Hey guys, sorry for the late update, at the moment I'm posting chapters as I write them in between work, so please be patient with me. From here on, I hope you guys enjoy my spin on how Anamika will affect the canon story line, I'm really excited about it. Thanks for all the favoritesand follows. I also realizethat I was in such a hurry to post chapter 24 that I didn't thank my reviewers, so here's for the last two chapters: thanks to amixofredbullandvodka, faery 66, crystal the optimist, Diehard gamer and Guest for reviewing, I appreciate all the feedback!

Enjoy!

Chapter 25

Anamika was vaguely aware of them making it back to Alexandria, but was too tired and sleepy to really pay attention. She mumbled softly when Daryl carried her in to their bed, snuggling into his warmth and then the pillow when he finally laid her down. She heard him exit the room again, but before she could even contemplate following him, sleep pulled her under again.

It felt like mere minutes later that she was awoken by urgent voices outside, the urgency in their voices and footsteps waking her up immediately. She flew up, her mind suddenly remembering that they had an unknown in their community, an unknown that was like a damn ninja and she was here sleeping. To be fair, it could be nothing, maybe it was just walkers that got the people outside riled up, but seeing as she could hear Daryl's gruff voice raised, she doubted it.

Grabbing her gun that was on the bedside table, probably thanks to Daryl, she made her way out of the house, just in time to see Abraham rushing into Rick's house, following Daryl and Glenn. Running over, she took the porch steps two at a time, her mind on Carl and Judith who was in that house, but when she rushed in, just in time to hear Rick say they should talk, she sighed in relief. Seems like everything was under control. Glancing up, her eyes widened when she saw Rick shirtless and Michonne adjusting her shirt next to him, both looking very uncomfortable.

A grin broke out over her face and she leaned back against the wall, narrowly watching as Jesus walked past her, following Glenn and Abraham with Daryl on Jesus' heels, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. She briefly let her hand brush against his as he passed, her lips quirking up as her eyes flitted to Rick and Michonne and she saw the barely there amusement in his eyes at the pair. Waiting for the couple to come down, she couldn't help the smirk that grew on her face, despite the serious situation and it just became bigger with the despairing look Rick threw her. She could see the happiness in both his and Michonne's eyes, but they also knew to expect a lot of teasing from her for how it came out.

"Sooo… Had a nice night? I hear the moon was lovely." Rick grumbled as he stalked away and Michonne coughed, but Anamika could see the soft grin she was trying to hide behind her hand. Slinging an arm around the katana wielding badass, she poked her cheek as she grinned.

"Aaaw, is that a blush I see?"

"Shut up Anna." Despite her brusque words, Anamika knew better and merely smiled. She followed the others into the dining area, the sun just about coming up and lightening the room. She moved to stand behind Carl, nudging Abraham to the side with her hip. Folding her arms, she lightly rested them on the top of Carl's head, the boy glancing at her annoyed but leaving her be. He knew she did what she wanted, especially when it came to annoying him.

Jesus eyes flickered to hers, causing her eyes to narrow and she saw Daryl and Rick exchanging a look, both of them acknowledging the weird interest the man had in her. When Rick questioned Jesus, she rolled her eyes at the man's answer, huffing at his almost philosophical monologue. about chaos and whatnot. It was when he started talking about having checked out their arsenal and supplies that she straightened, a scowl on her face.

"-very low for the amount of people you have. Fifty-four?"

"More than that." Maggie said, her gaze stern as she watched him. Jesus paused and Anamika spoke up, her voice just as hard as Maggie's, if not more.

"Rick, you have this? It seems I have some guards to go speak to."

"Yeah. You deal with that, I'll deal with him." Jesus gazed speculatively at her, catching the authority in her tone and the fact that Rick trusted her with important matters like the security of their community. Glancing at Daryl, she walked out of the house, heading towards the guard tower.

Ever since she became part of the group, she became one of the people Rick asked for advice on security measures about and as such, automatically became a sort of leader. It helped that the Alexandrians loved her, despite her awkwardness around them. She wasn't sure if it was because she was more approachable as a woman or if it was that they just build this favourable image of her when she sent food to them and even getting to know her wasn't enough to break that image, but if she said something, they usually listened.

It got to the point that if Rick wanted to do something the community didn't agree with, she could usually get them to agree or at least consider it. Not that it had happened lately, as the community's trust in Rick also skyrocketed after the walker invasion.

"Hey Spencer!" The lanky man turned around, smiling at her as she walked up, though it slowly faded as he saw her serious expression.

"Who was on interior guard duty last night?" One of the things she had Rick implement was an exterior and interior patrol. At night, the exterior patrol just stayed on the two guard towards, watching outside the fence and using spotlights to check the wall at random intervals. As soon as the construction of the other two guard towers were complete, Alexandria would become even more secure.

The interior patrol, on the other hand, consisted of three people who patrolled the community. Two patrolled around the inside of the wall, while another walked along the streets, just in case something managed to get past the other guards. It was this person she was interested in, as Jesus had the time to check out their arsenal and storage area, both, incidentally, which should have been locked. She would have to speak to Olivia as well.

"Uh, it was Bruce, Kent and Francine."

"Who was on street patrol?"

"Kent."

"And who guarded the prisoner?" Spencer seemed uncomfortable, before he lowly muttered that it was him and Denise; Denise more because she had to check up on the prisoner. Anamika sighed, rubbing her eyes.

"Alright, I know Jesus is a freaking ninja, so unless you were in the room with him, he probably would have found some way out, but Spencer, next time, don't screw up. Even if you have to sit in the same room as him all night long. We are lucky he didn't decide to go on a killing spree, what with everyone asleep and vulnerable." The man nodded, a bit disgruntled at her harsh reprimand but unwilling to say anything against her.

Anamika nodded, seeing Spencer acknowledge what she said and deciding to go find Kent, knowing the man would be back home now, as their shift ended at dawn. Turning, she made her way down the street, determined to talk to him and maybe Bruce and Francine as well. She knew they were all good people and usually took guard duty seriously, but she had to get to the bottom of how Jesus managed to walk around freely in Alexandria.

Walking up the porch steps of Kent's house, she knocked loudly on the door, hoping the man hasn't gone to sleep yet. It took a while, but finally the door opened, Kent standing bleary eyed in front of her. He seemed to wake up more when he realized who was on his porch though.

"Anna! Hi, what's going on?"

"Kent, I hear you were part of interior patrol last night?"

"Yeah…"

"The prisoner we brought back managed to get out of his cell during the night and decided he'd like to take a night time stroll through Alexandria." Kent's eyes widened, but seeing as she was standing on his porch, relatively calm, he didn't panic.

"Uhm…"

"Did you see anything unusual on your patrol? What rounds did you make? I'm not blaming you for him getting out, he had two guards that were supposed to watch him, but it does not bode well that he managed to sneak around Alexandria undiscovered."

"Of course, I understand. I followed the main road, making a loop around the armory and then heading in the direction of the church. The only people I saw were his guards, Spencer and Denise, and near dawn Maggie and Glenn. Although, it is quite difficult to see everywhere, as it was very dark and the flashlight only lights up so much."

Anamika nodded, it was one of the problems she was working on.

"Yeah, I know. I'm working on that, maybe some small solar powered lights we can use on the pavements. I'll talk to Rick about it, in the meantime, get the word out that any patrols need to be stepped up for the next week or so. We don't know who else is out there, especially with this guy now knowing where we are."

Kent nodded, his eyes serious, and Anamika turned away, knowing he would get everyone informed about the new possible danger. She had to speak with Olivia. The biggest breach in security was that their armory and storage area wasn't locked. Finally arriving at the woman's house, she knocked on the door loudly, waiting impatiently for Olivia to come answer. After a few minutes, she knocked again, before finally just entering the house. She made her way to the armory and saw to her disgust that the door was unlocked, as she already knew it would be and there was no signs of Jesus having forced his way in.

The inside garage door was also unlocked, which was just sloppy, even if the exterior door was locked.

"Olivia!" Hearing a thud upstairs and muttering, she waited impatiently at the doors, her foot tapping against the floor in irritation. Finally, Olivia appeared at the top of the stairs, her hair messy and her glasses perched precariously on her nose.

"Anna?"

"Last night, our prisoner escaped and decided to take a walk around Alexandria. He also decided to check out our supplies and armory. What I want to know, is how he managed to do that, seeing as these two rooms are supposed to be locked during the night." Olivia paled, her mouth gaping open and closed as she shot panicked glances at the two wide open doors.

"I-I… uh, that is…"

"I'm not interested in excuses. We're lucky it was someone who apparently didn't mean us harm. He managed to get inside Rick's house undiscovered and could easily have killed him if he wanted to, seeing as he was right inside the armory with his pick of weapons. Olivia, I understand everyone makes mistakes, but this cannot happen again! We are trusting you with our lives, it could be argued that you have the most important responsibility of everyone in this community. If you don't feel up to it, let me know now that my trust was misplaced or that you would prefer to not have that responsibility and I will get someone else to manage our most important resources."

Though Anamika's words were harsh and she could see the shame clearly displayed on the dark-haired woman's face, she also saw the determination in her eyes. She was proved right when Olivia straightened, pushing her glasses up her nose.

"That won't be necessary. It won't happen again and I'll prove to you that this responsibility isn't too much. Just give me that chance." Gazing into her eyes, as if trying to gauge how sincere she was, Anamika finally nodded sharply, turning to walk out.

"I'm trusting you with this Olivia," She called over her shoulder, before exiting the house. The next stop in her morning was the room Jesus was kept in. She wanted to see how he got out, so that she could make sure it would never happen again. Walking down the steps, she opened the door, observing the two rooms inside. Huffing, she eyed the two small windows at the top of the room Jesus had been sleeping in. She just knew that was how he got out. A guard had been stationed outside the door, but in the dead of night it was dark and they might have let their guard down.

Walking back out, she headed home, wanting a shower and a change of clothes, as she was still wearing what she had yesterday. On the way, she saw Morgan practicing with his stick, and an idea struck her. Changing direction, she called out to him, waving her hand when he looked up. Though she didn't get along with Morgan, less so after the wolves incident, she knew he would be happy to do what she asked.

"Morgan, I've got a job for you, if you're up to it." He nodded, waiting for her to continue, so she jumped right into it.

"Our prisoner last night managed to escape his guards far too easily. Though we don't want to get in the habit of taking prisoners, we do need a secure place in the event something like this happens again. As such, would you be up to it to fortify that room for us? Bar the windows and such?" She could practically see his eyes light up and a smile played on his lips. She knew that he would want to use the cell for other reasons, as proof that they didn't have to kill some people, but as long as they had a secure place in the unlikely event that they would need it, she didn't care what his reasons were. Nodding, she turned to head home, knowing he would do what she asked.

"If anyone asks any questions, send them my way." Waving one hand, she walked down the street, ready for that shower. All her plans were put on hold when she saw the RV parked outside, her group scurrying around it. She narrowed her eyes, seeing Rick standing with Judith and talking to Carl. Detouring to where she saw Daryl, she called out to him as Denise walked away.

"Hey Katniss, what's going on?" Daryl grunted, his eyes meeting hers as he wiped his hands on a grungy cloth.

"Jesus got a community, he's taking us there now. Rick wanna see if they got stuff we need." Anamika nodded, her mind boggled at the thought of finding a community that would trade with them and not try and take them over.

"What's this place called?"

"Hilltop. Stupid name." Nodding, she absently brushed her hand against Daryl's, her mind whirring. The name sparked something inside her, but for the life of her she couldn't think what. When Daryl grunted again and rubbed his thumb against her wrist, she came back to the present, focusing on her.

"You gonna come with?"

Despite not wanting to be away from Daryl and being curious about this new community, she also knew she shouldn't be part of the welcoming committee. Besides, she had something else in mind for herself today.

"Naw, gonna stay here, rest a bit." Though her redneck looked at her suspiciously, he also didn't say anything against her, instead nodding and going back to loading the RV. Giving him a quick kiss on the cheek, ignoring his 'stop', she walked over to Rick and Carl, just in time to hear Carl saying he was also going to be staying.

When Rick's eyes met hers, she knew what he wanted to ask her, but would never presume to. Luckily for him, she already decided to stay.

"No worries, I'll look after the little man and this adorable munchkin. I might go out for a quick run, but no more than two to three hours and I'll take one of the long distance walkies with me in case of emergencies." Rick nodded as she slung an arm around Carl's shoulders, her fingers playing with Judith's hair. When Rick walked away, taking the gas canister with him, she looked down at the teenager, her chest feeling suspiciously tight after hearing Carl referring to his face as messed up when he explained to his dad why he shouldn't be part of the welcoming committee.

"Dude, your face is badass, don't dis the scars." Carl sighed, before smiling up at her, his eyes twinkling at her. "Come on hotshot, let's get your sister her breakfast."

WD

It was nearing noon when Anamika decided to go on the run she had planned, Carl well able to look after Judith on his own and after her talk with the guards, everyone was on high alert and reluctant to be the one who screwed up and brought Anamika's ire down on them.

Pulling her old military truck out in front of Olivia's house, she gathered her weapons that she didn't automatically keep on her person, as well as a flashlight and a ziploc plastic bag, hoping it will help her in her endeavor. She also grabbed a protein bar for the road, along with that long distance radio and asked Olivia if any of the houses had some swim goggles lying around. Turns out, though there wasn't any swim goggles, the construction crew did have some heavy duty safety goggles that would more or less do the same job.

Finally, having gathered everything she thought she'd need, she kissed Judith on the cheek, smiling at the small girl's chuckle and ruffled Carl's hair, promising him she'd be back soon. Jumping into her truck, she waited as the front gate was slid open and carefully maneuvered her big vehicle through their obstacle course. Then she was on her way.

It took her almost an hour and a half to reach the farm where they had lost the supply van to the lake, seeing as she had to try and remember where it was and took the wrong road twice. Eventually, she did manage to reach the area and carefully drove as close to the the edge of the lake as she dared, making sure she was still on the dry grass and well clear of the crumbling mud bank that sloped into the lake.

Glancing around to make sure there was no one and nothing near, she walked to the front of her truck, where there was a synthetic rope winch build into her front grill. Grabbing the steel hook, she placed her foot on the grill for more power and pulled, uncoiling the 25 pound synthetic winch rope. Unsure how much she'd need, she uncoiled the entire fifty-five yards of it, sure it will be long enough to reach the van in the lake.

Putting on the goggles, she adjusted her hair and made sure they sat snugly on her face and took off her shoes before she turned on the flashlight and placed it inside the ziploc bag, sealing it tight against water. Light in the one hand and the steel hook that's at the end of her winch rope in the other, she walked down the bank to the lake.

This was the part she was dreading the most, as she was vulnerable while in the water and she didn't really fancy swimming in a murky lake. But Jesus had been right, there was a lot of food in that van and her community needed it. Her skin jumped as she waded into the cold water, grimacing at the slimy feeling of the bottom of the lake between her toes. Finally, she took a deep breath and dived under the water, swimming out to where she remembered the last of the van's bubbles disappearing the day before.

It wasn't difficult to find the van, but with the water so murky, it was difficult to see where she could hook the rope to, even with the aid of her flashlight. Kicking up, she resurfaced for some air, quickly checking her surroundings before she dove down again. Swimming to the front of the truck, she examined under the grill, searching for something to hook the rope to. She was reluctant to use the grill, as she could just see herself pulling the grill off the van and not the van out of the lake. She had to go up for air twice more before she found a suitable part to hook to her rope, jerking it to make sure it's secure.

Going up for air again and making sure she's still alone, she dove down again, this time swimming to the wheels of the van. Using her one hand, she dug around the tires, loosening the mud that sucked the vehicle into the lake bed and placing some rocks she found on the bottom of the lake around the tires. Hopefully this will make it easier to tow out the van. She knew it was going to be difficult and if she didn't have her military truck, probably impossible.

It took her a further half an hour to loosen all the tires, before she finally decided to try her luck at towing the van out. Swimming back to the lakeside, she waded out, taking off the goggles and shaking her hair out. Climbing into her truck, uncaring of how wet she was, she started it up, slowly reversing till the rope was pulled taut. Breathing deeply, she gradually pressed down on the gas pedal, pressing down and releasing in an attempt to loosen the van from the mud even further.

When she pressed down the gas pedal and finally felt the truck pull back more than the previous times, she steadily increased the pressure instead of releasing it as she did previously. It took a while, but soon she could see the front of the van emerging from the lake, followed by the rest. The hardest part was actually towing the van up the lake bank and there was a moment her truck struggled and skidded and she thought she was going to lose the van to the lake again.

Luckily, her truck won the tug of war against gravity and the van rolled forward, away from its watery grave. She continued reversing till the van was far away from the lake and in no danger of rolling back down it. Pulling up her hand brake, she parked her truck and turned off the engine, before making her way to the van. Going round to the open driver's side door, she reached in and lifted the hand brake, so that when she unhooked the winch rope it wouldn't try and escape again.

Making her way to the back, she eyed the water that was pouring from it, before unhooking the latch and standing next to the van as she opened the back instead of in front of it. Immediately, the last of the water gushed out, followed by boxes and cans falling out. She was immensely grateful she hadn't decided to be in front of that door when she opened it. When the deluge stopped, she grimaced and stepped around, climbing into the van and checking to see what was salvageable. Luckily, all the cans of food was fine, as well as anything that was in plastic. The boxed dry food was ruined, like the pasta and flour, but all in all, there was still a lot of things they could use, especially the boxed stuff that had been wrapped in plastic, keeping the water out.

Not even wanting to try and start the truck after it rested overnight in the lake, she recoiled the rope onto her winch and pulled her truck up to the side of the van. It was a long and arduous task to reload all the stuff into the back of her truck, but one she was used to when she had been on the road alone. Besides, she didn't mind some physical labor if it meant she helped out the people who showed her how to live instead of just survive.

WD

Ok, so first of the changes right here! I understand leaving the supply van if you don't have the resources to get it out of the lake, but I believe Anamika's military truck is a resource capable of this. Also, there's an article on samsonrope called Tough Synthetic Winch Rope System Pulls Technology Forward that explains how Anamika can use the military grade winch on her own, without needing the strength of another three or so people. I admit, I use some elements that was only invented after 2010 and so shouldn't exist in the story, but at this point, I don't actually care about that, so sorry not sorry.

Hope you guys enjoyed this!