Hero

f o u r t e e n

Lenora let out a loud laugh, one Daryl had never heard from the small girl before, and put down her collection of peaches in a bag next to her sleeping bag. She was extra careful as to not bruise them. 

"Peaches have always been my favorite fruit." She grinned, explaining her excitement. 

"Noted." Daryl said. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Rick walk towards the tent. A hand on his hip.

"We're doing gun training, today." He told the two. "Daryl I know you obviously don't need any training, but I came to ask about Lenora. If you have any worries, Carl is learning too and someone will always be with them." 

Daryl took a moment to look at Lenora, who looked like she'd never even seen a gun in her life. He knew he'd always be there to protect her, and keep her safe from the dangers of the post-apocalyptic world. Still, he thought about it for a moment, he knew he never wanted her to be in a position where she couldn't protect herself if he wasn't there. No matter how small the chance was that he wouldn't be there. 

"Yeah, she'll go." Daryl spoke gruffly, nodding at the girl. He hated that he couldn't teach her himself, but the sooner she learned the better. "She stays with you though." 

"Noted." Rick spoke before turning to Lenora. "I'll see you out there, we'll leave in about ten minutes." 

Rick turned on his heel and left the tent, leaving the two alone and staring at each other. Lenora found herself growing nervous. She'd never handled a gun before, that kind of responsibility seemed daunting. 

"I know you're nervous." Daryl told her gently. "But I'd rather you know how to shoot, just incase anything happens to me. I promise you though, it will only be for when your back is against the wall and you have no other option."

"I just don't know if I'll be able to handle one." She spoke meekly, looking down at her feet. Her voice was barely above a whisper as she spoke. Lenora felt embarrassed, she didn't want the man to know she was scared of holding a gun even if it was an extremely rational fear for a child. Especially considering that both Daryl and Carl got shot in a span of a week.

"You're a smart girl, and you learn quick." Daryl reassured her. "I believe you can, it will only be for peace of mind, I promise. I wish I could teach you myself, but the sooner you learn the better. At least learn the basics today, and I'll work with you after if ya want."

"Okay." Lenora said softly, fiddling with her thumb. "Yeah, I'd like that." 

"Better get going, I'll keep watch of your peaches for ya." Daryl told her, attempting to bring a smile to the girls face. Lenora let one side of her lip quirk into a half-smile before turning to follow Rick. 

Lenora quickly found Carl and Rick, loading into the cars that would take them to their makeshift gun range. She planted herself in the back seat of the car, and waited quietly. They pulled up to a fence line, where  numerous bottles were lined up as targets. Rick placed Lenora and Carl at the end of the group, somewhere he could see both of them clearly. 

"Remember, these are not toys and should be handled carefully." Rick said before placing a gun in each of their hands. Lori watched them like a hawk, ready to interject at any moment. Lenora looked at the weapon, biting her lip. It looked out of place, even Rick could see that. "Alright, whenever you're ready then." 

Lenora continued to look down at the gun in her hands, finally she looked up at the target. The sooner she started, the sooner she got done. Once she lined up her shot, her finger hovered over the trigger before she eventually pulled it. Letting out a breath she didn't necessarily realize she was holding. 

The girl missed her target, the bullet landing in the fence post underneath it. She sighed before holding the gun at eye-level once more, missing the next shot again. 

"Don't forget to breath Lenora, and keep your eyes open, it will help you keep steady." Rick reminded her, squatting down to her level. "You keep closing them in anticipation of pulling the trigger." 

"Okay." Lenora said, taking a deep breath and holding the gun out in front of her. As steady as she could, she aimed the gun at the red bottle sitting on top of the wooden fence. After exhaling, she pulled the trigger. The bullet finally hitting her target. 

"There ya go kiddo!" Rick said, patting her on the back. Lori clapped from behind her, proud of the young girl for trying something new.   

"Good job Lenora!" Carl said from her right, giving her a big grin. She smiled softly and looked to her feet, blushing at the praise. Never in her life had she received as much as she had by the group she resided with now. 

"Alright, the two of you go ahead and empty the rest of those rounds then we'll head back." Rick said, walking along the rest of the group leaving Lori to supervise. 

Carl, was doing a lot better than her. Hitting his target most of the time whereas Lenora would definitely need a lot more work. But for right now, she knew she was stepping outside of her comfort zone and that would be enough. Hitting the target sometimes was better than no times. 

"Good job kids, let's get you both back to the farm." Lori spoke from behind them as the two children emptied their clips. "We've got a nice walk ahead of us." 

____

When Lenora arrived back at the farm she immediately went back to the tent she shared with Daryl. The redneck was still laying on his sleeping bag, eyes closed until he heard footsteps approaching the tent. Opening his eyes, he saw the blond girl ducking into the tent.

"How'd it go kiddo?" He asked her, tossing her a peach as she sat on her sleeping bag. 

"It went fine," She spoke fumbling to catch the peach.  "Made my target a couple times." 

"That's good to hear." Daryl said nodding his head in approval. "Knew you could do it." 

"Yeah, I suppose you did." Lenora said laughing slightly, taking a bite out of the peach Daryl had tossed her. "When are you off of bed rest?"

"Doc says I should be good by tomorrow, but he'd like me to stay put."  Daryl says shrugging his shoulders. 

"I feel like there's another but coming," Lenora said. 

"But, he knows he can't make me stay put for long." Daryl said gruffly. 

 "I'm glad, the camps been lonely with you in here." Lenora told him genuinely. 

"Yeah, well it's been lonely in here too." He said and Lenora looked at the man. "Get's boring sitting on my ass." 

Daryl was never one to sit around and do nothing. Lenora had picked up on that fairly quick after meeting the man. He was always doing something, whether it was hunting in the woods or going on runs. The man could never sit still. 

"I don't doubt that." Lenora said laughing. "Maybe I'll start hunting to take care of you." 

"Absolutely not!" Daryl scoffed, laughing at the girl. "I'd like to see you try. You'd just keep me fed with those damn peaches you can't get enough of." 

Lenora started laughing again, grabbing at her stomach. For the first time in a long time she felt genuine happiness, sitting here with Daryl making fun of each other. In the moment, there were no thoughts of what bad tomorrow might bring, just two lonely people who found each other laughing about nonsense.