My eyes fluttered around the farm and saw no one. Sophia was gone. Forever. She would never make it back to our arms, ever again. I'd never see her again, or touch her hair. Neither would Carol. My feet started moving as I headed to the treeline. I needed to get out of here, somewhere I could take a breath and settle in my thoughts. I didn't think of where I was going, as I let my feet take me to the spring I'd grown to love.
I laid down on the dock and stared at the sky. Round one- two o'clock. Even after everything that had happened today, it was seriously only two o'clock? My thoughts went to Sophia and Daryl as I stared out into the treeline surrounding the farm. Both of us risked our lives for that little girl, and here she is, dead. I'd have no more hugs, or "Are you okay Emily?" from her sweet voice ever again. Tears clouded my eyes as I washed them away. I wouldn't cry anymore. Hell, I hated crying, but it seems like here I am crying all the time now. I let out a shaky breath as I pulled myself up and got in a standing position.
I took off my shoes and socks and flung them on the dock as I stepped down into the slightly cold water. I let out a hiss as I started to wade up and down the cool spring. I missed this feeling. "Hey, Emily!" I heard Paige call out as she waded up and down the creek bed. "What darlin'?" I hollered back to her. "Are there snakes down here?" she asked. "More than likely on the other side. Just stay over here, and you'll be fine!" I said, taking a sip of cold beer. She practically all but ran to the side with no snakes and continued to talk to her friends."Ya know, she reminds me of her mom more than anyone else I know." Lacey said. "Hell yeah she does." I said as I took another sip before sitting it in the rocks on the creek bed.
"I love this place." I said, as I flipped my hair over my shoulder. "Nothin' beats a good creek. Reminds me of back home. There was this one place called Chevy Bluff that had the biggest bluff I've ever jumped off of. Hit the water so hard, you bruised." I said, chuckling at the memory. Lacey let out a roaring laugh before asking, "Why the hell they name it Chevy Bluff?" I chuckled and said, "If ya was a shitty Ford, there was no way in hell, ya were getting out of there! Chevy's the way to go!" She just laughed and turned her attention to Paige swimming in the creek.
"God, I miss them." I muttered out loud as I caught sight of the birds flying through the air. "Talkin' to yerself's a bad habit, Em." I heard from behind me. Before I even turned around, I knew that voice. "Not not Daryl." I said as continued to wade through the spring. "Yer gonna have pruny feet, cause mine are getting there." he said. "Don't care, did it all the time in my old life. Drank a cold beer while I did it." He let out a soft chuckle as I turned around. "Why ya here, Daryl? I'm perfectly fine. See?" I said while moving my arms and legs simultaneously. "Yer not fine. It's in yer face." he said.
I saw red before I started screaming, "Daryl it's not fair! We both tried so hard and we got so far! But in the end it didn't even fucking matter! I loved that little girl, and she's DEAD! She has a fucking bullet in her brain right now cause we couldn't find her! Lord knows why she went off by herself, or whatever the fuck happened! Shane was right, she was dead. I didn't want to believe him but he was right! And now here we are, about to get kicked off this farm cause Curly had to go fucking crazy and kill them all!" I said all in one breath.
"Woah now." he said, "Don't get yer panties in a twist! I loved that little girl too! And don't you dare fucking say that son uva' bitch is right! He won't ever be in my book! We had hope that she was alive! But yes, he's fucking crazy!" he said, coming closer to me until we were just noses apart. I took a breath and let my head fall. I had gone mad for a second. We had had hope that she was alive. Never loose the hope. I shook my head and brushed past him to go to the dock. He quickly caught up with me and grabbed my arms, flinging me backwards. I let out a gasp as he looked down at me. "Yer eyes are beautiful. Why do I always see them with sadness?" he said, quietly. I looked down at the water passing through our feet and let out a long sigh. "This world." I started, "is just completely fucked isn't it? I mean we go days eating until we're full, and then somethin' happens. Never fails." I said as I looked past Daryl and into the tree line. He took my hand in his as he pulled my attention back to him.
"I know. We never can catch a break, but hey. I'm here with ya, ya know that." he said taking his finger and placed them on the underside of my chin, pulling my face to an angle. "Come on. We're gonna bury Sophia, and I think Rick wants ya ta speak." I nodded and looked down at my feet again. "Em, look at me." he said, quietly. I looked up at the beautiful eyes I loved. I cleared my throat and took my hand from his and started to make my way to the dock. He quickly followed behind me and grabbed my hand once again. I let out a small smile and continued walking.
We came upon the dock as the sun was settling in the sky around three o'clock. Only one hour had passed. Could the day get any worse? I let out a small yelp as I felt Daryl lift me up and on to the dock. He positioned himself between my legs and rubbed small circles on my knee. I leaned back on my hands and grabbed my socks and shoes and put them on. I stood and helped Daryl climb onto the dock as for his side was still badly bruised. He never let go of my hand as we both made our way back to camp after he put his shoes on. We walked in silence for a few moments before I cleared my throat.
"Daryl?" I uttered quietly. "Yeah, Em?" he said back. "Thank you. Fer everything, I really do thank you." I said as I broke off for our tent was in sight. I walked in the tent and quickly changed into clothes more appropriate for what we were getting ready to do. I pulled out a black lace shirt and black shorts from my bag and pulled my boots on just as he was entering the tent. "Come on, Em. Let's get going." he said offering out his hand.
I quickly took it and exited the tent. He let go as soon as I got up, and instantly I missed the warmth his hand gave. "Fer a woman, ya get dressed so damn fast." he said underneath his breath. I sadly smiled as I thought about what I was fixing to do. I was mourning the loss of baby Sophia. My baby Sophia. I walked up to the camp to see mostly everyone walking down to the small set of trees. Mostly everyone had gathered around.
I took a deep breath and walked as slow as I could until I reached my broken family. I stood next to Dale, Daryl following up behind me to stand on my left. Dale looked at me with sadness on his face that I couldn't bear to swallow. He loved Sophia more than anyone here. He always checked on her, sat with her whenever I couldn't. Whatever Sophia wanted, Dale was sure enough to do for her. I gave him a strong hug as I whispered, "She's in a better place. It'll be what she wants." He just nodded and let loose of the hug.
I looked and saw everyone, except for Carol standing there. What the fuck was she not doing here? This is her daughter for crying out loud! Even if my daughter was walker or not, you can best bet that my ass would be standing here, mourning the loss of her. Daryl cleared his throat as Hershel and Maggie slowly approached the group, clearly having lost the most at the time. There was Hershel's wife, Maggie's step brother, family. People that meant something to them, and we shot them down. I didn't want to think badly of what we had done, but we had to take them out. Clear the barn, otherwise we wouldn't have felt safe.
Hershel started the funeral as we all looked upon the bodies of whom we loved. I mostly tuned everything out that he said until I heard Hershel call out my name. "If you would, Emily, please say a few kind words about Sophia, we'll wrap the funeral and begin to mourn our losses." I stepped forward as I felt everyone's eyes go upon me. I shivered slightly as I let out a shaky breath. I cleared my throat and began. "Sophia was a doll. She always worried about everyone and never about herself. She used to always ask me to play go fish with her and Carl." I looked over at Carl to see him holding back tears. "She always had the most polite manners of anyone I've met, not to mention how she ate." I let out a chuckle as did everyone else. "She always ate her food so special. That little girl had an excellent head on her shoulders and she always knew what do. I just wonder what made her run off, or what happened." I said as I looked over at Daryl.
He nodded switched his crossbow to his other arm. I need to start carrying my bow more often. "Sophia was an angel in real life, and I bet right now she's talking to someone and telling them all about us. We'll meet her one day." I said as I retreated back to my spot in between Daryl and Dale. "Beautiful," I heard Dale whisper. Hershel closed the services and everyone but Daryl and I walked off.
"Damn, ya know how ta give a speech." he said. "Had to. Plus, I speak nothin' but tha truth. That little girl is fuckin' special." I said as I let out a sigh. I looked up to the sky to check the time once again. "Round five o'clock." Daryl said. "Yep, come on, I'm goin' to bed. Gonna come with or check things out some?" I said. "Nah, I think I'll just follow ya. Like ya more than everyone else here." We both blushed as we walked back to our tent. "Where's Cheyenne and Paden at?" I said, lookin' around.
"They didn't feel like intrudin' so they went somewhere. Don't really care 'bout them, honestly." he said. I just nodded and opened up the flap. I was just about to get in the tent whenever I saw a glint of the sunlight hitting something metal. I straightened up and looked to the woods where I saw the glint. "Ya see that?" I asked Daryl. "See what?" he questioned back. "Thought I saw a glint of somethin' in the woods. There ain't nothin' metal out there is there? Maybe I just need sleep." I said as I stepped into the tent. "We both need sleep, come on." he said as he made his way in as I got comfy.
I leaned across the tent and grabbed my mom's picture. He gently took it from me and said, "Tomorrow we'll do it. Promise." I nodded and took my shoes off. I got inside the sleeping bags and got comfortable. I felt Daryl slide in beside me as I lifted up my head. He snaked his arm under my head and the other across my stomach. I sighed as I closed my eyes. "We both loved that little girl more than anythin', and now she's gone. It's hard to stomach it. But we'll get over it. We'll be fine." he said aloud, trying to convince us both it would be okay.
"It'll be fine, I guess." I said. "Let's just go to sleep." I said as I flipped my body to face his chest. I traced my fingers over his chest and wished he would've taken his shirt off. I traced the patterns on his shirt before I felt his stifle a giggle. "Ticklish?" I said. He nodded no, so I decided to touch the area above his rib a little bit more. He jumped about ten feet and yelled for me to stop it. "Okay, okay! I promise I won't do it anymore. Promise." I said, holding out my pinky.
He took his pinky in mine as we both laid back down on the pillows. "Might as well go to sleep, Dare." I said, yawning. "Had a long day." He nodded and kissed my forehead. "Night Em." he said. "Goodnight Daryl. Let's go huntin' in the mornin'. Need some food." He just nodded and kissed my forehead once again. "Goodnight." We both closed our eyes and inhaled each others scents. I smelt pine needles and instantly felt safe. We both laid in silence for a few minutes before I let sleep overcome me.
A/N: I am so sorry for the late update. I've been oh so busy with dance and the Saint Patty's Day parade! But hopefully now I'll be able to get more out! I love all you guys! Kisses