Rick pulled on his arm "You don't need to go out there alone. You don't owe us anything."

Daryl roughly pulled his arm back before replying coldly "My other plans fell through." With that he turned on heel disappearing into the woods.

Alex POV

Alex plowed through the woods as fast as she could. Her lungs were burning and her arms felt like they were going to fall off. She started to trip but somehow thankfully managed on legs that were like jelly. Quickly she glanced down at the what seemed, to her, a sizable bundle in her arms. Satisfied that everything was alright there she looked behind her.

"Shit!" She whispered this was bad. Three walkers had been chasing her for what seemed like forever and she was quickly running out of energy. She fell suddenly managing to twist to land on her back she rapidly back pedaled trying to put some distance between her and the decaying flesh that had once been human. They were bloodied and torn, one even had over half of its jawbone exposed and she fought back a retch as it lurched towards her falling next to her feet.

She kicked it again and again smashing its skull before looking up at the other two. She was sure it was hopeless now but she had to try. Swinging the bundle behind her protectively she grabbed her hunting knife out of its sheath. She stood shakily and with a scream launched herself at one burying the blade in its eye socket. The last one had grabbed her hair and the knife wouldn't come free. She yanked simultaneously trying to pull her hair from the walkers grasp when suddenly she felt rather than saw something fly past her face.

She didn't care what it was-the important thing was that the grip in her hair loosened. She rushed to pick up her bundle and then ran over to the walker that had had her hair and stomped at its head repeatedly until the brain matter, blood, and other substances had thoroughly mixed with the dirt.

Daryl POV

He didn't really know why he was looking for the kid. He felt bad sure but for some reason Carols sobs were stuck in his head. A mamma and her baby...that was all he could think. That was something special, something that he couldn't let this new world destroy right in front of him.

He had been searching for no more than an hour when he heard tell tale shuffling and moaning of walkers. Pulling his crossbow from his back he stalked slowly toward the noise when suddenly he heard a shrill scream. He ran through the brush imagining for a moment finding Sophia safe and sound, protecting her, and bringing her home to Carol and the camp. His imaginings were cut short a split second later when he saw a woman with long frizzy, matted hair almost to the small of her back with a walker attached somewhere in her mess of hair. She was struggling to pull a knife out of another but it was lodged.

He quickly took aim and let his arrow fly hitting the walker and lodging in the side of its head. The woman didn't even seem to realize that the thing was dead, just that she was able to get free. She scrambled on the ground picking up a smallish pile of blood spattered blankets and rags in her arms before running back to the walker he had shot and stomping its face in.

"I coulda' used that bolt back ya know." He muttered attempting to stalk by the woman and see if his bolt was in any way intact. But before he could get more than a few steps she had reached down to the walker with her knife and yanked with all her might freeing it, and brandishing it at him.

"Stay back." She snarled at him shifting her lumpy pile behind her as best she could one armed and exhausted.

He studied her for a moment. She was small in structure and in height, he guessed maybe 5'5" if that. There was so much dirt caked on her skin that he couldn't tell what color it was and the same went for her hair. She had light almost golden eyes that seemed to bright for her and the world around her. Her clothes were unrecognizable stained and caked with blood, dirt, and guts, with large rips through them. What got him the most, however, was the way she stood; defiant and terrified, like a cornered animal. She was shaking slightly and he honestly was worried that she would spring, he didn't want to have to hurt her. He reach to his back but she shouted at him.

"I said don't move!"

He raised his hands "I'm jus' tryin' to put my bow on the ground. I'm not here to hurt ya." He spoke slowly as if to a frightened child. "I'm lookin' fer a little girl."

She seemed like a deer caught in the headlights when he said this but before he could process it she snarled at him again.

"Why?"

He was confused. What did she mean why? To fuckin find her that's why. "She was with our group. Her momma needs her." He started as she slowly started to waver. "She's just a kid twelve years old short hair bout yay high." He continued putting his hand about how tall Sophia was."She got lost a couple of days ago, her names Sophia, ya seen her?"

The woman was shaking more as she chewed at her lip. "You...you have help? Safe? And good people?" She whispered eyes wide and bright.

He hesitated not sure if he should be telling the camps secrets before nodding slowly "Yeah but-"

"Thank god." The woman said dropping her knife and grabbing the blankets with both arms before falling towards the floor.

"Shit!" Daryl bit out lurching to grab her before she hit the floor. Cradling her in his arms he snapped another "Shit!" What the fuck was he supposed to do now? He was out looking for Sophia not some ratty woman with an apparent fixation for damned bloody blankets. He wrinkled his nose, those rags smelled like death. Well, if he was gonna carry her ass back to camp he sure as hell wasn't going to carry them nasty blankets.

He crouched to balance her on his thighs and reached for the blankets intending to yank them away from her and throw them on the ground when something inside them moved, just barely. He jerked his hand back like it had been burned almost falling backwards as the blankets fell away revealing a tiny angelic face covered in muck much as the woman's was. He moved the blankets further around the face dumbfounded. In the woman's arms this whole time and now in his arms as well was a small girl no more than four years old sleeping soundly.