Rick paced back and forth, thumb and index finger pinching the bridge of his nose. She had said nothing. Indicated nothing. Did nothing. Except that damn smile...

Rick had called the group together to decide what to do with the strange girl.

"Rick, we shouldn't treat her like that! Like she's an object that can be stored away in a locked cabinet," Dale said. "She's a human being, and she's probably scared out of her mind right now."

Shane piped up, "But we don't know how dangerous she is!"

"She's just a little girl! How dangerous can she be?"

"She had a weapon pointed right at one of our own!" Shane's temper was rising. "She would've killed him! And she could kill any of us if we let her go."

Glenn squeaked, "But she didn't." He turned to Daryl. "Did you say she seemed to be lowering her bow?"

Daryl grunted. "Yeah. But she's kinda like an animal at this point. She-"

Shane cut him off, "See? She's an animal. She's wild. She's dangerous. She fucking hissed at me for God's sake! What kinda human does that?"

Dale stepped forward. "Yes, but she didn't attack Rick or Daryl once they uncuffed her. You must've just frightened her or something."

Shane's face was reddening. "Oh, I frightened her? I-"

"Shane!" Rick had stopped pacing. Shane backed off a bit, still glaring at Dale.

"What if she has a group?" said T-Dog a little weakly, still recovering from the highway incident. Everyone looked at him. "What if they come looking for her? What'll we do then?"

Rick resumed pacing. "She was alone in the woods. Since she is so... little, if she had a group, someone would've been with her..."

"Unless she's that dangerous," Glenn finished.

The group was silent.

Daryl shifted his weight uneasily. She wasn't dangerous. He didn't know why, but he just had this gut feeling. Just from that look in her eye. Yeah she was animalistic, but animals don't just attack everything they see. Only when they're frightened, and even then they're not that insane.

Rick noticed Daryl's movement and walked over to him. Speaking in a hushed voice, he said, "What are you thinkin'?"

Daryl, startled by Rick asking him of all people what he thought paused before curtly replying, "She's scared. That's all."

Rick nodded, thinking. He turned back to the whole group and said, "I think we should wait a day or so, or at least until she starts talking." He turned to Daryl, lowering his voice again, said, "Why don't you go see what you can get out of her. She seemed to respond positively to you, might be greatful for your actions earlier."

The two men stared at each other for a moment before Rick walked off in the direction of his tent. The group slowly dispersed to their day's activities, a couple eying Daryl suspiciously. He scowled. They should mind their own damn business. So what if he did something nice for that bitch. He wasn't his brother and he didn't fucking like people thinking he was. He wasn't that fucking coldhearted. And he damn hoped that he never would be.

Daryl unlocked the door to the shed with one hand, the other balancing a plate with a chicken leg and some leftover mash potatoes on it. Daryl had figured that that bitch might be hungry, so he decided to grab her a couple scraps. Figured it might get her to act human or something after her reaction this morning.

It was mid-afternoon in late summer, so the shadows were already stretching across the grounds of the farm. It was cool, pleasant even, for the first time in weeks. The dog days of summer had passed. Daryl glanced up at the azure sky, before stepping into the now darkened shed and closing the door behind him. His eyes took a moment to adjust themselves, but looking around the small floorspace lined in light, the girl was nowhere in sight. Damn, that bitch must be hiding in the shadows. He grunted, slightly amused. Smart bitch.

He laid his hand on his crossbow, just in case.

"Hey, bitch!" he called into the dark. "Got ya some lunch."

Daryl heard something shuffling in the rafters above him. Glancing up, he saw the light glinting off of two shiny orbs. The creature slowly rose up, staring down at him. It stepped off the rafters, dropped down thirty feet, and landed in a crouch in front of him.

Daryl blinked in surprise as the small form of the girl straightened up to her full height only feet in front of him. He glanced back up at her perch and back at her. How the hell...

The girl stared not at the food, but at the man's face, trying to decipher what he was thinking. She knew that he was astonished at that simple feat of hers, they always were. But here, it was more trying to figure out this guy's deal. He seemed to be a tough guy, but there was something about him that she just couldn't put her finger on.

Snapping out of his bewilderment, Daryl awkwardly held out the plate to her. She reached out for the plate, looking at him suspiciously. Taking the plate and never breaking eye contact, she made her way over to the chair at one end of the table by the door. She sat on the chair, bringing her legs up and crossing them. She looked at the food for a moment, analyzing it. Then very daintily, she picked up the chicken leg and began methodically eating it. Daryl sat on the other end of the table, studying the girl. She was wearing an old t-shirt, some stained jeans, and combat boots. Her hair was brown and curly, wildly framing her face. He noticed that she had a couple small scars travelling down her arms, peeking out from under her shirt. She had picked the bone clean. At this point, Daryl realized that he had forgotten a fork. He began to apologize, but she gave him a sidelong glance that shut him up. Taking the bone, she stuck it in the potatoes and swirled it around a bit, picking up some potato and using the bone as a makeshift spoon. Daryl quieted, mystified by her resourcefulness He would've never thought to do that. After eating most of the potatoes, the bone no longer became useful, so she licked it clean and stuck it behind her ear, now deciding to lick the plate clean. She did not want to miss even a morsel of the precious nutrients.

The girl now put down the plate, and pushed her chair away from the table to face the man in front of her, waiting.

Daryl put his hand up to his face, studying the strange girl, and the strange openness in her face. She looked human again. He debated what to ask first.

The girl stared intently at the man in front of her. She knew that she would have to start answering questions if she wanted to escape, especially since she had realized that the leader of the group had decided to get that stupid skin-headed brute away from her. She couldn't quite remember names, but she thought that she had remembered that that idiot's name began with an S or something like that. The man in front of her was obviously the muscle of the group, why else would he be allowed to go confront an unknown threat alone? The fact that he had a crossbow with him and seemed to have a layer of dirt covering his skin, she guessed that he may also be the food supply of the group. They all seemed to be strong, smart, and dedicated to the rest of the group that may exist outside of these walls. But overall, these men were not going to hurt her if she didn't threaten them first.

The man began to speak.

"So, uh, you don't talk?"

She shook her head. No.

He narrowed his eyes, trying to figure out what to ask next. A 'Who are you' wouldn't work out.

"Uh, how old are you then?"

She held up ten fingers, then put down four. Sixteen.

The man's eyes slightly widened.

"An' you were out there all by yerself?"

She looked sheepish, and nodded slighly. Yeah...

"No group then?"

She pulled her lips into a thin line and slowly shook her head, eyes looking a bit sad. No, not anymore.

Daryl grunted and leaned back a bit, chewing on his thumbnail again.

He grinned, and sarcastically asked, "Are ya dangerous?" He wasn't ready for the response.

She grinned mischievously, tilting her head down a bit and staring out through her lashes. She looked proud, the Cheshire-Cat smile overtaking her innocent features. She placed her hands on the chair beside her and leaned forward slightly. Her hair fell across her face, making her features look grotesque and evil in the shadows. Her eyes burned.

Only when I need to be.

Daryl hurriedly walked over to Rick, who looked surprised to see Daryl out of the shed so quickly. Daryl placed a hand on Rick's shoulder and leaned in to hiss something in his ear.

"Keep her locked up any longer, and we're all fucked."

And he walked away.

Well, since I haven't gotten any reviews yet, I suppose that I'm either doing something totally right or incredibly wrong! Wasn't entirely sure what to write for that last bit, but felt it was kinda necessary to know that there's something that's hidden about this mystery girl. But what...

So glad that I got this one out as quick as I did. Hope you guys liked this chapter. Review and dream about what's going to happen next! (Because I honestly don't even know. :P lol)

Love the people who follow/favorite this. You guys rock!

Yours truly, Toni :D