"Up." A gruff voice said, over the sound of finger snapping in their ears. "C'mon, get up."

They were robbed of their blankets. Carl groaned in protest and reached around blindly for the blanket. Sophia was unfazed by the theft as she had herself cocooned in another one, which Daryl could not pry out of her hands. She was not immune to the shoulder rocking and prodding. Each one let out a very unhappy moan when their just opened eyes were hit with a full beam of light.

"You want ta find yer parents or don't ya?"

"Five more minutes" mumbled Carl.

"We've lost two hours a daylight already. Up."

There was more poking, shaking and other annoying things keeping them from going back to sleep. (Payback's a bitch.) Eventually they became accustomed to it and started tuning him out.

"Aight, I warned ya." Neither one remembered hearing a warning. Must have got drowned out by all the finger snapping. What was left for him to do that he hadn't done already?

Pain flared up as Daryl pinched the top of their ears.

"Ow, ow ow." They both cried.

"I'll stop when ya'll get up"

The kids pushed themselves up pretty quickly. As promised he let them go, the pain subsided, leaving heat in its place. Daryl threw back the blanket roof as he got on his feet. Something popped in his shoulder when he stretched. It wasn't due to sleeping on the floor as it was due to crashing into it.

Splatters of bloodstains on the floor were about as subtle as a horror movie.

"Daryl," cried Carl in alarm" Daryl. Sophia's hurt."

"Shit!" He dropped back down on his knees, pretending to be shocked. "Lemme see."

Carl crawled over next to them. His heart jumping irregularly as he watched Daryl look over his best friend, expecting to see a big chunk missing from her at any moment.

"Geezus, that a bite?" Daryl was looking at the palm of her hand where a good amount of blood had stained.

To Carl's imaginative, terrified mind the red-dyed band-aid gave the illusion of some sort of skin disfigurement.

Sophia still dopey with sleep, took her hand back from Daryl to rub her nose, it was sticky from the caked on blood.

"I just hadda nosebleed, 'member?" Sophia said with a yawn.

Just had a nosebleed and just shaved two years off my life. Daryl thought.

"That wasn't funny," Carl pretty well snarled.

The dirty look he received from Carl was even more potent than the two he'd gotten from Sophia combined, getting a way from name calling and saying more to the effect; I would hit you if I thought I could get a way with it!

"No it wasn't," agreed Daryl, "but neither is havin' grey hair, which I do now. I'd say we're square."

"How do you know that, can you see the top of your head?" Carl argued, still looking pretty angry with him

" Head's not the only place you grow hair, kid. " Daryl chuckled, adding without thinking, "Its in my treasure trail."

The simultaneous tilt of their heads and drawing down of their eyebrows told Daryl that they did not what a treasure trail was. He missed talking to adults.

"Forget it. " Daryl cut them off before they could even ask. "Come on, on your feet, soup's getting cold."

It was a quiet breakfast with Carl still angry with him for scaring him and Sophia sleeping with her eyes open. Getting up with the birds was bred right in Daryl. He had woken up a while before he decided to wake Carl and Sophia. After going out the back exit to see if the sun was up, and plan their route, he made heated up another can of vegetable soup, since Carl didn't like cream of mushroom and it would stick with them for a while, give them energy.

The whole nosebleed ordeal with Sophia had strangely given him some much-needed confidence. Without any prior experience, he had taken care of her, comforted her when she was scared. Somewhere deep down Daryl had some paternal instinct.

They were all fed and watered, had enough supplies to last them a little while. He was going to keep an eye on Sophia, make sure he didn't run her too hard in case she was still woozy. The crossbow was locked and loaded, slung across his back. They were ready to – and he wasn't wearing shoes.

They didn't need to go as far as the bedroom section to retrieve them. A dirty work boot was sitting up on the top shelf of a bookcase, it was his dirty work boot to be exact.

How – Daryl began to question, but just as quickly figured it was his pint sized companions were responsible.

"Why would you put your shoe all the way up there?" asked Carl innocently.

He had to reach up to his arm's full length and even then his fingertips barely managed to snag it.

"Where's the other one, urchins?"

"Urchins?" Sophia questioned.

"Yeah, 'cause y'know who steals shoes? Street urchins."

" Tell us what a treasure trail is," bargained Carl.

The office section alone had too many hiding spots for a boot and he didn't have the time to look in half of them, they really needed to get going.

"It's the hair that runs down from your belly button into your pants," Daryl explained, hoping they would not question why it was called that.

"Hmmm did not know that had a name," said Carl thoughtfully.

"Yeah, your mom will be thrilled. Now, where's the other one?"

"I don't know" Sophia never told Carl where she had hidden it. They had sort of forgot about it until now.

"I do." Sophia piped up, before Carl got hit. "You're getting warmer,"

"Seriously?" Daryl said unimpressed. "Sophia, just tell me where it is"

"It went that a way." She leading them into the living room

"It?" Daryl raised his eyebrows.

"Yep. They woke me up with all their clunking about and I saw them run out of the fort. They are not sneaky boots. So I said Daryl's boots you get back here right now or he's gonna be real unpleasant but they didn't listen." Lied Sophia.

"Yeah sure. Replace boots with Carl and Sophia and you have the true story."

Carl could not hold back his laughter anymore and it broke out in to little sniggers.

They didn't know when or why tormenting Daryl had become so much fun.

"Brats, both of you. God damn brats" Daryl muttered.

Probably because of those kind of reactions.

"Thought we were urchins."

Oh I have plenty of names for you right now. Daryl thought, but he was really going to watch his mouth around them because it turns out children were a lot like parrots. The only time they listened was when he said things they shouldn't hear.

" Warmer," he kept on in that path because the only way to get his boot back was to play along.

" Warmer, warmer. Cold."

Daryl backed stepped about two.

"Hot."

He looked under the couch and coffee table. Nothing.

"Warm," his proximity level to his missing shoe was downgraded as he moved away from couch.

Daryl flipped up the couch cushions, it was pretty clear before it wasn't in there, now he knew for sure it wasn't. Why couldn't anything be simple with these two?

"You're really close," Sophia encouraged him.

He stopped looking for his boot and looked at them. They were glancing a lot at a lamp, he flipped the lampshade off, or rather they had been glancing at his boot with a lampshade on top of it. "Real cute."

"When ya'll need a break, speak up. I promise I won't get mad, though you might have to remind me I said I wouldn't" said Daryl finishing tying his shoes.

The sky was completely clear, so was the lot behind the store. Daryl went out first.

The kids hung back in the doorway, scared. Seeing them that way, after they had been so playful and happy, made Daryl have serious second thoughts about taking them out on the road. Could they all just stay here?

An' what? Play hide and seek all day? He mocked himself, grow a pair or you'll be taking care of these two forever.

They were close; they had to be close to the rest of the group. They wouldn't have gone far, not with these two missing. They would run into them today, had to, but not if they stayed here.

"Let's head 'er.

Voices.

Somewhere in the near distance, they could hear voices. A sound they had not heard in such a long time, they had almost did not recognize it for what it was.

It gave them the strength to get up.

Voices.

The hunt was on.

They cut across a field to get back to their original street. The grass had grown wild, the long stalks rustling as they passed through. The trios trampling feet stirred up, grasshoppers that jumped away with a nosy clatter of their wings.

Carl allowed himself to fall further behind as he stopped to look one of the pests hugging the top of a stem that bowed slightly under its weight. He reached out slowly. Before he could close his cupped hand under it, it flew away.

He started cutting his own path. More grasshoppers scattered around him. Daryl looked over his shoulder once to see Carl zigzagged after them. Sophia was carefully stepping through the grass behind him, also keeping a eye on Carl.

One jumped right in front of his foot. Carl pounced on it.

"I caught one." He announced triumphantly.

The grasshopper crawled around, tickling his palm with its sticky feet.

" Want to see it?" Carl peeked in between his hand. Black little eyes looked back at him, he could see its little mouth moving away "Its kinda cute."

"No its not. It's a bug," said Sophia.

"C'mon just look." Carl came closer to her with the grasshopper.

There was a small wicked smile on his face, which any girl knew from the schoolyard. Sophia ran up next to Daryl.

" Hi." She greeted, when he looked over at her.

"Hi?" Daryl returned the greeting, unsure of where that came from.

Carl caught up to them. Sophia ran away from him, putting Daryl in between them. He had protected her from everything else.

"Stop bein' such a scaredy cat," taunted Carl. He followed after her.

Sophia ran back on the other side of Daryl. Carl went after her

"Whatcha got?" asked Daryl.

" A nasty ass grasshopper," answered Sophia.

Not many people would believe Sophia had bit of a mouth on her because she only swore when there weren't any adults around. Carl had her swear before, Daryl was more than a little surprised.

Carl continued to chase Sophia around the field.

"Leave her be." Daryl grabbed the back of Carl's collar on the next pass by.

"Do you want to see it?"

Daryl had seen plenty of grasshoppers in his lifetime, but he could tell Carl wanted him to see this one and he may be more inclined to stop bugging Sophia if someone looked.

"Did ya name it?" asked Daryl, thinking of Seamus the walker.

" Nope. hhhmmm, what's a good name for a bug?"

No one had an answer. Carl already had a name picked out.

"Daryl's a pretty good name for a bug." He teased.

"Awe, you named it after me. I'm flattered."

Carl continued carrying the grasshopper. Every so often, stopping to sneak a peek. It kept him preoccupied though slowing him down, Daryl didn't say anything so he was keeping up enough. He could study every detail of its whole scaly body. Carl had caught grasshoppers before, this one's famous back legs had a yellow stripe on it that he hadn't seen before. They came to the end of the field, Carl crouched down and opened his hand. Daryl the grasshopper turned but it didn't hop away.

"Daryl, go home."

"What?" The real Daryl asked, Carl was still trying to shake the stubborn bug off.

"Oh him. He's not gonna listen. That's what you get for naming it Daryl. "

Even though they had been there once before, the street looked like a unfamiliar territory in the light.

Sophia climbed up on a concrete barrier and walked along the top of the row, helping keep her balance by holding her arms out. She minded the placement of her feet but did not look down at them. The trick was to look straight ahead. She remembered hot afternoons of doing this back in her hometown and with the sun in her eyes, she could pretend she was there.

"Maybe you should get down," commented Carl, after she faltered a bit.

Sophia kept on, she liked it up there. There was a gap that was bigger than the previous ones she had stepped over. She measured it up several times, looking to the from end to end.

Daryl held out his hand to her. When Sophia finally noticed it, she gave him the biggest smile. She grabbed his hand and with the strong support was able to step over to the next block.

They wandered through the streets.

As the voices became louder, they caught their games scent. It was faint amongst the smell of gasoline, trash, and general decay. It was of sweat and blood. It was alive.

The odor gave them energy. It made them excited.

They came up on their prey. There were three: an adult male and two who were half grown. One appeared to be injured though it didn't move like it was, walking a top of a series of blocks.

Their muscles tensed, but they didn't unravel them in an attack. They could not afford to be reckless.

It was the adult male that made them wary. He was rather big. They may have to wait to till the little ones were on their own.

"Aaaahh" one of the smaller ones screamed.

One of the sick ones cut in on their prey.

The small one fell over to the same side as the intruding sick one.

From there they lost sight of it.

The adult male moved fast, he jumped up on the block , kicked the sick one over and shot it down, then he hopped over, disappearing from view as well.

" You okay?"

" Yeah,"

The second small one was alone on their side.

It was tempting. They probably would've taken that chance a few moments, but what they just saw made them all the more cautious.

The adult male was protective of them.

"I need to go to the bathroom, " said Sophia.

"Oh, ok," said Daryl.

The only spot was fence created by a collision between a jeep and a mini van.

"Do what ya gotta," he leaned up against the hood of the minivan.

She walked around the vehicles, looking around at the wide-open street. Just the thought of squatting down there was made her skin crawl.

Shut your eyes like it's a really gross outhouse. She told herself.

At least a gross outhouse had walls.

She fumbled with the button on her clam diggers. It had always been a tough button.

"That packs not too heavy?" She heard Daryl ask Carl.

"Nope," answered Carl.

They were so close she heard one of them (probably Daryl) spit. That tore it.

"I can't go."

" Uh, why not?" Daryl rubbed the back of his neck.

Sophia thought hard about how she was going to explain to Daryl that she was too uncomfortable to go out in the open, that she'd like to go someplace with a bit more privacy.

" 'Cause um, I can't go outside. "

"It's the same as goin' in the bush," said Daryl, obviously missing the point.

"I use the bathroom in the RV."

" Well, we don't have that luxury." Daryl came off with a bit more snap than he intended, he toned it down, " Look Sophia, There ain't anything around an' I'll be standing right here the whole time."

That didn't help. That was the problem.

" Obviously with my back turned and I'll keep him within in my sights. " Daryl added seeing the troubled look on her face.

She looked around at the scattered buildings, which had become more spread out as they reached the edge of town.

" One of these places will have a bathroom."

"No, 'cause then we're going to have dick around making sure there are no geeks in place or worse end up get cornered. I assure ya, no one is watchin'. Just go."

"Please, can we go to a bathroom?"

Biting his tongue, Daryl simply shook his head and pointed to the spot behind the cars.

"Daryl, I really have to pee," stressed Sophia.

Really was not being used only for arguments sake. She had to go for a while and was going to relieve herself on their last break but she had faced the same problem. Now she a reached the point where she was almost in pain from an overstretched bladder.

"As you've made me aware. Go."

"But I can't." Sophia placed weight on the n't.

"Not if you're standing here arguin' with me, ya can't"

The Georgian sun had made them hot and cranky, which raised the frustration level fast.

Daryl was so busy fighting with Sophia, that he failed notice the walker that was eavesdropping.

"Hey," Carl tried to get their attention.

" Fine, don't go then." Daryl turned his back on her, about to take a step.

" I'm not moving until I get go to a bathroom," Sophia said, crossing her arms.

Sophia had not completely lost her fear of Daryl, especially when his eyes were burning in to her like they were and they both knew he could pick her up. But desperate times called for desperate measures.

Who the hell does this girl think she's fucking with? Daryl met Sophia's hard glare.

His temper had not taken complete control of this situation. Daryl kept staring her down, hoping that would be enough to make her listen. How was he supposed to handle this?

"Hey you guys." Carl tried again with the window of silence.

Daryl caught on, with a growl he hefted the crossbow in a swift movement, letting out some of pent up frustration with a pull on the trigger on the walker.

"Get movin', miss or I'm gonna come over there and knock ya upside your head. "

Sophia thought about sitting down in response but she knew that would be asking for it.

"Just go, Sophia," said Carl.

He was sick of this ridiculous argument and wanted to be on the move, especially after that geek.

Even though they were best friends, he could see Daryl's point and did not understand hers. He didn't know how much not taking her side hurt Sophia.

"How is it different then going into IKEA?" asked Sophia.

"When we're spending the night, we have the time to look around and do all that jazz. How come you just can't go pee outside?"

"There's no toilet paper," Sophia brought up new point.

"You said ya just needed to take a piss."

"I'm a girl, I can't just shake it," said Sophia bluntly.

That made him blush. This was uncomfortable. It did make Daryl realize that he may be being a little insensitive to her needs, major emphasis on the her.

"Alright, we'll find a bathroom." He gave in.

"Thank you," she said curtly.

"If anything happens, it'll be your damn fault."

Harsh but no matter who he was arguing with even if they were twice as big as him, Daryl had never been able to lose an argument with any sort of grace.

Carl rolled his eyes with a very audible scoff, keeping on Daryl's storming off heels.

Sophia trailed behind the two. The price of getting to go a proper bathroom was that everyone was mad at her.

The smallest building that would have a bathroom and had the most points of exit was a diner with next to no windows. They could the whole area as they walked through the window. Of course the washrooms had to be at the back and off a very narrow hallway.

Sophia walked in and right back out of two stalls.

"What –" Daryl began to snarl.

"They were gross," Sophia answered matter-of-factly.

Daryl looked over at Carl, who sitting on the counter. Dear lord, I'm going to kill her, he seemed to say.

The lock slid in to place. Finally she had her privacy. Something that Sophia still had to deal with was the button on her fly. Maybe it was the urgency signals she was getting from her body or that she was over emotional from being picked on by the boys. She could not undo it.

"You best go," Daryl barked.

Sophia twisted the fabric as hard as she could with no results. She had to ask for help or wet herself.

"I need help, " whined Sophia, with no really other option.

Whoa, whoa what? Going to the bathroom was one of the few things the kids were old enough to do on their own, Daryl honestly did not know what he would do if they weren't.

"It's the stupid button, I can't get it undone. Its super tough," Sophia's throat tightened involuntary.

Help me. There was that look again.

Daryl kneeled down on the grungy tile floor in front her, and tried to undo the button. Tried not to think about the fact that it was on a twelve year old.

This brought uncomfortable to a whole new level. As much Daryl reassured himself that he was not doing anything wrong. He felt like he was going to go to the ninth layer of hell for this.

"Lordy, this is a tough button," commented Daryl.

They had reached the breaking point where all the frustration and awkwardness had become funny. Sophia was starting to crack up, Daryl started to too.

He got the button half way through the hole, which was all she needed.

Sophia slammed the stall door behind her in a hurry.

Just go Sophia told herself.

She had privacy, her pants down, toilet paper but there was still something wrong.

"Could you whistle or something?" asked Sophia.

Carl banged his heels against the counter. Daryl pinched the bridge of his nose, which was quite a funny sight, Carl laughed.

With the cover of those two sounds, Sophia was finally able to go pee.

So she has a shy bladder, Daryl made the connection. That's what she had been trying to tell him. He needed to work on his listening skills.

An unfortunate rat crawled out into the open.

It's neck was snapped before it could sense the threat that ended its life.

Its body did not quiet the pain in its stomach. It only heightened the thirsty for blood.

Author's note: I spent all Saturday night and Sunday watching the marathon /reviewing the source material for you guys.

*fans welling eyes* Wow, triple digits. I would like to thank the internet, for allowing us to have our community and but most of all I would like to thank all of you, all of you amazing people who have reviewed. To: JesseGlennFan, Eshlyn Kar, Taking Life's Chances, crimson fingertips, Missy92, writergirl94, Anonymous, Anea the Morwinyon, sammyjase, Equestrain 4 life, .x, TNT1227, but-the-clouds, Lavoisiae, kdoggt. Thank You

And all those have reviewed before Thank You.

One time I went camping with a friend and they did the whole tenting thing and I have been brought up in RV. One night I had to go pee super bad and the washrooms were seventy billion feet away in the dark and I didn't want to get mauled by a bear so I had to squat in the bush and yeah it was awful.

Found this while ago, it's the redo of The Walking Dead's intro, if TWD was an 80's sitcom that is.

http:/ / 2012 /01/ see-walking-deads-opening. php

Copy and paste this into your address bar and take out the spaces, It's well worth it