76. the distance

MILO

     'EYES OPEN, EVERYBODY, WEAPONS UP,' Glenn ordered.

Milo didn't need to be told but it was nice knowing he wasn't the only one on high alert. They were walking down the road into the direction Aaron had told them the cars were parked. With every step they took his heartbeat became faster, desperate to know the truth.

'You see someone coming at us, you fire,' Glenn added.

'Copy that,' Abraham replied.

But Michonne wasn't so easily sold. 'So if we see someone we just shoot them?' She asked.

'It's a good question,' Maggie joined in.

'What if there's someone like us?' Michonne added. 'What if Aaron's telling the truth? What if there's someone who has nothing to do with this?'

Glenn sighed. 'We're six people walking with guns. No one's coming up to say hello.'

'But that is exactly what happened,' Michonne went on and Milo felt himself smiling because of her logical reasoning. If Rick didn't have an answer, then Glenn was most certainly screwed.

'If it's someone like us,' Glenn still tried to defend himself, 'we should be afraid of them. He said he was watching us, right? It means he saw us yesterday and after everything we've done why would he want us to join his group?'

'People like us saved a priest,' Milo said, unable to hide his smile any longer. 'Saved a girl who came rolling up to the prison with the Governor. Saved a prisoner by giving him another chance when he probably didn't deserve one.'

'Saved a crazy lady with a sword and her sick friend,' Michonne added. 'He saw that.'

'I don't know what he saw,' Glenn replied before taking up the pace.

Milo raised his eyebrows at Michonne, who simply shrugged. They both knew words weren't enough to convince anyone, if that was the cast, Aaron his story and pictures would've been enough. No, to convince their friends they had to make sure he was telling the truth.

The road made a turn to the right and the group came abruptly to a halt. A huge tree was laying right in the middle of the road and one look at the thing was enough to know it hadn't been done by humans. The trunk was blackened by the impact of the lightening and the smell of burned wood was itching his nose.

They quickly made their way around the tree and as soon as they had so, Milo felt his heart leaping in his chest from happiness and relief. 'He was telling the truth,' he breathed, staring at the car and a huge camper that were parked in the middle of the road.

Slowly the group moved forwards, everyone holding their weapons up, because even though it looked like Aaron said it would, that did not mean it was safe. Milo knew that and yet he couldn't stop himself from feeling relieved. The story was turning out to be real. They had found a place where they could live and rebuild their lives.

His thoughts were interrupted however when the sound of a branch snapping loudly echoed through over the street. They all turned towards the direction of the sound, weapons at the ready.

'Not one step closer, asshole,' Glenn shouted.

The bushes moved and more footsteps sounded, along with the familiar groans of a walker. And soon enough the rotting corpse came stumbling out of the treeline, followed by two more.

'I got 'em,' Abraham said, placing down his Colt M16 and taking out his knife instead.

'We got 'em,' Rosita corrected him, walking up towards the walkers with him.

Within a few seconds they were taken care of and the group moved towards the camper. Abraham was the first one there. With his gun up he opened the door, carefully looking left and right before moving inside. Rosita followed closely while the others waited outside, keeping their eyes open for any possible danger, though Milo was beginning to feel more and more like Aaron had been telling the truth.

'All clear?' Abraham questioned from inside the camper.

'All clear,' Rosita responded and he couldn't the way his heart skipped a beat at the mere thought of having found a possible home. It sounded too good to be true and yet here they were, proving it to be true.

'Let's get those trees out of the way and head back to the others,' Michonne said and they all agreed, quickly getting to work.

About an hour later they came driving up next to the shed and started unloading the canned goods. Quinn eyed them with suspicion but she seemed to hungry to truly complain about it. Milo was beginning to hope that this might turn her opinion around. The same could be said for Rick. They'd proven Aaron spoke the truth, now it was time to act on that. But judging by the dark look on the man his face, Milo felt his hope flying away.

'This,' Rick said, holding up a can of food while turning to face Aaron. 'This is ours now.'

'There's more than enough,' Aaron replied with a small sigh. Milo couldn't even begin to imagine how tired he was of putting up with this bullshit.

'It's ours,' Rick repeated. 'Whether or not we go to your camp.'

'What do you mean?' He spoke up, feeling himself growing annoyed. Being careful was one thing, but this right here was starting to look a lot more like paranoia. 'Why wouldn't we go?'

Michonne backed him up. 'If he were lying, or if he were trying to hurt us...But he isn't and he doesn't. We need this. So we're going, all of us. Somebody say something if they feel differently.'

Rick shook his head but didn't say a word.

'I don't know man,' Daryl said, looking at their leader. 'This barn smells like horse shit.'

And finally he nodded. 'Yeah,' he said, 'we're going.'

Michonne offered him a small smile, nodding at him as if silently trying to convince him that he made the right choice. That he didn't have to doubt himself because they all believed this to be the right thing to do.

He nodded back at her and then turned to look at Aaron. 'So, where are we going? Where is this camp of yours?'

'Every time I've done this, I've been behind the wheel, driving recruits back,' he stammered. 'I believe you're good people, I've bet my life on it. I'm just not ready to bet my friends' lives just yet.'

'You're not driving,' Michonne spoke up firmly. Just because they believed him, didn't mean they had suddenly become naive. 'So if you want to get home, you'll have to tell us how.'

For a second Aaron seemed to struggle with his thoughts but as he looked he realised it was truly the only option and so he caved and nodded at the map Rick was holding in his hands. 'Go north on Route 16.'

'And then?' Michonne pressed.

'I'll tell you when we get there,' Aaron tried to save himself out of betraying his friends completely.

'We'll take 23 north,' Rick said, studying the map. 'You'll give us directions from there.'

'That's...' Aaron chuckled nervously. 'I don't know how else to say it. That's a bad idea. We've cleared 16, it'll be faster.'

Rick glared at him. 'We'll take 23. We leave at sundown.'

'We're doing this at night?' Sasha questioned.

'Look, I know it's dangerous,' their leader said, turning to face the group. 'But it's better than riding up to the gates during the day. If it isn't safe, we need to get gone before they know we're there.'

'No one is going to hurt you,' Aaron spoke, almost sounding like he was pleading and suddenly Milo wondered how much he'd seen of the world after it had gone to shit. 'You're trying to protect your group but you're putting them in danger.'

'Tell me where the camp is, we'll leave right now,' Rick countered.

But Aaron shook his head and remained silent once again.

'It's gonna be a long night,' Rick said and pointed at the canned food. 'Eat. Get some rest if you can.'

Milo leaned against the window, staring out at the dark forest that surrounded the road. The camper swayed as they made their way down Route 23, or maybe it was just Abraham his lack of driving skills. He felt someone move beside him and he turned his eyes away from the window, his gaze landing on his sister, who offered him a small smile.

'What is it?' He asked, frowning. He saw right through that smile. It was the smile she put on when she was nervous. It was pretty convincing for someone who didn't know her that well but he'd been seeing it all his life and had grown pretty immune to it.

'You really think this is the right thing to do?' She questioned, lowering her eyes.

He reached out, placing his hand on her shoulder, squeezing slightly. 'Absolutely,' he replied, putting as much confidence in his voice as he could possibly muster. Though most doubt had been banned from his mind, there was always the possibility that it was yet another lie. His heart, though, told him that it was true and that he was allowed to believe. He was allowed a little light in his life after the many disasters they faced.

Before Quinn had the chance to reply, the camper made a sharp turn to the right, throwing almost everyone out of their seats. A loud curse came from the driver as he was somehow forced to leave the road and head into a smaller one.

'What the hell?' Daryl questioned.

'There was a damn herd of those dead bastards,' Abraham replied, speeding up the camper to get away from the walkers.

'What about the others?' Maggie questioned, making her way to the back of the camper as if she could see them through the window.

Rick, Glenn, Michonne and Aaron had taken the smaller car and were driving ahead so Aaron could show them the direction but if they weren't still ahead of them, that meant they had driven straight into the herd.

'Shit,' Quinn mumbled, looking through the window even though the road was already far behind them. Just when luck finally seemed to be on their side, something like this happened. They simply could not catch a break.

'Hey, do you see that?' Beth asked, pointing towards something outside the front window.

Everyone turned to see what she was looking at and his breath caught in his throat. It was a bright red flare, coloring the sky with warning and he remembered Rick finding a flare gun in Aaron's backpack.

'It could be the other's,' Noah suggested.

'No, they're not in that direction,' Rosita countered.

'But they must've seen it, wherever they are,' Milo spoke up, not ready to give up hope yet.

Without wasting another second, Abraham turned the wheel and started driving into the direction of the flare. No one knew what could be waiting for them, it could be a trap, it could be their friends who might be dead by the time they reached them. But whatever it was, it was also their only chance of finding each other again. Their only point of orientation.

It took about ten minutes to reach the place they believed the flare had been shot. It was an old water tower surrounded by a few buildings. As soon as Abraham pulled up and killed the engine they could hear the growls and groans of walkers. He couldn't possibly say how many were out there, way too many to count and the thought of a trap started to rise again in the back of his mind.

'Milo, Daryl and Sasha with me,' Abraham ordered. 'The rest keep your asses seated.'

No one protested as the small group made their way outside. They had to find out if their friends were here, and there was only one way to do so. He tightened his grip on his gun as they walked into the darkness, towards the groans on the walkers. As they walked on he realised the corpses weren't paying attention to them, they were drawn to something happening on the road before them.

'Do you hear that?' Sasha whispered.

They stopped for a second to listen and then he heard it too. It was a man, whimpering in pain while pleading for something, anything to help him. Immediately the four of them jumped into the action. They ran up the road, firing on the walkers from behind.

Milo was glad for the few silencers they managed to take from Terminus or else those shots would've been like a cannon being fired. Not wanting to waste all his bullets, he put his gun away and pulled his axe from behind his belt. Running forwards he pushed it through the skull of an approaching walker, only to pull it back out and cut the head of another clean off.

Meanwhile Abraham had stormed forwards through the small herd like a battering ram while the three of them hopelessly tried to cover him as he bent down and pulled whoever it was, free from beneath a car.

A walker reached for him and Milo reacted by cutting the thing its hand off, then he pulled his knife out and pushed it through the eye of the corpse, throwing it on the ground. Then he turned on his heels, lifting his leg to kick a walker that was way too close for his liking, away before bending over it and putting his axe into the thing its brain, killing it for good this time.

He looked up, breathing heavily, his arms covered in blood only to find all the corpses were laying dead on the ground. They had killed them all.

'T-thank you,' a pained male voice stammered.

He turned to see who it was they had saved. It was a man who appeared to be in his thirties. He had blond hair that was plastered to his sweaty forehead and he was leaning heavily on Abraham, making Milo his eyes go to his leg. It seemed to be in horrible condition, like it had been crushed by something.

'Are you the man Aaron was with?' Milo questioned, narrowing at the man his pale face.

He nodded, seeming to be doing his best not to throw up. 'I'm Eric,' he replied.

'Let's get the others, get 'em into that buildin',' Daryl said, pointing towards one of the lower structures surrounding the water tower.

While Sasha went to get them Milo moved towards the building Daryl had chosen, banging on the door and awaiting any possible walkers that were inside to come towards the door. But it appeared they had all gathered outside as none came.

He opened the doors and stepped inside, followed by the others. They got a fire going while Maggie and Carol worked on bandaging Eric his leg. All they could do now was wait for any sign the others were alright.

Milo watched as Noah and Beth got a small fire going while Carl tried to calm a crying Judith, she didn't seem to want to calm down without her dad around. He walked over to the teenager, taking a seat next to him.

'You know what I used to do when Quinn refused to stop crying?'

Carl looked up at him, looking desperate for the answer.

A light chuckle escaped his lips at the sight of the desperate teenager and he reached out of the little girl. Carl gladly handed her over and Milo placed her on his arm, lightly bouncing her up and down while placing her head against his chest, close to where his heart was. He placed his lips next to her ear, starting to hum softly. It wasn't even a real song he was singing, just a tune that used to help Quinn down.

He lightly swayed back and forth, continuing to hum the tune and slowly but surely the loud cries of the baby girl died down until there was only a quiet sobbing left.

A small smile appeared on Carl's face as he watched Milo calm down his baby sister and he laughed in awe. 'How did you do that?'

'Well,' Milo started, shifting Judith's weight to his other arm, 'I pretty much had to care for Quinn all by myself. I read a lot of books on how to take care of a baby and once I read that by swaying them softly, letting them hear your heartbeat and hum a tune, they will calm down. And it works.'

'Cool,' Carl said with a small smile.

Just then Daryl, who had been standing guard outside, opened the doors and entered the building, followed closely by Rick, Michonne, Glenn and Aaron. They all seemed to be covered in walker blood and bruises but other than that, they were fine.

Upon seeing his son and daughter, Rick stormed forwards, first hugging Carl, then carefully taking Judith from Milo his arms and holding her close. The man smiled gratefully at him and Milo nodded back at him. He would always take care of those little kids.

'Excuse me,' Aaron spoke up, interrupting the reunions happening between loved ones. 'Excuse me, everyone.' As soon as the whole group looked at him, tears seemed to gather in his eyes while he struggled to get his words out. 'Thank you,' he finally said. 'You saved Eric. I owe you, all of you. And I will make sure that debt is paid in full when we get to our community. When we get to Alexandria.'

He felt a small smile appear on his face. There was no mistaken the sincerity of his promise and even Rick seemed to see it, because finally there was something in his eyes that softened, even though it wasn't much. Milo was pretty sure he'd break down his walls eventually.

'Now, I'm not sure about you but I'd rather do no more driving tonight,' Aaron continued, earning a few chuckles. 'Um, maybe we can hit the road in the morning?'

'That sounds fine,' Rick agreed. 'If we're staying here for the night, you're sleeping over there.' He pointed to the other side of the room from where Eric was laying on a few pillows.

'You really think we gotta do that?' Maggie questioned.

'It's the safe play,' Rick defended, his eyes focused on Aaron. 'We don't know you.'

'The only way you're gonna stop me from being with him right now is by shooting me,' Aaron spoke up, his voice hardening for the very first time since they met him. Clearly keeping someone away from their loved one wouldn't work out well for anyone. He was about to step forwards but Glenn stopped him and talked in hushed tones with Rick instead.

And whatever Glenn told him must've worked because he took a step aside, forming a way for Aaron to walk up to Eric. 'All right,' he agreed then walked back up to his children.

Milo turned, not able to keep the smile away from his face and he saw that Quinn noticed it, as she always did.

'You know you don't always need to have that cocky smile on your face when you turn out to be right,' she said but she too couldn't keep a smile from her face, a real one this time.

'Oh, believe me, I do,' he countered, grinning widely while laying down on the ground. He folded his arms underneath his head, staring at the cracks in the ceiling.

Quinn lay down next to him, face turned up as well. 'If you could choose one thing that would be in this community, what would you choose?' She asked, sounding happier than he'd heard her in a long time.

He took a deep breath, letting her words bounce around his thoughts for a while before finally answering. 'A cinema.'

A chuckle left her lips. 'Seriously?'

'Yeah, don't you miss being able to watch movies?'

She shrugged. 'I guess. I would be nice to eat some popcorn and watch something stupid to just take your mind off things.'

'Exactly,' he agreed, then frowned and turned to her. 'What changed your mind about this place all of a sudden?'

A wicked smirk appeared on her face as she faced him. 'A place where they an stomach a couple as sickeningly in love as those two lovebirds cannot be anything else than trustworthy.'

He grinned. 'Alright, you might have a point there.'

He closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to capture the feeling of happiness inside of him. He hadn't felt this way in a long time and would savor every minute of it. If these last few hours had taught him anything, it was that listening to his heart, being open to the possibility of hope, wasn't always bad.

Not even in this new world.