"Something's wrong," I sighed, shaking my head. "I haven't started this month. Think it could be because of stress?"

Tara shrugged, barley looking up from her magazine with her feet crossed on the table in front of her. "I don't know. Maybe."

I looked away, looking out the window, spotting Maggie outside. She was beyond pregnant and about to pop any day now. Nevertheless, I shook my head and thought about Dwight again. He was still gone, but Daryl has claimed since the beginning to me that he let him go, that he didn't kill him. I don't know what I believe anymore.

"Could it be because of Dwight?" I spun around and asked her. "I mean, I've been stressed ever since he's been gone. Maybe it's because I miss him or something."

Tara started chuckling under her breath before she giggled out, "Maybe... OR, you're pregnant." She got caught up in laughing while it briefly became background noise to me when a sudden sense of doom washed over me. Oh, my gosh. "What? I was kidding. You can't be pregnant, Tess. Gotta kind of have sex to be that."

I didn't even realize it, but tears had formed in my eyes and a lump in my throat. My heart was racing now, and my face felt like it had been slapped by just about everyone here – especially Dwight.

"Tess," came Tara's warning tone just as she threw the magazine on the table and stood up. "Have you... Oh, my God. No."

"It was only a couple of times!" I claimed, sweating. "I don't know if I am, but no. I'm not pregnant. I'm not."

Tara stared at me, deciding not to say a word. Maybe it was for the best against her better judgment. I couldn't tell if she was sad, pissed off, or confused. Nobody knew just how far Dwight and I got, but if I'm pregnant, they will all know that I slept with the enemy.

—

"HEH," I sighed under my breath, shaking my head just as Alden came up beside me. "Never thought that we would have to break into a Smithsonian, but, dammit, here we are."

He grinned and started to head up the stairs as I followed him up. "Yeah, nothing surprises me anymore, but this sort of takes the cake."

Rick and Michonne go up first to open the front doors together, which creaked open, and one Walker came out, but Michonne was immediately there to chop its head off with her Katana.

"We're good for now," Michonne whispered, but just high enough for everyone to hear. "Sweep protocol when we get in."

With that said, Rick extended the door more open for us to walk in, and when I passed by, I smiled at him, and he surprisingly patted my shoulder on my way inside. From when we walked in, we followed our current leader, Michonne.

I stuck behind Daryl and in front of Rosita and tried to be as quiet as possible with my machete up and ready to strike. I heard a Walker groaning off in the distance before it went down, now noticing that Rick had killed it.

Eventually, we all met back up in the middle of the place, as I noticed little broken down tents and such around. It appears that people were trying to make this place their home at one point, which means that we might have company inside.

While I looked around the place, I could hear Rick quietly say to everyone, "Y'all got your lists. Circle back here when you're done." I glanced up and saw – and heard it in his voice when he said, "Be safe."

With one last glance around, I followed behind in the footsteps in an attempt to stay close to everyone. I noticed that Jadis – or, Anne, which is what everyone has been referring to her as since she decided to join us – had done the same as myself, by taking a moment to look around before walking on.

After everything that went down with Negan to Morgan leaving, Anne decided to join us, and Rick has trusted her since. She had really come into her own, being very well-educated, too. Just a few weeks ago, she painted a photo of myself and Tara. It was beautiful, hanging in my room at Alexandria.

I followed behind Michonne and Ezekiel for a bit, just as I heard Walkers as we were approaching another huge section of the museum. Ezekiel had taken his own sword out and struck the Walker on the ground through the head to keep it quiet while Michonne went and did the same thing.

Gingerly, we walked up near the huge stairs leading up, and I noticed the floor underneath us was made out of pure glass, which worried me. Not only that, but there were Walkers underneath that glass.

I stopped behind Maggie when she said, "This is gonna work." She noticed that I was now standing beside her when she repeated, "This is gonna work."

I smiled and lightly touched her shoulder. "It's gonna work, Mags." She and I had become as close as two people could get after trauma. We were the only ones, apart from Daryl, who couldn't understand why Rick left Negan alive and well inside of a cage back at Alexandria.

Michonne went to step on the glass floor underneath us when she jumped back, noticing the Walkers underneath, too. It looked like a pool, but without all the water. Nevertheless, Maggie stepped on the glass and started to walk across with ease. I was going to follow after her, but I didn't think that it was wise to put that much pressure on the glass. It was like walking on thin ice, never to put a whole lot of weight on top.

However, just as Maggie walked across, Michonne joined before Cyndie and Daryl did the same, along with Ezekiel, Carol, and myself. We took that chance of putting a whole lot of weight on the glass; however, just as I was about to join Daryl on the stairs, Cyndie stopped and looked up, calling out, "Heads up."

I twisted my head around, just I heard a lot of noise as a Walker came flying down from above and its body going straight through the rebar on the ground in front of us. I held my breath while holding Rosita's arm back, almost thinking that it was coming straight down on us.

Nevertheless, everyone made it up the stairs in time before we were flattened. Still, the Walker continued to snarl, and the glass made a breaking sound, which only worried me more. Then, Daryl took the time to hold his crossbow up and shoot an arrow through the Walker's head, killing it on his first try.

"Onward," Ezekiel demanded calmly. "We'll figure it out." Just like always, I believed him.

We continued up the stairs, leaving the glass behind, before disbanding into groups of two. Myself and Alden; Daryl and Sidney; Maggie And Michonne; and, Carol and Ezekiel.

We walked down the hall now by ourselves when I started to hear snarling, now noticing a Walker nearby smooshed under some concrete. I sighed before taking my machete out, stabbing it through its head before yanking it back out.

For the most part, Alden and I walked around in silence, which we had come to be comfortable with when it came to one another. Truthfully, we were real friends. Wholeheartedly, I trusted him. I trusted him enough to be around my kids, so yeah, I trusted him.

Although this past year has been hard on both of us, for different reasons, we have been there for one another. He definitely was there for me during my hard and long pregnancy, taking somewhat of an uncle role. However, deep down, I feared there were more feelings going on between us.

Nevertheless, we kept on walking until I heard a whistle, looking up to see Maggie, who was waving myself and Alden over. I nodded before quietly walking up to her, Michonne, and Carol. Alden stayed back, but I walked behind them, listening in to what they were saying.

"So, he called for an election?" Michonne was asking Maggie, and I already knew what this was about. It was about Gregory wanting to fight against Maggie for leadership of the Hilltop again, which I found humorous since Maggie was the best leader that they have had so far.

"The one great idea that Gregory has had," Maggie somewhat agreed.

Carol then asked, "Is he still sore about the results?"

"Course he is," I laughed behind them. "This is Gregory we're talking 'bout here."

Maggie shrugged and countered, "Well, I don't know 'bout that. He's being friendly. It's weird, honestly."

I patted Maggie's back, now cutting in between her and Michonne. "Don't trust him, Mags. He's always got some angle."

"The rebirth of democracy... by that guy," Michonne quickly added. "Who'd have thought?"

We all smirked before Carol peeped in, "Meanwhile, I live with a king."

Michonne laughed while Maggie asked the question of, "But, it works, right?"

"People seem to like it," Carol partially agreed. "But, there's something about a vote."

Michonne suddenly stopped while Maggie, Carol, and myself kept up the pace. "You're really not gonna trust Gregory, right?" I asked Maggie, trying to make sure that she doesn't take his kindness. "I mean, this is Gregory. He always has some angle, Mags."

He nodded, glancing over at me. "I know, Tess, and that's why I don't trust him. Don't worry. I'm not gonna let him hurt me or Hershel."

Ah, Hershel. He was Maggie and Glenn's baby boy, who she named after her late father. She has told me about her father, how great of a man he was and it only made me wish that I had met him before. Everyone called him by his name while I have called him Baby G since he was born, looking just like Glenn in the flesh.

We walked up until Maggie and Carol stopped, so I did, too. "Ah, here we go," Maggie breathed out, as we were now looking at the blacksmith equipment. "Our blacksmith can use these as a model to make more. And, we can send one to the Sanctuary, try to fix things there."

I somewhat agreed with that, seeing as I still somewhat wished that the Saviors had been killed on sight. Some of them had come into their own, proving themselves to us, such as Arat and Alden. They were actually useful.

"I'm glad you won your election," Michonne whispered to Maggie, and I had to agree with her. Maggie was the best leader for the Hilltop after the destruction that it was in after the fall of Negan and Gregory's crap leadership.

Maggie smirked and replied, "I'm glad that I grew up on a farm."

—

SHORTLY after, we all reunited back at the huge stairwell with the glass floor, gingerly using the ropes to drag an old covered wagon down the stairwell and over that glass.

"Alright. Easy," Saddiq whispered, but loud enough for everyone to hear him. This shit was hard to do, especially trying to keep it afloat.

"Last step. Easy," Rick called out, almost on the step step of the stairs. Just then, the wagon's front wheels went down on the glass while Michonne, Daryl, and I were up on top and trying to keep it from falling and crashing through the glass. It was making a whole lot of noise, and it scared me that it might fall right through the glass.

"Shit," I cursed just as the rope slid through my hands, gritting my teeth. I was just glad that I decided to wear my black leather gloves today to avoid rope burn. To Michonne and Daryl, I quickly apologized. "Sorry. It slipped."

"Keep it steady," Daryl grunted under his breath to where I could almost not hear him; even though he was right beside me. "We'll help you."

Daryl and I weren't as close as we used to be, not since he returned to Hilltop without Dwight. The look on my face, I hope he never forgets.

The wagon kept coming down, so Rick yelled, "Alright, hold... Hold!" Everyone did what he said just as the wagon settled, and Rick added, "So far, so good."

Saddiq was using the ropes around the thick pole in the building, nodding to Rick, who looked to him just as he stepped onto the glass floor with Walkers underneath it. Rick was careful to walk on the black lines rather than on the actual glass itself.

Now, standing in front of the wagon and trying to control that way, Rick yelped out, "Let's go."

We started to yank and control it with the ropes, but Carol started to become skeptical, so she squeaked out, "Whoa, whoa, whoa!"

"Easy," Rick reminded us, as the role almost slipped out of my hands again. "Slow, slow, slow."

A whole bunch of whoa's from several of us later, the wagon was halfway on the glass and still halfway in the stairs when it started to make the glass crack and break. For a split moment, we all held a collective breath until Rick nodded, and we tried to continue to straddle it.

Then, this is when I heard it — the crack under one of the front wheels. I saw the glass shatter like spider-webs, and I gulped down a huge knot in my throat. Nevertheless, we finally got it off the stairs and across the glass, but Maggie and Sidney still had to lift and get the blacksmith machine across with ease.

Once they did, Daryl waited by the stairs to get the little boat across just as Rick came over with myself, Carol, and Ezekiel. "No sudden moves," Rick cautiously warned us. "Just keep going nice and slow."

Just as Daryl and Rick got the boat across, Ezekiel, Carol, and I had to lift the other machine up and try to get it across the glass, too. I held it up in the middle while they had it on the other side. However, when the glass starts to crackle and break underneath us, we put a pep in our steps to practically run across the glass now.

"Ezekiel, run!" I yelled since the glass was leading right up to his shoes. "C'mon, c'mon! Let's go!"

Rick noticed and spun his head around, yelling, "You gotta go!"

In one swift motion, Ezekiel screamed out, "Save the plow!" And, then, the glass finally broke, and Ezekiel went falling through it, but saved by the rope that was tied around his waist before he could reach the Walkers down below. He dangled by the rope, but the Walkers were right there in fingertip reach.

He was yelling and trying to fight them off, so I laid flat on the glass and reached down for his hand in an attempt to save him. "Ezekiel, grab my hand!" He reached out for it, but the rope only lowered him down more. "Ezekiel! Rick!"

Carol kept screaming for him and telling him to "hold on," while Rick flew into action to grab the rope and try to yank him out that way. Carol came over and threw a blanket down so that when Ezekiel got out, he won't be cut by the glass.

"Ezekiel," I kept yelling out his name and trying to reach down to grab his hand. "Grab my hand! Zeke!"

"Tess, c'mon," Carol yelled, holding out her hand for me. "Hurry before you—"

Just as she was saying this, I fell straight into the pit and landed right on top of Ezekiel. I had never been so close to him before, and I didn't exactly like it. "Tess!" I heard Daryl call out of my name. "Hurry! C'mon, let's go!"

The Walkers that surrounded us kept coming at us, their fingers touching us all over. "Oh, my gosh," I panted, now facing Ezekiel. "I'm so sorry! I just wanted to help you!"

"It's okay," he claimed, just as he took me by the waist and shifted me around. "Look out!"

A Walker was about to bite my arm before Ezekiel saved me from that, but one was about to bite his arm, too. "Ezekiel!"

Just before it got the chance to bite him, a perfectly placed arrow went flying through the head, making Daryl save Ezekiel from being killed right here and now. The rope finally started to be lifted up, and Carol was there with her arms out.

"Stand up and grab my hands," she called to me, bent down by the glass. "It'll be easier to get him out that way, Tess!"

With that said, I gingerly stood up on Ezekiel and reached out for Carol, who took ahold of my wrists before my arms, lifting me up and out of the pit, making me land on top of her. We didn't have to celebrate just yet, only pant when Ezekiel was finally pulled out to safety, too.

Afterward, Rick held out his hand for me, and I accepted, now helping Carol up, too. "Thank you," I said, now wrapping my arms around her neck as she wrapped her own arms around my waist. "Thank you so much."

"No, thank you for going after him," she panted out, nodding as we separated. "We both appreciate it, Tess. Thank you."

She ran over to Ezekiel to reunite with her man while I was now being held up by Ken, since I could barely walk out of fear. I was walking out like a newborn deer, but they were there to help me.

I quickly thanked them before Rick held out his arm for me, and I took hold of it, smirking and nodding. "Thank you."

"C'mon," Rick whispered, helping me out of there. "Let's go home now."

We walked out of the Smithsonian together, walking down the stairs and noticing Paul on his horse. "Tess," he called out to me, hair now in a lovely little man-bun. "Hey, are you okay?"

"Almost had an incident gone wrong," I replied, smirking. "It's alright. We're okay."

He nodded and continued on his horse, and now Tara is coming up on her own horse. "I heard what you said," she breathed out, looking down on me. "Glad you're okay."

"Me, too," I smiled up at her, dimming my eyes. "I can't die that easily."

Tara laughed and agreed, "You got that shit right. We should get going."

She continued on her horse, too, following behind Paul and his own horse. I came up to my own horse, helping myself up on her and following the horde of my own people making our way out of D.C. to head back home.