Max closed the door behind her and stood with her back to it. Rick nodded to her from behind the desk he was sitting at. Daryl stood by the window, looking out over his shoulder to the people of Alexandria going about their daily business. Max took a hesitant step into the room. Rick gave her a weak smile, "you wanted to see us?" he said, gesturing her to sit. Max sat down on the edge of the sofa in the middle of the room and straightened her clothes. When she looked up her eyes were grave.
"What I am about to tell you, you must swear to me that it will not leave this room. No one must hear of it, least of all Emily." Daryl turned his head and met her eye. "If she as much as senses that I have betrayed her trust, she will be gone from this place before we know it."
"Then why do it?" Daryl growled. Rick had leaned forward in his seat. Max let her eyes go from Daryl and rested them upon Ricks intrigued face.
"Because if I do not," she paused, "you may inadvertently drive her away anyway." Her eyes darting back to Daryl.
"We have no intention of driving her away." Rick said calmly, "Both of you have become valuable members of our community these last months." He paused and his eyes narrowed, "however, my job is and will always be the protection of our people. I currently count you and Emily amongst our people, but if you have information that I need in order to do my job,.."
"Wait," Max said, "Emily is no threat to you, nor am I. That is not why I am here."
"Then why are you here?" Daryl shifted.
"I know that she has started to count on a lot of these people as her own family, that she has grown close, closer to some than others." Max shot Daryl a look.
"And?"
"And," Max straightened her back, "She doesn't trust people easily. She seems to trust you."
"Funny way of showing it." Daryl huffed.
Rick ignored him, and focused on Max. "What is it you wanted to tell us?"
Max sighed. "I do not want to tell you anything. But I feel is must. If we are to remain here, if.." She let the words linger. Max brushed a hand over her eyes and took a breath.
"Emily was married before. Her husband was.. not a very nice guy. I guess you would call him a gangster. When I first met Emily, I was a prostitute." Rick raised an eyebrow. "Emily helped me get out. She managed to convince her husband to let me stay with them for a while. Her husband didn't like me. Maybe because I technically was the property of another gangster, and having me in the house was like hiding stolen goods. Stolen from people you really don't want to catch you stealing from them. Or maybe it was because Emily and I had grown very close. I don't really know. And I don't really care. Emily's husband wasn't what I would call gentle. I guess for a while she thought she could control him. Or at least manage him. But she was wrong. He had a room in his basement. It was like a torture chamber. I know he took her there. Sometimes alone, sometimes he brought one of his bodyguards along. Emily never spoke of what happened down there. She tried to leave, we both did, but he wouldn't let her go. And his reach was extensive." Max sighed.
"Emily was involved in the business. She was a sort of diplomat. She had great people skills. Could make friends wherever she went. Brokered peace treaties and trade deals. But she also made some enemies." Max paused.
"Go on" said Daryl. Max swallowed.
"She had a favorite bodyguard. There was always someone with her when she was out. This man, Arkady, was the closest thing you could come to a good man among them. I don't know if they had an affair or not, but they were very good friends. She trusted him more than any other. Emily had many contacts, and one day she receives information about a shipment arriving at the competing organization. A shipment of people. Enslaved women to work in their brothels." Rick draw breath audibly. "Emily and Arkady went out, without her husbands knowledge or consent. They stole the truck with the women in it. They drove it far away, to another town, where the police was not in the organizations pocket. And they set them free there. Then they went home."
"They should have known that that offence would not be taken lightly. Arkady went missing. About a week later his body was found in an ally. Strung up on a brick wall. Disemboweled. Yet Emily said nothing to her husband about what she and Arkady had done. He thought it to be just another step in the brewing war between the organizations."
There was a knock on the door. Rick blinked as if i had awoken from a daze. Max pressed her lips together as Daryl got up and went to the door. He opened it ajar and peered out. "They're back", Carol said from the other side of the door, "I think you will want to see this."
Upon exiting the building they saw a convoy of three cars driving through the gates into Alexandria. A large truck brought up the rear, and as the gates closed behind them, people jumped out and started unloading.
"We found a freaking warehouse almost untouched", said Sasha as Rick approached. She handed him a crate and leaned over the boot of one of the cars and extracted a large bag. "all kinds of stuff" she smiled, as she passed Max and Daryl who both hung back observing. Emily passed behind her carrying two laden backpacks. Daryl stood motionless for a moment before he followed her, grabbing one of the packs. She gave him a quizzical look as she released her grasp on the backpack. "Can't have you do all the heavy lifting." he growled. Emily didn't answer. They took the packs to their storage and handed them over to Olivia to be sorted.
They made their way back to the cars, meeting others carrying supplies. "only the truck left now", Sasha called after them. Max was still on the porch where they left her, looking at them with a blank expression on her face. "What's going on with her?" Emily whispered to Daryl as they passed. Daryl shrugged. Starting to unload the truck Emily hauled the last crate down, almost toppling under the weight of it. Daryl threw the bag he had slung over his shoulder, to the ground, and grabbed the crate. "I got it." Emily hissed. "I'll take it." was the only reply she got, as he lifted the crate away from her og set it on the ground to pick up the bag.
"what are you doing?" Emily asked. Daryl looked at her blankly. "Carrying stuff." he huffed, and bent to pick up the crate again.
"no, why are you being nice? It's weird" Daryl looked at the crate in his hands.
"I'm always nice." he said sarcastically.
"Fuck you", said Emily and walked off, not seeing the small smile that emerged in the corner of his mouth.
That night, as the light of the moon shone coldly down upon them, a few of them had gathered outside on the porch of Sasha's house. She was vividly recounting them finding the warehouse, and how with only one car, between the four of them, Emily had gone out alone to get more transport as the others packed supplies to bring back. After returning with one car, she disappeared again, and reappeared in another. As they had almost completed loading the cars, they noticed that Emily was gone again. They went back into the warehouse to look for her and emerging from a fruitless search, found her outside with a large truck.
"I don't even know how she got the thing running in the first place." Sasha beamed at Emily sitting with her back to the wall.
"It won't last long," she replied. "But might be good for a couple of more runs."
"We are going back tomorrow, there is loads more to get" said Sasha. Emily could sense Rick staring at her as Sasha spoke. Meeting his eyes she couldn't discern the look in them. Maybe it was just the shadows of dusk that obscured it. She startled slightly at Daryl's voice, she hadn't noticed him joining them.
"We should all go, just pure luck you didn't get in trouble today."
Sashas smile broadened. "sure."
Rick got to his feet. "settled then", he said and motioned for Daryl to follow him. As the two of them disappeared into the shadows, Emily couldn't help but think that it looked like they were going in the direction of the house she and Max shared.
Max opened the door tentatively. Seeing who it was she paused. "Where is Em?" she whispered.
"She's at Sasha's." said Rick, "may we come in?" Max took a step back, opening the door for them.
As they sat down in the living room, Max remained standing. "you shouldn't be here" she started, but Rick interrupted her. "You started your story, it's time you finished it."
Max looked out of the window, in the distance she could see lights coming from Sasha's house, shadows of people moving there. "Okay", she moved towards them. Looking around her as to find a place to start.
"We left. How is a whole other story. When we met your group, we told you we were here on vacation when the world ended. I'm sure you have gathered by now that that was not exactly true. We were running. We have travelled the world. Never staying long in one place. Always looking over our shoulders. Feeling their breath on our necks. The end of the world was the best thing that ever happened to us. They will never find us now. We are free."
Rick cleared his throat. He looked at Daryl who sat completely still, staring into the wall. "You said you told us this because of Emily?" he said softly. Max gave a weak smile.
"She doesn't trust people easily. Especially men. But she seems to trust you." She was looking at Daryl as she spoke. "We have all noticed the tensions between you two. You bicker and quarrel. Then you are almost friends. Then it starts again. Sasha has got a bet going on how long it will take before you two end up in bed together." Daryl huffed, but didn't speak. "She is not used to feeling close to someone other than me. She is conflicted. She is exhausted, and she is scared. Scared that if she allows herself to count on you, that you will turn out to be a dick, or that you will disappear like Arkady. So she fights it. She taunts you to see what you will do. And she tries to scare you away." Max went to stand in front of him, forcing him to look at her. "I want you to make up your mind. If you want her you have to be strong. Stronger than her. You have to stand firm, show her that you are not going anywhere. That you can face whatever comes at you. If you do not want to, or cannot do that, then please just leave her alone. She is the strongest person I know, but I don't know how much strength she has left. And I don't want her to have to find out."