KEZZ 1: Thank you very much for reading!
pyrojack25: Oh, you know she's already caught a scent of something, she just needs to figure out what it is lol.
Guest: I think his descent into madness started when Rick came back because he lost his hold on Lori, Carl and his leadership to Rick—within that first night Rick came back. I think he got addicted to that power and when it was taken away, he snapped. But when Lori starts playing her little mind games it where it gets worse.
Faery66: Here's more!
FoAteAZombie: Man, I lost all inspiration for this story because I wrote a lot of things I wasn't happy with after but I talk to someone and I ended up just rewriting it the way I wanted and how I feel it should go.
Midori Yuki: Thanks for loving the fic! Lol, here is more!
Daryl led the rest of the group towards the place where T-Dog and Glenn went, leading them on his motorcycle. He spotted a big white farm house with cattle grazing around and made his way towards it, remembering what the chick on the horse told them where the house was.
They drove towards the porch where the form of an adult and a child were waiting in the shade of the porch.
"Grandpa Dale!" a girl's voice called out and ran to the RV when it stopped.
The adult, a woman by the laugh, came down the steps of the porch to show blonde hair in the sunlight.
"Well shit." Daryl said under his breath. It was Aussie, standing there with a smile on her face and looking fine.
'Oh, she be lookin' real fine with that tank showing the skin on her hips and below her belly button.' Merle whistled as Daryl watched her bounce down towards them. 'Damn, look at them shoulders and neck. And don't forget her tit-'
"You made it!" Miri greeted the group in that accent of hers that makes everything she says sound either happier or asking a question.
Carol quickly went up to her and hugged her. "You're okay." She pulled away and looked at Miri. "Is Sophia here?"
Miri's smile dropped and she shook her head. "I haven't seen her since the highway." Carol bowed her head in sadness. "I'm sorry." Carol shakes her head and walks away, covering her mouth.
Dale walks up to her next with Alice, the little girl holding her giraffe toy. "Glad to see you're alright, Miri."
"Thanks, Dale." She gave him a smile and gave Andrea a nod hello.
Daryl removed the bow that was across his body like his crossbow strap and pulled off the bags he had tied to the bike for safety. "Hey Aussie." Miri spun around to look at him, her hair flying a bit since it was loose. "Catch." Daryl threw the bow to her and she caught it.
"My bow!" her eyes shined as the light hit them. "You've protected it again, thanks." She took the bags from his hands. "I really got to pay you back for all the things you do."
Merle chuckled in his head. 'Heh, sounds like you could use that to your advantage, little D.'
He ignored him as he turned around to hide the blood rushing to his cheeks. "Whatever."
"How come you never came back to find us?" Andrea asked in an annoyed tone. "We searched for you for days."
"I was under house arrest since I ended up getting a concussion when I fell down a small cliff and hit my head. One of their men found me and brought me here." Daryl nodded as she continued. That explains why she wasn't at the bottom. "When I was going to leave to go find you, Rick came in with Carl."
The others saw a bunch of people come out of the house, some of their group and others they didn't know.
Dale walked up to Rick as Alice went over to Miri. "How is he?"
Lori looked happy. "He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." She motioned to the older man wearing suspenders.
"And Shane." Rick added. "We'd have lost Carl if not for him."
Everyone started to hug each other but Daryl, not comfortable with the action. "Thank God." Carol hugged Lori. "We were so worried."
"How'd it happen?" Dale asked Rick.
"Huntin' accident." Rick shrugged "That's all—just a stupid accident."
Hershel told everyone they were going to start the funeral now and for everyone to come around. "Blessed be God, father of our lord Jesus Christ." People started going up to put a rock on the large rock formation as Hershel started to read from his Bible. "Praise be to him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever our most precious asset." Daryl looked over to Shane and noticed he put his head down in… shame? "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?" Patricia asked him tearfully, the last one to see her husband of so many years before he gave his life.
Shane looked down, a chill of panic running through him as everyone looked his way. "I'm not good at it. I'm sorry."
"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments." She paused to control her crying. "Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning."
"Okay." Shane gave in and gave his eulogy. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping." He licked his dry lips. "It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've gotta save the boy.' See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.'"
Daryl didn't buy the odd story, it didn't sound right. He looked over to Miri to see her narrowing her eyes a bit and tilting her head as she listened.
Seems like he wasn't the only one that was seeing through Shane's story.
Shane limped over to the loose rocks and placed one on top of the others. "And when I looked back... 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. If any death ever had meaning, it was his."
Everyone walked away from the spot except for Patricia, letting her mourn for her lost husband.
Miri, Andrea, Shane, Rick, Hershel and Daryl went over to a car to try and plan out where they could find Sophia. Lori had taken Alice inside as everyone else was off doing their own thing, trying to set up camp.
"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked as they waited for his eldest daughter to come with a map.
"This'll be day three." Rick answered Hershel.
Maggie came towards them with the map. "County survey map." She unrolled it on the hood of the car. "Shows terrain and elevations."
"Nice," Miri said as she studied the map. "This is perfect."
"We can finally get this thing organized." Rick studied the map too, the itch to do something growing. "We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."
Hershel shook his head. "Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He pointed to Shane. "And your ankle- push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."
"Guess it's just me." Daryl leaned forward a bit so he could point to the map and bumping into Miri slightly. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there."
"I'll go with." Miri volunteered. "It's better if there are two people looking for her instead of one."
Rick looked at Miri concerned. "Are you sure?"
She nodded. "Yeah."
"What about your head?" Rick concern didn't fade at her answer.
"Its better now, no more dizziness so I can go with Daryl to look for Sophia." She gave him a grin. "Besides, it's not smart to let one man go alone without backup." Rick nodded, though he didn't like it. She had a good point.
Shane tighten his jaw, annoyance building up. "I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back."
"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick agreed with the plan.
"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives." Everyone looked at Shane as he spoke up. "They need the gun training we've been promising them."
Hershel looked uncomfortable with the idea. "I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp.
Shane look his hat off. "All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here-"
Rick cut him off. "Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." He glanced at the others with him as they placed their guns on top of the map, Shane and Andrea doing so begrudgingly. "First things first: Set camp, find Sophia."
"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to." Shane sighed. "What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."
"You do what has to be done." Rick bowed his head.
Daryl didn't like the way Shane was talking like the little girl was already dead, but he kept his mouth shut.
"And her mother?" Maggie asked. "What do you tell her?"
"The truth." Miri pushed her hair back from her face as she answered, wiping some sweat from the heat that was already on them. "She deserves it."
Hershel shook his head at his daughter as Shane spoke. "I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site." Shane looked at Hershel. "I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience."
Hershel didn't say anything, still not convince, so Rick stepped in. "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Hershel saw reason and nodded, giving in. "Thank you."
Miri, Shane and Daryl walked away.
Daryl saw Miri walk over to where her tent parts were lain and watched her move from the corner of his eye as he made his own tent. He could practically make his tent with his eyes closed at this point.
By the time he finished, Miri was only half finished. He groaned, he wanted to go out now. Not wait for her. So he went over and started to help.
"Daryl? What are you doing?"
"You taking forever, we gotta leave now." He explained as he helped her set up the tent quicker. "Sunlight is burning out the longer you take."
"Sorry." She grumbled, annoyed by is tone. They stayed silent as they finished. She grabbed her bags and threw two of them inside the tent. She bend down on the ground as she put on her gear for the bow and a bag.
"Why are you leaving your little girl?"
She threw her bag inside the tent and looked at him as she got up. "Excuse me?" She wasn't expecting that question.
"I can go look for the lost girl by myself, you don't need to come and leave your little girl." He adjusted the strap to the crossbow so he didn't have to look at her, he got nervous the more he locked eyes with her.
"Well, she's too worried about Carl and practically stays by his bedside." She motioned for him to follow her to the house. "She's also worried about Sophia." She paused in front of the door. "I'm going because she was with Rick and I last… we were supposed to go back and get her safely." She opened the door to show Alice in a chair holding a book and reading out loud, or at least sounding out the words.
"H-here a-re so-me who like to run." She smiled to herself proudly as she finish the sentence. Her eyebrows knitted together in concentration as she continued to read. "T-they run for fun in the…" she paused then tried to sound out the word. "H-O-T, hot, hot sun."
"What are you reading, baby?" Miri went into the room and bent down to read the cover. "Oh, I loved this book when I was a kid."
"Where are you going?" Alice asked after she saw the bow sitting across Miri's chest.
Daryl smirked, that kid was smart.
"Well, Detective," Miri smiled teasingly. "Daryl and I are going to go look for Sophia, so then she can be safe with her mommy." Miri gave her a kiss on the top of her head. "I need you to stay here and take care of Carl okay? Uncle Rick and Auntie Lori will be worried about everything but I think it'll help if you help with Carl."
Alice nodded. "Okay, when are you gonna come back?"
"Daryl says by sundown. So while I'm gone, you listen to Auntie Lori and Uncle Rick okay?" Miri reached into a bag she had wrapped across her body and pulled out a wrapped snack. "Here, Grandpa Dale said he found these for you."
Alice took them and nodded. "Be careful." She got off the chair and gave Miri a hug.
"We gotta go." Daryl reminded her, feeling anxious as time was wasting away.
"Right." Miri went over and gave Carl a kiss on the forehead. "Bye sweetheart."
The two walked out the house and was walking towards the woods when Rick stopped them. "Miri. Daryl." He met them halfway. "You two gonna be okay?"
Miri patted his shoulder. "Yeah, we'll be fine, Rick. We'll be back by sun down."
Rick nodded. "Watch each other's back and come back safe, or I'll hunt you down myself." Rick threatened playfully but anyone could tell he really would, even if he had given so much blood.
Daryl could tell he would by the way he was frantic when he found out both Miri and Sophia didn't come back and were missing. That look in his eye told him he wanted to run back into the forest and tear everything apart until he found them.
"Right, we better go. I've already burned most of our time." She hugged Rick. "We'll be back."
They walked off to the forest without talking to each other, just looking around for tracks as Miri checked around to see if any walkers were gonna sneak up on them while he searched for tracks. "What's with the bag?" He asked her as he looked at the green and white bag that hit against her hip every time she walked.
She looked down at the bag that Dale had given to her for this journey through the woods. "It's just in case we find something small to hunt or find supplies and we don't have to carry it on our arms." She explained as she looked around.
He became distracted as she turned her head, showing the muscles in her neck and shoulders flex.
'Just fuckin' take her here, right in the woods. Show her how Dixon's do it!' Merle laughed loudly in his head as he continued to stare, imagining all the things he could do-
"You okay?" she asked him, snapping him from his imagination and back into the real world.
He grunted deeply and continued to walk in front of her, trying to hush Merle in his head. He didn't need this right now—or ever.
Four squirrels and two birds later, they stepped out of the forest to find an abandoned looking house in the middle of the woods. He motioned for her to stay quiet as they carefully marched up to the house. She readied her bow as he kicked the door in.
The house was quiet as they slowly walked inside. She went to venture off by herself but he grabbed her waist, ignoring the warmth of her skin when his fingers ended up brushing against her skin and up her shirt a bit, and the softness of her skin on his rough hands making his mouth dry instantly. He pulled it away quickly, the heat from her skin still on his hand as he motioned for her to stay by him.
She stayed near him as they scanned the lower part of the house.
They walked into the kitchen when he notice a freshly opened sardine can in the trash, the water still inside. A warm hand tapped his arm lightly, making him turn his head to look at Miri and she pointed to a closet door that was slightly open.
He raised his cross bow and motioned with his eyes for her to open the door.
She opened it and inside showed nothing. "Is that a pillow and blanket?" She pointed to the floor where a small pillow and blanket were cramped inside.
"She had to have been here." He said as he looked around, looking for even more signs of Sophia. "Maybe she's still around outside." They ran outside, calling Sophia's name out into the woods so she could hear them when he spot a white flower, a Cherokee rose. He remembered the story around it and decided to bring it back for Carol, for her little girl.
"That's a pretty flower." Miri said from her spot, her bow still drawn just in case.
"You look like the kind of girl that likes getting flowers." These words slipped from his mouth.
"Since you think you know me so well just by looking at me, what flowers do I like?" Miri smirked, watching as he shuffled his feet.
He cut the stem of the Cherokee rose and put it in an empty beer bottle from the ground. He could hear the playful tone in her voice. He shrugged, not really knowing what to say. "I don't know, roses? Don't all you chicks like them?"
She laughs lightly, so it doesn't bounce around the woods. "Nope, it's something you'll never guess." She looked at her watch then at the sky. "We better go before it's too dark to look for Sophia."
The walk to the farm was as quiet as when they were walking around before, though Miri snuck looks at Daryl as they walked, wondering. Austin wasn't like Daryl. Austin had this goofy nerdy charm about him that just made you want to be with his friend. He would always joke around with everyone on set when they would film and they would have a blast. Daryl was the opposite of him. Daryl was quiet and serious, never joked around and was a strong hunter. Austin was never that much into outdoor activities like she was. She would always beg him to join her in rock climbing or go camping but he would just say no.
Though now she knew why he would say no…
She felt a warm rough hand grab her arm and moved her to the side, away from the tree she was about to walk into. "What the fuck is wrong with you, Aussie?" he pointed to the tree. "You almost walked right into a tree, watch where you're going."
"Sorry." She sighed. "I… I was just thinking." She played with the strap of the bag as she walked by Daryl, trying to think of all the times her Ex had lied to her.
They made it back to the farm and made their way to the RV. She saw when Daryl looked at her from the corner of her eye as she stopped in the shade of the RV to take the bag off. She got a water bottle and drowned half of it down as Daryl walked up the steps quickly.
"I cleaned up. Wanted it to be nice for her." She heard Carol's voice through the window that was open to let air into the stuffy back room.
"For a second I thought I was in the wrong place." Daryl's gruff voice came through. A soft thump was heard after, like someone placing something carefully down onto a surface.
"A flower?" Carol asked.
"It's a Cherokee rose." Daryl explained. There was a moment of silence before he spoke again. "The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the trail of tears the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer, asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for your little girl." Miri smiled as she heard the care in Daryl's voice, completely different from how he normally showed himself. "She's gonna really like it in here."
Miri quickly busied herself as Daryl came down the steps. She didn't want him to know she had heard him and embarrass him after he had such a private moment with Carol. She smiled softly, recalling how soft Daryl told the story to Carol.
Austin was not like that. He never told soft stories, just goofed off… maybe he was… She shook her thoughts from Austin and focused on Daryl and Carol. Seems like Daryl has a thing for her and she back at him.
She made a choice then, out of respect for them to not look at Daryl…