A GIFT FROM A FRIEND-049
Everyone was squeezed tightly in their last surviving car, a few people like Matilda, Violet, and Maggie had to sit on Daryl, Glenn, and Carl's lap so everyone can fit into the van.
Matilda leaned on Daryl's chest as she held Judith on her lap. Abraham drove as Kelly sat in the front with Michonne. They stopped after a few half an hour on the road before running out of gas. They jumped out of the van, stretching their bodies.
They began walking down the hot road in the scorching heat. Matilda carried her sister, Carl walked next to his older sister. He reached up and placed his sheriff's hat on Judith's head, protecting him from the heat.
Daryl looks back and seeing a herd of walkers, slowly walking towards them and his hand was holding his son's.
Rick glancing back before speaking. "We're not at our strongest. We'll get 'em when it's best. High ground, something like that. They're not going anywhere."
Daryl glancing at Judith, seeing that she was starting to fuss. "They're hungry."
"She okay," Rick says as his oldest daughter shifted his youngest daughter in her arms. "She's going to be okay."
"We need to find water, food," Daryl says.
"We'll hit something in the road. It's gonna rain sooner or later." Rick says, looking towards the sky.
"I'm gonna head out," Daryl said, ushering his son towards his mother. "See what I can find."
"Don't be too long, please," Matilda says, looking at her husband.
"I'll go with you," Carol suggested, looking at Daryl in concern.
"I got it." He says before walking to the tree line and stopped when Carol spoke again.
"You gonna stop me?" Carol passes.
Daryl says nothing as he disappears into the woods with Carol following behind.
An half an hour later, they walked further down the road. Sweat covered their faces, neck, and backs from the heat radiating off of them.
The herd of walkers had gotten bigger the further they walked. Matilda walked beside Glenn and Maggie, still holding Judith. Max and Lee were walking together, so were Carl and Violet.
It wasn't long before they approached a small concrete bridge. Rick ordered his children and grandson to take Judith to safety on the far side.
The first few walkers, Rick and Kelly shoved over the bridge with Abraham doing the same on the other side.
After clearing all the walkers, they continued down the road before Lee spoke.
"Dad. Look." Lee said, pointing a car jam up.
The searched the cars before sitting up a small camp on the side of the road. A branch snapped making everyone go high alert. They all sighed in relief when Daryl came out of the woods.
The red neck walked over to his wife and son, sitting down next to them. Abraham sat against a tree next to Lola and her wife as he pulled out a bottle of booze. He smelt it, before handing it to Kelly.
"So all we found was booze?" Tara says, glancing over at Kelly and Abraham.
Kelly took a sip of the booze before giving it back to Abraham in disgust. The redhead let out a low chuckle, taking the bottle out the woman.
"Yeah," Kelly replied, looking at her friend.
"It's not gonna help," Tara muttered.
A rustle and growling caught their attention as four dogs came out here the woods, growling at them. A moment later, silenced gunshots when off, making everyone look at Sasha.
After they eat the meat, they started walking again. Matilda walked next to her husband and son with Judith in her arms. She watched as Glenn tried handing a half-empty water bottle to his wife, who shook her head.
He looked over at her and gave her the bottle to give to Max. The heat didn't give up as she took off her flannel and placed it over her sister, leaving her in a black spaghetti tank top.
Matilda uncapped the bottle, handing it to her son who drank a little before gave it back. She took a sip before holding it out to her husband.
"No, I'm alright." He muttered. "You and Max, drink it."
Matilda looked at her husband in concern. "You haven't had anything. Dare, you need some water."
Daryl shook his head before kissing her on the head. "Tell them, I'm going to look for water."
When the group stopped taking a break, they saw four large mile jugs and a couple of bottles sitting in the middle of the road. Lee bent down and picked up the note that came with the water as Daryl had come back, he gave the note to him.
From a friend.
"What else are we gonna do?" Tara asked, looking at her leader.
"Not this," Rick said, looking around. "We don't know who left it."
"If that's a trap, we already happened to be in it," Eugene commented. "But I, for one, would like to think it is indeed from a friend."
"We can't say it's from a friend when we don't know who left it." Matilda replied, shaking her head.
Eugene seemed to ignore her as he steps forwards and snatched up one of the bottles. He uncaps it before Abraham hits it out of his hands.
"We can't," Lee said, looking at the mullet man. "We don't know how it's from."
All the sudden thunder began to rumble before rain started pouring on them. Everyone smiled and laughed as they got drenched. Matilda tilted her head back with her mouth open, letting the rain in.
"Everybody get the bags. Anything you can find." Rick said.
Judith started crying as thunder crashed loudly. The group fell into silence as the storm got more dangerous.
"Let's keep moving," Rick ordered over the rain.
Carl placed his hat over Judith's head, keeping her somewhat dry from the storm. Matilda cuddled her sister to her, wrapping her flannel tighter around her.
"There's a barn," Daryl shouted over the rain and baby.
"Where?" Rick asked, looking at his son-in-law.
"Not far. Let's go." Daryl said, grabbed his son's hand.
The group rushed thought the tree until they saw a barn up ahead. Rick take the lead, opening the door and let everyone file in. A couple of members went around the barn to sure it was safe.
When the group settled for the night, it was still pouring out as a small group sat in front of a fire. Lola attempted to make the flames bigger, but she gave up.
"The logs are too wet." She muttered, tossing the stick out of her hand.
All the kids and Judith were sleeping few feet away from them. Carl and Violet cuddled Judith, while Lee and Max were curled next to each other. Matilda sat against her husband, sleeping. Rick glanced at his children, seeing that they are all asleep.
"He's gonna be okay, both of them. They bounce back, more than any of us do." Carol spoke, looking at her leader.
"I used to feel sorry for kids that have to grow up now." Rick started. "In this. But I think I got it wrong. Growing up is getting used to the world. This is easier for them."
"This isn't the world," Michonne commented. "This isn't it."
"It might be," Lola said. "It might."
"That's giving up." Michonne pointed out.
"No, It's reality," Lola says, staring at the fire.
"Until we see otherwise, this is what we have to live with," Rick said, looking at them."When I was a kid...I asked my grandpa once if he ever killed any Germans in 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 hold 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 know we'll be okay. Because this is how we survive. We tell ourselves...that we are the walking dead."
"We ain't them," Daryl replied, after a moment of silence. He carefully shifted his wife on his lap before picking up a few sticks.
"We're not them," Rick says looking, Daryl. "We're not."
Daryl picks up Matilda with ease, before walking over to the other side of the barn. The storm began heavier later in the night, Tilly woke up with a start, her eyes darting around the barn.
She looks around for her husband, seeing him struggle to keep the doors closed. She jumped up, rushing over to the door and throws herself at the door next to her husband. Sasha joins as a herd of walkers pound on the door, trying to get in.
Everyone joins, the group slipping in the mud, desperately trying to hold the door as wild howled.
***
In the morning after the storm settles,
Matilda woke up to her little sister staring at her. She smiled at Judith before standing up before turning towards the back of the barn to see her husband, looking at her.
She walked over to Daryl, sitting next to him. "You should get some sleep."
"Yeah," Daryl muttered.
"Max, he thinks of us as his parents." Matilda suddenly said making Daryl look at her. "Are you—would you be okay with that? Being his parents? Someone who will care for him?"
Daryl stared at his wife before looking over at the blonde boy. Max and him had made a bond between them back at the prison. He did feel as if the boy was his son. A father and son bond.
"Yeah, it's okay." He said, looking back at his wife. "Max is a Dixon now, I guess."
Matilda smiled, leaning forwards pressing her lips against his before pulling away.
"I guess he is. I love you."
"I love you too." Daryl replied, kissing her forehead.
She stood up, smiling at her husband before she walking out of the barn. The morning air hit her as she heard a branch snap. She grabbed her gun, aimed it at the sound as Maggie and Sasha slipped through the woods, with a man.
Matilda pointed her gun at the man. "Who the hell is he?"
"Tilly," Maggie said, calmly. "He just wants to talk with your dad."
"Good morning, Matidla. My name is Aaron. I know, stranger danger. But I'm a friend. I would like to speak to your father, Rick, right?" The man named Aaron says. "I have good news."
She stared at the man before hesitantly putting her gun down. "How do you know—"
"Your names? I know all your names. You're Matilda Dixon, married to Daryl Dixon and your son is Max Dixon. Lola and Kelly Turner and her sister Violet. Rick Grimes and his four children. You, Carl, Samuel, and Judith." Aaron said, listing the group members' names.
Matilda felt a little creeped out by the man as she looked at Maggie who nodded. Keeping her gun in hand, she motioned towards the man to follow her.
At the barn, the three women walked in with Aaron following. The group immediately pulled out their weapons.
"Hey everyone. This is Aaron." Maggie said as Daryl walked forwards them and grab his wife, pushing her behind him. He looked outside as if there was anybody else. "We met him outside. He's by himself."
The redneck pats Aaron down roughly as the man spoke. "Hi."
Judith immediately started crying, Matilda took her from her father and rocked her. She knew her baby sister was hungry, they all were.
"It's nice to meet you." Aaron stepped closer to the leader while made Daryl grab him by his shirt. The man swallowed, kinda scared of Daryl.
"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked, glancing at Maggie, Sasha, and his daughter. Sasha walked up to her leader, handing him Aaron's pistol.
"There something you need?"
Nobody spoke until Sasha spoke. "He has a camp nearby. He wants us to audition for membership."
"I wish there was another word," Aaron tells them. "Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of a dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights." He chuckled, glancing around the barn. "Um, 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. Rick takes a small step forwards as Aaron swallows. "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 hesitates before grabbing the pack and handing over to her leader. Rick opens the pack, looking around it as Aaron continued. "Front pocket, there's an envelope."
Rick opens the front pocket and takes out the envelope and opened it.
"There's no way I could convince you to come with me, just by talking about our community." Aaron states. "That's why I brought those. I apologize in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last—"
Daryl interrupts him, coldly. "Nobody gives a shit."
Aaron looked back at the redneck. "You're absolutely 100% right." Rick takes out a pile of pictures. There are people in any of these 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. Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say-so. As 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."
Matilda watches as her father stalks towards Aaron and punches him in the face. Nobody was surprised by Rick who does this kinda thing. Michonne looked at him in disbelief.
"So we're clear, that look wasn't a let's attack that man look. It was a he seems like an okay guy to me. look." Michonne says, glancing at Aaron.
"We got to secure him. Dump his pack. Let's see what this guy really is." Rick ordered Carl and Violet.
"Dad," Matilda started but her father ignored her before addressing the group.
"Everyone else, we need eyes in every direction. They're coming for us." Rick says, becoming paranoid. "We might not know how or when, but they are"
Daryl and Carol tied up Aaron, as Maggie spoke. "Me, Tilly, and Sasha didn't see him. If he had wanted to hurt us, he could've."
"Anybody see anything?" Rick asked, ignoring Maggie's comment.
"Just a lot of places to hide," Glenn confirmed.
"All right, keep looking," Rick ordered, walking over to Carl and Violet.
"What did you find?" Rick asked, standing between the two kids. Violet handed Rick an orange gun. "Never seen a gun like that before."
"It's a flare gun," Matidla said, coming over. "It for signaling help"
Her father walked over to Aaron, who had woken up. Maggie held a napkin on his ear to stop the bleeding as Michonne lifted Aaron in a sitting position since Daryl tied his hands.
"You're being cautious," Aaron spoke first. "I completely understand."
"How many of your people are out there?" Rick asked, staring at the man. "You have a flare gun. You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?"
Rick stepped closer, holding out the gun.
"Does it matter?" Aaron questioned.
"Yes. Yes, it does." Rick snapped.
"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 going to trust me."
"Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face." Rick comments.
"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?"
The group turned towards the bottles that sat not far from them.
"How long you people been following us?" Daryl asked, stepping towards Aaron. Matilda pulled him back, keeping from next to Glenn.
"Long enough to see that you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trial. 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. "
Rick walks closer to Aaron. "How many others are out there?"
"One." Aaron states. Rick just stared at the man. "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 real? What if I drove you to the community? All of you? We leave now, we'll get there by lunch."
"I'm not sure how the 14 of us are going to fit in a car you and your one friend drove here in." Rick pointed out.
"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." Aaron explained.
"And you're parked just a couple of miles away, right?" Matilda asked, shifting her sister on her hip.
"East on Ridge Road, just after you hit Route 16. We wanted to get them closer, but then the storm came, blocked the road. We couldn't clear it."
"Yeah, you've really thought this through," Rick says, sarcastically.
"Rick, if I wanted to ambush you, I'd do it here. You know, light the barn on fire while you slept, pick you off as you ran out the only exit." Aaron took a deep breath. "You can trust me."
They stood there in silence as Rick stared down Aaron. He didn't trust him.
"I'll check out the cars," Michonne says, stepping forwards.
"There aren't any cars," Rick said, staring at Aaron.
"There's only one way to find out."
"We don't need to find out."
Lee spoke up, looking at his father. "Dad, I think we do. You know what you know and you're sure of it, But I'm not."
"Me neither." Matilda agreed, supporting Michonne and her brother. "Dad, if we don't go, Judith will lose her chance to live in safety."
"I agree," Maggie says, making most of the women agree.
"Your way is dangerous," Rick looked at his daughter and the women. "Mine isn't."
"Like Tilly said, passing up a place that Judith can grow up safe. Maybe start a family, settle down, take a break. We need to find out what this is. We can handle ourselves. So that's what we're gonna do." Kelly said, confidently.
"Then I will, too," Glenn says. "I'll go."
Rick sighed, before turning to Abraham. "Abraham."
"Yeah." Abraham nodded, "I'll walk with them."
"Rosita? Lola?"
Both women nodded. "Okay."
"If there's trouble you got enough firepower?" Rick asked Glenn.
Glenn nodded. " We got what we got."
Rick hands him a pistol as Kelly, Michonne and Lola left with the group.