Rosie had a lot of regrets, but right now, her biggest one was all of the times she had asked anyone how people got pregnant. On the ride back home from the Hilltop, she had once again bothered Daryl about whatever the hell uggin' bumplies meant, and after asking a few times, he gave in. He took Rosie and Maggie into the back bedroom of the RV, and then sat there silently while Maggie did almost all of the talking. Rosie decided that she never wanted to get pregnant ever. Daryl told her that that was good, but Maggie said that maybe she'd change her mind when she got older.
Now Rosie was just trying not to think about it, focusing on counting the stars on her ceiling once again.
Gregory had agreed to the deal that Maggie made with him, and now Alexandria was going to fight the Saviors. The difference was that they weren't really going to fight the Saviors, they were just going to kill them. Rosie understood. It was what they had to do. But at the same time, part of her still felt bad about it. Whenever she killed people, it was because they were attacking her or her family, but now they were killing these people before they even had the chance to fight back. Still, it was to keep her family safe. So she had to accept it. Almost everyone in Alexandria could accept it, so Rosie could, too.
Rosie knew she wouldn't be going with on this trip to kill the Saviors, but she was still worried about it. There was always something to be worried about. Of course, she was worried because the people she cared about were going, but she was mostly worried about Maggie going. Maggie was pregnant, and if Maggie got hurt, her baby could get hurt, too. Even if Rosie thought that getting pregnant was gross and scary, she still liked babies. She didn't want Maggie and Glenn's baby to get hurt. She tried telling this to Maggie, but Maggie didn't seem to be too worried about it.
Knowing that Maggie was going made Rosie want to go. She could help keep Maggie safe. She could make sure Maggie and her baby didn't get hurt. She didn't even have to go into the Saviors' base, she could just stay and keep watch with Maggie. All she knew was that leaving Maggie to do it all on her own made her stomach ache.
Her mind kept wandering back and forth between all these things, but she just kept trying to count the stars. 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28...
"Quit talkin' to yourself," Daryl grumbled from his own bed.
"I'm not," Rosie grumbled back. She twisted herself so that she was facing the wall, and she pulled her blanket up to her chin.
"I can hear you countin'," Daryl told her.
"Countin' ain't talkin'," Rosie argued.
"Yeah, it is. Be quiet and go to sleep," Daryl said.
Rosie huffed and pulled the blanket over her head. She tried to be quiet, so Daryl would fall asleep and she could resume her counting. One thing she had learned about Daryl was that he was very bothered when she made noise when he was trying to sleep. Even back at the CDC, he couldn't sleep simply because she was tossing and turning too much. Rosie didn't understand how he could hear her tossing and turning, but he was really good at hearing things. That, along with his tracking skills, is what made him such a great hunter.
The problem with trying to keep still when you can't sleep is that it is really hard. Even if Rosie did try to keep her movements to a minimum, she'd get some thought that suddenly made her feel uncomfortable, and then she'd have to pick up her pillow and put it on top of her head, or she'd have to readjust the blanket, or she'd have to squirm around a little bit until she felt comfortable again. That surely made noise, even if she was trying to be quiet. She knew she wouldn't sleep well until she could stop worrying, so Rosie decided to just tell Daryl about everything she was worrying about.
"Daryl?" she said into the darkness of the bedroom.
"What?" Daryl replied, laying on his back as he pinched the bridge of his nose.
"Can I come with tomorrow?" Rosie asked.
Daryl scoffed. "No," he said. Rosie had a feeling that that was going to be his answer.
"I wanna help Maggie," Rosie told him.
"Maggie doesn't need help," Daryl told her.
"But she's pregnant."
"So what?"
"So she's gotta baby in her stomach," Rosie said. He should've already thought about that, in her opinion. Daryl didn't say anything else, because he had already given her an answer. The answer was no. In the silence, Rosie thought about it all a little bit more. Maggie, her baby, getting pregnant. Then, another worry popped into her head. "Daryl?" she said again.
"Hm?"
"How old do ya gotta be to get pregnant?" she asked, her eyebrows pinched together.
Daryl sighed, rubbing his face a little. He didn't want to talk about this. He wished that she would've gotten all of her questions out when Maggie was still there. "Depends on the person," he said.
"Am I old enough?" Rosie asked him.
"What?" Daryl said, his eyebrows furrowing as he realized why she was asking. "No," he told her, his voice firm.
"Good," Rosie sighed.
"Yeah."
It was silent for another moment or two, until Rosie spoke up again. "I wanna help Maggie. I can help. She said she's stayin' at the RV all by herself, to keep watch. I can stay with her," Rosie said. She sat up a little bit to see if she could see Daryl's face and figure out what he was thinking, but she couldn't see him in the dark. "I won't even leave the RV," Rosie told him.
"Why?" Daryl asked, sighing.
"Maggie helps me. I wanna help her," Rosie told him. She felt like she owed all of them so much. They'd helped her and saved her time and time again, and she had done practically nothing to return the favor. The least she could do was try to help protect Glenn and Maggie's baby, because Glenn and Maggie's baby was the future.
After about twenty seconds of silent anticipation, Daryl gave her an answer. "You can stay at the RV. Nothin' else. At the RV. Understand me?" he said.
"Yes, sir," Rosie said, a small smile on her face.
"Quit callin' me sir."
"Yes, Daryl."
"Go to sleep."
This time, Rosie actually did.
•
Staying at the RV was only a sometimes rule, apparently, because Rosie was allowed to leave the RV when they went out looking for a walker that might look a little bit like Gregory. She did her job and stuck by Maggie's side, though. Carol wasn't happy that Maggie or Rosie were out there in the first place, but there was no going back now. She decided that she'd stay back with the two of them, guarding the perimeter.
Together, they all waited for the sun to go down. Then, the others left to go to the Saviors' base while Maggie, Carol, and Rosie stayed back. It was quiet, and honestly a bit boring. Rosie had been talking to Maggie about her baby, asking a lot of questions.
"What are you gonna name it?" Rosie asked, kicking around at the dirt beneath her feet.
"We don't know yet," Maggie answered.
"Well, is it a boy or a girl?" Rosie asked next, raising her eyebrows a little bit.
"We don't know that yet, either. If we're able to keep getting ultrasounds from Dr. Carson, then we'll be able to know in a few months. If not, then we just won't know until the baby's born," Maggie explained.
"Oh," Rosie said, sighing a bit. The only other experience she had with a pregnant lady was with Lori, and Lori didn't have a doctor to give her ultrasounds. And, by that point, Rosie wasn't very interested in babies, considering she'd never really known a baby before Judith. But she liked Judith a lot, so she assumed she'd like Maggie and Glenn's baby, too. "Do you want it to be a boy or a girl?" Rosie asked.
"I'll be happy no matter what," Maggie said, giving Rosie a big smile. Well, that's a boring answer, Rosie thought to herself. She didn't say it out loud, though, because that would be rude.
"I hope it's a boy, 'cause we a'ready got a girl baby," Rosie told her. Maggie chuckled a little bit at that, but Carol still kept quiet. She was in a bad mood- Rosie could tell. She figured she was just mad that Rosie and Maggie were out there. "It's weird that Glenn's gonna be a dad," Rosie said.
"And it's not weird that I'm gonna be a mom?" Maggie asked, raising her eyebrows a little.
"No, you a'ready seem like a mom. Glenn's gonna be a good dad, I think, but he seems like... like a uncle or somethin'. I don't know," Rosie tried to explain, shrugging her shoulders.
Maggie laughed at that, too. "An uncle, huh?" she said, smiling down at Rosie. Rosie just shrugged her shoulders. She was about to try and explain why he seemed like an uncle, but then a loud, blaring alarm started echoing through the trees, and the three of them froze up for a moment.
"They're in trouble. Stay here," Carol said, starting to head towards the Saviors' base.
"I'm going with you," Maggie said, hurrying after her.
"Maggie, no," Rosie said, following after both of them. She grabbed onto Maggie's sleeve.
"I said stay here," Carol repeated herself.
"No. Rosie, go back to the RV. Carol, I'm coming with you," Maggie said, her voice serious and stern. She pulled away from Rosie and began walking off again.
"Damnit, Maggie!" Carol exclaimed, grabbing onto Maggie's arm to stop her.
"I have to!" Maggie argued, her face all contorted with worry.
"No, you don't. You don't have to," Carol said.
"Yes, I do," Maggie said again. Rosie grabbed onto Maggie's arm, too. She couldn't go.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Carol suddenly asked.
"What am I supposed to do?" Maggie replied.
"You're supposed to be someone else!" Carol claimed. Rosie's eyebrows furrowed, while Carol and Maggie just stared at each other. She could understand that Carol didn't want Maggie's baby getting hurt, but what did she mean by you're supposed to be someone else?
"They need our help," Maggie said, breaking the deafening silence.
"They have Tara, and Gabriel, and Jesus," Rosie argued, shaking her head up at Maggie with wide eyes.
"Rosie, go back to the-" Maggie began, but she was interrupted by a walker stumbling up behind her, hissing and growling. Carol took it down with her knife before Maggie could even get the chance to.
"You are staying here. Both of you," Carol decided, looking Maggie right in the eye. Rosie still hadn't let go of Maggie's arm, and she was pulling on it now. Gunshots were echoing from the base now, and that only made Rosie's anxiety grow.
"Maggie, come on," she said, trying to pull her back to the RV. "They're ok. They are."
Both Maggie and Rosie froze up for a moment when Carol suddenly pulled her gun out of its holster. Her eyes were wide and she was looking past the two of them. As she pointed her gun, Rosie and Maggie turned around, pulling their own guns out of their holsters. A man was running towards them, and he had a gun in his hand. Carol shot him right in the shoulder, and then Maggie started going towards him.
"Damnit, Maggie! Let's go!" Carol hissed when Maggie approached the man who was laying on the ground. Maggie stood over him, pointing her gun at his head.
"Not until it's done," she said through clenched teeth.
"Maggie-" Rosie started, but then stopped when someone put their hand over her mouth and pulled her back towards their chest. Her heart started pounding hard against her chest when she heard the click of the hammer on a gun being lowered.
You're little. That makes you a target.
"Stop! Or the girl's dead," the person shouted. It was a woman's voice. Rosie felt the woman press the gun against her head. Another woman came out from the trees, pointing her weapon right at Carol. "Guns, knives on the ground right now," the first woman demanded.
As Maggie placed her weapons on the ground with her hands in the air, yet another woman came out from the trees. "Nice jacket," she drawled.
"For a murderous bitch," the second woman added.
"Well, we'll take it off right before we shoot her," the first woman said. Carol began to drop her weapons, and she started to shake. She looked really scared, which was weird, because Carol never seemed scared. She always seemed ready. Rosie jumped a little when the woman pushed her gun against her head even harder. "Your weapons," she demanded. Hesitantly, Rosie reached down to her belt and pulled her knife out of its sheath. Part of her wanted nothing more than to stab this woman, but she couldn't do that, because then the others would kill Maggie and Carol. So, she dropped her knife, and then her gun.
•
By the time the sun rose, they were at the edge of the tree line. Rosie hadn't said a word, and she didn't plan on saying any. Even if they asked a question and tried to demand an answer, she kept her lips sealed. If they killed them now, their leverage against Rick and the rest of them was gone. Rosie decided she wasn't going to speak to them. Her hands were tied together behind her back, and the woman who had a grip on her arm wasn't exactly being gentle. The first woman, who had red hair and was the one to put a gun to Rosie's head, was now holding binoculars up to her eyes. She was watching the Saviors' base.
The oldest woman, who was the one who liked Maggie's jacket, was helping the man take care of his gunshot wound. He was complaining the whole time, and it was getting on Rosie's nerves. She wished Carol's shot would've just killed him. Right now, the older woman was wrapping a tourniquet around the man's arm. "It ain't on there right, I can feel it. It ain't stopping," the man complained.
"I'm getting it tighter. Jesus, give me second," the older woman replied.
"Son of a bitch, you're cutting off my circulation," the man growled out, growing more and more impatient as the pain in his arm grew more and more intense. He obviously didn't know how tourniquets worked, Rosie thought.
"Well, sport, it's supposed to," the older woman growled out.
A few gunshots rang out. "Hell was that?" the youngest woman, who was holding onto Rosie, asked.
"It's Primo," the redhead answered. She kept watching, keeping silent for just a moment. "Damnit, they've got him. Give me the walkie," she ordered.
The man pulled a walkie-talkie off of his belt and handed it to her. "Babe, what's happening?" he asked.
Instead of answering, the redhead turned the walkie talkie on and raised her binoculars back up to her eyes. "Lower your gun, prick," she said. Rosie wished she could see what the woman was seeing, because then she'd know if everyone was ok. Her stomach hurt and she was feeling very anxious, but she made sure not to let that show. She kept her eyebrows furrowed and stared blankly in front of her, trying to remain strong and tough. "You, with the Colt Python. All of you, lower your weapons right now."
It was silent for a few moments, and Rosie wished she could see if they actually lowered their weapons. She should've just stayed back, like Daryl wanted her to. But then again, maybe Maggie would be in more danger if Rosie wasn't there. She didn't know what would have been better, but she knew that this situation sucked.
The walkie-talkie beeped, and there was static for a moment. "Come on out. Let's talk," a man's voice- Rick's voice- said.
"How many we got?" the older woman asked.
"Eight in sight," the redhead answered. Rosie knew that more than eight people should have been there. She hoped that it meant more of them were safe, but it could've meant that some were dead. "Too many," the redhead sighed.
"No, we can take 'em. We took more," the man argued.
The redhead looked back at him got a moment, but didn't say anything. She pressed the walkie again. "We're not coming out, but we will talk," she said into it. She let her finger release the button and turned to Maggie, Carol, and Rosie. "Names," she said. Rosie kept her lips sealed, and so did Carol and Maggie. "Names," the redhead repeated.
"Maggie," Maggie said, her voice tense and her body stiff.
"Carol," Carol mumbled out. She still sounded and looked terrified. It was strange.
When it was Rosie's turn, she kept her lips sealed. The redhead glared at her, but didn't say anything. Rosie hadn't said a thing yet, and the woman didn't expect her to start now. She pressed the button on the walkie again. "We've got a Carol, a Maggie, and a bitchy little mute girl. I'm thinking that's something you want to chat about. Now, we're gonna work this out right now, and it's going to go our way."
She let go of the button and they waited for a response from Rick. "You can see we have one of yours. We'll trade," Rick offered.
"I'm listening," the redhead responded.
"First I wanna talk to Maggie and Carol, make sure they're all alright," Rick said.
Rosie didn't expect the redhead to go along with this, but she let her binoculars drop and turned to the three hostages. "I'm gonna put you on. You say you're fine. I'll know if you try anything else," the redhead said.
The woman went up to Carol first, and she pressed down on the button. "Rick, it's Carol," Carol began, her voice quiet and shaky in a way that Rosie had never heard it before. "I'm- I'm fine, but-" the redhead wouldn't let Carol finish and moved on to Maggie.
"Rick, it's Maggie. We're all ok," Maggie said. "We'll figure thi-"
"Shut up," the redhead silenced Maggie, taking the walkie-talkie away. She went back to looking through her binoculars. "You have your proof. Let's talk," she said.
"Alright, this is the deal right here. Let 'em go, you can have your guy back and live," Rick spoke, his voice slightly muffled by the walkie-talkie's static.
"Three for one, that's not much of a trade," the redhead responded, her voice all casual in a way that made Rosie want to shoot her in the head.
"You don't have another choice, or you would've done something about it already," Rick replied. His voice was rough and serious, and it matched the situation. Rosie wished she was with him instead. Who would have thought that staying back at the RV, safe and sound, would put them in more danger than storming into the Saviors' base in the middle of the night?
"We have to get him back," the man spoke up.
"Primo can take care of himself," the redhead said, keeping her focus on the base.
"He can patch me up," the man argued. He turned to Carol. "I need him, thanks to that bitch. You lost your balls, Paula. You should've shot her in the head so they could hear her die."
"If you could just shut up, I'll solve this," the redhead- Paula- said, her voice stern and irritated.
"Then make the deal or we go in."
"She said shut up, so shut it," the older woman snapped. "You should be glad she doesn't have a sack of gonads to trip over."
The static on the walkie hissed again. "Look, I know you're talking it over. It's a fair trade. Just come out, we do this, we all walk away," Rick's voice said.
"Smug prick," the youngest spat. Rosie thought that maybe if she weren't such an asshole and didn't have a gun pointed at her head, she might actually think the youngest woman was cool. "He must think we're stupid."
"That's a good thing," Paula said, back to watching with her binoculars.
"Do we have a deal?" Rick asked over the walkie.
"I'll get back to you," Paula said before nodding her head.
Suddenly, Rosie's green hoodie that was once Fraser's was being pulled over her head, blinding her from seeing anything aside from her red cowboy boots. She liked her first time being held hostage a lot better than she liked this time, even if she did have a concussion her first time. At least Guillermo was nice.