Guess who's back! So, I FINALLY got a laptop, after a series of unfortunate events that kept pushing it back and back. I got you guys a nice long chapter as a reward for being so patient and we're finally back to canon events, though the interesting stuff is going to start happening now.

I really hope you guys enjoy it and thanks so much to everyone who favourited, followed or reviewed, I love you guys!

Enjoy!

Chapter 24

Anamika moaned, her eyes squeezed shut as she gripped the sheets in clenched fists.

"Mika…"

Daryl's husky voice assaulted her ears and she groaned, squirming in place.

"Mika…"

She sighed, the warmth of Daryl's body enveloping her and his scent surrounding her.

"Mika… we need to get up."

"Just five more minutes…" Anamika groaned, snuggling deeper into Daryl's chest as she tried to catch the last remnants of her escaping sleep. She moaned as her comfy pillow shifted, sighing exasperatingly at her as she clenched the sheets in her fists to prevent her personal hot water bottle's escape.

"Mika, we're going on a run with Rick today, we need ta get up." The woman cracked an eye open, rubbing her cheek and nose against Daryl's shirt as she hitched a leg up over his hip, pinning him in place.

"But I'm soooo sleepy…" Daryl's low chuckle caused her lady bits to tingle pleasantly and she slowly girated her hips against his side. If she was going to get up, she needed some motivation. Daryl's warning growl of "Mika" was ignored as she slipped her hand under his shirt, trailing it up his chest. His hand on her hip clenched, pressing her closer to him and she mouthed at his neck.

Suddenly, he rolled her over, his lips plundering hers as he pinned her hands above her head. She moaned as his hips ground into her centre, the only thing separating them being the thin material of his boxers and her barely there panties. Her mind started to go hazy as he kissed her breathless, but just when she was getting ready to force him on his back, he rolled off her and stood up, smirking down at her as he righted his shirt.

"Get up, we need to meet Rick in ten." Anamika growled, flopping back on the bed in irritation as Daryl chuckled at her while dressing. The annoying bastard seemed to love getting her all riled up and then leaving her flustered and aroused. It's been a week and a half since she 'punished' him for not saving her from Carl and Rick's clutches and since he seemed to revel in frustrating her, usually getting her all worked up in the morning and then leaving her high and dry.

Of course, usually she was so frustrated and aroused by the time night fell she about attacks him, which she thinks is his goal, because he was still reluctant about initiating sex. She had thought it would get better after her near death experience and all that, but he still seemed uncertain. This didn't really bother her, as she didn't mind starting things and he had no trouble taking charge once they were going at it, which led to some enjoyable nights.

"Mika…" Daryl's warning growl had her sighing, before she sat up, running her hands through her messy bed head.

"I know, I know, I'm coming." She got dressed in record time, eyeing Daryl's butt the entire time. It was a rare specimen even when covered by pants and she took every moment to ogle it. He had caught her doing it several times, but he just rolled his eyes and ignored her, knowing she won't listen to anything he says. They left the house and Anamika left Daryl with Denise, who had come up to him to go over some of the things that was crucial to find on this run.

She took a moment to coo over Judith, who was playing on the front lawn with Tara and Maggie watching over her, before heading to the car where she could already see Rick waiting. She threw her backpack of emergency snacks and supplies into the back of the car, sliding in and making herself comfortable as she saw Daryl finally coming. As soon as Daryl got in, Rick pulled away, heading towards the front gate as a comfortable silence took over the car.

Eugene was on duty this morning, but it was only when he leaned against Daryl's window and handed over a piece of paper, that Anamika turned her attention to him.

"I mapped out some of the agricultural supply places in the area. Even if they've been cleaned out, my bet is that the sorghum would be untouched. Now that there is a criminally underrated grain that could change-"

Anamika's attention wandered, long since used to Eugene's odd way of speaking and uninterested in his rambling, as she now knew what the paper was and just wanted to be on her way. She pulled a face at Carl who she saw walking by across the street, grinning when he pulled one back at her as Rick and Daryl indulged Eugene's ramblings in their own baffled way. Finally, it seemed Eugene was satisfied they knew the utmost importance of sorghum and left them to it, the car finally leaving the gates and weaving between the cars that blocked vehicles and walkers from having a straight shot at their gates.

They turned at the road leading west and Anamika settled back into her seat, watching the road fly by.

"Today's the day," Rick suddenly spoke up, but Anamika left Daryl to answer, her mind more focused on daydreaming about last night with Daryl than the men's conversation, "Gonna find food, maybe some people. Law of averages, gotta catch up."

Daryl grunted, his own gravelly voice vaguely catching her attention before her mind wandered off again. "I don't know, we ain't seen anybody for weeks. Maybe we ain't gonna find nobody, maybe that's a good thing."

Anamika sat up at that, her brow furrowed. She knew Daryl still held a grudge towards the couple that robbed him and the people that tried to kill him, Sasha and Abraham, but she didn't realise it extended towards all other survivors. She leaned forward, placing her chin on the back of his seat, her cheek almost pressed against him. She could feel the warmth radiating from his skin, but refrained from saying anything. She'd rather have this conversation with him without an audience, no matter how much she trusted Rick. She didn't want Daryl to feel as if they were ganging up on him.

Rick glanced at them, seeming a bit concerned, but it seemed he also decided to let it go for now. Instead, he leaned forward to grab a CD and Anamika couldn't help but smirk as Daryl's head immediately turned,his expression as close to alarmed as Daryl could be.

"Don't."

"Please don't." Anamika grinned wider, inwardly cackling at hearing Daryl Dixon beg and even say please.

~Gimme the downbeat maestro~

When Rick started snapping his fingers to the beat of the song, Anamika's face about split in two, and she could see from Daryl's expression that it was just adding insult to injury. He did not seem amused and Rick's obvious pleasure at his pained and surly expression had Anamika cackling, even more so when Rick stated it was all for the purpose of calling the walkers away from Alexandria.

~Yeah, if y'r music's gonna move me

I just gotta feel the beat

Nothing slow and for the heart

I want a beat for the feet~

Anamika laughed and sang along, only knowing every second word, but making a good show of it. Daryl seemed to sink further into his seat, his expression disgruntled while Rick grinned smugly, silently laughing at his brother.

She finally stopped, though the song kept going, giving Daryl a barely there peck on the cheek and sat back, smiling as she looked out the window. It seemed he had retreated into a sullen silence, but luckily there was no tension in the car and Anamika was free to daydream again, this time thinking of new strategies to show Carl next time she 'trained' him.

It was a few minutes later that her eye caught a turnoff that led to a big barn that had the word SORGHUM painted on it and she sat forward, giving Rick a tap on the shoulder and gesturing towards the building that was basically a neon sign. The car squealed to a stop, before Rick placed it in reverse and Anamika had to admire the complete ease with which he did it. It wasn't long before they were parked outside the storage facility and she followed Daryl and Rick out of the cars, checking to make sure she had her weapons on her and her machete in her hand.

After Rick checked around the sides of the building and Daryl managed to wrestle the crowbar out of his backpack, Anamika looked towards Daryl, who gave her a nod as he walked towards the door and called out to Rick, "Hey hold up, it's best to be safe! Covered?"

"I got you Katniss." Anamika grinned at the glare Daryl threw her and Rick's amused expression, but soon both her and Rick took up their positions and she lifted her pistol from the holster on her thigh, aiming it at the door Daryl was going to open. Her face twitched at the noise it made, but luckily there didn't seem to be any walkers around.

Rick also reached that conclusion after peering into the darkness besides the van that was parked inside, as he stated they were good and so Anamika focused her attention on the van that they would check next.

"One more time." Daryl nodded as Rick gestured to the van and they repeated the process, the incident with Daryl and Aaron fresh on her mind and probably on Daryl's as well.

"It ain't locked…" Anamika narrowed her eyes, as that could either mean it was untouched or it could mean it was a trap. Nevertheless, she was ready for anything that might come out the back of the van, but what she wasn't ready for, was the stockpile of food and necessities. It almost rivaled her truck when she first arrived in Alexandria.

"Well, how bout that." Anamika whooped, not even listening to Rick's words, jumping up into the back of the van and digging around, cataloging all the stuff she could see. It was mostly canned and dry food, toiletries and tools, but it was enough to boost the communities dwindling food stock a good bit. She was aware of Rick speaking to Daryl as he picked up some toothpaste and she grinned, knowing he was thinking about Michonne when looking at the tube.

"Let's get this thing going, grab our gear, come back for the car later. Take another way back, see what we can see."

Think it's gonna start?" Daryl asked as he closed the back of the van.

"Yeah, I do." The utter confidence in Rick's voice had Anamika smiling, knowing that the man had been more hopeful lately and it was great to see someone she considered family so happy. Rick always seemed to carry the weight of the world, but lately she could see a light in his eyes that she had never realised he was capable of. She could see how he managed to inspire the entire group to follow him.

When the van did indeed start and they reversed it out of the barn, Anamika eyed the front seats, before looking at Rick and Daryl.

"Those front seats look quite cosy for three people. How about I take our car and follow you guys, while you take the van. I don't think I can take your combined man sweat in such close quarters." Both men looked at her amused, but Rick nodded and Daryl just grunted as he climbed into the passenger seat of the van.

"Yeah, sure. Keep close." Anamika nodded, acknowledging the unspoken warning in Rick's words. Though he was more optimistic these days, it wasn't as if he completely disregarded the danger out there. She made her way back to the car, sliding into the driver's side and following the van down the road. Since they were far away from home and there was no Daryl in the car to annoy, she turned the music off, instead just relaxing and enjoying the drive.

It wasn't often that she drove cars anymore, as Daryl was usually the one driving while she kept an eye out for unfriendlies, but she really did enjoy it. With no traffic, no speed limits and no people around, it was even better, relaxing her mind as she almost drove on automatic. It was a calming state she only usually reached when lying in Daryl's arms or tracking an animal and she enjoyed not being on high alert for a change.

It wasn't long before she saw a rundown gas station coming up and when she saw the van pulling over, she slowed down, parking behind the old black SUV. Shutting the door behind her, she saw that both men were preoccupied with an old vending machine, so instead she headed towards the small store, knocking on the door and waiting to hear any walkers. When none emerged from the darkness, she glanced back to see that Daryl was wrapping chains around the vending machine, that they attached to the van and she decided they seemed to be doing fine on their own.

Grabbing the crowbar Daryl placed on the ground, she looked around to make sure nothing was near, before she swung it and smashed open the glass doors. Daryl glanced her way, as Rick was in the van by now, but seemed unconcerned. She ignored the noise they were making as they turned the machine over and instead headed into the store after breaking most of the jagged glass edges away. Pulling a flashlight from her backpack, she clicked it on and started browsing through the racks. There was some stuff, but evidently someone had taken most of the goods at the start of the apocalypse.

What she did find was some bars of candy and a bottle of water, some smokes and one packet of beef jerky, but nothing really amazing. It was as she was looking for matches and some batteries that she heard the commotion outside. Anamika's head snapped up as she heard Daryl yelling, followed by Rick's authoritative voice and then an unfamiliar one. Crouching, she crept to the front of the store, deciding against rushing out as she didn't know what the situation was and if she would make it worse.

The glass was stained and cracked, causing her vision to be distorted, but she could see that Daryl and Rick was holding a man at gunpoint. The man had long hair, wore a cloth across the lower part of his face and dark clothes that had Anamika wondering how he didn't get a heatstroke wearing that beanie and black trench coat.

"-was just running from the dead." Anamika's eyes narrowed at what the guy said, scared they might have a herd on their tails. Evidently, Daryl had the same thought and she saw Rick backing up to the side of the building.

"How many?"

"Ten, maybe more. I'm not risking it, once it gets to double digits, I start running."

"Where?"

"About half a mile back. They headed this way, probably have about… eleven minutes?" Frowning, she slowly made her way out of the store, her gun up and aimed at the back of his head. He hadn't realised she was there yet, but Daryl's eyes flicked to hers and the guy took a step to the side, turning his body so that he could see behind him while still keeping Daryl and Rick in his sights. She was impressed that he had picked up Daryl's slight eye movement and realised there was something behind him.

His eyes seemed to widen slightly when he caught sight of her, but other than that he didn't react at all to the fact that he was outnumbered three to one. Rick gazed at him a bit, before he nodded slowly.

"Ok… Thanks for letting us know." Though Rick lowered his python, Anamika was still suspicious and she saw Daryl also seemed unwilling to take his eyes off the man.

"Yeah...There's more of them than us right. Gotta stick together. Right?" When Daryl finally unwillingly lowered his weapon, Anamika pursed her lips but followed suit. The guy seemed ok, though it made her antsy that she couldn't see any weapons on him. For her, that threw up a giant red flag, but she decided it didn't matter, as they probably won't see the guy again after today.

"You have a camp?" The question immediately had her hackles rising and her hand clenched around the gun subtly, but she stayed quiet, letting Rick and Daryl handle this. Her eyes was pinned on his straight, clean hair, his relatively nice clothes and just the way he stood…

Eyes narrowing, her head tilted and she saw the man's eyes flicking towards her nervously, even as he continued this back and forth with Rick and Daryl. She, however, was too focused on trying to read him to pay attention to what they were saying and it made her even more suspicious when she could barely read him. She didn't think he was a bad guy, but there was also something in his manner… It was too confident, but not the malicious confidence of the saviors she encountered some time ago.

Her eyes followed him as he walked away, her body still tense, but she glanced at Rick when he spoke up again instead of just letting the guy leave.

"I'm Rick. This is Daryl, that's Anna. What's your name?" The man paused and Anamika backed up to Daryl's side, standing so close she could feel the warmth radiating from his skin.

"Paul Rovia. But my friends used to call me Jesus. Your pick." Anamika scoffed and Daryl's eyes flicked to hers, but the situation was too serious for him to smile at her disbelief.

"You said you didn't have a camp, you on your own?"

"Yeah." Well, if he didn't have a camp, he at the very least had a very nice hide out, because no one stayed that clean on the road. However, Anamika could understand his reluctance to say much, as he didn't know them.

"Still, best not to try anything." Turning away from the stand-off between the men and Rick's determination to recruit new people, she bent down to examine the contents of the vending machine, seeing more candy bars and sodas. Finally, Jesus left and though she found it odd that he left around the side of the building, which would lead in the direction he came from, she decided maybe he was just going to follow the road, as walkers would continue in a straight line unless something captures their attention.

She was vaguely aware of Daryl and Rick talking about 'Jesus' and though she agreed with Rick that there was more going on than meets the eye, she also decided she didn't really care one way or another. Let them decide what to do. She smiled as she caught sight of a Kit Kat bar, her mouth already watering, but the sounds of gunshots echoing from behind the building had her head shoot up.

The three of them rushed around the side, ready to see walkers and other people, but not ready to see some firecrackers on a trash can. Anamika felt her stomach drop as her mind flew over their interaction with Jesus, trying to find an explanation for what is happening.

"Firecrackers." Anamika and Daryl shared a glance and seemed to reach the same conclusion.

"Shit," Daryl said, "He swiped your keys didn't he? Shit!" Anamika was already running back the way they came, Daryl and Rick not far behind her. She saw Jesus jumping into the van, yelling sorry as he waved something in his hand as he drove off. Daryl and Rick ran after the van, standing in the road and watching him drive off, while Anamika made a beeline for the car she drove there. Jumping in, she turned the key, but instead of starting, nothing happened. She tried again, but met the same result. Jumping out, she popped open the bonnet and cursed when she saw the spark plugs missing. At least now she knew what Jesus was waving around as he drove off. Shouldering her backpack, she ran to where Daryl and Rick stood.

"Bastard took my spark plugs, car's dead. Guess we're running boys." Rick nodded and Daryl grunted, too angry to say anything. Securing her backpack, she started running, Daryl and Rick flanking her. Already the heat was unbearable and she just knew this was going to become worse before it got anywhere near better.

WD

Anamika wiped the sweat from her forehead as she ran on, her breath slightly strained and her shirt clinging to her skin. Her muscles trembled, but she determinedly paid them no attention, knowing if she starts thinking about the burn, then she'll stop running and might not start again. Next to her, Rick and Daryl were both breathing loudly, their hair sticking to their faces as it dripped with sweat and she knew she looked just as bad, if not worse.

It was with no small amount of relief that Anamika saw the vending machine lying in the middle of the road, knowing Daryl would stop for it and giving her a chance to catch her breath. She was fit, but even fit and relatively well fed it was difficult to run for miles in the heat with no water. The measly bottle of water she had scavenged in the gas store didn't last long between the three of them, even when they drank it sparingly.

Stopping, she placed her hands on her hips, exhaling slowly as she forced her trembling legs to walk around slowly, trying to calm down her breathing. Daryl was checking the vending machine, and Rick was bent over, trying to catch his breath as Daryl broke the glass.

"Please tell me there's something to drink in there." Anamika begged as she wandered closer, her breath still heaving. Despite the sweat coating Daryl's body, he seemed fine and Anamika thought it highly unfair that he wasn't as bothered by the running as she evidently was. Grunting, he handed her a popped soda can after drinking some himself and she passed it on to Rick when she had some.

Holding up two other cans, Daryl spoke, barely any strain in his voice, "This was a special request from the doctor."

"Hey, whatever she wants. She saved Carl's life, Anna's too. We didn't know her and she turned out alright. If there's still people out here, and they're still people, we should bring them in."

Anna accepted the can from Rick and took another sip before passing it on to Daryl.

"Sure and I'm especially grateful, but this guy's a douche bag."

"Yeah, not him."

Anamika nodded, no way were they bringing a guy back to their community that just went around robbing people, they might end up in a worse situation than they already were.

"We still got a trail." Sighing deeply, she hiked her backpack up higher, before starting to jog again, her mind focusing on the road ahead of her and placing one step in front of the other. Soon her eyes focused and she realised that Daryl was running in front of her, his delectable ass on display. She grinned, eyeing the fine specimen as she ran, not even paying attention to how far they ran.

Seeing Rick glance back at her, she shrugged unashamedly as he realised just what was occupying her attention and she could see the barely there smirk as he turned back to the front. Her grin stretched wider, now motivated to keep pace with the men besides exacting some revenge on the asshole who stole their stuff.

"Look!" Reluctantly dragging her eyes away, she saw the skid marks Daryl was pointing at and followed him down the road. They crept up the incline, peeking over the ridge to see the van parked in the middle of the road and Jesus changing a tire.

"Come on." She gestured to the woods, slipping between the trees as Daryl and Rick followed. She tightened the straps of her backpack that went around her chest, glad that it wasn't too cumbersome. Rick went off to one side, hoping to sneak around the van while Daryl went off to the other side. Anamika crept forward, keeping Jesus in her sights, but hanging back to see where she would be needed.

As soon as Rick jumped Jesus, she knew she had been right to be wary of the man. Not only didn't he react in a panicked matter, more resigned, but the moment he threw an elbow into Rick's side, his movements smooth and precise, she knew he was trained in martial arts. Rick and Daryl were both brawlers and thus no match for him one on one. She sprinted towards where Daryl just engaged Jesus, only to be thrown against the van's side.

Before Jesus could take off or even think of doing anything else, she dove right into the fray. The damn ninja dodged her first punch, but it seemed he was caught off guard by her controlled moves, as her second one clipped him on his shoulder. He tried to grab her by her backpack straps, but she dropped down, sweeping her leg out and when he jumped over it, as she knew he would, her arm snapped out, sweeping his legs to the side in mid air.

With a groan, Jesus landed on his side, opening his eyes to find three guns pointed at his face.

"Stay down holy man." Jesus seemed disgruntled, peering at her in a confused manner as she smirked down at him. He was breathing heavily, but Anamika, despite having just run miles after him and the bloody van, was high on adrenaline and barely felt her sore muscles.

"Do you even have any ammo?" Rick and Daryl exchanged a glance and as one, lifted their guns to shoot at a walker that had come out of the forest. Anamika, however, was still pissed at the guy for stealing their van and forcing her to run in the heat, so all she did was adjust her aim slightly and pulled the trigger. Jesus flinched as the bullet struck the ground near his head, his eyes wide as he looked back at her. She knew Rick and Daryl were both eyeing her, but they wouldn't say anything in front of a stranger and didn't really care, as she didn't actually hit the guy.

"What do you think?"

"Ok. You gonna shoot me over a truck?"

"Van." Anamika interjected, but although Jesus eyed her, no one really paid attention.

"There's a lot of food on that truck. The keys, now."

"I think you know I'm not a bad guy."

"Yeah, what do you know about us? Give me the keys. This is the last time I'm asking." Jesus glanced at her again and her eyes narrowed, unsure what his problem or fascination with her were. Sighing, she knelt down, knowing he wouldn't try anything with two guns still pointed at her and knowing he would struggle to place her in a hostage situation.

She patted down his trench coat, checking the pockets before patting his vest. Finally, she found the keys in a pocket on the inside of his coat, pulling it out and grinning as she rattled them. Standing up, she left Rick to deal with him further, instead making her way to the van, locking the back and making her way to the passenger seat. Eyeing the two front seats, another grin stretched her face and when Daryl came around the side, she waggled her eyebrows at him.

"What?"

"Only two seats." He grunted, eyeing her grin warily as she opened the door for him.

"Get in Katniss." Scowling, Daryl slid into the seat and the next thing he knew, he had a lapfull of Anamika. Smiling smugly, she closed the door and turned her body sideways, so that she leaned slightly against the door and Daryl's shoulder, her body melting into Daryl's hard one as his hands hovered uncertainly in the air, before he placed them on her thigh and waist respectively. Rick snorted at her, ignoring her as she stuck out her tongue at him. Wiggling a bit to get comfortable, she felt Daryl's hands tighten painfully on her body.

"Stop." He scowled at her and she smiled innocently, but nevertheless, she stopped teasing him and sat back, tired from all the running.

She felt Daryl shift into a more comfortable position beneath her, before he threw a middle finger out the window and his gravelly voice yelled out, "So long ya prick!"

Laughing, Anamika pecked him lightly on the cheek as Rick chuckled, before leaning her head against Daryl's shoulder. Ignoring Rick and Daryl speaking about who knows what, she slipped into a doze, certain that they would protect her while she was vulnerable and knowing she would wake up if they stopped.

She wasn't sure how long she dozed, vaguely aware of Daryl's thumb stroking the soft skin at her waist, just below where one of her scars were, but when the van started bumping around, almost unseating her, she blinked awake, looking forward to see a barn. A thud drew her attention and she looked up in confusion towards where she heard it coming from. More followed and Daryl also heard it, as he turned down the music, making it obvious there was something on the roof and he shared a glance with Rick.

"I think that sum'bitch' on the roof."

"Hold on." Anamika had just enough time to grab Daryl's arm where it wrapped around her like a steel band, before Rick pressed down the brakes, the van screeching as it came to a halt, throwing their stowaway off the roof and onto the grass in front of them. She was kind of impressed with his recovery time, as he popped up like a daisy, and there was a moment of silence as everyone just stared at each other.

Then he turned and ran.

Rick sneered as he pressed down on the gas and Anamika could feel Daryl shifting beneath her, his body angling towards the door. Seemingly on the same wavelength, she turned with him, opening the door and jumping out, landing in a roll that she came out of sprinting. She could hear Rick calling her name, as well as Daryl's who she knew followed her out the van.

Jesus was fast, but so was she and Daryl. She could see Rick was trying to cut him off, but instead the van just became another obstacle to get to the fleeing man. Rick seemed to realise this as he reversed the van, parking it near a lake and jumping out of the car.

"We came to a conclusion asshole!" Anamika huffed as Daryl still chased after Jesus, but instead of running after him herself, her attention was caught by walkers that were tied with rope to a truck. Fraying rope, to be precise. She decided the walkers were a bigger threat than an unarmed lone man, no matter how good he was at martial arts, so she turned towards the walkers that was now loose.

Rick soon joined her, both of them dispatching the walkers with ease, but a gunshot had Anamika whipping her head around, her heart in her throat as she searched for Daryl. She found him struggling with Jesus inside the van and breathed a sigh of relief, that she almost immediately started choking on as the van started rolling backwards, towards the lake.

"Daryl!" She started sprinting towards the van, her arms pumping in her panic, visions of the van rolling into the lake with Daryl still in it, struggling with a stranger and drowning playing in front of her mind's eye.

"Daryl!" The next moment Daryl jumped out of the van, followed by Jesus and she didn't even check on the other man, she just barreled into Daryl, clinging to him for dear life. The fear the gunshot caused and then seeing the van head towards the water with Daryl in it wrecked with her mind and her entire body was trembling. Daryl was breathing heavily, his eyes on the van, but his arm winded around her, holding her to him. Rick came to a stop next to them and all three watched as the van rolled into the lake and the water slowly closed over the van, hiding it from view.

"Goodbye van." Anamika stated mournfully and she adamantly ignored Rick's muttered 'truck' under his breath.

"You alright?" She turned to Daryl, also interested in the answer to Rick's question.

"Yeah. Law of averages. That's bullshit man." Anamika couldn't help chuckling, ignoring the dirty look Rick threw her and finally deeming Daryl uninjured, she let go of the man and walked forward, poking an unconscious Jesus in the side with her toe. Crouching down, she heard the men talking about what to do with him, but she just poked his cheek, seeing if he'd wake up, but the man was out cold. When Daryl came over, grabbing his hands and dragging him off, she knew just by Rick's expression that they weren't going to 'put him up a tree' as Daryl said, but take him back to the community.

"I call shotgun!" Anamika yelled, jumping up and speed walking to the cars. Daryl seemed suspicious of her enthusiasm, but Rick just had that infuriating eye twinkle that showed her knew exactly why she called dibs on the front passenger seat. Sure enough, after a brief stare down between her two companions, Jesus was loaded into the back of a white SUV, with Daryl forced to sit at the back next to him, partly to keep an eye on him and partly because Anamika planted her ass in the front seat and refused to budge.

Rick pulled away and Anamika exhaled slowly, glad to be heading home after a long day, even though they had nothing to show for it more than an unconscious ninja in the back seat. Curling her long legs up under her, Anamika crossed her arms and rested her chin on her chest as she leaned against the door. She was fucking tired and not interested in Rick's speech to Daryl, so instead she settled in to rest, knowing she had almost an hour before they would be back home.

It wasn't long before sleep claimed her, Rick and Daryl's deep voices fading to the background, reassuring her that she was safe.

WD

So, this chapter followed canon almost exactly, but I loved this episode and there wasn't much to change about their initial meeting with Jesus. Hopefully, the next chapter will be up next week, I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I haven't actually typed it yet. Let me know what you guys think!