Heart of a Hunter

by ChamberMom88

Tea spent her life being the odd man out. Having spent her younger years suffering abuse for being autistic and ADHD, she came into the apocalypse ready to take on the world all alone if she had to. Neither she nor a certain redneck expected to be pulled towards the other, but at the end of the world, who can say no to love?

73. Chapter 73

Newly Revised

So, you might realize that this chapter has changed a bit...quite a bit, actually.

"The hell'd you bring that thing for?"

"I forgot 'e was up there. Ya were the one that brought Bobby!"

"I didn't know he was sleepin' in my fuckin' bag! How the hell can you forget that one was on your shoulder?"

"That's where 'e likes ta sleep. Ain' my fault 'e likes sleepin' on me. I'm 'is momma."

"Uh-huh. You keep tellin' yourself that right up until we eat 'em."

"We are NOT eatin' my babies, Daryl! Neva in a million years! They're ya babies too, Daddy D! Ya married me, I adopted 'em, they're ya's too."

"Don't call me that when you're talkin' about your fuckin' cats, Ania. Just don't."

"Will you two stop arguing over the cats and focus on the road?" Carol asked after they'd been on the road for about twenty minutes, following the car with the cross. "Why are we even following it?"

Daryl told them both about what happened with him and Beth and how they'd made it out of the prison to a funeral home, admitting that he'd given up hope finding anyone from the prison alive. He'd gotten off track when he looked over at Ani to see her facing forward with tears streaming down her cheeks. He began apologizing to her, briefly explaining how Beth had disappeared and how he found the Claimers and, through them, that she was alive; he still had her dagger on him from that time. Daryl could tell that he hurt Ani when he said he hadn't even done much looking until Beth demanded him to, but his mind had gone dark. He hadn't been able to give himself hope that she was alive or that he could find her after everything that had happened. The worst part of the whole thing, telling her, was that when he was done explaining everything right down to how he had gotten beaten by the Claimers trying to save Rick and Merle saving him instead, she just looked ahead. She refused to look at him even as she explained what had happened on her end while trying to leave out how devastated she really was and how angry she was starting to get.

"I get it," she said even as she had a gnawing pit of doom building in her stomach. "I get it. I saw ya escape with Beth, but got cut off by walkas. Couldn' get out 'xcept through the tombs. I didn' know eitha, not really, not 'til I found ya trail. But I lost it at the tracks. Found our cabin a while afta but that was burned ta the ground."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"Ya were drunk and I can' blame ya and Beth for doin' somethin' I did myself as a teen," she told him, knowing he kept glancing at her but unable to give him anything more than that as reassurance. "But that's what broke me. Findin' that cabin and ya not bein' there and it bein' a burnin' mess."

"Sorry."

Ani couldn't bring herself to tell him how much it hurt that he hadn't tried to find her until he was already with the people who wanted to rape her. She couldn't tell him how it made every instance of being told she wasn't good enough spring to her mind, especially after how he said he'd ran after Beth but given up on her. She had tried like hell to find him, tried like hell to find all of them, only for no one to look for her. Ani thought that, out of all people, Daryl would have tried to find her, but instead, he'd burned down their cabin. He hadn't even tried to find her and hadn't even been bothered by it until he had lost Beth and finally realized that she was alive, and even then, he hadn't tried to find her. He'd gone on ahead to Terminus knowing she was out there and if it hadn't been for her good luck at finding Maggie's notes to Glenn, she would have never seen him again. To make matters even worse for her, ever since she'd gotten back, he'd been very defensive of Carol and trying to push her into forgiving the woman or at least be cordial. Every single thing about what had happened after the prison had her feeling like she had been thrown on the back burner; Daryl hadn't cared to find her and didn't care that Carol had wanted to kill her at all. She wasn't very important in Daryl's eyes and she should have realized that sooner rather than having to find out after a year of being with the man. Ani felt very insignificant to the person that she had fallen in love with and it killed her to know it. The only things that really needed her were the kittens in her lap; Sophia would be able to get by with Merle looking after her. And besides, if she wasn't there, the girl could repair her relationship with her mother without her influence getting in the way. Ani took a deep breath and let it out slowly as she pet Catty in her lap, thinking about what she should do when all was said and done with this mission.

"That's why ya ain' killin' or cookin' Bobby and Catty. I would a died without 'em," she told him in a serious, but flat, tone, making Daryl glance at her again.

"How did kittens help you survive?" Carol asked from the back, thinking the young woman was being ridiculous. "They're not very useful."

"Plenty useful ta me when I didn' have anyone 'round. Needed a reason ta keep goin'. They gave it. Pulled me out a my mind jus' 'fore a walka got me. So yeah, they're stayin' and livin' and thrivin' in our care, Daryl. And that's that."

"Yeah, alright," he said with a sigh, realizing there was no way she was ever going to get rid of the damn things, also wondering why she had used his first name when she wasn't angry. "But they piss or shit on my stuff and I'm tossin' 'em."

"Haven' pissed on anythin' yet that I know of," Ani said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"So it was just you and Beth after?" Carol asked, bringing the topic back to the focus of their mission.

"Yeah," Daryl answered.

"Did you save her?"

"She's tough. She saved herself," Daryl said. "We were out there for a while. We got cornered, she got out in front of me and I don't know. She was just gone. I came out, a car was pullin' out with a white cross on the window."

"Just like that one?" Carol asked.

"Yep," Daryl said, pulling Ani's hand into his lap after giving the back a kiss, hoping that he could offer her a little comfort even though her hand sat limply in his and causing him to start worrying. "Rick's gonna wonder where we went. Tank's runnin' low."

"And ya didn' think a that 'fore ya told us ta get in?" Ani chided.

"We can end this quick," Carol suggested. "Just run him off the road."

"And then what?" Ani asked Carol, turning to look at her.

"If they're holdin' her somewhere, we can get it out of the driver," she told her as if she was stupid.

"Maybe, maybe not," Daryl rebuttaled. "We're good for a little bit. Right now, we got the advantage. We'll see who they are. If they're a group, see what they can do."

"And then we get Beth back by any means necessary," Ani finished for him.

"Damn straight."

"They're heading north, I-85," Carol said as she leaned through the seats and onto the center console, Daryl dropping Ani's hand so she could get a better look.

"That's Atlanta," Ani commented as her annoyance continued to grow.

They quieted down as they entered the city, Ani tucking the kittens safely back into her bag and holding it carefully in her lap so that they wouldn't run around in the city. As soon as both her hands were 'free', Daryl grabbed the one closest to him and brought it back into his lap since she was acting withdrawn. Ani was doing her best to hold his back this time even though she really didn't want to be touched at the moment, so many things running through her head. They all fell into silence as they followed the car for another twenty minutes or so before they could see the city. The car they were tailing had driven into the Atlanta city limit and through the city itself. Ani found it odd that there wasn't an awful lot of walker activity as they drove deeper within the city, but it was the dead of night and quiet out, which probably played a factor. The car in front of them didn't stop for a while, and when it did, there was someone who came out from both the driver side. All the one outside did was start throwing what looked like bikes around without doing anything productive. Daryl kept the car running for a few minutes while the person continued just standing outside doing nothing until he finally turned the car off.

"What the hell's he waiting for?" he asked as the passenger door opened and someone stepped out. "There's two of 'em. Is that a cop?"

"Sure looks like it," Ani said, leaning forward, "Pretty sure 'e's from here in Atlanta."

"You can see the uniform from here?" Carol asked. "Even in this light?"

"Not perfectly, but 'nough ta know it's a cop, and prolly from 'ere in Atlanta considarin' we've only met two cops since the turn and one a them is dead," Ani told her. "I ain' makin' any promises, jus' usin' logic ta guess the most likely explanation."

"He might've seen us," she said.

"Doubt it. Ain' comin' ova."

Waiting and watching in silence, the three of them started badly when a walker came up to Ani's window and banged on it. Ani moved her torso closer to Daryl as he bristled, knowing that she didn't need to have anything else thrown at her right now. She cussed as Carol sighed behind them, thinking that Ani had overreacted, all three going back to watching the cop car in front of them and ignoring the walker. It continued banging against the car as the cop came back out with another bike and threw it down beside the other ones. The walker caught the attention of the cop and had him start coming their way until he got to the end of his patrol car. Ani let out the breath she was holding at the same time as she loosened her grip on her bag and moved back over to sit properly in her seat. She had instinctively sought comfort and refuge in Daryl's presence when the walker had scared her, but she needed to get used to dealing with it on her own. Once they got Beth back and her legs had time to heal, she was thinking about leaving the group. And as much as it hurt at the moment knowing what had happened, Ani wasn't sure she was ready to just give up and let the voices win. There's got ta be a reason 'e's bein' like this, she thought to herself as Daryl tried to turn the engine, only for it to sputter and die.

"Aw, shit," he said. "Tank's tapped. They'd have taken the bypass and they didn't. They must be holed up in the city somewhere."

"Means we can' stay here," Ani said, Daryl nodding his head in agreement as he looked at their surroundings.

"We gotta move, find someplace to hole up 'til sunlight."

"I know a place," Carol said quietly. "Just a couple of blocks from here."

"Yeah, that's where I was thinkin' too," Ani said.

"You know about it?"

"Some cases require a psychologist that knows how ta make a profile ta come in and talk ta the people," was her simple reply. "Not every case is cut and paste, unfortunately."

Daryl grabbed his bag from beside Ani's legs, her moving her legs out of the way so that he couldn't touch them, before she handed him the crossbow. Carol took out the walker banging on Ani's door as soon as she exited from the back, allowing Ani to get out herself at the same time as Daryl. They ran as fast as they could towards the women's shelter, killing five walkers along the way, only to find it boarded up tight. Handing Ani his crossbow, Daryl took one of his hunting knives and started working at the boards keeping the door shut. Even though his bow was bigger than hers, Ani managed to kill two more walkers with it while he was working on the door. It had a much harder drawback and kickback than hers and it wasn't easy to shoot when she was used to a lighter, less bulky, weapon. Carol couldn't say it wasn't impressive, but it wasn't anything they couldn't have taken care of with their knives rather than trying to show off. There really had been no point in using the crossbow only to have to go further down the alley to retrieve the bolts, which exactly what she did.

"There's two more in the alley," Carol informed them as Ani retrieved the bolts.

"I've almost got it," Daryl let her know.

"Cars, don'," Ani told her, stopping her from heading down the alley like she had gone.

Daryl managed to get the wooden barricade off the window, though it crashed and made a loud sound, causing Ani to jump and let out a small yelp of surprise. The combination of the crash and Ani's frightened sound brought on the groaning of walkers as Daryl helped Carol into the building. Ani was breathing hard and starting to sweat as she saw the silhouettes of the walkers coming into the alleyway, her spine and neck going numb. She wasn't sure how long it was before Daryl had a hold of her wrist and pulled her towards the building, helping her in before getting in himself. Ani worked hard to get her breathing under control as Daryl worked on covering the hole and Carol stared at her. Little did Carol know that her stare was only making it harder for Ani to calm down as she didn't like people staring at her at all aside from Daryl. Ani wasn't infallible; she had a lot of fears thanks to what had happened when she was younger and they showed the more her control over her emotions waned. For every doubt she had in her head, Daryl was at least doing something to try to get them to go away even if he didn't know that he was doing it. His arms came around her as he pressed her face against his chest as soon as he was done getting the hole plugged, whispering in her ear that he was there for her. He knew about every single one of her fears and new when she needed him because of them since she would have problems with panic attacks when her fears were severely aggravated. Ani didn't even think about it when he'd wrapped his arms around her as she listened to his heartbeat and evened her breathing out to its rhythm. She did smile, though, after Daryl and Carol's little exchange and Daryl made a comment that reassured her about her place without realizing it.

"What's going on?" Carol asked, looking at the pair strangely.

"Nyctophobia," Daryl growled, once again instinctually moving to where Ani was partially blocked from view. "Don't like the dark 'cause of that kind of stuff. Somethin' could sound a mile away and be right on top of you. Hell, you look like you're about to shit yourself, can't blame her for needed a minute."

"Didn't think you were scared of nothin'," Carol commented towards Ani.

"Nyctophobia, arachnophobia, claustrophobia, cleithrophobia, entomophobia, aerophobia, mild thalassophobia," Ani listed off. "I got a lot a phobias, though, don' see the last two bein' viable anymore."

"Why's that?" Carol asked, not knowing what half of them were and thinking she had made them up.

"Well, airplane travel ain' really a thing any more and there sure as hell ain' any cruise ships goin' 'round. Things goin' bump in the night, spidas crawlin' all ova me, bein' confined in small spaces, bein' trapped, and bugs I still got ta deal with, but I ain' got ta worry 'bout flyin' or sailin' nah more," Ani said as they began moving further into the building, Daryl taking the lead but keeping a hold of her hand.

While there were no walkers, they did find the human remains of one of the workers after they had gotten behind the first set of doors and into the office. Carol grabbed the keys off the corpse and unlocked the door that lead to the back rooms where the victims were kept safe. Both she and Ani knew where they were going, and while Daryl knew why Ani knew, he was curious to know why Carol did. Both women were acting off, Ani even more so than she already had been, ever since they'd entered the building. Ani knew why Carol was acting off; Sophia had told her all about what had happened that had lead the two of them here and how long it had been until they went back. Everyone that had worked here had tried so hard to keep her from doing so and had even given her pamphlets and numbers to call for help getting a place to stay and a job as well as assistance. While Ani understood the psychological reason behind why Carol went back, she still had a hard time processing why someone would go back when they'd escaped with their children. Especially when the person they escaped had begun to prey on their child rather than care for them. She tried not to think about it as she helped Carol push the desk in front of the door leading to the office and they headed towards the rooms in the back.

"You used to work here or somethin'?" Daryl asked Carol as they moved along, Ani trudging behind the two of them.

"Somethin'," was her quiet reply.

"What is this place?" he asked after they entered through another set of doors.

"It's temporary housing," Carol responded.

"Batta'd and abused women and teens can come 'ere, get set up for a few days 'til they can find a place ta stay or get their abusa's arrested," Ani explained. "They give ya resources and numbas ta call ta find a place ta work or get assistance. There's even people who'll open up their homes within the network ta house the ones tryin' ta get away. Most of 'em that do that don' live very close ta the house the victims were in. Ya come 'ere for help gettin' away, or a refuge when ya don' stay gone."

"You came here?" Daryl asked Carol.

"We didn't stay. I can tell you know the story."

"I do," Ani clipped as they walked into an empty room with a small desk, nightstand, and bunk bed.

"I'll take the top bunk," Carol said as the three of them began taking off their bags, Ani letting the kittens explore. "I think that one's more your style," she commented, mentioning the pink-clad bottom bunk, making both Ani and Daryl scoff. "You two should sleep. I'll take first watch."

"It's pretty safe," Ani mentioned.

"Yeah, this is locked up pretty tight," Daryl agreed.

"I know," Carol said, moving to the only window that looked out onto the roof.

"Then we're good then," Daryl said as he took off his jacket, leaving his arms bare.

"I'll keep first watch. I don't mind," Carol repeated, as she noticed Ani's blush and rolled her eyes. "Maybe give you two some time alone."

"Nah, not in the middle of the city. Ain' takin' any risks like splittin' up or gettin' distracted," Ani said, although if she had to admit it, she had already been distracted for a moment the minute Daryl's arms came into plain view.

"If you say so. I've got watch."

"Suit yourself," Daryl said as he sat down, pulling Ani with him to sit on his leg, wrapping his arms around her and holding her back against his chest, giving her a kiss on the temple as she leaned her head against his shoulder.

Ani had to admit, it felt nice to be pampered by Daryl and it began to take solace in the thought that she was simply overthinking everything like she had a tendency to do. He wasn't being as standoffish with Carol as she was, but she had to remember that he and Carol were the ones that were friends, not her and Carol. The problem she was having was that if the roles had been reversed, she would never want Carol around him ever again, especially not alone and she definitely, definitely, wouldn't ask him to forgive her. Daryl wasn't like her, though; he'd grown up around people who had made bad decisions in the spur of the moment. Hell, his own life had been threatened more than once by the people he had been around and he had all but forgiven and forgotten them for it. Usually it was with the help of liquor and the occasional drugs, but both of the Dixon brothers just blew over conflict as if it was water under the bridge. Ani just couldn't do that when it came to Carol thanks to everything she knew had happened through Sophia. She had already been angry at the woman for not protecting Sophia well enough, and the thought of losing Daryl to her, even if it wasn't based in reality, didn't help matters any, either. If it had been about just Carol wanting to kill her, perhaps Ani could overlook it and move on without much issue considering it wasn't the first time someone had wanted to kill her. Hell, she wondered what Daryl would be doing if she had been down in the tombs with Karen and David and whether or not he would be acting the same way if she had. The thought of him brushing even her death under the rug had the dread in her grow exponentially considering how things had been going thus far.

"You said we get to start over," Carol said from the window, pulling Ani from her thoughts even as she nuzzled into Daryl's neck and sighed.

"Yeah."

"Did you?"

"I'm tryin'," Daryl said, and he really was.

He hadn't given up on Beth and he had been able to shove away the negative thoughts about Ani leaving him for a while. He was trying to take care of people and keep them safe instead of shoving them away like he had his whole life before. Those Claimers, he could've been a part of them whole heartedly back in the before times, him and Merle both, but they'd both been turning over new leaves thanks to the girl in his lap. Holding her just a little tighter, he realized just how much he had changed thanks to her being a part of his life, same as Merle. All that realization did was make his desire to keep her by his side even greater, even if she was angry at him. That's what he had decided was wrong with her and why she had been avoiding his touch in the car and had been behaving oddly. There was no other reason for it that he could think of since he had been with her every moment since she'd come back. She had been acting a little weird at the church, especially around Carol, and he hadn't blamed her since what the woman would have been willing to do. But ever since he'd told her about what had happened when he was gone, ever since he told her the whole truth, she had been distant. He hoped that she would open up to him and tell him what was wrong sooner rather than later instead of bottling it up like she always did. Daryl could only hold onto her and rest his chin against her forehead as she wrapped her arms around him finally, taking comfort in the fact that she was there with him.

"Why not jus' say what's really botharin' ya?" Ani told her as she fought to get her thoughts under control and ward off the negativity growing in her mind.

"I don't think we get to save people anymore," Carol told them.

"Then why are you here?" Daryl asked, confused; the whole point of this trip was to save Beth after all.

"I'm tryin'," she said quietly before coming and sitting next to them on the bed, flopping back to lay down.

"When we were out by the car," Daryl asked, toying with a string on Ani's shirt. "What if we didn't show up?"

"Still don't know," Carol said without missing a beat.

Daryl moved the pillow and laid down next to her, Ani moving to lay next to him on her side, watching the woman they had brought along. This wasn't either hers nor Carol's mission, but they'd come nonetheless to help Daryl on his own to find Beth. It seemed to Ani that the woman was having some sort of mid-life crisis in the middle of the apocalypse without even realizing she was having one. The woman she had once been was gone, the woman she thought she had become was different than she thought and all she had left was this creature she didn't recognize. Ani could relate to that as she had gone through the same turmoil a few years ago when she had finally shot her father and successfully kept her family at bay. The difference was that Ani knew exactly what was happening to her when it happened and didn't fight it from happening. Carol was actively fighting or running away from who she was becoming, and that was only going to become the spark that ignited a breakdown. Ani wasn't sure why she was analyzing the woman and trying to come up with a plan to help her when she was still plagued by her own dark cloud.

"Ya know..." Ani started, thinking she should help Carol for Daryl's sake at the very least, when they heard a thud from outside their room.

All three got off the bed, Daryl grabbing his bow while Carol grabbed her gun while Ani simply pulled out the dagger she still had and a throwing knife. Daryl took point as they quietly moved down into the bigger living spaces meant for larger families, the banging got louder until they came to the end of the corridor. A walker behind a frosted glass wall was the source of the banging, making them all relax since it couldn't break the glass and couldn't get out. Ani sucked in a sharp breath when two more little ones started banging on the door; it had been a long while since she had seen a child walker and she had almost forgotten it was possible. Almost all of the walkers they had seen had been adults and it didn't take a genius to understand why or even to ponder how. Children who weren't able to protect themselves or who's parents weren't able to had died by the hands of walkers or other disgusting people. And if they hadn't died that way, then their parents had decided that it wasn't worth risking their lives or making them suffer a life on the road. There were so few children now a days and that was why she had made it a point to train the kids they had. She stood staring at the walker children even as Carol got in the way, attempting to go for the door to take care of them.

"You don't have to," Daryl told the woman, stopping her from entering before she tried again. "You don't." Carol walked away, past Ani who was still standing and staring. "Ania? Ania, you okay?"

Ani told him with a glance his way before going to the door herself, "I jus'...I forget sometimes, ya know? That it ain'...that it ain' jus' the adults.."

"You don't gotta either," he told her.

"And let ya take the burden yaself? Nah, D, nah. Ain' happenin'. I eitha do it myself, or we do it tagetha. Ya don' want Cars ta do it, fine, whateva, she can jus' sit on 'er thumbs while ya do 'er favors. But don' ask me ta let ya do it alone."

"Do you know what's wrong with her?" Daryl asked, scrunching his nose at what she had said about Carol and wondering what she meant.

"She's in crisis mode," she told him, her voice almost becoming flat like it had been when the only thing he seemed to have heard was about Carol, answering his question instead of ignoring it like he had her statement. "That's why she's always tryin' ta run. Why she's given up on me and Phia. She don' know who or what she is anymore, and it's got 'er eitha numb or runnin' for the hills. Don' know who she's supposed ta be, what she's supposed ta do. She's tailspinnin'."

"So what do we do?"

"Honestly? It's hard ta deal with in the best a times. Councilin', medicine, routine, and changin' one's thought patterns would be the ideal. But we ain' got time for routine, medicine is outta the question, and changin' one's thought patterns in an age where anxiety keeps ya livin'? Daryl, this is an uphill battle we might a already lost."

"So, what do we do?" he asked her again, a little quieter and lower, angry that she kept calling him his name instead of D like she had since the farm.

"For once, I don' know, alright?" Ani told him in irritation, trying to pull away only for Daryl to hold on tighter. "I ain' Wonda Woman."

"Never said you were, baby girl," he told her, kissing her forehead before leading her back to the room they were holing up in.

Carol took first watch even though there wasn't a need to, looking out the window and occasionally looking back to the two squished together on the bottom bunk. Ani spent half the night lying half on top of Daryl while he kept his arm around her and trapped one of her legs with his own. She couldn't help but smile sadly at them after she'd heard their little conversation earlier about what was happening with her herself. Carol understood enough of what she'd said and had to admit that the girl was right, though it wasn't as simple as that. She didn't know herself anymore, and that was the scariest thing in the world, scarier than even the walkers, and it made her want to run and hide. She had lost her husband and while she wasn't lonely per say, she did feel alone after what had happened with Lizzie and how Sophia had been acting towards her. It wasn't as if she could blame Sophia, nor Ani for how the girl was being so standoffish with her; the gravity of what she had done and had been willing to do still hung heavy in the air. Ani might have been angry, but she was too smart for her own good at times, too, picking up on things that others tried to hide through their actions and words. Knowing what Carol was dealing with and telling Daryl about it was one of those times because now that Carol knew Ani understood her, Carol wanted to run away even faster.

Before Carol woke up in the morning, Ani and Daryl made their way to the other room to deal with the walkers and give the small family a proper send off. Daryl had made the mistake of thanking her for helping him make Carol feel better, only for her to snap at him and say she was doing it for herself. She understood why he wanted to do it, had known it was for the older woman, but she didn't want to be thanked for helping someone who would have killed her. Every time the woman was brought up, that was all Ani could see besides how she had given up on Sophia and that kept her anger flared. Eventually she might be able to let it go, but there were still a hundred, if not a thousand, different scenarios playing in her head where either she or Carol died and Sophia was haunted nonetheless. She helped Daryl with the funeral pyre and stood there watching it burn as he brought the last body out. The sheet he had wrapped it in was just starting to burn when the door behind them opened and Carol came out. Ani bristled all over again when the woman walked up to stand on Daryl's other side and took his hand in hers, thanking him for what they had both done. Daryl just stood there silently staring at the flames rather than correcting her, thinking that Carol had been telling them both and not really caring about the hand thing. Ani waited for him to pull his hand away or at least correct the woman, and when he didn't, everything, all the hurt, all the anger about what happened after the prison was attacked, came to life.

"You're welcome," she huffed out before storming away, shutting the door on them both, Carol rolling her eyes while Daryl looked after his wife in confusion.

~x~

"Hey, you alright?" Daryl asked Ani as they started packing up their stuff to head out.

"Peachy fuckin' keen, Daryl," Ani answered, although it was once again in a clipped tone.

"Somethin's goin' on," he told her, pulling her out of the room to talk to her privately. "Talk to me."

"It don' matta. Let's jus' go get Beth, alright?"

"Naw, not 'til you fess up."

"What do ya want me ta say, Daryl?!" she blew up before running her hand through her hair. "We ain' got time ta deal with the bullshite goin' on in my head right now, so let's just get the girl ya want ta find and get goin'."

Daryl stood still when he heard that, even as Ani tore herself out of his grip and went back into the room to finish getting ready. 'The girl ya want ta find' kept ringing in his ears as he realized the full extent of how badly he had fucked up. He had been lost in his own mind and wallowing in self pity while she had spent the entire time trying to find him, Merle, and Sophia. She had searched for survivors of their prison group while he had sat on his ass in front of a fire. Ani hadn't given up on him like he had her and now he was fighting to get Beth back harder than he had even tried to look for her. That had to look like something else was happening when Ani had been gone for an entire week and also dealing with the truth of his own travels. He huffed out a sigh and hung his head before storming back into the room himself, Ani still adamantly ignoring him as Carol watched on. The tension in the air was palpable as she handed him his bag to finish gathering things before they headed back out into the city with Ani in the lead.

"That car was headed downtown. I say we get up in one of them tall ones, get ourselves a view, see what we can see," Daryl commented after about five minutes.

"We can stay close to the buildings and keep quiet," Carol agreed. "But sooner or later, we're gonna be drawin' 'em."

"Ain' ya a little ray a sunshine, Cars," Ani quipped.

"You feelin' alright?" Daryl asked her, pulling her back just in time to see her eye-roll. "Lookin' a little pale."

"Yeah, not a fan a tall buildin's eitha. Ya can add megalophobia ta the list I gave ya last night," she said as she moved out of his grip, still unwilling to tell him how upset and hurt she was. "Ain' lookin' forward ta 'gettin' a view.'"

"You jumped off two stories back at Terminus, but you don't like heights?" Carol asked.

"Yeah, 'bout that," she laughed nervously, turning an even paler shade of white. "Ain' so much the height as the buildin' itself; fear is relative. Outside, alone, chances a survival if I play my cards right are high, even fallin' from a good height. Inside a buildin'? If it collapses? I'm dead. Climbin' things is one thing; always loved climbin' up high in trees, rock walls, the hangin' obstacle course back at the indoor park. But bein' stuck inside a buildin' and lookin' down? That's entirely different."

"I don't see how."

"'Cause I was in New York, Cars!" Ani shouted, her nerves finally shot about it on top of generally being irritated by the woman. "I was in New York City on my senior trip with my class when the towas went down." The look of understanding that crossed both of their faces was enough for her to sigh and say much more calmly, "I ain' eva liked tall buildin's since, not towarin' above me, not bein' in 'em, not lookin' down and seein' how far it'll be ta fall or how much rubble I'd be trapped unda."

"You could stay here," Daryl suggested.

"Sure, stay on the street, by myself, surrounded by walkas, while ya take Cars up with ya," she replied sarcastically, making Daryl realize he'd messed up again; she only used sarcasm when she was deliberately trying to be funny or when she was irritated enough to make a direct point. "If ya didn' want me ta come, ya should a left me back at the church and jus' come 'ere with the two a ya. Wouldn' have so much a an issue then."

Even Carol started to pick up on the hostile air swirling around the hunters, stating, "It's a good thing you're here. We can use your help."

"Yeah, whateva," Ani said as she turned back around.

She did her best not to start crying, between the fear and the irritation and anger at the situation at hand, as the started moving slowly and quietly downtown. Daryl and Carol had their weapons at the ready while Ani carried knives in both hands and a couple of angry kittens digging into her back. They weren't even supposed to be there, Ani thinking she had left them at the church, but now she had an extra layer of responsibility to deal with until they got older and she could train them. In the city, letting them roam was a death sentence, though, so their little act of rebellion, as long as they stayed as quiet as they had been, was nothing to her. Honestly, as much as she hated admitting it, the pain was a welcomed old friend at this point, since the emotional and mental pain she was in had no other outlet. It wasn't right and she knew it, but it did help her get herself in check and stop wallowing in self pity over what she kept telling herself was nothing but imagination. She had to keep telling herself that or else she might do or say something she would regret that would ultimately come back to bite her in the ass. She wasn't willing to jinx their trip with her insecurities considering how lucky they had gotten not having drawn attention from the walkers yet. They didn't seem to notice the trio's presence even with the bit of mewling coming from Ani's pack, but luck never lasted long in this world as they got to a corner and Daryl threw his arm out to stop them.

"Alright, we can get up there," he told the girls after peeking around the corner to see walkers and a sky bridge. "There's a bridge."

"Joy," Ani said as she watched Daryl pull a pad of paper out of his bag and his zippo out of his pocket. "That thing's still got juice?!"

He just looked at her with a cocky grin before lighting the pad of paper on fire and tossing it across the street. Ani was sure it was going to go out by the force of the throw, but it managed to stay lit and even lit some more of the papers and leaves around it on fire. That gave them enough distraction from the walkers to slowly slip around the building and in to the car park, Daryl taking out a walker as soon as they entered. Ani wasn't sure how, but they had gotten lucky getting to the third level before they found the entrance to the sky-bridge. Daryl opened the door and let Ani enter first to make sure there were no walkers in the immediate area even though he'd wanted Carol to do it. Ani commented about how badly it stunk in the hall before they entered the sky bridge to find walkers zipped in sleeping bags and tents. Ani began killing them right away, Daryl and Carol both helping her as they wouldn't be able to get through otherwise and Daryl didn't want her taking it on alone. Ani examined the walkers as best she could, the only thing she came up with was suicide, which explained the ones zipped in the tent.

"Some days, I don't know what the hell to think," Daryl commented upon reaching the same conclusion Ani had.

"Ya and me both," Ani agreed before following Carol and moving on.

Ani jumped back in fright right into Daryl as one of the walkers in the tent fell, causing the tent to collapse momentarily. It hadn't been intentional and as soon as she had touched him she had tried to move away again. Daryl didn't let her, though, bringing his arms up around her and holding her to him while giving her a kiss on the forehead. He held her until her arms loosely came up around him and she breathed deeply before letting it out slowly. Definitely somethin' wrong, Daryl thought to himself while Carol moved to the second set of doors that led to the to the next building. He needed to get to the bottom of the issue sooner rather than later, but they didn't have time when they were in the city, let alone trying to find Beth. The sooner they got the girl back, the sooner he could have a talk with his girl and get her to open up to him instead of being all cold and distant.

"I got you," he told her.

"I'm fine," she said as she pulled away only for Daryl to grab her arm and pull her back.

"You ain't 'fine,'" he told her. "What's goin' on?"

"It's this damn city. Place has me all kinds a stimulated," she replied, not the full truth, but not an outright lie, either. "Feel like someone's watchin' us, followin' us, all the damn time. Know it's jus' the walkas, but damn if it don' got me ready ta jump out a my skin."

"I know, baby girl," Daryl assured her as Carol finally got the door opened a short way before realizing it was locked from the other side with a chain. "Once we get Beth back, we'll hightail it outta here and never have to come back."

"Yeah, once we get 'er back," Ani said quietly while looking at the ground rather than at Daryl.

The going had been easy for Carol; her thin frame and build allowed her to slide right through the door after putting her pack and gun on the other side. Of course, Ani's arms, head and shoulders went through just fine but she had to squish her chest to get through, cussing about the fact that she had to be well endowed. When Daryl told her to stop complaining, she asked him how he'd like it if it felt like his nipples were being scraped by sandpaper, effectively shutting him up as she got her chest and stomach through. Her ass was another wiggle fest, earning another comment from Daryl, who then smacked it as a form of 'help'. When she finally got through, he handed her her bag, minus the kittens who had gotten out of it and begun climbing on Ani as she squeezed through.

Handing her his bow next, Daryl began grunting and groaning as he squeezed through the door, stating, "Good thing we skipped breakfast."

"And ya were gripin' 'bout me gettin' through!" Ani told him as Bobby started batting at his arm.

"Get this thing away from me," he grunted as he pushed through.

"Bobby jus' likes ya," Ani teased, grabbing both kittens up and holding them in her arms.

They walked along the mostly well lit hallway until they came across a stairwell, Ani thanking her lucky stars that it had enough windows to keep it lit, though only dimly in some places. She walked behind Daryl and Carol the entire time as they silently travelled up the stairs seemingly forever. Daryl finally decided they were high enough after looking out of one the stairwell windows with the streets far below. They left the stairwell and entered an equally lit hallway that obviously housed some big wig offices based on some of the decorations used for just the hallway. The poshness of the office Carol chose with the best view compared to the others was only outdone by the view itself, Ani turning pale and becoming nauseous at the sight. Honestly, they weren't all that high up, but looking down at the burnt out city, the corpses melted to the ground, the ones walking around in tatters, it was even more sickening than just being so high off the ground. She moved away from the window as Daryl moved over to it, Carol going to stand next to him as Ani watched on with slumped shoulders.

"How did we get here?" Carol asked.

"Mm-mm," came Daryl's oh so helpful reply, causing Ani to roll her eyes.

"'Cause we're idiots, that's all," Ani told her.

Both Daryl and Carol shared a laugh at that, agreeing whole heartedly as they went back to looking out the window while Ani moved to stand on the other side of Daryl. Even if she hated the view and was scared out of her mind, the nagging pit in her stomach and the voices in her head wouldn't let her back down, especially not after both Daryl and Carol had laughed at her statement. They were being idiots coming to the city with no one knowing they were there and no one coming for backup on top of having a limited number of bullets and weapons. She knew she was also being the biggest idiot by letting those voices cause her anxieties over everything concerning Daryl become exaggerated. They had her more scared that she was losing him than she was of the height and she felt as though she had to prove herself to him for the first time. She also knew that she was letting her hurt at how he had left her but chased after Beth cloud her thinking on top of his very minor defense of Carol.

For fuck's sake, T, get yaself tagetha. The man carried us so we could get some sleep for fuck's sake, she thought to herself.

Yeah, but he also abandoned you. You knew it was only a matter of time before we were right and he decided to leave, the voice rebuttaled.

He didn' abandon me. He gave up out a despair. Ain' nothin' we ain' done ourselves.

We didn't leave anyone behind when we gave up. We simply decided not to care so it didn't hurt anymore. Our despair was because we wanted their love and knew we would never get it. He abandoned you. Look at how he fights for Beth, how he defends Carol. You don't mean anything to him after all.

Shut the fuck up, already! she tried to shut them out, not wanting to fight herself as Daryl's arm snaked around her waist and pulled her into his side.

"You still haven't said anything about what happened," Carol said to break the silence.

"Ain't much to say. You're here, they're not. That's all there is to say," he replied, feeling how badly Ani was shaking. "You good?" he asked her.

Daryl wasn't sure why Ani had pushed herself to come to the window when it looked like she was about to pass out. He would rather she stay back so as not to over exert herself, but for some reason she refused to back down to her fear. Daryl hated knowing that some of how she was acting was because of him, even if she hadn't said. Her actions spoke for themself as she kept her arms crossed over her and as tense as she could be while shaking. Normally she would have folded into his chest as soon as he had his arm around and yet she was standing resolutely looking out the window. She needed to get what was going on in her mind out in the open before it ate her alive. If he brought it up first, it would blow up in his face, but at this point, he was willing to take it if it meant her treating him how she always had. He'd lost her for an entire week and now it felt like he had lost her all over again even though she was standing right beside him.

"'M fine," came his reply.

"You don't have to-"

"Yeah," Ani cut him off harshly. "I do."

"I had to kill her," Carol told them, after a few minutes of silence and fighting with her guilty conscious. "I had to kill Lizzie to keep Judith safe."

"Cars," Ani replied. "She would a taken out the entire world ta get 'er point across. Psychopaths couldn' be dealt with easily 'fore the world went ta shite. It's rare ta find a child with it, too. Some people, their wires aren' eva goin' ta cross right, and that is exceptionally true with psychopaths."

"And your wires?" Carol asked with a pointed look.

"They're where they were always s'pposed ta be. Were shuffled 'round a bit as a kid, but they're settled where they should be now, like ya's are tryin' ta do. Should quit fightin' it and accept the change in ya 'stead a runnin' from it."

Carol got really quiet after that, prompting Daryl to speak up and say, "The reason I said we get to start over is 'cause we gotta. The way it was..."

"Yeah," Carol said as Ani moved closer to the window and squinted her eyes.

"Daryl? Ya see that?"

"You see somethin'?" Carol asked her.

Daryl leaned closer to the window and looked the way she was pointing before telling Carol, "Hand me that rifle, will ya? Right there," he said, pointing for Ani and then Carol to look after looking through the scope.

"It's been there a while," Carol commented upon seeing the precariously positioned van about to fall off an overpass. "Definitely one of them."

"It's definitely a lead," Daryl agreed.

It would be one hell of a walk, especially in a city full of walkers, but if they could manage through the buildings, they'd be fine. At least, if they didn't come across a building full of walkers, which was just as likely to happen as being cut off by walkers down in the streets. Ani wasn't too thrilled as she began detailing a plan in her head and informed the others of how they could get to the van. They would have to be extremely quiet and, in her opinion, they should've covered themselves in walker ick, but Carol nor Daryl were too fond of that idea. They ganged up on her about it even though it would be the easiest way to get through the city without notice only for Carol to tell her to quit pouting when she folded her arms over her chest. Ani had felt another swell in her chest when Daryl chastised Carol about that and had given her a chaste kiss. She saw the older woman roll her eyes before she walked over to their packs and grabbed their canteens, heading over to the water dispenser that still had plenty of water left in it.

"We should fill up," Carol said.

"Alright," Daryl responded, stopping to put his crossbow over his shoulder as he watched Ani contemplating a painting on the wall and looking at it too.

When Carol looked back at them and saw the twin looks of perplexation, she asked, "What?"

"I bet this cost some rich prick a lot of money," Daryl said, drawing out the 'o' in lot and grabbing the canteen Carol offered to him, handing it off to Ani to take the first drink. "It looks like a dog sat in some paint and wiped its ass all over the place," he told her as he gestured widely at the painting.

"That's what ya got?" Ani asked as she snorted at Daryl's comment, giving him the first smile he'd gotten since the church, before taking a drink from the canteen. "I thought it looked like someone spilled a bunch a paint, tried ta clean the mess, and said 'fuck it' and started a new canvas."

Carol said, "Really? I kinda like it."

Daryl scoffed, "Stop."

"I'm serious," she said while Ani handed the canteen back to Daryl who took a drink himself. "You don't know me."

"You keep tellin' yourself that," Daryl told Carol before they headed out of the room.

"You can barely call that shite art," Ani added

Going back down the stairs, Ani put the kittens back in the bag so they wouldn't get hurt when they proved they weren't very good at the stairs and started crying for her. She was a few feet behind Carol and Daryl when they got to the door and Carol went through first, just like last time. Daryl just gave Ani a look before going next, figuring he could pull her through this time. It'd taken her a good minute last time and she'd had problems wiggling through, so being on the other side to help her rather than stare at her ass and chest. He should have gone through first the first time because she had definitely distracted him and had made him have to adjust himself before he went through the small gap. It didn't matter how long they'd been together, the curves of her body would always have the same effect on him. If they weren't in the city, if they were able to find some time alone, he had every intention to show her just what she did to him, if she would let him.

"Daryl, don't," Carol's voice rang out as he got himself halfway through.

"Get up," a second, disembodied voice stated. "And the other woman you're with, get her out here too."

"Ania, give me your bag," Daryl said as he stood, looking at the young kid with Carol's gun pointed at her.

She handed it to him before starting the arduous task of getting through the small gap herself, which was easier with Daryl's help, eyeing the young man suspiciously. He didn't even look like a threat, just some scrawny teenager that was carrying way too much as it was. Ani couldn't say she was worried about Carol even when she saw the gun pressed to her temple, though she didn't wish the woman dead. Sophia still needed her mother and Daryl, well, she was his friend; she had to keep reminding herself that in order to justify how her husband had been acting. She stood there looking coolly at the boy as she tried to figure out why he would go through all the trouble to threaten not one, but three armed individuals. He must have known that he looked like a twig and that they wouldn't really see him as a threat even with the gun. He had to be desperate in order to try to pull the stunt he was trying to right now and think he could honestly get away with it. They would be able to follow him easily as well as catch up to the boy before he could even make it to the parking lot. He had to know that and still he was threatening them and that kind of determination meant one of two things. Ani decided that he was either looking for a lover or looking for a family member if he was willing to go to such lengths that he dared to take on the three of them.

"Hands up. Lay down your crossbow," he said to Daryl.

"You got some sack on you," Daryl said, not bothering to comply.

"Look, nobody has to get hurt. I just need the weapons!"

"Why don' ya tell us why? Maybe we can help?"

"I just need the weapons, that's it!" he insisted. "So please, lay down your crossbow!" When Daryl finally relented, a hand from Ani gently brushing up his arm to his bicep as if to say it was alright, the boy said, "Back up! Sorry about this. You look tough, she's got a lot of knives, you'll be alright."

"We can still help ya!" Ani tried to tell him, only for him to slice open the tents, she and Daryl quickly dispatching the walkers as Carol took aim at the boy. "No!" she shouted, smacking the woman's arm to where she discharged a bullet into the floor rather than at the teen. "The hell, Cars?! He's a fuckin' kid!"

The boy had a decent head start by the time they were finished taking care of the walkers and began giving chase as he slammed a door shut just in time for them to see it close. He must have either locked it or had something ready to keep it opened from being because even when they threw their full weight at it it didn't budge. Ani kicked the door in frustration, cussing up a storm before stomping off to the other end of the corridor and out the door that lead to a different car park. She couldn't believe that she had been forced to stop Carol from shooting a teen no older than Beth. Daryl looked as horrified as she felt by the prospect and everything in her wanted to deck the woman right in the jaw. The Carol she knew from the quarry had at least had empathy and sympathy; the one following her seemed to have neither anymore. She had no qualms about killing where she had broken down making sure Ed stayed dead. She had no problem in denouncing Sophia as her daughter where she had once blamed Rick for leaving her in the woods. The worst of it was that she had no reservations about hurting her daughter through the selfish decisions she kept making. Ani could think of hardly a rhyme or reason for the colossal shift in Carol's behavior and thinking that was within logic. In fact, the only thing she could come up with was mental illness of some kind, possibly PTSD, but she had shown no indications of one up until Karen and David. Even that behavior had been odd and without logic considering the woman knew how viruses worked having had a kid in school and knew that Patrick had been around people. Ani decided she would have to keep a closer eye on Carol than she had been if she wanted to keep those she cared about the most safe.

Daryl followed behind her, also not able to believe that Carol had been ready to shoot a kid, but then, she'd been ready to kill Ani for being sick, so there really wasn't much of a leap. He was honestly still upset with her about that and happy he had forced Ani to stay in the tower, but just because Carol was willing to didn't mean she did. It didn't make up for what she would have done, but it counted in his mind after everything he'd been through since childhood. He knew it was unfair of him to ask Ani to try to understand why Carol had said what she had, been willing to do what she had, but he was going to anyway. They were stuck together for who knew how long and there couldn't be animosity in the group or else it'd end up another Rick and Shane situation. The last thing Daryl wanted was for Ani to be forced to hurt or even kill Carol when she would feel guilty about it for the rest of her life. She would never be able to forgive herself for killing someone he considered a friend, let alone Sophia's mother, and he really would lose her. Daryl refused to let that happen and refused to let her go just because someone thought something that didn't end up happening. After all, she had been quick to forgive him and Merle for planning on robbing the quarry camp.

"Three bullets," Carol told them, pulling both out of their separate reveries. "We're in the middle of a city. He was stealin' our weapons. Did you think I was gonna kill him?"

"Sure did look like it. Ya would a killed me at the prison, Cars," Ani said flatly. "Frankly speakin', I don' know what ya would or wouldn' do anymore."

"I was aimin' for his leg! Could that have killed him? Maybe. I don't know. But he was stealin' our weapons."

"Did ya forget I'm ya biggest weapon, Cars? And firin' that gun in the city is askin' ta be eatin'. He was alone!"

"He's just a damn kid," Daryl agreed as he pulled his knife from its sheath and began messily breaking a door open.

"Let me," Ani told him, shoving him out of the way as she pulled off the same two pins she'd used at Terminus.

"Without weapons we could die," Carol reasoned angrily. "Beth could die."

"We'll find more weapons," Daryl said calmly as he watched Ani work, neither wanting to look at Carol right now.

"I don't want you to die. I don't want Beth to die. I don't want anybody at the church to die, but I can't stand around and watch it happen either," Carol said as Ani got the lock undone only to find the door had been boarded on the other side.

Ani had noticed how Carol had left any mention of her out of her little speech and looked at Carol straight in the eye and asked, "What changed? Ya didn' care if people lived or died at the prison. Ya jus' killed 'em without a logical thought in the world. So why don' ya want anyone ta die now?"

"Ani," Carol sighed. "It's different. I was trying to protect everyone. And I failed. That's why I can't watch it happen anymore. I can't. That's why I left. I just had to be somewhere else!"

"Well you ain't somewhere else," Daryl told her in irritation, turning to look straight at her. "You're right here. Tryin'."

"Look, you aren't who you were and neither am I," she told them. "I don' know if I believe in God anymore, or heaven, but if I'm goin' to hell, I'm makin' damn sure I'm holdin' it off as long as I can."

"Ya definitely goin' ta hell based on ya religion," Ani reasoned as glared at her. "'Thou shalt not kill,' 'do unto othas as ya would have done unto yaself,' 'rememba the Sabbath day and keep it holy,' 'thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor,' and 'thou shalt not covet.' Ya broken every single one a those commandments and by ya own holy scriptures have damned yaself."

Ani watched as Carol's face morphed into one of anger but honestly didn't care and had said nothing wrong when she was the one who had brought up salvation. The truth was, religion wasn't really an important factor in the world at large and it was only something that made the individual feel better about themselves. Even her own beliefs were unnecessary, but at least she didn't have to act a certain way or believe a certain thing to have at least a decent afterlife, maybe rebirth if that happened. All she knew as she watched the older woman furiously collecting the bags they'd brought was that none of them were free of breaking the tenants of any religion. Carol ended up dropping Daryl's bag in her anger, spilling it to reveal the book about treating childhood abuse survivors that not even Ani knew he had grabbed. Daryl just gave the woman a look of frustration before he bent and grabbed the book, yanking his and Ani's bag from her hand as well. He handed Ani's to her while she nodded to the door and they both took a step back before they began kicking the door in unison until it opened up. They had to dodge around entire city blocks to get past the droves of walkers and even had to find a way through the buildings at one point. The kittens weren't any help, either, with their frustration about being in the bag again and poorly timed mewls and hisses that drew attention. It was midday by the time they finally got to the bridge that was completely devoid of walkers and left them out in the open.

As Ani looked at how much of the van was sticking off the bridge, Daryl opened the back. "Alright, let's get this done," he told the girls.

"It's not stable," Carol offered. "I'm lighter."

"And I'm the lightest," Ani said.

She didn't give either of them a chance to argue as she climbed into the van, listening to how it moaned just from her weight alone. Ani carefully moved to the front while Daryl climbed in after her, thinking that if there was anything worthwhile in the mostly empty van it would be up front. Daryl sat in the driver's seat right at the same time as Ani looked over and saw a group of walkers coming onto the bridge. Her hands started shaking as she thought about what they could do when Carol climbed into the van, too, making it groan even more as it lightly shifted. To say she was scared would be a major understatement when they were about to be trapped by walkers in a precariously placed vehicle that could fall quite a distance if they weren't careful. Chances of survival would be high so long as the vehicle ended up either hitting rear first or wheels first; front first she wasn't even willing to think about. They needed to get out of the van now and try to make a run for it, but that wouldn't even be an option, either, as another group of walkers was following the noise from the van themselves.

"There's more coming," Carol said. "We're gonna have to fight through."

"Yeah, I see 'em," Daryl told her.

"Can' fight through that many! Ain' got nah cova! Nah where ta go!" Ani said frantically, her nerves starting to get the best of her.

"We'll make it, baby girl," Daryl assured her, kissing her forehead as he climbed back into the back to leave the vehicle, stopping as he passed the gurney. "GMH? What's that? A hospital?"

"Yeah, Grady Memorial ova on Jesse Hill. Always rememba'd it 'cause it sharin' Jesse's name," she said with a shrug when the others looked at her. "Only a couple miles from 'ere."

"Grady, white crosses, might be where they're holdin' up," Daryl reasoned as Carol left the back of the van, coming face to face with more walkers than the three of them could handle.

Carol used their last three bullets taking out three walkers and making Ani shout at her, "Stop ringin' the fuckin' dinna bell ya idjit!"

She and Daryl were doing their best to keep the walkers from ganging up on the three of them too much, keeping the much less battle-tried Carol between them as they slashed walker after walker down. Daryl practically pushed Carol back into the van before running over to Ani's side and grabbing her around the elbow, out of the way of a walker that was coming up from her side and shoved her towards it, too. She took the hint and climbed in the van, pulling her bag around to her front to check on the kittens, who had thankfully quieted down and not moved during the fight; they looked up at her from the bottom of her bag and mewled just as Daryl climbed in. Slamming the doors shut, he grabbed Ani, holding her close and apologizing in her ear as walkers surrounded the van. She was shaking the worst he had ever felt and he blamed himself for even putting her in this situation to begin with. She'd spent so much time alone only to not even get a single night to recover, only a few hours, and he'd brought her with him to the city nonetheless. It had been a spur of the moment choice, but they had to take the chance to find Beth when they had it.

"Anything we can use?" Carol shouted over the cacophony of sound from the walkers that had surrounded the van.

"Nothin' but what we've got," Daryl said.

"Get in the front and buckle up," Ani told them, although her eyes were tightly closed shut as she said it and the look on her face was sheer panic and terror. "Only one way out, and that's down."

"Where are you gonna sit?" Carol asked, Ani astutely not looking at either of them while shoving them to the front.

"Hell naw, Ania," Daryl said, realizing she wasn't meaning to do anything more than brace. "C'mere. Keep that bag to your front and brace yourself if you want them kittens to survive," he told her as he handed her the crying sack after forcing her onto the passenger seat with Carol, the two women's small frames making it easier for the seatbelt to work for both.

Ani was already shaking like a leaf as she brought her legs up and pushed her heels into the dash, pushing herself back into Carol and the seat after putting her legs through the straps of her bag. All she would have to do was make sure the bag didn't hit anything, which would be easy enough to do, and she could protect Carol by bracing her as well. It didn't matter what the woman would or wouldn't do for her, Ani couldn't let Carol get hurt if she could do something about it. It didn't even have anything to do with Daryl or Sophia; she was simply doing what she had to to make sure Carol and her babies survived. She could already feel the tears starting to leak from her eyes as the van started moving back and forth thanks to the walkers' pushing on it. Let's jus' hope the damn thing don' tip, she thought as she closed her eyes, really not wanting to see them falling.

"You hold on, ya hear?" Daryl told her, bracing himself with his arms while Carol did her best to brace with Ani laying against her.

Carol didn't know that Ani had positioned herself to take most of the damage if the van tipped so that at the very least the woman would survive. She honestly didn't understand any of what the young woman had done when it was so obvious that Ani wasn't just upset with her anymore, but straight up disliked her. It wasn't that surprising, though, after what she had done and what she had said; she wouldn't like someone who would be willing to kill her either. In fact, Carol wouldn't even be willing to help someone who she knew was willing to kill her and yet the only thing Ani had yet to do was yell at her. She had been positive the girl would slap her like she had at the farm, or maybe worse, for what she had done to Sophia alone. Carol couldn't understand the younger woman's actions nor thought process at all as the van was finally released of the overpass and started heading towards the ground below. It pitched forward slightly, causing Ani to bite back a scream, landing hard on its front tires and bumper and caused everyone to slam forward.

Ani banged her face against her knee hard and could feel her ankles simultaneously pop while the kittens screamed as the bag swayed viciously and Carol pressed against her back. They both looked over to Daryl to see if he was awake as much as they were, his head having hit the steering wheel and busting his eyebrow all over again. When she saw that he was, Ani checked on her kittens, who didn't look as if they had been hurt too badly, though they were both visibly and physically shaken up badly. She was about to ask Carol if she was alright when a bang on the roof of the van made the scream she'd been holding back rip through her. Ani couldn't help the scream anymore than she could help the fact that she started crying as more and more thuds were heard and the windshield became covered in blood. Daryl ripped both seatbelts off and picked her up, holding her tight to his chest as she clung to him with both her arms and legs wrapped around his body. He knew she was being forced to face most of her fears one right after the other in this city and it was only taxing her mind and body more.

"I'm sorry, baby girl, that was stupid. Let me get a look at you," Daryl told her as he held her face in his hands and inspected the black eye she was going to have from her knees. "Can you walk?" he asked as he gingerly put her down, wanting to check on Carol.

"Think so, yeah," she whispered as she clung to his arm. "Cars, ya okay?"

"Surprisingly, yes. I don't think I got banged up too much at all, just my shoulder hurts," the woman said, being the least jarred of the trio.

After the banging stopped and Ani had enough time to calm down and double check the kittens, who were no longer shaking themselves, they got out of the van and moved on. Daryl carried Ani's bag, including the damn kittens, as he held onto one side of her, Carol on the other using her uninjured arm to help support the limping girl. Daryl was worried about her as she still hadn't stopped shaking from the stress and tears were still streaming down her face and yet she refused to stop. He knew she was going to have a meltdown soon if they couldn't find Beth or get themselves out of the city. There was only so much his girl could take and she was get close to her breaking point. Ani hadn't even seen when they went over the edge as she had her eyes tightly shut, but that had honestly made it worse. She wasn't sure if having her eyes open would have been any better considering she had her eyes open on fairground rides Jesse made her go on. The ones that dropped quickly or went high up and swung around, even the sway of the Ferris wheel, had scared the shit out of her. It was one thing jumping off of buildings or out of trees; she knew what she was doing and how to do it, but being in something was a totally different story.

"You good, baby girl?" he asked as they got back to the relative safety of buildings.

"'Til we get Beth back, I'm good," she said, telling him everything he needed to know about her mental state right now.

"Alright."

"But when we get back ta the church, don' even think 'bout lettin' go a me 'til I tell ya," she added seriously, needing both reassurance and comfort since her mind continued to spiral. "Don' think I'm gonna be able ta let ya go afta all this shite. All we need is a giant spida comin' 'round and me mind's gonna die."

"You really know how to push through, don't you?" asked Carol as she watched the two.

"Had ta my whole life. Jus' happy ya here. I couldn' do this if ya weren'," she admitted to Daryl.

"It's a promise," he told her, once again giving her a kiss on her forehead and holding her for a moment before passing her the canteen. "Drink."

"Here," Ani said after Daryl watched her take a drink before she handed it over to Carol.

"I'm fine," the woman said.

"Prove it," Daryl dared her, making her take a drink too. "How bad is it?" he asked her, regarding her shoulder.

"I've had worse."

"Let's see," Ani said, moving her torso to face Carol as they sat next to each other. Might have something in my pack to help."

"Should use it yourself," Daryl chided as Carol moved her shirt off her shoulder.

She had a very bad rug burn and a bruise from the seatbelt and her chin was red from the impact of it to Ani's shoulder. Ani told her it was fine and she'd live, but to take care not to use that shoulder too much, Daryl's actions in the last little bit quieting the voices and making it easier to be around Carol. Daryl moved over to Ani and carefully took off her boots and socks, one after the other, to check her feet and rolling up her pant legs to check her legs. Both her ankles were swollen slightly, her boots having acted as braces, and she had obviously broken a couple blood vessels from the bruises on her legs and feet. From how she flinched when he touched a few spots, she probably had more than one hairline fracture and her eye was black and blue from the socket all the way up onto her forehead and down past her cheekbone. Her knee was similarly bruised and more swollen than her ankles, making him take the rag out of his back pocket and wrapping it to keep the swelling from getting worse. Her shoulder also had a large bruise forming from Carol's chin, but she wasn't too worried about that one; she didn't walk with her hands after all.

"Damn that was stupid," he muttered as he helped her back into her shoes.

"We made good time down," Carol commented in an attempt to lighten the mood. "Lucky you didn't break your legs, though."

"My luck's fuckin' run out, I'm tellin' ya. Ya eva make me do somethin' so dumb again, I'm goin' ta lock ya up and neva let ya leave," Ani threatened as Daryl sat next to her and checked her face to make sure there was no fractures there. "There's only a few blocks left ta get ta Grady. See that tall buildin' there?" She pointed to a tall gray building not far away, "That's where we got ta get. Closest buildin' ta the hospital without bein' seen."

"Alright, get up there, see what we can see," Daryl agreed, taking a drink of water himself before pouring some out in the little bowl Ani had for the kittens, who were rather thankful for the drink.

"You really think we're gonna find out what we need to know just by watchin'?" Carol asked.

"It's where we start," he told her before grabbing the bags and helping Ani to her feet. "Come on."

It only took them about twenty minutes to get to the building Ani had been talking about as she walked off the pain in her legs. She relied less and less on Daryl for support as they walked, eventually able to walk on her own for the most part, only needing help if they had to move quickly to avoid walkers. It hurt, she wasn't going to lie; walking felt like her legs were on fire and honestly, she knew she wasn't going to be able to keep it up for much longer without taking a break. She knew she was breathing heavy and was obviously making faces as Daryl looked at her with an increasingly worried expression and even Carol was noticing it, but Ani refused to let the pain phase her. Walked with a dislocated hip, taken beatin's that almost ended my life. I can walk through this pain, she thought when they finally made it into the building, Daryl forcing her to rely on him when they walked up the stairs. There were a few bodies, both dead and walker, in the hallway as Ani stopped and leaned heavily against the wall. Daryl grabbed the machete from one of the walkers on the floor and killed it with it, the walker not having much fight in it at all. Ani pushed off the wall to keep walking, but Daryl handed the machete off to Carol and picked her up rather than letting her walk.

"Give your damn legs a rest," he told her.

"Thank ya, D," she replied quietly, leaning her head on his shoulder and missing the smile on his face at her use of his nickname finally. "I love ya. More'n anythin'."

"I know, baby girl. Love you, too," Daryl said, kissing her lips as he put her down in the office chair.

"It's them," Carol told them when she went over to the window.

"Alright," Daryl said, coming up and handing them each a bag of chips. "Let's see what we see."

Ani couldn't help the smile on her face nor how she watched and listened to Daryl as he ate because, if she was being honest, she'd missed his noisy, no-manners style of consumption the entire time she'd been away from him. Even though she hated the sound of others eating, for some reason, at that moment, it was music to her ears listening to him. Carol was even sporting a soft smile as she watched the young woman's face light up while she watched the older hunter. Daryl was trying not to pay attention to the fact that Ani was watching him while he ate as hard as he could. It was making him self-conscious caused his ears to go red, which just made Ani's smile widen while Carol looked away. Neither hunter realized how they looked at each other was different than how they looked at anyone else and it honestly hurt to see that kind of love played out right in front of her. Ed had been a monster and she had barely started forming a connection with Axel when he'd been killed. It didn't help any when Daryl finally had enough of Ani's staring and turned to her, showing his red neck as well.

"Stop," he told her. "Eat your damn food."

"Jus' missed it, s'all."

"Missed what? Watchin' me stuff my face?"

"Yep," she said, popping the p before finishing her own bag of chips.

"Thought you didn't like hearing people eat?" Carol asked.

"I don', but I missed it. Bein' alone for a week. Eight nights, seven days. Or was it eight days and seven nights? I dunno, but I missed ya, D. I really fuckin' missed ya," she said as she stood up and went over to his side.

She looked down at the city beneath them and wondered if there was anything he had missed about her while she was gone, too, the nagging voice in her head telling her he hadn't. She did her best to shut that train of thought down as Daryl willingly stepped forward and wrapped his arms around her shoulders as he watched the hospital below. He couldn't blame her for staring when she said shit like that, but man did he wish she would do it when they were alone. It made him so self-conscious when she stared at him in wonder like that, like he was the only other person on the planet, like he was the sun she revolved around. Daryl didn't feel like he even deserved that adoration since he'd left her and sulked while she'd tried like hell to find him without even thinking of giving up. He just heaved a heavy sigh while tightening his grip on her on lowered his chin onto her head. He doubted he'd ever stop feeling guilty for that and hoped she would forgive him, the fact that she was calling him by D again doing little to reassure him that she would. The way she had acted since they'd gotten to the church had been off and he knew it had to do with him more than anything else; that much was painstakingly obvious.

"You said I ain't like how I was before?" he asked Carol after a few minutes of silently holding his wife and watching the hospital.

"Yeah."

"How was I?"

"You were a kid, now you're a man," she said quietly, watching as Daryl stared out the window.

"What about you?" he asked feeling Ani stiffen in his arms and seeing a look on her face he couldn't read at all.

She was quiet for a few minutes before speaking, "I'm sure Ani already knows this, but me and Sophia stayed at that shelter for a day and a half after I found Ed sneaking into her room. And I still went runnin' back to him. I went home, got beat up, life went on, and I just kept prayin' for something to happen. But I didn't do anything. Not a damn thing. That's why Sophia started leavin' me. Why I pushed her away. You did more for her just back at the quarry than I ever did as her mother," Carol told Ani honestly before looking back out the window. "Who I was with him, she got burned away. I was happy about that, I mean not happy, but at the prison, I got to be who I always thought I should be, thought I should've been. I could be a mother and be a friend and a fighter. But then she got burned away. Everything now just...consumes you," she said.

"Only if ya ain' willin' ta fight the fire," Ani told her quietly.

"We ain't ashes," Daryl agreed.

Carol thought about it for a moment before the sound of banging came from down the hall and interrupted whatever she was about to say. Daryl swept the twins up and stuffed them back into Ani's pack and handing it back to her even as they yowled and then hissed at him, giving her a pointed look as he told her to stay back. He couldn't take the look of pain that contorted her face every time she was on her feet and he didn't want her to break a bone fighting with her knives. They all left the office space and walked down the hall and turned a corner, a walker pinned to the wall with a bolt sticking out of its neck. It was a little odd, but it also told them that whoever had taken their weapons was close by to say the least, which meant they could possibly be dealing with a group of people. Carol was doing just fine, but with Ani's legs in the condition they were in she wouldn't be able to fight. Whoever the teen was with also had their guns, leaving them with just their knives, which was more precarious when dealing with living people. Daryl looked back at Ani and thought about telling her to stay put until she got back while he walked up to the bolt and yanked it out, killing the walker with a machete.

He cursed her out and told her to come back as gunfire rang out and Ani moved ahead on instinct, forgetting about the pain in her legs momentarily as she slid around the corner. As soon as she was around it, though, she found the kid who had taken their weapons fighting a walker before cursing herself when he threw it at her. Ani fell back and rolled right ankle when she tried to catch herself, crying out in pain while falling further as Daryl passed. Carol helped break her fall, automatically earning a gratitude even as Ani bitched herself out for doing it; Carol never thanked her for the things she did. Daryl killed the walker when he went past Ani, turning around meaning to double check on her only to be told to go after the kid. Pissed as hell, Daryl ran after the young man as fast as he could, letting the anger he was feeling push him harder. She wanted to help him and he tried to fuckin' kill her, he thought as slowed his pace and stalked behind the boy trying to move a large bookshelf. Daryl dropped his bag and switched hands with his machete before football tackling the boy into the shelf, rolling out of the way just in time for the thing to come crashing down on top of the kid. Ani hobbled into the room supported by Carol, much to her ire, as Daryl grabbed Carol's rifle, his bow, and went to retrieve his bag. She watched Daryl, knowing he was angry, but hoping he wasn't actually planning on leaving the kid pinned beneath a bookshelf he obviously couldn't move. There was a walker trying to get through the door the bookshelf was pushed against and the boy would die without their help.

As Daryl went to usher them out of the room, the kid begged, "Plea—please! I had to protect myself!"

"Why you followin' us?!" Daryl growled a yell at him.

"I-I didn't, I swear! I thought you followed me!"

"Bullshit," he replied lowly, putting his bow down and bending further to pick up a carton of smokes, one last pack in it.

"Come on, man! Plea—please!"

"Daryl."

"Naw, you already helped him once. Ain't happenin' again."

"Daryl," Carol tried, hoping to get a better result than Ani had as he lit a smoke.

"Have fun with Hauss over there," he said, bending down and picking up his bow before walking away.

"Dammit, Daryl!" Ani yelled at the man who was taking his turn at being childish, though in the petulant way rather than the insecure way.

"You almost died 'cause of him!" he yelled at her, both of them talking over the boy pleading beneath the bookshelf.

"It was jus' a damn walka! I could a taken it if I'd a had anotha couple seconds 'fore ya did!"

He looked down at the boy, his anger at seeing her almost bit because the kid had thrown a walker at her winning out over his rational thoughts. The woman was already injured all to hell between Terminus and the fall earlier and the boy had made her ankle pop loud enough for him to hear it. She wouldn't be able to walk on it for much longer without potentially breaking it or causing permanent damage now. Daryl didn't know how long it would take for her to heal and they always ended up having to run. It wasn't like it had been at the farm; they'd had enough shelter for her to be able to rest her ankle there until she could put her full weight on it again. She had admitted that it was a little tender when she did at the time, but she had still had enough time to heal for her to walk on. When would they have time for her to heal when they could barely find a place to hole up for the night? They wouldn't be staying at the church for much longer than a day when they got back. Even then, they most likely wouldn't be able to drive the whole way to where they were going, meaning she would have to walk. Everything she did for everyone else, everything she tried to do to be fair, it always seemed to bite her in the ass and cost her health, whether mental or physical. He was sick of it and refused to let anyone else hurt her and get away with it anymore. Daryl pulled a cigarette out of a pack and lit it while looking at the woman staring him down and then to the teen before shaking his head.

"Nah, let him be."

"Screw ya, then!" Ani said, pulling out a knife and throwing it at the walker, killing it before it could even get out of the door. "If ya not goin' ta help me get this damn shelf off'n 'im, I'm goin' ta do it myself, D."

"Like hell you will!" he said, coming back towards them pissed at her now almost as much as he was at the kid. "You're gonna hurt yourself even more over a dumb kid that tried to kill you?!"

"If ya gonna keep bein' an ass 'bout it, yeah!"

"He fuckin' threw a walker at you, Ania!"

"And Carol wanted ta fuckin' kill me! Yet ya don' seem ta have a problem keepin' 'er around!" Ani yelled right back, not even noticing that she had let slip one of the issues she was dealing with, both the others she came with eyes widening at the confession. "Or are ya fine with lettin' a kid Beth's age die when ya tryin' ta find 'er?"

"Beth?" came a breathless question. "You know Beth? Do you know Daryl? Or Tea, or—or Ani, I think she said? I gotta find 'em. Gotta get Beth."

Looking at the kid in astonishment before a shit-eating grin broke out on her face, she looked over to Daryl and asked, "Ya gonna help now?"

"Shut it," he growled, going to stand at the end of the bookshelf. "Stay fuckin' there or this stays on him 'til I strap you down," he warned her, making her stay where she was and leaving Carol to help him get the boy out.

"Oh, thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" he said as he moved quickly to the windows.

"You okay?" Daryl asked Carol, who was having even more problems with her shoulder after helping keep Ani upright.

"I'm still here."

"I gotta go. I gotta go," the kid kept repeating. "They're gonna come. They heard the shot. They're gonna come. If they find me..."

"Who ya talkin' 'bout, kid?"

"Them, the people at the hospital," he answered her.

"That how you know our names?" Daryl gruffed at him, standing between him and Ani protectively.

"You? You're Daryl and Tea?"

"Ani," they corrected in unison.

"Right, right. Beth, she helped me get out but she got caught. She said you'd be looking for her. I've been trying, I mean, I didn't know what your plan was, but I figured I'd watch, wait for the place to be attacked. Way she talked, you've got an army behind you."

"I got roughly twelve trained recruits, a reasonable trainee, and a smart as hell versie with a lyin' problem," she said with a shrug of her shoulders.

"Versie with a lyin' problem?" Daryl asked.

"Eugene," she clarified. "Like I said, don' believe in their mission. Got reason not ta. Eugene says 'e worked with pathogenic microorganisms at the Humane Genome Project. That shite's fucked with at the CDC. The HGP was literally for mappin' the human DNA sequence ta find out what marka counted for what trait. Finished up seven, eight years ago. Nah way it had anythin' ta do with any a this."

"Well, fuck. Why the hell'd you say we'd go to DC, then?" he asked her, Carol informing them of a police cruiser outside at the same time.

"We gotta go," the kid repeated several times as he left the room, the others following behind him. "The building next door has a basement. It's clear. We'll be safe."

Daryl had a hold of Ani around her waste, practically pulling her along as they followed the hobbled teen. Noah fell, obviously injured himself, causing Daryl to pause in his movements and try to hand Ani off to Carol to support her. The woman might have been able to if she hadn't run ahead without looking back to see if they were following. She had literally just gotten out the door when the police cruiser she'd warned them about hit her dead on traveling fast enough to fling her up onto the window of the car and back down. Ani watched it happen in horror before she looked back at Daryl and saw the distress and distraught on his face as he lunged forward to make for the door. She saw it coming before she could even process what Daryl was doing as both she and Noah grabbed a hold of him. He was fighting even against her and was shouting no as he did so, trying to get to Carol as the officers got out of their vehicle.

"Don'!" she shouted.

"They can help her! They're the only ones who can! They have medicines, machines, a doctor! You go out there, you'll have to kill them, okay? She needs their help! If you kill them, she can't get it. Is that what you want?" the teen reasoned.

Daryl didn't even realize when he elbowed Ani in the jaw nor how hard he was fighting to get to Carol, nor how it looked to Ani at the moment. She was devastated; her thoughts were fixated on how he hadn't looked for her, but went on such a dangerous mission to find Beth and had literally injured her, to the point that she could taste blood in her mouth, to get to Carol. He had been acting so loving towards her, so cautious about what happened with her, and Ani had been feeling like she really had just been reading to far into the situation. But now Daryl's actions spoke for themself considering everything that had happened since the prison. She really didn't mean anything to him and even though she had known it from the start, it made her go numb to see it firsthand. She had told herself a thousand times that she needed to stop using Daryl as a crutch or an emotional dumpster and this was the reason why. It didn't matter that he had said the vows to her, she was just a placeholder for something better and it had never been more plain than it was now. He was still trying to fight against her and the teen, managing to get her with his elbow again and causing blood to come pouring out her nose. She let go after that one in order to try to stem the flow on one hand while the rest of her decided that if he wanted to get to Carol so bad, she wouldn't stop him. She started shutting off her emotions, one by one, as much as she possibly could so that she didn't have to feel anything now that the truth had been revealed to her. There was nothing left for her to do when things had gotten to the point that he was willing to hurt her to get to another woman.

"We can get her back," the teen promised as she ripped a piece of her shirt off and used it to try to plug her nose. "We can get Beth back."

"How?" Ani asked in a quiet and clipped tone.

"I don't know."

"What's it gonna take?" Daryl asked him.

"A lot. They got guns, people."

"Yeah, well so do we. C'mon."