The sky was dark, and everyone was in their positions behind cars and steel barriers strategically placed around the front of the house. There was a line of trucks in front of the porch. Anna and Jessie stood behind the pillars on either side of the front door, a few others similarly tucked behind pillars. Anna leaned back against her pillar, her stick pressing between them and her breath coming out in puffs of steam.

Assholes are taking their sweet time getting here, she thought bitterly as she shivered.

"You ready for this?" Jessie asked, glancing around his own pillar to check on the others.

"Have to be," Anna shrugged.

"Do you think Negan will take the deal?" Jessie asked.

"Thirty-eight of his people?" Anna began. "I'd say he'd be kind of a dick if he didn't, but, well—" Anna said, gesturing around them.

They fell silent again. Thirty-eight Saviors were being used as bargaining chips. That's all they were to Maggie and Rick—Michonne and Ezekiel seemed to feel a bit differently but understood the play. Anna adjusted the position of her rifle and stretched her shoulders, listening to the satisfying cracks. On the one hand, they'd done some terrible things for a terrible person. But on the other hand, she reminded herself, they were people just trying to make it.

"Listen," Jessie started again. "About Carl… I'm sorry."

Anna pressed her lips together and tilted her head back.

"Me, too," she said.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Anna glanced over at him and gave a weak, sad smile.

"Have to be," she said.

Loud, successive pops came from the other side of the fence. Anna and Jessie stiffened, readying themselves. Peering around her pillar, Anna watched as the front gates opened. Daryl sped through on his motorcycle and the school bus pulled onto the path, blocking the truck on his tail.

"Now!" Anna heard Maggie shout, and gunfire erupted on either side of the bus, firing on the Saviors.

Arrows soared through the air from the Saviors' side, and Anna and Jessie ducked behind the pillars.

"Lookouts, fall back! Front line, give 'em cover!" Maggie ordered.

With that, Anna, Jessie, and the others stepped out from behind the pillars and fired on the Saviors attempting to make it around the bus, giving the lookouts time to fall back. Tobin made it to the blacksmith's hut just before a Savior came around the corner and sliced at his front with a knife.

The two toppled to the ground in their struggle, the Savior on top. Anna leveled the man in her sights and fired, managing to get him in the shoulder and off of Tobin. She spotted Carol making her way across and gave her cover fire. Siddiq soon followed, relieving her of Tobin's care.

Two shots fired from the balcony.

"Fall back!" Anna shouted.

Everyone on the porch filed inside the house, Anna and Jessie covering them and the others in the yard as they ran inside, slamming the doors shut. Finally, the siblings pulled the canisters from their pockets and popped them, tossing them into the yard.

Three explosions went off in plumes of smoke and fire, and they aimed for the headlights of the vehicles until they were bathed in complete darkness.

Silently, Anna made her way off the porch, feeling her way down and to the right of the door, knowing Jessie was going left. Negan's high-pitched whistle rang out, and Anna's lip curled in irritation. It rang out again, and then a third time as Anna leaned into one of the trucks, turning the key in the ignition just enough to get the battery on.

She counted to three, aware that the others wouldn't see any signal she gave, and turned the high beams on, the others following in quick succession. Anna pulled herself from the truck and began firing into the illuminated group of Saviors in front of them. Several fell while the rest ran for the gates. Light flooded in from the gates, and more gunfire came from the newly arrived lookouts.

Anna's gun clicked, and she tossed it into the truck just as Maggie rushed past her.

"Maggie! Shit," she hissed, pulling her pistol and running after the woman.

They ran through the front gates, soon joined by Rick, and fired at the retreating trucks until they were gone.

"I wanted them dead. All of them," Maggie said. "Negan most of all."

"Yeah. Me, too," Rick sighed.

"Did you see him?" Anna asked, barely able to breathe.

"He wasn't here," Rick said. "I saw him out there. I broke away and tried to kill him. I didn't, but I tried."

"Thank you," Maggie said quietly.

The next day found Hilltop dealing with walkers pawing at their walls, attracted by the noise of the battle. They had quickly put together a clearing crew to take care of the issue while another crew gathered and buried the dead. Few people had slept through the night, if at all.

Anna made her way through the yard and into the house, passing people hurrying about to get things back in order. She jogged up the stairs and headed for her and Daryl's room to grab some of her things, intent on coming up with some sort of plan to follow up this attack.

As she reached for the doorknob, glass shattered across the hall, and she turned. Emma's bedroom door was left ajar, and she heard quiet cursing from within.

Anna crossed the hall and gently pushed the door open to see Emma crouched in front of the bookshelf, sweeping the broken glass into a pile.

"Is everything okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, I was just getting some bedding and knocked this over," Emma assured, picking up the silver picture frame and setting it on the bookshelf, a small square falling to the floor.

She picked it up and shook it out, sitting back on the floor as she looked mildly forlorn at the photo.

"You okay?" Anna asked, crossing the room and kneeling on the floor beside her.

As she carefully picked the glass out of the pile and placed them in her hand, Anna could just see five people crammed together in the small photo. Anna stood and took the glass to the trash bin in the corner, where she dumped the shards.

"Yeah, just… I haven't really looked at this picture in a while," Emma said.

Anna turned back to Emma and went to sit across from her.

"Who are they?" Anna asked.

"My friends," Emma said. "One of them—his name was Trevor—he helped me get out of Chicago. He brought me into his group and I stuck with them for a while. We found a Polaroid camera one day and took this together."

Emma went on to describe each of them—Melissa, Trevor, Steven, and Freddy—their quirks and the dynamic the group had with each other, how Melissa had taught her self-defense, and how the boys would never let her go hunting. Anna smiled at the way Emma spoke of Trevor and the small blush that came to her cheeks. But the smile slowly fell away as Anna realized Emma hadn't mentioned them before.

"What happened to them?" She asked.

"We made it to Arlington, to my parents' house. They weren't there. The rest of them wanted to keep going, but I didn't want to leave yet in case my parents came back. Obviously, they didn't," she said, wiping at the tears in her eyes. "The last time we talked, I didn't even get the chance to tell my mom I loved her."

"I'm sorry, Emma," Anna said.

"Me, too," Emma said, and dragged a hand through her hair. "I ran into Jesus about a month after. Perfect timing, too. I wasn't sure I'd get another chance to be with people again." Her eyes fell on the picture again. "Sometimes I regret not going with them. I wouldn't trade what I have now—I just wonder what could have happened."

"May I see?" Anna asked, holding her hand out for the picture.

Emma nodded and passed her the photo.

"Freddy is the one in blue, Steven is wearing the hat, and Trevor's next to me."

Anna took it gingerly and looked at each of them in turn. Melissa was a woman with dirty blonde hair and bright blue eyes, grinning widely at the camera. Freddy didn't smile at the camera, seeming put out with the whole ordeal, while Steven gave a half-hearted grin. Emma smiled shyly, her hair longer than it was now, and Trevor's arm was around her. His brown hair was disheveled and there was stubble on his chin.

Anna's eyes lingered on Trevor as her mind slowly caught up with what she was seeing—the dark hair and eyes, the way the tip of his nose turned up just slightly. Her blood ran cold; all she could see was a pile of gore on the forest floor as she held a bloody rock in her shaking hands.

She practically threw the photo away from her and scrambled to her feet, backing away from it as if it had burned her.

"Anna?" Emma asked, picking up the photo and standing. "What's wrong?"

"I—" Anna cut herself off, unable to find her breath. "He—"

"Anna, please try to calm down. Breathe."

Anna took a deep breath through her nose and shook her head as she exhaled, trying to convince herself this wasn't real. That she was mistaken.

"Let me see the picture again," she said.

Emma hesitated, but handed it back to her. It was as clear as the day outside that Trevor was exactly who she thought he was. He seemed younger, his hair was shorter, and there was light in his eyes in this photo, but he was nonetheless the same person.

Anna passed the photo back to Emma and took another deep breath to try and settle herself.

Emma reached out as if to comfort Anna, but seemed to think better of it and pulled away, putting her hands behind her back.

"Whenever you're ready," she said soothingly.

Anna wasn't sure what she was supposed to say, if anything. How did one go about explaining something like that? She thought of just leaving without a word, but she looked at the concern on Emma's face and knew that she couldn't just ignore it and walk away. Not this time.

"I knew Trevor… kind of…" Anna started, trying to find the words. "For a little while—I never knew his name. He… he was with Isaac… in Georgia."

Emotions flashed across Emma's features so fast Anna barely had time to register them. Surprise, confusion, maybe an instant of relief—then she covered her mouth, her green eyes wide and horrified.

"He wasn't like the others," Anna said quickly. "He saved me—their camp was attacked by the soldiers from Fort Benning and he saved me," she repeated, but it just made the truth that much worse.

"What happened to him?" Emma asked, one hand cupping her chin, the other holding the picture to her chest. "You said you were at Fort Benning. He went with you?"

Anna clenched her jaw, and shook her head. "He died," she said, feeling guilt and shame.

Emma's hand left her face and she backed up to sit on the edge of her bed, hugging herself around the middle.

"How?"

Anna thought of spinning some tale of how he had died heroically or peacefully, something that might make Emma feel better. But she couldn't lie this time. She'd never been good at it, anyway.

"I killed him."

Emma closed her eyes and turned her lips in until her mouth was nothing but a thin line.

"I didn't have a reason. I didn't think, I just did it. Maybe it was about getting some kind of revenge because he didn't help me before. Maybe he was just a stand in for Isaac. I don't know," Anna said, shaking her head. "I just know that I'm sorry."

When Emma finally opened her eyes, she looked at the ceiling rather than at Anna as tears spilled down her cheeks.

"Can you please leave? I need to be alone right now."

Her chest tightened, knowing she was the cause of her friend's pain. Anna nodded and quietly slipped out of the room; she could hear Emma begin to sob as soon as the door clicked shut.

Your fault.

Daryl walked past the armored Toyota, headed for the house to find Anna when he spotted Tara getting out of the dusty black Ford.

"Hey. You shouldn't be out here," he said, pausing.

"Oh, it's just—it's just a scratch," Tara assured, holding her injured arm. "I can help."

"What if it wasn't?" Daryl countered.

"Then it'd be my own damn fault," Tara huffed stubbornly. "He's back with them because of me."

"No, he's back with 'em 'cause that's who he is," Daryl corrected, his lip curling in frustration.

"We—we got lucky. Finding Maggie… Rick. It could've been different," Tara said. "It was for me, when I was with the Governor."

"Yeah, but you weren't one of 'em," Daryl insisted.

"But I was with them. Your brother and Anna, too," she reminded.

"My brother?" Daryl asked. "My brother ran the wrong way his whole life. If he were here, if I stuck with him when he left, we'd be with the Saviors, too, or some other group just like 'em. But I'd have figured out who they were, just like you and Anna did."

"Maybe that's what happened to Dwight," Tara suggested.

"Is that before or after he killed your girl? Or is that all square now?" Daryl snapped before he could think better of it.

Tara stared at him for a moment, hurt clear in her eyes.

"It is," she finally said. "Look, I might hate him forever, but he saved my life."

"No, he tried to kill you last night," Daryl challenged.

"When we were in the woods, when we were coming here, I saw him try and help us win," Tara said.

"Yeah. I saw what I saw, too," Daryl sneered, stalking off.

After setting two of the injured people up in her and Daryl's room as comfortably as she could, given the lack of space, Anna headed for the stairs, her stick hanging off her back as it usually was. As she made her way down, Jesus was on his way up.

"Hey, Anna," he said, stopping her midway. "Is Emma in her room?"

"Uh—yeah," she said. "But she needed some time alone. Is there something I can help you with?"

"If you're up for a walk around the perimeter," Jesus shrugged.

"Yeah, no problem," Anna said, gesturing for him to lead the way.

They continued down the stairs and out of the house, ignoring the bag of rifles and handguns in the corner. Between the two of them, they figured they didn't need to waste any bullets. After they informed him that they would be back before dark, Kal let them through the gates, and the two started around the wall.

"Is Emma all right?" Jesus asked after some time of silence.

"Yeah," Anna lied.

Jesus eyed her, but he didn't push for further information.

"I'm worried about Morgan," he said. "He's sharpened his stick."

Of course, Anna had noticed the odd behavior the man was exhibiting as of late and the modification he'd made to his stick, but she wasn't quite sure what to make of it. He was willing to fight, and that was good. But he was more than willing to kill, and that was concerning. Anna knew it had to do with Benjamin. She got it.

"He's hurting," she said finally. "He's lost. Nothing anyone says is going to get through to him until he's ready to hear it. All we can do is try to help him find his way back."

"You sound like you know from experience," Jesus said as they stepped over a fallen tree.

"Because, I do," she said simply. "For a long time, I was numb—it was better than dealing with… everything."

"I'm sorry," Jesus said quietly, and Anna nodded.

Not much conversation passed between them after that, and the walk was altogether uneventful. The sun was starting to set as Kal let them back through the front gates. Jesus bid Anna a good night and went to his trailer.

Anna lingered on the path, staring up at Barrington house, into the dark window of Emma's room. She saw no movement or light, and she wondered if the woman would be all right.

With a sigh and a shake of her head, Anna started toward the house, where she saw Daryl standing on the front porch, leaning against a pillar as he smoked a cigarette. As she neared, he put out the cigarette and tucked it into his breast pocket for later.

"Everythin' all right?" He asked as she stopped beside him.

Anna leaned her head against his shoulder and sighed heavily.

"I don't know," she said. "I just feel… uneasy."

"Me, too," he said, tucking his hands into his pockets. "But whatever comes next, we're gonna be ready."

Anna hummed in response.

Whatever comes next….

The night was dark, cold, and empty as Daryl and Anna laid together on the floor in the dining room. Anna laid on her back and stared at the ceiling, barely illuminated by the dim light of the moon filtering through the windows, drumming her fingers against her stomach.

"Go to sleep," Daryl muttered.

"I can't," Anna huffed.

"Do it anyway," Daryl grumbled back.

Anna scowled at him and saw the smirk playing at his lips. She opened her mouth for a witty retort, but whatever she was going to say left her mind at the sound of a cry of pain and then a scream.

Daryl and Anna shot up, scrambling to their feet as more screams came from the foyer. Anna snatched up her stick and Daryl pulled his knife as they rushed out of the room. There were walkers falling onto people, taking bites before getting distracted by the plethora of food. One had a woman by the arms, and Daryl jumped forward, stabbing it in the head before dropping it to the ground. Anna stepped forward and took out another walker with her stick.

"We need to get everyone out of here," Anna said.

Daryl nodded, and they continued to make their way through the house, taking out threats with the help of Rick, Ezekiel, Michonne, and Jesus. Anna made her way upstairs, making a beeline for the room the kids were staying in when she heard a frustrated cry come from the open door of Emma's room.

Anna sprinted for the room to see Emma struggle with a burly walker, its teeth inches from her face.

Without a second thought, Anna ran forward and grabbed the back of its shirt, yanking it backward and throwing it to the ground. She whipped her stick around as it tried to get to its feet. It snarled at her—then Emma jumped forward and stabbed her knife through its skull.

The two stood back, out of breath.

"Are you okay?" Anna asked.

"Yeah," Emma nodded. "Thanks."

Screaming from down the hall called their attention, and both women ran from the room toward the commotion. They came in just in time to see Carol drop a corpsified Tobin to the ground. Daryl, Maggie, and Rick were soon behind them.

"You all right?" Daryl asked, looking between Carol and Anna.

"Yeah, just…" Carol said as Anna nodded. "He wasn't bit. But he turned."

The group looked between Tobin and each other in stunned silence.

"Negan's bat," Rick started. "When I was out there with him, it was covered in walker blood. I just thought he'd crossed some. But maybe…"

"They have us workin' for them again," Maggie said. "Killin' our own."

"It's the fever."

Everyone looked up to the bed to see Bruce laying there, flushed and sweating.

"That's what it is," he said. "It makes sense now." He looked to his arm and his chest heaved. "One of you—" he said, his voice breaking. "You're gonna have to do it. I can't. You gotta do it for me. Please."

Maggie stepped forward and took his hand as he begged. She nodded and he closed his eyes as she pushed her knife through his skull.

While Daryl and Rick went to break the news of the poisoned weapons to Tara, Anna, Maggie, and Jesus took a group outside to clear the rest of the hill. The moment they stepped out on the porch, Anna spotted Siddiq fending off a walker.

"Shit," she hissed, bypassing the steps and jumping off the porch.

The others followed, but the Savior, Alden, came up behind Siddiq with a hoe and struck the walker hard in the head. He immediately dropped it as the group came upon them.

"Hands up, now!" Maggie demanded.

"Hey, we're trying to help," Alden assured, keeping his hands raised. "A kid came and opened up the pen. We had people turn. A bunch of 'em left, but a bunch of 'em are trying to close that gate," he explained, pointing to the gate.

"Maggie, look," Jesus said.

They looked to the gate to see walkers pushing back against a group of Saviors as they tried to close the gate.

"Dianne," Maggie ordered.

"We're on it," Dianne said, taking the other three to help with the gate.

Maggie stepped forward, past Alden, and shot down the reanimated guard on the pen's platform before she turned back to them.

"What are you doing out here?" Anna asked, looking Siddiq over for injury.

"I went to check on the prisoners, but the pen was empty," Siddiq answered.

"Where are the others?" She asked, turning to Alden.

"They didn't say where they were goin'," Alden shrugged. "They just ran."

"And you didn't?" Maggie snapped.

"You saw what we mean to Negan and Simon," Alden said. "Which might be a dumb thing to say—it doesn't make us worth much to your people, either, but… those of us that stayed, stayed. We had plenty of chances to run."

Maggie turned away, a pensive and irritated look on her face. This was an unexpected development, to say the least.

"You said a kid opened up the pen?" Anna asked.

"Yeah, little blond boy. Wanted to know who killed his brother," Alden nodded.

"Henry," Anna sighed. "Where is he?"

"I don't know." Alden said. "He was there and then, when the others ran, he was gone. I haven't been able to find him."

Anna huffed.

"Shit."