We sat around camp for hours. Daryl sharpened weapons, I spent time with Eugene. When lunch time came around, it got bad again. Daryl was waiting for me at the table as I got my bowl of rabbit stew. The Savior poured my food into my bowl and locked eyes with me before spitting in my bowl and handing it to me. The next Savior took my slice of home bread and licked it before setting it on top of my bowl. The last Savior grabbed an empty glass, proceeded to piss in it, and handed it to me.

"I didn't kill Justin," I grumbled lowly.

"Yeah, just like you didn't kill Harlow?" I thought about it, throwing my glass of piss in his face, but I looked down the row and sighed. Not only did I want to cause more drama, I didn't want to get piss in the food. Instead I tossed everything into the trash and stormed out of the food area.

"Don't eat your food," I scoffed as I stormed past Daryl.

"Why?" Daryl asked.

"Call it a hunch." Daryl looked down at his food and threw it all away before following after me.

"Babe, what's wrong? Why ain't ya eatin'?"

"They fucked with my food right in front of me, Daryl. They spat in my stew, licked my bread, pissed in my cup—I gotta get outta here."

"Rick said to stay close."

"I know what Rick said, but I need food and I can't trust these people right now."

"Michaela, wait!" I stopped and turned to Daryl. "Just let me get my crossbow, alright?" I let out a sigh and nodded. Daryl quickly rushed off and grabbed his bow and met back up with me, leading us into the woods. We scoured the woods for an hour in silence. While Daryl worked on trying to track a nutria, I went to work gathering some wild plants and herbs such as wild onions, Japanese Knotweed, and wild chamomile, giving us what we needed for a nice drink and to season whatever the hell we ended up bringing back to camp.

"Fuck," Daryl grumbled. I looked up as he shot his bolt. A distant squelch told me he had shot a walker, and his sigh told me that it caught his nutria.

"I'm sorry, baby," I sighed. "Should we head back?"

"Give it another hour, somethin' has to come along soon." Daryl plopped down on a nearby stump and rested his bow beside him. I looked around some more and picked a few wild strawberries and handed him some, which he happily took one and plucked it into his mouth.

"I've been thinkin'..."

"Uh-oh," Daryl tittered.

"I'm serious," I laughed. "I was thinkin'...what if we left this place?"

"What, camp?" I gently shook my head. "Oh."

"It was just a thought. But what if you, Harper, and I just packed our shit and headed out on our own?"

"Why would ya wanna do that?"

"Well, we wouldn't have to worry about bein' accused for murder, that's for sure."

"Yeah, but we'd also have to worry about starvin', the weather, makin' sure we can keep Harper safe; MJ and Elijah are here, Judith's here, our friends and family are here, babe...why would ya wanna leave all that behind?"

"It was just a thought," I shrugged. Daryl took another strawberry and sighed.

"Ain't like I haven't thought of it before, you either." Daryl took my hand and pressed it against his lips. "I get why, but it ain't worth it...not yet. The moment our lives depend on it, we will."

"Okay." Daryl and I fell silent at a faint whistle. We listened carefully and finally smiled. "Is that what I think it is?" I quietly whispered. Daryl gave me a gentle nod and I slowly handed him his crossbow. He loaded it as quietly as he could and I followed him as he kept low and quiet, following the sound of the noise. The whistling grew louder as we went deeper into the woods. The whistling soon turned into a chirp, and we knew exactly what we were after...dinner.

Back at camp, we made quick work of cooking our groundhog. We wouldn't had two, but again, I froze. Daryl said not to worry about it and that it wasn't a big deal, but to me...it was. I can't hunt, can't kill a walker, what fucking good am I to these people? As the groundhog cooked, Daryl tanned the hide and I worked on making a nice pot of strawberry infused chamomile tea. The people on cooking duty glared at us, but everyone else ignored us. Once everything was done, we sat at our table and ate. The groundhog tasted a little like pork, so it wasn't too bad. The chamomile tea could've been better, but it was better than the piss drink I was served.

"Daryl?" Daryl and I looked up at Maggie who stood across from us. "Can I ask ya a favor?"

"What?" Asked in between bites.

"Rick wants us to pair up with people we trust and head out...I was wonderin' if I could borrow ya for a lil' bit?"

"Rick said we had to stay close to camp."

"I know, but he gave the okay."

"Why do ya want me anyhow? I'm a killer, remember?"

"I know ya didn't do anythin', I heard y'all last night." My face instantly flushed red. "If it weren't important, I'd just go out on my own."

"What's goin' on?" I asked.

"I can't say," Maggie looked around for a moment. "Not here. I'll catch ya up on the way."

"Yeah, I just gotta grab my bow." Daryl finished off his woodcuck and took one last drink of his tea before getting up and grabbing his bow from beside the fire. I quickly stood up and walked over to him.

"Ya sure this is a smart idea?"

"I trust Maggie," Daryl nodded. "Just stick around Jerry, you'll be fine."

"He's on walker patrol."

"Alden."

"Walker patrol."

"Ezekiel?"

"Back in the Kingdom."

"Then stick with Eugene or Aaron, alright?" I gently nodded and Daryl gave me a gentle kiss. "I'l be back before ya know I'm gone." I watched as Daryl followed Maggie out of camp. I instantly felt eyes on me and when I turned to look, all the Saviors in the surrounding area had their eyes glued to me. I remained silent and grabbed my lunch, taking it to go sit alongside Aaron.

"Hey," Aaron smiled.

"Hey," I smiled back and took a seat beside him. "Hungry?"

"Starving," Aaron struggled for a moment, but sat up and took the plate from me. "Enid said it was squirrel stew."

"Daryl and I went out huntin'."

"Food not good enough for you?"

"Not when the Saviors are servin' it right now."

"Yeah, I heard it's bad out there." Aaron took a bite of the woodchuck and smiled. "This is good."

"Thanks."

"Where's Daryl?"

"He left with Maggie. Not sure what's goin' on, but it sounds bad."

"Hopefully everything's alright."

"Yeah...hopefully."

~~

The sun had come up hours ago, Daryl and Maggie never made it back to camp, so I was stuck bunking with Eugene. Still, even then I didn't sleep. I paced around the camp until the point I was sure my shoes were gonna cause a wildfire, I jumped hopefully at every sound, only to be filled with horrible disappointment. Now, as I sat at the table, stomach growling, afraid to eat anything, I let my mind wander into the possibilities of what could've happened. According to Eugene, two herds were still out there and he was tracking them like hurricanes, but none of our people seemed to have made contact with the herd.

What if the people who have been kidnapping the Saviors, the people who killed Justin, got to Daryl? What if they discovered another herd? It rained last night, what if they got caught up in some flash flooding? What if— "He'll come back," MJ reassured, yanking me from my thoughts.

"I'm not worried," I lied.

"Right, and I'm straight," MJ scoffed and sat down across from me. "Daryl won't leave you or Harper behind, it'd take the wrath of God to keep 'em away. He. Will. Come. Back." I gently nodded and gave MJ a smile.

"Thanks, MJ." MJ and I looked up as everyone gathered in the middle of camp. "What's goin' on?"

"Maybe another fight," MJ shrugged. MJ and I got up and made our way to the front, only to stop and watch as the majority of the Saviors walk out of camp with their bags slung over their shoulders. Off to the side, Rick watched in silence and disbelief. When the Saviors were gone, everyone dispersed except for MJ, Rick, and I.

"Rick, we need to talk." Rick looked around and sighed.

"Yeah, I think we should," Rick nodded and led me and MJ to an empty tent.

"Look, I get that you're leader and all, but I need to know what the fuck is goin' on."

"Michaela—

"Damn it, Rick! Daryl and Maggie are still out there and I demand to know what—"

"Arat went missin'." The tent fell silent. "I was gonna talk to ya after breakfast, but the Saviors staged a walk-out before I could. I was gonna have ya try and talk to 'em and see if ya could change their minds."

"That wouldn't have worked, Rick," MJ sighed. "The ones that left, they pretty much hate Michaela. Christ, her and Daryl had to go out huntin' yesterday because they fucked with their food."

"Seriously?" I gently nodded. "Well, I guess it's for the best, but I can't lie, Michaela...we really needed the numbers. With that many people gone, it's gonna take forever to finish that bridge and God knows when the waters are gonna rise."

"Well, I'm sorry, Rick, but maybe ya should've entrusted some guns in the hands of some good Saviors. Like Laura, even Arat ain't that bad. Fuck, if she had a gun, she wouldn't be missin'."

"Daryl agreed, no guns, I thought ya were on the same page?"

"When are Daryl and I ever on the same page?" I let out a sigh. "Look, I love 'em, I really do, but I know the Saviors better than any of y'all. If ya wanted to know which Saviors ya could trust with a gun, ya should've just asked me."

"Michaela," Rick sighed. "I hate to, but I gotta ask...where were ya two nights ago?"

"What?"

"I need to know where ya were the night she went missin'."

"Ya gotta be shittin' me." I grumbled as I rubbed the frustration from my face. "I told ya, I was with Daryl."

"And you've got no proof other than people who saw ya before ya went to bed."

"Ya think I'm guilty? That I did this?"

"I dunno what to think—"

"Because I've done nothin' but prove to ya that I'm not that person anymore! I've changed, Rick! I didn't butcher Harlow, I ain't kidnapped no fuckin' Saviors, and I sure as hell ain't killed none of 'em!"

"Ya got a history! I had people pointin' fingers and ya had no proof to back it up!"

"Did ya talk to the Hilltop guards? Check our room? The proof is there, ya just ain't fuckin' lookin!"

"Ya know better than anyone that Hilltop has a secret passage! How am I supposed to know ya didn't sneak out?" I yanked down my shirt and flashed Rick my hickeys.

"IS THAT PROOF ENOUGH FOR YA?" Rick didn't respond. "I PAID MY DUES, GODDAMN IT! I PAID 'EM!" Tears were streaming from my eyes from not only anger, but sadness. Rick, the person who I thought had my back throughout my entire time I've been off work release, turned out to second guess everything I did and felt like he couldn't trust me as fas as he could throw me.

"C'mon, Michaela," MJ gently grabbed my arm and began to pull me away.

"I DID MY FUCKIN' TIME, RICK!" I sobbed. "ALL THIS IS ON YOU! THE SAVIORS WALKED OUT BECAUSE OF YOU! YOU'RE THE ONE WHO COULDN'T KEEP 'EM SAFE!" MJ managed to pull me out of the tent, but I yanked my arm away and ran off into the woods, avoiding the prying eyes of curious onlookers. I don't know how far I ran or for how long, but I didn't stop until I tripped and fell over some tree roots. I cried. I laid in a fetal position and cried my eyes out. I thought people were starting to come around, but boy, was I wrong. I wished Daryl was with me, I wished he was there when Rick practically threw everything in my face, out right accusing me of being responsible for everything that's happened to the Saviors.

"Michaela..." MJ softly kneeled down beside me and gently rubbed my back.

"He's such a fuckin' asshole."

"I know," MJ sighed. "He's just worried, is all. He's got his plate full right now between the bridge project, missin' people, Justin' comin' up dead; I'm sure he doesn't mean to take it out on ya. Ya know how stressful it is to be the leader, remember how it was when ya took over at the Sanctuary? All the bullshit ya had to go through because people were determined ya were still Negan? Eventually, people fell in line. You're a strong woman, Michaela, don't let that prick make ya feel otherwise, okay?" I gently nodded. "C'mere." I carefully sat up and MJ wrapped his arms around me, letting me cry into his shoulder. "Don't cry, Michaela, ya know how much uglier ya get when ya cry." I couldn't help but to laugh. MJ, just like his father, had a way with words.

"Thanks," I sniffled as I wiped my eyes.

"Hey, what are nephews for?" MJ smiled and pulled some twigs from my hair. "Let's head back to camp. I'm sure Daryl will be back soon."

"Think so?"

"I know so."

"Well," I sniffled. "In that case..." I quickly shoved MJ over and took off running towards camp.

"Hey, that ain't fair!" MJ yelled after me. MJ quickly caught up and we laughed as we took turns trying to shove each other. I don't know why we were racing, but it was exactly what I needed. When I arrived back at camp, MJ was already celebrating his win, but as I looked around, my heart sunk. "Michaela?"

"I was hopin' he'd be here by now." I muttered.

"Hey," MJ softly spoke as he placed his hand on my shoulder. "He'll be here."

"Michaela?" I turned around and met eyes with Rick and Carol.

"Carol...Rick." They didn't respond. "Come to accuse me of more shit?"

"I'm sorry, Michaela." Rick sighed.

"For what?" My eyes lowered to the handcuffs in Rick's hands. "You're—You're arrestin' me?"

"I don't got any other choice."

"YA DO! ARREST ME OR KNOW I'M FUCKIN' INNOCENT!"

"I'm sorry...but I can't."

"Rick..."

"What ya did to Harlow, to Patrick...it terrified me, Michaela. I've never been able to look at ya the same. I thought I could—I thought things would get better once ya were rehabilitated, but with all the missin' people, Justin gettin' murdered...I've got no choice. Everyone here is scared."

"Are they? Or is it just you?" Rick didn't respond.

"Michaela," Carol butted in. "Just do what he says. If you're as innocent as you claim to be, he'll let you go."

"It's not even the fact that I don't wanna go, Carol, it's the principle. I thought I was showin' y'all that I changed, but in the back of everyone's minds, I'm still just the butcher."

"C'mon, let's go." Rick began to walk towards me, but stopped when Carol gently grabbed his arm. She gently took the handcuffs from him and walked over to me.

"Please cooperate, Michaela." I let out a sigh and turned around, allowing Carol to cuff my arm. Carol and I hated each other before the war ended, but throughout my time I spent at the Kingdom, we learned to get along...to a point. I think she's still a little uneasy about me after what happened between Daryl and I, but she's treated me fair. Even now, she was treating em better than Rick was. "Hey," Carol softly spoke. "If it means anything, Rick asked Jerry first, not me, but Jerry absolutely refused to be part of this. Some of us trust you more than others."

"Do you?" I muttered.

"You can't even kill a walker anymore...how could you kill Justin?" I looked over at MJ and gave him a slight smile.

"Fill in Daryl when he gets back?" MJ nodded and Carol slowly walked me over to Rick, who grabbed me by my arm and dragged me away from camp, ignoring the stares and whispers.