CHAPTER 25

1hour and 12 minutes later (21:27pm)

It took about an hour for the three vehicles, and Daryl's motorcycle, to get to the group of houses Rick and Sarah had visited earlier that day. And a good thing too- the fuel they'd brought hadn't gone far spread between all the cars, and once again they were running on fumes.

As soon as the cars came to a halt next to the gap in the fence, Rick jumped out, scanning the darkness for walkers. Daryl was doing the same on the other side of the group. There were three walkers which lumbered around the side of a house, hearing the engines, but Daryl took care of them quickly. They established a perimeter, and under Rick's orders Maggie and Glenn went to scavenge more fuel from the abandoned cars. There wasn't much left - maybe a couple of litres for each car - but it would hopefully give them enough to get a little further out. It was the middle of the night, and that large group of walkers at the house had seen what direction they'd gone in. They wouldn't be far behind, following the road.

Rick's mind was racing - they further they went, the riskier it was. But they couldn't stay here - even after Sarah and him had cleared the place of walkers, there were already three wandering around again. Staying wasn't safe... but neither was continuing. They were in foreign territory, and had never been this way before. Well, lucky for them, Sarah had. She could tell them what to expec-

"Where's Sarah?" asked Daryl suddenly.

T-Dog looked at him, aghast. "What?" he raced around the blue truck. Seeing the back utterly empty, horror dawned over his features. "She's not here! But I-"

"We lost her?" said Rick, shocked. He looked about distractedly, "Did anyone see what happened?" he asked urgently.

Lori and Carol shook their heads, mirroring the stricken expressions of the others.

"We put her in the back - there wasn't space in the front with us..." Carol said hoarsely. "We didn't see..."

"Could she have climbed out?" suggested Maggie, returning with a canister half-full of gas.

T-Dog shook his head. "She was barely conscious when I put 'er in the back-"

"What the hell were you thinkin'?" demanded Daryl angrily, striding forward to shove his face in T-Dog's. T-Dog just avoided his eyes, feeling wretched.

"Daryl, it's not his faul-" Daryl shrugged off Carol's hand and glared, pacing.

The previous night had been so chaotic, they must have been separated from her and left her stranded. Rick felt numb- just yesterday he'd reassured her about her place in the group, and now...? she was probably dead. Probably... his eyes, wandering, settled on the pile of dismembered walkers leant against the side of one of the rusty abandoned cars, all bearing the mark of her blade. True, she didn't have her favourite weapon with her now, but perhaps...

"I'm goin' back t'look for her." Said Daryl firmly, with a mulish expression.

The others had mixed reactions to this. "Don't!" said Glenn forcefully, "Daryl, it's just like with Andrea- it's not worth endangering anyone else..."

Maggie nodded, agreeing, "There were so many walkers... She wouldn't be there anymore."

Daryl scowled, and opened his mouth to argue, but Herschel got there first, surprising everyone.

"No, it's not same as Andrea." said Herschel heavily. "She's still there." The others looked at him. "Her leg was injured pretty badly. She wouldn't have been able to run. One way or another... she's still there."

There was a beat of silence, as everyone considered the grave implications of what he was saying.

"No." Said Daryl stubbornly, shaking his head in denial, "Sarah's strong. Ain't no way she'd be taken down so easily. There was some buildin's back there - the house - she might've fought her way in, holed up in there. She could be waitin' for us."

Carol shook her head at him, pity in her eyes, "Daryl... it's not likely that she's still-"

Part of him knew that what she was saying was right, was logical... but that just made him see red. Since when had Carol become so callous, so ready to give up? It felt like a betrayal. "Y'don't give up looking for someone jus' 'cause it's unlikely, do ya?" he snapped harshly, glaring at her. Carol closed her mouth, and looked down, shame colouring her face.

Rick came and stood between them, eager to avoid a fight.

"Look, I don't know what we'll find back there," he said, meeting Daryl's eyes, "But we have to be sure. Sarah's one o' us now. If there's even a chance she's there, waitin' for us, then we have to be sure." Daryl nodded at him, grateful for his support.

"I'll be back soon." Said Daryl, but Rick was shaking his head.

"No, I need you with us." He said firmly. Daryl frowned at him. "I'm not splittin' this group up again." Rick raised a hand, warding off his arguments, "Splittin' up, waitin' for this one or that one to return, no one takin' the time to do a head-count... that's what's caused this to happen." Daryl stopped trying to argue, but looked unhappy.

"Look around- we have no shelter, we've lost most of our supplies..." Rick continued, "It's the middle of the night, and we have zero visibility. We need to keep going, find more gas for the cars. Tomorrow, when it's light, we can go back. All o' us."

Daryl turned away abruptly- he didn't like it, his every instinct was telling him he should be going back for her right now... Merle's motorcycle had enough gas. But Rick was being reasonable, thinking about the safety of the group first, and he knew it. He scowled. If it had been Lori or Carl, the man would have said, screw logic, and gone back immediately.

"Fine." He responded brusquely at last, still feeling like it was a massive mistake.

Rick nodded, thankful he'd accepted his decision. "Then let's move out." His fingernails dug into his palms as he clenched his fists, hoping he'd made the right decision. This was another time when all the choices were bad... all he could do was take the (comparatively) safest road. The others were silent, their thoughts, like his, were with Sarah. "It's gonna be a long night." he said grimly. For all of them.