Newly Revised

Daryl woke up before Ani the next day held her just a little tighter to his chest while she curled back into him in response. He'd been thinking about how she didn't want to take the test at all until she had more to go on. While it made sense from her point of view, from his it seemed like she was just scared to know one way or another. One hand was resting on her stomach, gently rubbing low even though he didn't know what the hell he was thinking doing it. If nothing was there, he was being like this for nothing, but he couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, there was, especially since her stomach had gotten so damn hard over the last couple weeks. He didn't even realize she was awake as he leaned over, kissing her shoulder before leaving a wet trail up her neck. She turned in his arms and kissed him hard before they rolled as one, Daryl on top of her seated right where he wanted to be, making them both moan.

When they went downstairs for breakfast, they noticed that Sophia wasn't there, the girl leaving a note that she was going hunting with Merle. The man had moved into Francine's house weeks ago and only stayed with them once a week, which was fine with Ani since he didn't leave a mess in his wake anymore. And his excuse for staying over once a week was for Sunday family dinners, where Ani and Merle both were in the kitchen making a large dinner with Carol bringing something over, the entire group coming together to eat at hers or Rick's house. Ani had given him her grinder and bowl, having decided that she really didn't like the feeling of being out of her mind like that anymore after spending a night smoking it. It just wasn't her thing anymore, and Merle had agreed to not partake around her, as he was more than happy to have a nightcap worth of weed every evening. Sophia, it seemed, had taken to spending time with Merle or Carl if she wasn't with Ani and Daryl. Francine came to Sunday dinners once or twice, but felt odd because she wasn't actually a part of the group. She and Ani got along alright, but her little comments about how Ani and Daryl were always on top of each other were grating enough for Ani to tell the woman off for it in much the same fashion she had Merle. It hadn't caused any problems between Francine and Merle when she'd told her off, Merle just stating he'd tried to warn her of how Ani argued. In the end, Francine was given a bit of an education on neurodivergence and how other people's expectations of what people like her could do would only bring about heartache for all those involved. While the woman admitted she didn't understand half of what Ani had talked about, she also agree to keep her nose out of where it didn't belong.

Breakfast was just eggs on toast, but Daryl was more than happy to be getting regularly cooked meals for a change. It wasn't just that they had food to eat, it was that Ani was always making sure to make his food just how he liked it. She was always asking or remembering to the point that she'd make things he knew he liked even if it wasn't a favorite of hers. The other day, she'd managed to catch a few fish with a spear which had surprised the shit out of Daryl, Ani's only explanation being that she'd seen it done on TV and had wanted to try it as a kid. Knowing she'd lived by a river, she'd practiced until she was a damn near pro by the time she was twelve, though she hadn't done it since until she wanted to show off for Daryl who'd stated he missed having fish. She didn't even like fish, yet still fried and ate it just so the man could get his craving, though she didn't eat much and ended up eating some jerky later.

Watching her finish her breakfast, he asked her, "Why don't you stay home today? Help Denise out? Maybe..."

"Not yet. Not ready ta be that far gone from ya yet," she countered before sighing. "That otha part, maybe...maybe when we get back."

"Finally thinkin' 'bout it?"

"Yeah," Ani admitted. "Still don' want ta see a negative, though."

"What changed your mind?"

"Ya did. When ya asked me ta last night. I thought about it afta ya fell asleep. I lost track a the days while I was sick and when we were on the run. I don' rememba when I last bled was. I really, really, don' want ta see a negative, but like ya said. What if? I'd ratha know for sure than guess and wait 'round for somethin' that ain' happenin'. It'll hurt less lata if it hurts a little more now."

"Could take it before we head out," he offered.

"And have ya leave me behind one way or anotha when the results come up? Nuh-uh, ain' havin' it. I'll take it when we get back," she told him, heading out the door before looking back at him and chuckling. "Quit poutin' and let's go. I'm still takin' the damn thing, so ya'll known by the end a the day whetha or not someone else is goin' ta be callin' ya daddy otha than me."

"I better," he said petulantly. "Wanna know now."

"And instead ya get a lesson on patience, my dear, beloved Daryl Dixon," she laughed, bringing her arms around his neck as his came around her hips, both of them sharing a kiss before they headed off to meet with Rick.

Walking out to the road, they saw Denise walking with Beth down the road, Daryl calling out to them as they got closer. The four individuals met up with Daryl taking his arm off Ani and Beth talking to the woman momentarily as he pulled out the list of things Denise wanted for the infirmary and pointed to it. There had been several lists handed to them; one was of things needed for the pantry, one was of things needed for the infirmary, and one for things the people of Alexandria wanted or needed personally. Ani had gone through and put a star next to the things from the pantry and Alexandria's lists as to what was absolutely necessary. Many of the things were more 'we need this but it's not a life or death thing' than items that would help them last longer right now. Some items she took off the lists altogether because it was just stupid to look for something as dumb as an electrical razor or a boombox, but she still kept them in mind. Hell, she had her own CD player sitting in the living room, so she couldn't blame someone else for wanting one, it just wasn't high on the priority list. Everything she took off of the lists, she made a point of remembering; not the person who wanted it, but the item. She'd tell Olivia that someone would come in and specifically ask for the item if she couldn't remember who it was herself. Rick carried the list of what was needed for the pantry while Daryl had the one for the infirmary; Ani had her list memorized along with all the other stuff.

"This thing at the bottom here. You're talkin' about the drink, right?" he asked Denise.

"I am, but..."

"It's not medical," he commented.

"No, I drew a line between the important stuff and that. I just figured, if you saw it," Denise said, Ani watching as she started getting nervous, sharing a smile with Beth.

"Alright," Daryl told her.

"Anything remotely medical is a priority," Denise clarified. "And food. Maybe even food before medicine, and gas or batteries or books for the kids or clothes. It's just, if you see it, if it just happens to, you know, be right there..."

"You like it, right?" Daryl asked, willing to get Ani's best friend whatever she wanted for saving Carl and being Ani's friend in general.

"No, I don't drink pop."

"What the hell's pop?"

"Oh, I'm originally from Ohio," Denise said, as if that explained anything, making Ani laugh.

"She means soda, love. Soda for the south, pop for the north, and soda pop a lot a places in between," Ani explained as they both nodded their heads, one in agreement, one in understanding.

"Why you want it?" Daryl asked, looking at the list then back at the other woman, bringing Ani back under his arm, her fingers entwining with the hand on her shoulder.

After a pregnant pause, Denise admitted, "Tara was talking about it in her sleep, I think. Either she likes it or she doesn't, but if she likes it, it'd be a really nice surprise. I'm not good with that kind of stuff. And she and Heath are going on that two week run. I just thought it'd be a nice going-away present. Just, uh," she said while waving her hands around, making Daryl hold his up in surrender and wave them a little bit, Ani hiding her smile at their cute, awkward antics. "Don't go out of your way. And if it gives you any trouble..."

"I won't."

"Good, 'cause it's not important. I should have just said so instead of drawing a line."

"Got it," Daryl responded as he walked away, giving her a thumbs up.

They met up with Rick and climbed into the black car with him, Daryl in the front passenger seat while Rick drove, Ani in the middle in the back. She'd left the twins with Sophia when she saw the girl walking through the gate with a string of squirrels and a couple rabbits. She wanted the girl to bond with them as well as she lived with her and Daryl, a fact that wasn't going to be changing for the teen anytime soon. She had no desire to return to Carol's side and preferred Merle in the role of Pops, or grandfather, or even godfather, but not someone she wanted to live with. They'd all gotten pretty sick of his stinky feet and noxious gas after the first week living together with him crop-dusting his farts all throughout the house. Ani and Sophia both had joked with Francine about it, quipping that something had definitely crawled up his ass and died, to which the woman quickly agreed. Francine left them privy to the fact that they used separate blankets so that when she moved, she didn't get a face full of nasty. As they came up to the gate, Ani was surprised to find Eugene standing guard and opening it, making a motion for the car to halt while Daryl rolled the window down.

As Eugene leaned through the window handing Daryl a piece of paper, he told them, "I mapped out some of the agricultural supply places in the area. Even if they've been cleaned out, my bet is that the sorghum would be untouched. Now, that there is a criminally underrated grain that could change the game with our food situation from scary to hunky-dunky." When the members of the car just looked up at him from the map with blank expressions, he continued with, "I'm talking standability, drought tolerance, grain-to-stover ratio that is the envy of all corns. Think about it."

"Thanks," Daryl told them as the three in the car drove away in confusion.

When they turned onto the open road, Rick told them, "Today's the day."

"Yeah," Daryl said.

"We're gonna find food, maybe some people. Law of averages gotta catch up."

"I don't know. We ain't seen nobody for weeks. Maybe we ain't gonna find nobody. Maybe that's a good thing," Daryl told him, thinking about the possibility of the families being made, both Maggie's and hopefully his and Ani's.

When Rick picked up a disc that had Daryl asking him not to put it on, Ani dug in her bag and pulled out a cache of CDs, handing them to Daryl and snatching the one from Rick, "I ain' listenin' ta that crock a crap again! That is not music! That's what happens when a dumpster has a baby with a guitar!"

Both men laughed as Daryl put on a Half Moon CD he knew Ani knew all the songs to, enjoying the sound of her quiet singing coming from the back. He turned it up super loud, loving how she sang louder from the back as they traveled down the road, the sound luring any walkers near Alexandria away. Honestly, he'd rather hear her voice rather than the man's singing, but she was no Beth when it came to wanting to sing acapella. She rarely ever sang without background music, which was why they now had a CD player in their house as well as an impressive cache of 90s and 20s rock music. Her favorite bands that they'd managed to collect were a couple Coheed and Cambria CDs and the Black album from Metallica. When he'd showed her that one, she'd immediately put it in the CD player and the two of them had rocked out for hours before Sophia came in and caught them goofing off, both hunters immediately sobering up and blushing. Daryl's favorites had been some AC/DC and Lynyrd Skynyrd, along with a single album of Trapt, which had surprised Ani considering how emotional the band was. He was surprised by her own tastes in music when she'd brought back a few CDs that were more country than rock, Ani claiming that there were some geniuses of music that couldn't be ignored, Bob Seger being one of them. But when it came to music she liked singing to, Half Moon, Evanescence, and Shinedown were by far her favorites.

They drove for a while before Ani hit Rick's arm with the back of her hand and pointed out Daryl's window just as they passed by a farm. They had been traveling without so much as a walker popping up so far and hadn't seen anything significant before she spotted the barn. It was worth going to check out as it looked like it had relatively been left untouched, the door still down and the building still intact. That alone was something worth looking into because, even if they didn't find food, they might be able to find people. Ani couldn't help but chuckle at the fact that 'sorghum' was written on the door to the barn's outer garage. Daryl and Rick took watch as she took out her pins and picked the lock, pulling the chain off and waiting with the knob in her hand. Rick double checked inside that area to make sure there were no walkers as Daryl and Ani walked around to the side with the garage door.

"Hey, hold up," he told Rick as the man walked back towards them. "It's best to be safe. Cover it with me?"

"Yeah," he agreed, each taking up position behind Ani with their guns raised and ready while she once again picked the lock.

Daryl threw open the door, Ani checking one side of the truck they found while Rick checked the other with a, "We're good. One more time?" he asked, gesturing to the back of the truck.

"It ain't locked," Daryl said, moving to open that door as well.

"Holy shiteballs," Ani commented upon seeing a truck loaded with random goods, a lot of it food.

"Well, would you look at that," Rick said, smiling. "The law of averages."

"Yep," Daryl said, stepping down as both Rick and Ani stepped up, Ani tossing him a couple things she wanted, namely bags of her sweet and spicy jerky that she'd been having more and more trouble finding.

He stuffed them in his bag with a smile as Rick said, "Let's get this thing going, grab our gear, come back for the car later."

"I can drive it-"

"Hell naw, you get your ass in that truck and stay there," Daryl countered, not wanting to be separated from her until they got back home. "Ain't leavin' my sight 'til we get back."

"What's goin' on now?" Rick asked as he and Ani jumped down from the truck, Daryl helping her while she rolled her eyes even as she was smiling.

"Jus' a promise I made 'im for when we get back. Ain' sayin' more'n that for now," Ani told him. "We should take a different way home, see what we can see."

"Think it'll start?" Daryl asked Rick.

"Yeah, I do," Rick said before chuckling. "Sorghum."

"Ta the mightiest a all grains," Ani laughed after him as Daryl closed the truck's back door and went around the passenger. "Only a two seata," she told him. "I'll have ta sit in ya lap, or, ya know, take the car back."

"Ain't the first time you've been on my lap today," he countered, leaving her sighing and climbing in after him and situating herself on his legs.

He moved her to where she was just sitting on one before hiking his foot up on the dash and leaning her shoulder into his chest, arms wrapped around her. Ani couldn't help but think he was being protective as he looked down at her, Rick watching them from the driver's seat. Whatever the little woman had promised the older hunter, Daryl was taking it seriously and wasn't about ready to let her go. They continued down the road until he pointed out an old gas station, the trio stopping to see what they could see. Ani went to the building to see inside, but it was pretty well boarded up; she wasn't willing to risk picking the lock only for them to have to run from or fight a group of walkers. Daryl and Rick were trying to flip a vending machine that had fallen down over, the thing obviously weighing more than the men could handle. Daryl got an idea to wrap a chain around it and use the truck to roll it over, Ani just standing back and watching as the two got to work, the pair only allowing her to help by placing the chain as they rocked the thing on one side or the other. When the chain was set, Rick hopped in the truck and drove until the vending machine flipped, Daryl whistling for him to stop while looking inside.

"It's soda and candy," Rick commented, walking up and looking at the contents. "Why the trouble?"

"It wasn't any trouble," Daryl told him, Ani smiling softly at Daryl.

"Denny asked for somethin' 'e's tryin' ta find," Ani informed Rick right before they both were run into from behind, Daryl immediately turning to catch Ani, her face pale at the thought of what could have happened with the way she was falling and the train of thought she'd had that morning.

All three of them had their guns up and pointed at the man within seconds as he stood with his hands in surrender and said, "Hi."

"Back up! Now!" Daryl yelled at him, pulling Ani closer and behind him to protect her and pissed as all hell.

"Keep 'em up!" Rick warned.

"Whoa, easy, guys," the man said, his face covered by a rag while a hat sat on his head; in all honesty, Ani couldn't see anything on this guy that screamed threat, but at the same time, it was very odd to meet a clean stranger in the wilds, as she called anything outside the walls of Alexandria anymore. "I was just running from the dead."

"How many?" Daryl asked.

"Ten, maybe more," he answered. "Once it gets to double digits, I start running."

"Seem capable 'nough," Ani said. "Why run when ya can fight?"

"One wrong move, you get over run, you're done for," he reasoned. "Sorry again for running into you."

"Where?" Daryl asked, taking a half step closer to Ani.

"About a half mile back. They're headed this way. You probably have about eleven minutes."

"Okay," Rick said, dropping his Python. "Thanks for lettin' us know."

"No problem," the man said. "There's more of them than us, right? Gotta stick together," he told them, watching as Ani slowly lowered her own gun and stepped up to Daryl's back. "Right?" Daryl finally lowered his gun feeling Ani pressed against him as the man asked, "You have a camp?"

"Naw," Daryl answered.

"Do you?" Rick asked.

"No. Sorry for running into you. I'm going to go now. This is the new world. Hope it works out for you guys," he said as he turned to start running again, Ani watching him critically.

"I'm Rick. This is Daryl and Ani. What's your name?"

"Paul Rovia, but my friends used to call me Jesus," he said, spreading his hands wide after taking the mask off his face to reveal a trimmed beard.

"You said you didn't have a camp," Rick said. "You on your own?"

"Yeah, but still," he said, his voice dropping just a little as he finished, "best not to try anything."

Ani couldn't help the chuckle that left her lips at his implied threat as Daryl said, "Best not to make promises you can't keep, either."

"Exactly," Paul replied before he began running again.

"How many walkers-" Rick started.

"No, not this guy," Daryl told him, spinning on him in anger; he didn't trust the guy in the least after running into Ani and calling himself Jesus.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Rick finished louder and around Daryl.

"Sorry," the man said as he moved away. "Gotta run. You should, too. Think you've got about seven minutes."

"What the hell was that?" Daryl asked Rick, moving Ani to press her front against his protectively.

"Odd, that's what that was," Ani stated, looking as best she could 'over' Daryl's shoulder, her height making it to where she couldn't see much.

"He was clean," Rick stated. "His beard was trimmed. There's more going on there."

"He didn't have a gun, either," Daryl commented.

"Think 'e might be a fighta like me," Ani said. "Makin' threats like that and carryin' knives. His bearin's off, too, for someone who hasn' been trained."

"We could track him, watch him for a while," Rick suggested. "Get to know more. See if he's really alone. Maybe bring him back."

"Naw, guy calls himself Jesus."

"Technically, he says 'is friends call 'im Jesus, and, I mean, common Western Christianity paints Jesus as a man with long, darka blonde ta lighta brown hair and blue eyes with a trimmed beard. Can' say I can' see why he'd be called that," Ani reasoned, taking in Daryl's dark expression. "I'm jus' sayin'! I ain' sayin' anythin' against ya or tryin' ta change ya mind. Jus' sayin' I can see why. Still a pretentious dick ta let 'imself be called that. Ya really ain' goin' ta get jealous a a guy we met on the run, are ya?"

Daryl was about to respond when gunshots broke out behind the building and the three of them gave each other a look before moving. With Ani between them, Rick and Daryl moved as a unit around the corner of the building with their guns up. There was a chance that what the man had said was true and that more people had encountered the group. If that were the case, they might not only be able to bring goods home, but more people, too. More people was exactly what they needed after everything that had happened at home and all the people they had lost both in the Wolf attack and the walkers breaking through. Their number back home and been nearly halved when all was said and done, a few members found as walkers in their own homes. Ani was hopeful until the 'gunfire' sounded again and she watched smoke rising out of a metal barrel at the same time as the sounds.

"Fuck! Firecrackas!" she said angrily as she turned around.

She was already moving when she heard Daryl ask Rick, "He swiped your keys, didn't he?"

"Shit," came Rick's reply as the three took off in earnest back around the building.

The man was already in the truck and had it started up and pulling out as he yelled, "Sorry!"

"Not yet ya not!" Ani roared back at him as he took off in earnest, both men saying 'shit' on either side of her. "Come on, boys! We ain' givin' up that truck without a fight!"

They ran at a steady pace, Ani being the least winded of the trio after how often she worked out with the teens and sparred with Daryl. Ani had no idea how long they'd been running before she spotted the black vending machine discarded in the middle of the road. It was the only sign they had that they were still going in the right direction and hadn't somehow lost the truck for good. Almost as soon as they got to it, Daryl pulled out his wrecking bar and slammed it into the glass of the machine, pulling out a few different items and stuffing them in his bag as Rick caught his breath. Even though she was the least winded, Ani felt like she was going to puke as the heat began getting to her. While Daryl pulled out some Crush from the vending machine, she pulled her canteen from her bag and splashed some water on her face before taking a sip.

"This was a special request from the doctor," he informed Rick.

"Hey, whatever she wants," Rick agreed as Daryl handed him a broken can of the drink after having taken a drink himself; he didn't even bother handing it to Ani as her nose had scrunched up as soon as he'd taken a drink. "She saved Carl's life, helped Ani. We didn't know her and she turned out to be alright. If there's still people out here, and they're still people, we should bring 'em in."

"What? Like this prick?" Daryl asked, taking another drink of the sugary substance before handing it back to Rick.

"No, not this guy," Rick said as he pulled something out of the machine himself.

"We still got a trail," Daryl said.

"Let's go," Rick said after throwing the can back in the vending machine.

The trio continued down the road, Ani really beginning to feel the heat and exhaustion of not having run this long in a good long while. Daryl and Rick were soaked with sweat and she doubted she looked much better than they were even if she was wearing capris. He was pointing them along the trail, running down a side road at the sight of the tire marks from a tread that was obviously about to blow. It didn't take long, Ani falling behind slightly, for the three to come up to a hill in the road where Daryl slowed down. Cautiously bending over to look over it, the three of them were able to see the truck just ahead, the man working on changing the obviously blown tire that had Daryl slowing in the first place. They made their way through the woods, Daryl and Rick forcing Ani to stay back as the last means of offense if the two of them couldn't take care of the man on their own. They didn't need to show their hand right off the bat and when they did show it, they wanted to do it in a way that made sure the man knew he couldn't fight back. However, Daryl pulled her back to quietly remind her to protect her stomach at all times and not to do anything stupid before giving her a kiss and heading out with Rick. She watched as the two men moved around opposite sides of the truck, losing track of Daryl as Rick came around from behind the man to grab him. He used martial arts strikes to get himself out of Rick's hold, dodging Daryl and slamming him back first into the side of the truck. She wasn't sure which style of fighting he was using, but it seemed as though as long as his arms were free, he had a chance against her men. Ani, though, wasn't her men and had been fighting and learning to fight for years now, easily catching his hand and arm when he tried to push her away. She could see the surprise on his face when she judo threw him over her shoulder and onto the hard ground, backing up as the men pulled their guns.

"This is done," Rick told him.

"Do you even have any ammo?" Paul asked, sitting up to his elbows as he caught his breath

The smallest person in the group was trained more than he was which he had not been expecting; he could tell she had some experience with martial arts, but he hadn't thought it was that much. The only fighters he really knew were trained almost as if they were in the military so finding a single fighter could be something worth looking into. What was more surprising was when both men raised their guns to the walker coming out of the woods and fired at the same time, sharing a look as the walker went down and the small woman chuckling behind them, highly amused by their antics. Paul watched them all carefully and saw how, aside from grime and sweat from being out scavenging for a while, and definitely running for the truck, they were still rather well kept. Their clothes weren't in tatters and the lighter-haired man had a beard that was properly trimmed. They had to have medical care with how fresh the scar on the girl's head looked to be and they were obviously well prepared for walkers. He was just surprised how quick they were to violence and to eliminate any perceived threat, which he now was.

"Okay. You gonna shoot me over a truck?"

"There's a lot of food on that truck," Rick stated.

"And ya pissed my man off knockin' inta me," Ani said, walking to Daryl's free hand and grabbing it. "Kinda ova protective at the moment. Not that I'm mindin' too much yet," she said to Daryl with a smile when he looked back at her with a scowl that turned just a bit softer before he turned back towards the man on the ground.

"The keys," Rick told him, ignoring the two beside him. "Now."

"I think you know I'm not a bad guy," Paul reasoned.

"Don' make ya a good guy, though, now does it?" Ani asked.

"What do you know about us?" Rick warned. "Give me the keys. This is the last time I'm asking," he said as he cocked his gun.

Paul sighed and said, "I left them in the truck."

"Uh-huh," Ani said. "Keep 'em trained, boys. I'll check."

Walking over to the truck, she was pleasantly surprised when she pulled the keys out and walked back over, handing them to Rick. Rick handed her his Python and told her to keep it trained as he went to the back of the truck and found some rope. Ani wanted to comment on how Rick was tying the man up, but she decided against it because there was no way in hell Daryl would be happy with her taking over and getting close to the man. While she had been honest that it wasn't getting to be too bad just yet, his over protective streak was going to go into overdrive if they stayed out here too long. Should a neva promised 'im shite, she thought with a small smile as she watched the man search his bag, angry at the fact that it was dripping wet from crushed soda cans. She couldn't blame him for that, though; the smell of sweet orange soda pop was not something she was looking forward to on the ride home. And he had to deal with it on his back as well, meaning she would need to make sure his vest got cleaned when they got back to Alexandria. There was no way in hell she was going to be smelling that nastiness until it faded out or touching that stickiness before it wore off. If he didn't like the fact that she was going to clean it, he didn't get a say in the matter.

"Is my jerky okay?" Ani asked, half actually worried about it for no good reason, half amused at the entire situation, but entirely earning her a glare and a 'shut up' from Daryl which only made her giggle for a moment.

"You're really gonna leave me here like this?" Paul asked Rick. "You're really gonna do that."

"Eh, the knots aren't that tight," Rick said as he worked on tying the man up. "You should be able to get free, long after we're gone."

The man looked at Ani then, the look in his eye telling her the same thing she knew herself; he was probably going to get out of the knots right away. She might not know how to tie knots for securing hands, but she knew that the basic knots Rick was using just wasn't going to cut it in the cold light of day. She could get out of those knots easily enough herself, someone like this guy would find them to be nothing, too. All she did was shrug, though, thinking that the man wouldn't be stupid enough to keep following three of them now that he knew how strong they were. Who in their right mind would continue chasing three people with guns that were well trained, even if she was the best out of them? He would be crazy to keep pursuing them now that they had managed to take back what he had stolen and could head home. There wouldn't be any tire tracks to follow this time around considering the fact that the tire had been changed and they would still have a few minutes' head start on him before he got out. She didn't see a reason for them to be any more precautious than they were already being by tying him up or else she would have just knocked him out.

"Maybe we should talk now," Paul suggested to Ani, the woman obviously contemplating it before the older redneck popped up.

"Naw, here," Daryl said, throwing a partially full can of Crush down next to him before pulling Ani with him. "In case you get thirsty."

He all but threw Ani into the passenger seat, her moving to sit between the seats on the floor as he got in and put his feet up on the dash. He handed his dripping bag to Ani before she got back in his lap and put it where she had been a second before. There was no way in hell she was going to put that thing on her lap let alone deal with the stickiness it was going to cause. She could handle a lot of things, but sticky was one of the worst things that could happen. Sure, there were plenty of plants that left sticky on your hands, but it would wash right off with a bit of water and wasn't the sugary, gummy sticky that soda turned into. It sucked that some had already dripped on her calf as she furiously wiped at it as Daryl watched her. When she looked back at him with a scrunched nose, he simply scoffed and then grabbed her hand and licked it, making her laugh and tell him he was gross as Rick climbed into the cab himself.

"So long you prick!" Daryl yelled out the open window with a flip of the bird towards the rear view window, Ani watching as the man hung his head low.

"Still worked out," Rick said a few minutes later as they moved down the road, Ani handing Rick a piece of chocolate Daryl handed her with a grossed out look. "Hey, look at that."

"Yeah, a barn," Daryl said around his own bite of chocolate, looking at Ani like she'd grown two heads; he always did when she passed up chocolate because women were supposed to love chocolate and yet she hated it, unless it was mint or caramel.

As Rick began to drive through the field, Ani's face paled at the bumps and the feel of the truck, "Ugh, can we not drive the truck through the field?"

"You okay?" Rick asked.

"Bumpy roads jus' ain' my thing when I'm sittin' up," she told him before some bangs on the roof had her looking up.

"You hear that?" Daryl asked, motioning for Ania to turn the music down. The banging got louder the further they went, Daryl yelling angrily, "I think that son of a bitch is on the roof!"

"Hold on," Rick said, Daryl's arms going around Ani protectively as Rick slammed on the breaks.

The man rolled down the window and off the truck with a grunt as they all rolled forward, Ani's hands immediately hitting the console to help brace her and Daryl. Jesus stood up and looked at them in the cab for only a moment before he realized how angry they looked and took off. Daryl picked Ani up and making her partially stand while he got out of the truck with a curse, prompting Rick to yell at him as Ani began to laugh. She really didn't mean to, but being in a truck that Rick was trying to use to cut off the man and her man chasing him, it was just too funny to watch. They backed the truck up close to a river to cut Jesus's escape through the water off. Ani didn't know who in their right minds would go anywhere near a body of water that wasn't running anymore, but Rick seemed to think it was a possibility. He got out of the cab himself and told her to stay in the truck and make sure Jesus didn't get back into it.

"We came to a conclusion asshole," she heard Daryl say as she sat in the passenger seat properly. "Go, I got him!"

Rick just watched as he chased the newcomer before the walkers that had gotten free of the farming equipment began moving into the field towards them. He was forced to take care of that while Daryl continued to chase Jesus through the field as Ani kept snickering at the sight. It was the first time she had ever seen her husband do something childish, truly childish, not just rocking out to music. He always told her it was cute when she acted more her age, but all she could find was amusement in the sight. She could almost envision what he had been like on the playground as a child when he would play chase or tag. She just hoped he was better at it back then than he was now because Jesus was definitely more than a match for him. The man was very well adept at switching directions just as Daryl caught up to him, which was a rather commendable tactic. It was the same one she had used to get away from home or bad people like the Claimers more than once. The only problem was that they were coming closer and closer to the truck and didn't seem to be stopping at all. Jesus must not of realized she was in the passenger's seat as he opened the door only to be met with Ani's gun as Daryl came up and tried to grab him.

"Come here you little shit!"

The two struggled before she watched Jesus grab Daryl's gun her own hammer clicking back before she heard him say, "Duck."

Daryl ducked as Jesus shot a walker behind him before telling the man, "Thanks." He immediately followed it up by socking him in the jaw and taking the weapon back, quipping, "That's my gun. Come here!"

During the ensuing struggle, the truck started rolling, Daryl yelling at Ani to get out as he pulled the man out himself. Ani contemplated jumping in the driver's seat and putting the truck in park, but she quickly realized she had no time before they hit the water. She jumped out of the moving truck after grabbing their gear, making it far enough to avoid the door, but tripping on a root with a pop of her ankle and crying out as she went head over heels into the water the truck rolled into itself. Daryl yelled for her as he ran to the water's edge and helped her out, Ani unable to put full weight on her ankle once again. She knew her man was going to have a field day and want her to stay home forever now that the damn thing was hurt, even if she put the air cast back on, which greatly soured her favor towards Jesus. The door to the truck had knocked the man unconscious and left him laying on his stomach, Daryl used his foot to roll him over so he wouldn't suffocate. Ani was soaked and shivering as Rick came running up, leaning heavily onto Daryl and grumbling about how he better not leave her in Alexandria just because of her ankle.

"You alright?" he asked them.

"Fuck that watas cold!" Ani replied. "Rolled my ankle again, but I'll be fine."

"Yeah," Daryl said, pissed they'd gone through all that trouble just for Ani to get hurt again and that be all they had to show for it. "Law of averages. That's bullshit, man. Let's go check them cars and get the hell out of here."

"What about the guy?" Rick asked.

"What about him?" Daryl responded.

"D, he helped ya."

"Yeah, maybe," he told her. "Got you hurt."

"Got myself hurt thinkin' I might be able ta stop the truck. I wanted ta stop it, but there wouldn' a been 'nough time 'fore it hit the wata. Stallin' got me too close, too. Managed ta grab our gear, though," she smiled widely as she pointed over near the tree she'd jumped out at.

"Ain't worth gettin' hurt over."

"Did he ever pull a weapon on you?" Rick asked, making Daryl look at the two.

"Fine," he relented. "Let's put 'im up a tree."

He left Ani in Rick's capable hands as he dragged the man away from the water's edge, although he was all but gentle about it. When they got him closer to the cars, Daryl put him down and Ani grabbed the rope from Rick. While she didn't know for sure how to tie knots, she remembered how she used to wrap extension cords for storage and figured that would work well enough. She tightly wove the rope around the man's wrists in a figure eight, pulling the ropes as tight as she could before wrapping the ends around the center and box tying the ropes on the underside of his hands. She repeated the process with his ankles as Rick and Daryl checked the vehicles, finally finding one that worked and would fit the four of them. Daryl made Ani sit up front while he sat in the back with the man as he once again became overbearing because she was hurt; she'd give him until they got to Alexandria before she got angry about it. The return trip to Alexandria was mostly quiet until Rick spoke up, hitting a bump that made Jesus move and lean on Daryl's shoulder, Rick and Ani sharing a smirk.

"He took a pretty hard hit," Rick told him. "Denise needs to look him over. Should take a look at Ani's ankle, too."

"Yeah."

"You wouldn't have gone through with it. You wouldn't have left him."

"I would've, right up in a tree. Got Ania hurt."

"D," Ani sighed lovingly. "I got myself hurt. Ya wouldn' a left 'im. I wouldn' a left 'im. He helped ya."

"You and I both know what would have happened," Rick agreed. "Almost as soon as we got to Alexandria, you got it. You saw..." Rick sighed heavily. "You and Michonne, and Glenn, you all tried to tell me. So shut up," he said, purposely hitting a bump and sending Paul back into Daryl's shoulder, prompting Daryl to roughly shove him off to the window. "'Cause I'm finally listening."

It took until after the sun had set for them to make their way back to Alexandria thanks to issues on the road, making Ani stay in the car as they cleared some debris. They had had a storm blow through last week and had only managed to clear the main roads with all those that had passed and needing to repair the wall. She was happy she'd saved the bag from the truck because at the very least they still had the jerky to share when she started getting hungry. She pulled it out a while after they stopped the second time and handed one bag back to Daryl while she and Rick shared the other, though she ended up taking some from Daryl too, both men chuckling at how much she loved the jerky. They shared what little water she had left, too, trying to rouse the unconscious man to get him to take a drink to no avail. He was out and was probably going to stay out the whole night if he had any kind of trauma thanks to the hit to the head.

"You know, I was thinking," Daryl started after another prolonged silence. "Back before we went out to the quarry. The morning after we got back. You said we shouldn't be looking for people no more. You were right."

"No," Rick countered, Ani having no clue as to when that particular conversation had taken place as they rolled up to the gates of Alexandria. "I was wrong, you were right."

They drove the car straight to Denise's house, Rick and Daryl carrying Paul while Ani gingerly tried her ankle to find that the pain had primarily subsided. Rick was the closest to the door as Ani stood behind Daryl, so he was the one who knocked, having to knock twice before the light came on to let them know the women were up. When the porch light came on, Ani couldn't help the nervous breath that escaped her and had Daryl looking back. She had promised him that she would take a damn pregnancy test but now that they were at the infirmary and she could get the test. It was terrifying to think about and made a pit form in her stomach at the thought that they might not get the result they were hoping for. She didn't know what would happen or how she would feel whichever way it went because when faced with the possibility finally, she didn't know what she wanted. Ani knew she wanted children, but she didn't know if she wanted to be pregnant now, after everything that had happened. The thought that Alexandria was safe enough to raise children had been severely undermined by both the Wolves and the horde.

"Sorry to wake you up," Rick's voice sounded as Ani gave Daryl a small smile.

"Who's this?" she asked about the man in their arms.

"Come on, man, he's heavy," Daryl complained, having taken the man's torso by himself and bearing the brunt of the weight. "Oh, that, that thing, it didn't work out. It's this asshole's fault. Sorry."

"Lay him on the bed," Denise said.

"Alright, take a look at him," Daryl said. "He ain't stayin' though."

As they all got to work, Ani went over to the drawer they kept a few different tests that could be taken at home in, including the pregnancy tests. She openly ignored Tara and Denise's sideways glances and didn't bother to even look at Rick to see if he had seen. She simply put it in her pocket before heading over to Daryl and watching the woman complete her assessment. It didn't take long for Denise to give the man a clean bill of health, stating he'd just been knocked out and there wasn't even a sign of concussion. Most likely it was a combination of exhaustion with where he had been hit, right on the temple, that had left him in sleeping longer. They took him to the house where Morgan had kept the W man and left him on a thin mattress with a blanket, leaving a note, cookie, and bottle of water. Daryl held onto Ani, still pissed at the dude on the floor for what happened out on the run, as Rick spoke.

"We'll see," he said. "It is pretty stupid of us to go out there, isn't it?"

"Hell yeah," from Ani combined with a simple, "Yep," from Daryl.

"Do it again tomorrow?" Daryl asked as they left the house.

"Yep," Rick replied.

"Ya know it."

Daryl took Ani to their home, pulling her upstairs before asking, "Did you take it?"

"Nah, but I got it ta take 'ere," she said, pulling the test from her back pocket.

"What you waitin' for?"

"Best ta take it first thing in the mornin'."

"Take it now," he demanded. "You promised when we got back. We're back. Go take it."

"I fuckin' hate ya. Let me go piss on the stick. It'll take a few minutes ta come up, though."

"Yeah, yeah, just get in there."

Ani went into the bathroom after rolling her eyes and unwrapped the test before sighing and heading to the toilet. It was the stupidest thing in the world to take a test when you were hoping for a positive because a negative was just going to lead to heartache. She kept thinking about how ridiculous it was even as she put the cap on it and pulled her pants back up. The last thing she expected was to look over and see two lines in the little window. Ani stared at it blankly for several minutes, her brain stalled at the fact the test had already given results. She didn't know when her last period had been, but that didn't mean that the results would have come up almost immediately. Dread filled her being as she stared at the test, everything she'd been through as a child bringing tears to her eyes. Would she even be able to raise a child when she didn't even know what it was like to really be a child? What about raising a baby? She hated the sound of crying and it overwhelmed her senses; what if she lashed out on the defenseless child? What if she ended up just like her parents and treated the child as a punching bag more than a person? She was scared to death about what could happen until she remembered that it wasn't just her, it was Daryl, too. The two of them would always want to do better and be better when it came to their children, and that's what they would be.

She and Daryl would never treat their kids like their parents had treated them; they would never go without. They would never think that they were unwanted or unloved and would never feel the heartless beatings their parents gave them. Every tear that fell in fear turned to tears of joy as the thought of the future began cementing in her head as Daryl barged into the room. He had been banging on the door while she had been in her terrified stupor, but she only just registered it. She watched as he looked at her and his face contorted in distress before looking at the test on the counter. His eyebrows rose comically into his forehead, making Ani laugh while openly weeping as he turned back to her. He smiled widely and picked her up, both of them laughing as they celebrated; Maggie wasn't the only one expecting.