"Presley, why don't you come down for breakfast " Stefan asked. A warm smile split his face. It was hopeful. She couldn't imagine what would happen if she said no. She glanced down at Zeva, who laid at the foot of her bed. The dog had just awakened and was now looking at Stefan with wide brown eyes.

"Uh sure." She mumbled, standing and draping a leather jacket over herself. Stefan gave her plenty of room to walk, and for that she was thankful. While she knew the others were only being friendly, she didn't like that they hovered over her shoulder and constantly interrogated her. She didn't want to talk about the incident.

When they entered the cafeteria, the chatty room went dreadfully silent. She wanted to play her tough act, but she simply couldn't find the energy to. Instead of holding her chin high, she allowed it to drop. She looked at the ground with a frown on her face. Her black hair fell over her shoulders, obscuring her face.

"Let's sit over here." Stefan guided her to a nearly vacant table, pulling out a chair for her. She muttered a thanks as he helped her in. "I'll go and get you something, yea?" He disappeared before she could mention her lack of appetite.

She sat there awkwardly for a few minutes, running her fingers through Zeva's silky fur. The dog was now spoiled rotten and constantly bathed and fed. While Presley had always ensured that her friend was well fed, she couldn't exactly always find the time or the resources to bathe her.

"Hey Presley." Maggie greeted, approaching the girl slowly. Presley returned the gesture with a soft 'hello Maggie', lifting her gaze to look up at the girl. The brunette sat beside her, staring forward blankly. She enjoyed Maggie's company. The girl was friendly, but she was a good shot. She would survive this world, Presley just knew it.

"I'm sorry they got you." She said suddenly. Nobody had yet to bring up the Governor deal, they simply bothered her by asking if she was alright 24/7. Presley turned her head towards the girl she considered her friend, startled by the sudden words. She wasn't angry- she wasn't angry at anybody but the Governor.

"I'm just glad it wasn't anybody else." She admitted after a while. She dropped her head. While it was a selfless thing to say and it was true, it was hard admitting it. She actually cared for these people. The raven haired girl shook her head, covering her face with her hands and resting her elbows on the table. Her dream from last night had rattled her. She had barely slept after that.

"It shouldn't have happened at all." Maggie said quietly. "Especially to you."

"Hey girls." Stefan greeted when he slipped in front of the two. His eyes were wide and friendly, just as they always were. He was sweet and tender and kind, and he was a man who didn't belong in this life style. He was a gentleman with the will to survive.

He pushed over a napkin brimming with roasted deer meat and stale salted crackers. Even though the food looked appetizing, she couldn't find it in herself to really want to eat. Still, to please Stefan, she ate slowly. The meat was good, but everything was flavorless to her.

"Presley!" A small voice exclaimed. The girl's head snapped in the direction of the voice, just as the rest of the cafeteria did. Mika charged at Presley, wrapping her arms around the girl's neck and sitting on the other chair beside her.

The girl held back an internal groan when another person said her name. She could never just have a quiet meal, could she? Still, she turned and looked at the man approaching her.

"Meet me outside in one hour, out by the training target. There's something I want you to do."

- - -

Surprisingly, she did eventually finish eating her meal. Maggie and Mika wandered off to pester other people, leaving Presley alone with Stefan and Zeva. He tried to create a friendly conversation, but all of her replies were short and stiff. Still, that didn't stop him from trying.

"It's been an hour, you should probably go and see Rick now." He said quietly. "Do you want me to help you out there?"

"No, I got it." She assured him, pushing herself away from the table. She had managed to eat most of her meal, and what she couldn't eat she slipped to

Zeva.

- - -

Daryl watched, alongside Rick, as Presley approached him. Her black hair swarmed around her face from the wind. Even though she moved slowly, her stride was strong.

"I'm here." She stated the obvious, crossing her arms over her chest. Her bow was slung over her back, and Daryl could see that she was heavily armed with weapons.

"So you are." Rick muttered, motioning to a handful of people behind him. "The council has decided that we need to teach basic self defense... We doubt you need the training, but we could use your experience to train them."

Daryl knew why Rick had selected her for this job. Not only because she was a skilled fighter, but because she needed something to do... Something to make her feel needed. He expected the girl to smirk, but instead her face remained emotionless.

"Sure, I guess."

She stood off to the side while Rick explained to people how to kill walkers, and basic things to help them out if they ever get caught in a bad situation. A dozen or so people were there to listen to the lesson.

"Don't waste the bullet if ye have to." Daryl said, reaching behind Presley and pulling an arrow from her quiver. "If you're good with one of these, use it. You'll have to get ta arrow, but it's better than wastin' ammo." He slid the arrow back into her quiver.

"Right now, we're going to teach you some basic fighting methods for when you don't have any weapons." Rick said, and then looked pointedly at Presley. "Would you like to be an example?"

The girl nodded and began removing her weapons. She dropped them into a pile on the ground. The dozen people seemed amazed by the multiple knives she had pulled out of the folds of her clothing. She stepped away from the pile, looking at Rick expectantly. "That's all I have."

He smiled. She tried to return the gesture, but it simply made the situation awkward so she looked away.

"Daryl? Would you like to be the other example?" Presley frowned when Rick said that. Daryl was bigger and much stronger than her. She hoped he didn't plan on pairing them together. While she was quick on her toes and nimble as a fox, if he got his hands on her, she would be pinned.

Rick came up beside Presley. "As you can see, Presley is not only smaller, but she is also a woman. Just because you're a woman, doesn't mean you don't have the upperhand. We've all probably seen her in action. She uses speed as her strength. If she can't fight the walkers, she can probably run and get away." Rick said, placing his hand on the girl's shoulder. "But we aren't going to do a lot of walker defense with our two volunteers... We're going to demonstrate how you can use different sizes and strengths to your advantage."

"Presley," Rick turned to her, "Daryl said you took him down, would you show us one of the moves you used?" Daryl looked at Rick skeptically. He watched in amazement as she smiled.

"Of course." She strode up to Daryl, as if sizing him up. He stood still, stiff as a board. "When I attacked Daryl, used stealth as my first attack. I snuck up on him and tackled him."

"Ye didn't get me down, tho." He said, looking down at the girl. Instead of being angry like she had expected, he was smirking. She rolled her eyes, tempted to shove him.

"But it still caught you by surprise." She said, "At the time I had some weapons on me, so I used a knife to cut his leg. When he did catch me and get me pinned, I lost my weapons, but that didn't leave me helpless. The main thing is to keep a level head. Use your surroundings to your advantage, like a stick, or a rock."

"Would you demonstrate what you did to get free?" Rick said. Presley smiled and turned her body to face Daryl. "Don't hurt him, tho." Daryl glared at Rick.

Just like before, Daryl grabbed her wrist and drew her in against his body by her waist. His grip was firm, yet gentle enough not to harm her. She doubted she would be able to wrench herself out of his grip, tho.

She took a deep breath, recalling what she had done to get out of his grip. She pulled away from the grip that he had on her waist and gripped his shoulder. The man instantly jumped when she moved her leg upward, but she made sure she didn't actually hit him. Just as she expected, he bent forward and she brought his nose down onto her knee.

"And he's down."

The two continued to demonstrate how a woman could get out of those sorts of situations, even after Rick had left to water the garden. Even though they avoided hurting each other fatally, both of them were still lined with new bruises from dropping onto the ground.

"Men are dangerous, but so are women... How do we protect ourselves from a woman?" A man asked.

Daryl turned towards Presley. "Women are usually smaller and weaker than men, but most nowaday can move pretty fast... Like our friend Presley." He said, motioning to the girl. "I usually pin 'em down. That seems to be easiest. Use her strength." Daryl approached Presley, and his arms slipped underneath her arms. He lifted her from the ground, and automatically her legs thrashed and she gripped his hands.

"Most won't cooperate like her." Daryl said as he moved her quickly to the ground. She landed hard on her back, but not enough to hurt her. He straddled her waist so that she couldn't kick him, and then held her wrists down with his hands. "Chances are, if ye can get em down and pinned like this, you can do what ye need to do."

He stood off of her, offering his hand to her. To his surprise, she took it and allowed him to pull her to her feet. She squeaked when he used too much strength and ended up pulling her into him. She stumbled away from him, cheeks flaming. He laughed and shook his head.

"I'd say that's about all ye need." He grumbled. The people scattered. Rick informed them that he would be needing the two of them to help out tomorrow again, around the same time.

"Did it work?" Rick asked as Presley gathered her weapons and left.

"She smiled." He said. "She likes fightin', and she's good."

"Good. Same time tomorrow?"

"Same time tomorrow." He confirmed.