The following takes place immediately after Season 3 ends before they started taking on more people.
It was not a particularly inviting day to be out in the forest hunting. The sky was overcast, threatening to rain any minute, and the humidity in the air was so stifling that Daryl found himself drenched in sweat before he'd even gotten out of sight of the prison. In spite of this he was glad to get away for awhile because, well, it felt like a prison to him. He needed to be out in the open air, moving swiftly and silently through the forest, tracking some possible entrée for supper in order to feel more like himself, free and independent and not like a scared animal cowering in a hole all the time.
Most importantly, he needed some time to just be alone and clear his head. As much as he had come to care for the group, to respect each one for what they brought to the table, sometimes he found all the closeness too oppressive. Especially now with the addition of all the Woodbury refugees. Then it was good to be out in the woods far from Carol's well meaning searching looks and Rick's mood swings. Or Glenn and Maggie's lovers' quarrels. And—
"Shit, it's like some damn soap opera in there sometimes." he murmured as he moved off in a new direction, all senses straining for the sign of a target for his itching fingers.
And then he heard a snap, not from any side of him but from above his head, in the trees. "Can't be no Walker then." he thought getting hopeful as he scanned the branches above. At first he saw nothing but on his second scan he caught a glimpse of an unnatural purple color that couldn't possibly be anything but human clothing. A small human at that.
"No way," he thought incredulously, "No way could a kid survive out here alone all this time." Once he had thought it possible as the painful memory of searching so zealously for Sophia rose up in his mind unbidden. He exhaled sharply as if somehow that could rid him of all the anguish that fruitless search brought back. Then he squinted up again and sure enough, the purple spot moved a little. That settled it; he had to try to coax the little one down. But how? Any child who had survived this long alone out in this dangerous, cruel world must have learned to fear Walkers and humans equally and steer clear of both. Nor was Daryl completely unaware of how his rough, unwashed appearance might be very intimidating to the younger set. Suddenly he wished he had brought Carol or any one of the females along who might appear less threatening and able to talk to the child in a motherly fashion. But there wasn't any assurance she would still be there if he went back for one of them to help.
"Well I'm just gonna have to turn on the Dixon charm then." he thought ruefully. Lowering his bow to point non- threateningly at the ground he gave a low whistle. "Hey kid, you must be a right fine climber to get that high up that tree. I couldn't have made it that high when I was your age."
Pause for effect.
Nothing.
This kid was wary alright. This was going to be a tough sell and it wasn't like he was a natural with kids. He hadn't had much exposure to kids at all until falling in with this group and at this point Carl didn't even seem much like a kid anymore after all they'd been through, just a smaller adult.
Taking a moment to spit he tried another tactic. "You hungry? Me and my group, we got some good stuff back where we're holed up. Some powdered milk "( Did kids like milk or was that something parents just forced them to drink?) "and boxes of pancake mix and we've got this lady Carol, see, who fries up some damn fine pancakes." Shit, he'd just cussed while talking to a little kid! This was hard, way harder than just shooting some Walkers.
A small, high pitched voice that sounded undeniably girlish interrupted his inner beratings saying hesitantly "Carol—I've got an Aunt Carol, she's really nice. Is your Carol—is she nice?"
"Yeah, she' real nice. You'll like her. She'll like you a bunch you I'll bet." He was warming to this now, feeling like he was getting somewhere, gaining confidence. "She misses her own little girl lots you see."
An idea dawned on him, that bringing this girl back, while she could never replace Sophia, perhaps she might give Carol a second chance at mothering a child of her own again. It might bring her joy. The thought of making Carol truly happy again spurred him on to redouble his efforts. The high pitched voice piped up once more.
"What happened to her little girl?"
Daryl frowned, thinking maybe that had been a mistake to mention Carol had lost her daughter. He hadn't meant to tell her something so sad. But now he was screwed because if he didn't answer her or lied the little thing might never trust him enough to come down. Sighing he said softly "She got lost in the woods and got bit. And turned."
Silence from above. He continued haltingly "We looked and looked for her for days. I really thought she'd make it, that I could bring her back to her mama but…" He trailed off as the grief at his failure engulfed him again, surprisingly heavy still despite all the time passed.
"That was really nice of you to look so hard for the little girl mister." The high pitched voice had a tremor in it now. "Can you help me find my mom?"
"Where's your mama at honey? Any idea?"
"I don't know."
He heard sounds of crying now. Shit, he'd screwed up again, he hadn't meant to make her cry! Scrubbing his hand through his unruly hair he said gently "Don't matter. If you come down I promise I'll try to help you find her."
A few sniffles was all he heard for a few moments but then the rustling began and soon enough the form of a scrawny girl of about 8 or 9 appeared, agilely shimmying down the trunk of the tree to the right of him. He watched her feeling true admiration for her skill, the skill that had probably contributed a great deal to her successful survival up until now on her own. "Walkers can't climb trees." he thought approvingly. Then he fixed his attention fully on the girl now standing before him.
She was very scrawny indeed and had big brown eyes peering up at him intently from behind glasses and a solemn little face. Her hair was shoulder length, stringy and knotted looking. Scrapes and bruises coated every patch of skin not covered by her T shirt and Capri length jeans. She had a pink mini backpack strapped on.
It occurred to Daryl she was probably cataloguing his bedraggled state of affairs as well and a smile crept across his face. "Well shoot, don't we look a pair."
The kid furled her brows looking even more serious. "I'm not really supposed to talk to strangers. But there isn't anybody around I know anymore and… you seem nice."
He nodded encouragingly and decided this might be a good time to actually introduce himself formally "Hey, my name's Daryl. What's yours?"
A moment's hesitation. "Leah."
"That's real pretty. Though you're such good climber I'd a called you Monkey if you hadn't seen fit to tell me your name."
That garnered him his first smile. "That's what my parents sometimes say about me cuz I climb so well, that I'm their little monkey."
Daryl was starting to feel like he was pretty good at handling a little girl after all, having gotten her down from the tree and even smiling now. The most important step was yet to come though, getting her to follow him back to the prison.
"Listen Leah-"
The telltale sounds of approaching Walkers cut through the air.
"Oh hell!" he spat out as he leveled his crossbow back up. He turned his head to tell Leah to stay behind him only to find her scrambling back up her tree with lightning speed.
So much the better, now he could concentrate on taking them out without worrying about her. Number one was a big, hulking fellow ahead of the other two and Daryl took him down immediately. The other two were converging on him simultaneously which meant he'd have to fall back to give him time to take them both-
Something flew by him in his peripheral vision and landed with a loud thunk behind the Walkers. The one closer to the sound turned to see what it was giving Daryl time to dispatch the other promptly and the third almost at his leisure. It was all over in under a minute.
"Awright little Monkey. Get yourself back down here quick and let's get back to my people before more of these ugly guys show up."
Before he finished saying the words she was back beside him, gazing up at him with evident admiration in her eyes. "Wow! You were awesome with that bow and arrow! You're like a superhero—like, like the Green Arrow!"
Daryl stared back at her incredulously, unused to someone looking at him with such awe and certainly unaccustomed to being likened to a superhero. He didn't know how to take compliments in general and this was just too much. "C'mon kid, let's get going already. You can tell me about superheroes on the way."
"Okay." Then to his surprise he felt bony, calloused fingers slip into his free hand. Even more surprising, he found he instinctively curled his own hand protectively around her little one. Daryl decided not to waste time questioning it all and just moved forward swiftly.
Leah was silent for a few minutes but it didn't last. "Or you know who else you're like? Legolas!"
"Who the…who is that?"
"You know, from Lord of the Rings. He's the elf."
"Shoot, I ain't no pointy eared little Santa's helper!"
Leah gave Daryl a strange look but said nothing. Feeling a little silly for getting annoyed with a little kid about something so trivial he quickly added "But you can call me Green Arrow if you want."
"Okay."
She sounded a little subdued again. He found he wanted to hear more of her high pitched observations and he remembered something just then he'd wanted to ask her about.
"Hey did you throw something at one of the Walkers Leah?"
"No, not at it. Past it. My parents taught us that noises distract the…things. So I keep little rocks in my backpack and throw them as far as I can away from the tree I'm in if they won't go away."
Daryl once again felt a real flash of admiration for the little girl scampering along beside him clutching his hand.
"You're a bit of a superhero yourself kid ain't ya?"
He got another smile for that, the biggest one yet. Maybe he was a natural with little kids after all.