Cupid's Arrow | Daryl Dixon

𝚎𝚙𝚒𝚜𝚘𝚍𝚎 𝚜𝚒𝚡𝚝𝚢- 𝚛𝚒𝚐𝚑𝚝 𝚌𝚛𝚘𝚜𝚜

𝙴𝙿𝙸𝚂𝙾𝙳𝙴 𝚂𝙸𝚇𝚃𝚈 - 𝚁𝙸𝙶𝙷𝚃 𝙲𝚁𝙾𝚂𝚂

After talking about it for a few minutes, the girls decided to take Aaron back to the barn to talk to Rick. When they opened the door, they saw the group either sorting out their weapons or just resting. "Everyone, this is Aaron." Maggie said as the four walked inside. Everyone immediately grabbed their weapons and pointed it at him as Daryl went outside to check if anybody else was there.

"We met him outside. He's by himself." Madelyn said.

"We took his weapons and we took his gear." Maggie said as Daryl searched him just in case. No-one said anything. They all just stared at Aaron, their weapons still pointed at him.

"Hi." Aaron said as Judith started crying in Rick's arms. Carl took Judith so Rick could talk to Aaron. "It's nice to meet you."

"You said he had a weapon?" Rick asked Maggie. Maggie went to Rick and handed him a small handgun. Rick then turned to Aaron. "There something you need?"

"He has a camp nearby." Sasha said.

"He wants us to audition for membership." Madelyn said.

"I wish there was another word." Aaron said. "Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe. That's only on Friday nights. And...it's not a camp. It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions. But it's not my call. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home."

No-one said anything. Rick gave Aaron a dirty look. Of course, no-one trusted Aaron after everything that had happened to them, starting with Woodbury and ending with Terminus. They had already lost so much because of that and they weren't willing to lose anything else. "I know, if I were you, I wouldn't go either." Aaron continued. "Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Madelyn, could you hand Rick my pack?"

Madelyn nodded and gave Aaron's backpack to Rick. "Front pocket, there's an envelope." Aaron said as Rick opened the bag. "There's no way I could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community."

Rick pulled out an envelope from Aaron's bag. "That's why I brought those. I apologise in advance for the picture quality. We just found an old camera store last-"

"Nobody gives a shit." Daryl said, making Madelyn roll her eyes. Aaron stopped and looked at Daryl.

"You're absolutely one hundred percent right." Aaron said as Rick went through the photos of this community. "That's the first picture I wanted to show you because nothing I say about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe. If you join us, you will be. Each panel in that wall is a fifteen foot high, twelve foot wide slab of solid steel framed by sold-rolled steel beams and square tubing."

Madelyn didn't know what to think but what Aaron had just said sounded like music to her ears. If she could kiss that sentence, she would. "Nothing alive or dead gets through that without our say-so." Aaron said. "Like I said, security is obviously important. In fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival. The people. Together, we're strong. You can make us even stronger. The next picture, you'll see inside the gates. Our community was first construc-" Aaron was cut off when Rick punched him, knocking him out cold.