Newly Revised

"You're more like your adoptive momma than ya think, girly."

"Pops?!" Sophia said with a start.

"You're not as sneaky as you think you are, Phia. Shouldn't hide a bag in a cupboard that doesn't close all the way," Merle said as he stepped around the tree he'd been under since before dawn.

Sophia had tried to get to the clearing as quickly as possible, but she would have been lying if she said she hadn't gotten lost. Ani made it seem so easy to find areas she was familiar with to find her way back or to follow a trail in the dark. She'd never once only followed their tracks back or really kept track of where they were going outside of the prison or even Alexandria when the two went out into the woods together. Ani always used her surroundings to find her way back, only looking for tracks when she got confused about which way they needed to go. The only reason Ani had taken so long to get back to the highway after the CDC was because she had her to take care of and there had been so many walkers that the tracks had been mucked up. On top of that, even if she had found the trail, they might not have found the others thanks to the fact that they had moved on to the farm. Sophia had fumbled around a lot on the 4-wheeler to find the clearing again, only being able to once she found a barn she remembered passing on the way back. It still took her until well after the sun had started peaking over the horizon to make it to the clearing after getting turned around a couple more times.

"But I...how...I thought..."

"Ah, hush up 'fore ya start cryin'," Merle told her, pulling a bag of his own onto his shoulder along with the rifle he'd hidden at Ani's after the Wolves' attack. "I had you pegged in that room. I knew exactly what you were thinkin' 'bout doin'. Why you think I told you to stay in Alexandria or stick with me? I was hopin' you'd calm down enough to see reason and talk to me about it, but, no, Little Miss Phia has ta prove just how much she's learned to be like Little Miss Ani," he said with a shake of his head and a roll of his shoulders before he sighed. "Come on, let's go. Gotta find Bobby at the very least. Maybe see what we can see about these Savior cats 'fore they come back. This is recon only, Sophia," Merle told her seriously. "We ain't out here to play search, destroy, and rescue. I told ya, sometimes we have to wait. We ain't Ani. I ain't got the girl's skills or know how and we don't have the weapons."

"But if we see a chance?" Sophia asked hopefully, tears forming in her eyes as she sat on the four wheeler looking at Merle.

"If it's a chance that's worth the risk, hell yeah, girly. We're gettin' the rest of our family back. Dixon troupe can't be a troupe with just you and me."

"But I'm not a Dixon."

"Hey, didn't you say my brother and sister were like your parents? Makes you a Dixon in my book. Hell, you might as well be a Dixon with how well you can fight, hunt, and track now. Gettin' to be about as good as Daryl was when he was just a little younger than you. Learned all you can from us. Now's just gettin' the experience to go with the know how. That's all ya missin' seein' as you just started all this 'round a year or so ago. Me and Daryl? We been doin' this all our lives. Huntin' for dinner, walkin' the woods. Anyway, let's go. Catty's already got the trail by the way she's pacin' up ahead," Merle told her. "Now get off so's I can get on. I don't mind givin' up the reigns on the bike; can't drive it right with only one hand. But this? Hell, girly, you don't let me drive it, we're both walkin'."

"Why is this safer?" she asked as she got off, letting Merle climb on while handing her his back before getting back on herself, attaching the bag to the back panel Daryl had attached specifically for such purposes.

"The four wheels," Merle told her, almost as if she was a dummy. "Keeps it stable on turns and stuff I just can't manage on a bike without a hand. If we're goin' straight, hell, I can let 'er fly. But we come up on a turn? Get a group a walkers? A stump can help, but it don't work unless I'm goin' slow, and goin' slow just ain't always an option. Got 'em keepin' an eye out on more a these things. Get a couple of our own, we can go on longer trips. Maybe even start spendin' a night or two out here."

"What about Francine?"

"Kid, you worry about bein' a kid with a crush. I'll worry 'bout my woman issues when and if they happen."

"You've already been sent back to our house three times since you moved in with her, though."

"Well, some women are easier to deal with at certain times than others. Francine can be a bit...fickle. She's a might bit younger than me, younger even than Daryl," Merle said over his shoulder before chuckling. "Let's get ta followin' that kitten and gettin' Bobby back. That's the first step in all a this. We find the cat, find a safe space to hold up, watch and wait. Bide our time and get in there."

"Okay," Sophia said, hugging his back as they traveled through the woods, a few tears falling as well.

Merle could feel her crying behind him, her body shaking hard to cover up no matter how stiff she tried to be. The small, knowing smile that crossed his face and the shake of his head the only outward show that he even knew what the small girl was doing. Inwardly, though, he was glad he'd made the choice to come out here; when he'd seen the bag, he'd only had an inkling of what the girl was planning. He figured that, at the very least, she was coming after Bobby. Turned out, she was planning on going the whole way to wherever they were keeping Ani and trying a kamikaze mission like Ani had at Terminus. He'd gone with his gut after taking the food back to the house for the little girl only to find the back in the cupboard. Merle had barely wasted any time going back to Francine, who raised a stink at the fact that he didn't even know Sophia would be out here, and getting some gear together before heading out. It didn't matter if the woman was angry at him for leaving after everything that happened with the Saviors or not; Sophia had needed him. He'd been doing a rather shit job at looking out for the girl and wanted to make it up to the kid.

Sophia couldn't quite believe that Merle was there, on the four wheeler, with her, heading to look for Bobby, Ani, and Daryl. He'd come out there specifically for her, specifically because he understood what she'd wanted to do and that she couldn't just sit in Alexandria. He was out there for her, proving that she did, in fact, have a family she could rely on and fall back to. Even though she didn't want to be crying, she couldn't help it as they traveled through the woods following Catty. Sophia had been worrying about whether or not she was going to be left alone all over again or if she was going to lose her home. Her mother had left, had just taken off in the middle of the night, left everyone and everything behind without so much as a word to anyone but Tobin, and even then it was just a letter. Ani and Daryl had tried their hardest to make her feel like she belonged with them and she had only just really started feeling like she did the last month or so. Having Merle out here for her, supporting her and trusting her, she really felt like she had a real family for the first time in her life and that she wasn't going to be alone again.

The sun was high in the sky when Merle stopped the ATV while watching Catty follow some sort of trail through the woods. Sophia pulled out her bow after handing Merle his gun, holding it steady after they dismounted the vehicle and pulled on their packs. They were close to what looked to be like a factory district with several short buildings and a couple tall factories could be seen just past the line of the trees. Silos and other storage facilities were close by as well, meaning that the entire area had once been used for making and refining products. They left the four wheeler a few meters inside the trees and crept close to what looked like some kind of garage while Merle told her to stay close. Sophia nodded her head in agreement as Merle put his gun back on his shoulder and began working his way around the building. She kept her head on a swivel as they walked, turning around and walking backwards at times to make sure nothing was coming up behind them while keeping an arrow knocked and her bow at the ready. He led her towards a window, creeping up and looking through it to see a small group of Saviors inside sifting through some of the junk inside.

Sophia still had her arrow knocked and bow at the ready, her arms taut in anticipation of quick action as she and Merle crept around the back of the building. Merle had her open the door silently and entered the garage, Sophia hot on his tail with an arrow knocked as they slowly crept through the aisles. They'd managed to get about three aisles in before a girl popped around the aisle behind them with a pair of handguns in her hands. Sophia let her arrow fly, it finding purchase in the girl's eye, but not before her firearms went off and all hell broke loose. Both she and Merle had to duck behind aisles in order to avoid the bullets flying from the now alerted Saviors. Sophia was separated from Merle as bullets rained through the aisles, forcing her to move as quickly as she could. She pulled an arrow and let it fly, hitting a man in the chest and making him fall as his gun went off, hitting yet another of the Saviors. She watched as two more went down from a different direction before she had to dodge just as she felt the wind from a bullet going past her. There were still six Saviors standing as she moved around the shelves once again, standing straight and loosing and arrow into another's neck. She managed to get around another unit, finding herself behind a covered car, coming up behind a couple of the others, but in front of another.

It was a risk that she had to take when she heard Merle cussing and the other Saviors shouting out about where he was and to get him cornered. Taking a couple deep breaths to hype herself up, she drew an arrow and popped up over the hood of one car and let yet another arrow fly. As her arrow found purchase in another Savior's back, one off to the side fell while she ducked back down under the cover of the cars. She quickly moved from where she was while occasionally popping up to let loose another arrow, though she only managed to hit one of the remaining ones in the arm. She had to put her bow up after running out of arrows and grab out the knife Daryl had given her while creeping up on the last Savior she could see. Moving stealthily behind the woman, she once again hyped herself up before running at her as silently as possible, grabbing a handful of the woman's hair as she brought her head back to her shoulder and plunged her knife into her eye. Sophia froze at that moment, the blood from pulling the knife back out getting on her cheek as well as her hand. She had never killed someone in close range before, had always used her bow, and was caught up in the sight and the shock that she didn't notice the last Savior coming up behind her. Merle came out of no where and body-checked her out of the way as the man fired, taking a bullet to the arm instead of her taking one to the head. Sophia quickly grabbed the other woman's handgun from where she had fallen after being pushed and shot the man in the jaw, her aim being off by her position on the floor and the fear causing her to fire too soon.

"Pops!" Sophia shouted, scrambling to get to his side.

"Eh, just got a graze to my leg, nothin' I ain't had before," Merle told her as he moved to one of the cars, sliding to sit against the door. "You get hurt, kid?"

"No, but your arm!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" he spat at her as both the pain and irritation started to get to him. "Check and see if there's an exit wound on the back of my arm, would ya?"

"No, there's not. What do I do? What do I do?!"

"Well, you can calm the fuck down for starters," Merle said as he looked at Sophia. "You remember all that damn medical trainin' you fuckin' did with Denise?"

"Yeah?" Sophia said nervously.

"Good. You got your first fuckin' real patient right fuckin' here. You're gonna have to dig the fuckin' bullet out."

"I can't do that!"

"Girly, you're gonna have ta the fuck grow up and get it fuckin' done! I ain't got a hand on my other fuckin' arm to do it!" Merle told her incredulously. "It ain't bleedin' bad. Just get in there and get the damn thing out and stitch it up. Get your fuckin' panties out of a twist, man."

"Pops, I really can't do this," Sophia said, tears in her eyes. "I haven't done anythin' like this."

"Just get in your fuckin' first aide kit, get the damn tweezers and shine a fuckin' light on the bitch. You should be able to see the damn bullet just fine," Merle told her, taking a deep breath and trying to remain as calm as possible, barely managing to contain the tirade of curses his mind had going on since he needed her to stay calm to get the bullet out. "Tell you what, girly. You get the damn bullet out, clean it up, dress it up, it won't need stitchin' up. So you get it done, girly."

It took quite some time for Sophia to manage to get her hands to quit taking shaking before she could even begin to try to get the bullet. She at least managed to get a joint lit for Merle, who claimed it was for pain even though it was for that and to keep from lashing out on Sophia. The man had several stashed in his bag for one reason or another even though he claimed it was for if they found anyone. He claimed plenty of people could use a bit of relaxing on the trip to safety as long as they were good people. She retched a few times when she first put the tweezers inside the wound, having to take a few more minutes before she calmed down enough to set to the task. In a moment of absolute stupidity, Merle offered to let the girl take a hit of his joint when she admitted she hadn't dealt with anything more than abrasions and the like. She'd declined with a look of incredulity that made them both chuckle, but that minor lapse of judgment on his part got her out of her head enough to properly work on the task at hand. As soon as she got the bullet out, she pulled the herbs out of her bag and dressed the wound, thankful that Ani insisted that everyone have a satchel of herbs and a rudimentary first aide kit in their bags.

"The graze ain't bad," Merle said, thoroughly calmed and numbed to the worst of the pain. "Need to clean and bandage it, too, girly."

"I know."

"You did good, girly. You did damn good. Damn proud a ya," Merle told her as he worked his way to standing, pulling the little girl into his chest and hugging her as he rubbed her back.

Sophia clung to Merle as she steadied her breathing even though her whole body felt like it had a case of the shakes when she stepped away from him and went back to pick up her bow. Even if she should feel proud for what she'd been able to do, right now, all she wanted to do was never do that again. The whole reason she'd made the deal with Carl back at the prison that she'd do the hunting if he did the cleaning was because she didn't like seeing the insides she shouldn't be. Having to literally dig around in Merle's bicep to grab a bullet out while the man cussed up a storm and did his best to stay still was not something she ever wanted to repeat. Being at Terminus and everything that she had learned there only made it worse for her when she'd looked at the muscle of his arm. Watching the way was a horrible experience and even as she bent to pick up her bow, she had to quickly turn a different direction to avoid puking on it.

Merle nodded his head as she vomited, commenting, "Yep, I expected that. You froze, though. Can't be doin' that."

"I just...I've always used my bow," she whispered.

"That was gonna change anyway. Still, you did good, girly. Let's get whatever we can from these people. Good thing is, it looks like they're packed relatively well," he said, rummaging through one of the dropped bags. "Might just be startin' out. Don't look like they've done much scavengin'. Here's hopin' we got lucky."

They packed up what they found and hid the bodies well, locking them in the pit where mechanics worked on cars. Merle went out and grabbed the ATV to hide it in the garage while Sophia rummaged through the rest of the packs. She grabbed all the ammo, provisions, and weapons, making sure to retrieve her arrows in the process. A tarp was thrown over the four wheeler before they left the building and started making their way outside in the direction the Savior had been taking them. There were several tall buildings with decent lookouts they could see more from rather close by, though they didn't know which one was the Sanctuary. They made good time getting into a tall building that looked to be an assembly line factory and making sure it was clear. Sophia took the lead to clear it as Merle was limping, but they managed to find an even larger, gray factory across the way with walkers chained to a fence. He told her that the Saviors were most likely holed up in that building and they needed to be very careful from here on in. Upon getting to a higher level in the building where they could see the comings and goings of the Saviors, Sophia realized that Catty wasn't with them. She got really upset until Merle reminded her that the thing was still looking for her sister and they should stay put until the kittens came back to them.

Merle told her to settle down, that he'd take the first watch in case there were any scouts in the area that might come into the building or potentially follow the kittens to their little hideout. Sophia wasn't sure when she fell asleep, but waking up to Merle standing over her with his finger to his lips and his stump on her shoulder was not a pleasant experience. Merle had to give her credit, though; her right hook was as good as Ani's as far as aim and technique as her fist connected with his cheek. The girl might need to get her strength up to pack the same kind of power behind it, but damn did his jaw smarted like a bitch. It didn't take long for her to notice the sounds outside the door, both of them remaining still and silent as the unmistakable sound of clanging sounded further in the building. Merle hauled her to her feet while telling her to make sure she stayed tight on his heel before heading down the stairs. They silently moved through the various items and shelves to look for the source of the noise as it echoed around them. Rounding a corner, neither expected the yowl that erupted underneath Merle's foot, both of them rounding their weapons up and then down towards the floor. Neither hunter had been looking down as they were expecting walkers or Saviors to pop out of nowhere, not cats that swiped at Merle's leg and got him good.

"Damn it, Catty!" Merle said while jumping back just in time to miss the thing biting him as well.

"No! That's Bobby!" Sophia corrected, bending down and picking up the kitten and showing Merle her ear. "Catty doesn't have the spot in her ear like Bobby does!"

"Oh yeah, you're right," Merle said as the other kitten came into view. "Never noticed that before."

"Neither did Ani until I pointed it out," Sophia told him proudly while putting Bobby down and scratching both kittens' heads as they purred away. "Not even she noticed! Though, I think it's because it got bigger little by little. She doesn't really notice little changes as much as she does big ones."

"You see her face in Alexandria when she saw Rick shaved?"

"Yeah! It was like Carl's when she had us eat those grubs!"

Merle full on chortled as he recalled Carl's face during that particular experience, "God, I thought that boy was gonna piss his pants, puke, and kill someone all at once when she told him to eat it."

Sophia laughed with him too, remembering that day, "Yeah, I preferred the dog to the grubs. They were slimy and tasted gross."

"Yeah, well, there's a lot worse she could've had ya try, you know? Never once asked you to eat roadkill."

"You've had roadkill?" Sophia asked him, following him up the stairs to the room they'd started in. the noise having been from the kittens climbing through a broken board elsewhere in the building.

"Had a lot of things. Fished shit out of trash before when I was younger," Merle admitted as he took up post at the boarded up window. "Hell, ate a few things I ain't too proud of while on a bender."

"Like what?"

"Just a lot of dumb shit, girly, that makes me happy I ain't on pills no more. Happy I found out about Ani, too. If it weren't for hearin' her story, hell, I might not be the man I am today. Might not have your Pops to stop you from doin' shit like this alone."

"Thank you," Sophia told him while pulling her own pair of binoculars from her bag.

"For what?"

"For comin' out here. Stoppin' me from being too stupid. I'm sorry I didn't trust you."

"Hell, girl, it ain't nothin' I ain't done before. Ran off more'n once and got myself into trouble. Wound up in juvie more'n I'd like to admit. Left Daryl alone to deal with our dad's shit himself. It's a wonder he even followed me around back then," Merle told her, reaching in his bag and handing over a bag of dried squirrel. "Hell, by the time I was court martialed out of the military and got outta the big house, I had a reputation so big the only thing he could do was stand under it even if I wasn't around. 'Tween me and my daddy, he wasn't even given a chance to be somethin' different."

"You're both different now, though," Sophia pointed out.

"True. But how long you think that's gonna last with them takin' Ani to her parents and doin' who knows what to my baby brother."

"Are those people working with the walkers?" Sophia asked a little while later, pointing out into the courtyard.

Merle raised his rifle to look through the scope as Sophia brought out her binoculars, both looking towards the courtyard where they could see men wearing baggy clothing working with walkers. It looked like they were trying to wrangle the dead onto the fence or poles or chain them to concrete slabs while other walkers pulled and grabbed at them. They watched in horror as another person in the same clothes was brought out and shoved against the fence by one of the Saviors. It wasn't until he began being dragged back inside and they saw the wings on the back of the man doing the dragging. Merle put his rifle down and put his hand on Sophia's shoulder as she gasped while they watched Daryl get dragged back inside. He could tell just how broken Daryl was becoming, his shoulders, which had finally come to show some pride in his stance, were slumped all over again. The Saviors were undoubtedly using Ani against him, but he wouldn't be defeated if it was only that; unwilling to fight, yes, defeated, no. Merle could only assume that he was also feeling guilty over what happened with Glenn since it was his punch that made Negan act out. Not one person blamed him for Glenn's death when even the man himself had tried to take a swing at Negan for threatening Maggie. Merle had a feeling that Negan would have ended up killing someone whether or not they'd all cooperated to begin with.

"Damn, baby brother. The hell they do to you?" he asked as Daryl was moved out of view.

"What do we do?" Sophia asked, looking up at Merle with a hopeful but devastated look.

"Don't look at me like that, girly. They ain't done yet, and neither are we. We'll wait here for a little while longer, rest up for tonight."

"What're we doing tonight?"

"Gonna go do some reconnaissance," Merle told her, sitting down and getting as comfortable as he could while leaning back. "Gonna see where they keep their guards, where they leave from. Once we find know our way in, we'll have their way out."

~x~

It seemed like he had just closed his eyes when Sophia was frantically pushing on his shoulder and calling to him, "Pops! Pops! It's them! We gotta help!"

"What now?" he asked groggily as he stood up and looked back at the window.

In the courtyard below, Daryl and Ani were by the bikes when several people came out of every exit they tried to run to in an attempt to escape. Muttering curses, Merle grabbed his rifle and took aim before he watched as Negan himself stepped out of the shadows. He didn't have a clear shot, unfortunately, and wasn't sure if taking any shots was the right call when the two were surrounded by enemies. Putting his gun back down, he grabbed a hold of Sophia and forced her to look away from the window as Negan and Ani moved at the same time, the extent of what was happening unclear as Negan's bat stilled mid-swing. Repeatedly telling her not to look as the girl began breaking down, knowing at the very least that they were being beat the way he didn't want her watch. Merle looked on as Ani was dragged off by Negan after making one man fall, kicking and screaming, as the group of guys around Daryl closed in. He watched for several minutes as his brother was beat down, his grip on the girl in his arms tightening just a bit as he bit into his cheek and scowled. His anger grew more and more with every fist that connected with Daryl even as he fell on the ground motionless. They kept beating on him for a few more minutes before they carted his unconscious body back into the factory.

"They're all dead. Every last one of 'em," he seethed when he let go of Sophia.

"Are Ani and Daryl...?" Sophia asked while sniffling and wiping her eyes.

"Yeah, a bit worse for wear, but they'll live. Don't you worry. You just didn't need to see it, s'all."

"Why didn't you take the shot?" she asked, looking down and trying not to be too upset.

"There were too many of 'em. Would've compromised our position. I promise you, girly, our chance will come. We just have to wait for the right one."

"How can we keep waiting?!"

"We do, kid. We just do. This is war. You can't go in half-cocked in war. I know what you're feelin', I'm feelin' it too. But we go in without the right circumstances and the right know how, we're dead. Daryl's dead. Ani's dead. This is about gettin' them out alive, right?" he asked Sophia, the girl's own shoulders slumping as she looked down. "Right, Sophia?"

"Right," she said defeated. "What happened?"

Merle looked at her and sighed before telling her the truth, "They beat Daryl good, right until he was knocked out. Ani got a kick in 'fore she got dragged away. I don't see that bein' appreciated none. No, not. At. All."

"What will they do to her?"

"I don't know. Hopefully nothin'. Don't look like they want to hurt her too badly. They might take it out on Daryl, though."

"Will they be okay?"

"No. I don't think they will after this. I'd be surprised if they let each other out of each others sights for a while. When I went missin', what'd they do?"

"I don't know. I know they were constantly together at the farm after me and Ani got lost in the woods. But it was kind of natural, I think? Like, they would do their own tasks separately and then they'd just be together again. And at the prison, when we first got there, too. They were always with each other until you came around. Then they were with each other or you and then they just started doin' their own things after Daryl went after the Governor. But they've been on top of each other at Alexandria, too. Is it really such an odd thing for couples to be like that?"

"Honeymoon phase, sure, but they're way past that. Hell, they're about to have a baby. They're gonna have to spend time apart after the kid's born."

"Do you think the baby is okay?"

"Better be. Might as well get some shut-eye. You're gonna need it for tonight."

They took turns dozing until night had fallen and all activity in the compound across the way seemed to cease, or at least settle down into fewer patrols. Merle reminded Sophia that this was to gather intel and intel alone; they would go back to Alexandria if she tried to pull anything. Under no circumstances were they entering the facility, attempting to enter it, or even going close enough to it to do damage if they saw anyone. They were avoiding anything and everything and simply watching and looking, not making a move. It was important for them to find the entrances and exits, both to the building and the courtyard, so that they could help expedite Ani and Daryl's escape. If something happened that gave them a shot to get the other Dixons back, Merle would give her the go ahead. It didn't matter if the place set on fire or Merle bit it; Sophia was not to go into that building unless he told her to. After getting her promise and reminding her about Ani's policy on promises, they left the building they were in, leaving their bags behind. They spent the night making a crude map of the ways in and out of the compound and how many guards they could tell were posted at each. There was at least one guard to the gates of the compound at all times as far as they could tell, each side patrolled hourly by at least two people. There was only one way in with the vehicles, but three ways out without, but the ones without would require knowing what happened on the inside to be useful. On top of that, the way with the vehicles exited would lead right through the walker field which would make it an even more difficult entrance to get through. Unless someone decided to be lazy with guard duty, it would be difficult for anyone to get in or out without knowledge of the inner layout. They'd moved silently and in a whole circle before coming back around to their original building and headed inside to go over the rough map Sophia had drawn.

"So they can't get out?" Sophia asked him as she slumped by their bags, the kittens coming from somewhere in the building where they'd left them.

"They'll find a way, girly, don't you worry. And when they do, we'll be right there to help. We've got a clear line of the way out with a bike. You know that's what Daryl will go for. We hold here, soon as they're ready to move, we'll move. We'll get 'em. Might take a bit, but we will. Now, you hush up and go to sleep. You look beat."

"I haven't been sleeping."

"Nightmares?" Merle asked her, figuring she was having a rough go at night and being right as she nodded her head. "C'mere. Ya can lean or lay on me while you sleep. Me and the cats, we'll keep you safe while you sleep today."

Together they got comfortable on the floor, Sophia laying on her side with her head on Merle's thigh while Merle had his hand on her shoulder leaning back against the wall. The kittens climbed over them until Catty settled down and Bobby successfully hunted a rat. Merle shook Sophia awake a few times when it became obvious she was having a nightmare until they both ended up falling asleep. It was with a start that they both awoke in the morning to the sound of several motorcycle engines roaring. While Sophia took a moment to wake up and had to rub sleep from her eye, Merle was immediately on alert, turning around to crouch under the window. The vehicles in the courtyard seemed to be readying to depart from the compound, several Saviors hustling around while loading things into the trucks. Daryl was brought out and made to stand next to a big black truck other Saviors were getting into before Negan came out with a few others. Whatever the man said to Daryl made him slump down before he was carted into the back of the truck and the man holding him mounted the bike he had spent so much time building. Negan got into the passenger side of the same vehicle they'd loaded Daryl into before all the engines revved up and the convoy headed out.

"Think this could be it?" Sophia asked.

"Hmm, I dunno. Maybe. Somethin' don't feel right, though," Merle said. "Why would the head honcho take off and leave two enemies behind his lines? I'm bettin' he either has one of 'em with 'im or he's got plenty of hands on deck coverin' the interior. Just hold on for the time bein'. Keep an eye out. If you need more shuteye, get it. We'll figure this all out."

"I don't want to go to sleep. I want to get Ani and Daryl back."

"I know, Phia, I know. So do I. But like I said..."

"...sometimes you gotta wait," they both said in unison, making Merle smirk at her.

"You snarky little bitch. Ain't nothin' gonna go on over yonder for a little while. Why don't you fix us up some grub while we wait, eh? Anythin' happens, I'll let ya know."

They ate some of the meat the Saviors had had in their packs along with a couple apples and biscuits Sophia had packed from home. Ani had taught her how to make them and how to make sure they traveled well, adding a few different herbs to make them even tastier. They might not have butter, but the biscuits weren't overly dry for being a couple days old. She had been smart enough to grab the Saviors' water supply when she grabbed everything else, which allowed them to have plenty of water to drink. The Saviors hadn't had much in the way of fresh things in their packs, but one had homemade pickles in it that they both enjoyed. Another had a bag of mixed nuts that they shared as they watched the comings and goings of the guards, marking down the times each passing patrol came through. Sophia also helped point out the guards who weren't as serious about their jobs as guards while they realized that there were even more soldiers than they expected. Considering the number that had left with Negan and the number they could still see guarding the place on top of manning outposts, Merle gathered that there had to be at least two hundred Saviors in total, if not more. It was going to be exceptionally difficult to go to war with such a large group with a seemingly impenetrable fortress as its base.

"We got movement," he told the girl some time later, making her stand up much to the kittens' malcontent and look out the window.

"Is that Ani?!" Sophia said, her back and shoulders straightening out as she grabbed her binoculars.

"Yeah," Merle said. "Holy shit it is. Damn good to see that crazy bitch up and around."

"Pops!" the girl exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know, I know, girly," Merle chuckled. "Can't say she ain't crazy though. 'Sides, we still can't do anythin' right now. We don't know when they'll be back and that guard is still standin' at the gate. Keep an eye on that gate, though. Soon as a guard ain't on, we take our chance."

"Really?!"

"Well, if a guard ain't on and Negan's out like he is now, might as well. No point goin' in if the Big Man is home."

"Yeah, I guess that makes sense," Sophia said, watching as Ani was pulled back inside.

The convoy came back a few hours later while the pair watched as Daryl was pulled out of the back of one of the cars before Negan yanked something out of his hands. What he said neither of them could quite make out, but they could both see Daryl start pulling against Dwight's hold as Negan laughed and walked away. Daryl was dragged in a different direction all the while mildly resisting his captor's hold until he was out of sight, most likely being taken back to wherever they kept him. Merle guessed that Negan was using Ani and Daryl against each other by threatening one or the other while talking about Ani in a bad way towards Daryl. Hell, as far as he could gather, the man was probably using the baby against them to keep them both in line, too. They snacked on some more fruit and biscuits before taking turns standing guard and watching the goings on of the Sanctuary so they both could get some sleep and still keep watch over night. Merle was less than happy and cussed up a storm the next morning as Daryl was pushed out with a walker to put on the fence line along with another man. They both watched on as another van pulled through the gate and Negan came back out, though neither were using their binoculars or scope until shots rang out. Merle had his rifle aimed while Sophia brought her binoculars up, her hand muffling the yell she almost released as she watched the boy appear out of the back of the truck.

"Carl?"