7
Aibileen, Daryl, Andrea, and Carol were all in Dale's RV. Andrea was assembling a gun; Daryl was lying on the ground; Aibileen sat across from Andrea, watching her assemble the gun; and Carol was in the RV's small room, curled up on the bed, crying.
No one uttered a single word. The only noises were from Andrea.
It was long past sundown, and the chilly air had found itself in the RV, but still no one said a single word. It didn't seem like the right time to be starting up conversations.
Aibileen turned to look at Carol. She was trying to stifle her sobs, but it was obvious that she was crying. Her daughter was out there, by herself in the walker infested woods. Aibileen sighed, resting her chin on the palm of her hand. She hoped for the best for Sophia. She hoped that Carol would find happiness again. It wasn't fair to Carol, having to be suffering for so long.
Daryl sat up, grunting as he did so.
Aibileen glanced at him with mild curiosity before looking back at what Andrea was doing.
Daryl stood up and approached the two women, grabbing his crossbow that was sitting beside Aibileen, slinging it over his shoulder.
"I'll need my clip now," he said quietly.
Andrea finished putting together the gun, looking up at Daryl and handing it to him.
"I'm gonna walk the road. Look for the girl," he said. He glanced back at Carol. Aibileen looked back at her, as well; the poor woman looking at the trio for a moment, her crying coming to a stop.
Aibileen turned and watched as Daryl exited the RV. She wanted to stay and comfort Carol, but she also wanted to help Daryl in finding Sophia. Aibileen looked at Andrea.
"Go," she said after a minute. "I'll watch her."
Aibileen nodded her thanks, picking up her machete and exiting the RV.
Daryl hadn't gotten very far; Dale was still perched up at the top of the vehicle, keeping an eye out for walkers or the others.
Aibileen quickly caught up to Daryl, keeping her machete close to her.
"I'm comin', too," she said. The two looked at each other for a moment before Daryl glanced up at Dale.
"I'm gonna go for a walk," he told Dale. "Shine some light in the forest. She's out there, give her somethin' to look at."
"Do you think that's a good idea right now?" Dale asked.
"It'll be fine," Aibileen assured him. "If Sophia sees the light, she might know it's us."
Daryl and Aibileen headed toward the woods, neither of them speaking to each other. Aibileen made sure to stay close enough to Daryl where he might not get worried, but at a fair enough distance to where he wasn't getting uncomfortable.
The two tried their best to find Sophia in the woods. They brought flashlights—Andrea was nice enough to loan hers to Aibileen before she departed—but it was difficult to really see anything.
"Do ya really think y'all will find Sophia?" Aibileen asked.
Daryl glanced at the woman. She stood close enough to him so he wouldn't have to worry, but at a fair enough distance to where he wouldn't be uncomfortable. He didn't really trust Aibileen just yet, despite her efforts to find Sophia and fix Dale's RV. She was sort of quiet, always seeming to be lost in her own thoughts. She did mention the loss of her son, and he figured that maybe the search for Sophia was bringing back memories of her boy, but he tried to push that off. Aibileen was still a stranger, and he couldn't trust her.
"You're gettin' that look on your face. Same as everybody else," he responded.
"Look?" Aibileen glanced at Daryl, almost doubtfully.
"The Hell's wrong with you people?" he said. "We just started looking."
"Ya honestly think I'm givin' up on her?" Aibileen asked. "She has to be out here."
Daryl glanced at her again, not saying anything for a moment.
"I wanna know if ya think she'll be found or not." Aibileen looked at Daryl, her lips pursed in a thin line. "Do ya?"
"It ain't the Mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia," he responded. "She could be holed up in a farmhouse somewhere."
Aibileen rolled her eyes, sighing. She didn't want to believe that she was starting to give up hope on Sophia. The little girl had to be out there somewhere. Maybe holed up in a farmhouse, like Daryl said. She desperately wanted to believe that. Carol needed that hope, someone telling her that Sophia would be found and she would be alive.
"People get lost and they survive," Daryl added. "It happens all the time."
"She's only twelve," Aibileen said dryly, glancing at the redneck.
"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost," Daryl admitted.
Aibileen gave Daryl a look. She wasn't really expecting something so personal coming from him. He didn't seem like the kind of person who would openly admit things to a stranger.
Probably to make the situation less tense, Aibileen thought, uncertain.
"Ya got lost?" she asked.
He shot her a glare.
"Nine days in the woods; eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak." He seemed so casual about it and it made Aibileen wonder why. Were his parents not worried about him? Being lost for nine days in the wilderness?
"They found ya?" she asked uncertainly.
Daryl shot another glare her way. She could tell he seemed a little uncomfortable, talking about things so personal to him, though she wondered how personal that story was for him. From the looks of it, Daryl seemed like the kind of man who kept his fears and anxieties bottled up.
"My ol' man was off on a bender with some waitress," he answered. "Merle was doin' another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back, though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched somethin' awful."
Aibileen looked at Daryl closely. Gone for nine days in the woods with nothing but berries and poison oak...and no one noticed. She felt guilt bubble up in her.
"I'm sorry," she said. "That's a terrible story."
"The only difference is Sophia has people lookin' for her," Daryl said gruffly. "I call that an advantage."
They lapsed into a silence again. Aibileen couldn't help but think over what Daryl had just told her. She didn't think the redneck trusted her enough to tell her something as personal as getting lost in the woods. She remembered hearing Daryl mentioned that guy 'Merle' before, saying the guy was his brother or something.
And Aibileen's curiosity was truly overwhelming her.
"I think I've heard you mention that name before," she said.
"What name?" Daryl asked gruffly.
"Merle?" She gave Daryl a slightly curious look. "I think ya said he's your brother, right?"
Daryl didn't say anything, just kept looking around, a scowl appearing on his face. Aibileen studied his face, wondering what was so bad about asking who Merle was.
"Is he your brother?" she asked.
"So what if he is?" he muttered.
She shrugged. "I'm just curious," she said simply. "You mentioned him before and I got curious, is all."
Daryl grunted in response.
Aibileen frowned. "I didn't mean to offend ya, if that's what I did."
Daryl couldn't quite understand why Aibileen was getting so curious about his brother. He barely knew her, she barely knew him or anyone else in the group. She seemed nice enough, but Merle was family. Family had to stick together.
But people were starting to trust Daryl, only a little, since Merle's absence. Daryl Dixon, searching for the little lost girl. If Merle hadn't been abandoned by that damned cop or by T-Dog, Daryl knew he would've been called all kinds of names for doing what he was doing. Merle didn't like any of the people in the group; he and Daryl were brothers, and that was the only important thing.
Even though he didn't completely trust Aibileen, there was something about her, just the tiniest little thing, that intrigued him.
And that made him frightened and angry.
Daryl was never really good when it came to women. Merle always made a scene when he had found himself in a situation where women were involved, calling him profanities and laughing. Daryl would get embarrassed whenever a woman noticed him, that's what Merle found so entertaining.
Something about Aibileen felt different, though, and he couldn't explain it.
Aibileen and Daryl continued their way through the woods, shining their flashlights on anything they could and trying to be as quiet as possible.
A rustling nearby made them freeze, Daryl aiming his crossbow in that direction; Aibileen having her machete ready for whatever was out there.
They slowly crept over to where the rustling was, Aibileen trailing just a little behind Daryl.
It could be Sophia...It could be Sophia...It could be Sophia...
Aibileen's mind kept repeating that, giving her the teensiest spark that the rustling was Sophia in the underbrush. But the closer the duo got to the noise, the more that spark of hope diminished. The noise was coming from a tent that was perched. Though Aibileen tried to tell herself that Sophia could be in that tent, she found it to be highly unlikely.
"What the Hell?" Daryl exclaimed. Aibileen looked at him for a moment before taking in her surroundings. Aibileen gasped when she saw a walker hanging from a tree branch, still groaning. "Got bit; fever hit; world gone to shit; might as well quit. Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head. Turned himself into a big, swingin' piece of bait. And a mess."
Aibileen saw the walker's legs, looking as if something had ripped off the flesh. She swallowed thickly.
Daryl looked back at Aibileen.
"You alright?" he asked.
Taking a deep breath, she nodded.
"I-I'm fine," she said softly. "Let's just talk about somethin' else for a minute. How'd'ya learn to shoot?"
Aibileen could see the tenseness in Daryl's shoulders. He still wasn't completely comfortable with her, and she understood that, but she figured he'd be a little comfortable with her. She was helping him find Sophia, they were spending some time together looking for her. Aibileen silently begged him to say something and she had a feeing he sensed it.
"Gotta eat," he said gruffly. "That's one thing these walkers and us have in common. I guess it's the closest thing to food since he turned. Look at him. Hangin' up there like a big piñata. The other geeks came and ate the flesh off his legs."
Aibileen closed her eyes, trying to calm herself down. Hearing Daryl talk like that made her restless and she didn't need that kind of feeling at the moment.
"Let's head back," he said.
Aibileen couldn't have been happier to comply.
The two of them didn't speak a word as they headed back to Dale's RV. Aibileen's mind kept going back to the walker hanging from the tree, just dangling there...its legs having been used as food. She shuddered.
Aibileen had encountered some walkers since the outbreak, killed some, too. Ever since Jamie had died, she had become a bit colder. She didn't know if she could handle losing someone close to her again. After her family had been taken down, and losing Jamie right in front of her...it darkened Aibileen's heart. It made her more pessimistic, even though she tried to look more on the bright side of things.
She especially tried to hold optimism for Carol's sake.
The quicker Sophia's found, the quicker I can decide what to do, Aibileen thought. Once she's found, I'll have to decide whether or not I truly want to stay with Rick and his people.
She glanced at Daryl. The short time she spent with the redneck made her a little conflicted. She still felt that little schoolgirl crush, but she wondered if what she was feeling would still be considered a 'schoolgirl crush'.
Daryl was, in a sense, more attractive up close. His scruffiness made butterflies erupt in her belly. Aibileen had found herself with a light blush on her cheeks on occasion, though she prayed Daryl hadn't noticed.
He would've mentioned it if he noticed, Aibileen thought dryly.
She chewed on her bottom lip.
By the time they reached the highway again, Aibileen felt emotionally drained. No conversation flowed between her and Daryl, and she kind of expected that, in a way. He was a closed off individual, and Aibileen felt that the story he told he earlier, of being lost for nine days in the woods, was to help her keep her mind occupied.
As they walked back to Dale's RV, they were met by the older man standing beside his vehicle, watching the two of them closely.
Daryl gave Dale a look before climbing into the RV.
Aibileen gave him a small, sad smile.
