"We're gonna have to fight. And we can work with the Hilltop. Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food - eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors... They almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Hell, even Jesus' sister, Tess, here. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us - just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did. They would've killed someone or some of us. And, then, they would try to own us and we would try to stop them. But, by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win. We do this for the Hilltop, it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision."
— RICK GRIMES —

—

THE very next day, Rick gave everybody a mission to do. And, with that, most had to travel with him. Paul was going with us, too, thankfully. At first, the two had come to the decision that I would stay back, but I was very hesitant, so - in the end - it was decided that I would go with them, anyways.

Even more, two people from Alexandria – named Tara and Heath – were supposed to branch out from this and head out to find some things. It's up for question if I want to go with them or not just yet.

There was an RV that was being driven and two trucks in the back. I was in one of the trucks, stuffed between Paul and Tara. She was very nice, down to earth, and she made me smile. A lot.

I have, however, gotten to know a few others as well. Such as Carol, Sasha, and Abraham a little more. To be honest, I already care about all of them.

We came down a back-road, where several cars were abandoned there, looking like they had been set on fire. Rick sounded his horn on the RV and the other two trucks did the same. It was to attract any nearby Walkers. So, then, we started shuffling out of the vehicles one by one.

I began to scoot out behind Tara on her side and, with a smile, she offered her hand and I accepted it. Once out on my feet, I returned the grin and thanked her. She replied, "No problem," as we began to walk out towards the others.

After a few seconds of silence, she offered, "Y'know, maybe if Rick says so, we could stick together until we get there."

I found her dark orbs and nodded, grinning happily. "I would really like that," I told her and her cheeks blushed with red. I haven't had any real women in my life to be my friends. In all reality, unfortunately, I only had my brother. No real friends. Tara could possibly be my new best friend.

"Aaron, Rosita," Rick called out as soon his feet hit the grass. He had his little hatchet in hand, too, of course. "You start here." Then, a beat later, he added, "We'll peel off every quarter mile, meet back here in a couple of hours. See what we got."

With that said, Tara and I passed by Paul, Glenn, and the rest of them, in the process, and right behind Sasha. We scuffled into the woods and kept our eyes peeled for any Walkers nearby to take down.

"So, do you have a boyfriend or something?" Tara suddenly asked me, probably just to make random conversation.

I shook my head and stated, "No, I'm single. I haven't really had a serious relationship in a very long time."

"Yeah," she nodded, somewhat understanding. She kept her head down for a second while I kept mine up to watch for Walkers.

"Hey!"

All of the sudden, somebody was on both of mine and Tara's backs. It was the cute Asian between us, goofing around and trying to ease the tension. "Where you guys headed?"

"Out and about," I giggled, just as he stood up on his own with Heath right behind him. "Where y'all headed?"

He grinned and passed through us, winking at me. "Out and about," he teased before he and Heath turned their backs on us, heading deeper in the woods and 7-foot tall grass.

After they had disappeared in the grass, I was still smiling and felt the need to roll my eyes at Glenn, too. He's delusional, but what mostly drives me crazy now is... I care about him more than I thought that I would. Already.

What Paul had thrown me in was much more deeper than it was supposed to be. I care and that's something that I haven't felt in years...

"Tess!" I suddenly heard Tara exclaim as I looked up, out of the cloud that I was daydreaming in, and spotted a Walker right in my face.

I screamed and fell backwards, the Walker right on top of me. I tried to hold him back as his disgusting soggy body laid on top of me. I didn't even think to ask Tara to help me as I've always been used to doing this on my own. So, I did as I would usually do.

As I held it back with my right arm all the way up, I used my left hand to search the ground for my knife that I knew had fallen out when I fell back. Just as I lost my grip with the hungry Walker and it slammed back on top of me, it suddenly was stopped as I threw it off of me. I sat up and began to heave, holding my chest.

I glanced up and spotted Tara standing there in disbelief. Her mouth was hung open as she looked from the Walker to me with wide eyes. I carefully trailed my own eyes down to the small knife that was gripped tightly in her left hand, bloody from her latest kill.

"Are you okay?" Tara finally breathed out. Bless her heart, she seemed so scared.

I gulped, still holding a hand over my heart, and slowly nodded. "Yeah, I think so."

Alas, Tara wiped the blood from her knife on her pants before putting it back on her belt. She extended her right arm down to me and I used that to jump up on my own two feet again. Then, once up, I was still holding onto her hand until I outreached my arms outwards and squeezed her neck.

"Thank you," I whispered in her ear, squeezing my eyes shut to keep the tears from forming.

She tried to laugh it off, but it came out as dry. So, she just hugged me longer and harder. "No problem. Do it again any day."

So, then, we separated and I said, "As I would do it for you any day, too."

"Tess? Tara?" I perked up as I heard my name being called. Tara and myself spun around to see Paul practically breaking his neck to get through the grass and trees towards us. "Hey, I heard somebody screaming. Was it either one of you guys?"

We both nodded as I pointed towards myself and said, "It was me, but Tara just saved me from a Walker."

Paul took a deep breath, holding a hand over his heart, and sighed. He reached out his arms for me as I was taken in them as he squeezed me tightly. "I was just making sure, but I'm glad that you're okay," he told me before letting go of me and taking a look at Tara, nodding at her. "Thank you."

She nodded back, but didn't say a word. So, then, Paul told us that everybody was about to meet back up at the RV, so we headed up that way with him in tow. As we got there, Rick stood in the middle as everybody gathered up around him with the RV sitting right behind him.

"We're gonna take a look around, try to get a feel for how many people are in there," Rick addressed to all of us, holding his rifle steadily. Bodies were being moved around while he spoke. "We like how it looks, we go in."

I walked over to the truck, where Glenn and Maggie were standing at the front of it while Daryl sat on top of the hood. I took a stand beside Daryl while he sat up there. He noticed that it was me and glanced down, peeking through his long hair at me. Like always, he doesn't say anything.

"A couple of hours before dawn," Rick continued, remaining everybody's attention. Tara decided to walk over to the other side of the truck and lean on it over there. "The guards outside'll be tired. Everyone inside'll be sleeping. We don't like what we see, we hear back, make a new plan. They don't know who we are. We'll keep Jesus in the shadows. This is how we eat. This is how we eat..."

Then, before I could even process what Rick had said, Daryl asked aloud from the hood, "And what about Tess?"

I swiftly looked up at him and I warned, "Daryl..."

Rick pursed his lips, taking a moment to glare at me, and squinted his eyes in thought. "She'll have to stay back as well."

I took a step towards him and nearly exclaimed, "But, Rick-!"

"But, nothing," he testified, cutting me completely off without even hearing my plead. He lowered his head for a second before returning his glare onto me. "Daryl's right. You have to be kept in the shadows, too."

"I have something that I can put on my face," I tried telling him, pleading for my chance here. "I want to go there and kill every last one of those fuckers, who have harmed me and the rest of the Hilltop in some way. Eventually, I'll have to. Let it be tonight that I do."

Rick had actually seemed to hear me out as he seemed indecisive of what to do with me now. So, he looked to his two partners-in-crime, being Daryl and Glenn both. He squinted his eyes at them, silently questioning them what he should do now.

Glenn seemed like he didn't want to get involved, but when his eyes met mine, I tried pleading with him. "Glenn...?" I begged through my teeth.

Yet, before Glenn could say his piece, Daryl said aloud his own opinion, "I wouldn't risk it. Could see that we've partnered with them."

Rick nodded, either agreeing or just flat-out respecting Daryl's decision. Thankfully, he didn't forget about Glenn and his opinion. So, now, Glenn held one of the three final calls on where I am placed at tonight.

Glenn had glanced at me one last time before facing Rick head-on – even with the distance between them – and saying, "If anything, she can stay with me and Heath. If she has a mask, she'll need it, in case she's recognized. Though, it still depends on how well they know her face."

Thank you, Glenn! I wanted to yell and cheer, wanting to launch on him and hug him like crazy. Yet, I remained calm and cool, wanting to explain just as well again. "Look, Rick," I began to say, holding out my right hand for extra measure. "They don't know me that well, so I'm good. They see a lot of people, so it's hard to pin-point where I even come from, y'know?"

Alas, Rick had heard enough. After a few seconds of thinking, he kept his eyes right on me as he nodded and simply said, "We roll out at midnight."

So, with that said and out of the way, Rick turned his back on all of us and headed towards the RV, where he was ultimately stopped by Carol. However, as I turned my attention towards Daryl, he was standing up on the hood, ready to jump down.

"So, do I get to go?" I asked him, trying to get insight on the state of mind of this new group.

Daryl jumped down on his two feet to stand right in front of me. He blew out some air, seemingly trying to get some hair out of his face, and stared down at me. "You need to stay back," he seemed to be warning me. He angrily bud his shoulder with mine and walked to the back of the truck.

"What the...?" I breathed out, squinting my eyebrows together in confusion. I was going to go talk to him again as I called out, "Wait—!" But, then, I was being pulled back from doing so by Glenn, who now was the center of my attention instead of Daryl.

"Don't," he barked out, which apparently was supposed to mean something to me.

I shook my head as he held his hand on my uninjured shoulder. "Why would he say that?"

Glenn shook his head and turned his body just a little, enough to where he now had his arms back on his sides. "He has a certain way of showing how he feels," he tried explaining to me, but to no avail. "And... So do I."

"What? What does that even mean?" I tried asking Glenn. Pleading at this point with him with more insight. "I don't know you people or your little silent codes with one another or whatever it is, but if I'm going to keep staying with you guys, I'm gonna have to know for now on. So, what did he mean by that?"

That's when Glenn's dark, soft eyes met mine and he calmly replied, "He's trying to protect you. Just remember that."