Daryl stared up at the limb that the waif had claimed since the other night and narrowed his eyes slightly at the hurt he could practically feel radiating from the young woman as Rick continued to try and coax her down.

And despite knowing that she was probably going to ignore Ricks attempts- Especially after the second pow-wow everyone had had about whether or not they should stay, Daryl remained quiet knowing that his gut instinct about the girl was right on the mark.

And as such, that made her one of them now, and no matter how much some of the others couldn't stand it- they didn't abandon their own.

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

Two days ago-

"We should leave here." Lori said as she stared into the camp fire, not bothering to raise her eyes to look at her husband before continuing, "When Carl is healthy enough, we should see about getting some extra weapons and supplies and leaving."

Rick couldn't believe what he was hearing. He knew his wife and some of the others were scared- hell even he was still trying to sort everything in his head out, but he wasn't so scared or stupid as to think that they could actually take their chances out there.

Even with extra weapons and food. That would only buy them a little more time before they once again had to resort to scrounging around and running for their lives.

And frankly he didn't want that for anyone sitting around the fire. Especially not the elderly, or his wife and young son. Or even Shane, despite the fact that he had practically begged Rick to find a way to get the girl and smash her skull and then destroy her body so that she couldn't find a way to come back.

All of which Rick had vehemently denied and turned around and threatened everyone in the group to make sure that they understood... Lisa was hands off.

If he certainly wasn't going to murder what he regarded as an innocent girl for something she had never asked for nor wanted. Then neither was anyone else. As far as he was concerned, despite her differences, she was still a person. That much had been made painfully obvious to him, other wise she would have forced them to leave already.

Among other things.

The front door to the house opened and Rick heard the unmistakable sounds of Hershel coming down the squeaky porch steps and quietly heading towards them. Apparently curious about what they were doing around a bond fire so late at night.

"Rick," He said as he came to a stop next to him and nodded his head at him politely. "Folks. Everything alright?" Hershel asked somewhat hesitantly, already knowing the answer.

That many of these people now viewed his adopted daughter as a monster-

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

"Come on down and join us," Rick said in a gentle tone knowing that Lisa could hear him no matter the tone or pitch of his voice. "Daryl and I are going to the apple orchard to collect some of the apples for Maggie and Beth. I heard talk of apple dumplings, pie, and even jams and dried apple chips. You game? We could use the extra hands."

Plus it would be nice to have someone watching their backs while we work, Rick thought to himself as he saw Lisa shift slightly on her tree limb and peer down at them for a long silent moment before sighing and saying loud enough for him to hear.

"You're never going to leave me alone, are you?" Her soft voice was full of strain, a sure indication that she was tired. He still grinned though, knowing in that instant that his daily pestering's had finally gotten to her and he had won.

She would finally be coming down from her lofty perch and rejoining human kind for a bit.

Keeping his eyes on her, Daryl waited patiently next to Rick as she jumped down out of the tree and landed gracefully, if a little roughly, just a few inches from them and straightened her spine as Rick held out a basket for her to put her apples in and watched as she hesitated for a moment or so and cocked his head as he was struck with the strangest thought- this waif, this woman/child for all her power and terrifying ability- didn't know how to handle simple humans like them.

Sure she provided a safe haven, game to eat and hunt, clothing, medicine that at that very moment was being used to help Rick's son Carl heal much faster- but despite all of that, she felt emotionally lost. Adrift in deep and shark infested waters.

One mistake would see her bitten in half. And she knew it.

Yet despite knowing all of that, she allowed them to stay. To be safe. Reaching out she took the basket and gave him an uncertain look as Rick smiled down at her and started walking with Lisa following close behind him and Daryl bringing up the rear of their little troupe.

His eyes still never straying from the waif.

He couldn't help it, not when every protective instinct he possessed practically cried out for him to take her hand or something and never let go.