Me, Sophia and Carl had chucked the walkers bodies to the bottom of the porch. We couldn't leave them inside but Rick didn't seem in a forgiving mood so we decided not to go outside the walls to dump them. The three of us were playing Uno again, because what else do you do when there's a disaster unfolding? We knew Rick didn't want to leave and Rick gets what Rick wants... Therefore if the people of Alexandria voted to kick him out... There would be a problem. So, we just had to hope they were smart enough not to vote against him.

Suddenly, the door opened, in walked Rick followed by some guy I had definitely never seen before and behind him was... Was my dad. "Morgan." Carl raised his eyebrows as Sophia ran over to my dad to hug him.

Dad smiled and hugged her tight. "Hi, sweetheart." His gruff voice was like music to my ears, because I had missed him, but I was way to petty to hug him since we didn't separate on the best of terms.

"What happened?" I looked between Rick and Morgan, completley ignoring my dad's eyes.

"Pete killed Reg. I killed Pete." Rick responded.

I clicked my tongue. "I don't know who either of those people are."

"Reg was Deanna's husband. Pete was the wife beater that I had my... Scuffle with in the street." Rick admitted.

I nodded. "Cool."

"So, they voted for you to stay?" Carl questioned.

"Yea. Yea, I'm staying." Rick nodded before walking over to the kitchen followed by Carl, Morgan and Sophia.

I looked to dad and he started speaking first. "Hey, ba-" He cut himself off when I just walked away towards the kitchen.

"I was heading to Washington." I heard Morgan say. "I found this map a while back... Been trying to get there until I ran into Daryl and Aaron." Morgan showed the map with the message Abraham wrote on it for Rick. When me, Maggie, Glenn, Tara, Eugene, Rosita and Abraham left the others... But then turned back cause turns out Eugene was a prick.

"So, are you the Morgan that saved Rick's life? Right at the beginning?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Yes. Yes, I suppose I am."

"Rick talked about you quite a bit." I smiled.

"I'm sorry about your son." Sophia said softly, sympathy in her voice. I pursed my lips together and looked away from him, hoping he wouldn't start grieving cause I can't comfort people

He nodded. "Thank you... You must be Sophia, right?" He then turned to me. "And you're Ellie?"

"How'd you know?" Sophia asked.

"Your father talked about you both on the way over here. Sophia would confront difficult situations to be polite and comfort people. Ellie would just avoid situations involving emotion or people at all costs if she can." Morgan answered.

I scoffed. "I don't avoid people."

"You practically ran away from Mrs Tanner at Deanna's party." Carl pointed out.

"Okay, that was because she started small talk with me. Who does that?" I raised my eyebrows.

"How'd you run into our dad?" Sophia changed the subject, supressing a laugh.

"He saved our asses is how. Me and Aaron would be dead if it wasn't for this guy right here." Dad answered.

"You almost died?" Sophia sounded concerned. Dad was now sitting on one of the high chairs surrounding the kitchen island, so Sophia walked over to stand by him and put her arms around his shoulders.

"Fell into a trap." Dad responded. I forced a small laugh out of my mouth to mask my worry.

We were all silent for a couple seconds before Rick spoke to Morgan. "We'll talk more tomorrow, Morgan. Listen, I don't take chances anymore."

Morgan nodded. "And you shouldn't."

"Come on. I'll show you were you can stay tonight." Rick started leaving the room. 

Morgan got up to follow. "Goodnight." He said to us all before leaving.

"I'm gonna head up to bed." Carl smiled before taking off.

"Me too. Night, dad." Sophia kissed his head.

"Night." Dad responded just before she left. I went to leave but dad's voice stopped me. "Wait, baby, please." I sighed before turning to him. He got off his stool before moving to sit on the one closest to me while I was still standing. "I wanna talk to you."

I raised my eyebrows. "Then talk."

"I uhm... Me and Aaron aren't going out there no more. Rick's decided there ain't a need for it anymore. I don't agree with it, but I ain't going to go against his decisions." Dad told me. I didn't react, inside I was smiling, but I couldn't bring myself to show that. "I thought you'd smile or something."

I shook my head. "Why would I do that?"

"I leave and you're not happy. I stay and you're not happy. You're just like Isabella." He pushed past me to lean on the kitchen counter.

I turned to him. "You thought you being forced to stay would make me happy?"

"Yes!" Dad raised his voice slightly.

"You really have no idea why I want you to stay, do you?" I scoffed.

"Well, do enlighten me." Dad spread his arms slightly before crossing them over his chest.

"I wanted you to pick me. For once in my entire goddamn life I wanted to be enough for you to stay! I thought with this place you'd finally choose to stay with me!" I shouted.

"I stayed with you through this whole damn end of the world crap!" Dad yelled.

"You had no other choice!" I countered. "Every time you've had the opportunity to leave, you've taken it!"

"Sorry that I had other priorities over my screwed up kid!" Dad raised his voice at me, but he hadn't ever raised it that loud at me before.

I took a step back. "You think I'm screwed up?" I asked in a quiet voice.

"We all are these days. We've all had to do things. You've killed over fifty people and sleep like a baby." Dad shrugged. "So, yea, I think you're screwed up. I don't blame you for it though. I blame this whole goddamn world. I'm screwed up, Rick, your mom, Michonne, hell even Carl and Sophia. Everyone!"

I bit my bottom lip, trying to stop the tears from pouring from my eyes. "All I wanted was to be good enough for you to stay. For me and Sophia, to be enough for you. I wanted you to love me enough that you'd choose to stay with me."

Dad went down on his knees and pulled me closer to him, despite me trying to get out of his grip he held onto me. "I love you. I love you so, so much. You're not the reason I left, you'll never be. It's my fault. I'm just not made for places like this. I felt more like myself out there than I ever have in here... But, I missed you and your sister like hell. I wish I could take you out there with me-"

"Then do it." I interrupted.

He sighed and shook his head. "I can't forgive myself for putting you in danger like that. You are good enough and I do love you. I promise."

"Then let me go." I ordered.

"Are you going to walk away if I do that?" He questioned.

"Yea." I nodded. "Because I don't wanna be around you anymore, Daryl."

The next day Rick had called an emergency meeting in Deanna's living room. Most of Alexandria was there. He and someone else had gone far out to dump Pete's body because apparently we don't bury murderer's in these walls. Dad was sitting on the window seat next to Sophia, I was sitting next to Maggie on the sofa, Glenn on the other side of her.

"Me and my team saw it early on." Heath said. Apparently he and a few other people had been on a several month long run, so we hadn't met him until now. "Back when we were on one of those first scouts, finding out what was around here. There was a camp at the bottom. The people, they must have blocked the exits with those trucks you saw. They didn't make it. They were all roamers. Maybe a dozen of them."

"Nobody's been back since?" Maggie asked.

Heath shook his head. "DC, every town worth scavenging around there are all in the other direction. And I never really felt like having a picnic next to the camp that ate itself."

"So, all the while the walkers have been drawn to the sound and they're making more sound and they draw more in." Michonne crossed her arms over her chest.

"And here we are." Rick nodded. "Now, what I'm proposing, I know it sounds risky, but walkers are already slipping through the exits. One of the trucks keeping the walkers in could go off the edge any day now. Maybe after one more hard rain. That exit sends them east. All of them. Right at us. This isn't about if it gives, this is about when. It's gonna happen. That's why we have to do this soon."

"This is... I don't even have another word for it. This is terrifying. All of it." Mum did her scared housewife routine, I had to pretend to be itching my lower mouth to cover my entertained grin. "But it doesn't sound like there's any other way."

"Maybe there is." A man said. His name? I got no clue. I'd never talked to him before in my entire life. "I mean, couldn't we just build up the weak spots? I could draw up plans. I worked on the walls with Reg. Construction crew- we could try and make it safe."

"Even if you could, the sound of the walkers will draw in more and it will give." I told him. I hadn't seen this thing, but apparently there were a few thousand down there.

"Ellie's right. Building up the exits won't get rid of the problem, it'll only delay the inevitable." Rick agreed.

"We're gonna do what Rick says and the plan he's laid out." Deanna said from the corner of the room where she was staring out the window.

"I told you all, we're gonna have Daryl leading them away." Rick started.

"Me too, I'll take a car. Ride next to him." Sasha volunteered. "It can't just be him. I'll keep them coming, Daryl keeps them from getting sloppy."

"I'll go with her. It's a long way to white knuckle it solo." Abraham stated.

A thankful smile was on Rick's face as he nodded. "We'll have two teams. One on each side of the forest helping to manage this thing. We're gonna have a few people on watch from now on. Rosita, Spencer and Holly. So they're out. So who's in?"

"I'm down for wherever you need me." I stated.

"Same here." Sophia nodded.

"Thank you, girls." Rick smiled. "Who else?"

"Me." Michonne said.

"I'm in." Glenn volunteered after a short conversation with Maggie.

"I'd like to help too." Gabriel put his hand up.

"No. Who else?" Rick immediately replied.

"No offence, Gabriel. It's just the fact that you're useless and a two faced prick." I added. We were all still very annoyed that he tried to get us kicked out of Alexandria. He whined about what we had done as if he didn't lock everyone out of his church when they came to him for help.

"We can't just control that many." The same guy who I didn't know the name of spoke.

"I said it before, walkers herd up." Rick responded. "They'll follow a path if something's drawing them. That's how we get them all at once."

"So, what? We're just supposed to take your word for it?" Guy asked. That's his name now. Guy. "We're just supposed to all fall in line behind you after..." He trailed off.

"After what, guy?" I raised my eyebrows.

"That's not my name-" He started.

"It is now." I stated.

He sighed and shook his head. "After he waved a gun around, screaming, pointing it at people. After he shot a man in the face. After he-"

"Enough!" Deanna interrupted with a yell.

"I'll do it." Heath volunteered. 

"Me, too." A random lady agreed.

"Whatever you need, I'm in." A man... I want to say a name beginning with a T... But, ya never know with me. He was my mum's friend, that's all I could tell you.

"Now who else?" Deanna turned to us, finally tearing her eyes away from outside.

A couple other people volunteered causing Rick to nod, he does that a lot. "We'll make this work. We'll keep this place safe. Keep our families safe. We will."

"The plan. Go through it again." Guy ordered.

"Man, he just said it." Dad complained.

"Every part." Guy ignored him. "Again. The exact plan."

"Guy, you are so annoying." I shook my head.

"That's not my name." Guy furrowed his eyebrows.

I raised my eyebrows. "Sure, Guy."