BLACK OUT DAYS | THE WALKING DEAD

The Distance

Sasha and Maggie brought back some..guy. Maggie opened the doors first, introducing the new guy as Aaron and it took all about two seconds before half of them armed themselves with their weapons. He had his hands raised and looked like the least threatening person that Jasper had ever seen but here they were, with guns pointed at his face. Jasper noticed that Alice, Nate, Noah and Carl all had their guns drawn too. Although Alice and Noah were both holding shotguns. Jasper's hand hovered above his at his side, ready to grab for it if it was needed but if this guy was really a threat to them then surely he would've been dead already. Maybe that's why they were all hesitating too.

Daryl went to glance outside for a sign of other people and then patted Aaron down as Maggie hurriedly tried to explain that they already took his weapons and gear. The others settled, lowering their weapons but still kept their attention on Aaron.

"Hi." He said. Judith started to squirm in Rick's arms and he gently handed her over to Carl. Alice had moved with Tara to the front of the barn, behind Aaron and held her shotgun low with both hands. He was completely surrounded and the longer Jasper looked at him, he noticed that he was..clean. He didn't have a speck of dirt or blood on his face or his clothes. He wondered if the others had noticed yet but he wasn't going to be the one to mention it.

Rick asked to see his weapon and Maggie walked over to hand him his gun. Rick took it and placed it securely behind his back.

"Is there something you need?"

"He has a camp nearby." Sasha started to explain. "He wants us to..audition for membership." Jasper's heartbeat quickened, just the idea of them finding a camp that wasn't already filled with bad people sounded..impossible, especially after he'd been to a place like Terminus. Audition made it sound even worse. He glanced over at Nate and tried to see if he could see how he was reacting but he just continued to stare at Aaron with a blank face as he processed what they were saying.

"I wish there was another word. Audition makes it sound like we're some kind of dance troupe. That's only on friday nights." He tried to joke but no one laughed and Nate turned to Carl with a questioning look. "It's a community. I think you all would make valuable additions, but that's not my job. My job is to convince you all to follow me back home." Jasper raised an eyebrow, he wondered what the catch was.

"I know. If I were you, I wouldn't go either. Not until I knew exactly what I was getting into. Sasha, can you hand Rick my pack?" He looked over at her and she hesitated for a moment before walking over and handing Rick the bag. Rick pulled out an envelope and inside were pictures. Nate craned his head over Rick's shojlder to peek at them and as Aaron started to explain what they were, his gaze flickered over to Daryl just on the other side of Aaron's left shoulder. He had barely moved but he still made eye contact with Nate.

"The next picture, you'll see inside the gate-" He started as Rick began to walk forward with his head down. Nate turned his head with a sigh as he realized what was about to happen. Aaron crumpled to the ground as Rick threw a punch at him.

Daryl turned Aaron's shoulder to see if he was really passed out. As Nate bent down to Aaron's pack and started to dig through it, Carl walked towards him and Nate began to hand him Aaron's stuff and he laid it all out on the table.

"Just so we're clear, that wasn't a 'let's attack this man' look, it was a 'he seems like an okay guy' look." Nate heard Michonne say to Rick who promptly ignored her and turned back to Nate. She then moved to where Glenn and Jasper were standing.

"Did you expect anything less from him?" Nate barely heard Jasper ask her and he rolled his eyes as he pulled a bottle of water out of the pack.

"You find anything?" Rick asked them. Nate shrugged but Carl handed Rick the orange gun.