Chapter 7

Daryl woke up when he heard a car, he sighed looking the little girl still snuggling into his side and let a small smile appear on his face. He moved from the bed and tucked her in the covers and then walked out of the RV meeting up with everyone. They left some food and water on a car if Carol comes back and a message telling her to stay there. He felt terrible about doing this but there was no other way. As they finished packing all their things they lined up and followed Shane who knew where to go. Daryl was driving along the RV when he saw Sophia look out of the window. He focused his attention on her and saw the way her face changed. She seemed calm as she looked out but in a moment the calm disappeared and all Daryl could see was fear, anger and sadness. As she stepped away from the window Daryl looked back to the road. His heart went out for the little girl. He knew that she must feel terrible, hell he felt terrible. Leaving like this it's just not right. He should have stayed there, spend the day searching for Carol but he didn't, he followed the group, he decided to get Sophia to safety firstly. He looked around as they arrived to a farm and nodded quite liking the place. He stopped near everyone and watched as everyone walked out except Sophia. He waited a few minutes but she didn't seem to be leaving the RV. He heard that Rick's boy will be fine as he walked towards the RV. Well that's some good news finally, he thought to himself as he opened the door and stepped in. He found Sophia sitting on bed her arms wrapped around her legs her eyes sparkling with tears.

"Sophia." he murmured feeling bad to see her like that.

She looked at him her eyes full of pain, "Daryl."

"Won't you come meet everyone?" he asked not quite sure what to do.

Sophia shook her head, "I don't want to."

Daryl sat down next to her and bit his lip as he put his hand on her back running it back and down, "They seem nice."

She looked at him and shrugged.

"Carl is gonna be okay." he added after a few moments hoping that it will open her any. It was in that moment that he realised how much she really is like him. Building a façade and pushing everyone way, it was exactly what she was doing right now, and it was exactly what he's been doing for years. "Good for him." said Sophia her voice low and slightly cold.

Daryl couldn't let her close off so he did the only thing he could think of. He pulled her in a hug and whispered, "Sophia don't do this. Carol doesn't want you to do this."

He felt how she froze for a moment seemingly ready to push him away but then her small body shook as she started crying. Daryl sighed hating to see her cry but knowing that it's exactly what she needs right now. He started rocking her like a little baby. "We'll get her back you'll see." he kept whispering convincing both her and himself. As she stopped crying he pulled away and looked at her smiling softly, "Better?"

Sophia nodded her cheeks turning red with embarrassment as she saw the wet stains on Daryl's shirt, she looked down as she murmured, "I'm sorry."

"Hey," said Daryl as he put his finger under her chin and made her look at him. "No need to be sorry."

He tapped her nose playfully and got up, "Now I will go look for your momma and you stay safe. Go see Carl you are friends aren't you?"

Sophia nodded and they walked out of the RV together.

"Lori," he said feeling stupid for asking but still feeling like he had to. "Can you watch over Sophia? I will go search for Carol."

Lori smiled at him and nodded, "Of course, she'll be safe here."

"Thank you." he said and looked at Sophia. "You elf don't get in any trouble."

Sophia let out a soft giggle at that, "I told you I'm no elf."

"You are for me." he replied as he walked towards the group with the map of the county. After a talk he decided to look around near the farm, it wasn't that far and she could have wandered here. He was finally left to go alone enjoying the solitude. He could think about all the things he was bombarded with in the last few days. And that is exactly what he did without losing attention on the things around him. He couldn't allow himself to get lost in his thoughts and be attacked by one of the geeks, even worse he couldn't walk by a place where Carol could possibly be hiding. So as he walked on he checked every possible place, he looked into caves, houses, he even looked up trees but there was no trace of Carol anywhere. He was more and more sure that he should do what he was thinking of all along. He should go back to the highway.

"You're such an idiot Daryl." he growled to himself as he walked on the light disappearing from the sky. On the way back he noticed flowers and took one decided to give it to Sophia. He knew that she will be disappointed that he didn't find Carol and he felt terrible about going back once again with nothing to tell but he knew what to do and he will stick to his plan now. He will go back in the morning, swim across the lake and search for her there. As he got back to the farm he noticed everyone was quite comfortable already and was looking around to see Sophia when she ran out of the RV towards him. She seemed sad yes but there was also something else he noticed in her eyes. "You're back." she whispered and hugged him. Daryl was surprised by that but hugged her back ignoring everyone. "Back I am, tomorrow I will go back to the highway and look for her there."

Sophia nodded happy to hear that someone still thought her momma is okay and will be found. She herself was losing hope especially after the day of pitying looks she just had. Daryl took the flower he brought with himself and gave her to Sophia who looked at him surprised, "A flower?"

"It's a Cherokee Rose. The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears, the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow where the mothers' tears fell. But I believe this one bloomed for your momma." he explained hoping that she won't ask too many questions because he wasn't sure how long he will be able to keep his composure. All this shit was killing him and he had to find Carol before he went nuts. He tried at his hardest to be nice towards Sophia and he hoped that he wasn't messing it up too badly, he wasn't used to this. The only person he ever really opened to was Carol and in the end he fucked up badly. He had to make sure that this time it'll be different and he had to bring Carol back.

Sophia looked at the flower in her hand and smiled, "Thank you Daryl, I'm sure momma will love it."

Daryl nodded and rubbed his hand over his face; he didn't really know what to do and was happy when they were all called in for dinner. After it he walked back to the RV with Sophia. Once again he fell asleep with Sophia snuggling against him. As he woke up in the morning he met up with Rick and everyone else who was also planning to go look for Carol. He decided to follow up with his plan so he took one of the horses and went on his way.

Sophia woke up late that day, she looked around the RV and her eyes caught the flower on the table, she smiled and got up. She helped around with the cooking and cleaning some and spent quite some time with Carl but her mind was on her momma and Daryl for the whole day. She was walking towards the RV when she heard Andrea yelling about a walker, she saw all the men getting guns and running across the field. She stood there for a moment but then ran after them. She didn't know why she was doing this but she felt like something was pulling her there. As she got near she realised that it's Daryl. She ran closer hoping that he's not turned. She noticed that he's himself quite quickly and yelled as everyone pointed their guns at him, "It's Daryl!"

They all looked at her and she saw the confused expressions on Daryl's face when he growled at Rick, "That's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna pull the trigger or what?"

Sophia gasped at that and ran forward directly into Daryl who stumbled and they both fell on the floor. At the same moment they all heard a gun shoot and the whooshing sound it made as it flew past the place where Daryl's head used to be.

"I was just kidding." murmured Daryl obviously confused about what's going on. Sophia quickly got up and ran after the men as they half carried Daryl back to the house. She was told she should wait outside while Hershel with look over him. She stood in front of the door for a while her anger building up. After a while she turned around and walked out of the house. She saw Shane and Rick talking and sneaked on them listening in.

"So did you think about it?" she heard Shane say, she didn't like him too much, never did even if he beat up Ed after he hit momma. He seemed crazy and he scared her.

"You are right in many ways but I gotta think on it differently." she heard Rick say. "What if it was Lori? How would I feel if we just stopped searching?"

Sophia started shaking realising Shane is trying to stop searching for her mother.

"Well Lori has you, Carol only has the little girl who will be just fine." said Shane sounding calm.

Sophia stepped forward and slapped Shane, "You bloody bastard!" She yelled making everyone stop what they were doing and watch.

"When she washed your bloody clothes every day and ironed them every morning you weren't complaining were you?" she yelled at him her small face red with anger. She saw Andrea walking towards her and turned to her, "And you! Knowing how to shoot doesn't make you have the right to shot whenever you wanna! You almost killed Daryl today, get a grip!"

Andrea stood there staring at the little girl not quite sure if she knew her.

"What?!" yelled Sophia at everyone who was staring at her and stormed off.

Daryl was in the room getting patched up by Hershel when Rick walked in a weird expression on his face.

"What's up?" asked Daryl hoping it's not more bad news.

Rick looked at him, "Well Sophia just kinda lost it."

"What do you mean?" asked Daryl moving to get up.

Both Rick and Hershel pushed him back down, "She just yelled at Shane and Andrea, well she slapped Shane."

Daryl was staring at Rick for a moment and then growled, "What did the guy do?"

Rick explained what happened to Daryl who got just as angry as Sophia before but was bound to stay in bed. That didn't stop him from promising he'll kick the dude's lying ass. Right then they heard a knock on the door, "Daryl can I come in?"

He recognized Sophia's voice and smiled, "Sure elf, come on in."

The next day was quite uneventful for both Sophia and Daryl. Daryl was still forced on bed rest hating every moment of it except when Sophia joined him and they talked. She told him more about her life and Carol while he told her some stories from his life, luckily he had many. But then in the evening all hell went out, when they found out about the walkers Hershel was keeping in his barn. Daryl didn't care much about that as long as they were safe from them, besides he still had to find Carol and being where he was at the moment didn't point to it happening anytime soon. Sophia tended to sleep with him in bed every night now and he didn't mind the company at all. As he fell asleep he didn't know yet what awaits him.

They all gathered around the barn as Shane got crazy and decided to open the door. Daryl held a gun on the door ready to shoot when they will start coming out after all what else could they do? As they took care of them it all stopped for a moment, they all stood there just waiting for something. That's when he heard groaning coming towards the open, there was another walker coming; he pulled his gun up pointing it towards the target. As the walker stepped out, his hands started shaking and his gun fell on the floor, he crumbled on his knees as he heard Sophia scream, "MOMMA!"

He saw her running forward and pulled her to him. He couldn't believe this was happening, it couldn't be, not Carol, not now, he has to find her and she has to be fine. She can't be one of them, can't. He heard Sophia crying in his arms and he didn't even notice the tears falling down his cheeks. He couldn't accept this, it wasn't real; it couldn't be.

Sophia was woken up by Daryl who was trashing in bed; she gasped and started shaking him calling his name. After a while he woke up with a gasp his eyes full of terror.

"What happened?" she asked trying to keep calm hoping it will calm him too.

Daryl looked around the vision of his dreams still clear in his mind. "Just a dream." he murmured softly. He looked out of the window and saw that it's getting light. He sat up and got up out of bed ignoring the pain in his side, he looked at Sophia who was staring at him slightly afraid and smiled.

"I'm going to get your mother."

Sophia smiled but then looked at him, "Are you feeling okay?"

Daryl nodded and kissed her cheek before he walked to the door, "Don't go looking for any problems you hear me?"

Sophia nodded and snuggled into his pillow, "Come back soon."

Daryl walked out of the house; he took his bow and gun along the way and walked to his motorcycle. Horse didn't work his bike better does. As he drove off towards the highway he finally felt as if he's doing something right.

Thank you for all the wonderful reviews! :D They really make me want to write this story even more :D Now I realized you are all anxious to find Carol so I decided to be nice and made 1 chapter from all I wanted to write before that ;) so hint hint, next chapter... :P I might post it today already but no promises ;) THANK YOU ALL AGAIN! :D

Have a great day! :D