A/N: Not sure what language qualifies as mature vs teen so I just boosted the rating to be safe.

I let Daryl lead me whatever direction he wanted. All I could think about was shooting that squirrel. It wasn't even me that do the shooting; Daryl pulled the trigger. I still felt guilty though. I guess I just wasn't the kind of person who could hunt. Finally Daryl stopped walking and got low to the ground and started to look through the grass. I followed his example, but I couldn't see anything except the natural floral.

"Well this is a deer path for sure." Daryl said nodding. He stood up and turned around to start heading back. I really had no clue how he knew deer traveled here and i was curious. I reached out and grabbed his arm. He jolted and looked back me, while I stared at him dubiously.

"How can you tell?" Daryl didn't say anything, but shifted his crossbow and walked back to where he was before. He crouched down and moved some tall grass aside before he looked back at me. I crouched down next to him and looked next to his hand.

There pressed into the soft earth was a single deer track. I smiled and looked over at Daryl. He just looked back at me before rising and walking back towards camp again. I stood up and caught up to him. Quite noisily since there was no way I could move quietly and keep up with Daryl. He quickly turned and looked at me.

"Why ya being so noisy?"

"Well I figured since we were heading back to camp it didn't matter anymore."

"Heading back to camp doesn't mean we can't still get somethin' on the way."

"I wanted to ask a few questions. Should I wait until we're back?" Daryl sighed.

"No, go ahead."

"OK well one deer track doesn't really mean a deer, so how can you tell when it was used and if you'll actually going to find one."

"Track was still fresh and hadn't dried out, so it has to be recent. Grass was still shoved down where it walked, makes it even sooner. Deer probably went through a few minutes before we did."

"Well shouldn't we go after it then. If it went by that soon it would be easy to catch up." I started to turn around, but Daryl grabbed my arm.

"No good to go now. We're to far away from camp to carry it all the way and it's too close to dark to herd it back towards camp. Besides too much meat for now."

"But shouldn't we get as much meat as we can? Who knows the next time we'll be able to get a deer."

"We don't have anyway to keep meat. It would all spoil before we could use it 'cause we got enough here for dinner." He held up the string of squirrels, but I just looked at him. Daryl may not have had an easy life, but the skills he learned are more useful than anyone's. He already knows what to do for situations before I even think of them.

"I'll head out tomorrow to follow the deer path to see if I can lure it back towards camp."

The rest of the way we walked in silence, but to me it didn't feel as awkward as it had going out. Daryl many not feel the same way, but I felt we had become friends over the trip. Well at least, less like strangers and closer to friends. Maybe as close to friends as you could get with Daryl Dixon, but whatever it was I liked it.

As we got back to camp I saw my mom and Sophia sitting at a small table with Carl and Lori. I should probably go tell my mom where I've been. Sophia probably mentioned it, but she would probably still like yo hear from me.

"I'm going to go tell my mom where I've been. Thank you for taking me hunting." As I turned to leave Daryl grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Ain't done yet. Ya have to help skin what ya killed. Fur and guts don' just fall off ya know." I stared at him. "Go talk to your mom then come over."

I quickly walked over towards my mom. When they heard me approaching the entire table looked up. Sophia smiled really big at me.

"Hey Anna how did hunting go." She was bouncing in her seat.

"Oh wow! Daryl took you hunting. Do you think he would take me too?" Carl asked excitedly. That boy has almost adapted too well to this new way of life. If he hadn't of lost his father then I would almost say it hasn't effected him at all.

"I don't care whether he would take you or not there is no way you are going out into the woods hunting." Lori said while picking up Carl's school things and taking his hand.

"Aw Mom, what if..." His argument faded away as they walked back towards their tent.

"Well, how did hunting go today?" Mom asked. I turned and took Carl's seat to talk to her and Sophia for a little.

"Pretty good, we got some squirrels and found a deer trail." I said and Mom smiled at me.

"Alright well make sure your careful if you go out again and try to tell me the night before. I was worried when I opened your tent this morning and you were gone."

"Sorry I'll be sure to tell you from now on. I better go I still have to help with cleaning." I hugged Sophia before standing and moving , but I felt a hand grab my wrist. My mother had stood and followed me. She looked at me with tears in her eyes. She leaned forward and hugged me tight and I quickly hugged her back.

"I was so worried. You and Sophia are my whole world. It's so dangerous now; I don't know what I would do without you." She whispered in my ear. Then she let me go and stepped back to the table and sat back down by Sophia. I wiped my eyes and walked over to Daryl.

When I arrived he pointed his bloody knife to the spot next to him on the log. He had already skinned all, but two squirrels. I sat down and Daryl pulled a second knife out his boot before handing it to me. He then put one of the squirrels in between my feet.

"Is it safe to use a knife that was in your boot? I mean is it sanitary?" Daryl looked at me before pulling up his pant leg and pulling a knife holster out of his boot.

"Why would I just keep a knife in my boot?" Of course it was in a case. Who just keeps a knife tucked against their leg? It would have cut his ankle up. Why can't I say anything without sounding like an idiot?

"Now pay attention ya only got one chance to do it right." No pressure.

Daryl slowly started to skin his squirrel explaining how to do it properly. Then he moved on to how to gut it. The entire time he was doing it all I could do was concentrate on not throwing up over everything.

"Alright your turn." I looked down at the squirrel and put the knife at its throat and started to pull down. I quickly shut my eyes but continued the cut. All of a sudden I felt something cover my hand and stop it. I opened my eyes and followed the arm up and saw Daryl staring at me. He took the knife away and stabbed it into the ground. He took the squirrel and moved it in between his feet.

"Can't skin it if ya ain't lookin'" he said before finishing the squirrel quickly. He then handed me the group of squirrel meat. "Can ya cook it or does that make ya squeamish ?"

"I can cook." I said with a smile. I started walking towards the main campfire. To my surprise Daryl followed me. "So are you going after the deer tomorrow."

"Figure so. Leave as early as I can." Daryl said while willing his knives off. I put a pan on the fire and started to cook the squirrel that Daryl had gotten that day.

"Do you want me to go with you again." I looked at him, hoping that he would want me to come along with him. He looked over at me as he put both his knives away.

"Ya want to come with me again." I nodded. "Even though ya couldn't shoot anything and ya can't clean anything ya kill." I looked down, upset that he thought I was pretty much useless. I turned back towards the fire and continued turning the meat. I could feel Daryl's eyes on me, but I refused to look at him.

"Not everybody can be a hunter. So ya can't kill, so what. Looks like ya already found what your good at anyway. Ya were gonna gut the squirrel and that's good enough. No sense in ya soon' it when someone else can help ya now."

I turned and looked at Daryl, but he had already stood and was walking away. I smiled and turned back to the food happily. Maybe he doesn't think I'm useless after all. Mom came and kneeled down next to me. She took the cooking fork from my hand.

"Your father wants to talk to you. He is over by the tents." He heart dropped and I was immediately sick to my stomach. I never thought about what he would do about my going hunting today. I stood up and slowly walked over to our tents I could see my father standing on the far side of the tent smoking.

As I approached, my father looked towards me and stood up straight. I walked over to him and looked down at the ground. I wasn't sure what to say to him because I didn't know why he wanted to talk to me. He grabbed my arm and pulled me back behind the tent.

"What the hell are you doin' out in the woods with that redneck. You fuckin' him?" He was shaking me by the arm and glaring at me.

"No he was teaching me how to hunt." I could feel tears building up.

"I don't believe you. Man doesn' take a woman off on her own for hours not to fuck her. The last thing I need is you gettin' knocked up. You stay away from him."

"But we weren't doing anything. We just..." He quickly brought up his other hand and pulled my sleeve to the side before jamming his cigarette into my shoulder. My eyes opened wide and I opened my mouth to scream, but he put his other hand over my mouth and held it there. He pulled the cigarette away and dropped his hand from my mouth before pushing me up against a tree. He leaned close and put his face right next to my ear.
"Stay away from him." He then turned and walked over to the campfire area to start the fire that our family sat by.

I slowly slid down the tree and pulled my knees up to my chest. I wrapped my arms around my legs, out my head down and cried as quietly as I could. I sat alone for a few moments before I felt a hand on my knee.

A/N: I haven't quite decided who should have come. I have a couple ideas, but I would like to hear what you guys would like to read.