Chapter 2 - Angel of death

As they arrived at the prison gates, Daryl had shot ahead of them on his bike and warned Rick that there was a newbie in the car, so Rick met them as they disembarked from the vehicle.

"Hello." he said evenly, as he helped the stranger out of the back of the car. "I'm sure you won't mind if I ask you to lay down all of your weapons, and allow me to pat you down." He didn't wait for an answer, as he ran his hands down her body, removing the katana, a sharpened stick, and 4 knives of differing lengths.

"You're the chief, are ya?" asked Tahlia with interest, and Rick gave her a level stare.

"No. We have a council here."

"Like a tribal council? You gonna vote or something?" A drop of humour in every word.

"We just ask our standard 'getting to know you' questions." replied Rick with a tight smile.

Holding her at arm's length, he surveyed her properly for the first time. Despite the dirt smeared on her skin from living rough, she was strikingly beautiful. Intelligent deep green eyes bored into his, tendrils of dark brown hair snaked around her sharp jawline, the colour in contrast to her full red lips. She was a few inches shorter than him, but her taut body radiated strength, her defined muscles evident through her tattered clothes.

Michonne stepped forward. "I know this woman. I can vouch for her. She's a good person, she is not a threat."

Rick nodded. "Thanks, Michonne-"

"Wait!" interrupted Daryl. "We're just gonna take her word that some new chick - who she ain't seen in God knows how long and who threatened to kill us – is safe enough to bring into our camp?!"

"Daryl. We'll give her a chance. Same as everyone else." Rick said firmly, before turning back to the newcomer. "How many walkers have you killed?"

"Walkers?" Tahlia raised her eyebrows. "That's a very mild term for the rotting undead corpses that want to rip flesh from bones." A wry smile twitched at the corners of her mouth. "Walkers." she repeated, trying the term out again. "A lot. I've lost count."

"How many people have you killed?"

This question caused Tahlia to hesitate and bite her lip. She could lie. She probably should lie. But, she wasn't very good at lying, and she'd likely end up tripping herself up on it at some point. So, she shot Michonne an apologetic glance. "Seventeen."

A collective gasp sounded around the group, and Tahlia wrinkled her nose. She knew it sounded bad.

Rick tried to maintain a neutral expression. "Why?"

"Five were self-defense, the rest on... compassionate grounds." she said delicately.

"As in...?"

"As in people who were bit or being torn apart."

Contemplating this for a long moment, Rick drummed his fingers on his thigh. "And where are the people you're with? Are there going to be people coming looking for you?"

Tahlia's expression remained blank, but her eyes betrayed her with a spark of emotion. "I've been alone for a while. No one in the world is looking for me."

Michonne jumped forward and embraced her friend. "Because you're found now. You are found."

Rick glanced between the two women, then nodded. He seemed satisfied.

Daryl stepped forward. "Whoa, whoa! You're just gonna let Angel of Death here wander round unsupervised?!"

"We'll give her the benefit of the doubt." Rick replied decisively. "Michonne, show her where to get cleaned up, show her to a cell."

"A locked cell." Daryl grumbled with a pointed look at Rick.

Rick returned the look. "Not a locked cell." Then back to Tahlia. "But we will talk again later, after you've settled in."

Michonne led Tahlia through to the cellblocks.

"Home sweet home!" she announced, as she waved a hand around at the dank and dingy prison interior. "Let's get you settled. Would you like to be in Gen Pop-" Michonne gestured to the right. "That's the first block we cleared. Most of us are in there but there's a space or two. Or this block-" to the left, "-is only about two thirds full. There's a handful of cells down the far end that are still empty."

"Got a room with a view?"

"A view of a concrete wall?"

Tahlia laughed. "I honestly never thought I'd be voluntarily living in a prison, but hey, I guess it's the safest place to be, right?!"

"I know! But now I'm calling this place home." agreed Michonne.

"Ok." Tahlia pointed to the left. "I think I'll go down the end to the empty bit, if that's ok. Might take me a little bit to get used to having people around me again."

"Yeah, of course." Michonne replied supportively. "These are good people here, Tahls. I swear, they are. This is a good place to be."

"I believe you. I do. Thank you for taking me in."

Michonne threw her arms tightly around her friend, still unable to believe that they had been reunited, and drew a shaky breath.

"Sticking together from now on. Won't let us get separated again." she vowed, Tahlia squeezing her back in agreement. They released one another and continued on down the block, their footsteps echoing around the high-ceilinged space.

Tahlia pointed to the empty cell at the very end of the row on the second floor, and Michonne looked at her dubiously.

"You sure you wanna be all the way down here?"

Tahlia nodded. It was in the corner on the top floor, so to her, felt slightly safer than any other position, but the main reason was that sometimes – less frequently now - she had nightmares, and she'd prefer to be a little away from others in the hope that she wouldn't disturb them.

The cell was small and weary, but clean enough. A set of single bunks on one wall, a built-in narrow desk on the other, and a non-functioning toilet and sink in the back corner.

"Ooh, an ensuite." she joked. "Fancy!"

Michonne chuckled. "Here, we'll pull this mattress off the top and double up on this bottom one. A little more comfy that way. I store all my stuff on the top bunk and sleep on the bottom. Oh shit!" Michonne exclaimed as she suddenly realised something. "We just dragged you away from that store! We left all your things behind!"

"Glenn grabbed my pack, I really didn't have much more than that. I've had to make a run from enough places that I just keep it basic. Only thing that matters to me is my katana, and thankfully I've still got that."

"Me too." smiled Michonne. "Let me show you round the rest of the place. Get you some bedding, show you where to wash up. And we've got heaps to share with you, just take whatever you want until we can get out on a run for anything you need."