"The hell you still following me for, kid?"

The boy simply shrugged at the scowled sent his way over his shoulder. At least Carl has the decency to look a little frightened by the look. Not this kid. For only seven years old, the kid had way more sense and sarcasm any boy should have. Daryl couldn't use the excuse it wasn't safe for him to be trailing him around a loose perimeter around the camp while he tried to hunt. It wasn't even four hours ago they were lugging his sister back to camp when the the thought first hit him. Three walkers had crossed their path on the way back and while Daryl contemplated dropping the girl, his brother immediately rushed two of the dead. Cyrus had stunned both Dixon men silent when he ran straight at the third, using the walkers legs as steps to jump on before using one of the machetes in his grasp to sever the top part of the walker's head.

Daryl shook the thought away to cast another annoyed look at the boy. no, he couldn't use that excuse but he was determined to get the kid off his back. Soon. As soon as they made it back to camp, their new companions were immediately noticed. Lori, Jacqui, Andrea, and Amy immediately hovered over the unconscious girl, urging him to deposit her in Jacqui's tent. The archer did so quickly desperate to escape the bewildered looks he felt burning into his head.

As he practically ran back out of the tent, he immediately caught sight of Shane and his brother having tense words, Cyrus slightly behind Merle. The kid glared daggers at all the adults till his hardened gaze fell on Daryl. Not paying any mind to the heated discussion that halted at his movement, the boy crossed the distance between them quickly, hazel eyes glancing at the tent behind him distrustfully.

"My sister?" Cyrus demanded.

"Ain't no damn doctor," Daryl grunted, jerking his head back at the tent. "Find out for yahself." With that the archer approached the two people that were once again talking, the other men gathering around them loosely.

"Did she kill them?" He heard Shane ask as he came closer.

"All of 'em but one till we got there. Look like the last one was about to chop her damn head off with a shovel when we stopped him," Merle answered. Daryl felt his skin crawl at the tone his brother used. He was in complete manipulation mode.

"We can't just turn them away. That girl can't be more than 20, and the boy's younger than the kids we got here," Dale interjected, reading Shane's conflicted expression.

"We don't know them. They could be psychos," Shane argued, the authority in his tone rising.

Daryl rolled his eyes immediately with a scoff just as T-Dog spoke up. "We didn't know each other on the highway couple weeks ago either." Morales made a sound of agreement.

"Anyone else noticed the assassin suits they were wearing?" Glenn asked curiously. That detail had all of them pause in confusion and the tension immediately returned to Shane's face.

"It's just a girl and a kid," Jim stated finally crossing his long arms over his chest. "We send them away, your pretty much signing their death certificate."

Shane hesitated at that. "Fine, but we keep an eye on them at all times, especially when that girl wakes up."

Merle gave Daryl a wide grin as the men wandered back to their duties. Vaguely, Daryl registered Carol's face glancing worried at the tent the ladies were bustling inside before her deadbeat husband's voice had her scurrying back to his side. Ignoring the anger that flared briefly, Daryl fell into step with his brother as they walked back to their side of the camp where his truck and Merle's motorcycle were stationed.

"I think you got a' admirer lil' brotha," Merle snorted with sarcastic humor.

Daryl threw his brother a glare before following his line of sight. Cyrus was standing off to the side, Morales' kids, Sophia, and Carl surrounding him. The kids were chatting excitedly, probably asking all sorts of questions but the boy's eyes were trained steadily on Daryl. Even from this distance, he could tell the kid was thinking to damn hard something.

"Do I wanna know what your up to now?" Daryl asked instead of responding to the taunt.

"We'll put off our plans till the girl wakes up. Every one of 'em will be busy watching these two newbies to pay attention to us. Won't waste their time watchin' us once she's up, 'specially with how weird that boy of hers acts. Just wait and see," Merle predicted smugly.

Daryl didn't stick around too long after that. Since his hunting had been interrupted earlier, he decided to try again. Only this time, instead of his brother trailing after him, Cyrus evaded the kids and other adults trying to get his attention as he wandered off behind him.

"Shouldn't you be by yah sista's side or something?" Daryl asked after their silence stretched on for at least another hour.

"She's not awake yet," Cyrus answered vaguely.

"Won't know for sure if your stalking me," the archer taunted quietly as he stilled, raising his bow with ease. The arrow sailed through the trees, true to his mark as the tip disappeared into the rabbit he'd been tracking. Feeling moderately better that he wouldn't be returning empty handed today, Daryl made his way to his kill.

"Oh, everyone will know when she's up, trust me," the boy finally responded, a confident quality lacing his voice.

Daryl paused at retrieving the rabbit momentarily to glance back at the kid, feeling he was just given some kind of warning again. "That suppose to scare me, boy? Ya'll aren't exactly intimidatin'," He scoffed as he finally retrieved his arrow and tied the rabbit to his belt.

"Well see who laughs last. Don't judge a book by its cover."

"How old are you?" The archer suddenly asked as he found another set of rabbit tracks. The kid spoke too confidently to look so young.

"Seven and a half!" Cyrus announced proudly, an equally proud grin answering Daryl's disbelieving look.

"Ya got to be shitting me," he muttered quietly with a shake of his head. How was it a seven year old could take down a walker like he did earlier. "How you learn to kill walkers?"

There was a long moment of silence and Daryl looked over his shoulder to make sure the kid didn't just wander off. He was still there, his hazel eyes clouded with memory and the redneck instantly regretted asking. "Never mind."

"Our dad made us take all kinds of martial arts and survival training. I never thought I'd have to use it so soon," Cyrus trailed off thoughtfully.

The silence that fell over them was more pensive this time. Neither felt the urge to talk anymore and Daryl was more relieved at that then he should've been. He was never good with words. There was no hope he could offer to the kid. World was going to shit. At least the kid had a chance at surviving.. maybe.

After another hour, Daryl gave up on the rabbit eluding them and focused on the trees. If he could find at least two more squirrels, it'd be enough for dinner tonight and maybe a little breakfast to hold them over till he found more. Moments later, his arrow flew, catching a squirrel about 15 feet up in a tree.

"I got it," Cyrus offered as Daryl took a step forward. The kid hurried forward to scramble up the tree a lot quicker than the archer could've. Using the closes branches as steps, the boy climbed up like it was a jungle gym. In less than three minutes, his arrow and kill were recovered and Cyrus jumped down from the branches even more quickly.

The kid's face was slightly red from the exertion, the swollen handprint on his face standing out again. The accomplished smile on his face though as he handed Daryl back both items was beaming bright. The archer found no words again as he silently tied off the addition to dinner.

"One more an' we'll go back," Daryl grunted as he readjusted his grip on his bow.

They only made a couple of steps before a loud commotion reached them from camp. There were raised voices in alarm but one rang above them all with a chill.

"I want to see my kid in the next few minutes, or everybody's going to have a real shitty day from this point forward!" "

"Aria!" Cyrus breathed excitedly. The boy barely spared Daryl a glance that was blinding with relief and joy before sprinting back towards camp. It was like someone had wiped away the heavy weight that had been weighing the kid's face and shoulders down.

The voices in the distance still alarmed forced the Archer's feet to propel just as quickly, mere feet from the seven year old tearing through the trees like a man on a mission. The kids smart-ass comment from earlier wasn't sitting well in his stomach and he worried momentarily if he had made a mistake and brought a psycho into the midst of their quarry camp. He only hoped Merle wasn't antagonizing whatever situation they were about to find.

Authors note: So as you probably guessed by the title and summary, this is my first fanfiction. Quite nervous, but more determined to put all the story plots floating in my head in some sense of order. Of course, I'm a huge fan of the show, just getting into the comics so please, bare with me. As much as I love the show, just like most people on this site, I imagined a different scenario here and there so my story might not follow consistently with the show or comic book. I'm really just taking this chance to explore how long I can keep a plot going and if anyone likes it! I'm definitely not going to beg for reviews, because I know I read through countless fictions without leaving many. They are welcomed however, both positive or negative. I can only learn from whatever insight is lent to me so I'll judge mainly on how many follows and favorites there are on whether my story is actually good enough to continue. On that note, thank you for taking the time to read my fanfiction work! ^_^