DARYL WATCHED AS MARCIE SMILED DOWN AT THE ULTRASOUND IMAGE THAT MAGGIE WAS PASSING AROUND.

Seeing the look on her face, and thinking back to what Abraham had asked him before back at Hilltop, he began to wonder.

What did Marcie want? Did she want a family?

Could he give that to her?

He didn't know anything about being a good parent. Babies were... fragile. Judith was different, he couldn't fuck her up because she wasn't his DNA, not his blood.

He spent the rest of the ride back to Alexandria avoiding Marcie's gaze. Once they got back through their gates, behind their walls, Rick parked the RV and Sasha and Aaron came running over,

Daryl jumped out of the vehicle and began to head back towards the house,

"Is he okay?" Vivian asked, looking over at Marcie,

"I dunno."

"Get Olivia." Rick ordered, "She should inventory what we have. We'll meet her at the pantry."

"You have food?" Sasha asked as Aaron went to go get the woman,

"Yeah." Michonne answered, walking over to her, "Enough for another month."

"I need everybody in the church in an hour." Rick stated,

"What is it?"

He waved Sasha off, trying to ease everyone's nerves, "We'll talk about it." He told her before starting the RV again,

Carol stepped forward, taking Sasha's place, "Rick, what's going on?"

Their leader stared at her for a moment before answering, "We're gonna have to fight." 

Once Rick parked the RV at the pantry, they helped load everything into the garage for Olivia to count through. Combining this load with everything they had in the box van, Marcie was confident that the food would last them until their produce would be ready to harvest.

Afterwards, the entire community met up in the church. Vivian stayed back at the house to watch Judith and Liam, not really needing to be apart of the debriefing.

Marcie met up with Daryl, who was sitting in the front pew of the church. She sat next to him, and he fidgeted away slightly, which confused her.

He was fine on the way to Hilltop, even at Hilltop. So what changed between then and now?

Before she could ask, Rick walked up to the front to explain what happened,

"We can work with the Hilltop. Maggie hammered out a deal. We're getting food-- eggs, butter, fresh vegetables. But they're not just giving it away. These Saviors, they almost killed Sasha, Daryl, and Abraham on the road. Now, sooner or later, they would've found us, just like those Wolves did, just like Jesus did. They woulda killed someone or some of us. And then they would try to own us. And we would try to stop them. But by then, in that kind of fight, low on food, we could lose. This is the only way to be sure, as sure as we can get, that we win. And we have to win."

Rick was right, if they don't win, they risk a full on war between the Saviors and the other communities. And based on what they heard about what the Saviors can do, they don't want to let that happen.

"We do this for the Hilltop, it's how we keep this place. It's how we feed this place. This needs to be a group decision. If anybody objects, here's your chance to say your piece." Rick finished.

It was silent for a few moments, with everyone glancing at each other to see if they were going to speak. Marcie heard movement from the back and turned to see Morgan standing,

"You're sure we can do it? We can beat them?" He questioned,

Rick nodded, "What this group has done, what we've learned, what we've become, all of us... yes, I'm sure."

"Then all we have to do is just tell them that."

"Well, they don't compromise." Rick responded,

"This isn't a compromise." Morgan stopped him before he could continue, "It's a choice you give them. It's a way out, for them and for us."

Marcie knew that speaking to them wouldn't be an option. They were dangerous, that much was clear. The first thing they did with Hilltop was kill a kid. And not even with a bullet, it was with a bat to head.

They were brutal.

"We try and talk to the Saviors, we give up our advantage, our safety." Rick shook his head, trying to get through to Morgan, "No, we have to come for them before they come for us. We can't leave them alive."

"Where there's life, there's possibility."

She understood where Morgan was coming from. All life was precious. But was it worth their lives? If they didn't go to them, it was only a matter of time before the Saviours found them and killed them,

"Of them hitting us." Rick insisted,

"We're not trapped in this." Morgan stated, trying to convince the community, "None of you are trapped in this."

It reminded Marcie of that meeting, back at the farm. When they discussed what to do with Randall. 

Would Dale let the Saviours go? Or would he go along with Rick and want them dead?

Marcie knew the answer to that. But she wondered how this world would have changed him. Maybe it was a good thing he died with humanity.

"Morgan... they always come back."

"Come back when they're dead, too." He responded coldly,

"Yeah, we'll stop them. We have before."

"I'm not talking about the walkers." Morgan finished,

Marcie sighed, "You 'talked' to the Wolves, too. You let them go, let them take a gun, and they attacked Rick outside the walls. We talk to these Saviours and 'let them go', they could still go and kill others, kill people at the Hilltop." She made eye contact with the man, "Either way, blood is shed."

Rick stopped and turned his attention back to the people of Alexandria, "Morgan wants to talk to them first. I think that would be a mistake, but it's not up to me. I'll talk to the people still at home. I'll discuss it with the people on guard now, too, but who else wants to approach the Saviors, talk to them first?" He asked,

Aaron stood, "What happened here, we won't let that happen again. I won't." He stated before sitting back down,

No one else spoke and Rick placed his hands on his hips, "Looks like it's settled." Morgan nodded, "We know exactly what this is. We don't shy from it, we live. We kill them all. We don't all have to kill. But if people are gonna stay here..." He stepped down from the stage and began heading towards the exit, making eye contact with Morgan, "they do have to accept it."

Marcie went to take a quick shower before the next meeting, the one where they came up with the game plan.

She was startled as she entered her bedroom, clutching her towel close to her chest at the sight of Daryl sitting on their bed, "Hey." She stated once she calmed her heart, 

He continued staring down at his boots, biting at his nails.

Marcie sighed and sat down next to him, forcing his fingers away from his mouth, "What's going on with you?"

Daryl moved his gaze to meet hers, "Do ya... do ya want kids?"

Marcie stared at him with wide eyes, trying to process his question. Now she knew what brought his behaviour on. Glenn and Maggie were discussing the pregnancy in the RV with Abraham and a few others. Daryl must've been paying more attention then he let on.

Her silence must've freaked him out, "Cuz I can't promise to give ya that."

"What makes you think I want kids?" Marcie asked him,

He broke eye contact and picked at his skin again, "Saw the way you were lookin' at that photo. Of Maggie's baby."

"Because I'm excited and happy for her and Glenn." She gave him a small smile, trying not to upset him, "Daryl, look at me." She placed a hand under his chin and forced him to make eye contact with her, "All I want is to be with you. I'm happy with what we have now. With where we are now." Marcie leaned in and kissed him gently, "Maybe this is a conversation we can have later down the road, but right now, I don't need anything more." She kissed him again, "Are you happy?" Daryl nodded, "Good."