"How come you ended up out here?" Daryl asked. He'd been walking ahead with Lizzie behind him and the silence between them was beginning to grate on him. He knew he was generally a man of few words but he also knew he wanted to share a few of those words with her.
"It was made pretty clear that I wasn't goin' to be any help with Carl so I was sent outside," she drew level with him so they were walking side by side, keeping her voice low so as not to attract any unwanted attention, "I guess Maggie took pity on me and figured she oughta bring me along for the ride."
"I still don't see how you can be an outsider," he shook his head slightly and looked over at her, "you fit in too natural."
"Oh y'know small-minded small-town people," she grinned, returning his gaze, "I don't keep myself to myself, I know I gotta earn my keep so I try to help out as much as I can when I'm needed but it's hard seein' as I've been away."
"How long were you gone?" He asked, genuinely curious and genuinely surprised at his curiosity.
"Oh, just over twelve years." She said quietly. She knew it sounded like a long time but it had gone so quickly for her- it didn't seem like yesterday she was packing her bags and telling her parents that she wasn't ever coming back.
"What made you run away for twelve years?" He didn't expect it to be so long, there'd been a lack of strong women in his life and this little girl hardly looked like the type that could fend for herself.
"I didn't run, I left," she corrected him, she didn't like it sounding like a bad thing, people assumed the worse when you made it sound bad, "can you honestly see me living in a place like this?"

Personally, he saw her naked and on top of him, giving him the ride of his life but luckily he had enough manners and grace to keep that to himself.
"I guess not," he said, trying to shake his vision from his mind, "what did you end up doin' for so long?"
"I was a barmaid down in Sarasota," she grinned at him, "I lied about my age, and I think they knew I wasn't old enough but I picked it up quick an' I've got that sorta shinin' personality that people in bars need."
"You went to Florida when you were…" He didn't want to hazard a guess at her age; he knew women could be touchy about it.
"Sixteen. I grew outta this place, I needed somewhere to spread my wings." She shrugged, it had never occurred to her how dangerous it had been for to leave home so young.
"So you went to work in a bar?" It was his turn to grin now and he almost laughed at the sour expression on her face, "So why'd you come back?"
"Ease up on the questions, if you wanna take a little you gotta give a little," she took a second to register his puzzled expression so she elaborated, "why don't you tell me something about your life."

"Why'd you wanna know about me?" He asked, not liking the turn in conversation.
"Oh, I dunno, maybe coz I'm interested?" She realized that it might be new to him to actually have someone to talk to who gave a shit, "I'm not askin' for your life story, just somethin' that tells me a little about who you are."
"When I was a kid, I got lost in the woods for nine days," he shifted the weight of his crossbow slightly, "I survived by eatin' berries and rodents and had to wipe my ass on poison oak." He looked over at her. Before the amusement set into her face, he saw something else there- it was almost like she understood that him bestowing even the strangest of trivia about himself unto her was a new and almost special thing.
"Jeez," she sighed, wincing at the thought, "that must've smarted somethin' chronic!"

"Why're you out here?" He asked suddenly. He stepped ahead of her quickly and turned to face her, stopping them both in their tracks.
"I'm helping you look for the little girl." She replied, wary of his interrogation.
"Why? You don't even know her, what's it to you?" He didn't realize that his defenses had suddenly shot back up. He'd never really shared much about himself with the group and the fact that he felt comfortable telling this girl he'd only met a few hours ago shook him a little.
"I might've lost everyone I love but that don't mean I like to see other people suffer," the answer came to her lips before she'd even thought about it properly, "I can tell she means a lot to y'all and even though it's not really my place, I'd rather be out here with you doin' something that sitting up there alone… Besides it's not safe to go wanderin' on your own, things can go wrong far too quickly."

As if on cue, a rotting corpse lumbered from behind a tree to Lizzie's right, its arms outstretched and mouth wide open, ready to grab her and tear her flesh open.
Daryl began to raise his crossbow but Lizzie was faster.
She pulled the axe from its holster- Daryl noted that she was left handed –and swung it heavily towards the advancing things neck. It tore through the rotting flesh with ease and the creatures head flew off its shoulders, landing in the leaves a few feet away.
She looked up at Daryl as the body fell to the floor, a few spasms rocking it when it hit, and smiled at his surprised look.
"What? Didn't think I knew how to use this thing?" She asked, hefting the axe before her with a grin.
"I guess I just didn't expect that from you." He answered honestly, suddenly seeing her in a whole new light.
"That's what a lotta people say about me, I'm like a Transformer," she stretched her arms out towards him, wrist up, to show him the two delicately inked tattoos- one Autobot, one Decepticon, "more than meets the eye."

He looked down at the tattoos and frowned.
"The fuck are you goin' on about?" He asked, Transformers was evidently something that had passed him by. She only laughed at him and began to walk ahead.
Daryl looked after her and felt his curiosity piqued again. He didn't know what it was about her but he knew he wanted to find out… Oh boy, did he want to find out…
He followed her into the darkness, bringing his boot down on the skull of the walker Lizzie had felled, killing it once and for all.

They had continued their journey, Daryl taking over the leading position as he was a much better tracker than Lizzie could ever dream of being. There were no solid signs of the girl but he'd picked up some sort of trail he believed to be human and that was how they'd come across the campsite… and the undead man hanging from a noose up a tree.

"How is he still alive?" Lizzie asked, frowning as she looked up at him. He was a sorrowful sight, he self penned poem nailed to the tree stated that he had been bitten and chosen to hang himself and end it all… Yet here he was, making noises at them, trying to reach down and grab them past his flesh-stripped legs.
"You hafta destroy the brain," Daryl explained, "as long as the brain is destroyed, you don't come back. It's the only way to put 'em down for good."
She winced as she realized she'd been doing it wrong- her axe was excellent for decapitation and she'd used it on plenty of them… But she only chopped the heads off, she didn't touch the brain. All the ones she'd killed were still, technically alive, their heads rolling around still trying to bite people.

"What?" He asked, sensing her unease.
"I didn't realize the brain thing," she admitted, feeling embarrassed, "I guess I should've, I've seen enough zombie movies but still…"
"Walkers," he corrected her, nodding towards the fellow up the tree, "we call them walkers."
"I like that; it makes it sound less…" She was struggling to find the right word.
"Yeah, I know." he muttered, turning towards the tent.
"You aren't gonna kill it?" She asked, mentally wondering if she should refer to it as 'him' instead.
"He's not hurtin' anyone up there, why waste an arrow?" Daryl asked, not even looking over his shoulder at her.

Lizzie stood below the creature and regarded it. Others passing by had evidently made a meal out of its (or his?) legs as all that remained were the bones, from the lower thigh down, with straggly pieces of meat hanging off them.
She suddenly blanched at the thought of them feasting and had to turn her back quickly, forcing down the bile that rose in her throat. Daryl turned to face her.
"You okay?" He asked, concern leaking through into his voice.
"Yeah, just mental pictures getting the best of me," she motioned over her shoulder, "they fucking ate him."
"They eat pretty much anythin' from what I've seen," she was amazed at how unmoved he was by the scene, "don't think they're too picky."
"Fuck," she sighed, turning to look at the creature again, "d'ya think they ate him while he was still alive or after he turned?"
"D'ya really want an answer to that?" He noticed she looked a little green at the thought and decided it was best to halt the conversation.
"Fuck," she repeated, turning away and putting her hand to her mouth. She remained still for a few seconds, her eyes closed, and Daryl was about to walk over and shake her to make sure she was okay when she let out a breath and looked at him, "find anything?"
"No," he said sadly, shaking his head, "no sign of her."
"Let's get back; this guys given me the creeps." She didn't want to be out in the dark anymore, she knew she'd been longing for some excitement but this… This was a bit much.

Daryl nodded and moved towards her. He hesitated for a second and raised his crossbow, aiming an arrow straight into the head of the walker. It ceased its moaning and finally hung still. Lizzie looked at him in bewilderment.
"I thought you said he was fine up there?" She asked, secretly pleased his suffering had been ended.
"It's clearly botherin' you," he shrugged, looking at the ground, "I can always make new ones."
He caught her smile as he looked up again and he felt unknown warmth radiate throughout his body. She stepped aside, letting him take the lead again and get them back on to the highway.

When they reached the RV again, the companionable silence between them took an awkward turn.
"You shouldn't stay out in the open, it could be dangerous." Daryl warned, trying to think of the right words to invite her inside without sounding too seedy.
"After tonight I don't think I'll camp outside anymore," she repressed a shudder at the memory of the hanging walker, "I'll take up in one of these cars; sure I can find an abandoned one."
"Okay, well… G'night." He turned towards the RV and reached for the door handle.
"Night," Lizzie replied, "thanks for lettin' me tag along, it was good to talk to you."
"Yeah," he said as he pulled the door open, "it was."

Lizzie turned away and headed for the closest vehicle that looked as if it would have enough backseat space for her to get a relatively comfy night's sleep. As she pulled her head back from the window, confident that this was the right choice, something landed on the back of her shoulders, making her cry out, grabbing at the attacking… Blanket.
She looked up and saw Daryl standing there.
"It'll keep the chill off," he said, clearly smirking at her reaction, "if anything tries to bite you, scream real loud and I'll come runnin'."
"Anythin' except flyin' blankets?" She asked, smirking right back at him.
"Anythin' at all, it'd be a shame to lose you when I'm just startin' to like you." With that, he turned on his heel and walked back to the RV.

She watched him leave, turning only when he reached the door and glancing back at her with a nod, and she felt… Butterflies in her stomach.
She frowned at her sudden nervous feeling and opened the back door, squeezing in and pulling the door closed behind her before arranging the blanket over her body to keep herself warm.
She didn't think she'd be able to sleep. The image of the hanging walker was bound to keep her up all night… Then she closed her eyes, thought of Daryl and his smile and drifted into a deep, dreamless sleep.