Gareth's POV

"Tsk tsk tsk tsk tsk!" I called out to the seemingly empty wooded area. "...you out here, boy? I brought some food for you."

I glanced around the immediate vicinity, parking myself down behind a nearby tree, just hidden enough from this bush I'd seen some dog digging around in for the past few days or so.

He wasn't big big, but big enough that I shouldn't be able to miss him, if he did decide to humor me with his presence.

I could never get the greatest glimpse of him whenever I caught sight of him running by, besides a scraggly coat that looked worse for wear and the absence of a collar around his neck.

I tossed out a few meat scraps between the bush in question and myself, opting to give him just a few more minutes to show himself before I would try another area.

Just as I started to stand, nearly right on cue, his scruffy little face cautiously appeared out of a completely different bush.

I sat myself back down, watching as he seemed to gradually catch sight of whatever scent drew him out of hiding and made his way closer to me.

"Thaaat's it boy, come on." I called gently to him. "I'm not gonna hurt ya."

Every couple bites or so of said food, he would perk his head up, eyeing me cautiously with each step he took, til he eventually reached me.

I smiled at him as he finally mustered up the courage to nibble the last piece straight out of my hand.

"There you go, see that wasn't that bad, huh?"

He looked up at me, as if understanding what I was trying to convey to him, as he eventually allowed me the privilege of scratching just behind his ears.

"Aww, yeah, Sadie's gonna looove you." I cooed to him. "Yeeaahh."

The moment was unfortunately cut short, however, when the sounds of nearby footsteps were met by that of twigs snapping underneath them, causing him to bolt.

Shit!

I glanced around toward the direction he took off in, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw he hadn't gone far quite yet, only a few trees or so away. Thank god.

Before I could make my way over to him, though, the footsteps which had crunched down on the nearby twig seemed to be following me.

I quickly spun back around, aiming my gun in that direction as I raised it.

"Stand back!" I shouted out to them.

I lowered it back down when the man who showed himself, hands raised up in surrender, turned out to be Aaron.

"You following me?" I asked.

"No….no, not intentionally, anyway. I didn't even know you came out here…...honest."

"I don't…" I sighed, looking back in the direction the dog had taken off.

He still appeared to be leery of Aaron, though trusting enough of me to lay down by the tree he had bolted off too, and watch us from afar.

"...not usually, anyway." I continued, pointing him out to Aaron. "...I saw him run by here a few days ago, been trying to gain his trust ever since. With Sadie not being back yet, and all, I was hoping today might be the day he'd get close enough to bring him in. Surprise her, you know?"

He nodded. "That's really sweet."

I nodded back. "...So, what are you out here for then, if not for me or…." I chuckled, looking back at the dog. "...or strays, for that matter?"

"Same reason you are.." He chuckled. "..only I'm after a stray of a different variety."

"I'll bite then." I chuckled. "What variety then?"

"Come see for yourself." He answered instead. "...Maybe you could be of some help."

"We'll see then."

I took one more look back at the dog, who'd apparently decided he was trustful enough to follow us from a short distance away.

He led me….and by association, the dog, to a fairly sized open space.

One that was nearly empty, except for a horse that seemed to be eating the grass around it, at a short distance away.

"I've been trying to catch him for months, bring him inside." He explained, smiling as he glanced down near my feet. "...much like you and your little friend here."

Slightly puzzled now, I looked down to where he was, to find that the now eager mutt had parked himself right next to me. Closer than I ever actually expected him to get, to be honest.

I chuckled to myself as I reached down to give him another good scratch behind his ears. "Just get this all out of your system before you come home and meet Sadie. I will never hear the end of it if I get her hopes up, bringing a dog home, just for you to keep following me around."

Aaron and I both laughed at the thought as the mutt's tail began to happily wag back and forth across the ground, as if I'd just given him ideas.

"Well, anyway…." Aaron continued, looking back across the field at the horse. "His name's Buttons."

"Buttons, huh?" I snickered a little at the name.

Aaron just shrugged at that. "One of the kids saw him run by the gate a while back, thought he looked like a Buttons."

"I see…"

He nodded. "I hadn't seen him for a while, I was afraid it was too late…..every time Eric or I come close, he gets spooked."

He looked back down to the dog, then back up at me as he offered me a rope.

"...maybe you'll have better luck."

"I'm not even sure how I managed that." I chuckled. "...though, I suppose I could give it a shot."

"I take it you've never done this before, then?" He chuckled back.

"Ahh….not unless you count an Irish Wolfhound, anyway….Sadie's dog from before, not this guy." I added that last part when I noticed he probably thought I meant the mutt by my feet. "...my brother and I used to joke that he was more a small horse than a dog."

"That big?"

I took the rope from him, readying it out in front of me for when I got close enough.

"You've seen a Great Dane, right?"

"Haven't most people?"

"Fair enough." I shrugged, approaching closer to it. "...apparently a wolfhound's bigger. Learned that the fun way, first time she showed up at my house with him, when we were first dating…..with very little warning."

"I bet."

"Theeere we go." I praised gently, once I had gotten close enough to him. "Eeeasy, boy. That's good. We're not gonna hurt ya."

Just before I had the chance to slip the rope around him, however, the dog started barking furiously at what I looked up to find to be a small horde of dead ones, headed right for us.

"SHIT!"

I gripped the dog by the scruff of his neck, just enough that he wouldn't run off and get himself killed in the process, and began shooting at as many of them as I could while Aaron quickly took to stabbing the rest of them through their skulls.

Buttons, of course….in all the commotion, got even more spooked, standing up on his hind legs and bolting off.

The dog was still whining and trying to pull from my grip, even once it was clear enough for us to make our escape.

I released my grip on him, opting to just carry him til we knew it was safe.

Once we were back in the clear, and the dog seemed calmed back down enough, I carefully set him back down on the ground.

He stayed close still, but was more cautious in his walk now, while he did so alongside us.

"I know bud." I gave him another, comforting, scratch behind the ears. "...I know. You're okay."

"...So, uhhh..back there…" Aaron finally said, changing the subject. "...when you mentioned Sadie wasn't back yet…."

"Uh huh….."

He hesitated briefly before continuing. "...look, I know it's not really my place to get in the middle of anything here, but…"

"...But you're gonna do it anyway though."

"...regrettably." He admitted hesitantly.

I shrugged, already suspecting what this might be about. "I'm listening…."'

"...well, you don't think she's staying away purposely to avoid.."

"...to avoid...what?" Now, he's got me intrigued

He shrugged. "Well, Deanna mentioned she went by your place yesterday to talk to her, but that you told her she'd just left…..or hadn't been back yet. Something to that affect anyway."

"She did…" I admitted. "...and it was the latter, I'd told her."

He nodded, seemingly accepting my answer. "...and I assume you heard what happened earlier that day."

"Vaguely…" I recalled. "I woke up to find a note she'd apparently left in the kitchen, saying she'd come out here for a walk and a few smokes and that she'd probably be back by the time I was up or at least soon after…...aaand the next thing I knew, she was walking through the front door, boasting about keeping a deal with some guy…..conveniently right after Deanna came by wanting to talk to her about a similar incident."

"...sounds about right." He chuckled. "...anyway, I just wanted you…..and her to know that Deanna's not mad or anything. If anything, most of us are in awe of how she handled The Saviors….it's kind of all they can talk about."

"The Saviors, huh?"

"Yeah…" He chuckled somewhat humorlessly. "...Deanna's been trying to keep the peace with them, keep from having any repeats of….well…"

"Well…...what?"

He just looked back at me, as if I should've already heard, as I started to connect the dots in my head.

"This…..well, whatever you don't want repeats of…" I tried not to snicker at the realization. "...it wouldn't have anything to do with a bloodied up baseball bat, would it?"

"So, you do know then?"

I let myself chuckle aloud at that. "...only because she was carrying the damn thing when she got back…...and I'm guessing he didn't just hand it over to her out of the goodness of his heart."

"...yeah, goodness isn't exactly the word I'd use for him." He chuckled, somewhat more nervously. "...or that most of us would, for that matter."

"I see..." I laughed even more at my next realization. "...so….knowing all that, on top of your whole first encounter with her when you showed up to recruit us…..you still managed to worry that she might be afraid of a little confrontation?"

This got a laugh out of him too. "...I suppose it does sound pretty dumb, when you put it like that."

"Hey, your words, not mine." I chuckled, shaking my head as I observed the front gate back into Alexandria off in the near distance. "Come on."

I turned around, briefly, to see that the dog…..while still following behind, was starting to lag a little now. "You too, bud. Come on!"

That seemed to be the only encouragement he needed, as he started running to catch up with us.