The moment Beth finished wrapping her arm, Lisa flopped down on her bed and closed her eyes and simply listened to the sounds of the house and the people in it for a moment. She could hear and sense almost everyone indoors. Patricia. Hershel. Maggie. Beth.

She heard the scratching at the front door of the house followed by several meows from momma cat. The mewling of her kittens in the crate next to the door where Hershel had probably left them so that she could get to them.

The sound of the old screen door opening and closing and somewhat unfamiliar foot steps making their way into the kitchen. The hush of voices, male and female, whispering. But what really drew her attention the most was the soft barely audible thudding of a small heart. Curious (and figuring that she could put her nap on hold just long enough to satisfy her curiosity) she got up and silently walked to the door of her room and then slipped out after checking to make sure the coast was clear.

She wasn't sure why but for some reason she couldn't quite put her finger on she was starting to feel like a prisoner of war or something. She'd been gone for so long that she was worried about how well she would and could interact with others now that there were considerably more people on her farm than there had been before she had left to go on her month long run.

Making her way down the stairs to the ground level of the house, she stood there for a second. Again listening to everything in the house as she tracked the sound of the heartbeat to the...right of her. Just across from the kitchen.

How did I miss this when I first came home? She wondered. Was she really that tired? Or had she simply been that disinterested in the new people?

She didn't understand.

Walking over to the door of the room, she opened it and stepped inside and then closed it as the smell of fresh blood and antiseptic hit her nose. The smell was so strong that it was little wonder it didn't trigger her need to hunt. Thankfully though, it didn't. And even if it had- the kid she found sleeping on the bed in the middle of the room would have been safe since Hershel and the girls knew a bit about her 'condition' and how to counter it's effects to keep her sane.

One was blood. It didn't necessarily have to be fresh- it didn't even have to be human. It could be animal blood or even her own which she had made Hershel take several pints of over the course of the past nine years since they had met when she had still been a kid.

She had made him promise that no matter what happened, he was to always have some of her blood stashed in his home. Or on his person. And when he had told the girls what he knew of her condition, he had made them swear and do the same.

Like wise she had also hidden some away in her home and the underground bunker.

Another way to keep her hunger under control was jerky.

Weird as it might sound aloud to others- it made sense. Because if she could fool her body with blood, then jerky really wasn't as far fetched as it sounded if a body took the time to really sit down and think on it. After all, all it was was the dried up meat of a dead animal. And as long as she had one of those two in abundance during one of her hunger cravings, she felt no need to hunt.

She was a perfectly harmless, and happy little ghoul.

Unless someone tried to take a packet of blood or piece of jerky away from her- and then she'd rip off their arm and watch them bleed out just for fun.

Moving over to the bed where the boy lay, she placed her cool hand against his forehead and leaned down to sniff him. Trying to check and see if he'd been bitten and if so how long he had before he turned. And was once again hit by the almost over powering stench of spilled blood and antiseptic.

He was warm, but not feverish. So that was good.

And she didn't smell any signs of infection in him, so that was good too. But she could smell fresh blood. Not a lot, but enough to bother her sensitive nose a bit. Causing her to have to need to sneeze.

Quickly covering her mouth and nose with one hand, she stood there and waited for the sensation to pass when she heard an upset male voice demand from across the room, "What the hell are you doing to Carl?" Snapping her gaze to the doorway across the room, she met the angry stare of one of the strangers currently residing on her farm without permission.

He was Asian, early twenties, handsome- and so, so very pissed. So much so that he was practically vibrating with anger.

"Nothing." She said as the urge to sneeze finally passed. Which was the honest to god truth. She wasn't doing anything to the kid. Just...checking on him in her own round about way. But Mr. Asian wasn't buying her answer, not by a long shot.

"Don't lie to me," Mr. Asian growled at her as he stepped further into the room and stopped just in front of her- his expression murderous as he glared at her and tried to intimidate her into telling him the truth. "I. Saw. You. Smell. Him." He bit out from between clenched teeth.

"The kids been in the bed a while and needs a bath and I noticed, so sue me. I didn't do anything wrong- so fuck off." She hissed as the door to the room opened again and Hershel started to come in but stopped when he noticed Ghost and Glenn staring each other down like in those ridiculous old western movies.

Both of them looking as if the slightest thing would set them off.

(******************************************************************************************************************)

Daryl walked back into camp carrying two dead rabbits slung over his left shoulder and feeling more frustrated than he had in a while and was greeted by the sight of his group all having a pow-wow of some sort and the sound of Shane's annoying ass voice, shouting angrily about something.

Curious to see what he'd missed since this morning- he scanned the area until his eyes stopped on the large, brand spankin new looking truck sitting in front of the house and the animal trailers and shit attached to it.

"Wha the hell?" He muttered to himself as he slowed his pace just a little bit to study both his group and then the truck. Wondering if a potential threat had come to call was nothing new to him or the others. Dealing with said potential threat however, was.

"We don't know that kid! She could be dangerous- Hershel himself said as much!" Shane shouted in Rick's face, causing his longtime friend to shake his head before stating.

"Hershel said nothing of the sort. He merely hinted that we should tread carefully around her. And I agree with him. Besides, he said that this was her home. Her land. She gets the final say on whether we stay or not, and if we do brother- we need to follow any and all rules she may have for us. Otherwise we may find ourselves back out there-" Rick pointed towards the woods where Daryl had just come and gave everyone in the group several moments to absorb the information as he took note of Daryl's return and nodded to the hunter.

Daryl nodded back at him just to be polite and set his kills down against the tree where Dale was sitting and squatted down next to the elder of the group and asked in a whispered tone. "Wha's goin on?"

"Stranger came up in the truck earlier and has everyone on edge."

"Just one?"

"Yeah."

"Armed?"

"Not that I could see. But then she wouldn't have to be to lull us all into a false sense of security."

"How so?"

"She's young," Dale said, sounding upset as Rick and Shane continued to argue back and forth. Their voices getting louder and louder. "Barely more than a kid from the look of her. And she was out in that mess all by herself for a while from what I gathered." Dale said, sounding downright outraged now.

Daryl was silent for a moment as he tried to think of what else to ask or say when suddenly he heard Shane all but yell, "I say we drag her out of the damn house and put a bullet in her brain right here and now. Then we won't have to worry about her descison one way or another."

"Goddamn it Shane, how many times have I told you. We don't kill the living!"

"Why the hell not? We could take the farm-"

"Take it from it's rightful owner like a bunch of savages instead of civilized people- no. We're going to do this the right way. We're going to introduce ourselves, talk to her, and hope that she's a far more reasonable person than you are at this moment, brother. I mean, my god, I barely recognize you..." Rick said and was somewhat pained to see the hurt reflected on his best friends face before he quickly masked it and turned and stormed off.

Daryl shook his head as he watched Shane walk away and mused, He's like a child that's not getting his way. Before turning his head to eye his two rabbits and sighed. Well hell. He supposed that the meat would keep for a bit longer.

"So when's this dinner party going to start?" He asked absently, not really expecting an answer from anyone when the screen door to the house finally opened and Beth stepped out and yelled.

Dinner!"