The sedan crunched to a stop outside the gates of Alexandria. Carol peered through the windshield. "Rick really has given up if Eugene is on watch."
"Allies and guns'll change his mind." Daryl pushed open the driver's side door.
As they strolled toward the gate, Eugene stuck his neck forward, like one of those bobble heads on a dashboard, and exclaimed, "Well this is indeed a most fortuitious and unexpected sight to behold! I will inform the others."
They stood at the gates for what seemed several minutes. Carol looked at Daryl with a raised eyebrow.
Daryl shrugged. "Probably takin' him a long time to get his words out."
Carol snorted.
The gate rolled open. Rick stood there, opening and closing his left hand expectantly, his lips trembling just a little. "Daryl, brother…" He strode forward and embraced Daryl. When he pulled back, Rick turned to Carol, hugged her briefly, and asked, "Morgan?"
"He's safe in the Kingdom."
"In the what?"
"Let's go in," Carol said. "We'll tell you everything."
After they walked through the gates, which Eugene rolled shut behind them, they were flooded by people. Hugs were exchanged all around. There were a lot of comments on Daryl's haircut and clothes.
"You look handsome," Aaron told him in a tone of surprise, which caused Eric to frown.
Michonne, who had strolled up holding Judith, handed the toddler to Daryl.
"Hey, sweetheart," he cooed to her. "Uncle Daryl missed you, girl."
Judith put her little lips against his cheek and blew a loud raspberry, which made Carol and Michonne both laugh. Daryl winced and wiped off the spittle with one hand. When Judith started squirming her way down, he set her on her feet, and she clung to his leg.
"She's walking now," Carl said. "Kind of." He backed up, bent over, and clapped his hands. "Come to big brother, Judy, come on now."
Judith giggled and took two hesitant steps toward him. Carl backed up again and she toddle-ran four more steps before pitching forward. Carl caught her and scooped her up.
"How did you escape?" Rick asked Daryl. "We've got to hide you, man. Negan's coming to collect again tomorrow, and if he sees – "
"- Negan ain't comin' to collect," Daryl interrupted him. "Negan ain't settin' foot in Alexandria ever again."
[*]
Three doors slammed. Tex, Maggie, and Sasha walked forward from the C.A.T. van. Sasha looked up at Rosita on the wall, who turned back and hollered, "They're here!"
"Your friends were expecting us?" Tex asked.
"Daryl must be here already," Sasha answered.
The gates soon opened, and Isaac drove the van inside while the other three trailed behind it. The van was soon surrounded by curious onlookers.
"Glad to have you back," Sasha told Carol. "You're fighting with us?"
Carol nodded.
Isaac shut the van door, strolled over to Sasha, and looked Carol up and down dubiously. "Is this the biggest bad ass?"
Sasha chuckled. "That's her."
Isaac nodded a greeting to Carol, almost a half-bow. "You're right. I wouldn't know it to look at her."
Carol shot Sasha a questioning look.
"I was just describing you to him," Sasha explained. She began introducing Isaac and Tex to everyone. Tex greeted each person with a subtle nod, but Isaac was more personable. When he raised Michonne's hand to his lips, she let out a sultry, amused chuckle, and Rick looked at Isaac through narrow eyes. Isaac did the same thing when he greeted Tara and Rosita, though he gave a solid shake to the hands of the men. When he had stepped away from the last person, Sasha whispered to him, "Just so you know, Michonne is taken, Tara's gay, and Rosita's very easily irritated."
"Sounds like you're trying to undermine the competition," he whispered back, which earned him one of Sasha's signature eye rolls.
"We come bearing gifts!" Tex announced. "Well, an advance anyway. We hope you'll pay us back after this war by helping us scavenge medicines and some other things we need." He walked around to the back of the van. Rick and some of the others trailed after him as Tex flung open the doors. "I've sent more arms ahead to the Kingdom."
Rosita gazed in at the rifles, handguns, and green cases of ammo. She whistled, reached into her front pocket, and fished out the single bullet Eugene had made her. "Kind of makes this seem like less of an accomplishment. I was saving it for Negan, for when he came to collect."
"You planned to kill Negan with one bullet?" Tex asked.
Rosita looked at him languidly through long lashes. "Well you did it, didn't you? With a single shot?"
"I had back-up. I wouldn't have tried it by myself with a single bullet. What did you think would happen after you shot him?"
"I didn't think that far," Rosita admitted. "But Rick gave away all of our guns, and the best I could do was get Eugene to make this for me."
Tex looked Eugene over. "Are you an efficient reloader?"
"I believe I possess adequate talent in the field."
Tex tipped up his cowboy hat. "We've got a barn with two high quality Dillon presses, a couple boxes of our own spent brass, and twenty jars of gunpowder. We could employ your adequate talent after this war. We don't have a lot of free time to reload ourselves, what with all the ranch work, so you could work in exchange for milk, eggs, and apples."
"Are you suggesting an unspecified term of indentured servitude?" Eugene asked.
"Shut up, Eugene," Rosita told him. She looked directly at Tex. "He'll be happy to work for you." She glared at Eugene. "Do something productive for the community for once."
Isaac bent his head down slightly to whisper to Sasha, "You might be right about her."
Rosita strode to the van, reached in, and took her pick of a rifle. Tara grabbed one next, then Carol, Rick, Michonne, Aaron, Carl, and Father Gabriel.
"Is the boy fighting?" Isaac asked. "How old are you, kid?"
"Fifteen," Carl said. "I've killed before. Easily."
"That's not something to boast about," Tex told him. "But if you can shoot, you can fight with us."
"He can shoot," Rick said. "But I want you to stay here, Carl."
"What?" Carl spat.
"If I die in this war, you're going to need to be there for Judith."
"So only nine," Tex said.
"I'm going with you!" Carl insisted. "I'm fighting in this war! I'm not some little child anymore, Dad! I – "
"- We'll discuss this later," Rick hissed. He turned to Father Gabriel. "And you're going to need to stay to protect Alexandria, if anything should happen while we're gone."
"I assumed as much," Father Gabriel said, "But I'd feel much more comfortable doing it with a rifle rather than just a prayer." He patted the gun.
"So only eight," Tex said.
"Where's Spencer?" Daryl asked.
"He defected," Rick told him, "over a week ago, to the Saviors. He went off with some woman."
"Jesus," Daryl muttered. "Why?"
"He didn't like the way I was running things," Rick said. "I guess he thought the Saviors knew how to get things done."
"Yeah, well, dumb ass is likely walkin' 'round dead in the Sanctuary now."
"Tobin might be willing to fight," Carol suggested, "and some of the other construction workers. I'll talk to him."
Daryl tensed noticeably at this mention of Tobin, but then Carol, in front of everyone, trailed a hand affectionately across his back, circled around his side, laced a finger through his belt loop, and planted a kiss on his cheek. He ducked his head, but he didn't move away.
"Thought he didn't have a woman," Isaac said to Sasha in a low voice.
"Well," Sasha replied with a smile. "It looks like Carol is finally marking her territory."