It was another day. One more day he was alive. One more day neither the living or the dead done him in. His road hasn't ended yet. He'd question why, now and then. Why was he still alive? In a world gone to shit, why was Daryl Dixon alive? Maybe because he was a tough dude. Maybe it was his stubbornness that kept him going. Who knew, he certainly didn't. But what happened today, never would be expected.

Daryl headed out to scavenge for food, medical supplies, or guns. Anything that would be useful to their community. He fought his way through walkers, taking care of each one with either his trusty crossbow or knife, which ever was needed for that particular one. Daryl made sure not to seen, keeping quiet as not to draw attention. Not even he could take care of a horde of them.

When he shot one walker in the head with an arrow, a sound behind him got his attention. Quickly switching around, Daryl pointed his crossbow at the alleyway. There was a stack of molded, old cardboard boxes with garbage surrounding it. There was nobody there, but it was apparent someone was.

Daryl tightened his grip on his crossbow, keeping his eye out for any sign of movement. "Show ya'self! I know you're in there!" He waited a brief second, but no one appeared. "Don't make me come in there!"

Suddenly, a box was knocked over, followed by a tiny voice that broke. "Pl-please don't shoot m-me, sir." It sounded as though it belonged to a child.

Daryl was at a loss. "Well...just come on out then." Shortly after, slowly, but surely, he caught a bit of dirty blond hair. He couldn't tell if it was naturally that way or if it was from not being washed. A face also appeared, small and full of timidness. "What yer name?"

"Au-Aud-ry," she stuttered, watching him with uneasiness.

"Audry?"

The kid gave a small nod.

Daryl lowered his crossbow.

"What...what's y-your name?" she asked him.

"Daryl. Where yer folks?" He looked the kid over, noticing the layer of dirt plastered all over her face and arms.

"My m-mommy went to find help. S-she t-told me to w-wait here until she c-comes back."

"How long ago was that?"

"Um…" The kid glanced away out of the corner of her eye, thinking. "The sun...it went t-t-to sleep, t-two t-t-t-times…"

"Kid, er, I mean, Audry, you don't need to be scared. I'm not gonna hurt ya." The kid barely getting her words out, kind of tugged at the guy's heart. It didn't help that he had been wandering around this place, for several hours, and haven't come across anyone, alive.

"I'm sorry."

"No need to be sorry."

Audry dropped her head towards the cement. "I'm sorry," she repeated, causing an eyebrow of his to rise. Apologizing for apologizing? Dang. Poor kid.

Suddenly, her head snapped up and screamed out, "Look out!"

Daryl immediately turned on his heel, at that, pointing his crossbow up, just as a walker lunged for him. He shot the sucker right in the eye socket. It dropped backwards, dead for good, as it should be. Turning back to check on Audry, he saw her nowhere in sight.

"Audry?" he called out.

Audry peeked out from where she had been hiding before. "Is it g-gone?"

"Yeah, I took care of it. Come here," he invited her over, kneeling to her level. The kid hesitated, not moving an inch. "I won't hurt ya, I promise."

"You pinky swear?"

"What?" Daryl stared at her, confused.

Audry had been standing on her hands and knees, looking around a box. She stared up at him, trying to make eye contact. Her gaze dropped, only able to look elsewhere. "P-pinky swear. It's what Mommy and I do when we make promises t-to each other." Pushing herself up, Audry held her left pinky finger up, timidly. "It's like a handshake, only with p-pinkies."

Daryl stared at it.

It dropped, limply along with her head. "It's okay if you th-ink it's stupid. M-my daddy thought it was, too."

Something inside of him made Daryl reach out his pinky finger, towards her. "Nah, it's cool, kid." It made her look up. Still timidly, Audry stumbled onto her feet which Daryl could now see she was barefoot, but just as plastered with dirt, and slowly made her way over to reach, wrapping her smaller pinky around his. He was caught off guard when the kid wrapped her arms around his neck. Shaking it off, he lightly held an arm around her.

It took a lot of convincing, but Daryl persuaded to let him take her back to Alexandria. Only if they looked for her mother, though. So, they started their search around the area. It wasn't until they had to give up and start heading for the car, did they find her and it wasn't how they'd hoped, either. Audry had spotted her first, pointing her out. When Daryl saw her mother was a walker, his heart just about dropped. Telling her to look away, Daryl aimed his crossbow at her and put the woman down.

Audry grabbed onto his leg and cried into it.

He didn't know what to say or do. The kid just lost her mom, and who knew where her dad was. "Maybe we can find your dad," he offered, running a hand along the top of her head. Daryl felt her shake her head, no.

She managed to look up at him, her face drenched in tears. Sniffing in, Audry admitted, "I don't w-want to find D-daddy."

"How come?"

The kid fell silent, dropping her gaze towards the ground.

Something suddenly didn't feel right.

He took her to the car and let Audry climb into the backseat. A tape he had in the radio came on when Daryl started the car and filled it with rock music.

Audry had scooted towards the edge of the seat, holding a hand outstretched against the front passenger seat. "I like this song."

Daryl looked back at the kid, in surprise. "What do you know about Zepplin?"

"Mommy played it all the time in the car, too," she said. "And Bon Jovi. They're awesome."

"You think so, huh?"

She nodded, a little.

He was starting to like this kid. "Sit back and put your belt on," he nodded at her.

Audry scooted over, to sit in the seat behind him, reaching up to pull down the seatbelt. When she did, Daryl happened to glance up into the mirror, making sure she was settled before moving. Her shirt had lifted, revealing some scars leading into her shirt, hoping it wasn't what he thought they were.

"Hey," he nodded at her.

She looked up from fastening her seatbelt.

"You get scratched by one of the dead?"

Audry shook her head.

"You wanna tell me about them marks on your ribs?"

She looked away, sucking in her lip. The silence confirmed his suspension.

"Sorry, kid."

"Daddy...gets mad, a lot." Audry stole a look up at him.

Daryl sat there, twisted in his seat. He reached back and gave her knee a gentle squeeze, to show her some sympathy. She still looked a little timid, but at least the stuttering was going away.

Back at Alexandria, everyone had been surprised to see Daryl bring home a small child, who suddenly turned shy, seeing a group of strangers surround her. She hid behind Daryl's legs, peeking out at them.

Rick stepped towards them and kneeled to her level. "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"Au-Audry."

"How old are you, Audry?"

"I think I'm seven," she guessed. "M-Mommy was tr-trying to k-keep t-t-track, but it was hard without a calendar. I was six before the dead rose."

"Well, Audry, would you like to stay here with us?" he offered.

"C-can I stay with Daryl?" Audry asked.

He looked up at Daryl.

Daryl nodded. "It's cool with me." This was surely new territory for the guy.

Just a random short story that suddenly popped into my head.