A/N: A massive thank you to my beta, Calcifer179, for all the advice he offered on this chapter. I'm really happy with the way it turned out and hope you'll give it read, follow, review...all that jazz :)
I'm kind of following the plot of 'Survival Instinct' at this point, I'm definitely referencing a certain scene in the first few minutes of the game AND a part of season 2 of 'TWD' with the final lines of this chapter ;)
Oh and bonus points if you can figure what characters (one from an anime and one from a game) I have based Logan on. Might become more obvious as time goes by.
Anyway, enjoy!

2.

The hunting trip was proving to be less productive than previous ones, countless times now Jess and Daryl had had to stop to search for Logan, who was continuously running off into the woods.
"I'm getting pretty sick of this," Daryl growled under his breath to his half uncle as they were once again having to abandon their original game in order to track down his niece.
"Lighten up Daryl," laughed Jess, slinging his Winchester hunting rifle over his shoulder, "She's just having fun. I seem to recall you pulling the same sort of shenanigans yer first time huntin'."
Daryl winced, remembering the beating he had sustained after that trip due to his attitude. It had taken weeks for the bruises to heal, and even longer to convince his father to take him out hunting again.
"I was only about five years old! Hell, that damn girl is nearly an adult."
"Aw come now, ya know she ain't all there," Jess bit his lip. Daryl sighed, it was true. At first he had thought maybe Becky was exaggerating Logan's issues, in some attempt to justify typical teenage behaviour, but he had quickly learned that Logan was anything but a typical teenager. It was like she had no filter, no understanding of what was normal, and she just plain didn't care.
He thought back to a few days prior when he had found her sleeping under the bed instead of in it. She had provided no explanation other than, "Mattresses are for the weak".
They heard a giggle coming from somewhere up ahead of them and strode forward a few paces, Daryl lowering his Horton Scout crossbow, not wanting to startle Logan.
A flame haired head suddenly swung down in front of them, causing Jess to release a surprised yelp. Logan was hanging upside from a tree branch drooping across their path, bony knees bent over the rough bark and a wild grin on her face. You should for all the world, like a child dangling from the monkey bar's at a playground.
"What the fuck ya think yer doing?!" Daryl shouted, more startled by the girl's sudden appearance in front of him then he would ever admit. Jess suppressed a chuckle and shrugged;
"Well we've found ya now little miss. How about ya stop mucking around and help us set up camp? We're only a short walk from the cabin now."
Logan pushed her palms against the branch and lifting her legs back flipped with relative ease out of the tree, landing lithely on the balls of her feet in front of them.
"Fine," she gave a melodramatic sigh, grinning all the same, "But only if you let me help gut those squirrels." Logan pointed to the dead rodents hanging from her uncle's belt. Daryl raised his eyebrow quizzically;
"Ya really wanna do that?"
"Sure. I want to know how their insides work!"
Jess shrugged, an amused expression playing across his grizzled features.
"Don't say I didn't warn ya!" Daryl shook his head and stalked off in the direction of their hunting cabin. Jess clapped a strong hand on Logan's shoulder to lead her along as they followed his nephew. He and Daryl had been close since he was just a young child, but in all the time he had known him he had never imagined the man being in charge of a teenager. He found it hilarious to see the hunter in the position of parental figure. All in all though, Daryl seemed to be doing a pretty good job of looking after the little firecracker, she was certainly happy enough. Jess frowned thinking of just how much Merle had missed out on with his daughter already; in fact, he had never even met her.
It had been Daryl and Jess who had gone to the hospital after Logan was born, holding the infant awkwardly in their arms. Daryl had only been fifteen at the time, but from that moment on he had ensured he maintained at least some sort of relationship with Becky and Logan; sending Christmas and birthday cards, even writing the odd letter or making the occasional phone call just to check up on his niece. To Becky's credit she had encouraged the contact, quite often posting pictures of Logan so that the Dixons could watch her grow up from afar. Will pretended he didn't even have a grandchild, declaring that she was no kin of his and Merle had always become hostile when anyone brought up the subject of his bastard child, sneering at the photos they shoved under his nose and showing no interest in connecting with Logan.
Over time, Daryl and Becky had stopped making as much of an effort and photos and letters were exchanged less and less regularly, but Jess knew that Daryl had always loved his niece in the only way he could. The boy was fiercely loyal to his family; it was one of his best, and worst, qualities.

They had quickened their pace and made it to the wood cabin long before dark. The small building had been in the Dixon family for generations and despite having been used several times a year since it's erection, it still stood firm and provided them with shelter during these hunting trips. It even boasted an outhouse and a smoke house, which had once been utilised for drying and storing meat, but since the invention of the esky was no longer required.
It only took Jess a few minutes to build a fire using the wood from the pile stored against the side of the cabin, and soon the flames were licking the slightly damp logs and kindling. It was a warm afternoon, but better to build a fire up before night fell and it meant they could have dinner ready earlier than expected.
After moving their bags into the cabin and giving Logan the tour, Daryl had sat down on one of the tree stumps strategically placed around the fire pit to show her how to skin and gut the squirrels they had caught that day. He was expecting her to gag or turn away in disgust, but found it was he who got queasy when Logan dipped a pinky into the squirrel's exposed stomach and tasted the blood.
"Excellent year, a very fragrant bouquet," she said, somehow remaining completely seriously.
"Yer an odd kid, ya know that?"
Logan grinned, showing nice, white teeth and unusually long canines;
"Everyone seems to think so. I maintain that I am the normal one and you're all batshit crazy."
"If ya'll done bonding," Jess called jovially, "It would be great if you could get 'em squirrels cooking. I need to grab more kindling, we're running a little low."
"Yeah sure," Daryl nodded and returned to his job, slitting another one of the squirrels down the middle as Logan laughed evilly.

Jess carried a small tomahawk in one hand, ideal for cutting up fine pieces of wood and an unlit cigarette dangled from his lip. He hadn't realised how far he had walked until the cabin and smoke from the campfire were long gone from his line of sight. The small clearing he found housed several fallen trees, making it an ideal place to collect kindling that could ensure they'd be able to relight the fire with ease the following day. Jess set about his job of stripping the finer branches from the surrounding logs with precision that only years of hunting and camping could provide. He was so absorbed in the task at hand that he didn't notice that anyone was approaching him until they were only a few feet away.
The crack of twigs and leaf litter underfoot finally alerted him to the new presence and he looked up quickly, observing the shuffling figure with confusion and curiousity.
"Hey, hey are you okay? Whatcha doing out here in these woods?" He moved toward them, shielding his eyes from the glare of the sun, just starting to dip below the treetops, so he could get a better look at their form.
They looked a little worse for wear, their clothes torn and their skin showed dirt and bruising. It was a young man, although Jess couldn't guess his age, and he sported a gaping wound on his right arm that looked infected and raw.
"Shit man. What the Hell happened to ya?" Jess asked. A low moaning rasped up from the injured man's chest as he closed the distance between himself and the hunter, arms now held in front of him as if he was going in for a hug. Jess backed away carefully, raising his hands defensively.
"Seriously…Ya need to back down. Tell me what happened." He looked down at the axe that was still buried in the log beside him, tempted to pick it up, though he didn't want to frighten the man any more than he needed to. That moment of distraction was all it took.
The stranger lunged, a dog like growl emerging from his throat. Jess caught a glimpse of colourless, dead eyes before the weight of his attacker forced him to the ground and pain ripped through his body as flesh tore between teeth.
He was oddly aware of his heart beating to bursting point inside his chest, the hum of bubbling blood and screaming which sounded remarkably like his own. A second aggressor had joined the fray now, drawn in by the agonised screams, and the unknown assailant began tearing through his jeans and into the shin below. Jess thought how this couldn't be happening, how these people couldn't possibly be human and his voice failed him as his strength did.
A yell and a wicked laugh rose above the sound of teeth on bone, and he felt a weight lifted from his chest as the body of one of his attackers was pulled away. There was the noise of a scuffle, a girlish shout of "Come at me!" and then a brief silence.

Daryl stared down at the mangled body of Jess, who was breathing in short, rapid gasps, and fought the tears that were filling his eyes. His crossbow hung at his side and he dropped it to the ground, unable to prevent his hands from shaking. He glanced at Logan who was inspecting the body of the woman she had felled, touching it with the toe of her boot, a little half smile quirking the edge of her lips as she shook her head in wonderment.
"Jess…Jess man…" Daryl's words were failing him at the realisation that his beloved uncle wasn't going to make it, "Aww shit."
He sighed deeply. The best thing he could do was to put him out of his misery.
Daryl mechanically pulled his pistol out of the waistband of his jeans and lined it up with Jess' head, hesitating and not wanting to even touch the hammer, let alone pull the trigger. His arm fell aside and he dropped his head to his chest, moaning softly, before steeling himself and trying again. Jess' blue eyes locked onto his own and once again his nerve failed him and he couldn't bring himself to fire the weapon.
Logan was at Daryl's side, gently prying the revolver from his fingers;
"I'll do it," she said, a bit too keenly for Daryl's liking, and as much as it shamed him to be putting his niece in this position he couldn't find the voice to argue.
The girl knelt down on one knee until she was within reaching distance of Jess and met his gaze evenly. She pulled the hammer back and positioned the gun so it was at his forehead;
"Soz bro," she sniffed, just before a loud gunshot echoed through the forest around them and Jess closed his eyes, for the last time.