Snuff - Chapter Two - Lucky

The walk back to camp seemed to take forever, it hadn't felt like he had walked out that far, but apparently he had. He blamed the silence. It was so nice he wasn't that surprised he'd wondered out too far. Hell, part of him didn't even want to go back. But he wasn't a traitor, and he wasn't about to just leave them wondering where he was. He could just imagine the damage they would cause if they went to look for him. No doubt in his mind there would be more death because of it. His new acquaintance was so quiet he had wondered a few times if she'd trailed off or ran away when he wasn't paying attention. But every now and then he'd hear a huff or a snapping twig telling him she was still back there, doing her best to keep up. She was in no way a weak girl, but then again lack of food, water and sleep would drag anyone down. The wolf the struggled to make follow her didn't add any ease either. But he wasn't about to show any mercy, if he was taking this stranger with him she had to pull her own. He wasn't about to bring in another burden.

After a while the silence started to get to one of the two travelers. "Where are we going anyway? You're not gonna kill me or nothing are you?" A small voice came from behind. Daryl stopped in his tracks just to turn around and look at her. She stared at him for a moment before looking away, the look on his face said it all. She could hear it just by reading his expression. "Dumb girl." Perhaps it was a dumb question on her part, but he was a stranger... After a moment more of staring at her he sighed loudly shaking his head. He turned back and continued walking.

"If I wanted you dead you'd still be in that tree" He stated after a few more awkward moments of silence. He couldn't believe what he was willingly getting himself into.

She grunted a bit, trying to get back to motion she had before. The body of the wolf seemed to get heavier each minute, but she didn't dare complain. "You aren't lost are you?" She questioned just trying to ease the air after her last question, which admittedly wasn't any better.

"Ain't lost.." He mumbled in reply. "Jus' takin' a while... Why you pussin' out already?" She could almost hear the smile in his voice. Yeah, he would just love for her to turn out to be a wuss.

She straightened up a bit in her stance, pulling harder at the body to move faster. "No! I'm just wondering..." She shrugged, even though she knew he couldn't see it. She wanted to stop, badly but knew it wouldn't be wise. So instead, she figured conversation would save her. "So, what's your name anyway? I'm Kira." She added happily hoping she wasn't over stepping any boundaries. He seemed like a pretty edgy guy and she was in no mood for any of that. Plus she didn't want to risk being left alone.

"Kira?" He huffed as if he'd been told the worst knock, knock joke around. "Listen, Kira" he said putting as much venom into the name as he could manage. "If ya' haven't noticed the whole worlds gone to shit." He threw down his kill and turned to face her. This caused Kira to do the same, as she took a step back. "This is the first ounce of happiness I've had in a while an' I happened upon you! Now I'm tryin' ta be nice here and give you a fightin' chance at life! The least you can do, is shut the hell up and let me enjoy my walk home!" He yelled before quickly taking a step back. Not knowing he had been stalking forward with each word. Kira's face had gone from innocently curious to horrified. He sighed a bit and threw his hands in the air. He turned to grab his kill and head off once more, but instead held very still. Something was off.

"Umm.." Kira made an attempt to speak but Daryl's hand flew up in protest.

Daryl stumbled back a bit, and grabbed Kira's arm. "C'mon" he whispered tugging a bit when she bent to try and grab up the wolf "leave it!" He hissed pulling harder. She followed him, still unsure about his strange change in attitude until she turned around. She held back a gasp of horror as it had all become clear. A heard of walkers was making their way towards them. They obviously hadn't seen them yet as they stopped to feast on the wolves carcass. Daryl continued to drag Kira along until they were far enough away he felt safe enough to make a plan. "I don't got enough on me to take 'em all out.. What have you got on you?"

Kira frantically went through the small backpack she had on her. "I only have my gun, this knife and some water..." She continued to look back, fearful they would hear them and attack.

He couldn't believe what he was seeing, she was alone out here with practically nothing. "Get up in the tree" he ordered, pointing across to one that looked sturdy enough. She wasted no time, putting things away and doing as she was told. Once she was high enough she looked down for him, but he was no where to be seen. She on the verge of worry when she heard him in a tree close by.

"Wh.. What are we going to do? Why are there so many?!" She asked, slightly losing control of her volume.

"SHH!" Daryl hissed back at her. "They probably heard your damn gunshot earlier!" She snapped leaning back in the tree to see a bit further.

She was ready to fight that remark but opted for silence, as the crowd neared closer. She gripped the branch of the tree tightly, fearful to make any sound or fall. She shut her eyes tightly and began to shake, the leaves of the tree rustling with her. "Kira!" She heard Daryl whisper loudly. "Kira look at me!" He continued, causing her to do so. "Just look at me and don't move... We're gonna be fine" he said quietly, a few walkers stopped and looked around, but not towards the sound. Kira squeaked a little but did as she was told. Staring at him until they passed.

It seemed like hours they were in the tree. By this time she had calmed enough to move to a more secure branch and watch out for anymore. But it seemed they had all gone. She stayed on her branch though, till Daryl jumped down to examine everything. "C'mon, we gotta hurry. We're losin' daylight" he called to her before starting back on the trail to to prison.

She climbed down as quickly as she could and followed. It took her a moment to catch up, but when she did she stayed close to his side. They passed what was left of the wolves, this did no more than cause Daryl to curse under his breath. If there was one thing he hated most about walkers, it was the damn things messed with his kills. The trip was quiet, and didn't seem as awkward as before until this time it was Daryl who broke the silence. "Why you out here alone anyway? I mean you ain't even got any kind of skill or nothin' how long have you been out here?" He questioned keeping his eyes ahead.

Kira swallowed a bit before replying. "I have a few skills.. I saved your ass didn't I?" She asked, receiving nothing but a sarcastic scoff for it. "I've only been alone for... I think it's been two weeks.. It's hard to keep track." Daryl nodded, understanding that statement very well. He wasn't even sure what month it was anymore, let alone day.

"Ain't you got some kind of family or group or somethin'?" He carried on, honestly curious about where this girl had come from, let alone how she had survived so long being as jumpy as she was.

Kira got quiet for a moment, causing Daryl to realize he had obviously struck some kind of cord. "My brother was with me... Our parents were never around, so we don't even know if they are alive. Guess it doesn't matter..." She said with a sad smile. "He raised me, and we lived with his friend's family until all this started.. We were grouped with them but, there was an attack and, Justin grabbed me and we ran.." She had stopped walking by this time and stared at the ground sadly. "He went to find somewhere safe...I was supposed to wait for him back there.." She said as if she had just remembered. "I caught fish in the stream down a little ways and hid in trees, waiting for him to come back.. But... He isn't is he?" Her sight never left the ground as she spoke.

Daryl hated moments like this, the only thing that could make this moment worse was if she cried. He took a deep breath and walked over towards her, putting a hand on her shoulder. Neither could deny the awkwardness of the moment, which helped a lot in easing the pain of sadness. "Look, he might be.. I ain't gonna say he is but.. Ya never know.. I am sayin' though that.. You ain't gonna last long out there. Once that gun goes empty you're walker bait." She looked at him, a raised brow at the word walker but he ignored it. "If you wanna stay out here, I can't stop you.. But, it would ease my mind a lot more if you came with me..."

Kira shook her head, fighting back tears. She looked up at him with a smile, her perfect little mask and nodded. Daryl did the same and continued walking. "Daryl by the way.." He said, his scowl back in place in an attempt to salvage any badass he had left.

Kira laughed a bit. "Daryl?" He looked back at her, questioningly. "Oh.. No it's good.. Nice, I mean.. I was expecting Billy Bob, or John Boy..."

Daryl sighed loudly "just shut up before I feed you to'em walkers"

She continued to giggle behind him. All the while he mentally kicked himself for bringing this hell upon himself.