AN: I apologize again for my mistake in the previous chapter. The note in that chapter further explains what went wrong for those who haven't read or are curious. Hopefully I have fixed it enough to still appeal to your better nature. And thank you to those who review.

Chapter Ten

They came back empty handed.

Lily felt her heart tighten with disappointment. She really thought that they would find Sophia. Carol, on the other hand, was emotionally unstable. She begged Rick to keep looking, but Rick stated that it was no use looking for her in the dark. He assured her that they would look for her first thing in the morning. He walked off and left her looking off into the woods as if she was expecting Sophia to walk out at any moment. She stayed that way until Lori finally convinced her to go inside.

Everyone was just about ready to turn in for the night. They ate some food found on the highway and settled in for the night.

Dale, who never seemed to leave the top of the RV, sat in his chair looking out into the night. He turned and saw Lily climb on top of the RV. "Mind if I join you?" She asked.

"Not at all," Dale replied with a small smile. "Can't sleep?"

She shook her head. Another nightmare had found its way into her sleep. "I'm not really sleepy," she said. "Why aren't you asleep?"

"I'll call it a night when I get tired," he said.

Lily nodded and sat on the edge of the RV. She looked out to the woods. The trees rustled ominously as if beckoning her. It was like they were saying that not only was Sophia in there but so was Mason. She wondered what had happened to him. Where did the man take him? Was Mason alive? Was he walker? Where was he? Would she find him? Maybe he would find her. Maybe…

While searching for Sophia the next day, a shot rang out. Everyone looked to one another as if someone could provide an explanation for it. "Maybe a walker," Andrea said.

Lori shook her head. She knew Rick wouldn't waste a bullet on just one walker.

Then a girl rode up on a horse asking for Lori. Everyone was confused at first, but understood when the girl explained that Carl had been shot. The girl was to take Lori to him.

"Wait! I'm going too!" Lily said.

The girl shook her head and was about to say something, but was cut off by Lori. "She's a doctor," she explained. "She can help."

"Alright," the girl said. "Come on."

Lori and Lily were rushed inside of the house and to a room where Carl was lying down. Seeing him the way he was made Lily's heart twist in pain. Mason could be in this kind of pain at the moment or he could dead. She shook her head at the thought. There was no time to get distracted; right now she had to help save Carl.

After much worrying and waiting, Carl was going to be okay. Carl's life would be saved, but Otis lost his to save him. Lily listened intently when Shane explained what happened. She couldn't help but feel suspicious of his story, like it wasn't all there.

Lily was bandaging Carl's wounds now. He was sound asleep. She didn't doubt that he was exhausted from the pain he went through. Just as she was finishing up Rick quietly entered the room. He still looked tired from all the blood he had given. The color was slowly returning to his face.

"Thank you," he said. "You didn't have to…"

"Yes, I did," Lily replied casually. "You've been a good leader to this group and what kind of person would I be to just sit back and do nothing?"

Rick nodded in understanding.

"But," she continued. "I mostly did it because when I saw Carl, I thought of my own son."

This got Rick's attention. She never mentioned anyone else from her old life. "You have a son?" He asked; his interest piqued.

She nodded and stood from where she was seated beside Carl. "We got separated in Atlanta," she explained.

"I'm sorry," Rick said sympathetically. "Is that why you wanted to help find Sophia?"

Lily nodded. "I mean, you found your wife and son. Who's to say Carol can't find her daughter...Who's to say I can't find my son?"

Rick, not knowing what to say, looked down. He remembered thinking it would be impossible to find his family, but he did.

"He should be awake later. He needs rest." With that said Lily left the room.

It didn't take long for the group to set up camp outside the house. They wouldn't be going anywhere until Carl healthy and until they found Sophia.

Lily stood on the porch and frowned at the tents set up. She didn't have one and the RV wasn't the most comfortable place to sleep. She had an idea in mind given it wasn't the best idea in the world.

Daryl made sure his tent was a far away from the others. He didn't prefer their company and liked the solitude. He was outside his tent folding a blanket when Lily walked up to him. "Whaddya want?" he asked without looking at her.

"Think you got room for one more in your tent?"

He stopped and looked at her with a raised brow.

"I don't have a tent," she explained.

He snorted and replied, "RV's got room."

Lily frowned. "It's uncomfortable," she muttered.

"Sounds like a personal problem," he said as he finished folding the blanket. "Ya can always sleep on the ground, plenty of it to go 'round."

"Never mind," she said getting frustrated. She turned on her heel and started walking off.

"Hey!" He called out making her stop and face him. "Cain't ya take a joke?"

"I didn't know they made badges for jokes, Boy Scout," she shot back.

"Yeah, well they do," he replied. "You gonna stay or what?"

Lily smiled and nodded. "Yeah," she said before walking off to go get her stuff.

Inside of Daryl's tent he had his things scattered around probably because he wasn't expecting company. There was a pile of clothes, his crossbow, some blankets, and arrows lying about. Lily moved his things over to where he had some blankets laid out to sleep on. She took out the blanket she had and laid it out on the opposite side. Her clothes she had neatly folded and placed at the end of the blanket. Her weapons she placed beside her clothes.

Lily eyed the tranquilizer gun for a moment. She smiled a bit at the memory of first meeting Daryl. Then she examined it questioningly. Did she need it? She only had three darts left. It could come in handy at some point. She shrugged and set it down. Maybe she'd give it to Rick or Shane to do something with it.

Daryl unzipped the tent and stepped in. "You ain't stealin' my stuff again, are ya?" He asked.

Lily rolled her eyes as he sat down on the blankets he had laid out. "You don't have anything I feel like stealing right now," she replied.

He snorted. "If I so much as catch ya thinkin' 'bout-"

"You'll what?" Lily asked raising her brow incredulously. "Shoot me with another arrow?"

"Two arrows," he said with a small smirk.

"Do they make badges for overachievers?"

"Just like they make badges for people who forget to take the safety off."

Lily couldn't stop the smile that spread across her face and she couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, so the doc's got a sense of humor," Daryl said mocking her tone she once used on him.

"Careful, they'll take your badge away for stealing jokes."

Daryl feigned shock and said, "Now I ain't gonna have nothin' to go next to my squirrel skinnin' badge."

The banter didn't stop until it was time to go to sleep. Daryl let Lily have one of his blankets to cover up with. She lay down and smiled as she replayed their conversation in her head. She recalled the time when they would have shot each other right between the eyes and now they were cracking jokes and laughing. How she got so comfortable around him she would never know. Her subconscious doubted that she was comfortable around him, but then when she fell asleep it was confirmed and her subconscious stood corrected.

Lily went to sleep and didn't dream of walkers, blood, or Mason. Instead, much to her surprise, she dreamed of blue skies, laughter, herself, and Daryl.

AN: I hope you enjoyed this chapter.