Author's Note: Thanks for all the favourites and watches, and thanks for reading! Reviews are always welcome!

I apologise for poor spelling, my computer doesnt have Word so I'm using Notepad, and my events are probably in the wrong order, but never mind :)

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the characters, however I do own Riley Addams.

Chapter 10

Riley threw her bags into the RV, swallowing hard.

"You sure you're gonna be okay on the back of Daryl's bike?" asked Dale, raising an eyebrow at her. She nodded.

"Sure, his truck ran outta gas so its not like I have a choice" she shrugged.

"There's room in here" Dale gestured to the bench in the RV, she smiled at him.

"Thanks, but I'll be fine" she reassured him

"She wants to be with her boooooyfriend" sang Sophia, Riley chuckled a little, shoving her gently.

"Daryl isn't my boyfriend, monkey, he's..." she trailed off, realising that they hadnt actually spoken about what happened at the CDC yet. She chewed on her tongue bar, what WAS this between them?

"Sophia, go sit down" said Carol gently, seeing how the young girl's statement had thrown Riley off track. Riley smiled before hastily exiting the RV. The decision had been made to move on from Atlanta, and try for Ft Benning. She placed her sunglasses over her eyes, walking over to Daryl and the motorcycle.

"You ever ridden one o' these before?" he asked, looking up at her from the ground where he was crouched, making some final adjustments to the bike. She shook her head, biting her lip. "Scared?" he teased

"Fuck you" she retorted, even though her stomach flipped as she looked at the bike.

"Yah gonna be fine" he rolled his eyes as he sat on the bike. She blinked at him. "Well, c'mon then" he snapped "Git on"

"I prefer to be asked a little nicer" she smirked, hoping he'd pick up on the dirty joke. He chuckled a little as she climbed on the bike behind him "Aw Daryl do I get to cuddle you?" she teased

"Shut up woman" he smiled, placing her arms around his waist "And dont be screamin' in my ear neither" he grunted as he started the engine, her grip tightening and a squeak escaping from her mouth as he slowly drove the bike past everyone else. He chuckled slightly, as she pressed her body closer to his, her head resting on his shoulder as they began their long drive.

ooooooooo

The alarm blared in her ears, repetitive and relentless.

"Fuck" she groaned, rolling over and slamming her fist down onto it. She pulled herself out of bed, stretching, the sunlight streaming through her window. She'd forced herself to get up and go for a run this morning, even though her dad had given her the day off from work. She pulled on her sweatpants and gray racerback cami top, tugged on her sneakers and grabbed her ipod and headphones. "I'm out for a run mom!" she called as she jogged down the stairs. No reply, she was probably in the yard or something, her mom was weird like that, always up early doing something. She opened the front door and stepped outside, stretching her legs, waving to the paper boy who sped past on his bike. She plugged her headphones in and began to run. She was out for about an hour before she headed back to the house, panting, heading straight upstairs for a shower. Once she was clean, she changed into a white cami top and her ripped jeans, the ones with the least holes in mind you, she wasn't in the mood for her dad to go ape shit about her showing TOO much flesh. She studied herself in the mirror, jumping out of her skin when she heard a blood curdling scream, and a loud THUD.

"MOM?!" she yelled, immediatly charging down the stairs, grabbing her Horton on the way down. Bit extreme, maybe, but in Jersey you could never be too careful, and if any random dude was in her house, he'd shit himself at the sight of it. She slowed down as she reached the bottom of the stairs, treading carefully. The front door was wide open. She frowned a little, closing it quietly. She could hear bangs coming from the dining room, she made sure her bow was ready to go, before walking slowly towards the room. "Mom?" she called softly in the kitchen, her breath catching in her throat as she spotted the pool of blood leading into the dining room. "Dad?" she called desperately. She turned the corner into the dining room, and gagged at the smell, rotting flesh and blood. She let out a scream at the sight before her. Her mother was on the floor, her body limp, and a man was crouched over her. A pool of blood had formed around her mother's body, and the man was kneeling in it, soft growls coming from his throat. "Get the fuck away from her!" Riley yelled, raising her bow. The man turned around. "Dad?!" her voice trembled as she looked at her father...or the thing that resembled him. It stared at her, her mother's intestines hanging from its mouth, her blood smeared around his face. Its eyes were whited out, and its flesh was hanging from its face, revealing its skull underneath. It roared at her, an unearthly sound, she backed away hastily, dropping her bow and falling flat on her ass, scooting along the floor as it rushed towards her, its arms outstretched and its jaws snapping. It leapt onto her and she screamed, trying to force it off of her, trying hard not to puke at the smell. She whimpered as she struggled with the creature, her bow was too far away to reach, and her arms were almost giving out. She grunted and rolled over, pinning the thing to the floor. "Daddy.." she whispered "I'm sorry.." she gasped, pulling her father's knife from his boot and plunging it through his skull. The creature stilled and she leapt off of it, recoiling in horror at what she'd done. She leant against the wall, sobbing silently into her hands. She gathered herself and walked over to her bow, bending down and picking it up. She then heard a low moan. She turned and aimed her bow. "I love you mom.." she breathed, before pulling the trigger.

oooooooooo

"Hey, ya still with me?" Daryl's voice called out to her, and she snapped back to reality.

"Sorry" she yelled back over the bike's engine. They were on a highway, somewhere, the sun beating down on them. She spotted a traffic snarl dead ahead of them. "Can we get through that?"

Daryl slowed the bike down, looking for a way through. He turned the bike around, crawling up to the RV.

"You see a way through?" called Dale, Daryl nodded his head, signalling for them to follow. He drove the bike carefully through an already marked out path, passing hundreds of derelict vehicles, some with people still inside them. Riley looked over her shoulder as she heard a loud bang. She shook Daryl's shoulder.

"The radiator hose has gone again" she sighed, and Daryl growled in frustration as he cut the bike's engine, kicking out the stabiliser. Riley hopped down off the bike, her knees slightly wobbly, secretly she was glad to be off of that damn bike. SHe smoothed down her wind swept hair, making her way over to the others.

"We could look for a radiator hose here" pointed out Shane, looking over the abandoned vehicles.

"Maybe some water, too" said Carol, her arm wrapped around Sophia.

"We could siphon more fuel from the cars" Riley shrugged, and T-Dog nodded in agreement. The group stood looking at each other.

"This is a graveyard...I dont know how I feel about this" sighed Lori

"We need supplies...not like these poor bastards need them anymore" Riley said quietly. Shane sighed.

"Gather what you can, y'all"

Riley smiled at Lori, who sighed, still looking tense.

"C'mon, we'll go look for stuff along here" she said, placing a kind hand on Lori's back. Carl took Riley's hand as they wandered through the abandoned cars. "Dont look" she mumbled to him as they passed a Jeep with an entire family inside, all dead, all decaying. She, Carl, Lori, Carol and Sophia rumaged through whatever bags and suitcases they could find. Riley clambered into the back of a Hummer, digging through a hefty backpack. "Sweet" she mumbled in appreciation, tugging the bag out. "Soph, check this out!" she called, holding up a leather jacket to her chest. Sophia padded over and looked at it in awe.

"Cool!" she breathed and Riley smiled, continuing to sift through the bag. Sophia looked through some smaller bags next to her. Riley sighed, smiling down at the girl. This shouldnt be her life, stealing from the dead. But it had to be done, they had to survive one way or another.

"Riley! Sophia! Get down!" hissed Rick, gesturing behind him. Riley gasped at the sight of a walker herd just along the highway, heading straight for them. She grabbed the little girl, covering her mouth, and rolled them under the Hummer.

"Stay quiet, and stay still" she breathed, taking her hand slowly away from Sophia's mouth. She nodded, with wide eyes. Carl was alone under the next car, and Lori had Carol with her under the next. Carol let out a whimper as Lori shoved her hand over her mouth. Riley's breath caught in her throat as the feet of at least fifty walker's shuffled by the cars. Where was Daryl? she panicked, then came to her senses as Sophia clung to her. He'd be fine, he wasnt a child. Riley caught Carl's eye, smiling reassuringly at the small boy. Rick glanced over at Riley as the herd passed by, thinning out. She nodded to him, still keeping a tight grip on Sophia. Riley exhaled as the last few shuffled by, loosening her grip on the kid. Sophia obviously thought this meant 'all clear' as she began to shuffle out from under the car. A nearby walker noticed, and bent down, its arms outstretched towards the girl, as she screamed as slid back under, bumping into Riley. Riley kicked out at the walker, sending it backwards. Sophia bolted from under the car, her tshirt slipping through Riley's fingers, and before Riley could do anything, she'd hopped over the rail and was gone, hot on her tail were two walkers. "SOPH!" she hissed, rolling out from under the car, but her exit was blocked by a walker, swiping its arms at her. She kicked again, just to knock it down, rolling out from the car and silently stabbing her knife into its skull. She saw Rick sprint past her over the railing and she followed, hopping over the railing with ease. She lost her footing on the other side and tumbled down the small grassy hill, landing in the dry dirt. She scarmbled to her feet and sprinted into the forest. She spotted one of the walkers that had chased Sophia, and crept up behind it, grabbing it around the throat and bringing her knife up through the back of its head. She threw the corpse to the ground and carried on running...and ran straight into Rick.

"I...I drew the walkers away from her.." he panted, leaning against a tree. "She's hiding in the creek" he gasped as Riley nodded, hopping down from the bank, straight into the creek. She looked around before looking at Rick, confused. "Under the creek bed" he panted, pointing in the direction of it. She nodded and waded through the creek.

"Soph...it's okay honey...you can come out now" she whispered as she approached the creek bed. No answer. She got a little closer, bending down. Her heart sank. "She's not here, Rick..."

Rick's face went pale.

"I told her...I told her to wait here" he gasped.

"Fuck" she hissed, grabbing Rick's hand as he helped her up the bank "Maybe she went back to the highway?"

Rick nodded and they made their way back. Sophia hadn't returned, and Riley avoided Carol's eyes, feeling incredibly guilty. Daryl wandered over to her, covered in blood. She gasped.

"Aint mine...T-Dog...he sliced his arm open...mebbe you should go look after him" he muttered, seeing Carol glaring daggers into the back of Riley's head. She swallowed hard and nodded, Daryl gave her hand a squeeze before he, Shane, Glenn and Rick went back into the woods to look for the little girl. She found T-Dog trying to wrap a bandage around his arm, and failing miserably.

"Here" she said kindly, yet quietly, reaching out and wrapping his arm for him "You were making a mess of that" she nodded to the blood on his shirt. He chuckled slightly, looking a little pale.

"Naw, you know me girl, tough as anything" he smiled and she returned it, weakly. "Hey, dont go beatin yourself up there, Riley, you aint responsible for that little girl"

"I let her go!" Riley took a step back, kicking a tyre of a car in frustration "T- she was right next to me and I fucking let her go! Her tshirt slipped through my fingers! If I had just had a better grip-"

"Hey. Stop." he put his hands on her shoulders, feeling her shake with anger. "You did what you could do in that situation, I saw you, you were straight after her."

"Carol blames me.." she muttered, looking at the ground, and T sighed.

"She will, of course she will for now, but nobody else does" he reassured her, pulling her into a quick hug. She squeezed him back.

"Thanks T" she mumbled into his chest.

ooooooooo

"You left my little girl alone in the woods?" gasped Carol weakly, falling back into Lori and Andrea. Daryl and Rick had re-joined the group after gutting a walker to make sure it hadnt feasted on Sophia. Riley swallowed hard as Carol turned on her.

"This is your fault" she whispered and Riley felt as if she'd been slapped. She kept her eyes on the ground, breathing shakily.

"That aint fair" Daryl's voice cut the tension "Riley did what she could to keep hold of yer kid, Sophia panicked is all, ya cant blame her for that"

Carol sighed and walked off, leaving the rest of the group in silence.

"Daryl's right" muttered Lori, rubbing Riley's arm "This isnt your fault"

"Damn well feels like it" Riley growled before stalking off, leaving the others behind. She walked up the highway, angrily stomping on the cooling tarmac. She flung herself on the ground leaning against a Trans-Am. She crossed her legs and rubbed her face with her hands, and before she could stop herself she burst into tears, racked with guilt. Carol hated her, and blamed her. If Sophia wasnt found safe, Riley's head would be on the chopping block. She shivered in the evening air as she sobbed and sniffed, not hearing Daryl's footsteps approaching. He could hear her sobs from a way away, and he frowned at the sight before him. This tough, wise cracking girl had finally broken. She sniffed, looking up at him, hastily wiping her eyes. "I'm fine" she said quickly. He sat beside her on the road, without saying a word. He lifted his arm and put it across her shoulders, as she leant into him and began to cry again, her whole body shaking. He held her against him and stroked her hair, nothing needed to be said. When she had calmed down, she pulled herself away from him, wiping at her eyes with the sleeve of her shirt. "Thank you" she whispered and he planted a kiss to her forehead. He got to his feet, holding out his hand for her, and she took it, laughing a little as he yanked her practically off her feet. The night had fallen, and they walked back to the rest of the group, slowly. He cast a sideways smile at her before gently linking his fingers through hers.

oooooooooo

The next morning, after an uncomfortable night sleeping in a deck chair on the top of the RV, Riley joined the rest of the group as they all headed out to look for Sophia. Carl had found a collection of weapons in an abandoned pick up truck and he ran over to Riley as she clambered down from the RV, thrusting a machete into her hands.

"I saved the best one for you" he grinned at her, and she smiled, bending down and kissing his cheek. "ewwww!" he groaned, wiping his cheek, but still smiling. She ruffled his hair.

"So what's the plan?" she asked Rick.

"We search for my daughter. And we find her" Carol's icy voice cut across the group.

"Goes without saying, honey" Lori gently said, frowning a little at her tone. They left T and Dale at the RV as they wandered into the forest. Riley followed behind Daryl, her new weapon clutched in her hand tightly, and her shotgun slung over her shoulder, and couldnt help but notice Andrea scowling at her. She shook it off as Daryl gestured to a tent in the distance.

"You think she's in there?" she whispered to him, crouching beside him. He shrugged.

"Could be anythin' in there, only one way to know fer sure" he mumbled, signalling to the group to move closer, but slowly. He approached the tent silently, not even snapping twigs beneath his feet, darting around it to try and check inside. Rick pulled Carol forward.

"If she's in there, your voice should be the first she hears" he whispered to her, and she nodded.

"Sophia? Are you in there sweetie? Sophia...it's mommy" she said, tears audible in her voice "We're all here baby" she said meakly. Daryl slowly opened the door to the tent, and Riley saw him gag and cough, before going inside. She held her breath, her heart pounding as she approached it slowly. Daryl climbed out, shaking his head.

"She aint there...just some guy..did what Jenner said...'opted out'.." he growled, and Riley covered her mouth as the smell escaped, her stomach turning. Carol closed her eyes and let out a shaky breath. The dissapointed silence was broke by the sound of church bells.

"Everyone else hear that?" gasped RIley, looking at Daryl, who nodded.

"This way" he pointed, and the group sprinted off in the direction of the noise.

"Could be Sophia ringing em" puffed Shane as they began to reach a clearing in the trees. Riley spotted the small church, squinting at it.

"It doesnt have a steeple, that cant be it" she panted as she jogged alongside Daryl and Rick. The two men and Riley rushed up the steps, taking a minute before kicking the doors open. Three walkers sat on the pews, all of them standing up and growling as the three barged in. Riley took the male at the front, slicing its head in half with her new machete, whilst Rick took the one of the left. Daryl approached the female walker from the side, making kissing noises to draw its attention, before slamming his knife into its face, stepping back hastily as it dropped to the floor. He smirked at it before sauntering up to the massive statue of Jesus at the front of the church

"Yo, JC, you takin' requests?" he growled up at it and Riley smiled a little, putting her machete back into the holster Carl had found for her. The bells rang out again and Daryl and Glenn sprinted outside, closely followed by everyone else, only to be dissapointed when they realised it was an automated bell toll on a timer, hooked up to speakers around the side of the church. Riley kicked the dirt in frustration. Carol went back inside the church with Lori whilst they all waited outside. Daylight was rapidly slipping away, and when Lori and Carol rejoined the group, Rick and Shane, as well as a very stubborn Carl insisted that they'd keep on looking.

"Stay safe kid" Riley punched Carl lightly on the arm, sticking out her tongue to him as he tried to hit her back. She shrugged her gun higher on her shoulders as Daryl lead the rest of thr group back to the RV. As they took a break, Riley jogged up to Daryl, wanting to escape the awkward silences and glares from Carol and Andrea. "Hey"

"Hey" he smiled to her "How you holdin' up?"

"Aside from the severly chilly stares" she giggled and Daryl chuckled "I'm good...you?"

"Im peachy" he grinned, turning his head to look back at the others, catching their conversation, something about prayers. He walked over to the women. "I'll tell ya what it's worth, not a damn thing. It's a waste a time all this hopin' and prayin'." he said, glancing at Carol who looked around, shocked. "We're gonna locate tha' lil gerl, and she's gonna be just fine" he said pointedly to Carol, before huffing "Am I the only one Zen aroun' here? Good Lord" he grumbled, leading them on their way again. Lori and Riley caught each other's eyes and smirked, before heading onwards. The trudged through the trees, the sun beating down on them.

Then they heard the gunshot.

A/N sorry if this seems rushed, I just wanna hurry up and get them to the farm, where I can really play around with Daryl and Riley! Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it! xo