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Jo

We all loaded up into the motor home. In the end it was Rick, Michonne, Daryl, Maggie, Glenn, Abraham, Jesus and I. Glenn hadn't made the first cut, but he had made it perfectly clear that if Maggie was leaving the community he was going with her. In the past few months Rick had worked to transfer a lot of the leadership responsibilities to Maggie as per Deanna's plan. Watching her sit and chat quietly with Jesus, I had to applaud her decision. Rick was a leader, but he maybe wasn't the leader that would bring us into the new world.

Daryl hadn't been able to relax since the night before, when he found Jesus in our house. I glanced over at him, wishing there was something I could do to set his mind at ease. But, he was Daryl. He took all of our safety very seriously. I was sitting on the floor, in the kitchen hallway as usual and Daryl was sitting on the couch watching intently out the window.

After about twenty minutes I stretched my leg out and nudged his leg. He flinched like I had hit him and spun around. I quirked an eyebrow, but his face was an unreadable mask. I nudged him harder and he frowned at me. A slow smirk spread across my face and he scowled. I jerked my chin towards me and scooted down, making room for him to sit next to me. His scowl deepened and I watched him struggle. Jesus was watching us carefully and when Daryl noticed he harrumphed and dropped down at sit next to me.

Though he was sitting next to me, he wasn't touching me. He was being very careful to keep at least a few inches between our shoulders. Despite the distance I could feel he tension thrumming through his body. I took a deep breath, trying to get him to subconsciously relax as well. I glanced at him out of the corner of my eye and watched as his jaw tightened and his fists flexed. He looked tired. He hadn't slept in over a day, but I wasn't surprised. He never did when stuff like this was going on.

There was only so much to do for him. So, after the first hour I settled back and just enjoyed the ride. Jesus and Maggie had stopped chatting a while ago and when I looked over she had fallen asleep with her head resting on Glenn's shoulder.  

Abraham had looked uncomfortable for most of the drive. He kept looking from Daryl to me and then from Glenn to Maggie. Finally he wasn't able to hold back. "Hey," he called to Glenn in a low voice.

Glenn lifted his chin in acknowledgment.

Abraham chewed on his lip. "Can I ask you a question?" It wasn't like Abraham to be nervous about anything. I leaned forward around Daryl so I could hear the exchange.

Glenn nodded, "Sure." His eyes flickered to Maggie, but she was sleeping hard enough their low voices weren't disturbing her.

Abraham leaned forward so only the four of us would have heard him speak. "When you were ah, pouring the bisquick...were you trying to make pancakes?"

I barely coughed back the choking laugh that forced it's way up my throat. I sat back and buried my face in Daryl's shoulder as I fought to hide my smile. He was still tense, but I felt a low chuckle rumble in his chest. Taking the opportunity I wiggled my way under his arm. When he glanced down at me, I lifted my chin defiantly, daring him to pull away again. He snorted and shook his head, leaning over and pressing a kiss into my hair.

Jo- one, Crabby Redneck- Zero

Glenn for his part only looked marginally confused by Abraham's question. "Ah...yes?" he  finally responded, frowning as though he wasn't quite clear on what Abraham's colloquialism had meant.

Abraham's eyes flickered lightning fast to Maggie and back again and he lifted his eyebrows meaningfully.

Realization dawned on Glenn's face. "Oh! Okay! Yeah, it's ah...it's something that we talked about. Why?"

Abraham sat back in his seat, frowning deeply. "Well...given the precarious state of affairs on any given Sunday, I am damn near floored that you or anyone else would have the cojones to make a call like that."

Glenn was taken aback by Abraham's blunt words. He glanced back at Maggie and his gaze softened. "I mean well...we're trying to build something, me and her." Glenn's eyes ran over everyone in the motor home. Every single one of us was risking a lot going on this trip. But we were all doing it for the future of Alexandria. "All of us."

Abraham frowned as he considered Glenn's words. After a few moments he nodded and leaned back towards Glenn. Glenn obliged, meeting him halfway. Abraham looked at each of us in turn. "For the record, I see rain coming, I'm wearing galoshes. I double up."

I snorted again, just unable to believe the nature of this conversation. I smiled and leaned my head against Daryl's shoulder. Abraham's eyes traveled to Daryl and I. He licked his lips like he was going to ask something more, but he saw something on Daryl's face that made him stop and lean back in his seat.

I thought I had a pretty good idea of the nature of the glare Daryl would have leveled at Abraham. Despite us all being close, Daryl was still an extremely private person when it came to him and I. I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that he loved me, but he wasn't one for public displays of affection.

The motor home started to slow and Daryl tensed. He pulled away gently and rose to the window, flipping open the blinds.

"Hey Rick, what's going on?" he barked. I guess he hadn't settled as much as I thought.

"Crash ahead," Rick responded gruffly as he stopped the motor home. "Looks like it just happened."

Jesus stood, leaning down so he could see out the front. "It's one of ours," he said with quiet horror.

Rick parked the RV and we all climbed out. There were bodies and blood splattered across the pavement. Rick turned to Jesus and pulled his gun, pointing it at Jesus's head. "If this is a trick, it won't end well for you."

Jesus shook his head in disbelief, worry etched across his face. "My people are in trouble," his voice was rough with emotion. "They don't - we don't have a lot of fighters. I know how it looks, but I'll play it out," he promised sincerely. He took a deep breath and I knew we weren't going to like what came out of his mouth next. "Can I borrow a gun?" he asked holding out his hand. His eyes were pleading as he looked from Rick to me, but I could tell he knew how stupid it was to ask.

"No," Daryl snarled, shaking his head. He stalked around the crash, his eyes on the ground. "We got tracks right here," he said motioning to the gravel.

Rick nodded and jerked his chin in the direction the tracks led. Daryl's eyes flashed to me and I pulled two knives so I could cover him while he focused on tracking.

We set off across the parking lot, following the tracks through the grass. Daryl paused a few times, frowning but ultimately the tracks led in a fairly straight line to a low office building. The others trailed behind us, keeping their eyes peeled in case this was some kind of trap, but Jesus stayed right with me. He would have been right up next to Daryl but I held him back a few times, shaking my head. Daryl didn't like anyone in his space while he tracked and having Jesus breathing down his neck would send him to a whole new level of pissed off.

"Right there," Daryl said motioning towards the front door.

Rick stepped up and pounded on it. There was no response from the living or the dead.

"They've gotta be in there," Jesus said, a little desperately as he tried to get to the door.

Abraham stepped in his way, scowling down at him. Jesus stopped, though it looked like it took effort. Rick scrubbed at the windows trying to see inside.

"We moving in or what?" Abraham snarled his hand resting on the gun at his hip.

Daryl stalked around the group up to stand next to Rick. "How do we know this ain't firecrackers in a trash can?" he challenged, glaring at Jesus. I stood off to the side, my knives bare in my hands.

This didn't feel like a trap to me and Jesus didn't feel like someone who was deceiving us. I debated saying something, but I wasn't sure it would matter. My words weren't going to mean much in the face of Rick and Daryl in full protective mode.

"You don't," Jesus said desperately trailing after Daryl. He stopped then and turned to face me. "Please, just help them. Whatever it takes."

I wasn't sure why, but for some reason he seemed to think I was his most likely ally in our group. I glanced at the others and realized he might just be right. I shifted my weight and turned to look at Rick. He met my gaze for a long minute, indecision warring in his eyes, finally, he nodded.

Rick pressed his lips into a thin line and turned to Jesus. "We'll get your people," he promised. "But you're staying out here with one of us."

Jesus turned back to me, his eyes pleading with me. I shook my head. I wasn't helping him out on this one. I trusted myself, but only to a point. I had made mistakes before and I wasn't willing to risk everyone's safety on a gut feeling. "That's the deal," I said firmly.

Jesus's lips pressed into a grim line but he nodded, as though he had a say in the matter.

"Will you stay with him?" Glenn asked Maggie behind me. It was probably the safest place for her. Everything I had seen of Jesus made me confident he wouldn't hurt the pregnant woman and sending her into an unknown building with an unknown threat was not an option any of us were willing to entertain.

"Yeah," Maggie agreed. "Y'all go, just be careful."

Rick pulled out his set of handcuffs and snapped them onto Jesus's wrists, securing his hands behind his back. "Yeah," Rick agreed. "We're gonna be careful."

"Just hurry," Jesus begged, but I could tell he was mad he was being restrained. His shoulders flexed as he tested the restraints. I had heard he could get out of knotted rope and cells, I wondered if he could manage the handcuffs in the time we would be gone.

Rick glanced over his shoulder at Maggie. "You hear me whistle, you shoot him."

Maggie pulled her gun and pointed it at Jesus's head. "I will," she replied, perfectly calm.

Daryl opened the door with his knife in hand. He paused, waiting to see if any walkers were coming. When none appeared he looked back at us and motioned for us that it was all clear.

Rick nodded in agreement. "We do a quick sweep of the building. Jo and Daryl, Abraham and Glenn, and me and Michonne. They'll be injured, Jesus says they aren't fighters but don't take any chances and be ready, they'll be scared."

Which meant chances were they would come out fighting.

Daryl held the door for everyone, his eyes locked on Jesus. I glanced back once more at Maggie and Jesus but they looked fine. I turned to Daryl.

"Ready?" I asked.

"Let's get it done darlin," Daryl said and he led the way into the darkness.

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Daryl

I didn't like this. I didn't like it one bit. Here we were chasing after some strangers who could kill us as soon as look at us in an unknown building all because that prick outside asked us to. I got that we needed other people to trade with, the food supply was dangerously low. But this trip was going from bad to worse.

I could hear Jo prowling behind me. She was sticking closer than normal, her shoulder brushing against mine every now and then. Her tension made me even more so. Plus, I felt exposed not having my crossbow. I hadn't had it for months, but times like this it really bugged me not to have it. I had a knife in my hand and a gun on my hip but it didn't feel like enough. I ground my teeth as I reminded myself it was my own stupid fault for not having my crossbow anymore.

The office building was a damn maze. There were hardly any windows so it was hard to see where we were going. We passed the first hall and I could hear Rick and Michonne. The second juncture was where Glenn and Abraham had turned off. Which left Jo and I to clear the back rooms of the place. I could hear low growls in the rooms surrounding us and judging by the stench the walkers had been in here a while. Jesus's friends picked a hell of a place to hold up. Either this was one hell of a trap or he was telling the truth that they didn't know nothing about fighting.

Just as we passed the next set of doors there was a snarl and I caught motion out of the corner of my eye. I stepped towards it, putting myself between the Walker and Jo, who hadn't seen it. I swung the knife, slamming it into the walkers head. A second Walker was right behind the first and I grunted as I fought to pull my knife out. I felt Jo move behind me. She moved almost silently, swinging around me and slashing up with her knife. She was already back in a fighting crouch before the walker's body hit the ground.

I kicked the walker away from me, pulling my knife free and turned back to face her. Her eyes caught the light and she was looking at me, I could see that she was calm and in control.

It had been a long while since she had a PTSD attack, but by now I knew what her triggers were and usually tried to keep her clear of things that would remind her of the past. A dark, unknown place like this with long echoing hallways was the type of place I would worry about her. She didn't talk much about her time lost in the tombs but it was one of the things that seemed to haunt her nightmares the most.

When she caught me staring she nodded to me to confirm she was in control. I dipped my chin in response. I was feeling raw and over protective and I was too damn tired to be dealing with this kind of bullshit.

There was a clatter ahead and the two of us whirled to face it. We exchanged a look and started moving cautiously down the hall together. The noise had come from the next set of doors. When we reached them I shoved Jo behind me. She made a frustrated noise but didn't fight me. Either it was walkers, or it could be Jesus's friends. If it was his friends, and they came out swinging, I wanted them to hit me first instead of her. She was too damn small for this kind of thing.

I kicked the door opened and then stepped back, waiting for the attack to come. Jo huffed behind me and I knew I was going to get an earful from her at some point.

I stepped into the room first and two people stood, raising their hands in surrender to us. I scoffed. We didn't even have our guns out. Jesus wasn't kidding when he said they weren't fighters.

"Come on," Jo called to them from behind me. Her voice had the lightness to it that she used when she was trying to seem non threatening. "We're with Jesus," she reassured them. "But we've got to move. It isn't safe here."

One of the men stepped forward and shook his head. "I can't go with you, I'm looking for my friend.He's close and he's hurt, from the crash."

We heard a commotion from the hallway. Leaving those two at our backs Jo and I darted out in time to see Abraham holding another man up against the wall by his throat.

Jo stepped forward. "Abraham," she said in a low voice.

Abraham didn't let the guy go and I moved forward to make him, but Jo waved me back and stepped up to him instead.

"Abraham," she said again, only this time louder.

He jerked loose of whatever was going on in his head. He looked down at Jo and then back to the guy struggling in his hand. He slowly lowered the guy blinking stupidly. Jo reached out and laid a small hand on his upper arm, smiling gently at him.

"You with us big guy?" She asked.

He nodded. "Yeah," he responded gruffly. When Jo still looked worried he turned back at the guy who was cowering in fear. "Thought ya were an unfriendly."

My impatience finally won out. We had Jesus's friends now we needed to get he hell out of here. "Come on guys!" I called down the hall. Both Jo and Abraham looked my way. Jo gave me a rueful look and I knew I was gonna hear about this one too. But Abraham nodded gruffly and snapped back into action.

"You got him?" I asked Abraham as Jo and I passed them, heading towards the front door.

Abraham nodded and pulled the injured man's arm over his shoulder, supporting most of his weight. The others trailed along behind.

Rick and Michonne met us at the doors and we left together. We all piled back into the RV before the walkers could follow.

I dropped down to sit next to Jo in the small kitchen area. I had no idea why she liked to sit here instead of in a damn seat, but I wasn't going to argue with her over it. She sheathed her weapons and leaned back against the cupboards, her knees drawn to her chest.

I leaned towards her. "Ya okay darling?" I asked in a voice only she would hear.

She startled like she had forgotten I was there. "Yes," she said a little too fast. "I'm okay," she promised me, but she was watching Abraham.

"You okay Freddie?" Jesus asked his friend.

The hurt guy was shaking with pain and stress. He looked up at Jesus, his eyes haunted. "For a second back there, when I thought he was gonna..."

Abraham shifted uncomfortably. He had nearly killed the man, we all knew that. It was what had Jo so caught up in her head. Abraham had some PTSD just like she did and she would relate to the new guy being afraid of him. I didn't want her thinking of that stuff anymore. So even though there were strangers around I reached over and laced my fingers with hers. She startled again and this time met my eyes. I felt one corner of my mouth quirk up in a small smile. She squeezed my hand gratefully.

The guy didn't seem to notice any of us of us were there. He was staring down at his hands as he spoke. "I saw my wife," the guy told Jesus, tears in his eyes. "She died nearly two years ago, and there she was clear as day." He shook his head. "I can't do this anymore," and the man broke down crying.

Jo shifted uncomfortably beside me and I could tell she was still worried about Abraham. Maybe the rest of us too. We had all been fighting for a long time. I looked down at Jo. I would give anything for her to not have to face this shit anymore. Glenn at least had an excuse for keeping Maggie out of it. If I started telling Jo I wanted her to stay behind I would be an overbearing asshole.

The RV stopped suddenly once more and the engine revved. I frowned as I felt the wheels fighting for traction, I looked up to see Rick shift and the motor complained again but we didn't go anywhere.

"A storm must have passed through," Rick called back to us. He sounded pissed. "We're stuck."

Jesus stood and looked out the windshield. "No worries," he said with a smile. "We're here."

We all piled out of the motor home, weapons in hand.

Jesus turned back to face us, a relieved smile on his face. "Welcome to Hilltop."

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Thanks for reading! I really struggled with this chapter as it is a bit of a transitional
one so I hope you liked it! We're setting the stage for a lot to happen in the next few chapters!! Thank you so much for your continued support! I really appreciate it! You guys are the absolute best!