HEART FOR BRAINS • the walking dead

029: catch of the month

Sun flickered in through the windows whilst Rio was tying up his laces. He sat at the bottom of the stairs and Daryl came and sat down to the left of him, knocking his knee as he did. The boy finished tying up his shoes, flashing him a smile.

"What're you doing here?" He asked.

"I'm going out, you wanna come?"

Rio nodded his head. "How long are we gonna be?"

"How long is a piece of string?"

Rio stared at him blankly, confused on how that had any relevance. "I don't know." He settled for, shaking his head slightly.

"There's your answer." The man shrugged, getting up off the steps. "Grab your stuff and tell Rick you're leaving, I'll be waiting by the watchtower."

"Okay."

"Oh," Daryl stopped him. "Don't forget these." He pointed to the boy's ear.

'I won't' Rio signed back.

The man raised an eyebrow suspiciously before walking off, heading outside and talking to Carol.

***

Rio trailed behind Daryl as he led him through the woods. He tread quietly over the sticks and leaves, careful not to scare away any animals or to attract any walkers. The man scanned the area, his crossbow comfortably in his hands.

The boy stayed close, holding onto his own crossbow loosely, just in case he saw something Daryl had missed. Rio doubted it, Daryl was the best tracker at the prison. He was probably the only tracker now that Rio thought about it. He could be the best and the worst, all at the same time.

A faint snarl came from behind the pair, a Walker stumbling into Rio's view. Daryl shot it and began to reload his crossbow when another approached. Its foot was caught in a bear trap so it limped along even slower, tattered trousers and shirt getting caught in the leaves.

"I can do It." Rio said, stopping the man. He pulled the crossbow off of his shoulder and aimed it forward. The boy squinted, watching the Walker as it stumbled forwards, trying to get his shot as accurate as he could.

The man stopped him for a second and adjusted the boy's grip on the crossbow. "Where'd you even find this, by the way?" Rio asked quietly, closing one eye once the crossbow was in position again. He pulled the trigger and it fell to the ground with a twang, mud splattering across the slumped body.

"That was good." Daryl smiled, squeezing his shoulder.

"It was walking really slow." The boy turned to look up at him with a frown.

"You're being modest."

"Modest?" Rio asked.

"Yeah, you're..." Daryl paused to think, unsure on how to explain the word. "You don't want to admit that you did as good as you did."

"Thanks." The boy smiled at him, happy from the compliment. At least he thought it was a compliment, Rio took it as one.

"I got it from some hunting store not far from here." Daryl answered his earlier question. "I wasn't gonna pick it up. Everyone's better off with guns really."

"They're easier." Rio nodded along.

"But then..." Daryl signed a few words throughout their conversations, constantly trying to recall what Rio had been teaching him. "I remembered you were pretty good with mine."

"I've gone from good to pretty good?"

"You're quite good."

"Yes." Rio beamed back, holding his fist out. Daryl bumped it.