Daryl lurched awake the next morning, quickly coming to his senses and remembering where he last was; in that building with Alpha.

"Easy, easy," Lydia said quickly, trying to get the man to calm down before he could wake up Rosie. She had fallen asleep only a few hours beforehand. She tried to stay awake, but it had been days since she had gotten any sleep, and her body wouldn't let her stay awake any longer.

As Lydia passed him a canteen of water, Daryl looked over the wounds on his body. His head hurt something awful and his leg was messed up. "How long I been asleep for?" he asked.

"Most of the day," Lydia answered.

Letting his eyes scan over the area, Daryl took in his surroundings. He was in the woods, leaning up against a tree. Lydia was crouched down in front of him. Behind her- fuck. Behind her Rosie was leaning up against a tree, sleeping. She looked unharmed, which was good, but seeing her reminded Daryl of what had happened- what he said to her in that cave. He had mentioned her brother, and he definitely shouldn't have, looking back on it.

"What? What's wrong?" Lydia asked, furrowing her eyebrows. Had Daryl muttered the word fuck out loud? Lydia followed Daryl's gaze to Rosie, behind her. "She's ok. She's not hurt or anything," she assured him. Rosie probably was hurt, and Daryl was sure of it. She just wasn't hurt on the outside.

Right now, Daryl didn't want to talk about what was going on with Rosie, though. And not to Lydia. So he changed the subject. "So, you just been out here?" he asked.

Lydia nodded, fidgeting with a stick by her feet. "Yeah. Just watching you, watching them. Deciding," she said.

"Deciding what?" Daryl asked, confused. But Lydia didn't give any answer. She looked at Daryl, and then back at the ground again. "Did you kill her?" Daryl asked, referring to Alpha.

"If it was your father, could you have?" Lydia asked, her voice quiet and scratchy. Truthfully, the answer was no. Daryl hadn't been able to kill his own father after he got bit, right at the beginning. But the only living people who knew that now were Daryl and Rosie, and the only reason Rosie knew was because Merle told her.

Once again, Daryl felt obligated to change the subject. But he didn't know what else to talk about. He wished Rosie was awake, so he could get it over with and apologize. But at the same time, he was thanking God that she was asleep, so he wouldn't have to face her.

"She's mad at you, isn't she?" Lydia murmured, connecting the dots.

And Daryl didn't want to talk about that. So, "Just get her up. We gotta get to Hilltop," he grunted, sitting himself up straighter despite the aching in his bones.

Nodding, Lydia went to wake Rosie up. "He woke up. We have to go to Hilltop," she said as Rosie rubbed her eyes.

Rosie stood up and brushed the dirt off of her pants, not sparing a glance at Daryl for a lot of reasons. She wanted to tell him about what happened with Lydia, but she was still mad at him. Just because he got hurt didn't mean she was about to forgive him for what he said.

Together, the three of them made their way back to Hilltop in a tense silence. Daryl didn't want to talk to Rosie because he felt guilty, but still a little frustrated with her. Lydia was feeling both nervous after kissing Rosie and anxious thinking about getting to Hilltop. Rosie was feeling angry, and sad, and a little overwhelmed with everything that had been happening.

When they got to Hilltop, Daryl got his wounds fixed up before they all gathered in a room in Barrington House. The absence of Connie and Magna was more noticeable than Rosie had expected and it made her heart hurt.

"You heard them out there. We have to go. Even if you took out half the herd in that cave, she's got thousands left," Lydia said, her voice tense and worried. It was frustrating to her because no one else seemed to understand just how much danger they would be in if Alpha brought the herd. No one seemed to get just how serious this was. "You can't stay here," Lydia said, shaking her head.

"The skins could march straight to Alexandria for all we know," Earl said from the couch. With her arms crossed, Rosie tossed her head back, rolling her eyes and taking a deep breath to try and control her frustration.

"Yeah, we're right in their way," Daryl said, leaning against the back of the couch.

"Maybe she goes around us," Earl suggested.

"Why the hell would she go around us if she could just go right through us?" Rosie asked, an annoyed expression on her face.

"I'm not running again. Hell no," Jerry said. Out of all the people Rosie expected to want to stay and fight, it was not Jerry. He saw the herd. He almost got bit in that cave. He knew how dangerous it was, but he still wanted to stay.

"Lydia's right. We can rebuild anywhere," Dianna agreed with Lydia.

"Come on. We can't," Earl chuckled, as if it was completely unbelievable that they'd be better off somewhere else. The way Rosie saw it, they could stay and be dead or they could leave and be alive. It wasn't that difficult of a choice to make, in her opinion. Earl looked to Aaron. "How many scouting missions you been on, son? Hundreds? Have you ever seen a place like Hilltop?"

"No," Aaron answered.

"Oh, my God," Rosie muttered. "There aren't other places like Hilltop because we made Hilltop. We could make it again anywhere else. Lydia knows what the hell she's talking about better than any of us do, so we should listen to her. She says we have to go, so we have to go. If we stay and fight, we will lose."

"We have a few dozen able-bodied fighters here. Maybe. You like those odds? 'Cause I don't," Yumiko added, agreeing with Rosie.

"Neither do I," Aaron said. Rosie was glad that they were finally listening, but of course, they would listen to Aaron and Yumiko over Lydia, just because Lydia had a shitty mom. It made Rosie's blood boil. "Now, we don't have to die here."

"We're going to have to fight. And if we die, we die fighting for a place that means something. Can you think of a better way to go?" Earl asked. He just wasn't getting it. They weren't going to win. It was a little over twenty people up against thousands of walkers with a few Whisperers sprinkled in. It wasn't a fair fight and they would lose. They would lose and Earl would die and Adam would have to grow up without his father.

"Yeah. We go with my daughter's life intact. And Judith's and Ezra's and Adam's. You want me to keep going?" Aaron asked.

"Alright, let's get the kids out first. Everybody, pack up. We're goin' to Oceanside. Grab weapons, food, whatever you can. We'll regroup there," Daryl decided. Everyone began to leave the room with the new decision.

•

The group packed the kids and the food into wagons and began making their way to Oceanside. Rosie sat beside Lydia on the wagon as Daryl led the way on his bike. They didn't get far before Daryl suddenly slowed his motorcycle down to stop. The road was blocked by a knocked-over tree. There was a snarling sound coming from above them, on either side. Rosie knew that sound. She heard it by that bridge, the day before Negan killed Glenn and Abraham. She squeezed her eyes shut, letting her chin fall to her chest.

"Rose," Daryl called out.

"Yeah?" Rosie replied.

"Keep your eyes shut," Daryl told her.

"Yeah," Rosie breathed out.

"Felix and Penny," Dianne murmured. The people Yumiko had sent out not long ago.

Rosie could almost see it. Felix and Penny hanging from ropes, like Fraser had once been hanging in his closet. She bit down so hard onto her bottom lip that it drew blood. Lydia's hand slid over the top of hers.

"All the roads are gonna be like this now. We ain't gettin' through," Daryl said with a sigh. He turned around, looking back at the others. He knew Rosie wouldn't like hearing this, especially right now, but it was true, "It's Negan. He's with her now."

And Rosie hated hearing it. Negan wouldn't do that, would he?

"Let's head back. Let everybody know what's goin' on and figure out a new plan," Daryl said, hopping back onto his bike. Rosie kept her eyes closed until she was sure that they had gone far enough that she couldn't see it anymore.

As it turned out, there was no other option than to fight. They couldn't get help from Oceanside or Alexandria because they wouldn't get there in time. So it was Hilltop, alone, against hundreds, maybe thousands, of walkers. Rosie had finally gotten what she wanted, and she was somewhat happy, and now she, along with everyone else from Hilltop, was going to die in a futile fight against the dead.

All they could do now, though, was wait for the monsters to arrive. And that's what Rosie did. She sat at one of the picnic tables outside, bouncing her leg and carving out a little doodle of a frog into the wood with her pocket knife. She kept glancing up at Lydia and Carol, who were talking at the front steps of Barrington. It made her nervous, wondering what the two could have been talking about.

Maybe Carol was mad at Lydia for moving on from Henry. Maybe Lydia was telling Carol that she and Rosie kissed. Maybe Carol was mad at Lydia because of Alpha. Maybe Lydia was mad at Carol. Maybe, maybe, maybe. Rosie wanted to join their conversation in hopes of steering it away from any of those topics, but she thought that if they were talking about something important, she should probably just leave them alone. They deserved their privacy, too.

Her focus was shifted away from Lydia and Carol, anyway, when Daryl sat down across from her at the table. Rosie huffed, digging her knife just a little bit deeper into the wood. She wanted to talk to Daryl so that he would apologize and she could stop being mad at him, but at the same time, she really did not want to talk about it anymore.

"How's your leg?" Rosie asked with a monotonous quality to her voice, not looking up from the table.

"Fine. But that ain't what I came over here to talk to you 'bout," Daryl said. And Rosie huffed again because she already knew that. She was just procrastinating. "You heard what I said to Carol, didn't you? Back in the cave," he said.

"Yeah. You were bein' shitty, and now you're sorry. I forgive you," Rosie muttered in response, pushing the knife further into the wood.

"We've been sayin' too many sorry's lately, me and you. Didn't used to be like that," Daryl said. And Rosie couldn't argue with that. It was true. Almost every single day, one of them got mad and said something they shouldn't have, and the next thing they knew they were apologizing to each other more often than they were having normal conversations. "It's gotta stop. I hate it, and I'm sure you do, too. We're s'posed to be helpin' each other. Not hurtin' each other," Daryl went on.

"Thought you said you don't know how to help me no more," Rosie spat, finally looking up from the table with a sad glint in her eye that she attempted to cover with a mean, angry glare. But Daryl could read her like a book.

"I don't know how to help when ya won't even tell me what's wrong," Daryl told her. He wanted to add a comment about her going to Negan instead because that would never cease to bother him, but he kept that anger to himself. This was supposed to be them making up, not starting another argument.

"Yeah, but it ain't just one thing, Daryl. It's a thousand things, and I don't even know what half of 'em are. Too much is wrong with me, and you're askin' for me to pinpoint one problem that you can fix, but there ain't one," Rosie attempted to explain. Daryl was silent. He didn't know what to say or do. Rosie let her knife clatter to the table and pressed her palms into her eyes, scoffing out a laugh. "Unless you wanna perform a lobotomy or somethin'," she joked.

"That ain't funny," Daryl murmured, unamused.

"Negan woulda' laughed," Rosie muttered, rolling her eyes.

That why you keep goin' to him? 'Cause he'll laugh at all your jokes? Daryl wanted to ask. But he didn't. He bit his tongue and shook his head. "Just..." he stopped and sighed, "Just lemme know if you got anythin' I can help you with. That's all I want, Rose. I know you're strugglin' and I wanna help. That's all."

"I'm not gonna do what Fraser did," Rosie said, her voice losing the humor it had before. It was that monotone voice again. "I won't do that. I wouldn't do that to you and everyone else," she said.

Daryl chewed his lip for a moment, nodding his head. "Ok. Ok," he said, his voice a bit raspy. He hated that he even had to worry about that. All he wanted was for her to be ok. But this was as close to ok as she could get for now. "I talked to Ezekiel. He's gonna help get the kids out if I can't. If shit goes bad and we gotta run, I want you to find them. Don't come lookin' for me. You find the kids and you make sure they're safe. Hear me?"

"Yeah," Rosie said, nodding her head.

"Ok. We're good now?" Daryl asked, raising his eyebrows.

"We're good," Rosie said with another nod.

"A'right. Quit vandalizin' tables," Daryl said. Rosie rolled her eyes, trying not to smile.

Then, a loud screaming came from the field. "The horde's coming!" Yumiko screamed.

•

Every able fighter of Hilltop stood outside the gates, standing behind a fence that they could only hope would keep them apart from the herd that was soon to come. Rosie stood with a knife in one hand and a spear in the other, while Daryl's crossbow was slung over her shoulder. He had neglected carrying it himself due to the injuries he had left over from his brawl with Alpha. It hurt too bad to keep it over his shoulder, and it got in the way when he was using the mace he had in hand.

As the walkers approached the fence line, the Hilltop fighters approached with their weapons held at the ready. Rosie stuck but Lydia's side as the two of them stuck their spears through walkers' heads. There were too many. There was no way they were going to be able to take down each and every walker through that quickly made, unstable fence. But they fought on, anyway, because they didn't have any choice.

Throughout her years, Rosie had come up with a new way to motivate herself when fighting in tiring, useless battles like these. She would look at each walker and she would see David. Or she'd see the Governor, or Joe, or Dan, or any of those nasty, disgusting pigs that called themselves men. She'd see the people from Terminus. She'd see the Wolves that attacked Alexandria soon after Rosie had gotten there. She'd see some of the Saviors- the crueler ones of the bunch, like Justin. She'd see the Whisperers, too. Alpha, particularly.

And other times, she'd just remind herself that the walkers were what killed Amy. The walkers were what killed Jim, and what killed Dale, and Jimmy, and Patricia, and T-Dog, and Merle- even if he was an asshole sometimes- and Andrea, Lizzie and Mika's father, Bob, Tyreese, Noah, Sam and Jessie Anderson, Deanna. But, most importantly, walkers killed Carl Grimes.

So as Rosie stuck that spear through those walkers' heads, she was killing the things that killed her friends and family. And for that, she kept fighting.

Until a voice shouted, "The fence isn't gonna hold!"

For just a moment, Rosie froze, looking at Daryl for any instruction. But as soon as she looked at him, her entire body was drenched in some sort of liquid. It smelled like a pine tree.

Soon, flames were erupting around them. Not just grass, but people were being set on fire. The people of Hilltop fought through the fire as best they could. As Barrington House burned to the ground behind them, they fought with every ounce of strength left inside of them. Rosie coughed and coughed through the smoke, soon covered in ash and grime.

Rosie jumped when her arm was suddenly grabbed, but she was relieved to see that it was only Daryl. "Soon as these walls go down, you get outta here," he told her sternly, his voice just barely loud enough to be heard over the sound of the walkers and the flames combined.

"What about you?" Rosie asked, blinking extra hard to clear the smoke from her eyes.

"I'mma be fine. You listen to me. Do what I told you. Keep them kids safe," Daryl said. Despite the dull ache in her heart, Rosie nodded. And just as she did so, the wall came down. "Go!"

So, Rosie did as she was told, and she ran. She ran from the fight, leaving everyone else behind, just like she always did. But this time it was in order to keep the kids safe. She had no clue where they were or who they were with, but she knew she had to find them. So she would search everywhere if that's what it took.

But just as she reached the woods, her shoulder was grabbed. Someone spun her around and Rosie lifted her knife just as she saw who her attacker was. It was one of the Whisperers. But before Rosie could stab them through the skull, the Whisperer took off their mask, holding their hands up in surrender.

"Negan?" Rosie breathed out, her eyes wide.

"Where's Lydia?" Negan asked urgently.