They'd left a sign on a car window in white paint. It was the best they could do with what they had. A large amount of supplies was left on the hood of the car along with a couple changes of clothes for each. There wasn't a choice but to leave the highway, Daryl knew, if he wanted to stay safe. The notion was anything but comforting to him, but he had to believe she would make it back to him. He knew the girls were alive, knew his Ania was alive; they just needed to make it back.

Daryl couldn't keep the scowl off his face no matter how much he tried. His thoughts were only on the fact that he was leaving Ania alone. She wouldn't know where to find him, wouldn't know if he was okay. It was Merle all over again. Just gone with no trail to follow. Surely, she wouldn't leave him too, he thought ruefully. Merle had left; he hadn't even waited for Daryl to come get him, just cut off his hand and left. Everything was just so messed up and the hunter didn't know what to do. He had no one if Ania didn't come back.

It didn't take long to reach the farm. Daryl was ahead of everyone, leading the convoy. As he stopped the bike and dropped the kickstand, Rick came out of the house with a few people they didn't know. One was the girl from the day before. As Dale walked up and asked how Carl was, Daryl was retrieving his crossbow. The boy was going to be alright, even though he'd been shot in a hunting accident. Unfortunately, his saviors had lost the man who'd gone to get the medical supplies with Shane. Something didn't exactly add up to Daryl as he observed the newly shaven man. They all agreed to a burial for Otis, the man this farm had lost.

A short time later found them all standing beside a pile of rocks that were being used as a memorial for the man. Hershel, the old farmer who had managed to perform surgery on Carl, stood in front of it and began reading from his bible.

"Blessed be God, father of our Lord Jesus Christ. Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis," he said as the other members of the farm added rocks to the pile. "For his span in years. For his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank you God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace. Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry," the man said. Daryl just watched him with a scrutinizing gaze.

"You were the last one with him," a crying woman, Patricia, pleaded. "You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."

Daryl guessed the woman's crying worked because soon enough, Shane started talking, "Okay." He looked everywhere but at the woman, clearly spinning a tail, Daryl thought. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then," he began, completely enthralling the dead man's wife. "I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We gotta save the boy.' See, that's what he said," the man continued as his voice cracked. "He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back..." he just stopped talking, looking to Patricia. She looked back at him as tears filled her eyes, a look of awe on her face at the story he was telling. Walking to the wheelbarrow, he grabbed a rock out and placed it on the pile while saying, "If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl too. It was Otis He saved us both," the man insisted. "If any death ever had meaning," he told Patricia, "it was his."

The woman seemed satisfied with his answer, but Daryl had seen the look in his eye. The way he had carried himself and looked around at the start of his tale. He'd come back with Rick's gun, too, which the man had apparently lent to Otis. Something didn't add up, and Daryl had half a thought that Shane might have left the man behind.

"How long have these girls been missing?" Hershel asked.

"This'll be day three," Rick answered.

Daryl, Rick, Shane, Andrea, and Hershel were standing in front of the Cherokee as the old man's daughter walked up. She laid a map out on the hood, prompting Daryl to remember when Ania had done something similar close to two months back. Had that really been all it was? Two months knowing the woman and Daryl was already distinctively feeling the loss of her. Hell, they'd only been together for a few weeks now and she'd crawled so far under his skin she might as well have been an extra appendage. Once again, his mind was a mess because of her, and she wasn't even around to cause it.

"County survey map," the girl, Maggie, said. "Shows terrain and elevations."

"This is perfect," Rick said. "We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."

"Not you, not today," Hershel said, turning to Rick. "You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle," he said moving onto Shane. "Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me," Daryl said, leaning over and gesturing at the map. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there."

"I can still be useful," Shane insisted. "I'll drive up to the interstate. See if Sophia wandered back."

"And Tea, don't forget Tea," Rick added. "Alright, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right."

Shane started again, "That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising."

Daryl scoffed and shook his head at the man. Guns weren't needed to look for missing people. Knives were better in the woods anyways, so long as there weren't an overwhelming amount of walkers. Even then, guns would only be so useful. He felt like it was just a play to stop looking for Ania and Sophia. It pissed him off all over again at the thought of being one of only two people who seemed to think they'd find the girls, the other being Rick.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property," Hershel stated. "We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

"All due respect," Shane argued. "You get a crowd of those things wandering in here," he ended it with a laugh.

"Look, we're guests here," Rick told the man. "This is your property. And we will respect that," he said as he put his pistol down on the map with purpose. Shane looked away, angrily pulling his own pistol and dropping it on next to Rick's as Rick continued dolling out instructions. "First things first; set camp, find Sophia and Tea."

"I hate to be the one to ask," Shane said, knowing full well he didn't give two shits about the answer, "but somebody's got to. What happens if we find them and they're bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

Rick looked down and considered it, "You do what has to be done."

"And the little girl's mother? What do you tell her?" map girl asked, slightly taken aback at how they were acting.

"The truth," Andrea said as if it was obvious, noticing the look between father and daughter.

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons," Shane offered. "Make sure no one's carrying 'til we're at a practice off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience," he defiantly asked.

When the farmer didn't answer, Rick tried to bargain. "Our people would feel safer. Less inclined to carry a gun," he told the man. Hershel considered it for a moment before nodding his head. "Thank you."

Daryl walked off as the young woman spoke to Rick. He needed to get a pack ready so he could head out. The sooner he got to the woods and to the creek, the sooner he could see Ania again and get the little girl back to her mother. It might have been mid-morning as he threw his crossbow over his shoulder and walked by the farmhouse.

"Daryl," he heard behind him. He paused in his steps as Rick walked up. "You okay on your own?"

"I'm better on my own," he growled out. "I'll be back before dark."

He started walking off again, only for Rick to stop him a second time, "Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now."

"You got a point or are we just chattin'?" Daryl asked taking a few steps back towards the man.

"My point is it lets you off the hook," Rick said, thinking carefully about his next words. "I know Tea's out there and you're lookin' for her, but if you just find her, you don't gotta keep lookin' for Sophia. You don't owe us anything."

Daryl thought about it for a second and knew that even if Ania had been in camp, the two would still be looking for the lost girl in the woods. Neither of them had anyone to look for them when they were children, and Carol, ever the 'good' mother, was useless in trying to find her. The woman had done more crying than searching, something that pissed him off to no end. Ania wasn't even the girl's mother, yet she'd wasted no time running after the girl. His girl had been more of a mother to Sophia ever since she started taking her out into the woods back at the quarry and hadn't even noticed it, in his opinion.

"My other plans fell through," he said as he walked away, knowing Ania would be expecting him wherever she was.

~x~

Tea had been apologizing profusely to Sophia all morning. She'd fallen asleep after being mentally conscious for over thirty six hours and Sophia was at a loss at what to do. The woman was practically beside herself with grief just because she'd fallen asleep after telling her that she would stay awake. In the time it took to crawl out of the pantry and open the cans of peaches, Tea had apologized no less than seven times.

"I really am sorry, Sophia," she said again. "I really didn' mean ta fall asleep. I was so fuckin' stupid –"

"Ms. Parker, you needed the sleep," Sophia cut her off. "Why are you apologizing? We're safe, like you said we would be."

"Bu' I told ya I wouldn' fall asleep," Tea said, as if it explained everything. "I broke me word, and I ain' eva s'pposed ta break me word."

"But you've kept true to everything else," Sophia reasoned, trying to figure out why this was bothering the older woman so much. "We're safe, you're protecting me. You're still keeping your word, right?"

Tea thought about it carefully, realizing that the girl was trying to make her feel better even though Sophia didn't even understand why she was so fixated on it. Partially due to autism and partially due to abuse, she had always had a very strong reaction to not doing something she said she would do. The reaction was almost as strong as when someone told her they'd do something but didn't. She was still keeping true to some of the things she'd said, but it only settled her partially.

"I'll try no' ta apologize for i' anymore, hun," she said dishearten. "I' ain' easy, t'ough. I'm sorry for buggin' ya."

"Ms. Parker, you're not bugging me. It just seems like a silly thing to apologize for, that's all," the girl replied lightly.

"Sorry," Tea said, internally smacking herself for apologizing yet again.

The little girl looked at her and then laughed a bit before falling silent. They dug into the peaches, once again drinking the juices of the can. Tea then went upstairs to the bedrooms to find a bag or even something she could use as a bag. With luck, she found a small backpack. Taking it back downstairs, she loaded it with the five remaining cans of food; three baked beans, one corn, and one green beans. She also grabbed up the small first aid kit she'd found in the bathroom. It wasn't much of a supply, but at least they had something. If only they'd been able to find some water.

"We should ge' goin'," Tea said as she hiked the bag onto her back.

Pulling out her weapons, she opened the door and walked out. There were no walkers in the vicinity, thankfully. The sun was just starting peak over the tops of the trees. It would make it easier to get back to the highway. Tea took stock of the position of the sun hanging low in the sky. It had been on her left shoulder when she'd tracked the girl before veering off. That meant she would need to head into the sun to find the road, or at the very least the area she'd found Sophia. She stopped and looked at the two story farmhouse in consideration.

As they walked into the underbrush, she quietly told the girl, "We don' find 'em taday, we'll come back and stay t'e nigh' 'ere."

~x~

Daryl had been in the woods for a couple of hours before he found the farmhouse. It was two story with a red roof, all of it faded. He pulled his bow out and readied it as he stormed up to the doors. Not bothering with niceties, Daryl kicked open the double doors. He kept his eye on the site of his bow as he moved around the abandoned house cautiously. As he moved into the kitchen and checked the bathroom, he took notice of the garbage. There were freshly emptied cans on top of a pile of papers. His heart immediately sped up as he found the first real sign of them he'd gotten since they'd gone missing. Taking stock of the layout, he walked over to the pantry and threw the doors open. In the bottom, on the floor, was a pile of blankets and pillows.

He took in the sight before running back outside. It was possible that he'd just missed them and they could still be in the immediate area. "Titania! Sophia!" he yelled as loudly as he could. He walked around the farmhouse stopping and kneeling beside a couple of flowers. His mom had been part Cherokee, and he knew the story of this flower in particular. Maybe it'd get Carol to finally stop crying and instead start doing, he thought ruefully. Going back into the house to retrieve a bottle, he went back outside and plucked the flowers. One for Sophia, one for his Ania.

Walking back to the creek, he added some water to the bottle before sticking it in his back pocket to take back to camp later. He continued following the creek for another hour before making his way back towards the group. Even though there was plenty he could hunt, he didn't bother with it. Instead, he simply made a b-line towards camp and walked over to the RV. Opening the door, he looked around, shocked at the state of it. Everything was clean, almost neurotically so. Walking along to the sleeper portion of the camper, he found Carol sitting on the bed sewing a shirt. Figures, he thought to himself.

"I cleaned up," she said as he approached. "Wanted it to be nice for her."

Daryl looked around and mumbled around a piece of straw, "For a second I thought I was in the wrong place." When the woman gave a little laugh and looked back down to her sewing, he placed the bottle with the flowers in it on the stand in front of her.

"Flowers?" she inquired.

"It's a Cherokee Rose," he told her. "The story is that when American soldiers were movin' Indians off their land on the trail of tears, the Cherokee mothers were grievin' and cryin' so much 'cause they were losin' their little ones along the way. From exposure, disease, and starvation. A lot of 'em just disappeared. So the elders, they, uh, said a prayer; asked for a sign to uplift the mother's spirits. Give them strength. And hope. The next day, this rose started to grow right where the mother's tears fell." He looked down and then back at her. "I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers bloomin' for my brother. But I believe these ones bloomed for your little girl and Ania."

The woman smiled and wiped her tears away, unable to say anything as Daryl walked out, giving her one last look, not sure why he had even bothered when the woman was clearly giving up. "She's gonna really like it in here," he said before walking out.

~x~

"Ms. Parker?"

"Jus' call me Tea, hun," she replied exasperated.

For three days, all she'd heard was 'Ms. Parker' over and over again. She applauded the girl for her manners and respect, but they were way past her being called as one would a teacher. Tea had told her that several times before including the first day she'd taken them out into the woods. Yet the girl insisted. It was really quite grating; add it to the list of things she was adamantly ignoring.

It was going to get dark soon and they still hadn't found the highway. The worst thing was that a group of walkers blocked their way back to the farmhouse. They'd have to sleep out in the open again tonight. At least they had food, Tea thought as she helped the girl over a fallen log to cross the creek. They had been moving along for a while now as Tea looked for a place to stop and rest for the night.

"Can I call you Miss Tea?" Sophia asked.

"Sure, sweetie," Tea replied, shaking her head. "S'long as ya stop callin' me by me las' name."

"Don't you like your last name?"

"Why? Do ya?"

"I like mine. Sophia Peletier. It sounds nice, just like Titania Parker. Why don't you ever use your name?"

"'Memba how I told ya I graduated high school real young?" she started, looking back at the girl who nodded her head. "When I was in high school, I was a freak show. Jus' some scrawny lidle kid, lo' li'e you. Kids in high school, t'ey ain' always nice, 'specially no' ta t'e freak t'at t'rows all t'e curves ou' t'e window wit' t'eir scores. So's t'ey took me name, t'ey butcha'd i'. T'ey'd call ou' every time t'ey saw me t'ings like 'tits on parade' or 'look, a free tiddy show.' T'ey made me feel like an object, no' a person. As far as hatin' me las' name, ya share yas wit' a momma t'at loves t'e crap outta ya. I share mine wit' two assholes who kicked me ta t'e curb jus' as soon as I go' me diploma and a sista t'at started t'e crap a' school. Hell, I haven' e'en heard from t'em in years 'xcept ta ask for money."

"That's awful," Sophia said, looking at the woman in a new light. "Why'd they kick you out?"

"I'm autistic. T'ey had t'eir perfect princess in me older sista, Chrystal; t'ey didn' need t'e freak takin' all t'e limeligh' from 'er," she said. "'Sides t'at, I kinda wen' ape shite on Chrystal and me daddy when I caugh' Chrystal stealin' some a me essays. Me daddy t'rew me ou' afta I'd split 'er lip and ripped 'er shirt, bu' no' 'fore he go' a black eye and a broken rib. Firs' and only time I e'er fough' back, and I was damn proud a meself for i'. Still am, if I'm bein' honest. Firs' time I learned I didn' know me own strength."

"What happened with the essays?"

"Oh, she tried ta use one only ta ge' a permanen' mark on 'er record for plagiarism," she stated with a laugh. "E'en if me daddy t'ought i' was a good idea ta make me write all 'er shite, t'e girl was as dumb as a box a rocks and neva would a been able ta write li'e me. I sure as shite wasn' gonna dumb meself down for 'er eit'a. Too much pride ta play stupid."

"What was your family like?" Sophia pried.

"T'ey were monsters," Tea spat. "Some men don' deserve t'e title a fat'a nor t'e endearment a dad. Some men should a been castrated a' birth. Me daddy was one a t'ose men, a' leas' ta me. He neva once laid a hand on me momma or me sista, bu' he didn' hold back wit' me. Didn' matta if I won a prize or an award. Didn' matta if I was in'aviewed by t'e papers. Not'in' I eva did was good 'nough ta be given e'en a passin' glance when no one else was 'round. In fron' a company, he was t'e perfect daddy. Gave me quite t'e complex as a lidle girl, havin' him so nice one minu'e, ge'in' hugs and love and bein' treated li'e me sista only ta be punched in t'e gut, lit'rally and figuratively, t'e minu'e everyone else was gone. Me momma was t'e same. She was Irish, full blood, spoke wit' a really t'ick brogue t'at I picked up on wit'out t'e lilt. Star'ed bea'in' me 'round t'e time t'e teachas said I sounded worse than a hillbilly. Didn' li'e how t'e smar'est kid in class had a redneck's vernacular. Didn' li'e how one daugh'a spoke and acted li'e a propa lady and t'e ot'a some backwoods animal. Neva could si' still unli'e Chrystal, and she hated i'. T'ings movin' 'round, t'e sound a me pacin'. Hell, now t'at I t'ink a i', she prolly was autistic too. As far as Chrystal, well, she was a conivin' bitch who wen' outta her way ta make me life a livin' hell. Any problem she had, she'd blame me. When I surpassed 'er in school, she was beyond livid and is t'e one who star'ed t'e name callin' when I was bumped inta freshmen class wit' 'er. I had me papa for a while, bu' he was jus' a random old man wit' a rifle poin'ed a' me head when I firs' me' 'im. Preddy sure t'e only reason he kep' le'in' me come back was 'cause I asked 'im ta shoot me t'at firs' mee'in'. Wasn' really righ' in t'e head a' t'e time, havin' jus' been thrown down t'e stairs a our house, a t'ree story house mind ya, and ran away. 'Twas t'e firs' time I e'er ran away, and I didn' e'en know I'd crossed inta private propaty 'til I saw t'e barrel. Couldn' a been more'n eight. Ended up livin' wit' 'im for t'e summer afta I go' kicked ou', bu' he was preddy old by t'en, so he ended up in a nursin' home righ' after I go' 'ccepted ta college down 'ere in Atlanta."

"What was your papa like?"

"'Memba Merle?"

"Yeah."

"Kinda li'e him, bu' gentla. T'ought a lo' li'e Merle did, bu' once ya had 'is respect, he was always nice. Taugh' me how ta hun' and track. Taugh' me wha' was edible and medicinal. How ta t'row a punch. How ta protec' me ribs."

"So you're teaching me what your papa taught you?" the girl asked curiously.

"S'ppose I am wit' some a i'," Tea said with a smile. "Huh, well, how'd ya li'e t'at, pops?" she said to herself while looking up towards the sky. "Ya livin' on still."

~x~

Morning had come and Rick was once again hovering over the map, "Morning guys." He called as the others walked up. "Let's get going. We've got a lot of ground to cover. Alright, everyone's getting new search grids today. If they made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, they might have gone further east than we've been so far."

Jimmy popped up as Daryl was putting an outer shirt on, "I'd like to help. I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked the boy.

"Yeah, yeah," he replied quickly. "He said I should ask you."

"Alright then," the man said returning to the map. "Thanks."

"Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me. Or Ania," Shane said confrontationally. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."

"Anybody includes them, right?" Andrea said, a bit frustrated at Shane's attitude towards the missing girls.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard could sit no more than yay-high. Weren't very much space, but the two of 'em could a fit," Daryl replied.

"It's a good lead," Andrea reassured him.

"Maybe we'll pick up their trail again," Rick agreed.

"No maybe 'bout it," Daryl said, leaning over the map. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's eye view of the whole grid. If they're up there I'll spot 'em."

"Good idea," T-Dog said. "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too."

"Chupacabra?" Rick asked.

"Wait, you never heard this?" Dale chimed in as he brought the guns out. "Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra. Gave everyone a laugh until Tea mentioned how she's seen some stuff too."

"What you braying at, jackass?" Daryl asked the laughing young man.

"So you believe in a blood-sucking dog?" the boy asked.

"Do you believe dead people walking around?" he shot back.

Jimmy reached over to the bag of guns to take one when Rick grabbed his arm, "Hey, hey. You ever fire one before?"

"Well, if I'm going out I want one," he said.

"Yeah, and people in hell want slurpees," came Daryl's retort, then remembering there was actually a Hell, Michigan. Ania had told him about that when he'd used the same expression towards her; apparently people in Hell drank slurpees.

As they started walking away, Shane offered the boy, "Why don't you come train tomorrow? If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor."

"For now he can come with us," Andrea told him.

"He's yours to babysit then," Shane replied.

Daryl walked away and towards the horse shed then. He was determined to find the girls today. As he pulled a saddle down and opened one of the paddocks, Carol made herself known.

"You don't have ta go out there," she tried.

"Yeah, I do," he replied, not even bothering to look up.

"You could go out there and get yourself hurt really bad," Carol said, trying to reason. "We don't know if we're going to find them, Daryl. We don't." Daryl stopped putting the reins on the horse when she said that and turned to look at her. "I don't."

"What?" he said quietly as he stalked closer to the older woman.

"Can't lose you too," she said quietly.

"You never had me," he said, turning his back on her and walking back to the horse. "Just leave me be. Stupid bitch."

Daryl quickly finished readying the horse and saddle and grabbed his pack. With his crossbow on his shoulder, he led the horse out of the stalls and into the field before mounting. Taking off at a trot, he quickly made his way into the woods. He'd been there for some time, having killed a squirrel, before he ushered the horse to a halt. He could barely make out a shape on the banks of the stream far below. Sophia's doll lay abandoned next to a large piece of driftwood.

Carefully, the man made his way down the steep embankment. There was a wide and spacious pool that he met when he reached the bottom. He waded ankle deep through the water and towards the doll, stooping down to pick it up. He took a few steps back into the water and shouted the girls' names. Waiting a few minutes, he made his way back up to the horse before mounting. If he kept to the creek, maybe he'd spot them. A rustle of birds had the horse breathing heavy, making Daryl nervous.

"Whoa. Easy, easy," he told it, trying to settle both the animal's nerves and his own.

After nothing happened for a minute, he urged the horse on. They hadn't gotten more than two feet before a snake came up out of nowhere and the horse reared up. Daryl didn't have a chance to get a better hold on the reins before he was thrown off and the creature bolted. Right down the hill he had just climbed he went, head over heels, before hitting the water-slicked rocks and falling about five feet. He didn't know where his crossbow was, had hit his head, and was in a shit ton of pain.

"Son of a bitch," he groaned as he noticed the bolt sticking out of his side.

He dragged himself over to the other side of the pool and ripped the sleeves off his shirt. Tying them together, he wrapped the makeshift rope around his middle to secure the arrow in his side from moving too much. It was going to be one hell of a climb to get back up the ridge. He stood up and grabbed a stick, checking to see if it was sturdy enough when he heard the trees rustling. Standing stock still for a moment, he heard the rustling a second time and reached for his bow. That's when he realized he'd lost it and began panicking.

Using the stick to feel along the bottom, he waded back into the water as quietly as he could, though his grunting and groaning couldn't be helped. It didn't take him too long to find his bow, thankful that a little water damage wouldn't do much to the firing mechanism. He'd just have to give it a good cleaning when he got back to camp. Trusty weapon in hand, he began the difficult journey up the ridge. It was a difficult journey, even without the injury. He was about halfway up when he had to let go of the walking stick.

Reaching for a tree to come up short, he groaned and complained to himself, "Come on. You've done half. Stop being such a pussy. Come on."

He swung himself up a second time only to lose his grip and his footing, sending him back down into the ravine and knocking him out. In a daze and half out of it, he watched as Merle came into view.

"Why don't you pull that arrow out, dummy?" he said. "You could bind your wound better."

Daryl chuckled to himself, "Merle."

"What's goin' on here?" he asked with a chuckle of his own. "You takin' a siesta or somethin'?"

"'M havin' a shitty day, bro."

"Like me to get your pillow? Maybe rub your feet?"

"Screw you."

Merle chuckled, "You're the one screwed from the looks of it. All them years I spent trying to make a man of you, this is what I get? Look at ya. Lyin' in the dirt like a used rubber. You're gonna die out here, little brother. And for what?"

"The girls," he said. "They lost a little girl. Ania's out with her."

"So you got a thing for little girls now?" the man chuckled. "Who the fuck's Ania? That the bitch that got you pussy-whipped back in Atlanta?"

"Shut it."

"'Cause I noticed you ain't out lookin' for old Merle no more."

"Tried like hell to find you, bro. We both did. Ania and me."

"Like hell ya did. You split, man. Lit out first chance you got to be with that psycho cunt."

"You lit out. All you had to do was wait. We would have come got you, me and Ania. Hell, we went back for you. Rick, Ania and I. We did right by ya. Broke her heart losin' you."

"Fuck if she really cared," he said looking away. "And Rick, huh? This the same Rick that cuffed me to the rooftop in the first place? Forced me to cut off my own hand?" Daryl briefly noticed that said appendage was still attached; he was hallucinating. "This him we're talkin' about here? You his bitch now?"

"I ain' nobody's bitch," Daryl bit out.

"You're a joke is what ya are. Playin' errand boy to a bunch of pansy asses, niggers, and democrats. Fallin' for a girl who ain't want nothin' ta do with ya otherwise," the hallucination chuckled. "You're nothin' but a freak to them. Redneck trash. That's what you are. Yeah, they're laughin' at you behind your back. You know that, don't ya? I got a little news for ya, son. One of these days, they gonna scrape you off their heels like you was dog shit. That girl you went and left me for is gonna leave ya when she finds somethin' better." Daryl started slipping into unconsciousness when Merle leaned over him and grabbed his face, "Hey! They ain't your kin, she ain't your kin, your blood. Hell, you had any damn nuts in that sack of yours, you'd go back there and shoot your pal Rick in the face for me. You'd kick that headcase you been nuttin' in to the curb. Now you listen to me. Ain't nobody ever gonna care about you except me, little brother. Ain't nobody ever will. 'Specially not that psycho bitch you're so hung up on. Now come on, get up on your feet 'fore I have to kick your teeth in." He stood and started kicking and grabbing at his feet, "Let's go."

Daryl came to with a walker biting at his foot where his brother had just been yanking. Rightly, he freaked out and kicked the walker away. He tried to reach his crossbow, but the walker crawled on top of him too quickly. He held it at arms length before stabbing it with a piece of wood and punching it in the face. Repeating the action twice more, he managed to roll them one way then forcefully rolled them the other as he let go of the corpse. It flung away from him as he spotted a second walker coming out of the woodland. Daryl quickly stood up and grabbed a fallen branch, swinging it into the knees of the walker right next to him before straddling it. Taking the branch in both hands, he used the length of it to smash the walker's head open.

As soon as he was sure it was dead, he laid back on his back and gripped at the arrow in his side. Giving a mighty tug, he pulled the bolt free and rolled to grab his crossbow doing his best to ignore the pain. Sitting up, he braced his bow with his feet and pulled as far back as possible managing to knock the bolt in place. The walker was fast approaching as he laid on his back trying to ready his aim. Laying back, he managed to fire just as the walker was lunging forward. As the world faded into darkness, the last thing he thought was that Ania was going to kill him when she got back and found out about this.

When he came to, the sun was shining high overhead. He took a minute to bind his wounds, commenting on how Merle'd been right, even if he'd been a hallucination. Sitting on the driftwood log, he cleaned his knife in the river before cutting into the squirrel he'd shot just before he found the doll. As he ate, he looked at the ridge and contemplated the best way up. Deciding that he deserved a trophy for his near-death experience, Daryl took the shoelaces from one of the walkers and cut off all the ears, stringing them up before wearing them like a necklace. With that, he started his second attempt at ascending the cliff.

He had an easier time, but about ten feet from the top he had to pause. With a bird's call, his brother's voice floated down to him, "Please, don't feed the birds."

Daryl looked up and there Merle was, laughing at him, "What's the matter, Darylina? That all ya got in ya. Throw away that purse and climb."

"I liked it better when you was missin'," Daryl said ruefully.

"Come on, don't be like that," Merle chuckled. "I'm on your side."

"Yeah? Since when?"

"Hell, since the day you was born, baby brother. Somebody had to look after your worthless ass."

"You never took care of me," Daryl told the hallucination, for once stating his mind knowing there would be no repercussion. "You talk a big game but you was never there! Hell, you ain't here now. Guess some things never change."

The image of his brother had gone from chuckling to serious. "Well, I'll tell you what; I'm as real as your chupacabra," it spat.

"I know what I saw," Daryl said as he continued making his way closer to the top. Only a few feet and he'd be there.

"Yeah, and I'm sure them shrooms you ate had nothin' to do with it right?"

"You'd best shut the hell up!" Daryl growled.

"Or what?" Merle shot back at him as a prolonged growl. "You're gonna come up here and shut my mouth for me? Well, come on and do it, then, if you think you're man enough. Fuck, that bitch has more balls than you," He chuckled then became serious again. "Hey, kick off those damn high heels and climb, son. You give up this easy when you in bed with her? You know what? If I were you I'd take a pause for the cause, brother. 'Cause I just don't think you're gonna make it to the top." Daryl continued struggling as the top got closer and closer to his reach all while Merle kept taunting him. "Come on. Come on, little brother. Grab your friend Rick's hand. Better yet, grab your little pussy's hand. Come on, now. Reach for the bitch's hand now you've left me."

Daryl's hand reached up and fell on the land at the top of the ridge. He pulled himself up and to the top of the ridge. Using the tree next to him as leverage, he hauled himself to his feet and looked around. Merle was no where in sight.

"Yeah, you'd better run!" he yelled out to the hallucination as he stomped off.

He only got four steps when he heard from behind him, "Mr. Dixon?"

~x~

"I'm sorry, Miss Tea!" Sophia said for the thousandth time since they'd turned around to head back to the waterfall they'd found in the creek.

She'd let the girl swim around a bit to cool off, only realizing now how foolish she'd been. Sophia's doll had gotten left behind and the girl had insisted on going back for it. Tea didn't mind at all, knowing how precious possessions could be, especially now that the world had gone to shit. The doll had been a gift from the Morales's girl which gave it all the more meaning. It was as if the tables had turned from this morning as the girl now felt the need to apologize profusely instead of her.

"Sophia, hun, I promise, it's fine," she consoled the girl. "I'd go back for any of me knives, too. Ya don' gotta apologize anymore, ok?"

That's when they ran into trouble. Another group of walkers stumbled across them. There were twelve, and Tea told Sophia to stay behind her and cover her back. Her Darts flew through the air, taking out five in quick succession. With Bucky in her left hand and Slice in her right, she took down another three rather easily, slicing through two with her machete and stabbing the other one up through the throat. She noticed one get behind her, but Sophia surprisingly tripped it with a leg sweep before slamming her own hunting knife into it's skull. Turning quickly to slice at the remaining three, Tea tripped over one of the already-dead dead. The loud popping sound was a telltale sign of a sprain, if not dislocation, and Tea struggled to remain upwards. Two of the walkers came at her in her moment of distraction, causing her to lose her footing altogether and bite back a scream. Dropping Slice, she switched hands with the buck knife as fast as she could and swung it downward into the skull of one walker while holding the other one back with her other hand. The third and final walker was now on top of her, too, struggling against the one she had just killed to get at her. For a split second, she thought she was going to die, but then the one she was holding off stopped moving.

Tea watched as Sophia pulled the knife out of the walker's skull only to quickly shove it into the last walker's temple. She helped Tea struggle out from beneath the walkers and to a tree. Tea used the tree to brace herself so that she could stand. Keeping her hold on the tree, she gingerly placed weight down on her already swelling ankle. Immediately she began laughing hysterically and fell back on her ass. Through the hysterics, she managed to tell Sophia that she needed her to go find a couple of flat pieces of wood. The only way she was going to be able to walk with this ankle was if she put it in a splint. As Sophia confidently strode off into the woods, she took off her shirt, leaving her in just a sports bra, and started tearing it into strips. All she had to do was wait for the girl to get back. She didn't expect the child to bring a filthy, bloody hunter back with her.

"Wha' t'e hell happened ta ya?" she asked him as relief flooded through her.

"Got tossed by a horse, fell down into the ravine. Landed on my own damn arrow," he gruffed out. "What happened to you?"

"Pu' a lidle too much force inta turnin' 'round and messed me ankle up good. Sophia go' some experience killin' walkers, t'ough. Didn' ya, ya lidle Amazon?" she answered, looking to the girl with a proud smile. "Where's her momma? She ou' here lookin' too?"

Daryl clammed up. He had known that Ania would ask that. He knew that's what she was expecting because that's what she would do. It wasn't selfishness, cockiness, or pride; she simply thought that her way of thinking was the most logical and so if she would do something others would too. So of course she thought that Carol would be scouring the woods for her little girl as any good parent should do. His silence and the hard look on his face was all she needed to understand. Carol wasn't in the woods at all.

"A' leas' tell me she ain' givin' up?!"

"Miss Tea," Sophia said, trying not to cry. "It's okay. We're going back, just like you promised. That's what matters, right?"

"Yeah," she said discouraged. "I guess ya righ'. Did ya find tha' wood I asked ya for?"

Daryl snorted at that, causing both girls' eyes to fall on him, one in question, the other with a slowly reddening face. He held the wood up in his arms as he smiled at her, a genuine, goofy grin at the fact that she was blushing. Even with the pain in his side, he couldn't help but smile as he deftly worked on getting Ania's ankle into the splint. He'd found them both, and finally the world was feeling right again.

Hope I did a good job with getting Tea and Sophia lost and found again...also get a little more back story for Tea...Hope everyone is enjoying!

Updated 9/6/21