"So take a deep breath,

pick yourself up,

dust yourself off,

and start all over again"

Frank Sinatra - Pick yourself up

They both jumped while reaching for their weapons, and stared at the woman. The first thing they noticed was that she was beautiful. Long dark thick curls cascading down her back. She wore a scarf tied in a knot that perfectly framed her beautiful face: black almond-shaped eyes surrounded by luscious eyelashes and plump cherry lips formed a wide smile that revealed perfectly aligned white teeth. She wore ragged jeans, flip flop slippers and a short tank top revealing her olive skin. But what was most amazing was that she held between her hands her dilated naked stomach which most certainly contained a baby.

The swing of her hips as she walked towards them made her look like an apparition in the woods. "Oh please, don't look so threatening… I should be more afraid of you than you of me, no?" she said as she waved her bare hands showing them that she had no weapons, at least none that they could see.

"My name is Valeria, and I am alone. I can promise you that, because I never lie." Her voiced gained a very formal tone when she spoke, and one could barely notice her Italian accent except when she said her name.

"And the father?" Aaron asked still standing guard, looking at her and all around to see if anyone else was lurking. His pride obviously hurt… how could he not have heard her approach their camp?

"He is not around."

"Oh yeah? What happened to him? Ran when he found out he was gonna be a daddy?" Daryl asked nonchalantly keeping his finger on the trigger and looking at her through the sight of his crossbow.

"I killed him on the day he raped me. Waited for him to go to sleep and slit his throat." She said as she mimicked the gesture with her index finger on her neck. She reminded Daryl of a man he once saw in a fair when he was a kid, he was dressed as a pirate and read stories to children (although, she looked nothing like a man).

They looked at each other from the corner of their eyes and Aaron put down his shotgun. Daryl kept aiming at her: the day would come when a woman would distract him just by being pretty and helpless.

"What do you want from us?" Aaron asked not being able to hide his puzzlement.

"Well, I originally come from Sicily, but I assume that this is not what you want to know", she said with a warm open smile. "I lived in Rome, and no, the irony is not lost on me, worked at a Quick Stop on Maple Avenue. My family was killed during the first days of the outbreak. I almost didn't get away, but a couple was kind enough to take me with them to their refuge. They were survivalists, you know, those people who prepare themselves for the end of the world." She had irony in her smile. "They had an underground bunker hidden in the forest where we stayed for a long time. We became a family. "She paused in order to catch her breath, and then continued. "Anyway, one day we were attacked by a man passing by. He killed Ginny and Mike, but decided to keep me, and the rest you already know".

Daryl, still aiming at her, said "So? Why would I care about you bullshit story? Better go back to that bunker of yours fast."

Aaron made a soft gesture to Daryl as if asking him to take it down a notch, but Daryl ignored him.

"As you may have already noticed, I am with child. No one comes by these parts of the woods and each day that passes I grow more terrified of being alone. I spotted you a few days ago and have been following you. I have the feeling that you are good and I am never wrong about people." She paused and gazed at them absorbing their reaction to her words.

"I was hoping that I could join you… I know you think that I may be a burden, but I have something to offer in exchange of your company".

Aaron's cheeks became red at her 'offer' and chuckled. Daryl glared at him.

"It's not what you're thinking" she said rolling her eyes, "although it would be very nice to find a companion in life, someone to raise Salvatore with me, and protect us from the morto vivente, but I'm sure that that is a task that neither one of you could perform".

Aaron looked surprised and felt another sting in his pride "why not?" Daryl gave him the 'what the hell…' look. He didn't felt comfortable in this situation, he just wanted the woman to go away so they could leave.

"Well, because you are clearly so in love…" Daryl burst into a coughing fit and Aaron couldn't help escaping a muffled laugh. "Oh come on boys, I'm better than that… I didn't say you were in love with each other, although I have some doubts on whether your woman is still alive, I can't read anything about it in your face" she pointed at Daryl narrowing her eyes.

"What the fuck? Are you trying to scare us with that bullshit witch stuff?" Daryl hissed raising his crossbow and reaffirming his aim.

"No, I am just very good at reading people. It's a blessing and a curse". She paused again. "What I have to offer you is my skill. I know everything there is to know about plants, herbs, resin, essential oils… It's something that has been passed on generation to generation in my family. We come… came… from a long line of guaritori, healers that is. If you have eczema, diarrhea, headache, if you need a sedative or to disinfect a wound, soften your skin or improve your sex drive, I can help."

"Too bad you didn't have the right plant to take that baby off your belly" Daryl teased with a mean look on his eyes.

"Actually I do. I do have that herb"´. She said, her eyes saddening while she caressed her stomach.

"Daryl, I think we were scouted" Aaron said. He could think of so many questions to ask her, he found her to be the most interesting creature.

After this unusual start, she slowly grew on them and ended up sticking around. They went back to her bunker and took some interesting items with them, including a couple of duffel bag full of plants and roots that she took from a garden she kept nearby, and containers with a variety of powders and oils.

After a few days they almost saw her as their travelling partner, and not someone to keep an eye on all the time. She talked a lot, like a natural born story teller. Daryl thought she was annoying most of the time, but kept listening when she talked about her survival techniques. He knew so much about the wilderness, but she knew more, and from a different perspective.

That kept Daryl distracted and calm, so when Aaron suggested that they should go back, Daryl didn't say no to him, and so he decided to tell her about Alexandria.