Author's Note: What will Anna's decision be…(Got a bit of a shorter chapter here! But some really beautiful moments as well. Keep on reading!)

Dusk crept upon the camp quickly. A couple members of the group had already turned in for the night, exhausted from a long day of work and loss. The rest remained huddled around the small fire pit, some speaking in hushed tones, others trapped in their own thoughts.

Anna made herself comfortable beside the fire, fighting away a chill that wracked through her body. She watched as Lori began divvying up food for the group, scooping each meal into separate bowls and handing them out one by one. Anna had offered up some of the rations she'd acquired from her brother's apartment complex — the can of black beans and the can of peaches — wanting to contribute something for the group's hospitality.

Dinner consisted of black beans, a small portion of fish, and for dessert — one half of a canned peach. Lori handed her a bowl and as if on cue, her stomach growled wildly, eliciting a sad smile from her new friend. But Anna shrugged it off and dug in, forcing herself to take small measured bites, wanting to savor each and every morsel.

It wasn't until she was halfway done with her meal, that she suddenly felt like she was being watched. Her head snapped up, scanning the crowd around the fire, half-expecting the culprit to be the archer shooting her another dirty look. But she spotted Daryl on the opposite side of the fire pit, isolating himself away from the others, eyes glazed over as he watched the flames dance. Anna's brow knitted as she craned her head to the right, faltering once she realized who had been watching her — the blonde little girl, huddled beside her mother, staring at Anna's bowl of food.

Anna slowly chewed what she had in her mouth, noticing how thin the girl's arms were, wrapped around her slender body. The way her cheekbones hollowed and collar bones jutted out. The little girl's bowl was practically licked clean, sitting at her feet, her eyes glued to Anna's remaining dinner — and she felt something tug at her heart. She saw a lot of herself in the little girl, remembering all the times she'd gone to bed hungry growing up, the little money her father made going towards her mother's treatments instead of provisions for the household…

Anna shook away the memories, sighing softly, before turning to face the girl. "Hi there," she smiled, noticing how the girl startled at the sudden attention. "I'm Anna. What's your name?"

The girl buried herself deeper into her mother's side, looking up at her with big, questioning eyes. The mother smiled tightly at her daughter, nodding once encouragingly, the two seeming to have a silent conversation. "I'm Carol," the mother spoke, voice soft and meek, her body curled inwards, almost protectively. "This is Sophia," she introduced, running a hand through her daughter's short blonde hair.

Anna smiled warmly. "Hi Sophia," she shot the girl a small wave, a pang of sadness hitting her when the girl flinched slightly. The mother and daughter seemed constantly on edge, eyes darting around the camp nervously, never speaking more than a few words at a time. When Sophia didn't respond, Anna continued. "Hey, want to help me out with something?" she asked, noticing how the girl sat up a little straighter, her curiosity piqued. "So, I had a huge dinner last night and I'm pretty stuffed, to be honest. But I don't wanna put this to waste. Do you want the rest?" she offered, holding out her half-full dinner bowl.

Sophia eyed the bowl eagerly, her hands twitching out towards it, but suddenly Carol intervened. "Oh, no. No, thank you. That's very kind of you, but we can't accept that," she immediately declined, a strained smile flittering across her lips.

Anna regarded the mother earnestly, pursing her lips together. "It's nothing, really. I swear," she urged softly, before glancing down at the girl. "Like I said, I'm stuffed. You'd really be doing me a solid here, Sophia," she continued, keeping her tone lighthearted, glancing up at Carol from under her eyelashes and giving her an encouraging nod.

Sophia licked her lips quickly, peeking up at Carol who's features softened, pausing for a long moment. "Go ahead," Carol whispered with a nod, words tangled in her throat as she locked her teary gaze with Anna, mouthing 'thank you' over Sophia's head. Anna just smiled, pushing her bowl closer to Sophia, who scooped it up with her bony fingers. "What do you say?" Carol nudged her daughter, quickly wiping away a tear that slipped down her cheek.

"Thank you," Sophia murmured shyly, the hint of a smile tracing her features as she began scarfing down the rest of Anna's dinner.

Anna felt a warmth spread through her chest, despite the growing ache in her belly. She had lied, obviously — she was starving. She hadn't eaten a full meal in weeks, her ribs becoming more and more visible each day that passed. But Sophia…she was just a little girl. And sometimes sacrifices had to be made — sometimes a little kindness went a long way.

Anna sighed softly, rubbing her hands together to create some warmth as she turned back towards the fire, her body stilling when she noticed something — every single person sitting around the fire was frozen, all eyes trained on her. Apparently, her private conversation between Carol and Sophia hadn't been as private as she thought.

Some looked astounded, others smiled kindly in her direction, and Anna felt her cheeks redden from all the sudden attention. She cleared her throat awkwardly and slowly stood up. "I'm, uh, I'm gonna turn in," she announced quietly, feeling incredibly exposed all of the sudden, wanting to escape the scrutiny.

As she turned to leave, she spotted Daryl watching her walk away, only pulling his gaze from hers when Lori moved to hand him his own dinner bowl.

Anna ducked her head down and hurried to her truck, which was still parked in front of the RV. Still feeling slightly flushed, she took a moment to breathe deeply, shaking out the fuzziness in her fingertips.

Rick had been kind enough to lend her an extra pillow and blanket, allowing her to set up a rickety little bed in the back of her pickup. She sifted through her full pack, grabbing her travel-sized toothbrush and toothpaste, quickly brushing her teeth before hoisting herself into the bed of the truck.

With a heavy sigh, Anna laid down, pulling the blanket to her chin, staring up at the clear night sky. She'd slept in worse conditions before — but tonight she had a pillow and a blanket. She was happy.

Anna figured sleep would become a futile thing with her mind ticking nonstop. She still had a big decision to make — stay with the group or risk it on her own. She'd been going back and forth for the better part of the evening — each time she swayed towards one choice, another reason to go with the other would pop up.

Her thoughts were filled with never-ending questions and so few answers — would she make it to Fort Benning on her own? Was Fort Benning even still standing? Had Ben made it to the army baseat all? Or was he already gone? What would he think of this new group? What did she think of this new group? What if she went with them to the CDC and the CDC was destroyed? Could she trust this new group? What if they weren't who they appeared to be? What if she found herself fitting in with them? What if she found her placewith them? What would Ben want her to do? What would Ben do? What should she do?

Anna groaned softly, feeling the start of a migraine begin to form as she absently rubbed her temples and squeezed her eyes shut — she would give anything to finally have some clarity. She opened her eyes, feeling her thoughts stray as she focused above instead. There wasn't a cloud in the sky, allowing millions of beautiful, shining stars to be gazed at, the deep blueness of the galaxy vast behind them.

The quiet was peaceful. It was calm. Anna simply breathed, feeling the day's events begin to weigh her body down, the heaviness of sleep creeping upon her. But just before she closed her eyes, she suddenly heard someone clear their throat.

Anna jolted up with a soft gasp, not having heard them approach, and swiveled around to see who it was.

She had to hide the look of surprise on her face when she saw none other than Daryl standing beside the bed of the truck.

Anna locked eyes with the archer, feeling slightly breathless for a moment as she pushed the hair back from her face. "Hey," she murmured softly, watching him nod once in return.

An awkward silence passed between the two as Daryl glanced past Anna and towards the darkened city skyline, shifting his weight back and forth uncomfortably. Anna furrowed her brows, picking absently at the bandage wrapped around her palm, waiting for him to talk first. When the quiet stretched on for a moment too long, she couldn't help but speak up.

"Look —"

"I —"

Both Anna and Daryl's words overlapped, having spoken at the same time, neither finishing their sentence as they waited for the other to go on. The archer quickly nodded, motioning for Anna to continue.

She sighed, running a hand through her matted hair. "Look, I meant to — uh, I just…" she sighed. "Thank you for what you did last night," she finally mustered, shrugging a bit helplessly. "You saved my life — again," she pointed out, scoffing humorlessly.

"Was nothin'," Daryl brushed off gruffly, kicking the toe of his boot against the rear tire.

Anna's lips pursed as she waited for the archer to continue, wondering why he'd come over in the first place. He hadn't exactly been the most welcoming person in the world since she'd run into him again. In fact, he'd been downright disrespectful. Yet…here he was, some of that harshness melted off his features, seeming a bit lost for words and Anna once again, couldn't seem to get a read on him.

She gnawed on her bottom lip a moment longer. "Did you need something? Or…" she urged, trying to give the man an out.

But he just shook his head. "Nah," he grumbled, before straightening up, his deep blue eyes locking with her light brown ones. Then, he raised one of his hand and set a bowl on the edge of the truck's bed.

Anna's brows knitted as she slowly reached for the bowl, pulling it towards her and peeking inside — and there she saw a full bowl of food, the same meal that'd been distributed for dinner. Her head snapped up, confusion spreading over her features. "What's this?"

Daryl shot her a look. "Ya lied ta' that lil' girl. Ya practically skin an' bones."

"I'm fine," Anna protested, unsure why she felt slightly offended by his accusation, subconsciously pulling the blanket further up her body. "I'm not taking your food, Daryl."

The archer simply shrugged. "Had a huge dinner last night — don't wanna put it ta' waste," he rumbled pointedly, recalling her words from earlier.

Anna ignored the swell of warmth spreading through her chest. She quickly shook her head, offering the bowl back. "No, I can't. Youneed to eat."

"An' so do you," he shot back resolutely, turning on his heel as if to leave, ending the conversation.

"Wait!" Anna called after him, feeling muddled as she tried to figure out what to say. Daryl glanced over his shoulder. "Thank you," she managed, her tone a bit wary as if waiting for the punchline.

But the archer just nodded once, before continuing the walk back to his tent, zipping the entrance closed behind him without another word.

Anna stared at his tent for another long moment, completely baffled as to what just happened. With a frustrated grunt, she fell back against the side of the truck, holding the bowl on her lap. She was having trouble keeping up with the archer's mood swings — one moment, he was holding a crossbow to her head, looking at her as if she were the devil himself, and the next, he was saving her life and making sure she didn't go to bed hungry. She couldn't keep up.

But as her stomach let out a loud growl, Anna decided to put aside her conflicting emotions and dig into the lukewarm meal, moaning blissfully as her empty belly began to fill. She tried not to think about Daryl, but somehow, someway, he just kept on prodding his way into the forefronts of her mind. He was a mystery, that one. And Anna wondered if deep down, there was more going on with him than met the eye.

The food disappeared rather quickly. Anna licked the bowl clean as to not leave any scraps behind and let out a content sigh as she placed the bowl down beside her. She hadn't felt this full in weeks. A quiet giggle escaped her lips as she poked at her perturbing belly, her eyelids suddenly feeling incredibly heavy.

Anna nestled against her pillow, pulling the blanket up around her shoulders as she laid on her side. She stared at the indents marring the interior metal lining the bed of the truck, her thoughts roaming aimlessly as sleep began to overtake her.

She thought of Ben — the way he always watched out for her and made sure she was safe…the way he looked the last time she saw him, asking her to stay in the city and her declining the offer, telling him that one of them needed to stay to take care of their parents…the way his smile always lit up his whole face…the way his honey-brown eyes, similar to her own, crinkled around the edges when he laughed.

If Ben were with her, he'd want her to be safe. That'd been the only thing he'd ever wanted — for Anna to just be safe.

Images of Ben's brown eyes suddenly morphed into deep blue ones, hooded and guarded, but a swell of warmth mounting from deep down inside them…

And then the world fell away.

A/N: D'aww…Good lord, Daryl, make up your damn mind and figure your emotions out! He's a complicated guy, that one. Still, gotta love him.

QUESTION OF THE WEEK: This is a bit of a different QOTW - more of a check-in. How is everyone liking this story? Is this something you'd like to see written up to the current season? Or something you'd like to see have more of a definitive ending (maybe season 2 or 3?) I will only keep writing so long as people are interested in this story and if y'all would like to see something else, please let me know! My feelings won't be hurt, I promise! Love y'all!

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