Newly Revised

Ani woke up from her nap laying down on the couch with her head on Daryl's lap covered with his poncho as he kept a hand on her side. She was so comfortable she didn't want to move, but between her hip, her shoulder, and her lower back, she had to change position. Turning onto her back from her side, she looked up at him with one eye as he talked to Merle before stretching out and groaning as several of her joints popped. She let her arms stretch over her head before resting one where it fell as she stretched, reaching up to brush her other hand against Daryl's jaw, still hazy from sleep. He glanced down at her and grabbed her hand, placing a kiss against her palm before taking it in his other hand and holding it against her side with his. Ani knew they only had so long to just relax and take comfort in each other and she was taking as much advantage of it as she could. The fear of things going wrong had been working its way into her mind and if things did go that way, she wanted to spend every minute she had with her husband. She didn't even notice that Sasha and Abraham were sitting next to Merle until she rolled over to face Daryl and get comfortable to go back to sleep.

"She always this tired?" she heard Abraham ask in a hushed voice.

"We're all that tired," Merle's voice came through, just as quiet. "Ani's just lucky she's got that bun in the oven or I'd be all over her ass for sleepin' while there's work that needs doin'."

"Let her sleep," Sasha told them. "After everything, she deserves a nap."

"We all do, Sash," Abraham told her.

"Then why aren't we napping?" she asked him, an obvious smile in her voice that made Ani smile a little herself as Daryl's hand moved from her side to running his fingers through her hair.

"Mmm...I really will fall back ta sleep if ya keep doin' that," Ani told him after a few minutes of Daryl's ministrations and the others talking about what was happening at Hilltop. Sitting up, she turned to Sasha and asked, "How many prisonas ya take again?"

"Thirty nine, though Maggie killed one to send Negan a message," Abraham told her. "She's gone off about as bad as the two of you have. Whole reason we came back here was to see if you can talk some sense into her about how she's bein' with the prisoners only to find out the two of you schmucks went off-script and headed to the Sanctuary yourselves! Just what the hell were you thinkin', Ani?"

"Thinkin' we could end it right quick," Daryl said defensively. "And it wasn't her idea. You wanna blame someone for doin' what needed done, blame me."

"It didn't need doin'," Abraham countered. "What needed doin' was you sittin' here waitin' for everyone else to go into the shit storm, not goin' and stirrin' up a second one."

"They don't need this," Merle told him when he saw Ani looking like a kicked dog, although he agreed with Abraham's assessment. "How long you been awake, huh?" he asked her just to try to change the subject.

"Uh, did ya not see me...ya know what? Forget it...long 'nough ta know the Hilltop's got prisonas and that I've got a job ta do when we get there."

"What do you mean?" Sasha asked.

"Well, not all the Saviors are bad. Laura, Simon, all a the workas. They ain' all bad, they're jus' tryin' ta make it, same as us. Should at least talk ta 'em and figya out if they're worth a chance. I mean, with the world as it is, who knows? Any one a us could a ended up not with Rick and could a ended up there instead. I mean, I doubt we would a," she told Daryl. "But I think that's 'cause we wouldn' a left Georgia."

"You sure about that?" Merle asked.

"Nah, but I can' be sure 'cause we were with Rick, we did leave Georgia, and, well, now I got a constant cravin' for squirrel and a hip that hates me," she complained as she started standing up. "Got ta take a piss."

The problem was that as she stood up, the world around her spun and went black in her eyes momentarily while her heart started palpitating. Her movements faltered as she quickly moved her feet wider apart and brought her hands out to the side to maintain balance. Breathing in through her nose and out through her mouth as she squeezed her eyes shut, Ani managed to right the world again when her eyes opened, the black subsiding to show the confused and concerned faces of her family and friends. She told them she was fine and that it was nothing they needed to worry about, she had probably just stood up too fast after laying down for so long. It would have scared her more had she wasn't used to feeling it when her iron levels got low, but if she told Daryl that, he'd freak out all over again. The only thing she was worried about was whether or not the low levels would affect the baby and whether or not it meant that she would have to either eat more or do less. She had just gotten him to calm down enough to agree to let her go to the Sanctuary for the final push and hopefully the end of the war. She didn't have time to be dealing with low iron levels causing her problems and she had to come up with an excuse fast to make it seem like a minor thing before he forced her to stay home. She excused herself and left for the restroom, coming out to find Daryl standing against the wall with his arms crossed. She knew he was angry by the dark look on his face and sighed deeply, knowing that he was going to become difficult.

"What was that?" he asked.

"I don' know. It's new. Prolly jus' stood too fast, like I said. Might be my iron levels, but that's pretty easy ta deal with," she replied, being honest while downplaying the severity of the situation.

"What do we do about it?"

"We? We do nothin'. Ya goin' ta worry ya handsome ass face off while I take a few precautions."

"Like what?"

"Iron pills, drinkin' more, tryin' ta eat more. That's all I can do 'til we can safely get ta the Kingdom and I can talk ta their docta again," she told him as she walked up to him and wrapped her arms around him as best she could with the position he was in.

Daryl sighed and wrapped his around hers, telling her, "Wish you'd just stay put when we go back."

"Maggie's goin'."

"Maggie ain't startin' to show."

"Maggie ain' as far along as I am and I ain' really showin' so much as lookin' bloated. I got ta see it through, D. We don' got the Kingdom fightas nah more. Pregnant or not, ya need me out there now."

They fell silent for a few minutes, both knowing they both were feeling the same thing and neither wanting her to go out into what could easily turn into a gun fight, but without the Kingdom, she was right. Only Jesus had fighting expertise anywhere near close to her, although she'd told them he was a master in Krav Maga, a specialized military style of fighting meant for real world situations more than the proper fights in the ring that she was used to. It was also why the man had been so quick in his ability to get out of Rick's strong hold way back when, but it was only a single specialization where she had at least three different martial arts under her belt. The fact that she knew her way around several kinds of guns and blades helped solidify their need to have her in play, but not a single person in the house liked it. Even now, Ani could feel her nerves working in overdrive, hot tingles playing along her spine, making the back of her neck both burn and go numb all at the same time. It'd started after Merle had decided against their going to the Sanctuary themselves and then Beth and Michonne deciding against it had made it almost permanent. She knew it was because she wasn't actively dealing with her anxiety and instead was letting it fester and bubble because what else was she supposed to do?

Daryl was already on his last leg as far as what he could handle with stress concerning her and she wanted to protect him from bearing too heavy a load. But now that she was being chastised by Abraham, too, with Merle disappointed in the both of them, the looming pit in her stomach was starting to grow. It took everything in her to keep her body from shaking as she leaned into her husband and breathed in the scent that always brought her comfort. Ani heard him sigh as he dropped his lips to her hair, just standing there holding her as they both thought about their earlier choice. Daryl was unfazed by everyone who said it was wrong, knowing he'd made the right choice for him, for Ani, but Ani wasn't so sure anymore. She couldn't help but wonder if it was the Dale/Randall situation all over again, where he fought so hard to win favor for the boy who ultimately did what she'd said he would and ran, even with the promise of being let go in safe conditions with rations. It felt like they were in that situation all over again; being forced between letting things lie and waiting to see the outcome or making sure the outcome they wanted was forthcoming. Were they being Dale in this situation by forcing things to go their way, or were they Randall, taking what could have been a damn good outcome and ruining the chances of a clean getaway? The fact of the matter was that she would never know if they made the right choice, and no matter the outcome, she was going to be haunted by that choice for a long time.

"Ani? Daryl? It's almost time," Sasha called from down the hall. "And Abraham and Merle already left."

"What?! Why?!" Ani asked, finally moving away from Daryl and making her way back to the living room.

"They seemed to think the two of you were making the most of the time we've got," Sasha told them with a smirk that only earned her stern looks in response.

"Idiots, the both a 'em," Ani commented with a shake of her head, going over to the table she'd taken to keeping her weapons on since returning. "How can they even think with their cock-brains when all this shite's goin' on? Seriously?! I still don' know what ya saw in Red, Sash."

"Honestly, I don't know either," Sasha admitted. "He is an idiot. But he's...he's just Abraham," she finally said with a laugh, Ani laughing with her as Daryl brought his poncho up.

"Gonna be cold," he told her as he draped it over her head, hiding most of the knives she'd finished adjusting on her thighs and hips. "Keep to the back of the group, alright? And if I tell you to run, you run, and you don't stop or think 'bout lookin' back, you hear?"

"Jus' make sure ya follow along behind me," Ani quipped back, standing on her toes to press a kiss to his lips before he grabbed his bow.

"I'll make sure she gets to the Hilltop if anything happens," Sasha told him.

"Thanks," Daryl told her.

"Well, to be honest, I made the same promise to Abraham and Merle before they left. We're all pretty much in agreement that if things go south, we get Maggie and Ani out of there before worrying about anything else. Beth, Tara, Enid, and Jesus are going to be coming with us, too. We're gonna make sure those babies are born safe and sound, no matter what happens."

Ani walked up and gave Sasha a one armed hug, then, simply to show her appreciation while Daryl nodded his head in thanks as Ani moved to open the door. The three of them stepped out onto the porch where Abraham and Merle were smoking cigars together as both women shared a look. Daryl went over to join them for a cigarette, how the three kept finding the damn things neither Ani nor Sasha could figure out. While they smoked, the two of them talked about it and the best they had even been able to figure out was that one of them had found a good stash and they were keeping it between them. Ani even went so far as to make up some elaborate scheme about how they were going to become the new Kingpins of Tobacco since they had a seemingly endless supply of it. Sasha laughed at her excessive tale, Abraham and Merle joining in as they started listening to her. Daryl just scoffed and shook his head, though the soft smile that stayed on his face as he watched her talk was sign enough that he was enjoying it too. The boys finished their smoke break and Abraham pulled Sasha along with him as their fingers entwined while Daryl pulled Ani under his arm and she brought her hand up to hold the one hanging from her shoulder. Banging from the gate made them all freeze for a second before Merle, Abraham, and Daryl were walking faster as Ani stood frozen in panic. There was only one person who would knock like that, one group that would come to Alexandria in the middle of the night without warning; Negan had come to call.

~x~

Jerry wrote Ezekiel a note and left it in the throne room before leaving with Carol to go help Rick at the Sanctuary. They hadn't intended on it being just them, but the only other fighters felt that they were needed in the Kingdom to maintain its integrity and that they had already given enough in the war. Without their King to lead them, there was no persuading them to join in the fight, leaving the two warriors the only ones left to help. When Carol heard gunfire upon approaching the Sanctuary, though, she knew that something had gone horribly wrong. The letters they'd received from Rick had painted a very different picture to the scene that was awaiting them as they sped towards where they watched the Scavengers running away. Where the courtyard was said to be filled with walkers at least thirty deep, if not more, it was now only filled with a pile of corpses and a garbage truck rammed through one of the exterior walls. Where the Saviors were supposed to be trapped, it was quite obvious that they had made an escape and whatever had happened here, the fallout from it would be heavy. If there had been a removal of the walkers, that mean that the Saviors would be raining hell down on the communities. Carol stepped on the gas and came to a screeching halt as she saw Rick peak up, his voice carrying just barely over the sound of the gunfire. Rick reacted quickly with jumping over the barricade he was hiding behind and opening fire at the windows of the Sanctuary while Jerry leaned his seat as far back as it could go to get the back door open for the man. As soon as he climbed in, Carol put the pedal to the metal and got the hell out of there even as the Saviors managed to shoot out one of the windows.

"They got out," he told them unhelpfully. "It hasn't been long. We have to warn everyone. They're gonna hit back."

"We can get the cars near the East lookout and split up," Carol suggested.

"Might have to find other rides," Jerry countered. "The snipers probably used theirs to get away."

"I don't think they got away," Rick said solemnly.

Carol drove as quickly as she could to the lot they had the cars in, Jerry and Rick each taking one before they all sped away in different directions. All Carol could think about was the fact that Henry was back home and had followed her out into the woods once already with the intention of hunting down and killing every Savior until he found whoever was responsible for his brother's death. The problem with that was that the only people who knew who had a hand in it were either dead, gone, or not speaking of it. Diane and Morgan had taken up various posts, Morgan as a sniper and Diane as a guard to Maggie upon Ezekiel's request. Ezekiel himself refused to speak about the who and only focused on the fact that it happened and they needed to mourn it. Carol had to admit that she agreed with the thought that they were avenging Benjamin by righting the wrong that was Negan, but she doubted anything Ezekiel said at the moment would have any effect on the boy. All he wanted was to make sure the man who killed his brother died and to prove that he was just as capable as his brother had been which was a dangerous mix.

She couldn't help but remember when Sophia had been just as reckless by leaving the prison and remembered how Ani had handled that by giving the girl more responsibilities that allowed her to go out and how that had helped. Maybe if she let Henry stick with her, helped him through it like Ani had helped Sophia, Carol wondered if it would have a similar result. The kid's brother had died, Ezekiel was currently acting like a sulking fool, and the only other people he had left to look after him were her and Jerry. As much as she liked the man, cobbler and the King seemed to be simultaneously his number one and number two priorities. While she didn't blame him for liking cobbler considering how much training he put himself through to stay in shape to protect Ezekiel, she didn't seem him as much of a father figure. He loved having fun too much to really be taken too seriously outside of a combat setting and somehow even in those situations he managed to find a way to say something that left her baffled. If she was being honest with herself, Carol knew that she had been trying to push the boy away the entire time even while he was looking to her for guidance. Even if she didn't want to take up a parental role again, Henry needed someone to be there for him now more than ever and she felt like it was up to her to step up and do it. As she ran up to the Kingdom's gates, which were knocked down, she watched as the citizens began running out, ushering them towards her and out of the gate.

"Nabila! Where's Ezekiel?" Carol asked upon seeing the Muslim woman.

"He's still in there!" she gasped as she tried to catch her breath. "I think. I don't know."

"You've got to get everyone to safety," Carol told her. "Take Cookman Parkway to Kingsley, beige house, two miles down. It's got a fence. I'll meet you there."

She ran to the door as she watched Ezekiel run up with Shiva, tossing the chain he used as a leash to Carol as the tiger passed before pulling the gates closed, another chain in his other hand. She could tell exactly what he was going to do with the smile that was on his face and she dreaded what he was going to do. There was no one else in the Kingdom that could fight since everyone had ran, the warriors going to protect those that they could. He would be all alone with the Saviors once he closed those gates and it would be difficult to get back into the colony to help him. Once he locked himself inside, he would be taken back to the Sanctuary, back to Negan, where he would either be tortured or killed, or both. She couldn't let him sacrifice himself when his people still needed him, when Henry needed Ezekiel as both a father figure and a leader. The King had returned to who he was only to be willing to sacrifice himself this time rather than anyone else. Carol tried to get to the door only for him to start closing it, leaving it open just enough to smile at her as she struggled against Shiva.

"Your Majesty!" she exclaimed.

"Save 'em," he told her. "Like you saved me."

"Wait!" Carol cried, running up to the gate as Shiva roared. "Ezekiel, no!"

~x~

"Now, you may be wonderin' why the hell your lookouts didn't sound the alarm. See, we are polite. I mean, I don't when the hell they're gonna wake up from that kinda shot, but they should wake up. So let's just cut through the cow shit—you lose. It's over. So you're gonna line up in front of your little houses and you're gonna work up some apologies, and then the person with the lamest one is gonna get killed. No exceptions. Then I kill Rick in front of everybody, and we move on. You have three—count 'em, three minutes to open this gate or we start bombing the shit out of you!"

"This can' be happenin'," Ani whispered, though her voice broke halfway through, watching as Michonne and Carl headed towards the guys and the other Alexandrians who had come outside and Sasha began heading towards Abraham. "This can' fuckin' be happenin'!" she said louder, the thought of being trapped with the man who had tortured her husband at the gate causing the bubble of dread from earlier to explode.

"Okay, here's what we're gonna do. Everyone needs to get down into the sewers. It's still stocked from when the horde broke through the walls. Get all the kids, the people who can't fight, the people in the infirmary. Follow the signs that Ani put on the walls for where's safe to bunker down and where's a way out. Sasha, I need you and Merle to keep everyone safe," Carl said as he began shoving smoke grenade after smoke grenade into a pack along with Sophia.

"Ania, too," Daryl said as he looked back at his wife to see her shaking, her eyes fixated towards the gate. "She ain't doin' too hot. Had some sort of spell earlier and don't do well with bein' trapped. Get her down in the sewers and keep her there."

"Alright, but you, Tara, Michonne, Abraham, and Beth need to go. You need to make it look like we're escaping out back. Get to the woods, halfway to the quarry, and cut the lights. Get enough of a lead on them, hit them, and get away on foot. You know where we'll be. Just have to get the guns, get everyone else here, and we'll meet you there."

"Two minutes, people!" Negan's voice sounded. "Dig deep! I want these apologies to be memorable! Bonus points for creativity! Work up a poem, sing a song. I love that shit."

"Get going," Carl told them before turning to Tobin and the others. "The people in the infirmary, they need your help."

"Look, we got guns. We can fight them!" Tara insisted.

"No, Tara! Not now," Beth said. "Carl's right! We make them think we've escaped so we can live to fight another day."

"Carl," Michonne said, a broken heart clear in her voice. "We can't just let them have this place."

"We can," he assured her. "All we need to do is survive tonight."

"And we will," Sophia told them all. "We'll meet you down there when we're done."

"You said this is my show," Carl accused, Michonne looking at him in defeat. "This is my plan and you're all gonna do it. So let's go!"

"One minute!"

"Ania?" Daryl called quietly, walking up to her for a moment. "You stay with Merle, you hear?"

"Don' go."

"I gotta. I'm gonna lead 'em away, then I'll come back."

"Please?" she begged, her voice small as she willed her hands to move to hold onto him even though her arms felt like lead.

"Stay safe, you hear? For me and Lou, you gotta stay safe," he told her before kissing her forehead and heading out with the others.

Ani could only stand there frightened out of her mind as the nerves she had been fighting were hitting her full throttle. Not only that, but she felt like she was unable to move even as she screamed at herself to in her mind in sheer terror at being trapped like rats in a cage. Her breathing was starting to come up short until Merle walked up and pulled her with him and her joints finally unfroze. The only problem was that now that she was able to move, her nervous system went into overdrive which caused her to start shaking violently. By the time everyone had made it down into the sewers, a man she'd never seen before helping the injured to get comfortable and checking their wounds, the sounds from above had tears pouring down Ani's face. She was trapped underground in a tight space while loud, random booms that caused the ground to shake and debris to fall from the ceiling. The small, terrified shriek that escaped her lips as yet another bomb went off overhead brought Sasha's attention to her as she clasped her hands over her ears and curled her knees into her chest. Even with the bit of tightness she felt in her lower abdomen, Ani still did her best to squeeze into as tight a ball as she could. She started rocking back and forth as the muscle spasms began to get worse and she went into sensory overload by everything that was happening. Every breath that was taken by those around her, every crumble of sand falling from the roof, every step taken of those still walking around; they all began to be too much as pain started radiating through her back. Sasha walked up to her with every intention of wrapping her arm around Ani, but she just shied away from the touch and clenched herself further into a ball.

"Merle?" Sasha called out as Ani cried out, one hand going from her ears to her stomach as the pain intensified and began to radiate from there. "Merle! Get your ass over here!"

~x~

"Okay," Negan said into the loudspeaker. "You brought this on yourself, Rick. You and Ani both. See, I was willing to work with ya. All you had to do was follow a few very simple rules. But now? Well, now I see that you got to go. And Ani? Well, she can't be left to her lonesome either. So I'm gonna take her back to the Sanctuary and keep her locked up until she jumps on board. But you? Scorched earth, you dick!"

"They're not home," Carl called out from his spot on the lookout, Sophia standing beside him.

"Holy shit!" Negan called out. "Everybody hold your fire. It's Carl and, hell, his little Spy-Girl girlfriend who infiltrated our home and got Ani out! Look at the two of you. Answerin' the door like adults! I am so proud. Your daddy's not home, huh? I'm sure Ani is. Can't go too far with a bun in the oven! Well, either way, I guess they'll get back to a big old smoky surprise, huh?"

"There's families in here," Sophia called out. "People who've got nothin' to do with any of this!"

"We've got kids," Carl added. "My little sister!"

"Well, that shit just breaks my heart," Negan told them. "There's kids at the Sanctuary. You must've seen them. Even had a little baby at one of the outposts. Y'all killed her father and her mom, well, we couldn't save her. I wonder what happened to that little girl."

"She was adopted by one of ours. He lost his husband durin' the fight," Sophia told him. "We can put an end to all of this. We don't have to keep fightin' and killin' each other. We can work together for a better future. A fair one!"

"None of this shit's fair, kid," Negan told her, though he had to admire her optimism. "Hell, you both know that. Carl, you had to kill your own mom. And you, Sophia was it? Didn't your mom abandon you?"

"She had her reasons," Sophia defended, even if those reasons weren't very good ones to her.

"And you still defend her," Negan said with a bit of sadness in his tone. "That is screwed up. We need someone in charge who's willin' to do whatever it takes to make sure that shit doesn't happen."

"But it will happen," Carl chided. "It will always happen. Because no one can stop people from dying unless they're willing to stop killing first! You don't have to kill to make people work together. We can figure this out, Negan. We can stop this."

"Now you're startin' to sound like Ani, who is ever the flow of how to make shit better without makin' shit better. A utopian world, that's what you're all after. I'm after one where kids aren't left alone to suffer, where they get to grow up and be strong and live in this God forsaken world that wants to chew you up never to spit you out again!" Negan said, pointing his bat up at the pair. "And I mean, your dad seems to think that whatever way this goes, I die, no matter what. He gave my people a choice. Not me. Now we're gonna need a new understanding. Apologies. Punish—"

"Kill me!" Carl said, surprising even Sophia, who grabbed his hand and took a step closer.

"What did you say?" Negan asked in all seriousness as he walked a few steps closer to the gate.

"If you have to kill someone," Carl told him, squeezing Sophia's hand and trying to pull her behind him, "if there has to be punishment, then kill me. I'm serious. Let everyone else go. Let them live in peace and work in peace. Kill me and let it be done."

"Do you want to die?"

"No. I don't," Carl said seriously. "But I will. It's gonna happen someday. And if—if me dying could stop this, if it can make things different, for us, for you, for all those other kids—it'd be worth it." He watched Negan look down before looking back up at them, disbelief on his face at what he was hearing. "I mean, was this the plan? Was it supposed to be this way? Is this who you wanted to be?" he asked.

He could hear the trucks off in the distance and couldn't help but inwardly smile in triumph as his plan began to play out. They'd stalled long enough for everyone to get into the trucks and cars and prepare for them to escape. Everyone who wasn't going in the trucks should already be down in the sewers and with Siddiq down there as well, they would have a lot of

"Son of a bitch, Carl! Was that just a play?!" Negan called out. "I thought we were havin' a moment!"

"Nope! Just a dumbass fallin' for a couple of kids' antics!" Sophia yelled back as she sent one of the hand grenades she'd stuffed in her pack over the wall, causing the Saviors to scatter before she sent another one over, giving Carl just enough time to get down the ladder before they could hear Negan cussing on the other side.

"God damn those kids! Bombs away!"

"Run!" Carl told her.

The two of them separated as they started setting off the smoke bombs while the Saviors launched grenades over the wall at the houses. Carl watched as the church exploded right after he set off another smoke bomb, walking by a car only to be knocked back by the force of the grenade that went off inside. Taking a moment to lie on the ground, he willed himself to get back up and continue with his mission and get out of the open. He could hear the Saviors yelling to scatter every once in a while, knowing that Sophia had found a way to catch them by surprise again to launch an attack of her own. While he had prioritized defense using the smoke bombs to blind the Saviors, Sophia had adopted a more strategic kind of offensive defense that she'd learned from Merle. On top of throwing smoke bombs, she was using hand grenades and demo sticks to counterattack unsuspecting Saviors lost in the smoke. The Saviors themselves were demolishing the houses, concentrating their fire on almost every other house as he neared Ani and Daryl's. He entered their house to take a breather, noticing that the pictures she cherished, the ultrasound and Daryl's drawings, were still on the wall and quickly ran over to take them down, stuffing them in his bag along with the blue blanket on the couch. Sophia had said that Merle had given it to Ani for the baby and she had grown really attached to the blanket because it was the first thing she'd gotten for it. He'd just made it back to the door when a window broke, forcing him to yank the door open and run as quickly as he could, jumping off the porch just as the house went up in flames. The ringing in his ears didn't subside even as he threw another smoke bomb to cover his getaway. Carl barely heard the crashing of the gate as he held onto his injured leg and began making his way towards the sewer entrance.

"On the ground, kid!" a Savior shouted from behind him.

Carl whirled around and set off another smoke bomb, hobbling the last few feet to the sewer and climbing in, managing to get the cover back on the hole right before the Saviors came through the smoke. He watched with baited breath as they ran past him and shouted at each other that he couldn't have gotten far. When Ani had mentioned that the sewers were the perfect hiding place if they were ever in a jam way back when the horde had surrounded Alexandria, Carl never thought he'd put them to use due to people. He couldn't help but be thankful that she had thought of that back then and had the foresight to explore these tunnels. In fact, she had made Carl and Sophia both learn the tunnels just in case they ever needed to get out undetected and specifically to ensure that the two of them could remain safe no matter what. It was how he'd known how to get Siddiq into Alexandria without anyone knowing and able to keep him fed and with drink and come comforts, even if it wasn't a house. Following the arrows that pointed to where he had the others go, Carl made his way through the sewers expecting to meet up with Sophia. Instead, he made it to where the Alexandrians were impatiently waiting, no one else having made it back yet. The bombs continued going off overhead causing several people to start in surprise while a few others were openly crying as they sat huddled together, some on blankets and some on cots. Most were silent, though, staring dejectedly into space as they listened to their homes, the lives they had been able to build, were destroyed above their heads. He managed to find his way through towards the dead end he'd left Siddiq in, one of the more cozy areas of the sewers, if sewers could be caused cozy.

"Where's Phia?" Merle asked, storming up to him before he reached the end.

"I don't know," Carl told him. "I was hoping she was down here with everyone."

"Dammit!" he said, causing Carl to look at him in confusion before Merle turned to him and asked. "You know herbs, son?"

"Not really. Tara does though."

"Not enough time. Guess we force plan B down her throat and hope for the best."

"What's going on?"

"It's Ani."

~x~

Daryl ran to the trucks and hopped into the first one he reached, starting it and slowly driving it to the weaker section of the back barrier. He hadn't been able to look back at Ani when he left or else he wouldn't have been able to; she was pale and looked so scared, her voice almost inaudible as she pleaded with him to stay. But he had to go, he had to make sure that Negan thought they got away for her sake, for Lou's, for everyone to be able to live through the night. The kittens had followed him, both jumping into the cab of the truck before he could climb in and sitting in the passenger's seat as if it belonged to them. While a part of him wanted to throw them out and send them to Ani, he knew he didn't have the time to fight with the quickly maturing bobcats. Besides that, only Ani and Sophia ever picked the damn things up without retaliation and he wasn't in the mood to get scratched up today. It was bad enough that, as he looked in the rear-view mirror before driving off, he could see his wife still standing in the same spot. Taking a deep breath, he positioned his truck to be the first in the convoy, each of them lining up their trucks, needing it to look like everyone had left, not just a few people. Daryl had to admit, Carl had come a long way from the little boy he'd been back in the quarry still screaming and running away from walkers. Both he and Sophia were taking large risks by making it harder for the Saviors to find the Alexandrians, and both ran the risk of either being caught and killed, caught and taken, or unable to make it to the safety of the sewers. He hated that it was the kids taking the biggest risk in Alexandria, but every other person was needed to ensure their people were safe or they had the leg up on the enemies.

Sure, Sasha and Merle could take the challenge, but Carl had told them that they weren't as likely to get Negan's attention as he and Sophia would. Negan liked the pair, so they hoped they could use that to their advantage to at least stall the attack for a little while. Daryl just hoped that everything went according to plan this time, guilt over the thought of them having gotten out because of his actions earlier that day creeping up on him. Putting his arm out the window, he held a fist up as he watched the last truck get into permission. Bringing it down quickly, he revved the engine and pushed the gas pedal all the way down, gunning it toward the wall. The convoy began their journey, gaining speed as Daryl's truck burst through the barricade, the cars the Saviors had parked in an attempt to block their path standing no chance as his truck drove right through them. He kept the truck moving until he got to the area Carl had mentioned, a little over half way to the quarry so that they could hide the trucks and go back. They had a few smoke grenades with them and made sure to set them off so that the road would look like it was covered in fog and all they had to do now was and wait.

Tara looked at him after a while, seeing how angry he was, and tried to assure him, "They didn't get out because of what we did with the truck."

"Even if they did it don't matter," Abraham told them both as Daryl looked over at Tara, the two sharing looks of guilt as he talked. "Shit happens, and one way or another, we were gonna be left neck deep in its stench."

"Mistakes happen," Beth agreed. "If I had just stayed in Hilltop with Maggie instead of goin' off with Rosita, she could be alive fightin' with us right now. Even if I had told her no, she might've gone anyway and been alone and gotten killed anyway. We don't get to know what could've happened. We just gotta deal with what's happenin' now."

"Damn straight," Abraham cheered. "Now, look alive! Company incomin'!"

They could hear the roar of engines before they could see the Saviors approaching, all of them hidden by the dark and the trees. Even though he'd set off several smoke bombs already, Daryl lit another and threw it into the road just for good measure. There was little chance that they would be seen with how much smoke was already in the air, but a little chance was still a chance, and that was something he wasn't willing to take. The faster they dealt with the Saviors, the faster they could get back to Alexandria and down into the sewers, the faster he could get back to Ani. He wanted to get this done and over with quick so he could double time it back to her and make sure she was alright. Adjusting his gun, he prepared for the oncoming Saviors with everyone else, holding his breath as the convoy came into view. Daryl waited until the trucks were fully in the smoke, watching as Dwight got out of the leading car and other Saviors followed his lead.

"Now!" he yelled.

Opening fire on the Saviors, the enemy tried to fire back, but they couldn't get a clear shot as they had no bearings and couldn't pinpoint where the fire was coming from. Hidden in the trees and obscured by smoke, Daryl and company had little problem firing at the Saviors and gunning them down one by one. They could see the men firing at them trying to make formations in order to retaliate, but not a single one of them let up fire long enough to give them the chance. It wasn't until the only shots being taken were from there end that they let up, Beth taking another shot as they watched a woman with blonde hair go around one of the vehicles. They could hear someone yelling at someone else to get them to stop, but all that did was make Daryl and Tara fire even more rounds towards the car as the windows broke open. They held their fire for a moment before Dwight called out that it was over, Daryl and Tara making their way around the first car, their guns aimed directly at the man as he sat bleeding on the ground. They both wanted him dead for what he'd done to Denise, Daryl for the fact that he'd shot Ani, too. He'd gone out of his way to try to help him and his wife only for them to turn around and rob him blind. Before any of this ever started this man had taken from him, and he owed so much more blood than what was streaming down his arm right then. While Daryl couldn't deny Tara the man's life, he wasn't about to let him off the hook after everything just because he'd done a little good in helping them get the upper hand on Negan. None of what he did mattered right now, anyway, considering Negan was currently attacking Alexandria. Whatever help he had given them had flown right out the window the minute the walls of their home were breached and he wasn't about to overlook that fact. It took everything Daryl had in him not to beat his ass into a pulp right then and there, let alone kill him, as Dwight began talking.

"I made sure you guys could get out the back," he told them. "I drove the convoy right up to the road block. I knew what it was. I can't go back. One of 'em got away. She's gonna tell 'em," he said as Daryl lowered his gun.

"How'd they get out?" he asked him. "Was it what I did?"

"Eugene," Dwight told him, causing Abraham to cuss before he squared his shoulders and scowled deeply. "I know how they work, how Negan thinks. I want you to win. I want Negan to die. And we can settle up after."

Daryl contemplated the man's words for a moment before reaching down and roughly yanking his vest off the man and walking away. Most of the others followed behind, not caring about Dwight nor the predicament he was in or whether or not he died. Only Beth and Abraham stayed, Abraham reaching down and grabbing him under his good arm to march him along. They moved quickly, sprinting back towards Alexandria and the area just beyond the walls, Daryl grabbing the manhole cover just outside the walls, listening as bombs went off over the wall. He wasted no time dropping a rock down the hole to make sure no walkers waited beneath, seeing as a few were headed towards the downed gate. He climbed down and waited for Tara and Beth to climb down to make sure there was light for the others. He didn't wait for Michonne or the others, figuring they would be down shortly, before he took off down the pipes. The others were huddled in various states of calm dismay to openly weeping in sorrow as he passed them, checking on Judith and Carl as he passed them before he got to the end. Sasha was standing at the split in the tunnel, looking in on a nook with one arm crossed over her chest while she chewed on the thumb of her other hand. Having not seen Merle or Ani yet, he walked up next to the woman only to see Ani gently rocking back and forth on a cot, tears streaming down her face even though she looked calm as could be. Merle was sitting next to her watching the man on the other side as he took Ani's pulse and breathed out a sigh of relief and nodded his head at Merle.

"What the hell happened?" he asked.

~x~

Eugene hadn't been able to sleep as the music that was drawing the walkers away could still be heard, even at midnight. He had contemplated his friends' demise the entire time he'd been listening to the radio while thinking. Gabriel's questions lay heavy in his mind as well, making him toss and turn until the clock turned and the new day began. Flipping his lamp on, he poured out a shot of wine and drank it, laying back down and clicking it off again, only for sleep to continue to elude him. Within a matter of minutes, the guilt of his choice to help the Saviors overwhelmed him and had him crying. He knew he had made the wrong choice just as surely as he knew his friends were going to be fighting for their lives soon. And even then, he was expected to make sure the Saviors had enough munitions to continue taking on the communities, one of which he'd helped to build himself. There was nothing he could do for his friends outside the walls of the Sanctuary, but the doctor and the preacher; he could stop them. He got up and got dressed in his normal attire and left his room, wearing his normal mask of indifference as he headed towards the infirmary. Shaking the doctor awake as soon as he entered the room, he walked over to Gabriel and turning a battery operated fan on to blast him with cold air to wake him up as well.

"I will not acquiesce nor facilitate your wishes as they are wrought with foolhardiness. It is my sincere opinion that venturin' from the confines of this infirmary will be a fatal mistake. While the doctor is more than capable of returnin' on his own, you, on the other hand, would likely succumb to illness or bodily rendin' en route," he told the man.

"Will one of you please tell me what the hell is going on?" Carson asked in a whispered yell.

"Gabriel believes he's on a mission from God to return you to Hilltop to tend to the birthin' of Maggie and Glenn's child, as well as Ani and Daryl's," Eugene informed him.

"He can't leave here," Carson said bewildered that the sick man would even want to attempt a play like that.

"I know this, which is why I refuse to help in this foolhardy endeavor. While I understand that that is the route you wish to take," he told Gabriel, turning to face him. "I cannot in good conscience help with such a task. It is not that I do not understand your reason, for I do, in fact. However, the possibility of losin' every friend I've ever made has weighed heavily on me this night due to my actions in the heat of the moment fueled by anger, fear, and an endorphin-driven high. I plan on sleepin' this night, and to do that, I needed to ensure you knew that, while my earlier words and actions might prove opposite of what I'm sayin' now, I do consider you a friend. The idea of losin' any more of my friends this day is simply not somethin' I can abide by, especially not another friend due to the folly of their choice. Rosita already gave her life for the cause. I'm simply askin' that you wait until yours is cleared of threat before you take action. Maybe then I will be more open and willin' to help. But I cannot acquiesce your request for help to escape when I know it will be yet another fool's errand that ends in death and despair. Negan has sent men on a supply run to a local cache for medicines that might aide in your rehabilitation. Once your condition has improved and movement is sustainable, well, who knows what will happen by then. Either way, your ass is stayin' comfy cozy right here."

"He's right, Gabriel," Carson told him. "As much as I hate being here, you can't be moved without risking your infection worsening. You've started expressing issues with sight and you'd barely be able to make it ten feet without needing a rest. Listen, I don't want to be here anymore than you do, but they have antibiotics and I can't let you leave this room. I'd be signing your death warrant."

"Listen to the doctor, Gabriel," Eugene told him, going to the door. "Should Rick and the others somehow survive the night and make a comeback, Maggie and Ani both will need his expertise soon enough. No point in takin' on a suicide mission when the outcome serves no one's purpose but your own. I hope, for all our sakes, Rick finds a way out of the predicament he brought upon himself, but I sure as hell will not be a part of your demise should I, in fact, have facilitated his. No sir, I will not."