A/N: This is set separately from Another Day In Paradise, Negan will appear in this story.
"Damn… this place looks… safer." Amber says as she and the others were headed into San Andreas.
No walkers were seen… vehicles weren't rusted out and were driveable, evidenced by the traffic.
"Normal… but appearances can be deceiving, Amber girl. Remember that." Rick says as he drove on into the city, Judith asleep in the crib in the RV and the others asleep or either talking quietly.
The camp wasn't safe anymore… they had to hit the metaphorical restart button.
But right now, Rick had to hit the brakes and accidentally woke the ones who were sleeping as he had been very close to hitting a disheveled and clearly injured small brunette.
"If she's bit, I'll put the poor girl out of her misery." Amber says, grabbing onto her spiked bat and dogs chains.
Amber ran outside, the girl screaming in fright and putting her arms up in front of herself.
"Please… don't hurt me." The girl says, Amber checking her for bite marks and finding none… but she did find a stab wound on the girl's right side.
"I just had to make sure that you weren't bit. The hell happened to you?" Amber says.
"Some lunatic ambushed me… kept going on about me being a traitor." The girl says, startling Amber. "Wait… what did you mean by bit? What's going on, have more of them showed up?" She asks.
"Amber, she okay?" Carl asks after walking outside and over to them.
"Crazy son of a bitch attacked her. She hasn't been bit." Amber says.
"What's your name?" Carl asks.
"Carly…" The girl says as Amber and Carl helped her into the R.V, Daryl aiming his crossbow at Carly when he saw the blood.
"Daryl, my dear, point that thing somewhere else." Amber says.
"Is she bit?" Daryl asks.
"Daryl, do you seriously think I'm that stupid to bring someone that's bit into the RV?" Amber asks.
Daryl lowered the crossbow, Amber helping Carly sit down and pulling Carly's tank top up halfway… she hissed in sympathy after seeing the knife pattern, a K-Bar.
"I've just got to ask a few questions." Amber says.
"Which are?" Carly asks as Daryl found a first aid kit.
"How many walkers you killed?" Amber asks.
"I lost count after the first one a few weeks back but since then, we haven't ran into any… we've all taken shelter in the desert when they first showed up but then those things just stopped completely. Haven't seen anymore so we all returned to our normal lives… maybe that was the problem though. At least those things were predictable… it's the normal people you've got to watch out for." Carly says, Amber patching Carly's wound up.
"So aside from a handful of walkers, not too many casualties?" Daryl asks.
"So far… hey, watch that antiseptic please." Carly says… but Amber could tell that before any walkers, Carly had killed in the past. "Something else you want to know, I know that look… my first kill was at 13. Someone held me at gunpoint during a shootout… it was kill or be killed." She says, Amber and Daryl taken aback by that.
"13? Just… how old are you now?" Daryl asks.
"19." Carly says, Daryl having assumed Carly was only 15 or 16.
"Another thing… who's the lunatic outside?" Daryl asks, Carly seeing Trevor.
"Please tell me there aren't any more children here." Carly says, Trevor banging his fists on the RV door and waking Judith up, Rick going to his crying daughter and picking her up.
"Open this fucking door!" Trevor yells.
"What do you want?! If you're bit, you're dead!" Daryl says.
"I'm not bit but I can see that traitorous bitch!" Trevor yells, Shadow and Banjo running to the RV door and start to bark and growl at it.
"Always good to keep animals around… oh, hey, no you don't." Daryl says, stopping Carly from standing up.
"Trust me, they wouldn't attack unless I tell them to." Amber says.
Carly nodded and Amber helped her lie down on her uninjured side… before seeing that Carly was holding a phone and on that phone screen, a picture of Carly and Johnny, Amber putting it together.
"Get those mutts to shut the fuck up!" Trevor yells.
"You watch your language!" Rick yells, Judith babbling angrily at Trevor and startling him.
Daryl walked outside after Shadow and Banjo backed off, Daryl glaring at Trevor.
"Want to explain why you attacked that little lady, mister?!" Daryl asks.
"She fucked someone twice her age!" Trevor shouts.
"Don't know if you've got memory issues or something but anyone over 18 is considered an adult so you can't do jack shit to control her." Daryl says, angering Trevor.
"It's still damn- who are you?!" Trevor shouts, the last part at Amber.
"I'm the owner of the dogs that you just insulted." Amber says.
"Oh really?! Well speaking of bitches, Carly Jade, get your ass out here!" Trevor says, yelling the last part. Amber let out a loud and high pitched whistle, her dogs coming running.
"Really, you really want to pick a fight? Because I've just got to say a few magic words and you are dogs meat." Amber says, Shadow and Banjo growling and snarling.
Trevor left, Shadow and Banjo following Amber and Daryl into the RV and seeing Michonne handing two tablets of Tylenol to Carly to take the edge off.
"All I could find but it should help." Michonne says, Carly swallowing the meds as Amber walked over to them. "She won't admit it but she's hurting bad, Amber. We need to find a doctor." She says, Amber resting a hand on Carly's forehead and she could tell Carly had a fever.
"I was hiding for a while… it hurt to walk." Carly says, Judith babbling in concern at Carly.
"She'll be okay, kiddo. Rick, I'll drive, you look tired." Michonne says, heading to the driver's seat as Rick sat down near Carly with Judith in his lap.
"She's an adorable little girl. Sorry about Trevor scaring her." Carly says, Amber handing Carly a bottle of water after opening it and Carly drinking the water.
Mount Zonah E.R
"Hey! We need your help, mister, there's a lady who's been stabbed!" Daryl says as he ran to Clint, who looked at him but before Clint could respond, Daryl dragged him outside to the RV as Amber helped Carly out to them.
"Oh, the others will be glad to know that you're okay tiny… well, mostly okay." Clint says, helping Carly into the E. R itself as Daryl and Amber followed them.
Pacing back and forth, Johnny looked up as Clint helped Carly over to him, the two hugging tightly before Carly was helped into the treatment room and Amber looked at Daryl.
"That poor girl is running a fever, isn't she? Could that wound be infected from the knife?" Daryl asks, both walking into the room and seeing Carly flinch slightly as the thermometer went into her right ear.
"How is she?" Amber asks, Clint looking at the thermometer after it beeped and seeing 101.5° looking back at him.
"Did any of you give her anything to reduce the fever? It might not have kicked in yet." Clint says, Johnny lightly rubbing a damp washcloth on Carly's forehead.
"Tylenol… Michonne gave it to her." Daryl says.
"There's a few of them… several adults, a teenager and an infant." Carly says before looking at Daryl and Amber. "Where are you all from?" She asks.
"We were hidden out in Georgia… but one of our own… he took off." Daryl says.
"Was he bit?" Johnny asks.
"We're not sure… he severed off an arm, replaced it with a bayonet." Amber says, Carly turning slightly pale.
Amber had just described Merle Dixon, who Carly had helped out two days ago when she found him bleeding badly… and now from the look on Amber's face, Merle was potentially a threat to everyone.
