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The remaining members of our group stared at me a moment, everyone trying to process what had just happened. Daryl was eyeing me with a strange expression on his face that I couldn't quite make out.
"Let's go," his deep voice commanded the others suddenly.
Obediently the group pressed on for the last few yards. We made it out of the forest just outside of the highway by Dale who had been standing guard. For a moment I was surprised how well Daryl was able to lead us around the woods and back so easily.
Glenn was the one who informed Dale of the situation first. When he did, the old man began to panic a little.
"Carl was shot? What do you mean shot?"
"I don't know," Glenn told him. "All I know is this chick came riding on a horse out of nowhere and she took Lori."
Dale's jaw dropped open and he immediately rounded on Daryl. "And you let her?"
"Climb down outta my ass old man," Daryl snarled, obviously not enjoying being chastised. "Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name and Carl's." Daryl paused a moment before adding on, "And Isabell's."
Dale's eyes turned on me. "Why'd she know your name?"
I shrugged in response. "She seemed to recognize me, but I don't know who she is."
Dale nodded. By now everyone in the group was well aware of my lack of memory about myself or my past.
"I heard screaming though," Dale said.
"Andrea was attacked by a walker. Girl on the horse killed it," Glenn told him.
"Andrea, are you alright?" Dale asked the blonde.
She shot him a glare before turning her back to everyone and making her way into the RV.
"She also gave us directions to their farm. To meet up with Rick, Carl, Shane and Lori," I told Dale once Andrea had shut the door behind her.
Carol began shaking her head roughly. "We can't go. Sophia is still out here somewhere."
Andrea popped back out of the RV, a bottle of water in her hands. She stood as far from Dale as she could amongst our group. Glenn began fidgeting beside me and I shot him a questioning look to which he just sent me a friendly smile. My eyes landed on Daryl who was standing directly across from me, hands on his hips and his eyes concentrating on the pavement below our feet.
Dale let out a sigh. "Carol, our group is split. Half of us are here, half of us are at that farm."
"And Isabell might have family there," Glenn spoke up.
The word family caused my stomach to knot up. What if I got there and didn't remember them? What if none of my memories came back? How terrible it would be for me to see them just as strangers.
"And my daughter is lost in those woods!" Carol shot out. She shook her head and lowered her voice. "I won't do it. We can't just leave."
My heart was being torn in two directions. Our group was split like Dale said, and we were the weaker for it. I wanted to be there to help Rick and Lori, and I was worried about Carl. Part of me also wanted to see who was at this farm, to finally meet who might have left those notes for me at the hospital. Maybe some of my questions would be answered. Maybe I'd remember some things, or everything, and I'd have family or friends. Maybe I'd find myself. Part of me was also afraid of finding answers though. And if I found my family, and I didn't remember them, then what? On top of that, I still felt it was partly my fault Sophia was missing. I couldn't just leave her out there on her own.
"She has a point," I said when nobody else spoke up. "What if Sophia comes back here and we're all gone?"
A look of surprise crossed Carol's face at my words before she sent me a small, grateful smile. I sent her a small smile back letting her know I hadn't forgotten about her lost daughter.
"It could happen," Carol's soft voice said.
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful," Andrea agreed.
Daryl finally glanced up and joined the discussion. He nodded his head at Carol before eyeing the group. "Okay, we gotta plan for this then. I'll stay here tonight with the RV. Tomorrow morning I can head to the farm, that'll give me a chance to rig up a big sign. Leave her some supplies. The rest of you could head there now before it gets dark."
"If the RV is staying then so am I," Dale spoke up.
Carol's eyes glistened in the fading sunlight. "Thank you. Thank you both."
Daryl gave her a curt nod and Dale shot her a smile.
"I'm in," Andrea spoke up, earning a smile from Carol as well.
"If everyone's staying then so am I," Glenn added in.
I nodded my head in agreement. "Me too."
A chorus of 'what' resounded among the group, everyone directing their attention at me.
"I can wait another night to meet whoever is at the farm," I told them.
Dale shook his head fervently. "No, you and Glenn should go. Connect up with our people. Meet whoever is at that farm most likely waiting for you to show up, Isabell." Dale sent me a stern look which caused me to look away. "But most importantly, T-Dog needs medical attention. This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection."
My eyes shot over to where T-Dog was nestled under a blanket, lying beside the back of the RV. He hadn't spoken up once since we'd returned. I hadn't even noticed him lying there.
"Get him to that farm," Dale said firmly, his eyes darting between Glenn and I. "See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not…T-Dog will die."
A movement caught my eye and I glanced over to see Daryl heading to his motorcycle. Wordlessly he rummaged through a pack and pulled out two bags full of orange prescription medicine bottles. When his eye caught mine for the first time in hours, I raised a brow at him questioningly.
"My brother's stash," Daryl explained, gesturing his head to the bags. His attention turned to Dale as he began digging through the bags. "Why'd you wait til now to say anything?"
Dale couldn't even respond. He stood there with his mouth gaping wide open as he eyed the group. I was confused at first, but then I remembered Dale had been at the RV all day. He hadn't been seeing the little changes in Daryl that everyone else had been seeing out in the woods.
"Some kick ass painkillers," Daryl muttered as he tossed the bottle at Glenn. He glanced back in the bag and pulled out another bottle that he handed to Dale. "Doxycycline. That ain't the generic stuff either. That's first class." When he saw everyone's confused looks, he added, "Merle got the clap on occasion."
I couldn't help but pull a face at his last words.
"We should probably give these to T-Dog before you three head out," Dale said, his eyes still staring in amazement at Daryl's back.
Glenn sighed and turned to me. "Can you grab some extra water bottles and food and refill our packs? Just in case…you know."
I nodded. "Yeah, I can do that."
"Thanks," he said as he handed me the pack from off his shoulder. "I'll get T-Dog into the Jeep. Make sure there's plenty of fuel in the tank."
"The supplies we've picked up are mostly in the RV," Dale told me. "Just check the cabinets."
With both backpacks in hand, I made my way into the RV, not bothering to close the door behind me. I opened Glenn's bag and made an inspection of its contents. An empty bottle of water, two empty granola bar wrappers, and a half eaten bag of preztels. I tossed out the garbage and threw in two more water bottles, some protein bars, and crackers. I zipped up his bag and started on mine. I hadn't touched the food in there so I replenished some of the water before closing up my bag. I made my way out of the RV to see Dale and Glenn maneuvering T-Dog into the backseat of Shane's Jeep.
"Need help?" I asked them.
"No," Glenn answered, his voice strained under T-Dog's weight. "We're good."
I nodded before opening the passenger door and tossing in our two bags.
"I'm just going to grab my duffle bag from out of the other car and I'll be ready to go," I told Glenn, to which he nodded, still struggling to keep T-Dog up.
Making my way back to the car I'd been in when we'd first gotten stuck here, I found my duffle bag closed up and on the backseat where I had put it this morning. I unzipped it and double checked that I had everything before closing it back up. I pulled the bag out and slung it over my shoulder before patting the hunting knife at my side, checking it was still there. Satisfied, I shut the door and spun around, jumping when I spotted Daryl standing a few feet behind me.
"You scared me," I said as I tried to control my heart rate.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
He stood there for a moment, just staring at me, his eyes squinting at the setting sun behind me. My mouth started to feel like it was going dry under his gaze. I cleared my throat awkwardly, hoping he'd either say something or let me past him.
"Just wanted to tell you to be careful," Daryl finally said. "Might not be a long drive, but anything could happen."
I bit my lip and nodded. I could see concern on his features. "You be careful too." I swallowed hard, feeling the blood rush to my face and not knowing why.
"You looked nervous," he told me.
I sucked in a breath. Was I that easy to read? I didn't want to have to explain why he was making me nervous. I wasn't sure I even could.
When he saw the look on my face he spoke up again. "Earlier. When that girl recognized you. And when Dale decided to send you to the farm ahead of us."
I released the breath I was holding and shot him a sheepish smile. "Oh. Yeah. I am, I guess."
"Because you might have found what you were looking for? Or that you might not have?"
"Both, I suppose," I answered him.
I studied his face a moment. The expression on it from earlier was gone and he was no longer avoiding me, obviously. He seemed to be in what I could consider a good mood and he looked genuinely interested in this conversation, so I decided to open up a little more, hoping this conversation wouldn't end the same way the last one did. With me staring at his retreating back.
"Whether my family is or isn't there, I just don't know what to expect. What if I remember everyone and they don't like who I've become, if I've become someone different? And seeing Carol, Rick, Lori, Andrea….you…" my voice trailed off as I looked away. "Everyone seems to be having a harder time adjusting when they have family to worry after. It's not that I don't care about everyone here, but it's different. Having them might make things harder."
It was a moment before Daryl said anything. "But that's not all you're worried 'bout?"
I shook my head. "What if I don't remember any of them? And I never do? I don't know how that would even feel for me, let alone how that would make them feel." I felt tears stinging at my eyes but I bit them back. I didn't think Daryl would want to deal with a crying woman. "I don't know if I can do this," I admitted to him.
"You're strong," Daryl said trying to catch my eye. "You woke up in a hospital bed to this shithole around you, and look at you. Taking down walkers. Hell, you ventured into Atlanta twice and made it out alive." There was a small, goofy grin on his face that was contagious. "You can handle this, whatever happens. Just stop overthinkin' everything. Take it as it comes. They don't like you, then fuck 'em," he said with a chuckle.
I let out an amused snort at the last part before smiling up at him.
"You know, Daryl Dixon, for a redneck you're pretty wise," I teased him playfully.
"Better not go tellin' anyone that," Daryl teased back, a small smile on his lips.
"Why? Cause you'd lose the rights to all those sleeveless shirts if I did?"
He opened his mouth to make a comeback, but Glenn's voice cut through the air and stopped him.
"Isabell, you coming?"
"Yeah! Be right there!" I called back to him, my eyes still on Daryl.
"Better get goin'," he told me, stepping aside so I could get passed him.
"I better be seeing all of you at the farm tomorrow morning," I told Daryl. "So stay safe out here."
He nodded in response, the smile now gone from his face.
I made my way over to Shane's Jeep and got into the passenger side. I glanced into the backseat and saw T-Dog still wrapped in the blanket, his eyes closed. If it wasn't for the slight rise and fall of the blanket I'd have thought he was already dead.
"Remember where we're going?" I asked Glenn.
He nodded his head. "You got everything?"
"Yeah," I told him, gesturing to the bags by my feet.
"Then we should hurry, sun's about to go down. We'll be making part of this trip in the dark," Glenn told me, sounding a bit nervous about driving at night.
"I got your back if anything happens," I assured him.
"Thanks," he told me with a small smile. "Let's hope it doesn't come to that."
I nodded in agreement as he started up the vehicle. Everyone moved out of our way as Glenn turned the Jeep around. Dale, Andrea, and Carol lifted their hands up in a wave to which Glenn returned, sticking his hand outside the window so they could see. I caught sight of Daryl sitting on the back of his motorcycle, his face expressionless as he stared at the retreating Jeep. I felt an unexplainable tug at my heart at the thought of something happening to him while we were split up.