A/N Not sure where this is going but I hope you enjoy it.

Disclaimer - I own nothing except Tess and an overactive imagination.

Chapter 1

As they approached the car at a jog they could see the driver's door was open when it shouldn't have been. Weapons raised they quietly approached the vehicle. As they came around the side they both stopped and grinned at each other in appreciation of the sight before them. Long legs, tightly clad in denim, were visible, hanging over the driver's seat and out into the road. The legs lead to an equally tightly clad rear end and above that a couple of inches of toned stomach were visible, revealed by the woman's shirt riding up as she worked at twisting the wires together under the dashboard. Her head was tucked under the console and she was totally unaware of their approach. The world might have ended but they were both red blooded men and you made the most of moments like this when you could.

They moved closer and saw the exact moment she became aware of their presence. Her body tensed and then she turned her head, looking straight at them with intense hazel eyes.

"Damn" was all she said.

Tess was angry with herself, she'd been so involved in trying to hot wire the car she'd let her guard down. Now she was facing two armed men, who didn't look happy. She guessed it was their car she was trying to steal. She rolled over, her back still on the driver's seat and tried to stare down the closest man. He looked really pissed off and was pointing a crossbow at her. The other man just looked irritated and held a gun casually by his side.

"Just slide outta there real slow; keep yer hands where I can see them" Crossbow man snarled at her, squinting down the sights as he edged closer.

Tess kept eye contact with him as she gripped the car bodywork, either side of the open door and started to pull herself up. Suddenly she kicked out, her foot making contact with the crossbow, shoving it upwards. The man fired by reflex and the bolt flew harmlessly into the air and she heard him give a yelp as the weapon made contact with his face.

She threw herself out of the vehicle and started to run down the road. She wasn't expecting to get very far but was still surprised when a dead weight crashed into her; knocking her to the ground and pinning her face down on the pavement. She struggled and fought to free herself.

"Damn Bitch, keep still" a voice growled close to her ear as the man tried to restrain her. She twisted so she was on her back and tried to bring her knee up, but he seemed to be expecting that and evaded her blow easily. He was sitting across her waist and pinning her arms when the second man approached, Tess saw he had an amused expression on his face.

"Daryl, let her up now, she's not gonna run" he drawled.

The man she now knew was called Daryl glanced up at him.

"Aint lettin' her up 'till she calms down" he muttered and the standing man laughed.

"Don't think she's gonna calm down 'till you let her go" he commented

Tess spoke up "Please" She said in a small voice "Please let me go, I've got to get back to her" she tried to gaze at them appealingly.

"Back to who?" Daryl asked, loosening his grip slightly on her wrists.

"My daughter, I had to leave her. I really need to get back. Please let me go" her voice quivered slightly.

"Let her go, Daryl" The man with the gun requested.

With an annoyed sigh Daryl let her go and stood up. Tess went to scramble to her feet and found the man holding his hand out to help her.

"My name's Rick" he told her, as she allowed him to pull her to her feet. "We don't wanna hurt you, but we did find you tryin' to steal our car" She looked at the ground, trying to look guilty.

"I'm real sorry about that" she peered at him from lowered eyes "I didn't know it belonged to anyone. It was just sittin' there on the road and I needed a car quick."

"Where did you leave your daughter?" Rick asked her, a genuine look of concern on his face. Tess decided he was the softer of the two, the easiest to fool. Daryl was still glaring at her and she was pleased to see a gash on the bridge of his nose and a bruise forming on his cheek where the crossbow had caught him.

"Our car broke down a mile or so out of town, she's only four and not very strong. We haven't eaten for a couple of days. I thought it would be safer to hide her in the trunk and make a run into town on my own, find a new car" She let a tear slip from her eye, knowing it would catch on her lower eyelash, that always worked.

She saw the sympathy on Ricks face and knew it was working; they would let her go now. She wasn't prepared for what came next.

"Come on, we'll take you back to your car to get your daughter, then we'll help you find a new vehicle. We can spare you some food as well."

Tess wasn't used to people actually helping each other out. Most people she ran into nowadays either tried to kill her or take what was hers. She didn't know what to do as Rick took her arm and lead her back to the car. Daryl tagged along behind, muttering about dumb bitches and their stupid kids. Once they were in the car Tess directed them out of town. Her car really had broken down but she wasn't sure how they would react when they found there was no daughter.

"So what's your daughter's name?" Rick asked her, friendly and relaxed as he drove. Tess was starting to feel really bad about lying, but couldn't see a way out at the moment. Daryl was in the back, watching her every move, waiting for her to cause a problem.

"Abigail" she told him "Abbie for short" She cringed when he smiled at her

"That's a cute name, I've got a daughter called Judith" he told her "She's about 7 months old now"

"A baby, that's amazing" she tried to sound enthusiastic, all the while trying to think of a way out of the situation. All too soon her car came into sight. Rick pulled up a short distance away and she leapt from the car, running towards the trunk.

"Abbie, honey" she called "its mommy. Don't be scared" She was aware that Daryl was close behind her as she reached for the trunk release. It was clear he didn't trust her. She flung open the trunk and leant in, grabbing the baseball bat that was there. She swung it at Daryl, hoping to knock him back enough she could give herself enough time to get into the surrounding forest. Once there she knew she could lose them, no problem. He saw it coming and threw his arm up, protecting his head and the bat made contact with his lower arm with a huge crack. He swore and stumbled back a few steps. She made a mad dash to the side of the road and ran for the forest. She reached the trees and ducked through the undergrowth. She could hear someone crashing behind her and Ricks voice shouting.

"Leave her, Daryl. Let her go and let's get back"

She had a bad feeling he wouldn't be prepared to leave it. She'd hurt him twice now and guessed he wasn't the forgiving type. She pushed through the trees, trying to put some distance between them, when she heard the familiar sounds ahead of her. She slid to a halt and looked in horror at the large herd of walkers heading in her direction. There were dozens of them. Suddenly an angry Daryl seemed the better option. She turned and raced back the way she'd come.

Daryl was furious, the damn woman had hit pretty hard with the bat and his arm was already feeling numb, his nose and cheek hurt where the crossbow had smacked him in the face and he knew he was gonna get stick from Glenn for being beat up by a woman. He wasn't sure what he was gonna do when he caught up with her, but she wasn't going to get away with it. He heard her crashing ahead of him but it didn't sound right. He realised she was heading towards him not away.

"Now what" he thought as she charged out of the undergrowth and tried to barge past him as he grabbed her arm.

"There's a herd coming, we need to get outta here" she looked over her shoulder as she tried to pull free. He stared at her coldly.

"I aint that dumb, you think I'm gonna fall for another one of your lies?" He spat at her, still holding her arm with his uninjured one. She tried to pull free again, her eyes wide. He was about to tell her to stop play acting when he heard the noises for himself. He turned and saw the first of the walkers approaching them, their speed picking up as they sighted fresh meat.

"Shit!" he cursed and started to run, pulling her along. She shrugged her arm free as they reached the road. Rick was pacing up and down by the car, looking annoyed.

"Herd's coming, need to go" Daryl yelled. Rick jumped in the car and started it up. Tess headed for the still open trunk of her car and snagged her backpack. She was about to run across the road and into the forest on the other side, when a strong arm caught her around the waist and she was pulled struggling towards the revving car. Daryl open the rear door and shoved her in, throwing himself in behind her as Rick accelerated down the road, leaving the herd far behind.

Next chapter up soon.