the great war (r.g)

five

the group survived the night. everyone was fine in the morning. cora scanned the room once she woke up and the first thing she saw was maggie and sasha leaving. the next thing was izzy who was sitting by judith who found the bottles of water amusing and was no longer sobbing. the group was all mingling with eachother except for daryl who was sitting in solitary.

cora got up and went to where judith was playing with the water bottles. "good morning you two," she said. mostly to izzy since judith had yet to learn how to talk.

"good morning," izzy said. she picked up judith's hand and used it to wave.

"do you mind if i steal two of these?" judith started babbling as cora took the bottles. she took a sip from one and walked toward where daryl was sitting. "here," she said handing him the unopened bottle and took a seat next to him.

"thanks," he said. the two sat in silence just drinking their water and watching their friends.

"so," cora said after a while. "do you have any idea where we are going?"

"nah," daryl said, looking somewhere just over cora's shoulder. "eugene thought he knew a cure but lied. now we are just aimlessly wandering."

"that's what rick told me. there has to be some place out there, right? like a refuge?" almost as if a guardian angel was watching cora and daryl talk, maggie and sasha busted through the barn doors. but they weren't alone. behind them was a man who looked just as old as maggie herself.

the group is silent, almost as if they were in shock. "who's this?" rick finally spoke up.

"my names aaron, i come in peace." aaron chuckled softly as if what he said was funny. he cleared his throat awkwardly and continued "i come from-"

"give me your weapons," rick demands. maggie stepped forward and handed rick a gun. she stayed by his side, not returning to her spot next to the stranger. "is this all?" aaron nodded. "how did you know we were here."

"well, i've been following you guys. you're rick," he said, nodding his head at him before looking at cora. "thats your new addition, cora and i'm the one who supplied the water bottles for you guys."

cora looked over at rick, who caught her eyes before turning his attention back to aaron. "i dont believe you," rick plainly told him.

aaron seemed confused. "well - i -"

"why?" cora spoke up. everyones eyes fell on her. obviously no one expected her to speak up. that was absurd.

"why what?" aaron seemed confused. again.

"why were you following us. why did you leave the water bottles for us. why are you here now," cora asked him, taking a step closer.

"i come from a group, a community, called alexandria. we've been there since the beginning. i am a scouter for the community and one day, i came across you guys. well first, i came across you," he said looking directly at cora. "you and your old group until your camp got raided. then i followed you to rick and his people." cora stiffened at the mention of her old group. her old family. the people she spent the most time and energy to help protect. "you all seem like good fighters and would be great additions to alexandria."

rick looked at him thoughtfully. like he was pondering something. he wasn't, though. cora could somehow tell that rick already had his mind made up. "he's lying," rick addressed his people while looking down aaron. he turned around and looked to his group. "he has to be."

"im really not," aaron disrupted rick. rick looked back at the stranger. he closed the gap between them and punched aaron, knocking him unconscious.

"rick," maggie said in an almost scolding tone as cora's instincts kicked in. in a second, she was knelt by aarons side, making sure he was okay.

"he'll be fine," rick said, rubbing his kuckle.

"we don't know that," maggie said.

"he will be," cora spoke up. "he's just knocked unconscious." cora stood up and looked at rick, who was looking down at his hand. it was red and the start of blood was forming. "let me see your hand," cora held her hand out. rick just looked at her. "fine. then just take this." cora ripped part of her jacket off and handed it to him to wrap around his knuckles.

"tie him up," rick said, talking about the unconscious man on the ground. sasha bent down and tied aaron's arms around the wooden pole.

"what are we going to do with him?" rosita asked in a somewhat hushed voice even though aaron was out cold.

"we need to find out if he's being honest," glenn mentioned.

"what is there not to believe? there's a good chance that there is a group, a community, of survivors. others people out there," michonne said.

"that guy could be lying. this could all be a big trap," rick said. everyone stood around, thinking about this possibility.

"we cant forget that he was following us. following us so close he knows our names. we have to think about these things before we trust him with our future," cora announced to the group. this seemed to get them thinking. well michonne at least.

***

once aaron regained consciousness, he still had his positive attitude. he even complimented rick on the power behind his punch. rick disregarded this. instead, he asked "how many people are waiting on us." rick bared his flare gun as a form of intimidation. cora sat back and watched from a hay stack. the only other people left in the barn were michonne, glenn, and the kids.

"me telling you how many people are wait ling wont make you trust me any more than you already do," aaron told rick.

"just humor him," cora said. rick back looked at her then his focus went back to the interrogation. aaron told them that there is only one person waiting for them. his accomplice.

the rest of the time went just like this. rick asking aaron questions, aaron telling him hes asking the wrong questions. finally, aaron told rick where his partner was and a group was sent out to look for him.