Newly Revised
Daryl was in the tower watching Ani sleeping naked next to him, hoping it would be an easy run to the Big Spot later in the morning. He was running his hand lazily up and down her spine as she slept, not wanting to wake her up, but wanting to touch her nonetheless. Even though her skin was marred, it was still soft and beautiful in its own right; her skin told everyone what she had survived. Ani sighed and rolled towards him, moving her body into his chest and wrapping an arm around his waist. He smiled and kissed her forehead before laying back down, turning on his back and thinking about how he wished she would have listened to him. It was the biggest run they'd planned all month and was two weeks in the making, and of course, Ani insisted on coming with him. Daryl would have preferred she stay at the prison and let him take Merle but his damn brother had taken her side. If he had known that Ani had already bribed the man to let her go with the promise of a bottle of whiskey, he might have been able to have his way.
She began to stir, sighing in content before moaning and grinding into his hip before opening an eye slightly. "What time is it?"
"Time to get up," he told her. "Got work to do."
"Mmm. Give me a sec," she said with a yawn, turning to her back and stretching as well.
Taking a moment to admire her naked form, Daryl got up off the bed and began to dress, knowing full well she was watching him too. He turned around just in time to catch her coming up on him from behind, grabbing her and lifting her off her feet and into a kiss. When he put her back down, she began to dress as well, adding all her knives, her daggers, and the machete and gun to her belt before deeming herself ready. Ani knew he would see her coming, but she didn't expect him to pick her up; she had just wanted to give him a hug. Leaving the guard tower, they walked up to the courtyard and over to the grill amid a bevy of greetings and jovial thank yous. Both the hunters still weren't used to the attention but they still valued everyone's opinions. They even knew all of their members' names on top of knowing a lot of their interests; they had received several special requests throughout the week.
"Smells good," Daryl told Carol as they walked up to her while she cooked up some meat.
"Just so you know, I liked you first," she told him.
"Technically, I liked 'im first," Ani corrected with a shit eating grin; she and Carol weren't really friends, but there had definitely been a truce between them in recent weeks.
"Stop," Daryl told both women just as Carol was about to retaliate. "You know, Rick brought in a lot of 'em, too."
"Not recently," Carol told him while looking down and making a 'no duh' face. "Giving the stranger sanctuary, keepin' people fed, you're gonna have to learn to live with the love."
"Nah thank ya, Cars. Got D, Phia, and Merle for that. Don' need any more attention than that."
"Right," Daryl agreed.
"I need you two to see something," Carol said, not wanting to argue with the two, as she turned to Patrick behind her, "Patrick, you wanna take over?"
"Yes, ma'am," the boy said before stopping Daryl and Ani. "Uh, Mr. and Mrs. Dixon? I just wanted to thank you for bringing that deer back yesterday. It was a real treat, sir, ma'am, and I'd be honored to shake your hands."
Daryl looked at the boy for a minute before making a show of licking his fingers while Ani smirked on beside him. When Patrick offered his hand, Daryl all but slapped his into the boy's, earning a proud and amazed smile from the boy. Ani simply smiled and clapped the lad on the shoulder before following Carol until they could see the entire fence line. The herds had been getting larger lately and they'd taken to having people in the dog walk killing the walkers off one by one through the fence since they couldn't get outside to burn the pits. Ani was worried her defenses weren't going to hold due to how quickly the pits had begun filling up and how out of control the herds had become. If they couldn't find a way to get the walker population under control, there was a real chance their sanctuary would fall. Both of her walker pits were so full that walkers were beginning to climb out and over them and the stakes along the fence had been pushed away from their useful positions. The fence was already being pushed inwards at times with the sheer number of walkers outside those areas and Ani still couldn't figure out how they would deal with it without burning through ammo they might need at a later date.
"About today," Carol said as she pointed to various points while Daryl and Ani ate pieces of venison from the bowl he was carrying. "I don't know if we're gonna be able to spare a lot of people for the run."
"That place is good to go," Daryl told her. "We're gonna move on it."
"Yeah," Carol said, sounding discouraged. "The thing is, we had a pretty big buildup overnight."
"Nah shite," Ani whispered as she took in the sight. "This prison was neva gonna last, was it?" she asked herself, though said it aloud accidentally.
"It'll hold, Ania. We'll make it hold," Daryl told her, throwing his arm over her shoulder as they looked out at the fence.
"There's dozens more towards your tower. A few more dozen that have gathered along the fence. It's getting worse than last month when we had fires burning all day every day for a week straight. They don't spread out anymore," Carol informed them.
"They can see and smell us. I told y'all we needed ta cova the fences, but no, that was too big an endeavor."
"With more of us sitting here, we're drawin' more of 'em out. Get enough of those damn fence-clingers and they start to herd up," Daryl agreed.
"Pushin' against the fences again," Carol finished for him. "It's manageable, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long. Sorry, Pookies."
Daryl nudged Carol's bicep with his elbow while he scoffed as Ani looked out over the fences, "We could easily build a flame throwa. Could kill 'em all with fire, well, melt 'em all with fire right along the fence line. It could potentially kill two birds with one stone; eliminate the immediate threat and aftawards provide protection against renewed threat by having a walka-zone outside the perimeter."
"No, could take down the fences if it gets too hot," Daryl told her, pulling her away and over to Glenn and Sasha.
"Maggie's not comin'?" she asked the Asian man.
"No, she wasn't feeling well," he told her.
"Still worried?"
"Yeah," he admitted, knowing full well Maggie had told Ani about the problem they were facing.
"Ya know it's goin' ta work out how it's s'pposed ta, right?"
"That's funny," Glenn said with a small smile. "Maggie said the same thing."
"See? Great minds think alike."
Tyreese walked up as they were loading gear into the back of the truck and volunteered to go, earning a round of approval from Daryl, Sasha, and Ani. Ani noticed Beth walking up and watched her and Zack having a moment, the couple always being cutesy when they were together. Zack did his best to try to impress Beth, but she just gave him a kiss on the cheek and walked away. Ani couldn't help the chuckle that came out of her mouth when she did that and thought about all the ways the girl kept teasing the boy. It was nice seeing young love blossoming like that and gave a lot of people hope that they could move forward in the future with a semi-normal life. While the wedding ceremony had given people something to look forward to, seeing the young couple falling in love was something entirely different. Beth and Zack were the talk of the prison almost as much as Tyreese and Karen were, although the latter's relationship was more the sweet and tender. The young adult couple was much more cute and playful in nature and Ani was all for it and cheering them on.
"It's like a damn romance novel," Daryl quipped as he walked past her.
"And what does the rough and tough Daryl Dixon know 'bout romance novels?" she asked him with a chuckle.
"I read," he stated.
"Dude, I don' even read romance," she teased him.
"Want a romance novel?" Sasha said as she walked up. "Just look at yourselves."
Everyone shared a laugh at the Dixons' expense, though even Ani and Daryl chuckled after they shared a look. They all started prepping, Daryl putting an extra pack in the truck just in case they found somebody while out there. It happened more often than he liked to admit, but Ani just couldn't leave anyone without a safe space if they were decent people. She'd ignored a few over the months, even killed two that refused to take no for an answer when told they couldn't come back to camp, but overall, she took in a lot. He grabbed the leather coat he'd gotten for Ani on the last run they'd gone on and helped her into it as Bob walked up. The man looked completely different with his shaven head and clean shaven face, a clean set of clothes, and looking well rested and in better condition than he'd come in. Ani blamed all of that more on him trying to charm his way onto Sasha's good side, but it was still a good thing that they had another medic at the prison.
"I'd like to start pulling my weight around here," Bob said, essentially offering his services to the group.
"Bob, it's only been a week," Sasha said, glancing over to Ani who just shrugged a shoulder; they needed all hands on deck and a willing set just came up.
"That's a week worth of meals, a roof over my head. Let me earn my keep," he insisted, laying on the charm thick with a large smile for Sasha, who looked at him critically.
"You were out on your own when they found you."
"That's right."
"I just want to make sure you know how to play on a team," Sasha told him.
"He ain't gonna do it unless it's easy," Daryl commented to her as he walked towards his bike.
"He was a combat medic, Sash. Give 'im a chance," Ani said as Daryl pulled her along.
"Yeah, he was in the Army," Glenn said.
Sasha just continued to look at the man, prompting him to say, "You a hell of a tough sell, you know that?"
"Okay," she told him as Daryl started up his bike.
Ani gave Daryl a kiss before she hopped on behind him and they began heading towards the gate when they saw Michonne standing in the field talking to Rick and Carl. Ani smiled brightly at her, having missed the woman she came to call a close friend and had been watching her back since she came back to the prison after Woodbury. While Ani and Daryl had stuck around the prison after the first couple months, Michonne had yet to give up on the chase for the Governor. Undoubtedly, part of Ani and Daryl's reason was each other, but they really had no trail to follow, no clues, no leads. There was no way of even knowing if the man was still alive or if he was even still in the state. Yet Michonne insisted on trying to find him, going further and further out and keeping the search going for weeks at a time now. Generally speaking, the only reason the two hunters even knew how the woman was doing was because they had met up with the woman once or twice while out on runs or hunting. Daryl rolled up next to her and stopped the bike, Ani getting off to give Cutie a pat down, having been the one to bring the damn thing in. They both had been out in the woods and came across the beautiful girl and and while Daryl had been the one to lasso her, Ani had been the one to get the thing moving. Ever since, she'd been quite close to the horse and she always greeted the horse before she greeted Michonne, much to the amusement of both the older woman and Daryl.
"Well, look who's back," Daryl said to Michonne.
"Didn't find him," she informed them.
"Didn' think ya would, Mich," Ani told her.
"Glad to see you in one piece," Daryl said.
"I'm thinking of looking over near Macon," Michonne told the three in front of her. When Ani, Rick, and Daryl all shared a look and a sigh, Michonne argued, "It's worth a shot."
"Seventy miles of walkers. You might run into a few un-neighborly types. Is it?" Daryl argued back.
"I've already had ta kill people out in the woods for bein' less than friendly. I don' want ta lose a friend 'cause she can' let go. If the Governa's still out there, it's like finding a needle in a pile a needles at this point," Ani reinforced Daryl's argument.
"We're gonna go check out the Big Spot. The one I was talkin' about. Just seein'," Daryl told Rick as Michonne looked on, contemplating what she'd been told.
"Yeah, I'm gonna go check the snares. I don't want to lose whatever we catch to the walkers," Rick responded.
"I'll go," Michonne offered.
"You just got here!" Carl complained, having formed a bond with the woman over comics and candy bars.
"And I'll be back," she told the young man with confidence before walking to the car as Daryl started up his bike again.
"Talk ta Hershel, Rick!" Ani called to him as the man walked over to the fence.
The ride to the Big Spot was uneventful and there were hardly any walkers around the town as they rolled in. When they'd spotted it the first time, there had been a gate surrounding it jam packed with dead shambling around. They had considered the possibility that nothing had been touched inside the store itself since early on; with so many walkers in front of the store, no one would risk it. They'd told Michonne about it later that day when they'd met her on the road while coming back from scouting. Ani was excited and hoped this trip was the stroke of luck they needed, and had sent Glenn, Sasha, and Merle out to figure out a way to distract the walkers. It must have worked because the parking lot was completely empty of the dead and all that was left was what looked to be a military medical station.
~x~
Carl, Sophia, and Patrick walked down to the fence line where the other kids were standing, waving at the walkers. Carl and Sophia looked to each other before looking at the kids in front of them, the soccer ball in Carl's hand forgotten as they watched on. Even though they weren't horribly younger than themselves, these kids were overly immature in a world that needed them to be tough. There were so many people now that even though Ani's lessons continued, a lot of people had managed to slip through the cracks and didn't take them, including most of the kids. The two preteens wondered if these kids even knew how to hold a knife, let alone get away from a walker or break a hold if someone grabbed them. Getting closer, they could hear the kids calling out names, making them both scowl in disgust at the obtrusiveness of it.
"You're naming them?" Carl called out enraged.
"Well, one of them has a name tag, so we thought all of them should," Mika, one of the little girls, told them.
"They had names when they were alive. They're dead now."
"No, they're not," Lizzie, Mika's older sister, stated as if she fully believed she was right. "They're just different."
"No, Lizzie," Sophia said firmly. "They're dead. Stab anything in the heart, it dies. Not these things, 'cause they don't need a heart. Their brains are only working because the virus makes it work. It's dead."
"Yeah, Lizzie. I mean, what the hell are you talking about?" Carl asked her. "Okay, they don't talk. They don't think. They eat people. They kill people."
"People kill people. They still have names."
"Yeah, like 'inmate 6' or 'prisoner 132,'" Sophia said snarkily. "And, you know, people are still, well, alive."
"Have you seen what happens? Have you seen someone die like that?" Carl asked her.
"Yeah, I have."
"Then you know they aren't the same thing as people," Sophia responded.
"They're not people and they're not pets," Carl told her sternly. "Don't name them."
Lizzie gave them both a dirty look before telling the other kids with her, "We're supposed to go read. Come on."
Mika asked Patrick if he was joining them, to which he looked at Carl and Sophia before responding that he was. When Sophia just looked at him, he shrugged his shoulders and commented how he liked being immature sometimes and that they wouldn't like story time because it was for kids. Another comment regarding how not everyone can be hard and tough all the time like the two of them left Sophia feeling just a little hurt that people saw her like that. Tough she could handle, but she wasn't hard; she was just different from the kids that still wanted to live in a dream. She'd had more and more time by herself or with Merle thanks to Ani always being gone and her mother being too busy with the other kids. Ever since she'd started calling Merle 'Pops' her mother had been spending less and less time with her and it had become noticeable that she would avoid her at times. It wasn't as if Sophia needed her all the time, but sometimes she wished she could have one on one time with her mother like Ani made for her at least once a week.
"I'm not that hard, am I?" she asked Carl timidly.
"I don't think so. I think you're strong. I mean, you're an actual hunter now and have brought back a couple kills with Merle," Carl responded. "You've gained more muscle than me, which is not fair. But I'm still taller than you, so that's good."
"But Patrick-"
"Is still a kid. We're not, not really," Carl said. "I mean, how many walkers have any of them put down? How many have we? We've gone scouting, we ran all winter with guns in our hands. Dad might have me playing farmer, but I haven't forgotten any of the lessons Ani gave me."
"I know. After all, I'm the one that spars with you the most. They don't even want to learn."
"Yeah, well, with Ani out all the time, nobody really follows the routine anymore. There used to be people in the field running all the time, now only a few people do, mostly from our group. What's the point in bringing these people in if they're not even going to learn how to protect themselves?"
"I don't know, but sis won't leave people out there if she doesn't have to," Sophia told Carl as they walked up to the courtyard. "Think we should tell her about Lizzie?"
"I think so. Think you could teach me how to use the bow sometime?"
"Sure," Sophia told him happily. "I'm not sure how to, though. Maybe you should just ask Pops. I'm sure he wouldn't mind."
"Yeah, maybe. Think we should go to story time?"
"No, that's boring."
"Nothing better to do."
"I guess," Sophia sighed, before looking over at Carl. "Wanna race?"
"What's the stakes?"
"Loser has to take care of the winner's chores for the day."
"Deal."
They raced each other all the way to the library, carefully making their way into the room without being noticed, both forgetting the race as they watched what was happening. One of the kids asked if they should take watch after Carol quit reading when the last adult left the room, to which she said yes before pulling out a tray full of knives to show the kids. Kids Ani wasn't wanting to have knives yet because she felt they were too young and/or whose parents had expressed a deep desire against it. There were some that she just didn't trust having a blade because of how they acted, Luke, Lizzie, and Mika being some of them. Patrick spoke up right after she had explained what they were going to be learning, asking to be excused because he felt sick. They heard Carol tell him he'd have to fight through it at some point, but he insisted that he didn't want to puke on anyone. She let him leave and went back to telling the kids about the knives as Sophia and Carl walked up, both giving her dirty looks. Sophia was angry that she had asked her mom to spend an afternoon with her, but instead she was teaching the others. Carl couldn't believe that, after both his dad and Ani had said no, Carol would go behind their backs and teach the kids anyway. While Ani had taught the two of them from the get go, she insisted it was because Sophia needed to learn to defend herself and Carl was the son of a cop and therefore more mature for his age when he needed to be. Just because she didn't want to teach all the kids when many weren't disciplined enough to practice, it didn't give Carol the right to teach them anyway.
"Please, don't tell Ani or your father," Carol asked them as she noticed their presence.
Carl just grabbed Sophia's hand and pulled her out of the library, "Let's go do our chores. At least we can do what we're told for a while."
"Yeah, I guess we should," Sophia agreed as she looked back and watched her mother go back to showing the kids how to use a knife. Removing her hand from his and walking next to him, she added, "I'm glad I have Pops and sis. I don't have to fight the other kids for their attention."
"On the plus side, you get more time with me," Carl said, nudging her with his shoulder before they both laughed.
"Wanna race back to the field?" she asked him, both stopping and getting ready before she took off first.
"Hey! No fair!" Carl called after her as she laughed.
"Last one there's a rotten egg!"
~x~
"Army came in and put these fences up," Daryl told the group as they looked at the store in front of them. "Made it a place for the people to go. Last week, when we spotted this place, there were a bunch of walkers keeping people out like a bunch of guard dogs."
"So they all just left?" Bob asked.
"Give a listen," Sasha told him.
"You drew them out," Michonne said.
"Put a boombox out there three days ago," Sasha said.
"Hooked it up to two car batteries," Glenn said.
"Alright, let's make a sweep," Daryl said as he entered through the hole in the gate, Ani hot on his tail. "Make sure it's safe. Grab what you can, we'll come back tomorrow with more people."
"Got ta check the tents, too. Might be some meds or equipment in there we can use," Ani said, pointing to Sasha and Glenn and then nodding with her head.
As she and Daryl walked up to the store, Glenn and Sasha entered the tent only to be disappointed, coming back out to shake their heads at Ani as she and Daryl banged on the glass. She sighed and then shrugged; it was a long shot that there would be any supplies anyway. This obviously wasn't a large medical camp, just a safe haven, or what was supposed to be one. If they were lucky enough, the store itself would have plenty of medical supplies where the tents were lacking. At the very least, they'd be able to get a lot of different supplies considering it was a supermarket. Ani was honestly hoping that this place would be the goldmine they needed to keep the prison going for a while. Resources were starting to become harder and harder to find close to the prison and they really did need this kind of lucky break.
"Just give it a second," Daryl told Zack as they stood in front of the store, waiting to see if there were walkers inside.
"Okay, I think I got it," Zack said, making Ani start giggling only to cover her mouth with her hand as Daryl scowled at her.
"Got what?" Michonne asked as she came back around from her circular pacing.
"Oh, I've been trying to guess what Daryl did before the turn," Zach told her.
"He's been trying to guess for like six weeks," Daryl complained.
"And it's been down right entatainin' how D gets flusta'd 'bout it," Ani laughed.
"I do not get flustered. Shut it," Daryl growled as Ani laughed louder.
"I've been pacing myself," Zack told the man. "One shot a day."
"Alright, shoot," Daryl said, finding it mildly amusing himself.
"Well, the way you are at the prison, you bein' on the council, you're able to track, you're helping people, but you're still being kind of, uh," Zack paused while trying to find the right word, making Ani chuckle when he did. "Surly. Big swing here. Homicide cop."
Michonne busted out laughing while Ani looked somewhat impressed; she could easily see Daryl as a homicide cop. Like the kid said, he was surly, smart, could see details others couldn't and he had a tendency to helping people. She could almost imagine if he had been a homicide cop, working at the APD with her and running into him there. Picturing him at the station as an officer, she thought to herself that her imagination was running a little to wild and dangerous and turned her face to keep Daryl from seeing her blush. Thankfully, he was more paying attention to Michonne's outburst than he was her, so she had a brief moment to try and pull herself together. He definitely had the talent to be a homicide cop, probably a detective with his tracking skills.
"What's so funny?" he asked Michonne, slightly offended.
"Nothin'," the woman answered. "Makes perfect sense. Even Ani likes the thought of it with how red she is."
"Shut up," Ani told her, crossing her arms like a petulant child.
"Actually, the man's right," Daryl told them all, though Ani knew the truth. "Undercover."
"Come on, really?" Zack asked.
"Yeah, used ta work with 'im," Ani fibbed, nudging Daryl's boot with her toe.
"I mean, I don't like to talk about it, 'cause it's a lot of heavy shit, you know?" Daryl elaborated.
"Dude, come on. Really?" Zack asked, not fully believing Daryl.
Daryl just stared at the boy as Ani openly started snickering, the boy looking away while Daryl cleared his throat and adjusted his crossbow. While he wasn't offended by the fact that Ania was laughing, he couldn't help but be a bit uncomfortable by the fact Zack thought he was something special. He was nothing important before the turn, just a drifter and a hunter and a drunk. He and Merle just did odd jobs for money that almost always went towards Merle's next fix, fuel for the tank, or alcohol. All he'd ever done was go along with what Merle had told him to do unless Merle wasn't around, and then he worked in a locally owned garage. Now, he could be something, he was someone to Ani and so many others but he didn't like it when people brought up what he used to do. It still made him uncomfortable and ashamed of himself to think about how he'd been nothing before when he could have tried harder and been someone like he was now. He couldn't help but wonder if Ani really would have cared about him before as she did now, something she'd said a few times but he couldn't quite believe.
"Okay, I'll just keep guessing, I guess," Zack told him, finally giving up.
"Yeah, you keep doin' that."
"Mm-hmm."
Just then, walkers began banging on the window, causing Michonne to tease Daryl, "We gonna do this, Detective?"
"Let's do it," he said, moving to stand in front of the doors.
Breaking the lock, he opened one for Michonne and Ani to enter. Michonne went first, having the longer weapon for immediate threat while Ani had her knives at the ready. Moving out of Ani's line of sight, Michonne took out a lone walker by the cash registers while Ani expertly launched her throwing knives and embedded them in the two by the window. Daryl took out the last one coming up an aisle with his crossbow before the three of them fanned out and double checked the place to make sure it was clear. The guys took the walkers outside of the store while the rest stood around and were given lists that had what they were there for. Ani reminded them to make sure they got as much of the supplies as they could out of the store as fast as they could. They'd be able to get more that way than if they simply kept everything with them. Gods forbid something went wrong and they were left empty handed when they got back to the prison.
"Alright, we go in, stay in formation for the sweep," Sasha told the group. "After that, y'all know what you're supposed to look for. Any questions?"
"Was there ever a time that you weren't the boss of me?" Tyreese asked her in good fun.
"You had a few years before I was born," she quipped right back, making Ani smile at their interactions.
She looked over to Bob who had walked a little ways off looking at something on the ground as she went over to him. There bottom half of a body that was laying on the ground, the torso was no where to be found and seemingly not having something to do with walkers. Ani looked up to see if she could see anything, but nothing came to mind other than the roof of the store, and it didn't look like there was anything that would cause the sight up there, either. Even if they didn't know where it came from, it didn't mean that things would be a bust. It did creep Ani out, though, considering there was most likely a half the body of a walker dragging itself around somewhere.
"That don' bode well, does it?" she asked the man.
"Hard to say. Let's get in and get out," he told her.
"Amen, brotha. This place is givin' me the heebie jeebies ta begin with," she said while walking into the store after him.
Ani moved around the store, eventually crossing paths behind Daryl and touching the small of his back to let him know she was there. He turned his head and nodded at her before continuing on his way, the group moving in a criss-crossed grid to cover the entire store and ensure there were no blind spots missed. Thankfully, there were no other walkers in the store so that they all could grab a cart and go their own directions. It was the easiest way to gather the supplies they needed to without having to wonder if one of the others had already grabbed it up. The entire store was practically untouched, leaving Ani to smile at the fact that her assumption had been correct. Whatever had happened out front of the store, the walkers on the inside had probably locked the doors and hidden inside before succumbing to the virus themselves.
"Was that really necessary?" Ani asked Michonne as the woman destroyed a display.
"I thought it was," was the only response she got before both women continued on their opposite courses.
Ani moved to the canned goods section and started clearing it out since she didn't want to take any chances and they could fill the truck with supplies. Quickly filling an entire cart, she moved it to the front of the store just as she heard Bob yell out and the sound of a loud crash. Ordering Michonne and Glenn to take the carts out to the lot, she ran over to where the she saw Tyreese heading. When she got there, she saw Daryl leaning down to talk to Bob, who was surrounded by broken liquor bottles and an overturned shelving unit. Ani was thankful that the place didn't have any walkers around or else that crash would have drawn the damn things straight towards them. She stood and watched as the others assessed the situation, waiting to find out if there was any damage or not.
"You alright?" Daryl asked asked the man, shining his light at him. "You cut or somethin'?"
"No, man, but, uh, my...my foot is caught," he told him, gesturing at where the unit was on top of his foot.
"Alright," Daryl said as he stood back up. "He's just caught. Come on, help me get this up."
He, Ani, Tyreese, and Zack began lifting the shelves up as Glenn asked what happened only for Zack to tell him where they were right before Ani yelled that they should keep working. Who knew what that loud crash would attract and she wanted them to get out with what they could than get out with nothing. More than enough people were working on getting Bob out that the rest needed to concentrate on the task at hand, which was gathering supplies. Together they got two shelving units up before Tyreese bent down to help Bob up.
"I was movin' fast, man," Bob said. "I drove right into the drinks."
"Man, you lucked out," Tyreese told him. "If this thing had come down on you the wrong way, you'd've been toast."
No sooner had he said that than a walker fell through the roof right over Ani's head, covering her in walker guts and debri from the ceiling. It wasn't anything that could seriously hurt her and the sound had alerted her to what was happening in time for her to hunch over and cover her head. That didn't stop her face from contorting in disgust at having dead guts all over her backside and her insides to curdle at the smell. Daryl shone his light at her and grabbed her away from the hanging walker, double checking her for cuts.
"I'm fine, but Bob's still stuck," she told him.
"Yeah, I know," he gruffed at her before telling the others to get Bob.
"Yeah, we should go now," Glenn commented as another walker fell through.
They began backing up as the damn things kept coming through at random spots, taking out shelves of goods and either standing back up or clawing their way around the store. Ani had no time to think, pulling her gun to take aim as more and more fell through the roof and started blocking their escape. She watched as Daryl climbed onto a stack of boxes as she helped Sasha take care of the ones swarming around her. Running over to him as fast as she could, she and Glenn helped take care of the walkers surrounding him before a different kind of groaning, that of metal, caught her ears. Looking up, Ani's eyes went wide at the sight of the aerial vehicle about to fall on them and her first thought was to cuss and shout at Daryl to move his ass. He jumped off the boxes and pulled a walker away from Bob before putting his foot through its skull to keep it from trying again. Zack lifted the unit still stuck on top of Bob as Daryl pulled him out, the helicopter that was on the now crumbling roof causing more of the roof to collapse. In a flurry of movement, they hurried to get Bob away from the area only for Zack to scream out as he got bit by a walker that came up under the fallen units. The walker pulled him down before Ani could do anything, taking a chunk out of his neck as the young man screamed.
"I'm sorry," Ani said as she raised her gun and took the shot, ending his suffering.
"We gotta go," Daryl told her as he pulled her along. "Go, go!"
Everyone ran out of the store as the helicopter came down only barely making it out before the place became little more than another reminder of how bad things had become. Ani was happy she had told the others to take the carts out to the lot, because although they would have to work fast, they would at least still have something to show for their loss. She punched the side of the truck, leaving a small dent from how hard she'd hit it and the fact that it wasn't in the best shape to begin with. Beth had just started finding a little piece of happiness, and now she had to go tell the girl that it was gone. And here she'd been thinking that at least they had something to show for their loss like there was nothing wrong with that. What could possibly be worthy of showing in exchange for a human life, especially one that meant something to someone? The rational and emotional sides of her brain went to war with each other over the morals of her own thinking as they silently and quickly loaded the vehicles with their finds. They were all loading up into the cars, Sasha going over to drive Zack's car back to the prison rather than leaving it where it was. Who knew when they would need a car in as good a condition as that one was and there was no point leaving the thing behind when it was functioning just fine. Again she berated herself for her line of thinking as she walked over to Daryl as he climbed on his bike.
"Do ya want me ta change my clothes?" she asked him.
"Naw, won't matter much anyways. Had worse on it."
"I don' wanna know," Ani told him, not even wanting to imagine what he was talking about as it had once been Merle's bike. "Let's get back home. I got a girl ta talk ta."
"I can do it if you want," Daryl offered as she climbed behind him.
"Nah, I'm the leada. My job ta break the bad news," she said stubbornly. "Though, wouldn' say nah ta ya comin' with."
"You got it."
The trip back to the prison was uneventful and many cheered as they unloaded their goods, but the cheers quickly died out upon learning about the loss of Zack. Several of the warriors apologized to Ani, having been out on the runs with them from time to time and knowing she never let anyone suffer. Zack made the fourth of their number that had gone on a run only to die from mercy at her hand. Ani didn't waste any time in dawdling, preferring to get the unpleasantries out of the way first and foremost and let the others take care of cataloging. She knew that the longer she waited the harder it would be for her to admit that she'd failed yet another of their groups' partners. Walking through the commons and straight towards Beth's cell, she steadied herself for what came next with a deep sigh and leaned against the door frame with Daryl beside her.
"Hey, Bethy," she said.
"Hey," she said. "What is it?"
"Zack," Daryl said from beside her.
"Is he dead?"
"Yeah, I'm sorry," Ani said.
"Okay," the girl responded, somewhat shutting down before removing the three from her sign that said 'days without incident,' leaving the zero behind, the two of them watching while Ani tried to make sure she was alright. "What? I don't cry anymore, guys. I'm just glad I got to know him, you know?"
"Me too," Daryl said as Ani nodded in agreement.
"Are you guys okay?"
"Just tired a losin' people, that's all," Daryl said.
"Tired a puttin' good people out a their misery," Ani agreed.
Beth put an arm around them both, giving them a comforting hug as she said, "I'm glad I didn't say goodbye. I hate goodbyes."
"Me too," Daryl said.
"Yeah, me three."
