There was an unease in the air as they all gathered around the fire for breakfast. It felt like something big was about to happen, she just didn't know what it was yet. Dove perched herself on top of a bucket and was beginning to shovel eggs into her mouth as Glenn cleared his throat. She turned; an eyebrow raised as she looked at her friend.
"So, guys," Glenn trailed off for a moment. "There's walkers in the barn." Dove's heart sank to her stomach as she dropped her fork back to her plate. A quick glance around the fire showed everyone was about as shocked as she was.
"Well, c'mon then. Show us," Shane's harsh voice broke the silence. Dove didn't want to move from the spot she was in, but it didn't seem like she had much of a choice. T-Dog stood up from next to her and offered her his hand. She rolled her eyes as she accepted the help to stand.
"I don't know why we all have to go look," Dove whispered to Carol as she tugged at the hem of her shirt. "Why would Glenn make that shit up?"
Carol shook her head, "I don't know." Carol grabbed her sister's hand and gave it a squeeze.
Glenn was telling the truth, as expected and Shane was not happy about it in the slightest. "This is Hershel's land! We're guests here," Rick began to argue as Glenn tried to calm the two men down.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea piped up.
"It ain't right. Not remotely," Shane agreed.
Dove shook her head as she put a comforting arm around Carol. "No one's saying it's right, Shane. Not a soul is but think about it. If Hershel's keeping them in the barn, there has to be a reason behind it."
Shane shook his head as he began to pace, "Don't really care what the reason is. We've either got to make things right or we've just got to go. Now we have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time."
A mix of anger and panic surged through Dove. Shane was a selfish, arrogant bastard, and now he wanted to leave without Sophia.
"We can't leave," Rick spoke up. But that still wasn't good enough for Shane.
"Sophia's still out there," Carol stepped forward, out of Dove's grasp. "I'm not leaving without her." Dove chewed nervously on her thumbnail as Daryl walked up beside her.
"I think it's time that we all just start to consider the other possibility," Shane tried to keep his voice steady.
Dove dropped her hands to her sides and chewed on the inside of her cheek before she couldn't hold it in anymore. "What other possibility? The possibility that you didn't give two shits about finding Sophia in the first place? Because I've already considered that possibility," she hissed at the deputy.
Shane didn't seem phased at all, though. "Now you listen, bird. We've been looking for her since day one, so don't come at me with that."
Dove huffed, "Daryl's been looking is what I think you mean. Rick's been looking, but you never seemed too dead set on it from the start. So sorry if I'm not fully buying what you're selling." Carol shot Dove a panicked glance; it was enough to make the younger woman back down as Rick stepped up.
"We're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick stated.
Daryl spoke up next as he began to pace, "I'm close to finding this girl! I just found her damn doll two days ago."
Shane let out a short laugh and Dove thought about throwing a shovel at his head. "You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll."
"He found the doll; Sophia has to be close by. Right," Dove was beginning to feel like she was grasping at straws and she didn't like that feeling. Not one bit. She knew there was a possibility that Sophia was dead, she'd just never thought on it too much. She was an educated woman, but that didn't mean she couldn't be superstitious. Dove felt like if she thought about Sophia being dead too much, it might be something that came into existence.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about, Shane," Daryl shouted as he stepped forward. Dove and Carol were right behind him as he swung an arm at Shane. Dove placed a hand on Daryl's arm for a moment as he lowered his arm. A quick glance between them said enough, they were all growing tired and wary of Shane.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead, it's in the first 48 hours," Shane explained.
"Shane, stop," Rick pleaded as Carol began to tear up.
Dove turned her attention to her sister. "Don't listen to him, Carol. Look at me, we're gonna find her," Dove trailed off as Shane began to shout once again.
"Let me tell you something else, man. If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife and your geek ears around your neck? She would run in the other direction," Shane shouted.
Carol brought both of her hands up to her mouth as Daryl took a real swing at Shane. Rick tried his best to block the two men from each other and Dove could feel the adrenaline pumping in her veins as she stepped forward. She reached out her hand and caught Daryl's arm in mid-swing. "Stop it," Dove shouted over the chaos at Shane. Daryl was stronger than he looked, even recovering from an injury and he broke out of her grasp, like a bloodhound that had caught a scent and continued to go after Shane.
Dove shoved herself in between Rick and Daryl. "Leave it," she hissed at the redneck as she gave him a sharp shove backwards. Daryl's blue eyes went wide as he stumbled back a step towards Carol. "Shane's trying to make you look like a piece of shit and you're better than that," she whispered as Rick managed to get Shane to retreat.
"She's right," Carol nodded in quiet agreement.
Shane was like a rampaging lunatic and for the first time since everything started, Dove felt true fear. "Just let me talk to Hershel," Rick tried to reason with his friend. "I have to talk to him about it no matter what. We stay, we clear the barn, but I have to talk him into it! This is his land."
Dale stepped up, a hand raised in the air. "Hershel sees though things in there as people." Dove ran a hand through her hair as she tried to process the fact that Hershel thought the people in his barn were still alive. "Sick people. His wife, his stepson."
"You knew," the betrayal was obvious in Rick's voice.
"Yesterday I talked to Hershel," Dale explained calmly.
"And you waited the night," Shane rounded on the old man.
Dove let out a heavy sigh as she turned and faced towards the fields behind her. She just felt sick about everything. She tried to focus on the fact that there were walkers on the barn, but she could only think of two things. One, Shane thought Sophia was dead. And two, Shane was becoming less and less stable by the day.
Her thoughts were cut off as loud growls began to leave the barn. A shiver ran down her spine as she grabbed Carol's arm and began backing up. "How many of those fucking things are in there," she whispered to Carol.
Carol shook her head quickly, "Too many…"
Dove didn't know what to do with herself when she got back to camp. Her nerves were shot, and she felt like she just wanted to run. She couldn't even say where she wanted to run too, but she didn't want to be here. The walkers in the barn pushed her over the edge.
"Hey," a voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She twitched nervously before she turned her attention to the man who spoke.
"Can I help you," she responded coolly.
"I just…I wanted to talk to someone from your group," Julian lowered his voice as he knelt next to her. "I know that you guys are supposed to leave after you find your niece."
"We might not," Dove responded quickly as she glanced quickly towards the barn.
"I wanna come with you guys when you leave," Julian interrupted. Dove's eyebrows shot up.
"Why would you wanna do that? Isn't your family here," Dove inquired.
Julian shook his head. "No, I…" He sighed heavily and ran a hand down his face. "My sister and I were trying to get to Atlanta when everything went down. Barely made it any further than that traffic jam you guys said you got stuck in from how backed up it was. Everything went to shit, people panicked. We got separated. I ran here because my parents were friends with Hershel. It's stupid, but it's the first place I thought of that wouldn't lead me right into a herd of panicking people."
Dove stared at the younger man; hazel eyes scanned him as she tried to think of anything to say. "Sorry about your sister."
"That's why I wanna go with you guys. I think she's still out there," Julian explained, and Dove opened her mouth to reply before she squinted into the distance. People were walking towards the stables and she didn't have to look hard to see that her sister was one of them.
"Like I said," Dove spoke again as she rose to her feet. "Sorry about your sister, but I'm not in charge here. Talk to Rick," she called over her shoulder as she took off at a slow jog towards her sister.
Dove picked up the pace as she didn't hear any noise coming from the stable and when she got close enough, she realized what was happening. Carol had followed Daryl to try and stop him. He was going to get himself killed. "We don't know if we're gonna find her, Daryl. I don't," Carol spoke, and Dove felt like a dagger entered her heart.
"What," Daryl spoke quietly as Dove peeked around the corner. She didn't want to be noticed right now.
"Can't lose you too," Carol said. Dove took a deep breath and leaned her head against the warm wood of the stable. Carol cared too much about other people for her own good; hell, maybe they both did. Dove jumped at the sudden noise of things being thrown inside.
"Just leave me be," Daryl's tone was harsher now and Dove flinched. "Stupid bitch," Daryl growled as he walked out of the stable. He didn't even see Dove as he passed her. She watched for a moment as he stomped off towards the trees before she turned and looked into the stable.
Carol stood there with tears streaming down her face, but the second she saw Dove, she began to wipe them away quickly. "What are you doing here," Carol's voice cracked.
Dove stepped further into the barn until she was able to embrace her sister. Carol shuddered as she tried to hold back a sob. "Carol, talk to me." Dove stroked Carol's back as she tried to soothe her.
"I tried to stop him from going to look for Sophia. He already got so hurt looking for her. He's a good person, Dove. We can't lose him too," Carol wiped her eyes again. "Not after Jacqui. Not after Sophia." Dove felt another wave of sadness wash over her at the thought of Jacqui. She didn't realize that she missed the older woman, she tried not to think about it too much. Dove didn't want to fall down a slippery slope that would take her a long time to crawl out of.
Dove squeezed her sister's shoulder. "Listen, it's not gonna happen." She shook her head.
Carol sniffled and pulled away from her sister. "You saw what Shane did today. What do you think would've happened if the two of them actually fought? Shane's strong, we all saw him put him in that chokehold back at camp." Dove wrinkled her nose. "What if…" Carol trailed off.
Dove wiped her hands on the front of her shirt before she tilted her head back and looked up at the ceiling of the stables. "I'm gonna go find him," Dove decided.
Carol spoke up, "Wait…"
"Listen, he still needs to get shit for calling you a dumb bitch," she planted her feet on the ground and crossed her arms in front of her chest. Carol just stared at her younger sister before the brunette disappeared out of the stables.
Dove squinted against the sun as she walked towards the direction that she had last seen Daryl in. She didn't expect what she saw. Dove stayed quiet as she reached down to untie her shoelaces. The brunette peeled her socks off her feet before she quietly stepped forward. Dove sighed as she lowered herself to sit on the dock next to the redneck.
"What do you want," Daryl's voice was quiet. She didn't expect that either.
"Well, I came out here to tell you that I really don't appreciate you calling my sister a stupid bitch, but it's really peaceful out here. Don't know if I wanna ruin it," she shrugged her shoulders as she moved her feet back and forth in the water.
It was quiet for a few seconds before Daryl spoke again. "She said that she doesn't know if we're gonna find Sophia. Got real mad I guess."
"Well, I'd appreciate it if you didn't do it again. She got enough of that shit from Ed, ya know." Dove shook her head, "The truth is, we don't know if we're gonna find Sophia alive or dead. We're gonna find her, just a matter of when. It's just Shane getting into her head because she's stressed out and he got her all frazzled."
Daryl grunted in response as Dove turned to face him. "She means well. Carol does, I mean. She just…worries about you I guess."
Daryl huffed as he kicked at the water, "Don't need anyone worryin about me."
"Well, that's too bad. Because once Carol decides to worry about something, she basically makes it her job." Dove nodded her head. "I mean if mothering was an Olympic sport, she would have several gold medals," Dove chuckled and she noticed the corner of Daryl's lip twitch up in a light smile.
It was gone before she could say anything, but he turned to look at her. "I'm sorry I haven't found her yet."
Dove furrowed her brow as she turned slightly. She pulled one of her feet out of the water and pulled her knee up to her chest as she faced the older man. "Hey," she hesitantly reached out and placed a hand on his shoulder. Daryl flinched slightly but didn't make a move to jerk away. "I meant what I said before. You're better than Shane. Better than half of the people that I knew before this whole thing went down, actually."
Daryl raised an eyebrow. "Don't need you lyin to me to make your case, Dove."
"Shane's losing his shit out here, man. And if he loses it and kills someone? If he kills you after all the shit we've been through over the past few weeks?" Dove clenched her teeth and shook her head.
Daryl scoffed and spoke again as he turned away from her, "Nothing's gonna happen. I…" He stopped mid-sentence and pulled both of his feet out of the water.
"Hey, what?" Dove frowned as Daryl grabbed her lightly by the arm and pulled her to her feet. "Where are we going," Dove tried her best to keep up with him before he came to a stop, finger pointing towards a bush by the edge of the little pond.
"Look. Wait right here," he said as he began to pull his socks and shoes back on.
"Where are you going?" Dove questioned, not looking away from the bush.
"Goin to get your sister. I'll be right back," then Daryl was gone.
Dove had always been one to find comfort in nature, but she never felt more at peace than she did as she stood there and waited for them to return. If the story that Daryl had told them had any truth to it, then that bush of Cherokee roses had definitely bloomed for Sophia.