''How many Walkers have you killed?''

''Far more than I can count.''

''How many people have you killed?''

''A lot.''

''Why?''

Silence.

Rick Grimes used the time to look at the woman more closely, who stood right before him.

Her dark black hair was tied in a ponytail. Her figure was slim and delicate and yet she was agile and skilful. He should know because he had seen it with his own eyes.

Only a minute ago, she had saved his life.

As far as he could see there was pretty face beneath all the filth and dirt.

But the most streaking feature about her were her eyes. Her left iris shone in an icy blue color, her right in a rich warm brown. If he should have to find just one word to describe it, his choice would have been: extraordinary.

But for now he drew his attention back to her body language.

The young woman was tense.

The last question, that he had asked her, didn't seem to fit her taste at all.

''Do I have to answer that question?''

''Yes,'' answered Rick.

Once more there was a long deep silence.

Rick was a man with principles.

Especially in times like this in which the world was ruled by chaos it was essential for surviving to follow certain common rules.

Everybody had to answer the questions without exceptions.

Rick waited until he was convinced that the young would rather choose the option to follow her own path again but then she said: ''Because they deserved it.''

That was more than enough for him.

He had no real interests in her motives.

The only thing that had really matter to him was the fact, that she had told the truth.

And that she had.

He just knew it.

His instincts as a Police Officer had told him that.

With certain amount of time, he had developed a certain intuition for particular things in life.

A short nod in her direction told the young woman that she had satisfied his admission criteria.

Silence engulfed them as they walked side by side.

From time to time, Rick glanced in her direction, before asking, resulting from a mixture of pure curiosity and old habits: ''Why are you all alone?''

Her gaze wandered to him, meeting his steel blue eyes and lingered there for a few seconds.

''I prefer to be alone. It's easier this way,'' she replied, when both of them climbed over a fallen tree trunk.

Rick extended his hand to her to help her but the young woman didn't pay attention to his gesture.

There was a small smile on his lips as they continued to kept walking in silence.

''What's your name?'', asked Rick, trying to start a conversation once more.

The young woman stoped dead in her tracks.

''Is this going to be a interrogation?,'' she said and looked askance at him. ''I thought I had passed you little test.''

Although it was easy to overlook, Rick noticed that her grip around her own knife had become a little bit tighter.

She was very careful around him- Clever thing.

''No, don't get me wrong but we are a community. Everybody knows anybody. We are always there for each other. We always help each other,'' after a long pause, he continued, ''I'm Rick. Rick Grimes.''

Hoping that his own honesty would help her to trust him a little bit more.

The dark haired woman uttered a long sigh.

Rick had already told her the terms and conditions and she had decided, at least, to give it a try.

''Helen Smith'', she replied and squeezed his hand that he had extended to her one more time.

After that, Rick turned his attention back to the uneven road.

He could already see the concrete building in the distance.

It wasn't far away and the certainty to be home soon, quickened his pace.

'Home' could there be a more unfitting word to describe a place like this?

A place that once had been build to lock people up, to take away they freedom, not to protect them from the undead.

But it was all he had.

His family, his friends. His life.

Everything that he held dear lived behind those walls.

What could he want more?

Despite her small frame, the young woman had no problem to keep pace with the former sheriff. The daily fight for survival had taught her much better than any real teacher, of flesh and bones, could ever do.

The only thing that bothered her a little bit and slowed her down was the constant pain in her left ankle.

Because she was very good in hiding things like this, Rick only noticed, just in the moment as her discomfort was showing in her facial features, that she was injured.

''Are you alright?,'' he asked, as he took a few steps towards her, examining her from head to toe.

At first sight, he could not see any physical wounds.

No blood, no bite or anything like that but Rick knew, from his own experience, that this didn't mean that everything was alright.

''Yes, I'm alright, but my foot hurts. I think a sprained my ankle,'' she responded as she grabbed his shoulder that he had offered her beforehand reluctantly - it relieved her pain in an instant.

Both of them continued to walk in this new formation until there had reached the white lattice fence from the prison.

A gray haired middle-aged woman came into sight and opened the gate in the very same moment in which she realized that Rick had returned from his little getaway.

''Who is that?,'' she asked curiously, smiling friendly at the strange woman and the leader of their community.

''Well,'' said Rick, smiling back, ''you could say that this young woman is my life-saver'', as they walked further together.

''Oh well, if that's the case, then you are very welcome.''

''Home sweet home'', Rick whispered, pressing her shoulder gently, as the door opened up.