Mid-summer sun beat through the cracked windows of the once trendy main street store. Layers of dust and dirty swirled through the air around her. Alex paused a moment, listening for the sounds of any un-wanted guests. A glance at the pile of black and tan fur resting at her feet confirmed that she was still alone. She rolled her left shoulder, trying to dislodge the permanent ache that had settled there. Herschel had done his best, but he warned the mild pain would most likely be permanent.

Two weeks previous, Merle and his new traveling companion had returned with news of a resort town, relatively untouched, nearly four days away. The back of the truck had been loaded with camping supplies, canned foods, and weapons with the promise of more waiting. Seven days ago, Merle, Alex, Daryl, Ben, Glenn, and Andrea left the school, headed towards the town. They were on their third, and final, day of scavenging.

Daryl had argued vehemently for Alex to stay behind.

They had been talking in circles for nearly ten minutes, going from relatively calm to yelling. "Ria, you need to stay here." He paced the perimeter of her office, glaring at her. She leaned against the desk, refusing to back down.

"Why?"

"You know why."

"What I know is you're being a hard headed ass. Nothing is going to happen."

"Right. Just like the last couple of times ya went into town. And now that-"

Alex stalked towards him, finger jabbing into the center his chest. "What? You think I'm incapable now? That I can't think or take care of myself now?" Her voice got progressively louder, her legendary control nowhere to be found.

His hand wrapped around her wrist. "Didn't say that, did I? Or did ya forget we were just out huntin' a few hours ago? Not just you I'm worried about."

"Just because I'm-"

The opening door had the two pulling away from each other. Rick stepped in, eyeing the arguing couple warily. Daryl had mellowed in the previous months, but the past few weeks had become hot headed and stubborn again. Especially when talking about Alex. "Duane and Carl heard the two of you yelling," he said mildly.

Alex pulled away and left the room without saying a word, scowling at both of them as she went.

Daryl watched her go, chewing the skin of his thumb. "Goddamn woman." he muttered to Rick and followed her out, leaving the former sheriff to stand in the office, a puzzled look on his face.

With a shake of her head, Alex returned to gathering supplies. Merle had unearthed shopping carts, which she and the others had been filling rapidly. Alex couldn't help but smile thinking about the man she had met nearly eight months ago. Gone was the surly loner who pushed people away with words. He was now just a mildly cranky man who kept his distance, but was finally accepted. It still wasn't perfect, but it worked for their little group.

"Or not so little," Alex mused, "I think I used to drive through towns with smaller populations than our current group." Most of the women from Kevin's camp had chosen to stay with them, bringing their population up towards sixty, with a small population boom on the way. Lori had given birth in early spring. It had been a difficult labor and they nearly lost her and Judith. Four of the women they rescued had been pregnant. One had already given birth while the other three were due any day. She clenched the packages in her hands tightly, anger coursing through her as she thought about Kevin.

She forced herself to relax. "Nothing can be done now. He's gone and everyone's as safe as they can be." The dog at her feet shifted, head pointing towards the main set of doors to the building. Alex went still, listening for sounds of shuffling or snarls. Her hand went to the pistol strapped to her side; it was faster than the crossbow at her back. She turned, quick but silent, gun at the ready.

Daryl stood at the end of the aisle, crossbow up and pointed at her. The scene was so familiar, it was almost comical. She couldn't stop the bubble of laughter from escaping. "Really? Haven't we done this before?" she teased gently as she holstered the gun.

He growled lightly as he lowered his bow and walked towards her. "Goddamnit lady. Thought we agreed ya'd stay with someone this time?"

"I'm guessing you might get upset if I said I counted Tobias as someone?", as she nodded towards the dog, now sitting at her feet. Alex bit back the smile as he glowered at her. "Relax. Ben just took a cart full of stuff back to the cars. You went through the building yourself and left the dog with me. And I still know how to shoot."

"The dog ain't much of a guard, even if he thinks he is," he responded, petting the dog's long ear before settling a hand on her shoulder, rubbing at the knot.

"Mmmm hmmm. And you gave me hell about Snowflake."

"Wasn't me that brought 'em back," he protested. "It was all Merle."

Alex smiled and hummed an agreement at his protests, knowing full well he had wanted a dog, even before the walkers.

Merle had been gone for weeks now. His longest trip yet. They had loaded the truck, now "his", with enough supplies for a week; ten days if he needed to push it. He had been traveling farther each trip; finding more and more towns nearby over run with herds or already picked over. Daryl had been getting surly. Winter storms had kept him within the school's walls. She had taken to either ignoring him while he was in a snit, as she called them, or dragging him into a blind and distracting him with extra guard rotations.

The sun had begun to set when the deep roll of an engine broke the icy stillness. They had been sitting in the blind for an hour or so, curled next to each other in the cold. Alex pulled away to use the binoculars as Daryl's crossbow took aim. A quick glance had her reaching for his wrist, a smile on her face. He was out of the blind and across the courtyard before she made it to the base of the wall.

The two brothers were bickering good naturedly about how long he was gone as she approached. Rick and a few others emerged from the school to help unload the truck. Merle's arm wrapped around her neck and she noticed the sly smile on his face. He pulled her towards the passenger side where Daryl stood. "Got y'all somethin'," he murmured.

Daryl pulled out a bundle of black fur wrapped in a blanket. Oversized ears flopped as the pup squirmed to get comfortable. Alex could help but stroke the dog's silky fur.

"Found 'em hidin' in a warehouse. Figured ya might want 'em."

"Yeah. We'll take care of 'em."

"Findin' anything worth takin'?" His voice pulled her from memories.

"Anything out of packages is pretty moldy, but a lot was still wrapped up well. We'll need it. Judith is growing faster than we can find clothes. And with the other ones on the way . . ." she trailed off as his hand stilled on her shoulder. "How are the other groups doing?"

"Glenn 'n Andrea are goin' through the sportin' goods store. Me and Merle just finished up at the pharmacy. She drug him into the store with craft stuff."

Alex rolled her eyes. A few months before Merle had found another survivor. The feisty, brown eyed woman was more than a match for the prickly Dixon brother and traveled with him. "She does have a name. And whether you admit it or not, I know you like her."

"Damn woman. And that accent. Can't understand her half the time."

"She's from Australia," she reminded him mildly. "Carol and Maggie will be happy if they can salvage some yarn and fabric. I think at this point, it'd be easier to start making things then trying to scavenge them."

"Guess so." A flash of deep green tucked into the pack at her feet caught his eye. "What's that?"

She stilled as he pulled out the soft blanket. His fingers traced the intricate D sewn onto one corner. "I wanted some special, silly as it sounds" she confessed quietly. "Something that'll be just theirs. It was the only one like it."

He shook his head in exasperation, hand moving to rest against the barely noticeable swell of her stomach. "It ain't silly Ria." He pressed a soft kiss to her temple. Showing affection had slowly become easier for him. "Think it's time to tell 'em?"

Alex snorted softly. "Well, I'm pretty sure Carol, Lori, Letty, and Maggie have figured it out. It's hard to hide morning sickness when it's all damn day long. And Herschel knows."

"Think I'm bad? Wait 'til ya got two Dixon's tellin' ya what to do."

Alex groaned good naturedly as she threw the last of the salvageable clothes and baby toys into the cart. "Think that's the last of it." A quick snap of her fingers had Tobey trotting between them as Alex pushed the cart out the front door, one hand resting on her pistol lightly. They crossed to the smaller of the vehicles quietly.

Ben shoved a bottle of water into her hands and shooed her away from the car. The summer had been hotter than usual and Alex had been concerned about people over heating. They had implemented a strict schedule of people resting during the warmest, sunniest portions of the day and it was her turn. She wandered to the gazebo not far from the cars, Tobey trotting obediently at her heels.

She sat on a bench as she uncapped the water and drank greedily. Her head rested against a trellis as she contemplated the past year. The losses made her heart hurt. She thought of Eric and his boyish charms. Memories of her Mom and Dad would sometimes play like unending movies. She would always miss Liam, Dante, Ethan, and Jonathan. Parts of her even missed the man Lucas was when they first met.

Their small group had lost people too. The cold weather brought a small plague of pneumonia. One of the babies passed, along with two adults. Some had disagreed with allowing their group to grow. Alex stood by her word. The group of five left with a few weapons, some food, and blankets. No one discussed it when the scavengers returned with somber faces, a majority of the weapons and some of the food nestled with the other supplies they found.

It wasn't all sad though. The people who remained had become a close, tight knit community. The Grimes family had welcomed the fourth member in early spring. Midway through the winter, Glenn and Maggie had asked Herschel to marry them and the entire group celebrated. Carol and Morgan moved into one of the larger rooms, with Letty and T-Dog following suit not after. Andrea proved helped Rick with training their people on self-defense and weapons. Her time alone in the woods changed her from an impulsive risk taker, to a cunning and, often deadly, member of the group. Lee had taken over the small classroom they had set up for the children. True to her word, she let Tim stay with his sister. The young man had slowly taken over vehicle maintenance.

Her little school had changed, just as she had. After losing Eric, Alex expected to spend whatever time she had left alone. She never pictured a gruff, stubborn hunter with a soft spot to work his way into her life. Or that the people he traveled with would work their way into her life, becoming the family she never managed.

Or that she'd have a family of her own.

Alex's hand rubbed the swell under her shirt lightly. It had taken a few weeks for her to realize just what was happening. She had attributed her first missed period to stress and the change in nutrition and her nausea to an early spring bug. When it persisted into a second month, she found herself visiting Herschel.

She burst into tears when he confirmed that she was, indeed pregnant. Give her walkers, angry teenagers, or hostile camps any day. The news had terrified her. How was she going to keep a child safe, let alone raise them? Alex had fled Herschel's clinic, needing space to think.

Daryl found her in their small apartment a few hours later. She didn't expect him to be mad when she told him, but she wasn't sure what to expect. He sat frozen for a moment before a nervously excited smile bloomed across his face. With that smile, she knew they could, and would, figure things out.

Tobey's gentle woof alerted her to company. Daryl stood at the shaded entrance of the gazebo. "Got the last of the supplies loaded. Ya ready to go home?"

She stood and walked towards him. In the distance, the rest of the small group waited. Alex watched as Glenn and Merle joked while Ben and Andrea flirted.

She smiled at the man waiting for her, ice blue eyes meeting and holding. "Yeah. Let's go home.

A/N- Thank you all who've read, liked, and favorited this story. It's taken much longer to finish than I expected, but it's time to say farewell to this happy group.

I've enjoyed writing this and I hope you've enjoyed reading.