NPC Followers And Combat

Am I missing something in the npc combat commands?
I’ve got an npc follower and put their settings to only attack what I attack first and follow me no matter what.
We started attacking a couple of zombies, those couple turned into a big group and now there’s a bigger group approaching.
I’ve run off but my follower has stayed behind fighting/dying.
Is that a case of still slightly dodgy npc ai or have I missed an npc combat setting?

Telling them to stay close to you in the miscellaneous options(I think) usually makes them get out of a fight when you’re far away but sometimes it seems like they prefer fighting to the death.

You will probably live longer this way.

I find NPCs are more likely to run away with you when you give them a temporary order to retreat (or was it prepare for danger, I don’t recall) using the selections avaliable in the (C)ommunication menu.