"I refuse to stay in this shed any longer." I pouted.

"Ya don't wanna stay in the woods, ya don't wanna stay in a barn, ya don't wanna stay here." Daryl mocked me. "What do ya want, girl?"

I gave him a stupid look. "When I said I wanted a place to stay, this isn't exactly what I had in mind, smartass."

"Yeah, well it's been good enough…fer now."

"You promised we would leave today." I whined. "Look, it's such a perfect day!"

"Alright, alright." Daryl gave in. "I don't wanna be here as much as you don't."

"Thank God!" I said grabbing my bag.

We were walking through the woods when we found a creek! "Wow, Daryl, look!" I pointed ahead. "There's water!"

"I knew we'd find some eventually." Daryl said.

I sat my bag down and pulled out the pump. Daryl reached for it. "I can do it." I took a few steps back.

"Nah, yer too clumsy." He said. He tried to grab it again.

"No, I'm not! I can do it!" I yelled. I took another step back and slipped off the rock I was on. "Whoa!" I fell right into the water. It was deeper than I had anticipated and it was freezing. I emerged from the water and looked around for the water pump, it started to float away but I grabbed it in time. I looked up when I heard Daryl laughing. I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Yer right, Sissy, you ain't clumsy."

I felt embarrassed. "I wanted to do that." I lied.

"Sure." Daryl said sarcastically.

"I did! I wanted to go for a swim." I floated on my back and looked up at Daryl.

"Alright." He raised his eyebrows.

"Ya comin' in or are ya too scared?" I mocked him.

"I ain't gettin' in there. Gettin' my clothes wet and havin' to walk around in them all day."

"Well…I'll be nice and cool." I smirked. I swam to the side so I could get out.

"Hot still beats wet." He let out a little laugh.

I gritted my teeth. I climbed out of the water and kept slipping on the muddy hillside. "Shut up and help me!" I yelled. Daryl finally walked down to where I was and put his hand out. I took it and he pulled me up. I sighed putting my arms out and looking down at my wet clothes. "This sucks."

"Yeah." Daryl cleared his throat. "Probably a bad time to mention…ya didn't get any water." I put my head back and sighed loudly. "Let me do it." Daryl offered.

"No, let me. I'm already wet." I started making my way back down the hill. I could hear Daryl laughing at me again.

Later on, we found a spot where we could set up camp. "Finish settin' up." Daryl said. "I'm gonna go hunt."

"How come yer always the one who hunts?" Daryl stopped and gave me a questioning look. "I'll go hunt. You set up camp." I threw a box of matches to him.

"I'm just used to it." He said.

"I know. I just wanna…you know, switch thangs up."

"Alright." Daryl shrugged. I gathered up my stuff and started to walk off. "Hey, don't be gone too long or I'll come lookin' fer ya."

"Yeah, I know how to survive." I said without turning around.

"Good luck!" Daryl called. There was a bit of laughter in his voice. I turned around and saluted him.

I wasn't out here for very long. I already missed a raccoon and two rabbits. Or maybe that was the same rabbit? I don't know, but I do know that I'm a shitty hunter. I need to come back with something, though. I want to impress my brother; I want to show him that I'm just as capable as he is. I sighed loudly. If I would have gotten that raccoon, it'd be funny because of what happened with Gus. I don't know what happened to him after we left that house. He's probably fine, though.

Just then, I heard a growl. I looked out of the side of my left eye…I saw it standing there, watching me. Any minute it's going to attack. I stood there frozen. You can't give up now! I tried to tell myself. Kill it! You can do it! It walked a little closer. My heart started racing. I slowly and quietly lifted my gun. I was breathing very heavily now. I turned ever so slightly and made eye contact with the beast. I cocked my shotgun, the noise must have unsettled it because it started running right at me. I didn't waste any time. I held my guard and I shot it right in the chest! It laid on the ground in front of me. It struggled to get up so I ran to it and quickly stabbed it in the head. I sat beside it and just looked at it. I can't believe that just happened. I picked its back legs up and started to drag it back to camp. Daryl is going to be amazed.

Daryl was sitting in front of the campfire sharpening his knife on a rock when I got back. He looked up when he saw me. "Hey, I was just about to come find ya."

"I killed a wolf."

He stopped scraping his knife. "What?"

"I killed a wolf." I repeated in the same tone.

He continued to stare at me. It was like he was waiting for me to say I was kidding. When he realized I was being serious, he stood up and came over to me.

"Are ya okay?"

I ignored his question. "It's right here." I pointed to where I hid it behind the tree.

Daryl was speechless. "Wow." He finally said.

"Pretty crazy, right?"

He nodded slowly. "Yer one lucky girl I can tell ya that much."

"I know, right? I thought I was gonna die." I laughed.

"Well…get busy." Daryl finally said.

"What?"

"You gotta skin it and gut it."

I opened my mouth to say something but instead just closed it. "What? You thought you'd leave it for me to do?" Daryl said my unspoken words.

"Well…I—"

"Well, nothin'." Daryl cut me off. "Ya wanted to go huntin', killin' ain't the only part."

"But I don't know how." I admitted.

"I'll show ya." He grabbed my arm and walked me over to the dead wolf. "Like this, little lady." He held his knife over the torso and brought it down but stopped right before stabbing it. He handed me the knife.

"Okay." I cleared my throat. I did exactly what he did except I actually stabbed it.

"Now work your way down."

I pulled the knife with me. I could feel it ripping its way through the flesh. It was almost sickening.

"No, no." Daryl said. "Like this." He knelt down behind me. He put his hands around mine and helped guide the knife down. "Think yer gettin' the hang of it?"

"Yeah." I breathed. He took his arms from around me and stepped back. I finished what I needed to do.

"I'll do this part." Daryl offered.

"No, let me." I said. I put my hands inside where I cut and pulled out its insides. I threw everything aside. "Next?" I wiped my forehead with the back of my hand.

"You got some blood." Daryl said pulling out his bandana and wiping the blood from my forehead. I smiled at him. "Now we skin it." Daryl said. He showed me how to skin the wolf. We did that part together because it took a little longer.

"Nice." He said when we finished. "Let's cook this sumbitch."

We had a nice dinner that night. It would have been nicer if Daryl said something to about me killing the wolf. I was waiting for him to tell he was proud of me. I mean…I killed a wolf. Daryl has killed plenty of different animals so we could have food before. But he ain't ever killed a wolf.

I wasn't as talkative as I usually am. I just sat there and looked into the fire. "Sissy?" I looked over at him. "Ya okay?"

I hesitated. "Yeah, I'm fine." I shrugged. Then looked back down at the fire.

"Ya don't seem fine."

"I am." I said annoyed.

"Alright." Daryl said. "I just wanted to make sure. You coulda got hurt out there, ya know?"

I gave him a stupid look but didn't say anything. I felt mad. Mad at Daryl. I was mad because he didn't congratulate me. I mean…come on. I thought he would make a way bigger deal. I know he worries about me a lot but still. If it were he and Merle, I'm sure it'd be different. All of a sudden, I was overtaken by emotions for some strange and crazy reason and a sob escaped from me. I didn't think it was loud enough for Daryl to hear but apparently it was because he moved closer to me. "Ya know, you can talk to me if somethin' is botherin' ya."

"I know." I said. "It's okay."

"Is it?"

I didn't answer.

"I just want to make sure yer alright."

"It's fine. It ain't a big deal." I said softly.

"So there is somethin' botherin' you." Daryl stated.

"What? No."

"Ya just said it ain't a big deal."

"…cuz it ain't."

"Okay." He put his arm around me. "So just tell me then."

I bit my lip angrily. I wanted to tell him but I didn't want to sound like one of those annoying, dramatic teenage girls. That wasn't me. I sighed.

"Are ya gonna tell me or not?"

I looked at him. "Fine! But yer gonna think it's stupid." I crossed my arms and looked down. "I'm mad cuz I killed that wolf and ya didn't say nothin' about it."

Daryl was silent for a minute. "…thats' why yer mad?" I didn't answer. I kept my arms crossed and looked the other way. "Le…why would ya be mad about somethin' like that?"

"Told ya you'd think it was stupid." I said without looking at him. Then I sighed and finally looked at him. "I don't know…I don't know what's wrong with me. I just got emotional fer some reason."

My brother snorted. "Don't tell me yer gonna turn all girly on me now?"

I glared at him. "Never. Don't even say that. I ain't like that."

"I know." He smirked.

I sighed again. "I actually don't like huntin'."

"Then why'd ya want to?"

"I don't know." I shrugged. "Just to do it, I guess."

"Ya seemed like you liked it before. Ya always wanted to go with me." My brother pointed out.

"That's cuz I just wanted to…" I trailed off and my face flushed.

"Wanted to what?"

I put my head down. "I-I just wanted to go with you. I like spendin' time with ya."

He gave me a sideways smile. "I like ya spendin' time with me, too. Why was ya embarrassed to tell me that?"

"…cuz I'm fifteen. I'm too old to miss my big brother all the time."

"No, yer not. Come'er." I moved closer to him and rested my head on his shoulder. He just rubbed my arm. "You cold?"

"…a little." I lied. He pulled me closer to him and rested his head on top of mine.

We were quiet for a minute. My brother cleared his throat. "Remember that time we went campin'? The first time? Ya wanted to go real bad."

I smiled. "Yeah, I remember. We had fun."

"How old was ya? Seven? Eight?"

"Somethin' like that."

"You was such a little sweetie pie." My brother pinched my cheek.

I moved my head off him and looked at him raising an eyebrow. "And I ain't now?"

He smirked and shook his head. "Well, sure…if ya don't open yer mouth." I giggled. "Yeah, it was right around twelve when ya started gettin' mouthy. My brother continued.

"Wonder where I got that from?" I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.

Daryl snorted. "Ya thank ya got it from me?"

"Who else? I was around ya all the time…well, till ya left."

"Yeah, I'm sorry about that."

"Let's not go back to that." I half grinned. I suddenly had a thought. "By the way, ya remember that promise we made to each other? About not keepin' secrets no more?"

"Of course." My brother nodded.

"Well…there's somthin' I never told ya." I gave him a nervous look. "It's about Merle."

He gave me a kinda scowl. "Now I'm curious." He turned himself towards me. "Go on."

"…well…we…" I rang my hands nervously. "…so, sometimes when ya were out on a run…Merle and me would like…drink together and sometimes…smoke weed…" I gave him a scared look while he just stared at me.

"You got drunk with Merle but not me?" He finally said.

What? That is not the response I was expecting to hear. "Y-yeah." I shook my head. "You wouldn't let me drink, remember? Back at the motel."

"That wasn't the right place with all them guys."

I almost laughed. "What did ya think was gonna happen? Someone was gonna grab me with you sittin' right there?"

"Yeah." He gave me serious look.

"Well, some guy was tryin' to get me to smoke with him." I giggled.

"When was this?"

"You went to the bathroom."

My brother scowled. "Nasty pervert."

"Well, he was slightly attractive."

Daryl gave me a look. I laughed. "I'm kiddin'."

"Yeah, ya better be."

"What? I cain't like guys?"

"Not ones that are way older than ya. He could be yer dad."

"Whatever." I yawned and stretched. "I'm tired." I rolled over and laid down on the ground. "Nighty night."

"I thought I'd let ya keep watch." Daryl said. My eyes shot open. "But since yer tired…"

"I can keep watch." I sat up quickly.

Daryl smirked at me. "Ya sure?"

"Yeah." I nodded quickly. "I can do it."

I sat there on a log looking around. Daryl was sleeping for once. I was glad, it ain't fair for him to have to worry about us all the time. Still, I'm surprised he's letting me do this. I kept hearing noises in the woods, I jumped every time. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't scared. But the thing is, I couldn't wake my brother up. I HAD to show that I can handle this. And if I can, then maybe he'll say he's proud of me. That's all I want.

As I was sitting there, I started to feel tired. My eyelids were heavy. I tried to stay awake but I was just so dang bored. My eyes were slowly closing by themselves and I dozed off. Just then, I heard a noise like someone or something bumped into the line we had tied around the camp sight. My eyes shot open and suddenly I wasn't tired anymore. I pulled out my gun and slowly stood up. I quietly walked over to where I heard the noise, I had to be careful not to wake Daryl. I brandished my gun while looking around. I couldn't see anything in the thick darkness. The noise stopped. I waited. When I didn't see or hear anything else, I relaxed a little. Must have been a rabbit or something.

I was about to go back and sit down when suddenly I heard footsteps. They sounded as if they become closer and faster. I was getting scared. I stepped backwards a little and the footsteps got even louder and faster. I was really scared now. Someone is clearly out there and headed towards me. "Who's there?" I whispered. Of course no one answered. Just then someone ran out at me. I shot at them immediately but missed. They ran and I ran after them I kept shooting and eventually I heard a yelp and the person fall to the ground. I went over to them, I could just see them in the moonlight. "Please." The man said. I couldn't take any chances. I gritted my teeth and shot him just like my brother would.

"Leann! What the hell are ya doin'?" My brother yelled form behind me.

"T-there—there was a man…

"I know! I can see that! Why the hell didn't ya wake me up?"

"I didn't…I thought—

"I told ya if anythang happened to wake me up. So why didn't ya listen to me?"

"Daryl, I—

"I don't wanna hear it! I'm sick 'a this, Leann! Ya do this shit all the time!" He grabbed my arm and started dragging me back to camp. "Why cain't ya ever just do what yer told?"

"Daryl, it's fine. I took care of it." I stated.

"It ain't fine! Ya coulda got hurt or worse!" We reached the camp. "Ya had yer fun! Now, lay down and go to sleep! I'll keep watch!"

I put my head down. I hated getting yelled at.

"Never trustin' ya do this again."

Great. I thought. So much for he being proud of me. I'm a fuck up. "I'm sorry." I said quietly then rolled over.

I hardly got any sleep that night. Daryl already had a fire going when I woke up. I opened a can of baked beans that I had in my bag with my knife. "Don't get cut." Daryl said to me. I held the can over the fire with a stick. "I'll be right back." He said then walked off. I didn't feel like talking. I couldn't even look at Daryl after last night. I felt like a dumb, little kid.

The beans were just about ready when my brother came back. "Smells good." He said. He pushed my hair back as he walked passed me then sat down on the log next to me. "Don't burn yerself."

I dumped the beans into two small bowls we found, I gave Daryl a little more. "Ya coulda gave yerself more." He said. I didn't reply. I just sat there and sadly ate my beans. "I say we try to find some wheels. Maybe we won't have to sleep on the ground tonight." My brother said. We sat there in silence for a long time. Daryl wasn't talking probably because I wasn't, and as I said before, I didn't feel like talking. I think Daryl can tell there's something wrong because he kept giving me glances, which I was ignoring. "Hey, Le?" My brother finally spoke. His voice was soft. "About last night…I'm sorry fer yellin' at ya like that. I know you was just tryin' to help, but I worry about ya all the time. Still, I didn't mean to be so hard on ya. It's easy to ferget yer just a kid."

I finished my beans and pushed the bowl aside then looked up at the sky. It was a cloudy morning. "We should go." I stood up and brushed the dirt off my pants.

"Yeah." I heard my brother say.