A/N: Now seven and thirteen!? Woo! I'm sorry I didn't update sooner, motherhood, wifehood, and family can sure take it's toll. I've been so exhausted the past few days, but my son is quiet at the moment (thank you, Masha and the Bear) so I figured I'd give a little filler for the next chapter or two. Thought I think next chapter will be from Daryl's pov some, I'm sure looking forward to writing his reaction to the endless amount of notebooks Aubri wrote to him. Anyways, enjoy!
Rick walked down the road, hearing the gate close behind him as he hoisted the backpack higher on his shoulders. His eyes scanned the wood line but Aubri was nowhere to be seen, not until the car to his left started up and made him jump. He quickly got in and the two headed away from Alexandria. Rick could tell she was upset, he noticed her distant expression and the way she chewed her lips as she drove, "Daryl, he's quite a guy- how did you know him?" Aubri stole a glance at Rick as she shifted in her seat and cleared her throat, "I was in the fifth grade, quiet, bullied a bit too. My mom had died of cancer and my dad wasn't handling it too well, Daryl was the only person to not give me fake condolences, he just told me I'd be fine and I seemed tough. After that, we were always together, we didn't even have to speak to know what the other was thinking. When I was sixteen my dad accepted a job here in the state...so, we left." If Rick was hiding the surprise on his face at her story, he didn't fool her as she laughed, "I went to see him literally right after I got my diploma, found his house burned to the ground...instead of college I spent the money on private investigators and drowned myself in debt. If you ever lose him just know he's not easy to find."
She found Rick staring at her curiously, making her grow quiet as she drove down the road. He didn't ask anymore questions about Daryl, but sure asked about her group. In turn, she asked about his; their losses, their victories, Aubri quickly realized there was a mutual respect between the two already. "When you said my group looked to me as a leader you threw me for a loop. I knew they looked to me for directions but I never realized there was more. It's funny because Dominic is huge, of course he's nothing but a teddy bear. Jasin is only three years younger, and Tallie, well she could be my little sister." Rick gestured to the truck, "Who got this runnin'?" Aubri waved her hand, "-see? You're obviously resourceful, seem to know what you're doin'." The smile fell from her lips as she thought about Lennard, he'd been the only Alexandrian to want to learn. Of course she failed miserably at teaching him, his fear and lack of understanding got him killed. She let out a sigh and was thankful to come up on a small group of walkers, she never liked talking about the people she's lost.
"Stay in here, please." She said as she climbed out of the truck, grabbing a large machete and darting over to the dead. Not ten feet away from the truck Rick watched as she slashed the dead with tears falling down her eyes. Maybe he shouldn't have said anything to Daryl? What would have happened if they'd just run into each other without warning? He knew all to well how Daryl could be and silently told himself he had done the right thing. As the last walker fell Aubri stood over the rotting corpse and breathed heavily, resting her hands on her knees as she tried to compose herself.
"You sure know what you're doin' when it comes to them." Rick nodded to the walkers she took down, for such a small thing she took down nearly a dozen effortlessly, "It's not the dead I fear, they're easy to understand; they crave fresh meat...now the living terrify me. You never truly know what a person is capable of." He nodded and the two set off down the road, he could feel her beginning to relax, "How many walkers ya kill?" Aubri glanced at him a few times and shrugged, "Enough, I suppose." He turned his full attention to her, waiting to see her reaction, "How many people you kill?" Rick was right, she all but sank back into the seat and leaned on the door, "Two." Aubri could see him twitch, reaching for the revolver on his hip, "Why?" She bit her lip as they turned down a side road, "One was already bit when we found him...the other was an Alexandrian; we got overrun on a run once...I- we couldn't get to him in time."
Aubri pulled up to a small cul-de-sac and the two got out to scavenge for supplies. She'd be lying if she said she didn't find some sort of calmin Rick's presence. It cleared her mind so she could really think about the situation.
Had Daryl coming here ruined her? Time's passed, people change; would this wreck the only comfort she had left in the new world?