Hey guys! I meant to do this in the last chapter so sorry. Another MASSIVE thank you for the views, favorites, follows, and reviews! It really means a lot and I really appreciate it! Remember, I love to hear from you guys so feel free to leave reviews! Thanks again and as always, happy reading!

Chapter 14: Pure Anger

They all drove away from the CDC after Rick tried to contact someone he had run into when he escaped the hospital. Their new destination would be Fort Benning which was 125 miles away. Daryl was on Merle's motorcycle following the group. They soon came across a road with cars blocking parts of the road. Of course, the RV broke down right then and there. They all got out and joined in a group.

"I think we should search the cars for some things." Brooke said. "Who knows what we'll find."

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about that." Lori said. "There are dead bodies in there."

"I just found some water cooling tanks!" Shane announced.

"I'm starting to think that checking the cars may not be a bad thing." Dale said while Shane started to take a "shower". Brooke successfully broke into a silver Hummer. She found some dog food for Rudy, medi-kits, granola bars, and some more water cooling tanks. She pulled out a pair of earrings and smiled. They were very fancy and were real. They were diamond earrings that dangled and she had a similar pair that she had worn to a masquerade ball. Daryl looked over from the car he was looting and saw Brooke holding up a pair of earrings. He remembered she had some just like those.

Brooke had just turned 22 and Daryl was 24. It was late September and it was time for the Georgia Annual Masquerade Ball. This was Brooke's first time going. It was exclusive and it was held in the King County Conference center this year. Only certain people were selected and it was usually the richer families that were invited to go. Brooke wore a red ball gown with a beaded bodice and a tulle skirt. She wore a white mask that covered the upper bridge of her nose. It ended at the top of her cheekbones and at the top of her eyebrows. It had a white background but had lace on top of it. She wore beautiful diamond earrings that killed her ears. Her hair was pulled up in a beautiful up do. She walked in with Shane and her father. Her father had been bugging her about getting a boyfriend lately and she always went Daryl to vent.

"I don't see what the hurry is, Daryl! I want to become a doctor before I get married! Is that too much for him to understand?" she would always say. He would simply nod, give her a hug, and buy her some coffee. Her father had been driving her crazy about it for almost a year. His argument was that he and her mother got married when she was 22 and that Brooke wasn't even close to getting married yet. Daryl knew that her father was going to try and set her up with the richest men in Georgia at the ball. She stood there with her father's friends chatting about the latest research discoveries.

"Brooke, will you come with me for a minute?" her father asked.

"Excuse me." She said and walked away. "What's up Dad?"

"I want you to meet Liam Reynolds. He's currently in Harvard Law School with a scholarship." Dr. Walsh introduced.

"Very pleased to meet you Brook." Liam said in weird accent.

"I'll let you two get acquainted." Dr. Walsh said.

"Wait Dad!" Brooke said but Dr. Walsh had already walked away. She gave an awkward smile.

"So your father tells me you want to be a doctor for cancer patients and do some research as well?" Liam asked after taking a sip of his white wine.

"Real men drink whiskey." Brook thought. "Yes and you're a lawyer? What kind?" she asked.

"Training to be a lawyer." He corrected.

"Sorry, training to be a lawyer." She replied. "Are you doing court room?" he chuckled and she didn't catch the joke she had apparently made. "Did I say something funny?" she asked.

"No it's just typical for someone to go straight for court room." He said. "I want to be a corporate lawyer."

"Oh that's interesting." She lied. Man could she really go for a drink right about now. She excused herself and went to talk to some other people. Her father pulled her away to meet more doctors, lawyers, and business men. She snuck away to talk to Shane who was wooing some women.

"Shane I'm about to kill Dad." She said.

"Why?"

"He keeps on trying to set me up with all these guys! I don't want to meet them! They are all insufferably boring!" she said.

"Well, Dad is just trying to look out for you. It may not be a bad idea of his." He shrugged.

"What do you mean?" she asked.

"Brooke, you haven't had a boyfriend in a long time. Since high school actually." He started.

"I'm well aware of that." She said getting a little more irritated by the moment.

"Maybe it's time you settled down." He said. "You can't always be so independent you know. You are going to have to rely on a man soon."

"I will never have to do that Shane! I'm trying to get my doctorate so I can support myself. I don't feel like being forced into a relationship and you should be the one to talk! You're the one who's older than me and just has one night stands all the time!" she argued back.

"Darling, why don't you come meet-"Dr. Walsh began.

"UGH!" she groaned and stormed off. She picked up her dress and went into a room with a leather couch and a four foot, steel, pot with some real sunflowers in them. Brooke rubbed her temples with her index and middle fingers. She was so frustrated she kicked the flower pot. Someone popped up from the couch.

"Hey!" he warned.

"Oh my God!" she exclaimed in horror. She prayed it wasn't one of her dad's friends. "I'm so sorry!"

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah it's just…" she could feel her cheeks blushing in embarrassment. "Never mind I'm just going to leave before I further embarrass myself.

"Let me guess." He began. "Your father or mother or someone that cares about you is trying to set you up with some privileged guy?" he guessed.

"Very good." She said impressed. He stood up and he was wearing a very nice black suit with a black mask. He had bright blue eyes that pierced through the blackness. It reminded her so much of Westley from The Princess Bride.

"So what's your name?" he asked.

"Brooke Walsh." She said and they shook hands. "Are you going to tell me yours?"

"Westley Goldman." He answered and she giggled.

"Sorry it's just you kind of remind me of Westley from the Princess Bride." She giggled. "You're wearing a black mask, a black suit, and you have blue eyes."

"I love that movie!" he said.

"It's my favorite!" she enthused.

"You look like you've had a bad night." He said.

"My dad keeps trying to set me up with these doctors and lawyers who tell the worst jokes in the world." She said.

"It can't be that bad." He suggested.

"One lawyer tried to tell me the why did the chicken cross the road joke." She said.

"Oh man!" he howled. "What did you do?"

"I pretended to think it was funny." She replied. "I have my fake laugh down and after tonight I'll have it perfected."

"Would you like something to drink?" he asked.

"God yes!" she answered. "What are you getting?"

"A shot of whiskey, you?" he answered.

"The same." She said and Westley looked at her in a weird way. "I'm a whiskey kind of girl. Don't try to give me champagne if you want to talk to me." He chuckled and they drank their shots.

"I'm pretty sure this is the weirdest thing I've ever seen." He said after she drank. "I just saw a masked woman in a white ball gown drink a shot of whiskey." Brooke laughed. "Was that your fake laugh?" he asked.

"No that was my real laugh." She replied. She looked out and saw her dad talking to some young men who looked to be only a couple of years older than her. She sighed and held her glass a little tighter. "So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a journalist." He said.

"I haven't met a lot of those tonight." She replied.

"Well my father is a doctor and he took me with him." He explained. Westley and Brooke continued talking for about an hour until one of her father's friends came and warned her that her father was going crazy because he couldn't find her.

"Will you please come out there with me?" she asked.

"I would be delighted." He replied. He took her hand and led her outside to the ballroom.

"Darling!" her father called. "Where have you been?"

"I've been chatting with Westley Goldman." She said.

"Very nice to meet you sir." Westley said and held out his hand.

"Very nice to meet you Westley." Dr. Walsh said warily. "So what do you do for a living?"

"I'm a journalist." He replied. Dr. Walsh huffed and walked away. Brooke rolled her eyes. Westley pulled her over to dance with him along with other couples.

"I'm sorry about my dad." She said.

"It's no problem." He replied. "So do you have a boyfriend?"

"No." she said.

"Anyone here that you like?" he asked.

"I think so." She said and put her head on his shoulder. "Thanks for saving me Daryl."

"What?" he asked.

"You didn't think I wouldn't remember you did you?" she asked.

"When did you figure out it was me?" Daryl asked.

"When you stood up from the couch." She said. "Your eyes are what gave it away. I will say that you hid your country accent very well."

"I'm more than glad to be your Dread Pirate Roberts." He replied. "You look beautiful, Brooke."

"Thank you and you don't look too bad yourself." She said. "I like you in a suit." Daryl smirked. He knew that Brooke would probably kill someone before the end of the night so he decided to help her out. Someone had dropped their invitation outside so he picked it up. While the man who dropped it looked for it he gave it to the person at the front. He had stolen some of Brooke's concealer that she used when she had blemishes and he put it over the small mole on his face to cover it up. He had to change his voice just a little bit. Who knew it would be his eyes that would be the giveaway.

"Walkers!" Rick yelled. "Everyone hide under the cars!" Brooke hid under the Hummer with Rudy. Brooke could see T-Dog trying to get under a car but he cut his arm on the door. He slid to the ground and the walkers were even closer than they were before. One was closing in on T-Dog and she was about to climb out and help. She heard a squish and saw boots and soon knees. The person laid the walker down. She saw Daryl laying corpses on their bodies just in time for the horde to come by. Daryl saw her and she could see fear in his eyes, something that she didn't see often. She nodded under the care trying to assure everything would be okay. She heard Sophia yelp and run away. The walkers finally passed and Brooke climbed out from under the car.

"Brooke!" Shane called. "Are you okay?"

"I'm fine Shane." She said. "Did anything get you?"

"No."

"Where's my baby?" Carol asked. They explained that Rick went into the woods to find her. Rick came back.

"I told her that I would draw the walkers away and that she would stay under a tree until I did. I told her to come back here when I did." He saw Brooke grabbing her quiver and bow. "Brooke, what are you doing."

"I'm sure we'll find something in there that will help us find her." She said. "I'm not about to give up on a little girl. Rudy could probably track her.

"I can probably track her too if that mutt doesn't work." Daryl said and grabbed his crossbow. Shane, Rick, Brooke, Daryl, Rudy and Glenn went into the woods. They walked around for a little bit. "I found something!" Daryl said.

"Those are her foot prints." Rick said. "Here Brooke see if Rudy can find anything." He handed her one of Sophia's hair bands. Rudy sniffed it and continued forward. They followed him until he stopped and went back to Brooke.

"She went to the left." Brooke said. "She may have seen more on the road. We could probably still track her."

"Alright, Shane and Glenn you take Rudy and go back to the group. We'll go on." Rick said and they parted ways. Glenn looked back at Brooke. He was so stupid. Why did he think that she and Daryl weren't together? More importantly why was she with Daryl in the first place?

"What you thinkin' about kid?" Shane asked. "Brooke?"

"No!" he said but Shane knew. "Yes. It's just, ugh! Why does she even want to be with Daryl?" Shane's eyes got wide.

"What?" He asked. Glenn grew pale and face palmed.

"You didn't know?"

"Uh, no!" he said. "Dixon's gonna die!" Shane vowed.

"Wait, Shane! Listen I heard them tell each other that they loved each other." He said. Shane stopped and ran a hand through his hair.

"Shit, come on! Let's get back to the group." He said and walked forward. Back to Rick, Brooke, and Daryl. They were in the woods and Daryl had just shot a walker with his crossbow.

"I think I see flesh in its teeth." Rick pointed out. "Do you think?"

"Only one way to find out." Brooke replied. "Give me your knife Rick." Rick did as she asked and she examined the walked. She started in its upper abdomen and cut down. "Gloves everyone." They all put gloves on. Brooke located the stomach and cut it open as well. She took a deep breath and tried not to vomit. She didn't want to give Daryl or Rick anymore leverage. She heard Rick vomit and closed her eyes.

"Lemme do it." Daryl said and went to the other side of the walker with Rick.

"The hoss sure had a big meal for lunch." Daryl said. Brooke turned away and walked over to some bushes and let it all out. She wiped her face with her arm and walked back over.

"You did that on purpose, you're gonna get an arrow in you if you keep it up." Brooke joked and Daryl smirked. He stuck his knife in there and pulled out a meaty lump.

"This gross bastard had a woodchuck for lunch." He said.

"At least we know." Rick said taking off the gloves. They continued on but fell into another dead end. "We'll continue tomorrow." They walked back to the camp and saw Carol standing there. Rick told her calmly that they didn't find Sophia.

"How could you just leave her there in the first place?" Carol asked almost yelling.

"Leaving her alone was my only option, Carol." Rick replied again calmly. "I thought she would be able to make it back."

"Well she didn't! Now she's out there all alone in the woods because of you!" Carol yelled. Shane saw Brooke's eyes. Pure anger. She had always been protective of Rick and Shane because they were her boys. They called her their personal pit bull.

"Because of Rick?" Brooke asked in the background. "Tell me who went back out in the woods to look for her? What were you doing when we were out in the woods cuttin' up dead sons of bitches for your daughter? You just stood here and cried! I know you're upset that Sophia ran away but you need to help her and actually do somethin' besides laundry! You need to look for her instead of bitchin' and blaming everyone else around you!" Brooke yelled. She saw Carol close back up into her shell. "We're going back out in the morning to search for her if you would like to come along." Brooke ended and walked away to check on T-Dog. Carol stood there in silence while everyone else watched Brooke walk away. "You don't mess with my boys." She told Carol quietly but loud enough so Lori could hear. She said it so chillingly that Lori got chills and shifted her weight.