Chapter Twenty-Five
Ambiguity
It was planned later than evening for Anna to show the group where Woodbury was. Rick had told Daryl and T-Dog about the possibility of having someone coming to them and wanting to claim the prison as their own. Daryl and T-Dog had shared the same feeling of wanting to protect the prison with everything in their might, knowing just how hard it was for them to find it. They had spent months on the road, living day to day, and trying to keep the group protected from outside threats. Living outside for so long, they had grown accustomed to always being on guard. Any sounds and any movements on the outside automatically made them on edge, knowing that the protection of the group was essential and the most important. The most important thing was that they were kept safe and away from any type of danger from the living or the dead. Rick knew he had to tell the group about the potential threat to the prison and to their home, and he knew he had to tell them soon. He didn't know when Anna would decide to leave the prison, but he knew when she did leave, they would be one person down.
He had decided to tell them when Anna had gone to see Glenn. With her out of the way when he told them, he knew Daryl wouldn't fly off the handle and direct his anger towards her. He would be able to calm him down before Anna came back to the cell block. He knew that Daryl's anger was only there because he cared for the group more than he had originally anticipated and realised. And Anna was vital to them. She had information that they needed, and he couldn't afford Daryl's anger to cause her to leave before they could find out more about Woodbury, The Governor and the plans she had overheard. Rick hoped, with everything he had, that it wasn't their prison she had heard The Governor talking about.
"Ya sure ya can trust this girl?" Daryl said, bitterly.
"Yes," Rick said. "I do."
"It's funny that she shows up out the blue in the woods with my brother. Claims to only have met him the same day and that he pistol whipped her," Daryl explained. "Then she tells ya that she overheard The Governor and Merle talk about a prison. Ya sure she ain't with them and this is her game plan all along?"
"It's likely," T-Dog said. "She could be in on the plan. They use her as bait to gather information about this place and about us, and then before we know it, the whole of Woodbury swarms our asses and takes this place."
"I don't think she's lying," Rick said. "I saw it in her eyes. I'm good at reading people. I know when someone's lying to me or telling the truth. She's telling the truth."
"So ya don't think she'd give us up if it meant she got away?" Daryl asked, pacing back and forth.
Rick shook his head. "She told us. If she was in with the whole plan, would she really tell me? She felt the need to do so. That's all I need to know she's a good person."
The sound of the door creaking open behind them caused them to quieten, and they watched as Anna entered the cell block. She glanced towards them, taking in their demeanour. Rick stared at her, searching her eyes. T-Dog was looking at her, not giving much away. Daryl narrowed his eyes at her intensely and shook his head. She furrowed her brow and walked towards the two children who were calling for her to join them with their game.
Rick kept his gaze upon Anna as she sat down at the table and started shuffling the cards that Carl had given her. He smiled at the exchange. It was nice to see Carl have someone new to talk to and hang out with. He seemed to really like her, as did Sophia. They had begun to care for her, and he was sure that Anna had begun to care for them.
"If something does happen, and she's in with them," Daryl warned. "Ya better hold me back because I'll be gunning for her."
"Understood," Rick said. "But I know it won't come to that."
It was a few hours later when Rick found Anna standing outside. She was staring up at the sky as the stars above her twinkled brightly in the darkness. She was leaning against the wall, just next to the door. She jumped when she saw Rick exit the door and turn towards her.
"You scared me," Anna said, breathing deeply.
"Sorry," Rick said. "I wasn't sure if anyone was out here. Everything okay?"
Anna nodded in the darkness. "Yeah."
"Are you sure?" Rick asked, knowing from her short answer that she was anything but okay.
"Yeah," Anna repeated. She knew that it was an opportunity to be honest, and tell him about the fear that prickled at her skin. A part of her knew that once she left the prison, she wouldn't have to worry about The Governor or the prison. It wouldn't be her problem anymore. She wouldn't have to care about any of the group. But she did. It was hard to admit that she had grown to care for the group in such a short space of time. She didn't know why. She wasn't necessarily a people person, and preferred her own company to the company of others.
"Okay," Rick said, knowing that he shouldn't push it any further. "I told Daryl and T-Dog about what you told me earlier."
"Right," Anna said. The missing puzzle pieces began to fall into place and knowing that Rick must've told them before she re-entered the cell block after speaking with Glenn from the way Daryl had looked at her.
"And I was wondering if you would speak to us about it more," Rick said. "Fill in any blanks that I'm missing."
"Sure," Anna said. "No problem."
"Can I ask you something?" Rick asked, debating whether or not to truly ask her. Daryl had put the doubt in his mind after giving him valid points regarding the way they were introduced to Anna. It did cause alarm bells to ring in his head, and he had to find out.
"Of course," Anna replied.
"Are you in with The Governor?" Rick asked.
Anna knew it would be brought up sooner or later. She was confused when Rick hadn't asked her straight after she told him about what she had overheard. It would've been the first question to come out of her mouth if it was her with a group and a stranger.
"I'm not," Anna said, wholeheartedly. "But I don't think you believe me."
"I just... have doubts," Rick replied. "It does seem like a set up. You with Merle. Merle with The Governor."
"It's totally understandable," Anna replied. "But I'm not with The Governor. I had the pleasure of meeting him but I'm not in his group."
"How many walkers have you killed?"
Rick's question sounded in the darkness and Anna glanced towards him. She narrowed her gaze at him, wondering if it was to see if she was a potential threat to him and his group.
"Too many to count," Anna responded, automatically.
"How many people have you killed?" Rick asked, acknowledging her first answer.
"None."
"Why?" Rick asked, finally.
"To put a stop to this all," Anna answered. "To keep fighting."
"Would you show us where Woodbury is?" Rick asked, his eyes flicking towards the open door. He watched as Lori tentatively took a step into view, her hand caressing her bump. She watched him for a moment, and he could feel her gaze still on him when he redirected his gaze to Anna.
"Of course," she replied. "But, are you sure?"
"Yeah," he replied. "We need to know what we're dealing with. If they are talking about this prison, we need to prepare for whatever comes our way."
Anna nodded, her stomach dropping. "On foot?"
"Yeah."
"Okay," Anna said. "But one thing though."
"What?"
"If anything happens," Anna began. "Don't go back."
As night truly descended over the prison, Carl and Sophia offered to show Anna to a cell. After her talk with Rick, the group decided to allow Anna into their cell block for the night so that she could have a bed to sleep in. As Carl and Sophia lead Anna up to the spare cells, Rick told the group about the plan he had in mind. They disagreed with him at first, telling him that it wasn't the right time. With one man down, the group were vulnerable. As Rick argued that with they might have been one man down, but they had Anna on their side. He trusted her, which for him, was all that mattered. He trusted the group, but as the months rolled on after the outbreak, he found it difficult to trust others that approached the group. He wanted to believe that Anna was being truthful and honest with him, and he wouldn't know for sure until the next day when they would come face to face with Woodbury. He made sure to tell them that if Anna was lying, if everything she had told him was a lie, that he would handle it.
Anna sat on the bed in the cell she had chosen, and stared at the wall. She was exhausted. She hadn't felt it until now, and her body was starting to fail. All she wanted to do was to lay down and close her eyes, allowing sleep to welcome her and allow her to drift off. After the long months of being on the road, spending hours walking to her next pit stop, and then having broken spells of sleep as she kept watch during the night to ensure the dead hadn't stumbled close to where she had set up home for the night. But the figure outside the cell door prevented her from finding comfort in her temporary room.
Daryl filled the doorway with his crossbow that hung over his shoulder. She glanced over at him and stared at him in the darkness, the moon behind him casting a golden light around him. She could sense his eyes boring into her.
"If I find out ya been lying to us," Daryl began, his voice low and husky. "I'll have no choice but to put an arrow between ya eyes." And with that, he was gone.
Anna's gaze remained on the empty doorway. She heard by the tone in his words that he truly meant it.
