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Safe Haven in the Chaos	By : IdrilsSecret Category: S through Z > The Walking Dead Views: 6517 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own the walking dead or any of the characters. No money is being made from the writing of these stories

Chapter List
- 81
- 82
- 83
Chapter 83 Breaking Bread

Aaron was at the bridge again, and surprisingly, it didn’t take long before the Whisperer woman made her appearance. She seemed different from the first time he came upon her. Then, she had been skittish and fearful. Now, she stood across from him on the bridge, almost daring him to come over to her side. Of course, Aaron didn’t do that. He knew to abide by the rules. Besides, this could be a trap. Someone could be waiting for him to do just that so they could kill him and use this as a reason to begin the war with his people. Always watching, they had been warned, and Aaron wouldn’t be the one to test that threat.

He was also being silent, waiting for her to initiate contact. It had to be up to her where this strange encounter led to. He felt confident that she would give in sooner or later. A few times he had caught her watching him or visually searching his backpack. She had definitely taken notice of his weapons. He had his knife and the sword Daryl gave him. There was a gun in his pack, but he didn’t want to wear it at his belt, fearing it might look too intimidating. As it was, he put on a good show of preparedness with his blades.

More than a few times, she almost seemed to stretch her neck as she tried to catch a glimpse of what was inside his pack. He had left the top open on purpose. When he glanced in her direction, she stood straight and turned away from him, reaching out to take a leaf from the tree near her. She played with it in her fingers, bending the pointed end and making tears along its leafy veins. She removed one section and stuck it in her mouth, slowly chewing on it, though she didn’t seem to be enjoying it. Aaron thought this was a perfect opportunity to start his experiment. He bent down and removed a piece of bread from his pack. Out of the corner of his eye, he could see her watching him. When he stood straight and looked at her, she didn’t make any attempt to look away, as she had done earlier. If she was salivating, he couldn’t tell beneath the mask of skin she wore.

Finally, her eyes darted up to meet his, and she seemed embarrassed to be caught ogling his snack. She knew she couldn’t look away again. “Your people have bread,” she said, not really a question but not completely a statement either.

Aaron turned toward her, and then glanced down at the loaf in his hand. “Oh, yes,” he answered. He tore a piece off and popped it into his mouth.

“Just for today?” she asked.

“No. Actually, we have bread every day.” He was careful of what and how much he said to draw her into a conversation on her terms.

“How?” she inquired.

“We have a baker who makes it fresh every morning.” He took another piece and ate it, then he reached for his canteen and took a drink of water. When he turned back to her, he noticed her hand was wrapped up in the gauze he’d given her. “How is your hand?”

She tore her sight from the bread to look down at her hand. “It’s fine.”

“Glad I could help,” he said. She seemed confused and he gestured toward the bandage. “The wrapping,” he said to remind her. “I don’t know if you remember or not, but my name is Aaron.”

“I remember,” she said, and she took another nibble from the leaf.

“What do you go by?” he asked. She whipped her head around to glare at him as though he had said something offensive. “Just making polite conversation. You ran off before you told me yours.”

“Gamma,” she said, her eyes narrowing on him as though this was a trick.

“Nice to meet you … Gam–"

“You do not have permission to address me as so,” she interrupted.

“I apologize. I just thought that since we are both here protecting our side of the border, well, it might be an opportunity to speak to someone from a different community.”

“We have no community. We live off the land. We walk amongst the Guardians, and they protect us so we protect them in return.”

The way she spoke reminded Aaron of a telemarketer reading from a script for the hundredth time. He didn’t tell her that, of course, but rather let her make her statement. When she was done, silence fell between them again. He took a few more small bites of the bread, and noticed her watching him again. He almost thought he heard her stomach growl.

“Will you be here every day?” she asked him after a long bout of silence.

“As often as I can spare,” he replied, right before he thought he heard a rustling in the trees behind him. Quickly, he brought his sword from its sheath and turned to face the trees. He called over his shoulder. “Are your people around here? If so, they are on the wrong side.” He didn’t want to have to fight. He was here to try and gain her trust, but he wasn’t about to get lured into a trap either.

“Whatever you hear it’s not us, unless it is a Guardian, in which case–"

“If it’s a walker I’ll kill it,” he stated so there was no question of his intensions. The leaves moved again, but then a large raven cried and flew out of the trees. When he was sure that’s all it was, he breathed a sigh of relief.

“You call them walkers?” she asked.

“We have lots of names for them, biters, lurkers, geeks, roamers. Most of us call them walkers.” When he was finished, he put his sword away.

“That’s a nice weapon,” she said. It was the first thing she said that didn’t come across with fear or skepticism.

“Thanks,” Aaron smiled, as he thought of Daryl. “It was a gift from someone very special.” While she seemed to be relaxing a bit, he wanted to take advantage of it. He retrieved the rest of the bread from his pack and smiled at her again. “Since it’s just the two of us, would it be alright if I crossed to your side so that we don’t have to talk so loudly across the bridge? Only if you’re okay with a little friendly conversation. Nothing more.”

She considered him through the cutouts of her mask, and finally gave a slight nod. Aaron picked up his pack, made his was to her side of the bridge, and leaned against the railing at a considerable distance from her. He wasn’t just keeping space between them for her comfort. It was for his safety too. He wasn’t sure what she was capable of. Aaron saw she was facing away, as though ignoring him, so he took out the bread once more. When she peered over her shoulder, he held the bread out to her, offering it to her. He could see the battle going on behind her eyes, as she was tempted. But then she shook her head and lifted the leaf she still held. Her attention stayed on him, though.

“You said you have bread every day?” she asked, opening up a form of communication once more. Aaron nodded in answer. “How do you make so much?”

“With flour,” he said, but he wasn’t playing dumb. He knew she was trying to draw information from him, details about his community and its people. She was going about it in a clever way, but Aaron was clever too.

“But … every day? That seems like a lot of people doing only one thing.”

She was trying to get an idea of how many people he had in his community. Aaron shrugged his shoulders. “As many as it takes,” he answered tersely. He pretended not to notice, but Gamma was looking down into his pack again. He followed her line of sight, and knew she was looking at the drawing Gracie made him.

“Oh,” he said, bending down and removing the picture. He unrolled it and held it up for her to see. “It’s from my daughter,” he smiled with genuine fatherly pride.

“You have children?” she asked curiously.

He rolled up the picture and put it back in his pack as he answered. “Just the one. That’s about all I can handle,” he chuckled to himself.

“And there are more?” she continued to inquire.

Aaron brought his full attention back to her, and slowly nodded. “There are,” he said, careful not to give too much away. She had asked quite a few questions, and he thought it was time for him to ask something. “Do you?” he asked vaguely, not specifying her in particular or her group as a whole.

Gamma turned her attention away. “Children hold you back,” she stated coldly. “They make you weak.”

He didn’t want to lose her interest yet, and he wanted to get her back to speaking more openly. “Uh, what about family then? Brothers, sisters?”

She seemed to consider his question longer than was normal. She was figuring out how to answer him. “I’m an only child,” she eventually answered. Without warning, she turned and started walking away.

Aaron knew he had touched on a sore subject. It was obvious she had suffered some kind of tragedy, but she was unwilling to talk about it. All he could do was watch her leave. But she didn’t leave. She reached the end of the bridge, turned and came back toward him. He kept a side eye on her, but he didn’t want to make a spectacle out of her behavior. Gamma paced the bridge several times, acting like she was patrolling, but he could see she was wrestling with her thoughts or her memories. His question and her answer sparked some kind of personal conflict. He couldn’t help notice that every time she came close to where he stood, she glanced at his pack and the rolled-up picture sitting on top, but he didn’t point it out. He would wait until she calmed some.

After a while, she got her emotions back under control, and stood on Aaron’s end of the bridge once more. She settled into her same spot and her anxiety dissipated. She still glanced his way from time to time. When he could see she was ready, he waited until she was observing his pack and then spoke up. “Here,” he said, taking the picture and holding it out to her. She only looked at it, so he shoved it toward her. “Go on. It’s all right,” he said.

Gamma slowly reached out and took the picture from him. She unrolled it and scanned it with her curious eyes, but she didn’t say a word. The crayon drawing was of Aaron and Gracie riding bikes, and he needed to use this somehow, to open up a dialog between them.

“She’s actually a pretty good rider,” Aaron commented. “Mostly, she just uses it as an excuse to stay out with her friends.” There, not only was this about Gracie, but it would hopefully spark better memories, and get Gamma talking. “Did you ever ride?” he asked.

“Sometimes,” she answered, still looking at the crayon drawing.

When she didn’t say anything else, he continued. “Yeah, I couldn’t get enough. I’d find every excuse to stay out as long as I could. I would keep going and going, even though it was just up and down our street.” Aaron was getting lost in his own memories. Riding bikes around his neighborhood when he was a kid was something he hadn’t thought of in a very long time.

Gamma seemed lost in her thoughts too, and she let her guard down. “As kids, we’d take the long way around the lake.” She glanced at him, and found Aaron genuinely interested in her story. Her protective wall started to erect again. He needed to do something to stop it and keep the conversation and memories going. He noticed she had said we when referring to the bike rides, and decided to use that.

“Brother or sister?” he asked with enthusiasm, but she looked devastated and kept quiet. She looked like she was about to dash off again, and he couldn’t let that happen. He felt like he was finally getting somewhere with her. “I’m sorry,” he said right away. “I . . .” No, he needed to keep the attention on himself. He needed to get Gamma to open up about whatever was bothering her. He would have to make something up, something that she could relate to. Although Aaron was an only child, he could see that she must have had siblings, so he needed to use that. “I had a younger brother.”

Gamma gave him a side glance, and Aaron knew he had touched on something personal with her. “He loved cars, older ones, muscle cars. Used to know everything there was about them. He could tell you the make, model and year of a car just by its headlights. His dream car was a 1970 Dodge Challenger, Plum Crazy.” Aaron laughed when he said it. The memory of the car was no coincidence, and the man he spoke of wasn’t a brother, but someone he had once been in a relationship with many years ago. “Not a day goes by that I don’t think about him,” he lied, feeding into the story about his made-up sibling. When he glanced at Gamma, she had a far-off look in her eyes, and he knew she was remembering her loved one. “I know what it’s like to lose someone you love that much. I know that it helps to talk about it too.” It was time to take a chance, call her out and reel her in at the same time. “What you’re doing … these questions … digging for intel … I suppose I should be doing the same thing. But what’s the point?” She looked at him with surprise and shock. Throwing her off her game was exactly what Aaron wanted to do, so now he would go in for the big finish. “Maybe, if it’s alright with you, we could just talk about nothing worth reporting to our leaders. It’s been a long time since I met someone new who doesn’t already know all this about me. It’s nice getting to tell my story again. So, maybe I can tell you about my brother, and you can tell me about–"

Gamma pushed away from the railing, and without another word or another glance, she walked away. Aaron couldn’t make it out, but she was saying something. Actually, it sounded more like a chant, like something she’d been told to say or whatever bullshit Alpha fed her people to brainwash them. Whatever had happened, he touched upon something that set Gamma on her way. Because she left abruptly, he didn’t know if he made her angry or sad. If she was upset with him or at herself for remembering. He wished she hadn’t left, and he worried that she might never come back.

“Shit,” he whispered in frustration. He really thought he was getting somewhere with Gamma, but his hurried methods had sent her running away. Maybe now she would never trust him, and just when he thought he was making a breakthrough.

Aaron looked down at his pack and gave a heavy sigh. It wasn’t until he reached down to pick up his bag that he realized Gamma still had Gracie’s drawing. Why did she take it? Blood rushed from the top of his head to his toes as he worried that this was something she might take back to Alpha to use against Alexandria. He wasn’t sure how, but he didn’t understand Alpha or her way of thinking either. Gamma could use the picture as proof that there were children in his community. Maybe the Whisperers would use that against them, mentally beat them down more than they already were. Would she come for the children, kidnap them in the middle of the night, and use them as hostages? No, that didn’t seem Alpha’s style. If she wanted to hurt them, she’d just do it like she had the day of the fair at the Kingdom.

He should leave, go back to Alexandria, and tell them what he had been up to. If he had just started the war, then they would need to know so they could prepare. Aaron grabbed his pack and started to walk away. It was a long way back to town, and he wanted to get there before it got dark. Ten minutes into his walk, he gave Gamma another thought. What if she had taken the picture by accident. She left so fast she might not have realized she still held the picture. If that was the case, it was possible she might come back. She seemed the type to return something so personal and precious. Perhaps their brief conversation about the past sparked some good in her. If she came back, Aaron should be there to show her he wasn’t the type to run away, and that he genuinely cared about her feelings. Or she could come back with an army and he’d be screwed. Aaron wrestled with his thoughts a moment and then made up his mind to stay at the bridge. Besides, if he left, there’d be no one there to patrol since his shift didn’t end until late into the night. So, Aaron made the decision to turn around and go back to the bridge.

>>------->

Hours later, Aaron was still on patrol and alone. Gamma hadn’t come back, and he felt like she wasn’t going to either. He worried that he ruined his chance with one of Alpha’s people, to gain her trust and hopefully work with her in some way. It had been worth a shot, he told himself. It was an opportunity he needed to take. If he hadn’t, he would have kicked himself for it. Anything was worth a try at this point. He regretted not telling Daryl, but that didn’t matter now that it seemed he scared Gamma off for good.

The sun had set an hour ago. He was lucky tonight. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky, which allowed the full moon to shine down and illuminate the area. It was one of those moons that was bright enough to cast shadows. It also made it more difficult to determine whether he was seeing shadows moving from the slight breeze blowing, or if he was seeing something actually moving around. He kept highly alert, watching everything around him. Tonight, he wore his gun at his side along with his knife and sword.

As he was pacing up and down the bridge, he heard a twig snap in the woods on the opposite side, Whisperer territory. He took up his sword, and held it in place to show he was armed and ready. Now he wished he had just gone home. He’d have no chance if a group of Whisperers showed, or if they came with walkers. He was only one man.

Quietly, without making another sound, Gamma emerged from the trees. She looked back and forth and spotted Aaron at the opposite side of the bridge. She approached him, and Aaron breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that she was alone. He sheathed his sword and took a few steps toward her to meet her part way.

With a slight smile, he greeted her. “Gamma, you’re back. I’m glad you–"

“Here,” she said, extending her arm as she took the last few steps up to meet him. In her hand she held Gracie’s drawing.

He thought it was nice of her to come back and return the picture. He had been worried about that, but now he could see she didn’t mean to cause any trouble. Aaron shook his head. “No. It’s yours now. Consider it a gift.”

Gamma shoved it at him again. “I don’t want anything from you. Take it or I’ll burn it,” she threatened, letting the picture fall from her fingers. It landed on the ground between them.

Aaron felt her anger, but there was also fear in her voice, as though she’d been forced here to finish out a mission. She was trying to intimidate, but this wasn’t like her. Even though Aaron had just met her, he felt like they had made a connection, and he could see she was acting out of fear for commands from her leader. Had she gotten caught with the drawing? Maybe she was trying to avoid punishment. He looked down at the picture, and bent to pick it up. Suddenly, she grabbed Aaron by the neck, and yanked against her body. The cold sting of a blade threatened to slash across his throat. Gamma was stronger than she looked, and she held all the power for the moment. This wasn’t Aaron’s first time in a position like this. It had happened a few times when he worked for an NGO. But this was the first time someone he had built trust with had taken him hostage. It was definitely unexpected, and he raised both hands up to show submission.

“All right, no more games,” Gamma said angrily. “From now on I ask the questions and you answer. Got it?”

He had to make her see him as a friend, someone who wouldn’t have done this to her. “Don’t do this. Please. This isn’t you.”

“You have no fucking idea who I am. Now, tell me how many people you have in your community, and maybe I won’t slice your ear off.”

“The woman I met wouldn’t do this because she knows I meant her no harm.”

“Shut up,” she seethed, and Aaron could see she was trying not to let him get to her. He was on the right track.

“I just wanted to get to know you. Please, think about my little girl.” He could feel her start to shake as she fought with herself over her decision to do this to him.

“I told you to shut the hell up. I don’t care about your little girl. I just want the information that you owe me.” She pushed the knife harder against his neck.

He could feel its sharp edge begin to cut into his skin. Had he been wrong about her? Maybe she couldn’t be saved, too far gone after living with the Whisperers for so long. Well, he wasn’t going to surrender himself either. He didn’t want it to come to this, but he had a family to think about. Gracie, Daryl, Lydia, they were important to him, and he would fight back in order to see them again. She hadn’t disarmed him, and his knife was the easiest to retrieve. Carefully, he lowered his hand, his fingers finding the handle, sliding down and releasing the strap that held the knife in its sheath. All he had to do was bring it straight up and stab her through the bottom of her jaw.

“Please, Gamma, I’m asking you to lower your knife. Let’s talk this through, and I’ll tell you whatever you want to know,” he negotiated calmly. He had to try and talk her out of this first, but he was also preparing himself to kill her if he must.

“No more story sharing. No more manipulating me. I know what you were trying to do, and I won’t let you–"

The trees rustled and parted, and Carol burst through onto the bridge. Her bow was already in hand, arrow nocked and aimed at Gamma. “Let him go,” she demanded. When Gamma didn’t move, she threatened a second time. “I said let him go.”

Even with the threat of Carol’s arrow, Gamma wasn’t letting him go. As a matter of fact, the sharp edge of the knife pressed harder into his throat, and he feared what she would do next. His hand was still on his knife, but now, Gamma was too aware of her surroundings. If he moved for his weapon, he was almost sure he wouldn’t be fast enough, and he’d end up with his throat sliced open. All he could do now was try and talk her down. “Gamma, please,” he whispered. His voice was shaky as he spoke, but he pushed on. “You kill me and she’ll kill you.”

She was considering her options when Lydia surprisingly came out behind Carol, battle stick in hand. Lydia looked around at the scene with a shocked face, as though she hadn’t known what she was walking in on. Almost immediately, Gamma gasped, and lowered her knife from Aaron’s throat. He wouldn’t move, not until he got an idea of what was happening. Then, Gamma let him go completely and backed away. Aaron didn’t run away, but he took a couple steps out of her reach. Gamma’s attention was on Lydia, and it was as though she was seeing a ghost.

“No … no … no . . .” she repeated. Her panic and confusion were unmistakable. She turned and ran back into the woods where she had first appeared.

“What is happening?” Aaron asked. “What are the two of you doing here?”

Lydia seemed just as confused, and she looked at Carol for an answer.

Carol considered Aaron first. “Are you alright?” she asked.

“I’m fine, but–"

Carol interrupted him to address Lydia. “Your mother told her people that she killed you.”

“You said you wanted my help,” Lydia responded.

“I did,” Carol told her.

“You used me,” Lydia accused. She looked back at Aaron. “Did you know about this too?” Disappointment and disgust tinted her words.

Aaron shook his head in confusion. “I … I don’t know what’s–"

“Lydia, I’m sorry,” Carol continued as though Aaron wasn’t even there.

Aaron moved toward them, and Lydia caught his movement from the corner of her eye. She whipped around to face him, her stick at the ready. Did she think he was going to try and grab her? He had no idea what was going on, but apparently it had started before Carol and Lydia came upon the scene with Gamma.

“You said you wanted me to choose a side? Well, I choose mine,” Lydia said, upset and using a raised tone. She started to leave, and she wasn’t going back toward town.

“Lydia, wait,” Aaron called out. He just wanted to know what was going on.

Lydia glanced at him, and she looked sorry to have to do this to him, but she was going to do whatever it was she needed to do. And right now, she was about to run away. Aaron thought she was going to say something to him, but instead, she shook her head and started to walk away again.

“You can’t go out there. It’s too dangerous,” Carol told her as she was about to walk past her.

“You can’t stop me,” Lydia seethed. She continued to walk past Carol, but when Carol reached out to stop her, Lydia hit her with her stick. Carol covered the side of her face with her hand and leaned forward.

Aaron was shocked to see Lydia strike out. He started toward her, hoping to talk some sense into her, but she held her stick up in defense, threatening to hit him too. Aaron froze and held both hands in the air. “I’m sorry, Aaron,” she said, and then she dashed off into Whisperer territory.

Carol had regained her composure, and she was about to go after Lydia, but Aaron stopped her. “Wait. They could be watching.”

“I don’t give a shit,” she said and kept walking away.

“Carol, please. Just … just stop,” Aaron begged, and she halted just before crossing the border. They watched Lydia disappear. He turned to Carol. “Want to tell me what just happened here?”

“I could ask you the same thing,” Carol said.

“I was trying to get some information from Gamma … the, uh, Whisperer woman. I was trying to gain her trust.”

“With a knife at your throat?” Carol ridiculed him.

“It was working earlier. Then she ran away. When she came back, she had changed. I think Alpha got into her head.”

“If I hadn’t come along with I did, she would have gotten your head too,” Carol said.

With his hands on his hips, Aaron looked off in the direction Gamma went. Then he turned the opposite direction where Lydia had disappeared. He dropped his head and grabbed the back of his neck. He was frustrated, angry, and anxious. “Fuck!” he called out. Slowly, he raised his head, his eyes lifting to meet Carol’s. “Why is she here?” he asked in an even tone. “What is going on?”

“We captured one of theirs,” said Carol without hesitancy.

“We? Who’s we?”

“Well, I did. Daryl just went along with it. I didn’t really give him much choice.” Carol proceeded to tell Aaron what happened, how she and Daryl found part of the herd and the Whisperer. “He saw me. I couldn’t let him get away and go blab to Alpha. We were in her territory.”

“Jesus, Carol. What the hell were you thinking? So, you’re telling me one of them is in Alexandria … where our loved ones are? Where my little girl is?” Aaron said angrily.

“Only a few people knew about him.”

Aaron nodded, but he picked up on her use of words. “Wait. You said ‘knew’. Is he not there anymore?”

“He’s still there. He’s just … dead.” Carol seemed to cringe when she said it.

“As if kidnapping one of Alpha’s people isn’t enough. Please tell me it wasn’t Daryl who killed him.” Things were going from bad to worse.

“No, it wasn’t him. We think Siddiq accidentally mixed up some medicine, and Dante unknowingly gave it to him. But the thing is, before any of that happened, he told us that Alpha sacrificed her daughter for the good of her people. She’s got them all wrapped around her dirty little finger.” Carol spoke with enthusiasm. “This is just the break we’re looking for. Imagine when the rest of her people discover she lied to them, and Lydia is still alive.”

“But he died before you could show Lydia to him.” The puzzle pieces were falling into place. “That’s why you’re here. That’s why you brought Lydia. You’re the only person who knows about my meeting with Gamma. You’re … using her.”

“This is our shot,” she said with vigor. “No one else would have done it so I took the chance, and it paid off. Now that Gamma has seen her, she’ll run back and start telling the others that Alpha is a liar. They’ll start to deteriorate from the inside, just like a walker.”

“And in the meantime, Lydia has run off to God knows were. You didn’t give a damn about her.”

“I care about our people,” Carol yelled at him. “You of all people should know it’s about our community, our people. You heard Lydia. She made her choice.”

“She ran away,” Aaron yelled back, saying each word separately and with space between. He shook his head. “Any trust you’ve established with her, you’ve lost it now.”

“It was worth the risk,” Carol said unapologetically.

Aaron stood there and looked off in the distance. He wanted to go after Lydia, but it was too dangerous to do it alone. It was dark, too. He came to the conclusion that it was best to wait until morning, and decided they needed to get back home. Carol stopped him before they left the bridge.

“Look, I think it’s best that we keep this quiet for now,” said Carol.

“What? Absolutely not. Daryl needs to know what happened to Lydia. He’ll be worried about her. He’ll want to go looking for her,” Aaron argued.

“Exactly. We need to give it a little time. Let that Whisperer woman tell her skin freak friends about Lydia being alive.”

“Daryl and I don’t keep things from each other anymore, especially something like this.” Aaron started walking again, but Carol grabbed his arm to stop him.

“Please, just a little time. Tomorrow, I’ll tell him tomorrow. Just give it the rest of tonight. That’s all I’m asking. I’ll tell him I convinced you to keep a lid on it. I’ll take all the blame.”

Aaron just wanted to get home. He wanted to tell Daryl, but Carol was being very persuasive. “I’m not making any promises,” he finally told her.

“Come morning, we’ll straighten all of this out,” she reassured him. They finally got on their way back home. Aaron used the time to decide whether or not he was going to do as Carol asked.

Back at home, Daryl wasn’t even there when Aaron arrived. He’d waited until dark to take care of the dead prisoner so that it wouldn’t draw the attention of the townspeople. Aaron didn’t know where he had gone, but he imagined it was far from Alexandria. Aaron had made up his mind to tell Daryl that Lydia ran away. He thought that he and Daryl could head out in the morning to start looking or her. Maybe it was better that Daryl wasn’t here. He might want to go out looking right away, and traipsing around in the woods in the dead of night was not a very smart plan. Aaron was worried about Lydia too, but she had lived in the wild for most of her life. He imagined she could take care of herself fairly well. She had her weapon with her, and that was a slight relief.

Aaron tried to get some sleep, but he was too worried. His head was jumbled with thoughts, with Daryl and Lydia at the forefront of his mind. Since he couldn’t sleep, he stayed up on the couch to catch Daryl as soon as he got home. He dozed from time to time, but no solid sleep came his way.

Eventually, the sun started to come up, and Daryl still wasn’t home. Aaron was tired of waiting. He needed to go look for Lydia. Maybe she came back to the bridge. She could be waiting there for him, afraid to go back to Alexandria, afraid to return to her people. If he left now, the sun would be up when he got to the bridge. Aaron made up his mind and headed out to look for Lydia. The best thing that could happen was that he returned to Alexandria with her, and all would be well again. So, he threw a few things into his backpack, made sure his canteen was filled, and marched out on his mission.

Just as he predicted, the sun was well into the sky by the time Aaron got to the bridge. He saw a figure at the opposite end, but it wasn’t Lydia. However, it was Gamma, and she was hurrying toward him. It looked like she was alone, but there was no telling if anyone was watching from the trees. Aaron met her part way, overly conscious of his surroundings.

“Are you all right?” Aaron asked, first to make conversation.

“I need to ask you something,” she said, ignoring his pleasantries.

“Okay,” he said and waited.

“There was a . . .” She stopped herself and worded her question differently. “The baby … is the baby still alive?”

It took Aaron a second to figure out what she was asking, and then it dawned on him. “The baby that was rescued at Hilltop? Yes.” Tammy Rose and Earl had taken the baby in to raise, but now Earl was raising him on his own. Tammy had fallen victim to Alpha at the Northern border, along with Henry, Tara, Enid and others.

“He’s my nephew,” Gamma told him.

Aaron was shocked. “I … I didn’t know that.”

“Did you ever name him?” she asked awkwardly. It was difficult for her to talk about the baby it seemed. “My sister, she didn’t. She couldn’t.”

“The family raising him named him Adam.”

“Can I see him?” Gamma asked.

Aaron wasn’t sure where this was going, but he remained cautious. “Your people left him to die. Why would we ever agree to that?” He made sure she knew this was not just his decision. It belonged to the community and the council.

“We can make a trade,” she offered. “I have information for you.”

So, it seemed that Gamma didn’t tell her people about Lydia. But she wanted to use the opportunity for herself. Since she didn’t mention anything about the mother or father wanting to see the child, Aaron assumed they were both dead. “What do you have?” he asked.

“Promise me I can see him,” she said.

Aaron couldn’t make any decisions without first consulting with the council. “I can’t promise you anything, but I’ll listen to what you have to say, see if it’s true, and then we can talk.”

“Please, he’s the only family I have left,” Gamma begged. She seemed sincere as tears threatened her eyes.

“Then you better tell the truth,” he said to her, and she nodded. “How about you take the mask off first.” Aaron knew that to take the mask off was to take a step away from Alpha and the Whisperers. If they were going to work together, they needed to do it in person, no hiding behind masks.

Gamma hesitated, and then she reached for the edge of the mask, and pulled it from her head. She seemed vulnerable without her imposter’s face. This was a positive step for both of them. She was showing Aaron some trust. Now, he would need to reciprocate.

“Before all this, my name was Mary,” she said, and just like that, she had gained a small part of her humanity back.

Aaron couldn’t help notice the relief it brought her just to finally tell someone her given name. He smiled at her to make her feel welcomed. “Hi Mary. So, what is it you want to tell me?”

>>------->

Daryl came back from disposing of the prisoner to find out some very disturbing news. He thought the worst of their worries were over and done with when he took the body far from town and buried it, hopefully where no Whisperers would find the grave. Daryl hadn’t spent a lot of time on it, and it was possible an animal might dig it up and expose the body, but that didn’t matter anymore.

As soon as he got back, he was greeted at the gate with a message to see Father Gabriel right away. Daryl sought him out, and was led to the infirmary. He was surprised to see Rosita and Carol there, as well as Dante. The doctor looked unwell. As a matter of fact, he looked like he had been attacked. He had a black eye and a swollen lip. There was dried blood around his nose, and he was favoring his shoulder where blood seeped out of a wound.

“What the hell happened here?” Daryl asked, looking from one person to the next.

It was Rosita who spoke first. “Seems we have been infiltrated by a Whisperer spy.” She glared dangerously at Dante.

“What?” replied Daryl, confused by this information.

Gabriel stepped forward next. “That’s not all.” He paused and gave a somber look. “Siddiq is dead.”

Carol could see Daryl’s confusion and told him what happened. “Dante is not who he says he is. He’s actually one of them. Alpha sent him here to cause chaos from within. He’s responsible for the sickness spreading around. He tampered with the valves on the water treatment. We’ve been drinking dirty water. And then this morning, Rosita went to Siddiq’s place to check on him. Dante was there acting suspicious. She knew something was wrong, and when she started to confront him–"

“He tried to kill me,” Rosita cut in angrily. “And I had Coco with me. He pulled a knife on me. We wrestled. I got his weapon and stabbed him in the shoulder. And then . . .” she paused as the memory made her very emotional. She couldn’t continue so Carol did.

“Siddiq reanimated and almost got to the baby, but Rosita put him down. We think Siddiq figured out Dante’s secret and Dante killed him. Rosita just happened to show up right after it all went down.

“Siddiq wasn’t part of the plan,” Dante admitted. “I actually liked him. But you’re right. He found me out so I did what I had to do.”

Daryl couldn’t believe what he was hearing. To know this piece of shit was living amongst them all this time. Without another thought, Daryl approached Dante and punched him, making him fall back on the bed he was sitting on. He moaned in pain. “Good. I hope that hurt,” Daryl growled at him.

“We helped you,” said Gabriel. “We found you that day and allowed you into our community.”

Dante sat up again and addressed everyone in the room. “Admit it. You only let me in because I was a doctor. You all think you’re so different. You think you’ve got something special here. Truth is, you’re selfish. Everybody is selfish now. It’s how we survive. Everyone uses each other in order to get by. There are no good people anymore. You’d think you would have figured that out after you found your friends on spikes.”

Daryl watched as Rosita walked away, heading for the door. But as she passed Dante, she kicked him in the back, and he fell from the edge of the bed to the floor. No one stopped her. As far as Daryl was concerned, Dante deserved everything he had coming to him, including death. He knew the latter wouldn’t happen anytime soon. They would use Dante to try and extract as much information from him as they could. Daryl hoped he’d get to be a part of that. His fingers were itching to get busy.

As Rosita was about to walk out, Aaron came in. Rosita didn’t say a word, and she squeezed by him, almost knocking him out of the way. Daryl was a bit peeved with Aaron, and he felt his ire rise a little more when he saw him. Aaron looked back as Rosita as she walked out of the door. Then his eyes traveled to Dante, who was slowly getting himself up off the floor and back to the bed. Gabriel intervened and hoisted Dante to his feet. Then he dragged him from the infirmary, calling over his shoulder to Daryl. “I’m taking him back to the cell.”

Daryl gave a nod and looked briefly at Carol. Then he turned his attention to Aaron. “Where the hell have you been?”

“I was out on patrol,” said Aaron.

“All night? Your shift should have been done hours ago.”

“It was and I came home, but you weren’t there. I left again before you came back.” It was the truth, just not the entire truth. He made the mistake of glancing at Carol, and Daryl picked up on it. Aaron spoke before Daryl could. “What’s going on here? Why is Dante being taken to the cells?”

“You might want to sit down,” Carol warned, and she went to the table and slid a chair out to sit on.

Aaron looked at Daryl, but he gave no reaction with his stone face. Aaron took a seat across from Carol. Daryl didn’t sit, but he stood behind Carol and leaned back against a counter. Aaron looked from one to the other, waiting for them to tell him what happened. Finally, Daryl spoke. “Siddiq is dead,” he said bluntly.

The news didn’t quite make it through Aaron’s head. Carol must have seen his confusion and denial, because she confirmed Daryl’s statement. “It’s true. Siddiq died, and Dante killed him.”

Aaron shook his head. “Why? Why would Dante–"

“He’s one of them,” Daryl cut in. “He’s a Whisperer. Siddiq found out and Dante killed him in order to keep his secret. Rosita walked in on him not long after. She detained him and brought him here to get his wounds treated before throwing his ass in jail. Son of a bitch, I hope he rots in there.”

“So, he admitted to this?” Aaron asked. It was all beginning to sink in.

“He did,” said Carol. “Just now.”

“I … I don’t even know what to say. How does something like this happen?” said Aaron, baffled. He started to think of all the ways Dante was involved in the community, and how long he had been there. “He’s been here for four months. How did I not know?”

“No one did,” Daryl said to try and make him feel better.

“He was such a great guy. We shared meals. We … we talked about training the militia.” Aaron paused and looked at Daryl with doubt and horror. “He patched up Lydia after she was attacked. He treated Gracie. Remember? She had that fever that we couldn’t get to go down. He could … he could have–"

“But he didn’t,” said Carol, reaching across the table and laying a firm hand on his arm. “You can’t do that to yourself.”

“I’ve thought about that too,” Daryl admitted. “But we gotta keep it together until we figure out what’s going on.”

“Lydia,” Aaron blurted out. “Is she–"

“She’s not here. I took her out hunting, and she decided she didn’t want to come back,” said Carol. Her voice was strangely calm and convincing, but her eyes boar into Aaron’s, pleading that he go along with her story.

“But she–"

“I tried to make her come back, but she just wouldn’t listen.”

Aaron was very uncomfortable with this. He agreed not to say anything until the morning. He hadn’t agreed to pretend that he knew nothing about Lydia or what happened at the bridge with Gamma … Mary. What was Carol dragging him into? One thing Aaron could confess to was his communication with the Whisperer woman, and he decided it was time to come clean about that. “I need to tell you something,” he said, looking at Daryl. He could see Carol start to squirm, but he ignored her. “I haven’t just been pulling patrol duty at the bridge. I … I’ve been talking to one of Alpha’s people.”

“You’ve been what?” said Daryl in a raised tone.

“Hear me out before you start yelling.” Aaron stood and went to him. “I came across her while I was on duty. At first, I just watched her, but she hurt her hand, and you know me. I can’t not help someone in need. I gave her some gauze from my pack. She ran off, but she came back the next day. Ever since then, I’ve been attempting to gain her trust.”

“She’s probably told Alpha about you,” Daryl pointed out.

“Yeah, she probably did because I could tell she was fishing for information. I was doing the same thing. Neither one of us was willing to give anything up. But I was finally getting through to her. I got her to open up a little. We were remembering the way things used to be, comparing our experiences.”

“And why would she do that?” Daryl asked, but with an accusatory tone. He was trying to make Aaron realize the mistake he was making, but Aaron knew he’d done the right thing.

“I’ll admit, at first we were both lying to each other. She told me she was an only child and I gave her some story about a brother I never had. The thing is, we were talking, having a normal conversation.”

“With a person who wears someone else’s skin over her face. What you did was stupid,” Daryl declared.

“If it was so stupid, then why did she tell me where Alpha’s keeping her horde,” Aaron told him.

Carol stood and went to them. “She did what?”

“Her name is Mary,” Aaron went on. “She had a sister who had a baby. That baby now lives at Hilltop.”

“The baby Connie rescued?” Daryl asked, piecing the puzzle together.

Aaron gave a nod. “Adam is her nephew, and the only family she has left.” He shifted his position so he was facing both Daryl and Carol. “The reason I went back to the bridge this morning was to meet with Mary and see if we could negotiate. She wants to see her nephew. I told her to tell me where the horde is. They’re just over the border in this sunken field on the edge of the National Forest.”

“And what about Adam?” Carol asked.

“I told her we needed to see the herd first, make sure she’s not lying, and then I’d make arrangements for her to see her nephew.”

Carol paced a couple times, like an animal waiting to be let loose. “This is great. We can leave right after the funeral, and –"

“We gonna trust a Whisperer now?” Daryl cut in. He wasn’t convinced by any of this. Aaron knew he still had some explaining to do, but for now, the important thing was finding the herd and Lydia.

“Would you rather we do nothing with this new information?” Carol replied sarcastically.

“We need to slow things down for just one minute. We’re still reeling from Siddiq’s death and finding out that Dante has been playing spy games. Lydia’s missing, and we don’t know what that means for us yet,” Daryl explained.

Aaron needed Daryl to see the positive in this situation. “Alpha doesn’t know about Lydia, and with Dante locked up, we can keep it that way.

“You don’t know that for sure. This Gamma … Mary chick could be lying to you and we’re being set up for an ambush, or is that something you and Carol just want to ignore,” said Daryl with ire.

Aaron thought Daryl made a good point, but he hadn’t spent the time with Mary that Aaron did. “She’s desperate to see her nephew. I don’t think she’s lying.”

“You think or you know?” Daryl challenged him.

“The longer we argue about this, the longer it’ll take to check out the facts,” Carol reminded them.

Daryl turned to Carol and stared her down. “You in a hurry? You know, something doesn’t seem right. You’re telling me, out of nowhere Lydia just decides she doesn’t want to come back, so she took off on her own. Aaron’s telling me he’s been having secret meetings with a Whisperer, who suddenly wants to negotiate with us so she can see her sister’s baby. You gonna tell me what really happened out there? Why did Lydia run away?”

“I told you … she didn’t want to–"

Daryl slammed his fist down on the counter behind him. “The truth dammit!” he yelled. “You know her being here protects us.”

Carol saw her opportunity to turn the tables on Daryl. “Is that all she is now? Our shield against the Whisperers? And when we don’t need her we just lock her up again?”

Aaron could see Daryl was about to completely lose it. Carol couldn’t hide the truth anymore. “You told me you’d tell him in the morning. Well, here we are so it’s time he knows.” Aaron turned from Carol to Daryl, and walked over to him. “Carol found out about my meetings with Mary. She knew where to find me, and she brought Lydia with her to the bridge. Mary saw that Lydia was still alive and she ran off. I thought for sure she was going to tell Alpha. Instead, she came back with information about the location of the herd. She wanted to make a deal, her information in exchange for us letting her see her nephew. I think she wants to work with us. Alpha sent a spy into our community, and Mary might be the spy we need to infiltrate theirs. I know it’s a risk, but my gut tells me she’s telling the truth. When she came back, she was different. I get the feeling Mary’s sister got caught in the middle of something, and Mary is seeking revenge against Alpha.”

“It’s like an abusive relationship,” Carol added. “You can’t just walk away from it. Sounds like Mary is wanting to sabotage the Whisperers from the inside, break it down, get them to turn against Alpha, and then she’ll be free to walk away.”

“She took her mask off for me. We negotiated face to face. To me, that says a lot about how serious she is.” Aaron hoped this was enough to convince Daryl to move forward.

It took him a moment before Daryl finally gave a nod. “All right,” he said to Aaron. “We’ll check this out, but we’re not sending an army. Alexandria will only send a few of its people. Get a group from Hilltop to meet us there.” Daryl turned to Carol. “We’re just going to have a look. As soon as we’re done, we’re going to look for Lydia.”

“I agree,” said Aaron. “I’ll radio Hilltop. Maybe they can pass word on to Michonne and Oceanside.” Aaron was about to leave, but Daryl stopped him.

“Hold up. I’ll walk with you. Just give me a second,” Daryl told him.

“I’ll be outside,” said Aaron and he left the infirmary to give Daryl and Carol a moment to speak to each other.

Daryl leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms. Carol joined him and waited for him to berate her. “Why don’t you hang back for now?” Daryl suggested.

“You think I’m going to do something stupid, don’t you,” Carol said to him.

“I don’t know what to think anymore. Everything you do seems to come with a motive that you haven’t filled me in on. First with the Whisperer you captured, and now with Lydia. I told you not to get her involved.” Daryl kept his tone as nonthreatening as he could, but he needed to get his point across.

“I know you did, but look what it has gotten us. We might finally know where the herd is.” Carol ignored his mild scolding. “I’m not going to do anything. I just want to see for myself. I need to know that I’m right about this … about Alpha’s horde.”

“Let’s hope this works out,” he said to her. Carol nodded and pushed off of the cabinet, making her way to the door. “One more thing,” Daryl said to stop her. “Next time, leave Aaron out of your schemes.”

“I know. I will. I’m sorry,” she said before she left.

Daryl left shortly after and found Aaron waiting for him on the porch. They walked together in silence for a while, as they made their way to the radio room. Aaron could feel the tension between them. He knew it wasn’t right to keep Daryl in the dark. He was glad he’d been the one to say what was going on.

“You should have told me,” said Daryl, breaking the silence.

“I know. We agreed, no more secrets. Carol talked me into it, and I’m not using that as an excuse. She was supposed to tell you everything this morning. I thought Carol had already filled you in, but apparently, she didn’t. I’m sorry.”

Daryl gave a nod and accepted Aaron’s apology. He had other things on his mind, though he wished to spend time with Aaron. “Let’s have a family dinner tonight,” Daryl suggested. “It feels like we haven’t been together in a while, and with the funeral and everything else, I think we need this.”

“Sounds good to me,” Aaron smiled, and he took up Daryl’s hand.

“Why don’t you go get Gracie from Sarah’s house. I’m sure she misses her daddy,” Daryl told him.

“I need to get to the radio room and send a message to Hilltop,” Aaron reminded him.

They came to an intersection and stopped. The radio room was to the left and home was to the right. Daryl put a hand on Aaron’s waist. “I’ll do that. You go home. You look tired, and Gracie needs you. She misses you.”

“Okay,” Aaron agreed with a smile.

“You gonna be home tonight?” Daryl asked.

“Yeah. I’m taking a break from guard duty.”

Daryl gave him a tight-lipped smile. “Good because I’ve missed you too.”

Aaron cupped the side of his face and gave him a smile. “Tonight, I’m all yours. See you in a bit.”
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Safe Haven in the Chaos