I Made It. ~ a Beth Greene survival story.

Chapter 8: Voyage

     I quickly reached for my gun, only to realize it must have fallen out my bag during the chaos. Luckily,  Daryl had already positioned his crossbow directly at the man who had emerged from the woods. Everyone came out the truck in order to take a good look at the new arrival.

     "No need to shoot," The man yelled. "I'm a friend!"

     Daryl quickly walked up to the man and placed the tip of his crossbow directly against the man's chest.

     "You the asshole that's been watchin' us?" Daryl demanded an answer.

     "Yes....yes I am, but there's no need to shoot." The man calmly said.

     "What's your name? I asked the man, causing everyone to stare at me funny. "Why did you save me?" I added.

     "My name is Aaron. I saw you folks needed help, so I helped. No harm done." He explained.

     I could tell by the look on Rick's face that he didn't buy it. Before I could even blink, Aaron was knocked out cold in front of everyone.

     "Better safe than sorry." Rick said with a serious look on his face.

     When Aaron woke up, everyone was already surrounding him, ready to interrogate. I have to admit, I felt bad for him. He had saved my life, and even left food for Judith and us. I understand the need to be safe, but I just hope we didn't take things too far. We had relocated him into the overturned truck to be safer.

     "No more bullshit. Tell me why you're trying to "help" us!" Rick demanded him.

     "I told you the truth! I just wanted to help!" Aaron pleaded.

     THWACK! Aaron was hit.

     "Rick, wait! Just let me try!" I pleaded to him.

     "This man could be dangerous." Rick replied, blocking me from Aaron.

     "Could be." I snapped, unaware of how rude that may have sounded. "I can handle myself" I said as I positioned myself in front of Aaron.

     "You saved me, why?" I asked Aaron.

     "I saw a good person in need of help, that's my job." He replied.

     Rick gently pushed me aside and got in Aaron's face. "Job?" Rick questioned.

     "I'm part of a larger group, a community. My job is to scout around, looking for people to join.  That's why I was watching you, okay? I'm not some monster!" He yelled, fearing for his life.

     "Where are your people? How many?!?" Rick got in his face.

     "Like it matters. You won't trust me anyway." Aaron snapped back.

     "No....no I won't." Rick snapped back. "Where...are..your...PEOPLE?" Rick yelled once more.

     "You'll just have to follow me." Aaron replied.

     Having no other options left, we followed Aaron to a small camp he had set up. I liked Aaron. He was clean, unlike any of us, and he seemed like a genuinely good guy.

     "Why are there more than one sleeping bag?" Daryl asked as he slammed Aaron against a nearby tree.

     "I have others nearby, incase anything goes wrong, okay?" He replied back.

     "We can't trust this guy, Rick." Glenn said.

     "You can. See?" Aaron pulled out a cluster of pictures from his coat pocket. "This is the place.........The Alexandria Safe Zone.

     "You found some old photos, so what?" Rosita questioned.

     "These aren't old photos, I take new pictures each voyage out here." He searched through the stack and handed me one. "See, took that one the other day." He smiled at me and said.

     The photo showed a large wall enclosing a community,  almost like Noah's place, but larger. It seemed like an authentic photo. I smiled and handed the photo back so he could show the others. I can't tell if he's just a really nice guy, or if he's just sucking up to me because he thinks I'm weak.

     "How far?" I asked him.

     "About two hours away, but I have a ride if you guys want?" Aaron replied.

     "We're not going anywhere with you." Rick straight out said.

     Aaron's facial expression changed from happy to serious almost instantly.

     "Fine. How long are you going to last with no food or water? Looks like you wasted the stuff I gave you. That baby hasn't had a good meal in ages! I'm offering a shelter! A safe place to enjoy yourselves and relax! Take me hostage for all I care! I'm not lying!" Aaron stated angrilly.

    "We should go." I said to the group. "What if this place is there? What if it's a place where we can be safe? Instead of being out here and barely makin' it! We can hide. Sneak up on the place.  See if he's telling the truth!" I suggested.

     "You don't even know what we went through, Beth. We are not going to trust this guy for anything." Sasha looked at me angrilly. I can't stand her.

     "We should go." Rick finally stated. "We can't make it out here like this. Especially not with Judith. We need to try." He looked at the group, waiting for the onslaught of rejections and refusals,  but there were none.

     "Take what you need from the camp. My guys will come back to get the rest. We have to start moving before it gets dark." Aaron said.

     Aaron drove his ATV in front of us, and we had to cram into a small moving van. I could tell from the looks of their faces that the rest of the group wasn't too happy about going, but I was.

     "Holy shit!" I heard Rick yell from the front of the van.

     Were we there?

     GRAAWLLLL. BOOM.BOOM.BOOM

     The sounds of walkers banging on the van became louder and louder.

     We're in a horde