I do not own TWD or it's characters.

Guys! I'm so sorry. Life got hectic and I forgot all about my Judith fan fic! I hope there are still some of you out there, holding out hope I'd return. This chapter is a bit short, but I will try to update more frequently and give the chapters a bit more length in the future.

They hiked a few days before encountering tracks. They were fresh, and led away from Hilltop. Daryl stood up from examining them and looked square at Judith.

"You can't get caught," he mumbled. Fed up with the repeated phrase over the last few days, she unsheathed her ankle knife and began hacking and her mud caked hair. "Shit, girl! What you doin'?" Daryl caught her hand on its next swipe.

"The thing that gives me away as a girl is my hair. If I hack it all off, I could probably pass as a twelve year old boy," she said, yanking her hand back.

"But what if you don't?"

"It's just hair," she said with a shrug. Twenty minutes later, her hair now closely cropped, she bent to dig a hole. She piled the shorn hair into it, then covered it.

"Better?" She asked. Daryl looked her over and had to admit, grudgingly, that she did indeed look like a twelve year old boy. It would give her a few days, at least, for him to rescue her if she was caught. He vocalized none of this, simply grunting. Focusing on the trail, they began stalking their prey.

After following the trail for about a mile, Judith determined that the group consisted of roughly 15 men. She had thought 14, initially, but Daryl pointed out the double footprints caused by one man stepping only in the tracks of another. The group had a tracker.

There was no need for vocal communication between the two. A slight hitch in breath, or exhale, followed by a few hand signs was all they needed. They followed the group the entire day, before stopping to rest. Daryl took first watch. Neither needed much sleep. After 4 hours, Judith took over, and 3 hours later, they started tracking again. It was nearly nightfall when they caught up to the group. Judith smelled them first. A quick motion to Daryl an they both scaled a tree to get a view.

Just as Daryl's tracking lesson earlier suggested, there were 15 guys. They were stopped for dinner, with one guy searching the circumference for the continuation of the tracks. Before leaving, Daryl had covered all tracks leading to their new community for a few miles. They had reached the end of the tracks they had followed. It would slow them down, but it wouldn't stop them. A good tracker, and this guy was a good tracker, would be able to find all the other trails leading to their community, find where they ended, and extrapolate the general direction of the community. It might delay the attack by a week or so, but it wouldn't stop it.

Fifteen men was a bit much for them to take at once. They'd need a plan. Getting the group to break apart to kill them individually. Judith settled into the tree a little more comfortably. They were going to be there awhile. Unfortunately, they weren't close enough to hear anything the men were saying. Had they been, the risk of being caught would be exponentially higher than it was. Not a risk they were willing to take. The tracker stopped his perimeter search and spoke with a man near the center of the group.

"Make camp," barely whispered across the wind to them as the guy yelled it to his crew. The tracker gathered some gear and disappeared.

"Stay here. I'm gonna take out that tracker. Don't do nothing foolish," Daryl whispered to her. Squeezing her shoulder, he disappeared from site, with barely a whisper of sound. She stayed in their tree, watching and waiting. Hours passed before Daryl returned. A simple look from her and nod from him confirmed the tracker was no longer a problem.

"Need to pick 'em off faster. Can't have them figure out what we doing till we thin them out." Jude nodded.

"Bathroom is on the outskirt of camp. Not far enough to take them out." Daryl muttered a profanity under his breath. She saw a spark in his eyes, moments before he broke down his plan. It was a great plan.

Judith crouched in a new tree, bathroom in sight. The "bathroom" was merely a hole they dug on the outskirts of their camp. Far enough away for a touch of privacy, and more likely, to keep the stench away, but too close to ambush someone mid piss. It was far enough away, however, to set a trap. She waited patiently for their bait. It wasn't a long wait. As the guy was finishing up, she tossed a pebble further into the forest. The slight rustle caught his ear and he glanced in the direction of her throw. He listened for a moment, and was about to give up his inquiry, when she tossed another pebble, slightly right of the last. Interest piqued, he drew a knife from his belt and began creeping toward the sound. As he closed in on the second pebble, she tossed a third, setting him up for the ambush. Predictably, he turned toward it. Not a sound reached her of his death. But she clearly saw her uncle rise, cover the guys mouth, and slit his throat. Easing him on to the ground, he waited until death to jab his knife into his head. Couldn't have the guy turning. His slit throat would give them away.

Jude quickly climbed down the tree, and slunk over to her uncle. She touched his sleeve to get his attention, then nodded away from camp. She had a new idea. Once far enough from the camp, she crouched down. When he joined her, she whispered her plan to him.

"The new walkers... think we can heard them?" Daryl simply nodded. With a little planning, they set off to find the newly changed walkers. It took a little work, but they finally had to herd headed toward the camp. At the current rate, they'd overrun the camp around 2 AM, when most of them were sleeping. Daryl and Jude crept ahead, scaled separate trees, and waited for those on watch to notice the herd.

The first man noticed the noise. After a word to his partner, he crept into the shadows, heading toward the herd. Daryl put him down as soon as he was out of sight of the other guard. Tossing a pebble, Jude got the second guard to come investigate, tacking him down in the same fashion. She dropped out of the tree, and crept around to the other side of camp. Couldn't have anyone get away.

Unfortunately, she dropped the second guard to close to town and woke one of the men. He looked around, noticed the absent guards and the sound of walkers approaching, and woke the man next to him. Arming themselves, they headed toward the approaching herd. She heard a bird call, and knew Daryl had seen them and would take care of them. He could run through the forest without making a sound.

She continued on her loop around, found a suitable tree, and climbed up. Waited.

It didn't take long for hell to break loose in the camp. Walkers stumbled into the circle of sleeping men and took out 8 guys, before the noise woke the others. Seven left. Much more manageable. She waiting patiently, as the guys attempted to clear the herd, then gave up and started running. She waited for Daryl's signal, to confirm he was in place. It didn't come. Knowing if she didn't act soon, they'd get away, she loosed an arrow and watched the man in the back fall. His companions didn't even turn his way, assuming a walker got him. She got lucky 3 more times before they noticed her. Jumping from the tree, she took off running.

Thanks for those of you who left reviews! They're what made me return to this story and decide to go ahead