TWD Hazel Mudd

by Nalashine620

This is my first Fan Fiction. Its my baby, please be gentle. I'm sorry the punctuation and spelling may be messed up. Hazel Mudd is my O/C. This is a slow burn romance between Hazel and Daryl. It starts at the very beginning of the TV series. Depending on popularity I will continue to post updates. I'm still a little behind in the series. I hope you enjoy. Thank you for reading.

1. Chapter 1 S1 E1

TWD : Hazel Mudd
chapter 1
s1 e1
Hazel Mudd was a 30 year old, from South West Louisiana. She was small but muscular built with long, curly, raggedy, bright red hair. Her eyes were almond shaped and dark brown with long eyelashes. She had full lips and her nose was small and fit her face, she had it peirced on each side with a small septum ring in between. She had dark tanned olive skin, with light freckles and her body was covered in tattoos. She had been on her way to tour the east coast in her 1968, pink and black vw van, but the virus broke out as she was making her way through Atlanta, Georgia. She was alone, besides Oogie, her large bangel cat, in unfamiliar territory. Luckily she found herself behind some nice people named Lori, Shane and a little boy, Carl, on the highway. Lori was petite, with long brown hair. Shane was built with a nice head of dark hair and dark eyes. Carl was a small freckled face boy with brown hair. A horn blared. The traffic had been completely stopped for hours. Hazel rolled her eyes, and resisted the urge to flip them off. As if fucking honking was going to make a difference, ass hole. She thought to herself. The air was hot in the Georgia sun and Hazel could feel the sweat dripping down her body. She was wearing tight faded jeans that were ripped up and a black tank top. Luckily it was black, hiding the fact that it was soaked. Her shoes were some worn out old, black converse with holes aleady in them. She put her long hair up in a messy clip and leaned against her van talking with Lori and a nice lady named Carol. Carol was also small built and had a shaved head but not completely bald. Carols little girl, Sophia was playing a board game with Carl. They were close to the same age. Sophia was a little older, she too was freckled faced and had dirty blonde hair cut to her shoulders. Hazel learned they were all headed to the Refugee Center that had been set up in Atlanta.

A wolf wistle came from a few cars back. The three women looked back at the man on a motorcycle, a ciggarette hanging from his mouth. "I love me some red heads. How you doin hunny?" His raspy voice asked. Hazel scoffed and flipped him off. The man laughed and got off the bike. He headed to the driver side window of a near by truck. "What do you think little brother? Aint every day you come across a pretty little thing like that." The man continued loudly. Hazel and the man in the trucks eyes met and held for a minute before he turned away.

After it got dark, Shane said he was gonna walk further up the road to see if anyone knew what was going on. Hazel and Lori went with him, leaving Carl in Carols care. As they walked, helicopters flew over their heads headed towards the city. Hazel followed Lori and Shane, quickly, as they made their way into the woods where they could see the city skyline. Hazel wasn't ready to see the fires that engulfed the city. She hesitantly pulled the polaroid camera around her neck up and looked through the lens, took a breath, and snapped the picture. She looked over at Lori who was in Shane's arms having a breakdown, understandably. She stood close by them, shocked. She was a person with much empathy, she always tried to comfort those around her, even if she didn't know them. She took Loris hand as they made their way back to the vehicles, Lori looked over at Hazel with tears, squeezed her hand a little and nodded.

"What's wrong?" Carol asked as they reached them. "They're bombing the city. Everything's dark and on fire." Hazel said as Shane helped Lori to the passenger seat of their car. Carl ran to his mom, who wrapped him in a hug. Carol gasped holding Sophia close. "What'd you say?" The motorcycle man walked over to them, his flirty tone was overtaken with some concern. "The refugee center's gone." Hazel said walking to her van to check on Oogie. Shane soon approached them. "We've got to get out of here. The city's not safe anymore and things aren't looking good here either." He said, looking at the mass hysteria that was overtaking the traffic jam. Both Hazel and Carol agreed. "We need to get off this road and find somewhere less crowded. Hazel you coming?" He asked. She nodded her head, she had nowhere else to go. "Carol?" He asked looking at her. She hesitated and glanced over to her husband Ed. He didn't look like a very nice man. He hadn't spoken with them all night, just stayed back smoking his cigarettes'. Shane taking the hint walked over to Ed. Hazel grabbed onto Carols hand as she went to follow Shane over there. Carol looked back at Hazel, a little surprised. "Why don't you stay with me for a minute." She said. Carol understood and stood next to her. Hazel had seen Ed's temper earlier when Carol offered to get Carl some food. She had seen that temper before, many times.

They watched nervously as the men spoke. Then Ed and Shane headed back to them, Shane nodded towards Carol and Hazel. He pulled a map from his glove box, Lori followed as they made their way to the hood of his car. He found a camping spot nearby. The motorcycle man walked over to them, looking down at the map. "Me and my brother will come with ya. Keep an eye out." The man said throwing a wink to Hazel. She rolled her eyes. He leaned on the car as Shane walked away. He licked his lips looking at Hazel. She watched him with disgust. "I'm Merle." He said holding out his hand to her. She reluctantly took it. "Hazel." She said. "That's my baby brother, Daryl." He said looking towards the truck. "Nice to meet you." Hazel said with a grimaced smile. She walked away and climbed into her van, then zigzagged through the cars following Shane off the road. When they reached the site they found it was an old quarry camp site. "Do you think its safe?" Hazel asked. "Well its a ways away from everything. Lets just sleep in our cars for the night and reevaluate in the morning." Shane said. Hazel nodded and walked away headed to her van. Merle appeared in front of her, "You got some extra room in that van for me and my brother, sugar tits?" He asked. Hazel scoffed and laughed, she took a step forward and got in his face smiling. "Fuck off!" She said. "Oooo, girls got a bite to her. I like that." He smiled at her. She rolled her eyes and pushed her way past him, climbing into the back of her van, slamming her doors in Merles face. She grabbed her pink, frilled blanket and pillow and snuggled Oogie. She didn't sleep but spent the night pondering what may be next.

Morning came and with it a few new cars and an RV. The new group of people seemed nice. A few days passed everyone was learning to get along and work together. Hazel stayed in her van at night instead of sleeping in a tent like most of the other group. At night she would sit around the fire with them all. It took everyone a little bit to get use to her foul mouth and her camera. She had a habit of popping up to take pictures randomly, and just about every other word out of her mouth was a curse. Oogie was easy for the camp to adjust to, he was sweet and wasn't any trouble. He would go out and catch his own food in the brush or Hazel would share her rations with him. The group was large, but a few people stuck out to Hazel. Like Daryl, he was medium build with brown hair and piercing blue eyes. He always wore old cut off shirts that showed off great arms. He was a bit of a loner, spending most of his time with his brother. Most days he went out into the woods to hunt. He had complained several times when he'd come back, he'd almost mistake Oogie for a rabbit and he would sometimes get close to getting an arrow. Daryl would come up to Hazel and make rude remarks. "Why don't you keep that damn thing on a leash or locked up!" He'd yell. She wouldn't say anything, just stare at him. "Like talking to a damn brick wall." He'd say in her face. One night sitting around the fire a flash went off in Daryl's face, he looked up and growled, "Girl, you best get that shit outta my face. I done told you..." "Now little brother, aint no reason to get all hostile, from a little ol' picture." Merles raspy voice cutting him off. "Baby girl just likes her pictures." He said running his knuckle down her cheek, she pulled away from him, "Some say pictures steal your soul." She said shaking the polaroid picture, her bare feet were digging into the dirt. She looked up at the stars and then jumped up off the log, "Night." She said before walking off, getting a few goodnights from the group. She headed towards her van, "Oogie!" She yelled as she reached it, he came bolting out of the dark, jumping into the van. She climbed in after him and shut the doors. Merle was medium built, with a shaved head and a worn out face. He continued to sit real close to her, and say inappropriate things, making her uncomfortable. She would tell him to fuck off or just walk away from said incidents, rolling her eyes. "You shouldn't talk to her like that." Dale would say to him. "Mind your damn business old man." Merle would shoot back. Dale was a sweet old man. He had white hair under a fisherman's hat, dark thick eyebrows and dark eyes. He normally sat on top of his RV, acting as look out, you could see out over the quarry's blue green water and see the road leading to the camp from up there. Hazel liked to sit up there with him, she enjoyed the view and the company, Dale was a wise older man, very literate, with good moral values. He loved to talk, and Hazel liked to listen. Merle on the other hand was, well, rough around the edges was a bit of an understatement. He was vile, rude, angry, racist, sexist and loud, and Hazel wasn't the only one Merle messed with, there was also Andrea. She was the same age as Hazel. She was taller then Hazel and a little thicker with blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She too would reject Merle constantly. She was also good at sticking up for herself. She usually hung around her little sister, Amy, who was a sweet young girl, with the same blonde hair, blue eyes and fair skin. She had just finished high school so her and Andrea were on a girls road trip from Florida when they were stranded. And of course there was Carol, Sophia and Ed. Hazel tried to avoid Ed as much as possible, he would stare her and make her nervous. He was a tall, slightly heavy set man, with brown curly hair and green eyes. She could hear the fights between him and Carol every night. More like Ed getting rough with Carol. She felt bad for Carol and Sophia. Since Shane was in charge, Lori was kind of a queen bee there. Though her and Shane weren't together, people still looked to her. She and Carol would do school work with the children. Most of the women would do laundry together, keep the camp tidy. Everyone usually had some kind of job to do. Hazel was more of a wild card, as were Merle and Daryl. The guys though were more going out hunting type, and Hazel was more a drifter. She'd help with things here and there, or she just ran around camp snapping pictures. Morales was there with his wife Miranda, they had 2 small children, Eliza and Louis. They were good people, always helping one way or another. Morales was a heavy set man with dark curly hair and dark brown eyes. Miranda was smaller with long dark hair and dark brown eyes, and the children took after their parents. Jacqui was an older black lady, very small, almost frail looking. she was very sweet but very open about her feelings and opinions. Tdog was a nice young black man who had been a church volunteer, and when the virus broke out he went door to door of the elderly, asking if they needed a ride out of town. Glenn was a young Asian boy, in his early 20s, he was smart but quiet in most situations, not speaking his mind, just following the leader.

A couple of days after settling in, Hazel went with Glenn on a quick run into the city. There were dead people walking around trying to eat her and she had no weapon. She knew exactly what she wanted so she insisted on going with Glenn, though he opposed it, thinking she would just slow him down. It was a fight he lost. "So what brought you to Atlanta?" Hazel asked him as they walked. "School." He answered. "What were you going for?" She asked. "Just basics at first. Get some kind of education." He said. "Yeah, what were you doing job wise?" She asked. "Pizza delivery." He said, looking a little ashamed. "Huh. You're doing good out here. Our main runner. Cause you know the layout?" She asked. "I guess." He said. "Siblings?" Hazel asked as they ducked down, slowly looking around corners. "3 sisters." Glenn whispered. "You?" He asked. "Brother. Dead." She whispered. "I'm sorry." He said. She nodded and they continued to sneak through the alleys. Slowly peeking around corners. They made it to the sporting goods store Glenn had been eyeing. It was a good size. They quickly found their way inside. Carefully and quietly going down the aisles, sneaking by a couple of dead ones that didn't see them. The store had been scavenged already, there wasn't much left. Hazel made her way to the back where the storage was. After around 30 minutes she found everything she was looking for. A set of 3 throwing knives and 2 buck knives for each side of her belt. "You're a knife person I take it?" Glenn said quietly. She smiled and nodded. They found some more weapons and Hazel found some bolts with green and yellow fletching's. She decided to bring them for Daryl. Maybe they would make up for Oogie causing him trouble, she thought. They loaded up their bags with extra weapons, a few M.R.E.'s, flashlights, and any camping gear they could carry. "You'll have to bring more people next time and snatch up the rest. We could use it." Hazel whispered. Glenn nodded and they headed back out the store. One of the dead noticed their shadows and followed behind. Hazel turned just as it took her down. Letting out a yelp. Glenn didn't know what to do. Hazel was holding its neck, holding it away from her. It was strong but she managed to get her knife free and jammed it into its temple. Dark blood spewed from it, covering her. She pushed it off of her. The other 2 geeks found them, Hazel quickly got to her feet, grabbing hold of her dropped bag. "GO GO GO!" She yelled as she reached Glenn and pushed him ahead of her. They quickly made a run for the exit and slammed the door behind them. Catching their breath, they leaned against the door. They could hear the walkers fingers scraping against the metal door. Glenn, out of breath, looked over to Hazel who was covered in blood. "Well shit." She said looking down at herself.

They made their way back to camp. Lori ran to her when they saw the blood covering Hazel. "Its geek blood, not mine. I'm fine." She said. "Were you bit? Scratched?" Shane asked sternly walking over and holding out her arms looking her over. "You wanna do a strip search asshole. Back the fuck up, I said I'm fine." Hazel said pulling away from him. "Here." She shoved her bag of weapons into his hands. Taking the arrows out. She walked over to the Dixon tent, where Daryl sat staring into the fire. "Daryl." She said getting his attention. She tossed him the bundle of arrows. "Merry fuckin birthday." She said as it landed in his lap, surprising him. He gave her a curious look as he picked them up. She smiled at him and then turned and walked off. "Use the RV to take a quick shower, rinse that mess off. Don't want you getting sick." Dale said putting his arm around her shoulders, leading her inside. The shower was, well not a shower. It was more a bucket of water sitting in the small camper shower. She took a wash rag and wiped the blood off. The heat had dried it onto her clothes and skin. "Fuckin fabulous." She said as she scrapped it off, watching it go down the drain. She wrapped herself in a towel and headed out the door. She had never really been a private person. She walked out of the RV carrying her dirty clothes, her bare feet in the dirt. There was a wolf whistle from Merle across the campsite. It got everyone's attention, making them look towards Hazel. "Fuck off Merle, you fuckin pig!" She yelled. "Com'er girl, ill show you my hog." He laughed, looking down at Daryl lightly smacking his arm. Daryl was just staring at her. She shook her head as she went to her van opening the side doors and climbed in. She got dressed, throwing on her last pair of jeans, which were ripped up on the knees and up her thighs, and a plain black tank top. She strapped her new buck knives to the sides of her studded belt and wrapped the throwing knives around her right thigh. "Perfect." She said, pleased with herself. She wrapped her hair up in the towel and lit a cigarette, grabbing her dirty clothes. She climbed out of the van where she was met by Lori. "Fuck." She said grabbing her chest as her cigarette fell from her mouth, landing on the ground next to her. "Fuckin scared me." She said leaning down to pick it up. She blew the dirt off of it and put it back in her mouth. "Sorry. Um Hazel, I don't want to pry, its your life and I understand you're very, um... free spirited, but um, there are children here and you walking around in only a towel, its... well its just not appropriate." She said. Hazel looked at her, slowly nodding. She took the cigarette out of her mouth. "Okay." She said with a smile and a nod, a little embarrassed for the lecture. "Okay? Good, thanks." Lori said smiling touching her shoulder and then leaving her behind. Carol walked up behind her. "Need these cleaned sweetie?" She asked as she reached her hands out for Hazels clothes. "Oh. I was gonna do them." Hazel said. "Its fine, got nothin else to do." Carol said. "Thank you. Should probably just burn 'em." Hazel said with a smile handing her clothes to her. "Nonsense. I can try to get these stains out for ya. Not as good as my Maytag, but i can try." Carol said with a smile, looking the clothes over. Hazel sat back down in the doorway of her van smoking her cigarette. She laid down with her legs hanging over the side, her feet on the ground. "That was awfully nice of ya, bringin my baby brother some new toys." Merles voice startled her making her quickly raise her head, hands behind it. "If I didn't know better I'd say you gotta sweet spot for 'em." He said. "Well its a damn good thing you know better." She said laying her head back down. He laughed. "What tha hell you want Merle?" Hazel asked. "You know what i want baby girl." He said. She sat up and looked around. She spotted Daryl's eyes watching their interaction closely. Hazel turned to Merle. She smiled sweetly. "Gosh Merle, you really do know how to sweet talk a girl huh?" She said sarcastically. "Hey its your loss, sweet cheeks. I am good in the sack." He said licking his lips and slightly thrusting his hips forward. Hazel couldn't help making a sour face. She stood up and closed her doors. "Prick, you couldn't fuckin handle me if I wanted you to." She said hush hushed in his face. She took one more drag of her cigarette before throwing it to the ground between their feet and walked away leaving him to watch her ass as she did. She could feel his eyes on her, his weren't the only ones, she looked over to see Daryl still watching her. She ignored it and made her way to the fire pit. She sat next to Amy and Andrea. "What did Merle want?" Andrea asked with a knowing smile. "Oh ya know, Merle being fuckin Merle." Hazel said looking into the fire. "He's gross." Amy said looking back in his direction. "Yup." Hazel agreed. "Is this what you went into the city for?" Amy asked putting her hand on the sheath of Hazels knife. "Yeah, I got two, one for each side. And these." She pulled out the 3 throwing knives from her thigh band. "How do you use those?" Amy asked. "You throw them." Hazel said with a laugh. "well duh." Amy said with a smile. Andrea scoffed and looked away. "What?" Hazel asked looking over at Andrea with a crinkled face. "I would much rather use this." Andrea said holding up her hand gun. "What tha hell you gonna do when it runs outta ammo?" Hazel asked, eyebrows up, in a questioning voice. Andrea looked down at the gun and then back to Hazel. "This is constant ammo. Plus, its silent." Hazel said with a smile, nudging Amy. Andrea looked over Hazels knives. "I guess. Don't really want any getting that close." She said. Hazel scoffed, she had heard enough from Andreas arrogance, she touched Amy's shoulder as she got up to leave. "Maybe, you could teach me?" Amy asked before Hazel walked off, turning Hazels attention back to her. "Yeah, when ever you want." Hazel said with a smile and walked away.

The next morning Hazel went out into the woods, Oogie chasing after her. She sat down leaning against a tree listening to the sounds of the woods. Peaceful and quiet. The camp had become quite bustling, It was nice to get away. She jumped as rustling broke the silence and she heard some strange noises. She gripped her buck knife and headed quietly towards the sound. She peeked around some brush and saw Shane and Lori getting frisky. She smiled and began to sneak away. "I knew it." She laughed quietly to herself heading back to camp. She was almost there when she heard Merles voice. He seemed to be speaking very loudly and seemed frustrated. She made her way closer to the voice. She was hiding behind a tree a little ways off, she peeked around seeing Daryl sitting on a downed log fiddling with something, just letting Merle be Merle. "We should have done it by now, cant keep sittin here feeding this group of worthless pansies. They aint gonna survive long any how. Damn sheriff prick, clueless as hell." He said. She started to sneak away when a twig snapped under her foot making her freeze, Daryl's head shot up and he quickly found her. Merle followed his gaze seeing her too. She stood there not knowing what to do. "Fuck... hey ... sorry... heard noises, didn't mean to eavesdrop." She said. "What the hell you doin out here, girl?" Merle asked sternly. "I was taking a damn walk. Don't need to be fuckin interrogated, Dixon." She said walking towards them. They watched her suspiciously as she walked by them headed back to camp.

Later that night, everyone had gone bed. Hazel woke from one of her regular nightmares and ventured out into the darkness to a low burning fire in the middle of camp. She was in her black tank top and pink boy shorts. She wasn't sure if Lori would approve of her dressed like that in so called public, but figured everyone was asleep so it shouldn't be a big deal. She sat with a half bottle of whiskey, she took a swig, staring into the flames. She didn't see Daryl approach the fire, and jumped as he sat a little ways away from her. She smiled at him and passed him the bottle, he paused then nodded as he took it. "Why aint you sleep'n?" he asked her, "Fuckin insomnia." she said and shrugged. "What's your excuse?" She asked, "Merle snores too damn loud." He said then took a swig. She giggled and looked back to the flames. He looked over at her out of the side of his eye, trying to be stealthy about it. He liked her smile, the way her eyes lit up and squinted. she was really pretty, everything about her gave him strange feelings in his stomach. Her hair, her eyes, her hour glass figure. He could barley make out her light freckles that set above her nose. He would watch her sometimes around the camp, as long as Merle wasn't watching, he knew he'd never hear the end of it if he caught him. Merle was pretty adamant about getting her himself, so she was basically off limits to him. Not that he would pursue her anyway. A girl like her was way out of his league. He picked up a stick and started poking at the fire. They sat there passing the bottle back and forth. "How you doing?" She asked him, he looked at her, then back to the fire. " 'm fine." He answered. "Everyone seems pretty nice." She said. "I guess." He answered. He pulled a pack of cigarettes out of his pocket, offering her one. She gladly accepted. He took the stick and lit his, then held it to light hers. "Thanks." She said letting the smoke out. He nodded. She looked up at the sky, he glanced over, her red hair practically glowed in the fire light. "I didn't hear what y'all were talking about if that's what you're worried about." She said looking at him. He looked at her hard as if trying to read her face. He grunted and nodded, looking back at the flames. "He's wrong though." She said. Daryl looked back at her fearfully. "Ok i heard some. Just the end. But he's wrong. ... I aint no fuckin pansy." She said trying to hold a straight face but failed letting out a giggle. He relaxed and scoffed, a small smile forming on his lips. She hadn't heard much, she would have told Shane already if she had. When she finished her cigarette the sky had started to light up, she stood up and threw the butt into the fire. "I'm gonna try to get some sleep. You should, too." She said. He handed her the almost empty bottle, she put her hand up and shook her head, turned around and walked back to her van. He took another swig and watched her walk away, her ass looked great in her pink boy shorts, he thought to himself. He took another swig and got up, headed back to his tent.

A couple of days later, Merle had disappeared, Daryl sat in a lawn chair by his tent. Hazel was curious, so she approached him. When she reached him she put her camera to her face and snapped a picture of him. He glanced up looking obviously annoyed. "What chya doing?" She asked shaking the polaroid and looking at the bloody mess. "Skinnin." He said looking back down. "Wanna teach me?" She asked. "No." He answered not looking up. "I brought you arrows ass hole, you fuckin owe me." She said playfully. He quickly looked up. "You can fuckin take 'em back if that's how you gonna be." He said angrily. "Dixon, quit your shit. Just let me fuckin watch." She said. He was quiet for a minute and looked around for Merle. "Sit down." He said pointing his knife to another lawn chair. She moved the chair across from him and watched as he cut into the squirrels lifeless body. "Don't like blood?" He asked. She must have been making a face. "No, don't like killing animals. It breaks my heart. Although I do like meat. I just don't want to meet my meat." She said with a small laugh. He grunted but kept going. She watched until he was finished. He pulled his rag out of his pocket, wiping the blood off his hands. "Done." He said walking over to hang the skin on a small make shift clothes line. She nodded. "Maybe one day you could take me hunting." She said. "Hell nah. Aint taking no woman hunting. Scare off all the damn game." He growled. "Fuck you!" She said with a smile. "Probably for the best though. Like I said don't want to kill them. Maybe I'll just help you skin 'em." She said. He grunted picking up his crossbow and sitting back in the lawn chair. She watched as he started to clean the blood from it and his new arrows. He glanced up at her. "Somethin else?" He asked. "It just reminded me of when I was younger. My dad had taken me swimming in the Sabine river, we called it The Point, its where the river forks. Anyway the douche had been drinking, of course. We were on a back road on our way home when a opossum ran in front of the truck, barley making it to the other side. My dad slammed on the brakes and grabbed his gun, telling me to hurry the fuck up and get out. He came up behind me with the gun, telling me to shoot it. I was only like 6 or 7. I begged him not to make me do it crying. But he was yelling in a rage. I wished the damn thing would just run away, but of course it fuckin didn't. I knew if I didn't make the shot i was gonna get a beatin. So I lined it up and, BANG! Perfect shot." She paused looking at the ground. "Ass hole just smiled ear to ear, so proud. I was nauseous and cried all the way home." She said. By this time Daryl was just watching her as she stared at the ground. After a moment of thinking of the memory she looked up, her serious face turned into a smile. "Thanks for letting me watch." She said standing up . She moved the lawn chair back and walked away. He watched her confused, not sure why she had told him that or why she was so nice to him. Why'd she even acknowledge him. She didn't know him. Yet he was surprised, they may actually have had some things in common. Another week went by, Glenn needed more supplies than he could bring back on his own. So they formed a small group to head into the city for a run. Glenn, Andrea, Morales, Tdog, Jacqui, and Merle. Hazel was going to join them but Merle had been more of an ass hole than usual and she didn't want to be that close to him. While they were gone Daryl was headed to the woods to hunt. Hazel knew it was because he really didn't care to be around the group without his brother. She found him before he left. "You headin out?" She asked coming up behind him. "Whatta ya care?" He asked, only glancing at her for a second before looking back at his equipment. "Why aint you goin with the group?" She asked cocking her head. He stopped and looked at her. "Someone's gotta feed you damn people." He said. "Well watch yer ass out there. Bring us back somethin good." She said with a smile. He looked at her for a second before nodding and disappearing into the woods.