Chapter 8


A/N:

I'm really glad that so many of you are enjoying this story. Thanks to everyone who has left a review or made this a favorite or follow (or all of the above!). I really appreciate the feedback. I love the hints and "what ifs" you are also including. A few I already had in my outline, but others have given me food for thought. I have actually changed direction a couple of times which is one reason it took so long for this chapter.

I love how your reviews indicate that you are all interpreting the relationship as you see it. I have tried to leave it up to the reader as to Daryl and Glenn's status (friends or more than friends). Since it can be read different ways, make it whatever makes you happy.

Disclaimer crap: Better late than never (applies retro-actively to entire story): All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot points are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. Blah, blah, blah. Don't own any of them, though I'd love to. Didn't get paid for this, though I'd love to.

Now, on with the story…


HERD

Glenn pushed Sophia down onto the floorboard of the passenger side so she couldn't see.

As they turned the truck toward the house, they saw the barn go up in flames. They saw cars start to move through the mess. They could hear the gunfire. They saw the RV swarmed.

Looking at the scene in front of them, they knew that there was no way they would be able to make it down to the others. They saw several of the cars leaving the farm. They saw Rick and Carl get into one and Shane got into another. The other cars left so they knew that more than just those three were on the move. They lost track after that. They couldn't see anything else. They didn't have a choice. They left too.


DAMAGE

They lost track of the others in the chaos and didn't know where any of them went. Since Daryl's truck was off to the side of the herd, Daryl, Glenn and Sophia got away fairly easily. They pulled far enough out of the way that the herd passed them and they managed to get behind it.

Daryl, Glenn and Sophia ended up sleeping in the truck. The next day they returned to the farm. They approached slowly to make sure the herd had moved on. They didn't see any activity. The farm was abandoned.

They made their way down to check the buildings and were all happy to see that the house was intact. There was a little damage, but it wasn't anything they couldn't handle. They decided to wait and see if the others returned.

They went back outside to investigate the rest of the area. The barn was completely gone. The property was littered with walkers. Glenn and Daryl knew the walkers would have to be dealt with sooner rather than later.

First thing, though, they went back out to their campsite to collect anything that was left. Most of their stuff was still there since they were so far up and out of the way. They brought everything back down to the house. There wasn't much salvageable from the other camp. It was in the direct path of the herd.

They went through the house to inventory what they had on hand. Between what they had at their camp and what they found in the house, they were in pretty good shape for now, especially considering they only had three mouths to feed.

They made sure the house was secure for the night. It had been a long day and they were all tired. They also knew that the coming days would be hard, physically and emotionally. The farm would have to be cleaned up if they were going to stay there.


THE TASK AT HAND

The next day dawned with a false cheerfulness. The bright, clear day belied the horror of what they were about to face. Standing on the porch, the three surveyed the yard.

"Need ta make sure they're gone," Daryl said.

"Yeah, we do," Glenn sighed.

"One at a time, right?" Sophia asked.

"Yep, one at a time," Daryl said. "Quietly. Be careful. Don't let your guard down. Don't want any accidents after we made it this far. We need to concentrate on one section at a time. After we make sure they're dead, we'll clear the bodies."

"Sophia, I think you should stay up here," Glenn said.

"Like, hell!" Sophia replied. "I know you worry about me, and I love you for it, but I need to do this. I need to help."

"OK. You can help with this part, but let us do the clearin' and burnin'," Daryl said. Sophia narrowed her eyes.

"We'll see," she said.

"Let's go," Glenn said. He just wanted to get started. They had a lot of work ahead of them. They could argue about the rest later.

They started working their way through the yard. After a while, Glenn stopped what he was doing.

"Hey, Daryl," Glenn called out.

"Yeah?" he asked, wiping the sweat off his forehead.

"Can you come over here?" Daryl walked over to where Glenn was standing and looked down. They were looking at remains. Not walker remains, human remains.

"Patricia, you think?" Daryl asked.

"That's my guess, based on the blond hair and what I can see of the clothes." Glenn replied.

"What is it?" Sophia called over to them. They didn't want to lie to her.

"Found someone," Daryl told her. "Ain't your mom." They could see the relieved look on her face from where they stood.

"OK," she said.

"You ok to do this?" Glenn asked her. "You don't have to, you know that, right?"

"I can do it," she said. "I'll let you know if I can't." Glenn nodded.

It took them days to clear away the area around the house. They still had a huge amount of work to do, but at least the closest part was done. They only found one other person. Dale. They found him in the RV. His lower leg was mangled. He must have managed to get the door closed right after it happened. Daryl ended up taking care of what needed to be done. They normally wouldn't have kept secrets from Sophia, but that simply wasn't something she needed to know. They told Sophia that they found Dale and he was gone. That was enough. They wrapped him up like they did with Patricia and buried them both.


EMMA

Glenn came out of the kitchen to find Daryl sitting on the couch.

"Can I ask you something?" Glenn asked handing Daryl the cup of coffee in his hand.

"Ya just did," Daryl replied.

"Yeah, Smartass, didn't see that one coming," he said rolling his eyes.

"Go ahead," Daryl said cautiously.

"It's just that I noticed a few things while everyone was still on the farm," he said. "I mean…Carol commented on parenting skills and you seemed to be upset by it. And, like when Sophia said that we should be allowed to take her…" Daryl's face darkened some.

"There a question in there?" he asked shortly.

"I was just wondering, what happened?" Glenn saw the pained look on Daryl's face and tried to backtrack. "I…I'm sorry. You don't have to tell me. I didn't mean to…"

"Nah, 's ok. Didn't mean t'snap at you. Haven't thought about it in a long time. Try not to." Daryl took a deep breath and started his story.

"Was really young when my mom died. Merle's older and already gone. Was 15 when my daddy got Liz pregnant. She wasn't exactly the monogamous type, ya know…fuck it…she was a bar whore, plain and simple. He tried to deny it was his but the test said he was the daddy.

"Had a girl. Liz and Emma moved in. It was a really shitty life for 'em. Not sure why Liz stayed 'cept nowhere else t'go. Neither one of 'em was a good parent. That ain't no surprise. In fact, neither one of 'em's a parent at all. I'm the one that raised that baby – both always too drunk or too stoned to care.

"When she was ten, came home and they was gone. Even though I was 25 by then, never moved out 'cause couldn't leave Emma. Never was able to find out for sure what happened. Asked 'round. Couple'a people said Liz was hanging on some guy for a few weeks. Wanted to search but didn't know how. Sure as hell ain't had no money to hire someone.

"Would'a taken custody if they'd'a let me. They didn't want her, but they didn't want someone else t'have her neither. More like my daughter than my half-sister. If I'd'a known how it would turn out, I'd'a just grabbed her up and taken off. Still feel guilty that I didn't. Probably dead now, or worse." By the time Daryl finished, his eyes were closed. He leaned his head onto the back of the couch.

"I'm really sorry, Daryl. I wish I could say something comforting, but I know there isn't anything I could say to make it better. It explains why you're really great with Sophia. She is really lucky to have you. I'm glad you're here with us."

"Sophia kind'a reminds me of Emma. Probably why I am such sucker. All she has to do is look at me with that sweet face and I'm a goner," he said with a smile. "Sophia was alone and scared, at least she was 'fore we found her," he continued softly. "I wonder if Emma was."

"I hope not," Glenn said. "I really hope she wasn't. Maybe it's fate."

"What is?" Daryl asked, opening his eyes and turning his head toward Glenn.

"You couldn't save Emma in your last life. Maybe you're supposed to save Sophia in this one."


GROWING UP

"Ummm, Daryl? Glenn?" They both look up from their task.

"Yeeeaaah…" Glenn said after seeing the look on Sophia's face. It was the look that said they were probably not going to like what was coming next.

"I have a problem," she says.

"Ok, Honey, what is it?" Daryl asked.

"I, um, started my period." Daryl looked more uncomfortable that she has ever seen him look. He stood up and started shifting his weight back and forth and chewing his thumbnail. Glenn just looked like a deer caught in the headlights. Sophia rolled her eyes.

"Jeez, stop freaking out. I know what's happening. I just need to try and find some…um…stuff."

Glenn let out the breath he didn't realize he was holding and ran his fingers through his hair.

"Uh, sorry, it's just, you know…" Glenn said, his face red.

"Yeah, I do. It's ok," she said laughing.

"I guess we could head back over to the Office Depot," Glenn said to them both. "I think they have that stuff for…you know…like for machines in the…um, women's bathrooms."

"And how would you know?" Daryl asked Glenn with one eyebrow raised.

"Sisters, remember," Glenn said before he could stop himself. Daryl saw the sadness cross Glenn's face and grimaced.

"Sorry. Wasn't thinkin'," Daryl said softly.

"It's ok," Glenn replied. "Let's head out. We might need to go one store further out than we have been. See if we can get more food and stuff, too. We should be able to be back before dark."


NEWCOMERS

Glenn and Sophia could hear the moaning long before they laid eyes on the walkers. It wasn't long before they could see the six walkers gathered underneath a tree looking up into the branches. From where they were, they could see two people in a deer blind.

From the perch, the older of the two saw Glenn and Sophia approaching. Glenn held his finger over his lips to indicate to the man to be quiet. Nearly silently, Sophia and Glenn approached the walkers. They were quickly able to take down all six. Once that was done, the two came down out of the tree.

"Thank you," the man said.

"How long were you up there?" Sophia asked.

"A few days," the other answered. "There were a lot of walkers. We ran and when we got ahead of them, we climbed up there. There wasn't any way we could outrun them all. There were hundreds of them."

"We saw the herd, too. Almost a week ago. They passed through a farm where we were staying," Sophia said.

"Herd? Guess that seems right. We stayed really still and quiet and they passed by. Those six came later," the man said tilting his head down to indicate the bodies on the ground. "We stayed for a while to see if the herd was gone then those six came. I don't know if they were stragglers from the large group or what. I was trying to figure out a way to get down. Even if I could take on all six, I had no way to get down without them grabbing me as soon as I started down. I am so glad you came along when you did. We ran out of water yesterday and we were going to have no choice soon. I thought I'd have to sacrifice myself to get my boy out. I would have done it, but I'm glad it didn't come to that."

"We have a farm not far from here," Glenn said. "You are welcome to come. We have food and water and you can rest. Only thing is, we need you to turn over your weapons for now." The man nodded in agreement.

"We can do that. I figure if you wanted us dead, you wouldn't have bothered to save us."

"I'm Sophia and this is Glenn. Daryl is back at the farm. We should head back there."

"My name's Morgan and this is my son, Duane."


A/N:

Yep, Shane made it off the farm. That can't be good. Right?

As always, I 'd love for you to take a few seconds to leave a review. All reviews are greatly appreciated!