"Where the hell did the kid go?" Daryl groused as he walked along, on alert, watching for the kid he'd been teamed up with on that day's hunt. One minute he'd been there, the next he was gone. He'd scanned the area and found no trace that a walker had gotten Todd. It wasn't as though walkers could really sneak up on anyone. They had no future as ninjas, he thought to himself.

Christie had said the kid was okay, as far as she was aware. He'd been on patrol before and had never had any problems. Until of course Daryl was paired with him for this hunt. Then the kid decided to wander off. "Hell with you." he grumbled as he turned to head back to the trail he'd been on. He knew Todd knew where to go and at what time. He wasn't gonna spend time babysitting him.

Hearing the all to familiar groaning and shuffling, Daryl saw some walkers a good distance away and decided to save his bolts for any danger that was closer to him. He turned his attention back to the ground in front of him, trying to pick up the trail of the deer he'd spotted about an hour before. Finding the tracks again and followed closely, keeping an eye out for human tracks. He'd wanted to talk to Merle again, but his brother seemed to keep eluding him. After his last talk with Beth, he was more torn than ever as to what to do.

"Damn it!" he hissed as a strong wind picked up, swirling the dead leaves that had come to rest on the forest floor around, obscuring the deer's trail. He stopped, deciding to wait until the wind died down, coming to rest under a large oak tree. No good following flying leaves. He heard a creak and looked up and spotted a large branch that had splintered from the rest of the tree, probably following one of the storms they'd been encountering lately. It sat precariously as the wind whipped around.

He spun around quickly when he heard the sound of a walker approach, one too close to simply ignore. Taking aim, he let his bolt fly and the walker sank into the foliage without another sound, leaves quickly enveloping it as the wind continued. Daryl turned and was about to move on just as the large branch came crashing down. He tried to move quickly, but wasn't able to avoid the whole large mass that came down onto his right leg, pinning it beneath its weight.

"Shit!" he hissed, trying to hold in the scream of pain that sprang up in his throat.

He looked back and saw that the sound of the limb crashing had drawn the attention of a few wandering walkers who were making their way towards him. "Shit, shit, shit!" he groaned, closing his eyes for a second against the overwhelming pain in his leg. With a deep breath, he sat up and tried to move the weight with is left foot, but without any luck.

Glancing back, he saw two walkers were almost on him, so he let the loaded bolt go and struggled to get the second loaded as the second walker fell to its knees next to his head. With a groan, he twisted his body to give himself the best position to fire the second bolt. The walker fell onto him, the smell nearly sickening and bits of its skin clinging to him as he pushed it off. He head more shuffling and knew he was in trouble if he didn't get the limb off of his leg, just long enough to free that leg. He had a brief urge to scream for help, knowing Rick and Christie probably weren't too far off, or perhaps his errant partner might hear and come to help. But he knew that was too risky. It would attract more walkers, and Rick and the others would not get there to help him before the next wave of walkers were upon him, ripping him to pieces.

Steeling himself, he took a few deep breaths and sat up, using his free left foot and all the strength he could muster in his arms to move the branch just enough to pull his foot out, his shoe's laces catching a bit as he did so. He bit his lip to keep from screaming and moved back up against the tree. They were getting closer and looking up he knew that getting into the tree would be his only option.

Breathing heavily, he pulled himself up, wanting to cry from the pain in his leg, he loaded one more bolt, firing and luckily catching two walkers. He hopped around to find the lowest hanging branch and attempted to jump and grab hold of it, missing it, he came down on both feet, and a scream escaped him as his weight came down on his injured leg.

"Damn it." he cringed as struggled back to his feet. Another walker was on him, sending him tumbling into the rough bark of the tree. He pulled knife and sunk it into the creature's head, quickly pulling it out before jumping for the low hanging branch once more. He dug his nails in, determined not to fall again and scrambled onto the branch as another walker grabbed the broken and bloodied leg, causing him to cry out again. Kicking it in the head with his good leg, he finally crawled up, just out of their reach.

Out of breath, bleeding and broken, Daryl sat in the tree. He was out of bolts, and he was in no condition to knife any of them. He hadn't brought a gun, always preferring his crossbow's silence. He was now wishing he'd listened to Rick before they left and brought a small hand gun with him. He would just have to wait for someone to realize he was gone, and they'd come for him.

Rick looked to Christie as they heard someone scream. Looking around, they tried to figure out which direction the noise came from and they heard one more scream.

"That way." he said, motioning for her to follow him. He tried to hear anymore sounds, just one more so he knew they were heading the right way.

"Do you hear walkers?" Christie whispered, close enough behind him so he could feel her breath on him.

"Sounds like a few of 'em." he nodded, following the sound. Screams and the sound of walkers milling around was a good indication they were going the right way. "There's about ten of 'em over there." he said as he stopped behind some small trees, looking over them.

Christie pulled some binoculars from her backpack and scanned the area around the tree where the walkers were congregating. "They've got someone treed." she said, handing the binoculars to Rick.

Adjusting the focus, and moving out from the bushes a bit, Rick was just able to make out Daryl's crossbow lying on the ground at the base of the tree. "Daryl!" he said as he turned his attention to the lowest crook of the tree. "They've got him treed."

"What?" she took the binoculars back. "Where's Todd?" she scanned around but didn't find the young man that had set off with Daryl.

"I saw a few bodies layin' around over there." Rick said, as they made their way around the bushes that had hidden them. He caught sight of the other part of their hunting group and motioned to the trees.

"So he took some out." she nodded. "I hope Todd's not one of them."

"He must be hurt if he's hidin' up there." he waved the other two men into position as he and Christie crept along, wanting to get as much of a jump on the assembled walkers as possible. One more signal to the others, and they were soon knee-deep in walker bodies, covered in blood and bits of brain as they hacked and slashed their way through, desperate to get to their friend.

Daryl watched with relief as the last walker fell. "Took you long enough." he whispered.

"What happened?" Rick asked, hoisting himself up on the low branch.

"Damn branch fell." Daryl was getting groggy.

"His leg is busted up bad." Rick called down.

"You have that stretcher on you?" Christie asked one of the other men. He nodded and quickly opened his pack and readied the folding stretcher for Daryl. "Where's Todd?"

"Hell if I know." Daryl mumbled as Rick carefully handed him down to the group waiting below. "There one second, gone the..."

"He's lost a lot of blood." Christie groaned as she saw his leg at last. "Come on, let's get him back to the infirmary."

"Who's the medic?" Rick asked as he picked up one end of the stretcher, leaving the smaller of the other two men to pick up the turkeys they'd caught.

"We don't have one." Christie felt sick. In the entire time she'd been there, out on hunts and patrols, no one had ever been hurt. She didn't do well with the sight of blood and wanted nothing more than to be sick.

"Whoa." the young man who had been paired with Daryl staggered towards them, eyes glassy. "What happened to him?"

"Where the hell were you?" Christie demanded. "He was injured and those things had him treed!"

"I just...wandered a bit." he giggled a bit.

"Are you on something?" she asked, grabbing his chin in her hand, bringing his face closer to hers. "I'm going to kill you." she hissed.

"Christie!" the man carrying the turkeys pulled her back. "We need to help Dixon." he reminded her.

"Go ahead, tell them to get a bed ready for him, and you keep on eye on this bastard." she ordered the guy, her voice shaking. He nodded, grabbed Todd's arm and ran ahead.

"He's goin' in and out of consciousness." Rick said as they ran as much as they could. They wanted to be fast, but didn't want to jostle Daryl, causing him any more pain than necessary.

"Shock and blood loss no doubt." the other man said as the walls to the colony came into view.

"Come on, Daryl." Rick urged as he looked down at the bloodied mess that was his friend's leg.

"Open the gates!" they heard Carlos, the man charged with the turkeys and Tood, call out.

"What happened?"

"Injured man." Christie ran ahead. "Give me the keys to the infirmary." she demanded of Stein as they entered.

"Reichert hasn't given his permission." Stein said, pulling a face at the sight of Daryl on the stretcher.

"I don't care, give me the keys!" she grabbed him by the collar. She dug her hand into the pocket of his coat and dug the keyring out herself. "Come on." she led the way to what had once been a rec center for the planned gated community.

"Here, take this end, Christie." Rick said, handing her his end of the stretcher. "I'm gonna go get Hershel."

"What?" she asked, confused. "Why Hershel?"

"He's a doctor!" Rick yelled as he ran out and headed straight for Whittaker Street. If Hershel could save Carl, then he would certainly be able to help Daryl.