Newly Revised

"It's not up to us!" Rick shouted across the field as more of the prison's numbers came out to see what was happening. "There's a council now! They make the choices, not us!"

"Is Hershel on the council?" the Governor asked smugly, one of his people producing the man from the back of a truck before grabbing out another. "How about Michonne?"

They watched as both were forced to their feet, the people around them gasping before Rick shouted, "We don't make the decisions anymore!"

"You're making the decisions today, Rick," the man shouted back. "You and Titania come down here and let's, let's have that talk."

"She ain't goin' down there," Daryl growled to Rick as he pushed Ani behind him.

"He's got a fuckin' tank, D. I think I got ta go," Ani said, though she was holding onto his vest with all her might since she had only today gotten back on her feet; she'd be out of breath by the time she got to the fence.

"No, he's right. You couldn't run if things went south. Stay here," Rick told her before he started walking down to the fence.

"This ain' goin' ta end well," she informed those standing around her.

"We'll be fine," Daryl growled out as he came back from opening the gate.

"Nah, D. This is it," Ani stated. "Look at the heat they're packin' and the numbas they've got."

"We can't take 'em all on," Merle agreed.

"We won't," Daryl said. "We'll go through the admin building, through the woods like we planned. We ain't got the numbers no more."

"When's the last time the bus was checked for supplies?" Ani asked.

"Day before we hit the Big Spot," Sasha answered. "We were running low on rations then and we're running even lower now."

"Yeah, we'll manage," Daryl told them. "Things go south, everyone heads for that bus. Let everybody know."

"What if everybody doesn't know when things go bad?" Tyreese asked. "How long do we wait?"

"They'll know. Goin' ta be kinda hard not ta when they got a fuckin' tank!"

"Calm down, Ani," Merle told the girl. "We'll wait as long as we can, then we stick to the plan."

"Easy for ya ta say! Don' tell me ta fuckin' calm down right now! It's a gods damned fuckin' tank, Merle!"

Ani kept a close eye on Rick as she heard the Governor shouting he had a tank and they had to leave, too far away to hear anything else about the conversation. She was so focused on trying to read the man's lips to even notice Daryl handing out guns until he pressed one against her back, trailing his hand to her hip as he moved away from her. Soon enough, everyone who had come outside the prison was armed, each and every one of them readying their rifles. The Governor shot at a couple walkers, taking them down and making another threat, something about the noise from what Ani could tell. He was right if that was what he'd said, though, because walkers were already coming towards the prison. Every time the Governor yelled, every time a bullet was fired, the minute that damn tank started moving, they were all being used to draw in more and more walkers. There wouldn't be a way to get out if the fences went down and the already overwhelming groups of walkers were quickly growing in size.

"We gotta do something," Carl said from beside Daryl, Ani, Sophia, and Merle standing next to the two as well.

"Your dad's got it," Daryl growled out.

"Let's hope," Ani commented.

"They're talking," Carl stated. "We could kill the Governor right now."

"From 50 yards?" Daryl asked.

"I'm a good shot, so's Merle and Ani. We could end this right now."

"He's right," Ani agreed. "Already got the asshole in my sights."

"Don't. You could start somethin' else," Daryl said.

"Listen to Daryl, Ani. Wait," Merle commented. "Trust Rick."

It was hard for her to do that when the Governor walked over to one of the cars and pulled out Michonne's sword and held it to Hershel's neck. Maggie and Beth became emotional seeing their father in such a vulnerable position. Ani forced herself to shut the fear and the anger that was building inside her down as Rick plead their case. Whatever he had said made the psychopath swing the sword, gun fire breaking out as Maggie and Beth cried at the sight of their father being beheaded. Ani watched the men get into their cars, going through the fences, the tank plowing right over one of her pits. Cursing at the top of her lungs, she kept firing until Daryl pulled her along with him and led her to cover. They moved to where they had better vantage point and opened fire once more, Daryl getting two in the chest while Ani hit another three in the head. They lost track of where the others were as the tank opened fire on the buildings around them.

"Ania, go!" Daryl said, pushing her from their spot as the tank burst through the main gate.

She ended up losing Daryl in the fire fight, finding Merle and another survivor with Sophia helping to keep the way to the bus clear. Even as she fired, taking down another two with head shots, she was looking for Daryl as the man they were standing got hit and Maggie got Glenn to the bus. Ani could hear Maggie yelling for Beth a few moments later as the people from the Governors group continued baring down on them. They didn't have the numbers and they didn't have the weaponry to fight them off after the illness had devastated their numbers. The worst part was that they were losing the prison to a man who claimed to want to move in but really just wanted to wipe them out; if it were about the prison they wouldn't be using the tank. Ani, Merle, and Sophia were trapped in a haze of smoke and gunfire as she and Merle yelled for Daryl over the cacophony of battle. The three of them fought together while they moved from cover to cover until Ani heard Sophia cry out.

"Merle!"

"She's hit in the shoulder! Don't look bad, but we gotta go! We gotta get 'er outta here!"

"Go! I'll cova ya!"

"You follow behind, Ani! Don't fuckin' lose sight of me!" Merle yelled at her.

Taking up position, she made sure Merle had Sophia up on his shoulder as the girl protested she could fight and at the very least walk on her own. Of course, Merle was never going to listen and just started moving towards the administration building just before another blast from the tank forced her to take cover again. She couldn't see Merle through the dust and smoke, just screaming at him to get Sophia out as she ran a different direction. She saw Tyreese being pinned down by a couple of the Governor's people and took careful aim, seeing one go down right before she pulled the trigger and took the other one down. Looking over, she saw Lizzie and Mika standing with guns in their hands, which explained who'd killed the man. They should have been on the bus with the others and she was beyond pissed they were out there in the open during the heat of battle. Ani and Tyreese both ducked down, Ani's hands going to her ears, as a loud boom went off somewhere behind her before the things stopped for good.

"Tyreese! Get 'em out!" she screamed at the man. "I'll cover ya! Go!"

She didn't wait for an answer as she took off running right into the fray just in time to catch a glimpse of Beth and Daryl running out of the prison. They followed the route the bus was going to take, which lead straight out of the prison and meant that they would be safe. Ani tried to go after them but there was no way around the walkers still pouring into the prison, and she didn't have enough ammo to force her way through. Without a choice, she ran the direction Tyreese had only to find herself cut off by more walkers pouring in from the back. The tombs were probably filled with walkers, but the walkers down there would at least be stream-lined and easier to get through. All she could do was hope that the defenses they'd put on the other side of the prison had held well enough to keep at least one way out through the tombs clear. She ran into C block and quickly made her way to her and Daryl's cell to grab her bug out bag, her crossbow, and all the hidden jerky and moonshine the two had kept in there.

She sat on the bed and took a second to process the turning of events, willing herself to stop the movie playing behind her eyes of everyone running away and get her head in the game. She turned and grabbed Daryl's bug out bag after looking at her favorites on the wall. He kept his drawing supplies in that bag instead of his main one after her accidental find before grabbing the pictures. Ani carefully placed them in his sketchbook for safe keeping before putting it back in his bag. She took all the knives they had in their cell before heading to Merle's and grabbing his stash as well before clipping his own bag to hers and Daryl's. Altogether, she was carrying roughly fifty pounds of weight, but it helped to motivate her and gave her something else to concentrate on as she made her way into the tombs. Merle and Sophia, Tyreese and the kids, Daryl and Beth; they had all made it out. Her chest was heavy and her wheeze was back as she worked her way out of the tombs and fought through the walkers in the woods, but she wouldn't stop until she found Daryl.

~x~

Daryl had shoved Ani out of the way of some debris as he dodged the other way, forcing them to separate. He couldn't see her, and the gunfire around him made it to where he couldn't hear anything, even as he shouted for her and Merle. The only problem was that his shouting drew the attention of the attackers and forced him to have to duck under metal pallets for cover. Daryl fought back as best as he could, taking down another of the men before a walker caught up to him. He grabbed a piece of rebar in one hand before ramming it up into the walker's skull. The rebar wouldn't come out and he was still taking fire, the place were he was hiding was quickly becoming unsuitable for cover. Daryl used it as a shield against the intruders and allowed him to get much closer to their attackers and take out a couple more before reaching the tank. He dropped the walker-shield before he grabbed a grenade out of his pocket, biting the pin off and throwing it towards the Governor's new lackies. He fought against walkers and the few attackers still encroaching as he pulled out another grenade before he pulled the pin and jumped up to launch it down the barrel of the tank. He ran like hell to a safe spot, hearing the men inside shouting about the grenade and watching as they scrambled out of the tank. The force of the explosion forced everyone from the walkers to the tank operator down. Daryl stood watching as the man got up, looking at his tank before looking right at Daryl. With no remorse, Daryl shot him through the heart with a bolt unable to see anyone else from the prison. Ani was no where to be found and neither was Merle, the prison completely decimated and smoke obscuring his vision.

Daryl thought he was alone until Beth ran up to him, "I was tryin' to find the kids to get them on the bus."

"We gotta go, Beth," Daryl told her, his voice low and slightly broken. "We gotta go."

They ran, heading through the administration building and out into the woods, just like they were supposed to. Daryl kept pushing Beth to move faster and faster, leading her through the woods as the dead continued chasing them. He couldn't focus on anything with the dead bearing down on him and him having the little girl with him. Beth was only seventeen and could barely handle a damn gun, so keeping her safe was the priority. Even so, he ran so fast he lost sight of her, doubling back just in time to take out a walker about to take a bite out of her. He smack another with the butt of his crossbow before kicking a third away and pushed her away through the woods. He grabbed his bolt as he passed the fallen walker and let her lead the way as they exited the trees. Beth collapsed on the ground in the middle of some tall grass in the clearing, Daryl quick to follow just so he could catch his breath.

Watching the birds circle overhead, Daryl couldn't help but feel angry that he'd found Beth and just left the prison. He didn't even know if Anii was still there and now, if she was there, she was dead, and if she wasn't, he had no way to look for her. And Merle might be a big boy, might be able to take care of himself, but that didn't mean he made it out either. Sophia, Michonne, Rick, Carl, Glenn, Sasha; all of them just gone, just like Hershel. Daryl wished he would have just let Ani take the shot when she wanted to and hope for the best rather than wait. Waiting had lead to the demise of his home and the loss of his family once again. His mind reeled and spiraled until he was so consumed with negativity all he could do was sit as night fell upon them. He started a small fire, but all he could do was stare at it, thinking about all those times he'd sat around a fire with Ani in his lap, or him on her chest. They'd sit and with Merle and Sophia on one side of them as Merle told some story or another about his escapades. Now, all Daryl could do was sit there staring at the fire as the pit of despair that was swallowing him up grew bigger.

"We should do something," Beth's quiet voice filtered through, repeating herself when he made no response. He finally looked at her only for her to say, "We aren't the only survivors. We can't be. Rick, Michonne, they could be out here. Maggie and Glenn could have made it out of A block. Ani and Merle definitely are somewhere out here. They wouldn't stop until they found you. They won't."

Daryl couldn't bring himself to answer and simply turned his eyes back to the fire while thinking about what she'd said. How could he tell her that it didn't matter if they were alive or not because they'd never be able to find them? The best thing that had ever graced his lonely, lowly existence, the only thing that made him feel like a real man, someone upstanding, someone good, was now gone, out of reach, out of sight, possibly not even alive. She'd just gotten up and about this morning, how the hell was she supposed to be able to defend herself from a horde of walkers when she could barely walk? All he could think about was the fact that he'd promised himself he'd protect Ani way back in the quarry, when he found out about her secret weed habit. And now he'd lost her, lost his home, his brother, his family; he'd lost her.

"You're a tracker," Beth said after watching him for a moment and standing suddenly. "You can track. Come on. The sun will be up soon. If we head out now-" she stopped talking as Daryl made no movement, no acknowledgment he'd heard, nothing. It pissed her off so bad that, like a petulant child, she grabbed the blade he'd stuck in the ground after lighting the campfire and chastised him, "Fine. If you won't check I will. And when I find Ani I'll be sure to tell her you sat on your ass like a baby."

Beth stormed off back towards the prison as Daryl just kept staring at the fire until he realized she was serious. He watched her retreating form before looking back to the fire, looking up once more and standing up to follow her. Even if Beth didn't find Ani, if Ani found them and he didn't keep the girl safe, she'd tan his hide for being so selfish. Hell, he could hear her voice in his ears now telling him he was better than this, better than wallowing in pity for himself. So, with that thought in mind, he got up, grabbed his bow, and trudged off after the teen after lazily putting out their campfire. The sun rose high overhead as they worked the woods closer to the prison. Daryl hadn't said two words since he'd caught up to Beth, his mind still reeling at the loss of their home, Merle, and Ani all at once. His eyes were trained down, looking at the ground for anything, any sign that anyone had made it out of the prison. Beth stopped to watch Daryl as he knelt down and cleared some leaves off a clear print, small in size meaning one of the kids had gotten out.

"Could be Luke's," Beth offered when she saw the tracks. "Or Molly's. Whoever they are, it means they're alive. Being kids, Ani might be with them."

"No, her tracks ain't here," Daryl shot her down. "This means they were alive four or five hours ago."

"They're alive," Beth yelled at him before walking off again.

She followed the patchy mud trail while the tracks were as plain as day when she trudged along, Daryl following along behind her. Beth was sick of Daryl's pessimistic attitude, his angry silence, and the way he'd just given up on everyone. If Ani was here, she'd give him a piece of her mind, but Beth just wanted to find the others. Even as she was searching for more prints in the dirt, he wasn't really paying much attention to anything until she veered off. She followed the tracks through the woods until they came across a wild grape bush that had a few clear prints and some crushed fruit beneath it. Beth perked up a lot when she saw the evidence of survivors, but Daryl looked at the tracks and quickly realized the most likely outcome. Whatever rest the people had gotten beside the grape bush had been short lived judging by the change in weight and distance in the steps leading away from it.

"They picked up the pace right here," he told Beth. "Got out in a hurry. Things went bad."

"Wouldn't kill you to have a little faith," Beth said, turning away from him and looking for more signs.

"Yeah, faith," Daryl scoffed.

"Brought you Ani."

"Naw, as Ania said, God ain't got shit to do with it, with us. Faith ain't done shit for us. Sure as hell didn't do nothin' for your father."

As soon as he said the words, he could hear Ania chastising him for making such a cruel comment when the girl had just watched her dad die yesterday. The glare she sent him was way too innocent to be intimidating, but it did make him feel guilty as all hell for not thinking before he spoke. It just added to the guilt that was already weighing heavy in his mind. Beth stared at him for a good few minutes contemplating what she wanted to say, but none of what was running through her mind was very lady-like, so she kept her mouth shut. If you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all, just like daddy taught you, she thought to herself before turning around and busying herself with picking grapes. She couldn't believe that Daryl had given up on finding anyone before they'd even began searching. Ani wouldn't give up so easily and neither would Merle, so she didn't understand how Daryl was being such a pessimist. Beth just knew that Ani nor Merle would think he was dead any more than Maggie would think she was. They were all going to be looking for members of the group that had survived and she was going to be damned if she let Daryl sit down and do nothing but stare at a fire.

"They'll be hungry when we find them," she said resolutely.

Daryl gave her a few more guilty glances, before walking up to her and offering her his handkerchief at arms' length to carry the grapes around in. They didn't exchange any words as she worked, but Beth did notice that he continued along the trail the tracks. Even if he didn't have any faith, he was trying for her sake, and that had to count for something. She gave a small smile to his back before following, noticing that he stopped to check and make sure she was catching up every once in a while. Daryl kept the lead until they found two walkers lying dead on the ground that were relatively fresh kills, no more than a day old. Hope momentarily brought itself out from the depths of Daryl's mind, only to fall right back into the recesses of it when he spotted something on the leaves of the bush next to the walkers. The person who had killed these walkers had been injured either beforehand or in the process of the fight.

"What?" Beth asked as Daryl double checked to make sure he was seeing things right.

"That ain't walker blood."

"Trail keeps going," Beth said, walking ahead and wondering how far away they were. "They fought 'em off."

"No," Daryl denied once again. "Got walker tracks all up and down here. At least a dozen of them."

Twigs snapped and put Beth on high alert as she jumped, pulling out her knife before she raised it in a position that was best for slashing or smashing downwards. Ani always said the natural motion of the arm was down, so holding the blade away from the shoulder and tight in the fist, was the best way of keeping a guard up and a weapon handy. Even if Beth didn't do much with the fighting training, she had been forced into weapon training and the minor bit of self-defense the girl deigned to remember from last winter. Beth was forced back into the present when twigs snapped once more as Daryl took a sideways glance in her direction before turning back around and looking into the woods. The walker that came out grabbed Beth from behind, making making her scream in terror. She couldn't quite get it to break it's hold, but she was able to keep enough of her wits about her to elbow it's gut enough so that when Daryl grabbed it, she could get away. Daryl was forced to put his bow down after he had tried to shoot it; it was too close to Beth and they were moving around too much. It wasn't until he had the damn thing on the ground that he realized Beth had his only knife after he'd given it to her the night before. He was completely unprepared since he had been planning on laying down with Ani for a while before Rick came to talk to them. Those plans had been blown all to hell by the news of what Carol had done and said followed by the Governor's attack.

He didn't have time to think about that as he sat on the walker's back, looking around for something to end it with. Beth quickly grabbed the knife she'd dropped fighting the walker off of her in the first place and came closer to him. He nodded at her as she came into view and grabbed the walker's shirt before rolling with it and grappling it under its arms to keep it still. Beth took quick action in discarding the walker with a well placed thrust into its forehead before Daryl shoved the thing off of him. Both he and Beth were breathing heavily as Daryl stood up and grabbed his bow once more. The girl was fine as far as he could tell when he looked at her, although it was obvious she was spooked. He couldn't blame her; this was the first time she'd been outside the prison since they'd fought of the Governor's men the first time. She'd stayed behind the fence to help take care of Judith and the orphans while the others went on runs. None of them wanted her anywhere near the fences once they had them fully secured and they all had gladly left her with the mantle of nanny to the baby.

"Come on," Daryl said, picking the trail back up.

It didn't take them long to exit the trees, finding three walkers kneeling on the ground with fresh bodies and parts laying around them. Daryl shot one walker in the head as he walked up and stabbed the other two in the head without remorse. Beth might have hope to find the others, but it was severely diminished by the sight of the tiny boot attached to a severed leg among the gore. Where it broke the teen down, it was all the proof Daryl needed that they were never going to find anyone from their group alive ever again. He was never going to see Ani or Merle again and Beth was never going to see Maggie. It was only a matter of time before the two of them were dead, too, alone in the world with only each other, and Beth barely knew how to handle a knife. He walked away with her following him after a minute, sniffling away until her tears were dried out. When night began falling around them once again, Daryl made a small fire with twigs and Beth added to it from her journal.

Beth wasn't sure when she fell asleep, all she knew was that one moment the world was black and the next Daryl was roughly shaking her. He practically pulled her to her feet and grabbed his bow before leading her through the trees as walkers stumbled upon their little camp. They exited the woods with nothing in sight more than a crashed car that wouldn't start when Beth tried it. Daryl knew they didn't have the time to get away on foot and opened the trunk of the car, pushing Beth to get inside. He crawled in after her and tried to shut the trunk before using his rag to tie it closed when it failed to latch. If he or Beth had been any bigger, they wouldn't have been able to fit and one wrong move or noise would get them killed. He put his finger to his lips to show Beth to stay silent as the walkers began to hit the car. When Beth closed her eyes with fear written all over her face and tears streaming down her eyes, he was happy that Ani wasn't with him for the first time. Hell, he was pushing down his own panic and wasn't even sure he was going to make it through the night to try to find her, if she even was alive. Between being trapped in such a small space, the darkness, the storm, and the walkers right outside the car jostling it, Ani would have been having a panic attack. The teen wasn't faring much better as she kept a tight grip on her knife while Daryl kept a steady focus of concentration as he held his bow at the ready. A single bolt wouldn't do them much good if the horde managed to find them, but it was the only reassurance he had.

By the time the walkers had passed, Beth looked completely terrified and wiped a tear from her eye before she reached out and untied his rag. The trunk opened to the morning light and made them both blink away the stars in their eyes from the change in light. She climbed over Daryl and out of the trunk, quickly followed by the man himself as they started gathering whatever supplies they could find. There were a couple of bags by the crash that they used to carry their spoils once gathered before Daryl walked off. Beth stood staring at the back of the man she wasn't sure she wanted to follow since he had given up on finding their people so fast. After the night, though, she knew that if she didn't stick with him she was dead; she'd never had to run from walkers like this before. If she left Daryl, he would probably just wander on his own and never try to find the others at all. Beth knew that he was wallowing in self pity just like she had done back on the farm. It was only because she knew that fact that she ended up following the man; he wouldn't bother with anything if she didn't.

Daryl really didn't care if Beth followed him or not when the anger at having lost Ani and Merle was too much for him to find it in him to care about anything at all. He left her in an area of the woods that didn't seem to be threatened by walkers to set up a makeshift camp. She needed to eat and he needed to do something other than sit around watching the teen try to figure out their next step. All he wanted to do was sit down and do nothing but she was a constant ball of movement and conversation that he didn't have the heart to deal with at the moment. The only thing he could think about was Ani; her smile, her eyes, the way she had worn that feather and bead in her hair every day since she'd been given them. He lit a cigarette as he thought about the way the morning sun fell on her naked skin and the way she tasted when in the throws of passion. She had always been there when he needed her and he needed her now more than ever and she was just gone, just like everyone else. He pressed the burning end of the cigarette into the back of his hand as he let a few tears slip down his face. Everything he had worked so hard to build up, everything he had worked to protect, had disappeared from the face of the planet.