Hey guys, so the last three days have been record breaking for views and votes for LOS. Each day better than the next. So to celebrate I kicked it in the butt and got out a new chapter! 

I hope you guys like it, please vote/comment as you go! I love hearing from you!!! You guys are the best. Thank you so so much for all the support!

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Jo

I don't know what exactly woke me. I rolled over in the dark and the spot next to me was still empty and cold. I blinked awake, glancing over at the clock. It was almost three in the morning and Daryl still wasn't back yet. I scrubbed a hand over my eyes. Trying to decide what good it would do for me to get up and worry. He and Rick were together. Something probably did not go as planned, not an uncommon occurrence, but they were no doubt on their way back.

I rolled over, trying to go back to sleep, but something was nagging on me. It took me a minute to remember that something had woken me. I sat up, frowning. Then I heard it again. Whisper silent movement upstairs. Only Daryl could be that quiet and he didn't have to, not at home. While being silent would seem courteous, when you lived in a house with Rick, Michonne, Carol, Carl and I it was better to make your presence known rather than catch one of us by surprise.

I heard the nearly silent movement again, it was on the stairs, heading up. I rolled out of bed, now wide awake. I snagged two throwing knives off the night stand and moved towards the door. I opened it quietly. The basement was dark and still.

I swallowed, forcing my breath to come slow and even. My heart was pounding in anticipation but I needed to keep the rest of my body under control so I could use my senses to their best advantage. I moved up the stairs and exhaled a silent thank you that the basement door was left slightly ajar. It swung open silently and I stepped into the kitchen.

My bare feet hardly made a sound on the polished wood floors. I shivered. It was cooler up here and I was only dressed in a thin tank top and sleep shorts.

A slight draft raised goosebumps on my skin and I turned to see the curtains in the dining room wafting gently in the night breeze. The window was low, the lowest set on the main floor, and wide open.

Adrenaline surged through me and I adjusted my grip on my knives. I quickly and silently cleared the main floor, checking very room and closet. I closed the window and latched it. They had gone upstairs. Carol was out on watch so it would only be Michonne and the kids. There was no room for mistakes.

I heard a whisper of movement on the carpet upstairs and I moved quickly to the stairs. I stopped, hidden in shadow at the bottom of the stairs and frowned.

A stranger was sitting on the stairs, a picture off the wall in his hands. He was thirty-ish with a fighters build. He wore a stocking cap and a long black leather duster. He did not look like he was here to make friends.

There was no way for me to get the drop on him. He would see me the second I stepped out of the shadows to get a clear shot. I twirled the throwing knife in my hand, wishing I had all my knives. I took a deep breath, pulled my arm back and stepped out. Just as I released the knife he looked right at me. He swung the picture around to block the knife. The glass shattered loudly and the knife landed uselessly on the stairs.

He moved almost silently, rushing me down the stairs before I could throw the next one. I had it up when he reached me. He swung his fists, connecting with my forearm and knocking the knife down. I gasped as pain radiated up my arm and my hand went numb. The knife clattered on the wood floor and I heard it skitter away with the force of his blow.

Gritting my teeth against the pain I swung and caught him across the jaw with a right hook. He was bigger than me, stronger and nearly as fast, I couldn't back off. My only option was to take him down hard and fast. I followed the punch immediately with an elbow strike and he staggered sideways, losing his balance. I tried to get clear but he reached out and hooked an arm around my waist, using his unbalanced fall to pull me down with him. He was stronger than me and I immediately stopped fighting the motion and rolled with it. I came up, ready to fight, expecting to see him struggling to his feet, but he was already in front of me, holding his hands up.

"Wa-" he started trying to say something but I was too far gone at that point. Too focused on this new threat.

He was fast, faster than me. That had never happened before. I would never admit it, even in my own head, but my next thought came straight from The Governor himself. If he was stronger and faster I had to be smarter and more brutal.

I moved in, aiming a hook kick with my left leg at his shoulder. I telegraphed it on purpose and he moved to block. Jumping off of my right leg I rotated my hips and aimed the right kick for his jaw.

He shouldn't have known what I was doing but somehow he did. He hooked an arm under my left knee and picked me up, slamming me back against the wall. I got the wind knocked out of me and he pinned me there using his body for leverage, trapping my arms between us.

I grunted from the impact and reared my head back, ready to head but him in the face.

"Wait I'm-" he started to say, but we both froze as we heard a gun click.

"What the hell are you doing in our house?" Carl's angry voice snarled from our left. We looked together to see Carl standing there, pointing a gun at the intruder's head.

"Well," the man replied, his voice perfectly calm and matter a fact despite our compromising position. "It would appear combat," he said looking down at me with a small, pleased smile. "I was looking at that painting over there, but I think it's ruined now," he said jerking his chin towards the picture he had used as a shield. "Hope it wasn't your favorite," he said looking back and forth between the two of us. He cleared his throat uncomfortably when neither of us responded. "I was waiting for your parents to get dressed when I was interrupted by your deadly friend here."

Carl and I shared a look frowning. Just then we heard footsteps coming down the stairs. Rick was just buttoning his pants and Michonne was hastily pulling the shirt she had been wearing yesterday over her head. I looked back and forth between the two of them in shock, temporarily forgetting about the man pinning me to the wall. 

"Jo, Carl," Rick said, his eyes wide and guilty. "Hey, um..."

Just then the front door flipped open and I heard the distinctive sounds of more guns being cocked. Daryl, Abraham and Glenn came in, guns drawn. Daryl's eyes zeroed in on the stranger. 

"Put her down Jesus," Daryl's voice growled from behind me.

Jesus regarded the new comers calmly, looking as though he were assessing and cataloging each one.  

"It would go better for you if you did as the man said," Abraham threatened, stepping forward as well so he was shoulder to shoulder with Daryl glaring down at him. 

I frowned looking at the guy in front of me. Jesus? Really? I mean with the long hair and the beard it sort of made sense, but that couldn't be his real name. 

"I ain't playing with ya this time," Daryl snarled his temper was so far gone I was amazed he hadn't charged over and attacked Jesus already. Daryl's words implied he had a history and knew the man. I had a brief moment to wonder if I had somehow been mistaken and attacked a friend, but then I remembered the opened window and Daryl clearly didn't regard him as a friend. 

"It's-it's okay," Michonne stepping up quickly between Jesus and Daryl and Abraham, both of whom looked like they were ready to rip our new guest to pieces.

"Do you mind putting me down now?" I asked a little ironically.

He snorted and turned startlingly blue eyes towards me from only inches away. He regarded me with open curiosity but none of wariness many who had seen me fight often did. He very slowly lowered me to the ground with surprisingly gentle hands considering we had just been slamming each other around the kitchen. He stepped back away from me, holding his hands up to the others to show he was no threat. Then he looked back and forth from Abraham to me and then Daryl to me. I could see him trying to figure out where we all stood, how we related to one another. He was smart, he could read body language. He was a chess player. 

Rick stepped forward, trying to break up the tension. "You said we should talk, so let's talk." 

Everyone but Daryl and Abraham seemed to relax at Rick's words. Carl lowered his gun though he didn't put it away. Rick pulled Abraham and Daryl off to the side to speak to them in low voices. Abraham nodded to something Rick said and went out the front door, closing it behind him. 

Jesus nodded and turned back to me. "Sorry," he said holding out his hand. "I feel like we got off on the wrong foot."

I shook his hand. "Maybe next time try not breaking into our house in the middle of the night." 

A smile flashed across his face as though he were surprised I would make a joke at a time like this. He nodded, chuckling. "I'll keep that in mind..." he dragged off his sentence raising an eyebrow, inviting me to tell him who I was. 

"I'm Jo," I said. 

"Paul," he said, "but my friends call me Jesus." 

I looked him over. His clothes were fairly clean and his beard was trimmed. He must come from some kind of community. "Have a lot of friends do you?" I asked, feigning innocence. 

His smile stretched into a smirk and I had a feeling he had just recognized me for exactly what I was. A chess player, just like him. 

I felt a warm presence step up at my back and I didn't have to look to know it was Daryl. "You okay?" he asked me gruffly. 

I turned to looked at him, but he was glaring at Jesus. I rolled my shoulders. I was going to be sore, but I wasn't about to tell Daryl that, not when he already looked like he was ready to attack Jesus at the slightest provocation. 

"Yeah, I'm fine," I told him and when he still didn't look at me I reached up, touching his cheek and turned his face to me. 

He grunted in annoyance but let me do it. His whole body was thrumming with the tension of having a stranger in our house. "Are you okay?" I asked. 

He frowned, as though he didn't follow my train of thought. I sighed. "You and Rick were late coming back, I was worried," I let myself confess even though there were other people to hear it. "Are you okay?" 

Daryl nodded roughly, jerking him chin towards Jesus who was standing over my shoulder. "Yeah, this asshole's fault." 

Behind me I heard Jesus chuckle again, Daryl's hands clenched into fists and I let out a tired sigh. 

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Jo

The sun was coming up by the time everyone had cooled down enough to actually sit down and talk together. I had slipped downstairs and put on some clothes, my shoulder rig and my knives. When I reappeared, Jesus looked me up and down, noting the knives. Then he nodded to himself as though it made sense. He may have been the first person I had ever met who looked at me that way. 

Jesus was now sitting at the head of the dining room table, his hands resting on the smooth surface of the wood. Not only was he good at fighting, he was also very good at making himself appear nonthreatening. It was an act. I had seen him fight and he was very, very good. I rolled my neck, trying to ease some of the tension. 

Michonne sat on one side of him, Carl, Glenn and Maggie were also at the table for the interrogation. Carl leaned back in his chair, his gun sitting naked on the table pointing towards Jesus. Abraham, Daryl and I were all still standing. Daryl was pacing around the room, his gun still in his hand, and unable to stand still for more than a moment. I stood next to Abraham just over Carl's shoulder. 

Rick dropped himself down into the chair beside Jesus. "So, how'd you get out?" he asked. There was mild curiosity in his voice, but he didn't sound too terribly surprised. It made me wonder what sort of run-in they had had out there. 

Jesus shifted in his seat. "One guard can't cover two exits, or third floor windows. Knots untie and locks get picked. Entropy comes from order, right?" he asked, looking at Rick.

"Right," Daryl snarled, before Rick could respond. Daryl still had his gun naked in his hand and was tapping it impatiently against his leg. 

Jesus's eyes dropped to the gun and then he turned back to look at Rick. "I checked out your arsenal. I haven't seen anything like that in a long time," he said, sounding impressed. "You're well equipped, but your provisions are low. Very low for the amount of people you have. Fifty-four?" he asked. 

I frowned, he had certainly done a fair amount of scouting before he had come to our house. It was surprising I had even heard him given how good he clearly was at going unnoticed. Daryl had been on guard duty, and Jesus must have been missing for a while for him to be able to learn so much about us. 

"More than that," Maggie replied sounding slightly defensive. I think it disturbed her as well to think of him prowling through our community. 

Jesus stopped, sensing the room turning on him. He took a deep breath and changed tactics. "Well, I appreciate the cookie. My compliments to the chef," he said politely. 

"Yeah she ain't here," Daryl growled stepping towards Jesus aggressively. 

Jesus sighed and swung around to face Daryl. "Look," he said firmly. I tensed, ready to intervene in case he set Daryl off. "We got off to a bad start, but we're on the same side - the living side. You and Rick had every reason to leave me out there, but you didn't," he turned back to face Rick. "I'm from a place that's a lot like this one. Part of my job is searching out other settlements to trade with. I took your truck because my community needs things, and both of you looked like trouble. " I snorted back a laugh at his understatement and Jesus met my gaze across the room. Amusement glittered in his eyes but he was cut off when Daryl took another step towards him. Jesus immediately turned his attention back to Rick. "I was wrong. You're good people, and this is a good place. I think our communities may be in a position to help each other."

I licked my lips as my brain went into over drive. "Do you have food?" I asked. It had been out main worry these last few months.

Jesus nodded. "We've started to raise livestock. We scavenge, we grow. Everything from tomatoes to sorghum."

Rick scratched at his face and pressed his lips together. "Tell us why we should believe you."

Jesus didn't hesitate. "I'll show you. If we take a car I can take you back home in a day and you can all see for yourselves who we are and what we have to offer."

Maggie leaned forward. "Wait, you're looking for more settlements. You mean you're already trading with other groups?" 

Jesus leaned back in his chair, a knowing smile crossing his face. "Your world's about to get a whole lot bigger."

Rick sat back in his chair and looked over at the rest of us. Michonne, Maggie and I all nodded to him. It was a risk, letting this man take a group of us anywhere, but he didn't seem all bad. Daryl was watching us and started shaking his head.

"Hell no," he growled. He stepped towards Rick. "We can't trust this prick," he said pointing straight in Jesus's face. 

For his part, Jesus simply sat there and didn't react in the face of Daryl's threats and anger. I had to give him a lot of credit for that.  

Rick leaned his head back and closed his eyes as he thought. I cleared my throat and Rick met my gaze. He gave me a subtle nod, letting me do what I thought was necessary. I craned my neck to look up at Abraham beside me. "Abraham and Carl why don't you take our new friend here out to the front porch so we can have a chat." 

"You got it Little Sister," Abraham agreed. He turned to Jesus, his massive arms still crossed over his chest. "Let's go new friend." 

Jesus looked around the table at all of us, and I could see him trying to decide if there was anything more he could say to convince us. His gaze finally rested on mine and I nodded to him. I wasn't sure if he could understand my silent communication as well as Daryl did, but he looked a little more settled when he stood and trailed after Abraham. 

Carl stood, scooping up his gun and followed the two men, his gun in his hand at his side. He was nearly as tense as Daryl was over having a stranger in our house. 

When the door closed behind them Daryl stepped forward to the table. "No way, we can't do this." 

Rick looked grim. 

"If this is real," Maggie said calmly. "I don't see how we can't. We need this. Having trade partners will help us." 

I frowned. "But what do we have to trade?" I asked. It was a reasonable question. We were good at scavenging and had weapons but that didn't give us a sustainable resource to trade. 

Maggie frowned thoughtfully. "Services? We have a doctor, we have fresh filtered water...I don't know, but we can't lose an opportunity like this. Our food situation is getting desperate." 

Daryl pressed his mouth into an angry line and he turned away from the table and started pacing. 

"Jo?" Rick asked, turning toward me. "You're good with reading people. What do you think?" 

I swallowed. I trusted Daryl's opinions about people, but I couldn't help feeling like he was slightly blinded in this situation. I let out a slow breath knowing my next words had the potential to seriously piss Daryl off. "I think that Jesus does have a potential to be a threat, but I think we do," I looked around the table. "Each of us is dangerous in our own way. We wouldn't have survived if we weren't. I think there were a lot of times he could have attacked or hurt us and he didn't," I let out a tight breath. "He's telling the truth," I added. Nothing he had said had been a lie, and unless he was a complete sociopath I could tell the difference.  

Daryl scoffed and spun away so he was staring out the window. 

Rick nodded and turned to Maggie. "We need this," she reiterated. 

"Okay," Rick said slowly as though he weren't entirely convinced. "Then we take a small group. Abraham, Maggie, Glenn, Jo," behind him Daryl made an impatient noise. Rick looked back at him. "Are you coming with us brother?" he asked raising an eyebrow. 

Daryl turned back around and glowered at Rick. "Course I am," he growled though he didn't sound pleased. 

A smile stretched across Rick's face. "Then it's settled. The rest will stay here to protect Alexandria in case this is some kind of trick," Rick said looking at Daryl's back. "Daryl why don't you look over the RV, we'll need to take that in order to get us all there. The rest of you should head home, gather some supplies and weapons for the trip."

Everyone stood and dispersed. Daryl didn't move from his place at the window. I stepped up to him and frowned. "This is a risk we need to take," I said in a low voice. 

Daryl turned back to me, his eyes were still flashing with temper and had I gotten a look at his face before speaking, I would have stayed silent. "Ya don't know him. He's a slippery prick. He'll screw us over for his own people and we won't see it com'in." 

I reached out and touched his arm, turning him the rest of the way to face me. I knew what this was about. Maybe it had a little to do with Jesus, but mainly this was about what had happened with Dwight in the woods. Daryl didn't trust people anymore and he had taken a risk trying to help those people and it had back fired on him. 

"Not everyone is like them," I whispered, pressing my forehead against his. 

He pulled back, staring down at me. He was still too worked up to be close. "Yeah, they are," he shook his head. "They were good people too, people who were telling the truth and it nearly got me killed..." he looked back out the window over my head. "If you'd a been there, I'd have taken the chance. It woulda risked your life too. For what? For some prick who may or may not be telling the truth?" 

I reached up and grabbed the sides of Daryl's face a little roughly in my hands, forcing him to look me in the face. "For what we are trying to build here. Civilization, a community," I exhaled. "And it's an even nobler cause because you don't need it. But it's gonna take some risks, and this is one we need to take. Jesus is one we need to take a risk on." 

Daryl pulled away slowly and I could see he didn't agree with me. But he wasn't going to fight about it any more. He reached up and swiped a hand over his mouth. "I better get to the RV," he said and he set off towards the door.

"Dare," I called after him. 

He turned to face me, his eyes still hard. 

"It's going to work out," I promised him.  

Daryl grunted and stalked towards the door. I trailed behind him, stepping out onto the porch. Rick had just finished filling the three of them in on what was happening. He glanced from me to Daryl and back again. 

"Everything all right?" he asked. He normally depended on me to reason with Daryl when he was like this, but sometimes there was no getting through that thick skull of his. 

"Yeah," I agreed though I didn't sound very convincing even to my own ears, "everything's fine." 

"Do you need to do anything to get ready?" Rick asked. 

I arched a brow and glanced down at myself. I was already wearing all my knives. "I'm good to go," I replied with a smirk I didn't actually feel. 

Rick nodded. "Will you stay with Jesus while the rest of us get ready then?" 

I nodded in agreement and the others left Jesus and I alone on the porch. I rolled my neck again, trying to release some of the stiff muscles. Jesus, who had dropped down so he was sitting against the railing, looked up at me. 

"Sorry again, about the-" he motioned towards me. 

I turned to face him in surprise. "I was the one who attacked you." 

He nodded, a small smile creeping across his face. "Yeah, that's true," he agreed. "Though I did break into your house, so I probably deserved it at the time." 

I was surprised to find the smile creeping across my face was genuine. "I won't argue with that."

He laughed. "Where did you learn?" he asked. "You're really good." 

I cleared my throat, and for some unfathomable reason, I found myself telling him the truth. "I trusted a man, a community..." I pressed my lips into a hard line and looked him square in the eye as I spoke. "And I shouldn't have."

The smile fell from his face and he slowly climbed to his feet, never once breaking eye contact. "We're not like that," he said honestly. "Very few of us are fighters," he turned away and looked out over our people who were now moving around the motor home that Daryl had parked in front of the house. "You are fighters," he said thoughtfully. His eyes moved to Carl. "Every last one of you." 

I stepped up next to him and watched as Denise cautiously approached Daryl. "We've had to be. We've fought for everything we have here," I swallowed, not understanding why I was still speaking. 

Jesus turned to look at me and then he looked back at Daryl. "Are you and him..." he started to ask. I turned back to Jesus in surprise. It must have shown on my face because he laughed. "Don't look so shocked, you're beautiful and obviously capable," he said motioning to the knives strapped to my body. I shifted uncomfortably at his compliment and tuck a piece of hair behind my ear. 

"Are women something you trade?" I asked suspiciously. Civilizations were being rebuilt everywhere I had to assume they were starting from the ground up. First nomads, then isolated tribes, now tribes willing to trade with one another. I had to assume there were communities out there just as archaic as our early ancestors. 

He barked out a laugh that was loud enough Daryl looked up sharply, narrowing his eyes. "Of course not, but communities are small and it's not exactly easy to meet people in the middle of the apocalypse is it?"

I snorted, "I suppose not," I said, not really sure what else to say. Carl and Rick were standing at the back of the motor home, speaking quietly, while Carl bounced Judith on his hip.  

Glenn and Maggie appeared, each carrying a backpack and climbed into the motor home together. Over the last couple months Glenn had become understandably protective of Maggie. His hovering seemed to reassure her, but it would have driven me nuts. 

Beside me Jesus licked his lips. "Families are rare these days, it's good to see you guys are building them here. It's one of the things that made me sure you were the type of people we want to trade with."

I frowned up at him, trying to figure out how he knew Maggie was pregnant. 

He let out a chuckle. "It's pretty easy to tell," he said as though he could read my mind. 

I looked back at him and scowled. He threw back his head and laughed. 

I don't know why, but in that moment I realized that Jesus and I could be friends. I wasn't sure what it was in him that made Daryl so defensive, but I didn't see it. My smile faltered a little as I realize that, though I thought we could become good friends, if he did anything to threaten us in any way I would kill him without hesitation. New friend or not. 

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Daryl 

I ground my teeth as I heard Jo and Jesus laughing together up on the porch. I had my head under the hood so no one see how pissed off I still was. Jo was normally good at reading people, I couldn't tell what had happened this time. The prick was bad news. Rick knew it, but he was willing to take a chance. I wasn't as comfortable taking that kind of risk on a potential suicide run with a group of our best fighters. 

Hell, Jo had even fought him and seen how dangerous he could me. When we came through the door I had almost shot the asshole right then for having her pinned up against the wall. If he could take Jo, he was more dangerous than we knew. No way this was worth that kind of risk. Yeah, we needed food, but we could send out more scouting trips, and with some luck I could find a new crossbow or even a regular bow and start hunting again. I ground my teeth again. Anything was better than taking the risk with a pregnant Maggie and Jo in the RV.

Satisfied the hunk of crap would stay running long enough get us to Jesus's community I straightened. 

I heard footsteps behind me and turned to see Denise. "Here," she said, looking a little nervous. She held out a plastic baggie to me. "Homemade oat cake. Complex carbohydrates, omega-3s..."

I looked down at the baggie and frowned, it looked like cat crap. "Naw, I'm good. We're gonna make a pit stop. I'll pick up something then," I said. 

Denise dropped her hand in defeat. "Like rabies?" she asked. 

I slammed the hood and pulled out my rag, wiping the grease off my hands. "Is this cause I tried to get you that stuff?" I asked suspiciously, I didn't get why she would suddenly be trying to be so nice to me when before she had always seemed intimidated by me. 

"Yeah," Denise confessed, fidgeting. "And...you remind me of someone I used to know," she said sadly and her eyes filled with tears. 

I swallowed guiltily. I had already pissed enough people off today, I didn't need to add one more to the list when she was just trying to be nice to me. I reached down and took the damn oat cake. "Well, I hope it tastes better than it looks," I growled. I cringed, I hadn't meant to sound so pissed. Behind me I heard Jo laugh again. She was still talking to that asshole. I shoved the oat cake in my pocket. "Cause it looks like shit." 

"Shit's still better than roadkill," Denise snapped back and then paused like she just realized what she said. "Okay maybe not...just eat it," she said shaking her head awkwardly and turning away. 

I smirked after her and turned back to the house. Jesus and Jo were standing side by side leaning against the porch rail, talking in low voices. They were smiling at each other and I wanted to march up there and punch the guy in his stupid face. I ran a hand over my mouth and nodded to Abraham, we were ready to go. 

Abraham stood at the door and bellowed to get everyone's attention. "Let's chew up some asphalt!"

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Hey guys! I hope you enjoyed the update! What do you think of the Jo/Jesus friendship? As I'm writing them I was surprised to find how similar they are. Please keep up the awesome comments/votes!