When morning came, they all piled into the RV and continued driving. Parker sat at the table with Carl, Eugene, and Tara. Eugene was shuffling a deck of cards as he explained the rules of the game that Parker and Carl already knew pretty well.

"Seven-card stud," Eugene explained. "Stares and squares. It's aces, cuatros, neeners, and two-eyed jacks."

"So there are fourteen wild cards?" Tara asked, confused. "Are you serious?"  

"Serious as two copulating dogs," Eugene confirmed, the other three sending him weird looks. Parker looked at her cards and caught Carl peeking over her shoulder at them.

"Hey! Keep your nosey little eyes off my cards."

"But you have the one that I need," He pointed at the one of the cards in her hands.

"And you have the one I need," She muttered, chewing her bottom lip as she thought things over in her head.

"Shall we trade?" He asked in a fancy accent, Parker laughed at him.

"Of course." They swapped cards with each other and Eugene stared at them, upset.

"Those aren't the rules of the game."

"This is how Carl and I play," Parker countered, as she sorted her cards into runs.

"Yeah, we're a team," Carl added. Eventually, after a while of driving, the RV died on them and they ended up stranded on the road. It wasn't a particularly pleasant situation, as it brought up many memories that the group as a whole was trying to forget. Specifically...  from the last few weeks. Daryl headed to the roof to keep watch and Parker followed him up there after they had finished the final match in the card game. She climbed up the ladder while Glenn and Abraham attempted to repair the RV. Daryl raised an eyebrow when he saw her head pop up.

"You sure you should be up here?" He asked her.

"I'm not stupid," Parker deadpanned, walking over to him. "But don't worry, mom. I won't wander too close to the edge."

"Just makin' sure," Daryl told her, raising his hands in fake surrender. "I gotta take care of you."

"And I appreciate that," Parker responded, hugging him from behind. "I hope this turns out to be something good. We need a win."

"Me too," Daryl nodded. "And hey, I'm sorry. I've been havin' a hard time lately. But I'm tryin'."

"Don't apologize," Parker muttered, shaking her head. "You never need to apologize for how you feel. You loved Beth like she was a little sister. Because she was. For a lot of us, she was like an annoying little sister." Daryl placed his hands over hers.

"It sucks that she's gone," He sighed. "She didn't deserve any of this."

"No," Parker said sadly. "She didn't. And I wish I could have been there with you. I wish I could have helped."

"You help me by bein' yourself," Daryl assured her. Letting her know she did help and still was. "I don't think I would've made it this far. Sure as hell wouldn't have come back after leavin' with Merle that time."

"I'm glad you're back," She said, and she was grateful every time he came back. "If you hadn't, I would have lost it a long time ago. I would have been alone."

"What are you talkin' about?" Daryl looked back at her. "You would've had Glenn."

"Yeah, but he's got Maggie. And I'm not positive but I think something is going on between Abraham and Rosita." Parker listed off, looking at the split-up groups amongst them. "And I think Rick definitely has feelings for Michonne."

"Really?" Daryl scoffed, "You sure on that one?"

"Yes," She nodded, certain she was right on that. "I'm good at reading people, remember?" Daryl rolled his eyes.

"You have too much free time on your hands."

"We all have too much free time," She responded, as the RV came to life beneath them. She smiled, "And we're back, bitches. Let's go."

"You got a dirty mouth," Daryl commented, climbing down the ladder first. "You don't want the baby's first word to be 'bitch'."

"That would be amazing," Parker said back as she climbed down after him. "Or it could be 'shit' or 'damn' 'cause you have a habit of saying those."

"Let's make a deal. Once the baby is born, we stop swearin'." He suggested and she stared at him blankly before raising an eyebrow.

"Do you know me at all? That's not going to happen." They got back into the RV and continued their drive to Alexandria. This time, Parker and Daryl sat alone, her arm around his shoulders. Resting her head on his chest, she let the sound of the engine and the warmth of his embrace lull her into a peaceful sleep. She slept for the rest of the trip, and when the RV stopped, Daryl shook her awake lightly. She woke up slowly, eyes half-opened as they adjusted to the light before rubbing them and yawning. She looked around, slightly disoriented. "Are we there yet?" Parker murmured.

"I think so," He answered, both walking out of the RV. They were standing in front of a wall that towered above them, and Parker couldn't deny the gut feeling that told her this place, this community, could be their saving grace. She prayed that she was right and that Rick's hesitation was in vain, but even though she wanted this to be true, she kept the mindset that everything could go wrong. Just like everything else they had faced. A trash can was knocked over, and a possum came scampering out before an arrow pierced through it. Parker watched as Daryl walked over, and picked up the marsupial as the first gate was pulled open, revealing a man on the other side of the bars. "We brought dinner.," Daryl announced to the curious people on the other side, raising the possum in the air. The man on the other side of the gate looked skeptical, but Aaron assured him it was okay.

"It's okay. Come on in, guys." They entered cautiously, weapons in hand. The gate closed behind them and Parker suddenly felt trapped. Being enclosed in walls after living the way they had for so long made it hard to think this would be a safe place. She struggled to keep her breathing steady for a second as she looked around at the town in front of her. Her panic was probably for nothing, but after all, she believed she had the right to feel the way she did. She grabbed Daryl's hand and held it tight as the man walked towards them.

"Before we take this any further, I need you all to turn over your weapons," The new guy instructed. "Stay. You hand them over."

"We don't know if we want to stay." Rick said coldly, Judith on his hip as he stared daggers at the man in front of him.

"It's... it's fine, Nicholas." Aaron tried to reassure him.

"Are you gonna come and take them from us?" Parker had a slight smirk on her face, lifting her gun out towards him, mocking him. Challenging Nicholas to even try.

"If we were gonna use them, we would have started already," Rick told him, there was a threat hidden in his statement.

"Let them talk to Deanna first," Aaron intervened, stepping between the townspeople and Rick's group.

"Who's Deanna?" Abraham asked loudly, catching them off guard.

"She knows everything you'd want to know about this place," Aaron explained to them. "Rick, wh- why don't you start?" The growl of a walker caused everyone's head to turn toward the noise, Rick glanced at his sister, signaling with his eyes to kill it. She put her pistol back in its holster, pulling the rifle over her shoulder, briefly looking through the scope before pulling the trigger. The walker fell dead, brains scattered across the road as the metal gate covered the steel bars, sealing away the outside world. Rick turned around with a small smirk on his face.

"It's a good thing we're here." He commented, the fearful looks of the people not bothering any of them. Aaron led them down the street, and Parker looked around in amazement. This place was like something out of a fairytale. An apocalyptic fairytale. It seemed untouched by the outside world. Clean houses, freshly mowed grass, and windows that weren't broken. Roofs that weren't caved in. There were no bodies scattered on the sidewalks or the smell of death that made your stomach turn. This place was like a small piece of heaven on Earth, and Parker was stunned by the beauty.

"Look at those houses," She whispered to Daryl in awe at the buildings. "They're bigger than Rick's old house and my apartment combined."

"They look too clean," Was all Daryl replied with.

"I know what you mean, but maybe we don't have to think like that," Parker mumbled. "For all we know, they could be normal people... surviving."

"For all we know, they could be the same as those damn cannibals," Daryl countered.

"Look at this place," She continued, pointing at different things like a little kid in a new place. "It seems intact. The dead haven't been in here before. For a while that is. These people probably haven't had to face hunger or death."

"That's what will make them dangerous," Rick told her, following his sister's lead. "Complacency."

"That?" She gave him the cop eyebrow. "That means they are innocent people."

"But if they don't know what's happening, how are they going to know how to defend themselves?" Rick pointed out. "These people might be the most dangerous we've faced yet." Parker felt a bit disturbed by that, and as she looked at the curtains that hung neatly in the windows and the porches that decorated the facades of the houses, she realized that maybe Rick was right. These people were safe, but what if something went wrong? Then what? She didn't have much time to dwell on that thought, because Aaron stopped in front of a house.

"You will have to do the interviews separately."

"Interviews?" Parker repeated.

"Separately?" Daryl added, not too fond of that rule.

"Yes," Aaron confirmed. "Deanna will see one of you at a time. Rick, you can go in first." Parker looked at Daryl who looked just about ready to up and leave.

"Don't be like that. It'll be fine."

"You have nothing to worry about," Aaron assured them all. "If you all wait here, we will send you one after another. I promise you, you are safe now." If that was the case, why was Parker struggling to believe him? Parker was next to go after Rick, and with a comforting nod from her brother as he left the house, she climbed the steps being met with a shorter woman, who she assumed was Deanna.

"Hello, Parker," She greeted, trying to come off as nice. "My name is Deanna. Rick told me a lot about you, siblings would be my guess. I do still have some questions." She explained as she led her to a larger room, a fluffy white carpet covering the middle of the floor. "Do you mind?" Parker was way more tense than she was waiting outside. She was alone, in an unfamiliar environment, with a woman who seemed put together but unaware of the world around her. If you had survived out there, it would be easy to notice. But Deanna was completely oblivious. Parker, scanned the area with her eyes while slowly nodding her head. "I understand you're nervous," Deanna tried to put a hand on her arm and Parker instantly pulled away, her stare hard as she tried to keep her hands from instinctively grabbing her pistol. Deanna pointed to the couch in front of a chair, gesturing for her to sit. "And I understand that you've been through a lot during this crisis." Parker sat on the couch, her eyes never straying from the woman sitting across from her. "You don't mind if I record our conversation, do you?" She shook her head.

"No, go ahead." She waved her on. The sound camera turning on made Parker shudder. Deanna sat back down, oblivious to her obvious discomfort.

"How long have you been out there?" She started off with a pretty simple question.

"Since the beginning," Parker replied. "We.. my sister-in-law, my nephew, and, um.... a family.. friend?" She questioned if Shane would really be considered a 'family friend' after the shit he pulled. "We all went to Atlanta after the news showed what was starting. How going there would be the safest option."

"What happened after?"

"We made a camp, it lasted a pretty decent amount of time," Parker answered, thinking back to it, finding it difficult to remember any of her time before this moment. It wasn't because she had forgotten, but rather because the memories were too painful. "There were quite a few of us then. We turned that place into some sort of refuge. We took in people who needed it. Tried to warn everyone who wanted to go to Atlanta that it was all a lie."

"Was it the same group you're with now?" Deanna asked which just made it all the more clear she had never been beyond these walls. Parker smiled sadly, shaking her head.

"No... there aren't many of us left from our original group. I think we're down to six now. We met most of the others along the way."

"Rick tells me you're pregnant," Deanna stated, and Parker subconsciously covered her stomach with her hand. "Is the father still amongst you?"

"Yes," She answered. "He's still with us. His name is Daryl." Who was also currently skinning a possum on her front lawn.

"And the baby's his?" Deanna asked, her eyebrow slightly raised, her hands neatly folded in her lap. Parker stood up, her hands balled into tight fists as she mentally fought with herself. Telling herself not to kill the person who was in charge of the town they planned on staying in. She stayed silent for a minute straight as she stared down at the woman sat comfortably in front of her.

"What kind of fucking question is that? Of course, it's his fucking child." She curled her fingers, cracking her knuckles.

"I'm just being thorough," Deanna said calmly.

"Mhm.." She hummed, staring daggers at Deanna.

"What happened after Atlanta?" She changed the subject. Parker was pissed off to say the least as she thought of what to tell her, not even bothering to sit back down.

"We headed to Fort Benning. That was the plan. We stayed at a farm for a while, it was attacked by a herd of walkers. Took the whole thing down. Spent nearly nine months on the road, found a prison, but it was destroyed by a man. Called himself the Governor. After that, our group was split for a good while and we found ourselves at this place called Terminus. It turned out they were eating people. We left there and have been on the road ever since, heading to DC."

"I understand that must've been difficult for you," Deanna tried to sympathize. "Especially with being pregnant and everything."

"Don't. You don't know anything. You'll never be able to understand it. Ever. Not when you sit behind these walls and pretend like the world around you doesn't exist." Parker laughed at the absurdity of it all. "Not unless you've been out there as long as we have. Being out there," She pointed out the window. "Just trying to survive. You don't get to say you 'understand' when you don't even know what it's like to spend a night without a roof over your head. You haven't had to go a whole week without food. Or days without out water. Surviving out there... It changes you."

"Have you.. killed people?" Deanna asked, clearing her throat and shifting in her seat.

"Yeah." She nodded, biting her bottom lip as she thought about it.

"Did they deserve what they got?" She pressed further.

"They did."

"Have you ever killed someone who didn't deserve it?"

"No." Parker answered coldly, pacing. "We don't kill unless they try to kill us first." She stopped, tilting her head slightly. "My turn. Can I ask some questions?"

"Of course." Deanna waved her on, giving her the go-ahead.

"What is this place? Why does it seem like nothing happens here?" Parker asked, waving her arms around.

"This community was built with its own reusable energy supply," Deanna explained. "The walls were built by my husband, Reg. He is a professor of architecture. And when more people came, we had more help. We have water, electricity, working sewers."

"And... you don't eat people?" Parker raised her eyebrow in question. Deanna smiled, but Parker didn't find it funny at all. It may have seemed like an unnecessary question and a ridiculous one but she was serious. It was her turn to be thorough. This was her family's life on the line. "I'm not joking. I'm being dead serious."

"We do not eat people," Deanna responded. "We're trying to provide sustainability. Normality. We have a working society, a school, a farm, and everyone has a role to play. What were you doing before all this?"

"I was a teacher. At my nephew's school." Parker answered monotonously. Parker gave her a blank stare, but she wouldn't mind having something to occupy her brain. "How many people are here?"

"Quite a few," Deanna replied. "Of all ages. Your baby will grow up safely." Parker narrowed her eyes at the mention of her unborn child.

"How do we know we can trust you?" She asked, deciding to sit back down.

"I don't know," Deanna shrugged her shoulders lightly. "But I promise you, you're safe here."

"That's the thing," Parker said, leaning forward. "I've heard those three words so many times. I've been told them. By so many people, and eventually, I always end up back on the road. Why do you want us here? A bunch of murderers. Because we've killed people? Hell, I stabbed and watched the same guy who tried to rape me- twice- bleed to death just so that when he reanimated I could get my revenge."

"Because you and your people know how to survive out there," Deanna answered her. "Your group is the first one we've been able to accept since all this started. You know what it's like out there. You can help us survive. You, your brother, your husband-"

"How do you know?" Parker cut her off.

"Parker, I'm exceptionally good at reading people," Deanna stated.

"So am I," Parker half-shrugged. She took pride in being able to read people as well as she could. "I can see situations in ways my brother and many others can't."

"And what is your opinion on me?" Deanna questioned. "About all this?" Parker looked around at the neatly stacked books on the shelves. The plush cushions on the couch, and the perfectly polished floors.

"I think you're telling the truth, but I also think you're naive," Parker said simply.

"How is that?"

"You have been out there." Parker pointed out from her previous answers. "You don't know what it's like. I'd love to live here, but I can't unless I know it's safe. The walls don't mean anything if the people inside them are a threat."

"I get it," Deanna said, pointing to Parker's face. "And that's the same look your brother had. The skepticism. Disbelief. I sure the rest of your friends-"

"Family." She corrected quickly.

"Family. I'm sure the rest of your family will give me the same looks. I have a few more questions... that girl out there, is she yours?"

"No?" Parker furrowed her eyebrows. Did she not ask Rick anything? "She's my niece. Carl is my nephew. Rick is my brother. The only family I have left. By blood, anyway. Those people out there are my family, and each and every one of us would die for each other."

"That's a good bond to have with people," Deanna nodded. "And your husband, when did you get married?" Parker smiled as she thought about it.

"Well, he joined our group in Atlanta a month or so after we'd set up the camp, and we were friends... sort of. It just happened. We got engaged when we were at the prison. And then we found Gabriel and his church, and we got married. We didn't really get a chance to celebrate because of... things." She couldn't bring herself to talk about Beth. "I know it seems stupid to marry someone in the middle of all this, but I'll never find someone as good as Daryl."

"And you're going to have a baby together," Deanna gestured towards her stomach. She held in a retort by just nodding, biting the inside of her cheek. "Okay. So we're done with this interview and we'll get you settled. I'll introduce you to our doctor. Of course, we don't have ultrasound equipment, but he's able to do basic checkups."

"That would be great," Parker replied, grateful for just being able to see a doctor. "Thank you."

"I'm sure you'll fit in well here," Deanna told her. She reached out to place her hand on hers, maybe to assure her or comfort her but was surprised to see her jerk away.

"I'm sorry, I just... have trouble being around strangers." She apologized weakly, slightly embarrassed. "I... I don't like being touched by people I don't know." Deanna nodded.

"I'll keep that in mind. Well, I think we're done here. I guess your husband is next." Parker snickered, covering her mouth as she stood up.

"Good luck," She muttered as she passed her, letting herself out.