here i go again --- whitesnake
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[POV]
JJ and Maggie led Aaron back to the barn to meet the others.
"Hey, everyone..." JJ went in first. "This is Aaron."
That woke everyone up for sure. Daryl was the first to march over, going out of the barn and making sure there was no one.
"We met him outside. He's by himself." JJ assured them. "We took his weapons and we took his gear."
Daryl began checking Aaron for weapons, despite what JJ had just said.
"Hi." He greeted, and immediately Judith started to cry. Aaron looked to Rick. "It's nice to meet you."
"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked his sister, who took the small handgun over to him. "There something you need?"
"He has a camp nearby." Maggie stated. "He wants us to audition for membership."
"Yeah, like a damn country club." JJ commented. "Should've used a different word."
"I wish there was one. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe or rock band. That's only on Friday and Saturday nights." Maggie and JJ looked to each other. No one said anything, so Aaron went on, "Um, and it's not-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."
"That's a kidnapper's job too." JJ muttered to Maggie.
Aaron looked to the blonde, then back to her brother. "I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. No until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Maggie, can you hand Rick my pack?"
Maggie took the backpack over. "Front pocket, there's an 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. And I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-"
"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl interrupted.
Aaron looked back at him, "You're absolutely 100% right." He watched as Rick went through the photos. "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."
"Mm, that sounds legit." JJ nodded. Daryl took a step in front of JJ so that she wouldn't keep interacting with the stranger.
"Yes, very legit." Aaron copied. "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 constructed-" Rick walked over to Aaron, knocking him out with a singular punch.
"So we're clear, that look wasn't a 'let's attack that man' look." Michonne told Rick. "It was a 'he seems like an okay guy to me'."
Michonne and JJ were on the same wavelength. They wanted to trust the man, hear what he had to say.
Rick ignored her, "we got to secure him. Dump his pack. Let's see who this guy really is."
"I already went through his pack." JJ snipped.
"Might've missed something." Daryl reasoned.
"Everybody else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us. We might not know how or when, but they are."
"Me and JJ, we didn't see him." Maggie told Rick. "If he had wanted to hurt us, he could've."
"Anybody see anything?" Rick ignored her too, which was making JJ become irritated.
Glenn looked out the boards, "just a lot of places to hide."
"All right, keep looking."
Rick and Carl poured out Aaron's bag and carefully went through his belongings.
Eventually, Aaron woke up. "Hell of a right cross there, Rick."
"Sit him up."
"I think it's better if he-" Maggie started.
"It's okay." Aaron assured, groaning.
"He's fine. Sit him up."
"You're being cautious. I completely understand."
"How many of your people are out there?" Rick interrupted, holding a small, orange flare gun. "You have a flare gun. You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?"
"Does it matter?"
"Yes. Yes, it does."
"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, 32, 444, zero- no matter what I say, you're not gonna trust me."
"Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face."
"How bout a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?"
Daryl looked to the few bottles of water sitting on the post, "How long you people been following us?"
"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."
The group shared looks.
Rick spoke again, "how many others are out there?"
"One." Aaron truthfully answered. "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?" He looked around. "What if I drove you to the community? All of you? We leave now, we'll get there by lunch."
Rick also looked at his group, "I'm not sure how the 16 of us are going to fit in the car you and your one friend drove down here in."
"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."
"And you're parked just a couple miles away, right?" Carol questioned.
"East on Ridge Road, just after you hit Route 16. We wanted to get them closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road and we couldn't clear it."
"Yeah, you've really thought this through."
"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here. You know, light the barn on fire as you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit. You can trust me."
Michonne suggested, "I'll check out the cars."
"There aren't any cars."
"You willing to bet?" JJ shrugged, "There's only one way to find out."
"We don't need to find out."
"We do." Michonne insisted. "You know what you know and you're sure of it, but I'm not."
"Me neither." Maggie spoke.
Rick shook his head, not believing it. "Your way is dangerous, mine isn't."
"Passing up someplace where we can live?" JJ scoffed, "Where Judith can live? That's pretty dangerous."
"JJ's right. We need to find out what this is." Michonne urged. "We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're gonna do."
"Then, I will too." Glenn joined. "I'll go."
"Abraham." Rick called.
"Yeah, I'll walk with them."
"Rosita?"
She nodded. "Okay."
"If there's trouble, you got enough firepower?" Rick questioned Glenn.
"We got what we got."
Rick handed him one of his guns, "the walkies are out of juice. If you're not back in 60 minutes, we'll come. Which might be just what they want." The few left. "If we're all in here, we're a target."
"I've got the area covered." Daryl said, waving them on.
"All right, groups of two, find somewhere safe within eyeshot." JJ went to leave too, but Rick held her back. "No, I want you to stay here."
JJ huffed, "you're beginning to sound a lot like dad, you know." Rick nodded as JJ walked by him. "That' not a compliment."
"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."
Rick kept a lookout through the barn doors. "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."
♮♮♮
[JJ]
Judith became fussy; she was hungry and her bottle of water wasn't pleasing her. I held her as Rick mashed some acorns, which I could've told him weren't going to please her either.
"You did see the jar of applesauce in my bag, right?" Aaron looked over. "This isn't a trick. This isn't about trying to make you like me. It's self-preservation. Because if the roamers hear her and come this way, I know I'll be the first to go."
Rick looked like he was actually considering it as he left the acorns and went to Aaron's bag in the back of the barn.
"It's okay Judith." I lightly bounced, whispering, "maybe your dad'll come to his senses."
He then walked by with a spoonful of applesauce, standing in front of Aaron waiting for him to take it.
"You think I'm trying to poison your baby daughter?" Rick didn't budge. "I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the back of the head. How would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you in any way help the situation?"
Rick knelt down, "maybe she doesn't die. Maybe she gets sick. Maybe you're the only one who can help her."
"He is the only one who can help her because he has applesauce." I spoke up as Judith continued to cry into my ear.
Rick forced the spoon closer to Aaron's mouth. "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 jar to show we have apple trees nearby."
"Like you said, you'll be the first to go."
Aaron took the bite of applesauce, cringing. Then, Rick licked the spoon. And I guess he figured it was all right.
"The community is big enough. We can find a place for you to live where even when she cries, no one, nothing can hear it outside the walls."
"You got 43 minutes." Rick warned.
It wasn't 43 minutes. The group returned shortly after with two vehicles- a car and an RV filled with food and other supplies.
Rick held a can in front of Aaron, "this, this is ours now."
Aaron nodded, "There's more than enough."
"It's ours whether or not we go to your camp."
"What do you mean?" Carl spoke up. "Why wouldn't we go?"
"if he were lying, or if he wanted to hurt us...but he isn't and he doesn't. We need thi. So we're going, all of us. Somebody say something if they feel differently." Michonne decided. She decided right.
"I don't know, man." Who knew what Daryl was going to say. "This barn smells like horseshit." But I wasn't expecting that. I cracked a smile.
"Yeah. We're going." Rick agreed, turning back to Aaron. "So where are we going? Where's your camp?"
"Well, every time I've done this, I've been behind the wheel driving recruits back. I believe you're good people, I'd bet my life on it, but I'm just not ready to bet my friend's lives just yet."
Michonne walked over to him, "You're not driving. So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how."
Aaron swallowed hard before hesitantly giving Rick directions. Rick didn't want to take Aaron's route, so he decided on another one, despite Aaron's warning.
"We'll leave at sundown."
"We're doing this at night?" Sasha questioned Rick.
"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."
"No one is going to hurt you." Aaron guaranteed. "You're trying to protect your group, but you're putting them in danger."
"Tell me where the camp is, and we'll leave right now." Aaron refused. "It's gonna be a long night, eat, get some rest if you can."
♮♮♮
We left at sundown, just like my brother said.
I rode in the RV while Glenn, Michonne, Rick and Aaron followed behind us.
As Abraham drove, I looked around, snooped, if you will. I opened one of the cabinets and found a black, cushioned notebook.
"Holy shit." I muttered, looking through the amount of cd's in it.
"What'd you find, JJ?" Maggie motioned to the book.
"CD's. And a lot of 'em." I went and sat down by her, "Check it. Guns N' Roses, AC/DC...Blondie...Taylor Swift: Speak Now? One of these is not like the rest." My attention went from the CD's to the window, where I heard yelling. "Hey, hey." I put the book next to me and stood up, still looking out the window.
"What?" Daryl asked, looking closely over my right shoulder. "Abraham, hold up."
That's when we met Eric, Aaron's boyfriend, who'd hurt his ankle when the two separated.
"So, where did they go?" He questioned, worriedly.
"They're okay. They just...got ahead." Maggie answered.
"Did they see you leave?"
Our group shared looks, then I remembered. "Hey, Aaron had a flare gun. I'm guessing you do too?"
They must've seen it. Because not too long after, I heard a familiar whistle come from the alley way, so I copied back.
"Surprised you still remember that." I smirked.
Rick shrugged, "Hard to forget it."
Carl ran out, hugging his dad. After our short reunion, we joined Aaron and Eric inside.
"Excuse me. Everyone." Aaron got our attention, "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. Um, maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."
"That sounds fine." Rick surprisingly agreed. "But if we're staying here for tonight, you're sleeping over there."
"You really think we gotta do that?" I asked, crossing my arms.
"It's the safe play. We don't know you."
"The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me."
Glenn stepped up, "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." He talked quietly.
"All right."
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[POV]
The group headed out early the next morning. Eric slept in the backroom as Aaron stayed by his side. And Abraham drove the group to their new home with Rosita as his navigator.
JJ picked up the notebook from the night before, finishing flipping through it.
"Anything good in there?" Daryl sat beside her, putting his arm on the section of the couch behind her.
"Depends on what you call good." She smirked. "What do you listen to?"
"Not Taylor Swift, that's for damn sure."
JJ rolled her eyes at him. "You seem like an AC/DC kind of guy."
"How you figure that?"
She shrugged, "I don't know. Just do. Something tells me you listened to Back in Black on the way to your 9 to 5 at the Harley Davidson repair shop."
Daryl scoffed, smirking, "yeah, right."
"No? Not it?" She squinted. "I'm gonna figure this out one day."
"Mhm. You keep tryin'."
It wasn't long until the RV came to a stop.
"We can't win. Might as well paint it red, put a ladder on it." Abraham referred to their previous ride."
Glenn came out from under the hood. "All we need is another battery."
"Where in the hell are we gonna find another battery?"
"Right over here."
"How'd you know those were there?
JJ, Rick, Carl and Michonne leaned against the hood of the car.
"The fight's over." Michonne comforted Rick. "You gotta let it go. I know it's hard. After it's kept you...warm and fed...alive. But the fight...it turns on you. You've gotta let it go."
Rick nodded, "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."
"They did for me."
The RV eventually was able to start.
"Hey, JJ," Rick motioned for his sister to walk with him. "I gotta take a moment. Before we get going."
"First day jitters?" She joked.
"You can call it that." He looked around as they came to a stop by an abandoned house. "I think we should have a backup plan."
Rick picked up an old and rusted, but empty blender, "Let me see your gun."
"Wha- mine? Why?" She defended in somewhat of a whiny voice.
"Because it'll be more believable that you lost yours than for me to."
JJ groaned, knowing he was right. "Fine. But I'm gonna be pissed if anything happens to it."
The two came back and JJ got back on the RV.
"What was that about?" Daryl asked.
She felt bad for lying but did anyway. "Just needed to talk." JJ shrugged, "Take a moment before meeting new people."
"Speaking of." Daryl motioned.
"Welcome to Alexandria." JJ muttered to herself.
a/n: heheh it's sunday!