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Will hadn't let Isabelle out of his sight. He'd failed at protecting his family when they'd been staying at the lodge. Tammy, Isabelle, and Scarlet had all said that something wasn't right, and he hadn't listened to them.

His sister had been kidnapped, beaten and raped. His best friend had nearly been killed. The woman he had feelings for had been attacked. Andy had been psychologically scarred. He'd let them down, but they all still trusted him. Why? He didn't fucking know.

Isabelle's dark blue eyes saw him looking at Tammy, who was being looked over by Beth, Dante, and Siddiq. James was talking quietly to Aaron. Andy was playing with a little boy. Isabelle silently comes over and hugged Will.

He hugged her back tightly. She was smaller than him, and when she'd been a baby, he'd been scared about breaking her or dropping her when she'd finally left the NICU unit. His baby sister was tough but gentle and that made him protective of her. James was as well.

"Where have you all been over the last few months?" Gabriel asked cautiously. Will sighed heavily.

"Moving around, trying to look for Isabelle, but every time we found a clue we ended up being forced away by the Whisperers. We were in a community like this, at a hunting lodge. Damn place was a goldmine until they showed up and started cutting us off," Will said quietly. Tammy and Isabelle moved to his side.

"Wasn't your fault, Will," Isabelle whispered softly, her voice hoarse and croaky. It startled a few people at hearing her speak, but no one made a big deal out of it.

Will gave her and the group a sad but bitter smile at their reassurance. It was his fault.

"You can say it wasn't, but I know it was. I should have kept a better lookout. I should have been smarter. It's on me." He looks down at her and his brow furrows. "Why does your voice sound like that?"

Isabelle bites her lip. Daryl decides to speak up at that point. "When she was captured by the Whisperers, they beat her up real bad. Beta told her that if she spoke your names or anyone, then they'd kill her. She's been speaking to people for the first time in over a year these past couple of days. Takin' it slow."

Will shakes his head, placing it in his hands. "Jesus Christ…I'm so sorry, Isabelle."

Tammy places a hand on her friend's shoulder. "We're here now. And we're not going to be leaving anytime soon."

James grabs his gun. "I'm gonna go fucking kill those bastards."

"Hold on," Daryl states, standing up. "We ain't got the numbers right now to take them on. Trust me. A lot of people here want all of 'em dead. Not just ya. We're going to take 'em on. Carol gettin' that Whisperer was essential."

Will sighs and looks over at Isabelle. "In the meantime, where are you staying?" he asks his younger sister.

She fumbles on her words before looking over at Daryl. "She's been in and out a lot due to her injuries and what's been happening…got hurt by some fuckers here last night. The guy you punch hurt her badly."

"Good. At least I know the punch was for a good reason."

Isabelle shakes her head, chuckling inwardly. Daryl glances at her and then shrugs. "Lydia and I got space in our house. She can stay in a room now. Ya can probably have yer own place if ya pull your keep. Michonne'll kill me if I don't say that."

Will's brow furrows. "Why is she staying with you and not with us?"

Before Daryl could combat the statement, Isabelle talks again. "He saved me, Will...brought me somewhere…safe. If you don't trust him, then there's gonna be issues...he's good."

Everyone seemed surprised she defended Daryl so easily. Even Daryl himself. But Will sighs and shakes his head.

"It's not that I don't trust him, Isabelle. He did save you. You're right...I've just missed you," he says softly.

Isabelle manages a small smile. "I missed you too, but I'll be safe."

Will swallows and nods. "Alright…" He looks back at Daryl. "Show us where to go, southern boy."

~%~

Later on in the night, once Daryl had brought the group to a house they could stay in, he brought Isabelle to his house. Having her stay there was a last-minute decision – really because they hadn't even discussed where she was staying at all. He just figured after they had shared a trailer together she could rest in his house for the time being.

They walk inside, and as soon as they do, Isabelle stares in shock. His brow raises.

"What's got ya so surprised?" he asks.

"I just…this place still amazes me. This house is amazing."

The wonder and amazement that settled in her eyes made him chuckle a bit before he moves her back towards the rest of the house. "Well, ya can use any of it. The kitchen is big – we don't use it that often cause we all eat together most of the time, but ya can use it if ya want. Lydia knows how to make some spaghetti, but that's 'bout it."

Isabelle laughs, and it makes him chuckle. He guides her upstairs, where he sees Lydia's door closed – probably because she was sleeping. He guides her to the last room and leads her inside.

"This can be yer room. I got Beth to bring some clothes for ya to wear. Same size and all." Isabelle walks inside and stares in awe, before collapsing onto the queen-sized bed.

Daryl snorts at her childish interaction, but couldn't deny that the happiness was infectious. He nods towards a door in the corner.

"That's a bathroom ya can use. There's roof access too if ya ever wanna go out at night or if we got a breach."

She nods and looks over at him. "Thank you. For all of this."

Daryl nods in response. "It ain't nothin'…just don't suddenly change on us. Gotten too many of those in the past."

Isabelle's brow furrows. "What do you mean?"

He sighs. "Just don't change, Belle."

After that, he leaves the room, letting her be alone. She tilts her head a bit at his words. She guessed that each time they had brought someone new into the community they might have hurt people in a certain way.

But that wasn't Isabelle's intentions at all. All she wanted to do was live.

And Daryl seemed to offer it to her on a silver platter.

"Maybe it can be different," she mumbles to herself, staring up at the ceiling. "Just maybe."

~%~

The next morning was plagued with the news that Negan, the man who had helped Lydia and Isabelle during the fight, was out of his cell. Lydia had confided in her saying that she had let Negan go late last night, but Isabelle hadn't been the first to believe her.

If she did, she did, but at the end of the day, the man was gone. Lydia said it was better if he was free and not killed. Isabelle had agreed, although she had no idea what the man had done before.

Really, she had no clue what anyone had done before she got here. She'd have to sit down with Beth or Daryl and have a real history lesson of sorts.

But eventually, they all sat down outside later on in the day, together. Isabelle with her family, speaking as soft as she could as to not hurt her throat. She could see Daryl coming in and out of the cell blocks, sometimes with blood on his fingers.

At one point, there was a decent amount that she excused herself from her family and walked over to the garage. As she walked in, her eyes widened at seeing his bike.

"You ride a motorcycle?"

He looks up at her in surprise and then nods. "Yeah. Been doing it for a while now."

"I, uh…used to ride one. Before the world went to shit."

His brow raises in surprise, and he crosses his arms across his chest. "Ya? And all yer…smallness?"

She snorts. "Just because I'm small doesn't mean I can't ride."

Although that could have been taken to a much dirtier area than she could have imagined, she instead walks over and lays a hand on the bike, noticing how the fuel had been reimaged for a new type of reusable fuel in the world they lived in.

"You changed this around?" she asks him quietly.

"Had to with fuel goin' out."

"Wow…it's just amazing. I haven't seen one of these in…God, years? I don't know." She looks over at him and sees him shaking his head. "Oh, what now?"

"Yer just full of surprises. That's all."

Isabelle smiles and then walks over to him. She gently takes his hand into hers and examines the bloodstained knuckles, before looking back up at the archer. "...is everything alright?"

Daryl doesn't respond for a second, and then softly sighs, grabbing a cloth and wiping the blood from his skin. "It's fine. Alfred and Gage were just givin' me a hard time and with Negan suddenly escaping and Lydia tellin' me it was her…just been a hell of a day. I don't know what the fuck to do."

Isabelle tilts her head and then bites her lip. "Whenever I was stressed when I was younger...I'd always figure out what I love to do the most and just do that. Like…I loved to watch older movies when I was younger and make cookies. So I'd do that for the night to forget what was happening...it would make me, I don't know, less stressed...maybe you should do that."

He snorts and shakes his head. "I ain't been able to do somethin' I liked in years."

"Well...maybe it's time you did," she states, nodding back to his home. "Maybe even watch a movie or something."

Daryl stands and looks over at Isabelle, seeing how she was looking at him. She thought she was being sweet, kind. He had to admit, it was a nice idea. But there was just too much shit going on for him to take the time out to sit down and relax.

But that didn't mean he didn't like to play along.

"I like to ride," he admits, glancing at her. "On the bike, I mean. Nice to get out."

"Then you should go riding."

"Kinda dangerous to go out there alone now with the Whisperers."

Isabelle shrugs her shoulders. "Okay…then take me."

Daryl snorts. "Isabelle, yer still healin'."

"And? I haven't been able to use my bow in weeks...I wanna shoot again. I'm a good shot...I can prove it to you. I get to hunt and you get to ride...best of both worlds."

His brow raises. "Ya know how to hunt?"

"Doesn't everyone now?"

Daryl shakes his head. Jesus, she was stubborn. She wasn't gonna let this go. So, after trying to fight the idea for a good period of time, he shakes his head and nods at the bike. "Alright, we can ride. But ya gotta stay in my sight. At all times."

"I can do that, don't worry," she explained softly. Daryl nodded. After she said goodbye to everyone, she and Daryl were riding through the gates of Alexandria, heading off.

~%~

After a good amount of time out there, they managed to hunt a male deer from a large herd but were careful not to over hunt the wild animals.

He had to admit that even though her arm hurt, she was still a good shot with her bow. She had gotten an arrow right through the eye of the deer and out the back of the head, a fantastic shot. Out of everything that this girl was good at, hunting was not something he had expected.

Guess it was just another one of those things that this girl kept surprising him with.

They were just about to leave the area when they stumbled across a body in the bushes.

It was Brandon. A boy who had grown up from the Saviors in Alexandria.

Now that Daryl thought about it, it made sense. He had helped Negan escape the cell due to the stories one of the old Saviors had told him, and for some reason, Negan had killed him.

And judging from the overkill of stab wounds, Daryl would guess that Brandon had really pissed him off.

They needed to bring his body back to Alexandria and tell Michonne, along with the rest of the council what had happened. He couldn't help but hope this made people leave Lydia alone.

"Well, at least this will prove that Lydia didn't help Negan escape...I wonder where he went?" Isabelle asked quietly. Daryl shook his head grimly as he watched Isabelle fire her bow at a lone walker. "I still didn't even get to meet him."

"Ya didn't need to," Daryl states quietly, glancing around. "He was a dick most of the time…but something's changed with 'im."

He didn't know why, but he felt like they were being watched. He knew they needed to get back to Alexandria. He tapped Isabelle on the shoulder silently, letting her know that they should leave, nodding back towards the bike.

She nodded in understanding and headed back to get on the bike. As they walked, she saw two wild horses, but as she got closer, they didn't run away. They must have been used to humans at one point.

She cautiously walked over and began stroking them to reassure them, and they huffed in response.

"Looks like we've got two more horses for Alexandria, Daryl," she said amusedly. Daryl smiled as they carefully placed Brandon's body over one of the horses. He then helped her with the deer, as her shoulder was still slightly sore, placing it over the other horse.

"Ya ain't wrong there…let's get back before it gets too dark," he said quietly. She nodded and climbed on one of the horses, before they began riding back to Alexandria, keeping an eye out for any walkers or Whisperers.

~%~

No one was surprised to learn that the Whisperers were behind sending the walkers to the communities once they questioned the man, but a few people were shocked when Michonne revealed that Brandon was the one who had helped Negan escape the cell.

People were starting to leave Lydia alone, but she was still wary. Beth kept close to her, and so did Isabelle, although she didn't speak as much as she did with some of the others. Daryl, of course, was always trying to keep an eye out.

Eventually, later on, Andy left to go on patrol around Alexandria with Alfred and Gage. No one trusted those two after recent events, but Scarlet was coming with them as well for back up just in case. Isabelle bit her lip as she said goodbye to her cousin, hugging her tightly, and Andy waved at her.

Both seemed happy to be helping…but that had been a little while ago.

They'd been gone a bit now, and it was making everyone uneasy, especially Daryl and Isabelle. When they didn't return until later, Isabelle sat outside, as if waiting for something.

By chance, they would return okay. She knew she had to somehow pray. But every bone in her body was screaming that something was wrong.

~%~

Negan had heard that Alpha was a crazy bitch from Lydia, but this was even crazier what she was doing now. He had escaped before from that fucker Brandon, who had straight up just killed those innocent people he was helping, but now, he was trying to lay low with the Whisperers.

The best way to try and live at least a little after all the shit he had done was to go undercover. But this was the last thing he wanted to see.

Alpha had the two assholes who had tried to kill Lydia and Isabelle and two other people tied up and gagged after capturing them once they went over the property line by accident. They were all trying to scream, get help, but there was no one around. Negan almost broke his cover to try and save them – the two of the four people, honestly - but he would surely get caught and killed.

"What did I tell your leaders about crossing into my border?" she asked sinisterly. Negan felt the hairs on his neck stand on end at her threat, but there was nothing he could do. That fucker Beta had confiscated Lucille from him when he came into here. He was weaponless.

"We didn't cross into your border, Alpha," Alfred spat angrily. Alpha simply glared at him before calling for Beta and Gamma to come over, which they did.

"Gamma, I want you to bring the leaders of those communities to the border I made. I have a present for them," she said sadistically. Negan stared at her in horror as he realized what she intended on doing.

Before he could protest, she pulled out her machete and cut the woman's head off, blood spraying everywhere. She then turned to the teenage boy, who stared at her in horror. She smiled, a grin so menacing even death himself wouldn't want to tango with her.

She then cut his head off as well. He screamed as she did, before it was cut off suddenly, the deafening thud of the head hitting the cold ground all that he heard. The sounds would haunt Negan for the rest of his life.

"Now…let's show those people that we mean business," Alpha states angrily, grabbing the hair of the decapitated heads and taking them. Negan stared as she left with her top ranks, before looking down at the bodies.

This place was a whole other level of fucked-up.

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