Okay, I think they need more Daryl hurt/comfort moments, and I'm hoping my OC makes this possible. Please review if you want me to continue!

The first time she wandered onto the land was in early summer, just as the dew was drying off the grass and the heat was coming out. She stumbled out of the woods, the very same woods that Daryl had stumbled out of and been mistaken as a walker a few weeks earlier.

"There's someone out there!" Called Dale, who'd been sitting atop the RV, keeping watch.

"A walker?" growled Daryl, who'd been sitting a few feet away skinning a squirrel.

"Yeah, it looks like it..." Dale said calmly. Daryl shouldered his crossbow and took off running towards it before anyone could stop him.

"Shane! There's a walker! Everyone inside!" Rick ordered, grabbing his pistol and tearing off after Daryl.

The supposed walker panted. She could hear the moaning behind her, they were coming. Stupid bastards. She'd been looking for Ryder, they'd been caught out after dark. They normally were, but they'd gotten separated and hadn't been able to spend the night holed up in a tree like they normally did...

She pulled an arrow from her quiver, notching it and realizing with horror it was her last one.

Daryl slowed to a jog as he saw she wasn't a walker. "A kid?" he asked himself, slightly shocked. She threw a glance over her shoulder at him before the walkers burst from the woods.

A woman in a tattered nightgown, the skin around her mouth torn, a fat man drooling with bulging eyes, and what looked to be two teenage boys, all with mainly intact bodies except for a limp and some exposed ribs.

She let the arrow fly and dropped the bow, ripping the hatchet from the holster she carrier it in. She chose the fastest walker first, screaming a war cry and sinking the hatchet into its skull before reaching for her sheath and grabbing a knife, whirling to plunge it into the forehead of one of the teenage walkers.

Daryl fired his arrow at the woman in the nightgown, a clean shot through the head.

The girl didn't even bother to look at him, instead walking over, pulling her hatchet from the skull of the other walker and spitting on the ground- she had to put on a show, there were men behind her, men who might want to push her around since Ryder wasn't with her...

Daryl whistled, shocked. This girl was pretty badass. Rick stared, looking from her to Daryl, who shrugged.

She dropped the bloody hatchet into her holster and retrieved her arrow, putting it back into the quiver.

"A kid?" Rick asked, looking shocked.

"I have a name, you know." she turned around and looked at him, slightly annoyed.

"What is it?" Rick asked, looking interested.

"Jamie. Jamie Kessler." she nudged a walker with her foot, making sure it was dead, re-sheathing the bloody knife.

"I'm Rick Grimes. Don't worry. We aren't going to hurt you..."

His patronizing tone annoyed her, and she scoffed. "Of course you aren't, or you'll have an arrow up your ass before you can blink. Where is he?"

"Where's who?" Dale had walked up by now and looked at her, brown eyes honest and open, as always.

"My brother. Ryder. He had to have come here ahead of me."

Rick shook his head. "No one's here, you're the first person who wasn't a walker we've seen in days."

She stared, trying not to pale.

"Look, why don't you come on back to the house? We'll talk with Hershel and get this all sorted out..."

She took step back, studying Rick. He looked kind, he meant well... That was the problem. He'd try and keep her safe, out of the woods, and she wouldn't be able to search for Ryder...

"Ryder! Ryder!" she yelled his name and whirled, chestnut braid flying out behind her. She picked up her bow and sprinted for the woods. She had to lose these men before they managed to catch her...

"Kid! Wait, don't!" Rick yelled, but she was already running. She heard their footfalls in the brush behind her, the clattering, trees rushing by...

Then a firm hand clamped over her mouth and she was struggling, trying to scream...

"Kid! Hey kid, quit it! We're trying to help you!" The man with a shaved head yelled.

She continued to writhe in his grasp, fighting for all she was worth.

"Rick, help me get a hold on he- Owww!" she sunk her teeth int the hand that covered her mouth, refusing to let go and tightening her jaw as he tried to free himself, tasting warm blood and continuing to clamp down...

Shane kept screaming until finally his whole grip on her lessened. Rick was yelling over Shane's screaming for her to calm down and let go, but once Shane's grip on her stopped, she let his hand free, sprinting back into the trees.

"Damn! The bitch bit me!" Shane yelled, cradling his wounded hand.

"What did you expect? That kid don't know you from Adam- probably thinks we're rapists or somethin'." Daryl said calmly. He'd seen the desperation and fear in her eyes, and he knew she'd do what she anything to get away from them.

"Look, we can talk later- let's just catch the kid." Rick ordered, and they ran after her.

When it was clear they weren't getting any closer than twenty feet to her, Shane got frustrated. "Can't we just shoot her? Maybe a few warning shots?"

Rick's eyebrows furrowed. "And if you accidentally hit her? She's about Carl's age, you can't fire at a kid..."

She'd stopped running now, only because she heard movement, though none of the men had, even though they, too, had stopped.

"I say we let the kid alone. She knows where the farm is, she can get help if she needs it..." Daryl started. There was a roar as a walker burst out of the brush beside Rick, then...

She didn't think. She'd had her last arrow notched and she pulled back and fired, knowing the arrow was going to meet its target before it did and hearing the satisfying gush as it hit the walker between the eyes and it fell.

Everyone's eyes darted over to her, and she knew it was her last arrow and swallowed nervously. She needed it back. She could leave it and run, but then she'd have to fight walkers up close with her knife and hatchet, which would be risky if there were too many of them...

"She wants her arrow back. Right?" Daryl asked. She nodded hesitantly, unsure whether or not to trust him.

It was then Shane, who'd managed to sneak around her and get behind her, grabbed her.

She started to thrash and scream then, and Rick rushed forward.

"Daryl- come on!" Rick ordered as he struggled to help Shane subdue her. Daryl chuckled. "You got yourself into this, you can get yourself out..."

"Ryder! Ryder, help!" she screamed. Rick swore. "She's going to attract every walker in the forest."

"That's the idea, jackass." she said, eying him coldly before continuing to fight and scream. Daryl tried to ignore the smile tugging at the corner of his lips. He was liking this kid more by the minute.

Finally, Rick slung her across his shoulder. "That's it. We're going back to our camp whether you like it or not, kid." he said firmly.

Shane had managed to get the hatchet and knife away from her, and all she could do was thrash and scream while an irritated Rick started back towards Hershel's.

Daryl picked up the bow from where she'd dropped it, as well as the arrow, adding it to his own arrow-carrier on the side of his crossbow. He'd give it back to her later...

"Lemme go! Ryder! Ryder!" she kept screaming all the way back to camp, as well as thrashing, because with the walkers around, she'd been taught to keep fighting until they were dead, or she was.

"He can't hear you, kid." Rick said through grit teeth, obviously annoyed.

"That doesn't mean I can't keep screaming it, jackass." she retorted. Lori and Carol both looked up from where they were hanging laundry, slightly shocked, as did Carl, who was sitting on a stump doing the work Lori had assigned him.

She felt her cheeks threaten to grow red at being carried like this. "Let me go you jackass! My brother's going to beat the shit outta you when he finds out..."

"For all you know, your brother could be dead." Shane said darkly. That was too much. She succeeded in breaking free from Rick's hold, falling to the dirt behind him. With something similar to a roar she lunged at Shane, who was completely unprepared. She bowled him over into the dirt and got on his chest, small, rough hands pounding his face.

"Ryder is ALIVE! Don't you DARE say he isn't! He wouldn't leave me!" Dale had tried to pull her off him by now, and Rick was, as well. Blood erupted from Shane's nose, and everyone stared as Dale succeeded in pulling her off him and holding her back.

"Kid! Kid, calm down! Think this through, kid, we're only trying to help..." he said, trying to reason with her. But tears of frustration and desperation started to fall then, and Rick seized her by the hand and dragged her into the house.

He fairly shoved her down in a chair at the dining room table and sat across from her, blue eyes hard and expression stern.

"Look, I know you aren't happy right now. And I know you probably think I'm the worst person in the world. But that is NOT acceptable behavior. Understood?"

"I'm not your daughter. Why the hell do you even care what happens to me? I want to go back to the woods." she said, not looking up.

"You'd be dead in a minute if we let you back into those woods. You have no one to take care of you..."

"Ryder takes care of me! We go in those woods all the time to scavenge, we just got separated last night! He's out there, and he's looking for me! I need to go back." she stood and started for the door, but Rick grabbed her wrist firmly, holding her back.

"No. There were way more walkers than normal out last night, I can't let you go back there..."

She broke free and ran out the door, onto the porch, when she ran into an African American and ended up flat on her back. She sprang to her feet and kept running, though, but a moment later she was tackled by someone huge...

"Don't even think about it, kid." Shane hissed. His nose was still bleeding and he looked angrily down at her. He pulled her roughly to her feet and dragged her towards the camp, sitting her next to Carl.

"Carl, don't let her get out of sight." he ordered, before storming into the house.

"What's wrong?" Carl asked, concerned at her tears. He hadn't seen a girl cry like that since they'd lost Sophia...

She just shook her head, tears streaming down her face. She was never going to find Ryder. She looked in the distance- up the hill- she saw what looked like a hickory tree and got to her feet, striding towards it.

"Hey! Shane said not to let you out of my sight!" Carl protested, but she ignored him and kept walking.

She ran her hands over the rough bark and let the tears fall onto the dirt at the base of the tree, pressing her forehead against it... She must've stayed like that for a half hour before finally looking up. When she did she saw she was by a fire pit with logs around it, and a tall stone column...

Daryl sat on the log, working intently on making arrows. She noticed her bow sitting next to his, leaning against the stone column, within easy reach, and took her place on the log opposite him, studying the ground.

Wordlessly, Daryl kicked a stick as big around as a nickel towards her, and she miraculously found a knife sticking in the log next to her. She wiped her eyes on her sleeve before picking up the knife- she could throw it at Daryl, she'd never killed a walker by throwing a knife before, she wasn't that accurate, but she'd be able to wound him and slow him down while she made a break for it...

She'd been studying the knife in her hand as she considered this, and she looked up to see Daryl watching her. He'd no doubt seen all the emotions play out on her face, knew what she was planning, and she felt a pang of regret. He'd trusted her by giving her the knife, at least, and she settled down to making the tips sharp and peeling the bark from the sticks to make arrow shafts.

She worked in silence until Rick came out, not looking at him. She and Daryl hardly met eyes while she worked. Rick came over and crouched beside her. "I know you're upset. But there are too many walkers around lately for us to just let you go back out there. If Ryder is still out there, he'll come and find you here..."

"I want my bow." she motioned to the compound bow sitting next to Daryl's crossbow.

Daryl handed it to her, though Rick gave a disapproving look.

"That's a nice bow. Where'd you get it?" Daryl asked quietly.

"Tenth Birthday a couple of years ago. My Dad..." she looked away and blinked furiously.

Daryl nodded. "You're gonna need more arrows for it. Better get to work."

And she did, grateful to be busy doing something.

Rick stood and left quietly, leaving them alone, once again, to work. By four in the afternoon, she'd filled her quiver and she stood, walking some distance away. She found a tree with low branches and swung up into it, looking out over the horizon. Ryder would come out of those woods soon to find her, she was convinced. Or, rather, she was hoping.

Rick called everyone to camp that night.

"Jamie will be staying with us for a bit until her brother can find her..."

She sat on the log, as far away from everyone as possible, arms crossed over her chest, staring out at the tree line.

She nearly jumped out of her skin when Daryl sat down next to her.

"You like kidneys?" he asked. She realized he had a few dead squirrels and nodded. He handed her two of them and she tore into them, blood running down her chin. It tasted sweet, though, she and her family had always eaten the organs of what they killed hunting...

"You want the heart?" Daryl asked. She nodded, and he gave it to her. She held it firmly despite the blood making it slippery and sunk her teeth into it, pulling and chewing...

She looked up to see everyone staring at her. Lori had her hand to her mouth, looking horrified, Carl was looking bug-eyed, and everyone else, too, was staring...

"What?" Daryl asked, daring anyone to say something derogatory as blood dripped down her chin. She kept eating.

"Walkers eat like that." Shane muttered.

"Fuck off, Shane. Just cuz you're too pussy to eat the innards, don't mean we can't." he slit open a fresh squirrel and cut out a kidney, tearing a piece off it with his teeth before eating it.

She noticed the blood pooling in the squirrel's abdominal cavity and dipped her fingers in it, drawing two lines under each eye.

Daryl looked at her. "What? That the closest you have to makeup nowadays? "

She laughed.

They all liked the sound of laughter, it'd been awhile since they'd heard it, and it was... refreshing.

"Jamie- where do you want to sleep? You can be in the tent with Lori and Carl and I..."

Her stone cold glare stopped him in his tracks.

"I sleep in trees." she said.

"In trees?" Rick asked, looking confused.

"What else do you do during the night? Can't sleep on the ground without being walker bait, so Ryder and I would climb the trees and sleep in them."

"There's no way you'll be safe in a tree, let alone sleep up there." Lori said, looking at her seriously.

She shrugged. She was too tired to argue, but when it came time to settle down for the night she plodded off in the direction of the maple she'd climbed earlier, the one next to Daryl's camp, swinging up into the branches. When she was ten or so feet up, she found where three branches went nearly vertical and swung her foot up, straddling one and leaning back against the other. She looked at the tree line one last time, hoping to see Ryder, before letting sleep take her away.