Chapter Two

"Come with me and we'll talk," Rick told Magna who glared at him distrustfully. Then she looked around the community and sighed.

"All right, we'll talk," Magna told Rick. "But we can leave anytime we want to, right?"

Rick nodded. "Of course. I understand how you feel."

Daryl put down Darren and walked up to Rick. "You want me to come with you," he asked him.

Rick shook his head. "Nah. We got this. You have your tracking class today, right?"

Daryl nodded. Besides herding and hunting for the community, he took it upon himself to train children ages eight and up to learn how to hunt and how to track. It was a very important skill to have and Daryl was the best teacher. He also trained teens and adults as well.

Carol walked over to Daryl and smiled at him. "Don't worry. I'm sure we can handle everything here."

Daryl then walked back to his family and watched as Rick and Carol walked back to Magna to speak with her. Reluctantly, she nodded and was about to walk with Rick at first but then stopped to look at Dani and her children. Magna continued to stare at Dani as she was being led by Rick and Jesus to the community building. Derrick glared back at her suspiciously in his mother's arms while Darren buried his face in his father's lower leg. Magna then cast a steely glance at Derrick and her eyes squinted as she walked away. Derrick looked up at his mother with concern.

"That lady looked at me funny," Derrick told Dani. "Why did she do that?"

Dani sighed. "I guess they haven't seen someone as young as you for a very long time."

"I don't like them," Darren spoke up. "They're scary."

Daryl chuckled. "Hey! I'm a scary looking guy, right?"

Darren smiled. "No you're not, Daddy." He started to giggle a little as Daryl set him down on the ground. Dani followed suit and put Derrick with his brother. They both stood together and watched them enter the building with Rick and Jesus. "But they're scary looking."

Carol smirked, still holding Judith. "I'll go see what's going on. I may need to interview a couple of them."

"All right. Be careful," Daryl told her as she began to walk away. Daryl put his arm around Dani and gave her a furtive look.

"There could be a problem with them," he told her. She nodded.

"I get it," she responded.

David leaned up against the wall and shook his head. "We didn't even see them at first. We were driving a huge herd away from the main road. The largest we've ever had to deal with."

"He's right," Eugene said, taking a step towards them. "As we were herding them, that's when we saw the group. One of them….didn't make it."

"You don't think they'll blame us for this, do you," Aaron asked, looking worried. "We did everything we could."

Daryl shook his head. "You brought 'em here. That's one way of making it up to 'em."

Dani put her hand on her brother's shoulder and looked at him sympathetically. "You did everything you could, Dave. I'm sure it will be okay. Especially when they see what a great place this is. Right now, they have their guard up and unsure if this is a good place."

Derrick patted his uncle's knee and smiled up at him. "You're still a good guy, Uncle Dave," he said sweetly, making his uncle feel a little better.

Darren shook his head and looked worried. "I still don't like them," he said. "They could be bad guys who want to hurt us."

Aaron smiled at him and rubbed the top of his head. "I don't believe they are bad guys, Darren. I just think they're scared. But we'll help them." He then looked up at Dani and Daryl and smiled. "Just like we helped your mommy and daddy."

Daryl smirked. "Yeah, more like we helped you more," he said.

Dani slapped his arm lightly, making him shrug a little.

"I'll go see if Rick needs anything," Eugene said as he began to walk away.

"I'm coming with you," Aaron told him. "I need to tell you that horn you made really worked out there."

"Thanks," Eugene said as they walked together, leaving the family behind.

David began to walk with Dani and Daryl and his nephews to the townhouses where Dani taught English. As they got closer, a group of students between eight and twelve were gathered in the courtyard, holding their rifles and various weapons. They became alert when they saw their instructor walking towards them, and Daryl started to slow down with his family. He then turned to Dani and smiled a little.

"Looks like my class is here," he said. "Gotta go."

Dani nodded. "Just be careful out there, all right?"

Daryl nodded. "Sure." He kissed her gently on her lips. He then picked Darren up first and kissed his cheek and hugged him.

"You be good today, all right," he asked his son.

Darren gave him a devilish smile. "No I won't," he joked and started to laugh.

Daryl set him down on the ground and picked up Derrick who started to giggle in his father's arms. Daryl kissed him on the cheek and hugged him too.

"Now, you be good too," he said.

Derrick looked over at the class and started to frown. "I wish I was going with you, Daddy. I wanna learn how to track and hunt too."

Daryl rubbed his head. "Son, like I said, ya gotta be older."

Derrick shrugged. "Okay," he bellowed sadly.

Daryl then looked at Dani one last time and grinned at her. "I'll be back at lunch," he said.

Dani nodded. "I know. We'll meet you by the community building." She then took her sons hands in each hand. "Now I gotta get these two to kindergarten. I'll see you later, honey."

"All right. Bye," he told her. Then he leaned a little. "I love ya," he whispered.

She smiled. "I love you, too."

Daryl looked over at his brother-in-law and patted his shoulder. "You still did good, Dave," he told him. "Don't forget that."

David smiled faintly and nodded. "Thanks, Daryl."

Daryl then headed for the students and started to bark orders at them. The students came to attention just like soldiers as he came by.

"All right! Now today, we're gonna track squirrels! Not rabbits or hogs, squirrels," he told them.

The students calmly nodded. Dani could see that they feared him but respected him as well. Daryl was the guy every boy looked up to, a man they could trust and someone they admired. Daryl didn't want to admit it, but Dani knew he liked the admiration. He was no longer considered a redneck by the people. He was a mountain man, a survivalist who can teach their children how to survive in such a hostile world.

"Dani," a voice spoke to her. "Dani..stop daydreaming."

Dani turned to see her brother giggling at her. She shook her head and felt embarrassed.

"I wasn't daydreaming," she told him. "I just like to look at my husband train some students."

David nodded. "That's all right. I can see why."

He then walked with Dani and her sons to the main school building, which was two converted townhouses newly rebuilt after the bombing by the Saviors. Dani looked over at her brother and patted his back.

"You feeling any better," she asked him.

David nodded and smiled hopefully at her. "Yeah. I mean, I still feel awful about what happened, but there was nothing we could do. I just hate it when people die, you know? We had too much of it already."

Dani nodded somberly, taking in what her brother said, wanting to say something to put his mind at ease. But then she saw Carol walking up to her with Judith holding her hand. Dani waved at her and Carol waved back.

"I almost forgot that she had to go to school," Carol said as she let go of Judith's hand. "There was so much drama today that it slipped my mind for a moment."

"How'd it go with Magna's group," Dani asked her.

Carol nodded. "Tomorrow I interview her but for now they're free to walk around. Rosita and Sasha showed them where they'll be staying tonight. Tara has their weapons in the armory and she's adding additional forces to guard it."

"Smart," David replied. "When do you think we can tell them about our lifer?"

"Oh, him," Carol said with an annoyed tone. "We will have to tell them about Negan eventually. But for now, let them get a feel for this place. They've been out there a long time and they may not trust us at first. Remember how we were when we first got here?"

Dani nodded, remembering the distrust she had of the Safe Zone, although it wasn't for the people, it was more of how they lived as though the world hadn't changed. It was a dangerous way to be until Rick's group arrived and showed them the world will always get in unless you are ready.

"Well, I gotta go check on Annie and Janie right now," David told them. "I'll see you at lunch." He turned around and walked towards the clinic where Annie would be with their three-year old daughter Janie.

"He still looks bummed," Dani mentioned as she stood with Carol.

"He'll get over it," Carol replied. She then smiled at Judith playing with Dani's sons in front of the town house. "Look at that. Children playing. Not a care in the world."

Dani put her hands on her hips and sighed. "Of course. It's how it should be for them. Let us do the worrying and let them have happy childhoods. At least, as much of a happy childhood that we can give them." Dani then realized something sad about Carol, the way she looked at the children seemed worrysome. "You all right, Carol?"

Carol shrugged. "Oh, I'm fine. I'm just thinking of Sophia. She would've been Carl's age now. And Carl talking about leaving the nest just makes me worried. I do think of him as my son. And not just because I'm with Rick. I was close with his mother before she died and she helped me so much after I lost Sophia. I guess you can say I became like a second mother to him after Lori died." She bit her lower lip and sighed. "I don't feel ready to say goodbye to him yet."

"Has Rick made his decision," Dani asked her.

Carol shook his head. "He's still thinking on it. But he doesn't have much choice. Carl's an adult now. He's old enough to make his own decisions. We knew he'd leave the nest one day, but Hilltop is a half day's ride there. That's still far."

"Yeah, but he'll be with Maggie and Glenn. They're family," Dani told her. Then she smiled and wrapped her arm around her best friend. "And you have me and Daryl too, along with these little hellions we have here." She pointed to the twins running around with the other school children, laughing as they played walkers and good guys.

"Oh, how could I ever forget my little guys," Carol laughed. She then smiled at her friend. "You're right, Dani. I think Carl will be all right."

Just then the clunk of the cowbell chimed through the air, signaling the start of school. The children groaned with disappointment as they headed up the steps to their schoolhouse.

"Gotta go," Dani told Carol as she hugged her. "See you at lunch?"

"Sure. We'll talk more then," Carol told her. She bent over and hugged Judith. "Now Judy, you be good, or else I will tie you up to a tree where the monsters outside will eat you up."

Judith laughed. "You always say that, Mommy!"

"I know, so don't you forget it," Carol said in a stern but playful tone.

Judith then ran with her friends inside the building as Dani walked in after her. She saw some of the kids walk up the stairs to their rooms and some going into the living room to sit at their desks which were built around the time the two townhomes were under construction.

Dani walked up the stairs to her own classroom where she saw the children settling into their desks for the morning. She smiled and closed the door behind her.

"Good morning, class," Dani said out loud, smiling.

"Good morning, Mrs. Dixon," the children said in unison, looking eager to start their day.

~0~

David smiled when he saw his wife taking inventory at the clinic. He walked over to her and tapped on her shoulder, spinning her around. She smiled sweetly at him and hugged him.

"I'm so glad you're back," she told him. "I've missed you."

"I missed you too, Annie," he sighed as he hugged her. "It's been a bad morning but seeing you makes me feel better." He then released her from his embrace and looked around. "Where's Janie?"

She pointed to a corner where his little girl was kneeling at a coffee table, drawing pictures on the recently made paper with a pink pencil. The little girl had bright red hair and blue eyes and she smiled gleefully at the picture she was drawing.

"Thank God we figured a way to make paper because I don't know what we would have done without," Annie told her husband, giggling a little.

David kissed Annie on her cheek and walked over to Janie, who beamed at his presence and hugged him tightly.

"I missed you Daddy," she squealed at him. "Did you get rid of the walkers?"

"Yeah, baby girl, I did," David told her in a soothing voice. "There were lots of them, but Daddy and his friends took care of it."

"Good! They stink," she exclaimed, making David chuckle.

"Yes, that's true. They do stink," David repeated.

Annie walked over to him and patted his back. "I hope you won't be gone for too long next time," Annie said. "I know it's important to keep the roads safe, but we miss you when you're gone."

David nodded. "I know. But I'll see what I can do. I promise."

Annie then kissed him gently on his lips and sighed. "I hope so."

The front door swung open and Carl stepped inside, carrying a tote bag with him and looking eager to see them.

"Hi guys," he said with a smile. "David, you're back."

"Um…yeah. What's up," David asked him.

Carl shrugged. "I don't know if my dad has told you guys, but I've decided to start apprenticeship with Earl at Hilltop," Carl told them proudly. "I know my dad doesn't want me to go, but since I'm nineteen, he doesn't have much of a choice, right?"

David nodded. "Well, Carl, you're not a kid anymore. We're proud of you and I know you'll do great."

Annie walked over to him and kissed his cheek, making him blush. "You'll be safe out there, all right? Say hi to Maggie and Glenn for me. We hardly ever see them."

Carl reached into his bag and pulled out wood carvings for them. "I made these this week. I thought you guys might like one?" He handed David a carving of a horse, making David pleased.

"This is really good, Carl. I'm impressed," David responded.

"Thanks. But it'll be better when I can make spears and knives. Then everyone will be really impressed."

David then patted Carl on his shoulder. "I was your age when I left home too," he told the young man in front of him. "Some time or other, we all leave the nest."

"What about Enid," Annie asked him. "Have you told her what you're going to do?"

Carl shrugged. "Why should I? She's not my girlfriend. We haven't been together in three years."

"Yeah, but she seems to still like you," David asked him.

Carl shook his head. "Not really. I think she's only interested in the thought of me not being with anyone else, but not with her. Believe me, I tried. One minute, she wants me back. And then she gets annoyed, saying I'm too needy and stuff. It never ends." Carl then sighed. "I really did like her, but there was always something I couldn't do right for her."

Annie leaned against the wall, folding her arms across her chest. "Well, we'll still look after her, all right? And you take care of yourself."

Carl smiled. "I will, Annie." He then turned around and headed for the front door. "I have another person to see since I'm in the area."

David winced a bit. "I'm surprised you still speak with him, after everything."

Carl shrugged. "I know. And I still hate him after everything he did. I always will. But I get him. I don't know why but I do."

Annie took a step towards him. "Carl, you are nothing like Negan."

Carl took a deep breath and sighed sadly. "I know. But I think there's a part of him that's still human. In fact, I saw it at the Sanctuary, when he made me cry. He immediately apologized and said sometimes it's hard to remember I'm just a kid."

"What did he make you cry about," David asked him, concerned.

Carl looked up at him sadly. "He said something about my mom. My real mom."

With that, Carl left the clinic, leaving Annie and David alone with their daughter.

Annie walked over to her husband and wrapped her arm across his back. "Hard to believe how much that kid has grown," she told him.

David chuckled. "He was already grown up before. Only now he's grown a couple of inches."

~0~

At the end of the day, everyone went home. Daryl and Dani walked with David and Annie back to their homes with their children scampering around in front of them. Along the way, everyone waved goodnight to them, smiling at their children as they walked by. Soon they came by Rick's house, where they found him sitting on his porch, looking a little sad.

Daryl stopped as he looked at Rick and felt bad for him. He told Dani to go ahead with the kids and she agreed. As she and his children walked on, Daryl approached Rick, holding the strap to his crossbow over his shoulder, biting his lower lip. Rick saw him coming his way and tried to look all right. But it was clear he was saddened by his son wanting to leave.

"Hey Rick," he said as he leaned against the post of the porch, at first wanting to leave the subject of Carl alone. "How're those people we brought in?"

Rick shrugged. "So far, they haven't been a problem. They've been looking around, trying to see what this place is like. Of course, they don't trust us."

Daryl scoffed. "I remember what it was like for us," he said. "Longer we were out there, the more we were becomin' what we really are."

Rick cocked his head at his brother. "And what is that, Daryl?"

Daryl groaned a little. "Us."

Rick nodded, understanding what he meant. Despite the fact that for the last five years they led peaceful clean lives with the other communities, they still had primal instincts running through their veins, making them to never forget how they survived in the first place. And these new people had been out there for months trying to survive. A place like this is almost a shock to them. Just like it was for Rick's group when they first arrived. One does not become civilized so soon.

Daryl sat down on the porch next to Rick and sighed. "You're thinkin' 'bout Carl, right," he asked him.

Rick nodded solemnly. "I knew this day would come. Way back when the world was normal, I knew he'd leave the nest and go to college. I was actually hoping that he would just want his own place here. He'd have independence of course, but we'd see him every day. But Hilltop. That's too far. We barely see anyone from there and when we do, it's when they're out patrolling."

"But Rick, him learnin' to be a blacksmith's very good," Daryl told him. "It's a good trade."

"It's a valuable trade," Rick spoke. "Thing is, I don't want him to go. But I don't want to hold him back."

"Then don't," Daryl answered him. "Don't hold him back. Besides, he's not a kid. And he ain't afraid of this world. You were right that night in the barn all those years ago, 'bout how kids adapted better to this. My son Derrick is already begging me to take him out to kill walkers. I would if he wasn't so damned small."

Rick chuckled. "That kid is something else. And his brother takes after his mother."

"You noticed. Darren sure does. Derrick, though, he reminds me of Merle. Merle was smart like Derrick. Kinda looks like him too."

Rick nodded. "I saw that too."

"Except he ain't gonna turn out like Merle. I'll make sure of it," Daryl promised. "Merle did some stupid ass things, but a lot of it was 'cause no one was really there to help him. Fuck, no one was there to help me."

Rick placed his hand on Daryl's shoulder. "And now, you have a lot of people who got your back. Including me and Carol. And Dani? I truly believe if you never met her, we'd have lost you for good."

Daryl nodded, remembering the anger and sorrow he carried in his gut after losing Beth. It felt so raw inside it nearly burned whatever human was left in him. But seeing Dani for the first time trying to survive on her own, walking along the road, looking as tough as she can be, he remembered he felt something coming back. Something he had tried so hard to bury down. Something that made him want to fight even harder. It was true. She did bring him back at that very moment.

Daryl smiled, remembering that moment in his life. He looked at his brother and began to stand up. "I gotta go back to my family," he said to Rick. "But I hope it all works out with Carl. He's always been a tough kid."

Rick nodded. "Thanks, Daryl. By the way, I wanted to know if you and Dani would want to come with us to Hilltop tomorrow. You can bring the kids. I'm sure they'd want to play with Hershel."

Daryl nodded. "I'll see what Dani says, but I don't think there's a problem."

Rick smiled. "Good. If you go, we leave at dawn. Make sure to pack for a few days. And I'm going to have a talk with my son."

Daryl nodded. "Will do. See you tomorrow."

He then walked back to his home feeling a little better. As soon as he reached his house, he opened the door and was immediately jumped on by his sons, who happily shouted "Daddy's home! Daddy's home!"

Daryl picked them both up and hugged them tightly, feeling even better knowing that his kids were very happy to see him.

He looked over at the kitchen where he saw Dani making dinner. She smiled at him and sighed. "Dinner's nearly ready, sweetheart. Wash up and it'll be ready in fifteen."

She had a large lantern lit on the counter for the electricity was off tonight. It was how they conserved power these days. Every third day the electricity would be turned off, but no one really cared about it too much. As long as they were fed and protected and lived in relative peace instead of servitude, the people were happy.

"Hey Hon," Daryl said as he walked over to her, his sons dangling from his arms. "I have somethin' to talk to ya 'bout."

~0~

"We're going to see Hershel tomorrow," Darren cheered at the dining room table when his parents relayed the news to them. Derrick also appeared excited as well.

"That's right, you two. We've decided to take a trip to see Aunt Maggie and Uncle Glenn at Hilltop," Dani told them as they ate their lamb stew with potatoes. "And you can have a sleep over with Hershel."

"Yeah! That's going to be cool," Derrick chimed in, excited about this news.

Daryl swallowed a huge mouthful of stew and held out his hand to the boys. "Now, when we go out there, we gotta be careful, boys."

Derrick nodded his head. "I know. It's not like here."

"Yeah. But more important, it's out in the open. Just 'cause there's guards patrolling the road we'll be on don't mean its safe. Anythin' can happen. Always remember that," Daryl told his sons.

Darren nodded. "Okay. And you'll make sure the monsters won't get us?"

Dani smiled and rubbed the top of her son's head. "We promise. Both of you will be very safe. We're going with Uncle Rick and I believe Carl is coming too."

Derrick smiled. "I like Carl. He's nice."

"His sister's nice too," Darren responded.

Daryl grinned at them. "Well, you boys eat up and then it's bedtime. We have to get up before dawn if we're going to go to Hilltop."

The boys smiled and continued to eat their dinner enthusiastically.

And Daryl and Dani smiled at each other, Dani's smile a little bit more seductive. She then winked at him and continued to eat, making Daryl grin even more, for he knew what she had in mind that night.

~0~

Negan fumed in the corner of his cell, pissed off at sitting in the dark and being stuck in this cell. Earlier Carl had come to visit him, telling him of his plan to leave Alexandria for Hilltop. He had told Negan that his father had reservations about letting him go. Negan gave him what he felt was good advice and that his father may be over protective but he loved him.

Damn, Negan felt like he was telling the kid the truth. Especially when Carl told him about how Enid was treating him. He remembered his exact words to the boy, to not feel hatred toward her. That she is going through major changes in her life and is not sure of what she wanted. He told him to just be nice but to also live his own life. And Negan had felt that dispensing the kid with sound advice was making him trust him more, like a friend.

Then Negan asked him if he still wanted to kill him, and Carl, without even hesitating, told him bluntly, "you know I always do."

That really got to Negan. After all the time they've spent together, talking and relating to each other, the boy still wanted him dead. All this time, he thought they were friends. He grunted and felt scorned, wishing he had killed the little prick after all. It would have broken his father in two and there never would have been this war in the first place. He would still have his harem of wives and relish in the humiliation of his men. He still would have been the king on top, keeping everyone in line.

"Why the fuck didn't I check that bitch for a knife," he muttered, thinking of how Dani Evans had gotten the best of him, slashing his throat after taking a beating. "Fuck…fuck..fuck..fuck!"

He curled up on his cot and sighed, knowing that the only thing that made his day was when Rick came by to take his bucket of waste away.

~0~

And in their new home, Magna spoke with her friends about the situation of Alexandria.

"Something about this place doesn't feel right," she told them. "Tomorrow, we will look around and see what they're trying to hide, for there is no such thing as a good place. Not anymore."

I'm sorry about being so late with the second chapter. It took me forever to write this. It's funny. I know where the story will go, but trying to write a good chapter to tie it all together is exhausting. I really hope you like it. Next Chapter, the long trip to Hilltop. A great reunion with old friends and something lurking in the woods beyond their charted areas threatens their peaceful existence.