Daryl left with Rick, Beau, Carl, and Jimmy a little after breakfast, all of them carrying backpacks with extra rope, in case they came upon animals that they wanted to lead back, or even in case they ran up on supplies they wanted to take back.
The group followed Beau quietly through the woods, each taking turns picking off the random Walkers they encountered.
"We gettin' close?" Daryl asked Beau, realizing now why the boys had been so late returning. They'd wandered a good distance from anywhere that they normally went.
"'Bout there," Beau responded.
"I hope we find a whole zoo," Jimmy said. "I'd fancy eating anything different for a change."
"Don't get too excited," Rick said to him. "Getting too excited could just make the disappointment worse if we don't find a lot."
"There are more pigs and goats at least," Carl offered. "We just didn't have time to catch more than we got if we weren't going to lose the light, and Beau didn't want us wandering back in the dark."
"Ain't nobody got no business out after dark if'n they can avoid it," Daryl grunted.
Beau shushed the parade of people behind him, nearing the place where he knew the woods to clear revealing the field behind the farm house. He stepped up to the underbrush that formed almost a hedge. He stooped there a minute, looking through the brush. He signaled to Daryl to come forward and Daryl stooped down next to him.
In front of them was a pasture, or what had once been a pasture. The fences that had once lined it were torn down in places and the grass was overgrown, hiding in places the remains of what had probably been cows that had suffered the fate of being Walker snacks. Not too far away was the two story farm house and an old barn.
"We found the pigs an' goats near that barn. There was a chicken coop there too, but it looked like all the chickens had been torn apart," Beau responded. "I reckon they weren't smart enough to seek some shelter."
"Let's go see what's left, then," Daryl said. He stood up and started across the pasture, crawling between what was left of a part of the fence that was still somewhat standing. Beau passed him, covering ground a little quicker than he was.
"Just up there," Beau said, pointing. "The barn's open an' they tried ta run in there, so I'm bettin' we gon' find 'em there."
"Be careful," Daryl said, "could be Walkers hangin' around, we don't wanna get caught by too many."
Suddenly a gunshot rang out and Daryl became immediately aware of a bullet crashing into the dirt just between him and Beau.
"The fuck?" He asked, taking a minute to figure out what was going on. He didn't have long to think about it before another shot rang out, apparently also missing its mark. "Fuck! Get down, someone's shootin' at us!"
Immediately they all dropped and tried to make their way back toward the wooded area they'd recently come from. Daryl retreated, looking around to try and figure out where the shots were coming from. Beau was just in front of him, attempting to do the same apparently.
The group made their way slowly back to the covering the woods offered, gunshots peppering the dirt around them but luckily whoever was doing the shooting wasn't exactly skilled at making their mark, though they came close.
Once they'd gained the cover of the woods, Daryl thought they were safe, at least for a minute, and that they might have the opportunity then to figure out who their attacker was. Whoever it was had to be closer than the farmhouse, but they weren't out in the open unless they were a master of camouflage.
"Look there," Beau said, pointing and tugging at Daryl's arm. Just as he said it, another peppering of gunfire was fired at the brush around them. Daryl followed Beau's line of sight and saw who was shooting. He was torn for a minute, not wanting to kill the person, but also determined not to let them continue to haphazardly fire at them. He realized he could make a strategic shot and took advantage of the person reloading to aim and fire an arrow, hoping it was a bullseye and would cause only limited damage.
Their attacker dropped, squalling, just in the clearing ahead of them, having obviously been hidden in the same woods that they'd emerged from just before she began firing.
"What the hell is going on?" Jimmy asked.
Daryl sat back a minute, trying to wrap his mind around everything.
"She was fuckin' shootin' at us, so I shot her in the ass," Daryl said. "I had to distract her."
The squalling continued.
"I think you distracted her, Daryl," Rick said. "Now what are we going to do? She was shooting at us, unprovoked."
"Fuck this! She looked like a fuckin' kid." Daryl growled.
"So we take her back?" Beau asked.
"I don't know, give me a minute to think," Daryl said. He considered it. He hated the idea of taking in some other random kid, and he didn't really like the idea that she'd been shooting at them, but then again he didn't know why she'd been shooting at them. Maybe she'd felt threatened by their group moving through the field near where she was. "Damn it," he said, getting up and taking his crossbow. He slipped out into the pasture again, nervous that someone else would begin firing. There wasn't any fire though.
Daryl made his way toward the screaming girl writhing on the ground. She'd dropped the gun she'd been firing and Daryl kicked it out of the way as he came upon it. Suddenly he was aware that the rest of his group was flanking him, Rick almost at his side.
"Stop hollerin' like that or you're gonna be Walker lunch," Daryl said, starting to take in the figure wallowing on the ground in front of him. She didn't stop screaming, though, she simply took to her hands and knees and began crawling away from him in an awkward manner. "Ain't gonna get far like that," he said, pursuing her.
"We're not going to hurt you," Rick called out.
"'Cept for that arrow," Daryl said, "but we had to do that so you'd stop shootin' at us."
The girl continued to crawl forward, but she was running out of steam, that much was obvious. Daryl was almost amused.
"You can stop now," Daryl said. "We said we ain't gonna hurt ya none."
"Maybe she's like Sadie an' you gotta talk at her face," Beau offered.
The screaming had stopped now, and the girl apparently gave up on her attempted escape. She slumped forward onto the ground. Now she was just lying there.
"Is she dead?" Jimmy asked, sounding a little concerned.
"She ain't fuckin' dead. I shot her in the ass, not in the damn head," Daryl said. He continued forward, catching up to her. He was a little concerned about the fact that she'd just given up after showing so much enthusiasm moments before. He knelt down near her, prepared for just about anything. If he'd learned anything since this whole thing started it was never to underestimate someone.
"Why was you shootin' at us?" He asked. The girl was probably around the same age as many of the young people that already populated their community. Her hair was a tangled mess, and she was filthy and obviously badly sunburned. She didn't respond to Daryl, she just lie there, looking at him, not lifting her head off the ground. "Let's try this again," he said, "can you hear me?"
The girl lie still for a little bit, still panting a little, but Daryl saw that the fear that had been in her eyes when he'd first knelt beside her was fading. Perhaps she was calming down a little now and realizing that they weren't going to hurt her.
"Beau, can you take Carl and Jimmy an' go see what you can scratch up in the way a' animals?" Daryl asked after a moment. "Rick an' me will wait her out."
Daryl sat back, still watching the girl. Rick stood next to him, shifting his weight every now and again. Beau didn't answer Daryl, but he did start across the pasture leading the others.
"I think we got us another one," Daryl said to Rick when everyone else was gone. "I don't think she can hear us."
"I can hear ya just fine, asshole," the girl spat suddenly.
Daryl was surprised. Rick chuckled.
"Why was you shootin' at us?" Daryl asked.
The girl didn't respond, but she didn't change her position. She was frozen there, lying on the ground.
Rick kneeled down then.
"Do you have a name?" Rick asked.
The girl swallowed, her eyes darting between the two of them.
"Do you want to tell us your name?" Rick asked. "We're not going to hurt you."
"Ya fuckin' shot me!" The girl spat.
"You were shooting at us," Rick said. "We just stopped you from maybe killing one of our group. The wound isn't serious, and we may be able to help you with it, but you're going to have to cooperate."
"I was shootin' at ya 'cause some 'a your damn boys took my food yesterday, I weren't lettin' y'all take no more, but it looks like ya gon' take what the hell ya please," she said.
"Fair enough," Rick said. He looked at Daryl.
"What's your name, kid?" Daryl asked.
"Libby," the girl responded. "Ya gonna tell your boys to leave my food alone now? Or ya just gonna take it?"
Daryl looked at Rick. It was clear that Rick was as conflicted as he was about the dirty redhead lying in the grass in front of them.
"You alone?" Daryl asked.
The girl didn't respond.
"Do ya gotta group?" Daryl asked, hoping to convince her to answer him.
"I ain't got no group," the girl growled. "I got a family, but I ain't got no group."
"How big is your family?" Rick asked. "Where are they?"
"I ain't tellin' ya where they are. Ya ain't got no business messin' with 'em," Libby responded.
"We don't wanna hurt 'em," Daryl offered. "We got us a group an' if you can act like ya got an ounce of raisin' we can take ya back there. Got some people can patch up that wound for ya too."
"I promise you," Rick said, "no harm is going to come to your family. We've got more food than just the animals we're taking. We've got medicine. If you're not happy, we'll patch you up and turn you loose, no one will force you to stay."
They were interrupted in their interrogation of Libby by Beau trotting up.
"Daryl, you might want'a come see this," he called.
"What is it?" Daryl asked.
"We found somethin' in the barn, but it ain't what we went in there after," Beau said.
"Don't you fuckin' hurt 'em," Libby said. Apparently her half nap in the dirt had renewed her energy and before Daryl could respond she was struggling to her feet. Daryl hit his and caught her, heaving her up and over his shoulder. She pounded at his back and pulled at his clothes. He had to hold her tight around the legs to keep from dropping her. "Damn she's a scrapper," he said. "Stop hittin' on me an' we goin' ta get your family."
Daryl turned and considered the distance to the barn. Libby wasn't heavy, but she wasn't exactly light either. He also had to consider how long it was going to take them back to the community.
"On second thought," he said, "Beau, go get 'em. We'll take whatever animals y'all done got back an' we'll take Libby here an' her family."
"Ok," Beau said, hesitating a moment.
"I'll come with you," Rick said. "Are you going to be alright with her, Daryl?"
"Yeah, just don't take too damn long. I don't wanna have ta drop her if a mess a' Walkers passes by," Daryl said.
Rick and Beau started toward the barn and Daryl waited quietly. Libby had apparently decided that her fate was decided and she stopped fighting for the time being.
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Daryl had been surprised when everyone had returned. In the time they were gone they'd gathered two more pigs, and two goats that were significantly larger than the ones they'd found the day before. They'd also shot an owl.
It wasn't the animals that surprised Daryl, though. Carl seemed to be leading them easily enough. It was the two children walking nervously alongside Rick and the other that Beau was carrying that threw Daryl off for a minute.
"What the hell?" Daryl asked. "Where'd ya get all them young'uns?" He asked Libby. She was now resting with her elbow digging into his back, apparently propping herself up on it.
"Emma is my sister," Libby said. "Jacob and Sam are my cousins."
"Y'all out here alone?" Daryl asked.
"We are now," Libby said. "Not that it's any a' your business."
The kids were filthy. Emma was probably ten years old, younger than Carl, that much Daryl could tell. She was just as redheaded as her sister, and somewhere under all that mess of hair Daryl imagined she had a face. He wasn't sure which of the boys were which, though. One of them was a good bit older than Judith, but Daryl didn't know how old he was. He had curly blonde hair that was almost white, and his brother had the same kind of hair, but he was about the size of Judith.
Daryl shook his head, but didn't say anything. Rick shot him a look.
"We need to get these kids back to the community," Rick said.
"They skittish?" Daryl asked, noticing that both Emma and the oldest boy had wildly daring eyes.
"They're a little jumpy, but they might calm down later. I told them we had Libby and lured them out of the loft with the little one, but none of them have said anything yet. Are you fine carrying Scout there, or do you need some help?" Rick said.
"I got her," Daryl responded. "Let's get a move on, I ain't lookin' to carry her no longer than I gotta."
Daryl started back into the woods, now carrying a now complacent Libby and leading a much larger group than he'd intended. He wondered how everyone would react when they greeted them, expecting a small zoo, and instead getting a group of dirty kids headed by a rough spoken spitfire of a girl. Daryl shook his head and sighed to himself, continuing along the path they'd made earlier.