AN: Here we are, another chapter here.

I hope you enjoy! Please don't forget to let me know what you think!

111

"Each of you will wear the babies across your chest in one of the wraps I've provided," Alice said. "One thing we want is for everyone to be able to see the babies. We want the people watching—the spectators—to know that there are children present. We want them to see the humanity here, and the fact that you're just like everyone else. You're fighting for your lives and the lives of your children. Milton's called for the press conference in the morning. Public spectators will be allowed to come and watch, and the event will be televised. We already got the go-ahead that everyone in Woodbury could be in attendance for the announcement, though there will be an area allowed for the non-Wilds that want to keep their distance. Of course, if I had to bet, the Governor is under the impression that the announcement will cause everyone here to go wild. That'll give the riot officers an excuse to shoot everyone while they're acting like animals. It puts on a good show for those at home and those in the audience, gets everyone off the hook for the murders—which they'll call subduing the Wilds, and opens the door to finish the mass executions of any Wilds left in facilities elsewhere."

"But we ain't gonna go fuckin' crazy?" Daryl asked. "Because I'm pretty damn ready to go crazy."

"We're not going crazy," Alice said. She shook her head. "We believe that we'll be more effective, and we'll get the attention of the non-Wilds more, if we don't go crazy. We only fight if we have to. We only fight if they force us. We're not making a scene; we're making a stand."

"It sounds like a last stand," Carol said.

Alice barely nodded her head. In households all over Woodbury, this same message was being delivered. Alice, herself, had delivered it several times, and she would deliver it many more before the sun came up. All things considered, Carol was handling everything well—everyone was. She'd had a moment or two of hysterics when Alice had first explained the situation, but that was to be expected and, honestly, it was better for her to get it out of the way now.

Now, she had descended into the same kind of absolutely eerie calm that Alice felt—and it had descended over everyone, really, like a fog.

The citizens of Woodbury were facing what would be their last battle—one way or another—and most of them were simply finding that they were at peace with that. They were tired of fighting. They wanted peace, however it may come to them.

Alice didn't have to verbally answer Carol. Carol understood and, really, her statement was rhetorical. This was a last stand, and she knew it.

"If they shoot at us," Carol said, her speech stilted by pauses as she struggled to put together words that were difficult to say and thoughts that were nearly impossible to fathom, "when they shoot at us—our babies will be killed."

"If we don't convince them not to open fire," Alice said, "then we'll all be killed anyway. Once the Governor gives the command for execution, we all die. Men, women, babies…it doesn't matter, if they're Wilds."

"You're not a Wild," Carol said. "You could—take the babies."

Alice laughed nervously and shook her head.

"No," she said. "It doesn't work like that. It's never worked like that. I was a—something like a traitor—the minute I signed up for this project. We all were. Sympathizing with Wilds makes you dangerous. Unpredictable. They paint you as tainted. Maybe you somehow contracted the virus. Maybe you're the in-between of a Wild and non-Wild. It doesn't matter. If they kill us tomorrow, they kill us all. Every last one of us. There was never another choice. There was always either death or freedom—no gray area—and I'm fucking sorry if we ever let you believe there was a third option."

"I think we always knew there weren't but two choices," Daryl said. "Die or finally be free."

"If you don't want to go out there…" Alice said.

"What's the plan?" Carol asked.

Alice nodded.

"We've been smuggling in what we could," Alice said. "The sympathizers and supporters that are joining us will be coming in tomorrow for the press conference. They'll each bring a similar duffel claiming that they're bringing in supplies in case of any problems that might arise with such a large group of Wilds and non-Wilds gathering in the same area. A lot of them are medical or science. They won't be searched because the guards are, thankfully, dumbasses that think that because they're ignorant and terrified of Wilds, everyone else must be, too. They'll spread themselves throughout the crowd to offer extra ammo and shit if it comes down to a firefight. There's no need to worry about anything else. We're not likely to ever reach hand-to-hand combat, if it gets that far."

"We carry out the duffel?" Daryl asked.

"Keep it hidden until it's time to come out," Alice said. "The way Samirah said things are going, nobody suspects anything. The guards will be focused on the central area for the spectators, camera crews, and the Governor's arrival. They'll send a couple of guards around to unlock the doors in the morning, but there won't be escorts when everyone heads over for the announcements. It looks like even Merle and Sadie will be trusted to get themselves there, though Willomen is going to offer to escort them, just in case, since nobody realizes he'll be armed and on our side. Keep the duffel hidden until then, just in case there's some kind of tip-off ahead of time, which there shouldn't be, but you never know when emotions run high. When you leave here, come armed. By the time you reach the center, we'll already be there, and we'll already be armed. They shouldn't open fire without at least some kind of explanation since most of us are registered non-Wilds. Got it?"

"Got it," Daryl said with a shrug.

What else, really, was there for him to say? What was there for any of them to say? Alice felt like the angel of death as she made her rounds to tell everyone that tomorrow they got their freedom—one way or another.

"Try to get some rest," Alice said. "Remember what I said—enjoy what you have, as much as you can. I'll see you in the morning and, for what it's worth? I really am sorry. I hope for the best. For all of us."

"But we prepare for the worst," Daryl said, both he and Carol following her to the door. "We get it."

"Probably better than anyone," Alice confirmed.

"For the record," Daryl said, stopping Alice as she stepped out the door. She turned back to give him her attention. "If we don't see you tomorrow, or…you know…if we're not able to talk to you…thanks. For everything. For helpin' us get this, even if…you know…we don't get to keep it. And—pass that shit on to anyone you see?"

Alice swallowed against the lump in her throat—a familiar feeling for the evening. She forced a smile and nodded.

"It was my pleasure," she offered. "It was all of our pleasure. We were glad to get to know you and…and to call you friends. We'll see you in the morning."

111

Nobody except Andrew was sleeping, so there was no need to pretend that they were. Milton, for a moment, held Arabella. Andrea watched him, proud of the progress he'd made with the baby that he'd practically treated like a bomb when she'd first come home. He was, at times, still overly cautious with her—something that the baby sometimes responded to with fussing that likely came from anxiety over why her father was treating her like she might explode—but they were growing accustomed to each other.

They were all growing accustomed to each other, and the thought of that made Andrea feel oddly more melancholy than she would have otherwise imagined it might.

"To your knowledge," Andrea said, breaking the silence that they'd all been guarding, "what will happen tomorrow?"

Milton hummed at her and offered her the baby girl. She took Arabella, who was now starting to doze, and offered her a breast to finish soothing her into sleep.

"To my knowledge, I'll deliver my findings to the press and the Governor," Milton said. "Feelings and demands will be presented. There will be a response."

"A response makes it sound so neutral," Michonne said.

"At this time, we have no way of predicting the outcome," Milton said. "In that way, it remains neutral."

"Give me liberty, or give me death," Michonne said. "Isn't that what they said? One way or another, tomorrow is something entirely new for all of us."

"Do you think they'll kill us all tomorrow, Milton?" Andrea asked.

A faint smile crossed Milton's lips. It was something that she rarely saw from him, but she saw it more lately than she had in the past.

"Not to my knowledge," Milton said. "But— these days I hardly feel as if I know anything at all."

111

The babies were snuggled into their crib where Carol and Daryl could see them—they couldn't stand the idea of putting them in another room, and it seemed foolish to even bother with the thought tonight. Sophia was asleep, lost to the world and oblivious to the reality beyond the walls of this home that she now saw as safe. At least, Daryl thought, no matter what happened, they had been able to give Sophia at least a short amount of life where she felt safe.

In bed, Daryl laid next to Carol with the lamp on. They'd both decided to leave it on. Neither wanted to be in the dark—it was too reminiscent of some of the places they'd been put at Region Thirty-Three. It was too reminiscent of the death that might be awaiting them the next day.

For tonight, they wanted to see each other when they opened their eyes. They wanted to see their children, though they didn't rouse Sophia and, instead, allowed her to enjoy what might be her last night of sweet dreams. They simply wanted to see everything they could, for as long as they could.

They had been cleared by Alice to make love if they wanted. Carol was practically healed from the birth and, at the end of it all, the risk for infection was low, and what there was didn't really matter. It would be the least of their worries when the sun rose on them again.

Still, neither of them felt like making love—at least not in the strictest sexual definition.

Still, Daryl felt like they made love to each other in their own way.

They felt like lying together, naked, in the bed. They felt like letting their fingers trip gently over scars, and freckles, and wrinkles. They felt like reading each other like Braille. They felt like memorizing peaks and valleys like a precious story that neither of them wanted to forget. They felt like touching brows, and cheeks, and noses, and jaw bones. They felt like memorizing the feeling of the soft skin behind an ear, the taste of a kiss, and the sound of each other's heartbeats.

There was so much to say and, yet, there seemed to be no words with which to say anything.

And that seemed OK in its own way. The silence between them wasn't stressed. It was calm, comfortable, and peaceful.

Daryl watched as Carol lovingly nursed their babies when they demanded food. The little ones knew nothing about life or death. All they knew was the love and safety that their parents provided for them. They knew that a whimper would bring them food, and love, and cleanliness. They knew that they felt safe in the arms of their parents, and they slept soundly in the little intervals in between needing things.

Daryl burped and changed them. He rocked them, and held them. He snuggled Carol as she snuggled the sleeping babies, and he tucked them back into their crib when she was ready to be alone with him for a while longer.

They both intended to sleep, but neither of them really did.

"I want you to stay with me tomorrow," Daryl said. "Beside me. The whole time."

"I never had any intentions of leaving you," Carol said, a touch of teasing to her tone.

"I mean it," Daryl said. "Whatever happens? I gotta know. You know. I can't stand us gettin' separated and the just not knowing. I gotta know or I won't be able to think about nothing else. I don't want you goin' nowhere."

"I promise not to go anywhere if you promise not to go anywhere," Carol assured him. "If something were to happen, though, to me…and you were able…take the babies and Sophia. OK? Make sure, if you can, you get them out of here."

Daryl's stomach felt like it turned inside out, but he nodded.

"Yeah," he said. "You too, OK? Just—if something happens. If you can."

"I promise I will," Carol assured him. "I love you. And—even if there's no day after tomorrow, I'm glad that I found you. I'll always be glad that I found you. Until the last breath."

Daryl smiled at her words.

"I love you, too," Daryl said. "I'd kinda given up on there being really anything worthwhile left in this shit world. Thanks for showing me I was wrong, and the best damn thing in the world was still waitin' on me."

When Daryl urged Carol to close her eyes and get a little rest, she gave him a soft smile. She touched his face affectionately with her fingertip. She pressed her lips softly to his.

"Hold my hand?" She asked, threading fingers with him.

"Always," he assured her, watching her close her eyes for whatever moments of rest she might be able to steal.