Newly Revised
"How do ya think they're doin'?" Ani asked.
She'd been awake for a while as she listened to Sophia reading from one of her books and talked to the girl about how things were going elsewhere. Merle had been really quiet since she'd woken up when he'd come back up into the tower, blaming it on her red-rimmed eyes and ashen complexion. While she wasn't coughing much because she wasn't moving much; the less she did, the less she coughed. Merle and Sophia had noticed and refused to let her do more than sit up or go to the restroom. She couldn't breathe through her nose anymore and every time she took a breath she could feel her lungs fighting it. She was wheezing with every breath she took and it was all she could do to put on a brave face amid the fear with Sophia around. Ani was getting very upset with the two of them since they refused to leave the tower and she was feeling worse and worse. Every time she woke up, her chest felt heavier and she'd already started hiding the fact that she was coughing up more and more blood.
"I don't know, Ani. Not worryin' about the others right now," Merle told her honestly, knowing she was.
"Why ya still up here?" she asked Sophia before coughing.
"Got nothin' better to do," the girl answered.
"So, instead a takin' watch, ya up here waitin' on me and Merle?" Ani asked once the coughing subsided.
"Maggie's on watch and Carl's talkin' to Rick."
"Again, ya could be doin' anythin' else for the prison, and ya up 'ere with me?"
"What do you want me to do?" Sophia asked, catching the hint that she wanted to be alone with Merle for a minute.
"Go check on the people," Ani told her. "Make sure they're takin' the tonic and drinkin' the tea. Then see if Mags needs help on the fence. Can' be easy jus' bein' 'er. Jus', check on 'em for me, please?"
"I can do that," Sophia said before leaving the tower.
"Now, what's got ya panties in a twist and got it ta where the chattabox that is Merle fuckin' Dixon is quieta than crickets 'fore a storm?" Ani asked Merle.
"Nothin' girly," he answerd, not wanting to talk about it.
"It's somethin'."
"When you're feelin' better, Ani. Not now."
"Merle, I might not have a lata," Ani pleaded. "Jus', tell me somethin' ta distract from what's comin'."
"Ain't nothin' comin' but Daryl with those medicines. Stop talkin' like that," Merle told her angrily.
"Merle," she said, pausing to catch her breath and gather her thoughts. "Daryl ain' back yet. It's, it's gettin' harda ta take a propa breath. Ya goin' ta have ta leave the towa. Ya got ta. I don' want ya riskin' it, and I know ya can' end it. So afta Phia gets back, ya go. Ya go and ya stay gone 'til they get back, and ya don' hesitate ta leave me 'ere if ya have ta. Jus' leave a gun when ya go. I ain' turnin'."
"Don't ask me to do that, Ani," Merle said. "I ain't leavin' you here by yourself. Daryl would kill me and 'sides that, you're my baby sister. I took care of Daryl when he was sick; ain't no bother takin' care of you."
"Damn it, Merle!" she shouted, causing her to have a much longer fit of coughing up blood. "Ya can' stay," Ani whispered through trying to catch her breath.
Merle just looked at her, understanding what she was saying, but angry nonetheless, "I ain't goin' nowhere 'til Daryl gets back, and that's that! He's gonna get back and you're gonna pull be just fine! So shut the fuck up and go back to sleep."
He didn't wait for her to answer, storming out onto the balcony as she slumped back in the bed in another coughing fit. He sparked a cigarette as he heard the coughing die down, watching the prison with a guarded face. Merle knew that she was right; she was getting worse and worse as time passed on and he'd already had to pound on her back once to help her stop. The longer they waited for Daryl to get back, the longer they risked the group being decimated, including Ani. Half their leaders were missing with Daryl and Michonne gone and Hershel, Glenn, and Sasha in A block. Praying had never been Merle's thing, but he hoped and prayed to whatever god was out there, they'd make it until the others got back. Most of them had been fighting for a year to survive while Ani had been fighting like him and his brother her entire life. They just needed to keep fighting for a little while longer and they'd beat this damn virus and keep on keeping on.
~x~
Sophia ran across the field and into the prison and headed straight to A block to talk to Hershel and make sure everyone was alright. She hadn't been willing to leave the tower unless she went hunting, and she'd already done that this morning before the walkers got too riled up. While it hadn't been much, she'd gotten the rabbit they'd shared with Ani along with a few squirrels and a second rabbit for the kids in the administrative office. She was worried about Ani even though she wasn't doing horribly, she was obviously having a hard time fighting off this illness. She was also angry at her mom for not checking in on her since they'd been put in quarantine and yet she'd talked to both Mika and Lizzie. It hurt watching her run around with the other little girls and care for them, but after talking to Ani, Sophia somewhat understood. Her mother hadn't been able to protect her and now she could protect herself, so couldn't be like those other girls who needed looking after. That just wasn't who she was ever since she'd gotten a taste of defending herself in the woods back in the quarry. Learning how to track and to fight back had been eye-opening to her and had changed her entire outlook on her family dynamics. She'd spent her whole life learning to be afraid, learning to cower, to hide, to be silent and unseen just like her mother tried to be. And then Ani came along and showed her that what her mother had taught her was not how someone protected themselves like she'd thought; it was hiding. Her mother had her hide and make herself small rather than stand up for herself when her father got angry; just sit and smile until he calmed down. Considering her dad had always beaten her mom when she try to stand up for them, she'd learned the lesson pretty quickly.
Her mom had been raped, thrown down stairs, beaten, and gleefully cheated on by her father, and yet her mom always went back to the man. According to any, it wasn't because Carol was weak, but because she was afraid of what would happen if she left and he chased them. Sophia couldn't see it because she'd been getting angry at herself for being so weak and not protecting her mom even before the end of the world. She had dreamed of being able to take her mom away from that horrible situation, but then again, her mother hadn't done the same. Sophia had been forced to endure her own kind of hell when her father had started holding onto her in ways that made her uncomfortable. He'd even woken her up climbing in her bed one night, making her scream and earning a backhand to the face that left her with a black eye. That was the first and only time her mom had ever run, and it only lasted a day and a half before they were back home.
Sophia had all but given up hope that she would ever manage to escape that house, let alone that life, until the world ended. Her dad hadn't been able to do as much with so many eyes in close quarters and he had less time to hurt her mother. And then when Ani started showing her how to break holds, break fingers if she had to, something ignited in her. The innocence she held onto hardened, the weakness and fear faded away because she didn't have to put up with it anymore, the touches or the harsh grabs. After the highway, when the fear had gotten the better of her and almost killed her, when Ani found her in the woods, she swore she was never going to live in fear again. She'd done her damnedest to keep to that promise, too, learning everything she could from her and Merle alike. Even when she'd gotten hurt falling when she took down a walker before crawling into a cell when they'd been playing in the tombs, she wasn't scared. And now, she couldn't even be angry with herself because being afraid of something she couldn't control wasn't the same thing. She couldn't do anything about the illness ravaging the group, let alone the woman she considered her best friend and sister.
Sophia headed towards the viewing room everyone had been using to talk to the ones in A block with the intention of talking to Hershel. She quieted her steps and continued forward cautiously when she heard him and Rick talking about how things were and stood by the wall. Sophia stood and listened to the men talking about how the people were fine the day before, but died just like that and they couldn't even bury them. Hershel hadn't wanted the others to see what was happening or had happened to others with the illness so as not to break their spirits. He'd managed to keep it like that until just before Rick had come down to talk to him. Rick mentioned how he was going to have to start leading again, that Ani couldn't do it on her own anymore. Some choices were going to weigh her down more than she could handle and he knew he had to step up to help her again. The old farmer told him how they all had gotten a lucky break when they found the prison. Rick had gotten more of a break because he had lost so much; they couldn't be lucky all the time, though.
"You think this is all a test?" Rick asked.
"Life was always a test," Hershel answered him.
After a few moments pause, she heard Rick say, "I need to talk to you about Carol."
"What about her?"
"She killed Karen and David."
"What?"
"Said it was for the good of the group. That she was trying to stop it from spreading. She would've killed Ani, too. Said she would've thanked her for doin' it," he said, making Sophia's breath catch after already having felt like she'd been punched in the gut. "I couldn't...I couldn't have her here. I sent her away. She's got food, supplies, a car. She'll be fine."
"But what about her girls? Sophia? Lizzie and Mika?"
"You know, that's the worst thing?" Rick said before scoffing. "She doesn't even consider Sophia her kid anymore. Said she dooen't need her; Lizzie and Mika do. I don't know what changed. Maybe it's how Sophia's always with the Dixons or Carl, maybe it's something else. She had no remorse, no guilt when she said Sophia didn't need her. None when she said she'd've killed Ani. Told me I didn't have to like what she did, just had to accept it."
"I can't believe she would..." Hershel started, but he caught sight of Sophia as she tried to leave. "Oh child."
Rick turned around in shock and saw Sophia standing there with tears in her eyes, "Sophia, hey, I'm sorry. I was going to tell you next."
"She would've killed Ani? She said that?" Sophia cried.
"Listen, I know she was your mom, but she killed two people, and yes, she would've killed Ani too. I had to send her away. You understand that, don't you?"
"She said I wasn't her kid," she said in a broken voice, realization hitting her like a ton of bricks.
"She said you were more Ani and Merle's girl than hers, that you are equal more than anything else," Rick agreed.
"But Lizzie and Mika are," Sophia said with a scoff, furiously wiping her eyes. "Fine. Good riddance."
"You don't mean that," Hershel said, but Sophia just turned on her heel and stomped off.
Sure, they'd grown apart, and, sure, her mom paid more attention to Lizzie and Mika. But she'd still been her daughter, the only one who got to call her mom. What did she call her if she saw her again now that she didn't even consider her her kid? What did she do now that her mom had been sent away and she died? Did she even care now that her mother had decided to break all ties with her? She couldn't help but wonder why she felt so much pain in her chest when she'd been so angry since Lizzie and Mika had come around. She'd known that her mom had started pulling away when she started spending more time with Merle and Ani, but she never thought she would leave her for good! Carol was her mom, not Lizzie and Mika's, yet she didn't think of her as her daughter anymore. Sophia was wiping her eyes furiously while completely lost in thought and misery when she roughly bumped into someone.
"Phia?" Carl asked.
"She's gone!" she cried.
"Ani?!"
"No, mom- Carol."
"What? What happened?"
"Your dad kicked her out," Sophia sobbed. "She killed Karen and David and would have killed Ani too. She...she...I'm not her kid. She told Rick I'm not her kid."
Sophia crumpled to the floor and sat with her back against the wall, her legs pressed up into her chest, knees hiding her teary eyes. Carl didn't know what to do and just sat down next to her, shoulder to shoulder until she quieted down. They stayed like that for a while before Carl told her to come on while pulling her to her feet and walked with her towards Ani's tower. Carl told Rick the truth when they passed; Rick nodded and made them wait for a minute. Both of the kids could tell he was feeling guilty about what had happened as put his hand on Sophia's shoulder, giving it a squeeze. It was hard for Sophia to look at him after learning about her mom from him in such a way. She didn't want to see sympathy or pity at all and just wanted to go hide with Merle and Ani in the tower. Sophia had had enough pity to last a lifetime before the turn; she didn't want any now.
"You know you've still got family, right?" he asked her.
"I know. I got Pops and Ani. I'll be fine," she told him, putting on a brave face even as the tears threatened to start anew.
"Yeah, you will be," Rick agreed before releasing her shoulder with a couple pats. "Go on, see if your sister needs anythin'."
Sophia smiled small at the thought of seeing Ani, a little of the sadness dissipating at the thought of Ani being recognized as her sister. She had to tell Pops and Ani about Carol, if they didn't already know, since Ani had been around during the incident with Karen and David and Pops could be super smart when he wanted to be. He was just as smart as, if not smarter than, Ani, especially when it came to weapons, tactics and hunting. He had taught Sophia a few different tricks that Ani hadn't and had been impressed by, saying she'd never thought of doing it the way he did. Carl and Sophia made their way back to the tower slowly, neither speaking as they walked. When they got to the top, Ani was asleep again, Merle out on the balcony smoking a cigarette. One look at Sophia and he put it out and wrapped her in a hug.
"Didn't wanna believe it, girly," he told her. "I'm sorry."
Sophia returned the hug, burying her face in Merle's chest as she cried, causing him to make a face at Carl, "She wanted to take Lizzie and Mika with her. She didn't even care about me!"
"Hush now, girly. That ain't true. Just like what Ani said, you've grown too big for your mama's britches, that's all. Good thing you ain't too big for mine or Ani's. We've got you. I ain't your Pops for nothin', you know?" he told her. "You just stick by us, Phia, and you'll be alright."
"Thanks Pops," she said, still sniffling, but wiping her tears. "She would've killed Ani if she'd've been down there. Told Rick she would've. Said Ani would've thanked her for it."
"Maybe," Merle thought, "maybe your mama would a died instead. Even sick, I doubt Ani wouldn't fight back."
"I'm glad she wasn't down there," Sophia said, looking at the woman sleeping in the room. "Can we not tell her?"
"I think that'd be for the best for now," Merle agreed. "Let her recover, then we'll talk about it."
"I don't want her to know."
"She already suspected it, you know," Merle pushed. "Might as well tell her the truth. No point in hidin' it when ya know she'll just sniff it out."
"Yeah, I guess," pouted Sophia.
A gunshot rang out from the prison then, causing the three on the balcony to turn their heads, watching as Maggie ran towards the prison and Rick turned towards the tower. Carl called down to him asking if everything was okay only for Rick to say that he could use some help with the fence. All three left the tower to help, Merle deciding to give Ani space as she was in a dark place in her head. The only thing he could do was leave because if he stayed, he would do or say something he regretted later out of anger. Dixons didn't believe in giving up or lying down and yet that seemed exactly what the sick woman seemed to be doing all because she was sick. It pissed him off as they began helping with the fence, spending the entire evening fixing it. Rick and Carl worked on putting up supports while Merle and Sophia killed walkers through the fence to try and lessen the strain. For the most part, they worked silently, only talking when they needed to give directions or ask questions. They were all listening for more gunshots, Merle watching the tower often until he saw movement. Even Rick had to smile when he saw that Ani had come out to the balcony to sit and watch the road.
"Think they're okay?" Carl asked as night fell around them; still unable to fully fix the fence.
"If things were going bad, we would have heard more shots," Rick reasoned. "Maggie would have gotten us. We have to do this."
"Let's do it," Carl said as he moved to help Rick lift a log.
"If you need help, I can do it," Merle suggested.
"I got it," Carl told him defensively, making the man smirk.
He and Rick barely had the log in place when another one of the logs broke and the four of them jumped into action. They tried pushing the fence back in a vain attempt to keep them from going down completely, but it became an impossible task as the weight of the walkers broke more and more supports. Rick shouted at the kids to run as he and Merle ran behind them, body checking the walkers that had gotten between them and the children. Ani defended the men from the tower using the rifle Merle left behind in, killing the walkers closest to them from behind. Carl and Merle both grabbed Rick when he started stumbling and pulled him back to his feet as they got closer to tower two. Merle all but shoved the man into the thing before moving through the door and slamming it shut behind them. The gunfire had ended when they got in the guard tower and when they exited the other door, it was obvious they weren't going to be able to hold the fence from the courtyard either. There were too many walkers pushing on it and it was already starting to sway and bend with their force.
"Dad, what do we do?" Carl asked Rick.
"Maybe I could back the bus up against the fence," Rick suggested.
"Will it hold?"
"That is an excellent question," Merle said, looking around as Rick's face showed concern for his son. "Got a better idea."
He took off towards one of their weapons caches, pulling out a high powered automatic rifle and gave it to Sophia before pulling out another, Rick doing the same for him and Carl. The men explained how to load the magazines while the four of them filled their pockets with spare ammo. Merle was surprised Rick was letting Carl help them with it after he'd spent the spring and summer coddling the boy. But as they geared up to mow down the walker horde, both of the kids looked like the survivors they were. They were both filled with desire to protect their home and the fear that should have been on their faces was locked behind looks of determination. They had become the little soldiers Ani had been training them to be the instant they needed to be, and Merle couldn't have been prouder of the kids. They certainly had come a long way from the scared little children they'd been at the quarry as they trained their guns at the walkers.
"You shoot or you run," Rick told them.
"Don't let 'em get close, got it?"
The kids nodded and got into position between the adults, side by side, as the fence went down, the four of them bringing down walker after walker. The cycle of backing up and changing out magazines as the walkers got close never seemed to end as they worked to defend their home. Carl killed a walker that almost got too close to Rick before moving forward with Sophia, Merle and Rick sharing a look of slight pride and awe as they did so. They worked as a team until the last walker fell and they were able to get the fence somewhat barricaded in the courtyard. They combed through the walkers and made sure they all were going to stay down as they had missed a few heads. Sophia and Carl even managed to help the adults start moving the bodies into a pile to be dealt with in the morning. It was late at night when they started taking a break as lights showed from the drive up to the prison. Carl was the first to notice, letting the others know before pulling Sophia with him to open the fence.
As soon as the car rolled up, Tyreese asked about Sasha, running into the prison while Daryl didn't even bother stopping to check on things. He immediately ran to the tower, leaving Bob and Michonne to help get everything out of the car and to the people who needed it. Bob had told him as soon as they'd pulled through the gate that he'd be out to the tower shortly and that was all he needed to know to take off. Ani wasn't in the room at the top of the tower but he could hear her coughing, leading him out onto the balcony to find her. It was obvious that she had done what she could to help the others get to safety and that was how she managed to get into this state, a rifle lying next to her. Daryl was terrified when he saw her with how drenched in sweat she was and how ashen her skin had become, fighting for air while coughing.
"Ania!" he yelled, grabbing her up and pounding on her back until she was able to take a labored, but proper, breath. "You're gonna be okay, baby girl. Everythin's gonna be okay. Told you I'd be back," Daryl said before pressing a kiss into her hair as she moved her head to look at him.
"D," was all she managed to say before passing out.
It was maybe an hour later that Bob came out to the tower with an IV and the antibiotics, quickly getting things ready to give her the medicine. Daryl made it a point to double check that it wasn't in the penicillin family before he let Bob give it to her. Her fever broke after a few hours and she was having an easier time breathing, Bob telling them that it was probably due to Ani having the illness the longest. Most likely, she'd gotten it from Patrick, but her tonic had kept it from getting worse as quickly as it had for him. Her tonic had managed to help several people to fight a little while longer, Sasha and Glenn included. Glenn was intubated at the moment along with a few others, but most of them would be able to breath on their own again soon enough. Sasha was by far fairing the best of those on the council who were sick and was already up and helping those who were in the worst conditions. Several of the others were responding well to the antibiotics, Ani's tonics and Hershel's tea helping to keep many alive until Daryl got back.
Daryl spent the rest of the night in the tower with Ani, just holding her and telling her about what happened on the run when they woke up early the next morning. Although her lungs felt heavy, she wasn't wheezing or fighting for breath anymore and she was ready to get back to her people. She went with Daryl and Tyreese as they worked to fix the downed fences, though at their insistence she was put on the tailgate of the truck and told to stay there. Daryl had put his poncho back on her, telling her she needed to keep warm even though she would be warmer working in the sun rather than sitting on her ass doing nothing. It didn't take long for the guys to get done with their task and the three of them to pile back into the pickup truck and go back up to the courtyard. They saw Hershel walking around and learned that Glenn had not only made it through the night, but was breathing on his own and conscious, and some of the others were already up and about like Ani.
"He's a tough son of a bitch," Daryl told the older gentleman.
"He is."
"You're a tough son of a bitch."
"Yes I am," Hershel said proudly. "Let me get a look at ya, Ani. Haven't made my way out to the tower since this all started."
"Ya were busy where ya were needed," she told him but walked over to him nonetheless.
After checking her over for a few moments, he said, "Fever's gone and it sounds like your lungs aren't as labored as they should be if you were coughin' up blood. Take it easy for a couple days and you'll be fine."
"I'll do my best. Where's Carol? Phia's been upset since yestaday and I've been worryin' 'bout 'er. Wouldn' tell me what was wrong so I thought I'd ask 'er momma about it."
"Yeah, how's Carol doin'? She up in A block with Lizzy?"
"No, talk to Rick about her," he told them, earning matching quizzical looks. "She's okay, just talk to Rick about her."
He turned to walk away as they watched him, both giving each other a look before turning to look out at the field Rick was in. Ani didn't like the feeling she had in her gut and she hadn't been able to talk to Merle the night before, either. The man had stayed away from the tower after Daryl had gotten back and so had Sophia, which felt odd after having them up her ass for two days straight. Looking at Daryl, she wondered if she should tell him what she and Merle suspected Carol had done and that that was probably why Rick wanted to talk to them. There was a chance she was just letting her mind run wild and Merle only said he'd seen her going to check on the sick people, not that she'd killed them. She was well aware that she was quite possibly in denial, but until she knew for sure, she wasn't going to doubt Sophia's mother. She couldn't when that little girl had already lost so much and had gone through so many things that a child shouldn't have to go through. Carol was the last bit of real family that Sophia had and Ani didn't want that to change. While she considered everyone from the original group and a few of the others family, it wasn't quite the same as the bond between a parent and their child.
"What do you think happened?" Daryl asked Ani as she turned her head to clear her throat, her breathing still a little heavy, but otherwise she was doing well.
"Dunno. Haven't seen Merle or Phia 'round eitha. Somethin's wrong. Phia's clammed up and they're both avoidin' me like the plague."
"Yeah, I know," he told her before reaching his arm out and grabbing her. "'Mere. Everythin's gonna be okay. We'll talk to Rick and figure it out. Don't you worry. Just focus on gettin' better."
"Already feelin' betta. Didn' know injectin' antibiotics works so well. Not fully good, but betta."
"You look better. Don't look like shit no more."
"Gee, thanks. Have ya seen yaself sometimes? Do ya eva showa or do ya jus' rinse off in the streams, huh?" she teased him.
"I'm gonna get you back for that," he laughed before kissing her lightly. "C'mon, let's go talk to Rick."
"Nah, I want ta go back ta the cell. Get a change a clothes. Get my featha and bead back in my hair. Rick'll find us when 'e's ready. If Hershel says we got ta talk ta him, he already knows what's up. Means Rick knows 'e needs ta talk ta us. I don' want ta push 'im, and honestly, I'm not sure I want ta know what's up yet."
"You know somethin' I don't?"
"Not for sure, and I don' want ta know for sure. Not right now," she told him. "So I don' want ta think 'bout it 'til Rick comes and tell us where the fuck Cars is."
"Alright," he said, taking her hand and leading her back into the cell block.
"You look like shit," Sasha said as they entered, both women smiling at seeing the other up and walking.
"Might as well be lookin' in a mirror," Ani joked back.
"Your tonic helped save a lot of lives."
"Nah, it helped prolong 'em. D and Ty did all the work ta save lives. Without the meds, we wouldn' a been so lucky. I wouldn' be here, Glenn. The tonic didn' do much otha than make it easia for the meds ta work and help with the symptoms. It ain' nothin' like antibiotics. Ya might a been okay, though. Ya were one a the ones that was havin' the least problems, or so I been told."
"Yeah, Glenn's still in A, but he was doing better when we left. It's nice to get out of there. A few of the others are back in D block cleaning," she informed them. "Gonna go outside and see the sun soon. I can't wait."
"It does feel nice ta be out a that towa," Ani agreed.
After a few more words between the two women, Daryl pulled Ani up to their cell and sat her down on the bed. She lay back and rolled to her stomach, commenting on how much more comfortable the bed in the cell was and how it smelled like them. He gave her a weird look asking if she was a dog or something for being able to smell anything other than the bed. Ani told him that she missed the smell; her nose had been so plugged the last few days that practically everything smelled, even him. She pulled him onto the bed next to her, rolling over and kissing his cheek before leaning into his shoulder as they both got comfortable. Ani really didn't want to admit it, but she really had been scared that she wasn't going to make it through the night. It'd taken everything she had to get out onto the balcony of the tower just to watch for Daryl. What little strength she had left had gone to helping the kids, Rick, and Merle get out of immediate danger. She'd given up and accepted her fate when she started coughing and the world started going black from lack of oxygen. If Daryl hadn't appeared seemingly out of the blue, Ani was sure she would never have seen him again.
"Thank ya for comin' back," she told him for the umpteenth time.
"Stop sayin' that like you thought I wasn't," he growled back.
"I knew ya were," she defended. "I jus'...for a bit...I...I wasn' sure if I would make it 'til ya got back. I told Merle ta leave me. Let what was goin' ta happen happen. Only did 'cause the fences needed tended. Glad 'e left. They needed 'im last night."
"Yeah, glad you were in the tower. Would've survived. Would've been safe," Daryl admitted while wrapping his arm around her and letting her lay on his chest.
"I know what ya mean, but I was so scared. Merle and Phia were out there. I could barely breathe tryin' ta aim that damn rifle. The kickback nearly knocked my ass ova. They got inta the otha towa and then I started coughin'. Vision was goin' all ta heck and the next thing I know, ya bangin' on my back like I was a damn drum," she laughed, coughing a couple times.
"Daryl? Ani?" Rick called out, ruining the small moment she and Daryl were having. "You guys got a minute."
They left the cell to talk to him, Daryl pulling Ani against his chest as he leaned back against the wall and listened to Rick. Ani started pacing as she listened to him while Daryl leaned heavily against the railing. Ani started coughing after a few moments of pacing and hearing Rick's decision to send Sophia's mother away. Daryl angrily shoved off the rail to come to rub her back and try to help her catch her breath again, not wanting to believe his ears. Ani didn't either, but she knew at least the part what she'd said about the three girls was true. She knew things had gotten bad between the mother and daughter, but she never thought Carol would abandon her own flesh and blood. Daryl went back to pacing; he and Carol had become friends after the farm and she and Ani had called a truce. Things had been getting better between the two women the more Ani talked to Carol and helped look after Sophia. She wouldn't have wanted to kick Carol out without going over everything with Carol and Tyreese and tried to find a peaceful end to their conflict. It was written all over her face that she was already torn over whether Rick or Carol was right and whether sending Sophia's mom away was the right choice. Daryl could barely contain his anger as Rick finished explaining everything and rounded on the man.
"You couldn't a waited 'til we got back? 'Til Ania was better?" he growled out.
"Maybe we could a found a way ta deal with it," Ani reasoned. "Ya didn' have ta send 'er away. Could a jus' locked 'er up 'til they got back and the Council got betta."
"Until Tyreese got back?" Rick questioned back.
"I could've handled that," Daryl said quietly as he paced.
"And what would you have done if Ani had been down there too? She killed two of our own. She would have killed you. She couldn't be here. She's gonna be alright. She has a car, supplies, weapons. She's...she's a survivor," Rick told them, though Ani could see the doubt on his face.
"Stop sayin' that like you don't believe it," Daryl snarled at him.
"He don'," Ani said. "Ya want ta, but ya don'."
He looked down to the ground, not wanting to admit their accusations, "She did it. She said it was for us. Said Ani would have thanked her for killing her if she'd've been down there. That's how it was in her head. She wasn't sorry."
"Man, that's her, but that ain't her," Daryl defended, getting in Rick's face and staring him down before walking away.
"Does Phia know?" Ani asked quietly; Daryl was right that it wasn't in Carol's nature to just kill someone let alone not care about Sophia.
Ani knew things had changed between her and Sophia, but that didn't mean she'd thought Carol would just abandon the little girl. She had never once seen any signs other than pulling away to spend time with the other kids that the woman had changed the way she looked at Sophia. There was no denying Carol had her issues; from their conversations, she'd garnered a lot of information. Carol had felt inadequate as Sophia's mother long before Wildfire spread because of what had happened with Ed. When Ani had brought Sophia back to camp after their jaunt in the woods, that feeling had grown exponentially. Thinking about that, Ani realized that she had seen the signs, she just had ignored them due to bias regarding Sophia. Carol had told her that Sophia wasn't the daughter she knew, the daughter she'd raised. More than once she had told Ani that it was a good thing Sophia had her and Merle looking after the girl. They had talked about how strong Sophia had become and how good it was that she was learning everything she needed to survive. It had just been little comments here and there and far off looks into the yonder when they talked, but they had still been foretelling. Ani simply hadn't put two and two together thinking she could mend the broken bond between mother and child. All she'd really done was cut the string that held them together and let them drift further apart than they could bridge.
"She knows everything," Rick sighed, Ani closing her eyes as she nodded her head; now she knew why Sophia had made herself scarce after leaving the tower.
"What are we supposed to do about those little girls?" Daryl asked, Ani moving over to him and putting a hand on his back.
"I told her we'd look after them. I haven't told Tyreese yet. I don't know how he's going to take it," he said after a moment.
"Let's go find out," Daryl told him, pulling Ani with him as he walked out of the cell block.
The trio walked down into the tombs, Ani relying heavily on Daryl to catch her every time she stumbled, which was a lot. She didn't have quite the strength in her legs yet to handle the long walk after laying down for three days and barely eating. Rick commented about how she should have stayed in the cell block, only to be told to shut up by both hunters simultaneously. Ani needed to know how this was going to play out and whether or not Rick's decision was really the best choice. No, she wouldn't have thanked Carol for killing her and she couldn't help but admit that it was worrying she had no remorse, but she herself had killed plenty of times. She couldn't say she felt remorseful about those deaths, either, especially when it came to Chrystal and keeping her people safe. She wasn't even sure she could be angry with Carol since Karen and David had been killed in mercy to an extent; it was better than choking on their own blood until they died. Ani would only have killed them if it was obvious they weren't going to make it and that was the only difference between her and Carol. There was no way for any of them to know if Karen and David would have made it and Carol had made that choice with no one else around. No one else was able to confirm their level of suffering or ask if they wanted to end it and Ani wasn't sure if she could trust Carol's decision because of that. That didn't mean she thought Carol was wrong or Rick was right; they were both half wrong and right. If Rick would have waited until she had a chance to talk to Carol, they really might have been able to find a better solution than exile. She could count on both hands the number of options they would have been able to take as they headed down into the tombs looking for Tyreese.
"Tyreese, you down here?" he called.
"Rick, that you?" Tyreese called back, the trio walking down the corridor until he came back up., "You gotta see this."
"Can we take a beat?" Rick asked lowly. "There's something we need to talk about."
"It can wait," Tyreese insisted. "Come on." He lead them into one of the cells
The men all pointed their flashlights at the wall, Ani not having one at all, when Daryl asked, "The hell?"
Against the wall, a rat had been cut open and pinned to a piece of wood, as if it was some kind of experiment or trophy. Daryl and Ani knelt next to it, Daryl shining the light on it to get a closer look and the thing. The skin was dried out and all the blood had been drain and dried, none of it on the board itself, suggesting that the animal had been killed and bled elsewhere before being opened up and pinned. All its organs were still intact, but it was split open from the bottom of its jaw all the way to its hips, the skin peeled back as if someone had been studying it. Ani had to admit that it was an intriguing sight reminiscent of when she dissected frogs in biology class, but this was on a whole new level. No one had taught anyone how to do this with the exception of skinning and gutting animals to eat; this was some sort of trophy.
"I was just looking for...answers...and I found this. Same person that killed Karen and David did this. Remember the rats at the fence? They showed up the same day she was killed. We got a psychopath livin' with us," Tyreese said emotionally.
"Tyreese," Rick started, only for the man to cut him off.
"We gotta find 'em, Rick. And I'm not gonna sleep until we do."
"It ain' the same person," Ani cut it. "We got a psychopath, definitely, but it ain' the one who killed Karen and David. This person, they wouldn' a burned 'em. They were feedin' the walkas at the fence. This person, they'd let 'em turn and keep 'em as pets."
"Tyreese, she's right."
"Then who killed Karen?"
Rick was about to answer when a loud explosion literally shook the foundation of the prison, causing dust and rubble to fall around them. Daryl was the first into action, grabbing Ani and pulling her close to him as he shouted at the others. He ran with her out into the courtyard with the others running out of the cell block only for them all to stop short. Ani started cussing up a storm when she saw an actual fucking tank sitting pretty in the field outside their prison, guard tower two completely obliterated. Six vehicles consisting of Jeeps and trucks surrounded the damn thing with the damn Governor was standing on top of it. They'd spent almost five months free of this man's chaos and terror only for him to show back up again. There was no doubt in Ani's mind that the man had brainwashed the people surrounding him now; it was the way the man operated and took control of Woodbury. She wanted to jump through the fence and throttle the man where he stood as he called out to them.
"Rick! Titania! One of you, come down here! We need to talk!"