Hi Everyone. Hope you all enjoy the new chapter.
Anna's heart was beating hard in her chest and it felt like it was beating against her rib cage. Her hand was shaking with the gun, she tried to lower the gun but her hand was shaking badly. Rick slowly stepped forward, gently putting his hand on hers and taking the gun carefully from her "Anna. Sweet heart" he whispered softly "You alright?"
She gasped, more alert and broken from her trance, looking up from the bodies. "Sorry" Rick knew the look on Anna had on her face, it told him everything he needed to know and he gave her a hug "It is alright to be scared every once in a while. You did well!" He rubbed her back, giving her a chaste kiss on the temple and let her go.
Glenn was still a little frozen on the spot and shaken up by what he saw "Holy shit Anna" he muttered, walking closer to the bodies. "I can't believe you did that. Wow!"
"Are you alright Glenn?" she asked coughing in to her hand.
"Yeah. I am okay" he replied. "You?" he asked.
"Alright. I have had better days" Anna was really starting to struggle to breathe now, her chest felt tight and it felt as if someone was sitting on it, squishing her.
The night was getting colder; their breath was white from the freezing temperature. Anna tucked in her scarf a little more into her jacket and doing her best to fight back a cough that was building up in her chest. This didn't go unnoticed by Hershel, he felt for her and saw the big heart she had. "Let's get back to the farm. This young lady needs to get back to a warm bed and a hot bowl of chicken noodle soup or she is going catch her death. But I have a feeling that young Anna here already caught it".
Together they collected the guns and ammunition from the bodies. Rick put his hand on her back, feeling her breathing and her chest was a little rattly. "Look at you; you shouldn't have come out here to get us. You are too sick!" he sighed.
Anna rolled her eyes at Rick "You are kidding me right? I had to bring you all back to your families and loved ones. I wasn't going to leave you all out here when I could have done something to stop anything bad happening. What happened to my family will not happen to my new family I have now. So you have to live my decision Officer Rick Grimes".
He shook his head, putting his hand on her shoulder. "There you are with that unique sense of humour you got there. Does Daryl even know you are out here? He watches you like a hawk. I am surprised you even got away without him not knowing and having him dragging you back to your camp".
Anna scoffed, re loading her gun and putting in the waist of her jeans. He could see the tears in her eyes "Daryl said he didn't want me there. He is mad at me".
He took her to the corner of the bar, looking down to her. "I don't think that is true. I bet as soon as he finds out you are gone, he will be out here like all hell is blazing looking for you. Daryl just gets angry when he is scared of losing one of his own".
Anna scoffed, wiping her hands over her face "Well he is going to be hell pissed at me when I get back then huh?"
"Oh he is going to be furious beyond belief I can tell you that. You are the closest thing to family he feels he has right now. Ever since you arrived here you have given Daryl a sense of purpose. I know he would be lost without you. We all would be".
Anna loaded her gun and strung up her cross bow "You all were surviving without me before when I wasn't around the group".
"No. No I don't think we were" Rick admitted. "What you and Samson have done for my boy. You have done a lot for him that Lori and I have not been able to do".
"We won't be able to survive without you, Anna. We all need you" Hershel said, his kind eyes making her feel better. 'Come on now. Let's all get back to the farm".
Hershel put his hand on her shoulder, pulling her in to a little hug "This one here gets a night in a warm bed and a hot meal that doesn't have squirrel in it for saving our lives. She needs to get some rest and recover from this flu she has".
Anna followed Rick and Hershel and she stopped Glenn for a moment "You alright there?"
"Not really. Can we talk about it when we get back?" he asked. "That is if you are allowed out of Daryl's eye sight ever again"
"Ha ha. Very funny" Anna playfully punched his arm. "Of course we can talk. But we had better get out you out of here though. I am sure Maggie is worried sick about you and just wants you back safe and sound"
A pair of car lights drove past the bar. Anna ran up to the bench where Rick, Glenn and Hershel were. Torches were lit up, walking around and looking through the window of the bar
"Guess we wait them out" Hershel whispered.
Daryl was heading back to the camp with two rabbits, some wild vegetables with Samson following his tail. He felt like a right royal idiot because of what he said to Anna. The way he has spoken to her; the look in her in her eyes told him everything. Getting back to camp, he saw Carol sitting on one of the log chairs. He dropped the rabbits and vegetables on the ground, staring at Carol "Anna has gone after them hasn't she".
"How did you know?" Carol asked, getting up off her feet.
Daryl put down the squirrels on to the cleaning log they used for hunting "I just know the girl real well is all. Anna has a heart that is too big and doesn't like to look out for herself but more for others. Stupid woman" he muttered.
"Shane brought back Lori. But none of the others are back" Carol told him.
Daryl shook his head, holding her necklace in his hand and put it around his neck for safe keeping. "I know that girl like the back of my hand. Anna has gotta be the most stubborn woman I have ever known. God damn stupid woman has gone out there by herself sick as a dog looking for them, to bring them back to every one back here... She didn't want to lose any one to lose any more family" Daryl was moving around the camp, picking up his cross bow, maps and a jumper off Anna's putting it to Samson's nose. "It will be day light soon. If they aren't back by then I will go looking with everyone else".
Anna peered up over the window edge and saw the men still patrolling the streets. Rick saw her feeling a little weak, helped her down on to the floor. "You sure alright there?"
"They aren't leaving anytime soon by the looks of it" she whispered to him.
'What? Why aren't they leaving?" Glenn gasped, feeling panicked.
"Would you?" Hershel whispered.
"We can't stay here any longer. We will go out back and make a run to the car" Rick whispered.
Rick got up first, followed by Glenn and Hershel. Anna stayed at the rear. "They are coming back here".
Immediately they all sat down, Anna was the one left beside right beside the door. She looked at them, crawling to the door in a hurry. Anna's hands landed hard on the floor; stinging with pain and she shut with her back. Her feet gripped the ground as the males outside tried to get in the bar.
"If someone is in there, we don't want no trouble. We are just looking for our friends".
Rick crawled over to help Anna, putting his back to the door and slammed the door shut sold.
"What do we do? Do we barge in the door?"
"No. We don't know how many there are"
"If something happened, please just tell us. This place is crawling with corpses; if you could help us not get killed I would appreciate it"
"Dude, you are bugging, there is no one in there"
"There is someone in there. They might know where Dave and Tony are"
Rick looked at Anna; he could see she was fighting her illness with everything she had. They had to get back to the farm. Nothing was going to happen to them tonight "They drew on us".
"Dave and Tony in there? Are they alive?"
Rick looked at her; he shook his head at her and put his finger to his lips "No".
"Come on man. Let's go"
'No, I am not going back and telling them Dave and Tony was killed by some ass holes in a bar".
"Your friends drew on us! They gave us no choice. I am sure we have all lost enough people. Done things we wished we didn't have to but it is like that now. You know that! Let's chalk this up as wrong place, wrong time". Glass came crashing down onto Anna's face, cutting her.
Rick stood up, firing out of the broken window "Get out of here now!" Rick yelled.
Hershel took her hand, running to the other side of the bar. Bullets were flying everywhere, bouncing off the walls and breaking more glass. Anna took out her spare gun from her ankle strap and sliding it across the floor to Glenn who snuck out of the door out the back.
Hershel's hands were on her face "You aren't okay. You have glass everywhere all over you, might even need stiches young lady".
Anna shook her head, wiping the blood on her cheek with the back of her head "I will be okay. I have got a worse beating before from bigger ass holes than them".
Rick ducked for covered as he reached Anna, shaking his head. "I'm okay".
He scoffed "You aren't okay".
"I have to be" she whispered. "We have to get out of here now. But we need a plan".
He nodded to her "Right then, I will stay here. You two go and cover Glenn. Go to your car and tell him to pull out back and get the hell out of here".
Hershel couldn't quite believe it "You want me cover Glenn?"
Anna loaded up her cross bow and pulling it around her back. She checked her rifle and pistol. "I got your back Hershel".
"Those gun lessons could have really come in handy now huh? Maybe Anna could take you out for a few lessons. She has the best shot around with that cross bow. I'd say even better than Daryl".
Hershel took the gun from Rick "I know how to shoot. I just don't like to".
Hershel put his hand on Anna's back, his eyes pointing in concern. He could feel her chest rattling each breath she took "You are not okay young lady" he scolded her.
"Promise I will stay in bed when we get back" she joked, covering her mouth, muffling a cough.
He opened the door for her, letting her go through first "Oh I know that look young lady. I am going to tell Daryl how sick you really are. And then I would like to see how far you get from that bed then".
Anna rolled her eye playfully at Hershel "I will stay in the bed".
Hershel shook his head "The bed inside the house young lady!"
"Come on old man. I wanna go home" Anna croaked but stopping in her tracks when she sees a barrel of a gun in her face, she gasped and skidding to a stop.
Hershel had a stern look on his face; put his hand on the barrel and pushing the gun slowly away from Anna's face. Glenn was shaken up; he couldn't believe he had a gun pointed at Anna. "Sorry. Sorry. I didn't mean to".
"Rick wants you to go out there and try for the car" Hershel told him
"Try" gasped, his face filled with fear and dread.
Anna could tell Glenn was scared "We won't be able to get out of here otherwise. You can do this Glenn. I know you can!"
Hershel saw the panic in Glenn's eyes "We will cover you. It will be okay".
Glenn nodded, taking a big deep breath and turning to the doors. Anna loaded her cross bow, putting it on her back and pulled her gun up, edging closer to the door with Hershel on the other side of her. Hershel put his hand up to stop her going first, following Glenn with Anna close behind him. It was quiet, too quiet for Anna. She was on edge, her eyes constantly scanning around for any signs of danger to them. A shot was fired at Glenn; quickly she backed up with Hershel back into the door. Hershel stepped out and shot the man to the ground. He was yelling out, screaming with pain. It was going to bring every walker around to them.
"What happened?" Rick whispered, standing next to them.
"We were shot at" Anna whispered.
Anna raised her gun and looked over to the dumpster. She could see Glenn legs, he wasn't moving and she was worried about him "Looks like Glenn might have been hit. I will go over and see if he needs any help".
"Alright, I will cover you" Rick said. "Please just be careful, okay. Not one scratch on you, remember!?" Rick warned her, his eye brows raised and pointing his finger at her.
She smirked "I am always careful big brother".
"Yeah, yeah little sis. Let's all just get out of here in one piece" Rick joked, giving her a quick side hug.
Anna kept her back against the wall. Her heart was thumping fast; it felt like it was rising slowly in her throat. She looked out constantly for anything that would move in the dark. This is where her little pairs of black vans shoes came in handy. They were light and quick for her to move in. She only ever wore the boots when she would go hunting with Daryl, only because he wouldn't let her come hunting otherwise. Anna only hoped when she got back he would still talk to her.
Anna got down to her knees and sat behind the dumpster with Glenn "Glenn. Glenn. You hit?" she hoarsely whispered.
Glenn nervously shook his head, saying no. Anna smiled, putting her hand on his shoulder. "We are all going to be okay. You know that right? The car is just over there and before you know it we will be back home"
He was still shaking with fear "Are you going to be okay?"
"Yeah, yeah I will be. The sooner we get to the car, the sooner we can get home" she replied.
Anna put her hand to the dumpster, looking to Rick and she points to the car. He nods, getting ready to be her cover. Anna loaded her gun, taking a deep breath and stepping out. Shots were fired, bullets bouncing off the dumpster and narrowly missing her ear.
"Jesus Christ" Anna whispered, her heart pumping. "That was close".
"You alright Glenn?" she asked. He just sat there wide eyed and still freaked out. He was frozen on the spot.
A car screeched down the road, stopping below the shooter "We need to go man, roamers are everywhere! We have got to get out of here".
'What about Sean?" the kid asked, looking down from the roof.
"They shot him, nothing we can do. Now come, we have got to get out of here now. Just jump down".
Anna couldn't believe it; the kid was going for it. He took a leap off the roof, but he took a wrong step and he rolled down the roof, landing and screaming in pain.
Glenn looked sick, holding on to his gun and looking to the ground "The kid didn't make it".
The guy in the car sped off, leaving a screaming young guy in pain and attracting even more walkers to the street. Anna's trademark instincts kicked in "Get Hershel, I am going to the kid" Anna told him.
'No you aren't Anna. You can barely breathe when you walk" she heard Rick whisper.
Anna looked over her shoulder "I have got to get that kid quiet or we will have even more walkers on our backs. There are enough of them out there already".
Rick shook his head, steeping a little more out of the safe zone "Not one scratch on you, you hear me. Come back to us in one piece".
Anna nodded, taking a deep breath and holding up her cross bow ready to fire. "1, 2, 3".
She ran across the road, holding in the coughs that were rattling her chest. Looking back she saw the first guy, getting ripped apart by the walkers. Anna made it to the young man, his leg impaled by a picket fence. "Dear god" She whispered, as she unwrapped her scarf from around her neck and putting it to his wound.
"Get me out of here!" the kid yelled. "Please? I don't want to die out here".
A walker came growling at them, wearing pink dress with a hanging jaw. She took off her cross bow from her shoulder, shooting the walker in the eye, running forward and taking the bolt of the walker's eye. She turned back to the boy, breathing hard "I am a doctor. But you are going to have to keep quiet for me or I won't be able to help you... You are going to be bringing all the dead down on us. I will run to save myself and you will be left here to die"
"No, no, no! Please don't. Please get me out of here. I don't wanna die. I don't wanna die! Don't leave me here!" he pleaded, sweat beading down his face.
"You have got to keep quiet alright!" she warned him, putting more pressure on the wound.
Rick, Hershel and Glenn came running from behind her.
"We should just leave him. We need to get out of here. There are too many walkers" Glenn said frantically.
"We could amputate?" Hershel said, undoing his belt.
Anna held up her cross bow, shooting a walker in the eye. "There is no time". Seeing even more walkers coming towards them "We have run out of time. We need to get out of here now".
Anna strapped her cross bow tighter around her shoulder. Nodding to Rick and putting her hands around the wound.
"Anna. The boy will bleed out" Rick advised.
'Rick!" Glenn called out.
"So many" Hershel whispered.
Rick saw the look on his Anna's face "No. I am not going to let you do that".
"I left the motorbike where not far from here. I can easily distract the walkers, you all can make a move to the car and I can meet you up the road a ways. You can clear the road for me driving ahead. Easy does it and a good plan" Anna told them.
Rick's eyes showed fear, he was scared for her. He shook his head, not feeling comfortable at all with her doing that "You come back to me in one piece, ya hear me"
Anna smirked, taking her knife from its holder "Not one scratch".
Hershel put his hands put and took her in a hug "We owe you our lives for what you have done for us tonight".
"A warm meal and a night in a bed to get over this cold if all I ask" she asked, walking forward and giving Hershel a hug.
Glenn was shuffling his feet, not wanting to look at Anna.
"It will be all okay Glenn" Anna said. "Always is".
"Here you are about to run through a crowd full of walkers. You should be the one that is running scared, not me" he whispered.
"You are all family to me. I would do anything for you all to be safe" she softly replied.
Rick pulled the boys leg up and the kid screamed in pain. Anna quickly put one of her gloves in his mouth to silence him. She nodded to Rick, shooting a walker with her cross bow in the head, running up and taking the bolt out of its head.
She put her fingers to her mouth, turning on her flash light and waving it at the walkers.
Anna picked up a large rock, throwing it at the group of walkers and whistling "Come on you ugly sons of bitches. There isn't much meat on me to gnaw on but the bones should keep you occupied for a while".
They turned their heads and walking fast to her. Rick looked at Anna, running away. He was hoping to god she made it alive. How would he explain that to Daryl if she got hurt? Hershel put the scarf more securely on to the wound and they ran to the car.
Rick jumped in to the driver's seat of the car, slamming the door shut and starting it, hitting the steering wheel at they sped off "That girl better get back to the farm in one piece or we are going to have to answer to Daryl".
"You and me both. He is going to just want to kill us for letting her do that" Hershel informed him, looking out the back of the car.
Anna slammed her knife in to a walker with half of its jaw hanging. She wasn't too far from where she had hid the motorbike. Anna was breathing hard, feeling her heart pound against her chest. Her head was pulled hard back by something, she screamed, taking her knife and swinging around to cut the walkers arm apart. The blood splashed her cheek a little, making her gag a little bit in her mouth. It still came at her; she took her cross bow, firing it in the head. Anna scrambled forward on to her knees, taking her bolt and running for her life away from the walkers chasing after her. Her chest was tight, her nose blocked and finding it hard to breath.
Finally she had made it to where she had hid the motorbike and took her little metal knife, sticking it in the ignition. Kicking and kicking, trying to get the motorbike going. Looking over her shoulder; a herd of about fifty walkers were coming.
"Come on, come on" she whispered to herself. "I am not going to die today".
The motorbike kicked to life and sped off up off the road. The walkers roared at her, running to her.
Rick kept on looking in the rear view mirror, hoping to god he would see Anna. That had been going a while. He gripped the wheel tighter, shaking his head and started the car.
Hershel could see Rick was feeling stressed "That young lady is stronger than we give her credit for. She will be fine"
Rick pursed his lips together, shaking his head and drove off "Yeah well, doesn't mean I don't have to like it".
They had been driving for an hour, Rick felt like he was going out of his mind; there hadn't been a sign of Anna.
"Oh the cheeky young lady" Hershel muttered.
Rick became more alert; Glenn leaned forward in between the seats. Rick even found himself laughing a little to himself. "Nothing keeps that girl down does it?"
Anna was standing up right with her legs on either side of the motorbike. She had her hands on her waist, breathing hard in and out. She strapped her cross bow back on to the back of the motorbike, riding it to the car.
Rick shook his head, winding down the window "You are one crazy young lady you know that".
"Someone has to save your sorry ass Officer Friendly" she joked. Anna kick started the bike, smirking at them "Ready to go home gentleman?"
"Aren't we ever?" Hershel told her. "I want you back in a bed, warm and rested young lady. You need to get rid of that cold before it turns into something worse".
Anna laughed "See you all back at the farm".
Daryl was helping them pack up the back of the car, droning out anything Shane was talking about. Daryl hasn't trusted Shane with anything to do with Anna since the first day he carried her half dead from the woods.
"Look!" Carl called out, running to Daryl and pointing to the front part of the property. "I knew Anna would bring them back Daryl!"
Daryl looked harder, taking a step forward. He saw Anna was trailing behind them on the dust covered bike he couldn't even fix. But it looks like she could.
Anna pulled up in the front yard of the house, Anna stayed back and away from the group a little and untying her cross bow from the back of the motorbike and slung her bag over the back of her shoulder. Smiling at the family reunion, it made her feel good on the inside.
"Who the hell is that?" T Dog asked, pointing to the guy in the back of the car.
"Oh that is Randall?" Glenn casually said, still ignoring Maggie in a way.
Daryl walked over to Anna "Nice work with the bike" Daryl muttered, shifting on his feet and kicking the dirt.
"Thanks" she coughed, wiping her nose with the back of her sleeve.
Daryl looked over his shoulder, seeing Hershel "We good?"
She smiled, shaking her head and playfully bumping his shoulder "Yeah. We are good Dixon. You don't got to worry about anything".
"Good. Because I don't wanna be left alone with these people" Daryl admitted.
"Anna, I am so sorry to do this to you just getting back safe and sound after everything you have been through but I really need your help and your medical supplies to perform surgery on Randall. You are the best person to help me" Hershel pleaded.
"Talk to you later?" she asked.
"Yeah. Still need to kick your ass about going out there by yourself" he jokingly threatened.
Daryl was outside of the house, looking at the motor bike Anna had hotwired. Studying Anna's work. She did a good job of it too. Daryl had a look at it before and found it almost as a lost cause.
"Daryl" He turned his head, finding Rick a few feet away from him.
"Rick" he nodded, turning his attention back to the bike.
Rick bent down beside Daryl "That woman surprises me every day. I had no idea she was good with mechanics as well".
"Her father was the one to teach her all of it. He didn't want her being useless if she ever broke down and she was by herself. He wanted her to be able handle herself when he wasn't around to help her" Daryl replied, wiping his hand on his trousers and getting up off his feet. "What happened out there?"
"We got caught in a bar by three guys, who were trouble. I knew it was going to get bad. Anna killed them and saved our lives by doing so. She took that bike, practically led away fifty walkers to help us get away" Rick hesitantly admitted.
Daryl shook his head, scoffing "She led away fifty walkers to save you lot? She was stupid enough to go out by herself being sick and all. But that man, that is just crazy".
Rick patted Daryl on the shoulder, getting up off his knees, dustings his trousers off. "Go easy on Anna okay. She saved our lives more than I would like for her to have in the past twenty-four hours. Anna was more scared of coming back to you being all angry and wanting to have nothing to do with her anymore that the fifty walkers that were wanting to rip her apart".
Daryl stood there, biting his thumb nail.
Anna eased herself out of her long sleeve top. Her muscles were tired and sore after helping Hershel with the surgery. She took off her black beanie and the glass fell to the ground, scattering about the floor. Anna limped across to the large mirror; there was a large cut across her cheek the blood shining in the sun. "This could leave a mark. Look out Miss America" she muttered.
She went into her medical bag and took out some antibacterial bandage patches, antiseptic and antibacterial cream. Anna took the ointment and put it on her wounds, already regretting the pain of the sting before it even had started. There was a knock on the door; she turned, saw Daryl with his arms crossed and leaning against the door frame, holding on to her bag of clothes. He was chewing on a piece of deer jerky or something. He had a hard look on his face "Well, don't you look like shit..."
Anna rolled her eyes "Such a charmer Daryl. You really are. I bet all of the ladies were lining up for you"
"Nah. But I know who has been waiting for you?" he said as he looked over his shoulder.
A blur of fur came rushing in and Samson was right beside her. She patted him behind the ears. "Hey there boy. Missed me huh?" she whispered.
"Damn dog was damn annoying and wouldn't leave me alone while you were gone" Daryl grunter.
Anna laughed at Daryl, chucking her dirty old top at his face. He laughed, picking it up, walking to her with a smirk on his face. She somehow always found a way to make him laugh. He put his cross bow down on the chest of drawers and he eased himself down next to her. He ate his deer jerky, watching her clean her wounds on her face and patching herself up with a sticky bandage. Samson was feeling content beside Anna, his eyes watching her every move.
He passed her some jerky and she gladly took it "I am absolutely starving. Thank you".
"No wonder, you have hardly eaten anything with you being sick and all. You went out wanting to bring back the three amigos safe and sound to their families. Then you bring back one of the bad guys and save his life, performing surgery. All being sick as a dog" he stated.
She scoffed "Stupid huh?"
"Yeah" he replied. "And dumb. But it is what you do?"
"Do I still have a spot at camp with you?" Anna asked. "I am not liked by too many of the ladies here".
"Yeah, alright, I guess you can. But would you just try and stop that god awful snoring you do. I can hardly get a moment of sleep with it" he teased
Anna laughed, playfully hitting him in the shoulder "It isn't snoring. It is called purring thank you very much".
Daryl looked straight ahead of himself and reached in to the pocket of his vest and pulled out her necklace with the dog tags and St Jude pendant. "Never take this necklace off again and you have a deal".
Anna rolled her eyes at him, she winced because her hands stung a little from the broken blisters and dropped the necklace "Stubborn ass woman" he muttered, picking it up.
He moved her hair out of the way, clasping the necklace around her neck.
"Thank you" she whispered.
Daryl faced her, pointing his finger at her "Just don't do that sorta shit again, ya hear me? I can't take too many heart attacks with your little adventures you seem to be taking a lot of lately".
Anna laughed, playfully punching Daryl in the arm who faked she had actually hurt him and pushed her back a little bit.
"You had better get showered and changed. The group is holding a meeting about what to do with that kid Randall. I have a feeling Rick will want your opinion on the matter" he told her.
Anna moves her neck side to side, cracking it "Great! Another reason for me to piss Shane off. And for the mother wolf Lori to want to bite my head off even more than she already does now. Why do people always come to me with her problems?" she laughed.
"Lord knows. I don't know how I have been putting up with you ever since you got to the farm" Daryl joked. "Nah. It is because you listen and you help them. You will always have people coming to you Half Pint".
She rolled her eyes, picked up his cross bow and put it into his hands. Anna turned him around and pushed him out of the door.
Daryl turned, smirking a little and crossed his arms "Hurry up will you. I have heard how long it takes for you women take to get ready".
Anna shook her head, putting her hand on the edge off the door "You are a jack ass Daryl Dixon".
He shrugged his shoulders, licking his lips "Likewise Anna Hendricks! I have learnt from how to be the best from you" he called out from behind the door.
Anna huffed, shutting the door in his face. Daryl settled down on to the floor on the other side and kept his guard for her. There was scratching at the door, a little whimpering as well. The door was opened; Samson rushed out and sat beside Daryl. "That's my boy. We males have got to stick together against the likes of her. It would take an army to take her down anyway" Daryl thought out loud, patting Samson behind the ears.
Anna came out; her hair was a little damp from the shower. She was wearing a blue flannelette shirt, leather jacket, black skinny jeans and a pair of black quarter length boots. Daryl shook his head at her, got himself up off the ground and glared at her as he passed her and going back into the bed room. Daryl came back with her scarf and beanie, shook them and hit them against his leg, letting the glass fall to the ground. Daryl wrapped the scarf carefully around her neck and put the beanie of top her head, pulling it over her eyes. He was trying to make light of the situation and it worked. She laughed and pulled it off her eyes.
"Ready to face the committee?" Daryl asked her.
"Ready as I can be to deal with the major douche bag that is Shane. That douche gets one more chance, be breaks it. He is a dead man".
He shook his head "You are making my job real hard you know that?" he playfully pushing her in the back and urging her on.
Daryl walked in to the room ahead of Anna, stepping aside and leaving enough room for her to stand by him. Rick looked up, nodding hello to her and Daryl. Carl walked in the room, no one talked to him. Anna looked up and around at every one, raising her eye brows. He walked out of the room in a huff. Anna leaned down, patting Samson behind the ears "Go after him".
Samson ran out of the room, Anna slowly got back up "He needs someone looking after him" she muttered.
Rick shook his head, nodded his head at Anna "Right, now we can start the meeting. I know you all aren't happy with us bringing Randall back; he fell off a roof and spiked his leg. But if we didn't need help him, he would have bled out. If he had of lived that long that is".
"It got pretty bad in town. If it wasn't Anna, I would hate to imagine what would have happened to us out there. She saved all of our lives and we owe her a great debt saving us all and bringing us back safe". Glenn added.
Anna felt uncomfortable at the attention she was getting "It was nothing any of you wouldn't have done for your own".
"What are we going to do about him?" Andrea asked, her arms were crossed and still with the pissed off look she seems to always have on her face.
Hershel walked into the room, wiping his hands with a cloth. "Even with the talented surgical skills of Anna, he will still have some nerve damage to his calf muscles".
Anna cleared her throat, rubbing her chest and stepping forward "He won't be able to be on his feet for at least a week, maybe two. Before then, he won't be able to walk on his own".
Rick nodded, standing away from the table "And when he is better, we will give him a canteen, take him to a high way and send him on his way".
"Isn't that the same as leaving him to the walkers?" Andrea said, uncrossing her arms and getting annoyed.
Anna's surroundings were a little dizzy "You weren't out there Andrea! You have no idea what it was like. Because of us he will have a fighting chance; he is still a human being. We would have been just as bad as the ones who left him out there to die"
Shane shook his head "You are just going to let him go? He knows where we are!"
"He was blindfolded the whole way here. He is not a threat" Rick forcefully said back to him.
"Not a threat? How many of them were there? Anna killed three of their men and you took one of them hostage but they aren't going to come looking for him" Shane questioned angrily.
"They left him for dead. No one is looking for him." Rick forcefully said to him.
"We should still post a guard" T Dog pointed out.
Shane huffed, putting his hands up in the air and walked away from the group "You know what? I am going to go and get him some flowers and candy. Look at this here folks; we are back in fantasy land."
The anger built up in Anna, she shook her head "Fantasy land hey Shane? You really don't have your head on right do you? Rick is trying to do the right thing by the group and here you are taking every chance you have to take him down!"
Hershel put his hand on her shoulder, she turned her head "You are not well, Anna, don't get yourself worked up".
Hershel stepped in front of Anna "You know we haven't even dealt with what happened with my barn! With you did to Anna's family. The pain and suffering of Anna! Let me make this perfectly clear once and for all, this is my farm. Now, I wanted you gone but Rick talked me out of it but that doesn't meant I have to like it. Do us both a favour, keep your mouth shut!"
Anna blinked hard, shook her head a little to try and stop the ringing that was whistling oud in her ears. She excused herself in a hurry and walked outside, down the steps, bending her head down between her knees. She took big, deep breaths to try and stop the dizziness was making her feel sick and threw up a little on to the ground. All the adrenaline had now left her body that had got her though the night before and it all had finally caught up with her. Anna picked herself up from the ground, walked to a tree and lay down on the cool, damp grass.
The sun was shielded above her head. Daryl was standing there with his arms crossed, shaking his head a little, putting his hand out to her "Come on".
She gladly took his hand and slowly brought herself up. Daryl looked around to see if anyone was about, "Hershel has the room set up for you. You are in it until you are better"
The sun was shining bright in to her eyes, Daryl handed her the Ray Bans that Glenn had found for her birthday. "What if I don't want to take the bedroom? What if I want to go back to our camp?"
Daryl rolled his eyes at the matter, putting his hand out to her "You got no choice on the matter".
"Fine. Fine. I am going" she whispered, taking his hand and got up off the ground.
Daryl turned, seeing Hershel walking up to them "I owe you my life for what you did out there for us and for saving Beth's life using your precious medical supplies. Giving you a room to seep in is the least I can do".
"Hershel, you really don't have to worry about doing anything" she said.
Daryl shook his head "I will go and get your stuff. Bring it up. At least spend a few nights in a warm room to get yourself better".
"Alright. Four nights and I am back to camp" Anna replied, walking back to the house.
Daryl looked on "Make it five nights. Anna needs all the rest she can get".
"I have never met anyone so stubborn" Hershel noted.
"Come get me if she gives you any trouble" Daryl said to him.
Daryl had her back pack, two medical bags, with the rabbits and vegetables he cooked. He softly knocked on the door. There was no answer, he slowly opened the door and had to smirk to himself. Samson, who was on the floor guarding her, only lifted his head up. Since it was only Daryl, he put his head back down and went back to guarding her. Anna had finally given in to her exhaustion she was fighting so hard to beat and now had fallen asleep. The blankets were only up to her waist. He nervously, walked up and pulled the blankets up to her chin to keep her nice and warm.
"Sleep well Half Pint. Sleep well" he muttered.