um, 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 go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" Aaron asked. Sasha complied and walked over to Rick. She took off the backpack she had on and then handed it to Rick

"Front pocket, there's an envelope" Aaron explained. Rick set the backpack on the ground and searched  the front pocket

"There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community. That's why I brought those. I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-" Daryl cut Aaron off. Rick had pulled out an orange envelope

"Nobody gives a shit" Daryl said. Aaron turned and looked at him

"You're absolutely 100% right. 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. 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. 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 even stronger. The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first contruc-" Aaron was cut off. Rick had gotten up and walked over to him. Rick then punched Aaron in the face. Knocking him out cold. Glad I was not that guy

"So we're clear, that look wasn't a 'let's attack that man' look. It was a 'he seems like an okay guy to me' look" Michonne said

"We got to secure him. Dump his pack. Let's see what this guy really is" Rick said. Carl had set Judith down on the ground next to me. I sat down and placed Lyra on the ground as I watched the two. I had a feeling that guy was being serious. He didn't want to harm us

"Rick" Michonne said

"Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are" Rick said. Daryl and Carol were tying up Aaron

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

"Anybody see anything?" Rick asked as the others checked

"Just a lot of places to hide" Glenn said

"All right, keep looking. What did you find?" Rick asked Carl

"Never seen a gun like that before" Carl said as he handed Rick a flare gun. Aaron had woken up

"That's a hell of a right cross there, Rick" Aaron said as he laid on the ground

"Sit him up" Rick said

"I think it'd better if-" Maggie was cut off

"It's okay" Aaron said before groaning

"He's fine. Sit him up" Rick said. Michonne sat him up. Aaron groaned

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

"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 asked. Aaron sighed

"Does it matter?" Aaron asked

"Yes. Yes, it does" Rick said

"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 fourty-four, zero- no matter what I say, you're not going to trust me" Aaron said

"Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face" Rick said

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

"How long you people been following us?" Daryl asked

"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 said. Rick slowly walked closer to him

"How many others are out there?" Rick asked

"One" Aaron said. Rick shook 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" Aaron said. I wanted to go

"I'm not sure how the 16 of us are gonna fit in the car you and your friend drove down here in" Rick said. Aaron shook his head

"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" Aaron said

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

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

"Yeah, you've really thought this through" Rick said not believing him

"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 said

"I think we should check it out" I said

"I'll check out the cars" Michonne said

"There is nothing to check out and there aren't any cars" Rick said

"You don't know that" I said

"There's only one way to find out" Michonne said

"We don't need to find out" Rick said

"We do. You know what you're sure of it, but I'm not, neither is Y/n" Michonne said

"Me neither" Maggie spoke up

"I also have to agree with them, Rick" Taylor said

"Your way is dangerous, mine isn't" Rick said

"Passing up someplace where we can live? Where Judith can live? Lyra? 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 said

"Then I will, too. I'll go" Glenn said. Rick turned around and looked at Abraham

"Abraham" Rick said

"Yeah. I'll walk with them" Abraham said before walking over

"Rosita?" Rick asked as he looked at her. She nodded

"Okay" She said before walking away

"If there's trouble, you got enough firepower?" Rick asked Glenn

"We got what we got" Glenn responded. Rick handed Glenn his python. Glenn took it

"The walkies are out of juice. If you're not back in 60 minutes, we'll come. Which might be just what they want" Rick said. Rosita, Glenn, Abraham and Michonne left

"If we're all in here, we're a target" Rick said

"I've got the area covered" Daryl said

"All right, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot. Y/n, stay with me" Rick said as the others walked out. Rick closed the door behind them and kept watch. Aaron was still tied up. Lyra and Judith were babbling to each other as they clapped their hands

"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 going to kill you" Aaron said

"Just because we're good people doesn't mean we won't kill you. If the five of them aren't back in an hour.. I'll put a knife in the base of your skull" Rick said. Judith began crying, causing Lyra to cry. Rick came over and picked up Judith. He began trying to crush acorns as I picked up Lyra and began rocking her. Trying to get her to stop crying

"You did see the two jars of applesauce in my bag, right? This isn't a trick. This isn't about trying to make you two like me. It's self-preservation. Because if the roamers hear them and come this way, I know I'll be the first to go" Aaron said. I got up and walked over to where Rick had put the applesauce earlier. Rick had done the same. I opened the applesauce, and then grabbed a spoon. Rick took it from me and then put some applesauce on the spoon. He then walked over to Aaron and held the spoon out to him

"You think I'm trying to poison your baby daughters? I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the head. How would cruelly killing your daughters in front of you in any way help the situation?" Aaron asked

"For God's sake" I muttered as I grabbed another spoon

"Don't even think about it" Rick said to me as he turned and looked at me

"Okay, we'll do it your way" I said rolling my eyes. Rick turned back to Aaron and kneeled down

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

"I am the only one who can help her because I have applesauce and we all win" Aaron said. Rick held the spoon up to Aaron's mouth. Aaron moved away. Judith and Lyra continued to cry

"I hate applesauce. My mom 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 jars to show that we have apple trees nearby" Aaron said

"Man just eat it so the girls will stop crying, and Rick will get off your ass" I said. Aaron gave in and ate the applesauce from the spoon. Aaron's face was disgusted from the taste. I then got some applesauce on the spoon and tasted it

"Tastes like applesauce to me" I said as I got another scoop of applesauce and fed Lyra. She stopped crying as she ate. Rick walked over and began feeding Judith

"The community is big enough. We can find a place for you to live where even when your children cry, no one nothing can hear it outside the walls" Aaron said. I was getting the feeling that Aaron thought we were together

"You got 43 minutes" Rick said to Aaron as I kept feeding Lyra

—————

The others came back with a bunch of food. Aaron wasn't lying

"This, this is ours now" Rick said. Aaron nodded

"There's more than enough" Aaron said

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

"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl asked

"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 said

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

"Yeah. We're going. So where are we going? Where's your camp?" Rick asked Aaron

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

"You're not driving. So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how" Michonne said as Rick laid out the map

"Go north on Route 16" Aaron said

"And then?" Michonne asked

"I'll tell you when we get there" Aaron said

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

"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 said

"We'll take 23. We leave at sundown" Rick said

"We're doing this at night?" Sasha asked

"That's kind of dangerous" I muttered. Rick looked at me

"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 said

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

"Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now" Rick said. Aaron shook his head

"It's going to be a long night. Eat. Get some rest if you can" Rick said before walking out. Michonne followed after him

—————

We were driving. Glenn, Rick, Michonne and Aaron were in the smaller car. The rest of us were in the RV. A bunch of walkers were on the road, causing us to lose Glenn and the others. We found a man named Eric. Said he was with Aaron. His ankle was injured. We let him on the RV and Maggie helped him. He told us a safe spot to go and gave us a flare gun, to alert the others when we got there. Once we finally did he led us all into a building. I was holding both Judith and Lyra as we all went in

"Here, I can hold one if you want" Taylor said to me. I handed her Lyra as I kept my hold on Judith

"I'm gonna keep watch" Daryl said with the flare gun. He walked out. Maybe 20 minutes had passed. We heard knocking on the door. We all rushed outside. The two girls giggling as we saw the others

"Dad!" Carl said happily as he ran to his dad. Maggie ran to Glenn. They hugged each other

"Your sister okay?" Rick asked

"She's in my arms so I guess so" I said. Rick smiled at me as he saw Judith

"Eric? Eric? Eric?" Aaron asked as he looked around

"In here" Eric had said from inside

"Eric!" Aaron yelled as he rushed inside. Rick followed him. It was dark outside. The two girls began to suck on their fingers as I held them. A couple minutes had passed. We all walked inside and into another room

"Excuse me. Excuse me. Everyone" Aaron said as he walked in. We all stared at him

"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" Aaron said

"That sounds fine. But if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there" Rick said pointing

"You really think we gotta do that?" Maggie asked

"Seriously, Rick.. come on" I said

"It's the safe play. We don't know you" Rick said

"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me" Aaron said. He went to go to Eric but Glenn stopped him

"Whoa. Rick, he told us where the camp is. And he really was only traveling with one other person. They're both unarmed. One of them's got a broken ankle. I want us to be safe, too. I can't give up everything else. I know what I said, but it does matter" Glenn said to Rick. Rick looked at Aaron

"All right" Rick said

—————

The RV had broken down. It reminded me of Dale's shitty ass RV. I smiled at the thought. We were all waiting outside. Abraham and Glenn were fixing it. I was beside Carl as I held Lyra. He was holding Judith

"So.. are you like Lyra's mom now?" Carl asked me. I looked at him as she cooed

"I don't know.. I guess" I said with a smile. He smiled back

"You'll be a great mom" Carl said to me

"You think?" I asked. He nodded

"She'll need a super cool strong cousin to help protect her" I said

"I can do that" Carl said as he smiled at me

"The fights over. You've gotta let it go. I know it's hard. After it's kept you.. warm and fed and.. alive. But the fight.. it turns on you. You've gotta let it go" Michonne said to Rick

"That's what Bob was trying to tell me back at the church. What to risk. When it's safe. When to let someone in. The rules keep changing" Rick said to her. Rest in peace, Bob

"They did for me" Michonne said. We all heard the engine start

"Finally" I said as the others cheered. We all filed into the RV, and then left for the place known as Alexandria. Eventually we showed up at the gates. We all got out of the RV. I held Lyra in my arms as we walked towards the gate

(3151 words)
12/20/21

Edited: 07/10/22