Hey guys, finally back from vacation mode! So sorry this update was a bit later than planned. I had an awesome vacation but the exhaustion that followed was insane. I basically slept for 3 days, didn't leave my bed, then I went back to work yesterday so that was a nightmare in itself. Ugh, but I had been working on this chapter off and on since I've been back, though I do have to warn you, it's a bit shorter than usual.

Also, hope ya'll don't mind, but I plan on skipping the reviews and follower announcements for this chapter. If any of you want me to answer your reviews, PM me and let me know, I don't mind but I figured people would be more eager to read the update than go through my replies. But I will be back on it for the next chapter, promise!

Disclaimers: I do not own the AMC's the Walking Dead or it's characters, just Ana!

Now, on to the main event! Well, not really, but you know what I'm trying to get at here! Enjoy!

Ana's POV...

It was silent for the remainder of our ride back to the farm. I knew what I had said to Hershel had hit a nerve he didn't realize he had, so I let him stew in his guilt while continuing to keep the pressure on the boy's leg.

Within an hour or two of our argument, the ever familiar sight of the Greene's mailbox came into view before we turned down the bumpy road. At the first sign of a bump, the boy shot up like a jack in the box, making to scream in pain though I was quick to hold a rag over his mouth to keep the sounds down.

"Son, you're gonna have to keep still or this will be twice as painful as it needs to be." Hershel fought to keep the boy still as Rick pushed on the gas just a bit harder to get there just a bit quicker to deal with this mess.

"If someone can take this pile of shit to the shed, I'll work on 'im." I grumbled, fighting the need to knocked this boy out just to get him to sit still.

"Ana..." Rick made to complain though I noticed the way Daryl turned at the same time to say more only for me to shake my head.

"Ya'll are welcomed to clean and cauterize his leg, that's if ya know how." I sassed back as Daryl narrowed his eyes on me, Rick passing me an annoyed glance through the rearview mirror.

"Ana, I..." Hershel added as we grew even closer to the farm, folks already running out to gather as I shook my head.

"This was my fault, right? I'll handle it." I tried not to show how annoyed I was at the man, but it was impossible. I wasn't about to give him the light of day until he sucked up his own pride and apologized.

Author's POV...

As soon as the group was parked, they were ambushed immediately by friends and family members.

"Dad!" Maggie yelled in relief as Hershel hugged his daughter before turning to Patricia that was heading quickly towards him from the house.

"Patricia, prepare the shed for surgery." Hershel pressed seriously as the woman blinked in confusion before everyone turned to see Rick and Daryl pulling an unconscious body from the backseat of the car.

"Who the hell is that?" Shane was quick to bark out, as everyone's attention shot over to Rick and Daryl silently dragging the body towards the shed.

"Randal." Ana answered in monotone as she took the surgery bag from Patricia, jogging to catch up with the men as Shane made his way over as well.

"We couldn't just leave him there. He would have bled out." Rick quickly cut off Shane's accusing glare as Ana silently instructed them to place him on the now empty workbench Hershel had set up in the shed.

"You think that was smart, bringing someone like that here?" Ana could distinctly hear Shane's voice rasping softly at Rick while she quietly began going over procedures in her head while digging through Hershel's surgery bag.

"What did you want me to do? Leave him there? Let the kid bleed out?" Rick argued back as she went about using the belts on the table to tie the boy's arms over the edge to the table's legs.

"It ain't safe bringin' him here. I would have left him back there." Shane hissed as Ana stopped her hands from unraveling the shirt she had used to wrap what was left of the boy's leg before letting out a noticeable scoff.

"You'd know alot of bout leavin' people, huh?" Ana's stress was reaching an inhumane level as she turned her eyes to level on Shane's challenging ones.

"And what the fuck is that supposed to me?" He spat back as she chuckled lightly, shaking her head as she turned back to Randal, pulling the shirt clear of his wound before going about cleaning it.

"Nothing aside from the fact that you ditched Otis without so much as blinking. Ain't I right?" She smirked to herself, feeling the tension rise in the room as Shane let out a forced laugh.

"Can't believe the shit I'm hearing. You listening to her shit, Rick?" Shane turned the topic off of him, turning to Rick who was already eyeing his friend hesitantly.

"Ain't shit to listen to when it's the truth. Tell me, how'd you bring a dead man's gun back? Wasn't born yesterday and I ain't stupid, though you could stand to learn a thing or two." She pressed mockingly, hearing the growl and heavy steps before her gun was cocked and aimed at the man's forehead without looking. Moving her other hand from the boy's leg, she slowly turned to see the barrel of her gun pressed to a heaving Shane who glared down at her, both Daryl and Rick now aiming their own weapons at him from behind.

"I'm done with yer shit. I'm done with ya lookin' down on me cause I'm the new girl. I ain't stupid and I ain't blind. I know all the shit yer hidin' and I'm sick and tired of yer bullshit. Back the fuck out of my face or I won't hesitate to put a bullet between your eyes." Ana wasted no time in hissing darkly in Shane's face, watching his eyes narrow further as she pressed the barrel just a bit harder into the middle of his forehead for emphasis.

If he made one more, just one, she wouldn't hesitate. She was ready to kill this man.

Fortunately for him, he didn't move and only smirked, eyeing her up curiously.

"You know shit about me? Good, cause I know shit about you too." Shane's whisper caught her off guard, though it went unheard by Daryl and Shane as she tried to keep her features as neutral as possible.

"Like the fact that ya somehow know what the hell is happening without being present? Ya know things are comin' before they actually happen. Ain't I right?" Shane used her own words against her as Ana physically felt her stomach tie in knots at the man's words, her eyes unconsciously widening in surprise before she could stop herself.

How? How could he know something like that? It wasn't possible, she was careful around the man.

No, he was lying. He was just trying to get under her skin. That's all.

She quickly wiped the shocked look off her face and scoffed, adjusting the grip on her gun.

"Ya deaf? Get the fuck out of my face you dickless fuck!" She barked this time, more defensive than she had expected as Shane smirked, knowing he had gotten under her skin before taking a step back with his hands in the air like he was mocking her.

"Fine. Gotta leave the nurse to her job, huh?" Shane shot her an amused look before he marched out the door, disappearing just as Hershel appeared in the doorway, eyeing everyone in apprehension.

"I got this. You two make sure what we brought back in the truck is being fairly passed out." Ana quickly sheathed her gun in the back of her pants, turning back to the boy as Hershel silently joined her, already helping where she needed.

Naturally, Daryl had fought tooth and nail at her comment to leave her to her work. Instead, he had pulled up a seat in the doorway, watching her closely as she worked alongside Hershel who was leading her through the surgery.

"Looks like apologies are in order." Hershel suddenly spoke through the silent tension as Ana glanced up from the stitch she was applying, wondering if he was addressing Daryl who had yet to move from the doorway.

"You were right. I had already decided to remove the boy's leg before you did. It was the only way I could think of on how to save him." Hershel added, passing her the stitch scissors which she quickly used to snip the end of the line.

"I didn't know how bad it was out there, until the bar. What you did was right as well. We didn't have the time, you did what had to be done. Thank you for that and for coming to look for me." Hershel added as she finally lifted her eyes to meet his, shocked the man had grown the balls to apologize to her, finally.

"You're welcome. But I think I also need to apologize for the way I spoke to you. There was no need for the things I said, I was just upset and what I get angry, my mouth has a mind of its own and just runs away with itself." She jokingly added as Hershel let out a low laugh, nodding as he began helping her to inspect her cauterize work along with the few gashes she had stitched in both his cheek and arm.

"You said you were only in medical school for half a year?" Hershel asked in disbelief as she wiped her hands using the bowl of water Patricia had brought in, nodding to answer his question causing him to grin.

"Well, you did an amazing job. You ever had any hands-on training for this sort of stuff?" He then asked amazed as she fought back the blush from his compliment, turning back to the bowl to hide her face.

"Only on stitching though I read through all my medical books about a million times to the point I memorized most of it. They had a very descriptive section on cauterizing, let me tell ya." Ana chuckled at the memory, welcoming Hershel's own laughter.

T-Dog came in soon after they had finished bandaging what was left of his leg, wanting to help by being on watch first while Ana, Hershel, and Daryl emerged from the shed to see an argument beginning between Shane and Rick. Ana rolled her eyes, already knowing what this was about, though she tried to ignore it as Shane complained about putting guards up around the clock for Randall. Can't say she didn't agree with the asshole but she just couldn't stand the very sight of him.

"You know, we haven't dealt with what you did at my barn yet. So let me make this perfectly clear, once and for all..." Ana was shocked to say the least, when Hershel left her side to defend Rick, almost putting himself between the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff.

"This is my farm. I wanted you gone but Rick and...and most definitely Ana, talked me out of it but that doesn't mean I have to like it." Hershel defended as he passed her a small smile that didn't go unnoticed by Shane who turned to glare at her once again.

"So, do us all a favor. Keep your mouth shut." Hershel barked, standing there for a second more before turning and heading back towards her.

"I have some thing's I'd like to give you. Meet me in my study in 10." He muttered to both her and Daryl who eyed the man suspiciously as he headed back to the house.

Ana's POV...

Who would have known, when I finally separated myself from Glenn and Maggie in search of Hershel, that the man would hand me a stack of what I knew to be medical books. I knew it was clear on my face how confused I was so he quickly commented that I had bright potential in the medical field and skills that would come in handy in this world.

I wasn't about to shoot the man's offer down and instead, took the books with a soft 'thank you' and headed back out the door, only to collide into a solid form that snatched the books out of my hand in the next second. Sighing, already knowing who it was and knowing no matter what I would say, he'd ignore, I turned to my favorite redneck.

"I can carry my own shit, ya know?" I snarked half-assed as he glanced down at me amused before nudging his head as a silent push for me to head out. Rolling my eyes at his antics, knowing I wasn't gonna get much else, I turned and began making my ways towards the stairs only for the tip of his boot to hit my ass. I spun, squealing unladylike as my hands immediately grabbed my backend, my eyes now wide as I stared at him in question.

"What the fuck was that?!" I squeaked out, unsure how to react with his blunt actions as he snorted, winking at me bashfully before passing me, leaving me there with my drowning thoughts.

"What the fuck was that?" I muttered to myself this time, turning in time to see the tip of his head disappear down the stairs.

A few hours later...

I had been lucky enough to be rewarded a few hours to myself after the last two days I had. I was thankfully for it, though I didn't want it, Carol had basically shoved me in the direction of my tent with a promise that she would bring me my lunch and dinner. Dale went on to add that if he saw me leave the tent for any sort of work, he'd lock me in the RV for an entire day. Well, jokes was on him because I was positive I would find a way out of his RV within the first 10 minutes.

But, I gave in. Ignoring the glares from both Lori and Andrea, who personally didn't think I deserved the attention or 'reward' I was getting, from what I overheard, I kicked up a lounge chair just outside my tent and began digging into the books Hershel had loaned me. Slowly, I found myself getting reacquainted with things I had come to love, a subject I had studied my ass off to be a part of.

"Is shit like that real interestin'?" The redneck's familiar gruff pierced the cloud of concentration I had over me as I blinked the words out of my eyes and peered up across my little fire pit where he was, once again, cleaning his bow.

"When it comes to savin' a life, hell ya it is." I shot back, looking back to the diagram that was reintroducing the human's skeleton to me.

"Starin' at that book like it's about ta give ya the answers ta life." He teased causing me to let out a loud snort as my eyes snapped up to him.

"Starin' at that bow like ya 'bout to bust a nut any second now." A smirk slowly crawled its way onto my face at my retort, watching how slowly he had caught what I said before his wide eyes were on me.

"Fuck you." He hissed, seemingly embarrassed as I tilted my head back and let out a loud bark of laughter, proud that I had called Daryl out on his shit.

"Ya love it, don't deny it." I sang amused as he grumbled a few curses under his breath before standing.

"Gonna go take a piss." He muttered under his breath as my laughter cut long enough for me to add 'make sure ya take ya bow with ya. Yer gonna need her.'

Naturally, he flipped me off as he picked his bow off the ground, tripping over his feet with how flustered he was, only sending me laughing harder.

"Must be nice to just sit here all day, relax." I had been expecting Daryl's voice to belong to the footsteps I heard approaching, but no, fate hated me.

Pressing my eyes shut tightly, praying that maybe my mind was just playing a dumbass trick on me, I slowly opened my lids, lifting my head, sure enough landing on the blonde 'good-for-nothing' of the group, standing just beside Daryl's chair, staring down at me as she had me on a hook.

Oh, she'd never learn, it would seem.

"Not sure, first time I've actually sat down since we got here. You'd know more about sittin' around all day, tell me, am I doin' it right?" I shot back without any hesitation as I noticed the grip on her arms tighten before she took a threatening step towards me.

"I'll have you know, I don't sit around all day. I'm busy, helping where I can." Andrea defended as I glanced away from her with an amused laugh.

"What exactly do you do around here, aside from marching around with a stick up yer ass?" I slammed my book shut, silently letting her know that messing with me wasn't going to get her anywhere.

Her eyes widened at my comment as I stood, barely having the time to put my book down before she was in my face hissing.

"Shut your fuckin' mouth. You don't know shit about what I do or go through around here." She rasped out as I noticed the crazed look just brewing behind her orbs.

"How about you shut yer fuckin' mouth? Yer always climbing up my ass about one thing or another and honestly, I don't give a rats ass why ya don't like me. I could care less what I look like in yer eyes. But don't come over here, spouting shit and saying shit that ain't true, okay? Not sure what kind of shit you've been doin' around here aside from climbin' up Dale's ass and gettin' into Shane's pants, but I've not only single-handedly brought Sophia back, I've also brought back a truck that's gonna feed, cloth and house the entire camp for months ta come. Oh, and did I mention I also helped bring back Hershel? So, I think I deserve sittin' down for 10 minutes, I apologize, I'm not a fuckin' good for nothin' fuckin' freeloader like ya." By the end of my little rant, I was now the one in her face, my eyes hard as I practically begged her to hit me just so I had a reason to mop the front yard with her face.

"Everythin' okay?" Daryl's voice was like a comfortable touch to my back as I eyed Andrea once more before taking a step back.

"Stay the fuck away from me. I won't ask ya again." I barked again as she glanced between me and Daryl before turning and marching away.

"Bitch." I spat annoyed that my 'relaxation' time had been ruined by the egotistical sack of shit.

"What the fuck was that about?" Daryl asked as I plopped down with a heavy grunt back into my chair.

"Dumb bitch doesn't know when to shut her fuckin' mouth." I muttered as I pinched the bridge of my nose, now fending off a brewing headache I could feel festering just behind my eyelids.

"What happened?" He repeated as I sighed, lifting my head to meet his eyes.

"She came over to point out that it must be nice to just sit around and relax all day." I mocked as his eyes shot over his shoulder in the direction Andrea had disappeared, no doubt debating on how he was going to kick her ass and make it look like an accident.

"Bitch knows she hasn't done shit since we got 'ere?" He asked defensively as I laughed sarcastically and nodded.

"Though she said, and I quote, 'You don't know shit about what I do or go through around here'." I mimicked in a high almighty voice as he scoffed, shaking his head.

"What shit? All she does is fuckin' whine and nag. Damn bitch." Daryl pointed out with a grunt as he lifted his bow onto his leg, getting my attention which he seemed to have noticed.

"Shut yer fuckin' mouth." He stopped me from opening my mouth as my lips sputtered into a pout.

"Buzz kill." I muttered under my breath before reaching down for my book that had fallen into the dirt.

"Ana?" Another voice spoke as my head snapped up in record speed, both me and Daryl glancing up at Rick who stood awkwardly to the side.

"Yeah?" I answered, dusting off the books cover before turning to give him my attention while Daryl stared at him in suspicion.

"Just came over here to thank you." His next words caught me off guard as I blinked a few times, unsure how to answer as I looked to Daryl for some help.

"I mean for bringing that truck back, helping to find Hershel and with Randall." Rick explained quickly as my eyes lit with realization before I shook my head.

"You don't need ta thank me. Seriously, there are kids here and I wasn't about to let them starve, plus it was a good way to put us in good graces with Hershel and his family. Now those kids won't have to worry about their next meal or where to sleep tonight." I smiled sweetly at him, noticing the way his eyes moved and his cheeks tinted before he quickly glanced away.

"Hershel's a good guy, he just needed someone to kick his ass in the right direction and I was alright bein' the one to do that." I jokingly added, wanting to cut the tension I could practically taste in the air before another set of footsteps echoed from around the tent.

"Rick?" Lori's nail-biting voice sent me clenching my jaw as I turned to look at Daryl immediately, not wanting to make any eye contact with that woman.

"Here you are. Carl's lookin' for you." She forced voice echoed through my eardrums as I watched Daryl pull his eyes from my own and to hers.

"Came over to thank Ana for finding the truck and for helpin' us find Hershel." Rick explained as I finally turned my eyes, instantly meeting Lori's.

"I'm sure she's gotten all the praises she can handle today. Anyone could have done it though, ain't that right?" Lori asked me directly as my eyes twitched, my hand itching to find something to put through this woman's skull.

"I'm sure ya could have found that truck, slept in the back overnight to sleep out a herd, hotwired the truck and drove it all the way here safely only to ship out ta find Hershel an hour later. Like ya said, anyone could have done it, ain't that right?" I tilted my head in an obvious mock as he opened her mouth only for Rick to grab her arm, effectively stopping her from her pity party.

"I'll talk to you later." Rick mentioned to me as I stared at him confused as he basically dragged his wife away from our area and back towards the main camp.

"Somethin' I need ta know?" Daryl was quick to jump the gun as I scoffed, looking at him in disbelief.

"Shut yer mouth, it ain't like that." I pushed off his comment, flipping through my book for my page.

"Didn't seem like it. Whatcha guys gotta talk about, hm?" Daryl spat out defensively as I could instantly tell that he was growing self-conscious, as he was infamous for doing on the television show.

"Dude, I like ya, probably more than I should so shut yer fuckin' mouth, it's always gonna be just ya."

Holy fuckin' shit, what the HELL had I just said?!

So, how'd you like it? Let me know, I miss hearing from ya'll!

Until next time~