A/N… I'm sorry if there's weirdness in this chapter, I was listening to the Muppets movie soundtrack whilst I was writing it…(yeah, there's a little insight into my almost-adult life)

Chapter 4: Repercussions

Daryl lay in the water for what was his best guess at an hour. It was nice to be able to leave everything behind. Once he had had his fill, he righted himself and swam back to shore, to where his clothes were, and that's when he heard the voices. Out of instinct at the sound of the man's voice, he searched for the source, and his eyes fell upon a small group on the opposite bank, a man and woman who were not looking his way, and the small boy again, who was staring straight at Daryl yet again. He was smiling. Now he was waving. They were too far away for Daryl to make out the features of the man and woman, but she had blonde hair, and he had dark hair, tanned skin and looked fairly well built. The boy also had dark hair. Daryl assumed they were a family. They looked happy.

He was just turning to leave when he heard the woman's voice again. This time it was familiar, so he turned back and stared across the river. It was only a second before he realised he was not going to be able to see who it was from where he was stood, they were just too far away. He headed back to the waterfall, and very carefully picked his way across the top, trying his best to stick to the rocks. What he was doing was incredibly dangerous, but inside him he could feel a thrilling rush from knowing that what he was doing was seriously crazy. Grinning to himself, he hopped from rock to rock, slipping once and drenching himself as he fumbled for a hold and dragged himself back out of the water, still grinning. After a short struggle that only lasted a terrifyingly satisfying five minutes or so, he made it across, and hurriedly started to head over to where the family were setting up. It was quite a long walk, and Daryl was a little concerned that they would be gone by the time he got there, but after recognising the woman's voice he was tempted too far. Plus, he didn't have anything better to do that day, it was the summer holidays after all, what more could be expected of a troublesome child of William Dixon?

After about half an hour of walking through the woods, Daryl reached the clearing on his side and could again see the river, only now, he was looking across at where he had gotten changed. He was right, they had already moved away, but that didn't deter him. Being the son of a hunter and a brother to Merle Dixon – the world's most successful stalker and peeping tom – he could easily find them. He took a moment to work out from the watermarks on the pebbles that they had been in the water, and from there he could see where they had been sitting. He then looked for the tiny signs of dust clouds, where they had landed, where they had been formed, and followed the path they marked out. To anyone else he was just staring at a very pebbly beach, but for Daryl, even at his age it was an easy path to follow. They headed directly into the woods at a perpendicular angle to the water, actually marking a path in the long grass by bending and breaking strands. Daryl easily followed it, collecting a stick to hold on his way. He liked the comfort of having one in his hands. The path was not straight. Whoever had marked it out was not a woodsman. It made Daryl want to weep a little inside at the failed attempts the person had made to break branches out of the way…all they had managed to do was to bend them at awkward angles and half snap them…but the trees here were stringy and difficult to snap, you had to either cut them, or wait for an animal to do it for you. Daryl's sticks were normally the leftovers of the work of a woodpecker. Winding through the trees in a very illogical manner, Daryl was starting to get annoyed following someone else's path when it suddenly opened up into a clearing he had no idea existed. It was almost perfectly picturesque, the wooden log house, the chimney with smoke billowing out, Jeep parked on hard-packed dirt and orange leaves…and there they were, the father and son on the porch in rocking chairs no less, and the woman in the front doorway. She was tall, blonde and now he saw why she was so familiar. He had seen her nearly every day for at least three years. Mom… he thought, before correcting himself, dad's wife.

She finished her conversation with the man, and went into the house, returning seconds later with a salad of sorts which she gave to the man. He jumped up out of his seat and the two went into the house having a quick discussion, shutting it behind them. Daryl was unsure of what to do next. He could either leave, or he could go over and talk to her…maybe she could explain what was going on, I mean, Daryl wasn't stupid, he could see that she had left his dad for this man and his kid…but he had to admit that hurt a little. I mean, that kid was about the same age as Daryl, only a few years younger…well, if she wanted a new, younger family to replace the one she had with the Dixon family then she could do what she wanted. He didn't care she wasn't even his mum. Daryl decided to leave before he got too ups…not upset…before he went over there and told her off on behalf of his dad. As Will had said that morning, you can't go fuck someone else's wife yeah?

He was just about to leave when he noticed the little boy was looking at him again. Not just in his direction, but straight at him. So he hesitated. Then he ran, fast, away from the house.

The little boy's name was Ben. He was in fact the same age as Daryl, but small for his age. He had always been small for his age. He had brown eyes and hair, and was exceptionally friendly, and perceptive. He could see when people needed a friend. And he could see Daryl Dixon as he hid behind a tree. He used to live in Iowa with his dad, on their own. But then a woman started visiting, she came to visit her brother, and then when she was visiting her brother she would visit Ben's dad, and then she started visiting Ben and his dad. It was like having a mommy. Ben had never had a mommy; she had died when Ben was born. Then, mommy stopped visiting, and daddy went crazy and said they had to move, they had to go after her. He said mommy wouldn't leave where she was now because she had a job there, but daddy wouldn't take no for an answer, and they moved here a month ago. Now mommy was going to live with them. And now, Ben could see a boy he could play with.

He was about to call out, to ask the boy his name, ask if he wanted to play when the boy saw him…and as soon as they made eye contact he ran. He ran much faster than Ben would ever be able to run…so he watched him go. It made him sad.

Daryl ran all the way back to the river before he dared stop, and even then it was only to catch his breath. He started walking as fast as he could towards the waterfall so he could cross. It was more tiring on the way back, the ground was sticky from the heat of the July sun, and the air near the water was extremely humid, particularly once he was back under the cover of the trees. He was seething inside. That kid was mocking him, mocking because he had the perfect family and Daryl had a twisted older brother who left him alone with his abusive, drunkard father. Wiping a tear from his eye, he stumbled through the woods following the path he had made earlier. As he grew more angry, his speed increased until he was running, full pelt through the woods.

If you've ever run through woods near a waterfall when you're ten years old and highly distressed, you'll know that really bad things are likely to happen. Running that fast through a forest undergrowth has its dangers, even for Daryl Dixon. As he turned a corner by a specific tree, aiming to propel himself out onto a large flat rock at the edge of the waterfall, his left foot slid on some moss, and his right foot got stuck under a tree root. The world turned a nasty shade of green, and then blue as wildness fought its way through Daryl's nervous system. It was like every single atom in his body screamed in panic and terror, sending electric nausea through his stomach and sending every hair on end as he flew forward with his hands outstretched, wide eyed, desperate for something to save him. At his momentum he would easily go right over the edge of the rock. It was bad. They say your life flashes before your eyes, and for Daryl that wasn't a treat. It made him feel guilty as a wave of regret washed over him, time slowed down, he watched as the edge of the drop pulsated nearer and nearer in his eyes, ears, nose, mouth, heart…everywhere could feel what was happening. With one last desperate motion, he swung his hand out back towards the forest and with the chances being absolutely minimal, his sleeve snagged something. All hope pinned on that, he flipped his wrist around like lightning and grabbed on to the root as tightly as he could. His body then continued with the momentum, sending him round in a spiral, rotated around that fixed point on the tree root, and coming to rest, hanging right over the edge of a cliff, rocks at the bottom, water gushing past him, soaking wet, holding on with one hand.

"HELP!"