Disclaimer: I do not own these three wonderful characters. Also I borrowed some quotes from the youtube video Marcel the Shell with two shoes on 2. Its adorable for those who haven't seen it, go watch it after you read this.

As all roads were now, this one was packed with vehicles. Bodies, decaying bodies in some, others were lying right out in the road. There was little left of those ones. He stepped over an outstretched skeleton, its jaw unhinged with its eternal last scream.

Using the parental wisdom of deer, Daryl carried on alone. Like the game animal, his senses were heightened in the waning dusk, on alert for any predators. However hunted he may be, Daryl was no game animal.

It appeared from nowhere; a gaping, bloody socket where one eye use to be. The one remaining yellow eye locked on to him with the only spark it could display; hunger.

Daryl's pace had definitely quickened. Losing a bit of caution to anxiety, just a tad.

One had turned in to two, two to five. The walkers sprouted up for every possible place. Those were just the ones he could see. Fingers curled the back of his collar, instantly he pulled out of them, right into the reaching hands of another walker. This one was strong and wasted no time. Its teeth sunk into his collarbone, stripping the tendons off the bones like a chicken wing.

Carl jolted awake. The back of his neck was damp with sweat, but intact.

They didn't get a break from the heat, as the back of the ambulance was stifling. But it was enough to put their feet, and not have to worry about what could be around every single corner. The warmth and security had weighed heavy on their eyes and within minutes of stretching out on the gurney, they had both fallen asleep.

Carl's jarring movement woke up Sophia nestled beside him.

"Have another nightmare?" she murmured.

He had told her all about the nightmares he had been having lately. They told each other everything.

"Yeah"

Sophia could see the pained light in his eyes as Carl tried to push the reverberating images of the walkers from his mind. Walkers, always about walkers.

"Daryl may have run into our parents. You said so yourself that they'd be looking all over for us and if we're on the same road as them, it's possible that we could be home for dinner." Sophia sat up and put her arms around him.

Carl looked over at her with an eyebrow raised.

"Well a late dinner." She added, much to her delight, Carl smiled a little. "For now, we're safe in here. Nothing can get us."

Her fingers ran through his hair over and over again and even though his head was ill supported by her Sophia's shoulder, the scalp massage just about put Carl back to sleep. On her immobile hand, a splotch of red as vibrant as the blood in his nightmare caught his eye.

"What happened?" Carl grabbed her by the wrist and turned it slightly to see it. Right under her pinkie finger, there was bump, like bad bug bite.

"I got stung"

"You should tell Daryl when he gets back"

"Why? He can't do anything. It'll get better on its own."

"How do you know he can't do anything? Doesn't it hurt?"

He knew that Sophia was afraid of Daryl and would be steering clear of him as best she could. But if she was hurt, and that welt definitely looked like it did, she was going to push past those feelings before it got worse.

"Yeah it hurts. But you can't do anything about it. I've been stung lot's before. The swelling just takes a while to go down is all."

"I've never been stung before. Is it like gettin' bit by a horsefly?"

"Sorta. That burning feeling lasts longer."

"Would putting a band aid on it help?" Carl glanced over the thousands of compartments.

"Maybe. It would keep everything from touching it"

They rummaged around the drawers and shelves, finding more than enough band-aids in all shapes and sizes. Beside the ordinary ones, there were teeny round ones, some larger flexible rectangular ones, (those ones were perfect for the side of her hand) and huge ones. Sophia found it a little chilling; it was sort of like a hospital but her curiosity got the better of her and she kept poking around with Carl. They didn't know what over half of the stuff was for.

"Take a deep breath" Sophia held a stethoscope up to his chest, "I don't hear it. Are you vampire?"

Carl fought a smile back and nodded.

He held an eye looky thing up to her eye while he peered in the larger end. Through it he could every single detail of her eye, millions of little threads all interwoven. His finger hit the button for the light

"I was attacked." Said Sophia, blinking in response to the sudden light.

"By what?"

"By a dog, it was huge."

"Did it walk on two legs?" Carl asked, putting on a feigned expression of alarm.

"Yes it did," answered Sophia, with her own fake how-did-you-know look that could've been taken straight out of a Days Of Our Lives.

Carl eased her down on the stretcher. Her arm was so thin that he had to wrap the huge band-aid around a couple of times to make it stay on. He grabbed oxygen mask and secured the elastic band around the back of her head.

"You were attacked by a werewolf. Your heart is going to grow and will need more air then you can breath in," he explained.

Imaginative Carl sat down in the drivers seat. He found a paramedics vest hanging on the back, he put it on and then he "drove" to the hospital. He didn't touch any of the buttons or switches in case there was still power and he set off the siren. As fun as that would be, it would attract walkers.

Sophia joined him up front after a while, the plastic smell of the oxygen mask began to have a huge . The waning light from the windshield view put an end to their lighthearted play. The big what ifs started to form again.

Wordlessly Carl retrieved the backpack from the back and brought it up to the front.

"Snack time," he threw a plastic bag of assorted five cent candies in her lap.

Sophia's surprised smile developed into a smirk. She pulled out four packets of fun dip from her pockets.

"We'll have to keep this a secret or we'll only be able to allowed to eat half." Carl tucked two of them in to the well-hidden pouch. "I don't think that he has any experience with this kind of stuff"

"Ya think," Sophia agreed.

"Do you think there are doctors and scientist out there somewhere working on a cure?' Sophia asked.

"I don't know. Probably."

"Do you think there could be a cure to turn them back? Like Starbucks and Seamus, do you think they could go back to normal?"

"No. They're dead. Nothing can fix them"

She felt her stomach drop. Sophia couldn't fully explain why but this morning when she took a last look at the two walkers moaning and groaning behind the fence because they could do nothing else; could not speak or think. She looked into their dead eyes and she didn't feel afraid of them, they were too sad to fear. Sophia only felt sorry for them.

"You said your dad was dead." She weakly countered.

" That was different. He wasn't really dead."

The latch on the back door gave a very loud click. Neither of them ever thought they would be so happy to see Daryl Dixon.

"There's a um IKEA down the ways. It's a bit far but it's the safest bet."

The gauze on Sophia's arm did not go unnoticed, without considering how she might feel about it Daryl grabbed her arm. Sophia didn't jerk away, she did move her hand behind her back in case he noticed the other bandage. Carl noticed the action. He gave her a disapproving look. Sophia responded with a don't say a word stare. Carl did not get it, because in Carl's world he could trust adults.

"What happened here?" asked Daryl:

"She got bit - " Daryl stopped listening to Carl for a second as that first part echoed, thankfully Carl finished the sentence with "- by a werewolf"

Daryl let her go with roll of his eyes.

Either their little power nap had gone a long way or Daryl had slowed dramatically. The latter was looking for to be the case as not even five meters Daryl was the one to fall behind. Carl had taken up the slack and was keeping a sharp eye out for anything, the fact that it was now dark made all the more necessary but way harder.

" How much further?" Asked Carl. They actually stopped to let him catch up.

" Not much. " He panted. "See that intersection with the downed lights, its just 'round that corner. "

As Carl now had their target he was moving faster, he wanted to get off the street ASAP. Sophia wanted to get off the street just as bad, but as it wasn't long before they were ahead of Daryl again, her pace had slowed as she was always looking over shoulder. More than a few times she caught sight of Daryl doubled over. This was not good.

"Ah geez. I gotta sit…sit down – for a minute," Daryl eased himself down slowly. His head was spinning; the last few steps nearly landed him facedown on the asphalt.

Carl continued to be the lookout; he dug a flashlight out of the backpack. He didn't turn it on but had his finger on the switch, ready to throw light on anything that moved. Sophia sat down near Daryl or as near she dared.

This had moved beyond not good. This was bad. While Daryl may not have much experience as Carl put it, he sure could protect them. In his current state, he could hardly lift the crossbow; his face was red, he sounded like he was about to have a heart attack and he was clutching his side.

"Just a damn stitch" he told Sophia who was trying to look under his hand for a bloodstain.

Sophia was starting to see what the problem was. They had had a break. He hadn't.

He didn't notice her leave his side so also he didn't notice when she returned.

"Um Daryl," she said meekly to get his attention.

He raised his head and opened his eyes, he was staring straight at a bottle of Gatorade.

"Here. You should drink something."

The fluorescent green liquid rippled as Daryl's hand was shaking when he took it. This might just be very bad.

It felt like the elixir of life going down his throat. The dizziness, the stitch, and the rapid breathing, he was wreck. Now guzzling down the juice, he now knew why he was such a wreck. Daryl was dehydrated.

This was unlike him. Daryl had always been able to take care of himself, been doing it since he could walk. He had been so preoccupied with looking after these two that he hadn't been thinking about himself. Now look at what was happening; they were taking care of him. It was time to pull his head out of his ass. No more running unnecessary risks and no more ignoring his needs.

"Thanks, Sophia" his breathing was less labored, "what about you? How ya doing?"

" I'm good."

"How 'bout him?" He nodded towards the on guard Carl.

"He's good too."

"Well that's somethin', ain't it?"

After everything that they had been through, who would've had money that he'd be the one to near pass out?

There had only been one walker when Daryl checked out the building before, he hadn't done a thorough check, which now he regretted. There was no way they would be that lucky. As the two flashlights moved slowly around the perimeter, it appeared that they were that lucky.

"I think I got lost in IKEA once" said Carl.

"I got lost in a Wal-Mart" inputted Sophia

" So should I be putting you both on leashes?" asked Daryl.

"Didn't you ever get lost when you were a kid?" asked Carl.

"Yeah, more than a few times. But in the woods, not in store."

Daryl nudged the swinging door to backroom, open with his foot and shone the light through the crack, nothing, except a soft red glow. It was shock to see light that wasn't coming from flashlights. He hadn't planned to go in if there was nothing but Daryl had to see where the light was coming from.

It was from an exit sign. The door it was referring to was jammed open by an arm. Carl fixed his flashlight on the door as Daryl pushed open the door and grabbed the arm, holding his knife in his other hand prepared to deal with what the arm was attached to.

Turns out the arm wasn't attached to anything, it flipped out the door extremely easily. There was nothing out there at all.

"C'mere," he waved them over, neither wanted to go but they peeked out the door. "Remember this. If something happens, and we get separated, y'all come out this way, and hid over in that car wash. But only if you can, if you think that'll get you cornered go somewhere nearby and I'll come find ya"

As frightening as thinking about walkers swarming them for the third time was, it reassuring to have an escape plan for once.

The investigation of how there was still a light on led him to a fuse box.

"Anything?" Daryl flipped one of the switches.

"Nope" Carl answered.

"How 'bout now?" he move to the switch above it.

"Nope."

The next one

"Nope"

The next one

"Nope"

The next, next, and the next one. Then Carl change his tune:

" Yeah"

It wasn't much. The few lights that weren't burnt out were dim but it was way better than no light at all. Still they used the flashlights to continue scoping out the rest of the store.

The front of the store was the worry. There was not a way to board up all the glass. What they could do was make sure they heard if any walkers came in.

They, or rather Daryl moved shopping carts along the windows and doors, Sophia and Carl were having a shopping cart derby. The crack of the carts when bashed into each other was a guarantee if anything came in, they would know.

With the place secure as could be. The item on the agenda was to get them something to eat. The IKEA had a real kitchen where they used to serve food for the hungry shoppers that were forced to walk through the labyrinth. The problem was not that there was no power in that kitchen. It was the smell. Daryl looked in there briefly, very briefly. Whatever was in there had been very dead for a good long while.

" 'Kay, we'll just make a fire out here and cook up some rice." He said.

Before they could ask how. Daryl smashed a little wooden table on the floor and put the pieces in a trashcan. The finish on the wood wouldn't let it burn worth a crap.

"Hey Carl, I need the back pack."

They may not have lighter fluid, but he had something that'd work. He poured a capful of the whiskey on to the wood. They were captivated by his resourcefulness. Carl was a little too captivated, Daryl moved him back before he dropped the match in or Carl would've lost his eyebrows.

If soup cooked on the barbeque was Australian soup, than rice cooked over a trashcan was hobo rice or so Carl and Sophia decided.

"Where do you want to eat Sophia? " asked Carl, looking around at a thousand different tables.

"Can I see the flashlight?" she asked.

Carl threw her his flash light, she caught it with her injured hand and winced. Sophia wandered around the mock dining room displays.

"Would you just tell him?" whispered Carl.

" No." she answered stubbornly.

By the time the rice was ready, Sophia had picked a modern themed dining area. The table was already set with plates that matched the décor. They did find some candles in a cabinet. They put them in first pouch of the backpack didn't need them any on the table when Sophia had set the flashlight in the chandler.

"We got to say grace," Carl said before they so much as picked up a fork, knowing Daryl and Sophia had forgotten. "Bless us, oh Lord, and these thy gifts which we are about to receive from thy bounty, through Christ, our Lord. Amen."

" Amen" repeated Sophia.

"Amen. I think my Gran use to say that one." Said Daryl.

"Was she Christian?" Carl asked.

"Yup, well Pentecostal."

"Don't they believe that world is going to end?" Asked Sophia, the name sounded familiar.

" Not sure if they all do but she certainly did. I got the whole hell fire rapture spiel a thousand times. My Gran was completely insane, she had dementia and also thought the Cold War was still on. Every time she babysat me, I ended up gettin' locked in her basement 'cause she thought the Soviets were attacking. "

They both giggled in between mouthfuls of rice.

"Sure, its funny when you're not the one spending a whole Saturday afternoon in a basement."

Don't they believe the world is going to end?

The habitual future tense of Sophia's question stayed after the conversation ended. Every one of them was thinking it but no one said it but; hadn't the world ended? Weren't the walkers a metaphorical hell fires that were ravaging everything?

The damper to the mood did not affect anyone's appetite as they ended up tying into another pack of rice.

"Sophia got stung by a bee," Carl blurted, seeing her pained expression as she put down her fork, which was then replaced with a relatively nasty look. Daryl just about asked why didn't you say something. But quickly remembered that he had sort of yelled at her.

"Well now I feel like a jerk." He muttered instead.

Sophia's face basically said yeah you should.

" There ain't much I can do about it –"

Sophia threw a severe told-you-so look at Carl.

"- But can I take a look?" Daryl asked her.

She was afraid he was going to say that. Sophia gave him a wary look before peeling the band-aid back.

"Right there," she pointed needlessly to the large, red bump.

"Have you ever been stung before?" Daryl leaned forward.

"She's been stung lots," Carl answered for her, slightly snarky.

"What're you doing to piss off bees?" asked Daryl.

"I'm not. Their evil" Sophia answered.

He took the flashlight out the chandler and held it closer to her hand. In the side of the welt there was a fleck of black, the whole reason that he had wanted to look in the first place.

"The stinger's still in there. Once I get it out, this mess will start going down. Carl, can you hold the flashlight?"

Carl took the flashlight, happy to be able to help with something.

Daryl rested Sophia's hand in his. Sophia didn't normally have cold hands but Daryl's hand was so warm that hers seemed cold.

Having been in her hand for awhile, the stinger was deeply embedded. Despite how hard he pinched her, Sophia sat perfectly still. She did whimper when he got carried away and forgot that there was a person attached to this hand.

"Sorry, it's almost out," lied Daryl.

He had taken away some skin but was not closer to the stinger. He needed a sharp tip to nudge the end up so more so he could get a grasp on the end sticking out. Daryl reached for his bowie knife.

Hold up there Rambo. You want to take an eight-inch, bone-sawing knife to this little girl's hand? He thought.

He went back to trying to pinch it out.

"Got 'er" He finally pulled out the stinger.

"Thanks," said Sophia.

Daryl simply nodded.

She went to put the old band-aid back on, Carl passed her a new one. Even though he told Daryl, it was all over now, no hard feelings.

The bedroom section was all the way at the back of the store. It had been tempting to just crash on the couches in living room section when they passed by. Once they made it there, the journey was worth it once he was able to un-shouldered the crossbow and lie on the first bed he saw.

The beds were spaced exactly like a hotel room, only there was way more beds. Being kids, Carl and Sophia absolutely had to jump from bed to bed.

Thunk

Giggling.

Thunk

More giggling,

"What are you doing?" asked Daryl.

"Nothing" said Carl.

"Don't sound like nothin', now settle down and go to sleep."

Shouldn't they be as tired as he was?

Thunk.

Sophia leapt over on to the bed adjacent from where she had been. She wasn't going to be over there by herself.

" 'ey, what did I just say?"

"You know what I use for a bed?" Sophia said, or at least he guessed it was Sophia. She was using a light, raspy voice in place of her normal one for some reason or another.

"What?"

"A piece of bread"

Carl laughed.

"I went to a hotel once and guess what the bed was made out of? A muffin"

"Was it a fancy hotel?" asked Carl.

"Yeah but we split the cost of the room and we actually slept eight to the muffin"

Dear lord, were they smokin' something when I had my back turned Daryl thought. He knew that they didn't exactly speak the same language but he had no clue what language they were speaking.

"Sssssshh." Interrupted Daryl.

"Yeah Sophia ssssshhhhh"

"Carl," he said tiredly. " I'm gonna get real unpleasant, real fast."

"You're unpleasant now," Carl whispered.

Sophia choked back her laughter. Thankfully Daryl did not hear that. He did hear Carl jump to another bed.

"I got a question for ya. Do you know how you get chickens to calm down?"

"How?"

"You string up by their feet. Don't tempt me to see if that works on children."

"Hey, Sophia, guess what?"

"What?" Her voice had gotten stuck in Marcel the Shell.

"Chicken butt."

Well that threat failed miserably as they both burst out laughing.

"Go to sleep or I'm gonna separate you, " Daryl threatened.

Normally he meant every threat he made. That one was completely empty. For one the bed was way too comfortable, he couldn't get up to carry out the threat. Secondly he didn't have the heart to separate them. They had been through enough and he knew that they were of way more comfort to each other than he could be.

They wouldn't know that it was empty threat though.

They were so full of energy that lying still was painful. Carl dropped down on the far side of the bed; Sophia crawled down at bottom of hers and joined him on the floor. Thus a new game spawned out of the necessity to be silent, they'd sneak around the area and see how far they could get. If Daryl yelled at you, you had to go back to the start.

Round one ended in a tie when they bonked heads in the dark and in their hyper state couldn't help but laugh.

Round two began right after.

Sophia had snuck down about three beds. Carl went the opposite way. He crawled right under Daryl's bed,

"What the hell are ya doing?"

"I was checking under the beds for monsters," answered Carl. "It's all clear."

"Good to know." Daryl said into the pillow.

Round three was a quick round that ended when Sophia bumped into a nightstand and its legs made a grating noise on the tile floor.

"Get" Daryl snapped his fingers and pointed at one of beds.

By round four, they were out of the junior league and had reached a professional sneaking level.

Not really. Contrary to popular belief, Carl and Sophia were not as quiet as they thought they were being, nowhere near it. Daryl was completely aware that they were still running around, i.e. not listening. Let them tire themselves out.

Since he was ignoring them or to them he was asleep. They grew a little bolder and ventured a ways a way. There was less noise now but he couldn't sleep with them that far away. Despite protest from his back, Daryl got up.

Fine, if they wanted to play games, he'd play games.

Authors Note: How many of you did I freak out at the beginning? (To those who are still reading this and didn't close the page when you thought I killed Daryl)

Thank you guys for reviewing: Melissa, Missy92, basserandstuff, but-the-clouds, Lenora, doglver228, elfgurl1404, Jay.

I got a bit of favor to ask you. After hearing that I wasn't the only crying, I became real curious about episodes that didn't make us cry. I really really want to know what is your favorite episode of The Walking Dead (ok maybe it did make you cry). So go to my profile by clicking on Delta 9 up by the picture of comic Sophia and vote for your favorite. Mine is Vatos

Sophia feeling sorry for some walkers, true story actually. I've been reading the comics and in #4(that's how far I am so I can't discuss much) Sophia and Carl are looking out at some walkers and Sophia says she feels sorry for them.