I wanted to get at least two chapters out today, the house is finally starting to feel better and cabin fever has set in. This is a shorter one but I promise the next one will have a talking of talking and figuring stuff out between Daryl & Kat. Mid9ight0Wolf I think I know where Kat is going to be for the 1st Governor encounter but I'm not 100 percent sure and thanks for the review it's so sweet of you to take the time. Same goes for you MissTeller-Ortiz-Dixon and galwidanatitud y'all are awesome. Thanks for reading.

Chapter 14

Daryl's POV

He was startled awake when someone jumped on top of him. The breath was knocked out of him so he couldn't curse. He opened his eyes to come face to face with a little girl who was way too excited this early in the morning "Get up sleepy head!" she said as she jumped off of him.

He was already reconsidering his decision to share a tent with the little monster. "Momma told me to 'come get your lazy butt outta bed' she gave me permission to jump on you."

"Did she now? Did she happen to tell you what happens to little girls who jump on Daryl Dixon while he's sleepin?"

"Nope"

He acted like he was sitting up but then he grabbed her and pulled her to him. She let out a startled sequel before he began tickling her "I hold two titles in tickle fights ya know". He stopped to let the girl catch her breath.

"Well this wasn't a fight it was an ambush" she said right before she jumped on him and started to tickle him. He couldn't stop laughing, it was great to have the Cora who played and laughed back. "All right, All right you win." He feigned defeat.

"Come on mommas making pancakes, she even made some with blueberries because they're your favorite" the last was said in a mocking tone and Daryl couldn't hold back the smile that pulled at his lips.

"Go on I'll be there in a second" he shooed her out the door then started to change his clothes.

Once he was out of the tent he stood and stretched to his full height. Looking around for Kat he noticed Carol watching him while she was hanging up laundry. He threw his hand up trying to be friendly and she waved back.

Alright, he needed to find himself some blueberry pancakes. Walking toward the center of camp where the communal fire was –he saw the person he was looking for holding a skillet over the flames.

"Here let me hold that" he tried to take the skillet from her, knowing that her arm was probably hurting.

"Nonsense Daryl I know how to hold a skillet. Besides you have to eat your pancakes, they are getting cold and everyone else has already ate. They are going to go search for Sophia." She swatted his hand away "Go on"

The woman could be maddening "Fine" he grumbled as he sat down next to the stack of pancakes Kat had made for him. "What no syrup?" he tried to joke with her, but the joke died when she pulled out a little bowl and handed it to him.

"I made it just for you, I used some of the leftover blueberries and borrowed some sugar and cornstarch from Beth. I've never made blueberry syrup before so I hope it taste good."

"It does" he smiled over at her

"Once again Dixon you haven't tried it yet." Returning his smile she went back to flipping the pancake that was on the skillet.

"How'd ya sleep?" she asked

"Great until that heathen of yours jumped on me. Knocked the breath right outta me."

"Yeah well she gets her heathen side from you and Merle just remember that." She nodded over to the group that volunteered to search for Sophia "better get going, they might leave without ya"

"Yeah" he shoved the last of his breakfast into his mouth "Thanks"

"No problem. Hey maybe if you aren't too tired, we can take a walk tonight when you get back. If you want to that is?"

"Yeah I can do that." He tried not to show how delighted that made him "see ya tonight."

Walking over to the group that gathered around the Cherokee. He heard Ricks commanding voice "All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

Then a young kid that, for now, was nameless to Daryl walked up "I'd like to help. I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this, Jimmy?" alright Daryl had a name –the boy he didn't know was named Jimmy.

"Yeah yeah. He said I should ask you."

"All right then. Thanks, the more people the better our chances are of finding her" Rick replied

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." Shane said from inside the vehicle

"Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea asked

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high" he held his hand up a little above his waist to show the height.

"It's a good lead. Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick nodded over to Daryl

"I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here" he pointed on the map "take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid -If she's up there, I'll spot her." He needed to find her today, people like Shane were starting to lose hope. It wouldn't be long before others did as well.

"Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too." T-Dog joked

"Chupacabra?" ricked seemed genuinely confused

"You never heard this, I'm surprised Cora hasn't told you all about it. Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra. Then a few days later he takes Cora out to go chupacabra hunting and both of them swear up and down to have seen one. Cora wouldn't stop talking about for at least two weeks." Dale relayed the story with a smile

Looking up he sees Jimmy scoff at the story.

"What are you braying at, jackass?" he didn't like that someone he didn't know was laughing at him

"You believe in a blood-sucking dog?"

"Do you believe dead people walking around?" he retorted while throwing his crossbow over his shoulder. He needed to get out there and search, he also wanted some time to himself he wasn't use to being around people all the time.

Kat's POV

She was playing a riveting round of Go Fish with Carl, Cora, and Beth when there was a knock on the door looking up she grinned at Hershel and excused herself from the game.

"Hi Hershel, how are you doing today?" she asked the man

"I'm good. How is that head of yours? I should change the bandage soon"

"I'm fine and no need to waste supplies. I'm sure it's almost healed up anyway." She didn't want to spend any more time with her head covered in bandages then she needed to.

"I was about to take a walk and wanted to know if you'd like to join me" he asked

"Of course, let me just tell Cora and Beth and I'll meet you outside. I could use the fresh air anyway"

Outside she walked over to Hershel's side and smiled "All set"

They walked in silence for a long while, just enjoying the quiet and the view. She almost forgot she had a partner until he spoke up.

"Are you a believer?" he asked

Stunned by the odd question it took her a second to answer "Yes sir I'm catholic"

He nodded. If you'd like to join me tonight my family and I are going to have a bible study. You don't have to but I thought you might take some solace in the words.

"Of course. I admit I have been slacking on my reading but not on my prayers. Unfortunately most of them are unanswered." She knew she probably sounded awful to the older man but it was true.

"You know when my first wife was dying I was so mad. Mad at everything –doctors, myself, God. Then my wife told me right before she passed that I needed to let that anger go, she was ready and she wasn't afraid. It took sometime but I finally opened my bible again and the first verse I read was Isaiah 41:10 which reads 'So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.'" He stopped and turned toward her before he continued "I know what you're going through and I can't even imagine going through it in times like today but you have to keep faith. That's important you have to believe in something otherwise you aren't going to make it."

She just nodded. She believed in God but she had stopped going to church and she might've cursed him a few times since Cora was diagnosed but she still hoped he was up there. "I'm pissed at God" she admitted.

"It's alright I'm sure he has heard it all before. He knows it's what makes us human he created us with flaws."

She sat down and admired the view that was in front of her. The trees were beautiful and there was enough breeze to cool her off. She felt Hershel sit down beside her "It's good to pause for an occasional reminder"

They went back to silence and then Kat felt her cheeks were wet. Reaching up to pat her face she realized she had been crying. The view was breathtaking. "Ya know my Paw-Paw had a farm like this. I use to spend all my time there, just running and climbing trees. He died when I was about 14, of cancer believe it or not." She took a breath "Anyway -I noticed that the closer he was to death the more vibrant and full of life he seemed. His eyes were more energetic and not clouded with hurt. His skin seemed to have the healthiest glow I had ever seen." She turned to look at Hershel "I'm seeing the same thing in Cora. She is radiating an intensity so fierce. You know in her five years of living, two of which had to be a constant battle, she never got mad at life. Never felt sorry for herself. She was always smiling. Sometimes I think she is more worried about comforting me, even at her young age. That girl has done more living than most of us. I know she is going to die, hell I've known it for years, but it don't make it any easier." She didn't even try to hold back the tears at this point.

"I don't know If I can do it, I don't know if I can." She kept repeating

Hershel let her cry it out, he didn't say anything just put his arm around her shoulder. Which is exactly what she needed at that moment. Just time to cry. Cry for the daughter she was going to lose and not being able to stop it.

She didn't know how long they had sat there but she had stopped crying. Hershel stood up and held out his hand "Let's go see what everyone is up to shall we?" accepting his hand she walked back and strangely felt a lot better.

Daryl's POV

It had been forever since he rode on a horse. It sure was a faster way to get around. Looking down at the ravine he thought he saw something. He stopped the horse and tried to get a better look –was that a doll? He wasn't positive but it looked like the doll Sophia carried around.

Deciding it was worth a shot to go check he climbed off the horse and tied it to a nearby tree. Carefully making his way down the steep incline, he made his way over to where the object he spotted was. It was mostly in the water, picking it up he examined it. It was a doll and it looked an awful lot like the one the girl always carried.

"Sophia" he shouted but no response followed

Sighing he made his way back to the horse. Once he remounted he decided to stay along the edge of the slope hoping to keep his eyes on the creek below and for any sight of Sophia.

He had no time to react when he heard a loud hiss and then the horse he was on reared back. He was thrown off and was sent hurdling over the edge of the ravine. He guessed he was lucky it wasn't a straight shot down but a sloped one.

He landed in the water and instantly felt the pain in his side. "Son of a bitch" he muttered. Looking down he saw that he had impaled himself with his own damn arrow. He laid there for a minute trying to get himself to calm down. When he decided he needed to pull himself out of the water every movement hurt. The arrow was jostling around too much and that did not feel good. When he finally made it to the bank he took his knife out and decided he needed to stop the arrow from moving.

It was a good thing he worse sleeves today, slicing off that part of his shirt he wrapped them around the bolt. Hopefully that would stop it from moving around, because looking up to where he needed to be, he had a lot of climbing to do.

Finding a stick that could hold his weight he heard a rustling in the brush near him. On instinct he reached for his crossbow but it wasn't in its familiar spot on his back. Making his way back to where he fell he used the stick to look in the water for his bow. Having found it he couldn't put it on his back so he wrapped it around his arm and decided he needed to stop being a pussy and start climbing.

Jesus the pain was unreal but he was determined to get back to camp. He wondered if Kat would be okay if they didn't go for a walk and just decided to sit down and relax. Reaching for a tree he grabbed it but it gave way and pulled itself right out of the soil. He was falling back down the hill and ruined any progress he had made. He thought the pain in his side was bad before, but rolling down that hill did not help him any.

Opening his eyes he saw a face he wasn't expecting "Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy? You could bind your wound better."

"Merle?" Why was Merle here

"What's going on here? You taking a siesta or something?"

"A shitty day, bro." that was an understatement

"Like me to get your pillow? - Maybe rub your feet?"

"Screw you." How many times has he said that to Merle?

"Huh-uh. You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at you. Lying in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, brother. - And for what?"

"- A girl. They lost a little girl."

"Is it Cora? Kaitlyn? -No it's some girl you ain't never spoke to. I noticed you ain't out looking for old Merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find you, bro."

"Like hell you did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got."

"You lit out. All you had to do was wait. We went back for you. Rick and I, we did right by you."

"This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand? This him we're talking about here? You his bitch now?"

"I ain't nobody's bitch."

"You're a joke is what you are, playing errand boy to a bunch of pansy-asses, niggers and democrats.
You're nothing but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's all you are. They're laughing at you behind your back. You know that, don't you? I got a little news for you, son. One day they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dogshit. Hey." Merle hit him "They ain't your kin, your blood. The only ones you should be worried about are yourself, Cora, and Kaitlyn. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd got back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except us, little brother." Daryl opened his eyes to see Kat and Cora standing beside Merle, why were they here? How did Merle grow another hand? He knew this wasn't real. Merle was gone and Kat and Cora were back at the camp. "Nobody ever will. Come on, get up on your feet before I have to kick your teeth in." Merle started to kick his leg "Let's go."

He knew it wasn't real but how was Merle kicking him? Opening his eyes one more time he saw a walker chewing on his boot and immediately breaking the daze he was in. He kicked the bastard then reached for his knife. Unable to reach the head of the thing he stabbed it in the arm. It had no effect on it. It just kept trying to bite him. He pushed it off of himself and when it landed on its back he grabbed a stick and started to bash its head in. There was no time to relax because another walker was coming toward him, he didn't think about it he just pulled the bolt out of his side. He didn't scream, didn't want to attract anymore of them that might be nearby. Reaching for his crossbow he pulled it back and loaded the bolt then aimed it at the head of the walker quickly approaching and shot it.

He must've passed out again but luckily he didn't wake up to a walker munching on his boot like a chew toy. He took his shirt off and pressed it against the wound in his side "Son of a bitch was right." He said out loud. But he knew he was that son of a bitch he knew Merle wasn't actually talking to him earlier.

He needed to eat something so he grabbed the squirrel he had shot earlier and cut it open. No time for a fire, he hadn't eaten raw squirrel in a long time. After his snack, he couldn't call it a meal, he grabbed the doll and tucked it under the strips of shirt that were binding his wound.

For some reason he decided he needed a trophy, something that proved the dead couldn't kill him. He settled on, for some reason he didn't even know, making a necklace out of the ears of the walkers he just defeated.

Necklace, doll, and crossbow in tow he started the trek up that damn hill again. He had to be there for Kat and Cora.

He told Cora that he would take her horseback riding when he got back –he reached for another branch– he was going to be there.

He needed to find out more about Kat –he slipped but caught himself – they were going to go for a walk.

Cora had a birthday coming up –he could see the top of the slope –he was going to watch her blow the candles out.

He was going to tell Kat how he felt –he pulled himself up the rest of the way and stood up. He didn't have time to celebrate. He had to get back to the farm, he had things to do.

Kat's POV

She was carrying water over to Dales R.V. and noticed that Andrea was atop the vehicle today. Shrugging she walked in to the car and overhead a weird conversation

"I read somewhere that when women spend a lot of time together, their cycles line up and they all get super crazy hormonal at the same time."

Seeing that they hadn't noticed her yet she coughed and smiled when they jumped. She swears Glen turned a new shade of red "I don't care what this conversation is about I'm just dropping off some water for y'all" she turned to leave but stopped and looked at Glen "I'm gonna advise you to keep that theory of yours to yourself."

She hadn't made it ten feet from the R.V. before Andrea shouted "Walker, Walker!" turning to face where Andrea was looking she could barely see the silhouette of something.

"Just the one?" Rick asked

"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea sounded pretty eager to use the gun

"No no, Andrea. Put the gun down." Rick told her

Kat watched as T-Dog, Shane and Rick started to walk toward the trespasser. The walker was getting closer and there was something familiar about it.

"Andrea, don't." turning to see what Dale was shouting at Kat saw that Andrea had the rifle raised

"Back off, Dale." Andrea told him as she tried to get into a better shooting position

The group had finally reached the walker but they weren't attacking it. Which probably means it wasn't a threat and since all walkers were threats it meant that it wasn't a walker. Turning to shout at Andrea to put the gun down she wasn't able to get the words out before the shot was fired.

She saw the pleased smile on Andrea's face then heard Rick's screams. Without a moment of hesitation she ran out to join the group and wished that what she was thinking wasn't true. Daryl can't be dead, she refused to believe it.

She was halfway there before she noticed Rick and Shane picking up a limp body that looked an awful lot like Daryl. She didn't care or pay attention to Andrea who was behind her and shouting "Oh my God, Oh my God"

Suddenly she noticed that she had stopped moving and was just staring at the limp body of Daryl. Faintly she heard Andrea ask "is he dead?"

"Unconscious, you just grazed him." Was Ricks reply

There was more talking, she didn't care to listen to whatever they were talking about. Daryl was alive. That's all that mattered.

She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to Andrea.

"Get your fucking hand off me" she spat "Do you ever fucking think? No you don't and do you know why? You're a selfish little bitch. All you care about is yourself. Whatever Andrea wants to do. Andrea is going to complain and pout around until she gets her way. This isn't a game, these guns aren't toys!" Kat turned to follow the group into the house.

"Excuse me?" Andrea had the nerve to ask

Giving a humorless laugh Kat turned around and punched Andrea in the face. It hurt, it was the arm that Daryl just reset, but it was worth it. The look on her face when she was hit was priceless.

Pointing a finger at Andrea Kat hissed through clenched teeth "I suggest you don't talk, don't look, or even breathe in my direction for a couple of days. You hear me?" Kat knew she had an anger problem but it was rare that she let it control her like it just did. The woman almost killed Daryl, she got off easy. Kat was not going to feel sorry for her or take any of it back.

Meeting up with the rest of the group who were all staring at her –no doubt saw the whole exchange between herself and Andrea- she called out "Sorry folks we have more to worry about than just walkers these days -Now we've got to watch out for dumb blondes with guns"