Disclaimer: I don't own anything except Leann!

I'm looking to the sky to save me

Looking for a sign of life

Looking for something to help me burn out bright"

I'm looking for a complication

Looking 'cause I'm tired of trying

Make my way back home

When I learn to fly high

We somehow made our way into a city. We were getting desperately low on supplies so we looked for the first store we could find and went in. The store was really dirty inside, there was stuff everywhere.

"We need water, food and batteries." Daryl informed me. "In that order."

"Okay. I'll check over here in the electronics section."

"All right. Take Jax with ya, okay?"

"Yeah. Jax, come'er boy." I called our blue heeler over. He ran right over to me. "Oh, yer such a good boy." I petted him.

We found him a while back, we were staying in a little house in a rundown neighborhood and he was there in an alleyway. I guess he found us instead of us finding him. He was a little prick at first, growling at us and wouldn't even let us get close. After a while of feeding and coaxing him, he came around and now he's the best dog in the world. He's my little protector, especially since it's harder for me to get around with my leg in a brace. Plus, it's a little harder with my missing finger, too. But…I'm doing all right.

I looked around for batteries and anything else that could be useful. I found a rack that actually had a few packs of batteries on them. I grabbed them and stuffed them into my bag.

"I found some batteries!" I yelled.

"…good girl." I heard my brother say from a distance.

I heard a noise behind me and quickly spun pulling out my gun. It was just Jax, he knocked over a can of frosting and was trying to eat it.

"Jax, ya cain't have that, it's chocolate. That's bad fer ya." I took it off him and put it on the top shelf. I grabbed a bag of chips and opened them. "Here, buddy." I poured them on the floor and he went to town. It made me laugh. I heard another noise this time more in the front of the store. I looked around the aisle but didn't see anything.

"Daryl?" I said, my brother didn't answer. I slowly made my way up there being very cautious.

All of a sudden, I was grabbed from behind and my gun was knocked out of my hand. The person kicked me in the back of the leg(my good leg) so that I fell. That's when I saw it was a man. He grabbed my arm and started dragging me towards the door.

"Daryl!" I screamed. "Daryl! Daryl!"

Jax got there before my brother did and jumped on the man biting him. The man screamed in pain and let go of me. I reached for my gun, but Daryl was there first and quickly shot the man in the head with his crossbow.

"Good boy." Daryl patted Jax's head then ran to me. He helped me up. "You all right?"

"Y-yeah." I nodded. "Ow." I rubbed my knee.

"Yer not all right." My brother gave me a look.

"It's hurts." I said sadly.

"Yeah, it's time to go. We'll look fer a house or somethin' til yer better." Daryl helped me walk. "Come on, Jax."

We found these nice little houses. Eventually we'll find somewhere to be. To stay…hopefully. I was getting so sick of wandering around all the time. I just want to find a place and stay there. At least for a while.

"What about this one?" I said pointing at one of the houses.

Daryl nodded in its direction. "Check it out."

I returned his nod and headed up to the door. I was about to knock when I realized Daryl wasn't behind me.

"Ain't ya comin?"

"What? Ya scared?" He teased. "You got it. Come on, just like I showed ya."

I swallowed hard, turning around I quickly knocked on the door. No sign of walkers inside. "Jax!" I called and he followed me. I quickly opened the door and Jax ran in. I could hear him inside running around. He barked so I knew we were good. He knew what to do. I looked around and scanned the rooms quickly before going back outside. "It's clear."

Daryl just nodded. "I'll check the one across the street."

I agreed and went back inside.

I looked around for food and water first, but I didn't find any. The house was rather empty; not much furniture or pictures on the walls. I thought it was strange. What was even stranger was that there was a creepy ass doll in one of the rooms. Its black eyes were piercing, like they were looking into my soul. It had an expression like no other doll I had seen before. It just looked angry. Despite its creepiness, I couldn't stop looking at it.

I must have been in there for a while because the sound of my brother's voice startled me.

"Le? You okay?" He sounded worried.

I shook my head like I was trying to forget something. "Yeah, sorry."

"What are ya doin'?"

"I think I was in a trance." I laughed.

He seemed to let it go. "Come on." We left the house together. I took one last look at that doll before closing the door behind me. "Did ya find anythang?"

"No, did you?" I answered a little too quickly.

"Nah."

"Maybe we'll have better luck in the next one." I said walking toward the next house.

I went up to the door and knocked on it. Daryl was right behind me this time.

"Oh yer comin' with me this time?" I teased.

"Yeah, well, wouldn't want ya to go into another "trance."

I huffed opening the door, Jax ran inside. "I was! There was the creepiest doll in there. It hypnotized me!"

"Okay." He snorted.

We heard Jax bark and knew it was safe to go in.

I checked around in the kitchen, Daryl went into the living room. I found some cans of fruit and put them in my bag. Then I went down to the basement and surprisingly there was a half empty case of water! I grabbed the remaining bottles and put them in my bag as well. On the wall, there was a painting of a little girl with red hair. Someone drew an X over it. That's so weird. Who would do that and why is this painting in the basement anyway? I didn't waste my time thinking about it, though. I hurried up the stairs.

"Daryl, I found water!" I called. He didn't answer me. The house was too quiet.

"Daryl?" I looked in the living room, but he wasn't in there. I turned the corner to see him in the dining room. He was motionless.

"Daryl?" He didn't respond to me. "Daryl, are ya okay? What's wrong?" I began to panic. I shook his arm. "Daryl?"

"Oh!" He said suddenly, making me jump. "Sorry, I was in a trance." He smirked at me.

I was mad that he was making fun of me, but relieved that he was only joking. I let out a little laugh. "Yer a jerk." I walked away and out of the house. I started in the next house without waiting for Daryl. I noticed it was getting dark.

As soon as I walked in, there was a terrible smell. I choked and put my shirt over my nose. I soon found out that the horrible smell was a pot of food that was on the stove in the kitchen. I couldn't tell what it was, or what it used to be, but there were maggots all over it. I wanted to puke. I looked over and saw Daryl.

"Want some dinner?"

He looked in the pot and grimaced.

We quickly checked for food and left because we couldn't stand the smell.

The next few houses we checked in had no food or anything. My brother would find some way to tease me about the "trance" incident in each house. In this one house in a bedroom upstairs, there was a doll collection so of course he had to make another remark. He stopped me and turned me around so I was looking at him.

"What are ya doin'?" I said.

"Just makin' sure yer still with me." He let out a little laugh.

I was starting to get annoyed. "Okay, can you stop?"

His face turned serious again and he was giving me a questioning look.

I walked down the stairs and out of the house. I started to feel stupid while going into the next house. It's not something to really be mad about.

"Sorry." Daryl apologized while walking into the house. "Don't be mad."

"It's fine." I put my head down. "We should stay here. It's gettin' dark."

The rooms were clear, but on the wall in the living room, someone wrote "There's no place like home" in blood.

I was just staring at it.

"Maybe not this one." Daryl said.

"…no, it's fine." I said. "It don't bother me." He just looked at me. "Does it bother you?"

"No." Was all he said.

"So, then I guess it's settled." I sat down in a chair.

"Guess so."

We were eating the cans of fruit I found. I also found some wine in the basement, but I didn't say anything to Daryl considering all that happened with me back at that place with the drugs and the alcohol. However, it was as if he read my mind just now because he said he wished he had something else to drink.

Don't say anythang, Le. Don't say anythang'.

"I'll go look." I said.

I went directly to the basement. I stared at the bottles of wine on the shelf debating whether or not I should mention anything to Daryl.

"No." I said. I started to walk away when something caught my eye. There was a little rug under the stairs. That's a weird place to have a rug.

I was about to laugh it off and go back upstairs when I saw that it looked like there was something poking up from it.

I had to go over and see now. I lifted the rug…and what do you know? There was a handle to a door. Is this like a trap door or something? I grabbed the handle and opened the door. There was a flight of stairs. I grabbed a flashlight and shined the light down there, but I couldn't see anything. However, my curiosity got the better of me and I went down. It didn't smell very good. I kept stepping on rocks or something. As I was walking forward, something hit me in the face. I thought it was a spider web at first, but then I reached out for it and realized it was a chain for a light. I pulled it and to my surprise it came on, it was very bright so I had to turn my head quickly. It took a little for my eyes to adjust, but when they finally did…I regretted ever coming down here.

There were skeletons chained to the walls. There were five of them! And there were tortuous weapons alining the walls! I began panting and freaked out. I ran up those stairs faster than ever even with my limp leg. So fast that I ran into Daryl who I didn't even see. I screamed and he caught me.

"Shh calm down." He said. "It's okay."

"No." I cried.

"What happened?"

I couldn't speak. I just pointed at the hidden door where I just came out of.

Daryl left my side and went down. He came back up moments later. He didn't say anything just shut the door and covered it back up with the rug.

"That…that happened before." I said. "The bones are too clean. There's no flesh or anythang left on 'em."

He just slowly nodded his head.

"We're in a psycho's house." My lip quivered.

"We don't have to stay here. We'll just stay for the night and leave in the mornin', okay?"

I nodded sadly. Then, I took a deep breath pulling myself together. "There's wine." I mentioned.

"You knew that was down here, didn't ya?"

I laughed nodding my head.

"I didn't wanna tell you about the wine cuz yer a mean drunk." I said while we were in the living room drinking.

"What'd ya say? I'm a mean drunk?"

"Yeah." I laughed. "Ya always was. We get into fights, 'member? Well, 'cept fer that night at the CDC."

"Oh yeah." He said. "Well that wasn't all me."

"No, but you started it." I laughed and stuck my tongue out at him.

He was staring at me. "Alright. Gimme yer wine."

"Why?" I pulled my glass closer to me.

"You ain't mature enough to have wine."

"Go to hell." I laughed.

"I'm already there."

I laughed and finished my glass. I poured another.

"Don't get sick." Daryl warned.

"Don't get sick." I imitated him the best I could. The look he gave me made me laugh really hard.

"You keep makin' fun 'a me, Imma lock ya in the basement tonight."

I stopped laughing and became serious. I got a sickening feeling in my stomach. I thought about what I found down there earlier. Those poor people. What they must have gone through. A chill went down my spine and I shivered. I put my wine down.

"Le, I…I'm sorry. I shouldn't 'a…"

"I-I know." I slide off the couch onto the floor, and pulled my knees up to my chest.

I sat like that for a while, no one saying anything.

"Are you alright, sissy?"

"Yeah…I'm just…" I looked up at Daryl. "That guy…in the store earlier, he was gonna kidnap me. He coulda done somethin' like that to me."

He came over and sat down on the floor next to me. He put his arm around my shoulders. "It's okay. I ain't ever gonna let nothin' like that happen to ya. You hear me?"

I just nodded.

"It's okay. Yer okay." My brother hugged me tightly and kissed the top of my head.

"What was the guy gonna do? I mean…he didn't just wanna kill me cuz he coulda if he wanted."

"I don't know. Just quit worryin' about it. He's dead." He pushed my hair back.

"I don't like when thangs are left unanswered."

"Me too." Daryl said.

I looked down sadly and reached over to pet Jax for comfort but realized he wasn't there. Come to think of it, I hadn't seen him for a while.

"Daryl? Where's Jax?" I didn't try to hide that I was alarmed.

He gave me a look then yelled, "Jax! Ay, Jax, where are ya, boy!"

"Jax!" I called too.

We heard a bark then he came running. He had something in his mouth. Once he got closer, I realized it was a bone.

"Where'd he get a—" then it hit me. "Oh my God! Jax spit that out! Ew, Jax, no!"

Daryl laughed.

We went to bed soon after that. Daryl slept in one of the chairs and I had the couch. Jax slept next to me on the floor. I was awakened by a chill. I got so cold all of a sudden. I went upstairs to find a blanket. It was too dark to see up there and I didn't bring my flashlight. I wasn't going to go back and get it, though, I didn't want to risk waking up my brother. So, I maneuvered the best I could.

I made my way into one of the bedrooms and grabbed a blanket off the bed. I should get one for Daryl, too. So I got another.

I tried to be as quiet as possible coming down the stairs, but I kept tripping over the blankets. I bet it would look real funny as a scene in a movie.

When I got back in the living room, I put Daryl's blanket next to him in case he woke up and needed it. Then, I laid back down on the couch and covered myself. That's so much better.

"You okay?"

I lifted my head to look at my brother. Damn, I must have woke him up.

"Yeah, I just went to find some blankets. It's like freezin'. Sorry, I woke ya up."

"You didn't. I actually never went to sleep."

I blinked.

"Kinda hard to sleep like this."

"Oh. Do you want the couch?" I started to get up.

"No, that's okay, baby." He got up and put his blanket on me. "Go to sleep."

"Where ya goin'?"

"Don't worry about it. Just go to sleep."

I shrugged and laid back down.

When I woke up, Daryl wasn't in the room with me. I checked around but couldn't find him. Eventually, I realized that he was outside. He had a shovel.

It didn't take me long to realize what he had done. He took the bones from that room in the basement and buried them. I was touched.

"You didn't have to do that."

"Well, you know…let's just say I did fer Jax. So's that he doesn't take no more bones."

I laughed. "Thank you." I hugged him, he hugged me tightly back and kissed my forehead. "You should get some sleep. You was up all night."

"Nah, I'm fine." He started walking back inside.

"No, ya have to. You didn't get any sleep cuz of me. That makes me feel bad."

"Le, I'm fine. It's okay."

"Please, Daryl." I begged. I didn't want him to get sick. No sleep is dangerous.

He looked at me for a moment. "Alright. I guess I could sleep for a few minutes."

I smiled. I was relieved. I watched him lay down on the couch. "Hey, if anythang happens, you wake me up."

"Of course."

It didn't take long for him to fall asleep. He must really be tired. Poor Daryl.

It's my fault for being so emotional. I wish there was something I could do for him. I know! I'll go out and look for something special for him! That's a great idea!

I grabbed my bag and made sure Daryl was still asleep before quietly leaving.

I checked in a few of the next door homes, but so far I didn't have any luck. There was a little glass shop down the hill at the end of the road. I decided to look in there.

There were a plethora of little glass figures. There were people, animals and little objects like pipes. I would've had fun with those months ago. I laughed inside then shook that thought. That's not me anymore.

Then, I found little glass weapons. They had knives, guns, poles and…crossbows! No way! I found a little glass crossbow that looked exactly like Daryl's! He'll love it! It even had a little key ring attached to it so he can use it as a keychain. I grabbed it and wrapped it in tissue paper. I was so excited to give it to him, I practically ran back to the house.

I quietly walked inside and went straight into the kitchen. I put my bag down on the table and emptied the contents that I found in some of the other homes. I left the crossbow in there, though.

Suddenly, I felt the hardest smack ever on my butt. I screamed and turned around quickly. "Ow ow, Daryl, ow." I rubbed it immediately. Jax came running into the kitchen to my aide, I guess because he heard me yell.

My brother didn't say anything just looked at me. He didn't look angry, which kind of scared me.

"Where the hell were you?" He asked calmly, but he sounded more worried than angry.

"I-I went to find some supplies."

"Yeah. So ya just leave?"

I gave him a weird look. Is he serious? I thought we were passed this.

"What if somethin' happened to ya? And I'm here sleepin' on the couch? It's a lot easier fer ya to get hurt now. Or what if someone would've come here, huh?"

"I'm not a little kid. I can take care of myself! I don't need a babysitter!"

He walked closer to me, and I actually got a little scared.

"I don't care how old you are, ya don't wander off by yerself! Do I do that to you? Do I just leave without tellin' ya where I'm goin'?"

"Well…you did last night."

"I didn't leave the yard. Don't be a smartass!"

I backed up against the counter and put my head down. He's right, I'm an idiot. That was unfair and stupid of me. "I'm sorry. I wasn't thinkin'. Won't happen again." I was embarrassed that he was scolding me. I felt like a stupid, irresponsible little kid. I couldn't even look at him.

I heard him sigh. "It's good that ya found more food."

I just nodded.

"Did ya have any trouble?"

"No." I slowly walked away. I wanted to be alone so I went upstairs in one of the rooms. I sat down on the floor and leaned my back against the bed. I rested my chin on my knee.

I heard footsteps and knew Daryl was coming. I didn't even know what to say to him.

"Le?"

"…in here."

"Hey, ya okay?" I did not respond to him. "Ya don't have to punish yerself." He smirked. I readjusted my position. "You mad at me?"

"…no, I'm mad at myself. I feel stupid." I sat down on the bed next to him.

"Ya ain't stupid. I'm sorry for yellin' at you. Ya just…ya cain't do that. I know yer not a little kid, but it's dangerous, especially now."

"I know. I'm sorry, I left."

"And why didn't ya at least take Jax with ya?"

"I—I don't know. I wasn't thinkin' I guess."

"It's alright. Just don't do it again, okay?" He put his hand on my back. "Ready to get outta here?"

I nodded. My brother helped me up. Then he lifted me. "What are ya doin'?"

"Lemme carry ya down the stairs. Give yer knee a rest."

"Okay." I just let him.

"It'd be nice if we could find a workin' vehicle." Daryl said as we were walking.

"No, I'm good." I said. "That would require us to sit." He gave me a stupid look. "Yer handprint is on my butt."

"Oh yeah." He laughed.

"That hurt really bad."

"Well…good then. Quit bein' bad."

I looked at Jax behind us. "Ya know, yer lucky Jax didn't attack ya. He heard me yell and came to my rescue." I smirked.

"Yeah, but then he realized what was goin' on and knew ya deserved it. He don't do nothin' bad. He's a good boy. Ain't ya?" He petted Jax, Jax happily wagged his tail.

"Whatever." I rolled my eyes.

Suddenly a walker came from around the corner of a building.

"It's just one." I said. "I got it." I stabbed it in the head with my knife.

We heard more groans. A few more of them came from around the building in different directions. Daryl went to kill them.

That's when I noticed more of them coming from the other side.

"Daryl stop!"

He stopped and looked at me.

"There's more!"

"Oh shit! We gotta go!"

We ran down the road as fast as we could. The walkers were following us. We need to slow down or we're going to get winded and they're going to catch up to us.

"Head for that buildin'!" Daryl yelled to me. "We'll trap them in there!"

The door wasn't locked, I was able to go right in. The walkers were catching up. We waited until they were right outside. They followed us in.

"We'll have to go out the window." Daryl said.

Daryl quickly hopped out first then he helped me out. I made sure Jax got out, too.

"Ahh!" One of the walkers grabbed ahold of my bag. I tried pulling but couldn't get it off.

"Just let it go!" Daryl yelled.

"No!" His present is in there! I can't!

"Leann!"

"I cain't!"

Daryl helped me pull. We still couldn't get it off of them. Then, he grabbed my hands which made me let go of the bag.

"No!" I yelled.

He pulled me along.

We ran down the road to safety.

Once we were far enough away, we stopped to catch our breath.

"Are ya crazy? Why wouldn't ya let it go?"

"I had somethin' important in there." I said sadly.

"Important enough to die over?"

"Yes." I whined.

Daryl paused. "Sorry, Sissy." His expression softened. "What was it?"

I sighed. "It was a present…fer you."

"Fer me?" He looked at me like he didn't understand what I was saying. "What for?"

"Cuz…yer always doin' thangs fer me and lookin' out fer me and stuff. I just wanted to get you somethin'."

"Aw, ya don't have to do nothin' fer me. I do that stuff cuz I want to not cuz I have to."

"Well, I wanted to, too. It ain't fair fer you to always be protectin' me cuz of my leg slowin' me down. I'm dead weight sometimes."

"Hey, never. Don't say that." He grabbed my face with one hand and forced me to look at him. "I mean it, Sissy. You are not dead weight and I don't wanna hear ya say that again…unless ya want another handprint on yer ass?" He let go of my face and put his arm around me. "What was it anyway?"

"…it was a little, glass crossbow keychain. It looked just like yers."

"Hmm…really?"

I nodded.

"Well, thanks."

I smiled.

"I thought ya was gonna say it was a doll."

My smile faded. "Really?" I shook my head and turned the other way. "Hey, look." I pointed at a truck that was behind a building.

Daryl went to check it. It started right up.

"It works." He smirked. "Hop in, sweetheart."

"You think we'll ever find a place where we can stay for at least a while?"

"I hope so." Daryl replied. "We're gonna head north from here."

We drove out of the city.