Note: I've set this story around the episode Nebraska, however, Rick and co wouldn't have bought Randall back to the farm in this version. For this story, they killed the two guys at the bar and got back before all the other stuff happened. And sorry for the long wait.

Andrea trudged back towards the camp easily keeping pace with T Dog. During the night Shane and Lori had returned. With Rick, Glenn and Hershel still absent, Shane had started to organise a search party. It was when he'd mentioned getting Daryl that Dale had noticed the absence of the man's camp. Before they'd had time to investigate that, Rick had returned

She hadn't expected anything on their trip across the field and it hadn't disappointed. Her and T Dog hadn't spoke a word on the way back. Now, the eyes of the others fell upon them as they reached their own camp.

"There's nothing there."

"'Cept some dead squirrels." T Dog added, holding up the squirrel remains. They'd bought them back to make sure the smell didn't attract walkers or any wild animals.

"I don't think he'll be coming back for them."

"He hasn't left anything behind he might come back for?" Shane asked.

Andrea shook her head. "He's gone." She moved to the RV and say on the steps leading up to door.

Rick let out a sigh. "I thought he would stay."

"Carol, you saw him last. How was he?" Dale pressed.

All eyes on her Carol recounted their last conversation. "He was angry."

"Angry about what?" Shane asked.

Carol shook her head, not wanting to talk about it.
"We need to know, Carol." Andrea pressed.

"I don't know, it was all... jumbled. Sophia, me, his Father... he was angry that she died. He was just... just angry."

Lori moved closer to Carol and rubbed her arm. "He was the same when I asked him to go look for you, Rick. Overly defensive. Said he wasn't looking for people any more."

"It's about Sophia?" Glenn queried.

No one had an answer.

"I think... he just really wanted someone to find her." Andrea said. She swallowed down the thoughts she had. "He wanted to find her." She met Carol's gaze and those sad blue eyes met hers. She wondered if she was the only one to know about Daryl's own story of being lost and how much of it would be okay to share with the others. "When I went out with Daryl that night to look for Sophia, he told me about getting lost in the woods when he was a kid. No one even looked for him... there wasn't even anyone at home to miss him. He was nine years old."

"Well finding her wouldn't have changed that." Shane said.

"I know that. But sometimes you think that by doing something now, it might change how you feel about what's already happened. I thought that looking after Amy now would make up for me missing her childhood. It might ease my guilt. It wouldn't have helped. Maybe Daryl felt the same thing. If he had found Sophia, bought her back it might have changed... something."

"That don't make no sense," Shane shot her down.

"No it does." Rick said.

"He was hung up on finding her." T Dog agreed.

"Does any of that really matter? What are we gonna do now?" Glenn asked. "We're gonna look for him, right?"

"I don't see how we can." Lori said. "He could have gone anywhere, any direction. And if he didn't want to be found, I'm pretty sure he'd make sure it didn't happen."

"We can't just leave him," Carol said. "He's all alone."

"We didn't leave him, he left us. Simple as that as far as I see it." Shane said.

"Even if we found him, we can't make him come back," Andrea added. "I don't want him to be out there alone either, but he chose to leave, we can't drag him back here and make him stay."

Daryl had taken the bike as far out as he could before the gas ran out.

It pained him to do it, but he left the bike in a ditch by the road. He'd bought the tent and sleeping bag with him, but he wasn't sure he'd bother with it for long. Wasn't likely to offer up much protection. But at the same time, with winter ahead of him, he guessed it'd be foolish to ditch it now.

He'd only ever had one survival plan. Head deep into the woods, where people were unlikely to be and survive deep in the wild.

He hoped that walkers would be less likely to be so far into the woods, was relying on it really. He was thinking of setting up a camp somewhere far off into the woods and securing an area around it.

He couldn't help to think back to those people who seemed to have a likewise plan that he'd encountered while searching for Sophia.

Both times the guy had taken the easy way out and ended their life. Was that what would become of him? He recalled the second guy got bit. No one to watch his back, it could easily happen to him too. He'd never truly be able to relax. Always knew that danger could be just around the corner and he started to think he'd maybe made a mistake leaving as he had.

Too late. He'd made his bed and there was no going back.

He started off deep into the woods. Determined not to stop until he had gone as far as he could.