They eventually found their way back to the highway. Glenn let Dale know what was happening with Rick and Carl and offered to take T dog to the farm, to see if help was there. T Dog was in pretty rough shape and he needed to find medicine fast or else he was going to die before getting to the farm.
"We could search the woods for an aloe plant, the climate here is warm enough for them to grow," Josephine spoke up.
"What's a damn plant gonna do?" Daryl said questioning her, he was so dirty at this point. His whole body was covered in dirt and sweat but oddly enough it suited him. It showed how hard he has been working to find that little girl for Carol. He cared a lot for the people around him, even if it didn't seem like it most of the time.
"Aloe gel will be able to increase circulation of blood vessels in the skin, as well as kill bacteria," Josephine retorted back, now walking into the woods, Daryl not far behind. He motioned for the group to hold up and he grabbed Josephine by the arm.
"Merle's got a stash of medicine, I think that would work better than wasted time findin' some friggin plant," Daryl walked to his motorcycle and pulled out a bag of pills, handing Dale a giant bottle of antibiotics that he said were used for the clap that Merle got once in a while.
"So, let Glenn take T-Dog to the farm and to scope the place out," Dale said making a plan for everyone. Andrea was tucked away in the RV now, shocked and worn out from the near death experience that she'd had earlier. Everyone agreed that the two would ship off for the farm that night, and the rest would stay and keep a look out for little Sophia.
"I'll go with you," Josephine spoke up, her voice was faint and she had the look of worry and slight pain on her face. She was sweating and had taken her sweatshirt off and wrapped it around her waste, showing off just her white wife beater that was extremely dirty and blood stained and had a tiny hole in the breast area, allowing her black bra to shine through. Her hair once again in a tight bun, a few strays hanging out. Once hand was on her hip, and the other hand squeezing slightly harder on her side.
"Absolutely not young lady, this place could be dangerous!" Dale spoke out before anyone else could. "We need to find out if it's safe before anyone else in the group ends up there. Glenn will send someone back for us all tomorrow if he finds it fit, Right Glenn?"
Glenn shook his head agreeing with all of what Dale was saying.
"NO! NO! No No No No No," Protested Josephine, tears welding up in her green eyes. She was getting rage inside of her, she wanted to see her nephew, not stand around here looking for a girl that might not even be alive.
"Josephine!" Yelled Dale, but before he could say another word she had ran up to his face, inches away pointing a finger right into his chest.
"You listen to me old man….That was Carl who was shot! What do you want me to do, just stand here twiddling my thumbs waiting for Glenn to give me some okay to see my dying nephew?" She stared at him with hurt in her eyes and he could see the pain inside of her. She knew something was wrong, she knew that Dale was also probably right about the farm and waiting on seeing if it was safe, but if it meant missing the last time she would see her only nephew alive, it was worth the risk.
"No Josephine, he's right. Please, I don't want to see one more person get hurt." Carol's voice rang over the crowd and everyone looked to her. She was now crying, streams down her face and suddenly she felt an overwhelming since of embarrassment and she took of towards the RV. Josephine recoiled her finger from Dale's chest and stood there, knowing that Carol was right, and knowing that she needed to be strong and do the right thing, having faith that Carl would be okay, she had to have faith, right?
"I swear to god if something happens to that boy and I'm not there. I will never forgive myself," Josephine said, walking away from the scene. She didn't want to say goodnight to anyone, she just slipped away behind an old van a few yards away from the RV. She wished so badly that she had her little orange tent with her, but it was stuffed in the way back of the RV, and there was no way Daryl was going to let her sleep in that after what had happen with the walkers the other day. She wished in some weird was that Daryl would come over and comfort her, maybe rub her back and gently tell her everything will be okay and not to worry, but that was a long shot for him. She knew she couldn't start to rely on someone for comfort, especially Daryl…. emotional support wasn't really his thing. He would probably come by and tell her to go to bed, and thats about as much comforting as she was going to get.
She stayed near that truck in her own thought for hours. Afraid that she had made the wrong choice and that she thought maybe she would quietly sleep away from the others and go find her own way to the farm, even if it was dark out. She started to feel the anxiety creep up inside of her and she wrapped her arms around her knees and shivered against the cold. A few seconds later she could hear footsteps approaching and she looked up to see dirty ass Daryl looking down at her, cross bow still slung over his shoulder.
"Why is it that every time I come over to you, you got your ass on the dirty ground?" He held out a hand, offering to help her off the ground but she ignored him.
"Daryl, what if Carl…what if Carl didn't or doesn't make it, and I never… I never get to say my goodbyes," Josephine didn't look at him, she stared straight ahead at the woods, where she could hear a walker or two roaming around in the far distance.
"You don't got to say goodbye to nobody," He responded, and to her surprise he sat down next to her, the smell of sweat and dirty hit her nose, reminding her that she probably didn't smell much better.
"Yeah but when something like this happens, its really hard not to think like that. Imagine what poor Carol feels, and Rick feels, and Lori, I cant imagine," Josephine tried her hardest to choke back tears. She needed to remember to be strong, there were no time for tears anymore.
"Well, tomorrow you can see him. He'll probably be up and running around by then," Daryl said and in his own way she figured that was his way of comfort.
"What if something happens to my baby, Daryl?" She couldn't imagine what that hurt would feel like. Sure, she wasn't extremely close with this unborn child. She had never been the type of person to understand why women were crazy obsessed with their babies before they were even born, always talking to them like they were running around outside their bodies or even. Sure, Josephine was excited to have this child and to enjoy a human life that was a part of her and well, a part of Dean too. She just really honestly couldn't imagine what it would feel like losing something she started getting close with. After last night feeling the kick and after afraid of hurting the baby after her fall she had really started to picture what the baby was going to look like and act like, she was starting to get attached, and the shear thought of someone being ripped away again that she was growing attached to was a miserable thought to have.
"You cant think that way, nobody out here will last long if you just keep thinking bad shits gonna happen to ya," Daryl stated in a serious tone, almost as if he was lecturing her.
"I just…I hate not knowing if Im going to die tomorrow or live, its exhausting," She stated rubbing her hands over her eyes. Being pregnant in the real world was hard enough but this was unimaginable. She felt the small pain on her side of her stomach again and she scrunched up her face in discomfort.
"Are you alright?" He said scooting in front of her so that he was looking right into her eyes, she waved him off saying that she was fine, just a cramp or something. She got up from the ground and offered Daryl a hand to get up and she smiled playfully.
"Get off the dirty as ground Dixon, let's get some sleep," she laughed as Daryl pushed her hand away and got up following her.
That night it was hard to fall asleep, so much was running through everyone's mind. Carol slept beside Josephine in the back of the RV while Daryl took to the floor and Andrea, well Andrea didn't sleep, she just kept playing around with her gun.
Josephine pretended to sleep because she knew everyone would be upset if she didn't at least try ( for the baby's sake) but Carol's cries were too much. Josephine herself let a few tears fall for poor Sophia, it had been two nights and still no sign of her, and everyone was starting to feel hopeless. Josephine heard Daryl get up and tell Andrea he was going to go out looking for Sophia, and Andrea had offered to go with him. Josephine felt a ting of jealously run through her as they exited the RV. Daryl would never allow her to go out looking in the dark so fast, its like he almost WANTED Andrea to go with him, and maybe Josephine was just too much of a burden for Daryl after all.
"Carol it'll be okay, I wont say how sorry I am because I know everyone has told you that already but have faith…please," Josephine rolled over in bed to face Carol, who whipped away her tears and nodded.
"I didn't mean to wake you, I just … Thinking about her out there alone is killing me," Carol let out another yelp of pain and more tears escaped her eyes. Josephine sat up in bed, the pain had now traveled in her lower back, she had most certainly pulled a muscle out in the woods today but she refused to say anything.
"Carol listen to me, you cant do this, you have to stay strong," She couldn't bare to see this woman like this anymore, it was time for Carol to get her shit together and be strong for not only herself, but for her daughter. "Sophia is going to be just fine, she's even got Daryl looking for her right now."
Carol sighed and shook her head. "Daryl is a good man, better than her daddy ever was. I think he has a way with kids, and it'll be a great joy to see him around this one,' she pointed down at Josephine's stomach. Josephine let out a small laugh at the thought of Daryl Dixon with her baby. He probably would have no idea what to do with it, hell she even imagined once the baby was born he was immediately going to recoil from their friendship a bit, because it was something she would probably do if she were him, and that thought kind of sucked.
"I bet he wont set two feet near the kid to be honest," Josephine blurted out, she must have been thinking out loud. Carol scrunched up her face in confusion.
"What do you mean?" She asked quietly.
"Its nothin' really it doesn't matter," Josephine swiped away the thoughts with her hand and placed one on Carol's shoulder and patted it reassuringly.
"No, I want you to tell me why you don't think that man, who obviously cares for you, wont come near your baby that he's been protecting for months now," Carol had a point and honestly Josephine hadn't really seen it that way before.
"Well, once that baby is here whats there to be protected, I'm capable of doing that myself since its my child and all," she stated.
"But this group is a family, and I don't know about you but I want to protect and be protected by my family. I think Daryl is warming up to the idea that maybe we could be who he spends the rest of whatever life he has left with, to me that's family." Carol looked out the window of the RV for a moment then back to Josephine. Her eyes glistened with tears probably thinking about her daughter again.
"Josephine, he is out trying to protect my daughter and he hasn't said more than three words to her or to me for that matter. I cant even for a second imagine him not doing anything in his power to keep the two of you safe, and along with that caring for you. I wouldn't doubt for a moment he's going to be the first one in line to hold the baby," A sparkle of hope glistened in her eye and she had smiled for the first time since Sophia had gone missing. Something inside Josephine felt at ease with what Carol had said.
"You're right, and then second will be Sophia," she responded smiling back at Carol. In that moment the two stared at each other, knowing the possibilities of that happening might be slim, but there was still hope and Daryl was one of those slivers of hope remaining because he was not going to give up on this little girl.
A few hours passed and the girls were tucked away in bed sharing stories. Carol was one of the easiest people she has ever talked to. It was hard to believe the woman who stood before her months ago with her abusive husband was the funny and intelligent person there today. She told stories of her pregnancy with Sophia, and Josephine even shared stories of Rick as a child and even good moments she had with Dean.
The ladies shared a bond in those hours that Josephine really needed. She had one more person in her circle that she let in, and it oddly felt wonderful. Carol had that soft voice and caring attitude like a sister, yet a protective hand and carful watch like a mother. She was special, and it made Josephine want more than anything to see Sophia and her reunited because she deserved that.
Suddenly the RV door opened and Daryl walked in, followed by Andrea. Carol let out sigh when she didn't see her daughter in toe. She knew it was a long shot that she wouldn't be found in the middle of the night, but she still always had hope.
"You guys should go to sleep, its really late or maybe even early," Andrea said walking to the back of the RV and taking a seat at the end of the bed.
Josephine wrapped the blanket around her close and suddenly felt a small kick of the baby inside of her. It was a bit more painful this time, and she didn't know how much joy that brought her in that moment, but any movement was good news to her.
"We will pick up trail tomorrow, right Daryl?" Josephine asked as she watched poor Daryl slump down on the hard floor. She felt bad that he had been working so hard and and the end of the day didn't have a bed to sleep in, but she had offered him her spot on the bed multiple times but he would never take it, saying that he enjoyed being on the ground.
He grunted his response before pulling a raggedy blanket over the upper half of his body.
"Thank you both for trying again tonight, I really just wanted to let you know how much I appreciate you all helping find my girl," Carols soft voice was the last thing everyone heard before drifting off to sleep.