#twd commonwealth

Through your binoculars, you look down at the large gates to the Commonwealth community. They’re huge, made of concrete, and surrounded by what looks like miles of 20 foot high brick walls. You can see guards stationed along the top, outfitted in tacky looking Stormtrooper armor. Behind the walls, you can just make out the tops of buildings, ranging from multi-level apartment buildings to cathedral looking towers.

Leaning back on the seat of the motorcycle, you lower the binoculars, sighing. You slip the small piece of paper out of your pocket, reading it over for the hundredth time since you received it.

“It’s safe here. The kids miss you. Dog too. Please come. -D”

It’s the only communication you’ve gotten from Daryl since he moved to the Commonwealth, with Judith, RJ, and Dog in tow. You didn’t blame him when he left, but you couldn’t bring yourself to follow at the time. You’ve been a part of too many communities just to watch them fall, and you weren’t ready to do it again. But he needed to keep the kids safe, so you said your goodbyes, keeping the smile on your face until they were out of sight, then letting the tears fall as you spent your first night alone in your house in Alexandria.

But then you received his note from him, and your mind was made up: Daryl wanted you in the Commonwealth with them, so the Commonwealth was where you would go. You place the short letter back into your pocket, rev up the engine of the bike, and drive towards the gate.

You don’t know what you expected - not necessarily a warm welcome, but at least a conversation, right? - but you definitely don’t anticipate the gunfire that takes out the front tire of your bike, sending you flying over the handlebars.

You land hard, slamming onto the asphalt of the road and tumbling to a stop. Your head bounces off of the ground, causing black spots to overtake your vision. Trying to sit up, you become immediately lightheaded, but you push through. Squinting, you try to take account of your injuries; one of your knees is bleeding through a new tear in your jeans, and you’re pretty sure your shoulder is dislocated. Reaching a hand up to your head, it comes away red.

Shit, you think, stumbling to your feet. It takes a few tries but you get there, clutching your messed up arm with your good one.

“Get on the ground!” a voice yells, and you turn to find a small troop of soldiers approaching, weapons raised and aimed right at you.

“Woah, hey, I’m-” you try to explain yourself, but you’re quickly pushed to the ground. You land on your bad shoulder, and a scream rips from your throat. But the soldiers don’t care. Your arms are yanked behind you and your wrists are cuffed, and then one of them shoves a bag over your head, blocking everything from view.

When the bag is pulled off of your head, you’re in a small interrogation room. You’re in a chair, arms still cuffed behind you, and there’s a table and another chair in front of you. Trying to spin to see what’s behind you, you accidentally twist your shoulder, and red hot pain shoots through you. You grit your teeth, refusing to give them the satisfaction of hearing you scream. Hot tears leak from your eyes, no matter how hard you squeeze them closed.

A door behind you opens, then slams closed. Slow footsteps approach, and you can see the blinding white of the man’s stupid armor in the corner of your vision as he moves to the chair on the other side of the table. He sits, the plastic of his armor creaking as he does. The sound of feet shifting behind you indicates that there’s someone else in the room with you. You don’t turn to look; you just glare at the man in front of you.

“Who are you?” he asks in a bland, monotone voice.

You don’t answer. You continue your glaring.

“Who are you?” the man asks again, unperturbed. 

This time, you spit in the man’s face. Wiping it off, he looks past you and nods. Before you can think, a hand grips your hair and shoves your face into the table. There’s a shooting pain in your forehead and you’re seeing stars again.

“Answer the fucking question,” a voice dangerously close to your ear growls, “or this will only get worse. Got it?”

Swallowing, and tasting blood as you do, you nod the best that you can with your head pressed to the metal table. The hand in your hair yanks your head back up, pulling you to the back of the chair. You feel the trickle of something wet down the side of your face. More blood, you suppose. 

“Who are you?” the man in front of you asks again, as if nothing just happened.

You give him your name through gritted teeth. The hand in your hair lets go, but not gently. The footsteps move away again, back towards the door that the men entered from.

“Why are you here?” the man asks next.

“My family’s here,” you answer shortly.

The man in front of you rifles through the papers you hadn’t even noticed he brought in with him.

“We don’t have any citizens that share your last name,” he says dismissively.

“Okay, they’re not like biological, but they’re still my fam-” you try to explain but you’re cut off.

“Who sent you?” he asks over you.

“What? Nobody-”

“How did you get here?”

“On my bike, which you assholes probably destroyed when you shot-” you’re interrupted by a hand in your hair again, yanking your head back.

“Where is your settlement?” the man asks now, standing so that he can still see your face.

You hesitate. The Commonwealth knows about Alexandria at this point. But years in the apocalypse - and multiple times getting captured and questioned, usually courtesy of Daryl - have ingrained a deep fear of providing this kind of information. Too often, giving up your camp meant giving up people’s lives in this world. 

Think of Daryl, you tell yourself. Think of the kids.

Sighing deeply, you finally answer. “Alexandria,” but to keep being snarky, you add, “which I believe you’ve already heard of.” The additional yank on your hair confirms that you got under their skin. 

“Why are you here?” they repeat their question from earlier.

“I already told you,” you snap, “My family.”

“You have no family here.”

This pisses you off. “Who the fuck are you-” This time, the man behind you grabs your shoulder, and you can’t help but scream out at the pain. Your scream echoes through the small room and seemingly into a larger space outside of it. It’s eerily silent as the reverberation of your pain fades out.

“How did you find us?” he asks again.

“Like I said,” you spit out. The man behind you goes to grab your shoulder again but you dodge his hand, hissing in pain as you jostle your own injury. “My family is here. They moved here a few months ago, and he sent me a letter, telling me to come.”

“Who sent you a letter?”

You grin, the blood in your mouth probably making you look crazy.

“Daryl. Daryl Dixon.” 

After what feels like hours of sitting alone in the interrogation room, there’s a commotion outside of the door behind you. A familiar gruff voice yelling above all the rest brings a smile to your lips.

The door flies open, and Daryl is in front of you in a flash. He grabs your chin, gently turning your head from side to side, taking in your injuries.

“‘m so sorry,” he murmurs, pushing your hair out of your face and poking at the gash on your forehead. “You weren’t supposed t’ get hurt.”

“I know,” you reassure him the best you can. “I’ve been through worse.” You yearn to reach out and touch him, but you’re still cuffed.

Daryl’s eyes darken as he stands, addressing someone behind you. “Uncuff her,” he orders them. “Now.” The threat is clear in his voice.

Whoever it is steps forward and undoes your restraints. You try to bring your arms in front of you, but the dislocated shoulder won’t move. You reach for it with your good arm. 

Daryl sees you wince from the pain, then snaps again at the other person in the room, “What the hell, Mercer?”

“This is all a big misunderstanding,” a deep voice answers. You glance over your shoulder, spotting deep orange armor. He must be the guy in charge.

“Ya got that right,” Daryl snaps again.

“She drove right up to the front gate, armed to the teeth. What did you think-”

“I didn’t think y’all would try to kill her,” Daryl cuts the man off, stepping forward to get in the face. You know what’s about to go down, but you just want to get out of this room.

“Daryl,” you say, grabbing his arm with your good hand. “It’s fine, let’s just go.”

He looks down at you, bloody and in pain, then glares back at the large man in orange.

“This isn’t over,” Daryl says through gritted teeth.

“No, I expect it isn’t,” the man answers, before turning to you. “I apologize for how all this went down.”

“Fuck you,” you shoot at him. 

The man sighs in response. “Yeah,” he says, with a low chuckle. “She’s definitely yours,” he says to Daryl before leaving the small room.

You smirk at this. Damn straight, you think.

Smirking too, Daryl turns to you.

“Think you can walk?” he asks, all the anger gone from his voice, leaving just concern for you.

“Yeah, I think-” but when you stand, you become lightheaded again and almost fall. Thankfully, Daryl is there to catch you.

“I gotchu,” he murmurs, hoisting you up into his arms, cradling you, bridal-style. “Let’s go home and get you cleaned up.”

Anna's anxiously looked around, taking in short breaths. The hessian sack on her head prevented her from seeing around her the other captives on the bus and being bound hand and foot restricted her movements. She didn't even know for sure where her father was in the vehicle. She knew they had only caught their people before Daryl managed to get them out of the Commonwealth, but a bag had been put on them before they even set foot on the bus. She was frowning in worry, not knowing what they would do to them, but her main concern was the safety of her two young children, whom had been taken away from her. She winced when someone slightly lifted up the side of the sack and stuck a needle in his neck. She quickly felt the effects of whatever was in that syringue and she blinked profusely to try and not pass out but her eyes didn't open again after a few seconds and her head fell forward. They were all helpess at the hand of Commonwealth soldiers. They were all at their mercy, but the catch was, not all of them were on that bus. They had purposefully separated them, and the only thing Anna was sure of was that her father and Annie were with them. She had no idea where they took the others.

When she woke up, completely disoriented, Anna couldn’t hear any noise. The bus has stopped. She didn’t know if she would have rather preferred to hear that they were still driving. She raised her bound hands and removed the burlap bag. Looking to her left, towards the window, she saw there was only her on her seat. On her right, she recognized her father and Annie’s clothes. A few seconds after she came to herself, something or someone started banging on the bus' sides. That’s when everyone removed the sack on their heads and looked around in confusion. Negan met his daugther’s gaze when Ezekiel asked if everyone was all right but most of them were still too zoned out to give an answer. Anna let out a heavy sigh and leaned on her knees, burying her face in her hands before straightening up, tucking her blonde hair behind her ears. She remembered the screams of protest she had let out and the cries of Adam and Lucille as the soldiers took them away. She was feverish just thinking about it. A random thought popped into her head; she hadn't even told Negan what her daughter's name was yet, but that didn't matter right now.

“One of the trucks is missing.” When Annie spoke, Anna turned her head to her and her father.

“No sign of Gabriel, Maggie or Rosita.” Negan added.

“They’re unloading a bunch of stuff off the trucks.” Anna stood up to see through the windows and had confirmation of Kelly's statement. This whole situation was very odd though not that surprising coming from the Commonwealth.

“Can you see the kids?” At Ezekiel's question, Anna looked at him and Kelly but the latter replied in the negative. She knew they wouldn’t separate them and the kids just to reunite them so soon but she had to admit, she had hoped they were there for a second.

“I was in and out. We stopped for a few minutes. There was a crash.” Annie looked at Negan. “You think that was them?”

“It fits.” He replied quietly, shooting up his eyebrows. “They either bailed, or…”

“Or what?” Before they could continue their discussion, the door of the bus opened. Through the grid separating them from the front of the vehicule, a man stepped in, greeting them.

“Today is the first day of a new beginning. The world works when everyone knows their place.” At this statement, Anna couldn’t help but give a sidelong glance at her father. This was something he used to say a lot when he was the leader of the savior. That was one of his mottos. But this time, none of them were at the top of the hierarchy in the group. She wasn’t the golden, untouchable child and he wasn’t the boss. Negan met his gaze briefly. He had to know why she looked at him and the shame showed on his face. “Your place is at the bottom. All of the resources that we use to bring the old world back into the new and sustain it, it all starts at places like this. You should take comfort in knowing that good people will benefit from your labor here. That is your redemption. That is your salvation. Your children are safe and being attended to.” Anna gave him a death stare. “Play by the rules, you get to see them again. In order to do that, you must work as one. Here… nobody has a name because we have no need for them. I’m not gonna tell you mine, and you will not… address each other by yours.” He paused for a second and opened the grid as he continued to speak. “When I point at you, you stand up. You exit the rear.”

At the same time, a Commonwealth soldier opened the back door of the bus. Anna watched him through the grid behind them. Another then got in the vehicule and opened the grid while the man that just made a speech was pointing at people for them to stand up. Already half a dozen people had walked out when he set his sights on Annie.

“And you.” The silence that hung in the bus got even heavier when he turned to the other side and pointed at Anna. The latter tried her best to hide her worry, but she was freaked out. She had no idea where they brought her children and Annie and her were being separated from Negan, for whatever reason.  He stood up, stepping in the aisle to let Annie get on her feet. Anna stood in turn, and they all faced each other.

“I’m gonna get us out of here. All four of us. I promise.” The child in Anna wanted to hug her dad as tight as she could but she just stared at him until a soldier ordered them out.

“Her name’s Lucille.” Anna said softly before following Annie outside. Before the door was closed behind her, she glanced over her shoulder and saw the look on her father’s face after he realized she told him the name of the newborn daughter she had with Alden. Lucille. Her mother’s name. Maybe Aaron was right. Maybe she really was proud of her.

Anna, Annie and the few others who had been selected had therefore been separated from the others and taken directly to another location. From what Anna understood, it was a Commonwealth outpost, but she couldn't see out of the vehicle's windows which were blurred. It was only when they got off that she realized, despite the night falling and the sky darkening visibly, that it was in fact Alexandria. The houses were still there, the mill too, but with the soldiers in white gear all over the place, it didn't feel the same at all. They really fucked them all up and took over their homes. Thinking of home reminded her of the Sanctuary which must have been in an even worst state now than when her father and her went to see it a while ago. There were times like this when the realization of how fast time was passing by hit her right in the face. The two women were then brought to a house. Anna froze as she looked up. It was Rick’s house. She stared at the stairs leading to the porch, remembering Judith sitting on them, talking to her father who was still locked up in the basement to the side of the house and doing her maths homeworks. She lost her balance and nearly stumbled on the first step when a soldier pushed her forward. She was caught by Annie and just looked up at her, muttering a thank you as they entered the house. They were then brought to a room with two single beds, one right by the door and one in front of the window and heard the door being locked behind her. Anna sat on the second bed and looked outside.

“I know this house.” Annie turned her head towards her as she broke the silence that hung in the room. “I’ve lived here. It was Rick’s house before… Since you know my father so well, you must know about him.”

“Yes.”

“From the little that I knew him, during the six years that my father was locked up, he proved himself to be righteous. A good person, and a good leader. His son, Carl. It’s thanks to him that Rick didn’t just kill me on the spot. He encouraged me to “show the way” to my dad”.” She chuckled, sketching a nostalgic smile hearing Carl say these few words in her head. Her facial features tensed up and she gritted her teeth. “I wanted a father who was present and loving, and who did what was right instead of instegating fear everywhere he went. I thought he could become that person… to be as he was before all this… to be a father more like Rick.”

“He is no longer the man he was at Sanctuary, and he loves you dearly, Anna.”

“I've been through the last 15 years alone with him. I saw him change and you know what's the only difference I see between him nowawdays and how he was in the Sanctuary? Huh? It's that he appears quieter, less scary. He doesnt throw threats around anymore, but I'm not sure this new persona is sustainable for him. Deep down, he’s always been the same, even before. You've only really known him for 6 months, Annie. I’ve known him for about 25 years.” She stared at Annie. “People don’t actually change, and I hope you really know what you signed up for when you joined this family.”

The next day they were brought in separately from the others to work cleaning rails in the middle of the forest. Everyone else were there already. Guards watched them all closely and one of them was standing next to Annie and Anna while they were on their knees in the dirt. When the guard motioned at them to work faster, the two women looked up at him, annoyed. One more comment from him and Anna was going to start a fight, although he was the one holding the gun. She honestly didn’t give a shit if he struck her with it. Getting hurt and having a couple of big bruises on her face was the least of her worries. She paused in her work to redo her low ponytail and stared at the guard in defiance, when a loud noise came from nearby and caught her attention. That's when she saw her father bent double in front of two guards. Annie and she glanced at each other, slowly standing up. He quickly straightened up and shoved the guard away, but the latter pushed him to the ground and kicked him in the stomach.

“Get off of him!” Annie shouted as the two women abandoned their post, running towards them. A guard turned to them, pushing Annie unceremoniously pushing her but Anna caught her before she hit the ground, helping her get back up.

“Know your place, prisoner!” The second Anna let go of her, she landed a punch in his face, but he then grabbed her as she tried to get past him. Anna wished she had her knife right now, she would have stabbed him without a second thought, but she had left it in Alexandria before going to the Commonwealth and seeing what it had become, there was no doubt that someone had taken it. She would retrieve it later. Annie struggled, calling out to Negan and Anna was unable to help and do anything because a guard was holding her at gunpoint, hands in the air. She looked at her father, on the ground, in a similar situation. The guard eventually motioned for her to go back to work and she gave him a death stare, having to comply with his order. She couldn’t wait for the roles to be reversed.

A little later, they were brought back to Alexandria for lunch but neither Anna nor Annie was allowed to eat with the others and were once again separated and kept apart. They ate and were locked back into their room. Anna was fuming, her arms crossed, walking back and forth in front of the window, dragging her feet while Annie rested on her bed. She briefly stopped in her tracks, looking behind her when the door opened and she saw a guard lead her father into the room. He then went to stand by the doorframe. Negan crossed his daughter’s gaze but she turned her back to him, looking out the window and hearing him sit on the chair by Annie’s bed, she looked at him out of the corner of her eye. He softly grabbed her hand hanging off the bed, and she must have been sleeping so soundly that she awoke with a slight start. She smiled at the sight of her husband.

“Are you okay? You’re not hurt?”

“I think you got the worst of it.” He chuckled.

“How’s the little one?” Anna looked away. She could blame her dad all she wanted, but she couldn't be angry at an unborn child for how her relationship with her dad turned out. She loved her father too much to really hate him but resented him too much to forgive him and this vicious circle had been going on for years, hurting the both of them in the process. Annie sat up on the bed.

“Just kicked me so hard I almost rolled off the bed.”

“Gonna be a badass, just like Mama.” If she could have, Anna would have just walked out of the room but it wasn’t an option so she listened with only hald an ear.

“We’re gonna get out of here. We will.”

“Yeah. I know. I know we will. I am working on it.” This comments her father made got her interested and she turned around.

“Is that what you were doing back there on the tracks? Working it “your way”?”

“Hey, old habits die hard, I guess.” Anna scoffed and sat on her bed. She knew what she told Annie was true. He might no longer be the Negan he was at the Sanctuary, but he didn’t thoroughly change either. Hearing her behind him, her father looked at her over his shoulder.

“But we can’t. I am gonna meet this baby, and so are you.”

“Yes.” He said quietly, nodding. “Yeah. Hey, Annie, I would never risk us.”

“What did the warden say to you?” Annie lowered her voice.

“Don’t worry about it.”

“That bad, huh?” She cracked a tight smile.

“I’ve known men like him my whole life. Hell, I used to be him.”

“In that case, no wonder everyone hated you.” As the two started laughing, leaning their heads together, Anna pursed her lips to suppress an amused smile. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a guard approaching the one standing at the door. The one who had just arrived leaned into her ear, whispered a few words and the two men exchanged a look in Anna's direction. She frowned.

“I will handle him.” He then assured. “Okay?”

“Sure.” The guards eventually put an end to the reunion, calling Negan out of the room. He stood up, heading for the door when one of them pointed at Anna.

“You too, let’s go.”

“What? What do you want with her?” Negan enquired, hiding his worry for his daughter behind the confusion that read on his face. Anna knew they were going to call her but not knowing why was the part she really didn’t like. She got on her feet, walking past Annie’s bed and briefly putting her hand on her father shoulder.

“None of your business, prisoner. Bring him back.” He then ordered the first guard and the latter nodded, motioning for Negan to follow him down the corridor. He wasn’t reassured for his daughter and gave her a concerned look as he walked away. She watched him until he disappeared from sight, and she followed the guard to a door. He was wallowing in an annoying silence, refusing to answer her questions and tell her what she was doing here, and she was therefore surprised to find herself in the Warden's office. He made her sit on the chair. On the other side, the warden watched her from his seat, leaning on the desk, his hands clasped. She shook her shoulder to make him remove his hand and crossed her arms, slightly slumped in her chair.

“Annabelle Smith.” He straightened up, looking down at a couple document spread before him.

“I thought we didn't do names around here.” He chuckled at her remark, looking up at her.

“We do, when we find your name on a box full of vials of blood, properly stored at the bottom of a fridge in the infirmary.” She had totally forgot about the blood Siddiq had drawn from her. It was over a year ago and she thought they would have discarded all those old vials. If it really was at the back of a fridge, probably hidden by other stuff, they had probably overlooked it.

“I’m a universal donor.” She shrugged, trying not to let it show that she had been unsettled. Neither he nor anyone in the Commonwealth was to find out that she was immune to the virus. She had managed to hide the origin of her ugly scar on her calf for six months, she couldn't let him find out the truth. The answer she gave wasn’t really a lie anyway, she was actually a universal donor and he would only need to check her blood type in the files from the Commonwealth hospital.

“You have no equipment here to do transfusions.”

“Alexandria—”

“Outpost 22. There is no Alexandria anymore.” Anna sketched a tight smile and bit her lip.

“Alexandria…” She stressed every syllable of the camp’s original name. “suffered many losses because of all the attacks we went through. Both human and material losses.”

“Right, right.” He wasn’t convinced by the excuses she gave him but still dismissed her, reviewing the papers as the guard led her back to her room before locking it for the rest of the day. She just hoped he would never find out why they had drawn blood from her, or she would become the Commonwealth’s rat lab in the blink of an eye.

All the prisoners in the outpost were suddenly awakened in the middle of the night and dragged across the camp towards the mill. Annie and Anna were escorted by guards, looking around in confusion. Nobody knew what the cause of all this could be. They narrowed their eyes when a spotlight came on. Anna noticed that only, Annie, Ezekiel and her were held by guards, while the rest of the prisoners were only led towards the mill. She frowned, now starting to wonder where her father was because she realized he was nowhere to be seen.

“There is a traitor in our midst.” The warden appeared in front of the crowd. He walked up to Ezekiel and stared at him as he continued. “Someone who thinks he’s above the rules. This prisoner has admitted to spearheading a rebellion.” Anna first thought he was talking about Ezekiel, but he turned his head to the side and that’s when she saw her father, handcuffed and held by the arms by two guards who dragged him right in front of everyone. Shock was quickly replaced by anger, and she struggled against the guards holding her but all she got was their grip on their arms getting tighter. “Any co-conspirators will be given the benefit of the doubt. I trust they were not acting of their own free will. So only he will be punished. But it’s important that you’re all here to see. To remember.”

“Negan!” Anna wartched Annie take advantage of the guards being distracted and she ran towards him but was caught halfway. Anna was so conflicted with her emotions that she froze for a moment and didn’t have much reaction. Her father was going to be executed for steering up a rebellion. There had to be something she could do. No matter how much she resented him for letting her down, she refused to lose her father after all she had been through. She wanted to run to her father, even if she would get caught before she reached him as happened with Annie, but the guards were already holding her so tight that she could barely move her arms. Anna stared at her father, her lips were trembling, and tears welled up in the corners of her eyes as she furiously as she stubbornly wiggled her arms around to get the guards to let her go. When her father looked directly at her and mouthed “I love you” was the straw that broke the camel's back, and a tear ran down her cheek.

“Get him on his knees.”

“No. No!” Anna cried out. She managed for a brief moment to free herself from the guards that held her and ran but these same guards quickly caught up with her and stopped her next to Annie.

“This is what happens when you forget your place.” While he kept shouting the guards pushed Negan on his knees. Thoughts raced through Anna's head. She had to try something and stop her father from being executed before her eyes. She was still angry with him, but she wouldn’t let him die. Annie was crying and screaming at them not to do this.

“No. Wait! Please!” She tried calling out to the warden to get his attention and delay the execution and she thought he heard her when in reality he was looking at both Annie and her because her father had smirked at him defying his authority in front of everyone.

“There are no martyrs here.” He grabbed Anna and Annie himself and dragged them towards Negan. When he realized it, his cocky smile had completely disappeared and he yelled at him.

“That wasn’t our deal!” He stood up, trying to argue and protest but he was forced back onto his knees.

“You will feel this punishment!” The warden then walked away. Anna was aware that this was her last chance to do something, but now she had to try and save the three of them, not just her father. As he got the soldiers ready to fire, Anna called out to him again, struggling against the guards to get on her feet. He glanced at her and she knew she only had a split second to make sure she really caught his attention and keep it on her for as long as she could and the idea that had popped in her head might be her only chance. If she could surprise him enough to unsettle him, it might work. He frowned slightly, clasping his hand behind his back. No one knew what Anna had in mind and they were all looking at her, muttering to each other. Her father was staring at her. He looked confused for a few seconds but somehow quickly understood what she had planned to do to try to save his life and as she spoke again, she saw him shaking his head, mouthing a silent no. “I have something to tell you.”

“I do not have time to play games.” He approached.

“Anna, no. Please. Don’t do this.” Her father mumbled to her, trying to reason with her but she was already determined to go as far as necessary to try and stop this.

“You're going to want to hear this, believe me.” She tried to convince him to listen to her and she saw a glimpse in his eyes confirming to her that she had succeeded. She tried to get up, but the guards pushed down on her shoulders to keep her on her knees. The warden briefly waved his hand and they let go of her. She stood up. It was a start, even though she still had her wrists tied behind her back. Anna knew that out of everyone around them, only those who had known her for a long time would believe her next words, and it suited her that she could be seen as a liar by people. Hiding her immunity in plain sight was the right move.

“So, speak. What are your last words, prisoner?” He urged her.

“You know the vials you found, the ones labelled with my name. You asked me what it was for. I lied to you, sir.” Out of the corner of her eye, she saw her father's face crumple with worry. Annie was looking at her with her eyes glassy with tears, her cheeks wet. “I'm a universal donor, it's true but that's not why all this blood was drawn.”

“Get to the point. Now.” He was starting to show some annoyance, so she cut her story short.

“If you let them go, I’ll tell you.” She tried negotiating as a last resort.

“I see what this is. If you think your tall tale will interest me...”

“I’m immune to the virus. That’s why.” Her declaration was so sudden that he frowned, taken aback. Some near her had their eyes widened, like Annie and Anna's peers, in shock while the others were glancing at each other dubiously, whispering. Anna gulped as the warden motioned for a guard to bring her to him. He tugged so suddenly on her arm that she almost lost her balance.

“No one is immune. You will die first for wasting my time. Turn her around.” She was turned to face Annie and her father and felt a chill down her spine when she heard a gun click near her ear. Negan started shouting, telling them not to do this and to take him and only him instead. Anna took a couple deep breaths.

“Aim—”

“I have proof! I can show you I’m not lying!” After a few seconds, the gun was lowered and the warden appeared in her field of vision and came to stand right in her face. He stared her down, silently giving her a few seconds to explain herself before she was shot.

“I… I need my hands to show you.” He raised his hands, nodding at a guard. She was held her at gunpoint in case she tried anything and Her restraints were removed and she massaged her wrists before crouching down to grab the bottom of her jeans. She pulled it up her calf in a hem and took her boot off, revealing the nasty scar left by this walker. Even healed and about 7 years old, the bite from that walker that had ripped a good chunk of flesh from her calf had left a large scar and it was just as Siddiq had told her it would be. Nasty looking. This time she wasn’t lying to the warden but it was a possibility that he would believe it wasn’t a walker bite. She straightened up and rotated her leg so the warden could see the scar in the light of the spotlight at the top of the windmill. People audibly gasped in the crowd.

“It could very well be a human bite. Stop trying to take me for a ride. All right, that’s enough.” He tilted his head forward in a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose, and motioned to the guards around her to bring her back to her knees next to her father and Annie. Anna wasn’t even given time to put her shoe back on and the guards held her arms in her back, restraining her again. They were holding her arms so tight that she winced at the pain and she was pushed forward and forced to get back on her knees. She had tried to play her last card and it hadn't worked, and now the three of them were going to be executed. She didn't care that everyone knew about her immunity. What bothered her to make her stomach churn and drop was that her two children would grow up without their mother. They had already lost their father, she refused to abandon them but she was powerless in this situation. She followed her father’s gaze when he addressed one of the guards holding them at gunpoint.

“You. You have a family. Don’t do this. Please.”

“I said ready!” The warden insisted.

“Leave them! Take me! Just take me! Please.” As he pleaded, begging them to let Annie and Anna go, the latter noticed Ezekiel step forward, his arms in the air. “What are you doing?”

“I don’t know.” He stood in front of them, his arms stretched to the sides. Soon, more of their people joined him. Magda, Kelly, Nabila, Princess and so on. They all came to stand by his side to form a barrage, shielding the three of them from the guards.

“I admire your bravery, prisoners. Shoot them all.” He then ordered before stepping aside. Anna and Annie moved closer to Negan, fear in their eyes. They couldn’t see what was happening on the other side of the wall built by their peers.

“You don’t have to do this! This world is broken, but we don’t have to be.” Ezekiel’s statement was followed by a heavy silence. A shot rang out and the warden grabbed Kelly, holding a gun to her temple. Magda called out to her. He stepped back and suddenly let out a grunt. As his body crumbled to the ground, the light revealed Daryl and Connie behind him. Kelly hugged her sister, relieved. Negan, Annie and Anna’s ties were cut and the young woman finally got her shoe back. She quickly put it on and rolled down her jeans, concealing the scar once again. She was alerted by loud noises and looked to the side. Her father had picked up and violently thrown the warden to the ground and was about to bash his head in with a stone when Rosita’s voice rose. Gabriel rolled the man onto his back as Rosita strode forward, gun in hand. She tossed it to Gabriel and crouched down. Anna watched her as she enquired of her daughter's whereabouts. If he knew where Rosita's child was, he surely knew where her own children were so she listened.

“Where is she?!” She shouted but his only response was a smirk so she punched him in the face and stood up. Nearby, a guard who had gotten killed was coming back so got a hold of him and dragged him to the warden, putting the walker just above his head. “Where the hell is she?! Tell me where she is! Where is she?!”

“You will lose everything.” He dared to smile so she pushed the walker on him, and he screamed at the top of his lungs as the dead bit his eye and pulled it out of its socket. Anna stared him down, gritting her teeth. It didn’t matter if he preferred to mock them, Rosita and her would find their kids, without his help.

Anna had recovered the knife that had been confiscated from her. She had it on her belt and held the handle firmly, running her thumb over the notches of the blade. She watched Gabriel talk with Tyler, asking if he knew where they could find the kids that were still missing, which included Rosita’s daughter and Anna’s two children. Anna looked around Alexandria. The Commonwealth soldiers had been tied up and seated in line, since last night's critical situation. They got more scared than hurt in the end, but the young woman had thought that she, her father and her stepmother were really going to be shot in the head, their knees in the dirt, right there and then. With everything that had happened since her dad's surprise return, she was starting to want to give her dad a second chance, but she swore to herself that it would be the last time she would wipe the slate clean and forgive him for hurting her like that.

“Let’s go! Come on! Now!” Rosita urged everyone to get on the bus. Anna met her father's gaze. He was standing behind the bus and watched Maggie walk away from him. He tried to give Anna a sweet look, but she turned her head and got on the bus when she saw Annie coming towards him. She could see he wanted to try and make up to her after leaving her on her own when she needed him most and she wanted to somewhat forgive him because she loved him but it was difficult getting past the hard feelings she felt towards him for this very reason. She had lost everyone close to her, except for him. Their relationships had known so many highs and lows in the past few years. If Alden was still here, she might have had less anger and resentment but he was dead and her father disappeared without even saying goodbye. For now, her priority was to find her son and daughter. She would think about whether or not she wanted to mend her relationship with her father later. Once she had Adam and Lucille back, she would make her choice.

After the bus ride, they boarded a train. Before getting on the same wagon as her father, she briefly talked with Gabriel, who reassured her and assured that they would get their children back. She just thanked him and got on another wagon, which happened to be the same her father got on. There was also Ezekiel and a few others. Anna let out a heavy sigh as she sat down in a corner, leaning against a couple of piled up crates. Her nervous fingers quickly found the pendant around her neck, and she closed her hand on it, letting her head fall against the wall behind her. After staring off into space, lost in thought for a moment, she was snapped out of her reverie by the voice of Ezekiel, who had just sat down on a trunk nearby, right in front of Negan. Her face was hidden by the boxes next to her, only her legs were sticking out. She listened to their exchange.

“I never thanked you. For getting in front of those rifles. Thank you.” From where she was, Anna couldn't see the faces of the two men as there was silence. “Why did you do it?”

“A lot of reasons.” Ezekiel answered his question vaguely, before pursuing. “Dying a martyr… is too easy. You living, making something positive out of your days, now that… That’ll keep me from giving in to anger. Over what I lost. I don’t want to live out whatever days I got left in bitterness. You know? I’m not even supposed to be here, man. The dead came for me… and yet I smile. War came for me, yeah?.. Yet I smile. Cancer... Yet I smile. I try to, anyway. Anna straightened up a bit and tried to glance at Ezekiel but he was out of her sight, she could only see her father, sitting on the ground across from him. He sketched a smile and tilted his head forward, looking sad and regretfull. “So… So why’d you tell the warden your name instead of mine?”

“For my wife… For my daughter… and my unborn kid. To leave a better story about me than the one you’ve been telling. That when it mattered… I did something right.” Anna bit her lip, letting her face fall into her hands and silently shed a tear and a single tear turned into silent crying as he spoke. She still felt, deep down, like that teenager who had left her father behind years ago. She had tried to go against him to make him change and she realised that, to a certain extent, he had changed. Never would she have thought that the Negan she knew, the one she saw turn into an authoritarian leader of the Saviors, would want to make things right. Maybe he did actually regret leaving her when she was at her worst. Maybe he wasn’t lying about that. “And it wasn’t to prove anything. It wasn’t to get anything in return. Hell it wasn’t to save my own ass. It was to save all of you. You all are better than me. And if you think I don’t know that… then you haven’t been paying attention.”

When she heard him walk away, Anna lifted her head, wiping her tears and got up, stepping out from behind the crates. He hadn’t seen her stand up and as he walked away, she met Ezekiel's gaze. The latter gave her a tender smile and she followed her father to the back of the car. She eventually tried to call out to him but her lips moved without making a sound and when she did make a sound, it was as loud as a whisper. She closed her eyes and sighed.

“Dad…” He stopped in his tracks and turned around. Eyebrows raised, eyes unsure of what to say, he looked at her, looking almost worried to hear what she wanted to say to him. Running her hand through her blonde hair, she didn't really know what to say either and crossed her arms. “I- I don’t know if I can forgive you yet, but… I don’t want to be cold and distant with you forever. If you have something to say, I’ll listen to you now.”

“Anna… I will apologize to you for everything forever because I am truly sorry. I made so many mistakes… I should have cherished the child Lucille left me and instead, I fucked it all up. I made poor choices and it’s all my fault that you’re angry with me. I don’t know how to make it up to you but I will try ‘till the day I die, apple pie.” He spoke softly, and despite trying to keep it together, she saw the hurt and regrets in his eyes and it moved her deeply. He seemed to mean what he said. She assured to Annie that people don’t change and swore by the quote saying that what’s bred into the bone comes out in the flesh but she came to the realization that, though people don’t change, they can evolve and be better.

“You have one last chance but if something like when you left me all alone after Alden died happens again, that's it, you're done, and you can live the days you have left in regret. I won't come back. I- I can't, cause if I do, we'll be back to the same vicious cycle than at the Sanctuary and I can't go through that again.” She shook her head, letting her arms fall to her sides. “Alden left me with a toddler and a baby, I don't want to put them through this.”

“I want to make things right... Be there for you, and your children. I have to do this for you, and for Alden. He was there for you when I wasn't.” Anna swallowed, looking away as tears were already welling up. She hadn't had such a conversation with her father in a long time, if she ever had one before, which she couldn't even remember, and it was very telling of how they relationship used to be. It made her emotional to see how good things could be. She tried to stay where she was, but one look at her father, who was so watery-eyed and on the verge of tears, she let herself hug him. She rested her head on his shoulder and closed her eyes.

Once arrived at their destination, the group got off the train and slipped between a fence and a line of shrubs. Commonwealth soldiers stood nearby. The survivors watched them silently through the foliage, crouched down. Across from them was a door they needed to access.

“Hey, we are sitting ducks. He ain’t coming and we can’t wait.” Negan stated.

“Guys, please. Mercer’s gonna show up.” Princess assured.

“We’re running out of time.”

“I’m gonna head around, try to find another way to slip in.” Carol looked at Daryl before leaving them.

“There’s only four of them. We could take them.” Maggie then said.

“Those guards go missing, clock’s ticking on us.”Rosita softly shook her head, glancing behind her at said guards.

“Hey.” Judith quietly called out to them, getting their attention. The whole group got silent, seeing the guards approach the bushes. Holding their breaths they watched them but they were called via their walkie-talkie and ordered to move away from the area to go wherever, which was extremely convenient for Anna and the others. The four guys in white gear jogged away, clearing the way for them to cross. “I think we’re good.”

“You sure?” She glanced back and nodded to Daryl. This was their chance. They slowly stood up and walked to the door, looking around them, on their guards while Gabriel broke the door’s lock with the butt of his machete gun. He stepped aside, letting Maggie take the lead and they all followed her inside the building. Anna clutched her weapon, brandishing it in front of her as she followed Rosita's footsteps, her father behind her. She was increasingly anxious to finally find her children.  They carefully made their way through the sewers under the Commonwealth, on the look out. There was a heavy silence hanging over them as they reached a ladder on the wall. One after the other, they climbed up and got into the train station of the Commonwealth. The hall was completely empty but none of them were reassured though. Anna came through the door with Maggie, her father, Daryl and Judith. Their eyes slid over the walls around them, surveying every square meter of the place, intently.

“What’s wrong?” Judith inquired to ask Daryl, seeing the apprehensive and sceptical look on his face.

“Something ain’t right.” Anna looked at him, following his gaze behind them and she noticed the doors were padlocked with large chains. He instantly yelled out to everyone to get down and shots rang out. The first few to have set foot in the hall were shot on the spot. Blood spurted out and their bodies fell heavily to the ground. Anna immediately crouched down, watching their comrades being killed in front of them with wide eyes. The shooting continued for a hot minute as everyone ran in different directions to hide, screaming and trying to shoot back at the attackers. Anna tried to shoot in turn, taking cover behind the corner of the wall but her father pulled her back and put her behind him to keep her away from the gunfire. She clenched her jaw, side eying him but didn't argue. Right now, wasn’t the time to act like an angry teenager. They were in the middle of a shooting in the hall of a train station. She still managed to get a few hits at the guys above them. Suddenly, a high-pitched scream sounded, and it was as if time had stopped. Everyone turned and Daryl was kneeling on the ground, hunched over Judith, unconscious. Anna stared at the little girl and was shaken out of her torpor when she heard Daryl urging them to go. The latter looked across the room at Ezekiel and motioned for him to throw the fire extinguisher into the air. He shot at it with his handgun and a cloud of smoke spread across the room, giving them enough cover to get out. This whole thing went sideways in a matter of minutes.

They rushed out of the building and were practically running down the street, with Daryl carrying the poor Judith. Anna stuck by her father’s side. Huge army trucks pulled up ahead of them, blocking the street. Ezekiel made them take a turn, but another truck came. They stopped in their tracks, not knowing where to go when Carol realized something.

“They’re not following us.” The guards were setting up barriers with barbed wire on top across the streets as if to keep something out of town when Anna heard gunfire not far from them. A group of troopers was shooting in the air, leading a herd of walkers.

“They’re penning us in!” Ezekiel shouted.

“What the fuck?”

“Wha—” Anna looked at her father, not knowing why he was confused but she quickly saw what puzzled him this much. A walker had just effortlessly climbed onto a dumpster. She had never seen an undead able to do something like this but the main concern at the moment was the fact that they were trapped. Herds of walkers kept coming from each of the streets surrounding them.

“Move! Move!” Daryl yelled at the lot of them.

“Cut ‘em off! We got that alley.” She pointed at an alley with a DELIVERIES sign up on the wall. They would have to clear a path to get to it because walkers were walking up to them from the very street they had to cross. Everyone shot at them, including Anna, while some stabbed the dead in their rotting skulls. Carol let Daryl get through and he ran down the alley while they were surrounded by the walkers. Anna was trying to stay calm, but it brought back a lot of bad memories. She saw herself again, barely 18, having to cross the courtyard in front of the Sanctuary with her father and Gabriel, her clothes covered in smelling and bloody guts as a dead man grabbed her arm and dug his dirty, chipped nails into her arm. But the wound he had left her was far from being the most traumatic thing that happened that day, it was this feeling of being oppressed by this crowd of walking corpses, growling in her ears. With these memories flashing before her eyes, she continued to stab the dead with her knotched knife, shooting at them and blowing up their skulls, but a great distress could be read on her face. A sudden, bloodcurdling cry alerted Anna, and she saw a dead man rip a large chunk of skin from the arm of a woman who was screaming at the top of her lungs, Luke calling out to her. He came to her aid and tried to escape the situation but he was pushed to the ground and bit as well. Anna's jaw dropped in horror. She turned her back to them when she felt a hand grab her arm, and in a panic, she sliced ​​the undead's wrist with a couple blows of her knife and stumbled as she stepped back, jerking her wrist to knock the decrepit hand off. She wore her leather jacket so he would have had a hard time getting to her skin but she didn’t really want another wound to add to her collection. She already had a nasty bite scar on her calf, another one was really not necessary. While Luke was pulled away by their friends, the woman he tried to save disappeared under the undead eating at her. In a concert of gunshots and loud growling and with a lot of the walkers busy with the poor woman they caught, the group managed to get to the alley to get away from there. Another undead got a hold of Anna’s arm and she let go of her gun, which hanged around her shoulders with a strap. She jumped back, her knife almost falling from her fingers when her father saw what was happening. He put his shoulders around and pulled her with him. The dead man only let go at the last moment, leaving long scratches  on the back of his hand, filling with blood in seconds. Anna clenched her teeth, her hand tensing up and she ran away with the group, her father not letting go of her until they were far away from the herd.

The group then went in opposite directions, Maggie, Negan and the others leaving for the hospital with the wounded and Anna, Rosita, Eugene and Gabriel searching the houses, attempting to find the children of the two young women. Pushing the door of the building unceremoniously, they entered, brandishing their machete guns in front of them. After escaping the dead, Anna had tried to quickly clean the shallow wounds he left her with water and bandaged her hand. Walkers were kneeling over dead bodies lying on a floor covered in blood. Knowing her children could be in this place turned her stomach upside down, making her anxiety go through the roof. In the distance, a child suddenly wailed. Rosita and Anna ran down the hallway to their left, rushing to where the crying was coming from. Rosita single handedly killed the two walkers in the room and lifted the crib under which were two baby girls, Rosita's daughter and Anna's infant daughter. At the sight of Lucille, Anna dropped to her knees, holding her in her arms. She was crying, her cheeks soaked wet with tears. Gabriel and Eugene arrived in the room, relieved to have found the two kids but one was still missing. Anna stepped out in the hallway, looking around restlessly, screaming her son’s name.

“Anna— Anna, give her to me.” She turned to Gabriel, standing in the doorway, holding out his hand to her. Kissing Lucille’s forehead, she gave the little girl to the priest. She left her knife at her belt and gripped her gun tightly, rushing into each and every room there was in the hallway, kicking the doors down. Every time, there was at least one walker roaming around in there but at some point she heard quiet crying. She knew it was him. She smiled as she held her son in her arms, having finally gotten both her children back. They were her only family, all she had left of the love Alden and her had for each other, and she couldn't bear to lose them. She came back to the room where they found Lucille and Coco. A man’s voice rose from Gabriel walkie talkie and he stood up.

“We got Mercer. Any updates on the kids?”

“We found them.”

“Oh, thank God. We’ll see you at the hospital.”

The red truck in which they had taken refuge could not serve as their shelter for long. With the children in baby carriers strapped to their backs and chests, the four accomplices abruptly opened the rear doors of the vehicle, shooting down the walkers in front of them, trying to fight their way out of there, and all this while trying their hardest to keep the children safe. They desperately looked around them, standing back-to-back, searching for a way out of this situation. They got surrounded, stuck in between a building and the side of the truck. Rosita urged Eugene to go up a pipe running down the wall.

“You first!” He argued.

“Damn it, Eugene! Go! I’m right behind you!” He eventually started to climb up. Gabriel stood by, keeping the dead at bay so they would have time to get out. He let Anna go after Eugene. She had her baby wrapped around her chest while the priest carried her son on his back. Her shoes were slipping on the bricks of the facade while she climbed somehow. She was helped through an opening by Eugene, and they were joined Gabriel. The two men crowded into the frame, leaning out of the window, reaching out to help Rosita who was struggling to reach them, the dead swarming beneath her feet. Anna stood behind them and watched them, her brows raised with anguish. She couldn't see what was going on with Rosita but when she heard them screaming out her name, fear washed over her face. She understood their peer had fallen from the pipe but a few seconds later, she could hear sounds of struggle and gruntings. Less than a minute later, the two men urged her to jump to them. Anna lifted her head, getting on her tippy toes, trying to look out when she saw Rosita standing on the truck. She took a chance and managed to get a hold of the pipe and she got in. Anna let out a sigh of relief upon seeing her and stroke Lucille's head, gently.

Shortly after night fell, the group of survivors had taken refuge in a quet shed along the train tracks that criss-crossed the Commonwealth. Everyone was exhausted after all these events. Rosita and Anna were each with their small children; the latter were particularly tired. Judith had survived her gunshot wound and was lying drowsily on a stretcher. Anna was sitting on a bench against the wall, at the end of the quet. Adam next to her, the little boy's head on his knees and the little one sleeping against her in her ring sling, the young woman let her gaze wander into space. From the corner of her eyes, she could see Mercer glancing into the distance with a pair of binoculars. She was snapped out of her thoughts when her father came to sit next to her. After the heart-to-heart conversation they had on the train earlier today, it was a bit awkward, especially for him. One hand resting on her, and the other stroking her son’s hair, Anna turned her head towards her father.

“Do you want to hold her?” He couldn't hide a slight surprise at her proposal, but he clearly didn't want to say no. Anna gently picked up the infant without waking her up and placed her in Negan's arms. His face softened when Lucille opened her eyes and stared at him. A smile tugged the corner of his lips as he looked back at the little girl fondly. This time spent in their little bubble came to an end when Mercer urged everyone to get in the cars. They still had to get Judith to Tomi, a surgeon. The latter was waiting for them in a safe house that had been set up in the estates of the Commonwealth. The doctor took care of the young girl as soon as she was in the house and urged everyone to give her time and space. Anna had moved into a room with Adam and Lucille. She lay back on the bed, staring at the ceiling for a few seconds before reaching for a bag laying at the foot of the nightstand. Inside there were some of her belongings, children's clothes and a notebook in which she had slipped drawings and portraits that she had made. She grabbed this last object and grabbed a portrait of Alden which she placed in front of her on the bed after straightening up and sitting cross-legged. With a sigh, she removed her necklace, opened the pendant, revealing the two old photos inside and placed it next to the drawing.

“Daddy.” Anna looked up from the drawing when Adam exclaimed as he put his hand on the paper.

“Yes. It’s your daddy.” She chuckled and nodded. The little boy crawled on the bed to come and sit next to her. The smile on her face quickly faded away and tears filled her eyes. She put the drawing back in the notebook when a drop fell in the corner. “Adam. I want you to listen to me, okay? Your daddy… your daddy died. He— he’s not coming back.”

She wasn’t sure if the 2-year-old boy truly understood what these words meant but she couldn’t keep it to herself. The news of Alden's death had felt like someone had ripped her heart out and she didn't know if the pain would ever fade but she couldn't lie. It didn't matter if he didn't comprehend what it meant yet. She would gently remind him and Lucille of Alden every now and then, so they wouldn't forget him and one day they would understand what death meant and would come to terms with it. Maybe she would manage to come to term with this as well and go through with her own grief, but her heart would probably never open to anyone else like it did for him. Thinking about it, she realized she would rather never fall in love ever again than take the risk of going through such a heartbreak again. Even though it would never be the same. Alden and her had known each other for quite a while before they became romantically involved with each other.

The young woman stayed in the bedroom, resting with her children while most of her peers were still gathered in the great room. A few years back she would have jumped at the chance to assist her friends and be at the heart of the action but that night, she wanted to stay out of everything that was going to happen. She would join them if they really needed her, but she preferred to watch from afar. Outside, she sometimes heard gunshots in the distance and upon glancing out the window before returning to rest, she had seen Pamela in the midst of a group of Commonwealth troopers who were gunning down anyone tempting to climb the perimeter walls of the property. She let her own people crowd against the gate, denying them safety from the walkers that invaded the city. After thinking for a moment that seemed like an eternity, Anna managed to fall asleep for a few minutes, but it was such a light sleep that she was quickly awakened from her nap by noises outside. The townspeople vehemently shook the gate, so hard that Lucille began to cry. She took the baby in her arms, trying to calm her down while quietly watching what was happening outside. On the other side, Mercer and the other survivors were facing Pamela and her minions.

Eventually, Lucille stopped crying, but she was no longer the center of her attention. Anna watched Gabriel walk toward the gate before being held at gunpoint by a soldier but after a few seconds, everyone lowered their weapons. It seemed her friends managed to rally the troopers to their side and Mercer stepped forward and handcuffed the Governor. The gate was then opened, and people started to run as the herd came dangerously close to them. When they closed the gate, the dead were already almost at the doorstep. Anna was kind of glad that she chose to stay out of this because it seemed like a mayhem outside. She frowned, squinting when she noticed Pamela advancing slowly towards the dead who were stretching their arms through the gate. One of them grabbed her by the shoulder, pulling her towards him but someone shot him in the head. It was Maggie, which was somewhat surprising given she wanted the woman dead. From what she gathered, Maggie would never have let her live and she thought that maybe, her father had something to do with her change of heart.

The next morning, the sun rose over a half-burning Commonwealth. The dead had been lured to Pamela's house which had been filled with fuel barrels. Anna had slept through the rest of the night and although it wasn't particularly restful with the music and the explosions, but it had helped her recover well from the events of the past few days. Now that Pamela had been arrested and imprisoned and the herd dealt with, hopefully things would calm down. After waking up, she brought her kids to the living room and went on a stroll outside. Walking around the house, she heard Maggie speaking to her father and stopped behind a corner.

“I’ve been thinking about what you said.” The conversation had only just begun, and the tone was already quite heavy and serious. “I want to thank you. I can stop wondering if you’ll ever say those words. And if I can ever forgive you. ‘Cause I know now…  I… I can’t. Glenn was beautiful.” Anna could see the hurt in her eyes. It made her think of her own relationship with Alden. She leaned against the wall, closing her eyes, sighing heavily. “I’ll never love anyone like that again. I remember his smile. His goodness. And the way he made me feel. But when I look at you… all I see is that bat coming down on his head… blood running down his face. I hear him…” Maggie sighed tremulously. “I hear him calling for me. And I hear you mocking him while he’s dying. So I… I can’t forgive you. Even though I’m so grateful that you saved my son. Even though I know that you’re trying. I’m trying, too. Because I don’t want to hate you anymore. I don’t want to hurt like that. And I don’t want my son to see that anybody has that kind of hold over me. If you and Annie want to stay with Anna, you have earned your place. But if I can’t look at you some days, if I can’t work with you, and if I can’t move on, that’s why. Because all I have are my memories. And I don’t want to remember Glenn like that.”

She straightened up, opening her eyes when she heard Maggie walking towards where she was hiding but she didn't see her and just went back inside the house. Once she was gone, Anna came out from behind the corner of the wall. She had never really gotten along with Maggie but what she had been through had resonated so much with her, it had really shaken her up and even without seeing her father's face, she could tell he was affected. She walked over to him and sat down. He didn't dare look up at her, too ashamed about the things he did. She wrapped her hands around his, her eyes glued to the floor. After picking up her children, she joined her father, and both went along the house. Passing under a window, they saw Daryl upstairs. The two men nodded to each other, and Negan and Anna walked away. Since crossing paths with Rick and his group, things had gone south for all of them. Her already complicated relationship with her father had become all the more complex and just a teenager, she had to make difficult choices for her own good and with the slim hope of seeing her father become again the one he was before all that. More had happened in a few years than in the whole decade following the downfall of the modern world and life as it used to be. Growing up in this post-apocalyptic world had made Anna the woman she was today, and she probably wouldn't be the same without the encounters she made along the way. Dwight, Alden, Carl, Rick... She could never forget all those people that helped and cared for her when she needed most.

Going to see Alden’s grave with her father was one of the most heart-breaking things she did in her life. It was next to an abandoned church. Dropping to her knees next to the mound of dirt covering his corpse, a makeshift cross above him, she felt all her emotions well up and tears streamed down her cheeks. She wished she could go back in time and prevent him from leaving Alexandria that day. Maybe he would still be here with them. With her…

 I think of the dead all the time. 

And about the living, who I lost. I think about them every day. 

Their faces, what I learned from them, how they made me who I am, so much more than all this made me who I am. 

All of our lives… They come in one life… 

We’re together, pieces of a whole that just keep going for what we gave each other. 

One unstoppable life.

 We are the ones who live.

[To be continued... maybe.]  

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Published (04/09/2023) by Andrea