𝗙𝗥𝗜𝗘𝗡𝗗 𝗢𝗙 𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗗𝗜𝗫𝗢𝗡𝗦

𝐋𝐈𝐈. THE DISTANCE

Rick definitely wasn't buying it.

"There's something about this that just seems...different. This guy seems harmless..." Taylor thought.

"I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into." Aaron said.

"So what are we getting into?" Taylor asked.

"I'll show you." Aaron said before he turned to Sasha, "Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?".

Reluctantly, Sasha walked up to Rick and handed him Aaron's backpack.

"Front pocket, there's an envelope." Aaron instructed.

Rick knelt down and unzipped Aaron's backpack, pulling out the said 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." Aaron began, "I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-" Daryl interrupted Aaron.

"Nobody gives a shit.".

"I do..." She mumbled, elbowing him in the side before she looked over at Aaron, "You guys have cameras?".

"Just the one. We have a recording one, but the one I used to take the pictures is the only one we have." Aaron explained as Rick opened the envelope.

"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." Aaron explained.

Taylor walked over to Rick and looked down at the picture, seeing large, metal walls.

"Holy shit. Looks like they got that place locked down..." She thought.

"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 wall without our say-so." Aaron explained, "Like I said, security is obviously important. In fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival. The people.".

Rick looked over at Michonne before Aaron continued, "Together we are strong. You can make us even stronger.".

          Taylor looked up at Rick, "How do you wanna handle this? Something tells me this guy's not bullshitting us.".

           Rick walked past her as Aaron continued, "The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construc-".

         Rick punched Aaron square in the face, knocking him out and sending him to the ground.

       "Jesus..." Taylor mumbled, walking up to Daryl's side.

         Rick walked back over to Michonne, "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." She said.

        "Michonne's right. There's something about him...I don't know what; he just seems like he means no harm." Taylor agreed.