Here's the sequel! :) You must have read Lost and Found before this to understand what is going on. I hope you all enjoy!
Chapter One
September 1982
"This is all your fault," Carol's voice was muffled under the blanket she had over her head. Sitting next to her on the couch, Daryl was trying hard not to laugh at his friend. The TV in front of them had a fuzzy screen from the movie they had just finished.
"You were the one who wanted to watch a scary movie."
"And you were the one who checked it out!" Carol whipped the blanket off her head, causing her head to become staic-y and flair up around her head. This almost caused Daryl to bust out in laughter once more. However, the ferocious glare being sent his way shut him up, quickly.
"You wanted me to get the scariest movie at the rental place and this is what the guy gave me!"
"But cannibals, Daryl? Really?"
Carol didn't wait for an answer and got up to retrieve the VHS from the player. She held it between two fingers as if it disgusted her as much as what had been on it and placed it back in its case. "When you leave, take this with you. I don't want it in my house."
Daryl took the case and stood. "Are you kickin' me out?"
"N-No. Actually, since its date night, can you stay until my parents come home? Please."
He crossed his arms over his chest. "After you were just bein' mean to me? Hmm..."
"Please." She latched on to one of his arms and looked at him with pleading blue eyes. "If you leave, the cannibals might get me."
Daryl would have laughed if he couldn't tell that Carol was being completely serious. "All right," he said. "I'll stay." Carol did a little jump and wrapped her arms around him.
"Thank you! I know I'll be safe with you."
"Tomorrow, we pack up everything and leave," Rick said, firmly, glancing at everyone sitting around the fire. "Along the way, we can gather more supplies. We'll especially need food. Daryl won't be able to hunt all the time and we can't just rely on him." The former officer glanced at Daryl, who gave him a grateful nod back.
Carol was pressed to his side and Sophia was pressed to hers. It would be nice not to have to go out every morning to hunt, but he would do it, if the group needed food. If Carol and Sophia needed food. He'd do anything for the two of them.
"I want us to leave as soon as possible, so that we travel during the daylight," Rick continued. "Hershel, you know the area the best, have you ever heard of Terminus?"
The old man shook his head. "I haven't, but I have a map in my truck. We can look on there to see if it was an actual place before the Turn or not." Rick nodded in agreement, the shadows from the fire flickering across his face and casting half of it in darkness.
"Everyone get a good night's sleep." Rick stood. "I want Daryl and Maggie on first watch and Glenn and Andrea will take the next watch."
"Let me take watch instead of Glenn," Carol spoke up, surprising some of them. "He was on watch last night and went on a run this morning. He needs to rest." She detangled from Daryl and Sophia. "I have a gun. Daryl gave it to me and I know how to use it."
At first, Rick looked like he would object, but Carol continued to press. "Please, let me do something. I can do it."
"You help cook for us," Lori spoke up. "That's enough."
"I don't want to just cook and clean. I want to help protect everyone. I want to help protect my daughter." Daryl stood and placed a comforting hand on Carol's back.
"Let her do it, Rick. I trust her to keep us safe and it's about time you did the same." There was an edge to his voice. He still hadn't forgotten the man for not telling him about Merle, which was something he would never tell Merle about. If his older brother were to find out, it would add another thing to the list of reasons to kill Rick and it may actually tip him into really doing it.
"Fine," Rick sighed. "You can keep watch, along with Andrea."
"We'll be fine," Andrea spoke up and gave Carol a friendly smile, which she returned. Andrea always seemed to have her back.
"All right, it's settled, then," Rick decided. "Maggie and Daryl, wake them up when it's their turn on watch and everyone else, get a good night's sleep. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." No one said a word and it was almost eerily silent as they all disbursed to their sleeping positions where they laid down for the night.
Carol and Sophia huddled in the sleeping bag and used the blanket as a pillow. Daryl leaned down and kissed Carol on the cheek and nodded at Sophia before he took his place on watch.
A few hours later, after a very uneventful shift on watch, Daryl nudged Carol awake. She looked up at him blurry-eyed and without a word slipped from the sleeping bag. Unfortunately, the movement roused Sophia and she blinked up at the two of them, eyes trying to focus.
"Is it time for you to go, mom?"
"Yeah, baby." She kissed Sophia's cheek and stood. Daryl shrugged off his jacket and handed it to her, knowing that with just her flimsy cardigan she would freeze.
"Thank you." She kissed him, quickly and went to join Andrea on watch.
Daryl looked down at Sophia, still in the sleeping bag and knew that he wouldn't be sleeping with any kind of cover that night. Though, he had come to care for Sophia almost as if she were his, he still didn't feel comfortable with touching her and snuggling in a sleeping bag, even it was only to keep warm, was a big no-no.
"You can have the sleeping bag, Daryl," her tired voice said.
"It's all right. You can take it."
"You're going to freeze," she slipped out of the bag and shoved it at him, just as stubborn as her mama. "I can go share with Carl."
"Hell no!" It took a bit of control to keep his voice lowered and when he looked at the little girl's face, she saw that she had been only teasing. She had covered her mouth and was giggling quietly into it.
"Back to back, then?" He asked, sliding into the bag and handing her the blanket. "That way, we can stay pretty warm." He would be comfortable with having Sophia pressed to his back.
"Okay," she said and lay down, pressing her small back to his. "Goodnight, Mr. Daryl."
"Night, kid."
That morning, Daryl woke up warm. He opened his eyes, surprised to see the sun was up and that Carol was in the sleeping bag with him. She must have snuck in before the sun had risen. Rick had looked to have taken watch for both Andrea and Carol because he was the only one up, walking the perimeter. Daryl wondered if that man ever slept.
Carol must have sensed he was awake because she turned in the sleeping bag and faced him with a bright smile. "Good mornin'."
"Mornin'," he mumbled and pulled her close, loving her warmth. "How was watch?"
"Uneventful and boring, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I like feeling like I contributed to the group's safety."
Daryl didn't say anything and buried his face in her neck. Something shifted at his back and he suddenly remembered that Sophia had been pressed there for most of the night. Turning his head, slightly, he could barely make out the top of her blonde head.
"How did you sleep?" Carol asked, noticing where he was looking.
"Good. But that girl of yours wanted to sleep in the same sleepin' bag as Carl Grimes. I think you need to give her a talkin' to. She's too young for all of that."
She smiled. "If you recall, I was younger than her when I first kissed you." Daryl felt his face heat up as the memory of their first kiss came to his mind. She had been eleven and he had been ten, a few years younger than Carl and Sophia.
"Let's not tell her that, all right?" He whispered, afraid that Sophia could hear them, despite her being in a deep sleep. "We don't need that boy to come sniffin' around."
"I don't think he likes Sophia like that," Carol said. "I'm pretty sure he still has a crush on Beth."
"And that's why I don't him comin' around. He obviously has a poor choice in woman. Sophia is the best there is." Carol laughed softly and placed her ahead under his chin.
"I love you."
He closed his eyes, loving the words spoken so freely to him. "Love you, too."
An hour, the rest of the camp was up and packed. Rick and Glenn were over talking with Randall off to the side.
"I think I saw the signs by some railroad tracks," he said. "We moved all over the place, you know, so I couldn't tell you exactly where I saw them."
"We have a map. We can look up all the tracks around here."
"Which could be dozens," Glenn spoke up. "Are we just going to run around looking for railroad tracks?"
Rick sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "We'll have Randall look at the map. Maybe he'll recognize some of the landmarks. Unfortunately, we don't have much to go on at the moment, Glenn."
"You're right," Glenn agreed. "Now, what should we do about Merle?" At the mention of the man, Rick and Glenn glanced in the older Dixon's direction. Merle was leaning against one of the vehicles and looked to be watching Carol and Daryl as they talked quietly in the middle of camp. When he saw that Glenn and Rick were looking at him, he held up his good hand and flipped them off.
"There isn't much we can do." Rick turned away from the man and the vulgar gesture. "As long as he doesn't cause any trouble, he'll be with us. I mean, he is Daryl's brother. I can't separate them, again." Despite having a good reason to lock Merle in handcuffs, Rick knew he shouldn't' have left him on that roof to die.
"Yeah. And I think the only people we have to worry about him doing anything to, is you and T." Glenn clapped him on the back. "So, I would keep a close eye on him, dumbass."
"Don't worry. I plan on it."
Once Rick was finished talking with Randall, it was time for everyone to pile into their vehicles. Thanks to Rick and Michonne bringing back a fifth vehicle, they would not be so crowded.
"Are you sure that you don't want to go with Hershel and Beth, sweetie?" Lori asked Sophia when the little girl had followed her and Carl to the green Hyundai. "They have an extra seat and we're going to be a little crowded in here."
"I don't want to go with them," Sophia said, shaking her head. "So, if it's okay, I'd like to go with you and Carl."
"Of course, it's okay." Lori pulled the girl into a side hug and let her climb into the back seat next to Carl, who gave his friend a smile. Randall and RIck were sitting in the front seats as Randall would try his best to lead them in the right direction of Terminus.
Once they could see that everyone was situated, Rick started the car. Behind him, in the powder blue truck, Hershel and Beth sat. Then, came Andrea, Michonne, Glenn and Maggie in the new car they had obtained, then Daryl followed on his motorcycle with Carol on the back and Merle, alone in Daryl's track, made up the end of their caravan.
Rolling down his window, Rick stuck his arm out and gave everyone a thumb's up. They all returned the gesture, except Merle, but with one hand on the steering wheel and the other one...gone, Rick understood why.
"Ready?" He turned to his wife, son and Sophia in the back.
"Ready," they all answered.
Then, they were off to Terminus.
Thanks for giving the sequel a try! :)