Disclaimer: I do not own anything that you recognize. Although I would love to have my own personal Daryl Dixon. Short and sweet.

AN: So I realize that I haven't posted in a while. My switch has flipped from Writer Mode to Reader Mode and I don't mean fanfiction. I have been reading books left and right. Also I will be taking a short break on the story. You are now literally right on my tail in chapters so after I get ahead a little bit I will start posting again. I won't be writing this week because my mom came to visit for the week. So I hope you guys read and enjoy.

Chapter 12

Rick and Shane decided to split up the group to try cover a little more ground to look for Sophia. Rick, Shane, and Carl would check around the church a little more and the rest of the group would take the creek back to the highway.

Rick put Daryl in charge of the group going back to the creek and then everyone headed out. Adrian thought that she might have been more useful with Rick, Shane, and Carl but Daryl had more people to look after and she figured that between her, Daryl, Glenn, and Kale for real protection that they could all make it safely back.

They had been walking for a little while when they had decided to take a short break. Carol was disheartened that they still hadn't found Sophia and Andrea was still pissed that Lori had been given a gun but she still wasn't allowed to carry.

Adrian was standing off to one side with Daryl, Kale, and Glenn while Lori ranted about how everyone had blamed Rick for one thing or another since they had lit out from the quarry. And she didn't think that she was wrong about any of it.

No one other than Shane had even tried to step up and make the hard decisions for the sake of the group, but even then, Shane made decisions that would keep Lori and Carl safe above all others. She may not have been involved with the group long but she had done more than her fair share of spying on the Atlanta group and she wasn't ashamed of it.

She knew little things about all of the people that were left in the group but she had kept more of an eye out for Shane and Daryl than anybody else. Shane because he was a hot head and tended to make rash decisions and Daryl because she had considered him the real threat to her and Kale. And also because he fascinated her to a certain degree.

He was a hunter, just like her. He was quiet and kept to himself mostly except for when he spoke to his now missing or dead brother or when he had been spoken to. He took his responsibilities seriously.

She had also noticed that he had sharp eyes, which she supposed came from his tracking skills, but he was very observant as well. People pegged him for an uneducated hillbilly redneck but what he may or may not lack in book smarts he more than made up for in common sense and survival.

"Come on. We need to keep goin'." she heard Daryl say to the others.

They had been walking for an hour or so and Adrian still couldn't stop thinking about the gun shot that they had all heard a while back. "Why just one gun shot?" Lori asked after being asked if she was still thinking about the gun shot. "Maybe they took down a walker." Daryl suggested.

Lori gave him a do-I-look-dumb look and pointed out that Rick and Shane wouldn't waste a bullet on one walker. "She's right. They know the rule. Not gun fire unless absolutely necessary. Noise only draws more walkers." Adrian threw in.

Kale walked up to her but kept his voice low. "You doin' okay? You kinda look like you don't feel good." he pointed out to her. "It's just a gut feeling. Like something bad has happened. Other than rotting corpses trying to eat us." she said to the dark headed teen.

"I'll tell ya what it's worth. Nothin'. Hopin' an' prayin' ain't gonna find that little girl." she heard Daryl say to Carol and Andrea. "Am I the only one zen around here? Good lord." Daryl said as he turned his back on them and started walking off. She noticed that Lori had a small smile on her face at Daryl's words and also the look on Carol's face.

She hadn't had much interaction with the older woman but she decided to give it a small shot to help cheer her up, even if it was just a smidge. "Hopin' an' prayin' will only get us so far in our search. That's why we're all out here helpin' to look for her." Adrian said quietly to her before she headed off towards the front with Daryl.

She caught up to the redneck and had a smile on her face thinking back on his words. "Zen? Really?" she asked with a small laugh. "What about it?" he shot back. Adrian just laughed to herself before answering. "Nothing. Just never pegged you for someone who was "at peace" with yourself is all." she said using her fingers to make quotation marks.

They had been walking for a little while when a scream ripped through the air. Everyone looked around and noticed that Andrea was missing and took off in the direction of the screaming. They broke into a small clearing to see a slender, short haired brunette woman sitting atop a horse with Andrea on one side.

"Lori? Lori Grimes?" she asked the group. "That's me." Lori answered. "You need to come with me right now. Carl's been shot. He and Rick need you." she said to Lori. The only thing that Adrian seemed to register was that Carl had been shot. 'Oh God, please, not again!' was the only thought that seemed to keep screaming in Adrian's head. She thought she felt eyes on her but she wasn't sure. She then seen Lori climb onto the horse and the girl spoke to Glenn, giving him directions to her home and then took off. That was when she snapped. She turned until she met Kale's eyes.

"Take my bike when you get back to the highway. I expect you there tonight and I expect my ride to be in perfect condition. Do you understand me?" she practically commanded to the boy. She didn't even see him nod his head before she turned and took off like a wild hellhound in the direction that the horse had went.

She could hear Daryl in the background shouting at her to get back there but she just ignored his cries and kept running.

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She didn't know how long or how far she had ran when she broke from the woods and into a large field with overgrown golden grass. She stopped for a minute to give her burning lungs a break and took in the view in front of her. Across the field sat a white, two-story farm house.

It looked as if the world had never ended for this place. As if life had just continued as normal for these people. But she knew that it had to be mildly chaotic in that house right now, so she started running again towards the house.
She didn't even bother opening the gate but put both hands on top of the metal door and jumped over it. She ran up the house and had managed to slow down to a jog when she reached the steps. She knew it was rude to just walk into someone's house, even if being polite was the last thing on most peoples minds these days, but she did it anyway.

She walked through the door and seen three people sitting in what appeared to be the living room and they all seemed surprised by her sudden intrusion, and rightly so. There was the tall brunette that had rode the horse to fetch Lori, an older man with white hair and a clean shaven face, and a petite blonde with curly hair.

She could hear the faint sounds of crying coming from a room to her left and turned sharply towards the door. "Now wait just one minute here!" she heard the man say as she walked to the door. Adrian stalked into the room but stopped cold only a few steps in.

Carl was laying on a bed covered with a white sheet, asleep and covered in a fine film of sweat. Lori was laying on the bed with Carl crying and holding onto his limp hand while Rick stood behind her holding her other hand. She noticed he looked really pale and had a rough bandage on his arm.

"Just who do you think you are, barging in here like this?" she heard the man from before say behind her, which drew Rick and Lori's attention to her and also seemed surprised by her presence. Which she guessed she would have been surprised by it too if she were them. "Adrian. What are you doin' here?" Rick asked as he walked away from Lori and towards her.

"Sorry, Hershal. She's another member of our group." Rick said to the man. She could still feel annoyance coming off of him but she ignored it. Rick looked at the strange red head and finally took notice of her appearance. Some of her hair had come loose of her braid and just hung around her face and shoulders. She was covered in dirt, sweat, and scratches but not really bleeding. She had a wild look in her bright green eyes but shock was written all over her face and she was breathing hard.

"How did you get here?" Rick asked, seeing if she would answer any of his questions but her focus seemed to be solely on Carl. "I ran." she finally panted out. "Took off after the horse full blast. Is he alright?" she asked finally looking at him. "For now. "He needs surgery. She was shot by accident and the bullet broke apart and he has internal bleeding. Shane and the man who shot him, Otis, went on a run to get some things that Hershal will need for the surgery." Rick told her.

"That was the shot we heard? What happened?" she asked him. Rick sighed. "We were walkin' when a deer came out. Carl was walkin' up to it and the next thing we knew, Carl had been shot and was on the ground. Otis was out huntin' the deer, didn't see Carl til after the fact." he told her.

Adrian's breathing finally slowed down and she took a deep breath trying to steady herself. "Well the group knows what's going on so they should be here at some point." she said to Rick but loud enough for Lori to hear too.

"Well I'll leave you two alone with him then. I'll be around if you need me. Just holler. I won't be far." she said placing her hand on his shoulder out of comfort more than anything.