Newly Revised
Deanna couldn't believe what she was hearing; both Aiden and Noah had died on what was supposed to be an easy run. According to Glenn, it was a stupid accident that killed Aiden and Nicholas panicking that killed Noah while Nicholas claimed that Glenn distracted Aiden and caused him to lose focus and Glenn had wanted to leave him there when he was still alive. The only other people that had been with them had either been killed, incapacitated, or not present when both situations had occurred and therefore it was Glenn's word against Nicholas's. Deanna wanted to blame Glenn, she wanted so badly to blame Rick and his people after what had happened with Pete and the subsequent unrest that had been felt, but something didn't add up. The way they told the same story in such a different way and claimed such different reasons as to why her son died was making it hard for her to tell truth from lies. It was hard for her to admit, but the only person who could properly find out what had happened with her son was the woman they had sent away for the next week at the least. Depending on what they found out there, they might be gone even longer, and until Aaron, Daryl, and Ani returned, she had been forced to ground both Glenn and Nicholas from leaving Alexandria.
She only hoped that Ani would be as open and honest as she seemed to be when asked questions, answering quite often without thought. Deanna had followed up the Parkers' attack on Ani with several interviews both of Rick's group and the inhabitants of Alexandria that were there before going and asking Ani herself. The girl didn't lie once, not even when the questions became more personal, and didn't flinch at answering them either. She'd even gone so far as to explain why she wouldn't go around Pete again and asked to know when he would be in the infirmary so that she could go only when Denise was there. She had explained so many things to Deanna about her own group, too; what they were good at, what to look out for with some of them, and who to get to deescalate any altercation that otherwise would end in one party or the other either dead or battered. Ani had been very open and honest about both the good and the bad of her group when Deanna had breached the subject. She'd even told her about her own faults as well as her husband's while he was standing right there with her under his arm. While it was admittedly only little bits and pieces and never the full picture, Ani had been honest and upfront about everything she was willing to share and Deanna could only hope that honesty would transfer over to giving her answers. Her son had died and she wanted answers as to how and who she should be angry at, if there was anyone to direct her rage at.
~x~
They'd pulled off the road after about fifty miles and two and a half days, the going rather easy as Aaron, Eric, and a scavenging crew had cleared the way for the better part of the way. Apparently, they had been moving obstacles out of the way as much as possible since the beginning. They had about seventy miles of highway cleared, and almost as much on the main roads heading south of Alexandria; they didn't go north. Aaron had explained that there was almost nothing to the north for them to scavenge or even find, so they focused more on heading south and east than anything else. Ani didn't mind whatsoever, though, simply enjoying the feeling of being able to wrap her arms around Daryl as they flew down the road. She'd had to coax Aaron into letting the twins ride with him, promising they wouldn't bite him and handing over some of the dried squirrel she'd taken to keeping on her. It was originally to train the kittens, but she'd been finding herself munching on some of it before she made some for herself. There had been herbs in Alexandria that she hadn't had access to since the farm and had been able to make a marinade out of lemon juice, garlic, thyme, oregano, and sage and had soaked a lot of the meat in it overnight before drying it. Being in a place where they could actually use an oven, it had taken her only a few hours to dry the meat and had been able to keep it tender. All of them had a nice stash of that kind of jerky while she and Aaron carried unflavored; it was the best for the cats.
They had hidden the vehicles a ways of the road and taken some fallen branches to partially hide them from view just in case someone happened to pass by. Ani would be surprised if that happened considering how far out of the way they'd taken them 'just in case.' It seemed a little ridiculous to her when they'd parked the vehicles out in the open, but after Aaron explained that they knew they were bringing their group in, they wanted the vehicles accessible. If they were able to find someone to take back to Alexandria, they would go back for the cars first or take the people with them to the cars themselves depending on how many there were. The most important thing was to make sure whoever they brought back with them was worth bringing back to Alexandria. When Ani asked why she was still welcomed when she'd been nothing but trouble since she'd gotten there, he'd told her that she had also been quite helpful. He reminded her about everything she'd helped with in the infirmary and that many of the people in the town had seen her trying to help others. A few problems with problematic people that were already there were hardly worth throwing away such an asset to Alexandria.
Ani was sticking close to Daryl as they moved through the dark woods, none of them turning lights on just in case it told others of their position. The last thing the trio wanted was to be found before they found the other party and knew whether to go or stay. She had to admit that she was surprised by how easily Aaron moved through the trees at night seemingly without any fear. Daryl was leading the way through the woods, though Ani steered them away from some of the more rocky ground in the dark. They hadn't seen any people yet, but they had certainly seen a lot of walkers, each one that showed up adding to Ani's slowly growing anxiety. She reminded herself that all she had to do was wait for the morning and, aside from walking into a spiderweb and freaking out, Daryl chuckling like a jerk, she wasn't having any other issues. Besides, he was doing a good job at taking them down before they got too close and managed to freak her out too much. Aaron was rather surprised by his efficiency and said so, only for Ani to compliment the man herself and Daryl to tell them both to shut up as he took down yet another walker before exiting the woods into a field.
"There's more of them around here than there used to be," Aaron remarked as Daryl went to pull the bolt from the walker, cleaning it on the thing's clothes. "Don't know if any people are-"
"Shh," Daryl said, Ani coming to stand beside him and look in the direction he was pointing. "Someone is."
Although it was small and far off in the distance, a campfire could plainly be seen in the night's darkness. It was almost like a beacon to the dead with how badly it stuck out like a sore thumb, but just being alive was a risk anymore. The real problem with having a fire going out in the open like that was that, just like them, others could see where they were very easily; it was the whole reason they'd kept their fires low at the quarry and during the winter. Aaron wanted to hang back a bit, not go directly to the fire right away, just get closer so they could observe those who made it. Ani could understand the caution in that; after all, it'd taken a few weeks of following their group before they got to go to Alexandria. It wasn't until after dawn and they were sure that the person had moved on that they carefully made their way through the woods towards the campfire. The kittens ran ahead, Ani and Daryl slowly following along behind as they saw what the kittens had run to. Ani couldn't help the gag that came from her as she took in the severed arms and bottom half of a man, the head and and torso missing. Daryl quickly shooed the kittens away from the mess as Aaron asked Ani if she was okay as she had paled considerably and looked about ready to puke. Sheepishly nodding her head and wondering what the hell was up with her ability to take in sights like this lately, Ani helped lure the kittens away by tossing the toy rat she'd made for them to chase far into the trees before going and standing next to Daryl.
"Whoever did this took what was left with them," he said, taking in the fresh blood. "This just happened."
"Within the last hour, maybe two," Ani agreed as she assessed the cuts and blood. "How didn' we hear it happenin'?"
"Dunno, but at least it didn't bring the walkers down on us," Daryl said as he continued forward, Ani and Aaron following behind him as the kittens came back, Bobby holding his 'catch' proudly in his mouth.
Moving through the woods with their weapons raised, Ani and Daryl became highly alert at the sight of another body tied to a tree. The blood and guts dropping from her torn stomach had Ani more than just gagging, moving behind a tree and puking up what little she'd eaten for dinner the night before. The poor woman wasn't even killed first, just tied up naked only to be ripped open by a wandering walker. She hadn't even turned yet, meaning that she'd been tied up about the time the other man had been killed. Ani couldn't help but wonder if they'd been the makers of the campfire as Daryl and Aaron approached the body; Ani couldn't bring herself to get any closer, especially since with the long blonde hair the woman reminded her of Beth. Whoever did this had wanted to inflict the most terror and pain and weren't human anymore; they were worse than the walkers. It all had her stomach turned upside down as she grabbed the kittens up to keep them away from both the corpse and where she'd gotten sick.
"She was tied up," Aaron said. "And they fed on her. Tore her apart. This just happened?"
"Yeah," Daryl said with a nod of his head as he walked closer to the body, Ani stepping up behind Aaron.
"How the hell did this happen?" he asked.
"Betta question," Ani countered. "How the hell didn' we hear it?"
Daryl grabbed a hold of the body's hair, bringing it up to take a look at the face, the rigor mortis that would normally set in after a couple hours missing. Even her jaw was lax as her face lifted, all of it being a grotesque reminder of what the worst of society were capable of doing when given free reign. A 'W' had been carved into the woman's forehead and Ani couldn't help but suck a deep breath in as the woman began waking up from her death. Aaron had looked as disturbed as he was intrigues by the corpse until she began to move, jumping back even though she was thoroughly tied to the tree. Now a walker actively trying to fight against the restraints of the ropes, Daryl did what he had to do and plunged his knife into it's skull, turning to look at Ani when he was done. She was still rather pale with the kittens in her arms; she wouldn't be able to carry both of them much longer with how fast they were growing. He walked up to her and put a comforting hand on her back while Ani looked up at him and gave a small smile before sighing.
"You good? Normally don't get sick like that."
"Yeah, I'm good," she said. "Jus'...reminded me a Beth."
"Yeah," he said with a nod, having had the same thoughts himself. "Come on. Let's get back to the bike. I don't like this."
"Agreed," Ani replied as Aaron said, "Yeah."
~x~
"Ya got ta wear shades more often," Ani remarked as Daryl reached out to grab her, giving her a kiss before he released her.
Ani moved back a bit to give him space to get off the bike, watching as he pulled the shades off and grabbed his bow. Hers was on her back, though she was still using the blades much more often; she only brought it in case they happened to see some game trails. She was much better with her knives and now that she'd perfected throwing any kind with Daryl's help in between him fixing up the bike. It also just felt more practical to her to use the knives than to waste arrows and bolts they didn't have at the moment to spare. Entering the woods behind Daryl with Aaron following along, Ani clicked her tongue twice to get the kittens' attention, motioning for them to come to her. They'd already been out of the walls for two nights now, and Ani couldn't have been happier, nor did she feel more at ease. This was where she belonged and this was where she had the best chance of survival, not behind some wall trapped if anything were to happen. They wandered semi-aimlessly, following what looked to be a rabbit trail until Daryl stopped and looked around, causing Ani to do the same.
"Somebody came through here a while ago," he told Aaron.
"If we see them," Aaron replied, "we hang back, set up the mic, watch, and listen."
"Roga dodga," Ani quipped.
"For how long?" Daryl asked.
"Until we know," Aaron commented.
"So long 'nough for me ta say yay or nay," Ani joked, causing both men to look at her. "What? Knowin' how ta read people's the whole reason I'm out 'ere, ain' it? 'Sides, it was s'pposed ta be a joke."
"Might wanna work on that," Daryl snarked back, Ani flipping him off as he went around her to look at the direction the trail went.
"We have to know before we can bring them back," Aaron insisted.
"Why? You send people away?" Daryl asked.
"Yeah."
"What happened?"
"It was early on," Aaron told them. "It was three people. Two men and a woman. Davidson was their leader. Smart as hell. Strong. I thought they'd work out. They didn't. I brought them in and I had to see them out. Me, Aiden, and Nicholas, we drove them out far...Gave them a day's worth of food and water and we left them."
"They didn' fight back?" Ani asked, surprised that they hadn't even tried.
"We had their guns. We had all the guns," Aaron told her before looking around and sighing heavily. "I can't make that kind of mistake again."
Ani could understand where he was coming from as she had had to turn away some of the people they had met along the road at the prison. Not everyone deserved sanctuary and the bodies they'd already found were a case and point to that fact. They moved along the more obvious trail for a while before she pointed ahead of them while crouching down, pulling Aaron with her. Through the trees, something red was moving as Daryl moved to kneel beside her, taking the binoculars from Aaron. He confirmed that it was a person, the three of them staying back and moving more quietly through the branches. Aaron pulled a second pair of binoculars out and handed them to Ani, who thanked him, before pulling out the microphone and a set of headphones and putting those on himself. They followed the man silently while making sure to keep enough distance from him to remain unnoticed but keep him in sight. Ani was getting bored before the sun had even risen to midday; doing nothing but watching and waiting was exactly as fun as it sounded when there wasn't an imminent threat to their persons. It wasn't an easy task to remain hidden as he stopped in the middle of a field to grab something, rubbing it in his hands before dropping it and rubbing his hands on his face.
"What's he doing?" Aaron asked.
"Wild leeks," Ani told him, though that didn't tell him what he was doing, just what the things in his hands were.
"Son of a bitch knows about how to keep mosquitos off of him," Daryl finished explaining for her. "Come on."
Daryl pressed forward, the kittens running a little further ahead while chasing what had looked to be a field mouse, or perhaps a chipmunk; it was a ground rodent. They didn't go too far ahead, being pretty damn good about not running too far ahead now that she wasn't putting them in her bag anymore. As they entered the woods again, they lost sight of the guy in the red poncho when the trees started getting thicker. Ani and Daryl kept their eyes out for his tracks more than looking for the man himself since it wasn't going to be easy to find him even with the bright color he was wearing. It wasn't too hard until they got to a road, the tracks becoming much less noticeable the further they traveled. Ani was about to tell them they should try the woods a bit again when Aaron spotted something a little further up the road. They walked towards it until they got a clear view of what had clearly been a factory meant for packing food into trucks. There were a lot of trucks still in the docks and the place didn't look like it had been touched yet, which was absolutely surprising. If there was still food on those trucks, it would be the find of the decade as far as food went and Alexandria would be able to stay up and running even through the winter.
"We checked the forest," Aaron argued when Daryl wanted to keep searching for the man. "We checked the roads. We can't find him. Sometimes they slip away, it happens. But, you don't come across something like this every day."
"We do this now, that means we give up," Daryl warned him.
"Home is fifty miles back. We've been out here for three days now. It's time to go," Aaron informed him. "You saw it last night, and the day before. There's bad people out here."
"That's why we oughtta keep looking for the good ones," Daryl insisted.
"Shouldn' be givin' up so quick," Ani agreed. "'Sides, I don' like the feel a it."
"We need more people," Aaron told them. "And we'll find them. But when we do, we'll need to feed them."
Daryl and Ani shared a look, both wincing at the thought of giving up before Ani sighed and began tapping her knife on the fence as Daryl told him, "Alright."
"This is so dumb," Ani commented, her 'spidey senses' wigging her out pretty badly as her hands started to shake.
Giving a signal to the kittens, they went off into the woods, climbing a tree close enough to the road that Ani could still see them, but far enough away that they would remain safe. There was no way she was risking their safety in what she felt was an ill begotten place, mostly because it was completely clear of walkers. There was no place without walls that didn't have walkers and even the places with fences tended to have at least a few dozen in them. What she was looking at was an empty parking lot that brought zero walkers to the fence and yet several from the woods. They were quick to take care of the oncoming threat, Aaron reasoning that the factory must have been abandoned before the walkers took it over. Ani didn't tell him that if that was the case, they would have taken the trucks and the food with them instead of leaving perfectly good loot lying for anyone to find. Prying the gates open, they carefully walked through the lot until they found the loading docks and climbed the ramp. There were three different semi trailers that were seemingly untouched by the test of time sitting in the loading docks while two more were situated at the ready to load. This was a jackpot if they ever hit one, but Ani still felt something was off, Daryl watching her cautiously as she looked around.
"Huh," Aaron said before laughing and sinking to his knees. "Wasn't sure I'd ever seen one of these." As she and Daryl looked at the trailers, Aaron explained, "Listen, I don't like giving up either, but the guy is in a red poncho. You can see him from a mile away. We've got a lot of miles here, and no sign of him. But, if we come away with a trailer full of cans, I'd say that was a good trip. Here we go," he said, holding his Alaska license plate in his hand as Daryl bent down to open one of the trailers.
Ani had walked to the opposite corridor and saw just as he unlatched the door the rope that connected to a pulley system, following it with her eyes and yelling, "Daryl don'!" just as he cracked it.
None of them were expecting all five trailers to spring open, cutting them off as Daryl and Ani used their knives to kill walker after walker. There was no way they were going to be able to fight their way through with how many poured out of the trailers, not with Aaron falling behind. Daryl pointed to under a trailer, both he and Ani grabbing the man and trying to push him in before scrambling under themselves. Many of the walkers were anointed with a 'w' on their foreheads, making Ani suspect that whoever was carving it into the walkers had set this trap on top of being responsible for the vicious attacks they'd already seen. Daryl picked up a chain and grabbed at Ani's shoulder, catching her attention as he began to crawl out the other side. She grabbed onto Aaron before she followed suit as walkers began falling to the ground on the side they'd crawled from. The man was grabbed by his bag, forcing Daryl to leave his back open for a walker had Ani not been able to get a knife thrown into its skull. Picking up Aaron's bag, she threw it on her shoulder as Daryl picked up his bow, the three of them dashing like mad and pushing the walkers away as they tried to reach the gate. Realizing it was a futile effort when the other two trailers opened and even more walkers rushed them, Ani yelled for Daryl, telling him to check the car he was closest to. She and Aaron held off the dead as Daryl yelled at them to hurry up as he threw himself into the vehicle. Ani climbed in as fast as she could, right over the console and into Daryl's lap as Aaron was already climbing in behind her. He had to slam the door shut on the head of a walker to get it to shut, but when it did, Ani had to hold Daryl for a moment to calm down. They were well and truly trapped with walkers bearing down all around them, partially blocking out the light and pounding on the window beginning to overwhelm Ani's senses as she moved to the back.
"The glass will hold for a while," Aaron said hopefully.
"Maybe," she and Daryl said at the same time.
"Maybe we can make it so they can't see us," Daryl said, looking around and realizing they had next to nothing to use. "In a couple hours, somethin' will come by, and they'll follow it out. There's gotta be something here we can use to block the view."
"Got the seats," Ani suggested, moving to take her knife out to cut them as Aaron pulled a piece of paper out from between the sheets. "What's that?"
"A note," Aaron said, showing it to them.
Trap. Bad people coming. Don't stay.
"Well shite!" Ani said, pounding the seat with her fist in frustration, her accent picking back up a tick. "We prolly don' got the fuckin' time ta wait 'em out if this is a fuckin' trap. We're goin' ta have ta run for it."
Daryl's own nerves were worked up beyond belief himself, the entire situation seemingly helpless with how many walkers were around them. His girl was trapped with him in the middle of a fucking nightmare, the dead piled against the car so deep that they couldn't tell how many layers of the damn things there were. Ani was having problems controlling her breathing as she tried to focus and not panic when he looked back at her, their eyes meeting. He knew what he was going to have to do in order to make sure she got back home; he wasn't going to let her die in this place. While he didn't want to be back in Alexandria, he wanted her there, safe behind the walls that place offered, the promise of a life. He didn't want her to come back out here anymore, not when the first time they came out after finding a sanctuary had lead to disaster. Daryl turned around and looked out the window at the looming danger, chuckling quietly as he made his choice. Ani couldn't see his face or she would have known what he was thinking well enough before he ever even opened his mouth to answer Aaron.
"What?" the man asked.
"You know, I came out here to not feel all closed up back there," he said. "Even now, this still feels more like me than back in them houses. That's pretty messed up, huh?"
"You were trying," Aaron said as Ani's hand squeezed his bicep from the back seat, wanting to offer him what little comfort she could in the moment.
"I had to," he said, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to the palm.
"No you didn't," Aaron said as he watched the pair. "Listen, I saw you with your group out there on the road. Then you went off on your own by the barn. Whatever happened between you two, you just held each other. And then the storm hit, and you led your people to safety. That was it. That was when I knew I had to bring you people back. You guys were right. We should've kept looking for the guy in the poncho. I shouldn't have given up. You didn't."
Daryl released Ani's hand with one last kiss, wishing he could press it to her lips as he pulled out a smoke and his zippo, "I'll go."
"Nah!"
"I'll lead them out. You guys make a break for the fence," he said as he lit it.
"Hell nah, D! Ya ain' fuckin' leavin' me like that! Ya can'! I told ya, if ya go, I go! I'll go out fightin' with ya! But ya ain' goin' ta go out and fight 'em by ya damn self! Ya ain' fuckin' doin' it, Daryl!" Ani yelled, her voice almost breaking at the thought of losing him.
"This was my fault," Aaron said.
"It wasn't a question. This ain't your decision. It ain't nobody's fault. Just let me finish my smoke first," he said, looking at Ani's distressed face in the rearview mirror. "You go, you get her out and you don't look back."
"Daryl, please," Ani pleaded, trying to make it clear to him how stupid this was.
"Only way for you to get out," he told her. "You gotta live for the twins, right?"
"Not without ya!"
"She's right," Aaron said, the thought of leaving Daryl to fight by himself not sitting well with him. "You don't draw them away. We fight. We go for the fence. We do it together. Alright? Whether we make it our not, we do it together. We have to."
"He's right, baby, please," Ani pleaded, her hand gripping the sleeve of his jacket as if the feable grip she could get would stop him. "We can do it tagetha, I know we can. Please, don', jus' don'."
"Alright," Daryl said after he took in the tears running down her face and the serious look on Aaron's before turning his head away and chewing on his lip, taking his final drag. He picked up his knife, Ani letting go of his arm with a cry of relief. "You ready?" he looked behind at Ania, seeing her readying a dagger in one hand and a throwing knife in the other. "You ready?" he asked Aaron. "We'll go on three," he said, all three of them getting ready to open their doors, Ani choosing to go out the same side Daryl was. "One. Two-"
Whatever happened to three Ani wasn't sure because there was a thud on Aaron's side making her jump and Daryl was pushing his door open. Shoving hers open with Daryl's help, she instantly threw her knife, taking out the walker closest to them. Daryl pushed two walkers away as she got out, shoving one herself as he passed her. Moving as a unit and only killing the walkers they couldn't just push past, they managed to work their way around the car, fighting with Aaron and a newcomer. Ani couldn't help the joyful yell that made its way out of her as they broke through the fence to safety after the four of them got through. Daryl swinging it with all his might towards Aaron before bringing his bow up and taking out a walker as he moved to get in between Ani and the newcomer. Daryl paced while looking at the darker man, Ani observing his calm demeanor and the fact that he was neither scared nor quizzical. If anything, he looked to be in a state of total peace and even looked like he had kept himself well during the apocalypse, making her wonder if he was a recruiter like they were.
"That was—oh-Thank you," Aaron said as he tried to catch his breath. "I'm Aaron, that's Daryl and Ani. And the twins," he said, watching as the kittens ran up to Ani and Daryl alike, one of them having caught a bird, dropping it at Ani's feet.
"Did ya get that for me, Bobby?" Ani asked as she bent down and picked the bird up, showing it to Daryl as she pet the kitten's head, scratching under its chin.
"Morgan," the newcomer introduced himself as he cleaned the blood from his...
"A stick?" Ani pondered aloud, earning a chuckle from the man.
"Why?" Daryl asked, wanting to know what business a complete stranger had risking their lives to save them from their own stupidity.
"Why?" Morgan repeated. "Because all life is precious, Daryl. Even those kittens of hers."
While Ani and Daryl just looked at Morgan trying to figure him out, Aaron warned, "Whoever set that trap, they're coming. But I have good news. We do. We have a community, not too far from here. Walls, electricity, it's safe. If you'd like to come join us-"
"I thank you," the man said. "But I'm on my way somewhere. Fact is, I'm lost, so...if you could tell me where we are," he said, handing Daryl a map.
"Ya know Rick?" she asked after she moved next to Daryl and looked over his arm at the map, noticing Abraham's handwriting in the corner.
"Do you?"
"This map was given ta him. We left it behind in a church," Ani said before her eyes went wide and she sucked in a breath. "Wait! Ya the Morgan! The one Rick wanted me ta talk ta! Neva got the chance ta go back, though, with everythin' that happened. Kind a forgot. Think 'e did, too. But then again, ya did stab 'im."
"You do know him," Morgan stated. "Well, I think I can change where I'm going. I'd appreciate you allowing me to come with you."
~x~
When they got back, Ani was met with Denise's concerned look as the woman fretted over the few cuts and bruises Ani had gotten on the run. It was then that she learned of Tara's condition, walking into the infirmary and seeing Eugene and Abraham sitting there. Denise double checked Ani, Daryl, Aaron, and Morgan for injuries as Eugene told them what happened on the run. Ani couldn't help the tears that fell down her face as she learned of Noah's demise, her heart going out to Deanna and Reg as they mourned their loss. Apparently, things had gotten interesting last night as Rick had pulled a gun out and waved it around, telling everyone they needed to change after a couple walkers had gotten in. Gabriel had been a dick and left the gate open and unattended when he was covering for Spencer, who needed to take a leak. Thankfully, no one other than Rick had been injured, Michonne having to cold-cock him over the head and knock him out to stop his little tirade. Deanna had requested Ani's presence after they got back to talk to her about a few things, Rick and the gun being one. The other involved Nicholas and Glenn; Ani could only assume it had something to do with how the trip ended so badly.
"Want me to walk you over?" Daryl asked, the look she gave him telling him she was still pissed at what he'd tried to pull at the trap.
"No thank ya. I can take care a myself," she said, turning on him and going to leave.
"Dammit, Ania! Stop!" he said, reaching out and grabbing her wrist, pulling at her and causing her to stumble. Catching her with her back to his chest and wrapping an arm around her waist, he said just loud enough for her to hear, "I had to get you outta there. I had to."
"Nah, ya didn'. Not like that," she said just as quietly, her whole body shaking with the emotions she was refusing to let out, not wanting to have a meltdown or fight with Daryl in front of everyone. "I'll see ya back home."
Walking out, she took a deep but shaky breath before making her way towards Deanna's by herself, knowing full well the man was following her at a short distance. She could understand his reasoning, but Ani couldn't just not be mad at Daryl for offering himself up as bait, especially not for her. What kind of choice was that; to sacrifice himself for her right in front of her for her to live on knowing she might've been able to do something about it? She furiously wiped at her eyes, not even knowing why she was being so emotional about something that didn't even happen. It was never going to happen, to be honest, seeing as Aaron was too kind-hearted to abandon a friend like that. Trying to get herself under control, she took a breath and knocked on the door to the 'mayor's' house. Reg answered and after a few kind pleasantries, he led her into the foyer where Deanna and Spencer were sitting. Both looked over at her and Ani realized that they were in mourning, looking around to notice Aiden wasn't there. At first, she assumed that they wanted her to help them through it, but the way Spencer was staring into space and Deanna stood up when she saw her told her that wasn't the case. The only other conclusion she could come to was that Aiden died on the run and Deanna wanted to know how. Knowing the woman, she'd probably interviewed everyone that went on the run and returned and video taped it, which meant she would have a way to tell her.
"Ya asked me ova?" Ani said, feeling slightly uncomfortable.
"Ani, yes. Thank you for coming."
"I don' mind. I'm sorry for ya loss."
"You've been told. Thank you," Deanna said with a sad smile. "I wanted to ask you if you knew about Rick and the armory?"
"Oh," Ani said, fidgeting momentarily before removing the gun she'd kept hidden on her since that day from the inside of her vest; she'd asked Carol to sew a holster into it since she was the only one in the group that really knew how to sew. "Yeah. I kind a wanted a gun too. Ya know, in case they came back. Was neva goin' ta use it or pull it for anythin' but that, mind ya."
"Well, Rick certainly doesn't have the same je ne sais quoi when it comes to knowing when to show his hand and when to play it close to the heart."
"I don' think Rick eva played poka or Rummikub, bein' honest. He's got bitch face, happy face, scary face, and mad face, but the man ain' got nah poka face."
"Unlike you," Deanna offered.
"Grew up with mine. Perfected afta years and years a pretendin' ta be somethin' I ain'. Whateva Rick said, he was tellin' the truth. Ya people are like my kittens. Ya can stumble ya way ta killin' a bird, but without trainin', ya neva goin' ta take down a buck without fuckin' luck or instinct, neitha a which ya people seem ta have outside a Alexandria. But I'm assumin' ya wantin' me ta solve whateva mystery happened on that run, yeah?"
"Yes, actually. Glenn and Nicholas have very similar but different descriptions of what happened. I was wondering if I could use some of that forensic psychology you know to get to the bottom of it."
"I can do that."
"Are you sure you can be impartial?" Deanna asked as Ani sat down next to her.
"Ya asked me ta do my job as a forensic psychologist and walk ya through what I see, yeah?" Ani responded.
"That's right."
"Alright then, that's what I'm goin' ta do. Don' matta who it is, what it's 'bout, who it's 'bout. This is what I love doin', so I'm goin' ta do it ta the best a my abilities. 'Sides, in all the world, we got names for orphans, names for widows. But ain' a single name for a parent who looses a child. Ya deserve ta know what happened, not jus' what might have happened."
"Thank you, Ani," Deanna said as she rewound the video she'd taken of Nicholas first.
She watched as Nicholas began talking on the screen, twitching and refusing to keep his eyes trained to one spot, immediately saying, "He's nervous. Really nervous."
"Aiden was trying to save us," he said on screen. "From a roamer. He was shooting at it. Then Glenn distracted him."
"Ya see how twitchy 'e is? How 'is eyes are calculative? He ain' sayin' the whole truth right 'ere. Somethin' else happened that 'e ain' sayin'."
The video continued with him explaining what happened with Tara and how they found out Aiden was still alive, "They wanted to just go, I didn't. I wasn't gonna leave him."
"Well, I can' say whetha or not 'e wanted ta stay, but I know a crock a crap when I hear it. My people, we wouldn' jus' leave someone. Ta be honest, we'd've shot 'im in the head 'fore leavin' 'im. We ain' the kind a people ta let othas suffa if we don' got ta," Ani said as Deanna asked Nicholas about Tara in the video, his response an automatic defense. "Ya made 'im defensive 'ere. Didn' like the insinuation that 'e wanted ta leave, but that makes me think 'e would've."
"Why?"
"'Cause normies like 'im don' normally become defensive like that. Not that quickly, not unless they're already on edge. Not sayin' somethin's entirely fishy, jus' sayin'. He's a bit defensive."
"Then, when we got into the lobby, when we got trapped. He was hitting on the glass, pushing my door open."
"See how 'e ain' lookin' at the screen nah more?"
"I saw that. I had my doubts."
"They were gonna kill me. Or maybe they were trying to. Or they just didn't care," Nicholas said, Ani pointing to the screen and pointing out the wobble in his voice and how it was a sign of panic, another indication that his version of events were partially falsified. As he covered his eyes and then looked back towards the camera, not at, he said, "And if I didn't push back, I'd be dead, too. They did this," he insisted. "It was them."
"But you all came back together," Deanna's voice sounded in the recording, Ani giving the woman a knowing look as she watched, realizing that Deanna had been doubting Nicholas herself. "How did that happen?"
Ani watched as Nicholas began squirming in his seat, once again not looking at the camera and instead looking away. A normie would normally look into a camera or at the person speaking to them when they were telling the truth. Looking away and squirming were obvious signs of discomfort or distress, which made Ani even more certain that the man was hiding something. Some of it she could see as potentially grief, but when added with the other signs, it was obvious something was missing. Even a tiny detail left out or changed could redirect the entire narrative of a situation if used at the right time. Grief had a funny way of making it hard to remember every last little detail, but it didn't make it to where the person was all squirmy and defensive. If anything, it made them solemn and generally would cry if they weren't sure of a detail, either that or admit they don't know out of guilt. While the person wouldn't have been at fault in any way during grief, most who didn't know what had fully happened were struck with some kind of guilt. Nicholas, for being Aiden's best friend, was oddly calm about the fact that he had died yet overly defensive over the how. She needed to see Glenn's video to be sure, but there was definitely something fishy about Nicholas's explanation.
"Nick's fishy as all hell. 'Specially how 'e's tryin' ta point blame when ya tell 'im how it's goin' ta be. Right there, he's tellin' ya we got ta go and sayin' ya see it too. He's tryin' ta make ya doubt by sayin' ya see the same thing. Not sayin' ya don', but 'e's tryin' ta flip it back on ya so that 'e ain' ta blame if we don' go anywhere and 'e can say 'e told ya so. I mean, that's jus' the way I see it for that tiny little bit; we are pretty fuckin' frightenin' and I did kill a man. Nick's got every right ta 'is point a view a us bein' dang'rous, but the man's still hidin' somethin'. See how 'e's openin' 'is mouth, wantin' ta say somethin' and fidgetin' in 'is seat?" she asked Deanna who nodded. "Textbook guilt. It ain' grief or remorse 'e's feelin' it's anxiety and guilt. Somethin' happened 'e ain' tellin'. He's also ratha jumpy for someone who lost 'is best friend in front a 'is eyes. Need ta see Glenn's video ta be sure."
Deanna moved a few files around on her computer until she found Glenn's file, bringing it up as she said, "I thought he was a little too on edge, but Aiden was his best friend. I wasn't sure if it was just because of grief or not."
"Could be part a it, but even in grief, there's too much movement, too much distress in 'is movements, too much defensiveness and redirect. Somethin' definitely was eitha withheld or outright changed in 'is story."
"I saw the grenades," Glenn said on the video as Deanna hit play, no twitching, eyes steady, almost as if he was watching it all over again, his expression solemn. "I tried to stop him."
"So that's what happened. Bet ya bottom dolla that's what Nick was leavin' out. Glenn didn' distract Aiden, 'e was tryin' ta warn 'im."
"He was gonna run, but we made him stay," Glenn said in the recording after a similar explanation of what happened with Tara. "I tried, and then he just ran. And Aiden, he told me to go. That his last crew wasn't the one that panicked. He and Nicholas panicked and that's what got them killed. I tried and he just. He pushed me away and Noah pulled just as the walkers got to him. I couldn't..." the video of Glenn looked down. "I couldn't get Aiden out of there without help, and I couldn't stop the walkers."
"That's actual remorse."
"I thought so, too," Deanna agreed. "He seems much calmer than Nicholas."
"Yeah, 'e is. He's definitely tellin' the truth, all a it, from 'is perspective."
"All he had to do was hold the door. But he panicked. Noah, I had him. I had his hand. I tried. I watched him die. I couldn't save either of them. I was gonna leave him out there. After I knocked him out for getting Noah killed. But I couldn't. I couldn't save either of them, and I wasn't going to leave him to die too."
"Professionally, they're both tellin' the truth, but Glenn's paints the cleara picture a what happened. He's remorseful, not talkin' out 'is ass like Nick seemed ta be. Nick feels guilty and is tryin' ta point 'is guilt elsewhere so that 'e doesn' have ta feel it. His grief is complicated by 'is guilt. Ya were right ta tell 'im not ta go out anymore. The man's goin' ta get 'imself killed out there."
"How so?"
"Y'all don' know what the fuck ya doin' out there," Ani said with a look that told Deanna she thought she was being dumb for asking. "Ya people, more a them are goin' ta die if ya ain' careful! Gun trainin' for everyone, including the kids. Knife and machete trainin', too. And for fuck's sake, some people shouldn' be sent out on runs and Nick is one a them! Ya want me ta take up arms for ya as a forensic psychologist? Fine. But I'm goin' ta go all the way. I want ta see all the videos a everyone. I'll tell ya who would be good for what as far as their states a mind."
"Are you really willing to do that?"
"If it keeps someone else from gettin' killed beyond these walls, I'll start right now."