Next day.
We all started walking again.
Glenn walked to me and offered me a water bottle.
I shook my head.
Glenn " Ken, please"
I shook my head.
Glenn " you're wounded. You need to drink. Please"
I gave in, grabbed the bottle and took a sip from it.
Then I sighed " he left, didn't he?"
Glenn looked back and nodded.
I sighed again.
Glenn " How's your arm ?"
Me " it hurts"
Glenn " It's going to be okay"
I nodded " how is she?"
Glenn sighed " She tries "
I looked at him " She needs you, Glenn. Even if she's not showing it. Don't let her push you away"
Glenn nodded " I know"
Suddenly everyone stopped. I looked at the reason why and there were water bottles on the ground.
There was a note next to them.
I grabbed it " From a friend"
Dad grabbed it and looked at it.
Dayl showed up and dad handed him the note.
Me " Now what?"
Dad " we don't know who left it. "
Eugene " if that's a trap,we already happen to be in it. But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend"
Carol " what if it isn't? They put something in it?"
Me " Why would they? If they wanted us dead, then why kill us that way?"
Eugene grabbed a bottle.
Rosita " what are you doing?"
Eugene "Quality assurance "
Before he could drink from it Abraham threw it out of his hand.
The water flew everywhere.
Dad shook his head" we can't "
The clouds went dark. You could hear thunder.
Suddenly it began to rain.
I laughed.
Everyone enjoyed it.
I looked at Daryl.
He was just standing there. And so were Maggie and Sasha too.
Dad " everybody, get the bags. Anything you can find. "
We all put our empty bottles on the ground to catch the rain.
It was raining hard. Really hard.
Everyone was soaking wet.
Suddenly we heard thunder.
The clouds were dark.
Dad " let's keep moving. "
Daryl " there's a barn"
Dad looked at him" Where?"
Daryl lead us to the barn. We walked in and cleared it. Maggie killed one walker.
Night. At the barn.
Daryl had made a little fire to keep us warm because of the rain outside.
Michone, Glenn, Carol, dad, Daryl and I were sitting around it. The others had laid down around us.
Carl was sleeping with Judith in his arms behind me.
Carol " he bounces back more than any of us does."
Dad " I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now. I'm this. But I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them. "
Michonne shook his head " this isn't the world. This isn't it. "
Me " You know what's sad about all this?"
They looked at me.
Me " Judith will grow up without knowing how it was before walkers. She will only know this side of it. "
They nodded.
Dad " until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with. "
I looked at Daryl. He was starring at the fire.
Dad " When I was a kid...I asked my grandpa once of he ever killed any Germans on the war. He wouldn't answer. He said that was grown up stuff, so....so I asked if the Germans ever tried to kill him. But he got real quiet. He said he was dead the minute he stepped into enemy territory. Every day he woke up and told himself ' Rest in peace. Now get up and go to war.' And then after a few years of pretending he was dead he made it out alive. That's the trick of it, I think. We do what we need to do and then we get to live. But no matter what we find in DC, I knew we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves...that we are the walking dead. "
Daryl looked into the fire" we ain't them. "
He sat up and put some wood in the fire.
Dad shook his head " We're not them. Hey"
Daryl looked at him.
Dad shook his head " We're not. "
Daryl stood up " We ain't them"
Then he grabbed his Crossbow and walked to the front door of the barn. I looked after him and sighed.
Then i stood up and followed him. It was dark.
Me " Hey"
He looked at me.
I walked to him and hugged him.
He sighed into my hair.
I looked up to him and he kissed my forehead.
Suddenly I heard groaning outside.
I asked confused "you hear that??"
Then I let go of Daryl and walked to the gate which was chained together but there was a gap between the doors. I looked through it.
A herd of Walkers.
I turned to Daryl with wide eyes.
He softly pushed me away and chained it together tighter.
They were pushing against the door, trying to break them in.
Daryl held the doors together.
I helped him.
Maggie came and helped us. Then Sasha. Then the others.
We did our best to keep them out.
The thunder didn't help.
Morning.
I felt someone shaking me and groaned annoyed.
Someone shook me again.
I opened my eyes annoyed, yawning " morning "
Daryl cracked something i think was a smile " morning"
I sat up and stretched myself.
Everyone was already up and doing their stuff.
I saw Judith.
She looked at me and clapped with her hands.
I leaned my head on Daryl's shoulder and yawned again.
Daryl looked at me" still tired?"
I nodded " hard night"
He nodded and played on his Crossbow.
I groaned and scratched my neck" I would do anything for a bed"
Carol " Me too"
I looked at her and we began to giggle.
Suddenly Maggie and Sasha came in with a guy.
Maggie " Guys, this is Aaron."
We all stood up with our guns. Daryl walked outside to make clear that they came alone and then walked back inside.
Maggie " we met him outside. He's by himself. We took his weapons and we took his gear."
I walked to Dad and he gave me Judith as Judith began to cry.
Aaron " hi"
I rolled my eyes and held Judith close to my chest.
Then I kissed her forehead " Baby, it's alright. Shh"
She calmed down.
Aaron " It's nice to meet you"
He stepped for but everyone pointed with the gun at him.
Dad to Maggie " you said he had a weapon?"
Maggie gave it to him and he put it behind in his waistband.
Dad " there's something you need?"
Sasha " he has a camp nearby. He wants us to addition for membership. "
Aaron " I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sounds like we're some kind of a dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights. "
I rolled my eyes.
Aaron " um, and it's not a camp. its 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. 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 gave it dad.
Aaron " front pocket, there's an envelope. * dad opened the front pocket* there's no way I c I updated convince you to come with me just by talking a 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 night-"
Daryl " nobody gives a shit"
I smirked.
He looked at Daryl.
Aaron " you're absolutely 100% right. "
Dad looked at the pictures. Aaron to dad " 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"
I gave Judith to Carl and kneeled down next to Dad.
I looked at the picture.
It was a black and white pic. There were walls on it.
Aaron " if you join us, you will be. Each panel in that wall is a 15-foot-high, 12-food-wide slab of solid steel framed by cold-rolled steep beams and square tubing. Nothing alive or dead gets through that without or say-so. Like I said, security is obviously important. "
Dad and I stood up.
Aaron " I'm fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival the people. Togetger we're strong. You can make us even stronger. The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our commu-"
Dad walked to him and punched him in the face. Knocking him out.
I sighed annoyed" here we go"