KEZZ 1: Thank you as always for the review!
"You're more like your adoptive momma than ya think, girly."
"Pops?!" Sophia said with a start.
"You're not as sneaky as you think you are, Phia. Shouldn't hide a bag in a cupboard that doesn't close all the way," Merle said as he stepped around the tree he'd been under since before dawn.
Sophia had tried to get to the clearing quickly, but if she said she hadn't gotten lost she'd be lying. Ani made it seem so easy to find areas she was familiar with to find her way back. She'd never once only followed their tracks back or really kept track of where they were going when they were in the woods outside of the prison or even Alexandria when the two went out together. Ani always used her surroundings to find her way back, only looking for tracks when she got confused about something. Sophia fumbled around a lot on the 4-wheeler to find the clearing again, only being able to once she found a barn she remembered passing on the way back. Even then, it still took her until well after the sun had started peaking over the horizon to make it to the clearing, the blood stain from Glenn's demise making her pale before Merle called out to her.
"But I...how...I thought..."
"Ah, hush up 'fore ya start cryin'," Merle told her, pulling a bag of his own onto his shoulder along with the rifle he'd hidden at Ani's after the Wolves' attack. "I had you pegged in that room. I knew exactly what you were thinkin' about doin'. Why you think I told you to stay in Alexandria or stick with me? I was hopin' you'd calm down enough to see reason and talk to me about it, but, no, Little Miss Phia has ta prove just how much she's learned to be like Little Miss Ani," he said with a shake of his head and a roll of his shoulders before he sighed. "Come on, let's go. Gotta find Bobby at the very least. Maybe see what we can see about these Saviors cats 'fore they come back. This is recon only, Sophia. We ain't out here to play search, destroy, and rescue. I told ya sometimes we have to wait. We ain't Ani. I ain't got the girl's skills or know how and we don't have the weapons."
"But if we see a chance?" Sophia asked hopefully, tears forming in her eyes as she sat on the four wheeler looking at Merle.
"If it's a chance that's worth the risk, hell yeah, girly. We're gettin' the rest of our family back. Dixon troupe can't be a troupe with just you and me."
"But I'm not a Dixon."
"Hey, didn't you say my brother and sister were like your parents? Makes you a Dixon in my book. Hell, you might as well be a Dixon with how well you can fight, hunt, and track now. Gettin' to be about as good as Daryl was when he was just a little younger than you. Learned all you can from us. Now's just gettin' the experience to go with the know how. That's all ya missin' seein' as you just started all this last year. Me and Daryl? We been doin' this all our lives. Huntin' for dinner, walkin' the woods. Anyway, let's go. Catty's already got the trail by the way she's pacin' up ahead," Merle told her. "Now get off so's I can get on. I don't mind givin' up the reigns on the bike 'cause it's not exactly safe to operate with one hand, but this? Hell, girly, you don't let me drive it, we're both walkin'."
"Why is this safer?" she asked as she got off, letting Merle climb on while handing her his back before getting back on herself, attaching the bag to the back panel Daryl had attached specifically for such purposes.
"The four wheels," Merle told her, almost as if she was a dummy. "Keeps it stable on turns and stuff I just can't manage on a bike without a hand. If we're goin' straight, hell, I can let 'er fly. But we come up on a turn? Get a group a walkers? A stump can help, but it don't work unless I'm goin' slow, and goin' slow just ain't always an option. Got 'em keepin' an eye out on more a these things. Get a couple of our own, we can go on longer trips. Maybe even start spendin' a night or two out here."
"What about Francine?"
"Kid, you worry about bein' a kid with a crush. I'll worry 'bout my woman issues when and if they happen."
"You've already been sent back to our house three times since you moved in with her, though."
"Well, some women are easier to deal with at certain times than others. Francine can be a bit...fickle. She's a might bit younger than me, younger even than Daryl," Merle said over his shoulder before chuckling. "Let's get ta followin' that kitten and gettin' Bobby back. That's the first step in all a this. We find the kitten, find a safe space to hold up, watch and wait. Bide our time and get in there."
"Okay," Sophia said, hugging his back as they traveled through the woods, a few tears falling as well.
Merle could feel her crying behind him, her body shaking hard to cover up no matter how stiff she tried to be. The small, knowing smile that crossed his face and the shake of his head the only outward show that he even knew what the small girl was doing. Inwardly, though, he was glad he'd made the choice to come out here. When he'd seen the bag, he'd only had an inkling of what the girl was planning. He figured that, at the very least, she was coming after Bobby. Turned out, she was planning on going the whole way to wherever they were keeping Ani. Going with his gut, he had decided to come back out here and wait to see if she showed up. She needed something absolute to rely on right now and the only absolute they had was the ability to find Bobby, or at least evidence of his demise if they couldn't find the actual cat.
Sophia couldn't quite believe that Merle was here, on the four wheeler, with her. He'd come out here specifically for her, specifically because he understood what she'd wanted to do and that she couldn't just sit in Alexandria. He was out here for her, proving that she did in fact have a family she could rely on and fall back to. Even though she didn't want to be crying, she couldn't help it as they traveled through the woods following Catty. Sophia had been worrying about whether or not she had family still with Ani and Daryl being taken. Her mother had left, had just taken off in the middle of the night, left everyone and everything behind. Ani and Daryl had tried their hardest to make her feel like she belonged with them and she had only just really started feeling like she did the last month or so. Merle being out here now for her firmly cemented the fact that she was part of the Dixons in her mind once and for all.
The sun was high in the sky when Merle stopped the ATV and looked at Catty, who was currently crouched down getting ready to pounce, though on what they weren't sure. Dismounting the vehicle, Sophia pulled out her bow while Merle brought his gun around and held it steady. They were close to what looked to be like a factory district. Several short buildings and a couple tall factories could be seen just past the line of the trees. Silos and other storage facilities were close by as well, meaning that the entire area had once been used for making and refining products. What looked to be an auto shop was the closest to where they were and would probably make for a good spot to hide the four wheeler so they could travel by foot to see what they could see.
"Let's get a move on, girly," Merle told her. "Get the wheeler into that buildin' there, go 'round, look for Bobby. Way Catty's actin', the boy's gotta be close by."
Sophia nodded her head in agreement as Merle put his gun back on his shoulder and started pushing the vehicle towards the building. She kept her head on a swivel as they walked, turning around and walking backwards at times to make sure nothing was coming up behind them while keeping an arrow knocked and her bow at the ready. They were lucky enough to get to the building without being spotted by walkers, but as soon as they'd entered, Sophia had been forced to release her arrow. Merle was quick to grab his rifle, thankful he'd made sure to put a silencer on it as he fired, killing two others along with Sophia's. They both had their weapons up and at the ready when a young woman stepped out with her hands raised.
"Don't shoot!" she said as she slowly turned in a circle. "I'm unarmed. And I'm not stupid. You're from that new group, aren't you? The one we took the Parkers' kid and angry man from. If you're trying to find them, I can help."
"Why would ya?" Merle asked, considering her and the fact that she couldn't be much older than Beth. "How we know this ain't an angle you're workin' to let Negan and the Saviors know we're skulkin' around out here?"
"Look, I can't provide any proof of my sincerity. But I saw that guy," the woman told them. "I saw him punch Tom and I saw him fight to try and protect that girl. That's not something an abuser does."
"And how would you know?" Sophia chimed in, making the woman look at her and then back to Merle.
"To the extent the Parkers made him seem? None. But I've seen what people who don't care about the people they abuse do. If it weren't for Negan and his group," the woman paused and shook her head. "They saved us, my mom and me, and we owed them."
"Doesn't tell us why you'd wanna help?" asked Merle, continuing to look at the girl contemplatively. "What's in it for you?"
"My mom might be sold on Negan's way of life. I might act like I'm sold, but...I had a boyfriend. Keyword, had. He was a worker, not a soldier like my mom or like me. Just a worker and was such a sweet guy. A few of the soldiers were having a bad day and they took it out on him because he made a bad joke at the wrong time. He didn't make it out of that beating alive. I don't want to live like that. That's not really living."
"What's your name, kid?"
"Gloria, or Ria for short."
"How old are ya?"
"Seventeen."
"And you're already out here scavengin' for 'em, eh?"
"It's either I scavenge or my mom has to work harder to pay my way through. Everyone has a job! Just because the soldiers don't have to pay with points doesn't mean that they get a free slide through life! She worked her ass off for me while my dad sat on his ass and drank beer! I can't just sit around now that I'm old enough to take care of myself!"
"You must really love your momma a lot, kid," Merle said, lowering his rifle while tapping Sophia on the shoulder, who lowered her bow. "Tell you what, you show us which one of these buildings are my siblings in?"
"Sure, this way," she said with her arms still up, gesturing behind her with her thumb.
Merle was eyeing the woman critically as she turned around, hands still in the air, and walked in the direction she'd indicated. Sophia still had her arrow knocked and bow at the ready, her arms taut in anticipation for quick action. They'd managed to get about three aisles in before the girl they were following ducked down an eye to their right and popped around the next aisle a moment later with a pair of handguns in her hands. Sophia brought her arrow up to her nose and loose, but not before the woman's guns went off. It was Merle's turn to cuss in pain as he took a shot to the arm and a bullet grazed his thigh before Sophia's arrow found purchase in the other girl's eye.
"Pops!" Sophia shouted, dropping her bow and rushing to his side.
"Eh, just a graze to my leg, nothin' I ain't had before. Check and see if there's an exit wound on the back of my arm, would ya?"
"No, there's not. What do I do? What do I do?!"
"Well, shit, calm the fuck down for starters," Merle said as he looked at Sophia, his pain making him quick to irritation. "You remember all that damn medical trainin' you fuckin' did with Denise?"
"Yeah?" Sophia said nervously.
"Good. You got your first damn real patient right fuckin' here. You're gonna have to dig the fuckin' bullet out."
"I can't do that!"
"Girly, you're gonna have ta the fuck grow up and get it fuckin' done! I ain't got a hand on my other fuckin' arm to do it!" Merle told her incredulously, his anger and the pain getting the better of him. "Look, it ain't bleedin' bad. Just gotta get in there and get the damn thing out and stitch it up. Get your fuckin' panties out of a twist, man."
"Pops, I really can't do this," Sophia said, tears in her eyes. "I haven't done anythin' like this."
"Just get in your fuckin' first aide kit, get the damn tweezers and shine a fuckin' light on the bitch. You should be able to see the damn bullet just fine," Merle told her, taking a deep breath and trying to remain as calm as possible, barely managing to contain the tirade of curses his mind had going on. Somehow he needed to talk her through the process of getting the bullet out of his arm and keep his anger in check or this was going to be so much worse for the both of them. "Tell you what, girly. You get the damn bullet out, clean it up, dress it up, it won't need stitchin' up. So you get it done, girly."
It took quite some time for Sophia to manage to get her hands to quit taking shaking before she could even begin to try to get the bullet, during which time she at least managed to get a joint lit for Merle, who claimed it was for pain even though it was for that and to keep from lashing out on Sophia. The man had several stashed in his bag for one reason or another even though he claimed it was for if they found anyone. She retched a few times when she first put the tweezers inside the wound, having to take a few more minutes before she calmed down enough to set to the task. In a moment of absolute stupidity, Merle offered to let the girl take a hit of his joint. She'd declined, but that minor lapse of judgment on his part got her out of her head enough to properly work on the task at hand. As soon as she got the bullet out, she pulled the herbs out of her bag and dressed the wound. One thing Ani insisted on was that everyone have a satchel of herbs and a rudimentary first aide kit in their bags.
"The graze ain't bad," Merle said, thoroughly calmed and numbed to the worst of the pain. "Need to clean and bandage it, too, girly."
"I know."
"You did good, girly. You did damn good. Damn proud a ya," Merle told her as he worked his way to standing, pulling the little girl into his chest and hugging her as he rubbed her back.
Sophia clung to Merle as she steadied her breathing. Her whole body felt like it had a case of the shakes as she stepped away from him and went back to pick up her bow. Even if she should feel proud for what she'd been able to do, right now, all she wanted to do was never do that again. The whole reason she'd made the deal with Carl back at the prison that she'd do the hunting if he did the cleaning was because she didn't like seeing the insides she shouldn't be. Having to literally dig around in Merle's bicep to grab a bullet out while the man cussed up a storm and did his best to stay still was not something she ever wanted to repeat. That was a horrible experience and even as she bent to pick up her bow, she had to quickly turn a different direction to avoid puking on it.
Merle nodded his head as she vomited, commenting, "Yep, I expected that. Still, you did good, girly. Let's get whatever we can from these people. Good thing is, it looks like they're packed relatively well," he said, rummaging through the fallen woman's bag. "Might just be startin' out. Don't look like they've done much scavengin'. Here's hopin' we got lucky."
They packed up what they found and hid the bodies well, locking them in the pit where mechanics worked on cars. A tarp was thrown over the four wheeler before they left the building and started making their way outside in the direction the Savior had been taking them. There were several tall buildings with decent lookouts they could see more from. Even though Merle was limping and had a hole in his arm, they made good time getting into a tall building that looked to be an assembly line factory and making sure it was clear. As they cleared it, they managed to find an even larger, gray factory across the way with walkers chained to a fence, Merle mentioning that that must be where the Saviors were holed up. Catty had run off a little while ago, prompting Sophia to freak out, but Merle reminded her that the kitten was on the trail of her brother and once she found him, they'd make their way to them. They just needed a safe place to hold up for them to do so. She kept fretting as Merle took up post upstairs, claiming to have found the right building, waiting by the door for any signs of the kittens returning.
Sophia wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but waking up to Merle standing over her with his finger to his lips and his stump on her shoulder was not a pleasant experience. Merle had to give her credit, though; her right hook was as good as Ani's as far as aim and technique even if the girl needed to get her strength up to pack the same kind of power behind it. Still, his jaw smarted like a bitch after her fist connected with it. It didn't take long for her to notice the sounds outside the door, both of them remaining still and silent. The unmistakable groan of walkers was passing by the door outside making them both stiffen and Sophia grab onto Merle's arm. A clang further in the building had Merle hauling her to her feet, telling her to make sure the door was locked and either blocked or tied before heading into the building. Sophia followed behind him as fast as she could go, both of them silently moving through the various items and shelves to look for the source of the noise that rang out a second time. Rounding a corner, neither expected the yowl that erupted underneath Merle's foot, the pair of hunters having been looking up expecting walkers rather than down expecting cats.
"Damn it, Catty!" Merle said.
"No! That's Bobby!" Sophia corrected, bending down and picking up the kitten and showing Merle his ear. "Catty doesn't have the spot in her ear like Bobby does!"
"Oh yeah, you're right," Merle said as the other kitten came into view. "Never noticed that before."
"Neither did Ani until I pointed it out," Sophia told him proudly while picking up Catty as well, both kittens purring away in her arms. "Not even she noticed! Though, I think it's because it got bigger little by little. She doesn't really notice little changes as much as she does big ones."
"You see her face in Alexandria when she saw Rick shaved?"
"Yeah! It was like Carl's when she had us eat those grubs!"
Merle full on chortled as he recalled Carl's face during that particular experience, "God, I thought that boy was gonna piss his pants, puke, and kill someone all at once when she told him to eat it."
Sophia laughed with him too, remembering that day, "Yeah, I preferred the dog to the grubs. They were slimy and tasted gross."
"Yeah, well, there's a lot worse she could've had ya try, you know? Never once asked you to eat roadkill."
"You've had roadkill?" Sophia asked him, following him up the stairs and to the room he'd stashed their bags in after they found that the noise had been from the kittens climbing through a broken board on a different door.
"Had a lot of things. Fished shit out of trash before when I was younger," Merle admitted as he took up post at the boarded up window. "Hell, ate a few things I ain't too proud of while on a bender."
"Like what?"
"Just a lot of dumb shit, girly, that makes me happy I ain't on pills no more. Happy I found out about Ani, too. If it weren't for hearin' her story, hell, I might not be the man I am today. Might not have your Pops to stop you from doin' shit like this alone."
"Thank you," Sophia told him while pulling her own pair of binoculars from her bag.
"For what?"
"For comin' out here. Stoppin' me from being too stupid. I'm sorry I didn't trust you."
"Hell, girl, it ain't nothin' I ain't done before. Ran off more'n once and got myself into trouble. Wound up in juvie more'n I'd like to admit. Left Daryl alone to deal with our dad's shit himself. It's a wonder he even followed me around back then," Merle told her, reaching in his bag and handing over a bag of dried squirrel. "Hell, by the time I was court martialed out of the military and got outta the big house, I had a reputation so big the only thing he could do was stand under it even if I wasn't around. Between me and my daddy, he wasn't even given a chance to be somethin' different."
"You're both different now, though," Sophia pointed out.
"True. But how long you think that's gonna last with them takin' Ani to her parents and doin' who knows what to my baby brother."
"Are those people working with the walkers?" Sophia asked a little while later, pointing out into the courtyard.
"Shit, that's one nasty task," Merle said as he watched two people taking a walker out to the fence.
They struggled with it as Merle looked around the yard, bringing his binoculars up to look past the walkers when movement along the fence could be seen, "Oh, man, what have they done to you, baby brother?"
Merle and Sophia both could see the man wearing the same baggy clothing the men working with walkers were in. They couldn't fully make out his face, but as the blonde man, Dwight if Merle recalled right, grabbed his brother and forced him to the fence, Merle could tell just how broken the man was becoming. His shoulders, which had finally come to show some pride in his stance, were slumped all over again. He wasn't putting up any fight, which told them both that the Saviors had Ani separated from him. Merle put his binoculars down and put his hand on Sophia's shoulders as they watched Daryl get dragged back inside.
"What do we do?" Sophia asked, looking up at Merle with a hopeful but devastated look.
"Don't look at me like that, girly. They ain't done yet, and neither are we. We'll wait here for a little while longer, rest up for tonight."
"What're we doing tonight?"
"Gonna go do some reconnaissance," Merle told her, sitting down and getting as comfortable as he could while leaning back. "Gonna see where they keep their guards, where they leave from, things like that. Once we find their way out, we'll know our way in."
It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when Sophia was frantically pushing on his shoulder and calling to him, "Merle! Merle! It's them! We gotta help!"
"What now?" he asked groggily as he stood up and looked back at the window.
In the courtyard below, Daryl and Ani were by the bikes when several people came out of every exit they tried to run to in an attempt to escape. Muttering curses, Merle grabbed his rifle and went to take aim before he watched as Negan himself stepped out. He didn't have a clear shot, unfortunately, and wasn't sure if taking any shots was the right call. Putting his gun back down, he grabbed a hold of Sophia and forced her to look away from the window as Negan and Ani moved at the same time, the extent of what was happening unclear as Negan's bat stilled mid-swing. Repeatedly telling her not to look as the girl began breaking down, probably expecting the worse to be happening, Merle watched as Ani was dragged off by Negan, kicking and screaming, as the group of guys around Daryl closed in. He watched for several minutes as his brother was beat down, his grip on the girl in his arms tightening just a bit as he bit into his cheek and scowled.
"They're all dead. Every last one of 'em," he seethed when he let go of Sophia, Daryl having been dragged back into the building after being knocked out.
"Are Ani and Daryl...?" Sophia asked while sniffling and wiping her eyes.
"Yeah, a bit worse for wear, but they'll live. Don't you worry. You just didn't need to see it, s'all."
"Why didn't you take the shot?" she asked, looking down and trying not to be too upset.
"There were too many of 'em. Would've compromised our position. I promise you, girly, our chance will come. We just have to wait for the right one."
"How can we keep waiting?!"
"We do, kid. We just do. This is war. You can't go in half-cocked in war. I know what you're feelin', I'm feelin' it too. But we go in without the right circumstances and information, we're dead. Daryl's dead. Ani's dead. This is about gettin' them out alive, right?" he asked Sophia, the girl's own shoulders slumping as she looked down. "Right, Sophia?"
"Right," she said defeated. "What happened?"
Merle looked at her and sighed before telling her the truth, "They beat Daryl good, right until he was knocked out. Dragged Ani away, but not before she managed to knock one of the guys out. I don't see that bein' appreciated none. No, not. At. All."
"What will they do to her?"
"I don't know. Hopefully nothin'. Don't look like they want to hurt her too badly. They might take it out on Daryl, though."
"Will they be okay?"
"No. I don't think they will after this. I'd be surprised if they let each other out of each others sights for a while. When I went missin', what'd they do?"
"I don't know. I know they were constantly together at the farm after me and Ani got lost in the woods. But it was kind of natural, I think? Like, they would do their own tasks separately and then they'd just be together again. And at the prison, when we first got there, too. They were always with each other until you came around. Then they were with each other or you and then they just started doin' their own things after Daryl went after the Governor. But they've been on top of each other at Alexandria, too. Is it really such an odd thing for couples to be like that?"
"Honeymoon phase, sure, but they're way past that. Hell, they're about to have a baby. They're gonna have to spend time apart after the boy's born."
"Do you think the baby is okay?"
"Hell yeah, little girl. Now, get some sleep. You're gonna need it for tonight."
They took turns dozing until night had fallen and all activity in the compound across the way seemed to cease. Merle reminded Sophia that this was to gather intel and to gather intel alone. Under no circumstances were they entering the facility, attempting to enter it, or even going close enough to it to do damage if they saw anyone. They were avoiding anything and everything and simply watching and looking. They were not making a move and were only looking for entrances and exits, both to the building and the courtyard. If something happened that gave them a shot to get Ani and Daryl back, Merle would give her the go ahead. It didn't matter if the place set on fire or Merle bit it; Sophia was not to go into that building unless he told her to. After getting her promise and reminding her about Ani's policy on promises, they left the building they were in, leaving their bags behind.
Spending the night with Sophia making a crude map of the ways in and out of the compound and how many guards they could tell were posted at each. There was at least one guard to the gates of the compound at all times as far as they could tell. There was only one way in with the vehicles, but three ways out without. The problem was that the ones without would require knowing what happened on the inside to be useful. On top of that, the way with the vehicles would lead right through the walker field, meaning that unless someone decided to be lazy with guard duty, it would be difficult for anyone to get in or out without knowledge of the inner layout. They'd moved silently and in a whole circle, coming back around to their original building and going inside.
"So they can't get out?" Sophia asked him as she slumped by their bags, the kittens having followed them and helped in getting attention away from them during their little recon mission.
"They'll find a way, girly, don't you worry. And when they do, we'll be right there to help. We've got a clear line of the way out with a bike. You know that's what Daryl will go for. We hold here, soon as they're ready to move, we'll move. We'll get 'em. Might take a bit, but we will. Now, you hush up and go to sleep. You look beat."
"I haven't been sleeping."
"Nightmares?" Merle asked her, figuring she was having a rough go at night and being right as she nodded her head. "C'mere. Ya can lean or lay on me while you sleep. Me and the cats, we'll keep you safe while you sleep today."
Together they got comfortable on the floor, Sophia laying on her side with her head on Merle's thigh while Merle had his hand on her shoulder leaning back against the wall. The kittens climbed over them until they settled down and napped as well. Merle didn't plan on falling asleep, but it happened anyway. It was with a start that they both woke to the sound of several motorcycle engines roaring. They both quickly climbed to a crouched or hunched position to peer out through the boards, watching as armed men and women began getting into them.
"Think this could be it?" Sophia asked.
"Hmm, I dunno. Maybe. Somethin' don't feel right, though," Merle said as he watched Negan get into a truck. "Why would the head honcho take off and leave two enemies behind his lines? I'm bettin' he either has one of 'em with 'im or he's got plenty of hands on deck coverin' the interior. Just hold on for the time bein'. Keep an eye out. If you need more shuteye, get it. We'll figure this all out."
"I don't want to go to sleep. I want to get Ani and Daryl back."
"I know, Phia, I know. So do I. But like I said..."
"...sometimes you gotta wait," they both said in unison, making Merle smirk at her.
"Why you little she-devil. Ain't nothin' gonna go on over yonder for a little while. Why don't you fix us up some grub while we wait, eh? Anythin' happens, I'll let ya know."
Sophia gave the kittens some of the dried squirrel Merle had handed her earlier and handed him an apple and a biscuit from her bag, reaching down to grab one of each for herself before standing back up. They ate in silence and watched as two of those people working with the walkers began their job. Not caring about cleaning up after themselves, they threw the apple cores in a pile of trash in the corner of the room. Sophia began playing with the kittens, giggling every once in a while as the things got into her hair and chewed on it or licked at her. The things acted more like dogs than wild cats, but then again, they'd been raised by humans. Merle simply smiled at them before looking back out the window.
"We got movement," he told the girl some time later, making her stand up much to the kittens' malcontent and look out the window. "Ho-ly shit!"
"Is that Ani?!" Sophia said, her back and shoulders straightening out as she grabbed her binoculars.
"Yeah," Merle said, looking at the woman standing next to her as well. "Holy shit it is."
"Pops!" the girl said excitedly.
"I know know, girly, I know. Calm your tits. We still can't do anythin' right now. We don't know when they'll be back and that guard is still standin' at the gate. Keep an eye on that gate, though. Soon as a guard ain't on, we take our chance."
"Really?!"
"Well, if a guard ain't on and Negan's out like he is now. No point goin' in if the Big Man is home."
"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Sophia said, watching as Ani was pulled back inside.
It wasn't long after that that the convoy came back, the pair watching as Daryl was pulled out of the back of one of the cars and Negan smiled, yanking something out of his hands. What he said neither of them could quite make out, but they could both see Daryl grimace and start pulling against Dwight's hold as Negan laughed and walked away, Daryl being dragged in a different direction all the while mildly resisting his captor's hold. Merle guessed that Negan was using Ani and Daryl against each other by threatening one or the other while talking about Ani in a bad way towards Daryl. With a grimace, Merle admitted that that's what the Governor had done with Glenn and Maggie. They snacked on some more fruit, dried squirrel, and biscuits before taking turns standing guard and watching the goings on of the Sanctuary. Nothing really happened until the next day, when a final truck came in. Phia had been on watch while Merle snoozed and woke him up. When gunfire rang out, they both raised their goggles to better see what was going on. With a gasp, Sophia brought her hand up to her mouth as she watched the boy appear out of the back of the truck.
"Carl?"