It was sometime mid-day when Rylee woke up. She stretched out and yawned then rubbed her eyes. After laying there a moment, she heard movement outside her tent, so she raised up and unzipped the flap. Once it dropped down, she saw Dean sitting there, going through his bag. "It's 'bout damn time ya got up," he said as he glanced over. "You ain't never slept tha' long. Was 'bout to come in there n' check on ya." Rylee's eyes squinted at the sunlight as she stepped out of her tent and sat next to Dean. It had been a while since she had a good night's worth of sleep. Rylee grew up with insomnia and since medicine was hard to come by these days due to the world ending, she was awake most of the time. Though, she was always tired. She couldn't ever seem to go to sleep or stay asleep for that matter. But even when she did get a chance to rest, she still woke up exhausted. Dean looked over at her, but she didn't say anything to him. "You alright?" he asked. She slightly nodded. "Yeah," she answered softly, but he didn't seem convinced. "Have another bad dream?" he asked her. "No," she said. She could still feel his eyes on her. "Somethin's wrong," he said. "Spit it out." "Don't matter," Rylee sighed. "And why do ya say that?" "Jus' don't," she mumbled. "Aye," he said as he nudged her shoulder. "Talk to me." She looked down at her nails, observing the built up dirt underneath them. She reached over and grabbed a pocket knife out of her tent, flipped it open, and ran the edge under the tip of her nail, scraping the dirt from underneath. "Don't make me beat it outta ya," Dean joked. Rylee stopped and her eyes went to the ground. "Do you…do you think tha' things will ever…y'know…go back to tha way they were?" She turned to him and waited for a response. But then his eyes went to the ground. "Ya want an honest answer?" he asked. She just waited. "No," he finally said. "I don't think they will." Rylee expected that answer. She didn't think so either. "Do ya think there's any hope?" she then asked him. There was a silent moment. "Maybe," he said quietly, almost a whisper. They sat there without saying anything else until Dean finally stood up. "Come on. We need ta head back ta tha house. They're gonna head out and start lookin' for Sophia again." Rylee grabbed his wrist before he could step away from her. "Wait." He looked down at her strangely. "Wha'?" "I told you wha' was botherin' me. Now what's botherin' you." Dean stared at her for a moment, trying to decide if he should tell her or not. The image of Otis collapsing and being hoarded by walkers crept into his mind. "I..." Then the image of Shane's glaring expression flashed in his mind. "Nothin'," he said finally. "Jus'...wish I coulda saved Otis...that's all..." She stood and dusted herself off. There was a sincerity in her eyes as she stared into his. "There wouldn't anything you coulda done." There's a lot I coulda done, he thought to himself, but he just nodded his head. "Guess yer righ'," he said.
Rylee grabbed her bag out of her tent, as did Dean, and they walked through the pasture, eventually making it to the house. They walked up just as Rick came walking through followed by Shane. Dean seemed to hesitate for a moment at the sight of him. "Morning, guys. Let's get goin'. Got a lot of ground to cover." Everyone followed the two and made their way over to the hood of the car where they spread the map out. "Alright, everyone's gettin' new search grids today," he announced. "She made it as far as the farm house Daryl found. She mighta gone farther East." "I'd like to help," a young man, who Rylee found out later was named Jimmy, said as he stepped up. Everyone turned to him. "I know the area pretty well and stuff." "Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked him. "Yeah," the boy said. "Yeah, uh, he said I should ask you." Rick nodded. "Alright, then. Thanks." He turned and looked back to the map before Shane spoke up from inside the car. "Doubt what Daryl found screams 'Sophia' to me. Anyone coulda been held up in that farm house." "Anyone includes her, right?" Andrea said over her shoulder. "Whoever slept in that cupboard wouldn't no bigger than ye high," Daryl informed. Rylee noticed Dean looking over at Shane with a harsh expression. At first, it was as if he and Shane were just both shook up, but now it seemed like there was more to it. There was a tension between them, and it was giving off a negative vibe. "I don't see how it coulda been anybody else," he said, resulting in Shane looking over at him. "Really?" he asked in a tone that dared Dean to say another word. Rylee expected this to turn into a fight, but Rick clears his throat loudy, gaining their attention. "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," he said. "Ain't no maybe 'bout it," Daryl replied. "I'mma borrow a horse, head ta this ridge righ' here, get a bird's eye view of tha whole grid. If she's up 'ere, I'll spot 'er." "Good idea," T-Dog told him. "Maybe you'll see that chupacabra up there, too." "Chupacabra?" Rick asked. Dale had made his way over and sat the bag of guns down on the hood of the car. "You never heard it?" he asked as he opened the bag. "First night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." He handed a gun to Rick as Rylee tried to hold back a laugh, but heard the young boy laugh for her. "Wha' are you brayin' at, jackass?" Daryl sneered at him and that's when Rylee let out a quiet laugh. "So you believe in the blood sucking dog?" Rick asked Daryl. "You believe dead people walking around?" he fired back. He just brushed it off and the boy reached for the gun sitting on the hood of the car. "Hey." Rick stopped him. "Ever fire one before?" "Well, if I'm going out, I want one." Rylee looked at Dean. She didn't exactly trust this kid with them out there. It's not that she thought he was going to hurt someone on purpose, she just didn't think he had enough experience. "Yeah," Daryl said as he threw his crossbow over his shoulder. "People in hell want slurpies." And with that, he walked off.
Once Daryl was gone, Rylee pointed down at the map. "I guess Dean n' I will look around near tha' farm house while Daryl's up on tha ridge, see if we find any tracks." Rick nodded. "Sounds like a good idea," he said. "Ya'll be careful out there. We appreciate the help, we really do." "Yeah. Y'all be careful," Shane told them in an almost sarcastic tone, his eyes looking off ahead of him. Dean seemed slightly uncomfortable, but responded with, "We will." It seemed almost like he was guarding Rylee without trying to make it obvious. She tapped on his arm and he turned to her. Her head nodded back in the direction of the farm house they planned to search. After glancing at Shane one last time, he turned and walked away with Rylee.
They made it to the woods after a while, looking around and staying alert. This wasn't Rylee and Dean's first time doing something like this. But whenn the two were living in the warehouse, Dean's mother had wondered off somewhere in the woods. He tried to go with her, but she insisted on going by herself to see if she could find any sort of food like berries or fruit. He had given her a gun, but it just wasn't enough. She was gone for what seemed like hours. Dean finally broke and went looking for her with Rylee but they didn't really find her…they found her corpse. A walking corpse. His mother had gotten bitten and had already turned by the time the two found her the next day. Dean never cried about it, but it was obvious that it took a toll on him. That's when he reached a dark period. He wouldn't eat, he wouldn't talk, or go out to hunt. Rylee did it instead after he had taught her how before his mother went missing. She had to force him to get something down, or else he probably would've starved to death. She took all the guns and blades with her when she left him alone, and always kept her eyes on him. Dean wouldn't do anything but just sit there with a blank, emotionless expression. It was bad enough he had lost his baby sister to deadlies, but then what was left of his family was gone. But Rylee understood. Her family was gone, too. She couldn't really blame him.
"What ya asked me earlier today," Dean said, breaking the silence that they had been in for a while. "Where did that come from?" "What do ya mean?" Rylee asked as she stopped. He then turned around and faced her. "What got ya thinkin' about that?" Her eyes went to the ground and Daryl's voice rang in her head. He didn't know nothin'. There was a moment of hesitation before she answered. "Jus' somethin' Daryl told me." Dean rolled his eyes and started walking again. "Oh boy, he didn't confess 'is love for ya, did he?" he asked sarcastically. Rylee gave an amused laugh and started forward also. "Yes," she answered. "We're runnin' away together. I hate ta break it to ya. I'm all his now." "I'm so incredibly jealous," Dean joked as he looked around a tree. But then he turned with a concerned look on his face. "Wait, you ain't serious are you?" Rylee laughed again. "Please. Daryl Dixon in love? Do the words 'Daryl' and 'love' even belong in the same sentence together?" Dean turned back the other way and continued looking. "Yeah, I think that question migh' be tha only sentence they do belong in. When did you two talk anyway? I thought ya'll hated each other." He glanced over his shoulder at her, but then knelt down in the grass and looked at the ground. "Went huntin' after you went to sleep. Well, we intended too." "Gave 'im a piece of ass?" he asked. "Damnit, Dean. Let me fuckin' finish." That earned a laugh from him. "Why are you so obsessed with me n' Daryl anyway?" "Well," he said as he stood up. "I just like to see romance blossom in a shit world like this." She raised an eyebrow at him. "Romance?" He shrugged with the stupid grin spread across his face that Rylee hated. She just shook her head. "We didn't hunt. It jus' turned into it bein' lookin' for the girl. But that explosion in Atlanta? He knew about it." This gained Dean's attention. "He was there, matter of fact." "He was there?" Dean asked. "Center of Disease Control. Place blew up. His group was there and they met a scientist." He took a couple steps towards her. "A scientist? Why didn't you say anythin' before? How tha hell did they even get there in tha firs' place?" Rylee shrugged. "I don't know." "Did they cause tha explosion?" he asked and Rylee could tell he was getting a little anxious. She looked away from him and around at the trees. "Don't think so." "So, that scientist, did they find out anythin' from 'im?" he asked her. "No," she responded. He was obviously confused at this point. "Well, why tha fuck not? They're gonna go to a guy at tha fuckin' C.D.C. and not bother to ask him-" "He didn't know anything," she interrupted and he just stopped and looked at her. "They asked, he didn't know." It got silent for a moment. The only sound audible was the chirping of the birds. But Dean turned back to the direction they were walking. "Not a damn thing?" he mumbled over his shoulder. "Not a damn thing," she replied.
They took a few more steps before Dean suddenly stopped and held out his arm in front of her. When she looked up, he pointed ahead. "Right there," he whispered. "By that bush righ' yonder." Rylee looked and saw what he was talking about. It was a rabbit. "Gimme your bow," he demanded in a barely audible voice. "I got it." She lifted her bow and arrow and aimed at the small creature. Suddenly, one of her arrows went straight through it and it fell over onto the ground. Dean stood straight up. "Nice shot, Robin Hood." He made his way over to the rabbit, picked it up, pulled the arrow out of it, and strapped it to his bag. After walking back to Rylee, he handed her the arrow. "Is it gonna bother you?" she asked him. "Nah," he responded. "Don't nothin' like that bother me these days."
There was suddenly a twig snapping somewhere in the woods near them. Dean quickly drew his pistol and aimed it, grabbing Rylee and shoving her behind him. His breath suddenly was heavy and uneven as he slowly looked from left to right. They stood there like that for a few moments until Rylee shoved him arm down. "Whatever it was, it's gone now," she said. Dean waited a moment before lowering his gun, but he still studied the trees around them. "Dean," Rylee said, causing him to snap out of it and glance at her with a strange look on his face. "We're alrigh'," she said to him. He turned back and looked for another moment then just nodded.
They had made it to the farm house, but didn't find anything. The two decided to head back to camp. Once they made it there, they started coming up to the RV but then heard Andrea calling, "Walker! Walker!" They both stopped and looked in the direction she was facing. "Just the one?" Rick asked as he approached. She grabbed a pair of binoculars and looked ahead, then turned to reach for her gun. "I bet I can nail it." "No, no! Andrea put the gun down!" Rick scolded. She lowered it and Shane called, "Andrea, you best let us handle this." "Don't you fire tha' gun," Dean demanded. "Shane, hold up," Rick called. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers." "Somethin's weird about that walker, Rick," Dean said to him. "I don't know wha' it is." "It's a damn walkin' corpse. Everything 'bout it's weird," Rylee said to him. They all made their way over and Dean turned to her. "Stay here."
Everyone rushed out into the field where it was coming out of the woods. They all stopped when they made it over and Rick aimed his pistol. The walker stopped and looked at them strangely. But then Dean realized it wasn't just an ordinary walker. "Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked and Dean took a few steps back. "Third time you pointed tha' thing at ma head," Daryl spat at Rick. They all lowered their weapons as soon as he spoke and Dean let out a sigh of relief. "Ya gonna pull tha trigger or what?" That's when Rick lowered his weapon. But suddenly, there was a gunshot and Daryl fell to the ground. "Shit, Andrea," Dean cursed to himself and they all bolted over to him. "No!" Rick shouted as he turned back. Rick and Shane then leaned down to aid Daryl when he reached up and felt his head. "I was kiddin'," Daryl said weakly as they pulled him up on his feet. He then passed out in Rick and Shane's arms and Dean turned to see Andrea, Rylee, and Dale rush over. "Oh my god," Andrea cried. "Oh my god, is he dead?" "You better fuckin' hope not," Rylee shouted at her from a little further behind. "Unconscious," Rick told him. "Look at him," Glenn said as he pointed to him. "What the hell happened, he-he's wearing ears!" That's when Rylee made her way over with a look of panic on her face. Dean rushed over to her and grabbed her. "He's alrigh', he's alrigh'." "Did he go bat shit crazy out there?" she breathed out. "He's wearin' a damn necklace made outta ears!" Rick then reached over and pulled it off of Daryl. "Let's keep that to ourself," he said as he shoved it into his shirt. "Guys," T-Bone called from behind. They all turned to see him holding up a doll. "Isn't this Sophia's?" he asked. After staring at the doll for a moment, Rick turned back around. "Come on," he said. "We gotta get him to Hershel."
Once they got him back to the house awake and alert, Rick, Shane, and Dean were in the room while Rick asked him about the doll. Hershel was patching him up. "I found it washed up on tha creek bed righ' there," he said as he pointed to the map Rick had spread out on the bed. "She must've dropped it crossin' there somewhere." He then placed the rag he was holding back onto his head wound where Andrea shot him. "That cuts the grid almost in half," Rick said, turning to Shane. "Yeah, you're welcome," Daryl said. "How's he lookin'?" Rick then turned and asked Hershel. "I had no idea we'd be goin' through the anti-biotics so quickly." He then finished and turned to rinse his hands. "Any idea what happened to my horse?" "The one tha' almost killed me?" Daryl asked. "If it was smart, it left the country." "We call that one Nelly," Hershel said as he dried his hands. "As in Nervous Nelly. I could've told ya she'd throw ya if you bothered to ask." He then walked up to Rick and looked him in the eyes. "It's a wonder you people have survived this long." "It's wonder why you always got them damn panties in a knot," Dean mumbled to himself. No one heard this remark except for Daryl who quietly chuckled. "I'm gonna go tell Rylee how he's doin'," he then said aloud. "Why's Rylee give a damn? Figured she's tha one who shot me." Dean laughed. "Actually, it was Andrea." Then he left the room and stepped out into the late afternoon air to find Rylee standing over by the RV looking down with a cigarette between her lips. He saw smoke shoot into the air in front of her and made his way over to her side. "He's alrigh'." Rylee just nodded and took another puff from her cigarette. But then she spoke up. "He awake?" "Yeah," Dean answered softly. "He took an arrow through him. Fell on it." Rylee smiled and shook her head. "So, he made it all tha way back here after hittin' his head, fallin' on an arrow, and gettin' shot, addin' another hit to tha head and he's fine? Damn. He's a badass, I'll give 'im that." Dean nodded. "Yeah, he's pretty tough." Rylee hit her cigarette again. "You ask him about tha doll?" "Yeah, Rick asked him. He found it by tha creek. He didn't find tha girl." "Thank God he didn't find 'er dead or somethin'," she sighed. "At least that narrows down the area, though." They both looked out over the same field that Daryl had walked out into, but then Dean looked over when Andrea approached. "Uh oh," Rylee mumbled, then turned to Dean. "Imma go somewhere else." And with that, she walked off, but Andrea had made her way over to Dean. She folded her arms and leaned up against the RV next to him. He didn't particularly like her presence. Dean never cared much for her kind, but he tried his best not to tell her to beat it. "I can't believe I shot him," she said. "I told ya not ta shoot," Dean replied with a sort of harsh tone. Andrea looked at him strangely. "I thought it was a walker, okay?" "Either way," Dean said. "Ya didn't do wha' you was told. We almost lost a life in tha process." She gave a defeated sigh and looked up at the clouds. "Rylee's probably mad at me to, isn't she?" "She ain't exactly mad. Jus' got a grudge against ya," Dean said. There was a moment, then he could feel Andrea looking at him. "You do too, don't you?" she asked.
He hesitated. He realized he was being childish and immature, but Andrea was childish and immature also. However, his mother always told him to not fight fire with fire, so he looked at her. "Nah," he said. "Jus' be more careful, alrigh'? We're a group. We work together. Start doin' wha' yer told." She nodded and Dean turned, heading off towards camp where Rylee went.
