Very Short chapter, But I'm working on the third and it will occasionally switch between the two.

It was dusk , Rick was pacing back and forth in the courtyard, where could they have gone? He ran it through his head continuously, maybe Daryl got lost? But that wasn't possible, he's an amazing tracker. He could have run out of gas, didn't want to leave his bike. But then he would have still brought Carl back. He did have a map for where they were gonna be so he could come get them if something were to happen. He paced again, and again, Michonne behind him looking extremely annoyed. She strode up to Rick angrily.

"We should be out there looking for him, He might have taken off with your son." She was extremely annoyed looking at the gate waiting for them to return. Rick had too much trust in Daryl in her opinion. But then again others would say her judgement of him would have to be from her run in with Merle. So some would say her opinion on Daryl was bias; but there was more to her gut feeling.

"I know Michonne. We need to go make sure both of them are okay, we need to get Glenn and Maggie. Just to be safe, if we have too we might have to wait till tomorrow. Daryl promised he would keep Carl safe." he spoke with trust, Michonne didn't understand the trust he had in the younger Dixon. But she wasn't going to argue, the very least he was gonna start working on getting Carl back. She had not yet willing to admit it, But she had been getting attached to Rick and Carl.

Before long they all were gathering supplies, just for a couple days of travel just in case they need to trek around for some gas or fuel. Tables of supplies laid out, Gleen was taking granola, Maggie loading the guns. Rick cleaning his own, Hershel was walking up to them all with worry on his face. His white hair and blue eyes all seemed to be lighter than usual as if he was stressing more. His skin seemed to be sagging, the lack of food had not been good for the older gentlemen. RIck knew; Hershel tried to hide his thinning frame, but Rick had noticed. He never approached the proud man about it.

Carol came up and Rick looked away from Hershel, Carol's ever graying hair was getting longer along with her expressions. She looked at Rick with worry and concern;

"What if it's him?" Carol expressed, suddenly the room went dead, quite not a single person moved, Michonnes expression scrunched in displeasure. "We were all thinking about it. No one was going to say it." Glenn let out a sigh and unfortunately the group couldn't ignore Carol on this one. She'd been right about a great many deal of things. She always spoke the truth when others didn't want to. Rick couldn't argue the statement, but he opened his mouth anyway.

"There is no way-" Mishonne shot him an angry look, the kind that said are you fucking kidding me. He sighed. "What would he gain from taking Daryl now? Carl I could see, but with Merle gone he wouldn't have any real reason for Daryl." He pointedly said. Again Michonne gave a look of utter anger. He saw her face again, and then got fed up with the look. " What is it Michonne?" He exhaled.

"You honestly think that sadistic fuck wouldn't find something to do with his ex-lieutenant brother? The one that betrayed him?" Her deep voice resounded with poison. "Just think. What he could have done to me." Her sentences were slow and direct like everything else about her. " Now think what he might do to someone just remotely related to someone who betrayed him? That man is not above harboring a grudge. He will break down Daryl, He will make sure he has no mind left. He isn't above anything to get his revenge." Rick hated to admit that Michonne was right, because then it meant he would have to admit that the same would happen to Carl.

Carol paced over to Rick, rubbing his shoulder, she was good like that, she still had her instincts as a mother. She knew what he was thinking, aside from Hershel, she, and Rick knew the frightening feeling of losing a child. Many from the Woodbury colony would know, but they didn't want people to know about this. If it was him. Then. The panic would be heavy. People would either start pinning for his forgiveness or amass in droves for his blood. Either situation was not a good outcome, so Rick wanted Carl and Daryl missing to be kept quiet. Michonne agreed to it, on the condition that if he did do this, we would let people know. Because it was the people's right to know.

Carol had still been rubbing Rick's shoulder, she sighed and then looked at him with a hard expression; "If it is him, We will bring them back Rick." She turned and grabbed a shotgun, pumped it and didn't even skip a beat, "Or we will kill the bastard." She growled just a little.

... Out on the road…

They decided to drive to the location, no one said anything the whole ride. Everyone was in complete and utter silence the whole time. Rick was worrying whole heartily about his son. It couldn't be him could it? It was going to drive Rick mad, what would he do to Carl? Just to get back at Rick. This is why Rick never wanted Carl to leave, this was why his gut told him the target practice was a bad idea. Hell Hershel told him, Michonne did. Everyone did, But he had faith that Daryl would protect his son, and he was right to trust him. Daryl had never been bad to anyone in the group. Merle had been to blame for most of the problems, and people usually just lumped them together because they had been brothers.

Glenn spoke up about what's going on; "what if Daryl is in league with him?" He asked, silence in the car.

"Then we take care of it." Michonne coldly reacts.

" He's not. He would never." Rick rebuked, he was getting fed up with everyone using Daryl's connection to his brother as a reason to outcast him. He gripped the wheel a in anger, this wasn't the first time that everyone had made Daryl the bad guy. "He's not Merle." He grouched, everyone else went silent. Why did they do that? Shane was just as bad and yet no one would dare demonize Shane. The thought crippled his mental state a bit, because then Lori hit him. It was always the same with remembering her, it would hit him and then he would start seeing her. He wasn't going to break this time. Carl was out there. He needed to focus on his task, bobbing and weaving through cars, it would have been easier on a bike like Daryl's.

Rick knew why he was so defensive of Daryl, he had seen it many times, in abuse cases, in families in general. A member who is used until they are a shell, made to think, act, and do what they are told. Daryl was that member, He didn't have to know their whole family to know it, Merle was enough of a headcase about Daryl that he could tell. Daryl didn't need Merle, it was exactly the opposite, Merle needed to beat and break Daryl so he could feel like he had control over something. It wasn't completely cut and dry. But there was enough that he saw between the two in reaction to notice. It didn't negate Merle's last actions, he tried to do good in the end, but it only ended up being the bitter end.

Shoving those thoughts aside, he noticed everyone else was looking at him now like he was expected to say something else. He let out a long awaited sigh; "We can't keep condemning Daryl for his brother's actions. It's not like he was always aware of what Merle was doing." He was callus in his words. Michonne just looked away, folding her arms. Glenn looked down, clicking his tongue. He knew Rick was right, they had all been riding Daryl about his brother that they forget that he wasn't always aware of how Merle acted. Especially after Sophie, he looked for that girl for days before they had moved on. Even went until he was banged up in the process and pretty damn messed up too.

"I'm sorry man." Glenn genuinely replies.

"It's not me you're gonna have to be sorry too." Rick replied coldly. Every one went back to silence, he then saw where the turn off was that Daryl had described. He took in a deep breath. Traveling down the turn off. It was very small, almost a little too small for the car to travel down. When they came to the clearing exactly where Daryl said they would be, the two were nowhere to be found. Rick's heart suddenly grew heavy, he was looking around desperately for anything that would suggest that they were still there. But then he caught sight of the bike and fear broke him. He slammed on the breaks and jumped out of the car, forgetting to turn the break on. Michonne acted quickly, stopping the car before Maggie, and Glenn could panic.

"What the hell Rick!?" Maggie Howled. She looked at him and then suddenly surveyed what he had seen. Daryls bike with two dummies on it. Maggie's heart sank into her stomach as she jetted out of the car, and ran over to him, Glenn, and Michonne behind her. As they rounded the front of the bike they saw the note.

Rick was distressed, his heart clenched worse than when Lori died. He saw the two dummies, one with Daryl's name scrawled across the face, and the smaller one labeled as Carl. Rick started weeping, and Maggie was holding her hands covering her face that was in a horrified look. Gleen threw his baseball cap on the ground angrily. Michonne was even more furious. She took out her sword and slashed at the substitutes. The note read as follows:

Bring Michonne to me, or find their corpses next time. -The Governer.