Disclaimer: I do not, nor will I ever own The Walking Dead or anything affiliated with said series.

The next morning Chelsea was tempted to stay in bed all day so she could reacquaint herself with all the songs she'd long thought she'd forgotten, but didn't want to burn through the battery too fast. With great difficulty she forced herself to pack her mp3 player away for the time being and instead got to work planning the next leg of her trip.

Once she'd gone over her maps and made an inventory of her remaining supplies, a quick glance at her watch told her it was well after noon and she figured she'd better get going if she wanted to cover a decent amount of ground by nightfall. Making quick work of her things she was on the ground and ready to go in less than ten minutes.

Having decided to head back to the road and follow it for a ways she began walking in that direction when an all too familiar sound reached her ears. The dead were nearby.

Grumbling in annoyance, she was having such a wonderful day so far and they just had to come and ruin it, she dropped her bag on the ground and tiptoed in their direction.

She'd met some people on her journey who left them alone unless they were being attacked, and others who went out of their way to hunt them for sport, but in her opinion it was always a good idea to get rid of them when you had the chance since you never knew what was going to happen next. That and she just didn't like the idea of those things wandering around near her, gave her the creeps.

Ducking underneath a low hanging branch she spotted her targets tearing into what had likely been a deer. There were six of them crowding around the dead animal and she found herself trying to remember what Rick had called them. Walkers, she thought suddenly, pleased with herself for figuring it out so quickly.

Slipping her machetes out of their sheaths she took a deep breath and then took off running.

The first two she dispatched with ease, yanking her blades from their skulls before the others had even realized she was there. A quick spin around had the third one down, half of his head missing. However, now that the element of surprise was gone she wound up nearly surrounded and skipped backwards a few steps to keep them at arm's length.

A hand reached for her and she sliced it off, giving the now one armed corpse a hard kick to the chest to push him back. With a couple of well placed jabs the other two went down, unfortunately her machetes went with them as the weapons refused to budge from where they were lodged in their heads.

Yanking her knife out of her boot she danced around the last one that was still standing until she managed to get close enough to shove the blade up under his chin.

Breathing heavily, and covered with a fair amount of blood despite the fact that she basically only hit them in the head, she grabbed her weapons and wiped them clean with part of one of the walker's shirts. When she was finished she tucked them back into their places and took off towards the small stream she'd spotted on her way back the night before. There was no way she was going to walk around covered in filth unless she absolutely had to.

Sometime later she found herself back at her pack, and after seeing it was already the afternoon decided there was no point in getting started on her trip today. Instead she ate the last of the food Carol had sent with her and found a new tree about fifteen minutes away to make camp in.

When she got her hammock in place and everything tied down she curled up with her blanket and stared off at the horizon, something she often found herself doing in the evenings. As time passed she felt her eyelids begin to droop and she dozed off as the sun sank beneath the hills.

ooooo

Having slept in and then gone to bed early Chelsea spent most of the night drifting in and out of sleep and in the morning found herself wishing for coffee even though she'd never cared for the stuff. Slapping her face to wake herself up she froze when she heard something moving below her.

With a sense of déjà vu she peeked out over her hammock to see Daryl taking down a rabbit from thirty yards out with a crossbow and ran a hand over her face with a groan. "Just my luck." she muttered under her breath as she saw him saunter over to claim his prize.

She hadn't really paid attention to him back at Alexandria, but watching him now reminded her so much of her brother. He'd enjoyed hunting as well when he was younger and she'd often gone out to keep him company on his trips, though her time was spent watching the animals and picking on him whenever he missed a shot.

Frowning as more memories came rushing to the surface she took a deep breath and forced all thoughts of him back into the deepest recesses of her mind. Until she knew what happened to him and his family she felt it was best to think of him as little as possible. It helped to keep her from breaking down.

Returning her focus to the man on the ground, she was pleased to see that he still had no idea she was only a couple dozen feet above his head and she took immense pride in the fact that she was quiet enough to evade detection from someone who looked quite at home in the wilderness.

Giving herself a mental pat on the back she contemplated what she should do next. She could remain where she was and he'd never be the wiser, or she could have a little fun with him.

Her decision brought a wicked smile to her face and she barely managed to stop herself from laughing out loud at the plan that had formed in her head.

As stealthily as possible she slipped her bow from the makeshift holder she'd built for it with her things and ever so slowly notched an arrow. Originally her target had been the rabbit he was gutting, but a sudden sound drew her attention to the left and she let the arrow fly the moment she spotted the walker making its way towards them.

Daryl had almost finished dealing with his catch when the crunching of leaves nearby brought him to high alert, his hand automatically reaching for his crossbow. You can imagine his surprise when the walker he'd been searching for dropped to the ground with an arrow sticking out of its right eye moments after he'd finally found it.

Not knowing where the arrow had come from he ran his eyes over the surrounding forest while very slowly releasing his grip on his weapon. He had no desire to be shot at and being armed tended to cause people to shoot first and ask questions later.

"You can relax," Chelsea called down to him as she reattached her bow to the tree. "It was only me."

Following the voice, Daryl looked up at the woman camped out in the tree a short distance away and snapped angrily, "Christ woman, ya nearly gave me a heart attack! What are ya, stupid? Don't do shit like that!"

"Oh my, did I frighten poor little hunter boy by taking out the big scary dead man? Forgive me for saving your ass, next time I'll make sure to stay out of it."

Growling at her flippant response, he clenched his hand so tightly he could feel what little fingernails he had left digging into his skin. "The hell? Ya got no clue how ta behave 'round livin' people no more, do ya?" he bit out. "Spent so much time on yer own ya forgot what it is ta be human, is that it? That why ya had ta off so many of 'em?"

She hadn't meant to upset him, but after saving his life she'd expected some kind of thanks not a verbal attack, and had lashed out without thinking. Okay, so messing with him probably hadn't been the smartest of moves, tensions always ran high when one was out on their own, but he didn't need to go off on her like that. A simple reprimand would've been just fine, but it was much too late for that now. He'd gone and pissed her off and she wasn't one to back down from anything, least of all a fight with some loudmouthed asshole.

"Human? No one's human anymore," Chelsea replied with a snort. "Not me and most certainly not you. We're all monsters, we have to be or we die that's a simple fact of life. You and your family can hide behind those walls of yours and attempt to recreate your life before things went to shit, but nothing will ever be the same. Once that change is forced out of you there's no going back. From now until the day you die you're nothing more than an animal fighting for survival."

"God knows I've done horrible things I never would've considered doing if the world hadn't gone to hell, but I don't regret it and I'm not the least bit sorry. I did what I had to and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. In fact, the only times I've ever wished I could go back and change something were when I was helping someone. So no, I don't know how to be human anymore. I know how to survive, be it against the dead or the living, and you'd do well to remember that."

Opening his mouth, Daryl allowed it to slowly close when he realized he had no clue what to say to that. In truth he hadn't really been all that upset with her about killing the walker, he'd snapped because he'd been afraid. Contrary to popular belief, the thought of being caught unaware by some random psycho did in fact scare the shit out of him. But he'd learned from a very young age that fear was hazardous to his health so he'd channeled it into anger like usual which was the main reason he'd been so furious with her. Now, however, he was starting to think that perhaps he'd gone a bit overboard. She did kill the walker after all. Not that he'd needed help with that mind you, but calling her stupid and implying she was less than human could definitely be considered overkill.

Running a hand through his long brown hair he took a deep breath and released it slowly before speaking. "Look, 'm sorry 'bout goin' off on ya like that. I shouldn't a been so hard on ya."

Chelsea was seriously tempted to tell him to go to hell, but in all fairness she was partially to blame. Actually if she was being honest it was pretty much all her fault since she was the one who started it, but there was no way she was going to let him off the hook. Not with the way he'd spoken to her.

"I'd say it was no big deal but we both know that I'd be lying, so instead I'm just going to pretend the last five minutes never happened. That work for you hunter boy?"

Raising an eyebrow at the nickname, that was the second time she'd called him that, Daryl decided it wasn't worth arguing about and nodded his head. "Sounds good."

"Alright then."

They stared at each other in silence for a few minutes until finally Chelsea couldn't take it anymore. "You do know we're done here, right?" she asked, wondering why in the world he was still standing there. "Shouldn't you be taking your dinner and heading home?"

Ignoring her questions Daryl asked one of his own. "Why are ya out here by yourself? I know that everyone ends up alone at some point, but ya act as if ya chose this. Why would someone like ya go wanderin' 'round without someone ta watch yer back? Ya got a death wish or somthin'?"

Usually whenever someone asked her something like that she'd either brush them off or make up some kind of story, but something about the tone of his voice made her want to answer him honestly. Everyone else had always had an ulterior motive for wanting to know, hence the reason she never told them the real reason, this man on the other hand, he sounded genuinely curious.

Figuring it wasn't going to hurt to tell the truth this one time she shook her head. "If I had a death wish I'd already be dead," she replied seriously. "But in answer to your question, the reason I'm alone is because I found out rather quickly once the dead came back to life that those I thought I knew could no longer be trusted and I decided that the only people who I'd ever allow to 'watch my back', as you put it, would be my immediate family."

"They dead?"

"My parents are by now I'm sure," she said with a touch of indifference, a clear sign that she'd seen so much death it hardly fazed her anymore. "I left them on the west coast a few months after all this started and doubt they lasted much more than half a year before they either offed themselves or died of starvation."

He could sense that there was something more she was planning on saying so when she remained quiet he decided to help her along. "Husband, boyfriend, kids?" he asked, figuring it had to be one of those since she seemed so hesitant to speak about it.

Snorting, Chelsea shook her head. "Hell no. I wasn't ready to settle down, had too much I still wanted to do in life. Guess that makes me one of the lucky ones since I didn't have that to lose. No, the only person left on this planet I'd want on my side now is my baby brother. He's annoying as hell but I'd trust the little bastard with my life no matter what the situation was."

"Where's he now?"

"Last I heard he was living just south of Albany with his family. But that was before, who knows where he is now."

Daryl cocked his head slightly as he thought about everything she'd just said and was amazed that she'd practically made it across the country on her own. She may be an irritating pain in the ass, but it was pretty impressive what she'd managed to accomplish so far. "That where ya headin' then?"

"Yep. Who knows if I'll ever manage to find him, but I've gotta try."

"I know how ya feel," he admitted after a moment. "Lost my brother for awhile too."

"Did you ever find him again?" she asked with interest.

Swallowing the lump in his throat, Daryl forced himself to nod his head but was unable to get any words out of his mouth. Merle's death was still a touchy subject with him and he wasn't ready to talk about it, least of all with a complete stranger.

"Good. I know the pain of not knowing and I'm glad you no longer have to deal with it."

Not wanting to talk about it anymore he leaned over and picked his rabbit up off the ground. "It's been fun an' all, but I should be headin' back so I can get this thing on ice."

"Enjoy your rabbit stew hunter boy," she said with a grin as he turned to leave. "And if I ever stop by to visit again I expect to be introduced to this brother of yours!"

Seeing him wave she settled herself back in her hammock and tucked her arm behind her head with a smile. Okay, so maybe he wasn't that bad after all. She hadn't gotten any bad vibes from the rest of his group either and a part of her wondered if perhaps she should come back here once she was finished with her journey. Sure it would take some adjusting, she hadn't stayed in one place for more than a few weeks since things started, but maybe she could build a life there. If someone like Daryl could fit in, perhaps there was hope for her as well.

Of course she still had a lot of ground to cover before she could even entertain the idea of settling down so she pushed the thought aside and got ready for the last leg of her trip.

ooooo

When Daryl reached the gates Carol was waiting for him and he raised an eyebrow in question. "Ya need somethin'?" he asked as he stepped inside the walls.

"Not me, but I'm pretty sure Michonne could use your help right about now." Seeing his raised eyebrow she elaborated. "Deanna heard about us letting that Chelsea woman in without talking with her first and she's livid. Her and Rick have been going at it for awhile now and it's making the other residents antsy. Many of them still don't trust us and she's afraid that the argument is going to lead to . . . problems. I'd send Glenn and Maggie, but they left with Tara while you were out to go on a supply run and they're not back yet."

"I ain't no peacekeeper," Daryl replied as he moved to walk around her.

Grabbing him by the back of the shirt Carol forced him to turn around and gave him her best glare. "You know as well as I do that I can't do it, I've worked too hard to build up my reputation here, and since Sasha's still up in the tower that leaves you. Now I don't want to hear any excuses, you just get your ass over to Deanna's place and do whatever Michonne tells you to do."

He was tempted to brush her off, but Carol didn't look like she was in the mood to mess around and he had no desire to get on her bad side. She could be downright terrifying if the situation called for it. "Fine," he grumbled. "I'll go help 'em out, but you'll have ta take care of this for me," he finished, holding up his rabbit.

"You've got yourself a deal. Now get moving, I want you over there before things have a chance to spiral out of control," she said, grabbing the animal by its hind leg. "With any luck those two will work things out soon and you won't have to do anything but stand there and look intimidating, but if you do have to break something up remember not to kill anyone."

"Yeah, yeah," he muttered as he turned to leave.

Watching him walk away she glanced down at the furry creature and called out, "Hey, what would you like me to make with this little guy?"

Daryl was silent for a moment before a small smile made its way onto his face. "Stew," he said with an accompanying nod. "Rabbit stew."

Wondering what had him smiling Carol shook her head as she headed back towards the house to get cooking.