AN: I know I've started another story! Don't worry, I'll continue to work on Paying the Price and I will be picking Fear and Self-loathing back up soon, too. This story is a bit different. It's my first collaboration! I agreed to write this idea for dimegurl and we couldn't wait till my other stories were done before we started on this! This is her story, I'm just writing it for her, so she'll be beta'ing it for me, as well as, approving all chapters before they're posted and providing story points. So when reviewing, please give her some much deserved credit too! We're excited to be working on this together and it's been a lot of fun. We hope you all like it too!

Enjoy! :)

"Daryl!"

Jesus Christ, what now? Daryl thought suppressing a groan, turning around to face the other man.

"What do you want, Shane? Wasting daylight here." He said in annoyance.

"Yeah, well that's a matter of opinion." Shane bit back. "What's your angle here, huh man? Getting peoples' hopes up, spouting off with fool-ass stories about some hidey-hole in a cupboard? Rick's got his head so far up his ass with guilt over loosing that girl, I'm trying to make him see reason here; it's over! She's gone! And you," he shoved an accusing finger in Daryl's face, "saying all that shit ain't helping matters!"

"You got some nerve." Daryl growled, knocking Shane's hand away. He couldn't believe this guy. "We got a little girl missing and a possible lead; yeah, maybe it wasn't her that hid out in that farm house, but maybe it was. I ain't about to miss out on a chance to find her. Sophia's out there somewhere and I intend to find her. I don't give a shit what you do." With that he turned on his heel, hiking the strap of his crossbow further up his shoulder and continued toward the stables, seething.

"Fucking prick." Daryl muttered angrily, loudly enough to be sure Shane could hear him. He reached the stables, picked a horse at random and set about getting it ready to saddle, still brimming with anger. He didn't get Shane's problem. How could the man want to give up the search already? It'd only been four days for god's sake! Which, okay, four days was plenty of time to get into trouble out there, but that's why they had no more time to waste. And what harm was there in looking anyway? First off, they should give Sophia every chance of rescue they possibly could. Second of all, what else were they gonna do around here? Things were already pretty well set up at this farm as far as he could tell. There was no reason they couldn't devote their resources to looking for a lost child and keep still keep things running in camp.

"Whatever. Fuck him!" Daryl slapped the saddle on the mare in a huff, causing her to whinny and shy away. He should probably calm down. No sense in getting the 1,000 pound animal he was about to ride off on all riled up.

Shane scowled as he watched Daryl disappearing into the woods on one of Hershel's horses. As far as he was concerned that redneck was becoming more trouble than he was worth. Sure he was the best tracker they had, and their only seasoned hunter, but they could make do without him. He could hunt well enough, and Rick could too. Maybe they weren't as good as Daryl, but they could figure it out.

And as it turned out, Daryl was self-righteous. Wasn't that a fucking joke! He was just so convinced that they, no he would find Sophia, and that she'd be alive. It was becoming a problem. People were starting to respect him. Value his opinion. Trust him. Rick especially. He was looking to him more and more, and looking to Shane less and less.

Shane could see the merit of his own opinions and authority crumbling before his very eyes within this group. He knew some of that was due to the growing rift between him and Rick, but then there was Daryl, just so conveniently slipping right into that gap almost from the very moment he and Rick had met. Something had happened on that run into Atlanta to garner a grudging respect between the two men. They still butted heads more often than not before leaving the quarry, but Shane had known Rick since they were kids, he could see the change plain as day. And now, it was getting to where that respect really wasn't so grudging anymore.

It left a sour taste in his mouth.

So yeah, Shane couldn't help but think that Daryl had a lot to do with the fact that he was being edged out.

"Shane!" Andrea called, "You coming? We're about to head out."

Rubbing the back of his head, he sighed and sullenly marched over to where the rest of the search party was gathered, blue and red strips of cloth being distributed to their designated groups. Time to go searching for more ghosts.

It'd be a peaceful day out in these woods if a lost, little girl's fate didn't hang in the balance. Daryl wouldn't allow himself to give up on Sophia, the kid deserved a chance; but they'd lost her trail days ago and he was just circling blindly, hoping to catch any shred of evidence she'd been in the area, he couldn't help but feel a bit discouraged when every yard he passed yielded no results.

Like he'd told the others, it only stood to reason that she'd stay near the water, follow it like a path. He could only hope he was right, which was how he found himself traversing the edge of a ravine the creek cut through, peering all around when something caught his eye. A flash of blue amongst the green foliage, the barest glimmer of blonde hair; there one moment, gone the next. His heart skipped a beat in his chest, adrenaline rising with renewed hope.

He'd spotted her.

He'd found her.

But she was getting away, either she hadn't seen him, and was still trying to pick her way back or she'd gotten scared and ran. He couldn't let her get away. Giving a swift kick, he spurred the horse onwards, the animal quickening its pace to a brisk trot.

"Sophia!" He yelled as loud as he could, fearing losing his chance to find her more than bringing on walkers. "Sophia! Come back!" All at once, the horse reared up braying frantically.

"Woah!" Daryl shouted as he struggled for purchase. From the corner of his eye, he caught a glimpse of a snake slithering quickly away. The mare started bucking wildly, and Daryl clung to it, desperately trying to keep from being thrown. But he couldn't hold on as the beast underneath him writhed furiously, determined on dislodging its passenger. He flew off, sailing several feet to crash into the ground, knocking the air straight out of his lungs, his head slamming down onto something hard with a resounding crack. An intense pain exploded in his head bringing darkness with it, swift and overwhelming. Through the agony he could still hear the horse screaming, loud and high pitched.

He never knew a horse's screams could sound so human.