Chpt 17: Trust Doesn't Come Easy
They've been on the road a week. Daryl has attempted to hunt, but tracks are sparce. No water, no game. The few houses they come across are picked clean, offering nothing more than temporary shelter. They won't make it much longer like this.
Daryl nudges Beth's hand. Points to the tree line on their left. She can't see what he sees, but she trusts his instincts. "We're goin' huntin'," he grouses, voice extra gravelly from disuse and lack of water. He whistles sharply from the rear and they all freeze. Even Judy seems to tense stretching her little head to see past Rick. Daryl pulls his crossbow from his back and jerks his chin toward the woods. Carol looks at Merle, but he's looking in the direction Daryl is heading.
He points to a thick canopy of trees off in the distance. Spins Carol so her back is against his chest. She looks down his arm like it's a rifle. "See how much taller that line of trees is than the rest of 'em? How green they are? That swarm of gnats is headed that way too. See 'em?"
Carol nods. Now that he has pointed it out, she can see what he's saying, but she has no idea what it means. She looks over her shoulder at Merle. Silently asks him to explain. He's smiling so it must be good.
"Water, darlin'," he half whispers as if saying it out loud might cause it to disappear. "Lil' brother found a water source. Which means we'll be eatin' and drinkin' good tonight."
Carol tries not to get too excited. Flashes Merle a hopeful little grin and looks back to the trees. She leans into him as he slips his arms around her waist.
"We may as well pop a squat in that there shade, folks," Merle announces to the group. "Make ourselves comfortable. Beth and Daryl may be gone a minute."
They move silently through the ground cover. Daryl stops. Runs his fingers over the dirt. The ground is darker… is getting softer the further they move into the trees. Beth is crouched behind him. She points past him to a big oak a few more feet in. A fat grey squirrel is chattering away at an equally chunky friend of his on a branch above. Beth is watching the two of them fuss when the bolt nails one of them in the head and sends it spiraling to the forest floor. His friend barely has time to register that something is amiss before he joins him in the bed of leaves beneath the tree. Several more squirrels start to scatter. Apparently, Beth and Daryl have interrupted a town meeting. By the time Daryl is out of bolts, they have eight squirrels on their belts. They walk a little further and Beth sees what might have once been a walking trail. She taps him on the shoulder, and he nods. Of course, he has seen it too. They head down the path until the trees thin. Daryl reaches out and slows Beth with an arm across her chest. He gently ushers her behind him. Slows his pace. Bends his knees and makes himself smaller. Beth does the same and reaches forward. Plants her hand lightly on his shoulder. They move in tandem, pulling up short when a big red barn seemingly arises out of nowhere. They duck into thick, green cover and circle the barn. It's silent and appears to be uninhabited. They decide to get the others before attempting to clear it. They are both thinking about the barn full of walkers back at the farm. They can't take out that many on their own. And should they try and fail, they could be unwittingly setting a herd on their family waiting for them less than 300 yards back.
They trek back to the road and grab the family. As a group, they return to the barn. They aren't exactly silent with that many feet on the path, but not quite loud enough to attract any unwanted company. "Daryl!" Beth whispers and grabs his arm. He sees it too. There is a case of water, still packaged in plastic, sitting in the dirt in front of the barn doors. That wasn't there before. No way he would have missed that, right?
Daryl sing songs the same whip-poor-will call Beth heard him use before to signal Merle. He and Rick move silently through the brush to Beth and Daryl. Abraham isn't far behind. Daryl points to the case of water. The three men look confused. "It wasn't there before," Beth whispers. Daryl flattens his hand and motions left, nodding to Rick and Merle. He motions right and nods at Abe. Indicates he and Beth will go with him. They are just fixing to disperse when a man stands up from behind a giant fallen log. His hands are up as if he is surrendering.
"Please don't shoot! I know you can see me. I can't see you yet, but I know you're there. I mean you no harm."
Daryl immediately starts to scan the tree tops for any sign of snipers. He is sure there are no trip wires or traps on the ground. There are seventeen of them, but not all of them are comfortable trekking through the woods. Surely one of them would have gotten themselves snagged up if there were any threats.
He turns his attention back to the man standing by the case of water. He looks clean and healthy. His clothes don't look like they could stand on their own from caked on mud and walker goo. The opposite really. He could be on his way to the mall in another lifetime.
"I've been following you," the man says. "But not in a creeper sort 'a way," he quickly adds. "I was trying to figure out what kind of people you are. You look like a family… You also look hungry… and thirsty. I don't have much food with me, but I have this case of water. It's yours if you want it…"
He is still holding his hands up, just not high and over his head like before. Nobody from the group says a word. The man seems more embarrassed than scared. Like a comedian who isn't getting the laughs rather than a man with better than 15 weapons pointed at his heart. If he's been watching them, he knows they are all armed.
"My name is Aaron by the way. You're probably wondering what I'm doing out here with a case of water. It's not a big mystery really. I'm happy to tell you everything if you'll just…"
Rick grabs him from behind. Plants his gun firmly against Aaron's temple. Spins him to face away from the family. "The rest of ya' come on out!," Rick yells at the trees in front of them. "Show yourself, and I won't hurt him!" Aaron isn't resisting, but his hands are over his head again.
"There's no one out there," he says as calmly as he can. "Well, that's not entirely true. My… Um… Eric, my friend is in the RV. It's parked about a mile on the other side of those trees. He twisted his ankle so..."
"Shut up!" Rick snaps and hears Aaron's teeth clank together when he does just that. "The rest of your people… they in the barn," Rick asks and swings Aaron back to face the barn doors.
"I honestly have no idea what's inside that barn. But, no, to answer your question. Eric is my only people, and he's in the RV… like I said… His ankle, remember?"
This guy is acting more like a neighbor than a stranger with a gun pointed at his head. Abraham and Merle step from the small group of trees across from the barn. The same trees Rick was talking to a few minutes ago.
"Either this guy is travelin' with a camouflaged platoon of Army Rangers or he really is on his own. There ain't a hair outta' place in there," Abe says and points over his shoulder.
Rick's eyes dance around their surroundings. Beth and Daryl emerge from the trees, but the rest of the family stays hidden for now. Rick and Daryl seem to come to a simultaneous decision. Daryl nods and Rick speaks up.
"Alright," he hollers. "Let's check the barn. Me and him will go in first."
One by one, the family emerges from the cover of the woods. They spread out behind Rick in rows. On a countdown from three, Merle and Abraham pull the barn doors apart. Rick tenses, expecting the worst. Aaron seems perfectly relaxed in his hold. He shakes his hands like they're pom-poms. "Told ya'. It's just me and Eric, but he's…"
"back at the RV," Rick repeats. "You said that."
Aaron shrugs just to rub it in. Merle and Abraham bang on the walls, and they all wait for the inevitable groan, but it doesn't come. Rick edges to the threshold, Aaron still in his grip.
"There's a flashlight in my backpack," Aaron offers. "You're welcome to it."
Rick lets go of Aaron and shoves him roughly to the ground. He taps the back of Aaron's head with the barrel of his gun and yanks the backpack to the ground. "Daryl! He says there's a flashlight in there."
Daryl lowers his bow and edges forward toward the bag with Beth in tow. He picks it up, hands it to Beth and aims his bow once again at the darkness inside the barn. Beth finds the flashlight and passes it to Rick. She continues to rummage through the bag and finds a few granola bars, a pack of gum, two individual cups of apple sauce, a handgun, a roadmap of Virginia, and a lightweight thermos. She pulls the strap over her shoulder and she and Daryl step away. Rick and Aaron edge toward the darkness. Rick tosses the flashlight to Abe and the three men breach the barn. Abraham makes a quick sweep with the light. Seeing no immediate threats, he makes a slower more thorough inspection. It's clean.
The family trickles into the barn. It's a hay barn, tall and open. Glenn picks up the case of water and sets it down in the dirt in front of him. Rick forces Aaron back to his knees and sits down cross legged to face him. The family ends up in a circle around Aaron. The sound of rattling plastic breaks the tense silence. Glenn opens one of the water bottles. Goes to take a drink when Abe's big mitt smacks it out of his hand.
"You crazy? No tellin' what's in that water."
"It's just water," Aaron says. "Packaged before the turn."
Sixteen pair of eyes are bouncing back and forth between Aaron and each other. Aaron looks amused. "Here," he offers. "Toss any bottle. You pick. I'll drink the whole thing."
Glenn studies the case of water like one of the bottles contains the cure. He pulls one from the center of the package and looks at Aaron. Aaron smiles back and holds his hands open to catch it. "Nope," Abe's baritone sings. "Not that one, muchacho. One of these," he says and points to the middle bottles on the outside rolls.
Glenn looks at Abe curiously. "Why those?"
"Didn't you ever see one of them apocalypse movies? People get all stingy and selfish. Grab the first thing they can get their hands on, ever'body else be damned. Those two bottles are the easiest to get to. Toss 'im that other one."
Glenn shakes his head at Abe's nonsense and carries the bottle to Aaron. Arron thanks him politely and twists the cap. He gulps the water down, pausing only to take a breath or two. "Guess I was more thirsty than I thought," he says and swipes at his chin. "See, all good. There's nothing in those bottles but…" Suddenly, Aaron's eyes go wide, and he grabs his throat like he is choking. He sticks his tongue out and flops his head to the side dramatically. Everyone tenses, but nobody says a word. Aaron's shoulders start to shake, and he sits back up casually. "Just kidding, folks. I'm fine. And the water is delicious."
"What the hell, man!" Abe yells.
Then Merle burst out laughing. It's a loud, barking laugh that causes everyone to jump. "You're either the dumbest sum'bitch on the planet or damn near the smartest. I ain't decided yet, but I do think I like ya'. Toss me one 'a them bottles there Short Round. Ol' Merle's damn thirsty." Carol pops him on the bicep and shoots him a look. Merle clears his throat and looks at Glenn in all seriousness. "I mean, toss me one 'a them bottles there, brother Glenn… please."
Glenn tosses it a little harder than necessary, but it's on target and Merle snags the bottle without comment. Chugs the whole thing in one long gulp. Everyone watches to see if Merle is gonna' fall over dead. Nope, no such luck, Glenn thinks and starts pulling bottles from the package and passing them around.
"I found two cups of Mott's applesauce in his backpack. You think it's alright to give 'em ta' Judith," Beth asks Rick. Rick eyes Aaron. There is something in the man's gentle smile that pushes Rick to trust him. He nods and Beth walks the cups over to Michonne. Sits cross-legged next to her and Judy and opens the applesauce. Judy gets one taste and her little arms start flapping for more. For the first time in a week, everyone smiles. Even Eugene.
Aaron clears his throat. "I'm a recruiter for my community. I look for good people. People with character and invite them back to Alexandria. Alexandria is a self-sustaining neighborhood of sorts. We have running water, solar power, provisions. It's completely surrounded by protective walls. We've been thriving since the turn, but we haven't found many people in the last year. My job is to convince you to come home with me. To introduce you to the community. I don't decide who stays, but from what I've seen, I think you all could be valuable members."
"Who decides?"
"Deanna is in charge. She will meet with each of you individually. Discuss things with a community board of leaders and make decisions from there."
"We're a package deal," Rick says. "All or nothin'"
"Yeah, I figured as much. It's one of the reasons I'm offering for you to come with me."
The council talks it over then Rick calls the rest of the family together. Can't be any harm in checking the place out they decide. Since the beginning, things have never felt this desperate. They need a community. They need walls. They need food and water. Everyone agrees it's worth a shot. They tell Aaron they will go with him. Aaron smiles and claps his hands together. Says he's so happy they're gonna' give it a shot. And oddly enough, Daryl doesn't hate the idea. There are no warning bells signaling retreat. He's either too tired and too hungry to notice or maybe, just maybe, they'll finally land on their feet again. At least for a little while.
A/N: So this chapter was almost (or maybe entirely) boring to me, but for the life of me, I couldn't figure out how to spruse it up. I think we have two chapters left. I will get those done ASAP! Thanks for reading!