Sorry for the wait! It's finally spring break for me and I was able to get some writing done. Thanks for the reviews for last chapter!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.

Diary of the Dead Days

Part 2: Hershel's Farm

Chapter Fourteen
Aaron Ryder

I'm sure ten years could drastically change a person, though I doubt the person Aaron was would ever change. My father, Greg, was the polar opposite of his brother. My father was hardworking, honest, and never been in trouble his whole life. My Uncle John, was another story. He was a good for nothing, hateful man who only knew how to drink and give people a hard time. Thinking about it, he somewhat reminded me of Merle. Even though he didn't deserve it, my father tried helping him out as much as he could since it was his brother. Aaron was born around the same time as me, and my mother would often take care of us both.

My uncle and his wife were in no condition to take care of themselves, let alone an infant. When Aaron was around five, his father got locked up, and when he got out of prison he swore up and down he had changed. My father believed him for a while, in which it was true because my uncle was able to take care of Aaron and from time to time we would see them at church. However, it didn't last long as my uncle took up drinking once more. He was a violent drunk, often beating his wife even when he was sober. This fact eluded my dad for the longest time, John's wife would always make up a story about how she fell down the stairs and got bruised.

Eventually, Aaron's dad was sent to jail once more due to aggravated assault and my family was stuck watching Aaron once more. I barely remember the times we played together before, but I always recalled it being fun. However, this time around, Aaron had changed drastically. I was eight at the time, but my memories of Aaron were quite vivid. The drunk, hateful side of his father was the only thing he knew. And since he didn't know any better, he acted the same way.

I was the victim of his anger, my parents were clueless about it as well. Every time I would play with Aaron, he would end up hitting or kicking me. I tried to fight back, slapping him until he would stop but he would just hit harder. Once he was finished beating me, he would shove me to the ground and walk away.

"I'm telling my mom!" I cried once after we got in a fight.

"I'll kill you if you tell anyone." Even though I was young, I knew exactly how my aunt felt. Even though this was wrong and it would probably be better if I told somebody what was happening, the malice behind those words had sent chills down my spine. Even if Aaron's threats were empty, I couldn't bring myself to tell on him.

I eventually got use to Aaron's abusive behavior, and the times his mother did take care him, I was so relieved. But he would always come back because she didn't have the money to keep him up. The worst part was when Aaron was too afraid to sleep in the guest room by himself, my parents allowed him to take my bed and made me sleep on the floor. I realized now he didn't sleep often because his father would get drunk at night and beat him senseless. Aaron would stay awake, glaring at me in the dark. I started to lose sleep because of his burning gaze brought me an unshakable fear. His physical abuse wasn't constant, most of the time he would pretend he was about to hit me just to see how I would react.

I started to get smarter though, every time he would come near me I would go to my mom or dad and hang around them until he finally gave up on his pursuit. I regretted pulling that however, because then I wasn't his only target.

A cat we use to have back on the farm had kittens. I just so happened to be in the backyard and I noticed him carrying a bucket of water towards where the kittens were, I followed him. He grabbed one of them by their necks and shoved it under the water. He was drowning it. This sent me over the edge, I rather him beat me than kill those innocent lives. He hadn't noticed me watching, I had screeched in anger and pulled the cat away from him. I didn't give him any time to react before I started punching him, hitting him so hard until my knuckles were hurting. I mostly aimed for his face, showing no mercy.

"Lily!" I had heard my father scream from the distance.

He only seen me terrorizing Aaron, not the fact I rescued the kittens from his demented abuse. I tried explaining my story, but my father wouldn't believe it and Aaron was crying the entire time. I got in trouble, forced to stay in my room for the next month. Those kittens ended up disappearing. My parents couldn't figure out what happened to them.

Aaron kept coming back to my house on and off for the next few years until the time I was around twelve. As he grew older, he was hitting me less and less. Every time he stayed the night in my room, he would tell me stories as I tried to sleep. Stories how his dad beat his mother, how he enjoyed hurting animals since they couldn't fight back, and how he was going to kill me one day. His stories were vivid and disturbing, leaving me with sleepless nights and nightmares when I actually could sleep.

By the time my mother was pregnant with Rose, Aaron and his father were long gone. My uncle's wife ended up disappearing and it wasn't found out until years later that she was murdered. My uncle was the prime suspect, but authorities were never able to find him. I wasn't sure what happened to Aaron, but ever since then I forced myself to forget those times.

And yet, he found me once again …

By the time we reached our camp back at the farm, it was late in the afternoon and Rick and Glenn hadn't returned. The others were lost for words when they saw us return with Rose and Sophia, but Ripley was happy to see the children again. The dog raced up to them, laid down on his side and wagged his tail joyfully in the dirt as they rubbed his belly. Everyone gathered around, their attention mostly drawn to the girls that they didn't noticed a new addition to our group at first. Aaron lingered silently behind us.

"I'm glad you two are safe." Dale hugged both of the girls, however, he gazed uncertainly towards the stranger.

T-Dog greeted us as well, though he was more blunt than Dale, "Who is he?"

"He's Aaron, Lily's cousin." Andrea explained.

Of course, Aaron's arrival wasn't fully accepted, but the others didn't really bother questioning it. Though we all agreed on waiting for Rick's final answer, since he was dubbed our leader. Shane didn't think it was necessary to wait for Rick's answer, but since Aaron was my blood, Shane didn't mention kicking him out. Though Shane told him if he tried anything stupid, he doesn't get another chance. Patricia further examined the girls, double checking whether they were injured or not. After that, the Greene family allowed them to use the showers and told them to take as long as they wanted. Aaron also took a shower after Rose and Sophia.

Rose had been extremely tired. Once she got out of the shower, we both sat in the back of the van and she rest her head on my lap. After about five minutes, she was out like a light. Carol also cuddle up with her daughter in the RV, both napping while we all awaited Rick's return with Hershel. I hope they would return soon because Beth's condition was getting worse and Lori was starting to panic. I decided to spend some time writing in my diary while Rose slept soundly.

Even after Aaron disappeared with his father ten years ago, I could never bring myself to tell my parents what really happened. Whether they would believe me or not wasn't what I was worried about, I was worried Aaron would keep his promise. That he would kill me if I said anything. It was silly of me to actually believe it, but I just wanted to forget that it ever happened. That he never existed. I forced myself to never talk about it and it eventually became a distant, horrible memory.

I wrote about those days when Aaron would stay at house, wishing I had told my parents, and now how I was scared of him being here. Though if I were to tell Shane about my fears of Aaron being here, he'd probably kick him out of our group in a heartbeat. But, what if he really changed for the better? What if he was no longer that abused kid that lashed out on weaker victims?

"Lily." The sound of my own name caused me to jump, nearly throwing my diary out of my hands. I quickly hid it underneath my legs. I looked up and saw Aaron leaning his arms on the middle seat, looming over Rose and me. I felt uncomfortable because he was blocking my only exit out of the van.

"Hey." I attempted to smile. I glanced at Rose's sleeping form, thankfully my jerking didn't wake her up.

"I had no idea that I rescued my own blood." He said, "I forgot Aunt Liz was pregnant back then."

"Yeah." I muttered, not being able to meet his gaze.

"I see you still like animals." I jerked my attention towards his face, my eyes wide from his comment. The smile on his face sent chills down my spine. I immediately looked around for Ripley, I last remember seeing him sleeping peacefully on the front porch of the house.

"The others took him inside for dinner." Aaron reassured me, noticing my panicked reaction. The smile still lingered on his face and his eyes lowered to Rose.

"Hey! Dinner's ready." I felt relief wash over me as I heard Daryl's voice from the distance, "C'mon!"

Aaron slipped away and headed towards the farm house. Since both Rose and Sophia were so tired, I carried my little sister's sleeping form into the RV and laid her beside Sophia. Carol was already awake from her nap, smiling at me as I tucked both of the girls in. "If only Rick, Glenn, and Hershel were back, everyone would be home." I was still worried that the others hadn't returned yet, it was already dusk but even if they were to come back, Hershel surely kick us off his farm.

Dinner was even more tense than it was last time we all ate together. Maggie's mind was mainly focused on her sister's poor health, but she was still obviously furious about what had happened. Patricia was silent when she served the food and Jimmy didn't bother to look any of us in the eye. Andrea explained the details to Aaron about what happened at the barn, but he didn't to seem to have an opinion on the matter. He didn't speak directly to the Greene's, only politely thanking Patricia for the food. Ripley was eating his dog food in the kitchen.

"I can't thank you enough for saving my little girl." Carol was eternally grateful towards my cousin. He kept awkwardly shrugging away her thanks, saying anyone would have done the same.

Carl sat beside me at the dinner table, also thanking Aaron for saving his friends. I was the only one who hadn't properly thanked him yet, I couldn't bring myself to utter such words to him. It was hard ignoring Carol's expecting gazes at me, waiting for me to thank him like everyone else.

After everyone was finished with dinner, I stayed behind to help both Carol and Lori with dishes. Carl wanted to bring Ripley outside to play, but I insisted that Ripley stayed inside. I wanted to keep a close eye on my dog.

"Why haven't you thanked Aaron yet?" Carol asked me as she handed me a dish to dry.

"I'll do it later." I said, hoping to she would leave at that. Carol shrugged as she continued scrubbing the plates.

"Rick should already be here by now." Lori kept looking anxiously out the window. I handed her the dried plate for her to put up, but she just set it on the counter as she kept watching the outside. Her slacking irked me, but I didn't say anything.

"I'm sure he's fine." Carol smiled.

"I'm going to go tell Daryl to look for them." Her voice was full of panic, but as she turned her heel I couldn't keep my mouth shut.

"Stop," My voice came out in a hiss, "Stop bothering other people with your problems. Rick can handle himself and so can Glenn, they are fine. Daryl shouldn't be out searching anyway, not too long ago he nearly died and was badly injured. So the best thing you can do is just do your chores and wait for your husband. If they aren't back by tonight, we will all go looking for them in the morning."

I don't know why I was seething with so much anger, I was so irritated that my body was nearly shaking. Lori stared back at me, completely dumbfounded by my sudden out burst. I was expecting her to lash back at me with more hateful words, but she only sighed and walked back towards the counter and grabbed the plates.

"You're right." She mumbled, placing the plates and silverware were they belonged.

I turned towards Carol, she was shocked but gave me a nod of approval as well as another dinner plate to dry.

I slept with one eye opened last night. Rose and Sophia managed to wake up and eat the dinner we saved for them and after their bellies were full, they went right back to sleep. I carried my little sister in my arms and made sure she was cozy in the back seat of the van. Ripley laid on the floorboard while I sat in the driver's seat wrapped in a blanket with one of my books. The alluring fantasy tales of adventure with a dash of romance couldn't keep me distracted. Carol offered Aaron her tent while she slept in the RV with Sophia. I found it suspicious that Aaron had no supplies with him other than a butcher's knife, but he might had a camp he abandoned. I locked my doors and watched the tent he was sleeping in closely, making sure he didn't sneak out.

The next morning I was tired from the lack of sleep, but both of the girls were fully rested and almost back to their old selves. Rose and Sophia were sharing stories with Carl while they sat around the fire pit and rubbed Ripley's belly. Since the laundry was done, I sat on one of the lawn chairs with the book I had last night in my lap.

"They're not back yet." I heard Lori's panicked voice.

"Don't worry, we'll look for him." Andrea reassured her. Andrea along with Shane and Daryl were preparing the truck for their search party. Rick and Glenn hadn't returned with Hershel last night, and now I was starting to get more worried as well.

However, just as they were about to jump in the truck to leave, Hershel's car is seen in the distance driving down the long, dirt road. I felt a flutter of relief. I didn't want Andrea, Shane, or Daryl leaving camp because I didn't feel safe with them gone and Aaron here. I followed the others towards the car, awaiting to greet them and to hear about what had happened, but then I noticed an unfamiliar face in the back seat. The person was tied up and blindfolded.

"Who the hell is this?" I heard the anger in Shane's voice, he was trying his best to keep himself calm.

"We couldn't just leave him behind." Rick explained. Hershel pulled the stranger out of the car, and that's when I noticed the bloodied hole in his lower thigh. I grimaced at the gruesome wound.

"What are we going to do with him?" Andrea inquired, her eyes full of worry. This was a risky move, even though he is injured there is a chance this stranger may still be a threat to us.

"After he heals, we can drive him away from the farm and let him go." His plan seemed simple, but as they explained more of what happened while they were looking for Hershel, it seems he was apart of an even bigger group than ours. A group that could easily over power us.

As Hershel led the blindfolded boy towards the house, Rick noticed a new person in our ranks. His attention turned towards Aaron, and Glenn was also curious about this new stranger, but he appeared more uneasy than Rick. It took Aaron a moment to realized that Rick was giving him a questioning stare, he smiled and introduced himself.

"My name's Aaron Ryder, I found Rose and Sophia wandering around in the woods and brought up to the highway were I meet your group and my cousin." He held out his hand, in which Rick nodded and shook his hand.

"I know what it feels like to find family. When everything seemed to go to shit, I somehow found my wife and son." Rick smiled, his mind probably going back to the time in Atlanta when he stepped out of the truck and saw his family with a group of survivors. Though I doubt Aaron felt the same way when he saw me.

"Yes, I'm glad I could find someone in my family." Aaron said.

That was it, Aaron was fully inducted into our group. I was hoping for some reason Rick wouldn't want him to join us, but since he even brought another stranger that was shooting at him home, I doubt he was going to refuse Aaron who has done nothing to anyone. Maybe he has changed? I had no proof he was a danger to our group and everything else he had done was in the past.

But this uneasy feeling I had refused to go away.

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