A/N: Somebody please stop me...I know starting ANOTHER story whilst I've still got so many unfinished ones is a stupid idea and you want me to finish what I've started, but I've held the desire to write a TWD story inside for too long now, I have to let it out, I'm sorry, I'll try and get to the other ones :(

This (as with most other stories featuring Daryl and Sophia), is a 'What would happen if Daryl found Sophia' story. I know there's a lot of them lingering around and all the good ideas have been taken, but I'm gonna give it a go anyway.

I apologise in advance for my terrible attempt at a Southern American accent.

This fic's title (once again) is another song lyric...it's the opening line from the song 'One Week' by the Barenaked Ladies...figured it was appropriate :)

Chapter 1 (I dunno how many there'll be)

It had been a gruelling last few days, and it didn't look like it was about to get any better. It was late afternoon, the forest was silent. Could've been empty, save for one man. But that one man wasn't about to let his guard down just because he couldn't hear anything. He knew that silence didn't mean something wasn't there.

His knowledge of this was based partially on himself. He knew he was barely making any noise as he moved, despite the abundance of dry leaves on the ground, a fact he prided himself on. But this wasn't exactly the time to give himself a pat on the back. The daylight was beginning to leave him, without him making any progress in his search whatsoever. The search in question was for a small girl, about 12 years old he gathered from the multiple times he'd heard her mother shout "She's only 12, we can't just leave her out there!" But that was at the start, back when the group still believed she was alive out there and that all they had to do was go get her. It seemed everyone had all but given up. Even Carol, her own mother, had retreated into seclusion among her self-designated chores to take her mind off it. But not Daryl. He wouldn't...no...COULDN'T...give up on her.

He didn't understand why he felt responsible for her. Perhaps it was because the woods were his playground and he felt that he and only he would stand a chance of finding her. He supposed that was why he was searching for her alone; others would only slow him down. He remembered the argument he had had before leaving the farm they were staying at, the argument that caused him to skulk off into the woods by himself.

"We should have a memorial for her. Something small. Something nice." Rick had suggested to Carol mainly but addressed the whole group as he spoke.

Carol had said nothing in response and it worried everyone. But Daryl knew that, although she understood and was grateful for Rick's offer, she still believed that her little girl was alive.

"You don't have memorials for the living." He had meant it to sound casual, but there was a slight bit of accusation towards Rick and anyone else who had thought of the idea.

Carol looked him in the eye and gave him a weak smile. The fact that he had been out every day for the last week looking for her missing daughter was evidence enough that his hope was still going strong and it lifted hers.

"You're an idiot Dixon!" Shane piped up "Nobody's seen her for the last week!"

"Exactly!" Daryl retorted.

Everyone, including Carol, looked at him with puzzled expressions.

"Nobody's seen her, which means she either got far away on her own, or she found a safe place to hide. Both mean she could be very much alive!"

Now Daryl was not usually considered an overly intelligent man, but most of the group understood where his logic was coming from even if they weren't convinced of the conclusion.

That was when Carol spoke up for the first time in a long time.

"Daryl's right." She said calmly. "I don't want a memorial, because Sophia is still alive until somebody finds her otherwise."

To some people her words might have sounded callous, had it not been for the small smile she was giving the group's hunter. He had most definitely restored her broken spirit, at least for the time being.

"Oh for the love of..." Shane's string of profanities went on for a while, so Daryl decided he was wasting time if he stayed to listen.

He shouldered his crossbow, checked his hunting knife was safely stowed in his belt sheathe, and proceeded to make his way towards one of the small gates in the fence that surrounded the farm.

The trip into his short term memory had briefly made him lose track of time, and the sun judging by the sudden darkness he noticed. He sighed internally. Memories were not going to help him find Sophia when they insisted on constantly distracting him. He scanned as far as he could make out in the rapidly depleting light, checking all directions. He saw nothing, no walkers, no tracks, no evidence she was nearby. He decided that in the morning he would start on the other side of the farm and head round from that side to see if he could find anything.

As he turned to leave something hit him on the back of the head. It had surprised him as he was sure there was nothing nearby. This caused him to whirl round with immense speed, bringing his crossbow up to eye level and pointing it at the mystery 'thing' that had managed to creep up on him. But there was nothing there.

He glanced down to see a small shoe. By the looks of it, it had used to be white, but wear and dirt had soon seen the color become a more dull greyish brownish. The fading light also didn't help the colors stand out. He bent down and picked up the shoe, bringing it to his face to examine. He'd never really taken an interest in Sophia's feet, but he immediately knew this was her shoe. He started spinning round frantically, trying to find the origin of the projectile shoe, but to no avail.

His eye's began to strain against the darkness, the only light was from the moon that occasionally peeked through the tree canopies when they moved.

Just as suddenly as the first, another shoe hit him. This time on the top of his right shoulder and fell to the floor in front of him. He quickly looked up. Above him, he saw the silhouette of a small person against the moonlight and he could barely make out her features, but what he COULD see confirmed his suspicions. That trademark weak smile that she must have gotten from her mother. His smile however, would be more classified as a medium sized grin. Not that Sophia had probably ever seen him smile at all, or that anyone had seen him smile for that matter.

"Hey" She croaked down to him.

"Hey there," He whispered back up, not wanting to draw the attention of anything lurking in the shadows, "been lookin fer ya."

"Really?" She replied, almost sounding surprised.

"Hey! Ain't nobody gon' fergit 'boutcha!"

He felt kind of hurt that she thought they'd given up on her, even though most of them had. But then again she'd been out here on her own for a week up until this point.

"C'mon down, wer' gon' gitcha back afore some mushy faced freaks get the jump on us." Daryl informed her.

Sophia nodded and quickly scrambled down the tree, the threat of the undead coming back to her after the brief bit of relief that someone had found her. Once she got to the floor and started to slip her shoes back on, Daryl realized that in the dim light he could still see her pale face with dark circles round her eyes, and her now skinnier, bonier frame. He knew she wasn't big to begin with but he still couldn't help but think how fragile she looked right now, like one wrong step and she'd snap in two like a twig. It was then that he realized his master plan how one particular flaw. He figured he could last the day without lunch because finding Sophia was more important, but what he forgot was that if he found her, she likely wouldn't have eaten a great deal if anything at all. He fumbled around his belt and unhooked the small canteen that hung by his left hip, it still had a bit of water in it from the day before, but not much.

"Here," he offered her the water after she carefully stood up and wobbled a bit, "it ain't much but I don' spose you been drinkin much out 'ere anyway?"

She accepted his offer and tipped her head right back, glugging down what remained of the water. When she straightened back up too quickly she suddenly felt dizzy and she would've fallen over had Daryl not used his free hand to catch her. He strapped his bow back over his shoulder then took the canteen from her and clipped it to his belt.

"Yer dehydrated," he told her, "here lemme carry ya."

Before she could object he'd scooped her up bridal style and turned to briskly walk back the way he came. He wasn't up for being out in the woods at night with the dead walking around any longer than he had to be, what with carrying a preteen girl in his arms and all. It left little opportunity to defend himself should he need to. So he opted for speed and discretion.

Fortunately, they made it back unscathed. At one point Daryl slowed down a bit because he thought he saw a shadow lumbering clumsily off to one side, but the quietly crept past it and continued onwards. When they arrived back at the edge of the farm Daryl stopped. He had to make sure they either saw he was blatantly not a walker, or he had to sneak in unnoticed until he was close enough that someone could see for themselves that he wasn't. He saw a small fire in the middle of the camp with a few people sat round it. He also saw Dale on the roof of the RV binoculars up to his face. He probably couldn't see a great deal in the dark and couldn't tell friend from foe. So Daryl chose stealth as his method of entry.

Before Sophia could ask why he'd stopped, he was off again, crouching as low as he could with her on his back. He made his way carefully through the longer grass towards the edge of the field and angled himself round a bit so that he wasn't directly in Dale's line of sight. Before leaving the long grass he whispered a quiet shush to indicate for Sophia to be quiet. She didn't question his orders and didn't make a peep.

Around the campfire, the group sat finishing off their small meal. There wasn't a great deal being said. Everyone was still a bit on edge from that morning's argument.

"Why isn't Daryl back yet?" Carl suddenly asked.

The only response came from Shane.

"Who cares?! If that asshole wants to go runnin' off into the woods on his own, I ain't gonna miss him."

There was a brief silence.

"Glad to know I won't be missed." A gruff sarcastic voice came from the darkness behind him.

Daryl hadn't intended to come up behind Shane specifically, but he'd be lying if he said the look of shock on his face when he turned round wasn't amusing.

"What about me? Was I missed?" A small barely audible voice appeared to come out of Daryl's chest.

As Daryl stepped into the light of the campfire there was a moment when the group were confused as to whose voice it could possibly have been. That was until all their eyes went wide at the same time. The entire group was speechless until Carol jumped up, knocking what little food she had left onto the floor, and ran over to the pair, embracing her young daughter and inadvertently Daryl as well.

He felt a little awkward, but he wasn't about to just drop her and run, so he endured. One by one people snapped out of their trance and got up to come over to them. Most of the group were still in amazement, but managed to welcome Sophia back, comfort Carol or congratulate Daryl.

Public displays of affection weren't really Daryl's thing, nor was appreciation for something he did. He was willing it to be over quickly when finally Carol decided that Sophia needed to get some food and water in her. So he put her down and allowed the women to check that she was comfy and had plenty to eat, while the men either stood and looked on or made their way back to their seats. Except Shane, who hadn't gotten up at all. They quickly exchanged glares, though Daryl's was more of an 'I told you so!' glare.

Whilst everyone was seeing to Sophia, Daryl managed to sidle off back to his tent. Once inside, he zipped it all the way up and just flopped onto his sleeping bag, not bothering to take his crossbow off of his back. The adrenaline rush he'd not realized he'd had when he found Sophia had now worn off and his head was pulling him into a deep sleep.

A/N: Well, this was twice as long as my usual chapters, but I really started getting into it. I suppose I could leave it there as a oneshot, or I could carry on. I have a small idea for a second chapter at least, but the decision on whether this story continues or not is down to you! The reader! So leave a review and tell me what you think!

R&R :)