The first thing that struck Daryl when he woke up was Len's fist. He growled, massaging his jaw as he jerked away from the attack and staggered to his feet with his arms up in defense. "The hell?"
"Where's my girl?" Len yelled as he strode forward, getting right up in the archer's face. "You come on back and now she's gone!"
"For tha last time I don' even care about no girl!" Daryl shoved the taller man away, right into Joe and Lou who were trying to calm the situation down.
Joe positioned himself between the two men and looked from one to the other. "Okay now, let's figure this out. Len, did you secure her to the bed like you always do?"
Len looked down in frustration, "I did! I know I did…"
"Daryl, did you take her?"
The archer glared through his bangs, "No."
"Well now we have a predicament." Joe smiled in a way that made Daryl feel uncomfortable. "Cause either Daryl is lyin', which is an actionable offence… or you just blamed him for somethin' that was your own damn fault for bein' stupid which isn't technically against the rules, but it does seem awful coward-like."
Len clenched his jaw, "I'm no coward."
There was a pause as the leader of the group gave Daryl a chance to speak his case as well and he took the silent offer, hoping not to seem too eager. "Look, I'll prove it to ya. I'm a good tracker, I'll help ya find 'er."
The grin Joe gave him now was just as unsettling as the last one had been. "There now, see? I think this has all been just one unfortunate misunderstanding. Let's go out and find our poor lost puppy."
Less than ten minutes later Daryl was leading them down the forest path that he'd perfected the night before. It was rougher than he thought it would be, acting as though this was the first time he'd seen the trail and he didn't already know each footprint and snapped branch that was ahead of them. Fortunately the others seemed to be relying completely on his know-how and didn't speak up or really step in to help themselves. Not that they would have known what to look for. As far as Daryl was aware, none of them were trackers themselves.
The trail took to the left a little, as Daryl had known it would, and then slowly started becoming harder and harder to follow before they were all going in circles trying to find where to go next.
Len howled in frustration as even Daryl started to look perplexed. "Why would the trail disappear like 'at?" He motioned all around and then pointed an accusing finger at the other archer. "How do we even know you been sendin' us the right way round all this time!"
"He's been following a trail Len," Joe said, his tone as good-natured as always. "I've been paying attention. The trail just isn't here anymore. Or we can't find it. That ain't his fault. You wouldn't lead us astray, would you?"
Daryl shook his head. "Naw." He was moving back and forth on his feet, trying to stay loose in case Len took a shot at him like he had earlier. "Maybe she noticed and started covering it up."
"Like that bitch would be smart enough…" Lou piped up, his tone not angry, just like he was stating any old fact. Like he was saying the sky was blue.
The group was eerily silent for a few moments before Joe finally spoke again. "Well we ain't gonna get anything done just standing here. Let's all split up and meet back at the camp by sundown. Hopefully one of us will have some luck."
"I think I should go with Daryl." Len replied sullenly. "Make sure he's all right."
Daryl glared and was about to answer back when Joe took over the conversation again, "I think he's proved himself enough by now. Would you rather cover more ground and actually find your damn dog or go have a pissing contest?"
The taller of the two hung his head a little and mumbled that he'd rather have his Puppy back, and Joe nodded in approval. Each raider in turn was pointed in a different direction and Daryl was given his last. He started off into the trees, pretending to keep a careful eye out for a trail he knew was nonexistent. After keeping that charade up for a good ten minutes, he felt confident enough to drop it altogether and broke into a run. It was lucky that he'd been sent in the general direction of the camp anyway, so he didn't have to double back much. He still kept an ear out for any of the others in case they'd made their way in this direction during their search.
As he left the forest, Daryl looked to the left and saw the house that the raiders had turned into their camp about 150 feet away down the railroad tracks. He crossed over to the other side and made his way into the abandoned town, still moving with caution in case there were new walkers about.
Blue paint was chipping off the sides of the small cottage he stopped in front of. The stone wall that had been in front of it was falling apart as well and as he moved the metal gate out of the way it fell off its hinges and to the ground with a clang so loud it made him jump and swing his head in all directions to reassure himself that it hadn't attracted any biters.
The door cracked open ever so slightly and Henrietta peeked her head out. "Come on, get in."
"Shouldn't be opening the door. What if it wasn't me?"
The girl smiled, "There's a window, I checked to make sure."
Daryl nodded and went into the house, glancing at her as she closed the door after him. She had found new clothes: a pair of jeans being held up by a tightly cinched belt, a loose t-shirt, and a jacket so oversized it went to her knees. His gaze must have lingered because she felt the need to explain, "I had to find something else. I could still feel… him… all over me in that other shirt."
Pain shot through him as he thought about everything she must have been through at the hands of Len. It made him all the more determined to make sure she never experienced anything like that again. "Let's go, we should be far away by the time they realize I'm not helping them anymore." Daryl said, his voice urgent.
She nodded and held a finger up to him before skipping into the next room and grabbing a large duffel bag. The zipper was straining over the amount of stuff in the bag and he raised an eyebrow at her. "It's food and meds and things." Henri smiled. "I want to be able to contribute. It's heavier than it looks, it won't slow us down, I promise," she remarked as she put the strap over her shoulder.
They left the cottage through a back door and made their way through the large field that stretched behind the town. As the tall grass brushed against their waists Daryl reshuffled his crossbow and tossed his other weapon to Henri, "You don't got one." He shrugged when she examined the weapon critically.
She looked down at the rifle he'd given her then back up at him. "You know I don't know how to use this thing, right?"
He came to a halt, "Stop." The tone he used was incredulous.
"I'm not kidding." Henri laughed, the sound brighter now that they were outside of the town and she was no longer in chains. "I was going to, my Dad actually bought me a rifle for my birthday, before the world went to hell. He just never got a chance to teach me." She ran her fingers along the barrel thoughtfully.
Her companion was silent for a moment before holding out his hand. "Here," Daryl motioned for her to give the gun back to him, "I'll teach ya while we move." A smile lit her features as she handed the weapon over and he slung his crossbow over his shoulder before taking it. "See this lever? That's the bolt handle. Ya gotta move it up, like that," He demonstrated, "before pulling it back. You won't hav'ta force it, it comes back easy if you do it right."
Henri was paying close attention as he walked her through the steps of prepping the rifle, loading it, where the safety was, and how to hold it to shoot it properly. As he looked down the barrel during his demonstration, however, he paused. She glanced down towards the end of the field, where it intersected with the train tracks. "What is it? Did you see something?"
Daryl shook his head, but he still looked uneasy. "Naw… just a walker."
After a few moments she finally nodded, "Okay." Her voice was full of trust that he felt he hadn't earned yet.
"You think you can handle this?" The archer asked, reaching to hand the rifle back to her as they continued on. "Best to be on the safe side."
"How is handing a civilian a loaded gun safe?" Henri smiled teasingly.
"We'll both be armed." Daryl smirked a little, explaining even though he was fairly certain she was just yanking his chain. He winced internally at the turn of phrase, the memory of her being literally yanked around in a chain was far too fresh and painful. "Sides, you seem like the sorta girl ta catch on quick."
Henri took the compliment along with the gun and just smiled at him again, this time more sincere than teasing. With the rifle in her hands again Daryl removed his crossbow from around his shoulders and held it loose enough to be comfortable but attentively enough that he'd be able to fire it accurately at a moments notice. They reached the edge of the field and into a new section of forest along the tracks and Daryl moved ahead a few strides to scout the trail out. His natural tendency to protect was kicking in, even though he understood that Henri would be safer than he would with the walkers aversion to her. Without seeing it in action however, he was still wary of how that unique trait actually worked and he wasn't willing to trust her life with it just yet.
Suddenly the sound of her calm steps turned into a panicked shuffle behind him and he spun around just in time to hear her yelp in fear and see one of the raiders, Lou, tackling her to the ground. "Henri!"
The girl may have been slight, but she was still strong enough to swing the butt of the rifle at Lou's head and it connected with a sickening thud. The raider cursed and lashed out at her in a daze, grabbing the rifle and trying to wrestle it from her as she held onto it for dear life. Daryl was just raising his crossbow and taking aim when a shot rang out, echoing through the forest.
