It was an awkward walk back to the warehouse. Aaron had tried gently pressing them for information on the rest of their group and where they were from, but neither Beth nor Daryl wanted to give much away until their family met this stranger and found out more about him.

Daryl still had his crossbow trained on him when they approached the rear door. It swung open, and Glenn held his rifle up cautiously, seeing the stranger with them, looking at Daryl for an explanation.

"Came across him in the woods. Says he's from some safe zone. Thought Rick and you guys better meet him."

Glenn nodded and stepped back warily, letting them inside and keeping his weapon trained on the stranger until they made their way up to the front of the warehouse where the rest were.

Everyone jumped to their feet when they saw the unfamiliar face, scrambling for weapons that hadn't been picked up in days.

The newcomer opened his mouth to start speaking, but Daryl cut him off to address Rick. "He approached us while we was out there. Says he's recruitin' people to live in some walled community in Alexandria."

Rick's gaze turned cold as he took in the stranger. "Is that so? What did he have for weapons?"

"Just a knife and this little thing." Daryl held up the small gun he'd tucked into his waistband.

Against his better judgement, Aaron's gaze had been drawn to the seemingly endless supply of food before him while the two men discussed him.

Rick saw where he was looking and snapped his fingers at the man to get his attention. "Don't look at that. Look at me."

Aaron swallowed nervously, meeting the gaze of the man that must be their leader. "Sorry, it's just…that would feed a lot of people."

Rick's hands went to his hips and he nodded seriously. "Yeah. It will." He narrowed his eyes at the stranger before him and asked," How many people you have with you out there?"

Aaron paused before answering, his eyes darting over the bearded man's face and piercing eyes. He gave off a dangerous vibe, but looking around at the rest of the group, seeing the baby being held carefully by a woman with dreadlocks, and a cat purring in another's arms, it all seemed to contradict any initial worries he had about this group, but he still wasn't a hundred percent sure. "I'm alone here, but I have a partner a couple miles away who I'm supposed to check in with on the walkie-talkie soon."

Rick chewed on the inside of his cheek, searching the man's face for any trace of a lie and finally nodded. "Alright, so check in with him and tell him to meet you here."

Aaron froze momentarily, asking," Why?"

Rick shrugged a shoulder. " 'Cause, I wanna meet him."

Beth dug in his knapsack for the walkie-talkie and Aaron eyed it, hesitating.

Rick pulled his python out of its holster impatiently, and his hand twitched as he held the weapon down by his leg. "Call your friend. Tell them you found some food and need help carryin' it."

He lifted the gun and gestured at Aaron with it to emphasize how serious he was. "You breathe a word about any of us bein' here and it'll be the last thing you do."

Aaron nodded and was accompanied outside by Daryl and Glenn to get good enough reception, leaving the rest of the group alone to look over the pictures Aaron had brought and discuss the likelihood of the community actually existing.

Everyone seemed interested in at least learning more about the place, but Michonne saw Rick's expression held nothing but cynicism.

She sighed and pulled Judith up higher on her hip, speaking to him calmly when he came to stand beside her. "Look, considering everything we've been through, we were lucky to even find this place. But, Rick, look around. It's a big box filled with food." She looked down at Judith as the little girl tugged on her hair. "She deserves more than we can offer her here. At least give this place a chance before you dismiss it entirely."

Rick sighed and looked down at his daughter, running his hand over the back of her head to smooth out some curls. He met Michonne's gaze and nodded. "I'll try."

"That's all I'm asking." She watched him reach for the photograph of the steel walls again and examine it more closely.

Daryl and Aaron came back a few minutes later, with Glenn keeping watch at the door for signs of their next guest.

Rick pulled a chair out into the middle of the floor and pointed at it. "Tell us your name."

"I'm Aaron," he held his hand out toward Rick but it was ignored.

Rick planted himself off to the side and folded his arms. "This is how it's gonna go. You tell us everythin' about this place, the good and the bad, and if anyone has a question about somethin', you'll be expected to answer truthfully."

Aaron nodded and sat down, beginning a detailed description of how the community started and how many people lived there. He answered questions patiently, and the longer he spoke, the more interest he could see growing within the group.

Glenn finally whistled, indicating the man's recruiting partner was approaching, and Rick and Daryl accompanied Aaron back to the fire exit, standing on either side of the door, out of sight.

Rick's gun was trained on Aaron as the man looked through the peephole. He cocked the hammer on his Colt and aimed it at him, saying," You try to run…"

Aaron sighed and looked at Rick. "I know. It'll be the last thing I do. I understand."

Rick cocked an eyebrow at him while Aaron pushed the door open and smiled at whoever was on the other side. "Hey. Any trouble?"

A man with red, tousled hair stepped in, breathless, saying, "Nope. It's been a quiet day." He stopped short when he saw Rick and Daryl, though, and turned to Aaron with fear in his eyes.

"It's okay." Aaron put his hand on the man's arm to reassure him. "They seem like good people, they're just being cautious and I don't blame them. They wanted to meet you. I'm still filling them in about home."

All four of them returned to the group, and Aaron put his hand on the newcomer's shoulder. "Everyone, I'd like you to meet my husband, Eric."

Most everyone gave at least a nod or a half-smile in greeting, but Beth was standing next to Eric, so she held her hand out and smiled, offering, "Hi. I'm Beth."

"It's so nice to meet you!" He broke into a wide grin and pumped her hand with such enthusiasm that she couldn't help but giggle.

Beth couldn't see why things needed to continue in Rick's style of interrogation so she started introducing each member of the group. Tyreese was the first to step forward and shake both Aaron and Eric's hands, and after that the atmosphere seemed to relax a bit.

Once each member of the group gave their name, Eric turned to his husband with a huge smile, shaking his head. "We've never come across a group this big before. I'm going to need to bring nametags to remember everyone!"

Rick was the one to bring his group back to reality. He'd been hanging back from socializing with their guests, and now he held his hands up.

The whole group went quiet when he spoke. "Alright now, this isn't a decision to be taken lightly. You all know what we've been through; what trusting strangers has cost us before." There wasn't a face that didn't fall as they all thought back on their losses.

"This is something we need to discuss carefully, and vote on as a group." Rick looked at each member of his family. After everything, he considered them all his blood, and didn't want anyone making rash decisions over something this big.

Aaron and Eric were ushered into one of the offices and the door was closed behind them so everyone could talk freely.

Rick didn't say much. He just listened to the others opinions, but everyone seemed to sense that he had the most doubts.

Maggie was still looking over the photo of the children playing, and glanced up when there was a momentary pause in the discussion. "I know it's too easy to get your hopes up out here. Just about anything seems better than livin' day by day the way we've been, but this place seems like it could be good for us."

She glanced down at the picture in her hands again and then at Glenn, and something unspoken passed between them. She went on, "If we don't like it, we don't have to stay, right? But I think we need to take this chance."

Glenn rubbed her back and nodded at her, and she drew in a shaky breath, looking around at the group again. "And where they have a doctor, Glenn and I feel this is a chance that we need to take, because I'm pregnant."

There was a general intake of breath from the rest of the group, followed by laughter and congratulations. Beth jogged over and threw her arms around her sister excitedly. "I'm so happy for you!"

Maggie held her tight, tears forming in her eyes when she pulled back and laughed. "I'm sorry. I was gonna tell you, but this whole situation was kind of sprung on us and we had to kind of let the cat out of the bag a little early."

Beth grinned and wiped the tears from her sister's cheeks, shaking her head. "Don't be silly. All that matters is that you're doing okay. Do you know how far along you are?"

"Almost three months, I think. I'm actually feeling pretty good. Just a little nausea that comes and goes."

Beth gave Maggie's hand a squeeze and returned to her place next to Daryl so the others could wish the couple well, too. She noticed Rick had gone over to shake Glenn's hand and give Maggie a hug, and when he walked back to his spot he seemed to accept that the group needed this.

One final vote was done. Each person, in turn, voted yes, ending with Rick. He cocked his head in agreement. "It's settled then. Maybe this place will be the answer to our prayers, but until we know that for sure, everybody keeps their eyes and ears open for any signs that say otherwise."

Each person nodded solemnly, and Daryl walked over to the office door to get Aaron and Eric.

The two men came out and looked at the group expectantly, cringing slightly under the withering stare that Rick aimed at them. The former sheriff regarded them stiffly, then walked forward and finally held his hand out for Aaron to shake, saying, "So, how do we do this?"

Aaron let out the breath he'd been holding in and shook Rick's hand with relief. "The safe zone is just over a two hour drive away." He glanced at Eric. "We both have vehicles parked not far from here on 20, the old highway, but I don't think they'd be enough for everyone. Do you have a car or anything?"

Daryl spoke up. "There's a school bus we drove here on the other side of the warehouse."

"Good. Good." Aaron couldn't help but turn and look at the pallets of food next to them. "And, I have to ask. Is all of this…staying here?"

Rick's gaze moved over to Daryl, who nodded his head once. He rested his hand on his Python out of habit, and said, "There's a truck parked back by the receiving door. If we can get it running we'll load it up….as a gesture of good will on our part." He glanced over at Maggie. "Maybe some baby stuff, too," and she nodded gratefully.

Daryl touched Beth's arm and started walking back to where the bus was parked. "We'll go have a look. See if there's any walkers on that side of the buildin'."

"Alright." Rick looked to the other members of their group. "Everyone take a lantern and start taggin' the best pallets, supply-wise, to take with us. I don't know how many the truck holds but it's gotta be at least fifteen or twenty. Look for diapers and formula, too…the works. We don't know how long it'll be before we get back here."

Beth and Daryl jogged back toward the large doors while the rest got to work. There was a sliver of light under each door, but it wasn't really big enough to see out of. Daryl grabbed the chain that Rick had used to drop it when they'd arrived, but changed his mind. "Don't wanna lift this up until we have to. Makes an awful racket."

Beth looked over to the far corner, remembering the single door they'd tried when they first got there. There was a tiny beam of daylight coming out from the upper half of it, and she started walking toward it. "There's a peephole over there. I'll go take a look."

She ran up to the door and placed her palms against it, lining her eye up to see out. "There's maybe 30 walkers moving around the parking lot, mostly away from the building though." Beth looked to the left, seeing the long truck, but it blocked her view of the bus. "The truck is in the way, so I can't tell if there's any walkers inside the bus, but I don't see any legs around it."

"Okay." Daryl pulled up the back door of the truck, wincing as the metal made a clanking noise. Thankfully, the inside was empty except for two stacks of empty wooden pallets. "We'll load all the stuff on here and hope there's gas in this thing. I can hotwire it no problem, but we're gonna need a hell of a distraction to get the walkers away from here so I can get out and try the engine."

Beth nodded. "I think we can manage that."

Rick would be driving the bus, so he and Daryl were leaned over a map with Aaron, deciding on the best route to get to where their cars were parked. The others had only found two jacks that weren't electric, so they were busy hauling each pallet back and loading them on the truck. The walkers that were nearby must have sensed the movement inside the trailer as they started gathering around outside it.

After nearly an hour, everything was ready.

Glenn shoved two flares he'd found inside his belt and walked into the office in the farthest corner of the building where Tyreese was waiting with a fire extinguisher. Aaron stayed in the room with them, clutching his walkie-talkie anxiously, and everyone else headed to the receiving doors to wait.

Beth positioned herself at the door's peephole again and called over to Eric, "Alright, tell them to start."

Eric nodded and spoke into his radio, "Okay, honey. I mean…Aaron. We're ready."

Tyreese heard the message come through and lifted the fire extinguisher up, smashing both windows in the office. He and Glenn pulled chairs underneath each one, stepping up so they could be seen by the walkers, and started yelling and banging pots together that they'd found in the employee lounge.

The crowd of undead started surging toward them, gathering underneath the windows and reaching up with their rotting hands, and the smell of decaying flesh quickly became overwhelming, both men having to pull their t-shirts up over their noses to stand it.

Every walker on that side of the building was headed in their direction, and a few even rounded the corner from the receiving side.

Eric's voice came through the radio again. "Beth said to keep going, they're starting to clear out from around the truck." Aaron had to relay the message through several shouts in order for Glenn and Tyreese to hear it.

Several minutes later Beth couldn't see any sign of walkers left on their side, so she looked over at Daryl, who stood by the receiving door waiting for her signal, and nodded at him. She jogged over as he pulled the chain to raise the door, grabbing Eric's walkie momentarily and speaking into it. "Don't let up, guys, we're going out now to see if we can get the truck started."

Daryl had paused from jumping down into the bus to glare at Beth. "Ain't no 'we'. I'm goin' out alone."

"I wasn't askin' your permission, Daryl." Beth spun her finger in the air and gestured outside. "Come on, time's a tickin'. Age before beauty."

Someone in the back coughed with supressed laughter, despite the tension in the air, and Daryl rolled his eyes, well aware it would do no good to argue with her. He climbed down into the bus and muttered under his breath. "Beauty was a horse, y'know."

"Yeah, yeah. I heard that." Beth swung down after him and landed on the floor of the bus, about to take a step forward but a boney hand grabbed onto her left ankle. She gasped and grabbed on to the seats in front of her, twisting around to see a walker standing outside the back of the bus.

One had lingered there, despite all the noise Glenn and Tyreese were making, and it had reached in through the open emergency exit and latched onto her. The ends of several of its fingers had been snapped off, exposing glistening pointed bone and Beth could see they were starting to cut through her boot. She yanked her leg away, but it still wasn't enough to release its grip on her.

The bone dug deeper into the leather and Beth started to panic, and then realized what an idiot she was being. Someone on the loading dock was making an attempt to stab the walker in the head, and they couldn't quite reach, but she beat them to it. She lifted her right leg and spun around on her left foot, swinging her other boot back and drop kicked the walker's head against the warehouse, watching it sink down out of sight.

Beth turned to run after Daryl but he was standing in front of her with a worried expression, knife in hand. "You okay?"

"Yeah. I got it." She nodded, breathless. "Let's get to the truck."

There were no other walkers to be seen around the two vehicles, and Daryl climbed up to try the driver's door. It was unlocked, and he climbed in, reaching over to unlock the passenger side for Beth.

While he pried off a panel under the ignition with his hunting knife, Beth sat across from him and kept watch for any walkers coming back around. She could hear the chorus of moans coming from the other side, and turned to see Daryl cutting the wires and separating one color from the rest. He stripped back the insulation coating the tip of each half, exposing the bare wire underneath, and touched them together quickly.

It rolled over and sputtered. He touched the wires again, and the diesel engine roared to life. The sound of it idling seemed like the loudest thing in the world to Beth, and she turned to watch the far corner of the warehouse, seeing two walkers stagger around it and head in their direction.

Daryl glanced out the driver's window at the bus, seeing most everyone was already on, all except for the three inside the building. He watched Eric speak into his walkie-talkie, and released the emergency brake on the truck, ready to leave.

Aaron yelled at Glenn and Tyreese that it was time to go, and both men dropped their pots onto the floor. Glenn passed one of the flares to Ty and they lit them, leaning out the window and throwing them to the right as far as they could, even further away from their escape vehicles. Many of the walkers stayed under the windows, but the rest on the outskirts of the herd followed the bright red smoke to where each flare landed.

The three men turned and ran all the way back to the receiving doors. Aaron and Glenn climbed down into the bus without much problem, but Tyreese struggled to fit through from that angle.

He finally gave up and stepped onto the school bus's roof, walking quickly toward the front and sliding down the windshield and off the engine bonnet. The two walkers that were first to come around the corner were just rounding the front of the truck as Ty landed on the ground, and Daryl rolled the eighteen wheeler forward, knocking them over so the man could climb on board the bus safely.

Daryl nodded at Rick, and started driving across the parking lot toward the exit. Beth looked through her side window and breathed a sigh of relief, seeing more walkers only just start rounding the corner, drawn by the new source of noise.

The bus was close behind them when they approached the chain link fence by the main road and Daryl aimed the truck at the center latch. Both sides of the gate flew open, and they were on the open road once again, hopefully headed to their new home.

Bye bye, warehouse. Destination...Alexandria Safe Zone.

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