Rayle lay down on the wood floor in the old barn, exhausted. She tried her best to get comfortable, knowing that she needed rest, but the sound of the rain and thunder made it difficult to fall asleep. She closed her eyes, willing herself to rest, and soon enough, she drifted off into a peaceful sleep. As the rain continued to fall, and the thunder. she slept through the night,
Rayle awoke to the sound of guns cocking. Suddenly, Maggie walked into the barn, followed by a man that Rayle had never seen before.
"Everyone, this is Aaron," she told them. Daryl immediately went to check the outside, while Sasha and Maggie stepped into the barn.
"We met him outside, and he was by himself. We took his weapons and gear," Maggie said, and Daryl came back in, patting Aaron down
Daryl picked his crossbow back up and turned to face Aaron, who had his hands raised Aaron remained still, trying his best to show that he meant no harm.
"Hi," he said softly, keeping his hands up.
Judith started crying in Rick's arms, but he didn't take his eyes off Aaron. Rayle got up, taking Judith from him, and she shushed her as gently as she could.
"Shh, shh," she whispered, trying to calm her down. "It's okay, don't cry.”
Rayle stepped behind Rick, holding Judith close to her as the baby slowly stopped crying. Aaron stepped forward, trying to introduce himself
"its nice to meet you" Aaron said
but someone immediately cocked their gun at him, and he stopped immediately.
"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked Maggie, and she walked toward him, keeping her eyes on Aaron.
Judith started crying again, and Rayle pulled her into her arms, trying to comfort her.
Maggie handed Rick what looked like a gun, and he examined it before putting it into his belt. "There something you need?" he asked Aaron.
"He has a camp nearby he wants us to audition for membership," Sasha informed them, and
Aaron chimed in, "I wish there was another word. 'Audition' makes it sound like we're some kind of dance group that's only on Friday nights," he said, trying to lighten the mood a bit.
Aaron's request led to silence as the group considered his proposal. Aaron cleared his throat, "And 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."
Aaron took a deep breath, and continued, "I know if I were you, I wouldn't go either—not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?”
Sasha stood still for a moment before grabbing the bag from her bag and handing it to Rick.
"Front pocket. There's an envelope," Aaron said.
Rick Kneeled down to open the bag and pulled out an envelope.
"There's no way to convince you to come with me just by talking about our community, that's why I brought these," Aaron said, gesturing to the envelope in Rick's hand.
Aaron apologized, "I apologize in advance for the picture quality—we just found an old camera store," but Daryl cut him off.
"Nobody gives a shit!" Daryl said, and Aaron looked back at him, "You're absolutely 100% right," he admitted. Turning back to the group, Rayle got down on her knees to see the pictures in the envelope
Rayle looked at the pictures inside.
"That's the first picture I want to show you," Aaron said, gesturing to the first picture. "Nothing I saw about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe if you join us. You will be each panel in that wall, a solid 15-foot high and 12-foot wide slab of steel." Aaron explained, and showed them the pictures, all of which were in black and white.
“Framed by cold rolled steel beams and square tubing nothing alive or dead gets though that without our say so like I said security is obviously important in fact there only one resource more critical to our community's survival the people” Aaron said
"Together, we're strong," Aaron said. "You can make us even stronger." He continued to introduce them to the community he had in mind. However, as he described the community, Rick suddenly cut him off and punched him in the face.
Rayle let out a shriek in surprise, and Aaron collapsed to the ground, unconscious.
Rayle sat under a corner, holding Judith in her arms, watching her babble, trying to make sense of everything. She looked at Aaron, tied up, feeling bad for him, but unsure if he was a bad person, or just a victim of unfortunate circumstances.
Daryl yelled out to Rayle, "Ay! We're leaving!" Rayle nodded,
"You're coming!" Daryl called out to her. But, Rayle shook her head, "No, I'm staying here with Judith."
Rick walked towards her, and Rayle pulled out a gun from her belt, pointing it at him. "No," she said firmly, and Rick immediately backed up.
Rick nodded to Daryl, and he left, closing the door behind him. Rayle lowered her gun, putting it back in her belt, as she watched Daryl disappear out of the barn.
Rayle stayed quietly in the corner of the barn, holding Judith close to her, while Rick paced back and forth, glaring at her, warning her not to talk to Aaron.
"What did you do before this apocalypse?" Rayle kept asking Aaron.
Eventually, Aaron replied, "Oh, I worked for an NGO. Our mission was to deliver medicine and food to the Niger River delta." His smile, although genuine, did not have the same unsettling aura that Gerard had. Rayle smiled back at him, feeling somewhat reassured.
Rayle looked at Aaron, who had smiled at her, and nodded back, "Thanks for trying," she said, wanting to show her appreciation. He nodded back at her.
Judith started crying, and Rayle bounced her gently in her arms, saying, "Oh, Judith, what's wrong?" She made soothing noises to calm Judith down.
"I have some apple sauce," Aaron offered,. He continued, "If the roamers hear us, I'll be the first in line to die." Rayle nodded, understanding his worries, and went to stand up.
Before she could stand up, Rick spoke up, "No, Rayle, sit down." Rayle looked at him angrily and replied, "Rick! Get the damned apple sauce! Your baby is crying!”
Rick finally reluctantly grabbed the apple sauce, opened the jar, and held out a small spoon for Aaron to try
With a hint of indignation, Aaron asked, "You think I'm trying to poison your baby daughter?"
"I'm tied up and you've already expressed a willingness to stab me in the head. How would cruelly killing your daughter in front of you in any way help the situation?" Aaron countered.
Rayle looked at Aaron and said, "Just do it! He won't stop unless you try it." Aaron reluctantly tried the apple sauce, making a face, and then ate it. Rick handed the apple sauce to Rayle, who began feeding Judith, saying, "Mmh, yummy apple sauce," in a soothing tone as she continued to bounce Judith to calm her down.
Rayle was woken up from her sleep by a shake on the shoulder, to find Daryl standing over her.
"Let's go," he said, and Rick had already taken Judith from her.
"What?" Rayle rubbed her eyes, still trying to fully wake up.
"We're going to the camp," Daryl replied.
Rayle stood up and got in the car. She sat next to Aaron and Michonne, while glen and Rick sat in the front.
Rayle looked over at Aaron, who was holding a collection of license plates. "Oh, uh, I'm trying to collect all 50 states. I want to put them on a wall in my house."
"You have your own house?" Michonne asked Aaron curiously, as she looked at the pictures.
"Mhm. See for yourself," Aaron said, as Michonne grabbed the envelope from him.
"Can I have my own house?" Rayle asked, a note of hope in her voice.
"Uhm, maybe..." Aaron replied, glancing over at Michonne. "Don't you want to live with your parents?"
"They're dead," Rayle said bluntly, causing the car to fall silent for a moment.
"Why don't you have any pictures of your people?" Michonne asked Aaron.
"Oh, I took a picture of the whole group, but I didn't get the exposure right when I tried to develop it. It just..." Aaron started to explain before he was cut off by Michonne.
"Did you ask him the questions?" Michonne asked Rick, who was sitting in the front seat with Glenn.
Rick stayed silent for a moment
"No." He then looked over at Glen in the front seat.
"How many walkers have you killed?" Michonne asked Aaron, and everyone fell silent as they waited for his response.
"I'm sorry, what?" Aaron asked, genuinely confused.
"How many?" Michonne repeated the question.
"I don't know... a lot," Aaron said quietly, and everyone in the car was quiet for a moment.
"How many people?" Michonne then asked Aaron, and Rayle looked at her, surprised by the question.
"Two..." Aaron said at last, his voice barely above a whisper.
"why?" Michonne asked
"Because they tried to kill me," Aaron said quietly, his voice barely above a whisper. Rick then held something up, and Rayle didn't know what it was.
"You were listening to us!?" Glen said, his anger palpable.
"I already said I was watching you. Yes, I was listening... that's how I know," Aaron replied, before Rick interrupted.
"It means his people could have one too! They could have heard our plan! This isn't safe!" Rick said,
Rayle suddenly saw a bunch of walkers on the road and yelled, "Walkers!"
"Shit!" Glen yelled as he swerved the car, running over a few walkers. Blood splattered on the window, and Michonne grabbed Rayle's arm to prevent her from falling. Rayle couldn't see out the window because of all the blood smeared on it.
"Glen!" Rick yelled. "They're right behind us!" Glen yelled, and Rayle was worried for the rest of the group, who were in a different car.
"They would have hit us now! They can get out!" Glen called out, and he kept driving, the sound of the walkers growing. Some hit the car, and Rayle yelled, "Why are there so many!?"
"It's probably a herd!" Glen yelled back.
Rayle wasn't sure how Glen could keep driving, given that he couldn't see out the window. Everyone was breathing heavily, and then Glen suddenly stopped the car. Rick opened the door and yelled, "I don't see them!"
Glen followed him up on the car to get a better view over the walkers, who were still approaching. "No, they're gone," Glen said at last. "They got away!”
"All right, we'll circle back and find them," Rick said, and everyone quickly got back into the car. Glen jumped down from the roof and got into the car himself, followed by Michonne.
"Rayle, are you okay?" Glen asked, as everyone was getting settled.
"Yes," Rayle replied, rubbing her head. The car door had hit her as Michonne was getting into the car, but she was fine.
"They're okay?" Aaron asked, looking over at Rayle.
"Yeah," Michonne replied after a quick check.
Glen tried to wipe some of the blood off the glass of the car window so he could see better while driving, and then got back in the car. Rick pulled out a map and looked it over.
"All right, we can take a left a couple of miles up 23 Jefferson Avenue," Rick called out, and Glen nodded.
"We gotta get out of here," Rick yelled,
Glen tried to start the engine, but it wouldn't start. "Why isn't it working!?," Rayle asked, worried. "Come on, come on!" Glen yelled, trying to start it again.
"They're getting close!" Rayle yelled, and Aaron exclaimed, "We gotta get out of here!"
"Let me see what I can see," Michonne said, pushing open the door and leaning out to look around. "They're coming right for us!" Aaron said, terrified.
"Yeah, we know!" Rick said, trying to keep his voice steady.
"We need to leave now!" Aaron yelled, and Glen echoed the sentiment, yelling, "Hold on!"
Glen was looking up at something in the sky, and the others couldn't help but notice the troubled expression on his face. "What is it?" Rick asked, feeling a twinge of fear.
"This is over. Let me out. I need to get out of here," Aaron said, his voice rising higher as he became more panicked. "What is going on?" Rick asked, desperate for answers.
"Let me out!" Aaron yelled, shoving Michonne aside as he tried to open the car door. He finally managed to kick it open and bolted out of the car, pushing Rayle out of the way. She fell to the ground, hitting her head on the pavement, and let out a pained groan. Aaron ran off into the forest, leaving everyone behind.
Glen ran over to Rayle, asking, "You alright?"
Rayle rubbed her head, feeling a pounding headache. She replied weakly, "Ow…”
Michonne started running after Aaron, but Rick yelled out, "Michonne, leave him!"
"We need to find our people!" Rick called out.
"They saw that flare! They'll think we shot it! This is how we find them!" michone yelled,
Glen pulled Rayle up and they all ran into the forest, the sound of the walkers behind them growing louder. Rayle started to panic, her gun gone and only a knife left to defend herself. Rick took aim and shot a few of the walkers, but they kept on coming.
Glen and Rayle ran through the forest, Glen was shooting any walkers that got in their way. But then one walker managed to grab Glen and pull him down. Rayle tried to rescue Glen, but she was grabbed by another walker. She tried to push it away, but it was too strong. Suddenly, Glen managed to grab the walker's head and smash it into the ground, then shot the one that was trying to bite Rayle and pulled her back up to her feet.
"Are you okay? Did you get bit?" Glenn asked, his voice full of concern.
"No, I didn't," Rayle replied, relieved
Glen held onto rayles arm so he didn't lose her and they kept running the walkers behind then snarling
Then rayle heard Aaron yell
“Get off!” Aaron yelled aaron was kicking a waler that was trying to bite him because his hands were tied Glen was about to save Aaron but stopped
Rayle stopped as well then Glen ran towards the walker and killing it
Then Glen cut the rope on Aaron's hands then there was a gun shot in the distance
"Run if you want, I've got other things to worry about," Glen said, walking away.
"Rayle, let's go!" he called out, and she ran to his side. Suddenly, they heard Aaron's voice behind them, calling out, "We can make it together. You said that we could only make it together. I've was listening."
Glen stopped in his tracks and turned to face Aaron. After a moment of deliberation, he finally nodded and said, "Fine.”
Rayle, Aaron, and Glen ran through the forest, with Rayle noticing a red glow in the distance. She yelled out, "Is it them!?" and Glen confirmed, "Yeah!"
Glen and Aaron quickly shot down any walkers that got in their way, and then they saw Rick. As they approached, Aaron put his hands in the air and dropped his gun on the ground, saying, "If you really want to tie me up again, that's fine. But hurry up.”
"There's no time, we're going this way," Rick said, leading the group deeper into the woods. After an eternity running through the dense forest, they finally emerged onto a dirt road.
"Where are they?" Rick asked, looking around.
"I don't know," Aaron said, also searching their surroundings, but Rayle remained close to Glen at all times.
"If this is a trap and your people are back where you want us, they're going to die tonight," Rick said ominously, then started walking, with Rayle and Glen following close behind.
Rayle realized that she had lost her backpack, and she couldn't recall where she had last seen it. But she quickly forgot about the missing item when she heard someone whistling in the distance. She looked over, and her heart filled with joy as she saw Daryl waving at them from afar. She ran toward him, and as soon as she reached him, she hugged him tightly. Daryl returned the hug, though he seemed a bit startled at first.
In the meantime, she heard Aaron calling out, "Eric? Eric?" Her mind raced with questions, but she knew that they would all be answered soon.
Rayle saw Carol and Maggie
“Maggie!” Rayle said and Ran to Maggie hugging her
“Hay” she said
“In here!” Someone said and Aaron ran inside
“Here” Maggie said pulling rayle backpack of her back
“My bag!” Rayle said excitedly
“Thank you so much!” Tayle said hugging Maggie again
Rayle walked inside after a bit everyone was standing around
“Thank you you saves 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 Alexandra” Aaron said rayle smiled
"Now, I'm not sure about you, but I'd rather not do any more driving tonight," Aaron said. "Maybe we can hit the road tomorrow morning."
"That sounds fine, but if we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there," Rick pointed out, indicating a certain area.
"You really think we've got to do that?" Maggie asked, with a hint of doubt in her voice.
"It's the safe play," Rick replied firmly. "We don't know you.”
"The only way you'll stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me," Aaron said forcefully. Rayle had realized that Aaron and Eric were together, and everyone fell silent.
Glen stepped forward, putting his hand out in greeting. "Rick, he told us where the camp is, and he really was traveling with only one other person. They're both unarmed, and one of them has a broken ankle. I want us to be safe, too."
"I can't give up everything else I know," Glen said, trying to persuade Rick. "I know what I said, but it does matter."
Rick stepped back, taking a moment to consider Glen's words. Finally, he nodded in agreement.
"Alright," Rick said
Rayle nodded in approval, relief visible on her face.
It was dark now, and everyone was sound asleep. Rayle was looking through the photos she had taken, both old and new. She found several with her friends and family, including ones with Aaron and Eric together and another one of Maggie and Glenn holding Judith.
Rayle flipped through her Polaroid pictures, admiring the photos she had captured over the years. She has plenty of batteries, so she won't run out of pictures any time soon. As she came across the photo of Beth, holding baby Judith, Rayle couldn't help but smile.
A single tear rolled down her cheek, and she whispered, "I'm so sorry, Beth.”