The Way the World is ¹ | the walking dead

| 19 | Still good people

Sasha hesitated for a moment before she walked toward Rick, slipping the backpack off her shoulders.

"Front pocket, there's an envelope," Aaron explained causing Rick to kneel down and search through the bag. "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―"

"Nobody gives a shit," Daryl interrupted.

Aaron turned to face Daryl behind him. "You're absolutely 100% right." He looked back toward Rick. Madalyn noticed Aaron picking at his fingers nervously.

Huh. At least she could relate to the guy.

Madalyn looked over Rick's shoulder at the pictures after he pulled them from the envelope. "That's the first picture I wanted to show you," Aaron said, "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."

Madalyn didn't know what half of the shit he just said meant. But the wall in that picture... it certainly looked safer than the fences at the prison.

"Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say-so," Aaron continued. "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." Rick began to stalk toward Aaron. "The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construc―"

Aaron was cut off by Rick punching him in the face so hard that he knocked him out.

Madalyn widened her eyes at the poor man. She turned her gaze to Carl and sighed softly. "Could've at least let him finish his sentence," she muttered. Carl nodded his head in agreement.

She stood back while they tied Aaron up. Maggie was kneeling in front of Aaron as Rick walked back toward Michonne.

"So we're clear," Michonne told Rick, her tone sounding like she was reprimanding him, "that look wasn't a 'let's attack that man' look. It was a 'he seems like an okay guy to me' look."

"We got to secure him," Rick answered with a shrug before turning to Carl. "Dump his pack. Let's see what this guy really is."

"Rick," Michonne tried.

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

"Who's 'they', Rick?" Madalyn asked. Rick looked at her, his eyebrows furrowed. "I mean, I'm not saying we can trust the guy. Not yet at least. But he hasn't shown any signs that he means to hurt us or that there are people waitin' to attack us."

"The people of Terminus hadn't shown any signs of hostility either," Rick shot back.

Madalyn sighed. "Did your instincts tell you not to trust Terminus?" Rick stared at her with a slight tilt of the head. There was an unreadable emotion in his eyes, one Madalyn couldn't even hope to figure out.

"Yeah, they did."

"Do your instincts tell you not to trust this guy? Because I trust you, Rick. I trust that you'll decide what's best for us. But there was someone who told me there's still good people. And I am trying so hard to honor those words."

Madalyn and Rick stared at each other for a moment. Rick seemed to be contemplating her words. She hoped wherever Beth was in death that she could see her now.