A/N: Hey guys! So I've gotten some good reviews from this, which is exciting considering its my first story, ever. I've updated this chapter, and I hope to be posting the next chapter by friday, but hopefully by tonight. I have been SUPER sick, so I'm so sorry that I haven't updated it sooner.
Just a quick disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead, or any of its characters.
Prologue
Silence.
That's all there was. The gun shots no longer rang in the air. Only silence, and that little girl. The little girl he looked for, nearly died for, every day. There she was. When the thing that used to be Sophia Peletier stepped out of that barn, nothing else mattered. He failed. He failed her. He failed the group. He failed himself.
He failed Carol. Sweet, loving, heart broken Carol. Carol, who lived through the hell of her bastard husband for her little girl. Carol, who believed in him, when no one else did. Carol, whom he made a promised to, that every thing would be ok. That he would find her baby. That she would be alright. He failed her.
"Sophia? Sophia!"
No. No she didn't need to see this. She didn't need to see her baby as this thing. She didn't need to see this. He grabbed her, but she wouldn't look away. No, look away. Please look away. She wouldn't look away. He couldn't look away. No, no, no, no.
"No, no! Sophia! No."
All he could hear were her sobs for her baby girl. That, and the silence. That deafening silence. That silence that shouted at him. Failure, worthless, just like your father always said you were. You failed her, Daryl. You failed her.
Rick raised his gun. No. Look away, woman, please look away. But she wouldn't look away, and he couldn't look away, and they both watched their hope fall to the ground. One shot ruined everything. One shot and she was down. One shot and they were all down. One shot and he was worthless again. One shot, and then it was over.
Silence.
She ran from him, and in that moment he knew that she felt that he had failed her, too. He couldn't find Sophia. Why couldn't he find her? Why? She had to have been here all along. Otis. Otis is who put the walkers in the barn. Otis died right after they got to the farm. She'd been in that barn the whole time as one of those things. She'd been right there, right there in front of his face and he couldn't find her.
Silence.
He had to go. He had to leave. The group didn't need him. Carol didn't need him. Carol didn't want him. He couldn't do anything right. He was a failure. He couldn't even find a little girl. He couldn't save her. He didn't deserve to be here. He didn't deserve to help Carol grieve. He didn't deserve to grieve. He was worthless.
Worthless.
Worthless.
Worthless.
He packed and left in the night. But first, he stopped at the tiny grave for that precious little girl. The grave that her mother wouldn't visit. Couldn't visit. The grave that screamed his failure. He stopped at that tiny grave, and he cried. And then he was gone.