Okay, today's second chapter. Hope you guys like it!

Jamie sat on the fence the next day, tearing into some deer jerky Daryl had made. She grinned. "Really good."

"I told you I know my jerky." Daryl said. He was leaning up against the fence, as well. Jamie's eyes fell on the freshly dug grave. Suddenly jerky didn't seem as appetizing as it had before.

"Why'd it have to be Dale?" she asked quietly. "I mean, not that anyone should've- but- Dale- I mean, he just... ugh!" she was so frustrated she couldn't find words.

"I know. He was different than the rest of us." Daryl said, tearing off a piece of jerky and chewing thoughtfully. "He was a good guy."

Jamie nodded, looking sadly at the grave. Meanwhile, Shane was telling Rick about what Carl had told him, and they were talking about being a man in the loft.

"Anybody ever teach you how to fist fight?" Daryl asked. He'd hardly slept last night, nightmares had been haunting his dreams. It was because of what Jamie had told them all, about the time she'd almost been raped on the road.

"Ryder and I used to screw around when we were kids a little." Jamie said.

"That's different. What if I were trying to kill you? If you had no knives, no guns?" Daryl asked.

"Kick 'em below the belt and run." Jamie said.

Daryl chuckled. "And if I grab you on the way down?"

"I beat the hell outta you." Jamie said simply.

"Good. I gotta get back to Rick- they're thinking about moving Randall, maybe sending him somewhere. Stay close to camp- last thing I need is to have to rip more porcupine outta you."

She nodded, heading back towards the camp. She noticed a woolly caterpillar on a tree stump and smiled, picking it up. Just a reminder- summer wasn't to last forever. She set it back down. She headed back up to Daryl's camp and grabbed her bow off the tree branch, heading towards the woods, when she heard Lori scream.

"Carl! Carl!" She was off and running, notching an arrow and racing to the top of the hill, running down and pulling back as she went. Carl was struggling, a walker was on top of him... She took aim and let the arrow fly, and it struck the walker in the head.

"Carl!" Lori shoved the walker off Carl. Rick and Daryl raced over.

"Oh my god, baby, are you okay, are you okay?" Lori was in tears, pulling her son into her lap. Carl nodded, though he was in tears, too. Shane ran over, staring and Jamie, steaming.

"YOU COULD HAVE KILLED HIM!" He struck her across the face and she ended up on the ground, gasping.

"Shane!" Rick yelled.

But Shane grabbed her by her arm and pulled her up, punching her again. Blood flowed freely from her nose.

"Shane!" Lori yelled, looking horrified. "Stop!"

But she was too late. Daryl had raced over and let out a feral growl and pounced, slamming into Shane from behind and knocking him down. They rolled in the dirt for a bit, before Daryl came out on top, socking Shane again and again.

"Daryl! Daryl stop!" Lori pleaded.

"You bastard!" Daryl yelled, sinking his fist into Shane's ribs, knocking the wind out of you. "I warned you, Shane. You just had to leave her alone!" he punctuated it with a punch to the nose, then another, and another...

He seized Shane by the ear and yanked his head up. His eyes were glazed and unfocused, blood dribbled down his chin and from both nostrils. "I warned you, Shane. I'll beat you to death." He landed the last punch and Shane laid on the ground, unconscious.

"Jamie?"

Jamie stood, blood trickling between her fingers, which she held cupped over her mouth and nose.

"You could've killed him! You could've killed my baby!" Lori flew a her then in a flurry, but Rick held her back.

"Lori! Lori! She shot the walker, not Carl!" he yelled.

"You could've killed him!" Lori screamed, nostrils flaring, brown eyes burning with rage.

"Mom! Mom, I'm fine!" Carl said, staring at his mother, shocked.

"Would you rather I didn't shoot and let the walker get him?" Jamie asked quietly. Her eyes were wqide, she was scared- suddenly she was fearing people more than walkers.

Lori finally stopped struggling, staring. "Get away from me, get away from Rick, and STAY AWAY FROM CARL!" she screamed.

Jamie whirled, turning and running into the forest.

"Jamie! Jamie, wait!" Rick yelled, letting go of Lori for a minute and reaching out towards the girl. But Lori went to go after her, then, and he was occupied in holding her down.

"Jamie!" Daryl yelled.

But she was gone.

Daryl turned around, looking, for once, defeated, after her.

"Lori- stop! Just stop!" Rick yelled, and Lori froze, surprised. "That little girl just SAVED our son. And you just tried to attack her." Rick said. "And now- now she's run off." Rick said, voice thick with emotion. "She's probably going to end up like Sophia."

Daryl bent down, finding her bow and quiver where she'd dropped it. He caressed the side of the bow, running the string through his fingers, before wordlessly picking up them up, slinging them over his shoulder, and heading back to his camp.

He settled, grabbing some more arrows and another knife, before striking out in the woods. The kid couldn't get that far. But she'd covered her trail well, even though she was no doubt falling apart, and he spent the rest of the afternoon searching to no avail. Dusk fell, and she still wasn't back.

Daryl went to walk back to his own camp, not wanting to go to the fire. For some reason, there was nothing special in it, not with Jamie gone.

But the firelight cast a glow on him, and Rick stood.

"Daryl."

He wordlessly turned to face his friend.

"Did you find her?"

"No. She don't wanna be found. She covered her trail. Like she never even existed." Daryl said, before turning morosely and heading back to camp. He sighed. Somehow it was empty without her here. He sat for hours, leaning against the trunk of the tree she normally slept in, holding her bow.

She ran, tears silently falling down as she fought through the brush. She moved lightly, though, made sure to cover her tracks- she didn't want anyone to find her- she just wanted to be alone. She remembered where the sun was in the sky, it was going to set in the west, so she went that way, knowing she'd easily be able to find her way back, if she decided to.

She was mainly scared- she'd done what she was supposed to, shot a walker, saved a life. And she still couldn't do anything right. Not to mention she was afraid of Shane, despite how Daryl had protected her- Daryl couldn't always guard her, and Shane would be after her eventually...

Dusk started to fall, and she found a tree and climbed... She sighed. She had no food, no water, but she could scavenge in the morning. She was wearing Ryder's old jacket, she'd barely ever taken it off, and she wiped her bloody nose in her sleeve. Finally, she let the tears fall. Why could she never do anything right?

She leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree, tilting her head back to look up at the sky. Stars, so many stars. She really just wanted to be in her own tree, to be back with Daryl, but she'd marooned herself in the tree for the night . It'd be dangerous to have her bow and walk during the night, but attempting to walk back without it would be suicide.

"Dad? Is Jamie going to be okay?" Carl asked.

Rick studied the fire, looking solemn before speaking. "I don't know, Carl, I don't know..."

"Is she- what if she ends up like Sophia?" Carl asked, tears falling down his face silently.

Shane studied the fire. He was partly to blame for her running off, for upsetting Carl...

"It's gonna be okay, baby." Lori went to put her arms around her son, but Carl recoiled.

"Don't touch me!" he spat, pulling away. "You're the reason she ran off! You screamed at her once she saved my life!"

"Carl..." Lori said, looking shocked and hurt.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Shane barked.

"Don't tell me what to do! You hit her! You hit her because she saved me! You guys are all idiots! I hate you!" and he stood, running off in the darkness.

Lori and Shane looked after him, desperate.

Shane stood to go after him. "Leave him." Rick ordered. "He needs to blow off some steam."

Shane grudgingly sat down.

Lori moved so she was sitting beside Rick. "Do you really think I'm the reason she left?" she whispered.

"I think your reaction was inappropriate, yes." Rick said. He looked up and waited. Carl would come back.

"Hey."

Daryl looked up to see Carl standing in front of him, hands in his pockets, digging his toe into the dirt.

"What?" Daryl asked, looking over. His eyes lacked the sparkle they'd held earlier when he'd wrestled with Jamie and pushed her into the water trough, and when she'd started laughing at the campfires when she realized Prince was a guy.

"I'm sorry Jamie ran off." he said, looking up.

"Yeah, so am I." Daryl admitted.

"I'm sorry for what my Mom and Shane did- seems like the don't have the balls to apologize, so I figured I should. Daryl?"

"Yeah?" Daryl was running his fingers along her bow string, looking up at the sky. Was Jamie staring at those same stars tonight, wishing she was safe in her normal tree, with him sleeping beneath?

"You- you don't think Jamie will end up like Sophia, do you?" his voice shook slightly, and Daryl shook his head.

"No. I don't. There's always a chance, but I think she's got a much better shot than Sophia. She's country, even without her bow, she can make it. She may come back tomorrow. Or next week." or not at all. He kept the last thought to himself, though, not wanting to upset Carl.

"You should get back to camp. Your mom will be worried." Daryl said, still not looking at him.

"Yeah." he turned to go, but stopped. "I hope she comes back soon." he said.

"Yeah, so do I."