Next chapter, with a very exciting meeting between Anamika and Rick;) I feel that not a lot happens in this chapter, but not to worry, we find out a bit more next chapter! Thanks for all the favourites and follows, especially to lalilou10, portalefiamme and Kaylamrr for reviewing!

Enjoy!

Chapter 10

It was dark by the time they arrived at Alexandria. The closer they had gotten to the community, the more nervous Anamika was starting to feel. She didn't know what she had been thinking, agreeing to go with Aaron. No matter what he said about Daryl's group, she was still dangerous to these people, still a monster living among the normal population. Who was she to decide that it was alright to put them in danger?

She bit her bottom lip as worries and the worst possible scenarios floated through her mind and unconsciously started driving slower as she started to see the structure of the walls appear in the distance, a dark shadow that seemed ominous to her apprehensive mind.

Her anxiety rocketed up as she imagined living among people who didn't understand her, who didn't understand the world outside their walls, who could get her killed with their naivety.

She knew, she knew that it would not be a weakness of her own that would get her killed, it would never be because she couldn't take care of herself; no, she would die trying to protect others. It was the conundrum and paradox of her life.

She killed people so she wouldn't die trying to save them.

And she hated it.

She knew she had almost no control over her body and mind, that when she fades into that white zone, she kills everything she sees as a threat to her, even if it was people who didn't pose a direct threat, but rather an indirect one.

And so her mind automatically analysed everything and everyone she came across through the eyes of a predator, searching for weaknesses and, if she identified some, she either had to run or fight.

Thus, when coming up to Alexandria, now close enough to see the massive, impressive steel walls looming up like the fortifications of a castle, her foot clenched down on the brake and her truck came to a screeching halt, the tires squealing and sliding a bit from the force of her immediate stop. She wasn't even aware of Aaron and Daryl stopping to see why she had stopped so abruptly. She was about a 100 yards away from the gate, but she couldn't make herself go closer.

She knew it was a mistake coming here.

Her entire body was preparing to run, to get away from the danger, the weakness and vulnerability she saw before her. She knew Aaron had photos of his community that he carried in his pack, but she had always refused to look at them, as she said it didn't matter if she saw them, she still wouldn't come back with him.

Some part of her mind now recognized that if she had seen them before, she definitely wouldn't have followed him back. Her mind started listing the weak points, the advantages she could take from their defenses, the ways she could overcome them and take what was inside.

There was no guard in sight, no lookouts and the one clock tower that would make the perfect vantage point was empty.

The braces on the walls would be her way in. She could easily run up them with enough momentum and the right shoes, but she knew not everyone was her. Still, it would be easy enough to shimmy up them, no matter who you are. On the panel to the left of the gate, opposite the braces that ran along to the right of the gate, there were even steel beams one could easily climb to get inside.

The top of the walls would be easy to get over, no spikes or wire would hinder her.

Going in the cover of darkness would be best, as they had nothing lighting up their gate or the walls. Though she knew it was probably to avoid attracting the dead, walkers, she thought it was a stupid decision, as walkers weren't the most dangerous thing out there. She'd rather deal with a few walkers at night than not see the living threat coming.

The area around her was open and perfect if she wanted to launch a full scale attack. Nothing stopped her from driving a large vehicle or something straight to their gates, no barricades or checks, no patrols that she could see, no funnel of any kind.

The woods would provide cover if she wanted to sneak in, she could practically come up to their walls without being seen, using the foliage as cover. If they were smart, they'd cut some of the trees down, not all, not enough to expose them from afar, but enough so that the enemy can't come right up to their front door.

Once inside, if it followed the same pattern as the neighbourhood she's seen so far, it would be easy to sneak behind and between houses and using a few of her grenades, even more easier to blow them to kingdom come.

Nothing kept her from getting right up to their walls and inside, from killing them.

And so, once she was inside those walls, nothing would keep others from doing the same to her.

Her hands remained clenched on the steering wheel, vaguely aware of Aaron walking towards her, confused, as Daryl hovered behind him, his eyes squinting at her in confusion. Her door opened, but she couldn't tear her eyes away from Alexandria.

"Anna? What's wrong?"

"I can't go in there." Aaron turned, glancing at Alexandria and then Daryl, before turning back to her.

"Why not? Come on, you've gotten this far, I promise we don't bite." Aaron smiled and she could see he was trying to make her laugh and usually, his little joke would have, but nothing about this was funny now.

"I can't."

Some part of her knew she was overreacting, that it wouldn't kill her to stay one night there, that she could help them make it more fortified, to cover up the weaknesses now that she identified them, but she's been fighting to survive so long, and had done anything and everything to survive, that she physically couldn't make her body take a step inside those walls.

She vaguely heard Aaron tell Daryl to go on ahead, that he'd continue to talk to her and she was aware of Daryl and Morgan disappearing inside the gates. Aaron was trying to calm her down, trying to sooth her, but sudden yells and screaming from beyond the gate had her rigid in her seat, her mind racing along as her hand automatically gripped her knife.

The gunshot that followed a few seconds after cemented everything in her mind.

"I need to go, I don't belong here, I'm not a good person and this place isn't safe." Aaron was obviously just as worried about the gunshot, but since there were no further screams, it seemed he decided to focus on her, to keep her calm.

"Hey, hey, it's ok. You are exactly what we need and you are a good person. I can prove it to you. Rick and his group has these three questions they ask new people they meet and you can tell what type of person they are by their answers to these questions. I have no doubt that you will have the type of answers they want."

"What are these three questions?" Anamika was grasping at anything to distract her, because while she wanted nothing more than to run, she also didn't want to. She wanted to try and if there was anything, anything that could prove to her she deserved that chance, she would take hold of it with both hands.

"How many walkers have you killed?" Anamika blinked, thinking about the question and understanding why they would ask that. The amount of walkers a person killed says a lot about their skill level. She bet most of the people inside those gates would answer with none or close to none. Aaron seemed to be waiting for an answer, but she had no intention of answering the three questions yet, she first wanted to know what they all are. Lifting an eyebrow at him, she watched her friend sigh, before he told her the next two.

"How many people have you killed?... Why?"

Her throat closed up and her eyes shut involuntarily. She inhaled deeply, held it, before exhaling shakily.

She knew it was a mistake to come here.

Shaking her head slowly, her mind became calm as it accepted the inevitable outcome, knowing that even if she could overcome her need to run, she would never be allowed inside those walls anyway. Rick and his group would never allow it and she wouldn't blame them for it. Her answers to those questions would reveal everything about her.

Sighing, she slowly got out of the truck, closing the door as her hand clenched around the keys. Walking to the back, she ignored Aaron's confused questions as she opened it up and started packing some essentials into her backpack, along with a few extra weapons that didn't even make a dent in her cache.

"Anna, what's going on?" Anamika looked up, meeting her friend's worried gaze, and she couldn't help but smile gently at the confused man.

"Aaron… Thank you. But I don't belong here. Besides," she smiled at him somewhat self-deprecatingly, "I'll never pass those questions." She hoisted her backpack over her shoulders, knowing she had to leave the truck as with Daryl knowing how many supplies she had squirreled away there… Well, his group wouldn't want to give that up and she didn't want to fight or have anyone following her.

She had to leave.

WD

"Rick, you need to see this. We found her man."

Rick looked away from Morgan towards Daryl, his mind struggling to catch up as it was still stuck in that cold place he went to when something threatened his family. Daryl seemed to recognize this, so he explained again.

"Anna, the one with the A calling card. Aaron and I ran into her out there, she saved our asses from a trap, along with Morgan here. She's outside with a truck full of supplies; man, you ain't ever seen anything like it. Come meet her."

Clarity bloomed in Rick's mind, now knowing who Daryl spoke of and though his brother said she saved them, Rick knew she could still be a threat. He needed to meet with her before she was around his people, inside his home. He followed Daryl after asking Carol and Michonne to take Morgan to the house to await his return, making sure Abraham had the rest of the situation covered and that someone was with Deanna. Soon they were outside the gate.

However, instead of seeing Aaron stand there with Anna and waiting for them, he saw Aaron running after a woman with a backpack on her back who was heading towards the forest. Immediately Daryl was running forwards, yanking her shoulder back as he stepped in front of her and blocked her path towards the forest.

"Where the hell you going?"

"I'm leaving. I don't want to stay here and you definitely shouldn't want me to stay here. I'm leaving the truck for you guys, make with it what you will, but please, since you have all my supplies, don't follow me and just leave me alone."

Rick glanced in the back of the truck, his eyes going wide with shock at the amount and variety of supplies she had neatly packed away there. No one in their right mind would give this up and it instantly made him suspicious of her. He turned and stalked closer, his hand resting on the grip of his colt python.

"Why would ya just give up all these supplies? Supplies mean the difference between life and death these days." She turned around, her sharp eyes taking in his blood stained appearance and stern eyes and in that moment, he saw in her just like she saw in him, the same type of darkness and willingness to do anything to survive, the obstinacy of life and the monster that lurked deep inside them.

She saw, he saw and both acknowledged it.

"Skill means the difference between life and death and I've got enough skill to gather more supplies if needed. I just don't want any of you to follow me and hinder me trying to get those supplies. That's all."

"You think we'll steal from ya? Kill ya for your supplies? Man, that ain't us." The woman turned towards Daryl, her body language relaxed, but Rick could see the muscles coiled beneath her skin. She was wary, cautious of them.

"We all stole them from someone Daryl. And as Rick said, for most people, supplies mean the difference between life and death. Would you willingly give up all that food and weapons?" She didn't seem to actually expect an answer, which is good because Daryl didn't give her one.

"Well, I'm sorry, but we can't let you leave. We know nothing about you and you know where we are. You're gonna have to come inside until we can make sure you're not a threat."

Immediately, Rick could see the change coming over her body, the coiled muscles now standing at attention, the subtle shifting to get into a better position, the way she seemed aware of everything around her even while keeping her eyes fixed on his.

"I'm not a threat to you Rick, unless you make me one. Just let me be, and there will be no trouble." Rick shifted, his hand curling around the grip, ignoring Aaron's worried and shocked expression, knowing Daryl would have his back should she try anything.

"I'm sorry, I can't do that." The silence seemed to ring in his ears and he was unable to tear his gaze away from her, the tension between them thickening. Her eyes were a mirror of his and he knew this wasn't going to end well. It sure as hell wouldn't have if he had been in her position, he was man enough to recognize that.

Then everything exploded into movement.

One second she was standing in front of him, coiled like a snake, and the next she was gone, her body dropping low and sweeping Daryl's feet out from under him. Rick ripped his python from his revolver, but before he could bring it up, her foot connected hard with his hand and the crunch in one of his fingers had him grunting as the gun fell from his hands.

Still spinning around from her kick, she extended her other leg and kicked his python, the gun sliding along the concrete towards the forest, disappearing into the shadows. At this moment, Daryl was up and instead of shooting at her, he dropped his crossbow and wrapped his arms around her, one around her shoulders and the other around her neck.

She was still standing right in front of Rick and without pausing from Daryl's hold on her, she grabbed the arms around her and threw her legs up, using Rick's chest as a stepping stone and springboard to throw her body over Daryl shoulder, kicking Rick to the ground and ending up with her chest pressed against Daryl's back.

She gave a massive push, throwing Daryl off balance as she was stronger than she looked, before she turned to run. Aaron had been standing to the side, horrified at how fast everything had gone to hell, but at the sight of her starting to run, he snapped back to himself and got in her path, his hands up.

"Anna, calm down! I promise we don't want to hurt you, they just don't know you like I do! Give them the chance to know you. Please!"

"Aaron, get out of my way or I won't be responsible for my actions."

Aaron refused to move and Anna hesitated briefly, before surging forwards, delivering a hard suckerpunch to Aaron's stomach. Rick could see she was going to leave it there, disappear into the woods, but Daryl had long since recovered and the next moment had tackled her to the ground, pinning her arms down and settling his weight on her.

Rick didn't even have time to warn Daryl as he saw the change overcoming her, the darkness that overtook her clear blue eyes.

He couldn't follow how she did it, but the next moment she was out of Daryl's grip, her body sliding along his as her arms slid around his neck, choking him. When she saw Rick coming, she brought her elbow up and brought it down hard enough on Daryl's head that he fell to the ground, not unconscious, but definitely disorientated and possibly concussed.

Rick saw her grabbing her knife and rushing forwards, her movements a blur. He realised that previously she hadn't been trying to hurt them, she had been holding back. Something had changed though, because now her movements were deadly, efficient and precise like a predator going in for the kill. He wouldn't let that stop him though.

He blocked her first attack, then her second one, but her movements were so fast and vicious that he had trouble keeping up. He knew he couldn't win in a fight that relied on speed, he would have to overpower her.

With that in mind, he grabbed her hand with her next thrust of the knife and reeled her in, intending to try and knock her out, but suddenly he was on his back, her legs wrapped around his waist as her arms were around his neck, and she pulled. Immediately, he could feel his air being cut off, his body straining to break her grip, but her legs were like powerful vices around him and her arms unmoving steel beams.

His eyes started spotting and he could hear Daryl grunting, trying to get up, but too dizzy to stand, and Aaron was still heaving on the floor and he knew this could be it. He won't stop fighting, but he knew she wouldn't as well. He closed his eyes, ready to give it his all, when her grip suddenly went slack.

Breathing in harshly, he coughed, his hand grabbing his aching throat and sitting up, his head ringing from the sudden rush of oxygen. Glenn stood over Anna, the barrel of Rick's colt python in his hand as he had obviously just knocked her out with the grip. Blood covered his face and he was breathing harshly. Rick could see an equally bloody Nicholas standing a ways behind them, eyes wide as he looked at them.

"What the hell happened here? Who's she?" Rick shook his head, getting his breath back and then stood, inhaling deeply as he rested his hands on his hips. He looked down at Anna, who suddenly looked quite small and vulnerable in her unconscious state.

"I'll explain later. For now, help me get her inside. Then you can also tell me what the hell happened to you. Aaron, you good to help Daryl?" The man nodded, moving towards Daryl as Rick and Glenn hefted her limp body up between them. As they started towards the gate, Rick remembered Morgan waiting for him, as well as the truck of supplies that had to be brought in.

It was going to be a long night.

WD

Right, so what did you guys think? I hope it didn't seem unrealistic, that she managed to down Rick and Daryl, but we'll find out more about that next chapter and besides, they weren't entirely prepared for her skill in fighting. Sorry that not much happened in this chapter, I keep reading it and feeling like "is that all?" and then I check the word count and I see that it is on track hahaha. Anyways, I always love hearing from you guys, so here's to hoping!