Hey guys, sorry for the loooong wait, my laptop screen cracked and though it was manageableat first, it became impossible when someone pressed on it in a moment of thoughtlessness. So I've been sans laptop and notes etc since and I'm probably only going to be able to buy a new one in a month or so, depending on circumstances.

So I typed up a short filler chapter on a laptop I borrowed until I get my new one and manage to navigate the abyss of my cracked screen in an attempt to regain my notes, but no worries, this story is not abandoned and if I can't get my old notes, I'll just make new ones. I hope you all understand.

Thanks for the follows and favourites, as well as to Lumora The White for reviewing. The canon events are DEFINITELYcoming next chapter, even if it might take a little longer.

Enjoy!

Chapter 23

Anamika sighed as she lounged on the thick tree branch, languidly soaking in the warmth of the sun, enjoying the tranquil silence around her. She was completely alone, about half a mile outside of Alexandria's walls and she loved the solitude. Though she was getting more used to living in a community and being around a large group of people, she still sought moments like these, where it was just her and her thoughts.

Daryl understood this need and as long as she agreed to carry a radio with her when she went outside on her own, he didn't nag her too much. After all, he wasn't trying to control her and he knew how stifling it could get inside the walls, surrounded by shallow people and their petty problems. Though the residents of Alexandria had gotten a lot better after the attack of the Wolves and the walker invasion, there was still moments that had Anamika wanting to pull out her hair.

This morning had been especially bad, as the Betty Crocker down the road had pitched a fit when Olivia told her there wasn't anymore sugar for her coffee and that she'd have to make do without. Such instances where rare and it was quickly resolved with Michonne's calm words and authoritative constable jacket, but it had served as a reminded that though they had seen a hint of what the world was like now, not everyone had come around to the cold hard truth of their reality.

Grabbing her weapons and a radio, Anamika had told Daryl and Rick where they could find her and had left the safety of the walls. Reaching the familiar spot she had used before when things become too overwhelming, she climbed to her branch and stretched out, enjoying what nature had to offer her. The occasional walker rarely ambled past below her, unaware of the potential meal above their head and she let them go, knowing they posed no threat to her or the community, not in their small numbers.

It was exactly like this that Sasha found her, almost asleep on her branch and the scowling woman paused beneath her tree.

"You could get killed, letting your guard down like that. Someone could sneak up on you."

Opening one eye lazily, she regarded the irritated woman closel, having not had much interaction with her at all. She knew Sasha was part of Rick's group and had greeted her on the occasion she took over for her on watch, but the woman wasn't much for small talk or company.

"Hmm, I heard you making your way here seven minutes ago from the north-east direction. There is a walker just south from here, my guess is about thirty yards out. A rabbit is about ten yards west from her, or at least, some creature about the size and weight of a rabbit."

Sasha turned south, her eyes straining to see through the foliage and her body alert, trying to hear and see the walker Anamika told her about. Taking her gun out of her holster, Anamika cocked her head, letting the sounds of nature fill her ears. She guessed the walker must have heard them talking or something, because it was making its way towards them, though it was too far for Sasha to see or hear it unless she was actively listening for it. Sitting up, she lifted her rifle, knowing she would need the power and the bigger rounds for what she wanted to do.

Adjusting her seat, she made sure she was secure on her branch. Closing her eyes, she turned all her attention to her hearing, picking out the unnatural sounds of a walker ambling closer to her position. Lifting her rifle, she aimed in the direction it was coming from and then paused, listening closer. She'd have to react quickly when she fired the first shot. Honing in on the position of the walker, she aimed and fired.

The sound of a particular bone snapping and the walker stumbling, immediately told Anamika that she shot it near the left of it's sternum, since it wasn't knocked back entirely like being shot in the centre would and the sound of twigs snapping told her to what side the walker stumbled, meaning she shot the opposite side. She had no idea where she learned this skill, since she had it since she woke up, but she's always been grateful for it.

Adjusting her aim, she fired her second shot before the walker could take another step and was rewarded with the satisfying thunk as the walker fell to the ground. Staying alert for another minute, she made sure it didn't get back up, ignoring the sound of Sasha making her way towards the place the walker went down. Finally opening her eyes, she couldn't see Sasha anymore, the thick foliage obscuring her and she knew if she had fired with a handgun, her bullet would never have made the journey to the walker as true as her rifle's bullet did.

Finally, Sasha came back, seeming reluctantly impressed, though it soon disappeared as she regarded Anamika.

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Anamika shrugged, truly not knowing the answer, but Sasha didn't seem to mind. Before Sasha could comment further, another sound caught Anamika's attention. In fact, a lot of sounds caught her attention. Her head snapping around, she had just enough time to curse as a buck came charging through the brush, its eyes rolling wildly as it disappeared as fast as it appeared. But it was not the buck that concerned her, it was the seeming horde of walkers that stumbled after it. From what she could hear, it seemed like there was at least two dozen, if not more.

"Sasha, a herd is coming." Sasha had her gun raised and she looked ready to take every walker down herself. In an instant, Anamika knew Sasha wouldn't come back with her to Alexandria, despite it being safer. It wasn't as if Alexandria couldn't handle a measly twenty-something walkers, hell, Anamika and Sasha could handle them if they played their cards right, but she also knew Daryl would have her head if they did that.

Seeing the stubborn tension in Sasha's shoulders, Anamika sighed and lifted her radio.

"A calling watchtower, do you copy?"

"I copy you, what's up?" Rolling her eyes at Tara's cheerful voice coming over the radio, Anamika quickly relayed her message, wanting to get off the radio air before Daryl answered.

"Small herd heading to Alexandria, Sasha and I am going to lead them away and take care of them. Don't worry, it's an absolutely tiny herd, actually a disgrace to the term herd."

"Ann- Mika, wait for m-" Quickly turning the radio off, she ignored Daryl's voice that interrupted Tara, knowing he was going to be angry with her, but she couldn't leave Sasha on her own out here and the more people came, the more chance there was of someone getting hurt. Sasha had been a lot better since her run with Abraham, but she wasn't completely recovered and sometimes still lost herself when she got focused on walkers, her hate for the undead showing. Not that Anamika could blame her, both her boyfriend and brother died after being bit, according to Carl.

"Sasha, we're going to lead them away to the clearing about a mile south-west from here. I'm going to lead them there, you go ahead and get a good position. Out in the open, it'll be easier to gun them down and separate them, less places for them to hide."

For a moment she thought Sasha was going to ignore her, but then the woman nodded and began jogging away immediately. Wanting to give her a bit of a headstart, Anamika waited till the walkers was closer and when she saw the first one breaking through the foliage, she whistled loudly, capturing its attention. With a loud snarl, it came towards her and she turned and ran, making sure they were following her, but not too close to be a danger.

She finally burst through the trees, seeing Sasha crouched at the far side of the clearing on a small knoll, her sight lines perfect from where she was. Ducking to the side, she slid around a large tree before the walkers could see where she went. Hearing a shot, quickly followed by another, she cringed, realising Sasha didn't have a silencer on her sniper. This was going to draw more walkers towards them, making this entire endeavour pointless. Trusting that Sasha hadn't gotten too far in the zone yet, Anamika darted out from behind the tree, circling around behind the walkers, who had all made it into the clearing by now, and waved towards Sasha. As she expected, the stern woman immediately stopped firing for fear of hitting Anamika.

Moving down the walkers with her machete, she took down about five before the herd realised there was someone behind them. Making a quick headcount, she saw there was still about eighteen left, all of them now focused on her. Killing another one coming up on her, she pulled out her hunting knife in her other hand. She started moving down walkers, though it was slow going, as she had to keep moving away to create space and to disorientate the creatures. It wasn't long before Sasha joined her, her furious face painting quite the picture.

"No silencer, your gunfire would just have drawn more." As if lured by her observation, another five walkers stumbled from the forest and Anamika just hoped this didn't turn into a full-scale herd. She threw her silenced pistol at Sasha, impressed when the woman nimbly caught it as if she wasn't fighting walkers, but she had to turn her attention back to her own fight.

The women split up, splitting the remaining walkers as well and making it a lot easier to take them all down. It took some ridiculous dancing around and Anamika felt like a ballerina as she pirouetted around one walker while kicking another to the ground. A manic grin was stretched across her face and she knew this was exactly the type of release she needed.

Seeing a walker come up bhind Sasha with the woman unaware and focused on another two in front of her, she kicked a walker coming up on her side to the ground and threw her knife taking the walker ambushing Sasha out. The woman whirled towards her, her gun raised and she shot the walker that Anamika had kicked down, as it was starting to get up. Only then did she glance behind her to see the dead walker with a throwing knife sticking out of its head.

Breathing in deeply, Anamika realised all the walkers were dead and that she still had that silly grin stretched across her face. It took her a moment to realise that Sasha was also grinning as her chest heaved and she blinked, the two of them just staring at one another. A snort escaped Anamika, causing Sasha to chuckle unexpectedly and soon both were laughing in exhilaration, their blood pumping and adrenaline causing their bodies to tremble.

It was to that sight that Daryl, Rick, Abraham and Glenn emerged from the forest to, the four men blinking as the watched the two woman laughing insanely with more than thirty walkers strewn across the clearing. Sighing, Rick pinched the bridge of his nose while Abraham just whistled appreciatively and Glenn gaped, his eyes wide as she silently counted all the bodies. Anamika's laughter cut of abruptly, however, when she saw the furious glint in Daryl's eyes, she cringed, shuffling closer to Sasha and trying to hide behind her. Unfortunately, her shield shifted away, another chuckle leaving her lips.

"Nu uh, don't you hide behind me from lover boy. Take it like a woman." Sighing, she threw a mock betrayed expression towards Sasha, taking comfort on the determined way Rick strode over to Sasha, knowing she was not the only one going to get chewed out. As if walking to the gallows, she kept her head held high and her shoulders hunched in, warily eying the fuming hunter.

She knew it wasn't that he didn't trust her skills or wanted to protect her from all danger, but she also knew that she didn't have to do stuff like this alone anymore. They had an entire group to call on and had they waited a few more moments or even just headed back to Alexandria, this would have been handled so much safer. Coming to a stop in front of him, she tried to gauge what his mood was, if he just wanted to rage, ignore her or silently bury her body somewhere no one would ever find it.

Taking a deep breath, Daryl turned on his heel and strode away, his movements jerky and angry. She winced, absolutely furious then, but not quit yet homicidal. Sharing a helpless glance with Sasha, who was being berated by Rick, she silently commiserated their bad luck with the other woman before following Daryl. Walking silently for a few minutes, she couldn't take Daryl's angry silence, the distance between them any longer. Reaching out, she lightly touched his elbow and jerking, he whirled around, his eyes angry and frustrated, but also filled with fear and desperation. It gave her insight into the worry he might have felt, because going up against a herd with only two people was not only insanely risky and stupid, it was outright suicidal and unnecessary.

Waiting, she watched as he breathed deeply, his shoulders finally slumping as he exhaled.

"Why?"

Why did you risk your life like that? Why didn't you come back to Alexandria? Why did you not listen to me? Why did you not wait for me?

She swallowed, feeling horrible for the terror she had put him through. Her throat was dry and though she knew it was merely an excuse, it was all she could get out.

"I didn't want to leave Sasha alone." She could see Daryl wasn't convinced, as he knew she could have forced Sasha back if she really wanted to. Instead she didn't even try, pumped up and ready for a fight to get her adrenaline running. She hated the slump to his shoulders, the way his terror compelled him to scan her body for injuries, but she waited for him to talk first.

"Just… wait for me next time a'right?" She nodded and gratefully stepped into Daryl's embrace, ignoring the fine tremor in his body that was already fading away. Sighing contently, she leaned up to kiss him, the kiss deep and filled with emotion. Breaking away, she smiled at Daryl, getting a lip twitch in response. Separating, they both made their way back to Alexandria.

Looking down, she grimaced at the thick coating of gore and blood covering her arms and clothes and resolved to take a shower as soon as she arrived back. Who knows, maybe she could even convince Daryl to join her, she thought with a wicked grin.

WD

I hope you guys enjoyed that, sorry for how short it is and for the wait until the next chapter. I'll post it as soon as I get my new laptop!