[A/N: Thanks so much to those who reviewed, favourited and followed already. Stoked this little story is already getting some interest! This chapter is a little shorter - but i was super keen to get it out, since it's time for Asha to actually meet the Dixon brothers... Enjoy]

Asha paused as soon as she was a few metres into the broken light under the trees. Her footsteps were crackling loudly in the leaf litter and she didn't want to startle the brothers and get shot before they realised she wasn't a walker.

As soon as she was quiet, the sound of crickets filled the air. She scanned the area, but couldn't see either man. Her stomach dropped, but then she saw movement off to her left and she half sighed in relief. She started in that direction, moving from tree to tree and careful to keep as quiet as possible.

The sound of raised voices reached her before she could make out the words. The younger brother's voice snapped like whiplash, but, oddly enough, the older man sounded more upset— his voice choked with frustration and something Asha couldn't place.

As soon as she could make out their words, she stalled behind a tree to listen.

'I had to man,' the older man's voice almost broke as he spoke. 'I would'a killed him.'

Asha tensed at the words, suddenly rethinking her decision to follow these men into the woods.

There was a hint of panic in the one handed man's voice as he continued. 'Where ya goin'?'

'Back where I belong.' The younger brother sounded bone tired.

'I can't go with you. I— I tried to kill that black bitch. Damned near killed the Chinese kid.'

'He's Korean,' his brother snapped.

'Whatever.' The older man's voice was unsteady. 'Doesn't matter man, i just can't go with ya.'

There was a long pause, and when the younger brother spoke, something in Asha's chest tightened.

'Ya know, I might be the one that's walkin' away,' his voice caught slightly. 'But you're the one that's leaving. Again.'

Asha heard a set of footsteps moving off. She risked a quick peek around the tree.

In a bit of space between the trees, the one handed man paced a couple of steps in one direction, then half turned, his face anguished. He ran his one hand over his close cropped grey hair and then clenched it into a fist. 'Fuck.' he groaned quietly, and then he set off after his brother.

Asha took a couple of steadying breaths, resting back against the tree. The brothers were volatile. But they were obviously with others—at least two more, the black woman and the Chinese—Korean—kid. Maybe even the man the older man would have killed.

A group.

Asha pressed a hand to the fluttering in her stomach. She wasn't sure if it was nervousness or hope. She chewed the inside of cheek. At least it sounded like little brother would be more welcome than big brother, that had to be good right? Besides, if this group was close by, maybe Nash was already there. Her heart leapt in her chest, and before she consciously thought about what she was doing, she scooted around the tree to follow the two men.

Both brothers appeared to be deep in thought when Asha caught up to them. The younger man ran point, his crossbow held about waist high in his right hand, ready to be raised in an instant, but it didn't seem to Asha that he was making much effort to scan the woods around him. He certainly never looked back in the direction they'd come. His brother trudged after him, his shoulders slumped. Neither was making any particular effort to move quietly.

Asha trailed them at a distance, moving from tree to tree, hoping they would strike up another conversation.

They didn't. They seemed content to trudge on in silence.

A branch snapped under her foot, and she froze, hidden behind a tree. She cursed silently, hoping they hadn't noticed. She strained her ears, desperately wanting to hear the uninterrupted sound of their footsteps, but her heart started pounding when all she heard was the distinct sound of a gun being cocked.

Fuck.

Before she had a chance to move or call out, the younger brother moved silently into her line of view. His crossbow was raised and pointed at her face. Her eyes followed the bolt along the shaft to the cold blue eyed stare above it. Asha swallowed, and carefully moved her left hand away from her body, palm facing upwards. In her other hand, she kept her grip on the speargun loose and pointing downwards.

'Don't shoot. I'm not a deadhead,' she said, proud her voice didn't tremble.

Neither the crossbow nor the expression on the man's face budged a hairsbreadth.

'Well well, little brother,' the one handed man cackled behind her. 'What have we got here?'

Since fast movements are never wise when faced with a loaded weapon, Asha turned her head slowly to look over her shoulder.

The older brother had circled around and was leering at her. His gun was in his hand, not pointed at her, but Asha remembered the speed with which he'd raised it on the bridge.

Stuck between them, she could only watch one of them at a time.

'Watch ya doin' out here all alone in the woods little girl,' he drawled. 'You make a habit of seeking out strange men in the woods?'

Asha bristled at the innuendo. 'No.'

'Trying to sneak up on us and rob us?'

She gave him a flat look. 'How fucking stupid do you think i am.'

'Dunno. Only just met ya.' He took a step towards her. 'But i gotta tell ya sugar tits, that would'a been a stupid move on your part. Might'a turned out well for us though,' he added with a suggestive leer.

Asha glanced back at the younger brother and saw that his eyes had hardened further, but were directed over her shoulder at his brother this time.

'I am not trying to rob you.' Asha said, turning back to the older man. She looked him pointedly up and down, noting the lack of gear he was carrying. 'Rob you of what?'

The corner of the older man's mouth quirked before quickly settling back into that suggestive leer.

'What then?' The younger man snapped behind her.

Asha drew a deep breath, oddly enough relaxing slightly. Not killed or raped on sight. Her instincts had been right— even if she wasn't out of the woods yet, so to speak.

'I'm looking for my brother. Thought you might'a seen him.'

'Nope.'

Asha's head whipped around. 'How do you know, I ain't told you anything about him yet.'

'We've seen no-one, we know no-one,' the bowman said. 'We ain't a fuckin' search and rescue mission.'

'And i'm no damn damsel in distress. I've done just fine out here for weeks on my own— I just can't find my brother.'

'Not my problem.'

The older man laughed. 'Just fine? You're looking pretty scrawny for doin' just fine, girly.' He sauntered over to her and leaned in close. 'But you need some help? Maybe we can come to some sort of arrangement, and old Merle will help you find your brother.'

Asha heard the younger brother mutter something disgustedly under his breath.

She kept her eyes locked on the older brother— Merle— she assumed. His leer seemed to be a permanent part of his face. His eyes were the same sharp blue as his brother's, just a little thinner with age, and they were fixed on her in a calculating way. The quicker she shut down that train of thought the better.

She lifted her hand rested it on Merle's chest, but instead of pushing him away, she leant in close and whispered in his ear.

'We make that arrangement old man, and you won't long survive finding my brother—and that's if I let you make it that long.'

Then she brought her knee up as hard as she could between his legs.

Asha was disappointed that he didn't fall to the ground in pain. But his knees did buckle slightly and the grunt he let out was kind of satisfying. She took a quick two steps back before he recovered, ignoring the other brother's crossbow as she skirted past him to make sure he was between her and Merle. She tried to gauge his reaction as she passed him. His lips were pressed together in a thin line, but he'd lowered the crossbow a little.

'Not too scrawny for that, hey old man.' She couldn't help but grin, ignoring the voice in the back of her mind chanting stupid, stupid, stupid.

'You fucking bitch' Merle roared, lunging towards her. Asha had her speargun in both hands as she danced back, but the bowman made no attempt to get out of the way.

'What?' He said as Merle pulled up short of bodily slamming him out the way. 'She ain't trying to hurt us, and you asked for it.' He rubbed a hand through his shaggy hair. 'We fuckin' done here now? Lets go.'

He turned crossbow back on Asha, his eyes and voice cold. 'We ain't seen your brother. We can't help you. Ya follow us and I will shoot you.'

They turned and began moving away.

'What about your group.' Asha called.

The words had barely left her mouth and the younger brother was in her face, without even seeming to cross the intervening distance. His teeth were bared, and his fingers dug painfully into her bicep where he gripped her.

'What do you know about a group,' he hissed. Asha's chest clenched and she took an involuntary step back. He followed her, staying right in her space.

She hesitated. She didn't think either brother was going to take it well that she'd overheard what was obviously a private conversation.

'I—I overheard you earlier,' she admitted.

The older brother was immediately rigid, his face closed over and jaw clenched. She didn't think it was possible for the man in front of her to be any tenser, but somehow he was, the tendons suddenly leaping in his neck.

'You're going back to them. There's at least a black woman and an asian kid.' She looked desperately between them. 'That's all I know.'

'What else did you hear,' roared the older man.

Asha flinched before she could help herself. 'Nothing! Nothing I swear. You were fighting, but I wasn't close enough to make out what you were saying until right at the end.'

There was a long moment whilst the younger man searched her face with his piercing blue eyes. Asha returned the look, ignoring the trembling in her limbs and faking as much calm as she could.

Then he released her arm, shoving her away slightly.

Merle suddenly laughed. 'You been following us since then? Hell little brother, you must be gettin' soft if you let goldilocks here sneak up on you like that.'

His brother's mouth twisted in disgust and he spat.

Asha focused on the younger brother.

'My brother, he could be there— with your group. I have to come with you.'

'No.'

Asha felt the helplessness welling up inside her. 'I have to. You're the only lead I've got.' Her voice dropped. She was suddenly so, so tired of it all. 'I'm coming with you. I will follow you anyway, so you are going to have to shoot me if you want to leave me behind.'

'What make you think I won't.'

There was a beat.

'I saw what you did back on the bridge.' She said quietly. She turned to fix Merle with a stare for a moment. 'Both of you.'

Merle returned her look with a half sneer.

'If I thought either of you would shoot me just because i'm an inconvenience, I wouldn't have followed you into the woods.'

The bowman passed a weary hand over his eyes and Asha saw his shoulders slump slightly. Merle must have seen it too.

'She's dead weight man,' he said. 'Ya can't be serious?'

'Ya wanna shoot her?'

'If i have to.'

Asha glared at Merle, and he returned the look with interest.

'We don't have time for this shit,' his brother said tiredly. 'Let her come—if she can keep up. I ain't slowin' the pace for you.' He snapped the last at Asha irritably. 'Rick can sort it out when we get back.'

He scrubbed the shaggy hair out of his eyes and looked at her, his expression unreadable. 'I don't know if ya brother's there or not. He wasn't a few days ago. But either way ya might end up regretting this decision. Our group's camp ain't the safest place at the moment.'

Asha's eyes narrowed, but before she could ask, he turned and set off quickly through the woods.

Asha glanced at Merle. His expression before he started after his brother was suddenly— and frighteningly— very serious.

'Well I don't have any other options,' she grumbled under her breath.

But the bowman's words hung in the air as she followed the brothers deeper into the woods.