I do not own…
In the morning Sophia woke up from the pantry. She slowly opened the door and saw only Demon laying by the door.
"Is everything okay, Demon?" She asked
The hellhound just huffed before stretching his body and getting up. Seeing that was his way in telling her it was safe she opened the door all the way, getting out. After looking around the kitchen there wasn't much to eat. There were only two canned sardines that she found. Hearing her stomach growling she didn't care for the smell of the sardines. After opening them she gave one can to Demon and she ate the other ones.
When they were done eating they headed out. Sophia followed the dog as she knew the dog was smart and would know the way back. While they walked the pre-teen noticed that they always walk pass trees that had claw markings on them. Things were okay for a while till Demon stopped.
Sniffing the air, the hellhound growled.
There was something out there that was stalking them. Something deadly and inhuman.
With his hearing he could hear familiar growls a few miles away so he knew what he had to do. Black flames surrounded him and became big as a siberan tiger with a spiky tail and black flames at the end. Sophia screamed from fear but didn't have time to run away as Demon scooped her up on his back and started running the opposite direction. The girl had held on to him tight as he was running very fast. Then she looked back at the direction they were running from and her eyes widened in fear as she saw four other huge dogs just like Demon chasing after them. From what was happening neither she or Demon heard the gunshot that was heard miles away from them.
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The gunshot from earlier has kept everyone in Vlad's group on edge but continued on walking. On everyone's mind they had many questions, trying to figure it out. Vlad did a search with his sight and saw that it wasn't Rick or Shane's but saw that it was another problem. He saw that the Grimes' son was shot. The boy was alive but only barely.
They found another one of Demons' markings on the threes and they decided to take another rest stop. Andrea was the one that noticed Lori looking back where the gun shot was heard.
"You still are worrying about it?" Andrea asked
"It was a gunshot." Lori said
"Well, we all heard it." Daryl said
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" Lori turned back towards them and asked
Vlad didn't know how to tell the woman the truth. While they stopped he continued on watching the scene he was looking at. The man that shot the boy was taking Rick and Shane somewhere. Hopefully to get help.
"Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl shrugged
"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly." Lori snapped
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes." Vlad said
"And that echo could draw unwanted attention for us." Alice added
Daryl nodded agreement.
"So what do we do?" Amy asked
"Same as we've been doing. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway." Daryl said
To the Dixon siblings they knew that they were wasting daytime. They knew that something was keeping Demon from bringing Sophia back or else they would have returned by now. If there was something more dangerous than a walker hunting them down Demon would do everything to keep the human girl safe.
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us at the RV." Andera said, trying to assure everyone.
They all nodded and continued following the path. Sadly it wasn't quite as Andrea and Carol were talking.
"I'm sorry for what you're going through. I can't imagine what you're going through." Andrea said
"The thought of her out here by herself...it's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying that she doesn't wind up like Jim." Carol softly said
Alice just walked further ahead of the group with Maxine as she didn't want to hear it. Yes, she understood what Carol could be going through but she's putting too much blame on Rick for what happened. Now it looks like she is depending on Alice and Daryl to do everything to find her own daughter. Alice didn't mind helping but Carol really needs to stop pulling the tear jerking card.
"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth." Andrea said
"I'll tell you what it's worth, not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying. Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, she's gonna be just fine." Daryl said as he came between the two women. "Am I the only one Zen around here? Good Lord."
He walked away, catching up to his sister and niece.
After a few hours they started to make some more progress. To keep track of the marking trees Alice has been wrapping the marked trees with a big ball of yellow string. Sadly the sunlight was starting to dim down through the woods. They knew that they had to get back to the RV before sunsets as soon as possible.
"We're going to lose light soon. I think we should call it." Vlad said, turning towards them as they stopped.
"Let's head back." Alice said before cutting the string and placed the ball back in her bag.
"We'll pick it back up again tomorrow?" Carol asked weakly
"Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow." Lori nodded
"Let's go." Vlad said as he took lead once again.
After a mile of walking Andrea wasn't looking where she was going and ended up walking right into a spider web. She managed to get it off before tripping over a tree root.
"As the crow flies, my ass." Andrea muttered
Just as she said that a walker appeared behind a tree and tried to grab her. Andrea screamed as she tried to keep it away from her. Amy quickly hurried over to her sister and hit the walker with her bo staff. It got back up and suddenly a young woman on a horse rode past them and used a wooden bat to smash it across the walker's face. The hit was able to make the walker fly about a few feet from the sisters.
"Andrea are you okay?" Amy asked
Unable to answer Andera just nodded as tears dropped down cheeks.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" The young woman on the horse asked
"I'm Lori." Lori said, stepping forward.
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now." The woman said
"What?" Lori asked
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've got to come now. Rick needs you. Just come." The woman said, patting the saddle.
Hearing that her shot had been shot, Lori quickly threw her backpack off and quickly mounted on the horse.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse and ride off." Daryl stepped in the way.
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" The woman asked, ignoring Daryl.
"Uh-huh." Glenn dumbly said
"Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene. Hyah!" The young woman said before turning the horse around and rode off with Lori holding on.
Everyone just watched as the young woman rode away with Lori. The only thing that could be heard was the still alive walker. It tried to get up but Daryl shot it's head with an arrow.
"Shut up." Daryl growled
"Let's move, now." Alice said
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"Shot?" Dale said "What do you mean shot?"
Vlad and the others manage to get back to the RV before sundown and told Dale what had happened.
"I don't know Dale. I wasn't there." Glenn said "All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."
"You let her?" Dale said to Vlad and Daryl.
"Climb down out of our asses, old man." Daryl glared "Rick sent her."
"She knew Lori's name and Carl's." Vlad said
When Andera came into his view he remembered the scream that he heard.
"I heard screams. Was that you?" He asked
Andrea just walked passed him. On the way back she didn't speak to anyone and just glared at Vlad and Alice. Amy couldn't help but roll her eyes at her sisters' attitude right now. She didn't even thank her for saving her.
"She got attacked by a walker." Glenn explained "It was a close call."
"Andera, are you all right?" Dale asked
The woman just glared at him before getting in the RV and slammed the door shut. So while she was calming down the others gathered together to talk about what they should do now. Some think they should meet Rick at the farm while others think they should still wait for Sophia.
"I won't do it. We can't just leave." Carol said
"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale said
"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol asked "It could happen."
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Amy said
"Okay. We got to plan for this." Daryl said "I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes."
"I agree. It'll give us a chance to make a sign, leave her some supplies." Vlad said "I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"Same." Daryl said
"Hey if the RV is staying, I am too." Dale said
"Thank you. Thank you both." Carol sadly smiled
"I'm in." Amy said
"So are we." Alice said
"Well, if you're all staying then I'm…" Glenn was cut off by Dale.
"Not you Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee." Dale said
"Me? Why is it always me?" Glenn asked
"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most importantly, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke." Dale explained
Hearing this Daryl walked over to Merle's motorcycle. Alice had to hold back a laugh when he dug through the saddle and pulled out a large bag filled with pills. Daryl walked back and threw one of Dales rags at him with a glare.
"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle. Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." Daryl said
He handed the bag to Alice so she could find something that would help T-Dog.
"Crystal, X. Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers." Alice said "Hmm, Oxycycline. That should do. And this not the generic stuff neither. It's first class." She took out the bag with the pills and tossed to Dale. "Merle got the clap on occasion."
Night had came and everyone was sleeping. Well, at least they tried to sleep. Carol was crying in her sleep and Andrea was still cleaning her damn gun. Alice and Vlad, who were laying on the hood with a blanket wrapped around them, looking at the stars while Amy and Maxine were sleeping inside the car.
"If it wasn't for the dead surrounding us this would be a nice date night, don't you think?" Vlad said
"In a way, yes." Alice smiled "One of the great things about the dead world, no lights to block the beautiful night sky."
He noticed that she started playing with one of her necklaces. It was a silver amulet, with a celtic shield knot and an arrow in the middle that was made from a red ruby. A part of him got a little jealous as he knew it was a mans' chain and wondered who it was from.
"Where did you get that?" He asked
She looked down at the necklace and with sadness in her eyes.
"It belonged to the one man that was like a father to me. My uncle Simon. He died a year before this happened." She said
"I'm sorry." He muttered
"It's alright. He knew his time was coming and didn't want to die in bed like his wife did. So he decided to die by what he loved doing. He was hunting a pack of werewolves in Michigan. Killed them all before his heart stopped. Daryl and I found him sitting on their corpses frozen dead with a smile on his face." She said with a sad smile. "You know, it was because of him that I found out about my blood father and brothers Sam and Dean."
"I would like to hear that."He said
Alice smiled and scooted closer to him. He would have enjoyed it if Daryl didn't come out of the R.V.
"I'm going for a walk. Shine some light in the forest." Daryl said to Alice. "If she's out there, give her something to look at."
"Do you think that's a good idea now?" Dale asked
"You know what, I'm gonna too." Vlad said get off the hood and whispered to Alice. "I can't sleep with all the crying."
Alice nodded agreement and held her blanket close to her.
"Try not to kill each other you two." She said
Daryl glared over at Vlad and snorted.
"No promises, sis." He muttered
Vlad smirked and patted her leg.
"This should be fun." He muttered and winked at her.
Alice shook her head with a smile before continuing on keeping watch.
The two men walked in the dark woods for a while, quiet. Neither wanted to talk to each other but both were wondering what was taking Demon so long.
"You think that it's possible that Demon ran into something while searching for Sophia?" Vlad asked
"Only possible reason. Nothing can scare that hellhound." Darlly said "Looks like we're the only ones that don't have that look on our face. What the hell's wrong with them? We just started looking."
"Well this isn't the world that they're used to anymore. Little girl lost in a world with zombies walking around, untrained and unarmed doesn't really scream survival." Vlad replied
"It ain't the mountains of Tibet. It's Georgia." Darly glared "She could be holded up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive. It happens all the time."
"And who knows what's out there. You're a true hunter, remember. There are still many other monsters that might have survived that will see a kid as an easy meal." Vlad said
"I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eating berries, wiping my ass with poison oak. Hell, even at the age 8 Alice survived the alaskin wilderness." Darly replied
Vlad stopped and looked at him with disbelief.
"She got kidnapped at the time but managed to get away with the help of Demon. That's why I know Sophia's alive. He helped Alice back then, and he'll help Sophia." Darly said
They continued on walking for a few more miles till they found a tent with a zombie hanged and half eaten.
"What the hell?" Darly asked and read the paper that was carved to the tree. "Got bit. Fever hit. World gone to shit. Might as well quit. Dumbass didn't know enough to shoot himself in the head."
"Poor bastard turned himself into a big swinging piece of bait." Vlad said, trying hard not to let the smell get to him. "Let's see what he left behind."
Vlad checked the tent but found nothing so after killing off the Walker they headed back highway.