CHAPTER FIVE
A/N: Sorry for the lack of updates, but life just got in the way. And I'm catching up with season three. Just seen the episode "Home". Told you I was way behind.
It was Sophia's shout that bought Daryl out of his reverie and he glanced over at his daughter. The Walker was dead, she had killed him and looked pretty pleased with herself. That shout hadn't been a scared shout, it was more of a jubilant shout.
" Good job," he said and she grinned.
" Think I'm getting the hang of this," she said, " Are there more?"
" You did good-let's go," Daryl started off and she followed,
" Can I practice with the crossbow some more?" she asked.
" No. We're going home," Daryl said and started off towards the way they came.
" Why? It's not that late-" she started to protest.
" We only have three hours of daylight left and I want get back before dark," he said sharply. She glared at him, wondering why he had a sudden change of heart. She followed him and they walked the rest of the way back in silence.
Sophia glanced over at Daryl during dinner. He had been moody ever since they went hunting. He barely spoke to her, he ate his dinner before telling her he was going to patrol. " You had better be in bed by the time I get back," was the last thing he said to her before he left.
Daryl felt a stab of guilt as he left the house and started to walk towards the gates. He didn't mean to be grumpy at Sophia-but watching her kill those Walkers reminded of him Carl and that had bought back a lot of bad memories. Sophia reminded him a lot of Carl.
Sophia headed for the attic and began looking through the boxes again until she found what she was looking for. The sheriff's hat, badge and a gun-it was blood stained and not loaded. She found the photograph of the man, woman and boy and pocketed it.
There were a ton of other boxes but she would look through them another night. She hated to admit it, but the hunt wore her out. She left the attic and stored the things she found under her bed. She knew they'd be safe there, her dad didn't snoop through her stuff. Not that she knew of anyway. She climbed into bed, and stuck the photograph in the book she was reading, and promptly fell asleep.
Daryl came back from his patrol and went to check in on Sophia. He peered into her room and saw she was fast asleep. She had fallen asleep with a book on her chest. It slipped to the floor and a photo fell out. He went to pick them up and turned the photograph over. His heart gave a flip.
It was a photo of her late parents and big brother Carl. She's been snooping around the attic, He thought, She knows she's not allowed in there. But Sophia's always been curious. What other stuff did she find? He went down onto his knees and peered under the bed. She had found Carl's hat, his gun and badge. His heart twisted painfully, seeing Carl's things there. He stood up again and left Sophia's room.
Sophia might have found their things, but she doesn't know who they are. Daryl assured himself.
Isn't time she was told the truth? He heard Carol's voice in his head ask him.