ChildishAssassin: I am going to be addressing that. I don't think Carol will so much be remorseful as she is guilty, but I do think that she needed to go, needed to be on her own, to be able to grow. I am currently making it up as I go...lol...also, I have Negan's first meet with Ani down; she stays in Alexandria due to some other issues. But yeah, love at first sight for Negan...XP

Sorry for the delay, but there was a lot to write. I'm posting 2 chapters this morning and will get a third posted by the end of the day to make up for it, seeing as I had to get this one done before I could post the other two...Shouldn't take so long to write the next chapters seeing as how everyone is starting to come back together now...

"It's not up to us!" Rick shouted. "There's a council now! They make the choices, not us!"

"Is Hershel on the council?" the Governor asked smugly, one of his people producing the man from the back of a truck. "How about Michonne?"

They watched as both were forced to their feet, the people around them gasping before Rick shouted, "We don't make the decisions anymore!"

"You're making the decisions today, Rick," the man shouted back. "You and Titania come down here and let's, let's have that talk."

"She ain't goin' down there," Daryl growled to Rick, pushing Ania behind him.

"He's got a fuckin' tank, D. I think I gotta go," Ani said, though she was holding onto his vest with all her might.

"No, he's right. Stay here," Rick said, walking down to the fence.

"This ain' gonna end well," she informed those standing around her.

"We'll be fine," Daryl growled out as he came back from opening the gate.

"Nah, D. This is it," Ani stated. "Look at the heat they're packin' and the numbas they've got."

"We can't take 'em all on," Merle agreed.

"We won't," Daryl said. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more."

"When's the last time the bus was checked for supplies?" Ani asked.

"Day before we hit the Big Spot," Sasha answered. "We were running low on rations then and we're running even lower now."

"Yeah, we'll manage," Daryl told them. "Things go south, everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know."

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad?" Tyreese asked. "How long do we wait?"

"They'll know. Gonna be kinda hard not ta when they got a fuckin' tank!"

"Calm down, Ani," Merle told the girl. "We'll wait as long as we can, then we stick to the plan."

Ani kept a close eye on Rick as she heard the Governor shouting he had a tank and they had to leave. She didn't even notice Daryl handing out the guns until he pressed one against her back, trailing his hand to her hip as he moved away from her to hand Merle and Sophia weapons as well. Soon enough, everyone who had come outside the prison during the initial warning was armed, each of them readying their rifle as the Governor shot at a couple walkers, taking them down.

"We gotta do something," Carl said from beside Daryl, Ani on Daryl's other side while Sophia stood next to Carl, Merle next to her.

"Your dad's got it," Daryl growled out.

"Let's hope," Ani commented.

"They're talking," Carl stated. "We could kill the Governor right now."

"From 50 yards?" Daryl asked.

"I'm a good shot, so's Merle and Ani. We could end this right now."

"He's right," Ani agreed.

"Or you could start somethin' else," Daryl said.

"Listen to Daryl, Ani. Wait," Merle commented. "Trust Rick."

It was hard for her to do that when the Governor walked over to a car only to pull Michonne's sword out and held it to Hershel's neck. Ani aimed her rifle and tightened her grip as Maggie and Beth became emotional. She forced herself to shut it down, the fear and the anger that was building inside her, as she watched Rick pleading his case. It seemed like only a split second later that the Governor swung his sword, Ani opening fire and hitting one of the men next to the tank. All around her, fire broke out as Maggie and Beth cried. She watched as the men got into their cars and began going through the fences, the tank plowing right over one of her pits. Cursing at the top of her lungs, she kept firing until Daryl pulled her along with him. They moved to where they had better vantage point and opened fire once more, Daryl getting two in the chest while Ani hit another three in the head. They lost track of where the others were as the tank opened fire on the buildings around them.

"Ania, go!" Daryl said, pushing her from their spot as the tank burst through the main gate.

She ended up losing Daryl in the fire fight, finding Merle and another survivor with Sophia helping to keep the way to the bus clear. Even as she fired, taking down another two with head shots, she was looking for Daryl. The man they were with got hit as Maggie got Glenn to the bus. Ani could hear Maggie yelling for Beth a few moments later as the people from the Governors group continued firing on them. She yelled for Daryl over the gun fire and explosions of the prison behind them until she heard Sophia cry out.

"Merle!"

"She's hit in the shoulder! Don't look bad, but we gotta go! We gotta get 'er outta here!"

"Go! I'll cova ya!"

"You follow behind, Ani! Don't fuckin' lose sight of me!" Merle yelled at her.

Taking up position, she made sure Merle had Sophia up on his shoulder as the girl protested she could fight and at the very least walk on her own. Of course, Merle was never going to listen and just started moving towards the administration building. Another blast from the tank forced her to take cover once again. She couldn't see Merle through the dust and smoke, just screaming at him to get Sophia out as she ran a different direction. She saw Tyreese being pinned down by a couple of the Governor's people and took careful aim, seeing one go down right before she pulled the trigger and took the other one down. Looking up, she saw the kids standing there, Lizzie and Mika both with guns in their hands, which explained who'd killed the man.

"Tyreese! Get 'em out!" she screamed at him. "I'll cover ya! Go!"

She didn't wait, running right into the fray just in time to catch a glimpse of Beth and Daryl running out of the prison, following the path the bus was taking. Ani tried to go after them, she really did, but there was no way around the walkers, and she didn't have enough ammo to plow through. Without a choice, she ran the direction Tyreese did, only to find herself cut off by more walkers. Hoping the defenses they'd put on the other side of the prison held, she ran into the prison itself and made her way to her cell with Daryl. Grabbing her bug out bag, her crossbow, and all the hidden jerky and moonshine the two had kept in there, she took a second to process the turning of events, willing herself to stop the movie and get her head in the game.

Stopping to look at the pictures on the wall, she turned and grabbed Daryl's bug out bag as well, seeing as that was the one he'd kept his drawing supplies in after her accidental find before grabbing the pictures and carefully placing them in his sketchbook for safe keeping before putting it back in his bag. She took all the knives they had in their cell before heading to Merle's and grabbing his stash as well, clipping his own bag to Daryl's. Altogether, she was carrying roughly fifty pounds of weight, but it helped to motivate her, gave her something else to concentrate on as she made her way into the tombs. Merle and Sophia, Tyreese and the kids, Daryl and Beth. They'd all made it out. Now, all she needed to do was survive the tombs and find a trail of her people.

~x~

Daryl had shoved Ania out of the way but had to dodge around another to get out of the way of the debris he'd protected her from, forcing them to separate. He couldn't see her, and the gunfire around him made it to where he couldn't hear anything, even as he shouted for her. The only problem was that his shouting drew the attention of the attackers, causing him to have to duck under metal pallets for cover. Daryl fought back, able to take down another of the men before a walker caught up to him. Fighting it behind the steel, he managed to get a piece of rebar into its skull. He took it out only to stick it up the walker's spine, hefting it up and using it as a shield for the people fighting in front of him.

The walker shield held and he was able to get closer to the people attacking the prison. Pulling a grenade out of his pocket, he bit the pin off and tossed it. As soon as the people were down, he began fighting the walkers, firing at them and killing them as he made his way up to the tank. Swinging his rifle around and taking out another walker, he threw it behind him as he pulled out another grenade, pulling the pin and jumped up to launch it down the barrel of the tank. He ran like hell to a safe spot, hearing the men inside shouting about the grenade and watching as they scrambled out of the tank. The force of the explosion forced everyone from walkers to the tank operator down. Daryl stood watching as the man got up, looking at his tank before looking right at Daryl. With no remorse, Daryl shot him through the heart with a crossbow bolt. Ania was no where to be found, neither was Merle, and the prison was decimated.

Daryl thought he was alone until Beth ran up to him, "I was tryin' to find the kids to get them on the bus."

"We gotta go, Beth," Daryl told her, his voice low and slightly broken. "We gotta go."

They ran, heading through the administration building and out into the woods, just like they were supposed to. Daryl kept pushing her to move faster and faster, leading her through the woods as the dead continued chasing them. He couldn't focus on anything with the dead bearing down on him and him having the little girl with him. Beth was only seventeen and could barely handle a damn gun, so keeping her safe was priority. Even so, he ran so fast he lost sight of her, doubling back just in time to take out a walker about to take a bite out of her with a bolt and smack another with the butt of his crossbow before kicking a third away. He pushed her away through the woods as he grabbed his bolt, letting her lead the way as they exited the trees and found themselves in a field of long grass and ferns. As they ran through the brush, Beth couldn't help but collapse on the ground, Daryl quick to follow just so he could catch his breath.

Watching the birds circle overhead, Daryl couldn't help but feel angry that he'd found Beth and just left the prison. He didn't even know if Ania was still there. And now, now...if she was there, she was dead, and if she wasn't, he had no way to look for her. And Merle. Merle was a big boy, he could take care of himself, but that didn't mean he made it out either. Sophia, Michonne, Rick, Carl, Glenn, Sasha...all of them. They were gone. Just gone, just like Hershel. His mind reeled and spiraled until he was so consumed with negativity all he could do was sit as night fell upon them. He started a small fire, but all he could do was stare at it, thinking about all those times he'd sat around a fire with Ani in his lap, or him on her chest, Merle and Sophia on one side of them as Merle told some story or another about his youth. He just sat there, staring at the fire as the pit of despair that was swallowing him up grew bigger.

"We should do something," Beth's quiet voice filtered through. When Daryl made no response, she repeated herself louder. As he moved his eyes to the young girl, she said, "We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block. Ani and Merle definitely are somewhere out here. They wouldn't stop until they found you. They won't."

Daryl couldn't bring himself to answer, turning his eyes back to the fire. How could he tell her that it didn't matter if they were alive or not? That they'd never find each other again. That the best thing that had ever graced his lonely, lowly existence, the only thing that made him feel like a real man, someone upstanding, someone good, was now gone, out of reach, out of sight, possibly not even alive. She'd just gotten up and about this morning, how the hell was she supposed to be able to defend herself from a horde of walkers when she could barely walk? As he stared back at the fire, all he could think about was the fact that he'd promised himself he'd protect Ania way back in the quarry, when he found her at that log smoking pot. And look at him now. He'd lost her, lost his home, lost his brother, lost her.

"You're a tracker," Beth said after watching him for a moment and standing suddenly. "You can track. Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now-" she stopped talking as Daryl made no movement, no acknowledgment he'd heard, nothing. It pissed her off so bad that, like a petulant child, she grabbed the blade he'd stuck in the ground after lighting the campfire, "Fine. If you won't check I will. And when I find Ani I'll be sure to tell her you sat on your ass like a baby."

Beth stormed off back towards the prison. Daryl just kept staring at the fire until he realized she was serious, looking at her retreating form before looking back to the fire. He looked up once more before deciding to move. Even if Beth didn't find Ani, if Ani found them and he didn't keep the girl safe, she'd tan his hide for being so selfish. Hell, he could hear her voice in his ears now telling him he was better than this, better than wallowing in pity for himself. So, with that thought in mind, he got up, grabbed his bow, and trudged off after the teen after lazily putting out their campfire.

The sun was high overhead as they worked the woods. Daryl hadn't said two words since he'd caught up, his mind still reeling on the loss of Ania and Merle all at once. His eyes were trained down, looking at the ground for anything, any sign that anyone had made it out of the prison. He found tracks, kneeling down to clear the ground of leaves and other debris.

"Could be Luke's," Beth came up and offered as she saw the tracks. "Or Molly's. Whoever they are, it means they're alive. Being kids, Ani might be with them."

"No, her tracks ain't here," Daryl shot her down. "This means they were alive four or five hours ago."

"They're alive," Beth yelled at him before walking off again.

She followed the patchy mud trail, the tracks plain as day as she trudged along. Beth was sick of Daryl's pessimistic attitude, his angry silence, and the way he'd just given up. If Ani was here, she'd give him a piece of her mind, but Beth just wanted to find the others. Daryl followed behind Beth, not really paying much attention to anything until she veered off. He looked around at the ground, noticing some grapes that had been smashed on the ground.

"They picked up the pace right here," he told Beth. "Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith," Beth said, turning away from him and looking for more signs.

"Yeah, faith," Daryl scoffed.

"Brought you Ani."

"Naw, as Ania said, God ain't got shit to do with it, with us. Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do nothin' for your father."

As soon as he said the words, he knew he'd fucked up. Daryl could hear Ania chastising him for making such a cruel comment when the girl had just watched her dad die yesterday. The glare she sent his way was way too innocent to be intimidating, but it did make him feel guilty as all hell for not thinking before he spoke. It just added to the guilt that was already weighing heavy in his mind. She stared at him for a good few minutes contemplating what she wanted to say, but none of what was running through her mind was very lady-like, so she kept her mouth shut. If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all, just like daddy taught you, she thought to herself before turning around and busying herself with picking grapes.

"They'll be hungry when we find them," she said resolutely as Daryl gave her a few more guilty glances before walking up to her and offering her his handkerchief at arms' length to carry the grapes around in.

They didn't exchange any words, Daryl just sighing and walking off. However, Beth did notice that he continued along the trail the tracks left them. Even if he didn't have any faith, he was trying for her sake, and that had to count for something. She gave a small smile to his back before following, noticing that he stopped to check and make sure she was catching up every once in a while. Daryl kept the lead until they found two walkers lying dead on the ground. Hope momentarily brought itself out from the depths of Daryl's mind, only to be forced back into the recesses of his mind as he spotted something on the leaves of the brush next to the walkers.

"What?" Beth asked as Daryl double checked the substance.

"That ain't walker blood."

"Trail keeps going," Beth said, walking ahead and wondering how far away they were. "They fought 'em off."

"No," Daryl denied once again. "Got walker tracks all up and down here. At least a dozen of them."

Twigs snapping had Beth on high alert as she jumped, pulling out her knife and raising it up and turning it so the blade was facing out rather than up in her hand. Ani always said the natural motion of the arm was down, so holding the blade away from your shoulder, held tight in your fist, was the best way of keeping your guard up and having your weapon handy. Even if Beth didn't do much with the fighting training, she had been forced into weapon training and the minor bit of self-defense the girl deigned to remember from last winter. Twigs snapped again, forcing Beth back into the present as Daryl took a sideways glance in her direction before turning back around and looking into the woods.

The walker grabbed her from behind, making Beth squeal in terror. She couldn't quite get it to break it's hold, but she was able to keep enough of her wits about her to elbow it's gut enough so that when Daryl grabbed it, she could get away. Daryl had tried to shoot it, but it was too close to Beth and they'd been moving around too much, so he'd been forced to put his bow down. It wasn't until he had the damn thing on the ground that he realized Beth had his only knife as he'd been planning on laying down with Ania for a while when Rick had come to talk to them. He'd been completely unprepared.

He was sitting on the walker's back, looking around for something to end it with when he saw Beth pick up the knife she'd dropped fighting the walker off of her in the first place. Nodding his head at her, he grabbed the walker's shirt and rolled with it, grabbing it under the arms and by the shoulders as he did so to hold it still. Beth took quick action in discarding the walker with a well placed thrust into its forehead. Daryl shoved the thing off of him, both he and Beth breathing heavy, before standing up and grabbing up his bow once more. He looked at Beth a couple time to make sure she was okay, but that's all they did.

"Come on," he told her, picking the trail back up.

As they followed the trail, it opened up onto a railway, the sight to their left disheartening. Three walkers were kneeling on the ground surrounding a fresh body that was torn so bad it was unrecognizable. Daryl shot one walker in the head before simply walking up and stabbing the other two, his mind going dark. There was no way he was going to see Ania again. He was never going to find Merle. He was alone, truly alone. All he had was a teenager who barely knew how to handle a knife and they were going to die too. It was just a matter of time. The worst part of the entire experience was the tiny, disembodied shoe by the pile of blood and guts. It was enough to make Beth break down crying, Daryl standing on the railroad watching her after walking away.

That night, they made a small campfire in the woods using pages from Beth's journal and some twigs. It didn't end up boding well for them as halfway through the night, Daryl woke Beth up with a start urging her to move it. A large group of walkers had managed to catch up to them and they needed to get out of the area as soon as they possibly could.

Running like crazy through the brush, they managed to break through the trees and out onto a road. They were lucky, as what had obviously been a car crash had taken place not too far from them, hopefully allowing them a vehicle to get the fuck out of there with. Daryl kept his bow trained on the woods as Beth tried to start the car to no avail. As the sound of the walkers grew louder, Daryl opened the trunk of the car and ushered Beth to get inside. Crawling in after her, he used his rag to tie the trunk closed after it wouldn't latch. If he or Beth had been any bigger, they wouldn't have been able to fit. He put his finger to his lips to show Beth to stay silent as the walkers began to hit the car. It was at this moment he was happy Ania wasn't with them. Hell, he wasn't even sure he was going to make it out of this trunk to try to find her, if she was even alive.

The car started jostling as the sound of the walkers got louder. It didn't help as a storm began, lightening crashing and showing what little they could see of the horde just a hair's length away from them. Beth kept her knife up and at the ready while Daryl kept a steady focus of concentration as he held his bow at the ready. Not that a single bolt would do much good before they were torn apart by the horde if they managed to open the trunk, but it was the only reassurance he had. They ended up staying in that trunk all night, Daryl not willing to risk getting out and the horde being right there. Beth looked completely terrified as watched her wipe a tear from her eye in his peripherals, bow still set at the ready towards the opening. She reached out and untied his rag, allowing the trunk to open before she climbed over him and out of the thing.

Together, they started gathering whatever supplies they could find in a couple small bags. Beth just stared at Daryl when he looked at her before walking off. She wasn't sure she wanted to follow the man who had so quickly given up on finding their people, but after last night, if she didn't stick with him she was dead. Daryl didn't care so much if she followed him or not, the anger and at having lost Ania too much for him to find it in him to care about much at all. He left Beth in the woods to set up a makeshift camp before heading out to hunt. It didn't take him long to find a place he could sit and be by himself. Taking out a cigarette, he lit it, taking a few drags and just thinking about Ania, her smile, her eyes, the way she had worn that feather and bead in her hair every day since she'd been given them, the way the morning sun fell on her naked skin, the way she tasted when in the throws of passion, the way she always was there when he needed her. Well, he needed her now and she was gone, just like everyone else. Tears fell from his eyes as he pressed the lit smoke to the back of his hand, though not from the pain the burn caused. Would he ever get to keep a good thing?