Here is the new chapter, sorry it's so late, but I was kind of down and kept forgetting to post it. A bit more action in this chapter, hoping you guys find it more interesting than the last chapter:) Thanks for the favourites and follows, I appreciate it!

Enjoy!

Chapter 14

Anamika scrunched her nose slightly, a disgusted expression threatening to break out on her face as yet another living corpse bumped against her, rotting flesh and stuff that oozed smearing against her. She might not be as bothered by the dead as other people were, but even she had to admit that walking through a horde of these things, covered in guts and just about reaching second base with every walker squeezed up against her was not her idea of a good time.

Keeping her eyes on a constant swivel to make sure the walkers remained ignorant of her beating heart, she slowly continued on her way. About twenty minutes later, she was finally closing in on the armory, when she saw something that had her pausing.

It was Gabriel, walking slowly from the direction she had come in and she could see a bump under the linen covering him in gore, which could only be Judith, judging by the way he was making quiet shushing noises and the nervous twitch in his eyes. She turned and headed for him instead, pulling him aside gently when she reached him, glad he didn't put up a fight or make a noise when she dragged him behind a bush and thus risk attracting unwanted attention.

"What are you doing here?"

"Rick, he decided to try for the quarry, to get cars and lead the walkers off. But Judith can't make it that far, so I offered to take her to my church."

"Dammit, I told him to wait!" She huffed, before looking into Gabriel's eyes, holding his gaze as she tried to make sure whether she could trust him with Judith. However, she saw determination and bravery in his eyes, and she smiled. She had heard what Gabriel had done previously, but she could see he had been changing his behavior, becoming at peace with himself and evolving; and she had to admit, she liked the man he was turning into, respected him for it.

Nodding, she patted his shoulder, watching as he walked away, now very close to his church, before she continued on. She wanted to go to Rick, but felt they had a better chance with at least some guns and she was less than a block away from the armory and from there it was a straight shot to the main gates, which Rick would be heading for.

Finally reaching the building, she went in and closed the door behind her, grabbing some assault rifles from the shelves, though she knew this herd was too big to thin out using the guns, but she could still distract them with it.

Exiting the building, she made her way in the direction Rick would be heading in, her body tense as the sun started to set. She moved a bit quicker than was normal and some of the walkers turned to her curiously, but despite their momentary interest, the blood still worked and the dark made it difficult for them to easily notice any differences between them and her.

Her heart was pounding and she felt her hand clench nervously around the guns she held, not comfortable that Rick and them was walking through the herd. It was one thing for her to walk on her own, another thing when it was a large group of people. A bigger group meant more chance of mistakes made and it didn't calm her mind to know that they had a kid with them, especially ones like Sam and Ron.

She knew Ron still held a grudge against Rick and Carl and cursed that she wasn't there to keep an eye on him, as she knew Rick was oblivious and Carl had some need to 'save' Ron or some shit. Finally, she could see Rick's group in the distance, but something was wrong. Rick was standing still, sweating and shaking and she could see him shaking his head, staring at something.

Following his line of sight, she felt nausea push up in her throat as she watched Jesse getting torn apart, the woman not even fighting. Sam was nowhere to be seen, but a group of walkers were hunched over something, so she felt she knew why Jesse wasn't fighting back.

Immediately, her eyes jumped to Ron, who was staring at his mother in a daze, before he bent to pick something up. She didn't even pay attention to Rick cutting off Jesse's hand that clutched at Carl's wrist, she just started running, knowing Ron had snapped and lost it. She knew Rick could take care of himself, but she wanted to make sure Carl didn't try and talk to Ron, as she knew the teen wanted to help the other boy.

Her heart was pounding in her ears as she pushed walkers out of her way, not even caring about the attention she was drawing, as her vision narrowed to the gun Ron had picked up, pointed towards people who she had soon come to care about. Snarls and moans filled her ears, but she paid it no mind, killing the walkers in her way with the machete she held in one hand, knowing the guns she carried would only make the situation worse.

Reaching Carl, she pulled him towards her and behind her, ignoring how he stumbled into her shoulder as she turned to face Ron, just as a shot went off.

A moment of blinding pain filled her mind as her shoulder jerked back and her body twisted with the force of the shot. However, her attention wasn't on the pain in her shoulder for long, because as she turned, she felt Carl sway and when she looked at him, it was to see the entire right half of his face bloody, his expression dazed.

"Dad…?"

Her breath hitched, her eyes widened.

No...

"C-Carl…" Rick's agonized stutter barely registered in her mind as red filled her vision, though she couldn't be sure if it was because of anger or the amount of blood that covered Carl.

Her mind slowed, the white haze starting to drift over her vision as Carl slowly fell to the ground, a second passing like a small eternity for Anamika.

Not Carl...

She had sworn to protect Carl, sworn she wouldn't let anything happen to him, but now…

She failed...

Carl was on the ground, bleeding out, Judith was off with Gabriel somewhere, Daryl still hadn't come back and she held a weird fondness for the gruff man. She was just a failure who couldn't do anything, who continued to fail the people depending on her, just like she failed that couple in the beginning.

She knew Ron was dangerous, knew he was a loose cannon with a grudge against Rick and thus Carl, but she had left him with Carl anyway. She hadn't told Rick about it and that meant what happened to Carl was on her. She was to blame for all of this, she could have prevented it.

Her mind darkened with rage and she roared, swinging the AK-47 she had over her shoulder around and firing into the herd of walkers that had started to turn their attention to the bloodied boy in front of her.

"Take Carl to the infirmary, I'll distract them. GO, NOW!" Her voice was stern but eerily calm as she yelled at Rick, watching as he picked Carl up and seeing a distraught Michonne running in front of him, killing any walkers that turned their way, but most of the walkers ignored them as they made their way towards her, the gunfire attracting them.

She saw that Rick now had a clear shot to the infirmary, with almost no walkers following him and as much as she wanted to make sure Carl was alright, she couldn't let the walkers crowd around the infirmary and break in. Denise needed to focus on saving Carl's life, she couldn't be worrying about walkers clawing at them from outside.

She had to keep them away from the infirmary.

When the bullets ran out, instead of reloading or getting a new gun, she threw the bag of guns on the floor and grabbed her machete in one hand and her kukri in the other. She already had the attention of the walkers in the vicinity, she didn't need to drag even more to her with more gunfire.

She had to keep them away from the infirmary.

She swung, her body falling into a well-known rhythm as she sliced walker after walker, their twisted faces blending together. She could feel blood from her shoulder wound coating her skin, but she didn't care, the pain didn't even register on her mind.

She had to keep them away from the infirmary.

Snarling, her mind blanked into the whiteness and killing walkers became her only mission.

WD

Rick felt as if he was in a void, where all color and sound disappeared and all that he was aware of was Carl's limp body in his arms and, after he placed him on the gurney for Denise to look at, the warm blood that covered his hands.

Carl's blood.

His son was bleeding out on the table in front of him, his face a bloody mess because of him. Because he hadn't seen the danger, the signs that Ron had clearly been displaying. He had caused this entire situation and now he couldn't even do anything to help his son. His entire life now was spent protecting his children, trying to provide them with safety, yet his boy lied behind him, fighting to stay alive. He couldn't look at him, couldn't turn around and see his son this close to death. He just couldn't do it.

Wiping a hand over his face, he looked through the blinds out the window, seeing the walkers who should have been outside clawing at the door and windows, instead surrounding Anna. The woman was fighting like a demon, two blades glinting in the dark as she kept constantly moving, pushing walkers onto walkers to create distance and slashing and slicing her way through them. Her face was pulled into a snarl and Rick knew no matter how good of a fighter she was, she wouldn't last long on her own.

Even the fiercest fighters could get overwhelmed by sheer numbers.

Feeling the rage flood his very being, the rage at the walkers, the rage at the bad luck that followed him, the rage at Ron, the rage at the hopelessness he felt at the moment, he took his hatchet in one hand, opening the door and, barely hearing Michonne yelling his name, he walked out and closed it behind him. Walking down the porch, his own face twisted into a snarl as he buried the hatchet in a walker's head, before ripping it loose and making his way to Anna.

Killing a walker behind her, he watched as she twisted around, her machete up and at his neck faster than he could blink, but where he should have paused, should have felt fear, he only felt rage. Ignoring the blade near his throat, he kicked a walker away that had been coming up behind Anna and met her gaze, their eyes reflecting each other's.

The next moment her machete slid past his neck, burying itself in the eye of a walker behind him and Rick knows she recognised him as being the same as her and thus an ally. Together, back to back they killed walkers and it wasn't long before Michonne joined them, followed by others.

Rotten blood sprayed across his face, snarls echoed in his ears and he could feel the sweat dripping from his face. His muscles burned as he killed walkers by the dozen, the red filling his vision slowly fading as more and more of Alexandria's residents left the safety of their homes to fight for their home

Rick could feel hope inflating in his chest, gradually dousing his anger and he somehow knew it; they could do this.

Walker after walker he killed, shouting out directions and seeing with new eyes the truth of Deanna's words. These were all his people, no them and us, they were a community and they all fought together for Alexandria. He had been wrong about them and the overwhelming joy and hope had him dizzy. They were slowly being pushed back by the walkers, but Rick had no doubt that they would be the ones to survive.

That conviction was only solidified as a massive ball of flame went up, the lake burning and causing the walkers to turn away, creating a new chance for the survivors that stoked the flames of their determination.

They could do this.

WD

Daryl stood back as he felt the heat of the fire on his face, the gas making the flames high and hot and completely alluring to the walkers, just as they had intended. He had seen the group of people fighting the dead, but had been too far away to make out faces. Still, the knowledge that there was still people fighting comforted him and he climbed down the truck, placing the RPG in the cab of the truck. Turning, he joined the fight, stabbing one walker after the other, cursing the dead assholes that invaded his home while he wasn't there to protect it.

Abraham and Sasha were to the left of him, while Glenn, Maggie and Enid was to the right of him. Together, they moved towards the other group of survivors and Daryl sighed with relief when he saw Rick, Michonne and Carol, along with various others. His eyes searched for one other person and when he did see her, he immediately relaxed.

Anna was dropping walkers like they were nothing more than pesky flies, her face set in a determined scowl as her deadly movements looked strangely graceful. He fought till he was by her side, but didn't try and grab her attention, as that could mean the difference between life and death; instead he just fought next to her, protecting her as she was protecting everyone else. Time blurred together and Daryl was vaguely aware of her body next to him and Michonne on his other side, as he lost count of the amount of walkers he put down. The back of his shoulder ached from the stab wound, but he easily ignored it, focused as he was on clearing the area of walkers.

What seemed like hours later, Daryl paused as he realised that there was no further walkers, no dead body snarling in front of him or trying to grab and bite him. It was strangely quiet as everyone looked around in a daze, almost not believing that they had done it. The sun was just coming up, lightening their surroundings and the multitude of bodies lining the streets, all unmoving.

He inhaled slowly, feeling coming back to him and he exhaled noisily as exhaustion smacked him in the face. The last two days had been highly stressful and active and all he craved was something to eat and a nice long rest.

Slowly, people started looking around, patting each other on the shoulders, shell shocked but relieved and Daryl watched as Rick strode off to the infirmary. Daryl worried over what that meant, as he hadn't seen Carl during the fight and he knew the kid wasn't one to sit out a fight while everyone else was in the thick of it. Michonne was hurrying after Rick, but it didn't seem as if she was crying, which was a good sign, as he knew she loved Carl just as much as Rick. However, Sasha came up to him before he could follow his brother and touched his arm.

"Daryl, you should get that cut checked out, it might need stitches." Nodding, he turned to go, but paused when he saw Anna. She was apart from the rest, who had all started following Rick to the infirmary and she was pacing, poking corpses and generally observing everything around her like a caged animal. He could see the frantic energy coursing through her, the way she twitched a bit and the way her eyes darted around.

He had only seen her like this once before, when he had tried to stop her from leaving and even then it hadn't been this bad. He remembered her telling him about the zone she goes into, how she sometimes had difficulty distinguishing between friend and foe while in that zone and he knew he had to snap her out of it, before someone else approached her unknowingly.

"Hang on for a bit, I'll come now." He jogged over to Anna, slowing as he came nearer. She turned towards him abruptly, her machete clenched in her hand and her eyes trained on him like a viper, but after a moment, she turned away, continuing her pacing. He knew then that she didn't see him as a threat, but he still needed to get her back in her own mind.

"Anna. Anna, ya hear me?" She glanced at him, before going back to her pacing, her energy becoming more frenetic. Knowing words weren't going to get through to her with her in this state, he stepped forward, grabbing her arm as she passed him. Immediately her other hand came up, her kukri lashing out and he had to jump back quickly in order to avoid her strike.

Her body was low and he cursed when he saw her coming at him again, her other hand, which held a machete, already in position to slash at his belly. He was just glad no one really saw this, or he'd have more trouble on his hands than just her. He dodged the machete, his hand coming down hard and knocking the blade from her hand, immediately twisting to move out of her kukri's path. Grabbing her wrist, he pulled her in close and he could see her free hand going to her thigh holster, but she paused as he rested his free hand on her cheek, her gaze almost...confused.

"Come on Anna, the fight is over." He didn't move his hand, just lightly resting it on her cheek as his eyes gazed at hers. It took a while, but he slowly saw her eyes lightening, the mischievous twinkle that was alway present come back and he smiled slightly, really just a subtle twitch of the mouth and she answered it, her lips slowly shaping into a smile. The kukri dropped from her hand and her hand slowly reached out to his face, probably to mirror his actions, but she never got that far.

Instead, Daryl watched in horror as her eyes rolled up in her head and her body collapsed into his arms.

WD

Right, what did you guys think? In the next chapter, we'll see a bit about how Anamika's actions changed some of the canon verse, though it isn't massive changes yet. I'm not really very good at action scenes, so I hope this came out alright. Lemme know what you all thought!