Rand was sitting behind one of the check in computers and pulling up the specs. "Shit. We need a laptop."

Michonne looked over her shoulder.

"Why?"

"This? Straight reservation system. We can't download this. We need to make a list," she grabbed some paper and started writing. "Laptop, phone books, maps. Feel like taking a trip tomorrow?"

"Bridgewater?"

"It's the closest place. Find an electronics store for a computer. The batteries will be dead but we can plug it in."

"And look at the hotels."

"Right. Take all of that literature from the hotels. Break open the vending machines. Pick up some more clothes," she looked down at her light blue 'Days of Yore' t-shirt. "I'd prefer not to advertise."

Michonne finally smiled. "Good idea."

"I told you I'd make a good lieutenant."

They spent the rest of the day cleaning, going over invoices and matching them up against the map she'd found. A lot of the trinkets came from New York. The clothes from Texas. The dishes from Wisconsin. The stuffed animals from California. The food was local. Michonne raised her eyebrows. "One of these was for tea and coffee plants," she held up the invoice in question.

"Huh. It doesn't make any sense," Rand knitted her eyebrows.

"How so?"

"Tea and coffee were introduced in Europe after the renaissance, but someone was drinking it before then. Africa. Coffee originated in Africa. The earliest recorded record of tea drinking was China BCE, or, Mike Ward really liked his fresh coffee." Michonne shook her head at the useless knowledge the woman had. She decided to toss the invoices that weren't necessary.

"Daryl didn't check the chimney," she said as they sat down to chicken and more vegetables in the dining room that night.

"Shit. Have to do that, too. The wood's rotted. Birds may have built nests in there. Or something crawled in and died."

Michonne nodded. They finished dinner in silence. She followed Rand to the kitchen and watched as she washed the dishes. By hand. She dried and put them on the prep table. When they finished Rand went to the library and picked out a movie. When she came back they headed to the solar.

"Feels weird," the woman muttered as she stared at the DVD in her hand, before she tossed into another chair. "Fuck it. I'm not really interested."

"Me either," she agreed. She went behind the bar and pulled out a bottle of wine from the wine fridge. She poured two glasses, handed one to Rand and sat in one of the chairs. Rand laid down on the sofa closest to her.

Michonne sipped her wine and put her head back. "So, Lieutenant, what's the plan?"

"For tomorrow? We decided. Go to Bridgewater for laptops, clothes, brochures, maps, a phone book and the vending machines."

"In any particular order?"

"You're the general. You tell me."

"Maybe you should be in charge."

"No thanks. I'm not the leader type."

"Mm. You seem to be."

"I'm not."

"Split up or stay together?"

"Together. Dicks will find us, Michonne. There's no getting around it. We need to get used to fighting together. I'll need something other than this gun. A sword would be cool. We should see if they have a pawn shop."

Michonne sipped her wine. "I had two places. A dick found us in one."

"The other?"

"I was with the dick."

Daryl was surprised he fell asleep. When he woke up he saw it was barely light out. He stood up, stretched, yawned and headed to the bathroom. After takin' a piss he got a bottle of water and poured it over his hands. "Shoulda taken those damn wipes," he said out loud before he snorted and wiped them on his shirt. Talkin' to himself. Hell, he didn't even have no walkers to talk to. He looked around the living room, noticin' the pictures on the wall, the books on a shelf, the furniture and sighed. Looked almost like one of them houses in Alexandria.

Alexandria. 'Chonne was right. Them fuckin' idiots could live how they wanted. Damn dumb. He went into the garage, took some gas from the car and filled up his bike. He carved an 'X' on the front door, in case he needed to come back this way for what the fuck ever.

"Should just burn it the fuck down," he muttered. He got on, started the engine and headed down the road. Three hours later he parked his bike, grabbed his crossbow and walked toward the brick overpass. He walked under it to almost run right into Michonne and Rand.

"Daryl?"

"I don't know how many walkers I killed. I don't know how many people I killed, but I killed 'em 'cause they was gonna kill me," he told her.

"Shit."

Rand stopped beside Michonne. "This must be some sort of code. I'm getting my car, Michonne. You want me to do this by myself?" she raised her eyebrows as she looked at Daryl.

"We'll all go," Michonne decided.

"Your call, General."

"Thank you, Lieutenant. Daryl can drop you off at your car and we'll follow you."

"Yes, sir."

It turned out they had to ride with Rand as Daryl brought his bike. Michonne sat in the passenger seat and Daryl in the back. The ride was slightly uncomfortable. Michonne could tell whatever happened had hurt Daryl. Not that he'd admit it. Rand, the woman wasn't stupid, could tell, too.

"Okay, here's my plan, General. We have one car, right now. The first business we see we find a phone book. They have maps in them, too. Not the kind you have."

"I know," Michonne said.

"Good. We'll get the laptops first, hitting any hotels along the way. After we get those, we'll find the rest of the hotels and motels. Then a Wal Mart or something for clothes and shoes. If they have guns? Stellar. If not? Pawn shops."

Michonne rolled her eyes at the kitchen knife she had on the seat in between them. "Wal Mart will have maps, too."

"Yep. Two birds, one stone. I don't want to stay away for too long until I can rig some kind of trap or something."

"Why?" Daryl asked from the backseat.

"Well, Lieutenant, dicks will find us. Eventually. They're everywhere. Until we get more people to have a watch, we're pretty much at the mercy of luck. Last time I checked? She's a bit fickle. The bitch."

"Are you the Sargent at Arms?" Michonne raised her eyebrows.

"Yes, sir. It makes more sense."

"Mm. We'll talk about your demotion. Later."

"Yes, sir. If you have suggestions, Lieutenant, the General is very open minded."

Daryl frowned. This bitch wasn't funny. "Ain't no lieutenant."

"You are now, sir."

Michonne shook her head. "Eyes on the road, Sargent."

"Why we goin' to hotels?"

"We need to take the brochures for 'Days of Yore'. It's how I found the place. If I found it that way and Michonne found it that way, someone else might find it that way. I'd prefer not. And we can raid the vending machines at the same time."

Daryl thought that was smart. "Gonna need people."

He heard Rand sigh. "I know. I don't like it. I already think those are stupid questions, but Michonne informed me she's met some people that haven't killed a walker. How the hell that happened? I don't think I want to know."

Daryl snorted. Eugene. Father Gabriel. Deanna. Reg. Probably everyfuckinbody in that place.

"Great. You know them, too." She shook her head. "Fuck. I pity them actually. They're just setting themselves up to be killed or their place taken over," she finished in a hard voice.

Michonne didn't say anything. She noticed Daryl didn't say anything. They were quiet for the rest of the drive. Rand slowed down when she saw an army truck sitting on one of roads as they pulled into town.

"Stay here," she directed as she turned the car off, got out and let the door almost close.

She and Daryl both watched as she pulled her gun and looked around before walking toward it. Daryl didn't listen and got out. Michonne wasn't going to stay in the car like some helpless female and followed. Rand tilted her head to the side before she lifted the material in the back. She looked closer before Daryl yelled.

Some guy tackled her. Rand did something and the guy was off her and they were both up. She saw some pretty impressive karate from both of them and winced when the man's head snapped back and his nose started bleeding. Then she tripped him and put him on the ground, her boot on his chest and a gun at his face.

"I wouldn't do that," another man's voice called out.

Michonne looked to see a black guy with a gun to Daryl's head. When she moved forward he shook his head. "Uh uh. Stay where you are. Toss the katana."

Rand looked at the guy under her boot. White. Black hair. Blue eyes. Tall. Lean. Dressed in fatigues. The fucker could fight. She turned and looked at the man holding a gun on Daryl. He was tall, African American, blue eyes and dressed in fatigues.

"If you don't let him go I'll kill your boyfriend."

"Let him up or I kill your boyfriend," the man countered.

She debated whether or not she could kill him when the guy on the ground tripped her and took her gun.

"Thanks, love," he said in an English accent as he smirked down at her while she was on the ground.

She scissored her legs and took him down again, bringing one leg down hard on his chest.

"That's enough," the other man shouted.

"Michonne," Daryl yelled. "Behind ya."

Michonne turned and cut the heads off the two walkers that were almost on top of her. When she looked her eyes got wide. "Got more coming."

Daryl elbowed the guy that had a gun on him, picked up his crossbow and started shooting. She didn't see Rand but she did hear the man that was holding Daryl hostage start firing. When they were all on the ground, Daryl went and took his arrows. She turned around and saw Rand pinned against the truck by the other man.

"We gotta get off the street," Daryl told her.

Rand knocked the British guy on his ass, took her gun and ran for the nearest building. The door didn't open so she shot the lock off. "Here," she raised her voice and went in. When Michonne made it inside she saw a dead walker and Rand had a wrench in her hand. Daryl was shutting the door when the other two men pushed their way inside.

Rand brought her gun up at the same time as the other two. "We were here first."

"I'm sure, love, we can share this space. Until the coast is clear," the British guy drawled.

"Take a seat," the black guy motioned with his gun to the floor.

Michonne saw Rand narrow her eyes at the man before he turned the gun on Daryl again. She didn't know what the hell happened but they all three dropped to the floor. "Get down," she whisper yelled. That's when she heard it.

Daryl sat against one of the counters with Michonne beside him. He didn't know how long they'd been there but it was dark outside. The growling had died down some. They'd be here for the night.

He watched the guys with their backs against the door while Rand was a little away from them. Nearer to him and Michonne than the other two. Rand could fight that was for damn sure. So could that other guy. They all kept their guns trained on each other. Fuck.

Seth Ryerson couldn't believe this shit. The first time off base in he didn't know how long, two or so years, and they run into two ninjas and a hillbilly. When they'd left they didn't have any idea where they were going to go. Someplace in the mountains. He and Adrian had started taking weapons, ammunition and gas and stashing it in a truck. They both knew staying on base wasn't feasible, even if there were only ten of them left. The food would hold out for a while, but after? It had already turned ugly. He looked at Adrian out of the corner of his eye. He was watching the white woman ninja.

Seth would admit she was damn good. She probably would have beaten his ass if her attention hadn't been split between him and the hillbilly.

Adrian was fascinated by the woman that had almost kicked his ass. This little trip, he almost snorted, was turning out to be more worthwhile than he thought. After being stuck on their base for the past two years it was nice to be out of there. Not that it was better out here. It wasn't. He couldn't imagine it was any better at home. He hadn't spoken to anyone after they banned flights from the United States to the UK. All communication had been shut down.

He wished these buggers would move the hell on.

Michonne watched as the black guy and white guy had their backs against the door. Rand was watching them, gun out. She looked at Daryl and he shrugged. Shit. They were stuck here until the morning. Hopefully, they'd still have a place tomorrow.

Rand kicked that guy's ass. Maybe Sargent at Arms was a good title for her. She smiled to herself. She never warmed up to people, after the turn, this fast, but Rand impressed her. She did know a lot of useless shit, but the woman was smart. And not wholly in the 'Trivial Pursuit' way Eugene was. When she talked she made a lot of good suggestions.

She wasn't like Sasha or Maggie and definitely not like Carol. She didn't put up with a lot of bullshit. After she'd showed Michonne the rope she'd used to climb over the castle wall she'd been seriously impressed.

Rand kept her gun on the black guy and the Brit. Fuck. This is why she wanted to clean this place out of what they'd need now or in the future. She was surprised, arrogance on her part maybe, she found someone else that knew martial arts. All kinds of people had made it. She'd like to find a doctor or a shrink. If they found a dentist or a hygienist? Great.

She wondered where they hell they'd been. On a base someplace, she was sure. She didn't get a good look inside the truck before she'd been knocked to the ground. She hoped it wasn't empty. It could have been. She'd seen military hardware lying all over. The army and National Guard had set up bases in nearly every major city, along with what she called 'refugee' camps.

She checked out Michonne and Daryl again, making sure they were alright. Then she narrowed her eyes and glared at the black guy again. He smiled. Asshole. When it started to get light out she slithered on the floor to the closest window and got to her knees. Looking around she didn't see anything. She didn't hear anything. She dropped to the floor and waddled to the door and they moved aside.

Daryl got to his knees and watched as Rand opened the door. Michonne, he could see, picked up her katana as Rand slipped outside. They heard a thud and Daryl moved toward the door. The two men were already outside standing above the walker Rand was near. She was looking at the wrench and shook her head.

"Well?" Michonne whispered from beside him.

Rand turned. "General, the mission is still on. Shall we?"

Michonne turned and went back inside the store, finally noticing it was a hardware store. Immediately she looked under the counter and pulled out the phone book. Daryl came in and started searching. "Maps," she whispered.

"Know. Heard ya in the car," he whispered back.

Rand went to the back room. Michonne ignored the two men as they walked back inside.

"General?" the black guy asked.

Michonne just looked through the rest of the junk under the counter. She pulled out a handgun, checked the chamber, saw it was full and stuffed it in a paper sack. She didn't find much else. Rand came back with some bottles of soda and water before they moved out.

"Hey" Seth raised his voice.

The white woman ninja stopped, turned and looked at him.

"We need a place to stay," he admitted.

"Talk to the General and the Lieutenant. I'm just the Sargent."

Seth raised his eyebrows and looked at the two people the white woman called the 'General' and the 'Lieutenant'. "Well?"

Daryl looked at Michonne. She gave a slight nod. That one guy could fight. The other guy could use a gun. Didn't think twice about shootin' walkers. "How many walkers you killed?"

"Excuse me?" the British guy asked.

"How many walkers you killed?"

The black guy's mouth fell open. "You mean the biters? I'm not sure. Around twenty, including these," he pointed in the direction of the walker bodies.

Daryl looked at the white guy. "I'm not really sure. Ten?"

He rolled his eyes. "How many people you killed?"

"Really?" the black guy looked at Rand.

She was standing there with a little smirk on her face. "Answer the question," she demanded.

"Before the virus or after the virus?" the black guy countered.

"Shit," Daryl breathed out.

"Why?" Michonne questioned.

"We were in the service, love. SAS. He's a Green Beret. It was part of our jobs," the white guy drawled.

Daryl looked at Michonne.

"I told you those were stupid questions," Rand snickered before she started walking again.

"Hey," the men ran behind them as they headed back to the car. "Can we stay with you or not?"

"Rand?" Michonne asked.

"Up to you. If they were what they say they were, they could be useful."

"Fine. We have a place. We have some things we need to do here. You help us and you can stay."

They were all huddled around the phone book and another map. Daryl looked at the new guys. They could handle themselves. More than all of the others he'd taken back to the prison. Rand stood in front of the map and Michonne had the phone book.

"We need a laptop. A few would be good."

"You have electricity?" the British guy asked.

"Obviously," Rand rolled her eyes. "Then we need to go to all the hotels and find tourist literature."

"Vacationing?" the black guy cut in snidely.

"No. For a place called 'Days of Yore'."

"The castle place?"

"You've seen some, I take it?" Rand glared at the white guy.

"Aye. It's a real castle, then?"

"Yes. Maybe a few put together. We don't know and don't care."

"A moat with a drawbridge?" the black guy looked them over.

"Yeah," Daryl challenged.

"You should take the drawbridge down," he said right away.

Michonne looked at him. "Why?"

"Security risk," the British guy answered.

"Well, we're not. For reasons. We need to find the literature and we're breaking open the vending machines and taking the food. Then clothes."

The black guy looked her up and down. "Advertising."

Rand flipped him off.

"All of ya need somethin' better than a gun," Daryl pointed out. "Don't recommend a wrench," he looked at the bloody wrench on the hood of the car.

"Swords?" the British guy looked at him.

Daryl rolled his eyes. "If you can find 'em, sure. Knives work. Ya know ya gotta shoot 'em in the head. Gotta stab 'em in the head."

They nodded. "Are you the lieutenant or the general?" the black guy asked.

"Daryl. Daryl Dixon."

"I'm Lieutenant Adrian Barker. Former SAS. This is Lieutenant Seth Ryerson. Former Green Beret," the British guy introduced them.

"Michonne. Rand," he pointed them out. "We got shit to do."

Authors note: Reposted due to spelling errors. Thank you, Dejede.