Author's Note: Yes, that's two chapters in one day! I can hardly believe it myself. I hope you enjoy it, and as always, feedback is much appreciated! Thanks for reading!

Chapter 46: Glenn

Glenn's eyes widened in surprise at the sight of his old friend Daryl, but the moment his gaze settled on Merle again, his jaw clenched, and he knelt down to pick up his gun. He stuck it in the back of his belt and took a couple steps forward.

"Jesus Christ," Merle laughed. "Where the hell you been?"

"Where the hell have you been since Rick killed your buddy the Governor?" Glenn asked. Merle's smirk faded, and he bent down to grab his prosthetic and his shotgun.

"That was a long time ago. Made a bad call, but I lived through it. Looks like you did, too."

"Where you been?" Daryl asked, stepping forward with Henry in his arms. The boy tightened his hold on Daryl's neck. "We looked for all of you. Wasn't 'til winter we had to stop. Went back to the traffic jam, but everybody was gone. Where the hell'd you go?"

"Everywhere. We kept moving, man," Glenn bit out, running his hand through his hair. "Rick was freaking out. He told us everybody was infected. Told us about Shane. He killed Shane, man. And he got us off that farm. He got us out alive. Most of us."

"Most of us," Daryl echoed.

"We wanted to look for you. We went out two at a time. Me and T-Dog. Sometimes Rick and Hershel. But it was getting colder, and Rick wanted to keep moving. The herd was tailing us for weeks. And we ended up in storage units freezing our asses off until spring."

Henry loosened his grip on Daryl, and when he pulled back, he wiped his nose with the back of his hand.

"You're alright," Daryl assured him. "Gonna put you down, but you stay put, alright?" Henry nodded, and Daryl put him down. The boy grabbed hold of the side of his jeans and practically glued himself to his side.

"You said 'we were fishing,'" Merle pointed out.

"What?"

"Who's we?"

"We?" Glenn asked. "Oh. Uh, Rosita. I think you know her." Daryl and Merle shared a look before turning their attention back to Glenn. "And Aaron. You've never met him."

"You been around here all this time?" Daryl asked.

"No. No. Uh…we're camping up at the fishing hole."

"Where's Rick? Lori? The rest of 'em?" Daryl asked.

"Daryl, I can explain everything. But it's a lot to take in. You want to come with me?"

"We ain't goin' nowhere with you, kid," Merle scoffed.

"Merle, shut up," Daryl bit out. "It's Glenn."

"That don't mean shit. Time changes a man. I should know."

"You go wait in the goddamn truck then," Daryl grunted. He bent down and picked up his crossbow, throwing it over his shoulder. Henry reached up and took Daryl's hand.

"Look, I gotta get the boy home. I'm sure everybody's scared shitless."

"The farm with walls?" Glenn asked. Daryl narrowed his eyes at him. "Rosita, Abraham and Eugene? They showed up where we live, and there aren't a lot of Carols and Daryls left in the world, I'm sure. Your names kind of stuck out. We were on our way there, but we got turned around." Daryl and Merle shared another look. "Look, we'll give up our weapons at the gate. Gladly. We just need a place to rest. We've come a long way."

"Where the hell you been?" Merle asked.

"Near Washington D.C. A settlement called Alexandria." At Daryl's look, Glenn sighed. "Look, it's a long story. So either we're gonna stand out here in the woods all day, or we're going to go back and get my people and get this kid home. What's it gonna be?"

...

By the time the walkers had all been put down and the bodies cleared, daylight was fading fast. As much as Andrea wanted to go out there and look for Henry, she knew daylight was the only advantage they had in the woods. Going out there unprepared would almost certainly be a suicide mission. So, she was making plans to go out at first light if Daryl and Merle came back with no sign of Henry.

Carol had managed to get the kids through their baths and bedtime stories and off to sleep by the time she heard the commotion outside. She quickly checked on Luke, Lydia and Dylan and then headed down the stairs and out the front door. Dog was right at her side, and she commanded him to stay on the porch. Cradling her belly with one arm, she hurried as quickly as she could toward the front gate.

She heard the familiar rumble of that rickety old pickup truck, and her stomach twisted into knots. She knew that if Henry wasn't with them, then the boy was likely dead. Sophia had been on her mind all day, and she was certain that if Negan came home to the news his son was dead, it truly would break him.

The first thing Carol noticed was the second vehicle coming in behind the pickup truck. The second thing she noticed was Henry seated between Daryl and Merle in the pickup. She gasped, and Daryl opened up the truck door just as Merle rolled to a stop. As the gates closed behind the vehicles, Henry climbed over Daryl and out of the truck, and Carol was the first to greet him.

"Oh my God," she choked out. "You're ok. You're ok." She knelt down in the dirt and pulled him into a hug. "You had us so scared. I thought…"

"I'm sorry," he sniffled.

"Why'd you do that? Huh? You know better than that!" She pulled back from the hug and put her hands on his shoulders. "Why'd you do that?"

"I thought maybe my dad was lost in the woods. Like the girl in the story Daryl told Lydia." Carol blinked back tears and hugged him again. "He never gave up looking for her."

"Your dad can take care of himself," she murmured. "But we're supposed to take care of you."

"I'm sorry," he whimpered.

"Don't you ever do something like that again, Henry! Promise me."

"I promise," he sniffled. Carol hugged him again, squeezing him tight. When she let go, she wiped the tears from his face and kissed his forehead. "I'm just glad you're safe. We're going to have a long talk about this in the morning, but I think we've both been through enough today." Henry nodded then, and Carol stood, taking his hand. Daryl climbed out of the truck and rushed to her, pulling her into a hug.

"What happened out there?" she asked, peering over his shoulder and squinting into the bright headlights of the second vehicle, before the abruptly shut off.

"You ain't gonna believe this one," Daryl murmured, turning to pull his arm around her from the side and waving Glenn over with his free arm.

Out from around the pickup truck came Glenn, Rosita and a man Carol had never seen before. Carol's jaw dropped a moment, and her hand flew to her mouth.

"Oh my God," she gasped. Tears flooded her eyes again, and she let go of Henry's hand and went straight to Glenn. The smile of relief that flashed across his face was all she needed to pull her arms around him and hug him close. "You're alive."

"So are you," he chuckled, sniffling as Carol pulled back and wiped at her eyes. "And look at you." He glanced down at the belly between them, and Carol rested her hand there.

"Hey, Carol," Rosita spoke up, giving a tired wave as Carol moved to hug her. "Remember me?"

"Of course I remember you. Abraham and Eugene?"

"Long story," she said somberly. She nodded to the other man with the unkempt beard and the surprised eyes. "This is Aaron."

"Aaron," Carol whispered.

"I've heard a lot about you and Daryl and this place. It's nice to finally put faces to names." The crowd that had gathered around out of curiosity about Henry's return was now whispering about the new arrivals.

"Alright, folks. It's late. Nothin' to see here," Merle called out. "Everybody go back home and get some sleep." He waved the crowds off toward their homes, and much to his surprise, he felt two arms pull around his middle. He looked down to see a mop of hair belonging to Dylan. "Hey, kid. Missed you, too." Dylan looked up at him and grinned, while Andrea came rushing over pulling her bathrobe around her middle. "Hey, Blondie. Didn't find no fish, but I figured you'd like what I did find a whole lot better." He nodded toward Glenn, and Andrea's eyes went wide.

"Glenn? Oh my God!" She rushed over and hugged him, and the young man stumbled back in surprise but hugged Andrea just as fiercely.

"Andrea? Rosita didn't mention you being here."

"I haven't been here long at all. God, where is everybody else?"

"Maybe we should get some sleep, explain everything in the morning, yeah?" Rosita suggested. "We're all exhausted, and it looks like you've all had enough excitement for one night."

"I think Rosita's got a good point," Aaron chimed in. "We've been on the road for nearly a month."

"Why don't you take Merle's place? He's got plenty of room," Andrea chimed in.

"Actually, moved a lot of Negan's stuff into my spare room, remember, Blondie? Ain't got but the two rooms."

"You can stay with us, right Dyl?" Andrea asked, much to Merle's surprise.

"Yeah! Awesome!" Dylan jumped excitedly. At Merle's grin, Andrea rolled her eyes and leaned in to whisper to him.

"My couch is awfully comfortable." She patted his cheek, and Merle groaned. He turned then and looked at the new arrivals.

"Alright. You folks follow me. My only rule is if you break any of my shit, you replace it with your shit. Got it?" Rosita glanced at Glenn and then Aaron, and without words, they followed Merle to his house, while the rest of the group headed back to their own homes.

Carol turned to Daryl then, and she hugged him once again, kissing him softly.

"Has he told you anything?" Daryl shook his head.

"Not much. All I know is they've been in D.C. for a while. Years, maybe."

"Rick?"

"Don't know."

"And Maggie? Lori?" Daryl shook his head. "I say we go home and try to sleep. Tomorrow, when they're ready, they'll tell us why they're here." Carol nodded then, and she looked down at Henry and gave his hand a squeeze.

"Come on. Let's go home."

...

Merle had given the group a quick tour of the house before grabbing a few things and hightailing it over to Andrea's house. Rosita, Glenn and Aaron all sat around having something to eat and drink before taking turns in the shower. Aaron went first, Rosita went second and Glenn went third. By the time Glenn got out of his shower, Aaron could already be heard snoring from his room, clearly exhausted from the journey.

Glenn pulled on his cleanest set of sleep clothes and slipped into the room he'd thrown all of his stuff into. There was a chill in the air, and he quickly tossed a few logs in the fireplace before lighting a match. And when he stood up, he heard the creak of the floorboards and Rosita came padding in, barefoot and wearing her usual dark sleep pants and old T-shirt.

"Figured you'd be sleeping already," Glenn yawned, rubbing his eyes as he made his way to the bed. He cleared off his things, piling them in a chair in the corner. He sat down on the edge of the bed, and his shoulders slumped. Rosita cocked her head to the side and crossed her arms across her chest.

"What are you gonna tell them tomorrow?" she asked.

"The truth?" Glenn suggested with a shrug. "I don't even know where to start, to be honest."

"You gonna be ok?" she asked, taking a few steps into the room.

"Yeah. I just…as happy as I am to see them again, I just can't help but wish we were already back home."

"I know. We will be home soon." Glenn nodded then and then his shoulders slumped. Rosita sighed softly and stepped up to stand between his parted legs. He leaned forward, resting his forehead against her stomach, moving his hands to her hips. He pulled his arms around her then, holding her up as she wrapped her legs around his waist and settled in his lap.

"Soon," Glenn said with a tired smile, leaning in to press his lips to hers. When he pulled back for a moment, she pouted at him before breaking out in a wide smile.

"Soon," she repeated, wrapping her arms around his neck and sinking into his comforting embrace.