Simon POV

They were surrounded, twelve men were circling around them, aiming them, one wrong move and it will all be over, they were heavily outnumbered, this was supposed to be one simple supply run, just him, Arat and Dwight, nothing too fancy, just to kill some time, days were dragging way to slow for his taste and that was not good for keeping his skills sharp.

"So, just give us your supplies and maybe just maybe we will let you two go." One of the men spoke, he looked like a damn mountain, how in the Gods name does someone keep that kind of weight in times like this, Simon thought to himself.
"There are three of us you fucker, can't you count?" Words were out of this mouth before he could even think about what he said.Ok, making enemy angry at moments like this was not smart, Simon

"Girl stays with us," man said
"Great, now we are going to die," no way in hell is he letting them take Arat and no way in hell are they coming out of this one alive.This was not how I wanted my day to go. Fuck!

Before he even had time to think about what he should do, man that spoke earlier started to make some weird noises, his eyes widened, looking at him like he just saw a two headed monster and then he fell on this face. Simon looked at Dwight and Arat, they were both holding their guns and looking just as confused as he was.

"What the fuck!" he heard Arat murmuring just as another man fell on the ground and all hell broke loose.

They were falling like flies, one by one, and before any of them even had time to react or understand what is going on, half of them were already on the ground, Simon took this chance to make a quick attack of his own, ordering Dwight and Arrat to get behind their truck and start shooting.

Once he looked behind his cover to aim, he saw a tall stranger waving his machete at one of the attacked, while the other one was aiming at him and getting ready to shoot and save his friend. Simon took both of them down, a stranger with a machete glanced at him nodding his head in gratitude, as he swung his machete directly at the throat of a man that was trying to attack him from behind.

It was all over before it even began, all twelve men were down and Simone left his cover with Dwight and Arrat at his tail.
Finally he got a chance to look at the stranger, he was wearing tight leather jeans that were tucked into high boots whose vamps were wrapped with wide silver duct tape, he was wearing leather jacket underneath long black ragged vest with baggie hood that was so big it looked it was about to swallow his face entirely, his mouth was covered with something that looked like leather face shield coming up to his nose it was decorated with two skeleton hands on each side of it, his eyes were covered with black aviator sunglasses, on this hands he was wearing dark-brown finger-less leather gloves, then Simon scanned his weapons, on his back he saw large bow, something professional marksmen used back in the days before all world went to shit, with a machete strapped to his left hip, and some weird belt with pockets on his right thigh, it looked like it was homemade. The man himself looked like he just came out of a comic book and decide to save them, but there was something wrong with him, with the way he was walking from one dead man to another, taking something out of their heads and backs, then Simone saw it, surgical knives.

"What the fuck!" he just couldn't keep his voice inside any longer, this was all far too weird for his taste, the man stood up, tucking his knives in a small belt that was around his thigh, he was almost high as he was, but with a bit smaller frame and then he spoke.

"It is 'thank you', not what the fuck, really, where are your manners?"
Simone glared at his companions, that was a woman's voice, this is a woman standing in front of them, he mentally kicked himself, now he saw it, the way her body was shaped, the way she was standing and the simple fact that her leather pants were just too tight for any man to find them comfortable.

"You can close your mouths," she said, removing her hood and face shield, reviling porcelain white skin, she was tall, slim and she had read hair scooped in high ponytail that was reaching all the way to her lower back, then she removed her glasses, revealing cat-like green eyes and pulling her lips in a wide smirk. Simon couldn't help but shiver when he remembered who it reminded him of.

"Who are you?" Arat said aiming her gun at her.

"Tch, tch, tch, now is that a way to treat someone who just saved that pretty ass of yours." woman was grinning at them, cocking her head slightly to her right side.
Ok, this is just some sick joke boss is playing on them, Simon was sure.

"C'mon, people, I was watching you from the very beginning, and I am pretty sure I didn't see anyone cutting your tongues out, so will someone speak or are we going to play blinking game, because as much as it sounds fun I am in a bit of hurry" woman said pointing at a trees behind her.

"Who are you?" it was Dwight that broke the silence.

"Oh, no one important, just a wanderer, I wander, round, round and all around." she told them with a dreamy voice while lifting her index finger and moving it into circles.

"If you don't stop playing around we will shoot you!" Simon finally found his voice, the woman looked at him widening her smile.
"No, you won't."

She was playing them, she was fucking playing them and she loved it, he knew she enjoyed every second of it, this was the same pure enjoyment he saw every time in his bosses eyes when he was playing around with prey, like a cat playing with a mouse just before she is about to kill him, so will she kill them, he knew she could, then she spoke and it was like she just read his mind.

"I won't kill you and you won't kill me, because I like you, people and you are just too fucking confused with what is going on to even think about killing me, so as a little token of gratitude for saving your asses, and seeing how some of those asses are just really, really, nice,"she was smirking at Arrat,"I will only ask of you to give me some food those fuckers had with them and we call it even."
So she saved our lives and now all she wants are some pathetic cans, what the hell is wrong with this woman, Simon was glaring at her

"You can come with us, we have…" and he was interrupted.

"Yeah, yeah I know, you have community, everything is nice and peachy, you all live a normal life in some kind of heaven, upholding the laws that are just not valid anymore but you still hold on to them like your own life is deepening on it and you could use another pair of hands to pluck some dirt around and make your corn grow nice and strong. The answer is one big fucking, NO!"

"It is not..." Dwight tried to intervene, but Simon cut him short.

"No, we are not like that, you might even like it and it is not like you have a choice when we ask someone to join us, we expect them to say yes."
She was smiling at them holding her arms crossed resting them on her chest, "then why do you ask?"
That is actually a very good question, "it is the polite thing to do?"

"Polite thing to do?" her laughter filled the woods and in just a fraction of a moment she turned dead serious, he saw her eyes darkening.
"Those people I just killed to save you, I was shadowing for weeks, their group is man only, ugly dicks and stupid to, I heard them talking about how they like their women, what they do to them,"she was looking at Arat then turned her face to face him, "and with the men. Well, men, they like medium rare, not too much spice, it tastes like pork. Did you know that meat tastes differently if you kill someone in their sleep or if you kill them with them being aware of what you are doing? Adrenaline and fear give flesh quite a different taste. So fucking excuse me for laughing at you little polite offer but I got more important shit to do than play housewife with you people. But I am a kind woman, hey, I just can't help it." she shrug her shoulders like she was defeated never changing the empty look on her face.
"Go north from here, there is a road, go about half a mile to the east you will see a stop sign, enter the woods there and about two minutes of walk you will see a camp, there are five dead bodies there, a bit of food and ammo, I didn't take everything, I am not a mule and I don't like using guns, they are just too loud, fell free to help yourself. Goodbye."

"So you are not going with us? We will have to kill you!" and a smile was back on her face

"I will think about it, but I am not coming with you now, no." she took one of dead man's backpacks and turned her back on them walking back to the woods like she was sure they are not going to shoot her.

"What the hell was that?" he heard Arat say behind him, holding her gun aimed at the direction woman just disappeared.

"I don't know and I am not sure how will I explain this to the boss."

"Do you have to tell him?" Dwight interrupted him

"I do, he will find out one way of another," Simon said, he can't believe Dwight would even ask him something like that, what the hell is wrong with that man, no wonder he is still just a whelp.

"What about the fact that we just let her go?" Arat interrupted.

"I don't know, I fucking don't know. Ok, grab your shit and let's get out of here, we have supplies to get."

You just let her go?!" the entire factory was echoing with Negan's voice, to say that he was mad would be an understatement, he was furious, Simone kept his cool, he knew he fucked up.

"Ok, ok, ok, I am a reasonable man, let me get this straight" Negan was smiling now but Simon knew better than to relax around that smile.
"You were surrounded by twelve men, then another man came from the woods and managed to cut them down like they were paper dolls, with a surgical knives, no less, then you realized it is not a man but a woman, who laughs at your face when you offered her to come with you, but directs you to the supplies you brought back and then she turns her back and just, puff, disappears and you fucking do nothing, about it. Why?"

"I am not sure, she told us she will think about it, and I thought she is too valuable to kill.", ok he was doing a good job, to tell Negan he couldn't kill her because her character was spitting image of his bosses and it scared him shitless, would only get him an iron, and not like he was far away from it as it is

"Did she at least tell you who she is? Did you even fucking ask?"

"Yes I did, she told me she is a wanderer, she wanders, round, round and all around," Simone told him imitating woman's moves and her voice, Negan cracked the widest smile Simon ever saw.

"She told you that, man she is fucking crazy."

"Complete lunatic and also dangerous."

"Will we be able to find her if we went looking? I need to see this woman."

"No, boss, sorry, I don't think so, she told us she has been shadowing that group for weeks and they didn't see her, so I doubt we would be able to find her"

"First one is free, Simon, don't fuck it up again"

"I won't boss.", he said and left.

When he got outside, he was glancing at the fences, thinking to himself is she shadowing them now, if she is, will she kill them the moment they attack another group just like she did to those men in the woods, like a grinning grim reaper. But those questions were for another day.