*Dahlia*

*The Next Morning*

I walk out of the house behind Chrissy as we load up the RV with things we need on the run to the army bases we were taking half the group with us and some from the kingdom. I even see rick loading up they're truck he was going with michonne and I see him pass Judith to tara and she gives rick a kiss on the cheek and one to michonne I swear Judith gets cuter each and every day. I walk over to them and I say "hey where's my kiss?" she puckers her lips and kisses my cheek and she goes straight to me and I say "you be good for auntie titi ok?". She giggles and hugs my neck and then she goes straight to tara and we load up the RV.

But before I leave tara calls my name and I turn around and she says "be careful out there" I flash her a smile and I say "we will don't worry". Her and Judith walk away and go inside her house and then we were off and pop was right it was a long drive to just sit and wait. Enid sits across from me and she lays her head on my shoulder and Chrissy does the other shoulder and we stayed that way until we got to the first army base. Carl sits across from me in the RV and we get out and paul says "I'm the only adult here I just realized that why do I always feel like I am in teens company?".

I start snickering and then enid was next and I say "because your the best pop" he sends me a smile and I grab my gun out and make sure my knife was in its place. We walk inside the army base and start searching for more guns and ammo and it looked completely looted and every locker or gun locker was wide open. They were either out there somewhere on walkers or some already found them. I mark off on the list that it was looted and we moved onto the next one and I hope that this one isn't empty like the last one.

I walk to the front of the RV and help dad with the map in finding the next army base and the next one was the one my dad went too. We arrive quicker than I thought we would and he says "you see everyone knew about the other one that was empty?". I nodd at him and he says "not very many people knew about this one because this was the original base they just built the second one and when the second one came out-". I smile and finish his sentence "they forgot about this one" he smiles at me and we get out and everyone follows behind us and we check the whole base and find nothing and then I see a locker space alongside the wall.

I look between the holes in the locker and I see a line of guns and I say "anyone got a hairpin?" enid starts checking her hair and then she says "here use mine". She hands me a bobby pin and I start trying to unlock it and then in the blink of an eye I hear a click and I pop open the door. I grab the guns and hand them to pop and he dies laughing and I put them inside the duffle bag and the ammo that came along with it. There wasn't that many but it was better than nothing and then the third and final army base was the jackpot my jaw went completely slack when I saw all the guns in the lockers just collecting dust.

The wall was covered in lockers with guns lined up side by side and we got the ammo loaded up and the guns in the RV. Today was a good day I was shocked we didn't lose the light and I say "I'm surprised we didn't lose the light if we go to the mall we'll be back in Alexandria before dinner". Pop pulls out his pocket watch and he says "yeah your right because we will start to lose the light around seven or eight and it's only four right now". I flash him a smile and Chrissy wraps her arms around me and she says "you also thought we would find guns at every army base we hit sissy the first two were busts well not the one dad knew about though".

He sends her a smile and we get inside the RV and pop starts driving and it wasn't far from where we were and when we finally get there he locked every door on the RV so no one tries to break into it. We get inside the mall and it wasn't that big and before we go in then I hit the door and it echoes all through the outlet mall. We wait a few minutes and carl says "if there was any here we would have heard them coming". I turn to pop and he nods at him and we have our guns drawn and my knife out and Chrissy follows behind me and I find a spencers store. My face lights up and they follow behind me and pop just snickers "of course this is the store you pick".

I send him a smirk and I see a couple of shirts still in the cubicles on the wall I snatch a few black shirts and some black skinny jeans and some leggings. I was surprised this store wasn't completely looted but whatever they're loss is my gain. I find a leather jacket and I find a few crop tops I was changing behind a curtain and my hair was down in wavy curls and a pair of black combat boots. I was wearing a black crop top and some black skinny jeans with my knives and guns attached to my thighs the crop top fit my curves snuggly so did my jeans it was crazy how snug they were.

After my makeover and I was checked over by Chrissy and enid and when they were done with me they're jaws were slack and Chrissy says "if tara doesn't see you as a woman now I might steal you from her". I giggle and we start walking back to the RV with my extra clothing and see the RV still out there and drive our way back to Alexandria. Once we made it back there we honk the horn twice and they open the gate and I see tara and Judith on the front porch and when the RV drives in she walks down the steps with Judith coloring on the porch. I take a deep breath and walk out and I grab a duffle bag I walk over to them and I say "wanna help us unload the RV?".

Her eyes widened when she checks out my body and I find myself smiling to myself and I couldn't help but give her a smirk. I bite my inner cheek and she says "yeah sure dahlia" I turn to Judith on the porch and she grabs my duffle and she says "here let me carry that". Jude stands up and eases down the steps and runs towards me I pick her up and start to walk away but I add a little swing to my hips. I knew she was checking out my ass I'm not an idiot and when I start counting the guns with Judith on my hip.

Carl opens his hands for her and she goes straight to him and that night we locked everything up into the armory and we were gonna spend the night at Alexandria and pop, Chrissy, Enid, and I shared a house. That night when everyone went to bed I was staring up at the night sky and I hear a door open and close. I look up and see it's tara on her porch swing I kept swinging back and forth I could tell it was her because the moon provided some light. She makes her way towards my house and she asks "can't sleep either?" I shake my head at her and I say "no not ever since oceanside".

She sits beside me and we stay in silence the whole time and then I feel the wind start to pick up I shiver and I feel tara wrap her arm around my shoulder and I relax under her touch. Her thumb glides over my bare shoulder I was wearing a tank top and I lean my head onto her shoulder and she lays her head on top of mine. I feel her kiss the top of my head and I find myself relaxing under her gaze and before I find myself falling asleep she whispers "I'm sorry dahlia I see your not a girl now". I find myself smiling in my sleep and that was the last thing she said before I closed my eyes and I was able to get a good night's rest.

*The Next Day*

The next morning I woke up to the sound of noise coming from the kitchen I open my eyes and I see I was asleep on the couch as tara moves around in the kitchen with Chrissy right beside her. I find myself smiling at the sight and I push the fleece cover over my shoulders tara must had put it on me last night. I stand up and tara turns around and smiles at me and she says "morning sleeping beauty you slept in did you sleep well?". She flashes me a smile and I answer "better than I have in a long time" she sends me a wink and she asks "you hungry?" I nodd and hop up onto the counter beside the sink and Tara says "good cause I'm making waffles".

I smile at her and Chrissy adds "pecan waffles we found a pecan tree outside the walls" I smile at her and pop walks downstairs and he says "good morning". I smile at him and kisses me on the forehead and he says "how did you sleep last night doll?". I smile at him and lay my head onto his shoulder and I say "good you can thank tara for that she stayed up with me until I fell asleep". He turns to tara and he says "thanks tara she's been having trouble sleeping for a while".

After the waffles were done I start eating them and before tara leaves, I walk her outside and walk her home and I say "thank you for last night tara it meant a lot". She smiles at me as we reach her house and she looks like she's thinking really hard about something and I say "okay what's bothering you?". Her eyes widened and she stutters "n.n.nothing is bothering me" I grab her hand and she looks down at my hand and I say "tara you were there for me last night let me be there for you like you were with me you can tell me". She sighs and takes a deep breath and she says "I wanna lead rick back to oceanside" my eyes widened at her statement and I bite my inner cheek and I say "we told them that we wouldn't go back we promised that we wouldn't".

I run my hand through my dark hair and she says "and I hate to break my promise to Cyndie but we need those guns my promise to Cyndie does not outweigh our lives dahlia I will not put any of you in harm's way again and after we use the guns we can give them back to them it's not like we're taking them". I sigh and think about the decision and she says "rick is gonna be mad that I kept this from him but at least I'm telling him now". She starts to walk away but I pull her back and I stand face to face with her and I say "well if your gonna come clean then so am I". Her eyes widened and grab both of my hands and she says "no I won't force you to take that hit this is something I have to do alone".

I shake my head at her and she doesn't look me in the eyes and I say "look at me" she doesn't meet my eyes and I say "tara look at me". She moves her gaze to mine and I say "you don't have to do this alone anymore we survive this world by pulling together not apart your my partner means your burdens and mistakes are also mine". She cracks a smile and then the gates open and a car pulls in and rick and michonne get out. She grabs my hand and she nodded at me and she says as we approach the car.

"Hey rick can we talk to you for a second?".