A/N: Hey guys! Welcome to "Ghost"! Just so you know, it's been a LONG time since I attempted a fanfiction, but I have high hopes for this one. Hope you like!
Disclaimer: AMC owns everything but the characters I've introduced to the story.
It was hot.
That was for damn sure. The group of people stumbling down the road knew it all too well. The relentless sun was sapping their strength just as it sapped the water from the earth. They were weakened, and wound far too tight. A few seemed defeated, others determined, some angry, and some empty. They were hardly in any state to stand, let alone fight off a group of enemies – dead or alive – who might try to take advantage of them.
And indeed, they were not alone. Unbeknownst to the group, two pairs of pale red eyes watched them from the trees, calm and calculating. Two pairs of ears listened to their hoarse murmurs to one another. Two minds analyzed the people before them, and two bodies quietly jumped from branch to branch, easily keeping up with their sluggish pace.
The young Asian man, one of the determined ones, mumbled something and held out a bottle half-full of water to a rough-looking guy in a leather vest. He shifted the crossbow on his shoulder and shook his head.
He replied back with something that sounded like a refusal. His voice was deep, with a roughness to it that fit him well. The other man spoke more insistently. The one with the crossbow gave him a dirty look and what sounded like a short warning. He was the stubborn type, they decided, but also the selfless type. The Asian man fell in step beside him.
"Hey…" They were closer now, and their words were more clear. He stared, unblinkingly, at the man in the vest. "We can make it together." His voice was soft and pleading. Then he paused. "…But we can only make it together." Those words struck a bit of a cord with the figures in the trees. Glancing away, almost in defeat, the young Asian walked past him. One pair of eyes lingered on the man in the vest as he slowed his pace, his empty expression faltering slightly.
A well-built ginger-haired man glanced at him briefly before the man in the vest growled, "Tell 'em I went lookin' for water." He didn't wait for the other man to respond before he broke off from the group, tromping through the forest like a man on a mission…but not, they thought, for water.
One pair of eyes glanced at the other, and the two nodded at each other. Be careful, one mouthed as the other slipped through the trees after him. He was in no state to be off on his own. Easy pickings for someone with bad intentions…
The man in the vest paused when he reached a wide path cut through the woods. There was an old barn nestled in at the end of it, but he didn't move to approach it. Instead, he slid to the ground with his back against a tree. The figure up above him watched curiously as he dug around in his pockets and pulled out a lighter and a few cigarettes. He brought one to his lips and flicked on the lighter, then set it on the ground once the cancer stick was properly lit. The woman resisted the urge to cough as a wisp of smoke made its way into her nose. The man below her rested his arms on his knees and stared at the barn with empty eyes, puffing out smoke every so often.
There could have been a million things going through his mind right then, but the look in his eyes was undeniably the look of a man who had just lost something – or someone – important. Red eyes flashed in the sunlight streaming through trees, watching him fiddle with his cigarette for another moment or two before he slowly brought the burning end closer to his other hand. The body above him jerked in surprise when he pushed it into his own skin, the fire burning into his hand and leaving and angry mark before fizzling out. His expression was unchanging, even though it must have hurt. Fists clenched above him and nails dug into palms to stop any kind of movement that would give away her position. She didn't know him, but she couldn't help but empathize. Losing someone was hard, and everyone had different ways of dealing with it.
He calmly flicked the ashes off of his hand and dropped the cigarette butt to the ground. His hands shook as he turned his gaze to the sky, his narrow eyes brimming with tears. His breaths became short and heaving. The eyes in the trees looked away when he lowered his head and began to quietly sob. This moment was not meant to be seen by anyone else. This man was facing his grief, and the body above him felt ashamed for intruding, whether he knew he was being shadowed or not.
A twig snapped softly to the left. The man in the vest, still deep in his own emotions, failed to notice the dead one shambling towards him. The figure in the trees sucked in a deep, shaky breath. This was it. The moment was right. The small crossbow on her arm softly clicked as it was set in place. The dead one, unusually quiet for a walking corpse, got closer and closer. Red turned to yellow. An arrow was silently slipped onto the weapon, and one eye peered through the small scope. The man was in her sights. He didn't even notice her. They never did. A little to the right…let's get this bastard right between the eyes. She took another breath and slowly exhaled, her hands clenching around the release in sync with the air leaving her lungs. With a twang, the arrow flew from her arm and embedded itself cleanly between the man's eyes, the bastard's shaggy hair flying in every direction as his head was thrown back.
The figure in the trees smiled. Bullseye.
Daryl started violently at the unmistakable twang of a crossbow. The thump of a body hitting the ground sounded to his left, and he jumped to his feet at the sight of a dead walker with a small arrow through its head. He grabbed his own weapon and stormed over to it. It was hit right between the eyes. Almost perfectly. Whoever had just shot that thing knew what they were doing. Daryl's jaw clenched. If he hadn't been acting like such a pussy, he would have seen this fucker coming, maybe even the one who just shot it.
He ripped the crossbow bolt out of the walker's skull and quickly looked around. There was somebody out there with him…and it wasn't anybody from his group. "Who's there?!" he shouted. His body tensed and he readied his crossbow. Blue eyes scanned the forest floor ahead. Nothing. As he turned to study the woods on the other side of the path, he heard a rustling in the trees above him. Daryl whirled around just in time to see a flash of white retreat through the branches.
Without thinking, Daryl raised his crossbow and fired. There was a sharp cry, almost too soft for him to hear. The arrow had found flesh. He wouldn't be able to follow a trail of footsteps, but now there would be a trail of blood. Whoever it was wouldn't be able to get away so easily.
Shit. Shit. Shit! The fleeing figure cursed in her mind. Her shoulder pulsed with pain every time she landed on another branch, but she didn't have the luxury of stopping to address the arrow sticking out of her body. The man who shot her was hot on her heels, and with the blood she was dripping all over the place, he had a trail to follow. Gotta get back to Al…goddamn it. Although it was painful, she doubled back and circled a couple times to throw her pursuer off. That would buy her enough time to find who she was looking for so they could get the hell out of there.
He was waiting for her near the spot she'd seen him last. He glanced over at her and stifled a gasp. What the hell happened to you?! his pale red eyes seemed to ask. She just shook her head and motioned for them to get moving. He paused, then nodded and gestured for her to follow him. The two of them fled through the trees, the group on the road still totally oblivious.
"Do you mind telling me what happened now?"
Al's voice broke the silence as he tended to the wound on her shoulder. The worst part had been over quickly after he had removed the arrow – now he was busy cleaning and dressing it. The two of them had been silent through it all. She glanced back at him, then fixed her eyes on the ground in front of her. "He was grieving," she said softly. "There was a dead one. He didn't hear it. So I took care of it."
He took a deep breath. "And gave away your position in the process." She nodded. "So he shot you?"
"I don't think it was entirely on purpose." Her face was carefully composed despite the pain in her shoulder. "He wasn't in the best frame of mind, and I startled him. It's not completely his fault."
"You saved him, and he shot you." He scoffed. "What a way to thank someone."
"Al." His eyes met hers. "They're good people. You know that."
He sighed. "Yeah. I know. That's why we're watching over them in the first place." He tapped her arm lightly to let her know he was done, and she turned to face him. "But we're not the only ones."
She tilted her head. "You're talking about the man who's been trailing them?"
He chuckled. "So you did notice him…of course you did. He left them water out on the road…a lot of it. I don't know if they took it." He paused. "He hasn't noticed us – none of them have, except the one who shot you. Not yet. We should hang back a bit for now, especially with your shoulder the way it is."
"I'll be fine," she said quietly.
"I know you will." He smiled and ruffled her hair. "But that man will show himself sooner or later. He didn't seem to be up to anything bad, but we should be ready for a fight in case he has buddies somewhere that are. They're weak right now. I don't think they could handle an ambush." She hummed in agreement. "And you know we won't be able to keep ourselves hidden from them forever. Once they get their strength back, their senses will be sharp again. We'll have to reveal ourselves eventually."
"I know," she murmured. "I'll be ready."
His smile softened. "Yeah. You always are." He glanced outside the windows of the car they were holed up in. "Get some rest. There's a storm coming, and you heal faster when your body doesn't have to fight to keep itself awake." She nodded slowly and carefully climbed in the back seat. "There's a good girl. Sleep tight, Del." She hummed again and closed her eyes. It didn't take long for her mind to drift into dreamland.
A crash of thunder startled her awake. She looked around wildly, heart hammering, then relaxed when she saw her partner grinning at her from the front seat.
"Good morning, sunshine. How's the shoulder?"
"Better already," she replied. It was the truth. She could feel the muscles in her should slowly but surely weaving themselves back together. She looked out the window at the torrential downpour. "You weren't kidding about that storm."
"No…" He frowned then, and went quiet.
"What is it?"
"Nothing. It's just…I have a bad feeling." She immediately grabbed her gear. "Whoa, whoa, what do you think you're doing?" he asked as she quickly put on her gauntlets and pistol belt.
"We both know what your 'feelings' mean. They're in trouble. Let's go."
"It's dark, and the weather is dangerous. Besides, we don't even know where they're holed up."
Images of the barn on the forest path flashed in her mind. "I do. And when has the dark ever deterred us?" She put her hand on the door handle. "Coming?"
He sighed. "Why do I even try…? There's no talking you out of something when you're like this." He strapped on his own weapons. "Alright, then. But don't come crying to me when you catch a cold."
She smiled, the two of them putting on their hoods. "You know me better than that." She didn't wait for his response before she slammed the door open, and the two of them ran through darkness.
His feeling was spot on, as usual. When they found the barn, it was being bombarded by a large group of dead ones, all growling and snapping as they fought to break down the doors. Rick's group was inside, that much was obvious…especially to the corpses.
Al nodded at her, and she nodded back. The two of them ran in opposite directions and quickly leaped into the trees, each of them pulling an air horn out of the small packs at their hips. The crashing thunder was loud, but the dead ones would be able to hear them. They both blasted their air horns as hard as they could.
In response, the group of corpses slowly turned from the barn and started shambling in their direction. Still blowing the horns, they jumped from tree to tree, farther away from each other, splitting the group in half. Then they cut the horns and pulled out their weapons, shooting the group and some stragglers they attracted from the safety of the trees.
By the time is was over with, and the forest was quiet again except for the raging storm, her shoulder was throbbing. She met up with her partner on the road, and they made a beeline for shelter. They threw themselves into the car, panting, hearts racing, small smiles gracing their lips. They did something good that day. Twice. She got shot and now both of them were soaked to the bone and freezing, but it had been a good day.
None of them were really sure when it happened, but the next thing they knew, the sun had slowly crept through the sky. It was morning. A few of them hadn't slept, Daryl included…but they were alive. Outside, the forest was calm and quiet. He still couldn't believe their luck. That horn (or was it two?) sounded at just the right time. The entire group had thrown their weight against those doors, but with them in the state they were, he hadn't been sure they could have held them at bay all night. He still didn't know what had caused the noise that drew them off, but he wasn't sure he really cared. Whatever it was, it saved them, and that was enough.
Rick felt differently, however. He paced the barn floor, bouncing Judith on his hip. "We need to find out what caused that noise last night." The group – minus Maggie and Sasha, who were out in the woods – turned to their leader when he spoke. "If there's anybody else in these woods, we need to know about it." The unknown archer from yesterday popped into his mind, and Daryl nodded slowly. The man had a point.
"Rain prolly washed away any trail they mighta left, but I'll see what I can find," he rasped, getting to his feet and slinging his crossbow over his shoulder. Rick nodded at him.
"Take Abraham with you."
Before either of them could head off, however, the doors to the barn slowly creaked open, and Maggie's voice floated through.
"Hey…everyone?" She slipped through, then opened the door a little wider. "This is Aaron."
The mention of a new name had everyone on their feet, weapons in hand. The stranger who trailed behind Maggie, with Sasha in the back, had a nervous air about him. Daryl immediately shoved his way past them and glanced briefly outside before shutting the doors and chaining them. "We met him outside," Maggie explained. "He's by himself. We took his weapons and we took his gear." Even so, Daryl roughly patted the stranger down to check for anything they might have missed.
The stranger had his hands held up in surrender. "…Hi," he said slowly. At the sound of his voice, Judith started wailing. Rick handed her off to Carl, eying Aaron all the while.
"It's nice to meet you." Aaron stepped forward, hand outstretched in greeting, but backed off again when the group cocked their guns.
Rick looked at Maggie. "…You said he had a weapon?" Maggie nodded, producing a small handgun from her pocket and handing it to Rick, who shoved it under the waistband of his jeans. He stared at Aaron coldly, one eyebrow raised. "There something you need?" he demanded.
Sasha answered for him. "He has a camp," she sighed. "Nearby. He wants us to audition for membership." Her voice was thick with sarcasm.
Aaron cringed. "I…wish there was another word. 'Audition' makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe." His lips quirked into a smile. "That's only on Friday nights." His attempt at humor fell horribly flat. After a few moments of tense, awkward silence, he shook his head as if to say "nevermind". "Uh…and it's not a camp. It's a community." He looked around at each of them. "I think you all would make valuable additions…but it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me home." Daryl held back a scoff. He wasn't really helping his case, was he? As Rick continued to stare at him suspiciously, he let out a short laugh. "I know. If I were you, I wouldn't come either…not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha…can you hand Rick my pack?"
And that was the start of the strange man's obsessive rant over his "shining community". Somewhere down the line, Daryl was considering knocking him out just to get him to shut up, but Rick beat him to the punch…literally. As soon as the man was unconscious on the barn floor, their leader jumped into action, and the others, including Daryl, started peering through holes in the barn to try and see if Aaron really was alone, while a couple of them worked to tie Aaron up. "Anyone see anything?" Rick asked after everyone had a moment to search.
"Just a lot of places to hide," Glenn replied.
Rick looked at Daryl. "You think this guy's the one you saw in the trees? The one who shot that walker?"
Daryl glanced down at Aaron's crumpled form and shook his head. "Nah. Don't look like he can move through the trees like they did. And he ain't no archer."
Rick nodded slowly. "So there are others out there. Or one person, at least."
"Maybe Aaron has nothing to do with them," Michonne suggested.
"Maybe he does," Rick countered. He raised his voice. "Alright, keep looking, everyone." Then he turned to Carl, who had just finished rummaging through Aaron's bag. "What'd you find?"
Carl set a few things down on an old wooden table, then handed his father a small, bright orange gun. "I've never seen a gun like that before," he mused. Daryl's eyes narrowed. That was a flare gun. Probably to signal his buddies when he had them where he wanted them.
A groan rumbled out of the man in question. He was waking up. After a few moments, his eyes fluttered open. Aaron took another moment or two to determine his situation, then he gave a low chuckle. "That's one hell of a right cross there, Rick."
"Sit him up," Rick growled. Maggie began to protest. "He's fine," Rick scoffed. "Sit him up."
"You're being cautious," Aaron began, "I completely understand th—"
"How many of your people are out there?" Rick hissed. Aaron blinked, staring dumbly up at him. The question clearly threw him off. "You have a flare gun." He practically shoved the orange gun in Aaron's face. "You have it to signal your people. How many of them are there?"
Daryl could see Aaron's jaw clench and unclench. "…Does it matter?" he said slowly.
"Yes. Yes it does."
"I mean, of course…" Aaron chuckled bitterly. "It matters how many people are actually out there, but does it matter how many people I tell you are out there?" He smiled, but it looked more like a grimace. "Because I'm pretty sure no matter what number I say – eight…thiry-two…four hundred and forty-four…zero...no matter what I say, you're not going to trust me."
Rick smirked, but there was no amusement behind it. "Well, it's hard to trust anyone who smiles after getting punched in the face."
"How about a guy who leaves bottles of water for you in the road?" Aaron snapped.
The group fell silent. Several of them glanced at the bottles still sitting on one of the tables. Aaron hadn't just found them. He'd been on their trail before today. Daryl stormed up to him. "How long you people been followin' us?!" he growled.
Aaron shrugged. "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," he said. "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."
Silence fell over them. No one really knew what to think about this stranger. Daryl could see that some of them wanted to believe him, but trust wasn't easy to earn these days. Slowly, each one of them turned to Rick. When in doubt, look to the leader.
Rick took a few steps towards Aaron. The air around him was menacing. "How. Many Others. Are. Out. There?" he ground out.
Aaron sighed. "…One," he said reluctantly.
Rick's eyes narrowed. "An archer?"
Aaron frowned. "What? An archer…? No. Nobody in our community has ever used a bow of any kind, at least not that I know of…"
Rick scoffed and shook his head. Daryl knew what he was thinking. Either he was lying, or someone other than Aaron and his group had been watching them.
"Well, well." Al chuckled in the tree next to her. "The man showed himself faster than I expected him to. He's got balls, I'll give him that."
His partner was staring at the barn with curious eyes. They were all in there right now, interrogating the stranger, and the two of them had to watch from a distance. His appearance only succeeded in putting the group on high alert. She felt a bit annoyed that she could hear what they were saying. The last thing she heard the stranger say was something about a community, somewhere safe with metal walls, food, and medicine. She touched her injured shoulder absentmindedly. It still stung, but it wasn't infected. It would heal nicely.
"You know where he's from, don't you?" her partner asked.
She nodded. "Alexandria."
He smiled. "Yeah. I thought he seemed a bit familiar. I think I saw him once or twice when I scoped out the place." He scratched his jaw. "Do you think the group will accept his offer?"
She paused. The two of them had been watching the group for a little while. She didn't know them, not personally, but she had a good grasp on the way the group thought, as a whole. "Not easily," she mumbled. "It'll take a while for Rick to start considering it, but he will consider it, if some of the others see any truth in Aaron's pitch."
"I hope so. They've been out here too long. It would do them good to be behind sturdy walls for a change."
She glanced over at him. "…And what about us?" she asked softly.
He blinked at her. "What about us?"
"If they join Alexandria, they'll be able to build lives there. You've seen it. The place is practically untouched." She twiddled her thumbs in her lap. "We won't need to watch over them from the trees anymore. And after all this, all we've been through…after all the people we've saved since this began, don't you think we deserve a home too?"
His pale red eyes widened in surprise. "Del…I didn't know you felt that way."
She bit her lip. "Because I never told you."
"So, what you're saying is…if Rick and the others go to Alexandria, you want to follow suit?"
She nodded slowly. "Yes. Al, don't tell me you've never thought about joining a group before."
"I have," he agreed, "When we came across Rick and the others. I thought about us showing ourselves and joining their family quite a few times. They probably would have welcomed us eventually." He patted her head. "But as long as you were satisfied with it just being the two of us, so was I."
She lowered her gaze. "They're good people…that much is obvious. This world has hardened them, made them suspicious of anyone who isn't their own, but they're still good. Next time we help them…I don't want it to be from the shadows."
He smiled gently. "I'd like that." He pulled her into a hug. "If that's what you want, then so shall it be." Pulling back, he nodded in the direction of the barn. "For now, we wait. They'll reach a decision soon enough, I think."
She hummed in acknowledgement. Her hands fidgeted in her lap, her legs swinging from her seat on the branch. "I'm tired of hiding, Al," she whispered, her red eyes trained on the ground. "That's all we've ever done, even before the world went to hell. I want to be in the light for once."
Al observed the woman beside him with gentle eyes. Her eyes gave no hints to how she was feeling, but he knew she was weary. The two of them had spent their whole lives in the shadows. He knew how she felt. "…Me too, Del," he mumbled. "Me too."
A/N: It's me again! How'd you like the first chapter? Drop me a review and let me know! Try not to be too harsh, though…like I said, it's been years since my fanfiction days, and I know I'm a little rusty.
A/N: And in case you were concerned, I was vague about the group's "guardian angels" on purpose. I'm trying to create an air of mystery, ya feel? But who knows, maybe in the next chapter you'll actually learn their full names! …Haha, you didn't think "Al" and "Del" were actually their names, did you? Nope, not quite~ Anyway, let me know what you thought so I know whether or not I should continue! Oh, and yes, despite the introduction of two characters, this story will only revolve around one of them.