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Jo

I rounded the corner and I let myself see the herd. I counted it twice. I let my mind catalog each walker. There were eighteen. I let myself see which ones were the closest and what level of decay they were in. I let myself see how much room I had to move and how best to maintain the upper hand. I let myself see where I could stand and not get flanked. This was not going to be easy, and if I were alone I wasn't sure I would be able to kill this many. I glanced once more back at Daryl and told myself it was the last time until they were all dead.

I let myself to focus.

To this day I still didn't know if when I fought I turned something off in my head or turned something on. To be honest the answer scared me too much to think too hard about it. The man beneath the car continue to yell, and a small part of my brain was glad, it would keep that majority of the herd interested in him instead of us. Like a piece of bait. I heard the thwack of Daryl's crossbow and in the back of my brain I started to take a tally.

One.

I came up behind the first two and slammed my blades into their heads at the same time. I was stronger with my right, but the kukri was heavier than the hunting knife so the blades slid home at almost exactly the same moment. The Walkers were decayed badly enough gravity cleared the blades easily. Daryl stabbed another with the arrow in his hand and then reloaded his crossbow with it.

Four.

I took three running steps backwards to give myself space as the Walkers at the back of the herd noticed we were there. Daryl fired at another, before running in and grabbing the two arrows. He ran back out, getting clear of the car so he could reload. He stabbed another with the two arrows gripped in his fist.

Stop, reset.

I couldn't think about Daryl so much, it challenged my focus. It would make me sloppy.

Six. That was all that mattered. Six.

A mid-sized female walker was closest to me. I spun away at the last minute, driving my kukri up into the base of her skull. Slick, cool blood flowed down the handle of kukri, coating my fingers.

Seven.

Then I struck out sideways, driving the hunting knife home into the temple of a small male walker.

Eight.

The man beneath the car continued to scream. It was starting to sound less like fear and more like pain. I wasn't sure there would be anything left of him to save once we finished, but we had to try. I kicked the next walker back, it rebounded off the car, knocking another off balance. I struck two more down in quick succession using the identical movement I had on the previous two.

Nine, Ten.

The beauty of walkers was they didn't learn. I could use the same effective movements every time against a whole herd and it wouldn't make a damn bit of difference. Walkers didn't fight, they only attacked. Mindlessly, instinctually, tirelessly.

There was another thwack somewhere to the left of me, but I didn't allow myself to look.

Eleven.

The ones I had kicked down were lumbering towards me. I kicked the knee out on the first and it fell. As it went down I stabbed the hunting knife into the temple.

Twelve.

The next one was on me faster than I anticipated, it's cool rotting fingers grabbed at my arm. There was enough blood coating the forearms of my jacket the Walker's hands slid off the slick leather. I drove an elbow straight down on the back of it's neck. It fell to the ground and I jumped straight up in the air, landing with both feet on it's head. There was hardly any resistance before I was standing on the shattered remains of it's skull, blood and thicker things.

Gross, thirteen.

I was almost thrown off as that last thought went over me. I had never been able to maintain this much control doing this. It had always been like I went someplace else in my mind. I couldn't decide if this was better or worse. This mindfulness made it hard for me to gauge the passage of time. One moment it seemed like it was all happening so fast I couldn't keep up, and the next everything was slow and precise.

There was a snarl just to my right and a walker was on top of me. I had lost my focus and it knocked me down. I heard Daryl yell for me, but I rolled with the momentum letting it carry my away from the walker bending down to attack me. I kicked straight up, catching the walker in the head. It's skull shattered and it fell.

Fourteen

"Please! Help me!" the man cried. I looked over towards the car and could see him huddled beneath it. On the ground I could no longer hear Daryl fighting. I had no idea how many more were left or if he had killed them. All I could hear was the man and the snarls of walkers. By my tally there were at least four left.

There was a snarl from the side of the car and a Walker was dragging itself along the ground towards the man. I dropped my kukri beside me on the ground and pulled my first throwing knife. I had never thrown one laying down before, but if I sat up it wouldn't clear the car. I missed. It bounced off the skull, clipping the Walkers ear. The knife clattered to the ground.

Four knives left.

The man screamed again. "Please!" The walker was dragging itself along the ground, getting closer to the man under the car. "Please!!!!" I pulled my second throwing knife. I let it fly. It sunk into the walkers skull with a thunk and the walker collapsed nearly on top of the stranger.

Fifteen but only three knives left.

I grabbed my next throwing knife as a shadow fell over me. I drew my arm back, I wouldn't get the full power behind the throw but that didn't matter. It was standing directly over me.  

"Jo," I heard my name, but it felt like it was coming from a long way off. It confused me and I blinked. In that blink it seemed as though time sped up and I could hear again.

"Jo."

I looked up and saw Daryl standing over me. He was holding his crossbow in one hand and the other was out to his side. I recognized it as his attempt at looking nonthreatening. I had never thought it was very effective. He was waiting for me realize it was him. I stared up at him for a full minute longer than was necessary. Then I nodded to him and rolled to my feet. I slid my last throwing knife away and snatched my kukri off the ground. I ran over to where the man was laying beneath the car.

He continued to wail.

"You need to stop yelling," I said in a soothing voice. "You're going to get us killed. Here, take my hand. They're all gone now." How was he out here if he was this hysterical? It didn't seem very responsible of Aaron to choose this man as his partner. It made me question his judgement and the community.

"I'm stuck," he cried motioning to the rear tire. "It's in park and the damn roamers shoved the car onto my ankle. "

There was another snarl and I looked up to see two more walkers shambling down the road towards us. I glanced at Daryl and jerked my chin towards them. He nodded. He moved to the front of the car to see if he could push it off.

I climbed to my feet and took out both Walkers. I slashed across the face of the first, nearly cutting it's head in half with the kukri. Blood splattered across me but I was already moving. I pivoted around, kicking out the knee of the second and slammed the hunting knife straight down through the top of it's skull.

When I turned back Daryl was leaning against the bumper grunting with effort. The car was obviously still in park and wouldn't budge. I ran over to him and leaned back against it. The rusty metal flaked beneath my grip but the car itself wouldn't move.

I straightened. "We need Abraham," I said firmly.

Daryl frowned looking from me to the stranger under the car. I knew what he was thinking. Someone was going to be left alone. Either we left the guy beneath the car by himself or we split up. I looked around us, but couldn't see anything in the dark. I didn't like the idea of splitting it. 

"It's okay," I told him. I'll stay with him, you go find Abraham and Maggie."

His frown deepened to a scowl. He moved back to the rear of the car and he bent down. "Ya keep quiet. If ya keep yell'in like that you're gonna get all of us killed and if ya get her killed while I'm gone the walkers will be the least of your worries."

The man nodded enthusiastically in agreement and I saw him sink his teeth into his lower lip to keep himself quiet.

Daryl ran a hand through his hair, looked towards town and then glanced back at me. He chewed on his lip and adjusted his grip on his crossbow. 

"I'll be fine," I promised him. He nodded, indecision played across his face. I stepped up to him and laid a hand on his chest. He looked down at it curiously like he didn't understand what I was doing. I snorted, chuckling at his reaction. "Go get Abraham and Maggie, I'll be here," I promised him.

He nodded again, this time with more conviction. "If anything goes wrong ya leave his ass."

I snorted but nodded in agreement all the while knowing I would never do that. I think Daryl knew it to, but my words allowed him to leave. He gave me a last long look before he turned and started jogging down the street. He disappeared into the darkness. 

I moved around the car and collected my other two knives. I searched the bodies of the dead Walkers for anything useful, but there was nothing. The smell was terrible. This herd was decomposed worse than I had seen before without some kind of outside influence. I paced around the car a few times, but there was nothing to see. Just a dark street littered with bodies of the dead. 

"Ah, hello?" the man whispered loudly. His voice was laced with fear. 

I bent down, leaning my forearm against the asphalt so I could see under the car. "Yeah?" I asked giving him a reassuring smile. 

"I-I just wanted to make sure someone was still there," he said in tight voice. "It got so quiet."

"Sorry," I used my reassuring girl voice. One that was a little softer than normal. It usually put people at their ease. "I was just making sure no walkers came our way."

He frowned at me in confusion and then a look of understanding dawned across his face. "We call them roamers," he explained. 

I nodded as though that mattered. His voice was tight with pain but he was going to a lot of effort to be civil. I had to respect that, it actually said a lot about him.

"I'm Eric by the way."

"Hi," I said, as a weird feeling to shake his hand went over me. "I'm Jo."

"And you'll be my rescuer today?" Eric teased letting out a tight chuckle.

I nodded and smirked in the dark. "Yeah something like that..."

"So Jo, what's a girl like you doing in a place like this?" Eric's tone was as light as could be expected given his predicament, but I didn't think he was hitting on me. It was more like he was working to diffuse any tension between us with his gentle, harmless humor.

I glanced back at him again. Not to mention he seemed fairly effeminate if I hadn't missed my mark.

"Well...we were following a man named Aaron back to his-"

"Aaron!" He exclaimed, he tried to sit up in his excitement and ended up smacking his head on the bottom of the car. A shower of rust flakes fell on him. He groaned, collapsing back onto the asphalt. "That was dumb," he said tightly, cupping his forehead. "Is Aaron okay?" He asked after a moment.

I cringed sympathetically. "We got separated," I replied in a quiet voice. I honestly didn't know what else to tell him. It was the truth, and yet seeing Eric's hopeful eyes turn my way I felt like I was deceiving him.

"But he's okay?" Eric asked, his voice colored with concern.

I opened my mouth but nothing came out. I exhaled. "He's with three of our strongest fighters." Not that I thought Rick would bend over backwards to make sure Aaron was safe. He had made his opinion of strangers pretty clear.

"Except the redneck Prince Charming back there?" Eric asked with a sardonic rise of his eyebrow. 

I frowned at Eric, not quite sure how to respond.

Eric noticed immediately and quickly continued. "I mean he must be quite the fighter for the two of you to be out here on your own."

I pressed my lips into a thin line, I didn't see any reason to correct Eric. If he believed it was just Daryl who saved him that was fine by me. "Yeah, he's strong, and his name is Daryl by the way..." I said awkwardly

Eric nodded patting his hands against the asphalt restlessly. "I'll have to thank him when he comes back."

I nodded but I didn't know what else to say now. I was out of practice making small talk and that's honestly what this felt like. There was something about Eric that made me feel like he was somehow untouched by what was going on around us. "How are you doing?" I asked for lack of something better to say.

"Well, my ankle hurts like a bitch, but things are certainly looking up," he said brightly.

I snorted and nodded. There was something about this man that reminded me of Beth and it made me feel strangely protective of him.

A snarl sounded somewhere behind me. I stood and spun to see another small herd making their way towards us. I sighed wearily. Couldn't we ever just catch a break. I bent back down so I could see Eric's face. "I'll be right back," I said and turned to go. 

"Wait!" he called after me. 

I spun back to face him, every second wasted they were coming closer and it would be harder to fight if I had to protect him in addition to myself. "What?" I tried to keep myself from sounding short, but it didn't work. 

"Where are you going?" he asked, sounding a little frantic. I understood. He was trapped and helpless and in his mind his only defense was a girl. 

"I'll be right back," I promised. "Try to stay quiet so they don't come looking for you." 

"Wait...what?!" he exclaimed but I was already gone. 

I jogged about twenty yards down the dark road to meet them. I froze as I realized the herd wasn't as small as I first thought. There were eleven that I could see. There was no going back now, they had seen me. Their growls grew in excitement as they drew closer. I pulled my Kukri and the hunting knife. I glanced over to my right was a house with a large tree in the front yard and a small fence. I jogged up the front walk. I opened the gate and stood ten feet inside of it. It was a smaller space, it would force the herd to bottle neck and give me the advantage. 

I was running up quite the tally tonight. I swallowed back any emotions that wouldn't help me. I didn't have anyone else to worry about now, nothing else matter but me. I don't have to worry about Daryl or some stranger who is trapped. It's just them and me, just like before. Like it always was. I closed my eyes and let myself push everything aside and just focus. 

The first walker came through the gate and I cut it down, slashing across the top of it's skull with the kukri. I spun using the momentum I created and drove the hunting knife through the skull of the next one. I cleared both blades and faced the next walkers. They tried coming through the gate at the same time and rebounded off each other. I stabbed them and backed up. The bodies laying in the gate caused the next walkers to stumble and fall over the bodies on the ground slowing them down even more.

I pounced on them before they could get back to their feet, killing them before they could recover. A walker snarled from just above my head before I could straighten. The growl was close enough I could feel the air wheesh against the back of my neck. I shoved myself back spilling myself on my butt. I dropped the kukri and grabbed my first throwing knife. 

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Daryl

I jogged back to the car where I left Jo and the stranger. Abraham and Maggie were behind me but I wasn't waiting for them. There were walkers crawling all over this town. The car came into view but I didn't see Jo anywhere. 

"Jo?" I called, "Jo!" I tried to keep the worry out of my voice but it didn't work. 

"She left," the man beneath the car called back to me. 

I pulled back. Where the hell could she have gone? Abraham was right behind me and he moved to the car right away. He leaned against the bumper and looked at me. I quickly did the same and between the two of us we managed to move the car enough to get the man out from underneath it. Maggie grabbed him by the arms and helped pull him out from beneath the car.  

I shoved off of the car and turned to face the stranger. "Which way?" I growled. 

His eyes widened at the look on my face and he cowered back towards Maggie. "I-I-I don't know!" he exclaimed. 

I swung back to look around but it was too dark to see anything. There was noting but inky black in every direction. 

Maggie and the new guy were speaking quietly together. "Shut up!" I snarled at them. They stopped talking immediately. Even Maggie looked afraid. 

Stepping away from the group I turned in a small circle as I strained to hear anything. 

There. 

I tore off up the street. 

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Hey guys, sorry it took me a couple days to get this one out. I swear I didn't die, it was just a tricky chapter to write for some reason for me. It didn't seem to flow at ALL which was weird because normally my original chapters are way easier to write. I also had to get acquainted with Eric. I hope you enjoyed even if it was a little bit tougher. Please comment/vote!