Newly Revised

Sophia and Tyreese were on watch when they returned to the prison, both sporting smiles for some unknown reason. Tea came out looking pissed off and told them to leave the car until night time before walking back into the prison without another word. Rick tried to inform Tea of what happened as he entered, but she'd pretty much written him off. The atmosphere in the cell block was somewhere between jovial and irritated as he looked around the room. Hershel and Beth were sitting on the stairs with Judith while Maggie and Sasha were shaking their heads when Tea started talking again. Apparently, there was a heated discussion going on between between her, Merle, and Glenn, it not taking long for him to find out what was going on as she continued her debate with the two men.

"Yeah, yeah, lata," she told him before continuing on with the conversation. "I'm jus' sayin'. Why haven' we jus' been callin' 'em what they are?"

"They're dead! They don't care what we call 'em," Merle quipped, both amused and annoyed by the topic at hand.

"Seriously, Tea, you've been at this for at least an hour. Why does it matter?" Glenn whined, finding the entire topic of discussion ridiculous now that it had dragged on.

The rest of the group had been a part of it at first, but when Tea got more and more worked up over it, even Daryl had walked away laughing. The only ones left trying to argue with her were Merle and Glenn, and Glenn was more trying to appease her than argue. Merle kept egging her on every time she started calming down about the subject, much to the annoyance of a few others. Daryl came out of their cell and looking at his wife and his brother actually getting along and smiling at each other for once. Merle might have come back with respect for Ani, but it was something different entirely to hear them talking like old friends. This was the first time Merle had witnessed her mind truly at work and unable to let something go and Daryl was thankful he was handling as well as he was. If it had been in the older times, he would have already cussed her out and probably told her off rather than entertaining her.

"'Cause! We're in a fuckin' zombie apocalypse!" she cried out suddenly, startling Rick and making Michonne and Carl immediately start laughing. "We ain' eva once called 'em such! They're fuckin' zombies! How is it that I'm jus' now realizin' we've neva once called 'em fuckin' zombies?!"

"Is this really important?" Rick asked incredulously.

"A course it is, Rick!" she said, looking at him as if he were a ghost, completely shocked that he didn't see the enormity of the situation like she did; it was Pluto all over again.

"Best to leave it alone," Daryl told the man as he walked up to him. "She's in a right worked up state. Seen her like this once 'fore when she found a billboard over the winter, remember? Worst damn run I've ever been on with her. Wouldn't shut up 'bout it the entire time."

"Oh God!" Rick said, his face contorting into torment at the memory of her randomly getting irritated and shouting that Pluto was a planet no matter what the idiot scientists said. "She went on about that for four days!"

"Hyperfixation or somethin' like that she calls it," Daryl said, pointing to the girl as she got into Merle's personal space in a stance that was made even more comical by the height difference.

It really was adorable how she was acting like such a little kid over something so small and made Daryl happy that she still knew how to be innocent. After what he'd learned about her past, he saw this side of her in a whole new light. Ani had never had a chance to really be a kid growing up when even he had been able to go out and have some fun as a child. She'd been forced to grow up fast in order to take care of herself and minimize the abuse she received, although it had never helped. He couldn't help the scoff that escaped him when she started up again in front of Merle looking like such a child in comparison to the old soldier. She was leaning toward his brother with her fists held up in front of her, not in a fighting way, but as if she was holding something in them, staring at him with determination as she recounted what they called the dead.

"Seriously! We've called 'em bitas, walkas, geeks, the dead. Ya said the Philly people called 'em lamebrains, right Glenn? Hell, we've called 'em roamas and lurkas! Dale called the one in the well a swimma!" she said, ticking them off with her fingers to keep tally. "Neva once have we called 'em what they actually are! We've neva called 'em zombies! We're fightin' fuckin' zombies! This could be a fuckin' video game, Glenn! We're fuckin' zombie huntas!"

"This really the hill you wanna die on, Ani?" Merle asked her, earning a mildly confused glance from the surrounding people at how he called her.

"It ain' a fuckin' hill at all, Merle! It's the truth!" she insisted.

"Fine, Tea, you win," Glenn said, shaking his head and giving up; she was right, and it seemed like a stupid topic to be fighting about to begin with. "They're zombies. But does it really matter what we call them?"

"Well, nah, but it's jus' that we neva call 'em what they are," she said, grinning like a Cheshire cat as she finally got someone to admit she was right. "And I can' believe I jus' taday thought of it! Like, seriously, how've we gone a year durin' a zombie apocalypse without even addressin' it?"

Rick finally had the chance to tell Tea about Morgan and asked if she would be willing to take a trip to visit him and try to talk to him herself. She agreed before telling him that they were going to leave the guns in the car for the time being. Over the next couple nights, they could bring them into the prison under the cover of darkness, a single bag at a time. They were to bring in only a couple bags a night when the car and entrance to the prison were completely shadowed and out of the view of any wandering eyes. If the Governor was watching the roads, they needed to play it safe so that he did not know their strengths and weaknesses. It was for that reason that if a negotiation were to take place, she wanted Rick to play leader again. She expected him to tell her every detail of the Governor's demands so she could plan accordingly and would sit in for a part of the negotiations to get a feel for the Governor himself. However, from what Andrea, Merle, and Michonne had all told her, she highly doubted he would take her as seriously as he would Rick. Not only was she a woman and most men in power didn't want to see a woman in power, he had also been told about her past and would no doubt use it against her.

"Damn, girly, I didn't think you'd be smart enough to figure that out," Merle said, a grin appearing without his awareness.

"I'm smart 'nough ta do anythin', includin' winnin' an argument ova the great Merle Dixon," she teased, grinning back at him and bringing up the zombie topic again.

"Who said you won?" he quipped.

"Well, they are zombies, right?"

"We're really goin' back to this?"

"Dammit, Merle! Jus' admit I'm right!" she said as she smiled.

"You think so highly of yourself, don't you girly?"

Nearly the entire group was trying to control their fits of laughter after a while as the two went back and forth the entire time they were on watch together outside. They continued throughout the evening, nitpicking each other over the topic, Merle plainly having fun egging the girl on. Tea had no clue he was because she was just trying to prove her point, giggling often at first at how he would fight back. However, as it got close to nightfall, Tea was clearly no longer playing around and was ready to explode on anyone who said anything to her. When Merle tried to goad her into the conversation again, she simply ignored him and everyone else as she retreated into her cell.

"What'd I do?" Merle asked Daryl and Rick. "Was all good fun, why's she so pissed?"

"It was all good fun," Rick told him, his attitude having changed slightly toward the older redneck after watching him interact with Tea. "Emphasis on was. I think she's fed up. I mean, I'm no expert when it comes to her, but I do know that sometimes autistic people will become so frustrated with a situation they shut down rather than deal with it. I think she might be doing that."

"All over me not callin' 'em zombies?" Merle asked, clearly finding the whole thing confusing and becoming agitated himself. "Tough fuckin' shit!"

"It ain't like that, Merle," Daryl said. "She don't think like us. You've egged 'er on enough she just doesn't want to bother with it anymore. She's not having fun anymore. You burned her out of her own topic."

"So she's angry 'cause I didn't drop it? Man, how do you put up with her?" he asked his brother, completely pissed off by the whole situation.

"I love her," Daryl said with a shrug of his shoulders. "And she's pretty easy to understand after a while. Most of our fights are 'cause I'm too easy for her to read or I get angry 'cause of somethin' her mind makes her do, like bein' understandin'. You've only been 'round her for a week. It'll get easier to understand her."

"Don't give me that crap, man," Merle said with a scoff. "Why should I understand her? She shouldn't be such a pussy!"

"It ain' 'bout her bein' a pussy or anythin' like that!" Daryl said heatedly, shoving his brother's shoulder roughly. "She's different than us, Merle. Her brain is different than ours! She can't help how she reacts any more than you can help bein' hungry or needin' to take a piss! You said you knew her past, knew what she'd been through. This is why they did that to her! 'Cause she don't act or think like they did! Now you're doin' the same crap! I'm tellin' you now, you call her a pussy again I'm gonna knock you on your ass! She don't need that shit from no one anymore, least of all people she considers family."

Merle looked at how angry Daryl was, yet he was staying mostly calm and trying to keep his voice down. The entire time he was talking, he'd occasionally glance up to their cell to see if she was standing there. The boy was literally keeping his cool to not piss off his girl or make things any more awkward for her. Merle could feel the gravity of the situation and let his brother's words sink in, not that he would show it on his face. Once again, Merle was shocked by how much Daryl had changed since the quarry. He'd never once had a backbone and now he was standing up to him over calling Ani a pussy. It was true that her blood had thought similarly to what he had just been thinking, though he hadn't even thought about that at the time. Rolling his eyes as he walked away, he made his way to the cell the girl was in.

"Why's it matter so damn much to you?" he asked her, watching as she mindlessly cleaned the bolts from Daryl's crossbow.

"It jus' does. Ya think I know why my mind works the way it does?" she said with a scoff, turning to him, face void of emotion but her eyes looked troubled. "Ya think I don' know it's a stupid thing ta fixate on? That I don' hear myself talkin'? Think I like bein' teased for it? I still can' stop thinkin' 'bout the fact that we are literally livin' in a zombie apocalypse and we neva called it that! My brain is so fuckin' stupid sometimes."

"You thought I was teasin' you, huh?" he asked, not denying her brain could be stupid.

"Not at first, but ya kept pushin' and pushin'. How's that not teasin'?" she asked. "At first, we were both havin' fun, but ya saw I was startin' ta get upset. I know ya did, 'cause ya'd leave it alone for a while 'til I calmed back down. Then ya'd start back up for ya own amusement. How's that not teasin'?"

"Hmm, never thought about it like that," he said, pursing his lips and nodding his head in understanding. "Didn't mean to make you feel that way."

"Apology accepted," she said, knowing it'd hurt the old man's pride to actually say the words 'I'm sorry.'

"Fuck, girly, you really do read people easily, don't you?"

"You know, that was my first job," she said, both sharing a chuckle.

Merle turned to walk away, noticing both Carol and Daryl standing there, Carol holding a soft smile while Daryl was openly smirking. He told them to shut it as he stormed past them; even if they thought he was going soft for anyone but Ani and Daryl, that didn't mean it was true. He was pissed that they'd caught him apologizing to the girl when he didn't even notice them standing there. The pair shared a look and chuckled as they entered the cell one after another while Tea was sitting up from where she'd been laying on the bed. After what had happened with Chrystal, Carol had stopped being so cold towards Tea and was actually trying to build a friendship with her. Tea was happy about that because it made Sophia happy to see them getting alone and Carol's relationship with her daughter seemed to finally be mending. It was about damn time, too; it'd been a while since she'd told Carol to get it together and she was only just starting to.

"You okay?" Daryl asked, walking up to her.

"Yeah, 'e's a big softy," she chuckled. "Jus' don' see his worth, is all. He'll come 'round."

"I can see that," Carol told her. "I might have over stepped the other day. He's different than he used to be."

"Don' tell 'im that, Cars! He might 'ave an aneurysm!" Tea laughed, Daryl chuckling along with her. "Thanks for seein' it, though. He's not a bad guy, jus' rough 'round the edges."

"It's hard not to, to be honest," the woman said, grabbing up the hunters' dirty clothes to take to the washing as they watched with twin expressions of bewilderment. "Though, I wonder how much of that is for the group and how much is for the two of you."

"He tried helpin' Glenn and Maggie," Daryl told her. "He's still here, ain't he?"

"I know," Carol responded. "I'm going to take these to the wash and bring 'em back later, ok? Neither of you are on watch tonight, right?"

"No," Daryl said. "I'm stealin' Ania for the night. Tell the others not to bother us for once."

"D, that ain' fair," she said with a laugh, finding it absolutely adorable how he was being clingy again.

"Hell it ain't!" he responded light heartedly. "If Glenn and Maggie can get some alone time, why can't we?"

"They ain' the leada."

"They can be tonight," he said as he shooed Carol out of the cell and threw a blanket over the opening. "Haven't had a single day someone's not comin' in and botherin' us. You can't even get a decent night sleep, Ania, and I know it. Last time you focused like that on somethin' it was after you damn near passed out from exhaustion. Tell me you've slept more'n me the last week we've been at the prison and I'll let you out that door," he said.

He knew full well that she was dead on her feet since getting the barriers up and clearing the tombs and also being on every other watch duty. Damn near every night, someone was coming in to give her their report and instead of having someone else go on watch, she'd walk out. Ani had spent more time on watch than she spent sleeping and she'd started waking up before he did, too. He was a damn insomniac, always had bags under his eyes since he was a teen, but even he'd been getting more sleep than Ani lately. She was overworked and needed a night to just sleep without the others coming and asking her what the next step was or waking her up because they didn't know who was on watch next.

"D!" she groaned. "Don' do this ta me."

"Ain't doin' nothin' to you 'til you get some sleep," he said, coming over to the bed and kneeling in front of her.

"At least let me tell 'em!"

"Carol'll handle it," he said, unlacing her boots.

He took them off of her before doing the same to her shirt, pushing her back until she was lying on her back. Tea let out a sigh, giving into his demands and enjoying the feeling of Daryl pampering her as he helped her out of her pants and throwing a pair of shorts at her before taking his own boots and shirt off, making to lay down next to her. She rolled onto her side, facing him and wriggled back towards the wall to give him more space. He laid down on his back, one hand under the pillow, as she laid down on his shoulder. She brought her arm up and around his torso, his arm coming up to rest alongside hers, holding her bicep in his hand. It didn't take her more than a minute to fall asleep to his heartbeat. He rolled over to face her and just watched her sleep, not feeling tired himself. Rick tried to come in once, earning a glare from Daryl as he rolled back onto his back, her moving with him to feel as much of his heat as she could.

"Better be a damn good reason you're here," he said quietly.

"Just double checking everything's okay. Merle came up here and then Carol came down saying you were keepin' her up here for the night," Rick told him, being just as quiet seeing the girl sleeping.

"They're fine. Hell, I'd dare say he cares about her more'n me at this point," Daryl said, no mirth in his voice, just a soft smile on his lips as she nuzzled his chest and sighed in her sleep. "She needs a good night sleep, Rick. If you can't handle one night, let Glenn do it. Hell, even Merle or Hershel can do it. It's just one fuckin' night, for cryin' out loud!"

Rick held up his hands in surrender, watching as Daryl's arms tightened around the sleeping woman in his arms as if holding her was the only thing keeping him on the bed, "Okay, okay. I'll leave you be."

Daryl pressed a kiss to her head as her rolled them back onto their sides, bringing his hand down to her leg to lift her knee. Placing his leg between hers, he draped the one in his hand over his and wrapped his around her other leg, the position they always woke up in when they slept facing each other. He brought his arm up and wrapped her hair in his hand before he laid his chin against her forehead while getting comfortable. Even though he wasn't tired when he laid down, laying with her in his arms found him drifting to sleep faster than he thought he would. Merle was the only one who came to check on them, finding them in that same position without even a blanket covering them before he scoffed and walked off.

~x~

Daryl forced Tea to take the entire next day and night off, too, only letting her order the others around and otherwise keeping her by his side the entire time. He forced a book into her hands as he sharpened his knife and the one she'd taken from Rick after Woodbury. Merle had been kind enough to take watch for him, telling him to make Ani relax even if he had to tie her to the bed. Having both Dixon men telling her to sit and take a break for the day had made it impossible for her to deny them. It wasn't often that she bent to other people's whims and wishes, but she had to admit that she had needed a break now that she had one. Ani ended up taking a nap on Daryl's lap sometime in the early afternoon, her hair flayed out behind her as he played with the strands while she laid on her side. Merle walked in to check on them after his watch was over and he'd brought in the last back of weapons. It was small enough that anyone else wouldn't know what was in it, but the hand grenades inside would be a huge help to them.

"That's a lot of hair," he commented, watching his brother.

"Yeah it is," Daryl stated, running his fingers through it and removing the knots.

"Should cut it off," Merle shrugged. "That's an awful lot of chances to be grabbed."

"Don't want it cut," came his reply.

"Who don't? She don't or you don't?" When Daryl didn't answer, Merle laughed even louder, startling her awake without noticing, "Don't want her to cut her hair. Hell, it's hangin' down to her ass when she stands!"

"I don' want ta cut it, Merle," she said tiredly from Daryl's lap before yawning. "I wouldn' mind Vikin' braids or somethin' like that ta keep it out a my face, but I don' want ta cut it."

"Just gonna get in the way," Merle told her, thinking about all the ways it could get caught. "Anyone could grab hold of it. How'd you get away if it gets grabbed?"

"Prolly cut it then," she said honestly. "Don' see a point a cuttin' it 'til it happens, though."

"Point is so it don't happen," Merle said harshly. "You need to cut it 'fore it causes problems, Ani."

"I ain' cuttin' my fuckin' hair 'til I need ta, Merle. Ain' fuckin' happenin'. Consider me Samson," she said as she sat up, folding her arms and looking much like a petulant child.

Merle just scoffed and dropped the subject, "We got all the weapons in. Should probably get to takin' inventory."

"Yeah, we should get to that," Tea sighed, running a hand through her hair to get it out of her face before leaning back and giving Daryl a kiss.

Getting up and stretching, she put her boots back on and grabbed her knife before she headed out into the cell block. She slapped Glenn on the shoulder as she passed him and nodded at Hershel before walking over to Rick in the commons. They worked together to unpack the bags full of rifles, ammo, and grenades, even managing to grab a new crossbow and a couple new quivers of bolts. One thing Tea was absolutely thrilled about was the trip wire they'd brought; that opened up a lot of new possibilities when it came to defending the prison. She was happy to be able to replace her machete, too, though it was a bit smaller than her original Slice. In the end, they had more than enough weapons to hold off not only an attack from Woodbury, but also a smaller horde of walkers if need be.

~x~

"How's it goin'?" Tea asked Sasha as she went out for her watch duty, the woman already on watch in their swing shifts.

"All clear," she replied.

"Haven' had much chance ta talk ta ya and Tyreese," Tea said. "Phia told me 'bout how ya otha companions were wantin' ta take ova while we were gone. How ya stood up ta them and protected Beth and Axel from the potential threat. Ya did good and were a part a the group 'fore ya were even accepted. That's a rare thing ta find these days."

"We were given food, shelter, and protection. What was the point in risking that when all we had to do was wait? And even though it didn't work out how we hoped," Sasha said, stopping to huff a laugh. "You have a baby. An actual baby. Thought she was Beth's at first."

Tea chuckled, "Nah, girl jus' likes bein' helpful and is good at playin' momma. Betta than I could eva be. Cryin' jus' ain' my thing. It hurts my ears and fuzzes my brain."

"What does that even mean?" Sasha asked as she watched the young woman.

"Well, ya know well 'nough by now I'm autistic with ADHD. Sounds can be too much for me. Cryin' in general is a trigga for me. It's irritatin' and makes my skin crawl all 'cause my brain can' process it. It sucks 'cause I love that baby with all my heart; kinda adopted a godmomma stance towards 'er. Yet she starts cryin' and don' stop within a few minutes, I'm hopeless and helpless. Neva knew I could hate my mind so much 'til we found this prison."

"I don't much like the sound of silverware clinking on tableware or teeth," Sasha told her.

"Oh gods! Yes! That exactly!" Tea laughed.

"I get it. If I had to deal with that constantly for a long period of time instead of randomly like I do, I'd probably get irritated too. Nothing wrong with that," Sasha said, going to rest a hand on Tea's shoulder but only tapped it instead as she felt the younger girl tense. She sighed before commenting, "It seems to me that the people here trust you to keep them safe and come up with the game plans."

"Yeah, but that's only 'cause I have ta be in control ta make sure it all goes right. If I don' plan it, who else will? Out a the othas, only Merle really undastands what it means ta be at war. Hell, my undastandin' comes from movies I've watched and books I've read. It ain' nah real experience, jus' knowin' how ta strategize."

"I think it's more than that. Tyreese mentioned it to me yesterday when you had your day off. Everyone looks to you not because they have to, they want to. I've been here four days and I can see why. You've talked to everyone separately, you literally help with everything. You work hard, but make sure the others have time to relax. I've seen you talking to Rick about his wife, saw Carl break down in your arms, and watched as you taught the kids and Beth how to do that scissor choke hold thing. It's like you're Wonder Woman on crack," Sasha told her, making Tea laugh at the compliment.

"I wouldn't go that far," she laughed. "I'm jus' doin' what I got ta. That's all I've eva done. What I got ta."

"I don't think I've ever met someone who has so much that they have to do," the woman commented. "Don't you ever relax?"

"When I'm with Daryl," she said with a shrug. "Don' need ta relax much. That's the one good thing 'bout the ADHD. I always got enagy when I need it. One bad thing, though, is I'm always enagetic. Kinda makes my moods swing wildly too, though who's ta say that's the ADHD or the autism? So much a the both go hand in hand it took 'em two years ta figure out I wasn' jus' ADHD."

They lapsed into silence for a while, neither feeling awkward with each other, rather they felt a kind of pleasant comradery. Tea hadn't had a conversation like that in a long while outside of talking to Daryl, who had never tried to do anything but understand her. Sasha was a stranger and had given her more insight into how the other survivors viewed her than she had ever really thought about. Tea had felt like she had gained the leadership role out of necessity; Rick had needed a right hand man when Shane disappeared and it was either her or Daryl. Daryl would have been the smarter choice as far as strength, but Tea had the mind for planning, so he picked her. And then she just forced her way into a dual leadership role with him when they'd been driven off the farm because they needed to act as one, not a group divided. She had once again forced her way into the sole position when Rick's sanity started cracking and the loss of his wife took its toll. No one had batted an eye the entire time and had instead just taken it in stride and acted accordingly. When she thought about it, they had all gone to her willingly, whether it was to talk about personal things or get orders. They actually wanted her to lead and that thought had a small smile forming on her lips.

"Well, golly gee," Merle's voice sounded from beside her, making her jump once again. "What you smilin' for, Ani?"

"Jus' thinkin'. What's up, Mer-man?" she chuckled.

"I'm gonna cuff ya upside the head you call me that again," he growled, thinking about how it was a stupid fucking nickname.

"Ya love me and ya know it," she said cheekily, looking back out at the field. "Ya got somethin' ya need?"

"Just checkin' on you, girly," he said, leaning against the fence and folding his arms, looking back at the prison.

She looked at him quizzically and raised an eyebrow, "Don' Daryl do that enough for ya?"

"Always within sight, girly. That's what I said, that's what I meant," he told her seriously, turning to face her. "You really survive a week with no food and barely any water?"

"Wouldn' call it survivin', and nah, not really. They didn' give me any food and only a bottle a wata a day. Didn' know I'd already hidden a stash down there afta the first time they'd locked me in for jus' a day, and it only got longa from there. Wasn' much, jus' a couple bags a jerky and dried fruit and a couple a liters of wata, but 'twas enough ta get me by. Nah human can survive a week with nah food and only a few sips a wata a day," she told him, seeing the shocked look on his face. "Told ya, I like bein' in control. Even when I had nah control ova what was bein' done ta me, I had a semblance a control ova the outcome a some a the worst stuff they did, like lockin' me up. Ya didn' tell Daryl 'bout that, did ya?"

"How many times did they try to kill you outright?"

"Wouldn' know. Lost count afta a while, or ratha, didn' want ta keep count afta a while. Don' know why they neva jus' shot or stabbed me and jus' been done with it. Prolly ta keep from bein' the prime suspects in a murda investigation. Bad as my anxiety and depression were back then, I wasn' anywhere near wantin' ta commit suicide and everyone knew it. Was a topic a discussion at the weekly neighborhood cookouts. 'How's Titania farin' with all that stress?' 'I heard kids like 'er get depressed, is she doin' okay?' Shite like that all the time. So they knew I was dealin' with anxiety and depression, but was right 'nough in the head ta be dealin' with it and not hurtin' myself. That came lata when, I was on my own and didn' know nothin' 'bout survivin' outside the abuse."

"Damn, how'd you-"

His words were cut off by Sasha yelling there was a car coming towards them and Tea sent Merle back into the prison to make sure everyone was armed. Whoever was in the car was not entering the prison under no circumstances since they Rick had come back from King County. They needed the element of surprise having their arsenal would give, and letting someone into the prison now, even Andrea, was risking everything they'd worked hard to hide over the past few days. The group came out as a unit, spacing themselves around the courtyard while Beth, Sophia, and Glenn took the catwalk. Daryl and Merle came straight to Tea's side as Maggie went to the gate. As the car rolled closer into view, she could see it was the same one they'd given Andrea and gave the head's up.

When the car approached the gate, Andrea popped her head out and yelled at them that she was alone. Tea nodded to Maggie who opened the gate as she, Daryl, and Merle spread out with their rifles raised, the kids keeping theirs trained on the woman. Daryl had, for the time being, traded his cross bow for a high-powered automatic while Tea's shoulder wouldn't give enough slack for a rifle and instead had her glock out. As the car drove through, the three kept her in their sites at all times, not wavering in their hold. Andrea couldn't believe they were still being like this when she finally had managed to talk Philip into a sit down. It was bad enough that she had been treated as an enemy the first time; why they were still treating her like one was lost on her.

"Are we really going back to this?" she asked Tea as she stepped out of her vehicle with her arms raised.

"Can neva be too careful anymore, and ya stayed in Woodbury. Anyone in that damn place that has anythin' nice ta say 'bout Chrys isn't worth me givin' a second glance at. Don' care if they're nice or not. I ain' lettin' anyone fooled by 'er get close ta me eva again. Whateva trust I had in ya is pretty damn well gone now ya've made ya choice," she responded.

"I went back to talk Philip into meeting up to see if we can't find some form of truce," Andrea said incredulously. "Are you seriously going to hold that against me?"

"Nah, but I ain' takin' any risks eitha," she told the woman truthfully. "What'd ya boy say?"

"He isn't 'my boy,'" Andrea sighed, pinching the bridge of her nose. "He's agreed to sit down and talk."

"What's his stipulation?" Merle asked.

"Small group on both sides. Meet up halfway between here and Woodbury on neutral ground," she said.

"Could work," he told Tea.

"Nah, too loose a terms on what 'small group' means. Just the leadas, one fighta, one non-combatant a piece. Anythin' more'n that and we risk goin' at each otha right then and there," Tea replied.

They let Andrea stay long enough to give them the details of where the meet up was taking place before opening the gate and ushering her out. It would take place two days from now and Tea's mind was in overdrive as she thought about everything that could happen. She was placing trust in Andrea she didn't even have that the meet up would go according to plan. Nothing was ever a guarantee, but this risk was worth taking if it worked out well. Tea knew she needed to meet the Governor if she was going to be able to accurately plan her next step, whatever it may be. It wasn't a good situation that they would be in and it would leave only a few fighters from their own group left at the prison. She knew that if things went wrong at the meet up that she could trust Merle and Glenn to keep their people safe, but if push came to shove, they'd have to abandon the prison they were hoping to call home.