Newly Revised

"Rick told us to stay put," Beth said as she walked up to the car Michonne was feverishly trying to get into after learning from Daryl and Ani that Rick had moved to the next stage.

"I'm just gonna look," was her response.

"You're still healing," Beth warned. "Rick wants us to get ready for the next fight."

"I'll be back soon," Michonne assured her, Beth looking at her for just a moment before hopping in the car herself. "You're still healing," Michonne told her with a sigh. "You were shot. I was just beat up."

"I've been hurt worse than this," Beth lied, even though she looked straight, determined to go. "Just drive, Michonne. I'm not gettin' out."

With another sigh, Michonne put the car into drive and left through the gates of Alexandria, driving silently for a while since neither having anything real to say to the other. It had taken a long time for Beth to realize who she was after the farm, and Michonne already knew that, yet they were both stuck on the sidelines now. They had been fighting for so long; weeks on the road after the prison, weeks in Alexandria, and still weeks now against the Saviors. Knowing through the words of others that things were working and seeing with one's own eyes was completely different, and they both knew the other needed to see that things were happening on schedule. Eventually, Michonne pulled over and asked Beth to drive, claiming that her arms were still weak from the fight while Beth had only been shot in the shoulder. Neither of them knew what to say to the other, either; traveling companions and family aside, they didn't have much in common at all. Michonne was really good with the sword but the only thing Beth really had gotten good at was fighting and shooting while only really using a machete as a melee weapon. They continued to drive in silence, Michonne cleaning her gun with Beth paying attention to the road, until the younger woman spoke up, the thoughts in her head becoming too loud not to voice out.

"Why did you need to come out here?" she asked Michonne.

"The second they rolled out for the Sanctuary and I wasn't with them...it's like this...siren's been goin' off in my head," Michonne admitted. "I can't turn them off. I helped get this started. It's been a day and a half and I have felt every second of it. So I just need to see it. Turn that alarm off in my head and turn around and go back home."

"I get it," Beth told her. "I feel the same way. I was there when Glenn died. I was there when all of this started. I gotta make sure it ends our way, ya know?"

"Stop the car," Michonne told her after she fell silent, both of their ears pricking as something was carried on the wind. "Listen."

"Is that music?" Beth asked. "I don't think it's loud enough to draw the herd. Not yet, anyway."

"I don't, either," Michonne agreed while grabbing her sword. "But we don't know."

"Sounds like it's comin' from that direction," Beth told her, pointing to her left through the trees.

They worked slowly, Michonne keeping her sword at the ready while Beth kept her pistol firmly in her grip, ready to fire as soon as any enemy came into the line of fire. It didn't take them long to push through the grove of trees to find an opening, the opera music resounding loudly from what looked to be an old school building or shopping center. Whatever it had been, the women looked at each other before proceeding cautiously, a car situated close to the entrance of the building telling them they weren't alone. They cautiously made their way across the open parking lot, finding a side entrance and silently entered the building. It was dark, but the entire room they entered was full of various items; from pots and pans to blankets and clothes, every area they went to had various items that could be used at later dates. It took them about five minutes to make their way from the side they entered into the room the music was coming from listening to people moving around. They carefully made their way through the rows and rows of weaponry and other mechanical items until they were close enough to hear the conversation the Saviors were having.

"There was an RV out front that was all burned to hell," they heard a man say. "Think it was that asshole Rick's ride."

"Yeah, so?" a woman responded. "Negan torched the piece of shit. So what?"

"Or...or they did," the man countered. "Think about it. That gate was ripped open. And an RV bomb is one hell of a dinner bell for the walkers."

"Yeah, but that doesn't mean there was a fight."

"Come on, Zee, there had to be. That was definitely a battle back there. I'm bettin' it was all about surrounding the big house. Probably the same rotters from the herd-way."

"Yeah, well, whatever happened, whatever is happening, Rick the Prick or whatever, they don't know shit about 'The Fat Lady' here," the woman said as Michonne and Beth managed to find a shelving unit that kept them hidden but allowed them to see the two Saviors that were talking. "What's been done can be undone real quick."

"We get her singing, we save their asses," the man surmised, Beth and Michonne sharing a look before Michonne began moving in one direction, Beth carefully moving in the other. "And I think Negan's gonna give us a leg up. No more of this scavenging bullshit."

"Well, then, get it done, then! Come on."

Beth could hear them getting back to work as she moved, trying to keep an eye on them as the man said, "That about does it."

She wasn't sure what happened, but the telltale click of a gun's safety sounded throughout the large room, telling her their presence had been noticed somehow. She made sure her own gun was at the ready as she slowly stood up, her bright hair giving her movement away. The woman immediately began firing at her, making Beth run a zigzag through the shelves in order to avoid getting shot again. As she ran, she couldn't help but get tripped up by the sheer amount of stuff in the room, dropping her gun as she quickly turned around a corner only to huddle behind a larger container. Cursing at herself, she tried to see if she could find her missing weapon only to see it on the floor underneath a shelf three or four aisles away. There was no way she was going to be able to make it all the way to where the damn thing was without taking another bullet. If the shelf she was behind had any weapons on it, that would have been a better the blankets and pillows that she found. Beth had to run to another shelf, dodging a couple bullets in the process before sliding down to the ground to get out of sight.

"Look around," she heard the woman say. "Make sure no one else is here."

"Yeah."

As whistling sounded around her, Beth began frantically checking the boxes for some kind of weapon or something she could use as a weapon somewhere in this room. She went from box to box, watching as one of the two people inched closer to her and she continued finding nothing. Beth thought she managed to find another gun after a few minutes only to pull out a damn glue gun and silently groaning as she raised her fist in annoyance. While it might have been a gun, it was completely useless as a weapon, but it did offer her an opportunity to buy time when she threw it as hard as she could. The man headed towards the sound and Beth slowly released the breath she was holding while she quietly continued her search. Whoever Michonne was fighting shouted for the man chasing her to get the truck and get to the Sanctuary before they had a chance to stop them. Michonne yelled at her to stop the man and that had Beth up and running at top speed towards the sound. She kept an eye out for any kind of weapon crate, stopping short as she spotted one and opened it with a shit eating grin coming to her face. The man came storming around a corner close to the large truck full of speakers when he noticed her, a hard look that barely contained a smirk on her face, with the loaded rocket launcher on her shoulder,

"Drop it."

"Baby girl," he said, holding up a hand as if he was trying to calm her down. "You ain't gonna use that-"

"Wanna bet?" she interrupted, firing the rocket grenade at him and leaving him in a pile of ashes.

The sound of tires squealing and an engine roaring came to life over the opera music as Michonne called for her and Beth realized that the other Savior had managed to get to the truck. Mentally berating herself for blowing up the man instead of trying to blow up the truck, Beth ran as fast as she could. She met up with Michonne at a loading dock outside of the building as the truck raced away. Neither of them would be able to stop it on foot, and they shared a defeated look before a dumpster truck the Scavengers had left in Alexandria rammed into it.

"Fuck, that was way too close," Beth said as she watched Daryl, Tara, and Ani hop out of the truck, Tara and Ani keeping an eye out for more Saviors as Daryl made sure the woman in the truck was dead.

"Yeah," Michonne agreed, breathing heavily. "It was."

~x~

Carl had already made it back to Alexandria when Tara and the others had gotten back. The man had been more clever than he was, keeping hidden and then covering his tracks when Carl had moved away to try to come up behind the man again. He'd just gotten done talking Sophia into helping him track down a 'possible Savior' when Daryl and Ani rolled through. The dynamite Ani held in her hand as Daryl explained the plan to the three of them made him think about the man in the woods all over again and the people that lived in the Sanctuary. He couldn't help but walk away, pulling Sophia with him and reminding her she'd already promised to help him and had been sworn to secrecy. She nodded her head and went back to where Ani was, letting her know that she and Carl had something to do without telling her what. While Ani was perplexed, she just told her to take the kittens with her, since she didn't want to risk them with the walkers and Saviors and she didn't want Sophia walking the woods alone.

Merle wanted no part in what they had planned, telling both Daryl and Ani that they should wait for Rick as the plan was working. It was a process, and war couldn't be won in a day. Even after they argued, told him that they could, he refused and walked away. It left both Daryl and Ani standing and staring at each other, Daryl chewing his lip thinking about how everyone was against them. Ani watched him, doubt beginning to grow in her heart as she turned to look towards Merle. It wasn't that she doubted Daryl or their plan, it was simply that she didn't want to disappoint the man. He'd really managed to change since he'd come back to the prison with them and he really had stepped up as a big brother. She admired him as both a soldier and a brother. The last thing she wanted was to do something that would lose her the respect he had for her. Still, she knew they weren't wrong in doing what they could to end the war faster than not. Ani wasn't willing to take the risk without the Kingdom's fighters.

Ani couldn't understand why the others thought it was a bad idea. Even if some of the workers wanted to fight afterwards, Negan wouldn't let all of them to take up arms. Hell, he probably wouldn't even let a fourth of them. If he let too many, they'd be easily able to overthrow Negan the minute the war was over. It wasn't the right play for the man who was basically only in it for his own purposes. A superiority complex mixed with that of a Messiah would keep him from arming every able body within the Sanctuary's walls and fighting against the Hilltop, Kingdom, and Alexandria. He needed to keep some people weak in order to feel strong. Keep some beneath the others to make it seem like he was helping everyone. He had to keep his economy going, and in an economy, pennies far outnumbered hundred dollar bills, but they still were only worth a cent. She had to believe that Negan would continue to follow his pattern of behavior, no matter how noble it seemed in his mind. If he did, then the advantage Rick feared he would gain would never even be a thought.

"You still with me?" Daryl asked, seeing her perplexed look.

"Yeah," she said quietly, stepping up to him and wrapping her arms around his waist, leaning her forehead against his chest before inhaling deeply and sighing. "I jus'...I dunno...Don' like disappointin' 'im."

"Been a disappointment most of my life. Don't matter none to me," he told her, his own arm snaking around her shoulders. "You don't gotta go with me."

"I'm goin'. I got ta see it happen, see it work. I got ta know we ain' riskin' it all and losin' so much for nothin'," she told him. "'Sides, all I can use right now are handguns. We still need someone else ta go with us."

Daryl thought about who else they could ask for a moment before moving to bring Ani under his arm and start walking, "I got an idea. C'mon."

They ended up in front of Tara's house, Ani stiffening as she neared the door. She hadn't been inside since they'd come back to Alexandria. To be honest, she didn't want to go inside either. Between losing Denise and then finding out that a bunch of her medicines had been destroyed, going into the building would just result in a heartbreak she just didn't have it in her to take right now. They were in war and she didn't have the time to wonder whether or not she could've done things differently to change the outcome. All she could do was make sure that the battle ended in their favor and make sure she didn't lose anyone else. Daryl sensed her hesitation and chewed on his lip as he leaned against a pole on the porch, letting Ani lean against his chest while he thought about their next move.

He was still holding her there when the door opened and Tara came out, seeing them standing there with twin expressions of anger and worry. "Hey," she said. "You just get back?"

"Yeah," Daryl told her, moving off the pole and taking a step away from Ani. "We were lookin' for you."

"I was looking for you, too," Tara admitted. "I wanted to tell you that you were right when you didn't kill Dwight. We wouldn't have gotten this far without him. The thing is, I know what you said. But after this, I'm gonna kill him. I want it to be me."

"Maybe it could be you and me both. Maybe we don't gotta wait so long," Daryl responded, Tara looking over to Ani.

"Ain' really got a pony in this show compared ta the two a ya," she admitted. "As long as I can see it happen, it's on ya."

"Alright," Tara said with a nod of her head. "So, how do we get it done now?"

"We blow a hole in the Sanctuary," Daryl told her. "Let the walkers in. You in?"

"Hell yeah," Tara told them. "Let's do it. But, uh, how?"

"Got some demo sticks. Could attach 'em ta a vehicle, like we did the RV and the gate, though we ain' got a tima and I ain' a bomb builda. Merle's not with us so we can' use 'im," Ani began thinking out loud. "Could always tape it ta the front a a big truck and drive it inta the wall, but that could be a suicide mission...could try usin' an arrow and a gun, but that's risky...how close do ya think we'd gotta be ta just cut out and let a truck hit a buildin' with explosives in it?"

"Close," Tara told them. "I mean, we could just drive the truck into the building, couldn't we? Save the explosives for after."

"What would we use 'em for afta?" Ani asked, perplexed.

"I dunno. Demolishing a building? Might be fun," Tara suggested with a shrug.

"Ooo, if we find marshmallows we can turn it inta a campfire again!" Ani laughed as Daryl looked over towards the wall.

"We got them garbage trucks from the Scavengers. One of them should be good enough to do what we gotta."

"Yeah, that should do it," Tara said as both she and Ani looked over to the trucks as well. "Let me get my gear."

"Alright," Daryl said, pulling Ania with his as he went over to the truck himself. "Got a look on your face. Like you don't wanna do this," he told her when they got there.

"Nah, ain' that. Jus'...I thought Merle'd be with us on this."

"He lost Francine. Can't be too mad at him."

"Ain' mad, jus'...jus'...well, if it was jus' Rick, I wouldn' be feelin' like this!" she admitted, running a hand through her hair. "Merle...I rely on 'im and Abe ta help when it comes ta this warfare type shite. Abe ain' here ta talk ta him 'bout it and Merle's bein' a damn pussy."

Daryl scoffed a laugh at that before bringing her to him and kissing her forehead, "Never thought my brother would be considered a pussy before."

"Yeah, well, right now, I don' get 'im. Why's 'e not angry? Why's 'e not fightin' ta stop all this as fast as possible? Get 'is dues in from Negan's people for killin' 'is girl? I don' get it."

"Merle is Merle. Sometimes he's too lost in himself to deal with what's goin' on around him. Leave him be. He'll figure himself out. Prolly be chasin' someone's skirt before the week's out anyway," Daryl told her, opening the passenger door for her to climb in, thankful there was enough room for the three of them to sit inside it as Tara walked up. "Remember how he was back at the prison?"

"Oh gods! Please, no!" Ani said with a disgusted look on her face. "He was such a damn hound dog!"

"Who was what now?" Tara asked, Daryl just shaking his head and moving to the other side of the truck.

"Merle," Ani informed her. "Francine was one a the people we lost, and in losin' 'er, Merle lost 'is woman. Back 'fore 'e was with jus' one woman, he was such a damn slut! I swear, every otha week 'e had a different woman up in the towa, if not every otha day!"

"Ew."

"I know, right?!"

"Well, on that disturbing note that has me wanting to take a hot poker to my ears and melt my brain, why don't we get this show on the road?"

"Sounds like a plan," Daryl said as he climbed into the driver's seat and started the truck up.

They'd been on the road for a few minutes, Daryl driving with one hand on the wheel, the other on Ani's knee, when Tara spoke up and asked, "So, uh, what do you think we should do? When it's all done?"

"What? The war?" Daryl asked, glancing over at the women before turning his eyes back on the road.

"Yeah."

"I dunno 'bout y'all, but I'm gonna nap and eat a shite ton a frittas," Ani stated. "Hopefully have some time ta jus' enjoy bein' us 'fore we gotta be parents. Wouldn' mind gettin' a couple more hunts in."

"After you and Merle brought home the deer the other day?" Tara asked. "Why do you want more?"

"It's already gettin' colda. How many mouths we gonna have ta feed ova the winta, hmm? We've got the Kingdom, Alexandria, Hilltop, and, by then, prolly the Sanctuary, too. And maybe even Oceanside if they're willin' ta at least open up ta tradin'. I doubt they're gonna be able ta stay self-sustainin' ova the winta with what they've got, 'less they plan on eatin' nothin' but fish," she said, making a face before groaning. "I really shouldn' a thought a that. Pull ova."

"What?" Daryl asked a little standoffish.

"Pull ova! Else I'm goin' ta puke in the truck!" Ani cried, Tara immediately reaching for the door as Daryl brought the truck to a halt.

She barely managed to get out of the truck before what little she had in her stomach from the morning met the pavement. Ani wretched a few more times before she finally finished, the thought of fish in particular upsetting her stomach for no good reason. Daryl leaned over from the driver's seat and asked if she was alright while Tara held out a bottle of water to her. A thumbs up as she took a healthy chug was his only answer as Tara looked around them.

"Hey, do you guys hear something?" she asked, making Daryl open the door and stand up with his head out of the truck.

"There's definitely somethin'," he agreed.

"Where's it comin' from, though?" Ani asked, her head on a swivel as she heard the music too.

"There's a few places it could be," Tara admitted. "There's a school, a casino, and a bit of a strip mall all within a few blocks of each other Heath and I planned on looking at when we were out there, but it was surrounded by walkers at the time. We couldn't get in. Maybe someone else did."

"Eitha way, we can' leave that playin'. What if it's someone tryin' ta get ta the Sanctuary? Lure away the walkas?"

"Alright, get in. Try not to make us stop again, Ania," Daryl told the women, climbing back into his seat while the women adjusted themselves.

"Ain' me fault!"

"I know. Ain't blamin'. Just gotta get a move on, find that noise and deal with it."

"Yeah, well, ya don' wanna stop, that's fine. But it's ya lap I'll puke in if I gotta."

"Whatever," Daryl scoffed, Tara smirking away at their interaction even as Daryl gunned it as hard as possible for being in a dump truck.

"How far away is that strip mall ya spoke a?"

"Maybe a mile or so east."

"Damn. How many speakas they got if they can make noise echo like that 'round 'ere?"

"Don't matter. We're gonna find it and stop it."

It only took a few more minutes of driving to get to the place Tara had talked about. They had the windows rolled down, listening for the sound and trying to pinpoint its location. It didn't take long to narrow it down to the local school district, the three of them talking among themselves as they fought over what direction to take. In the end, it was Tara's comment about loading docks that had them driving around the back of the building, Ani commenting 'jackpot' as Daryl put the pedal all the way to the floor and an arm across Ani. She had to laugh when Tara did the same, one hand on the 'oh shit' handle, the other crossed over Ani protectively, creating a barrier even as she braced herself. While they mostly missed hitting the truck's cab, they managed to t-bone the smaller vehicle and utterly destroy the assembly the music was coming out of. Ani had to admit she was slightly impressed at the ingenuity of it and wondered if it had been Eugene's idea or if Negan was just a bit smarter than she gave him credit for.

Daryl immediately hopped out after putting the garbage truck into park, taking his rifle with him and shooting into the cab as she and Tara pulled their pistols out and looked around. Ani took note of both Beth and Michonne coming towards them, giving them a nod as she scanned the perimeter. They both looked exhausted and Michonne was holding her side, but other than that, they looked relatively uninjured. She couldn't help but wonder what the hell they were doing out here when neither of them were in any condition to fight.

Ani had opened her mouth to talk when Daryl beat her with his own obtuse question, making her smile at him before shaking her head as he asked, "Truck full of speakers, huh? That was a Savior."

"It was," Michonne said quietly. "They were out scavenging when you guys attacked the Sanctuary. They saw all the walkers around it." She motioned back towards the building and explained, "It's a cache. They were gonna try to lure the walkers away. That's why they were out here."

"Why are you guys out here?" Tara asked, making Ani look at her pouting.

"I wanted ta ask that," she whined, everyone scoffing before Michonne and Beth each answered.

"I need to see the Sanctuary," Michonne told them seriously.

"We both do," Beth admitted. "Why are you guys out here?"

"We got a lot more work to do," Daryl told them. "All of us."

"Ya got a car?" Ani asked.

"We left our car on the road coming from the opposite side of the building," Michonne told them. "There might be something around here we can find."

"Nah, don' botha. Tara, ya mind it if Beth sits on ya lap? Should be able ta squeeze the five a us in the cab. Dibs on sittin' by Daryl, though," Ani laughed, taking in Beth's expression. "What? Don' wanna sit on a girl's lap or don' wanna sit on Tara's?"

"No, it's fine," Beth said a bit stiffly, Ani just shrugging her shoulders at her.

"Let's get goin', then," she said, climbing in the cab with Michonne following her, Daryl retaking the driver's seat.

"I mean, I could just sit on top you're not comfortable with it," Tara said, feeling slightly awkward at Beth's quick dismissal.

"It's...it's fine. It's...I promise it ain't nothin' bad. Somethin' Rosita said that's got nothin' to do with you," Beth said, watching as Tara's face became both hard and confused at the same time. "Look...can we...can we just talk about it later? Like, after? We don't have-"

"Get the lead out!" Daryl yelled at them. "Come on! We ain't got all damn day!"

"Alright," Tara told her, heading towards the truck. "We'll talk about it later."

They climbed in the truck, even Michonne looking at them oddly as the atmosphere became awkward. The silence was deafening to say the least. It made her nervous to have it so silent without anything to focus on, especially with so many people in the cab. If it had just been her and Daryl, or with Sophia and Merle, the silence wasn't a bother at all. They didn't break the silence until they got closer to the Sanctuary, Daryl pulling to a stop just outside of the sight range of the building, though Ani doubted their presence would go entirely unnoticed. Whether or not the Sanctuary could see them, the snipers they'd left to keep an eye on the place would surely catch their movement.

"You wanted to see it," Daryl told Michonne, handing over the scope. "There it is."

"So what do you need us for?" Beth asked, looking through the scope herself before handing it back to Michonne, who handed it to Daryl.

"To end this thing," he said. "Right now."

~x~

Carol banged on the door to the theater room where Ezekiel had holed up and demanded he get his act together. Not only had he told Jerry to leave his post in front of the theater, but he had refused to see anyone for an entire day. It didn't help that Henry had taken up a position just off to the side to practice using his stick. They only had a single day left to gather the people that could fight and get them to the Sanctuary and Ezekiel was still sitting on his ass like that was going to change what had happened, what had yet to happen. She'd been there and done that and now she'd be damned if she was going to let him make the same mistakes she had. When he refused to answer her, she stormed away, but not without Henry following along behind her.

"I'll go with you," he told her stoutly, even though he was younger than Sophia. "I'll fight."

"No," she immediately declined. "And don't follow me."

She left the Kingdom to go blow off steam by taking out walkers in the woods while also trying to look out for any Saviors that might have been able to leave the Sanctuary. At the very least, there could have some that had been out and about from one of the outposts that could somehow manage to pull the herd away. The last thing they needed was for the Kingdom to be attacked while the King was wallowing in his pity party and they'd lost the better part of their fighters. Jerry and the ten from the medic's team, if they counted the medics themselves, weren't going to of much use if the Saviors managed to get the drop on the Kingdom. They needed to be proactive about this, not reactive, but Ezekiel was in no position to give any kind of order with his mind swimming in guilt. They had all been to blame about what happened, her, the King, Ani, Rick, Daryl; each and every one of them had made a decision to fight this war. Ezekiel wasn't the only one who had lost something in the fight, either, though the Kingdom had taken the most damage. She wasn't sure how long she had been in the woods when her heart nearly jumped right out of her chest. Henry was attacking two walkers with nothing but his stick and the riot gear he wore and Carol quickly pulled her gun and dispatched of them before they could bite him.

She stormed up to him and angrily shouted, "I told you not to follow me! Do you know what happens to little kids who go out into the woods alone? They never get seen again, and if they do, they're either monsters or killers! Is that what you want? Is that who you want to be?!"

"I'm not scared," he told her defiantly.

"Then you're stupid!"

"You need fighters, so I'm fighting!" Henry insisted. "Sophia and Carl are fighting!"

"They're trained!" Carol shouted back before scoffing and turning away.

"Just now, were you gonna go back to the Saviors' place by yourself?" he asked as Carol gave him a hard stare. "Let me go with you. I have to get the guys who killed my brother."

Carol rolled her eyes and shoved her spare firearm into his hand while mumbling, "Can't just walk around with that stick. You know how to use it?"

"I watched you train people," he told her. "And Sophia gave me a few pointers when she was here because I asked."

"That was a long time ago."

"My brother knew how to use a gun. Sophia's not much older than me and she could use one. Carl too. I wanted to be like them. To protect the people I care about. But now my brother's dead. All I've got left is the Kingdom."

"You've still got people who care about you, Henry," she said with a sigh. "Stay close. And make sure the safety's on until I say otherwise," she told him before turning on her heel and stomping away.

Carefully leading them back to the Kingdom, Carol decided that she was done waiting around for Ezekiel to get his head on straight. They needed him; his people, Rick, Henry, they all needed him to come through for them and he was too busy locked in his throne room to consider it. She understood better than anyone how he felt because of what she had done at the prison, but at least the King had been fighting for something worth fighting for. Ani had completely and utterly destroyed her about what she had done with Karen and David when she pointed out that Patrick had been the first to die. She really had been stupid to make that decision then and the guilt that had overcome her in the weeks and months that followed had tormented her. It had left her in the mental state where she'd had to remove herself from the situation altogether and decided to leave everything behind. The difference was that she wasn't needed by anyone back home, not in the way the people of the Kingdom needed Ezekiel. She was sure she wasn't needed in any capacity back there anymore if it didn't have to deal with anything other than fighting. The people back in Alexandria had far stronger fighters than any of the other colonies in Merle and Abraham alone; the entire group that had been left there were more than capable of taking care of themselves. They had more than one strong leader to keep their people going, but the Kingdom only had its King to look to as a leader and, now more than ever, the Kingdom needed its King.

"He's still not seeing anyone," Jerry said around a mouthful of cobbler.

"Jerry..." she told him, the man walking over obediently with a smile on his face. "Stand next to Henry." He did as she told him as she took a few steps forward and readied her shotgun. "Cover your ears," she told them before taking aim.

"Yo!" Jerry called out, making her stop in her tracks and look back at him in question. "It's not locked," he informed her.

Carol's shoulder's slumped and her face clearly took on a look of 'are you kidding me' before she dropped her firearm and stormed up to the door. She didn't bother knocking this time, simply opened the damn thing and marched in. Shiva wasn't on her chain, but simply looked up from where she laid next to the King who sat on the floor in front of his 'throne,' the look of defeat he wore telling her all she needed to know. He blamed himself, which was understandable, but they had managed to make it out alive and had promised to help Rick finish what they had started. While the Kingdom had lost a large number of their fighters, but some of the best ones were still with them because they'd been left with the medics. Ezekiel didn't have time to just sit on his ass feeling sorry for himself for what had happened when it was really the Saviors who were at fault. If those guns had been where they were supposed to be, they would not have lost anyone and he and Shiva wouldn't have been hurt. Either way, they did not have the luxury to delay any more than they already had recovering. Carol wanted to sit and cry herself but it had to wait; they could all throw a pity party for the choices they'd made after they fulfilled them.

"I know what you want from me," he said as he rubbed Shiva's head, careful of her injured ear. "What I should be doing. But I can't."

"People out there need you," Carol told him, coming to stand right in front of him.

"Who the hell was I to choose for them?" he asked.

"You're their King."

"'Cause I said I was a king," Ezekiel countered. "And early on, I was shown that the stakes were these people's lives. And I still played the part. I knew," he whispered brokenly. "And yet I smiled. I can't do it no more. I can't be what they need me to be. So, please just...leave me alone."

Carol didn't know what to say, turning to leave before going back to the King, asking him quietly, "Why did you keep coming to visit me?"

"It was my duty," he told her. "To make sure you were okay."

"I was okay," she told him. "Why did you really?"

Ezekiel's sad look changed ever so slightly, Carol seeing what was hidden behind his words and balking at the thought as he told her, "You just...made me feel real. Not a fiction. Real."

Tears fell down her face as she thought about all the times he'd helped her feel better about everything, going so far as to let her stay somewhere safe yet without being a part of anything. He had come to visit her so often even though she had insisted that he stay away that she'd come to expect his visits. Seeing Ezekiel lost in his own grief just sitting in the theater room was such a blow to her that she wasn't even sure how to begin describing what she felt. He had been there for her when she was ready to run and was the only reason she'd even agreed with his ridiculous 'go and not go' idea. He had made her feel safe, like she actually could just live, for the first time in a long time, safer than Tobin or even Daryl had made her feel. Ezekiel had continuously come out to see her, continuously made sure she had fresh produce and enough firewood. He'd even sent her so many medical supplies that there was still a surplus at the cabin when they had used a lot of supplies trying to keep Benjamin alive. This man, who had tried so hard to make her feel safe and secure even when all she wanted to do was to be left alone, was so broken that he could barely look her in the eye.

"You are real," she admitted as she wiped her face off. "To me. To the Kingdom. Those people need their king to lead them."

"You," he told her while looking down. "You could lead them."

"It has to be you," she countered, walking even closer. "You inspired them to build this place...to believe in something. You have to help them grieve. To move on. To end this. You owe them that. Henry needs you. Those people need King Ezekiel. And if you can't be the king, then do what you do best and play the part. I have to act every day. It used to bother me. It used to eat me up inside, the choices I made thinking it was for the best. But this is who I am, and I am still standing. I just have to act like everything is normal, like I haven't lost everything I had, until it is. And that is what they need. That is what you have to give them."

"Who did you lose?"

"My husband, though in the end that made me stronger. He kept me weak by keeping me afraid. When he wasn't around, it made it easier to act like I was strong. Until I was. And...And my daughter, in a way," Carol told him with a sigh. "You've met her. Sophia."

"Ani and Daryl's girl?"

"They adopted her after I abandoned her," she admitted, the tears flowing freely as she shrugged her shoulders. "I thought...She got lost in the woods. I thought I'd never see her again and then when she came back, she was a stronger woman than I was, and she just kept growing. I should have been proud, and I am, but I was so disappointed. In myself for not being the one who made her that way and in Ani for making my daughter into something I wasn't. She came back so different that I pushed her away. And then after Sophia and Merle got close, when Ani started calling her her kid when she was talking to others, I just...I just let them take her. I let them spend more and more time with them because they were making her even stronger, and I was still faking it," she chuckled sadly. "I was still faking being strong. Still faking everything was okay, like I could just...keep going," she sighed. "And then people got sick. Really sick. They were gonna die anyway, so I made it quick. But Ani, she was sick too, and if it weren't for the fact that she'd been taking medicine for a while, she would have probably been down with those people. She was Sophia's idol. Still is. More than I ever was," Carol told him as she wiped her face again. "I might be her mother, but Sophia isn't mine. And now...now it's too late for me to take back those choices. I'm never going to get back what I had before I did what was right for me. I know that now. And I have to live every day knowing my daughter is willingly being cared for by others. That she's so angry with me that she wants nothing to do with me because I didn't think of her, only myself," she said before her face turned hard and she looked him straight in the eye. "So you do what you told me to. You fake it until you make it. We both will. Because we have to."

~x~

Carl showed Sophia the day old trail, the girl rolling her eyes at him and pointing in the opposite direction and telling him that that was the way the man went. Of course he hadn't been able to find the man when he'd been looking in the wrong place to begin with! It had actually made them both chuckle at his expense, though he didn't mind because it had been the first time in a while that he'd seen her smile or even think about laughing, for that matter. He couldn't help but be happy that his friend was at least trying to feel better; he had really hated seeing her sad, hated it even more when she was angry and not talking to him. At least for the time being, he had his friend back and he was hoping it stayed that way instead of going back to the awkward silence between them. It didn't take Sophia long to come upon a fresher trail out in the woods, both her and Carl noticing an odd formation of branches around the tree she found the tracks by. They'd given each other an odd look before she shrugged her shoulders and followed the trail, keeping track of the direction they were going each time they passed a tree with branches at its base. They passed at least three before they came upon one that had a walker stuck on the lower part of the contraption. It was reaching up towards a bag that had been tied to a branch close enough to draw walkers in without being touched or compromised. Carl looked at Sophia with a bit of an amazed grin, only making her roll her eyes and look away, though there was a hint of a blush and a small smile that played on her lips. They waited for a few minutes, just watching at Carl's insistence, until a man she'd never seen before came up and killed it. Sophia was ready to take aim with her bow before Carl put his hand on her arm and lowered it, stepping out from behind the tree they'd crouched under.

"Hey," he said, startling the man but keeping his hands up and approaching nonetheless with the bag of food he'd been carrying. "It was my dad," he told the man, making Sophia roll her eyes again. "They-they were warning shots above your head. He wasn't shooting at you. I'm Carl. My friend, Sophia, she's hiding behind the tree. She's just being cautious because we don't know you. We brought you some food and water," he said, inching a little closer as the man came around from his trap, Sophia coming to stand beside him with an incredulous look of frustration at what could have been a tactful advantage being ruined.

"Siddiq," the man said before asking, "Why?"

"I guess," Carl started before lowering his arms. "You were talking about something your mom said...about helping people. My mom told me you gotta do what's right. It's hard to know that sometimes, but sometimes it's not. Here," he said, tossing the bag closer to the man who immediately dove for it and drank the entire bottle of water in one go.

Sophia couldn't help but look at the smile of hope that Carl had on his face and feel a bit disheartened; it was becoming harder for her to find hope in all of this, even after Ani and Daryl came back. It was even harder when still Ani sat her down and talked to her about her mom and she found out the truth about just how far back her mom's mental illnesses went. That conversation had been both eye opening and angering all at once and she hadn't known what to do with that situation at all or what she was going to do about her mom. Sophia had been told everything about what had happened from before she was born to after they were all reunited, and while she did understand why her mom had distanced herself, she was still angry. All she wanted to do was go on a spree hunting all the walkers she could find down until she couldn't stand anymore so she didn't have to feel alone until Carl had asked her for her help finding someone. The only reason she was out in the woods searching instead of fighting was because Carl had said that he wanted to be standing by her even twenty years later. She didn't really have any hope left for the future, but seeing his face full of it, it made her sad to realize that she hadn't thought of a future at all after the war was over. Carl had hoped they would be able to find the man, and they did, so maybe it wasn't too much to hope that she'd get the chance to stand next to him, too, right? Maybe, just maybe, when the war was over and everything started going back to normal, maybe she could afford to hope that things would be better and, at the very least, she could try to forgive her mom. She could get a chance at being a big sister to Ani's baby and try talking to Carl about what he meant when he said what he'd said about the future. It just saddened her that it had taken Carl of all people to get her to realize that there might actually be a future to look forward to. The boy was so dumb that he couldn't even tell what direction tracks were headed, yet he was keeping hope alive? A scoff in her head and a roll of the eyes again left her shaking her head as he kept smiling away like the idiot he was, and damn if it didn't make her smile too.

"I'm glad we found you," he told the man.

"You were looking for me?" Siddiq asked.

"He was. In the wrong direction. You weren't that hard to find," Sophia told him, earning a nudge from Carl's elbow.

"Really? Anyway, yeah, I, uh, I scavenged the sardines, some other stuff. We have a community," he said, slowly walking closer to Siddiq, Sophia keeping close behind him. "I'm going to ask you a few questions. I need you to answer honestly, okay?"

"Okay."

"How many walkers have you killed?" he asked. "I know it's hard to keep tra-"

"Two hundred and thirty seven," came his answer, surprising both him and Sophia.

"Really? How do you keep count?" Sophia asked.

"Give or take a couple. I, uh, being good with numbers helped with my job," he told her.

"How many people have you killed?" Carl asked, going back to the questions they always asked to bring people in.

"One," Siddiq answered, staring at him with heartache written on his face.

"Why?"

"The dead tried to kill him," he explained, "but they didn't."

Carl nodded his head in understand, Sophia doing the same behind him, before addressing Siddiq again, "You're making walker traps. Is that how you killed so many?"

"That's only a part of it," Siddiq told him. "My mom thought...or hoped...that killing them would free their souls. You know? Maybe...maybe she was right," he told them.

"Doing that, doesn't it make things harder for you while you're trying to survive?"

"I—I don't know," he told them. "But you gotta...you gotta honor your parents, right?"

"If I was honoring my dad, we wouldn't be talking right now," Carl told him, earning a giggle from Sophia.

"You're honorin' Ani," she countered. "She'd want to bring him in. Maybe not right now, but, we could blame that on hormones."

Both she and Carl shared a laugh while the man watched them with a hopeful look on his face before Carl turned to him, "We're going to bring you back to our community."

"Really? Why?"

"I thought he was stupid for showin' himself to you, you know?" Sophia admitted, Carl giving an offended 'hey' in response. "But I can tell you're a good person. So, yeah, we're gonna take you back. Though, you might have to wait a few days before fully comin' into the community."

"You'll be safe, though," Carl assured him. "And there's food, fresh water. You won't have to hide from walkers."

"Just people," Siddiq countered.

"For now. My dad...we're having some problems with another group. He thought you were one of them. Once that's over, though, our community, it's strong. Everyone needs people, though. No one can survive alone," Carl told him, the three of them heading through the woods.

They traveled in silence for quite some time, Sophia on the watch for an attack that never once came; he didn't even try to overtake them. He diligently followed behind Carl and Sophia as if he was simply following a friend which was honestly slightly impressive as he complied to what they told him to do as well as his beliefs. She was used to Ani's strong beliefs being a guide that they had all used at one time or another; it was the first time she'd met someone else driven by strong beliefs. Sure, Abraham and Merle and Daryl all had strong beliefs, but Abraham's was more based in his military background, Merle was still driven to be around Daryl and Ani, and Daryl was driven to keep everyone as safe as possible. But those things weren't the same as having the core belief that something was fundamentally right and acting on it even if it made it harder to survive. She supposed Daryl probably did have that, but it still wasn't the same as Ani's belief in family and this Siddiq's beliefs in honoring his parents by setting the souls of walkers free. The sound of walkers brought her out of her reverie as she lead the guys through the woods, intending on taking the man to one of the buildings outside of the wall. There were plenty that stood empty, so leaving him in one of those wouldn't be an issue and would keep him safe until they could talk to the others.

However, once the walkers sounded their call, it was Carl who took the lead and headed towards them with determination. Whisper-shouting his name, Sophia gave an exasperated sigh as she took off after both the idiot males that were trying to get themselves killed rather than getting back to Alexandria. It was a nice thought, one that was plausible and she couldn't help but wondering about herself, but it was going to get someone hurt. But Carl was an idiot who couldn't stay on task and wanted to play hero right now, even as Siddiq crouched down behind a tree, pulling Carl with him as they observed the walkers. There were about four of them surrounding a dead deer while another three were meandering closer while the three crouched low trying to remain unseen. Sophia wanted to just leave them to their meal and get going, but once again, Carl being the moronic boy he was had other plans. Telling the newcomer that they were doing this for his mom, he pulled out his knife as Sophia audibly sighed, slouching her shoulders and looking up to the sky while she let her head fall back in a purposefully over dramatic action to show just how much she didn't want to do this. Carl just looked at her with a stupid little smirk and shook his head before walking forward, Sophia already drawing her bow back and knocking an arrow before taking out the walker farthest from the deer.

Stowing her bow over her shoulder, she moved to help Carl as more walkers came out of the woods, Siddiq telling them, "Just go! You don't have to do this."

Of course, Carl refused to listen, which put both him and Siddiq in harm's way when two walkers came up on the man and he accidentally pushed one down onto Carl. Carl fell backwards onto the deer as another walker got the better of his stumbling state and fell on him. Sophia had a knife in each hand, just like Ani had taught her, fighting off two different walkers, kicking one's knee out to topple it before slamming a knife into the temple of the other as it bore down on her and she blocked it with and arm. Siddiq was dealing with a walker that had a branch literally impaling it, using the branch itself as a means to control the walker and forcefully shove it against a tree head first, instantly killing it, before another was on him. Carl was still on the ground as Sophia noticed him shove the first walker off of him to deal with a second that fell on him and the world seemed to be spinning slowly as she watched the first walker start crawling towards him. The distance was too great for her to cover it when she was still fighting a walker herself and all she had was her knives, no time to knock and draw an arrow, no time to really react at all. Closing her eyes for a split second and drawing a deep breath, she switched how she was holding the knife in her right hand before lobbing it at the walker in a throw that, had Ani and Daryl been there, would have made the Dixons proud. It embedded itself right between the walker's eyes just before it bent its head to take a bite out of Carl's chest. He had the smarts to draw his gun at that point and kill the walker that was still pinning him before Siddiq managed to kill the walker he was dealing with. Sophia ran over to Carl and pulled the walker off his legs and helped him stand up, though she failed to notice his reddening face let alone Siddiq's smile as she quickly began pulling his shirt up.

"Did it bite you?! Did it bite you?!" she asked, her voice high pitched in her fear as she did, Carl's hands coming up to hers to grab them and pull them down, holding them between them.

"I'm fine," Carl told her, though she kept trying to move her hands to see for herself, her eyes still fixed to his shirt. Releasing one of her hands, he put his on her cheek and forced her to look at him, "I'm alright, Sophia. You saved me. Again."

"You idiot!" she cried, throwing her arms around his neck and hugging him tightly.

Carl didn't even think about it when his arms came up around her waist, holding onto her just as tightly while they both tried to process what had just happened. He could feel the tears on his shoulder and how she was shaking as she cried, still not fully believing himself how close he'd come to getting bit. He'd seen the walker crawl up his body as everything slowed down and he tried to pull his gun free, only he couldn't when he was trying to fight the walker on top of him. Even now, he could feel the teeth on his rib cage, seeing how close the walker had actually gotten to biting him and really had thought he was a goner. But the bite never came because Sophia's knife was suddenly there, just like her arrow the time before, when death would have been preferred. She was always the one that came through for him every single time he needed someone to help him out. Sophia had done so many things to keep him safe while he had done absolutely nothing to do the same for her. Carl really did like Sophia and hugging her did feel a lot more natural than when he'd hugged Enid. The thing was, Sophia was his best friend and partner in crime so what would happen if she didn't like him or if things became awkward and he lost his friend? He really didn't want that to happen as he pulled back, he wiped the tears off her face and, once again reassuring her he was fine before he hugging her again.

"Thank you," he whispered.

"Quit makin' me think I'm gonna lose you, too," Sophia begged, just as quietly.

"I'll try," Carl told her before Siddiq cleared his throat.

"You should've left," he told them as they separated, though Carl kept holding the hand he grabbed before she fully pulled away. "You shouldn't have risked yourselves for me."

"We're responsible for you now," Carl told him.

"That's how it works," Sophia agreed.

"I don't want to make any trouble," Siddiq insisted. "Your dad didn't want anything to do with me, Carl."

"He didn't, but..." Carl started, trying to explain why he'd wanted to find the man so badly. "...Sometimes...sometimes kids just have to find their own way to show their parents the way."

Carl walked off in one direction, dropping Sophia's hand as she stood staring at him for a few minutes before calling out, "Uh, Carl?"

"What?" he asked her, turning around and giving her a look that pretty much was the epitome of 'stupid boy.'

"Home's this way," she simply stated, jabbing a thumb over her shoulder as Carl turned red again, Siddiq covering his mouth and trying to hide his amused chuckle. "What would you do without me?"

"Get lost and die with how you make it sound."

"That's because you would."

"Would not!"

"Would too!"

"Would not!"

"Followed tracks the wrong way, nearly got bit by a walker, just started goin' parallel to home instead of at it. All of that in the last, what? Two hours tops? So..." Sophia said, shrugging one shoulder and walking in the proper direction.

"Whatever," Carl said, pouting as he stomped along, even though a part of him knew she was right; it just hurt his pride to hear her say it out loud.