Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize. Short ad sweet.

AN: So this is a new story I have been working on. And it's been going pretty smoothly so far. I have had complete and total tunnel vision on The Walking Dead so I've decided to try my hand at it. I have quite a number of chapters under my belt on this story. Now I learned my lesson about about posting everything I have so I'm only gonna post a chapter or two a week. I hope you guys enjoy.

Chapter 3

Adrian had only been a few yards away from Carl when she had heard something snap from not too far away.

"Carl." she breathed. She took off running towards the boy she had left picking berries in the clearing only to see a man standing just outside of the wood line pointing what looked like a crossbow at the boy.

Adrian had grabbed ahold of Carl roughly and had shoved him behind her with a quick, tense command to stay behind her.

The clearing wasn't too terribly big so she could make the man out pretty well. He was about average height with dark hair, either brown or black, she couldn't really tell. He had on jeans and a red sleeveless shirt. She could tell that his crossbow must have been his weapon of choice if his arms were anything to go by. They weren't overly muscular but they were well defined to say the least.

She could tell he was sizing her up and she knew that to someone like him, she didn't seem like a threat. 'Yeah they all think that. Before they get a knife or an arrow through the chest.' she thought with a sinister little smile.

"Let the boy go!" she heard the man yell out. She and Kale had been discussing on how to get Carl back to his camp without leading their damn trackers right back to them.

"Fuck you! Who the hell are you?" Adrian called out to the man. Adrian then felt Carl poke his head out from behind her. He then grabbed a handful of her shirt and lightly tugged on it to get her attention.

"Adrian, I know him. He's from my camp. That's Daryl Dixon. He goes out to hunt down our food." Carl said to her. 'Well, isn't this a lovely little twist.' Adrian thought. "Me and Kale were going to but we don't want anyone in your camp to know where we are. I guess he will just have to do instead." Adrian said to the boy still keeping her full attention on the newly dubbed Daryl Dixon.

She then lowered her bow and smiled to catch him off guard. "So you're Daryl Dixon, huh? It's not polite to call people "creepers" ya know." she said letting Carl come out from behind her.

Adrian then heard the trees rustling behind Daryl and anther man came running out with a gun pointed at her.

Adrian jumped back into attack mode and roughly pushed Carl back behind her and re-aimed her bow at the threatening newcomer.

The newcomer wore a black, tight fitting shirt, tan cargo pants, and black combat boots. His skin was tan and he had what looked like black hair. She could tell he used to be a man of power because she could feel it all the way from where she stood.

And she instantly hated him.

She hated men like him. Sure he could probably be a nice and decent guy. But she doubted it.

She had seen him a few times before when she and Kale had scoped out their camp. He seemed to be the one calling the shots, the one named Shane Carl had said, and she had also seen him and a woman having sex a few times while she had been out hunting for food.

"Bitch you hand that boy over right now or I'll put a bullet in between your damn eyes." the man said. "Screw you!" Adrian yelled back. "You seem to be a bit twitchy there, Shane. Wanna see who has the faster trigger finger?" Adrian taunted him.

"Shane?!" Carl called out from behind her. "Carl, get over here and away from her!" Shane yelled at the boy. Carl looked up at Adrian as if asking her permission to go back to his own people. Adrian knelt down to his level and then placed her bow and arrow on the ground so she could have one last talk with the boy.

She seen Shane make a move and quickly pulled a 9mm out of her ankle holster and pointed it at the man. "You stay there, asshole. I don't like guns, especially out here, but I will use it." she said glaring at the man who was glaring back.

"Carl, come here, honey." Adrian said gently pulling Carl in front of her so they could have a bit of privacy. "You go back to camp with them. I'm sure your mother is very worried about you. Remember what me and Kale taught you.

But be careful what you tell them. I'm sure your people don't like me and Kale any better than we do them. It's hard for people to trust each other now a days." Adrian said making him nod in response.

"Now, do you have the necklaces that we made for you and your friend, Sophia?" she asked him smiling.

"Yeah. And the knives too." he said making her smile even wider. She put her gun back into it's holster and then gave the boy a tight squeeze. "Good boy." she said.

"Now just stay here for one more second. Gonna weasel a deal outta your pal, Shane, over there." she said. She grabbed her bow and arrow in one hand and stood as she placed her other hand on Carl's small chest, as if holding him there.

"Alright, here's the deal. You keep your hunters from tracking me and mine back to our camp and you leave us alone. In exchange, I give you a twenty-four to forty-eight hour warning of when me and my man will be close by for water and I give Carl back without a fight. Agreed?" Adrian asked with a determined expression.

"Lady, you're gonna give that boy back and be grateful to walk away alive. How's that deal work for you?!" Shane yelled angrily, just itching to shoot her. Adrian smirked.

"You don't have much room to be making threats here Shane. I can disable both you and your man and take Carl back with me. I know where you live but you don't know where I'm camped at. Now I am offering you a good deal. You don't mess with me and mine and we leave you and yours alone." Adrian said loosing patience with the bastard of a bully.

"Now do we have a deal?" Adrian asked, drawing out each word slowly as if to make her point. After a very nasty look from Shane, she finally got her answer. "Deal. Now give Carl back." he said.

"Now go back to your own people. And no more venturing off." Adrian whispered to the boy, giving him two quick pats on his chest before sending him on his way.

As Carl got closer to Daryl and Shane, Adrian slowly slinked back towards the tree line.