CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN

"Are you sure it's smart to come back here?" Theo questions as he and Andie walk up outside the front door of the place they fled from last night.

"You're not cutting this bullet out of me with a hunting knife." She glances at him over her shoulder, holding the spot she's still bleeding from.

"And you have to know if Daryl made it out."

"Are you telling me that you don't wanna know?"

He sighs, knowing she's right. "Fine, but I'm going in first." He says, and she motions for him to enter ahead of her.

They had a hard time escaping the walkers in the woods, and they never found Merle and Luna out there. The pair has been trying to distract themselves — and each other — from what they're both thinking.

They lost Beth and Zoe, they have no idea where to even start looking for Merle and Luna, and Daryl might as well be dead for all they know. They were lucky to find any of their people before. Now, all they have is each other, and they're gonna have to find some way to be okay with that. At least for now.

"I think it's safe to say he got out." Theo says after they clear all three floors, killing what few walkers remained inside.

Andie lets out a deep breath, feeling some of the weight come off her shoulders. If he got away from the herd that made it inside, there's more of a chance that he's still alive somewhere.

"I don't know how the hell he got out of here." The brunette mutters as she looks at all of the dead walkers in the room downstairs.

"He's a survivor." He says as he pulls out some medical instruments. "Now let's get that bullet out of you."

"Alright, but no funny business. Don't go getting any bright ideas inspired by days of Dread Doctor past." Andie says as she pulls up her shirt to reveal the bullet hole. "I'm no experiment."

"That's not the kind of experimenting you and I enjoyed." He says as he walks over to her, and she shakes her head.

"Do you have to bring it back to the sex?" She questions, and he shrugs.

"Irritating you gives me something to do besides thinking about the last twelve hours." He says, and she takes a deep breath as she braces herself for the first incision.

It doesn't take too long for Theo to get the bullet out, and then they stuff some of the food from the cupboard into Andie's bag. Rather than resting like they probably should, the pair decide to head out again. Theo taps his knuckle on Beth's thank-you note before following after Andie.

"You really think he went after the car?" He asks as they stand in the spot where they lost the others last night.

"It was still there when we ran into the woods." She looks at him. "Probably waiting to see if there was anyone else they could pick up. They probably drove off when they saw Daryl come out — not exactly a fight they'd want."

"We don't even know why they took the girls."

"The only thing we know for sure is that the car went that way." She points down the road. "So, let's follow the street, see what we find... Or do you have a better idea?"

"I think it sounds like a good idea." Merle's voice gets their attention, and they turn as Luna bolts out of the woods and she slams into Andie. "We went up a tree to get away from the walkers, saw my brother run after the car not long after you two took off that way." He points.

"What are you guys still doing here?" Theo asks as the older man makes his way over to them.

"What was I supposed to do with the little one all by myself?" He questions. "I was hoping you two or Daryl would come back this way, maybe think to regroup in the last place we were all together."

"Told you." Andie smacks Theo's arm. "You wanna do it my way with a little less bitching now?"

"We're at least half a day behind him." Theo says, and she nods.

"Then we should go." Luna says, and their leader smiles as she looks from the little one to him.

"Then we should go." He motions for the girls to take the lead, and Andie adjusts her hatchet in her grip before starting their long walk down what looks like a never-ending road.

—

"Fuck me." Andie groans when they reach a fork in the road with a railroad track running through it.

"Now what?" Merle says as he adjusts Luna on his back, and the werewolves look at them.

"We gotta stop." Theo says. "None of us have rested in more than a day. We have to set up camp somewhere and get some sleep."

"Yeah." She reluctantly agrees. "Who's on first watch?"

"I'll take it." He tells her. "Let's just use some trees to make a cover, and do it fast. We're losing daylight."

They look up at the darkening sky; it's after sunset, but it's not fully dark out just yet.

The four of them move a little ways into the woods, but don't stray too far from the railroad to set up camp for the night. Luna and Merle are the first to fall asleep, and eventually Andie is able to get some rest as well. Her body's exhausted and needs to sleep in order to properly heal. Theo gives her five hours before he can't keep himself awake anymore, and she takes over watch for the rest of the night.

It's early the next morning, just after sun-up, when Luna wakes Merle and gets him to eat with her — taking the peanut butter jar from Andie's bag. And he starts talking about figuring out how to get some hunting done sometime soon.

They hear footsteps headed their direction, and Andie smacks Theo's leg to get him to wake up when she realizes that it isn't walkers. He's on his feet quickly, and Merle hangs back a little ways with Luna as the pair quietly make their way to the tree line to get a look at whoever's coming.

Andie's heart jumps in her chest when she sees the faces of two familiar people walking out of the woods on the other side of the road. They appear to be following the tracks.

"Holy shit." Theo mutters as he looks at the father-daughter pair.

The brunette walks out of the woods, and they both stop when they see her, then Theo moves to stand beside her.

"I was starting to think that coming out here was a complete waste of time." She says, and Andie can't help laughing as she looks at her cousin.

"You know, I figured you'd kill Theo if you ever saw him again."

"I still might." Is all Andie says in acknowledgement to her uncle before she runs over and throws her arms around Malia.

She awkwardly returns the hug before pulling back to look at her. "They said we'd find you... I didn't think we'd lose them first, but..." She glances at Peter.

"Yeah, keeping groups together is easier said than done out here." Theo says as Merle walks over with the youngest on his back.

"I'll take it their friendlies?" Merle asks, and Andie looks over at him.

"Uh... About as friendly as I am." She tells him, and he nods.

"Her cousin and her uncle." Theo explains, and the older man nods.

"'Nough said." Merle mutters, and she smirks as she looks back at Malia.

"Where are the others?"

"Good question." Malia looks up at Peter.

"This is my fault now?" He questions.

"Usually is." Andie nods. "What happened?"

"A big group of the cranks separated a bunch of us months ago." Malia tells her. "I think we all ended up in smaller groups, but ours never found any others."

"Me, Melissa, and Noah ended up in a town called Woodbury." Theo interjects. "It was run by this prick who was trying to kill Andie's group — he called himself the Governor."

"Sounds like a prick."

"You have no idea." Andie says, and they look at her. "Long story short — that's how I found the three of them. We took in the residents of Woodbury after the war...part one."

"How many parts were there?" Peter asks.

"Two." She looks up at him. "We're dealing with the aftermath now. We lost Melissa and Noah — got separated — and everyone else from my group. It's just the four of us now. We were trying to track some of the others — they were taken by people in a silver car, they were dressed as cops."

"Interesting."

"We haven't run across anyone like that." Malia tells her. "It's just been the two of us, Derek, and Braeden for the better part of a year now. We got split from them a few days ago." She punches her father, and he grunts before turning to glare at her.

"I told you Derek's alive." Theo says, and Andie glances at him.

"How are you trying to find him? You have his scent?" She asks, and Malia shakes her head as she motions to the railroad tracks.

"We're trying to get this place. There are signs on different spots of the tracks." She tells her. "All we have to do is follow them. That's what Derek and Braeden are doing too."

Andie takes a deep breath as she looks over at Theo and Merle.

"You're not looking for my brother anymore?" The older man questions. "You're giving up on him that easily?"

"It's not... We don't have any leads anymore, Merle." She tells him. "Theo and I were tracking him all yesterday. His scent is easy to trace when we can get a lock on his chemosignals, but here..." She shakes her head as she looks around.

"I don't know what any of that means, senorita." He says, and she sighs.

"Everybody puts off chemosignals, it's involuntary." Theo explains. "They're released through our emotions. Daryl's got pretty muddled right here."

"Meaning what?"

"Meaning he hit the same problem we did, and lost hope." Andie motions to the fork in the road, and Merle looks in both directions. "Hopelessness, despair... They're strong signals."

"They're there, but they're muddled." Theo continues. "Someone must've found him here. We picked up on more."

"A group."

"Can you tell where they went?" Merle asks, and Andie points down the tracks. "Did Daryl go with them?"

"We don't know." She shakes her head. "When you're tracking one person, it's easy enough. But a group... And this group was..."

"What?"

"Male." Theo says. "All of them."

"Them, we've come across." Peter says, and they all look at him. "Bad attitudes, violent."

"Barbaric." Malia earns their attention. "If one of your guys is with them, he may need saving soon."

"They tried to kill us."

"They tried to kill you."

"It's the best lead we've got." Andie says. "And I don't like that they may have Daryl, and are headed in the same direction as Derek and Braeden."

"You're the leader." Theo says. "Tell us where we follow."

"You're an alpha?" Malia asks, and her cousin shakes her head as she looks at her.

"They didn't let me have a revote." Andie says.

"Results would've been the same." Theo tells her. "What are we doing, boss?"

"I wanna find Daryl." Luna says, and they both look over at her.

"You heard the little lady." Andie says. "I guess we're following the only trail we've got. And they've got a lot of ground on us."

"I'll pack up camp." Theo says before disappearing back into the trees.

"Doesn't Uncle Peter get a hug?" He holds his arms out, and Andie looks at him for a second before turning around jogging over to help Theo.

"So," Peter starts when they're walking a few miles later. "How did you end up with the pipsqueak, anyway?"

"Merle saved her when the prison fell." Andie tells him.

"Prison?" Malia asks. "The explosions a few days ago? That was your war part two?"

"I told you it sounded like a warzone." Peter says as he leans toward her, and Andie turns to glare at him.

"We lost good people." His niece says. "Damn good people, who deserved a lot better than what they got."

"It's not your fault." Theo says, and she shakes her head.

"Don't."

"The world has always been that way." Peter says. "You should know that better than anyone."

"Hey, Andie?" Luna whispers. "Do they know? You know, about..."

"Yes, Luna, they know." She tells her. "Peter's a werewolf like me and your papa. And Malia's a werecoyote."

"What's the difference?" Merle asks.

"What's the difference between a wolf and a coyote?"

He shrugs. "Depends where you are."

"The differences between me and Malia are minimal." She tells him. "Mostly the way we view loyalty in a pack, I guess."

"And what makes Theo your bitch?"

"Fuck you." The younger boy shoots him a dirty look.

"Theo's different from both of us, but similar in a lot of ways. I don't feel like getting into it right now." Andie says.

"Merle said we can't talk about werewolves in front of the whole group." Luna says, and she nods. "He said we shouldn't really talk about it at all unless you say it's okay. Who in the group knows?"

She takes a deep breath as she glances down at the nine-year-old walking beside her. "Theo and myself are the only ones in the group who are like us. Merle, Melissa, and Noah are the only ones who know about us." She tells her. "Not everyone is very accepting of people like us, so I thought it was better to keep it secret."

"You don't trust Daryl and the others?"

"It's complicated, Luna."

"What if I'm like you?" She asks. "That's why Papi wanted me to find you. He knew you would help me. But how would we keep it secret from the others?"

"We have years before we have to worry about that."

"And you might not live that long." Peter says, and Andie whirls around as Theo rears back and punches him, landing a right-hook to his jaw.

"Hey, hey!" Andie gets between them when both of their eyes turn blue. "That's enough. We're not fighting out here." She makes Theo keep walking, and he follows after Merle and Luna — the oldest kept her walking when the others stopped.

"I guess you really are turning into some version of an alpha." Peter says as he looks between the two of them. "Just like your beloved Scott."

"Do not ever talk to her like that again. Do you understand me?" She says as she looks up at him, and his jaw tightens as he looks at her. "We've made it this far, and she's survived. She is just as much a survivor as anyone else out here. As far as whether or not she turns  — we'll cross that bridge when we come to it."

"Let's keep going." Malia says, and Andie turns away from her uncle.

The six of them keep walking, even through the night, and they don't come across many walkers as they go. It's about mid-morning when they come up on a warehouse to the left of the tracks.

"We should stop here a couple hours." Merle says as he starts toward it. "Grab some shut-eye before we keep going."

"Wait." Theo reaches out and grabs Luna.

"Blood." Andie says as she looks at him. "It's gotta be somewhat fresh with how strong that scent is."

"I don't hear anything." Peter says as he looks around.

"Is that a body?" Malia walks over toward an entrance to the warehouse, seeing a dead body laying in the dirt at the bottom of a cement ramp. "It's one of the guys from the group that tried to kill you last week. They put one of his own arrows through his head." She says as she looks over at her father, and he walks over to her.

"This is the one who started a fight with me." He says as Andie walks into the warehouse with her cousin following closely behind. "He had one of the worst attitudes."

"They beat him inside, dragged him out here." Andie says as the girls exit the building. "Daryl was definitely with them."

"Then we ain't stoppin'." Merle says.

"We've been walking for twenty-four hours." Theo looks up at her. "The only one who's gotten any sleep is Luna when we put her on Merle's back."

"You wanna stay here?" She asks as she looks at him. "This guy's blood is all over the cement in there. Daryl's with them."

"I wanna find him too."

"I can't find another body, Theo." Her voice drops as she walks over to him. "We watched that self-righteous prick cut off Hershel's head. Carter died in my arms... Do you know the hell it was seeing Karen like that?"

"Yeah, I do." He nods. "I found Angela, remember?"

"And think about what it'll do to everyone if we lose Daryl to the guys who did this." She says, her voice barely a whisper, and he looks over at Merle.

Theo nods. "Let's go."