"Hey quit that!"

Daryl could not quite believe that for the second morning in a row he'd arisen early and come out to find Leah doing something likely to result in injury, this time scaling the bars of a cell door.

"Thought I told you not to do that yesterday!"

"You did not!"

"I did too!" Daryl said wincing. "I mean, I told you no climbing!"

"But you didn't say I couldn't climb the doors, just not to hang on the railings. And I really like to climb stuff and there's no trees here." She was back on the ground now with her arms crossed looking the very picture of stubbornness.

Was she trying to make him develop an ulcer from worry? Why couldn't she just keep both feet planted on the ground safely? "Look, no climbing stuff period. Ain't there any other stuff you like to do that's safer?"

She considered the question seriously for a moment then said "I like to color a lot."

"Great." Daryl said with more enthusiasm than the response merited. "I'll try to find you paint or crayons today."

"Or markers. Markers are good too."

"Or markers." he agreed. "So behave yourself. I gotta get goin', got a lot of ground to cover today."

"Okay Daryl. Good luck!" and with that Leah launched herself at him like she did the day before. This time he was more prepared and kept his balance better.

"Thanks kid. Just behave yourself while I'm gone." And she scrambled back down nodding her head earnestly. She trailed him to the door and waved to him until he was out of sight just like she had the day before. Daryl couldn't help but heave a sigh of relief that at least they hadn't had to go through a repeat of her begging to come with him again too.

Intent on not having a repeat of her morning circus acts he first made a quick stop at a large chain store they had raided awhile back for supplies. He hadn't thought he would ever return there since they'd cleared it out of anything remotely useful weeks ago but in his present circumstances the school supplies aisle he'd bypassed back then suddenly looked pretty good. He took out a few errant Walkers on his way in and scored a box of markers, crayons, and some bizarre product called Glitter Glue in assorted colors that he threw in for good measure.

Then he got back to the more serious business of searching for Leah's parents once more. The first lake on his list ended up being a disappointment after a thorough search of its perimeters. However when he reached the second lake of the day there wasn't even any need for Daryl to do any searching because the cross was visible to him almost immediately off to one side under a shady tree. Feeling very little surprise at the sight he drew near to find neatly inscribed on the horizontal part "Joseph, Beloved Son".

"Shit." Daryl murmured as he bowed his head. Leah's oldest brother was dead, probably another Walker casualty. But by the same token the presence of the neat gravesite gave him proof of life for some of the family at least because someone had been left able bodied enough to bury him properly. The grave looked to be a few days old but when he knelt to inspect the ground he saw signs of fresh footprints not more than 24 hours old. So they were coming back here, probably every day, to check for Leah and to mourn over their dead son's grave. And maybe to pray they didn't have a dead daughter too.

Then his eyes alighted on the lower half of the tree behind the cross and he found himself reading a brief block printed message carved into the trunk "LEAH WAIT HERE. WE COME EVERYDAY". They had placed it at what would be her eye level which was why he hadn't noticed it right away. Well, these prints proved they'd already been here today so there was no point in waiting around now. He decided to proceed on down the nearest highway and look for more signs of them. With one last sad shake of his head toward the gravesite Daryl hurried back to his bike and roared off.

About two hours later he saw a vehicle parked at the side of the road in the distance, clearly a dark color. Not letting himself get too hopeful he slowed a little, straining his eyes for details and noted there was a roof rack perched atop it. Then his eyebrows rose a little as he picked out a human being perched atop that. Soon he was close enough to tell it was a female and she was clearly focused on him now, training something in her hand in his direction, most likely a gun if she was smart.

He stopped the bike a good 100 feet away and slowly got off, holding his hands up where she could see them clearly.

"Hey" he called out, "Don't shoot okay? I'm only here 'cuz I'm lookin' for some people, a family."

"Don't come any closer." the woman shouted back crisply. "I can hear you just fine from there." Then in a less certain voice she added "Who are you looking for and why?"

Daryl paused for a moment, unsure of the best way to approach this now that it appeared he might have achieved his objective.

"I found a little girl in the woods a few days back, hungry but okay otherwise." He gave her a few seconds to process that.

The arm training the gun on him visibly trembled a bit but when she spoke her voice was surprisingly steady—and wary. "Why are you telling me this?"

Daryl recognized the immense self control she must be exerting right now, the distrust of strangers she, like most of them who had survived this long, naturally harbored at war with the frantic worry of a mother for her child. He struggled to find the quickest way to fully allay her fears and suspicions. "Because I promised her I'd find her family for her and so she told me all about them, that her mom was a nurse and her dad a paramedic…And that she had two older brothers, Joseph and Michael and they all loved comics about superheroes…"

The woman was biting her lower lip hard now, her face white. Daryl pushed on.

"And man does she know her superheroes." Of its own accord a small smile began to spread across his face as he added "She calls me Green Arrow, on account of my crossbow I used to shoot some Walkers."

"Leah! You found my Leah!" The words escaped from her throat in a strangled sobbing way. "Praise be the Lord! She's alive!" She lowered the gun and gestured for him to come closer. She jumped down with agility that reminded him of her daughter and walked slowly forward, tears streaming down her face. When they neared each other she stuck out her hand formally and said "I'm much obliged to you Mister-"

"Daryl. Just Daryl." Before she could say the next obvious thing he added "And you're Abby I know. Leah told me that too."

"Oh she's a talker all right my little girl!" She took a deep breath to steady herself and added "Tell me everything."

So he did, thinking the whole time how much like her mom Leah looked. Same big eyes and glasses, same straight brown hair cut to shoulder length, and the same slender build. He would have known this was Leah's mom even if she hadn't been sitting on a truck that matched the description, he'd have known her anywhere. For her part, she let him talk uninterrupted, merely nodding from time to time and smiling at his recollection of Leah's using the prison as a jungle gym.

When he finished he hesitated a moment then decided to add "I'm sorry about your boy. I saw his grave."

For a moment he thought she might start to cry again but she shut her eyes instead and when she opened them again she was in control of herself. "Thank you. He got bitten in the arm saving Michael from the…things. He died a few days later, like they always do. We miss him so but… he's in a better place now."

Daryl's heart skipped a beat when she mentioned where he'd been bitten. Clearly they didn't know what his group now knew with certainty thanks to Rick's desperate effort to save Hershel. Should he tell her so they would know for the future in case? Or would the knowledge that she might have been able to save her boy after all just devastate her too much?

He decided to shelve that quandary for a bit and find out another important piece of information. "Where's your husband and your other boy now?"

"Oh they're off in the woods searching for Leah now. That's the routine we've fallen into since…that day. In the morning we go visit Joe's grave and see if Leah's come back there. They fish. Then we drive off in a different direction and Tom and Michael search a section of the woods for signs of Leah until it gets close to sunset. I stay here and guard the van, keep lookout."

Daryl nodded in understanding. It all sounded so hauntingly familiar.

"Well all right then," he said " I'll just wait with you 'til they get back and then I can lead you all to the prison and you can finally be with your little girl again."

"God bless you Daryl." Abby reached out suddenly and squeezed his hand fiercely and he was reminded of how Leah had grasped his hand in the woods that day so trustingly. Then she let go and made her way back to the truck saying "Shouldn't be too much longer now, maybe just another hour. Want to join me up here? I've got to stay up here or Tom will be frantic if he doesn't see me there keeping watch when he returns."

"Lemme move my bike closer first."

He parked it right in front of the truck and joined her up top. He found her busy with two long needles and a skein of green yarn, doing some kind of knitting or crocheting, Daryl surely couldn't tell which it was.

Noticing him watching her hands she smiled "My mom taught all of her daughters how to crochet when we were very young. Now I think it's the only thing that keeps me sane when I'm alone here for hours just waiting and watching. And praying. Lord, I've made a lot of blankets and scarves since this plague began!"

"Ain't nothin' wrong with that." Daryl was thinking she was probably one of the sanest people he'd met in recent times and wondered if maybe more people should take up this crocheting thing to cope. That thought led him to finally decide about his quandary earlier. "Listen Abby, I'm gonna tell you somethin' but you gotta understand it's just in case, for the future, you can't beat yourself up about the past."

She paused in her efforts and stared at him intently with those big brown eyes so like Leah's. "Well all right then Daryl. Just tell me straight up, no beating round the bush. I'm a big girl."

Daryl took a deep breath and said softly "If someone gets bit on an arm or leg we figured out see, that if you cut off the bitten leg—or arm—quickly, you can stop the disease from spreading and they won't turn. That's how Rick saved one of our group, Hershel, when he was bit in the leg. He's doin' fine since then, gets around real good on his crutches."

Abby's eyes had gone wide and her busy hands had frozen. "Oh…" she said in a quiet voice, then fell silent for a good minute, closing her eyes again. A slight tremor ran through her, then she opened her eyes and said "You mean we could have saved my Joe if only…"

Daryl nodded solemnly but said "But don't beat yourself up about it. How could you know?"

Shaking her head she murmured "And we both healthcare professionals and we never thought to try that and this Rick—what was he before?"

"Deputy Sheriff."

"A Deputy Sheriff." She repeated, sounding incredulous. And she shook her head again. "Oh the Lord works in strange ways. Well, I thank you Daryl for telling me, I know it couldn't have been easy for you to tell me but you were right to, it could save other lives someday and that's precious knowledge then. But please," and here she leaned in close to him looking grave, "please don't mention this to Tom. It might just tear him apart. I've got my faith in the Lord to sustain me but Tom, well, his relationship with the Lord was strained even before all this madness began and now he's just given up on Him completely. He thinks that God has just abandoned us—or that there isn't any God at all."

Daryl snorted, he couldn't help it. "Seems to me Tom's view makes more sense, beggin' your pardon. What kind of God would let the world go to hell like this?"

Abby sighed. "God destroyed the Earth once before Daryl. In the days of Noah he sent the flood and washed everything away. At least this time He was kind enough to leave the animals and plants untouched."

Daryl chewed that over a bit then said "I don't know my Bible much Abby but didn't that flood destroy all the evil people last time? 'Cuz this time I can tell you He missed more than a few of them…and took out a lot of damn good ones."

Abby nodded her head. "You are so very right about that. I-"

Just then Daryl picked up sounds coming from the forest and he raised one hand to her indicating she should quiet down. She put down her needles and drew her gun while he readied his bow. He knew it was probably Tom and Michael but just in case…

A broad shouldered man wearing a baseball cap appeared opposite them shouldering a rifle and the second he saw Daryl he brought it up to point directly at his head. "Get the hell away from my wife right now asshole or you're dead. I don't miss."

While he was growling this a boy edged out from behind him holding a rifle up as well, face looking worried and cried out "Mom!"

Daryl lowered his bow slowly saying "Easy."

Abby interjected quickly in an authoritative voice "It's okay Tom. He's a friend. He found our Leah, she's alive! He and his people have been caring for her the past few days and he's been looking for us."

Tom's face lost all of its hardness and he said "Jesus Abby, are you sure?" The rifle remained pointed at Daryl and the boy, taking his cue from his father, continued to aim at him too though his face had the beginnings of a smile on it.

"Yes Tom. You know I'm a good judge of character. When have I ever been wrong? Put the gun down Tom. Daryl's a friend and he's going to bring us to our little girl at last."

Tom stood frozen another moment but then did as she said. Michael ran forward crying "Where is she?! Is she okay?"

Abby jumped down and Daryl followed suit. Michael was already engulfed in a tight, maternal embrace and muffled crying could be heard coming from him as Abby smoothed his messy brown hair down.

Tom approached more slowly, eyes trained on Daryl. "So you found Leah. Alive."

"Yeah." Daryl met his eyes and kept his hands visible, still uncertain if Leah's dad was convinced he wasn't a threat. "She's doin' great. Climbin' everywhere she shouldn't."

That garnered him a shaky grin from Tom. "That sounds like Leah. She's our little Monkey. Shit, I don't know how to thank you for finding my little girl and keeping her safe-"

"No need to." Daryl grunted, hating to see this tough, proud man start to break down.

Tom nodded and thrust out his hand. Daryl valiantly endured an overly long and hearty handshake.

Then Daryl cleared his throat and firmly said "Lets clear out of here now, gonna be dark soon enough and Leah might get worried if I'm not back in time to tuck her in."

Abby laughed at this, a delightful musical sound. Tom muttered "Jesus, what a kid." but hastened to pile everyone into the truck and soon they were off.

As he drove Daryl couldn't help but wonder why, instead of feeling elated over finding Leah's family and fulfilling his promise to her, he felt a heaviness settling over his heart.