Eve lifted her head from the rifle scope, the grass tickling a small part of her stomach where the rim of her shirt had snagged and pulled up, as she had gotten to the ground in a hurry.

She would have laid on the road if she could get a shot from there but even at a glance you could tell the cars were in the way.

She waited a beat to make sure they would stay put before her palms planted in the dying grass and pushed herself up from her stomach before sidestepping to let Daryl take her place with the rifle.

With no idea where the shot came from and the Governor’s truck cut off as a method of escape, the two men had no choice but to comply.

When they showed no sign of disobeying, Daryl grumbled an affirming noise to Eve and she nodded before going for a little stroll along the road~ One hand holding the radio, the other resting on the hilt of her knife.

Why?

That’s the question that plagued her as Eve walked the road, approaching the field of bodies from an angle that the trucks were blocking her from the two survivors’ sight.

They couldn’t have been stopped for more than a minute before she and Daryl caught up to them, and yet they arrived at a scene of pure carnage. A leader gunning down his own people and there was no reason that she could fathom for it.

What on earth happened?

It’s not like every single one of them were bitten or scratched in the tombs and inexplicably got away; or [other reasonable reason].

It didn’t make sense. The Governor’s dead so she’s confident that even if it had been some kind of trick, it failed completely. But this…. This isn’t even. The more she thought about it, she had no idea what to make of this — what she’s supposed to think.

The only explanation she can come up with is that he was nuts and she has a feeling that that’s not far off the mark, if not a dead-on bullseye.

The Governor’s dead, so they could have let Martinez and his other lieutenant go but Eve’s not that forgiving, and this scene is unsettling no matter how you look at it. She wants answers.

Even if it’s just to relieve some latent paranoia.

When she walked around the car, the two of them were pissin’ their pants because she was so calm. Calm as the gentle chilly breeze drifted past. Her steps didn’t make so much as a click on the surface of the road, and for a moment it almost seemed like she wasn’t real. Like they had been scared silly and had started hallucinating; they watched her with wary eyes.

She came to a quiet stop in front of them. Just far enough to send goosebumps raising all over their skin. Not too close but not too far.

Her presence was… imposing. Her relaxed expression looked like it was carved from stone; impossible to read but her eyes carried enough pressure to turn carbon into diamonds.

She obviously has help if she’s daring enough to stroll up to them without a care.

But for some reason — even knowing there’s a rifleman out there with them in their crosshairs, and no gun to be seen on this lady — it felt like the bigger threat was standing in front of them.

Bright amber eyes burned cold as she stared at them and inexplicably made them feel like employees facing their boss’s boss after their boss made a royal mistake. All the hair on their bodies stood on end and only bent with the miniscule drops of cold sweat that began to collect on their skin.

Whether intentional or not, Eve made them sweat for a long minute before finally, one word dropped in their ears.

“Why.”

It was just one word, but the meaning was clear: Why kill your own.

Martinez hesitated but she waited patiently until he decided not to lie. It wasn’t because there was a greater chance of getting killed for it but also because he didn’t see a point.

“There was an argument. People didn’t want to fight anymore and he just…. lost it. Started shooting everyone.”

Eve figured as much.

As soon as Martinez finished speaking Eve’s eyes turned to the field, alert but she didn’t look surprised as one of the bodies moved and a woman pushed a fresh corpse off of herself and slowly stood up with her hands raised.

Daryl saw the surprise on Martinez and the other man’s faces as the woman stood up in the field; obviously alive.

It didn’t even occur to them that someone may have survived.

The woman was shocked that there wasn’t even a hint of surprise on her face but swallowed before speaking up in a shaky voice.

“It’s true. He fired on us after we refused to go back.”

Eve was quiet and Martinez couldn’t take it for long.

“What now?”

Not a moment after he spoke, the sound of engines came from the distance behind Eve and since Daryl didn’t alert her, she knew it was the others.

Martinez and the other two watched as most of the rest of the prison group parked behind the empty vehicles and got out. Daryl came up behind them a minute later.

Martinez, Karen (the woman in the field), and even the quiet dude's eyes all widened when they saw a blonde woman with them.

Karen’s eyes widened.

“Andrea.”

They thought she was long gone or worse.

“Karen.” Andrea smiled, seeing the familiar woman.

Andrea came up beside Eve and after a beat of silence, Eve wasn’t sure what Andrea thought she was thinking but suddenly, the blonde started looking at her with a subtle sense of panic in her eye.

“Please. They’re good people.”

Eve glanced at her and the three from Woodbury immediately understood what Andrea was trying to do. She was speaking on their behalf.

“No one else has to die, the fight is over.” Andrea kept talking, trying to convince Eve to let them live.

Evelyn Rider is the most reasonable person Andrea's ever met and that's precisely why she didn’t dare to not be sincere in trying to convince her, because Eve is the kind of person who has to be convinced before she takes a stance but once she makes a decision, she sticks to it.

While Eve wasn't looking at her directly, she was listening.

Now that she’d figured out what Andrea was talking about, she listened.

Truthfully, Eve had a thought from the moment she started walking over here. Of what happens next.

And it seems she and Andrea are finally on the same page about something.

Eve looked at the three of them for a long moment before finally speaking. Her voice was calm like the surface of water but had a distinct resolution.

“It's not up to me.”

She turned to the group behind her.

Looking at her face, they all understood what she wanted to say, and no one needed her to say it out loud.

Rick stepped forward, with an indescribable look of trust on his face and set his hand on her shoulder.

“You're the leader. It's your call.”

Glenn stepped up too, even though he had been the angriest at Woodbury from the beginning to the end, he still meant every word as he said, “Whatever you decide, we're with you.”

Eve’s eyes finally settled on Daryl's and he stared back at her. He already knew what she wanted just from that look, but he asked anyway, for the sake of those not proficient in Eve speak.

“What do you wanna do?”

Her lips hooked up in a brief smile before she turned around meeting Martinez's eyes.

Martinez unconsciously straightened up and watched as she raised her hand.

“Truce?”

Martinez watched her for a moment but there was no sign of deception anywhere in her person, or those behind her, and finally took her hand with confidence.

“Deal.”

“From today forwards we're allies. Tomorrow at noon we'll meet in a neutral place to set terms.”

Martinez nodded in agreement, and for the first time in weeks everybody breathed a breath of fresh air.

Neither side fully trusted one another yet but Martinez was one of the few higher ups in Woodbury that they had minimal problems with.

 

After a short while of discussion it was decided that Andrea was gonna go back with them to explain everything to the folks at Woodbury and to help where she could before they make this truce official and tomorrow she will return with them to the prison.

Eve was a little wary of the idea at first but she trusts Andrea and she doesn’t think they would try to do anything to her, given how much time she spent at Woodbury up until very recently but that doesn’t mean Eve didn’t try to talk her out of it first. Only when Andrea proved she wasn’t gonna budge, did Eve give in. But she wasn’t going back there without another escape plan, so Eve took her aside and told Andrea where the hole at Woodbury was that they made and the blonde was stunned, eyes wide as saucers, hearing what they had managed to do right under Woodbury’s nose. Once Eve gave her a new plan and another emergency channel to contact her on should things go south, their discussion finally concluded.

Andrea looked at Eve with a pensive look and stuck her tongue into her cheek. “You know…. You’re a lot smarter than you let on.”

Eve was still for a moment before a breathy chuckle escaped her. “Been hearing that a lot these days.”

“With good reason.” Andrea gave her a once over with an impressed look. She and Eve have never been close, but she always had a feeling that there were things about her none of them had ever seen. Andrea unintentionally glanced at Daryl and vaguely wondered if even he saw this in her.

From what Andrea remembers, Eve and Daryl were both loners and it seemed to happen overnight when they started sticking to each other.

Maybe he’s known all this time.

Both groups went their separate ways as night quickly descended and Eve checked up with Andrea as she climbed the guard tower with Daryl. She was relieved to hear back that everything was all good and they were just about to talk to all of Woodbury.

Andrea promised to check up again in the morning and signed off as Eve sat down next to Daryl while he clicked the flashlight off, plunging them into darkness.

Eve trusts Martinez considerably more than she’s trusted most enemies that she’s faced in her time but she’s still wary, and sensing her wariness, Daryl came with her tonight to be watchful and alert while the others finally get some peace. Just to make sure they don't get screwed over.

Their go bags are still packed just in case, but they can start to rest easy now.

Eve set Woodbury's radio next to them as she leaned against Daryl’s side. They still haven’t changed the channel they’re using; still unaware of how the prison countered all their attacks so well.

It made Eve crack a little smile in the dark.

She won’t say this in front of anyone else but…

“I can’t believe that actually worked.”

“I didn’t doubt ya for a second.”

Eve looked at Daryl who was already staring back.

“You should have more faith in yourself.”

Eve’s lip quirked. “You seem to have enough faith in me for the both of us. Why?”

Daryl scoffed and Eve flinched as he flicked her on the forehead.

“Are you really asking that?”

Eve rubbed her forehead with a childish pout that somehow didn’t look out of place for her.

“There was only one time when you ever let me down.”

Hurt and a shadow of panic flashed through her eyes and Daryl smirked.

“But there ain’t no sinkholes around here so—”

Eve whacked his arm with enough force to almost push him over.

“You’re never gonna let that go, are you?”

“Depends. Unless you do something even more ridiculous, then no.”

Eve whacked him again and this time Daryl snorted.

The light mood sunk into pleasant silence and the knot Eve’s had in her chest since they discovered Woodbury finally began to ease; melting like it was never there.

She laid her head on Daryl’s shoulder as a wave of exhaustion crashed over her and Daryl smiled softly, watching her knock out like a light.

He kissed the top of her head, muttering gently, “Get some sleep, Sunshine. You earned it.”

---

The next day, Eve was surprised to find Andrea, Martinez, and Karen at the agreed upon location to meet them alone, and they told her something she never expected to hear.

The last survivors of Woodbury talked about it all night.

They lost almost everyone who could defend them in this fight, all that's left of them are the young, the old, the sick, and a handful of people who had only recently joined them.

They don't have the ability to go on like this for long.

So.... Andrea stepped up and asked, “How would you feel about letting Woodbury join us at the prison?”

“You want to merge our groups?” Glenn asked for clarification and Andrea nodded.

“Yes.”

Martinez could see how skeptical the others looked but once again Eve was calm and seemed to be thinking about it seriously, so he stepped up.

“I'm good at taking orders but I'm no leader. Not like you. I've seen the way you guys operate. You're good but there's not enough of you to face off against another group like this again, and we wouldn't survive if we got attacked again after this.”

“There's people coming and going through this area all the time. They mostly left us alone because we had the numbers, the guns, and the walls, but as we are now neither of us will survive if one of those groups decides we're easy pickings. We'd all have a better chance of survival as one group. If you're willing.”

Eve looked pensive.

Taking in so many... theoretically it's possible. They have the space — they could make a little more even but sustaining that many people.... and a group who they recently clashed with where some might be holding grudges even if Martinez says that the whole of Woodbury unanimously agreed last night...

Eve looked to Rick, Daryl, Hershel, and Glenn; the five of them having mental discussions before Eve turned back and said, “Let's talk about it inside.”

With a thread of hope to grasp onto, the large group of people accompanied Eve inside the building and what was originally supposed to be setting the terms of their alliance, quickly became a talk of logistics about moving so many people and figuring out where to put them, what to do, what supplies Woodbury had and Eve's little notebooks quickly began to fill as she spent most of the meeting listening while the others discussed the various points they all brought up. Like a lord and her heralds.