35 DAYS LATER

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I held Mollie's hand when walking up to the bridge. Daryl, Aaron, and most of the Saviors, including myself, are helping in building the bridge for trading and getting to each community with ease.

Since Carol told me Henry was going to be here and giving out water to everyone, as added help, I decided it was time for Mollie to come out and help him.

I gingerly walked up to Henry, who nearly collided with us before he backed up and smiled up at me. "Hey, Tess," he squeaked out, finally calling me by my first name than by Ms. Rovia. "Hi, Mollie."

Mollie grinned while I started to speak to him, "Henry, I thought it was a good idea that Mollie helps you today. Is that okay? Will you keep her safe for me?"

Henry nodded and smiled at Mollie again. "Yes, ma'am."

He was always so polite. I messed up his hair a little bit before bending down to talk to Mollie. Although she came up to my waist, I always bent down to talk to her, like she was a toddler.

"Stick with Henry, and don't go off by yourself," I instructed, rubbing her arms. "He'll keep you safe, but if something happens, scream for me, and I'll come running."

"Okay," she agreed, somewhat very quietly. "I'll stay with Henry."

"Good," I smirked before I heard Daryl calling out to me, "Tess. Let's hurry and get this done."

I nodded before I kissed her forehead, leaving her with Henry. I walked over, and Daryl handed me a hammer, but we didn't speak after this. Aaron glanced up and noticed I was standing there. He stood up to hug me, but I pushed him away.

"No way," I giggled, keeping him at arm's length. "You're sweaty."

"Oh, you'll be the same way soon, too," Aaron laughed, now heading over to help Daryl get a board to fix the bridge with. "Give it time, Tess."

"I will," I smirked, now taking a knee to hammer down the nails in the board. I nearly stepped on them, though, so I decided to fix that before it became a problem later on.

Aaron and Daryl come back over, placing a new board down. Now helping me nail the new board down, Aaron suddenly says, "Tess, I was just telling Daryl about Gracie. I went in after her nap and picked her up, and the diaper just exploded all over me."

I smiled, knowing exactly what he meant, thanks to Tara Rose. Daryl mumbled, "Sounds like good times."

"Oh, the best. Tess knows," Aaron claimed, nudging me, and I just smiled. "You'll see."

Daryl glanced up as I felt his glare; even though it wasn't towards me. "What?" Aaron innocently breathed out while I kept on hammering down the nails when Aaron replied, "You'd be a great dad."

Daryl now took a moment to look at me before he turned away and muttered under his breath, "Yeah."

I knew Daryl would be a wonderful father if he would just open his heart a little more. I have seen the way he has been with Tara Rose and even Mollie, too. After I gave birth to Tara Rose, he was immediately there to calm her down and hold her in his arms. However, we keep our memories to ourselves now and don't talk as much as we used to.

It still upsets me because I wish Daryl and I were still close. Unfortunately, I can't trust him like I once did. He took Dwight away from me.

Suddenly, I heard some kind of commotion, and then, "Mommy!"

I snatched my head up and saw Mollie backing away from Justin, who just shoved Henry to the floor for the rest of the water. Oh, hell no!

I ran over there, knocking nearly everyone out of my way. However, about the time I got there, Henry had taken out the stick that he uses - like his brother, Ben, and Morgan did - and knocked Justin on his ass.

Most of everyone started to laugh at Justin before Jed walked up to him and started to mock him. "Hey, man, it's cool. I got my ass handed to me by a kid one time, too. Of course, I was six at the time."

I held Mollie back because she was staring down at Justin with anger in his eyes. Nevertheless, Justin hopped up and started to go towards Henry, who had run off.

Daryl caught up with Justin and pulled him back. "Hey. Kid's just doing his job. Get back to work."

Justin jumped into Daryl's face and spat, "I don't need your people telling me what to do. You're not my babysitter anymore."

Justin tried to walk away again, but Daryl yanked him back, and this was when Justin tried to hit Daryl, who ducked in time to come back and hit Justin back instead. Daryl knocked him on his ass, back on the sand. I took Mollie and pushed her behind me, backing away slowly.

Justin took the opportunity he had on top of the sand and used it in his favor by taking some of it and throwing it straight into Daryl's face. While Daryl was shielding his face, Justin took the time and speared him to the ground to get the upper hand.

"Hey," I screamed, now jumping on Justin's back and wrapping my arms around his neck. "Get the hell off of him, asshole!"

I couldn't believe how I was willing to get beat up for Daryl... again. Just like old times, huh?

"Fuck off of me," Justin yelled back, now standing up and shoving me off of him. "Back away, bitch!"

I smirked and laughed out, "Bitch? Really? Can't do any better than that, you dick?!" This is when I pulled my right hand back and nailed him right in the face, knocking him backward. I kept going at him before Daryl joined back in, trying to get me off of him.

"Get your bitch off of me," Justin yelped right before he hit me square in the face, knocking me off to the side. "Stupid bitch!"

Then, Daryl came up and held him over the bridge, tempting to push him off and into the water down below. I came up to Justin and calmly said, "You got something on your face."

"Yeah, like what, you-"

Then, this is when I legitimately spit out the blood from my mouth straight into his face. He tried to get Daryl off of him to attack me again, but not before I heard Rick now screaming at us, "Hey! Hey! Break it up! Break it up right now! Hey! I said enough! I said enough. Enough."

"Fuck him! He hit me," I tattled to Rick on Justin like we were children.

While being held back, Justin snapped back, "Yeah, because you hit me first!"

"No, because you attacked Daryl," I growled back, ready to rip his head off. "And, before that, you shoved Henry to the ground! It isn't okay, you ass!"

Rick had to hold Daryl back, but he was over it when he spat out actual blood and walked away. Although Daryl and I aren't as close as we were, he was still my friend in a way, and I wasn't going to let anyone hurt him.

To me, Rick whispered, "I'll handle it." Then, to the others, he announced, "Go back to work." He turned his back, and to me, he said again, "You stay here with Mollie, and don't get into any more trouble. I know what he did, and I'm glad you had Daryl's back, but you just got over having a fractured nose, and now, you could have more."

Then, with that said, Rick walked away as I stared at his back for a while before turning my attention to my other side, staring Justin down and shaking my head. Aaron walked up to me and placed his hand on my back, walking with me.

"Come on," he whispered, now slightly patting my back now. "Let's go."

—

DARYL eventually came back to the labor site with Aaron and myself, along with the other Saviors. As Daryl walked up to us, I decided to just keep my head down and continue to do my job, but he came straight up to me and did the psst sound, nudging my arm and signaling his head away.

I followed after him until it was just him and I off alone, and he grumbled out, "You shouldn't have got involved."

"Yeah, I know, but-"

"But, nothing," he growled, raising his tone a little and cutting me off before I could get started. "If he truly wanted to, he could've killed you - right in front of your little girl. You should've let me handle it."

My mouth dropped as I almost walked away, but I just placed my hands over my mouth for a second for me to process this. "Are you kidding me right now, Daryl?" I snapped back with a growl, raising my own voice back at him. "He threw sand in your eyes and attacked you when you were down. I helped you. Why can't you just thank me and let us do our jobs?"

He nearly laughed back in my face. "Thank you?" He was almost in my actual face before he just took a deep breath and shook his head, turning his back on me. "I don't think so, Tess. You need to grow up already and stop fighting my battles, and be a mother to your girls."

I nodded, holding it all back. And this is exactly why we aren't close anymore, I thought to myself before walking back over to Aaron to complete our work.

Nonetheless, I tried not to let my anger show, especially because I don't want to take it out on Aaron. I grabbed a small saw and started to cut the limbs off of a tree nearby which was down on the ground, having my back turned on everyone and keeping to myself for a moment.

I just wanted to be alone, even if it was for a few seconds. I knew how Daryl wanted me to stay safe, but I wasn't going to let Justin beat him up, either. Even though I was harmed, it doesn't matter as long as he's okay, too.

Suddenly, I heard the horses nearby start to make noises and freak out, in general. I picked my head up to look back at them but didn't see anything until I turned my head again just a little bit more and saw that we had company coming our way. I jumped to my feet and threw the saw on the ground before taking out my machete.

Daryl grabbed a pointy limb and took out two Walkers by himself before I came up and took out the last one for him. His eyes were on me, and I just stared back as he nodded in appreciation.

But, then, I heard some more noises and glanced over Daryl's shoulder. "Shit," I cursed, taking a step back in disbelief. "More Walkers!"

While I was taking out the first few by myself, Daryl spun around and yelled to everyone, "A herd's comin! Bug out now!"

Daryl spun back around to help me take out more of them as I swiped my machete, slicing off heads left and right. But, then, I heard someone yell out in pain and agony, but couldn't see at the moment that it happened since I had three Walkers surrounding me. In one easy swift motion, I sliced all three of their heads off at once.

Then, I cracked my head around and saw some logs were on Aaron's arm. "Aaron!" I screamed, panicking just as I had to spin my machete back around to take off another head. "Daryl, we gotta go help Aaron!"

He stabbed another Walker in the head and huffed out, "I know. Get over there. I'll be right behind you!"

I didn't hesitate to leave Daryl behind, heading straight towards Aaron. "Aaron, I'm here," I said with panic in my voice. I started to try to lift the log up by myself. However, I wasn't strong enough. "I'm not gonna let anything happen to you! Just hold on, Aaron. Hold. On."

While I tried to lift the log up again, I could hear Daryl in the background barking out demands to those who had stuck around. Daryl appeared, getting ready to lift the log up with me, along with another Savior, and even Jed ran over to help, surprisingly, too.

Altogether, we tried to lift the log, but it was just too heavy. "One. Two. Three. Lift!" I called out, groaning when it wouldn't budge.

"Go! Get out of here!" Aaron pleaded, wanting us to leave him behind to be slaughtered by Walkers. "Go!"

I looked up at Daryl, hesitatingly shaking my head. "Nope. Not him," I cried, pleading with him to stay and help us save Aaron. "We're not losing him, too!"

Daryl stood up and grumbled out, "Keep on him." Then, he spun around and took out his knives, ready to take down the Walkers by himself. He killed about three of them before he returned back to us.

Jed and the other Savior had to roll the log off of Aaron's arm instead of lifting it off. So, when Aaron finally rolled out, his whole left arm up to his elbow was bloody and bruised like I hadn't seen anything else before in my life. It was crushed completely.

Nevertheless, I helped Daryl lift Aaron up and rush him the hell out of here. "Come on. Get up," Daryl barked, now got Aaron's good arm around his shoulders. "Tess! Follow behind us and keep those Walkers off of us!"

I did as he said to do, now following behind them and killing each Walker who remotely even got close to us. We were almost in the clear before a Walker got on Daryl's shoulder, and I was about to swipe its head off before an arrow came flying through its head, killing it.

Daryl, Aaron, and I looked up to see Rick and company flying in to help us out. "We've got this," Rick called out to us. "Get him back to camp."

And, just like old times, Daryl and I called back in unison, "On it!"

—

WE arrive at Oceanside's campsite, as I had to help Daryl carry Aaron inside one of the tents to be seen by a doctor.

I helped lay Aaron out on the cot, only seeing Enid inside. "Where's Siddiq?" Daryl asked before I could.

"He's gone," Enid breathes out, already on-edge after seeing Aaron. "It's just me."

"It's just you, then," Daryl understood, nodding before he had to attempt to take Aaron's shirt off to see the full arm.

Aaron groaned in agony as Daryl had to take the shirt off, as every last bit hurt like hell, I'm sure. Enid took a look at his arm and was breathing heavily when she suddenly said, "I have to amputate it."

"What?" I breathed out, looking up at her from my kneeled position on the ground next to Aaron's cot. "Enid, no."

"What?" Aaron now cried out, still somehow conscious through the pain.

Daryl nearly broke his neck to follow Enid when he asked, "There ain't no other way?"

"The only way to stop the bleeding is to amputate and cauterize the wound," Enid explained, now waking back over to us with a book in hand. She was shaking like crazy. "Daryl... I-I need you to help me out here. Please."

"On it," he breathed out, now coming up to help Enid.

"Here." Enid handed what looked like a shoelace to Daryl to tie around Aaron's arm to help with the amputation. Although I knew Enid well enough to trust her, I just didn't know if I did with Aaron's life.

Aaron started to freak out more, as he was sweating like crazy while looking like he was as white as a sheet. "Wait, wait," he pleaded, now letting the tears flow out. "Please."

Enid now ran over to gather supplies to help with the operation, as I just sat there with wide eyes and my bottom lip quivering. "Aaron," I called out his name, now touching his leg. "It's gonna be okay. She's gonna help you. You'll be fine, I promise."

Aaron glanced down at me and whispered out, "If I don't make it... Will you please take care of Gracie for me?"

"Aaron, I—"

"Please, Tess," he breathed out, pleading with me here. With tears finally in my eyes, I frantically nodded but had to look away for a moment.

"You got something for the pain?" Daryl called out to Enid, as I wondered the same thing.

"It wouldn't kick in fast enough," she claimed, worrying all in her tone. "We have to do this. Now."

"I'm sorry, man," Daryl apologized, squeezing the lace around Aaron's upper arm.

"I need you two to hold him down for me," Enid demanded of me and Daryl. He held his upper body down while I covered his legs to avoid kicking.

Aaron saw how Enid was so damn nervous, and with a nod, he reassured, "You can do it. Do it!"

Finally, with Aaron's blessing to proceed, Enid took the large blade and quickly cut off Aaron's lower arm, right under his elbow. He cried out and screamed, pleading for the pain to stop, but it wouldn't stop. Not for a while, at least.

Afterward, while Enid was wrapping him up, Daryl suddenly stormed out of the tent, and I needed to follow him to make sure he wasn't going to do anything crazy. "Daryl, wait!"

Breathing heavily, I followed him inside another tent, waking right up to Carol. "Who was supposed to turn that herd?"

I nearly bumped into the man behind the reason that Aaron's arm was just amputated. Justin. I honestly didn't expect anything less.

"Hey, the walkie wasn't charged," Justin claimed, hands halfway up in surrender.

To my surprise, Daryl and I both said again in unison, "Bullshit." He glanced at me before taking another step towards Justin, adding, "It's a solar walkie. You didn't think to check it?"

Of course, Justin has to make up an excuse for this while the anger boils up in my blood. Everything from what happened earlier with Henry to right now after he didn't turn the herd. The log could've easily had murdered Aaron, all thanks to him.

"It's not my fault the radio's a piece of shit," Justin spat back in Daryl's face, which made me take a step closer to him. "And, while we're at it, you better get your little bitch out of my face before I—"

Before I knew it, Daryl had swung and hit Justin right in the face. Justin flew out of the tent, hitting the ground on the outside. Carol and I ran out after Daryl, who had punched him into a tree before taking a pot and hitting Justin over the head with it.

"Daryl, stop," Carol tried pleading with him, but Daryl ignored her as he got on top of Justin to beat him up some more. "Daryl!"

I ran up and tried to help Carol to get Daryl off of Justin, but only so that I could get a few hits in myself. However, I decided to save it for later when helping Carol. "Daryl, I said stop," Carol now said in his face, holding his right arm back. We glanced up to see Henry and a few others staring us down. "We'll deal with him, but not like this."

Daryl went to turn around, but before he did, he growled out to Carol, "There's only one way to deal with these assholes."

Now that Daryl had walked away, Carol looked to me with pleading eyes, but I just shook my head before going over to Justin's down body on the ground. I swung my right boot back and kicked him right in the ribs. He yelped and turned over, holding his body.

I legitimately spit on him and threatened, "You better never, ever make another mistake like that again. If you do, it's your ass that I'm going to kill first."

Then, with that said, I walked away and straight through the crowd of people, as I felt everyone's eyes burning holes into my back. I didn't care because if Justin pulls some shit like that again, I'm going to slit his throat and smile when doing it.