Welcome all to my newest story and first dabble into The Walking Dead universe! Now I am a newbie and only at the end of Season 2, but I couldn't help but from posting this! Ever since I started watching I had this idea floating around in my mind and I thought Season 2 would be a good place to start! We come in around Cherokee Rose.
I hope you enjoy my O.C's and this story!

"Mongrel fuckin' things, how in the hell did this even freaking happen?" Ruby growled as she dispatched yet another filthy walker.
Loki huffed in answer beside her and she lightly pulled on Athena's reins.
"Whuuu," she murmured reassuringly to the palomino mare.
Athena snorted and shook her head as she obeyed her rider's commands.
"God, who'dve thought the apocalypse would suck so hard. It's supposed to be devastatingly awesome. Dispatching assholes, guns everywhere, plus there's always a stupidly sexy man who is a total badass survivalist and rides in to save the day," she grumbled as she searched through the trees for the deer she'd been chasing.
There was no sign of the deer anywhere and with a growl of frustration she looked down at her companion Loki. He was a three year old, pure black German Shepherd-wolf cross. He was now her best bet to find the deer.
"Where d'you wanna go Loki? Where's the deer?" she asked.
The big, black wolf cross looked up at her with glittering green eyes. He turned away and dropped his nose to the ground before letting out a light growl. Ruby grinned to herself, proud of Loki for picking the trail back up.
"Hunt," she ordered him.
He immediately set off at a steady lope, tracking the deer.
"C'mon Athena!" she whooped and lightly kicked the horse's sides.

Athena immediately launched into a fast canter, easily keeping up with the wolf. Ruby laughed to herself as she felt the excitement of the chase tingle through her veins. Her heart thundered in her chest and she relished in the feel of the wind against her face. Athena's hooves were sturdy and sure footed beneath her, allowing Ruby to pull out her compound bow and nock an arrow. Athena's reins were resting on the horn of her saddle, out of the way, as Ruby drew back the bow. Loki let out a lower deeper growl ahead of her and stopped. Ruby sat deep in her saddle, like she had done a hundred times before, and Athena drew to a quick stop. Ruby sat up straight and looked down the length of the arrow. She could just barely see the little doe ahead of her and she took a deep breath. She willed her body to stay steady and studiously watched the doe amble forwards a few steps.

Now was the perfect moment.

Ruby let go of the arrow and smiled as it flew straight and true, the deer dropping immediately. Ruby grinned and jumped off Athena.
"Looks like we're gonna eat well tonight, Loki!" she said jubilantly.
She whistled for her animals to follow and grinned as she entered the clearing where the deer dropped. A deer was a good find nowadays, there was enough meat on a deer to feed her and Loki for nearly two weeks. Ruby exchanged her bow for her hunting knife so she could skin and butcher the deer when she heard Loki yelp in pain. Her heart dropped to her feet and Ruby whirled around to see an arrow embedded in the scruff of his neck.
"Loki!" she cried in shock and horror, running to his side.
The arrow had just managed to hit in the spot where he wasn't protected by his hunting armour. Thankfully, it wasn't a serious injury but for the life of her she couldn't understand where the arrow had come from. She didn't even have her bow in her hand.
"It's okay, Loki, I'm here, you're okay," she tried to soothe as she poked around the wound a bit.
He continued to whimper as she knelt beside him. Tears were falling down her cheeks and dripping onto her shirt. She absolutely could not lose Loki, he had been by her side since she rescued him nearly two years ago. He was what helped keep her sane during this apocalypse. He knew all of her secrets and kept her safe and in return she was meant to protect him; she couldn't fail now.

She wiped the tears from her face and inspected the wound carefully, trying to focus for him. The arrow wasn't in too deep, only half an inch. That meant the shooter had been shooting from basically the edge of his range. It had also missed the vital tendons and arteries, simply lodging in the muscle. If she didn't know any better it seemed to be more of a warning shot than a kill shot. To help Loki she needed to pull the arrow out and quickly close the wound. Ruby hastily wiped again at her cheeks, not caring about the blood she was smearing across her face. She dug into the pack strapped to Loki's side and pulled out a tube of surgical glue. She ripped her shirt off and looked at Loki hesitantly. She knew he would never do anything intentionally to hurt her, but she'd never had to yank an arrow out of him either. She had no idea what to expect and the last thing she needed was him reacting and biting her.

"Loki, I'm going to tie your mouth shut. It's just a precaution, and don't you dare bite me," she told him slowly but firmly.

She knew he had no idea what she was saying but it made her feel better as she tied her shirt around his snout. He looked at her and tried to shake the shirt off his nose but she growled at him and he stopped, trusting her. She took a deep breath and carefully positioned herself so that one knee was on the back of Loki's jaw, keeping him down. Loki growled slightly at being put in such a prone position and she growled back. Loki whined and settled down in response as she closed her fingers around the arrow.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.

With one quick yank, she ripped the arrow out. She was lucky she had tied his mouth shut because Loki's head whipped around and she felt a slight grazing of teeth on her arm as he reacted to the pain.
"I'm sorry, Loki," she apologised again, as if that made it all better.
The blood started to flow faster and she quickly opened up the tube of surgical glue and applied it to the wound. She quickly clamped and held the wound shut and Loki growled again but Ruby paid him no heed.
"You're all talk, mister. I'm doing this to help you, y'know," she told him haughtily.
He huffed at her and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"Well, excuuuuuse me," she grumbled at him.
She needed to keep the wound closed for at least two minutes to allow the glue to set.

As she was holding together the wound her eyes travelled to the arrow she pulled out of her dog. It was shorter than her arrows and had a differently shaped nock. She realised that what she was looking at was not actually an arrow, but a crossbow bolt. It was at that moment Loki stood up and his hackles rose. She could feel his growl rumble through his body and she quickly snatched her shirt off him, and grabbed her hunting knife.
"What is it?" she whispered, her eyes scouring the area.
Loki's growl developed into a snarl and Ruby couldn't help but feel glad she would never be on the receiving end of that snarl. She noticed Loki's lips begin to curl and saw Athena's ears flick over ahead of them, her head raising curiously. Whatever had decided to walk this way was coming head on. She quickly tugged her shirt back on, trying not to take her eyes off the trees and scrub before her. She dropped into a low crouch, ready to spring into action if needed as her eyes scoured the under brush ahead.

Ruby was coiled and ready to strike like a snake when a hand reached out and pushed back a branch, revealing a person. He had scruffy brown hair and was wearing a pair of worn and ragged jeans as well as a plaid shirt with the sleeves ripped off. A redneck, she mentally scoffed, until her eyes honed in on the crossbow slung across his back. His eyes widened and met hers as he took in the scene before him and it took her all of two seconds to realise that this was the asshole who shot Loki.
"Hey asshole! You shot my fuckin' dog!" she shouted, standing up and pointing her knife at him threateningly.
"You shot my fuckin' deer!" he snapped back at her.
Ruby saw red.
"Don't see your bolt in it!" she sneered.
He narrowed his eyes at her and she flinched as there was a muffled, meaty thump next to her.
"Now there is."
She scowled at him and he scowled back.
"Fuck you, this is my kill. Now back off redneck," she threatened him.
Loki growled again, and she saw the intruders eyes flicker uncertainly to the animal next to her.
"Threaten me, I dare you," she said contemptuously.
There was no way she was saying goodbye to this deer, she had no food left and she needed to feed Loki as well.
"You're a fuckin' bitch, y'know that?"
"Yeah, I'm the goddamn bitch queen, now fuck off and run along," she waved her hands at him.
She could see his eyes linger on the deer hungrily and she narrowed her eyes at him. She could see a few squirrels tied around his belt so she knew he wasn't going to starve. That knowledge cleared her conscience. She raised her hand in the air and Loki poised to jump at him. She saw his eyes narrow at her and he spat at her.
"Fuckin' bitch."
His voice held an angered and sharp twang to it and she knew he was furious. Well, so was she. She glared at him and gave him the finger, before noticing something moving behind him. He clearly hadn't noticed it, being too busy arguing with her. She knew Loki had seen it too from the different growl he emitted. Without even thinking she dropped her hand, signalling Loki to attack. Loki immediately sprang into action; bounding to the redneck, who yelled out and raised his crossbow defensively.
"No!" she screamed, terror filling her veins.
His eyes met hers briefly but he still fired.

Loki leapt, and soared past the intruder and closed its jaws around the walker coming up behind him just as his crossbow bolt hit something with a wet smack behind her. She whirled around to see a walker drop to the ground behind her, but not before biting and contaminating her deer. Her rage rose up within her and drowned out all her other senses.
"Fucking, filthy, disease baring, motherless, poxy bastard!" she screamed, grabbing her knife and stabbing the walker repeatedly in frustration.
Two weeks worth of meals, lost because of one single bite on her fucking deer!
Another walker dragged itself out from the trees and she practically jumped at the thing, slamming her knife through it's skull. She yanked it back out and raised it up behind her as she spun on the spot, letting it wedge hard into another walker's brain. She paused and could see another few walkers making their way towards her. She scowled, let them come, she'd show them who was boss.
"Fuckin' mongrels," she spat.
She wanted to feel their skulls crumble beneath her hand, to just release some of the anger and frustration that was always pent up inside. Two walkers lumbered out, snapping and growling and she effortlessly put them down. Another one came out and she dispatched it with ease. She could hear Loki crashing about behind her and she knew he was attacking walkers as well.

An anxious whinny caught her ear and she looked over to see five walkers coming up behind Athena. She could see the tenseness in her muscles and by the way that Athena was twitching she knew she was seconds from running away. Ruby immediately ran over and kicked the closest walker hard in the chest, sending it sprawling back to the ground several feet away. Her knife punched through the next one's head, and she managed to get the third one but the one she kicked grabbed onto her ankle and tripped her. She glared at it and began savagely kicking it in the head.
"Fuckin' disgusting, filthy, diseased pest!" she yelled as she crushed its' skull and its' blood splattered everywhere.
Ruby quickly scrambled to her feet to protect Athena but she noticed the last two had been dispatched with crossbow bolts to the head. She scowled, knowing that now she owed this stupid redneck her life.

Thankfully there were no more walkers coming from this direction so she took a moment to pass her gaze over the clearing. To her dismay she saw too many walkers descending on the clearing. A sizeable portion had been dropped already with bolts to the head, but there were too many still walking. A few had been distracted by the fallen deer but not enough. Even she knew that at this point they were outnumbered. She grumbled in annoyance and quickly gathered up Athena's reins and vaulted up onto her back. She gave a piercing whistle and Loki slunk out from the underbrush his jaws slick with walker blood before he stood patiently by her side.

She looked over at the redneck and she could vaguely see that he was impressed, not that she cared. She nodded at him and he nodded back at her, his hooded eyes studying her. She turned away from him and looked further out over the bushes and saw a herd of walkers coming in closer. Time to get the hell out of dodge. She was about to kick Athena into motion when her conscience nagged at her to help the man that had helped her. She sighed heavily and trotted Athena over to the man and held her hand out grudgingly. He looked at it as if it were diseased and sneered at her.
"The fuck is that for?" he spat.
She rolled her eyes.
"There's a herd of walkers on their way, get up," she grumbled.
He narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously.
"Fine, get eaten by walkers, see if I care," she hissed and made to take her hand away.
His hand grabbing onto hers stopped her though and before she knew what had happened he was up and sitting behind her, with her swag over his legs.
"Didn't actually think you'd agree," she muttered.
"You're still a fuckin' bitch."
She shrugged; couldn't argue with that.

She gave Athena a sharp kick and they started cantering off. She felt him practically fall forwards into her back and she growled as they smacked heads.
"Not my fault," he muttered in a surly tone.
"Just fuckin' do something about it!" she snapped as his head connected with hers again.
"What am I supposed ta do?!" he yelled at her in frustration.
"Hold on to something!" she growled, as she directed Athena away from a fallen tree.
There was silence behind her and then she felt his arms snake unsteadily around her waist.

Her back tensed up and she forced herself not to punch him. His breath cascaded over the back of her neck and she hated the feeling of it. His breath felt warm and slightly damp and it was giving her goosebumps. His muscular arms felt like prison bars around her and she felt like she couldn't escape. She sincerely regretted her decision but there wasn't anything she could do about it now.

Ruby kept Athena at a canter until she felt they were a safe enough distance away, at which point she drew her back to a steady walk. His arms immediately pulled back from her and she couldn't stop the sigh of relief as she felt like she could breathe again. She saw Loki padding along easily next to them and she took a deep breath. She knew that while she had Loki with her no harm would come to her. Her hands relaxed on the reins and she gave Athena a light pat on the neck, which was more reassuring to her she thought. She ducked under a branch and smirked as she heard the man yell out in annoyance as he got a face full of leaves.

After they had ridden quietly for several minutes Ruby felt the need to strike up a conversation to get to know the man sitting half a foot behind her. At the very least she needed to know where she needed to drop him off.
"Where are you headed?" she asked quietly.
"East," he grunted.
Ruby clicked to Athena and lightly turned her in the right direction. They had to go down a rather steep gully, and cross a river to get into the right direction. She leaned back and gave Athena her head so she could pick the safest path down. She felt the redneck's chest against her back and her heart began palpitating in nervousness. She gripped tightly onto her saddle's horn to hide her trembles and tried not to focus on the fact that he was putting her in a very prone position.

Athena's footing slipped on some leaves on the way down and she felt the man's hands grip tightly onto her hips. Reflexively, she whirled around in the saddle and had her knife pressed to his throat. Athena had since righted her footing and had stopped but Ruby couldn't pull her knife away. Her eyes were staring deep into his, seeing cruel grey ones instead of his blue ones. His eyes flicked down to the hunting blade and back to hers and rose an eyebrow at her.
"Ya wanna move that blade before I take it?" he said threateningly.
His sharp Southern twang broke her out of her reverie and she was momentarily surprised to see startling blue eyes instead of grey ones. She could feel embarrassment rise up as she realised she reacted without thinking and it morphed into anger. She held her knife harder against him and his hands rose in the air.
"Shut up," she spat, being unable to even think properly.
He gave her a look that would make even a walker crumble but she just shrugged it off, pulling her knife away. She turned back in the saddle and encouraged Athena forwards again.

"Why ya helpin' me?" he asked gruffly, as if he didn't want to ask.
His voice broke through the silence and Ruby flinched, almost forgetting he had been behind her.
"'Cause," she grunted back in response.
She could practically feel his look on the back of her head. She knew her answer wasn't much of one but she couldn't help herself. She didn't like owing people, and hated it if they knew. She remained silent for another few minutes but she could feel the pressure he was generating to answer and she huffed in annoyance.
"'Cause you helped me. Felt like I owed ya," she grumbled.
She couldn't see him so she just assumed he had heard her.
"You didn't have to y'know?" he grumbled.
"I pay my debts," she said quietly.
For once her voice held no anger or frustration, just a quiet finality. He scoffed quietly behind her and she fought the urge to jab her elbow back in retaliation.
"What the hell is a girl like you even doing out here?" he grumbled.
She rolled her eyes and stopped Athena, turning back around in her saddle to face him.
"Just because you saved my life, and I saved yours doesn't mean we have to talk. I'm just going to drop you off to where you are and then be on my merry way. I am not interested in making friends and becoming buddies or whatever. I have to go and hunt down something else to eat and find safe shelter before darkness falls. So please, just, ugh," she snapped.

His eyes studied her face not betraying a single thought or emotion, but she thought she could almost see a grudging respect which she mentally scoffed at.
"You got no food?" he asked.
She rolled her eyes and thrust her hand behind them emphatically.
"No, I don't. Hence why I wanted that fucking deer," she said in a condescending tone of voice.
His eyes studied her again, and she rolled hers. She was done with this conversation and this redneck. She clicked Athena forwards again pushing her into a trot. She sat easy to Athena's smooth trot but couldn't help the smirk as she heard him cursing from behind her.
"Slow it down!" he yelled.
"Problem, redneck?" she called back, unable to keep the amusement from her voice.
"If this keeps up I ain't gonna be able to piss straight for a week," he growled.
"Sounds like a you problem," she laughed.
"Fuckin' bitch," he spat.
She just shrugged again. This was true and established a long time ago. Hopefully he would get the hint and leave her alone. She drew the reins and they dropped back to a walk. She heard him breathe a sigh of relief and a part of her almost felt bad.

"How much further?" she asked him.
He pointed to the left a bit and Ruby guided Athena in that direction. She could faintly see a field beyond the trees and she was relieved to know this ordeal would be over shortly. They made good time and before she knew it they were on the edge of the woods. Ruby rose an eyebrow as an idyllic piece of farmland, complete with a farmhouse, barn and shed came into view.
"You live here?" she asked incredulously.
He just grunted in response and she gave a low whistle. She could almost believe that the apocalypse had never happened.
"White picket fence and all, good score," she commented.
He grunted again and she gave a half laugh. Seems like he had learned his lesson.
"Ya might wanna leave ya mutt here. The others might not like a wolf running at them," he grumbled instead.
She frowned at the thought of someone else shooting Loki and she scowled at him.
"I am never gonna forgive you for that," she scowled.
He shrugged and she wanted to smack him. Instead she whistled to Loki who fell in beside her. She halted Athena and looked firmly down at Loki.
"Stay," she ordered.
He tilted his head to the side and she repeated herself. He whined lowly and she raised an eyebrow at him.
"We're not discussing this. Stay."
He huffed and lay down on the ground, his head on his paws. She knew he would stay until she called for him and her eyes softened.
"I won't be long. I promise," she called softly.
The man behind her scoffed lightly and she scowled in response. It was time to drop this arrogant prick off.
"Hold on, redneck," she called back.
His hands settled carefully on her waist and when she was certain he had a good grip she kicked Athena into a fast canter, wanting to get this ordeal over and done with.

The mare's lengthy strides and speedy heritage ate up the ground and in no time at all they were cantering up to a small camp site in front of the big white farmhouse. The man's hands tightened on her waist as she pulled Athena to a sharp stop and his head collided hard with hers. Again.
"Would you fucking watch out?!" she yelled at him, rubbing the good sized egg at the back of her head.
"Your fault for stopping so suddenly!" he spat.
"I told you to hold on, you stupid fuckin' redneck! That means hold on! Or do I need to spell it out for you?" she seethed at him.
"I know how to hold on, what I don't need is some stupid bitch tryna trip me up!" he growled back.
He shoved her swag off his legs, knocking it hard into her back. She yelled a protest as she was thrown forwards but he was already sliding off Athena and storming off.
"You're fuckin' welcome!" she shouted at the infuriating redneck.
It was at this point she realised she wasn't alone and there was a group of people circling around her. She hadn't expected so many people, the redneck didn't exactly seem like the type to play well with others. She tightened her grip on Athena's reins as she looked distrustfully over the crowd.
"Just returning your redneck," she said by way of explanation.

A man stepped out from the crowd. He had short, dark brown hair and a kind but wary expression on his face. She studied him with a hint of nervousness and noted the police uniform he had on. No matter how kind he looked, no good could come from someone who had stolen a police officer's outfit.
"Thanks for returning Daryl. I'm Rick," he thanked her.
She studied him and narrowed her eyes warily at him.
"No problem. Might wanna keep a leash on him though, bit of a loose cannon," she said, a hint of nervousness creeping into her voice.
To her surprise Rick gave a small laugh.
"He was out looking for one of our own," he told her.
At the sound of that news she felt a bit bad for how she had treated him, but then she remembered how he had treated her and her guilt vanished.
"Well, I hope y'all find them," she replied stiffly.

"Have you seen her?"
Ruby turned to the woman who had spoken. A skinny, older woman with desperate blue eyes. Her hair was cut short, almost a buzz cut, and full of grime and she looked like she had lived too long.
"Seen who?" she asked quietly.
"A little girl, twelve years old. Blonde hair and a blue top," the lady described.
Ruby thought back for a moment and realised she had seen someone fitting that description a day or so ago.
"I… I have actually. She was running on a ridge, I shot the walker following her but by the time I got up there she was gone."
She didn't know why but at the end she felt a bit of guilt. It only got worse as the lady, clearly the little girl's mother, collapsed into tears and began crying and screaming out. A younger brunette put her arms around the crying woman and the rest of the group tittered amongst themselves.
"Well, I'd be mighty grateful if you could show us where," Rick said to her.
Ruby shifted on Athena and the mare shuffled on the spot. She looked up at the sky and saw the sun sinking, it would take at least an hour and a half of riding, longer if she had to double. At which point they would have to turn back anyway to get back safely.
"I—I want to but, I need to get going. There's simply no time, by the time I took you back there we'd have to turn back anyway. It's a fair distance from here…"
"Could you show us on a map?" Rick asked.
She could hear a hint of desperation in his voice and as she looked over at the crying woman she knew she couldn't say no, not about a little girl. Ruby nodded slowly and Rick gave a grateful breath.
"Maggie, could you get the map, please?" Rick asked the brunette.
'Maggie' left the older woman and ran off into the farmhouse.

"So, you know my name, what's yours?" Rick asked her kindly.
She eyed him off suspiciously and shifted in her saddle.
"Ruby," she answered shortly.
Rick gave her a kind smile. She almost wanted to believe it, but the last time she trusted a smile it didn't end well for her.
"So, if you don't mind me asking, are you alone?" he asked.
Ruby tensed up and eyed him and the crowd. There were several men in amongst this crowd and she felt her heart rate increase and she forced herself to stay calm.
"I do mind," she snapped.
Rick held his hands up peacefully.
"It's okay, I just… I've got a lot of people to take care of, and I need to be sure you're not going to be a threat. I'm sure you understand," he said quietly and calmly.
She narrowed her eyes at him.
"I understand, but please forgive me if I don't trust a cop killer," she snarled.
Rick's eyebrows rose and he looked shocked.
"I'm a what?" he asked.
She gestured to his uniform.
"Where else would you get a uniform like that these days?" she asked pointedly.
Rick looked down and gave a good natured chuckle.
"That's because before all this shit went down I was a cop," he explained.
She looked at him in unease, not knowing if he was pulling her leg or not.
"Here, I'll even show you my badge," he laughed and pulled a leather pouch out of his pants.
He threw it up to her and she caught it, while dropping her reins. She opened it to see a dirty but visible identification card. It showed Rick's picture as well as his name and officer number. She felt her unease let up slightly and she laughed lightly, throwing the pouch back at him.
"Never really had much to do with the cops, you gonna arrest me if I play up?" she asked, trying to make a lame joke.
Rick humoured her with a small laugh.
"Not likely."

She gave him a small smile and finally swung her leg off Athena. She landed with a light thump and couldn't resist a groan as she stretched out her weary muscles.
"God, that feels good," she hummed.
"Been up for long?" Rick asked her.
"Awhile," she answered evasively.
Despite him being a cop she still didn't trust these people. She idly reached for her hunting knife and ensured its sheath was around her hip. An action that didn't go unnoticed by Rick.
"We are unarmed…" He told her quietly.
She looked up at him and noticed he was about half a head taller than her, enough to easily overpower her. She swallowed hard and carefully left her hand on the handle of her knife.
"Can't be too careful," she said quietly.
Rick evaluated her, his eyes searching her but strangely it didn't feel like he was sizing her up. It felt more like he was concerned and worried.
"Here, Rick," the young brunette commented, handing him a large map.
Ruby grabbed Athena's reins and walked with Rick to the hood of a silver car.
"Can you get Daryl, Maggie? He should see this too," Rick asked the same brunette.
She nodded and took off towards a tent.

Rick spread out the map on the hood and pointed to a dot on the map.
"That's where we are. This is the highway we lost Sophia on," he explained, pointing to another spot on the map.
Ruby studied the map carefully, trying to remember her map reading skills. She looked at the scale and began measuring it up from her last known point.
"I… I think around here is where I saw her. I was in this gully and she was on this ridge. It has a rather steep cliff to it so I had to go upstream a bit to loop back around. There should be two trees up there that kind of fall into each other like a spiderweb. It sounds strange, but you'll know when you see it. Just beyond that, there'll be a rock that looks kinda like a piano. I saw a little bit of blood there but… I didn't see anything else after that. But I'm also not exactly a master tracker," she admitted.
She looked up at Rick and he gave her a desperate and relieved smile.
"This is good, it's better than searching randomly," Rick said comfortingly.
She shrugged.
"I guess," she said non-committally.
"There's a pretty big herd around here though," she said, pointing to the spot on the map she thought she'd shot the deer.
"They're distracted by my deer, but that won't last long, so… be careful," she said, feeling uncomfortable by the odd sentiment.
Rick smiled at her.
"Thanks, Daryl's our best tracker and hunter, he'll be fine," Rick assured her.
She frowned.
"The redneck?" she asked.
She saw Rick's eyes tighten slightly and she realised it may not be the best thing to insult someone in their group.

"That's me," a familiar voice grunted.
She heaved a sigh and narrowed her eyes at the redneck.
"Right," she grumbled, displeased with his presence.
"So where am I headed?" he asked shortly.
She eyed him and then pointed on the map giving him the same markers and instructions she gave Rick. He nodded thoughtfully and eyed her.
"So why didn't you follow her?" he asked suspiciously.
"I'm not a tracker, I lost the trail," she shot back, frustrated.
She couldn't explain it but it wasn't sitting right with her that she hadn't found the little girl. She hadn't much thought about it at the time but upon meeting these people and seeing how much the girl clearly meant to these people she felt… guilty. She should have followed her, should have climbed up the hill or something. Tried harder for the girl. She growled lowly under her breath and turned abruptly away from the men, throwing Athena's reins back over her head.
"Well, that's the extent of my knowledge, I've gotta get moving," she told them shortly.
She saw Rick's face flicker with confusion but Daryl just leaned back against the car.

"Where ya gonna stay?" he asked.
"By the river probably," she answered without thinking too much about it.
"You don't have a camp?" Rick asked.
"Not smart," Daryl commented.
She glared at him, ignoring Rick.
"And why not?" she demanded.
"Animals go to drink. Walkers follow animals, they catch ya sleepin' ya dead," he said in a condescending tone.
"Well fine, I'll sleep on a ridge. I've got Loki," she said coldly.
"Wait—" Rick tried but got cut off.
"What about food?" Daryl pressed.
She rounded on him, fury burning through her veins.
"I woulda had food if you hadn't shot my fuckin' dog and distracted me from my kill!" she shouted, shoving him.
Daryl's expression darkened and he pushed off the car, stepping over to her and loomed over her. She couldn't help the shiver of fear that trembled down her spine. He stood half a head over her easily and she had the feeling that he could snap her like a twig if he wanted.
"My fuckin' deer! I was tracking that damn thing for hours!" he shouted.
He took another step closer to her and instinctively she had her knife out and back at his throat.
"My shot killed it," she argued.

"Whoa, hold it there, please," Rick cut in, standing inbetween the pair.
He carefully put his hand on her blade and pushed it away from his friend's throat. She eyed him off suspiciously.
"Look, why don't you stay here for the night? We'll set you up with some food and water, then you could take Daryl out in the morning, we'd be mighty grateful…" Rick pleaded.
She narrowed her eyes at him, seemed like a rather flimsy deal for food and water. Food and water was worth killing over and they were willing to just hand it over? Unease settled in her stomach and she stepped closer to Athena.
"I… I'm okay, thanks…" she hoped they couldn't detect the slight tremble of fear in her voice.
"Hey, I promise. We really, want to find Sophia, she means a lot to all of us. Please. You can sleep on your own, I promise."
Rick looked on the verge of begging and it broke her.
"Okay, but I stay with my horse. Away from everyone. Any part of any one that crosses into my personal space gets cut off," she threatened.
Rick held his hands up and nodded in acquiesce.
"Deal. However… The man that owns this land requires all guns to be surrendered, and we ask that any newcomers relinquish their weapons. The vast majority of us are unarmed anyway," he said steadily, as if trying to comfort her.
"You don't need weapons to be a threat, Sheriff," she said quietly.
Rick gave her that same curious, concerned look.
"I promise, we are not a threat to you," he tried to assure her.
She looked at him uneasily.
"I'll have to call my dog in, I left him at the edge of the woods," she finally agreed.
Rick smiled as Daryl scoffed.
"I think everyone'd love to see a dog around," he encouraged her.
"He's not exactly friendly… He won't bite, unless you try to hurt me but I wouldn't advise treating him the same as your average little yap-yap," she explained, and then levelled her glare on Daryl. "And if you shoot him again, I will kill you."
Rick gave Daryl a confused look.
"You'll understand," he grunted in response to Rick.

Rick looked at her uncertainly and Ruby stuck her two pinkies in her mouth and gave one short, sharp whistle. She heard someone yelling as Loki came racing out of the woods. She smiled in relief as she saw him bounding towards her and she walked towards him.
"Loki," she called out, knowing he could hear her.
"Damn, that's a big dog," she heard someone comment from behind her.
"You have no idea," she laughed lightly.
She walked out further and knelt down, slapping her thighs encouragingly. It took all of a minute for Loki to reach her and leap up into her arms. Ruby laughed in delight as she tried to hold onto all 120 pounds of him, while he was trying to lick her face.
"Loki, Loki, down… down," she laughed.
He dropped down onto all fours and she took the time to scratch his favourite spot behind his ears.
"Hey buddy, you were such a good boy waiting for me," she crooned.
He whined and licked at her face again. His eyes glittered and he looked to be smiling up at her.
"C'mon Loki, meet the people we're going to be staying with tonight," she said to him and clicked at him.
He immediately kept at her heel and together they walked back to the group.

"This is Loki. Loki, this is the group," she introduced.
"That is a wolf..." a man about the same age as Rick with a shaved head said bluntly.
She eyed him off carefully, ready to defend Loki without a second thought.
"He's a wolf cross. And highly trained. He is no threat to you, but I will be if you dare hurt him," she threatened the man.
A few people looked at her warily and a few others began to started to step forwards. She saw Loki's hackles rise and his natural distrust started to emerge.
"Loki, it's okay," she soothed him.
"Just one at a time, please," Ruby pleaded.
The people stopped walking and she looked up to see the little girl's mother amongst them. She gave her an encouraging smile.

"Hey," she said softly.
The lady gave her a timid look but Ruby kept encouraging her. She stepped forwards and stood next to Ruby.
"Hi, I'm Ruby and this is Loki," she introduced.
"I'm Carol," the woman replied quietly.
"Loki, this is Carol," Ruby said gently.
She took Carol's hand in hers and carefully held it out for Loki to smell. She could feel the slight tremor in Carol's hand and gave her an encouraging smile.
"It's okay, Loki won't hurt you. I promise."
Carol swallowed hard and unclenched her fist. Ruby watched Loki carefully as he reached out to smell her hand. He nudged it a few times and then gave her a lick. Ruby smiled at Carol.
"He likes you," she said quietly.
Carol gave her a small smile and hesitantly reached further to run her hand over his head.
"He likes it behind the ears," Ruby told her.
Carol nodded and began to rub behind his ears. Loki leaned into the woman's touch, clearly enjoying it.
"He's beautiful," she whispered.
"He's saved my life several times, even before the apocalypse," Ruby admitted.
Carol looked at her curiously but Ruby refused to meet her eyes, choosing to run her fingers through Loki's fur.