"Get yer ass movin', last samurai," I hollered over my shoulder. Rick was makin' me an Johnny take Michonne with us 'cause he said we needed back up. We didn' want no back up. We wanted to get out there, track her down, an take her ass back to the prison. We needed to get to those trees an find a way to find her, which was where Johnny said she disappeared into.

"If we don' get at least three miles in today 'cause a ya, we're gonna leave ya out here," Johnny threatened from his place in the trees. He climbed up the first one he found that he said was climbable fer Jesse an got to movin' fast. He was findin' his way through the trees, followin' a path that she woulda taken. He knew which branches would hold Jesse, he knew how to find her markins. How to locate the broken branches. How to find where things fell, where Jesse been 'fore us.

"I'm not going to slow you down," she said in that freaky calm way she had. Woman never got excited. Always just answered ya in the quietest way. "The monkey man is moving faster up there than we ever could down here."

I glared at her an called up to Johnny, "Footprints down here too! She was leadin' 'em away from up in the trees."

"She used to win tag like this all the time. Ya'd follow her fer ages but never really know where she was. Jus disappeared right in fronta ya. Just gone."

"Well she ain't disappearin' this time. We're gonna find her." Johnny followed her trail from above and I followed the footsteps below. Eventually, I stopped dead in my tracks an shouted up, "She ain't up there no more."

"How do ya know?"

"I'm lookin' at her boot prints right now! She climbed down an took off."

Johnny swung down outta the tree an looked at her tiny bootprints. He said, "They wouldn'ta caught her. She's fuckin' fast."

"Other things out here than her an them, Johnny. We oughta get goin'. I gotta get back 'fore sunset. Lil Bit an Our Boy are gonna be anxious waitin' on me."

"Our Boy?" The Last Samurai repeated.

"Yeah," I answered quick. "Our Boy. Was what me an Jesse called him. Like Lil Bit. It's a nickname. Like the Last Samurai."

"Charming," she said all uninterested. Johnny an I turned on our heels an started followin' three sets of footsteps. Hers an theirs. They were fucked up in some places, not even there in others, an covered by the trails of walkers an the people followin' her. But me an Johnny knew how to follow a trail an we were determined to follow hers until it led to her.

We walked fer hours, went bout five miles out jus walkin'. We found a lil campsite wit a fire but her footprints went off on their own. Weren' the same direction as the men's footprints. I warned, "They ain't chasin' Jesse no more. They ain't lookin' fer her so they're out here lookin' fer the people lookin' fer her."

Michonne went on high alert. That sword came out an she started pacin' round the lil campsite. I woulda been nervous too if I cut someone's eye out an they were out lookin' fer me. Johnny pointed out, "Her footsteps are goin' this way so we're goin' this way."

Was only nother ten minutes 'fore we hit the end of her trail at the bottom of a big tree. Johnny stared up at it, looked at the trees round it, an said without a doubt, "She doubled back. She was on her way back to the prison when she got right here."

He climbed up in that tree an we started followin' her back the other way. We got halfway back when Johnny shouted down, "Look for broken branches! She fell right here!"

He climbed down while I looked round on the ground fer signs of her fallin'. Sure nuff, there was a broken branch an trampled grass. Johnny stared down at the spot an then looked back up at the tree. He cussed, "Fuck. She's hurt. Fallin' from that high ain't gonna leave just a scratch. She's hurt an alone an it's startin' to get dark."

"Even hurt, she would have known to continue onto the prison," Michonne said calmly.

"Unless somethin' made her leave her path," I said bitter. Sophia got chased off her path. Sophia shoulda been back on the highway that day. She shoulda made it back but she got off her path an got lost out in the woods.

"Jesse's a grown woman, Daryl," Johnny reminded me. "She knows how to get outta bein' lost. She's probly workin' now on makin' her way back. C'mon. We gotta get started back. Mark the way so we know how to get back here an work on followin' the trail 'gain tomorrow."

"She might beat us back to the prison," Michonne added.

"Maybe."

I opened my eyes slowly, squinting against the light. I could feel the blood on my face and the ache in my head. The man got me good across the face. I sat up and felt the pull of something on my throat. A leather dog collar decorated my throat and a chain dragged the ground behind it, circling a maple tree a little bit off.

"Thank god, I thought you were dead," a little voice near me spoke up. I looked over to see the little girl I'd been trying to rescue.

"Not dead," I said hoarsely. "Just sore. Where are they?"

"Asleep still," she murmured. "They didn't bother us last night. They just chained you up and went to sleep. You should have run. You should have run away and never come back."

I ignored that. I asked, "What's your name, sweetheart?"

"My name is Janey."

"I'm Jesse. Isn't that a cute coincidence," I was keeping my voice soft, trying to keep her calm. "How long have you been with these two?"

"There were three of them but you killed the other one yesterday. They weren't happy about that. I've been with them for a few months now. There was another girl. Lyla. She got bit a couple of weeks ago though and they put her down."

"And, you, honey, are you okay?"

She shrugged and looked away from me. She sighed, "They left me alone when Lyla was here because she was a lot older than me. But now they've been getting worse and worse."

"How old are you, babydoll?"

"I turned fifteen in February. I don't know how long ago that was."

Bile rose up in my throat. I swallowed it. "Well, honey. You're going to make it to sixteen, okay? You're going to be okay."

"Quit fucking talking out there!" I could hear the man before I saw him. He lumbered out of the tent to the side and stared at us. He laughed, "Morning, bitch. God damn you need a bath. You're disgusting."

I stared at him and rose to my feet. He asked, "Going to do something, wild woman? Huh? Going to try to make a run for it again? Run all you want. You're not getting off that chain. So sit there and shut the fuck up. You're lucky we fixed your arm for you. Fucking dislocated it and we had to pop it back into place while you were bleeding all over the place. Say thank you."

"Go fuck yourself," I spit at him.

He laughed again. "That attitude will change. I'm going to go take a piss and make some fucking breakfast. Janey over there will get some. You, we'll have to see about you."

I glared and started walking towards the little girl slowly. I sat on the ground beside her and ignored the fact that sitting near her pulled the chain taut and choked me slightly. I just wanted to be near her. To protect her. He grinned and lumbered away.

"That's Ryan," Janey whispered. "He's a lot worse than Jeremy. Jeremy will feed us pretty regular, and he doesn't beat me as much. Ryan just doesn't care."

"He's not going to touch you while I'm around," I promised. "Things are going to be okay, alright, honey? Things are going to be alright."

She stared at me like I was losing my mind but I didn't care. I needed a plan.