So, one day late from my usual posting time but Thanksgiving kicked my butt this year. No questions asked because I do not have the emotional energy to explain everything that went down this past weekend, just know, being here with ya'll is my haven from it all.
Followers: Grey jedi Anakin Skywalker and mamareadstomuch2! Sending ya'll a virtual hug!
Reviews:
celia azul: Glad you enjoyed the season! Hope that also means you enjoyed my version of it haha j/k
Dark Rose Charm: You'll all find out what Daryl has been thinking, sooooooon enough, it's coming, promise! You and me both on the deaths of a certain 3, they cannot happen fast enough for my liking!
Frankie: I plan for them to go in the worst possible way, promise! But if you have any preference on how you want them to go, I'm open for options lol Also, as I said above, you'll find out about Daryl's reaction soooon enough
shadowoftheblackdeat: Alright, I plan on addressing everything you asked. Carl as of now, is a background character only because I have plans for Ana's and Carl's relationship to grow from there, well that's the plan so far. Also, I made Ana the way she is because when it comes to failing at something, it'll hit her ten times as hard. Hope that makes sense to you. She's not perfect though it may seem like it at the moment, she has a lot of short comings that you'll see soon enough. Oh, and don't worry, I don't take it as a flame, just happy to hear your opinion on what I got going on in the story
UmiNight Angel Neko: LOl I'm thinking the same thing. I'm hoping she comes to realize everything Ana said about is true lol but we'll see.
ObsessedFangirl96: Awwww I'm so glad you stumbled upon my mess of a story and I'm so fuckin' happy you are enjoying it so far! Hope I can keep the hype up for you!
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead or it's characters, just Ana!
Enjoy!
Ana's POV...
I had returned back to the car to drop off what more I found only to find the back seat of the car, empty. My eyes shot open in alert, my pistol quickly finding it's place in my hand.
"Rick!" I shouted, probably a lot louder than I needed to be in that moment as I darted around the car to see our prisoner attempting to crawl away.
"What is it?!" Shane shouted as I ran over to the boy, rolling him over onto his back before aiming my gun down at him.
"Come on, ya had one job and that to not do anythin' stupid." I hissed down at him annoyed as the now terrified boy shot his hands up in defense, shaking under my boot as Rick and Shane finally came over to see what was going on.
"I owe you guys. I can help protect what you've got." He whimpered as Rick passed me a look which I nodded to, stepping back to allow the two to help the boy sit up.
"Why would you save my life to kill me by leaving me here?" He then asked desperately as I rolled my eyes, squatting down in front of him.
"Ya don't think ya'll make it out here, alone?" I perked a brow amused as he eyed me up briefly causing Rick's grip on his arm to tighten.
"One guy-one guy can't make it alone." He cried terrified as I snorted, pushing myself to stand.
"If a woman can, a man certainly can, I hope." I muttered the last part under my breath though it went heard by our resident douchebag.
"That's why I was with those dudes-I was alone!" Randall called out as Rick and Shane forced him to his single foot, stumbling as they dragged him back to lean against the car. I stood back, watching as Shane eyed the boy in irritation before stepping back with Rick, watching him fumble to stand on his own.
"Don't be stupid! I'm not like them! I'm just some guy! I used to watch football and screw around on the internet! I lived with my mom!" He sobbed out, now shaking as he fought to stand on his own while I looked at him with minor sympathy. He really did nothing wrong when I looked at it. He did exactly what Rick and his people would do had someone shot down their own people. But then again, those douchebags in the bar deserved what they got and just like that, the sympathy I once had, evaporated into thin air.
"I lost her like you lost people. I went to school with Maggie for God's sake! I went to church, I rode the bench on varsity baseball!" I had instantly narrowed in on the name he had mention. Had my small ounce of sympathy been there still, I'm sure this alone would have made me change my mind.
Rick and Shane were a little late to come to terms with what the boy said as Shane's eyes snapped over to him, Rick swaying briefly in shock.
"You...you went to school with Maggie?" Rick repeated in uncertainty as the boy looked between the three of us in hesitation.
"He asked you a fuckin' question! Did you go to school with Maggie?!" Shane quickly snapped, lunging at the boy, going as far as pinning him to the car with his pistol pressed to his forehead.
"I-it..." Randall whimpered, his face growing pale as I noticed the blood now soaking into his bandages. Hell.
"Fuck! Back off of him like that. Ain't gonna answer shit with ya breathin' in his face!" I barked out, startling Rick who instantly jumped out, pulling Shane off of the boy who clung to the car.
"She didn't know me. Didn't even know I existed. I mean, I knew her. I knew who her dad was. There is no way I would ever do anything to hurt her or her family. Jesus. Or you-or your people! I'm not like the guys I was with!" His one leg gave out, sending him stumbling onto his hands and knees in front of the 3 of us.
"Fuckin' hell." I muttered, pushing past Shane into the back of the car for the medical kit I had brought. Ignoring Shane and Rick whispering behind me, I hesitantly approached the still crying boy, my pistol in one hand.
"Any fuckin' funny business and I'll shoot the other leg off, got it?" I threatened, showing him the medical kit before he nodded quickly.
I silently went about cutting the boys bandages to check his leg to see that he had torn a stitch or two, nothing too drastic. When I felt him move, even just slightly, my hand instantly grabbed at the machete lying at my side, pressing the tip of it to his neck with a glare.
"I-I-wasn't..." He whispered, staring down at me both surprised and horrified.
"I ain't like the other girls I'm sure yer group would take advantage of. Given the opportunity, I'd skin those bastards alive and see how they like the pain." I knew what Randall's people did to groups they came across. How the men in their group took advantage of lone women, the pain those women had to go through for their pleasure was sickening, nauseating.
Giving the boy a second to rethink whatever the hell he was gonna do, I went back to rewrapping his leg, flinching in surprise when Rick suddenly snapped at Shane, no doubt about wanting to kill the boy.
I glanced over my shoulder, to check what was happening only to gasp, pulling the boy and myself out of the way just as Shane shot his gun off. The bullet nicked the dirt where I had been kneeling as I shot up, turning to see the boy lying in the dirt looking horrified. My eyes instantly snapped over at the sound of a scuffle to see Rick and Shane throwing punches at each other, Rick now pinned to the hood of our car while Shane nailed into him.
"Shit." I gasped in concern, picking myself off the ground before making a mad dash at the crazed man.
Using all my body weight, I threw myself at the man's back. My arms instantly went around his neck in an attempt to put him in a chokehold only for the man to freak out before I could get my hands in place. His elbow was the first thing I noticed as it was soon in my face, sending me reeling as it made contact with my nose. I yelped in surprise and pain, falling back onto my back only to lie there and watch as Shane spun, his gun now aimed down at me.
Fuck.
Author's POV...
Rick hadn't wasted any time, as soon as he got his bearings together and noticed the man now aiming his gun down at a woman he was afraid to admit he liked, he snapped. He charged at him, tackling him just as the gun went off, barely missing her. Both men fell to the ground as the gun was kicked out of reach and towards Ana while Rick began pounding into Shane's face.
Ana stumbled to stand, wiping the blood now pouring from her nose onto the sleeve of her flannel.
"Fuckin' bastard." She hissed, swiping the gun off the floor before marching over and aiming it down at Shane.
"Think I owe ya a little somethin'." Ana spat, her hackles rising at the sight of the man looking up at her, seeming a bit too smug.
"You don't get to make these calls anymore." Rick stood from his place over his friend, stepping up beside Ana, placing his hand on the gun she was holding. Rick pushed her to lower her gun as she grunted in defeat, dropping her arm.
"I won't let you." Rick added once more to Shane before turning to Ana. His eyes scanned her face, the blood still pouring out of her nose before meeting her eyes.
"You okay?" He asked worried, stepping just a bit closer to her, his hand finding it's way to her cheek as she ignored the warmth spreading from his hand.
"'m fine." She muttered as Rick pulled a handkerchief from the back pants, folding it before hesitantly pressing it to her face. Ana instantly winced at the pain that shot through her face while Rick stared down at her concerned.
"Might be broken." He explained apologetically as she sighed, sniffing once before wincing, letting out a short 'fuck'.
"I can pop it back in to place." Rick offered unsure, stepping closer to her as she sighed, whimpering a bit as she passed him a quick nod.
"Kay, hold onto me. I'll be quick." Rick whispered as her hands immediately shot up, one gripping the shirt at his torso, the other grasping his forearm tightly.
"On 3, okay? 1, 2..." Ana should have known the man wouldn't have waited till 3 before he snapped her nose bone back into place on 2. She yelped, her legs almost giving out before Rick's arm shot out, catching her before she completely crumbled.
"Fuckin' hell." She moaned, reaching up and whacking his hand away from her face so that she could hold it instead.
"Sorry." He apologized, hesitantly letting go of her small waist and stepping back to give her some space.
"Figured ya couldn't count." She suddenly teased as his brows rose in surprise. Opening his mouth to return the favor, something at the corner of his eyes, caught his attention. Turning in time, he gasped, his eyes widening as he jumped at Ana, tackling her to the ground just as a large wrench came flying over the two of them and through a large glass window. She shut her eyes instantly, her hands raised to protect her from the falling glass as Rick maneuvered himself further over her, protecting her completely.
Ana wanted to kill Shane. She wanted to kill him right now, in this moment. But when she thought the problem was over and attempted to move out from under Rick, louder noises from the direction of the broken window caught both Rick and her attention as they both glanced up at the walker now making it's way out.
"Shit." Rick hissed, clambering to get off of her, yanking her from the ground in the meantime.
The walker that had made it out of the window before they were completely off the ground, made a quick swipe at Ana who was pulled out of the way barely by Rick. In turn the walker stumbled, his body weight forcing Rick onto his back against a stack of pallets. Getting her surroundings together, Ana stumbled from the ground, snatching up her gun and holstering it before yanking her machete free, embedding it deep in the walkers skull.
She met Rick's eyes as he stared at her with an unfamiliar emotion before she yanked the walker off of Rick, stumbling with it.
"Go! Run for the car!" Rick shouted as more walkers fell out of the broken window, slowly getting up to get them.
Ana wasted no time, ignoring the fact that Shane was just standing there, having watched his best friend almost get eaten, before she took off running towards the car, only to come to a halt when a shiver had run up her spine. She couldn't leave him. She knew what was going to happen, what was coming. Biting down into her blood coated lip, she ignored Randall crawling away and spun, running back to where she had separated from Rick to see the man pinned to the ground beneath 3 walkers, Shane nowhere in sight.
Knowing they were seconds from landing a single bite on the man, she ignored the machete still gripped in her hand and retrieved her gun. Carefully she shot the 3 in the head, startling the man under them as she jogged over to help.
"Tell me ta fuckin' run and ya almost get eaten." She complained under her breath as she grunted, pulling the last one off of him as Rick sat up, grabbing her cheeks in his hands before pressing his lips to her forehead. Ana froze beneath his lips, her blood thumping loudly in her ears as Rick stood, pulling her frozen form from the ground.
"This is the one fuckin' time I won't scold you for not listening to me." He whispered, hugging her to his side before grabbing her hand, dragging her towards the car.
What the fuck had just happened?
Ana POV...
I didn't know how to react. The man had fuckin' kissed me. Well, I better count my blessing's that it wasn't on the lips but still, the man had fuckin' kissed me! Like what the hell?! All I did was save him, did that reward a kiss? Fuckin' hell.
I had shook the feeling off quickly, realizing we were being tracked down by 2 dozen walkers or so as we made our way back to the car where, ironically enough, Randall had been attempting to slip into the backseat to hide.
"Lookie what we have 'ere!" I called out as Rick let go of my hand long enough to run over, pushing Randall further inside the car while the boy attempted to beg for his life, thinking we had come to finish what Shane had started. I slammed the door shut just as Rick chucked the car keys at me.
"Drive. We gotta look for Shane." Rick ran around the hood of the car, slapping it to pull me from my confused daze as I turned to look at him shocked.
"Ya wanna save the bastard who just tried to kill us?! He shot at me too!" I snapped in disbelief, quickly climbing into the drivers seat and kicking the car on.
"He's my best friend, course I'm gonna save him!" Rick shouted back, kicking a walker out of his doorway before slamming the door shut.
"Best friend that tried to fuckin' kill us!" I spat back, kicking the car into gear before barreling through a trio of walkers who had just begun to congregate in front of the car. I grunted with the force of the car bouncing, listening to Rick as I spun the car to the face the way we had come in, already knowing where Shane was hiding out.
"No! Go back that way! He might have gone that way!" Rick shouted as he pointed over his shoulder, my eyes rolling at the man's ignorant.
"No, he'd make a run for the gate, try ta get out of 'ere. He'd go this way." I explained, coming around a box truck only to take notice of the small group now gathering at the door of a bus, the bus.
Rick had no time to compliment me, though I wasn't looking for any, before he had his window down, half his body out the window as he began taking out walkers.
"Drive around back!" Rick shouted down to me though I had already been moving to do so as I turned to look at Randall.
"I'd fuckin' move over if I was ya." I warned him, rolling the back window down as we slid up to the back of the bus, just in time for Shane to burst through the back door, diving in, legs first into the back seat.
"Go! Go! Go!" Rick slapped the roof of the car as I yanked the car into reverse before turning to watch over my shoulder as I calmly moved through the debris before peeling out of the place and back to the safety of the main road.
It was quiet for quite some time after we left that hell zone. My eyes constantly whipped back and forth from the windshield in front of me to the rearview mirror where I could feel Shane's eyes boring into the back of my head.
"Pull over, I'll drive." Rick grumbled out some time after as I scoffed, shaking my head.
"Nah, I can drive. I know the way just fine." I sarcastically answered, passing Rick a look before turning back to keep my eyes on the road.
"Thanks for comin' for me and I'm sorry about screaming at you." Rick suddenly said as my eyes slowly panned over to see him staring out his window.
"Pretty fuckin' sure I screamed at ya too." I laughed shortly, turning back to the road.
"Don't know why I ever doubted your instincts. Should have known you'd know exactly which direction Shane would have gone in." Rick added as I hesitantly glanced up to the rearview mirror where my eyes met a surprised and suspicious Shane's.
"Thanks for helping me, even when I know you didn't want to." Rick turned to look at me this time as I pulled my eyes from the mirror to meet his.
"Best friend, right?" I repeated forcefully as I watched the corner of his lips twitch into an almost smile.
We had returned back to camp just a bit before sunset. I parked the car, eyeing up the solemn air swimming around camp before climbing out. Carol had been the one to notice us pull up, as everyone was too busy or not to be seen when we did. I shut the door of the car silently, turning just as she approached me with a soft smile.
"Somethin' happened?" I commented, instantly knowing that the tense smell in the air was nothing good. Carol sighed, her smile slowly dropping as she glanced over at Shane and Rick dragging a complaining Randall back to the shed.
"Beth attempted to kill herself." Carol whispered sadly as I quickly bit my tongue, not wanting a comment to slip about how annoying Beth was to me. She was pitiful, her character took on a whole other level of irritation. She had always been weak to me, a character the storyline could have gone without and been fine. To me, she was a younger version of Andrea, just waiting for her time to shine, always looking for a way to gain attention.
Bottom line, I could not stand her.
"But...she's alright?" I asked with forced uncertainty, knowing if fate was as infuriating as it was, she would still be alive.
"Yeah, she's fine. Hershel was able to stitch her up before it got too serious. Heard Andrea was to blame." Carol commented the last bit under her breath as the both of us began heading back towards camp where T-Dog and Glenn were now gathering.
"Can't say I'm surprised. Fuckin' woman is the ambassador of 'opting out'." I hissed to myself as Glenn glanced up from his conversation with T-Dog, his eyes widening as he took notice of me.
"You're okay?" He shot from his seat in relief as I sighed dramatically, plopping down into a free seat while staring up at him.
"I'd really like to shove that faith ya'll have over me up yer ass." I groaned, rubbing my face before wincing as I realized I had just broken my nose an hour or two before.
"Well, not unscathed." T-Dog commented as he noticed me gently pinch my nose, Carol quickly passing me a wet rag in concern.
"Fell flat on my fuckin' face, runnin' from walkers." I lied, not having the patience or energy to explain what really went down out there though I knew it would come out thanks to Rick's big mouth.
"Damn Shorty. Thought you were superwoman and you fuckin' trip?" T-Dog teasing broke through the awkwardness I had created as my eyes slowly peeled away from the fire in front of me and up to him.
"Ya say somethin' asshole?" I mumbled threateningly from behind the rag as T-Dog broke out laughing, Glenn following suit not far behind.
Author's POV...
Carol had made sure to feed as much food as she could, into Ana, who complained the entire way till she had cleaned her 3rd plate. Once she was free of Carol, she had made her way down to Hershel's horse stable, knowing no one would be there at this time of day, though she figured she'd pick up whatever Maggie hadn't been able to do in the day.
Humming, stepping in, she took glance of the stable, smiling at the familiar setting she had grown up in and approached the first stable where a beautiful black mare was peeking over the gate.
"Hey beautiful." She cooed, holding her hand out for the animal to sniff as it did just that. She giggled at the ticklish sensation from his whiskers before she grabbed a handful of horse feed, allowing him to snack straight from her hand as she patted his neck.
"You're really good with horses." A voice startled her, causing her to flinch as she hadn't been expecting anyone to be present. Though she was more surprised when she turned to see Rick's son, watching her with uncertainty from a stack of hay. Finally collecting herself, she sent him a kind smile before turning back to the horse who had long ago finished the snack in her hand.
"Well, I think it has somethin' to do with growin' up on a farm like this when I was younger." She explained as he nodded in understanding, stepping fully from behind the stack of hay.
"I don't bite ya know. How 'bout ya come over and try?" She grinned over at him as he eyed the horse now knocking gently on her shoulder to get her attention.
"It...it won't hurt me, will it?" Carl asked in slight fear as Ana shook her head, petting the horse's neck as he nuzzled her neck.
"Nah, he's a sweetheart, aren't ya?" She giggled once more as the horse knocked his nose against her own as if answering her question.
It took Carl a bit to gain the courage to come over as Ana didn't want to push the boy to do something he wasn't comfortable doing. Once she had felt him slide up beside her, she pulled her face away from the horse and glanced down at the boy with a smile.
"So, first things first, gotta gain his trust. Hold yer hand out." She instructed, showing him how to do with his palm up and hands flat.
"Remember always keep yer hand flat. Sometimes they get too excited and take a bigger nip than they should." She joked, wiggling her fingers for emphasis as his eyes widened in momentary fear.
"Don't worry kid, I won't let um hurt ya, promise." She ruffled his hair teasingly as he passed her a happy smile that she returned.
Carl was able to feed the horse, laughing as she did when the horse's whiskers tickled his palm before the horse had stepped back from the stable door, going over into the corner to lie down.
"Ya did good Carl." She praised as he peeked over the gate, watching as the horse carefully laid itself down into the hay for the night.
"Do you know how to ride one of them?" Carl asked in interest as she carefully shut the feed bag, tying it shut.
"Of course, kind of came with the package of livin' on a farm. Had ta learn how to ride, feed, clean, farm, all that fun stuff." She sarcastically added, noticing Carl watching her closely.
"Somethin' up? Ya look like you got a lot on yer mind kid." Ana asked, wondering if something had happened with him to look so lost in his thoughts.
"Can I ask you something?" He asked unsure, twiddling with his fingers at his waistline causing Ana to stand, perking a brow, now completely interested in what he wanted to ask.
"Mom and Dad have been arguing a lot lately." He began as Ana's eyes widened, not liking where the conversation was going now.
"'bout?" Ana asked unsure, not sure she wanted to know what they were arguing about. Though, let's be honest, she probably knew exactly what they were arguing about these days.
"Well...they fight a lot about Shane and then, most days..it's about...it's about you." Carl's eyes hesitantly lifted to meet her shocked ones.
"Me?" She asked softly as Carl chewed on his bottom lip and nodded.
"I don't know what it's about but...I'm scared. I had classmates that had parents that got divorced and I don't want to be one of them." Tears slowly began to spill from Carl's eyes quickly, his hand reaching up for his stomach where he had been shot.
Ana dropped everything in her hands, finding herself stepping quickly across the stable as she dropped to kneel in front of him, grasping his hands in her own.
"Carl, are you 'lright? You shouldn't be out of bed." She eyed him in worry as he sniffled, hanging his head with a nod.
Ana stared at the crying boy for a second longer before caving as she dropped his hands to pull him into a gentle hug, one she felt the boy needed.
"Everythin' will be alright, Carl. If anythin' happens, anythin' at all and ya need someone ta talk to, ya come find me, okay? I'll always help ya and be there for ya. Ya hear me?" She whispered, hating the way the boys sobbing got louder as his hands gripped the back of her shirt.
"Ya can count on me to be there for ya, Carl."
Hope ya'll enjoyed it!
Until next time~