Rick met her at the gate- she was out of breath, pistol and hand, and she must've looked shit scared, judging g by the way Rick grabbed her by the shoulder, looking down at her as she panted.

"What happened?"

"Blonde asshole…."

"We heard shots. Jamie! How many were there?" Rick demanded.

'Group of 'em. Seven, maybe more…."

Carl was jogging up a moment later, pistol in hand.

"Jamie?"

"The blonde fucker- he's back." She muttered.

Carl's brows creased for a moment, before his eyes widened with recognition.

"What the hell are you two talking about?" rick demanded.

A volley of shots echoed in the distance, and a moment later Daryl and Abraham were tearing into view- Daryl had someone by the legs, with Abraham holding the limp form under the arms, and Rosita bringing up the rear, pistol in hand.

Rick frowned. "Where's Denise?" he asked, voice low, as the brigade of people continued to approach.

Jamie let out a shaky breath. "She's dead. The blonde fucker got him."

Rick ignored their discussion for the moment, sliding the gate open as Daryl and Eugene rushed through, Rosita bringing up the rear.

"What the hell happened?"

"Eugene's shot."

"Get him to the infirmary- Denise…." Rick paused, realizing with some trepidation that Denise wasn't with them any longer. "We'll see what Maggie can do to get him patched up."

Once it was ascertained that Eugene would live- the man was conscious and talking, and nothing vital had been hit, Rick turned to Daryl.

"What happened out there?"

"We ran into this fucker that jumped me outside the walls awhile back. He came back better than ever- had people, guns. He killed Denise- the rest of us got out by the skin of our teeth."

"You met this guy?"

"Once. And apparently I ain't the only one…."

Rick looked over, surprised, to see Daryl staring at Jamie and Carl. Jamie was looking at Carl seriously- Carl was standing, arms crossed, but the way his hand twitched towards his holster belied that his boy was anxious.

Daryl grabbed both teens by the shoulders, pulling them into their house and sitting both teens down at the kitchen table.

Rick sat down across from the two, while Daryl paced the floor.

"Just how the hell do you two know Dwight?" Daryl growled.

Jamie and Carl exchanged glances.

"Nu-uh. No lookin' at each other, no bullshitting. I want a straight answer, 'nd I want it now, ya understand me?" Daryl demanded, leaning forward on the table.

Jamie had her hands folded in her lap, staring at the floor. Carl blinked, blue eyes focusing in on Daryl as he tried to find the right words.

"When the walls fell- while you were outside, and Enid disappeared after the attack- we went outside the walls."

Daryl stared, looking at Jamie. "You went outside the walls to look for me?"

"So what if I did?" Jamie asked defensively, looking away.

"How stupid can you be to leave the walls in the middle of a siege!?" Daryl demanded.

"She didn't do it just to look for you." Carl jumped in, eyes flinty, tone defensive. "She was following me. I was looking for Enid, or any of our people, really- she saw what I was doing and followed me, watched my back. It wasn't her idea."

Daryl stared, surprised. "Well still, it was dumb as hell. How did you two even get outside the walls- we were buried ten deep in walkers…."

Rick sighed. "They dug up a corpse. Somebody had killed themselves a few days earlier, she was a walker by the time we found her. They dug up her grave and used the body to smear themselves with their scent, snuck out during the night. We were already running short on supplies and manpower- we couldn't spare anyone to look for them." Rick spoke up, filling Daryl in.

Daryl blinked- he was uncertain whether or not to be proud at their ingenuity or angered they were so reckless.

"I don't know where you two went, but I take it you ran into this Dwight character while you were out there?" Rick asked.

Jamie nodded. "found Dad's bike outside a trailer in the woods. I was going to call for him, but Carl saw something was off- a couple minutes later, we found the blonde fucker. Had a skinny bitch with him, brown hair- they were both scared shitless, we surprised him." Jamie muttered.

"they had your crossbow and your bike- I took 'em back made 'em talk. Tjhey said they left you…. I was gonna kill them. Both of them." Jamie wasn't meeting her eyes.

"I didn't let you." Carl admitted.

"Yeah. We left them. Never thought we'd see them again…." Jamie admitted quietly. "I should've just killed them." She spoke quietly, the last phrase almost as an afterthought.

I told myself the same thing. Daryl thought to himself quietly.

"You two see anything else, while you were out there?" Rick asked, looking at the two, mildly concerned.

Carl shook his head. "No- those were the only people we ran into."

Rick nodded to the two. "head upstairs- both of you."

"Not you. We have some things to discuss. C'mon." Daryl beckoned to Jamie, ducking outside.

Carl and Jamie exchanged brief glances, and Jamie hesitantly stood, following Daryl out as they strode down the road, trotting to keep up.

"You." Daryl said firmly, coming to an abrupt halt and placing a hand on her shoulder. "Don't ever go outside the walls without my permission ever again. You understand me?" Daryl pinted at her severly with one hand- his eyes were flinty, expression dangerously close to exploding, and Jamie stepped back, surprised.

"I…yeah. I get it."

"I don't think you do." Daryl muttered, looking away, his grip on her shoulder tightening for a brief moment before he turned back to look at her, expression concerned.

"Did he do anything to you/ Did he hurt you? When you and Carl met him in the woods… I swear, if he touched you…."

"He never touched me. Carl and I had them both at gunpoint." Jamie spoke honestly, slightly surprised by how violently Daryl had reacted to the knowledge.

"We took back your bike and bow, rode until we ran out of gas looking for you- couldn't find you, so we came back here to help fight."

Daryl nodded, looking distant.

"He knows you. Knows your face, knows you mean something to me- you ain't leaving these walls until he's dead. You understand me?"

"What!?" Jamie gaped at him. "you're kidding me…."

"I'm not. This guy is dangerous- you saw it first hand- and I ain't gonna risk losing you to a bastard like that. As of now, you stay in Alexandria, you understand me?"

"I want to fight with you." She looked up at him, eyes glittering with determination. "We can take this guy. Together."

"I know we can. But you're far too special to risk losing. Especially to an asshole like that."

"No. You're wrong about this. This is what you raised me for." Jamie looked up at his, eyes burning. "This is what you raised me for. You raised me to fight- not to hide behind walls. I'm not afraid of this guy."

"Well you should be!" Daryl snapped, frustrated. "You saw the way he killed Denise- how he was looking at you. You're damn stupid to not be scared of that guy. Now get your ass upstairs, you hear me!?" Daryl barked.

Jamie took a hesitant step back, looking shocked for a moment, before she turned tail and ran back to the house, the screen door slamming behind her.

Daryl sighed, running his hand through his hair and blowing out a frustrated breath. He needed a damn cigarette.

How did one deal with this? He knew he was being unfairly harsh with Jamie, but he needed to make her understand- this guy would stop at nothing to get to Daryl, and he'd hurt her to get to him. The last thing he needed was Jamie, skilled as she was, getting wrapped up in a war with this psycho and getting hurt because of Dwight's intense hatred of him.

Things had grown infinitely more complicated within the span of a day. Alexandria was now in danger of an attack- and Dwight would be gunning for his daughter.

Please review your thoughts on this chapter! :)