"Would you just stop and talk to me?" Maggie asked annoyed as she followed Austin.
"I don't know what you want to talk about." he shrugged, not bothering to look at her.
"Your attitude lately, for starters." she scoffed. "I get your angry-"
"Then get off my back." he cut her off, Maggie latch onto his arm and spun him to face her.
"You didn't get to do that." she shook her head with a serious look up at him. "I know what you're feeling and you don't get to take out your feelings on everyone else."
"What are you gonna do? Ground me?" Austin asked her in disbelief. "Look around Maggie, it's not-"
He was cut off with her hand colliding with his face. She didn't hit him hard enough to hurt him, more to grab his attention. Austin gapped in disbelief as his face was turned to the side. Glenn shook his head. "Maggie."
"You can be mad, and you can hate everything that breaths in your direction." Maggie stared at Austin with a nod. "But, you aren't gonna walk around hating the people that love you. Your dad, me, Carl, Michonne, all of us care enough about you to make sure you didn't get your ass killed this past month. You don't get to take your anger out of the rest of us by being a Grumpus."
Austin touched his face where she slapped him, his eyes meeting hers. "Did you just say Grumpus?"
Her nose twitched, his lips sucked in before the pair couldn't help it, laughing outloud. Glenn sighed in relief, giving them space. "What's is that?"
"My Daddy use to say it." Maggie laughed with a shake of her head, Austin grinned as he leaned in and hugged her. Maggie held the back of his head. "Your feelings are valid, Austin. I'm not trying to tell you to stop hurting."
"I know." he shut his eyes, holding her. "I don't blame anyone, I just- I don't know what to feel so it comes off angry. The world isn't fair."
"I know it." she promised, pulling back to hold his face. "I miss her, but I have you to remind me of her."
Austin nodded. "Me too."
"If we see someone, we just shoot them?" Michonne asked Glenn as Austin and Maggie caught up to them.
"It's a good question." the Greene woman stated as she clutched her gun.
"What if they're someone like us?" Michonne pointed out.
"Yeah, and what if they're not?" Austin matched her tone.
"What if Aaron's telling the truth?" she looked at him.
"Or what if he's not?" be repeated.
"But, what if he is?" Michonne inhaled. "What if they're someone who has nothing to do with this?"
"We're six people walking with guns." Glenn pointed out as Abraham and Rosita trailed a little before the four. "No one's coming up to say hello."
"Good. Your boy would blow their head off." Rosita mocked from the front.
Austin rose his eyebrows. "Is she talking about me?"
"Yup!" Rosita answered his questioned dedicated to Glenn.
"But that's exactly what happened." Michonne spoke of Glenn's previous statement.
"If it's someone like us, we should be afraid of them." he spoke in return, a hint of annoyance lingering. "He said he was watching us, right?"
"That's what I heard in between slaps." Austin agreed as he spun the bullet holder slightly.
"It means he saw us yesterday." he looked over at him. "And after everything we've done, why would he want us to join his group?"
"Maybe to feel like some savior." Austin rolled his eyes. "Feel good about himself that he took on a bunch of mentally unstable, starving people and a baby."
"People like us saved a priest." Michonne spoke up as she followed. "People like us took shifts making sure our group was eating and secure. Saved a girl who rolled up to the prison with the Governor. Saved a crazy lady with a sword. He saw that."
"I don't know what he saw." Glenn shook his head in return.
They approached a fallen tree, the storm destroying the road around them. Austin exhaled at the sight of a camper and one car. "Maybe I smacked him around for no reason."
"He was telling the truth." Michonne confirmed.
"Still felt kinda good, though." Austin shrugged. They headed forward, guns drawn and stayed close. A loud rustle got their attention, Austin turned quickly with a gun to the rustling bushes.
"Not one step closer, asshole." Glenn threatened, all watched as a walker came from the trees. They all huffed, Abraham went to get it before Rosita stopped him, nodding to Austin, who she saw as a ridiculously angry boy who was just starting to become an adult and lost his girlfriend. He stabbed the walker in the head, then again, and again, and over and over despite it being dead. Glenn frowned, letting him have his moment while they looked into the RV.
Austin backed off, breathing heavy to catch his breath with walker blood coating the entire front side of his body. He turned back, seeing Maggie and Michonne watched him. His eyebrows frowned together in annoyance. "What?"
"This is ours now." Rick looked at the canned foods the group all took for the RV, back at the barn with a tied up Aaron.
"There's more than enough." he nodded his way.
"What'd he do?" Carl whisper to Michonne in slight worry for his older brother.
"Gutted up a walker." she said in return as Carl exhaled.
"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp." Rick stated to Aaron once more.
"What do you mean? Why wouldn't we go?" Carl gapped in disbelief.
"Dude." Austin gave him a look. "Leave it alone."
"Yeah, like you?" Carl motioned to Austin's, very clear, unstable state.
"If he were lying or if he wanted to hurt us... but he isn't and he doesn't." Michonne defended Aaron to Rick. "We need this. He needs this."
She looked to Austin when she said it, he looked away: "So, we're going. All of us. Someone say something if they feel differently."
"I want to still kill walkers." Austin looked toward Aaron. "Can I do that?"
"I'm sure." he said his way. "No one's gonna force you to talk to a doctor either. I'm sorry if it seemed like that's what I was trying to say earlier."
Austin's eyes softened up for a moment, his eyebrows knitted for just a second, looking away to rid that little humane feeling he had.
"I don't know, man." Daryl looked at Rick. "This barn smells like horse shit."
Rick looked to his oldest. "Tell me something, son."
Austin stared at him for a second, an inhale coming from his tightening up chest as his heart beat picked up. "Beth would want us to."
Rick nodded, holding the back of his neck as Austin looked down at his feet, his breathing shook. "Yeah. We're going."
He let Austin go as he turned to make it seem like he was looking to the window, wipping a single tear. Sasha rubbed his back and pulled him into the group some. Rick walked toward Aaron. "So, where are we going? Where's your camp?"
Aaron hesitated. "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."
"Hit him." Abraham encouraged loudly as Austin reached over and smacked him in the face. "Yeah."
"Okay." Glenn gave a look. "Unnecessary."
"You're not driving." Michonne walked forward. "So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how."
Rick clutched the map as Aaron exhaled. "Go North on Route 16."
"And then?" she gave an impatient look.
"I'll tell you when we get there." he stared up at her.
"Want me too hit him?" Austin spoke up.
"Yes." Rosita and Abraham said on sync.
"No." Maggie and Glenn said back.
"We'll take 23 north." Rick looked up from the map. "You'll give us directions from there."
"That's- I don't know how else to say it- that's a bad idea." Aaron spoke with fear in his tone. "We've cleared 16. It'll be faster."
Rick stared. "We'll take 23. Leave at sundown."
"We're doing this at night?" Sasha asked on the other side of Austin.
"Look, I know it's dangerous. But it's better then riding up to the gates during the day." Rick looked back to the group. "If it isn't safe, we need to get home before they know we're there."
"I could shoot em." Austin pointed out.
"Or gut em like he did that walker." Abraham said as Rick looked over, answering his curiosity of his sons bloody state. "Your son might be the scariest young man, with a massive ball sack, i've ever seen."
"Yeah, don't encourage him." Glenn shook his head.
"No one is going to hurt you." Aaron defended his people. "You're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger. I mean, how are all of you even alive?"
"We're not." Austin stared to him. "Not all of us."
"Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now." Rick crouched down with Aaron.
He shook his head, looking away. Rick stood. "It's gonna be a good night. Eat. Get some rest if you can. And Austin, son, someone find some water to get the walkers guts off him so I know who i'm lookin at."
•
kylie speaks
y'all are gonna love austin
in alexandria after a few chapters