Sorry for the wait on update. Life has been hitting me hard and I've been struggling for time to even breathe. Thanks for the reads, reviews, favorites and follows. I'd love to hear what your all thinking about where things are.
Daryl and Sophia were both watching as the sun climbed higher in the sky both tired and worn down. He knew she hadn't slept the best and he hadn't slept at all. He knew where his brothers were going and if it had just been him he could hoofed it and got there today. With Sophia he didn't want to push her and chance the girl getting hurt trying to keep up.
She was rubbing her arms right now and making faces at the dirt she could see. He wanted to laugh at her but held it in and looked over towards the sloping bank on the other side of the road.
"Come on kid."
Sophia grabbed her bag of stuff she had pilfered with his help and trotted after him. Daryl stepped over the guard rail and Sophia made a face at him causing him to laugh and pick her up quickly and set her over the ditch that set just by the guard-rail. She nodded her thanks and they started down the incline and the more they the more he could see her energy pick up.
"You hear that!" She beamed at him.
Daryl nodded and looked at her. Coming through the brush they stepped out on to a sandy area next to a small stream. It wasn't much but it was enough for her to clean up. Sophia looked at him and then the water and around them.
"You so worried about some dirt on you there you go." Daryl arched a brow at her.
Sophia dropped her pack and then looked at him, "You wont let anything happen to me?"
Daryl nodded, "Get cleaned up kid I'll keep watch."
Daryl wasn't sure how long he had stood there but the smell of her soap and the sounds of splashing were all around him. She was humming to herself and if anything maybe she wouldn't look so depressed now. It didn't make up for her mother being lost but at least she didn't smell like a dead body anymore. He heard her let out a sigh and the sound of her bag zipping as his eyes scanned around them.
"You wanna clean up? I'll keep watch too." Sophia peered up at him her wet hair clinging to her face and neck.
He shook his head, "No time for it."
Daryl wasn't worried about how he looked or anything besides getting to his brothers and getting this girl to her mother. She wasn't going to lose her, not her mother. Daryl's eyes went to the girl next to him and he grimaced at the idea of her being so young and losing her mother. The world was fucked all to hell but there was something about that girl, she didn't deserve this. He was going to get her back to her mother no matter what, no fucking matter what. He'd keep her safe, they all would till her mother had her back. Daryl looked down again and Sophia smiled up at him and he looked ahead grimacing. He couldn't let himself get attached to this kid. She wasn't staying, she was getting back to her group.
They had walked for a good few hours again when he heard the first sounds that someone was near. He stopped walking altogether and caught Sophia around the waist when she didn't stop immediately. She was hauled up and lifted against his body as he listened. She went on high alert as his body radiated tension.
"Sophia I want you to climb this tree and not come down for anyone or anything you hear. You got me?" Daryl pushed her towards the tree and then lifted her forcing her to catch the branches, "You don't come down until you see me."
She gave him a wide-eyed look, "Don't leave me Daryl, please."
"I'm coming back kid."
"Nooo."
He was around the tree though and moving towards the voices. He couldn't make out much but he had to make sure it was safe to pass before he ever brought Sophia this way. There was no way in hell he was putting her in danger. None. He'd made her a promise and damn well planned to keep. Chest heaving he looked over the embankment and the air whistled from his chest at what he saw. He could do this.
The car came to a stop and the doors swung open leaving a creaking sound to accompany boots on the ground. Looking around was hard and the thundering of her heart was like a lead weight almost it. Carol walked forward towards the car they had written the message for Sophia on and ran her hand over the trunk.
"Someone was here..." Andrea spoke quietly next to her looking around. "Do you think they could be close by?"
Shane walked forward-looking at the trunk, "Whoever it was took the shit we left best guess is their long gone."
Carol didn't listen to them. She refused to believe her daughter was lost. Carol shook her head thinking about her daughter out there afraid running and not stopping. She regretted not taking the time to teach her something, anything for defense...for survival.
Carol and Shane both shifted and she looked down and raised a brow. Carol squatted her hand picking up the juice box that was setting in the shade of the vehicle. Carol let out a breath when she seen the little straw done the same as Sophia always done them when she was done. It was twisted to the point of breaking and then shoved down into the opening leaving only a sparse piece showing.
"She was here." Carol mumbled.
Shane went to his knee next to her, "What makes you think that?"
Carol motioned to the juice box, "She's done this for so long."
Andrea moved around the vehicle and Carol just looked around going to the guard-rail. Looking over there was a clear path where someone...more than person clearly from the boot prints right over the rail had come up. Carol swallowed at the realization and felt sick at the thought that Sophia was with someone besides her or the group. Who was this person, who she was assume was a man from the size of the print.
Carol looked around again panic settling in. "SOPHIA!" Moving through the cars and the pile up, "SOPHIA BABY!"
The only answer Carol received was the faint whisper of wind against the trees and desolate space around them. No one was there.
"Why wouldn't she wait!" Carol cried out.
Andrea moved quick to her side but Carol felt frozen inside.
"Carol whoever it is clearly brought her back..."
"THEN WHERE IS SHE!" Carol snapped her tears spilling over.
Shane ran a hand over his head, "Look...Carol the road might not have been safe. We'll keep coming back. We know she's out there. Whoever it is that found her could have left her out there, hell they didn't even have to bring her back to this road BUT they did." Shane moved towards her his eyes sweeping the area, "That counts for something."
Carol's chest heaved and she looked around her and to the car with the plea for her daughter to wait. She set down in the spot the juice box was and felt like she was drowning. Carol swiped at her face. "She should have never been out there."
Andrea set down with her grasping her hand, "No...but she's alive Carol. She has to be. We'll find her and we'll never stop looking."
Carol felt despair gripping her at the thought of her daughter with some strange man. She knew all to well what men were capable of in the world before it went to hell. In this lawless wreck of a world she didn't want to think of the type of freedom someone like Ed would feel out there. Someone worse than Ed.
The sun was dropping lower and lower in the sky as time went by with them waiting on a sign of her girl. It was clear that whoever had her moved on...moved on and her daughter wasn't here. The despair that was in her chest was shredding and she was tired. Tired of being here and felt suppressed by all the fear that one person could bear. She felt like Sophia's presence still lingered here and she wanted that, she needed that. She needed her daughter.
Carol swallowed and finally looked up at Shane seeing him looking at her. "We gotta go Carol. We'll come back."
Carol didn't speak only pushing herself standing. Andrea was clutching her hand tightly and it felt like that was the only thing keeping her here. She wasn't sure what she was going to do. What was left without her daughter? Sophia had been her reason for so many years of just fighting through every day. Without her it felt like those wounds would never heal, there was too much that time couldn't erase. This pain was to real and it was all-encompassing as she walked away from the road.
Andrea met her eyes and she seen the steel in them, "Carol you aren't alone."
Andrea got in the car and Carol flinched knowing that Andrea was talking about her own loss. Amy. She wasn't alone in this but she knew in her heart her daughter was alive. Surely she would feel it if she wasn't. She'd know. Carol looked back over the road and swallowed. She would find her daughter. She would be stronger when she did and she'd be able to protect her this time. Keep her safe. They wouldn't be afraid.
