Hedley, Lydia, Carl and Judith were in the gardens. Hedley was teaching them how to pull carrots out from the grounds.

"Grip it right at the base of the greens, twist and..." He pulled and a carrot sprouted from the ground. "Ta-da!"

Judith clapped, excited.

"Now you try."

And they did. Judith managed to pull out a small chubby carrot and she exclaimed when it reached the surface. "I did it! I did it!"

Lydia did the same, getting a long slender carrot. She flapped her hands happily when seeing that she had done it right.

Carl... pulled and with a snap, the carrot was in half. One half was up in the air while the other half was still buried underground.

Judith and Lydia erupt with laughter as Hedley just smiled at his boyfriend's embarrassed face.

"It's alright, Carl." Hedley said, "Maybe gardening just isn't your thing."

"Not fair!" Carl pouted.

Hedley kissed the pout and just as they went back in to keep pulling the carrots, the gate opened and in came Daryl, Connie and Magna. They were carrying an injured Kelly.

Hedley met Connie's eye and so he signed, 'Is she okay?'

Connie signed back 'She will be'.

Daryl went over to where Carol was - she was about to go out the gate so he rushed to catch up with her.

"Hedley?" Judith said, eyes still on what she was doing.

"Yes?"

"Are you and Carl married?"

Carl choked on his spit while Lydia smiled at Hedley's wide eyes.

"No, Jude. We're not married."

"Why not?"

Carl and Hedley glanced at each other, their cheeks darkening with red blushes.

"Well... we aren't married because..." Hedley started.

"Because we haven't got rings. See." Carl finished, showing off his bare left hand. "We need rings to be married. That's it. Now be quiet and pick the carrots, Petal."

Lydia giggled and Judith soon joined her. The blushes never left the boys' faces.

****

Carol and Daryl brought a Whisperer back and put him in the cell.

Lydia recognised him.

"You know him?" Carol asked Lydia.

She nodded, curling into herself with unease, "H-He's one that watches the Guardians. I-I mean, the Walkers."

"So he knows where your mother's horde is?"

"Probably."

Gabriel came forward, unhappy, "You've put us all at risk."

"We have to find that horde before it shows up at our gates." Carol argued.

"So you decide for all of us? Knowing what it could mean?"

"Doesn't matter anymore." Daryl spoke, "We still gotta find them."

Gabriel sighed, "I'm gonna be in there with you, and Siddiq is gonna treat his wounds first."

"He bleeds until he answers." Carol said.

"That's not your call." Gabriel said, "None of this is."

"It's not yours either." Said Hedley. "It's Carl and Michonne's."

Gabriel shut his mouth, shaking his head disapprovingly. He then stormed off.

"The Whisperer, what else do you know about him?" Carol asked, looking back to Lydia.

"Only that he won't betray my mom." She said, "The ones that watch the horde are loyal. She gives them no choice."

"Neither will I." Carol muttered. "What else?"

Lydia started to shake, hands twitching while she rocked back and forth, "People will die, right?"

Hedley went to her, "Lydia-"

"I hate them." She said, tears gathering in her eyes, "But I-I know them, too. My m-mom twists people. Gets them to do what she wants. M-Makes them think it's what they want. People obey 'cause they think they have no other choice." She then looked around the community around them, her breathing slowly going back to normal, "But if you let him see what you have here, that a place like this can survive. An idea like that is dangerous. It would spread." She looked to Hedley, "And there's nothing my mom could do to stop it."

****

The prisoner was killed by a doctor in training - Dante - giving him the wrong medicine.

Dante ended up being a part of Alpha's group.

He killed Siddiq. And tried to kill Rosita but she fought him.

Now he was being interrogated in the cell.

Carol, Daryl, Hedley, Carl and Aaron were in Aaron's kitchen, talking options.

"He's been here for four months. How didn't I know?" Aaron said, ashamed of himself.

"None of us did." Daryl said.

"We all ate together. Talked about training the militia." He took a deep breath, "He treated Gracie."

"You can't do that to yourself." Carol spoke.

"We gotta keep our heads straight, try to figure out what's going on." Daryl said.

Aaron sighed, "Mary, the Whisperer I've been talking to, um, told me where Alpha is keeping the herd. Just over the border, on their side. It's this sunken field on the edge of the national forest."

"You've been speaking with a Whisperer?" Carl said in disbelief. "Why did we not know this?"

"It was what needed to be done." Carol said.

"You knew?" Hedley narrowed his eyes at Carol, then at Daryl, "Did you know?"

Daryl nodded.

"And you didn't tell us? Does Michonne know?"

"She knows."

Hedley shook his head and started to pace, hands flapping. He hated not knowing things, especially if his dad knew.

"I'm sorry, Hedley-" Daryl started but Hedley cut him off.

"So what do we do? We're gonna trust a Whisperer now?" He was angry.

"You wanna do nothing?" Carol asked.

"We ain't gonna talk about how this is probably an ambush?" Carl voiced his concerns.

Aaron then spoke up, "The baby that Connie rescued... apparently that's Mary's nephew. She wants to see him. I don't think she's lying."

Hedley laughed in astonishment, "Yeah, why not bring her by during school hours! Give her a tour of the school building while we're at it."

"Hedley." Daryl growled.

Hedley tried to talk but no words would come. 

He tried again but nothing. So he signed his frustrations, knowing his dad only knew so much and that it wouldn't do much good.

'You lied. You lied. You didn't trust me with this. Why would you lie?'

Only gotten glimpses, Daryl tried to step forward but Hedley was already out the door with Carl hot on his trail.

Hedley went to his gardens - it was where he felt the most calm. He sat by a tree, rocking back and forth with his fingers tugging at his hair.

Carl went to him, slowly bringing the hands away from his head. "Hedley. Shh. It's okay. Breathe with me."

Hedley collapsed into Carl's embrace, feeling overwhelmed with everything.

Out of nowhere, Connie appeared, getting Carl's attention.

'What happened?' She signed.

'He's overwhelmed'. Carl signed back, kissing his boyfriend's head and rocking with him.

'Why?'

It was Hedley who answered, hands flying as he signed, 'Dad lied. He lied. He didn't tell me. He doesn't trust me'.

"That's not true, Hedley." Carl whispered, rubbing his hands over Hedley's shoulders. "Daryl trusts you."

'Then why didn't he tell me?'

Connie tapped his thigh to get him to look at her and when he did, she gave a small smile, 'Sometimes parents don't tell us things in a way to protect us. It doesn't mean that he doesn't trust you. You have to believe me when I say that your dad loves you so much that it must be hard for him to see how strong and involved you are with all this. He probably thinks that you do enough around here that one more thing would just be too much.'

Hedley gave a small smile at that. 'Really?'

'Really. Never doubt your dad's trust in you. You have to understand that parents will do things to protect their children... even when their children are as amazing as you.'

Hedley leaned into Carl's side, his posture calm and his toes now wiggled in joy. 'Thank you.'

She then sat up, 'Can I hug you?'

Hedley nodded then was wrapped in her arms and was given a tight squeeze.

"Hedley!" Daryl came into the scene and smiled. "I'm sorry, kid. I didn't mean-"

Hedley stood up and towards his father, 'It's okay, Dad. I understand.'

"You do?"

Hedley pointed to Connie then signed, 'She helped me understand'.

Daryl looked to Connie who was now at her feet beside Carl. He signed 'Thank you' then said, "We're getting a group to go to the border where the Whisperer said Alpha's horde will be. Wanna come?"

Hedley smiled, nodding.

"Carl?"

"Count me in."

Daryl then looked at Connie, 'You with us?'.

Connie smiled, nodding her head.