"You realize that you are leaving me here to be tortured, right?" Amity informed Daryl as she tucked another bundle of supplies into one of the saddlebags on his motorcycle, not bothering to look up from her task as she made her dramatic declaration.

"How's that?" Daryl asked in return, sorting through the supplies that the woman had already shoved into the saddlebag that was nearest to him, taking out half of what he found there.

It seemed that Amity was an over-packer.

To be honest, Daryl wasn't really surprised. She had the same type-a nature of that kind of person.

"Well," She began, closing the flap of the saddlebag before making a noise of protest as she finally looked up to see him undoing her hard work.

She watched him pull out a ziplock baggie that held three boxes of matches and two lighters and dropped her impending argument, deciding that maybe he had a point.

Maybe there was such a thing as being over-prepared.

"Well," She began again, "while you're going to be out roaming the free world, wind in your hair and a buddy by your side, I'm going to be stuck in a little room in the clinic, waiting to see which of the citizens of Alexandria are going to air their woes to me before asking for a solution to their life problems that I will not be able to provide. That sure sounds like torture to me."

"Tell 'em 'tough shit' and move on to the next," Daryl advised, dodging the redhead's swatting hands a second later as she made a noise of exasperation.

"I can't just tell them 'tough shit,' Dixon. It's my job to help them in whatever way I can." She told him before sighing to herself. "I used to love that, you know? I loved the face-to-face interaction aspect of my job even more than I loved conducting research. I always felt like I was making the most difference when I was just being there for someone and helping them understand what was going on in their lives and what direction they wanted to take it and how to improve or change things in it."

She fell silent for a moment and Daryl watched as she ran her fingertips over the seat of his bike, her gaze unfocused as if she was lost somewhere in her head.

He waited a moment, and sure enough, a few seconds later she was looking over at him with a rueful smile on her lips.

"No chance of me talking you into letting me come along then?" She asked, her heart not really into the question.

To be honest, as much as Amity didn't want to be left behind while Daryl was out there in the big bad world, she liked the feeling of being in a stable place.

The atmosphere was growing on her, even if the walls and people tended to be stifling.

It had been a few days since the party (and her minor freakout) and with the help of her family, she had begun to accept their place in the community.

Bandit was always there to walk with her through the community, a source of comfort amongst the unknown. He made jokes with Michael when the other man would join them, both of them taking shots at the softness of the Alexandrians without being cruel about it.

There was still a clear 'them and us' mentality, but Amity was beginning to put names to faces and it helped.

"It ain't about lettin' you, woman." Daryl began but Amity was already rounding the front of his bike, ready to cut off the explanation she had heard time and time again.

It wasn't about letting her go or not, but they both had their own responsibilities and he would end up admitting that he'd rather have her safe inside the walls though she would always remind him that she could damn well take care of herself.

"I know, Dixon. Can't blame a woman for trying." She reasoned, grabbing him by his leather vest as she smiled playfully up at him.

"Go out there and find some good people, chief. Or some good food that Carol can make even better." Amity ordered before tugging him down to her level, waiting as he looked at the area around them before giving in to the soft press of her lips against his.

After too short of a moment, she pulled away and held his gaze as she took a step back out of his arms.

"Go get 'em, tiger." She encouraged, taking a few more steps away after he nodded and mounted his bike.

As soon a the engine roared to life, Amity turned her back on him and went about starting her own day.

She couldn't stand to watch him leave, no matter how much she yearned to do so.


In the clinic, Amity stood in the doorway that led to the office that held two desks, one for her and one for Pete.

Pursing her lips, she considered the space before wandering to look at the other two rooms in the building.

With her work, Amity would need a private space that clients would feel comfortable and safe in- a shared office just wouldn't do the trick.

With that in mind, the redhead got to work dragging the desk that Pete had said was her's into one of the other rooms, choosing the one that was the emptiest of the two.

After it was in place, Amity stood back and looked around the room.

Sure, it looked more like an office now with her desk and chair plus two more chairs that now sat facing it, but still, the room was bare. It screamed cold and unfriendly, and she knew that it was the first thing that she would have to change now that she claimed the space as her own.

She figured she could go see Deanna or Olivia about filching some cushioned chairs and decor from one of the empty homes.

With that plan in mind, she moved to leave her new office.

As she turned, Amity caught the movement of a figure out of the corner of her eye and simply reacted. Jumping back into the protection of the doorway, she pulled the blade she was wearing under her simple light cardigan and wielded it in a reverse grip, ready to smash it through a walker's skull.

It took only a second for her forebrain to catch up with her hindbrain, and she put a hand to her chest when she realized that somehow, Pete had entered the clinic without her realizing.

"Holy shit, Pete. You scared the hell out of me." She told him, her tone more biting than she meant for it to be as she quickly moved to hide her knife away once again.

She hated being startled and frankly, it freaked her out that he had been able to do so in the first place.

She was immediately scared that she was losing her edge. She couldn't let this place make her soft.

"What are you doing?" Pete asked, closing the front door behind him, his sharp tone and actions having her pausing her movements as she considered them.

"I was moving my desk," Amity said simply, evaluating the situation before deciding to put her knife away and mediate the situation rather than antagonize it.

She had to work in close proximity with the man, and even after how he had reacted to Daryl, she knew that it was best to play nice while she could stand to do so.

So, even if his attitude was less than pleasant, she would try to keep her temper.

"I assumed you wouldn't mind me moving my desk into there since there is another room that can be used as an exam room and my work requires a more comfortable and private space." She explained, stepping into the main area of the clinic where he was and offering what she hoped was an amiable smile.

Pete was looking at her as if she was a raccoon that he had just found knocking over his trashcans- something not exactly surprising to find, but something he didn't like seeing nonetheless.

"Is this how you usually act?" He asked and Amity found herself confused, any words she had previously wanted to speak dying on her lips as she furrowed her brows.

"I mean, is this your usual behavior? Do you typically enter a situation and take over everything as if you have some sort of right to do so? Do you just move people's things and assume that whatever you say goes?" He clarified, causing her jaw to drop a bit in surprise.

"Whoa, okay, listen, buddy- when I first came here you said that that desk was mi-" Amity spluttered, now finding her tongue and being more than ready to defend her actions as fire flared up in her chest.

"Looking at you people when you first arrived here, I assumed that your feral appearances extended into your group structure but now I'm seeing that there was no structure at all. You were allowed to do whatever you wanted. What good was all of your Alpha men if they didn't even keep you in your place?" Pete asked, seemingly to himself more than Amity as he sneered the word Alpha.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me." Amity muttered to herself, knowing that she was standing there like an idiot, eyes blown wide in sheer shock over what the man was saying.

He sounded like a satirical piece about typical douchey full-of-themselves men who thought that women were lesser while not being able to do their own laundry.

"You have got to be fucking kidding me," She repeated more loudly.

"I don't know who the fuck you think you are talking to, Pete." She said, her words nearly a snarl as anger flared up in her, "But you sure as hell picked the wrong damn person to spew your misguided misogynistic bullshit at. There is no keeping me in place, there is no allowing me to do whatever it is that I like. I am an equal here. An equal on this Earth as a fucking person, an equal as a professional in this clinic, and frankly, I outrank you in terms of having the skills o survive in this world and apparently in common fucking decency on top of that, so if you have a problem with that then you can, quite frankly, shove it up your-"

Amity's rampage was stopped by the front door of the clinic swinging open, revealing Carl standing on the other side of it with Judith sitting on his hip.

The boy turned first to Amity, his eyes seeming to look her over and take in her red stained cheeks and angry eyes before turning to Pete and hardening.

"Is everything alright in here?" He asked, sounding more like Rick at that moment than Amity had heard in a while.

Amity held Pete's gaze for a long moment, the silence and tension stretching between them until she turned to look at Carl, giving the boy a genuine smile.

"We're all good here, kiddo. Just a professional disagreement." Amity reassured him, crossing the room to him and taking Judith from his arms.

"I was just heading out to find Deanna anyways, walk with me?" She asked and Carl nodded, not taking his harsh stare from Pete even as he handed over his baby sister.

Without another word to Pete, Amity reached out to turn Carl towards the door and leave the clinic behind them.

As soon as their feet touched asphalt, Carl looked over at her with a look that was too knowing for his age.

"Nothing I can't handle, Grimes." She told him, knowing exactly what that look meant.

"If it isn't handled, I'm tellin' Daryl," Carl said flatly, causing Amity to throw him a look of utter betrayal.

"I thought we were friends, you little shit." She said, lightly shoving his shoulder and finally pulling a bit of a smile to his lips, chasing away his too serious expression.

"Exactly why I'll tell Daryl." He countered, causing her to roll her eyes at him.

"You are too much like your damn daddy."

"I'll just take that as a compliment."

In the process of finding Deanna, the trio found the group that was about to go out on a supply run.

As they approached, Amity heard a couple of them arguing with Eugene about taking a weapon and tagging along, but ignored them to head for Bandit, leaving Carl behind to socialize as he pleased.

"Well if it isn't my two favorite girls." Bandit said as she approached with Judith, his tone softer than usual as he leaned towards the baby girl and gently tickled one of her dangling feet.

"You ready for this run?" Amity asked her friend, looking him over and counting the weapons on his person.

It seemed that Bandit had talked his way into getting his military-issued weaponry back in his hands and that was a comfort to her.

"Ready as I'll ever be following those two bozos." Bandit told her, scoffing in Aiden and Nicholas' general direction.

"Hey, you look here at me, Hoss," Amity demanded, reaching up to tap the side of his defined jaw with two fingers so that his eyes met hers. "You get the job done and come back here, okay? You have the most experience with this kind of shit out of all of us. You use that to keep yourself, and our family, safe. You use that to come back. If they want to measure their dicks out there, let them, but don't let it cost you or our people's lives. You're better than that."

Bandit held her eyes for a moment longer after her second speech of the day (she was on a roll at this point) before nodding firmly.

"Good," Amity said, confirming her reassurance with a nod before smiling, her expression softening once more.

Bandit reached out to rest a big hand on the top of her head, caressing her hair a moment before ruffling it with a shit-eating grin on his face as she slapped it away.

"See ya on the flip side, Bambi." Bandit said, before turning to join his group that was loading up in the old van parked near them.

The small group that now consisted of Amity with Judith on her hip, Carl, Maggie, Deanna, and Reg, watched as the vehicle pulled away from them.

They all stood quietly for a moment before Amity turned to Deanna, catching her attention with a small smile.

"I need to talk to you if you have a moment." She requested and the older woman nodded.

"Of course, Amity."


With the go-ahead from Deanna, Amity made quick work of gathering some things from one of the empty houses to use in her office.

She took a couple of calming paintings, a few inspirational posters she found in one of the bedrooms, and a pretty lamp to use on her desk along with a thick rug for the floor. She also recruited Abraham and Michael to move a few nice cushioned chairs from the house to the office for her clients to sit in during sessions.

"A little to the left." She directed, laughing at the look both of the men sent her before moving the chair as directed.

"Perfect." Amity praised.

Honestly, she was relieved that she had caught the two before they started their day out with the construction team.

She was a bit worried that if she entered the office alone, Pete would try to start something, but fortunately, he was gone when she re-entered the space with her brother and friend.

"Alright, Bug, we gotta get goin'." Michael said and Amity nodded, gesturing them towards the front door.

"I'm going to tag along with you two." She informed them, ignoring the look that they shared over her head.

"I don't have anyone scheduled to talk to today and I don't feel like sitting around and reading medical books that more than likely have nothing to do with my job at all, so I want to go where I can actually be useful." She explained.

"I like you, Red, but I don't think you're going to be too helpful with any sort of construction," Abraham argued, holding up a hand of appeasement as Amity shot him a glare before she shrugged her slender shoulders.

"I'll stand guard then. Watch all of your asses." She reasoned, now veering off to head towards the house so that she could pick up her bow.

"Don't either of you assholes even think about leaving me behind." She called over her shoulder as she went, picking up her pace once she saw that they had stopped to wait for her as requested.

Moments later, she was on the move and they had joined the large group of men outside the wall.

Hopping down from the tailgate of one of the trucks, Amity looked up at the woman perched on the lifted scoop of a machine so that she could watch the perimeter and smiled.

"Hey, Francine. You wanna switch out or are you good?" She called up to the other woman.

"I can hold out for another hour or so, then I'd be grateful for a break," Francine called back and Amity gave her a thumbs-up in acknowledgment.

With that out of the way, Amity decided to wander the perimeter instead.

"Hey, you might want to stick closer to the main group, sweetheart." One of the men called over once he noticed her walking near the treeline.

Amity bit back the first scathing response that bubbled on the tip of her tongue and simply regarded the man for a moment and noting the genuine concern behind his eyes.

Sure, he was being more than a little condescending, but it seemed that he really meant well.

"Thanks, but I tagged along to run security. I can handle it. Ask one of those two knuckleheads if you don't believe me." Amity said, gesturing towards Abraham and Michael.

The man didn't look the most convinced, but still, he didn't argue when Amity wandered off once more.

She kept her bow resting comfortably in her hands, an arrow nocked into place but her stance relaxed as she wandered around the group.

Taking note that one of the men, Bruce, was heading towards the woods with a purpose that she didn't want to think about, Amity kept his location in the back of her mind and kept walking.

In the distance, birds took flight across the sky rather abruptly.

Amity paused, pursing her lips in consideration before she began walking towards that direction. She didn't want to bother the man doing his business, but she really did dedicate herself to being the group's security that day, so that's what she planned to do.

"Roamers!" Francine yelled suddenly, her gunshot echoing through the clearing as she had taken aim at the small herd wandering out of the woods and into the clearing behind Bruce who was now running, tugging his pants up as he went.

The group scrambled, everyone grabbing guns and aiming wildly at the incoming walkers. Amity, closer than the rest, quickly pulled back her bow and sent an arrow flying through one of the closer undead's skulls.

A few paces in front of her, she heard the large machine that Francine stood on shift as a stray bullet hit it, sending the woman tumbling to the ground.

"Everybody, back till we're safe in the truck!"

"What about Francine?" Abraham yelled in response to Tobin's directive.

Glancing over her shoulder, Amity saw none of the Alexandrians pushing forward to save the injured woman and cursed under her breath.

Shooting one last arrow into the head of the walker closest to Francine, Amity dropped her bow to the ground and pulled out her machete, rushing towards the other woman.

Slamming a foot into one walker's chest, Amity sent it tumbling away from them and had just enough time to hook her hands under Francine's arms to tug her to her feet.

"Come on. Up and in." Abraham said, appearing behind them and pushing the women towards one of the big tractors.

"You first," Amity told Francine, helping the woman climb up before realizing she and Abraham were out of time to do the same.

"Amity!" She heard Michael yell from nearby and assumed the man was trying to fight his way to them.

"Go under!" Abraham told Amity quickly and the two redheads made swift work of crawling under the machine, kicking off the walkers that were nipping at their heels.

On the other side, they scrambled to their feet to see other walkers streaming towards them.

Abraham chuckled, the sound oddly comforting to Amity as she readjusted her machete in her grip.

"Mother dick."

"You can say that again." She agreed.

"Amity, Abraham," Francine said from above them, opening the door to the machine and Abraham tossed her his gun so that she could shoot from her vantage point above them.

"You take out the ass end. We got the uglies in the front." Abraham told the woman, picking up a flail to use as a weapon.

"That's it. Single file." He said as he took out the first.

"Well doesn't this bring back all kinds of pleasant memories." Amity lamented as she darted forward to take out the second with a solid whap to its skull with her blade.

"Amity!" Michael's voice called again, sounding more panicked and out of breath than before.

"Michael!" Amity called back and she watched a walker drop a few yards away, her brother appearing in its place.

His eyes were wild, his shirt covered in dark walker blood, and he didn't hesitate to gun down more and more of the zombies between himself and his sister.

Finally, a few moments after Michael was making a one-man break through the small herd, it seemed that the cavalry came to their senses and joined him.

Then, as suddenly as they were being surrounded, they were standing amongst unmoving bodies and Amity was trying to break free of Michael's crushing embrace to help Francine down from the tractor.

"You okay? You didn't get scratched or bit, did you?" Michael asked, his hands brushing over Amity's hands and arms before she gently took them in hers to still them.

"I'm okay." She reassured him before following Abraham as the man approached the rest of the construction group with a vengeance.

"That how it works with you? You leave people behind to die?" Abraham spat and now Michael was moving to follow him as well, the Walker siblings sensing the impending fight.

"We have a system. Tell him, Francine." Tobin replied, casting his gaze over to the woman he was just going to let die.

"Fuck your system," Michael said lowly.

"We have a-" Tobin began again, but was cut off by Francine's fist slamming into his face.

"Asshole." She stated and Amity stifled a laugh.

"Hey, all that noise is bound to draw more. I say we call it and start fresh in the morning, alright?" Bruce cut in, trying to soothe the situation as Tobin held his jaw.

"Screw that," Abraham stated, looking towards Francine a second later. "Francine, you good?"

"Got at least three hours of daylight left." The woman replied and Amity smiled.

"I want two lookouts. One in the bucket and one on the trucks. Amity and Francine, you both should do. The two of you should give us more than enough warning if more are coming after the bash and pop. Now pull the cobwebs out of your ass and move." Abraham directed, immediately taking over the situation.

It seemed like there was a change in the power structure within the construction crew and Amity felt that it served them right.

Loyalty and respect made for better leaders.

"We got a wall to build," Abraham told them and with that, Amity headed towards the trucks to begin her lookout shift.


Hours later, as the sun began to set, the construction crew was back in Alexandria.

Amity laughed as she walked between her brother and Abraham, knocking her hip against Michael's as she teased him about a mistake he had made earlier.

"Listen, I thought I had grabbed it at the balance point, alrigh'? You can let it go now." Michael implored his sister, but if the way the redhead was still laughing was any indicator, she wasn't going to let it go for a long time.

"Oh, I'm sure you did, Mikey, but you falling ass over heels as that sheet metal drug you down was proof enough to the contrary." She teased, dodging his hand as he tried to flick her temple in retaliation.

The only thing that put a pause to their sibling bickering was the sight of the supply runners' van hauling ass in through the front gate.

Amity felt her stomach drop to her feet and even before Glenn was throwing open the door of the van and screaming for help, Amity was racing towards them.

She watched as Bandit climbed from the back of the van, grabbing Nicholas' limp figure and dragging him out until he hit the dirt with a low thud. At first, Amity thought the man was dead, but the low groan he let out indicated otherwise.

"Bandit!" Amity called out to her friend, but the man didn't turn to look at her.

Instead, he was reaching back into the van and pulling out the body of an even more familiar young man.

"Oh my god, Noah," Amity gasped, her throat tight as she reached their side. The only thing that comforted her was the rise and fall of the young man's chest.

Looking into the back of the van, Amity saw Tara laying prone on the van's floor, a bloody cloth wrapped around her head.

"What the hell happened?" Abraham asked, but no one seemed to be in the right mind to answer.

"We need to get them both to the clinic. Mikey, run and find Pete and bring him there. Abraham, Glenn, I need your help getting Tara. Bandit, do you got Noah?" Amity began delegating before looking up at her friend who nodded, his face expressionless as he hauled the young man into his arms.

"Come on, we have to move quickly." She directed, stepping back so the men could get situated then leading the way towards the clinic.

"I should have read more of those medical books." She muttered to herself.


Hey, all! I hope that you enjoyed this chapter!

Let me know what you think about everything that went down! Also, if you would like a short chapter about what went down on the supply run with Glenn, Bandit, Noah, Tara, Eugene, Aiden, and Nicholas then let me know! I would be more than willing to write it from Bandit's POV. As you can tell, a few things changed with that whole situation.

xx