Newly Revised

Ani was utterly and completely lost. She tried like hell to pick up any trail from the prison after she made her way to the front side of the prison. She'd thought she had Tyreese's trail and followed it for a while only to find another group of walkers. Ani kept running into large packs of the damn things that forced her to go deeper and deeper into the woods. She was exhausted by the time night fell and the only safe haven anywhere near her were the trees. When she found one with thick branches that would support her weight, she tossed a rope over one of the lower branches and then tied the end to her packs. Once they were up and out of the way, Ani began climbing the tree, using another rope to lash herself to the tree so she wouldn't fall out. She settled in for the night, missing the warmth laying next to Daryl always brought her, sleep coming hard and broken from the cold.

In the morning, she carefully untied herself and lowered the equipment to the ground before she jumped down herself. It wasn't that far of a jump, and she landed just fine, commenting in her head foolishly about how she had stuck the superhero landing she always tried to do. Superheroes were the only thing she ever had in common with her family, and once upon a time she had wanted to impress her family by becoming one. The foolish thoughts of a child, she thought to herself after she wandered around a bit, not bothering going back to the prison. Rather than trying to find some kind of trail from there, she began circling around it, trying to find a clue as to where the others went. She had to find Daryl and Merle and Sophia; she knew they had gotten out and that Maggie and Tyreese had too. She'd watched them all escape, so there had to be tracks somewhere that she could follow to get back to her people.

It wasn't until mid afternoon that she finally picked up a trail or, more specifically, two distinct trails heading different directions. Doing a little dance and crying out in adulation, Ani thanked every god known to man, the spirits, the dragons, and the Fae all at the same time upon seeing Daryl's tell-tale boot print in the mud. It looked like he still had Beth based on the smaller tracks alongside his and the other tracks looked to be Tyreese and the kids. With a smile on her face, she looked around to see if there were any other tracks she could find or any clue as to where they might be headed. The only thing she ended up finding was a gruesome scene of young rabbits slaughtered quite cruelly in their own den. Their bodies had been punctured by a knife or something similarly sharp and left to bleed out, reminding Ani of the rat they'd found in the tombs. One a the kids is the psycho? she asked herself.

Quickening her footsteps, she knew she couldn't be more than a few hours or so behind Daryl, a day behind Tyreese at most. Even though she had to stop regularly to catch her breath and rest, she couldn't waste any time getting . It took her another hour to find the bodies of two walkers, blood that was the wrong color to belong to the dead smattering the brush next to it. Once again, she picked up the pace and ran like hell through the woods, only to stop when she fell through the tree line, literally, in a coughing fit. She blacked out for a little while, thanking her lucky stars that no walkers or people other than hers had found her in such a vulnerable state. Ani looked around her and realized she had come out of the woods near a set of train tracks and a rather vile scene. There were blood and guts spread out over the ground by the tracks, a few walkers laying there dead as well.

Ani couldn't help but go over and investigate, let alon the sigh of relief that came from her, even upon seeing the tiny shoe. None of the clothes were from her people and the walkers were long since made to be the walking dead. Several walkers had been downed with knives, at least two different kinds from the size of the wounds. At least one had been killed with a projectile, Ani hoping and praying it had been a bolt and she was getting closer to the others. She looked around and realized that there weren't very clear prints on the tracks, but at least there was a lead. It was nearing dusk and Ani had no idea where she was going to go or where she going to find shelter for the night. What she did know was that she couldn't keep walking on the tracks if she wanted to find something other than plantain leaves and dandelions to eat. That had been all she had eaten since yesterday and that wasn't enough food to keep her strength up let alone finish recovering from the illness. She took one last look at the mess in front of her before she trudged herself across the tracks and off into the woods once again.

All she managed to catch was a squirrel, but that was enough as she made a small campfire and cooked it, choosing to eat as she walked. Ani was hoping that, now that it was dark, she might be able to see a campfire in the distance and find who she was looking for. With how quiet she was, unless there was a look out that managed to get the drop on her, she'd be able to check who was around the fire before they even knew she was there. It was just a matter of whether they were her people or not, and if they weren't, she could hopefully move right along. She spotted a small campfire around midnight off in the distance and made her way towards it as silently and swiftly as she could. The sound of men's voices rang out when she was about ten feet away, laughing and speaking in voracious voices about how they'd beaten a man for some reason or another. She quickly made her way back from the area and headed parallel to the train tracks; she'd made a mental note of their direction when she left them.

Ani managed to get far enough away from the campfire that she could no longer hear the voices and it was a tiny fire in the distance when a twig snapped behind her. She quickly spun on her heel and came face to face with three rather rough looking men. They somewhat reminded her of Daryl and Merle by the looks of them, but that was only until they opened their mouths. Merle might be rough and tumble and an asshole and Daryl might be a surly bastard at times, but they weren't perverts. Well, Merle was, but only until he was rejected and then he backed the fuck off completely. Daryl was only a perv when they were alone and she couldn't blame him for that when she became one as well. But that was completely different from the disgusting looks on their faces. All three men were leering at her in the darkness, the look on their faces promising violence of one form or another.

"Well, well, well, look what we have here," a tall but thin man with a scraggly beard said. "Got an awful lot of bags there, sugar. How about you pass them over?"

"How 'bout ya go fuck yaself and I won' kill ya," Ani countered, a silent promise of death in the air as she looked at the three men in front of her.

"Ooo, feisty. I'm claimin' her," a shorter, stokier man with longer hair chuckled to the others.

"I was gonna claim her!" the first guy said.

"Too bad, so sad Mike, Chris called it first," the third man, a medium built, typical middle aged man said as she lowered her bags behind her and took a defensive stance. "'Sides, seems to me she can handle herself, so we can all take a turn. How would you like that, hunny? Must've been a while since you had a man."

"Jus' a few nights ago I had my husband, and 'e's the only man I'll eva have, so once again, go fuck yaself," she told him, a throwing knife already in each hand, hidden by her wrists.

As the men started moving, she threw both knives, landing one in the neck of two of the men, leaving them to bleed and her with the second man. He was the one who talked, the one who tried to shout to trigger the men back at the campfire to come help him. If she hadn't have taken a large step forward at the same time as she'd thrown her knives, she would have never been able to cut off his yell with the high kick to the neck. He managed a disgruntled 'aamphh' out as his neck broke, Ani not having controlled her strength at all, before crumpling to the ground dead. Retrieving her two knives, she used one to impale the last man through the chest while wiping the other one down on his clothes. They'd all been downed in a matter of seconds and Ani didn't want to think about what would have happened otherwise.

"Claimed, eh? How many girls ya claimed?" she muttered to the corpse as her mind went to the dark places she liked to think caused her parents' behavior.

No one from her group was around to see as she pulled out the buck knife Daryl had given her as a replacement for Bucky. Smiling sadistically, she undid each of the men's pants and cut off a very valuable part all men cherished, stuffing each in their 'owners'' mouths. She laughed quietly to herself, pleased even as her hands were bloody by her handiwork. Their most prized possessions would be the very first thing they ate when they 'woke,' one of which was beginning to twitch already. Yes, she was a better person than the assholes who raised her. Yes, she wanted to help people more than harm them and she wanted those around her to be as content as they could be regarding the situation they were in. That didn't mean she hadn't picked up some of the more twisted things her family had done, let alone made them that much worse. It was a good thing the others weren't around for it because they would have been disgusted and the concerns Rick had been given by Chrystal would rear their ugly heads again. She wasn't evil or mean or cruel, but when it came to pedophiles, rapists, and child abusers, she could get twisted in a way that even Freddy or Jason would take a couple pointers.

The entire bout of madness was cut short by a gunshot and shouting about how there was someone in the woods. Ani knew she'd overstayed her weapon and someone from the campfire had probably seen her. She heard a bullet whiz past her ear and embed itself into a tree as the men shouted about her while she ran as fast as she could. She didn't stop running, making sure to step on as many roots as possible, jumping here and there so that there was a limited trail. She only left a few spatterings of steps here and there before bounding back onto roots in an attempt to shake them off. Ani continued until she found a tree she could easily climb, even with all her gear on. Thank the gods I neva stopped carryin' my weight 'round the prison. Be weak as fuck if I did, she thought to herself as she scrambled up the tree. It was about an hour later that she heard the men yelling a ways off from her hiding spot, heading in the opposite direction.

Ani decided to spend the night in a tree again, judging it to be safer than going back to the ground with those people possibly nearby. She would be able to double back around to get to the train tracks in the morning now that the men were heading a different direction. If there was any way to find Daryl, she needed to get back to those tracks where she'd caught his trail, even if barely. Shoulda neva left 'em, ya big dummy, she chastised herself. For a moment, she contemplated the amount of thinking she was doing to herself before remembering that she was alone. There was no point in speaking out loud when there was no one to hear you but the dead or the enemy. It wasn't like she hadn't been like this before; living in Michigan she'd always had to keep quiet. She'd just gotten used to using her voice when she wasn't overwhelmed, first with Jesse and then with everyone from the group. Now she didn't have to talk and found it deafening that there was nothing but the sounds of nature around her.

She was surprised to find that the men had doubled back to their campsite the next morning when she tried to get back to the tracks. Ani worked carefully, making sure to give them a wide berth in yet another direction even though it was forcing her away from the train tracks altogether. She didn't know how many men there were in the group, but it sounded like more than ten. Three? Easy peasy pumpkin squeezie. Five or more with unknown variables such as age, height and weight? That just wasn't worth the risk and all she had were her knives; she'd ran out of bullets during the fight for the prison. She was extra careful for a good five hours, trying hard not to let her mind wander to the worst scenarios possible. She did her best to keep far away from those thoughts of that damn basement and everything that had happened to her and instead forced herself to focus on the task at hand. She had to find Daryl, and if he had managed to catch up to Tyreese, they would most likely still be on the tracks. All train tracks connected at some point, right? It was the only heading she had now, all tracks she would be able to find before having been lost to both time and, by now, walkers.

She tricked herself into not to dwelling on the past options she'd made that had landed her in her current predicament. There was nothing she could do to change the past and the only option for her to do right now was march forward. It had to be at least four hours later, the sun on its downward descent, that she stopped and strained her ears. The sound of something that could have been a baby rang through the trees and spurned her forward at top speed to try to find it. If it really was a baby, then she might have found Judith, and if she found Judith, she would find at least one other person from the prison. It seemed to take forever before she finally got closer to the sound, only to be completely stunned at the sight. Two walkers had been pretty well torn all to hell on their upper bodies and were kneeling next to a bloody mass having a feast. Whatever it had been, it couldn't have been bigger than a smallish dog judging by its size, but what got her attention was the fact that the crying wasn't a baby at all. The 'baby' she'd so desperately chased was actually two kittens crying in the tree above the grizzly scene. Ani had no problem in discarding the walkers or shrugging out of her bags to shimmy up the thing to grab the damn creatures. The mewling kittens began to hiss at her approach, seemingly attempting to get away but failing as they obviously weren't good at climbing. Ani simply ignored their behavior and grabbed them both by the scruff of their necks before cradling them in her arms to inspect them.

"Well, ya sure as fuck ain' Judy," she said to them as she held them up. "The fuck are ya anyways? Ya don' look like nah house cat kitty. Well, can' leave ya here. Too young ta fend for yaselves and I don' feel right leavin' ya. 'Sides, I'm alone anyways. Might as well take ya as companions. Jus' hope ya can eat meat. Can' give ya much else if ya don'."

Being careful of how she did it, she maneuvered both kittens into a single pinch by the scruff, moving her fingers up to her mouth and replacing them with her teeth. It was hard enough to hold the kittens like their momma would, but gentle enough not to hurt them. Both of the kittens had curled into themselves as soon as she'd picked them up by the scruff and judging by the size of them, they couldn't have been more than a few months old. Ani figured the poor things would be left behind by their mother soon enough even if she wasn't dead, so she cleared out her bag and split the things in it between Daryl's and Merle's. Stuffing the kittens gently into her bag, she threw the men's bags on her back before carefully picking her back up and putting it on her front, zipper wide open so the kittens could look out.

"Gonna have ta pick out names for ya. Ya cats, that's for sure, but neva heard of a cat cryin' like a baby like that. How 'bout Chip and Dale? Nah, don' know if ya male or female and don' know how ta check. Bonnie and Clyde? Luke and Leah? Shite, why can' I think a names it won' matta what ya are for? Ya know what, whateva. Figure it out lata. Ya stickin' with me from now on, anyways, so I got time ta name ya," she told the kittens as she began walking again, holding the bottom of the bag with one arm while keeping her hand on her buck knife with the other.

It was nearing evening when she finally called it quits for the day, having killed two squirrels along the way. One she didn't bother cleaning or skinning and instead tossed it down at the kittens for their dinner. She'd skinned and cleaned the other one and gotten it on a stick above a fire while the kittens had played with each other instead of going after the squirrel. Ani cut a little chunk out of it and tested to see if they would take it like that to no avail. She ended up deciding to skin and gut it, putting it on the fire to at least partially cook. From what she knew of wild cats, the moms barfed up the baby's food and there was no way in hell she was going to do that. However, that had given her the idea to cook the squirrel a little bit; maybe they liked their food warm. While she was cooking she tied a piece of rope to each of the kitten's little necks as they kept trying to wander off. Ani smiled as she watched the antics of the two fluff balls after she tied the rope to her ankle. She could easily tell they weren't used to being out in the world and had probably been forced from their den by the dead. Whether or not the mom had put them in that tree was moot; they were hers now and she wasn't going to let anything hurt them.

"Din-din's done," she called to them, removing one of the squirrels and cutting a couple small strips off of it. The kittens finally ate the meat, making Ani smile even bigger, "Guess I'm goin' ta be huntin' some more. Ya know, 'ventually, ya goin' ta have ta earn ya keep. Ain' goin' ta feed ya foreva. My man, D, he'll know what the hell ya are. Jus' got ta get ya ta him and I'll be able ta know what ya can hunt. Can' expect ya ta be takin' down anythin' big if ya ain' much more'n house cats yaselves, now, can I?" By the time they were done eating, the kittens had big, full bellies, finishing off their entire squirrel and the rest of hers when she had eaten two thirds of it and deemed herself full before she continued her one-sided conversation.

"Ya know, the only cats I can think a that are in the states is the bobcat and cougar. But I don' know shite 'bout the damn things otha than one has a shorta tail. Are the two a ya one a 'em? Ya got short tails," she told one of the kittens as she picked it up by its scruff, the other kitten following closely behind its sibling, swatting at its paws. "Don' know what baby bobcats look like. Don' know what bobcats look like. Anythin' like lynxes? Bushy paws and puffy cheeks? Ya look kinda like my tabby cat I had back in Atlanta. Old boy adopted right as 'e was bein' taken ta be done in. Gave 'is last couple a years a good go at a good home with lots a love. The two a ya won' mind that, will ya? Stick with me and I'll keep ya safe and fed. Train ya up a bit and we'll be a good ole family in nah time, huntin' and trackin' with the best a 'em. ''Em' bein' Daryl and Merle. Phia too, she'll love the two a ya. And now I'm goin' 'round in circles. I'm jus' goin' ta go ahead and assume ya bobcats 'til D says othawise. So's, how's the names Bobby and Catty sound ta ya? 'Cause I'm gonna be pretty damn frank 'ere. Ya look exactly the fuck alike."

She'd been manhandling both kittens the entire time she was talking, turning them this way and that before holding them up and looking them both right in the eyes, "Yep, exactly the fuck alike. Ya too cute ta go off on ya own, and too small. Ya stuck with me, kiddos. I'm ya new mommy. Gods, ya daddy's gonna kill me when 'e sees ya. Can 'ear 'im now, 'The fuck you doin' namin' 'em, hmm? That could be dinner right there,'" she purposely drawled in his thick Southern accent. "Don' ya worry, though, ya ain' goin' ta be anyone's dinna. Goin' ta grow ya up, start ya eatin' how ya should, none a this partially cooked crap I gave ya tanight. Get ya huntin'. If it's anythin' like what lions and cheetahs do for their cubs, I can at least do that. Why couldn' ya be a lion? Or a cheetah? Or a tiga? I'd know what the fuck ya were then. Wouldn' have ta guess. Though, if ya were any a them, I doubt ya momma would be dead, let alone the two a ya here with me."

Ani was gratified when the little things laid down in her lap and snuggled in, falling asleep while purring away. She, herself, entered a state of lucidity, allowing her body to rest while keeping her senses about her. More than halfway through the night, a twig snapped close enough to her to jerk her body awake, startling the kittens whom were not happy with being manhandled back into their bag as she quickly readied to go. She didn't bother sticking around to find out what made the twig snap; she could easily climb a tree or find a place to rest that wasn't so out in the open and sleep then. Maybe even something with a lock on it and windows too high to get to from outside. She wasn't too exhausted yet, her mind not on survival mode so much as on 'one foot in front of the other' mode. Ani literally had no plan and no insight aside from 'get to the tracks' and that was a half-assed plan considering she had no idea where they were anymore.

"Ya know, I right done fucked up," she told the kittens, looking down into the bag to find them sleeping. "I got nah fuckin' clue where the hell I'm headin'. Alright, well, papa always said 'if ya can' find ya way, follow the sun.' Ya got ta come ta a road at some point." As she walked, she continued talking to the kittens just to have something to do, "Ya know, ya goin' ta love Phia, and Carl. They're goin' ta love ya, too. Prolly goin' ta want ta pet ya and kiss ya like I do. And Judith! Judy-baby is jus' a sweet little girl. She's goin' ta absolutely adore ya. Gonna have ta teach 'er ta play nice with animals though. Merle's goin' ta be jus' as angry with me 'bout ya as Daryl, but I don' care. Give 'em somethin' else ta complain 'bout when I get back ta 'em otha than me not bein' with 'em right now."

She stopped talking as the smell of a something burning overtook her and the sight of smoke off in the distance. Following her nose, she got excited as she found the place where she and Daryl had caught the pig. Running like all hell once again, she managed to find her way to the old distillery she got her moonshine from. The sight made her slump to the ground, all the fight in her gone as she saw their place burned to the ground. She thought that maybe, just maybe, when she got to it she could hold up and wait for Daryl to get there, but it was gone. For the first time since she left the prison, Ani felt the despair and anguish that came from the loss. She began to sob right there, digging her nails into her biceps as she gripped herself tightly. For the first time in a long time, aside from a couple of kittens, she was well and truly alone.

~x~

Carl was smiling as he sat at the table eating breakfast with Sophia sitting on one side of him while Merle was somewhere in the house sleeping. Michonne walked up making both kids chuckle as she sat a couple bottles of water and a bowl on the table next to him. She had changed her shirt and it looked so weird seeing her in a loose fitting white shirt rather than her tight leather and fabric top she normally wore. It wasn't as if they hadn't changed themselves, Sophia finding a shirt that better fit her and a new pair of pants while Carl found a couple shirts for him and his dad. It felt good to be in clean clothes, even if they smelled musty from sitting for so long. Sophia had told him she was happy they hadn't been forced to leave in the winter. None of them would have clothes for that with how they'd been forced to flee, everyone who got out only having the clothes on their backs. They had to start fresh all over again, worse than they had done after leaving the quarry. At least then they had had cars and the goods they'd already managed to scrounge up. Now, Michonne looked like she belonged in the house they were in while Carl and Sophia looked like the preteens they were.

"Do you have something to say about my extremely comfortable and attractive shirt?" she asked them, stepping back and showing off her loose fitting white shirt.

"No, no, no," Carl said through his laughing. "It looks great."

"You missed a button," Sophia said, pointing it out before Michonne sat down.

"I wish we had some soy milk," she said as she poured the last of the cereal into a bowl.

"Seriously?" Carl asked at the same time as Sophia shuddered and said, "Yuck!"

"Yes, seriously!" Michonne insisted. "Have you ever tried it?"

"Yes!" Sophia said. "It's so nasty!"

"My best friend in third grade," Carl told them. "He was allergic to dairy. And every day he would bring this soy stuff in for lunch. I tried it..."

"Aaannd?" Michonne asked.

"I threw up!"

"Ew!"

"Oh, yeah right," Michonne said, sharing a laugh with Sophia and Carl.

"Alright, alright," Carl chuckled. "I almost threw up, but I was like, ugh!" he said, imitating spitting the milk out and shaking his head in disgust. "It was so gross. I mean I would rather have powdered milk than have to drink that stuff again. I would rather have Judith's formula-" he broke off as they all quieted at the fact that Judith hadn't been found, only a bloody car seat. Carl got up from the table and muttered, "I'm just gonna go finish my book. I have a couple chapters left."

Sophia followed after him and sat on the bed next to him, putting her head on his shoulder, "For what it's worth, I think she's alive. Someone has her, just couldn't take the carrier."

"Or she's dead," Carl said hotly, moving his shoulder as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Or someone's got her. Merle grabbed me up, someone coulda grabbed Judith. Heck, Ani might even have her and heading for us now!" she said hopefully.

"Sophia, I know Ani's your hero and all, but she's not Wonder Woman. You don't even know if she's alive."

"Didn't know you or Michonne were alive, and here you are."

"Phia..."

"Carl..." she said right back in the same irritated tone, both looking at each other before Carl rolled his eyes. "Fine, how about we bet something?"

"Like what?"

"Like," Sophia elongated. "If I win, and Ani and Judith are still alive and we find them, I get all the candy you find for a month."

"You're on," Carl told her somberly.

Michonne walked in with Merle, who'd finally woken up after having claimed one of the rooms in the house and passing out on the bed the night before. Michonne told Carl he was going with her to scavenge some stuff while Merle told Sophia to get her bow because the two of them were going hunting. Rick stayed at the house with the promise that the four would meet back up with him around noon. If Merle and Sophia managed to get anything, they'd bring it back, cook it, have a meal and then be on their way. Sophia talked to Merle as they hunted, letting him know what had happened to Carl and Judith, and that she'd made a bet with the boy.

"All his candy for a month if they show up," Sophia told him. "I know they're gonna show up. Ani's probably carting Judith around right now."

"You know it, girly," Merle said, holding Sophia's bow since her shoulder had started bleeding and only letting her carry their meager catch; two squirrels and a small pheasant. "Time to head back. Should be 'bout noon by now."

They caught up to Carl and Michonne on the way back, the two smiling and seemingly more carefree which made her and Merle smile in turn. Merle claimed to only smile because smiles were contagious and it was impossible not to smile around fools like them. They'd almost made it back to the house when gunfire rang out, stopping them all in their tracks and making the adults push the kids behind them. Rick came running towards them like a bat out of hell and told them they needed to hurry, not bothering to stop when he reached them. He was hobbling all over again and holding a weapon he previously did not have which told Merle all he needed to know. One look was all it took for him to pull Sophia in the opposite direction, using his stump to push Carl that way as well while Rick ushered him and Michonne. They weren't about to get caught with their tails between their legs from some fuckers who wanted what little they had.

"They're followin' Ani," Rick told them after they got back on the tracks. "I'm sure of it. Killed three of their men. Crazy hair. The men were stabbed through the neck, though, if it was Ani, her sister might not have been as wrong as we thought."

"Why the fuck do you say that?" Merle heatedly asked.

"When they found Michonne's shirt, they were musing about whether or not it belonged to the girl they'd seen last night, the one who, and I'm quotin' here, 'made the boys eat their cocks.' Not sure what that means, but if they were after Ani, she beat 'em. If it's what it sounds like," Rick said, cocking his head to the side. "If it's what it sounds like, I don't even want to think about it."

"Killed 'em, cut their favorite toys off, then let 'em turn and eat 'em. That's what it sounds like. Damn shame I wasn't there to see it," Merle said seriously.

"Would you even want to?" Michonne asked.

"Hell yeah I would!" Merle told her. "Watching a little thing like her give men their just desserts. Mm-hmm. I'd'a done it myself if I were there. Some things there just ain't no comin' back from. Even Ani knew that."

"She's alive, though! Told you Carl!" Sophia said in glee.

"Yeah, I guess you did," Carl responded with a small smile.

But he didn't say he heard anything about there being a baby with her, he finished in his head, thinking of his lost baby sister once again. As they walked down the railway, he pulled out the can of Crazy Cheese Michonne had tried to goof off with him before with. Holding it out to the woman and offered it to her before offering it to Sophia who just looked at him questioningly while he and Michonne shared a secret smile. He put it away as Rick walked a few paces ahead to look at something on the ground, the rest of them coming up behind him. Rick picked it up and saw that it was a map showing where the tracks came together and offering sanctuary. They were out in the open with few supplies, a hobbled man, two kids, and only a few weapons between them. If there was any place they could go to at least gear up to find their people, wherever the place was, it was a good bet.

"What do you think?" Michonne asked.

"Any of our people see this, they'll prolly go," Merle offered.

"Let's go," Rick agreed. "Let's go."

In case it wasn't clear or you don't know of them, Freddy and Jason from the Nightmare on Elm Street and Friday the Thirteenth horror classics.