Wanted to get this next chapter up soon because I might not have a chance to update for a couple of days. I've been focusing mostly on the characters lately but I promise some more exciting things are coming up in later chapters! Galwidanatitud: I'm glad you noticed that! I'm trying to make it apparent that the Greene family doesn't really understand what's been going on, and also that Sarah is definitely young and needs to grow some more and toughen up if she's going to survive.

I followed Rick and Lori down the stairs and out of the front door. Standing on the front porch I noticed T-Dog, Glenn, Shane, Maggie, Beth, and a man I had not met all gathered in the front lawn staring at the RV, silver SUV that Andrea must have stolen, and Daryl's motorcycle. Hershel was standing right in front of the steps to the porch, almost protectively.

My eyes scanned the group as they emerged from their vehicles. Andrea had been alone in the SUV, and Daryl was putting the kickstand down on his bike. Dale was making his way out of the driver's side of the RV and I waited anxiously for Carol's appearance. A part of me was secretly hoping they'd somehow found Sophia during the night, as ridiculous as I knew that hope was.

I felt my heart sink the moment I saw Carol emerge alone, though.

Rick made his way down the steps and towards the group. I followed farther behind him as Lori leant up against the railing along the porch.

"How is he?" I heard Dale ask Rick.

"He'll pull through," Lori called out happily from her place. "Thanks to Hershel and his people."

"And Shane," Rick added in. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him."

My eyes darted to Shane who raised his head at the mention of his name. A look of surprise crossed his face before he glanced back down at his hands.

I spotted Daryl eyeing up the group of strangers around the farmhouse when Rick explained what had happened to Carl. His eyes were squinting against the morning light as he took in their appearances individually. The screen door opened and shut behind me and a moment later Sarah was at my side. I shot her a glance and she returned a grin before looking over the new arrivals. When I turned my attention back, I saw Daryl eyeing me with the same scrutinizing look.

"We were just about to have a funeral for Otis," Hershel told everyone gathered. "You're all welcome to join."

I noticed a few members of the group exchange a look with Rick, but willingly everyone followed without a word.

We were led to a plot with dirt that had just been recently packed down around a wooden cross. Apparently someone had already gone through the trouble of creating a resting place for Otis, despite the lack of us having his body. There was a pile of stones that had been gathered nearby and I watched as Patricia placed a stone on the grave, followed by Hershel, Maggie, Sarah, and Beth. Rick was the first of our group to grab a stone and copy their actions, which allowed the rest of our group to slowly join in one by one. Daryl was the last to do so, his face set in a stern expression. Once he stepped back into his place, he remained silent with his arms crossed across his chest and his eyes fixed on the grave. As Hershel began reading some bible verses, I found my thoughts straying more and more and focusing on the gruff Georgian redneck.

In the few days I'd known him, he'd proven himself to be nothing like the man his brother Merle was. From the few conversations I'd had, everyone had described him as surly and quick-tempered. He liked to keep to himself. But once his brother had been lost in Atlanta, another side of Daryl seemed to be showing through. A caring and compassionate side. He seemed to fight it in his interactions sometimes, something I didn't really understand, but I had noticed it had been drawing me to him. Our conversations so far had proven him to be more intelligent than the others had seemed to give him credit for. For some reason, out of everyone in our group, he seemed to be the one I was always drawn to. Maybe it was because of him being an outsider that I felt more comfortable with him. I felt I was one, in a way. With no memory of myself or my past, I felt disconnected from everyone. But with Daryl things seemed to come easy. Even if I still couldn't figure out what I'd done to upset him back at the church yesterday afternoon.

There was something else about him too, something I couldn't quite put my finger on.

Patricia's voice asking Shane to say a few words for Otis suddenly pulled me back to the moment. I realized I had been staring at Daryl's arms, probably for quite awhile from the way he was staring at me now. I felt the heat rise to my cheeks, embarrassed for having been caught staring, and turned my attention to Shane.

As I tried to calm the blush rising on my face, I noticed how unwilling Shane seemed to be to speak up for Otis, but Patricia's pleading of him having been the only one there during his final moments finally got him to say a few words. Patricia was openly crying by the time Shane had said his part. Hershel placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Can I have some time alone?" she asked Hershel.

Knowing what she meant, Hershel rounded up the group and led them back towards the mass of vehicles that had suddenly accumulated in his front lawn overnight.

"I was talking with Hershel last night," Rick spoke up once everyone had gathered around. "He's been kind enough to let us stay here until Carl is well and we locate Sophia. I ask that everyone respect his rules since we are guests on his property. We're not here to cause any trouble."

Hershel nodded approvingly at Rick's words. "I'm happy to share some of our food, but my house does not have room to hold the lot of you. Finding a comfortable place to rest at night will be up to you."

"We have tents," Rick said, turning to Hershel. "Would you mind if we set them up outside here?"

Hershel shook his head. "I see no issue with that."

"Carol and I can get started setting those up," Lori offered to her husband.

"That would be great," Rick told the pair.

"We need to be gettin' back out there and tryin' to find that little girl," Daryl said, speaking up for the first time since he'd arrived at the farm.

"I have some county survey maps inside that might help with that," Hershel offered. He turned to Maggie and asked if she would get them from his desk.

Daryl leaned up against the hood of the SUV Andrea had arrived in, his fingers tapping impatiently as he waited for something to do.

"The only thing I ask of your people is to respect my property," Hershel spoke up. "I'd appreciate it if no one went poking around the stables or the barn."

"We can do that," Rick assured the older man.

The sound of the screen door slamming shut alerted us to Maggie. She was racing down the steps with a large poster-sized piece of paper. She handed it to her father who spread it open on the hood of the car Daryl was leant up against.

"This is perfect," Rick said as he eyed the layout of the county. "We can finally get this thing organized and set up a grid so we can start searching in teams."

"No," Hershel's stern voice spoke. "Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood to your son just last night. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." His eyes darted to Shane who was leaning against the car beside Daryl and Andrea, eyeing the map. "And you. You push that injured ankle now you'll be laid up a month—no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me," Daryl said.

He didn't sound deterred at all. Quite the opposite.

He leaned over the survey sheet and pointed towards a spot. "I'm going to start at the creek. Work my back from there."

"We could head to the interstate. See if Sophia wandered back," Shane suggested to Rick.

"Alright. Tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right," Rick agreed.

"That means we can't have people out there armed with just knives. We need to do gun training like we promised," Shane said.

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

Shane let out a huff. "With all due respect, but we get a crowd of those things wandering in here…"

Rick jumped in, cutting Shane off firmly. "We're guests here. This is his property. We will respect that." His eyes locked with Shane's.

I watched as Rick pulled his gun out of its holster and set it onto the hood of the car. Shane bit his lip, looking a mix of emotions as he reluctantly copied Rick's actions.

"Alright. First things first. We need to set up camp and find Sophia," Rick directed.

"I hate to be the one to ask," Shane jumped in. "But what happens if we find Sophia and she's bit?"

I was taken aback at Shane's words. My jaw clenched shut in irritation. As much as that thought had crossed my mind, I wanted to hit him for bringing it up.

Shane noticed the look on my face and held his hands up. "I'm just saying. Think we should all be clear on how we should handle that."

Rick stared down at the map sprawled on the hood of the car. He met no one's gaze when he said firmly, "You do what has to be done."

"And her mother?" Sarah's distinct voice rang out. "What do you tell her?"

"The truth," Andrea said sharply, eyeing Sarah up and down.

I glanced over my shoulder to see Sarah standing beside Maggie, her face set in a look of distaste.

It suddenly hit me that their experience with the walkers had been entirely different than ours so far. They must have been holed up in this farmhouse through everything, probably unaware of how bad things really were. My mind drifted back to earlier when Maggie had referred to the walkers as 'sick people' as if she thought maybe they could get better.

"I'll gather and secure all of the weapons," Shane offered. "Then I'll secure a shooting range offsite where everyone can practice safely. But I do request one rifle on the property for a lookout. Dale's got experience."

Shane eyed Hershel for a long moment. The older man didn't say a word.

"My people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun," Rick persuaded.

Slowly, Hershel consented with a single nod.

"Thank you," Rick told him appreciatively.

I watched as Daryl pushed himself from off the hood of the car and began to saunter off. I turned to follow after him but was stopped by Hershel. Caught off guard, I stopped in place.

"You're not going out there. It isn't safe," Hershel told me as if he read my mind.

The expression on his face displayed that of a man who wouldn't budge on this topic.

I had yet to have a conversation with the man who was my uncle. This certainly didn't seem like the time to. My eyes wandered over to where Daryl was checking the pack on his motorcycle, his crossbow slung over his shoulder.

"I'm not letting him go out there by himself," I said firmly.

Tension hung in the air among our group. Nobody said a word as Hershel and I held each other's unwavering stare. I wasn't going to back down on this though.

"That little girl is out there because of me. A twelve year old girl, all alone, lost in a forest. No food, no water. That's on me," I said, my voice low. I was trying hard to refrain from yelling or upsetting anyone's feelings. It felt like I was walking a thin line.

"Rick claims this Daryl character knows the woods well. He can take care of himself."

Lori, Carol, and Glenn who had begun setting up tents nearby had noticed the scene beginning to unfold and had stopped what they were doing. This eventually caught the interest of Daryl, who I saw turn and stare back towards us from the corner of my eye. I could feel the heat of embarrassment once again rising up to my face. How would it look to the others that I was fighting so hard to search the woods with Daryl?

I took in a deep breath and then exhaled slowly. "I understand your concern for…family, but I am not a child. I can take care of myself. I'm going."

I turned on my heel and began marching towards Daryl when Hershel's voice called out behind me.

"Your mother would disapprove of your behavior!"

I stopped, inhaling a breath sharply.

"Daddy!" Maggie's harsh voice scolded.

"Am I just supposed to leave a little girl out there?" I asked, my voice rising with my anger as I spun on my heel. "Would you be telling me to stay put if it was Maggie or Beth? I have spent the last two weeks with these people. And while I've finally found my actual family, these people, they're the ones who've been there for me. I know them. And right now this is what I have to do. Call me reckless or stupid, I don't care. I'm going. "

Hershel's face fell as he crossed the gap between us. I didn't know what to expect him to say next, but I was definitely taken by surprise by what he did say.

"Just as stubborn and ready to jump into heroics like your daddy. Always having to do the right thing, even if it would get him killed doing so." Hershel placed a hand on my shoulder. "I can't stop you. But you need to realize. You have people here who care about you. We lost you once. I don't think we could go through that again." His head gestured in the direction towards Sarah, who was biting her fingernails. "I don't think she could go through that again."

I let out a sigh, glad that Hershel and I weren't about to have an argument.

I gestured for Sarah to walk with me as I made my way towards Daryl. I could see him making that face he was making earlier again. The one where he was scrutinizing me.

"You understand I have to do this, right?" I asked Sarah.

She nodded. "I just wish you would stay."

I offered her a friendly smile. "I'll be back later today. I promise. But I can't just sit here all day doing menial chores when no one else can be out there looking for this girl. I have to see this through."

"Just come back in one piece. I was hoping I'd be able to take you to see our house. The one you grew up in before you moved into that shitty dorm." She let out a snort of amusement before turning serious again. "I thought maybe something there would help you remember something, anything."

"I'd like that," I told her honestly.

"Can I at least get a hug before you leave?"

Awkwardly I gave the little brunette a brief hug.

"Be safe out there," she told me before heading back into the farmhouse.

I turned and made my way over to Daryl.

"The hell was that all about?" he asked me, gesturing his head towards Hershel.

"Turns out, Hershel is my uncle," I told Daryl in a rush as I patted my side, making sure I had the hunting knife on me. This time I had a belt on to attach it to. "That makes Maggie and Beth my cousins. And Sarah is my sister." I began tying my hair back into a ponytail, trying to keep it out of my face. "Apparently they're concerned for my safety."

Daryl let out an amused snort. "They don't look much like you." He eyed me curiously. Realization seemed to suddenly cross his face as he stared down at me. "You're not trying to come with me, are you?"

I rolled my eyes. "Don't make me argue with you now, too. I'm coming with."

"Just better not slow me down or get yourself bit by a walker."

"Deal," I said with a smile.

"Better grab a bag of food and water. Can't have you passing out on me in this heat," Daryl ordered.

"Got my bag still in the Jeep. I'll grab it and we can head out," I told him.

I made my way back to the car Glenn, T-Dog and I had arrived in last night. Sure enough my duffle bag was still in the passenger seat. I unzipped it to double check all of my supplies were still there. My gun was still in there as well. I chewed my lip nervously as I contemplated turning the gun over to Shane. I shook my head firmly. No one had to know.

I zipped the bag up and threw the strap over my shoulder before making my way towards Daryl, who was in conversation with Rick. As I approached the pair, I heard Rick tell Daryl that they had a way to search for Sophia now and that Daryl didn't owe the group anything.

"My other plans fell through," Daryl shot back.

He turned his back on Rick who stood there open-mouthed. He turned his attention to me as I walked past. Daryl was walking even faster towards the forest now and I shot Rick a disbelieving look.

"Seriously?"

"What?" Rick asked me.

"That's not why he's doing this," I told him.

"Why else would he be so eager to help us?"

I shook my head at him. "Maybe because he actually cares about us? Or is that too hard for everyone to believe? He's not Merle, Rick. You need to give him a chance before you try pushing him away. He needs us and we need him. And not just to find Sophia."

Rick let out a sigh. "Just be careful out there, alright?"

I gave him a quick nod before racing off after Daryl. He had gotten pretty far ahead of me already. When I finally caught up to him, I could tell he was in a bad mood.

Great. So we're spending the whole day in silence.