Running through the smoke, Ani used her hunting knives to bash in the brains of every single walker in her way. It was tiring, and made it so difficult for her to find her way back to fence. Every muscle in her body was sore from crouching most of the night and then being on that damn tower most of the day. All the running she'd done on little to no sustenance and now Bobby and Catty were starting to fuss from being in the bag so long. Kicking herself up off a board, she managed to get herself to the top of the fence, hauling herself over and booking it in the direction she'd come into the property on. Once there, she didn't even bother stopping as she climbed the tree and grabbed Daryl and Merle's bag.

Letting the kittens out once she was on the ground, Ani got to quick work heading around the gate once again. It was going to be night soon, and they had over half a day's journey ahead of her at this point. If she was going to catch up, she'd have to once again travel through the night, or at least part of it.

"Well, that was an absolute load a bullshite if I eva did see one. Plus side, I know me man's alive for sure now," she told them as they pranced around her feet. "Jus' gotta keep me promise and find 'im."

She walked along for quite some time before she caught their trail. Ani took no time to start along it, though she knew she was either going to have to find shelter or lash herself to a tree before the end of the night. Even though she wanted to get to Daryl as soon as possible now that she'd seen him and knew for a fact she was following him, she had to be reasonable. She was too tired, too hungry, and too sore to go all night, especially since she didn't know if she would even be able to find them before the night was out. As the light dwindled, she sighed heavily and gave up the anty. Climbing a large oak tree, she nestled herself in a nice perch where three large branches diverged from the trunk at the same place. For once, she'd be able to lie down in a tree if she wanted to.

She slept like the dead for what had to have been five or six hours when the twins' hissing woke her up. Shushing them and stroking their heads, she managed to quiet them just as she heard a twig snapping beneath the tree she was in. Quiet voices rang out in the darkness, people who were obviously from Terminus chasing after her family. They were chasing after her, too, and from the sound of it, slowly leaning up to look through the crick in the branches. There was a group of six, talking into a walkie to another group that was apparently supposed to meet up with them at a school somewhere close by. Easy peasy, pumpkin squeezy, Ani thought to herself as she carefully put the kittens on the bags.

"They're up ahead," one of the women said. "Gareth and Albert's watchin' 'em."

"So we can catch up and make camp soon?" another girl spoke up.

"Should be able," a man said. "Let's spread out again, look for clues for that girl.

Watching and waiting, she crouched in the branches directly above one of the men as they began to fan out, waiting for the opportune time. When the last person was the only one left within immediate sight-range, she struck. Jumping down with a precision strike, she landed with her thighs on the man's shoulders, quickly tightening her hold with her thighs and grabbing his head with her hands. Using the momentum of her jump and the force of her hold, she twisted her body down and around along with his head. The satisfying crunch of his neck snapping as they hit the ground made her smile before she quickly rolled away and silently pulled one of her throwing knives. She ran silently through the brush, catching sight of two of her targets, nailing one right at the back of the neck with one knife right before plunging her hunting knife up into the other and twisting to make sure he was dead. Walking up to the other one, she smiled as she grabbed not only her knife, but all but ripped the garment the woman had on her off.

"That's me fuckin' poncho, bitch," she said before she spat on the corpse and went to put the poncho on, stopping and nearly retching at the smell of the barbecue on it. "Yeah, nope. Ya need fuckin' washed 'fore I put ya on again. But damn if I ain' happy ta have ya back Ponchy." Ani stopped and jerked her head up towards the sky. "Nope. Nope. Fuckin' nope. I am not namin' Daryl's fuckin' poncho. Nope, not happenin'. Leavin' the damn thing here, gotta come back for the bags and twins. Ain' fuckin' namin' it. Nope."

She dropped the offensive smelling garment as she heard a twig branch to her left, making her swing to her right around a few closely growing trees. While most of the brush in the area was sparse, it was dark enough to provide her enough cover to keep her safe. Watching the man walk back into the area, he walked around, coming to his knees next to the woman she'd killed only moments before. He kept calling to her, trying to get her to wake up. He yelled for help, which was the distraction Ani had been waiting for. Charging in quickly, she slit the man's throat before running in the direction he had come from himself. She waited behind a fallen log, crouched as low to the ground as she could with a throwing knife in both hands. As the final man and woman came back into view form opposite directions, she sprang up and launched her knives, hitting both square in the eyes and taking them down.

"Well, that was fun. Time ta get back ta the boys," she said to no one in particular as she turned around and walked over to the poncho.

She grabbed it up, as well as the walkie, and made her way back to the tree she had left Bobby and Catty in, finding Catty crying up in the branches and Bobby yowling back at him from the ground. Chastising them, she dropped the poncho on top of Bobby with an order of 'stay there' before climbing the tree to 'rescue' her other child. Careful not to hit Bobby, she dropped the bags as gently as she could down the tree before climbing back down it herself with Catty in tow, clawing into her shoulders as he held on for dear life seeing as she wasn't holding onto him.

"C'mon! Ya don' need ta bloody me up! We're on the ground now! Let go!" she chastised to the poor kitten as she tried to pry him off of her.

When he finally let go, she put all the bags and weapons back on her back and started heading in the direction her people had gone, turning on the walkie and telling Terminus, "Left ya some breakfast. Bon appetite!"

Keeping an eye on the kittens to make sure they stayed with her, she watched as the morning's first rays rose over the horizon. She'd long since dropped the walkie before coming to a road and following it, double checking the dirt every once in a while to see if she was still following Daryl's trail. He'd made it a point to step just a little harder to give her some clear tracks to follow which made her smile softly despite how stupid that was. If she could see his trail plain as day, any other hunter or tracker could, which meant that any of the remaining survivors from Terminus could be on their trail right now.

The kittens had done a good job following her, padding along silently as they moved. She'd followed the tracks until they diverged into the woods. Assuming they would return to the road at some point, she decided to rest instead of hiking through the woods. It was selfish, but her legs were killing her from the jump off the roof as well as out of the tree. If she didn't rest them for a little while, she was going to need someone to carry her. The twins didn't seem to mind the fact that she'd stopped as they chased each other around while climbing all over Ani, making her laugh at their antics before she picked up a twig with a leaf on it and started playing with them, getting them to chase and claw after the leaf.

"Level one a ya trainin' has officially begun," she told them while smiling. "I'll make huntas outta ya yet!"

Ani was humming to her kittens while resting and rubbing her legs, massaging the muscles to help relieve the tension and checking the bones for any possible areas of hair-line fractures, even if she couldn't be sure. So far, she definitely jarred her joints and bones and strained her muscles, but munching on some plantain leaves and watching Bobby and Catty, there was no real pain that indicated anything worse. She'd been lucky that the kittens had stayed safe in that crazy place, but she just wasn't comfortable leaving them completely alone. And now that Bobby had figured out how to get out of a tree, she was going to have to keep him under lock and key if she was no longer able to keep him in one place.

"Or were ya lookin' for me, hmm?" Ani asked Bobby as he pounced on her hand, making her stop rubbing her legs.

"Help!" a disembodied voice cried over the air. "Help! Somebody! Help!"

"C'mon, boys!" Ani said as she got to her feet, hefted her bags and weapons back onto her shoulders.

She took off into the woods after the screaming that she heard. It got worse the louder she got, bringing in even more walkers. Seeing the rock ahead of her being swarmed by walkers and the man on top of it, Ani understood the situation immediately, but couldn't quite get to the rock. He was still yelling as she began to take out the walkers that were still coming up to the rock, a total of ten trying to swarm the damn thing. It would be a lot considering how much pain was in her legs, but that didn't matter much as she threw one of her knives and fell the walker that had a hold of the man's arm. Another knife thrown and the walker closest to his head fell. A gunshot from the other side of the rock alerted her to the arrival of others and Ani made to move away, further into the woods and out of sight.

"There's someone else out here."

"Hey guys, isn't this a throwing knife?"

"Do you think-"

"Shit!" Daryl yelled as he was tackled to the ground.

"I found ya," Ani said while laughing and crying at the same time. "I finally found ya."

~x~

They'd traveled along the road for a while before moving back into the woods to make camp. Rick talked to Tara while Daryl watched on, angry the man was forging new friendships while Ania was still not with them. They knew she was alive now, and forced him to walk away nonetheless. Standing off to the side and a short distance away from the others under the pretense of taking watch, Daryl tried to do his best not to let his anger at the situation devolve into rage. He knew that sticking around there was going to be the death of them, but Ania was there, so wasn't leaving her leaving her to her death? And then the way she'd jumped off that rood, even if she landed on a second one further down. Even with all the adrenaline and blood rushing through her, that had to have caused some damage, if not to her bones than to her joints and muscles at least. It had been a twenty foot drop followed immediately by another ten foot drop! His mind kept replaying that scene until he turned around and punched a tree.

"You alright there, boy?" Merle asked as he came up beside Daryl.

"Goin' huntin'."

"Like hell you are," Merle said, grabbing the man's shoulder. "You're stayin' in camp tonight. Me and Phia'll take care of dinner. You get your head on straight."

"Is on straight."

"Bull. You're damn near primed to take all of us on just to go back there."

"She's out there alone!"

"And she's probably been since the prison," Merle reasoned. "She was alone at Terminus, too. Alone when she took out the Governor's men. Alone when she saved Sophia. Drugged and alone and twelve, twelve Daryl, when she was thrown to a man at least three hundred pounds and still got the drop on him. Alone ain't such a bad thing for Ani. Ain't a good thing, but ain't a death sentence. She'll find us. Hell, how much you wanna bet she'll be waitin' up at that road when we get back to it tomorrow?"

"Ain't bettin' nothin'," Daryl said petulantly.

"Stay in camp, baby brother. Don't be reckless," Merle said, giving him a final pat on the shoulder before shouting to Sophia, who'd been by her mom's side for a little while, but ultimately ended up back with Merle and closing off towards Carol.

Daryl sat back against the tree he was under and played with Ania's dagger. He didn't even realize he'd fallen asleep until Glenn was shaking him and offering him some food. Daryl shook his head, trying to refuse the food. He didn't even know if Ania had been able to eat lately so how the hell was he supposed to?

"Dude, I know you're worried about her, but you need to eat," Glenn said, practically dropping the small amount of squirrel in his lap. "You're on watch next with Carol."

After he ate, he went to the log Bob was currently sitting on and clapped his shoulder, a silent affirmation that he was there. Shortly after he sat down, Carol walked up, sitting a foot or so away next to him. He looked at her, not only wondering what happened but wanting to bring up what happened at the prison, what she would have been willing to do to Ania. While she just stared ahead of her or looking away, he kept glancing at her every few seconds before she finally spoke up with a sigh.

"I don't want to talk about it," she said without looking at him, looking completely dejected. "I can't. I just need to forget it."

"Alright," Daryl said after she finally looked him in the eye, knowing she was talking about the girls Tyreese said he got out with but weren't here. He paused, wondering if he really wanted to know the truth before asking, "About Ania. Would you have? If she'd've been down there?"

"I've thought about it. A lot, to be honest. And yes. To protect everyone, I would have. For what it's worth," she said as if it made anything better, "I'm glad she wasn't. I really do love her as much as I can, but she's..." she broke off as her voice broke. "She's a constant reminder. She and Sophia both. Of Ed. Of what I should have been. Of what Sophia should have been. So I can't think of either of them like I did before. I can't be weak like that. Not anymore. Not if I want them to survive. Not if I want to. I don't have to like it. I just have to accept it."

"You know that's bullshit, right?" Daryl told her quietly. "Both them girls thought the world of you. Ania already understood some of it. You broke Phia's heart and hers when they found out."

"She probably won't even look at me if she gets back."

"When," Daryl growled before a twig snapped and leaves rustled, drawing their attention away from each other.

Daryl turned his eyes outward and motioned for Carol to stay sitting. If it was Ania, everything was fine, but something told him it wasn't. Years of hunting had helped him develop a keen sixth sense and he was positive something was out there in the dark watching them. Ania wouldn't bother with that, she'd come running right to him if it was her. There wouldn't be a need to watch and wait because everyone would know who it was as soon as she made herself known. He couldn't see anything, either, which just strengthened his suspicions that someone or something was watching them. As such, he wasn't about to alert the others.

"It's nothin'," he told Carol, moving back to stand beside her, both on high alert.

When his watch was done, the first rays of light were beginning to peak over the horizon, so he went out hunting. If he was right, he should be able to find some sort of trail or something to prove that someone had been out there. Even as he bagged several squirrels to take with them, he couldn't find any indication that there had been anything amiss. Yet he knew he wasn't wrong. Something had been watching them, and not in a good way. Giving up the ante, he decided to start heading back towards the camp and on to the road. He'd let Rick, who'd replaced him on watch, know that he'd catch up, so they were expecting him to follow them already. They'd moved on and kept to their plan as he came around a tree to be met with several rifles and guns pointed at him.

Holding up his bow and the string of squirrels, he sarcastically said, "We surrender." Joining in beside Rick and Merle, he informed them, "No tracks. No nothing."

"So whatever you heard last night," Rick started.

"It's more what I felt," Daryl corrected. "If someone was watching us, there would have been somethin'."

Rick looked at Daryl before looking to Merle, who simply nodded his head. Turning around and leaving the brothers to lead the group, he whistled and brought everyone closer together. He kept his voice down as he gave out his warning and command for everyone to keep close. Daryl was walking ahead, of everyone, but he could still hear Abraham talking to Rick and Merle, a fact that pissed him off due to the subject matter.

"Ready to get some concrete under your feet?" he asked them.

"I think it's time," Rick said.

"That is sweet music to my ears, Officer. Get back to the road we came off of and try to get back to goin' north 'til we find a vehicle. Good?"

"Good," Rick said. "Might have to leave a sign for Ani, though."

"You guys seriously won't cut one broad loose?"

"You saw what she did at Terminus," Rick said. "You really wanna lose a fighter like that with the mission you've got?"

Abraham sighed heavily while mulling it over, "No, I do not. But I'm not puttin' the mission at risk over one person."

"Tell that to Daryl, then."

"What is it with you people and your wives?" Abraham complained before walking ahead.

Daryl had taken point, missing the silent ambiance of the woods and the feel of Ania walking beside him. He could hear all the idle chatter behind him but paid it little attention as he lead the way back up to the road. They'd diverged from their original path to find a decent place to camp for the night as well as water, so they would be coming out a little ways behind where they had entered, but only by about ten, fifteen minutes tops. He couldn't help but hope and pray Ania was at that road waiting for them, ahead of them, or close enough to catch up to them. The sound of someone yelling for help brought them all to a stop.

"Dad, come on," Carl said before repeating himself and running off through the woods, Daryl hot on his heels; if Ania heard that call, she'd be heading there.

It didn't take them long to find who was calling for help- a man trapped on a rock that was surrounded by walkers. From what they could see, one had a hold of his foot and he was trying to kick it off while also pull his arm up from the other side. Carl broke through the trees first, killing the walker that had a hold of his leg while Michonne used the butt of her rifle to bash the skull of one walker in as Rick used the rock itself to do the same to another. As a walker came up on Carol, she killed another with her dagger, leaving herself wide open for an attack. Sophia put a bolt through the walker stalking up on her as Daryl killed one of the remaining walkers with a shot through the eye. Glenn killed the final walker that was standing between two dead ones. He bent down and grabbed something from the head of one of the walkers as Daryl spoke.

"There's someone else out here."

"Hey guys," Glenn said, holding up the object in his hand. "Isn't this a throwing knife?"

"Do you think-" Sophia started excitedly before Daryl was tackled off balance in the middle of standing straight, making him fall backwards as something heavy collided with him.

"Shit!" he yelled, causing everyone to raise their weapons as she wrapped her arms around him, knees bent on either side of him pressed to the forest floor as she tried to ensure there wasn't a speck of distance between them as she spoke.

"I found ya!" Ani cried with joy, laughing even as tears fell. "I finally fuckin' found ya!"

"Ania!" Daryl cried as his arms wrapped tightly around her while he sat up. He didn't say anything for a minute until he pulled back and looked her straight in the eye and yelled at her, "Don't you ever pull that Mission Impossible, James Bond bullshit again! You jumped two fuckin' stories Ania!"

"Yeah, but at least it wasn' three," she quipped with a smile before leaning in and kissing him.

"Ania, I'm serious!" Daryl said as he pulled away. "You could have died!"

"And so could ya in that damn place. I did what I had ta."

"Uh, guys? What's that?" Glenn asked as the sound of babies crying drifted through the woods.

"Ugh," Ani groaned as she somewhat stiffly stood from her perch on top of Daryl. "That would be one very scaredy cat and anotha not-so-scared-but-still-very-much-a-cat cat. Hold on, I gotta go get 'em. Oh!" she said, stopping in her tracks. "The two a ya can carry ya own shite now."

She tossed Merle his bag while handing Daryl his before walking a little ways into the woods. They could still see her back when she stopped and looked around in the bush. Bending down, she grabbed something and then another before turning back around and heading towards the group. When she got back within proper sight distance to where they were standing, Merle cussed as Daryl audibly groaned.

"Meet Bobby and Catty," she said with a smile, producing the kittens proudly to her family and the newcomers. "Found 'em in a tree while their momma was bein' eaten by walkas. Couldn' leave 'em ta die, so I'm their momma now!"

"Cool!" Sophia said.

"Not cool," Merle countered. "You do realize those are actual bobcats, Ani?"

"Well, I kinda figya'd. I mean, I did name 'em Bobby and Catty afta all," she deadpanned, causing the redhead to laugh. "Fuck ya laughin' at, Red?"

"Red? Well, I've been called worse than that before, but at least I can come up with some better names for a bobcat than Bobby or Catty," he told her.

"Well, I ain' takin' advice on namin' me babies from a soulless ginga, that's for sure!"

Abraham's sharp gaze fixed on her with a scowl, but she wasn't even looking at him, to busy putting the cats in her bag and setting it by her feet. Before he had a chance to say anything, Rick cleared his throat and turned his attention to the man on the rock. Ani didn't give the man any attention, seeing as there were enough eyes and a man who'd climbed a rock and screamed for help rather than fight was not a man she was worried about at all. Her attention was on Daryl, whom she latched herself to as Rick told the man to come down off the rock. Glenn walked over to hand her her knives, receiving a quiet thanks when she carefully took them from him.

"You seriously going to keep those bobcats?" he asked her.

"What? The twins? A course I'm keepin' me babies!" she told him, giving him a wounded look as she stepped over her bag as protectively as she could while squishing herself against Daryl as close as she possibly could. It wasn't like he wasn't holding her just as tightly to himself anyway.

The sound of puking had them all looking over, Daryl scratching his head with the hand that retrieved the arrow yet again while Ani started laughing her ass off in his arms. After a moment she quieted down and noticed all the looks she was getting, the strangest one of all from the redhead she'd yet to be introduced to. All she did was flip him off with a smile before looking back at the man with the priest collar and snickering again.

"Sorry," he said after wiping his mouth. "Yes, thank you. I'm Gabriel," he introduced himself as he straightened his coat.

"Ani! Nice ta meet ya!" Ani piped up, earning a smile from Daryl as he held her by the hip, whispering in her ear to stop before she looked up at him with a smirk of her own.

"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick asked, although he couldn't help the smile and shake of his head as Sophia walked over to give Ani a hug, not that Daryl let go.

Gabriel started chuckling and looked around, making a shocked face as he noticed Ani standing quite intimately with Daryl while he stopped and asked Rick, "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"

"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like," the redhead said.

"Wait, a ginga with a sense a humor?!" Ani said shocked as she looked at Daryl. "Now I've seen it all."

"Oh, you're just askin' for it, little lady."

"I have no weapons of any kind," Gabriel said, not understanding what was wrong with this group of people. "The word of God is the only protection I need."

Daryl quickly slapped a hand over Ania's mouth as she went to open it, not wanting to have to deal with a religious debate as soon as he got her back. She just shot him a look before crossing her arms and pouting, Merle and Daryl both completely shocked by her change in attitude. They'd expected something a bit less, well, childish upon her return, but she was acting extremely childish. Ani knew she was being childish too, she was just absolutely giddy with the fact that she'd finally found Daryl that the biggest thing she wanted to do was drag him off, but it was the last thing she could do right now. So the giddiness was showing itself in the form or rather childish and unusual behavior she couldn't quite reel in.

"Sure didn't look like it," Daryl said in her place, a much nicer form of what would have come out of her own mouth.

"What 'e said," Ani mumbled around his hand.

Gabriel smiled and dropped it a few times before chuckling dryly and saying, "I called for help. Help came." He looked around, seeing all the hard faces and one smile that made him more anxious than comforted, "Do you have—have any food? Whatever I—I had left, it just hit the ground."

"We have a few pecans," Carl offered.

Gabriel took the meager offering before saying, "Thank you." Looking around once again, he noticed Judith in Tyreese's arms and commented, "That's a beautiful child." When they remained silent, Ani turning in Daryl's arms to just nestle into his chest while she could, Gabriel asked, "Do you have a camp?"

"No. Do you?" came Rick's quick reply.

He hesitated a moment, once again looking around while chewing his cheek before saying quickly, "I have a church."

"Hold your hand above your head," Rick said in exasperation; surely no one could be this stupid. Stupidly, the man did as he was told, causing Ani's jaw to drop as Rick began searching him, asking the questions they'd used since the prison to get a read on people. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Not any, actually," came Gabriel's reply.

"Turn around," Rick said as he turned the man.

"How many people have you killed?"

"None," the man said as if he were offended by the question.

"Why?" Rick finished.

"Because the Lord abhors violence."

"Didn' when 'e took Egypt's firstborn or destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, but, hey, you do you God-man," Ani retorted, holding onto Daryl's hand this time so he couldn't cover her mouth again.

"What have you done?" Rick asked incredulously, knowing there had to be more to the story than the man was telling. His suspicions proved to be correct as the man became tight lipped, causing him to speak again. "We've all done somethin'. Might as well say it now before we let Ani finds out and tells us for you. She's good at figurin' out secrets like that."

"I'm a sinner," Gabriel said, making Ani highly aware that he didn't want to tell them what he'd actually done. "I sin almost every day. But those sins, I confess them to God, not strangers."

"Nice excuse ta cova up what ya hidin', but ya definitely hidin' somethin'," Ani said, looking at the man from her post against Daryl, Bobby poking his head out of her bag.

"You said you had a church?" Michonne asked.

"Yes," he said timidly.

"Ya really gonna make a wee babe stay out in the open?" Ani asked. "Promise not ta pressure ya 'bout that sin ya ain' wantin' ta tell us."

After a few moments of deliberating, Gabriel shook his head and said, "I'll take you there."

"Thanks," she told him. "Hey Phia? Ya mind carryin' me bag and the twins?"

"No, why?"

"'Cause I'm gonna need help gettin' ta this church," she admitted. "Me legs are killin' me afta jumpin' off two stories and then outta a tree."

"What do you mean, out of a tree?" Daryl asked as he handed his own bag and crossbow off to Merle, bending and picking her up bridal style, not wanting to let go of her just yet.

"There were survivas," Ani said, making everyone stop in their tracks from following Gabriel. "At least two groups. I got one. All dead. But I jumped outta a tree onta one a their backs and broke their neck."

"You have a penchant for breaking necks, don't you?" Michonne asked jokingly.

"Breakin' necks, stabbin' hearts, huntin' squirrel," Ani listed off. "I'm the full package!"

"Where'd you learn how to do all that anyway?" the redhead asked.

"Do what, Red?" she asked, somewhat confused.

"Quit callin' me Red. I got a name, you know."

"No, I don', Shortcake."

"Shortcake? Shortcake?" he asked flabbergasted. "Listen here, Tiny, I am on a mission to get that man there," he said pointing to Eugene, "to Washington D.C.. I do not have time for your childish attitude."

"Then don' get pissy 'bout me callin' ya Red when ya ain' given me ya name. I ain' a damn mind reada and, bein' honest, I'll prolly keep callin' ya it anyway. Everyone gets a nickname," she said. "Ain' that right, Mer-man?"

"Mer-man?!" Abraham repeated before guffawing loudly. "Damn, guess Red ain't so bad after all. Name's Abraham, and I could use someone with your skill set on my journey north. What do you say?"

"If me people go, I go. But, I wanna talk ta ya man. Hear what 'e has ta say. I ain' chasin' some wild goose," Ani said seriously.

"How'd you learn to do all that back there?" he asked again.

"At Terminus?"

"Yeah."

"Hmm," she hummed, thinking about her honest answer. "Well, lot a the fightin' was from the dojo. Mixed Martial Arts, Judo, Maui Thai, self-defense. The blowin' shite up and breakin' bones and where ta stab not ta leave blood? Action movies. Totally had a Patrick Swayze moment back there, didn' I?" she asked with a million dollar smile.

"Yeah, ya did, girly," Merle chuckled. "Told you she thinks the world's an action flick."

"Wait, you said that too?" Bob asked, having been walking ahead of Merle. "Daryl said the same damn thing after we got free."

"Well, where else ya gonna learn how ta be the badass hero?" Ani defended with a laugh of her own, before turning to Daryl. "Give me a piggyback. Ya gonna kill yaself carryin' me like this."

"I got you."

"D."

"Just let me, Ania," Daryl pleaded, looking at her with his bruised face and black eye. "Just let me."

Ania didn't say anything else, just wrapped her arms around his neck and leaned into him, resting her head on his shoulder. She was still wondering if the exhaustion had gotten to her, but she knew better when there was a ginger around. It wasn't that she was prejudiced against them at all, more like she felt a connection to them that just made her speak without thinking as far as jokes went. Jesse had practically forced it out of her with her flaming locks and sarcastic and wild personality, and Ani had just gotten used to having the same attitude back with her. Now it seemed there was a new target for all her sarcastic and witty remarks to be hurled at. She only hoped he wouldn't get his panties in a bunch from it.