Happy 100!!!!

Please keep up the amazing votes and comments, you guys rock!

<><><><><>

Jo

As the sun started to set a chill settled into the air. I shivered as I climbed the metal ladder. When I reached the top I zipped up my jacket that I had grabbed from the house. I dug in the pockets and pulled out a pair of leather fingerless gloves and pulled them on as well.

Rick glanced back over his shoulder at me. "Hey," he greeted.

"Hey," I said stepping up beside him. I rested my hands on the top of the fence and stared off down the road. We stood like that in silence but there was nothing to see.

Once full dark was upon us I swallowed, stealing myself to speak the words that had been festering in my heart for hours. "They should have been back by now. Something went wrong."

Rick nodded and sighed. "Yeah, I know," he agreed sadly. After a moment of silence he looked down at me. "You all right?" he asked.

I nodded, lifting my chin. "Yeah, yeah I'm good." I promised him but it was a lie. Abraham, Sasha and Daryl were all extremely capable fighters, but there were so many things that could have gone wrong in front of that horde. Daryl would never leave one of the others behind and if they had gotten into a bad situation Daryl would not have hesitated to put himself in danger to protect them. I ran a restless hand through my hair. 

"You know he's all right, right?" Rick asked me carefully after a few moments of silence. When I didn't respond Rick shifted his weight. "He's strong," Rick continued unnecessarily.

I only nodded, keeping my eyes glued off into the night. I felt like any second headlights could appear, but they never did.

"He's going to be fine Jo," Rick promised me, but there was no way for him to know that. 

Finally, I looked back at Rick, he looked exhausted and stressed and I wasn't helping. I forced an encouraging smile onto my face. "I know," I assured him, not because I did, but because Rick needed to hear it maybe more than I did right now. "I have watch, you should try to get some sleep."

He must have been even more tired than he looked because he didn't fight me on it. He just nodded and turned to go. Rick reached out and squeezed my shoulder. "It'll be all right," he said tiredly.

"Night Rick," I called after him because there was nothing else to say. If he had genuinely believed everything was fine he wouldn't have been up here in the first place. Like me, Rick had never taken watch before.

A short time later I heard movement on the ladder but I didn't bother looking so I was surprised when Carl stepped up next to me. He was wearing his hat and had his gun strapped to his hip. I wasn't surprised to see that after what we had just gone through. We stood silently side by side watching the night.

"Enid's out there too," he finally said in a low voice. I glanced up at him and his face was drawn with lines of worry.

I didn't bother asking how. I had known for a while the two of them had been sneaking out but it wasn't my business to keep them caged in and they obviously knew what they were doing. So, instead of saying all the stupid reassuring things people had been saying to me all day I turned to Carl. "I'm sorry Carl," I said. "You must be really worried about her."

He nodded. "I'm sorry too," he said. "Daryl'll be okay."

I nodded. "So will Enid. She's smart."

It was only a short time later before Maggie climbed up. She stepped onto Carl's other side and sniffled quietly. "Nothing?" she asked unnecessarily. 

I grunted but didn't respond. There was nothing to say that she didn't already know. 

"Where's Rosita?" Carl asked after a few moments.

I glanced over at him, surprised he would think of her. It made sense though, Abraham, Sasha and Nicholas were also gone. Though Sasha and Nicholas didn't have anyone to wait for them.

"She's on watch on the other side," Maggie said thoughtfully as she hadn't thought about Rosita either.

"Alone?" Carl asked.

Maggie nodded slowly and then seemed think for a moment. "I'll go wait with her, she shouldn't be alone."

Carl stood out beside me for hours. "I can keep watch Carl," I told him after a while. "It's late and cold."

He glanced over at me and indecision played on his face. It was obvious he didn't want to leave me out there by myself, but he had been yawning for the last hour straight. If he kept it up I was likely to start and the only thing keeping me going at this point was sheer force of will.

"It's late Carl, go to bed," I insisted. He hesitated and I gave him a playful nudge towards the ladder. "Go on," I said gently. "I'll be fine," I promised him.

He nodded though he didn't look entirely convinced.

"Thanks for waiting with me," I called to him as he climbed down the ladder.

He paused and looked back at me. "It's what we do," he said simply. "We're family."

<><><><><>

Daryl

The next morning someone kicked me in the leg. I jolted awake, my mind foggy with memories of the past. I tried to move, but was not in the position I remembered. I was sitting somehow now, leaning against a tree. I tried to move my hands but they were tied in front of me with rope.

"Get up," a man's voice called angrily.

I looked up and everything that happened the day before came rushing back to me as my head started to pound. I reached my tied hands up and touched the side of my head, grimacing when I hit the tender spot where they hit me.

"Hey," the man repeated when I made no move to do what he said. "Get up," he snarled at me. I stared impassively as him until he pulled a gun and pointed it in my face. "We're moving." He looked rough, like they had been on the road, but there was only one layer of dirt, so maybe not on the road that long. His eyes were hard though, hard and desperate as he stared down his gun at me. "Here's the deal. You don't say shit and I don't kill you."

I didn't react to the gun, just stared the desperate man down. "I ain't who you think," I growled at him. I was pissed he got the drop on me and even more mad he had me tied up now. It was morning, I had been gone all night.

The gun clicked and he moved it closer to my head. "Say something else," he challenged. "Go ahead."

I didn't react and that seemed to make him even madder. He jerked me to my feet by the front of my shirt. "Follow them," he ordered shoving me towards two women who were waiting for us ten feet away.

<><><><><>

Jo

Rick was back out shortly after dawn. He climbed the ladder and glanced over at me. 

"Carol said you took her watch last night," he said in a carefully neutral voice. 

Carol had come out sometime in the middle of the night but I had sent her back to the house. My eyes had burned from a lack of sleep, but I couldn't bring myself to face the cold empty bed last night. 

I scrubbed at my gritty eyes. "I wasn't going to sleep anyway," I said in a quiet voice. 

Rick nodded and because I think he knew it wouldn't do any good to argue with me about it he let the subject drop. 

"Carol told me a little of what happened with Morgan. I am going to confront him about it today."

I frowned, my tired brain was not following why he was so upset.

Rick noticed. "She said he wasn't willing to kill those men who attacked here. When I was out there, I had a chance to stop the herd from getting back here, but I was attacked. The people had W's on their foreheads and supplies from here. I need to know if he let them go."

I didn't respond, just kept my eyes trained on the road, but my mind was tripping over all the possibilities. Rick was right. If Morgan had let them go then not only could we not trust him to watch our backs, but he was actually a liability to our security here. 

"Do you think I'm wrong?" Rick asked finally.

I just shook my head.

He nodded, his face set in a grim line. "I would like you there," he said without looking at me.

"Me?" I asked in shock. 

"Yeah, you."

"Why?" I asked, entirely confused why I needed to be there.

Rick let out a breath and chuckled once. "You were there. Plus you're a leader, people respect you."

I snorted.

Rick stared at me for a long minute all traces of humor gone from his face. "I heard what happened at the pantry. I know it's hard for you to accept, but people do respect you."

I scowled at him. "People are afraid of me, there's a difference Rick." 

Rick let out an exhausted sigh and I knew I was being difficult. 

"I'll be there," I promised.

He nodded grimly. "Good, now go get yourself something to eat and maybe a nap."

I chuckled and climbed down the ladder heading for home.

<><><><><>

Daryl

The two women seemed to know where they were going. They weren't just wandering. They were talking together in low voices, but I kept most of my focus on the man behind me with the gun. Not that I had discounted them because they were women, Jo had taught me long ago not to assume anything based on what a person looked like. Hell, they were both taller than Jo herself. But neither of them moved like they were fighters, and that wasn't something easy to hide. We had gone a little ways when the older of the two, the brunette, offered me a bottle of water.

"Have it," she said, holding it towards me. I looked away and tried to keep going but the guy snatched it out of her hand and stepped in front of me.

"We don't need you falling down," he said. "Drink," and he shoved it into my hands.

I tipped it up and chugged the last two inches out of the bottle. It was clear water, which made me wonder where they had got it. This water wasn't what you got out of a stream or puddle. This looked like water out of a community of some kind. Our water at the prison hadn't even been this clean.

The guy stared at me, his eyes narrowed. "They find us, maybe we give you to them, and they let us call it even. See, we're reasonable people. Everybody's got their code. You feel you gotta kneel, that's fair enough. We don't. Let's go." He said shoving me ahead of him. 

I frowned as I thought over his words carefully. He was keeping me cause he thought I was a useful hostage, trouble was I didn't know who the people were he thought he was going to trade me to. Wondered if it had something to do with the assholes with guns who ran me off the road.

"I can't believe we're back," the blond said in shock, looking around at the burnt forest.

"It isn't home anymore," the brunette woman told her firmly. It seemed like even though the guy had the gun, the brunette was the one in charge. 

"This is a pit stop. We pick up Patty, nothing more than that," the man behind me growled.

We walked a little longer before the blonde spoke up as she stared up at the trees in wonder. "How'd you do it?"

"You saw where we left the truck?" he asked.

"Mmhhmmm" she responded.

He continued. "We opened the valve and drove it all the way in from Farmview Road. Ran from the tree line until we got to the pavement. Lit a matchbook from the Sweetwater and dropped it in on the trail...then we just ran for the car. Got in and the dead ones were there. They were beating on the hood and then...and then boom! Knocked them on their asses and I took an ax to each one."

"Then we just watched it go up," the brunette added. "No more moans, no more of that wailing. It was just the fire, just burning them all away."

Finally I couldn't keep quiet any longer. "You did all this?" I asked keeping my eyes on the brunette.

She nodded, looking around at the damage. "It was right at the start, everything stopped, the TV, the radio...we were here, the forest was full of them. And the other ones in town, they were drawn to it. They just walked right into the flames."

I looked down at the dead walkers. We hadn't used fire to kill them before. Any time I had seen a walker on fire it didn't seem to mind. I looked down at all the charred remains at our feet. A few were still moving but there wasn't much fight to them. Maybe we just hadn't used a strong enough fire.

The brunette kept walking, though she glanced over her shoulder at me as she talked. "We got most of them. Thought we ended it for us, and she was in DC. We thought everyone was fighting them wherever they were..."

The man moved so he wasn't so much behind me as walking beside me. They had all relaxed some as they told me their story. If they hadn't taken me hostage they didn't seem like bad people.

"Yeah," the man said. "We thought that was what everybody was doing. Fighting it. That we'd all win together...we were stupid." he said shaking his head and he stepped around me.

I stopped and glared at him. "Y'all don't think you're being stupid right now?"

The man pulled the gun again and stalked back to me. "You saying I should kill you?" he challenged. "I mean it, are you gonna try and pull something on us?" he glanced over his shoulder and I could see how protective he was of the women. "Are we just being thick here by not removing all doubt?"

I moved, rocking my weight slightly, and he didn't hesitate to follow me with the gun. He was stressed and tense but he wasn't stupid.

"Right now, by me not pulling this trigger, is that a mistake? I'm serious I really want to know. You made a choice to kill for someone else, to have them own you for a roof over your head and three squares, so maybe I'm not considering all aspects. So tell me, am I being stupid?"

I breathed out. "No," my voice rasped. I took a step toward him and the gun hoping I could reason with him now that we were talking. "Look, I got somewhere to be. We can make a deal, I can help you out."

"You're one of them. You're hurt and you're alone, you'd say anything. We should've never trusted you people to begin with. Go on," he said motioning with the gun. "Keep moving."

He shoved me ahead of him out through a clearing. I stumbled over the changing ground but managed to keep my feet.

"Damn it!" the man exclaimed behind me and then the three of them came out of the woods and approached the ten foot high chain link fence in front of us. The sign on the fence said it had been a fuel company at one time, but now the place looked over run with walkers. The brunette dropped the bag that had my crossbow in it as she walked towards the fence in shock.

The three of them spoke in hushed, stressed voices as tears started streaming down the blonde's cheeks. 

"Then we make another plan," the brunette snapped, raising her voice in frustration. 

"Yeah, we get out of here, that's the plan," the man told her.

"Then that's the plan," the brunette agreed.

I paced restless behind them. I needed a moment, just one moment to slip in and grab the damn bag.

"You guys didn't have to do this for me," the pretty blonde was saying. 

"It was the right thing, for all of us," the brunette responded reassuringly.

The blonde sniffled. "This was the right thing. Even if you guys went back now, if you just told them that is was me..."

"No, we'll find a way," the brunette promised. They were all so upset and worried about each other's feelings they had forgotten about me. I paced silently closer to the bag so when I made a grab for it I would be closer. 

"Just think about it," the blonde begged her. I frowned at the blonde. She was sweating and she looked a little pale. I was surprised the others didn't seem to notice. 

"Look," the man said, finally speaking up. "maybe we don't get as far, but we'll-"

The blonde's eyes rolled up suddenly and she collapsed.

"Hey!" the man exclaimed.

"Tina!" the brunette cried in alarm, she collapsed under the weight of the other woman and the man jumped forward to help them.

Now was the time. I jumped forward and snagged the strap on the bag and tore off into the woods. All I heard as I ran away was gunshots and a woman's voice.

"Don't we need that! Please!" The desperation in her voice was almost enough to give me pause, but I couldn't stop. I couldn't let them bring me to where ever they were going. I had to get back to Alexandria. 

I ran as far as I dared before I jumped behind some downed trees. I needed to get loose and armed. I took my teeth to the ropes, desperate to get them off. As soon as I felt them give way I slid them off, throwing the rope away from me. I was out of breath but I didn't stop. I snatched up the bag and pulled out my walkie.

"Sasha? Abraham are you there?" All I got was static.

There was snarl in the woods behind me. I turned and spotted the walker coming through the trees. I sighed in frustration and turned back to the bag. I did not have time for this shit. I unzipped the bag and reached in for my crossbow. It barely fit in the bag and one of those idiots had jammed it in there. Finally I managed to wrestle the damn thing free. I rolled over onto my back just as the walker got to me and fired, catching the walker in the middle of the forehead. I flopped back down exhaling. After a few seconds I forced myself back to my feet and turned back to the bag to get my knives. I frowned down at a small cooler sitting in the middle of the bag. 'Insulin' it read across the top.

I sighed again. I did not have time for this shit. I stared down at the cooler for a long time trying to decide what to do. I thought about Jo and if she were here with me. If she were no way I would risk going back. Those assholes... But Jo would have wanted to. I exhaled. It was that little blonde, Tina, she reminded me of Jo's sister Kate and Beth. I looked around at the destroyed forest, they didn't belong out here and they sure as hell weren't going to survive on their own. Not with a sick woman with them. I reloaded my crossbow, swung the bag back over my shoulder and set off through the trees. 

<><><><><>

Jo

I was dozing on the couch when Rick, Michonne, Carol and Morgan came in through the front door. I sat up, stretching and rubbing the sleep from my eyes. Rick met my gaze and jerked his chin towards the dining room. When I got there Rick, Michonne, and Carol all sat at the table across from Morgan. I stood in the back ground, leaning against the wall with my arms crossed over my chest. This felt a little like an interrogation.

"What's going on?" Morgan asked looking at each one of them in confusion.

Rick got straight to the point. "When I was coming back, I tried to cut off that herd with the RV, lead the walkers away. But five of those people with the W's on their foreheads they stopped me. They tried to kill me, shot up the RV. Now Carol says she saw you, that you wouldn't kill those people, even when they were killing our people." This had to be hard on Rick. From what I gathered he and Morgan went way back and had saved each other on several occasions. I wondered where Deanna was. If she still wanted to lead this group, then she needed to be here to deal with situations like this. She couldn't keep living in her happy little world where nothing bad happened. 

Carol leaned forward, narrowing her eyes. "Did you let any of them go?" she asked stiffly.

"Yes I did," Morgan confessed with no semblance of shame or apology in his voice. "I didn't want to kill five people I didn't have to kill."

I crossed my arms over my chest uncomfortably. This was about to take a distinctly moral turn and I wasn't really up to that kind of philosophical debate. I found I was happier not thinking too hard about it, but it was obvious that was not the case with Morgan. Someone like him was going to be a challenge for Rick. Like me, Rick had moved past what was right and wrong and settled onto was necessary.  

"They burned people alive," Carol snarled.

"Yeah," Morgan agreed nodding but he was staring down at the table top, lost in his own thoughts. Then he took a deep breath and lifted his eyes to meet Rick's. "Why didn't you kill me Rick? Back in King County? I pulled a knife on you, stabbed you. So why didn't you kill me then? Was it because I saved you after the hospital?"

Rick hesitated. "Because I knew who you were."

Morgan pressed his lips into a line and shook his head. "Back there I would have killed you as soon as look at you."

I swallowed as memories went over me. Rick and Daryl had made a similar call with me. I had attacked and they had let me live, they rehabbed me and gave me a home. All because they knew me before the damage was done. I had no doubt they would have left me behind in Woodbury had Daryl not recognized me. 

"And I tried, But you, you let me live, and then I was there to help Aaron and Daryl."

I let out a breath. I owned Rick a debt that could never be repaid. He took me in and gave me a family. We were family. But I owed Morgan as well. Daryl had assured me that without Morgan he would have died and I believed him. Morgan had brought Daryl home to me. I scowled, I had more sympathy for the man then I realized. I didn't like it. I liked things black and white, it kept things simple. 

"See-" Morgan continued. "If I wasn't there...if they died..."

Something in my chest tightened over his words and I shifted my weight. Things were far from simple anymore and the sooner I acknowledged that the better off we would be. 

"Maybe those wolves wouldn't have been able to come back here. I don't know what's right anymore. Cause I did want to kill those men. I seen what they did, what they would have keeped doing. I knew I could end it. But I also know that people can change. Cause everyone sitting here has," he looked at each and every one of us. I squirmed under his gaze. He gave me a small smile when he realized he had made me uncomfortable and turned back to Rick. "All life if precious. That idea, that idea saved me, it brought me back and it keeps me living."

Michonne shook her head. "I just don't think it can be that easy."

"It's not easy-" Morgan growled.

"I wasn't saying-"

"I- I know," Morgan corrected himself. "And I've thought about letting that idea go. But I don't want to."

Michonne nodded slowly and a look of regret crossed her face. "You may have to. Things aren't as simple as four words. I don't think they ever were."

Morgan nodded and looked out the window frowning. "You think I don't belong here?"

"Making it now..." Rick shook his head. "You really think you can do that without getting blood on your hands?"

I knew he couldn't. It just wasn't possible any more. He was right each and every one of us had changed. We had grown stronger and harder because you had to in order to survive. 

Morgan looked away and shook his head. "I honestly don't know."

<><><><><>

Daryl

I found them, sitting together on a log, looking forlorn and desperate. I stepped out of the trees, pointing my crossbow at the guy. "Drop the gun."

The man whirled towards me, his eyes wide in surprise. He pointed the gun at my chest.

"Drop it," I snarled again. What the hell was I doing getting myself into this shit again? 

He lowered it slowly. 

"Give it to me," I demanded prowling towards them. He slowly lowered it but positioned himself protectively between me and the girls. It made me think more of him. I snatched the gun from his hand and backed quickly out of range. "I came all this way. What you got for the duffel?"

The man looked confused and the brunette was staring at me like she didn't understand what I was saying.

I shook my head wondering how they had made it this long by themselves. "You put me through too much shit just to give it back. Principle of the thing," I said by way of explanation. "What you got besides this gun?"

"Nothing," the brunette responded, though desperate, she lifted her chin defiantly. There was something about her that reminded me of Jo. Something in the set of her shoulders, and the jut of her chin, as though she were daring me to say something. 

I looked away from her and back to the guy. "What was the thing you were carving?"

The man dug it out of his pocket. "My grandpa taught me-"

"Don't care," I snarled. "It'll do." I needed to get out of here. I tucked the delicate piece of wood in my pocket then tossed the bag to them. "Take it, it's all there."

The brunette fell on her knees next to the bag and opened it. Her relief so profound I could see it in her whole body. She choked out a rough sob and I felt like an ass. 

"Good luck," I called over my shoulder as I stalked off. "You're gonna need it."

Then there was something in the woods moving towards us. It was big. Twigs and branches started snapping. I whirled, ducking into some of the underbrush where I wouldn't be seen. It was a truck. The brakes squeaked as it parked. 

The doors opened and men piled out. From where I was crouching I could only see their legs and the guns they carried at their sides. They moved like a single unit though, like they were used to working together and like they had training. I wondered if these were the assholes who had shot me up or if they were the ones looking for those people. Maybe both. 

"Let's end this," one of the men called.

"It's ours," the brunette called, her voice shaking. "We earned what we took."

"You're gonna return what you took," the man responded angrily. "You're gonna pay for the gas it took to come out here and for all the time these men took out. It's over. You know the rules."

"Your rules are batshit!" she screamed desperately.

"We're not going back, Wade. We're done kneeling!" the guy yelled.

"Don't change the subject asshole," whoever the guy Wade was responded. 

I moved to go and froze when I saw more men coming out of the trees. The three of them were struggling to run, but they were headed straight into the men with guns. I did not have time for this shit. Sighing in frustration I ran out.

"Come on," I whisper yelled, "Not that way," I warned. "Come on!" Tina nearly went down. "Go, go go!" I ordered them and I wrapped an arm around Tina's waist supporting most of her weight as we ran. I directed them to a place where the underbrush was thicker and would provide some cover.

"Hey," I whispered to the guy. I wondered if this would be my fatal mistake. I held out the gun to him. "Take it."

He looked from me to the gun in shock. I held it out to him and nodded. I couldn't be the only one armed if we were going to get out of this. I turned my attention back to Wade and his gun totting assholes. I could hear them talking together, planning. They were organized and well trained. One of the men with guns was walking towards us. I tensed. We needed to move, but there was no way. Tina lay in the brunette's arms. She was weak. There was no way we were going to be running any further. 

I reached out and shook some of the trees deliberately. The man with the gun turned towards us. His path would take him right past a walker who was trapped. Sure enough the idiot with the gun didn't look and the walker grabbed him and sunk his teeth into the man's arm. The guy killed the walker and pulled back and started screaming for Wade.

I watched as the leader, Wade, came running and they amputated the guys arm right there. They were tough and they knew what they were doing. They were dangerous. Wade called the rest of the guys back so they could get the injured man home.

I glanced back to see the brunette giving Tina a shot. The two of them were on the ground at the man's feet. He stood over them protectively, with the gun raised. When I looked back the men were clearing out of the woods. If we stayed put a few more minutes it would be all clear. 

Finally the guy turned back to me. "We thought you were with them." He shook his head in disbelief. "We knock you over the head, tie you up, threaten to kill you, why the hell did you come back?"

I didn't know how to respond. I couldn't explain that it was for Kate and Beth. He wouldn't get it. So instead I just shook my head. "Maybe I'm stupid too."

<><><><><>

I hope you enjoyed the update!

Guys I have no idea how it happened but here we are, 100 chapters! I would never have done it without your support and encouragement! You guys made this happen as much as I did. I am in absolute shock so many people have read and enjoyed LOS. I seriously just started writing it because I couldn't find the type of fanfic I wanted about Daryl. I have seen a huge influx of new readers in the last few days so thank you all of you who have shared and helped promote this story. You are amazing!

I totaled it all up and Last One Standing is over 270,000 words right now. That's like the equivalent of reading four books. At some point I will have to start editing but that's a little daunting so I will probably put that off as long as possible :) I am so grateful to all of you who have stuck with me for so long. I have plans for the future! I'm actually super excited for a Negan/Jo showdown and I hope you are too!

Don't worry Jo and Daryl will be reunited soon and it will totally be worth the wait ;)