Something I didn't notice earlier was T-Dog, he was walking around with some of the others, half his shirt soaked in blood. At first I assumed it was a Walkers, but then I saw the way he was holding his arm, even more blood dripping down from it.
After Rick came back without Sophia, he, Shane, Daryl, and Glenn went into the woods on their own. They weren't gone too long before only Shane and Glenn came back, claiming that Rick and Daryl were 'on it'. Whatever that meant.
Shane and Glenn talked a little about what they had to do, scavenge more gas, supplies, move cars and so on. He was giving chores out to everyone, and I was pretty sure it was just a distraction.
I didn't get what the problem was, she ran off, they ran for her, they weren't away for too long. So how far could she have really gone? I didn't get it, but hell, I didn't get anything.
Most of the group went along and did as they were told. Dale was still at the front of the RV, trying to fix the problem, and Carol was still by the side of the road.
Shane had lifted the trunk to one of the abandoned cars. He glanced over at me and beckoned me to join him.
"I want you to stick close, all right? I thought if you were in the RV I wouldn't have to worry. There wouldn't be any trouble, I was wrong. I'm sorry that happened. I know I'm not your favourite person at the moment, but just stay with me for now. Can you do that?"
I thought about it, not really caring too much, I just nodded.
"Are you thinking about Sophia?"
I shrugged. I wasn't as much worried as I was confused about the situation. We had handled more than a few Walkers before, and again, Rick said he had taken care of them and sent Sophia back.
"Daryl and Rick shouldn't be gone too long, they'll find her."
"Shane!" Carl yelled running around the cars toward us. Lori heard him yelling, running toward us as well.
"Carl! What happened?" Lori called, worried.
"Mom, I found something cool." He ran over to me and Shane, sitting on the ground and rolling out something long and black, he looked up at me, "check it out, it's an arsenal."
He looked up at me, smiling and eyes brimming with excitement. I knelt down, seeing all the weapons tucked into their slots. I gave a small smile, it was cool and I liked seeing him excited. Sometimes it annoyed me but this time I saw reason for the excitement. He looked up at Shane, waiting for a reaction.
"See, Shane?"
"That's cool, bud," he said, still looking through the trunk. "Go give 'em to Dale."
"Check this one out!" Carl pulled at one of the handle, brandishing it, "woah, it's a hatchet." he held it with two hands, swinging it subtly.
"Be careful, don't play with those," Lori warned as she came closer.
"They're really sharp," he went on.
"What did I just say?" Lori's voice became more firm.
He turned to her and stood up, "Can I keep one?"
"Are you crazy?" Lori reached forward, forcing Carl to give his hatchet up.
"Toby has knives." He pointed it me. I pretended I didn't hear him.
"No, Carl."
"No way," he said, disappointed. Then he turned away, "Shane. Shane, tell her to let me keep one."
Lori bent down, placing the hatchet back into its spot.
Shane finally turned his attention away from the car, his voice as firm as Lori's was. "hey, man, go give them to Dale now. Go!"
Carl stared at Shane with what might've been a scowl. Lori rolled the arsenal back up and placed it in his hands. Carl took it and walked away.
Lori watched him go, walking closer to Shane, I stood behind both of them, "what was that?"
"What was what?" He asked dismissively opening a small suitcase from inside the trunk.
"The way you blew him off just now, you crushed him." Lori waited for a response. Instead, Shane closed the suitcase, finding nothing of interest. Then he slammed the trunk. He walked to one of the back doors of the car opening it.
Lori shook her head, "I don't believe you, you're giving me the cold shoulder?"
Shane sighed loudly and stood up straight, staring at her, "isn't that what you want? Aren't you the one that said, stay the hell away, from him and you?"
"You forget what happened at the CDC? Your little meltdown in the rec room slip your mind? When you tried to-"
"-When I tried to what? What do you think that was?"
"I think it was pretty plain what that was."
"A mistake, one that I admit too."
She scoffed. "One among many."
I pressed my lips together, feeling a little angry.
"Yeah, Lori, I have mistakes under my belt. So do you."
"No debate there. But, Shane, we need to stop this-"
"-I'm gonna go ahead and stop you right there. I'm not doing anything than what you told me. I'm giving you what you wanted, Lori. I love Carl, you know I do. But I can't be the way I was with him and stay away. You don't get both, how else did you want me to do that? This isn't something to discuss right now, especially not with her right there." Shane nodded his head my way, and Lori turned around to glance at me briefly.
"Actually," he continued, "we're not going to discuss this because there is nothing to discuss, not now, not later. I'm not doing this with you, I can't. I've backed off and that's what I'm going to keep doing. I have something else to focus on, same as you. You have your husband back, you don't need me."
Lori opened her mouth but Shane wasn't looking at her. We all looked in the direction he was when we heard the RV door slam open against its side.
Guillermo grunted as he stepped out, wobbling on his feet with the Walker hanging over his shoulder. He walked in front of the RV, passing Glenn and Dale, who just stared at him. He walked over to the other side of the highway, where the grass began and launched the corpse into the ditch.
He stood up straight, rolling his shoulders and then turning, noticing everyone was eyeing him.
"What?"
Some of them looked away, then after a few seconds Guillermo walked back to the RV, closing the door behind him.
"Oh, God, they're back." Glenn said. I turned over to the wooded area, seeing Rick. Daryl was approaching behind him.
Rick climbed over the guardrail and Carol walked up to him, "you didn't find her?"
"Her trail went cold, we'll pick it up again at first light."
"You have to keep looking, you can't leave my daughter out there on her own, to spend the night alone in the woods."
"Out in the darks no good," Daryl spoke up, his voice raspy but calm. "We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."
"But she's twelve, she can't be out on her own. You didn't find anything? How's she supposed to find her way back on her own, she's just a child."
Rick continued to try and calm her while I stared at Carol. I couldn't see her face, only her back. But I could her her sniffling and sobbing, her shoulders shook with each breath she took. I understood everyone was worried, Walkers had followed her out there. But Carol had just voiced that she was concerned about Sophia being out alone in the woods, for a night.
How much does Sophia know? I wondered, her daddy taught her stuff too, right? Daddy would tell me I wasn't supposed to use weapons like he taught me. But surely she knew about being outside, enough to get her through one night.
I was fairly certain that daddy would be acting nothing like Carol, if I ever got lost like she did. I wasn't sure if he would just wait here like she was. Maybe he would at first, see if I could do it on my own. Then maybe go after me if I took too long and was wasting his time.
Even Daryl did his part in ensuring Carol, sort of.
"Daryl knows the woods better than anybody, I've asked him to oversee this." Rick said.
I know it too. I opened my mouth, thinking I could help.
You're a kid, no one gives a shit what you know.
I closed my mouth, pressing my lips together in a tight line.
You're just in the way. Open your mouth and they'll all just look at you funny again.
I turned away, starting to walk back to the RV.
Maybe I wasn't as worried as I should've been. Everyone seemed so concerned and worried, just waiting. And I was just hoping we could get off the damn road after what happened. The first time I killed a Walker, after the initial shock wore off, I was proud. I had saved myself instead of someone else saving me, and I hoped that someone else would be too.
Unfortunately this time, the shock hadn't worn off, Sophia, and that conversation with Shane and Lori had distracted me. As soon as I had turned away from them all I remembered and I just wanted to get out of there.
That was one of the reasons I didn't want to be around them, I was starting to feel bad for not being as worried for her. Maybe it was because I didn't know her, but she did seem nice, she had tried to talk to me.
So instead of being concerned I just felt guilty.
Fortunately and unfortunately, I was met with a new distraction when I walked into the RV. The curtain to the back where the bed was was still open. I could see Guillermo sitting on the edge of the bed. I had forgotten he was going to be there.
I could hear him quietly sobbing, I froze when I first saw him, taking the sight in.
He had a gun to the side of his head.
It took me a few minutes to really register what I was looking at, even then it didn't seem right. I turned to the door of the RV, as if expecting someone else to be there, seeing what I was seeing. And maybe know what to do about it. But I had closed the door, of course I could've just opened it, maybe I should've. Maybe I should've called for someone.
Instead I just stood there and looked back at him.
His hand was shaking as he held the gun, it looked like the gun Shane had taken and put into the bag earlier. Then I remembered Glenn putting the gun bag in the back of the RV.
Guillermo's shaking worsened and he abruptly lowered the gun, swearing under his breath in frustration. He threw his head back, teeth clenched as he took in a deep breath.
Then his eyes met mine and he was as frozen as I was.
We had stared at each other for so long, that when he finally said something, I almost didn't believe he spoke.
"Go," he croaked out.
At first I didn't say anything, even after I finally registered the one word he said. It sounded like he had tried to demand it when it sounded as if he was merely requesting. My eyes went down to the gun in his hand.
"Why . . . are you gonna shoot yourself?" I managed to say, looking back at him.
"If you've seen what I've seen you'd pull the trigger too," he said, almost in a whisper.
"B-Bullets," I stuttered, I was nervous to say anything to him. I was nervous to even move, whether it was further away from him or closer. I had silently hoped that the one word could get my point across.
His eyebrows furrowed, the frustrated expression he wore turned to one of confusion.
"Officer Shane," I said in a quiet and shaky voice, trying to explain, "I-I think he . . . I think he took the bullets out."
He narrowed his eyes at me, then turned his attention to the handgun. He brought it up slightly and I watched as he popped the magazine out, looking into it. He still didn't say anything, he just stared into it.
"They don't usually put 'em away loaded . . . just in case."
Then he started to laugh. It was light, but continued on as he put the magazine back into the gun. He placed the gun flat on the palm on his hand, lifting it up and down, as if weighing it.
"Me cago en dios y me sobra mierda," he shook his head, staring down at the gun.
His voice reminded me of Morales, I guessed it could be a Mexican accent. But I never met many people with accents. Just Morales and his wife. Then my mind wandered briefly to where they were, if they made it to where their family was.
Rick told them where we were going if they changed their minds, but now the CDC was gone, nothing but a pile of rubble. They probably wouldn't be able to find us.
Guillermo was still looking at me, but his eyes seemed empty, as if he was looking but not noticing what was in front of him.
Staring at Guillermo, I remembered something else. Jacqui and Andrea, hearing the others talk about them it sounded like they knew what would happen to the building, but they stayed.
Jacqui had tried to get me to leave before Daryl showed up, but made no move to leave herself.
"It was their choice, their decision to make." I remembered Lori said, "Not yours, not more than it was with Jim."
Jim, Jacqui and Andrea. They all had one thing in common. They all wanted to stay.
The plan to go to the CDC was to get medicine Jim, but then he wanted to stay at that tree. Rick had given him a gun. He knew he was going to die and turn into a Walker. Andrea and Jacqui chose to stay. They wanted to die.
I felt really stupid for not putting that together earlier.
"Why did you fight the Walker?"
His eyes suddenly become more focused, "What?"
I opened my mouth but hesitated, nervous all over again, "you-you were pushing it away. Why?"
"You think I want to get eaten?"
"I just . . . I thought . . . if you want to die, why bother?" I said, looking away, down at my old worn running shoes. "I mean, if you want to die. Does it matter how? Either way you'll die."
There was silence, I waited him to say something, maybe tell me that I was wrong, or tell me to leave again.
Then Guillermo finally put the gun down on the bed. This made me feel at ease a little, until he stood up. As he walked forward through the RV, he picked something off of the counter. I didn't see what it was until he was looking down at it in his hands.
I was more nervous the closer he got, I wasn't exactly afraid of him, but I wasn't not not afraid of him. I liked him when he was quiet, he didn't want to talk and we had that in common. He was silent and would just stare off, as if he wasn't there. I guess that might not have been normal, but it wasn't as awkward as it would've been sitting with someone else.
He stared down at my knife in his hand.
"Yours?" he raised his eyes to me, holding the knife out.
I nodded and took it from him hesitantly. It was still bloody from stabbing that Walker in the head.
Then it got even more awkward, I was talked out, feeling as if I had said enough. Not that it mattered if I talked, no one cared what a little girl had to say. Even so, I didn't have anything else to stay. As he stared at me, I waited to see if he would talk.
He looked down at my leg, as if noticing the others, "you know how to throw it?"
Obviously it wasn't the first time I had this conversation, I talked about it with Merle, then Shane. But I suddenly decided I had talked enough, as if each word I said just depleted my energy. My anxiety only grew now he had stirred the conversation on me, making me want to talk even less.
Instead of really answering, I just shrugged. Tucking the knife away as I backed away a little.
"Bye," I said quietly, going to the door.
I was surprised at how dark it was getting so fast. Carol and Lori were over by the guard rail, Carol was still crying.
Most of the men were together by one of the abandoned cars, they weren't talking quietly so I could hear what they were saying.
"It's best to keep the kids in the RV for the night, have them in one place. Safer in there," Shane said.
Daryl scoffed, "right, 'cause that worked so well the last time you had one of 'em in there."
"Well, what do you suggest?" Rick asked.
"You're plan is to have most people cooped up in that trailer, more of us there are in one place, sleepin' or not, we make more noise. Guy on watch isn't paying attention, Geek strolls on in, hearin' us rollin' 'round and snorin'. We're cornered. Best to spread some of us out, cover the car windows, I already did my own." he nodded in their opposite direction.
"Maybe so, but keeping the kids together-"
"-is a fuckin' dumb idea. 'Specially with the way that girl screams all night, better for her to be spaced out from the others."
Shane sighed, "I'm sure what we saw today scared the hell out of her, same as it did everyone else. She's probably fine now, I haven't seen that happen with her before. We just assure her it's safe."
"But it's not, you're not hearin' me. Obviously your fuckin' deaf if you're not hearin' her either."
"I don't like the idea very much, but she's talked to Daryl and his brother a lot more than any of us. If he says this isn't the first time it's happened . . ." Dale trailed off.
"So what?" Shane shakes his head, "we just leave her in one of those cars alone then."
"No, you dipshit. Someone will stay with her, hell, she can stay with me I don't give a shit. She's up screamin', wakin' everyone else up, no one else will be quiet. We got her somewhere else, spaced out with one person, windows covered. There just so happens to be a Geek, once she quiets down, after some time it'll forget it heard anything."
"I'll be taking the first watch," Dale said, "from the RV it's easy to keep an eye out. Rick, Lori and Carl could take the bed in the RV. There's a the couch in there too."
"I'll go hold up in some car," T-Dog said, I noticed then he was clutching his injured arm which was wrapped with clothing. "Carol could stay with me if she wants."
"I'll take Toby, get a car prepared like Daryl said." Shane claimed.
I found myself feeling anxious, from staying with Shane, from the whole conversation. I hated that I was just this huge complication, always just in the way, doing everything wrong.
That morning I hadn't really gotten in trouble for waking everyone up or yelling at Lori, but then Daryl directed everyone's minds to leaving, so maybe they didn't think on it long enough. If I stayed with Shane he could get mad at me like he did at the CDC, and I still didn't get what that was about. It was the first time I had woken Shane up, I couldn't believe I was able to avoid it for so long, but I did.
Daryl had seen me have the nightmares and apparently Merle had told him. There was that time in the truck when we stopped and left Jim, then the CDC. He never got mad or yelled, though he was irritated. Daryl probably just didn't care enough for the discipline, he even stated before I wasn't his responsibility. Daryl had yelled at me and was mad at me before, but never about waking him up.
Shane had been nice to me throughout the day, but he was always so unpredictable. He had basically told me in Atlanta he wouldn't punish me, but at the CDC it looked the opposite. I didn't get him. Sure Daryl didn't like me that much, but I don't think he was mean as much as he was dismissive. Daryl's behavior toward me was predictable. I knew what to expect.
Not so much with Shane.
I walked closer to them, looking at Daryl's back. "Can I stay with you?"
They all turned to look at me then, but I kept my eyes on Daryl. I guessed he would just mutter something about me doing whatever I want, or that he didn't care.
T-Dog sighed, "I swear to God this kid is everywhere."
Daryl looked back at Shane, I couldn't see his expression but Shane had narrowed his eyes at him, "yeah, sure."
"Now that that's sorted," Rick said, "let's light a fire, get some food in us."
The sun wasn't fully gone, but it was on it's way. They lit a fire in the centre of the road by the RV, some of them had gathered some wood for fire in the forest area, but didn't go far.
Everyone was eating something different, some had cooked a can of soup over the fire. T-Dog was sharing what looked like a bag of beef jerky with Glenn. We were all eating what they had found while scavenging the cars, crackers, granola bars, chips, cookies, anything that had been sealed and packaged. Glenn had even found a bag of marshmallows he was passing around.
Everything was begin shared, including the soup, making sure everyone got to eat as much as they needed.
The people who had some, roasted their marshmallows on sticks. I only had one but ate it how it was, too hungry to care. Daryl was eating out of this box of cereal he found. After a few minutes he seemed to get frustrated and pulled the bag out of the box. He ripped the bag open all the way and placed it in front of us.
"Eat," he grunted, only loud enough for me to hear. So I would reach into the bag and have handfuls of my own, he did the same. The cereal was bland, no flavour, and in small flakes.
Luckily, Shane had found a truck filled with jugs of water. So we wouldn't run low on water anytime soon.
T-Dog abruptly stood up and placed the bag of jerky they were sharing on Glenn's lap. He leaned forward and grabbed a box from the stash of food we had out. I didn't see what it was, a box of cookies or possibly crackers. Then he went into the RV.
At the beginning of our 'dinner', Carol wouldn't sit. She would stay by the guard rail, watching the forest. After a while, Lori convinced her to sit down, but she wouldn't eat. Every once in awhile we would hear her softly sob or sniffle.
T-Dog came back a few seconds later, sitting in between Glenn and Dale.
"Is he eating?" Dale asked.
T-Dog shook his head, "passed out on the couch. Left it for him on the table."
I briefly thought back to when I saw Guillermo, earlier, what he was about to do. I had tried not to think about it but kept wondering if I should tell someone. I saw him put the gun down but what stopped him from picking it back up when I left? Sure, it didn't have any bullets in it but they kept the bullets in boxes in the gun bag. What stopped him from loading the gun? Maybe he had changed his mind, I wasn't sure.
I pushed it from my thoughts, all it did was make my stomach churn. Even if I did tell someone, what would that do? Whether or not he uses a bullet, when someone wants to die can you really stop them?
If someone had really wanted to die, they'd find a way. Guillermo had a way, but he didn't take it. Unless he didn't know the bullets were in the bag, which I doubted, I was sure he saw them when he opened the bag in the first place.
"How's your arm?" Dale asked T-Dog.
"Hurts," he responded.
Other then that, no one really spoke. I guessed they didn't have anything to say.
I looked up across the fire and saw Shane. He must've felt my eyes on him because he looked back. He gave me a reassuring smile and nodded at me.
Then Dale stood up, saying he was going to take Rick's place on watch. Rick was on top of the RV to keep an eye out, he probably couldn't see a lot but no one wanted to risk it after seeing that herd.
Daryl stood up, picking up his crossbow from the ground. I looked up at him.
"You good?"
I nodded and stood up. It was dark by then, the sun fully gone and the stars out.
I showed him my index finger, indicating for him to give me a second. I went over to the RV, it was dark inside but my eyes adjusted. I could make out Guillermo asleep on the couch. I got my bag from under the table and left. Shutting the door softly behind me.
Daryl watched me walk over with a confused expression, then he seemed to notice my bag.
"Let's go," he said, turning away for me to follow.
I glanced over at the fire again as I began to follow. Shane looked at me again, giving a small wave. I waved back before turning away.
The car that Daryl picked was red, nothing special. Each one of the windows was covered by something, a garbage bag, towels and so on. They were tucked into the doors and windows. I had my bag with me and got into the backseat like he told me to. Once I was in he shut the door.
A second later the passenger door opened at the front and light shone in. I took the opportunity to take my blanket from my bag.
Daryl settled into the passenger seat, placing his crossbow on the drivers side. I heard a click and saw he had turned a flashlight on. Then he shut his door.
The light from the flashlight was the only one we had with the windows blocked. Without it, it would've been pitch black.
"Lay down," he told me.
I did as he said, lying down across the backseat, my legs behind the passenger seat.
Daryl pulled the lever on the side of the seat, reclining the chair back so he lay at a slant over my legs. He put a hand behind his head as he settled down. With his other hand he fiddled with the flashlight, shining it on the roof of the car and waving it around.
After a few moments of silence I spoke, "I'm sorry. I know I'm just in the way."
He stopped the flashlight, holding it in place as it pointed upward.
I was nervous in a whole different way with Daryl, waiting for him to decide he had finally had enough of me being around. He never liked me in the first place. That was fine, most people didn't.
"You're just a kid," he responded, his voice quiet and raspy, reminding me of Merle. "Not your fault."
Yeah it is. I thought, but didn't say it, I didn't say anything.
"You worried about that girl? Sophia?"
I didn't say anything to that either. I didn't really have a response nor did I have a real answer.
"We're going to locate that little girl," he said, "and she's going to be just fine. She's probably holed up in a farmhouse somewhere. People get lost and they survive, happens all the time."
"Are you drunk again?"
He snorted, a smile playing at his lips, "I wish."
I smiled a little.
"Hell, I was younger than her and I got lost. Nine days in the woods eatin' berries, wipin' my ass with poison oak." My smile grew as he continued, "My old man was off on a bender with some waitress. Merle was doing another stint in juvie. Didn't even know I was gone. I made my way back though. Went straight into the kitchen and made myself a sandwich. No worse for wear. Except my ass itched something awful."
A laugh escaped my throat and his head turned to me, "don't you be laughin' at my itchy ass."
I covered my mouth with my hand while trying to press my lips together in an attempt not to smile or laugh.
He gave me a half smile, another reminder of Merle. "Only difference is, Sophia's got people lookin' for her. I call that an advantage." He smile slowly went away, and his eyes were elsewhere, as if thinking of something. When he met my eyes again, he asked, "anything like that happen to you?"
I was hesitant, nervous about the question. But I came up with a response, still smiling, "Nah, I know what poison oak looks like."
He moved his arm from under his head and lightly whacked my side, "smartass. Said your dad would take you out in the woods a lot, in Atlanta I know you'd go out on your own. Ever get lost?"
I opened my mouth to tell him I didn't. Daddy always taught me about marking the trees. He would try telling me about stars and moss that grew on certain sides of trees, telling me about North, west, south, or east. But I got directions mixed up a lot.
I looked away from Daryl, thinking for a moment.
But the word lost had brought an old memory to the surface. I tried thinking about when it happened, possibly when I was nine or so. It was a memory I had purposely forgotten, and there it was again, there to confuse me even more than I already was.
"Not really . . . there was . . . I wasn't really lost but . . ." I struggled to voice it out, not entirely sure how to explain it. I doubt he wanted to hear about it anyway, he didn't really care.
"But what?"
"Nothin'," I shook my head, looking up and away from him, "it's different. I wasn't lost."
"What were you?"
Scared, confused. "Don't matter, just long stupid story."
"Not like I got anything better to listen too. Go on."
I glanced back at him, he was still looking at me closely, waiting.
"Was a long time ago," I told him. I tried to remember when it happened, how old I was. Maybe nine?
"M'I gonna have to force it outta you or what?"
I stared back at him, confused at why he cared about it. He doesn't care, he's just bored.
I thought about it more, wondering if it was a good idea to talk about it, Daddy had been so angry at the time. But Daddy isn't around to get mad.
"I don't remember all of it. My house was kinda far from the school, it was a reason I didn't go often, that and Daddy said it was a waste of time. I didn't like the teachers and the kids were always mean."
"Kids are assholes," he commented.
I smiled briefly, liking that he understood what I was talking about. "There's this long road that led to the house, winds up a really big hill through the woods. It was one of the times I went to school, really wish I hadn't gone that day . . ." I took in a breath, pausing briefly. "I was goin' up that long road and a cop car stopped beside me. He kept calling at me and I didn't say anything, I was a little scared. He kept asking if I was lost and if I needed help, he said I shouldn't be alone out there. Then he got out of the car telling me he wanted to help. I told him I was just goin' home, but he still didn't leave me alone. He wanted to help me find it, I kept tryin' to tell him I wasn't lost but it's like he didn't believe me."
I stopped talking, taking in a shaky breath, I hated thinking about this. There was still so much I didn't understand about it.
"Then what?"
"I was trying to tell him I knew where I was going, so he told me he'd take me himself. I swear he didn't believe me. I didn't know what else to do so I did what he said and went with him. I showed him the way. Daddy hadn't been home the day before, and wasn't when I left. And the car wasn't there so I knew he was still gone. I told him bye but he had to see Daddy for some reason and wouldn't leave so I told him he wasn't home. He went up to the house anyway and knocked, and he made me let him in. He didn't really walk around the house but he kept callin' out as if Daddy would just show up. He kept talking about how it wasn't good I was alone and he wouldn't leave. He made me go with him again. I knew if I wasn't home when Daddy got there I'd be in trouble. I can't remember but I think I started crying . . ."
Daryl's eyebrows were furrowed, his eyes narrowed as if analyzing my expression as I went on, "he take you to a station?"
"Yeah, I guess that's what it was. That's where all the cops work, right? There were a bunch of 'em there."
He nodded.
"He kept asking my name but I didn't tell him. He put me in this room and left. It had a couch and a kitchen area. I remember it smelled like coffee. Where they had lunch I guess, I was there for a really long time. It was dark out by the time this weird lady came. Wearing some weird suit. I don't remember what she asked, I just remember it was weird and I didn't want to talk to her."
)(
The lady sat a couple inches away from me at my right. She had some papers on her lap she kept looking at, and every once and awhile she would scribble something on them with her pen. She kept asking me questions, she told me her name but I had already forgotten it. I just wanted to go home. Maybe if I don't talk they'll let me leave.
"Sweetheart," she said after so many questions that I never answered. "You need to cooperate, we just want to know that you're safe."
I kept trying to think about why I was there. And they kept talking about my safety, but I still wouldn't talk to them.
Then the door to the room opened and there was a cop I didn't see before, "we got a hold of her school records."
"Were her parents called?" The Lady asked as she stood, walking over to the cop.
"That's the thing, they had the phone number for her mother, but when we called the number wasn't hers anymore, hasn't been for a couple years."
"And the father?"
"No number listed, may not even be in the picture."
"Can you call anyone?" She asked, starting to sound frustrated.
"We got the record from the public school board. The pictures out of date, only reason we were able to find it was from her listed address. Its after hours so we can't contact the school directly. Not until the morning. Nelson finished his report report, you need it?"
She sighed, "yes, I'll need it for my own. She isn't cooperating, once I'm done I'll have to take her."
"We have a unit parked outside the home, they'll let us know if someone shows up."
)(
"She went with some cop after a while and left me alone again. When she came back she said Daddy was there, but she wouldn't let me see him. I told her that I just wanted to go home."
"They let you go?" He asked.
"I don't think they were going to, she said they were investigating." I sounded the last word out. "Then someone else came in and talked to her again, and they let me go."
)(
I followed the Lady and the cop down the hall, nervous to see Daddy. I knew I was in trouble but still didn't know what about.
Soon we reached the lobby I saw Daddy, I was both excited and scared. But he was smiling as he talked to a cop, it was another I didn't recognise.
"I really 'preciate this. You've saved me from a lotta of grief, friend," Daddy said to him. The smile and calm expression he wore eased my nerves slightly.
"This happens, people make mistakes, even us," the cop shook his head, "even the chief understood once I had a word with him."
"I can't thank you 'nough, my lady's been worried sick."
"I hear that." The cop had turned his head over to me and The Lady, "there they are."
Daddy motioned me over and I hurried, when I got to him I wasn't sure what to do. But he put an arm around me, pulling me into his side.
"We've been worried sick, bunny. You can't just go off like that, hear me?"
I looked up at him, confused. Who was we? Bunny? Mama would call me that before she left.
"Officer Michaels, is it?" The Lady asked, "are you going to tell me what this is? I am filling out my report, doing my job-"
"-as am I, righting wrongs. This was a mistake, ma'am, that's all. Clyde here is an old family friend, once he explained the trouble I had a word with the chief, just wants to take his little girl home."
"That so?"
Daddy stepped up then, introducing himself. He reached out his hand to shake The Lady's and she returned the gesture.
"I'm sure you're eager to get her home, but as I understand, you were not there in the first place. Your daughter was alone, you can be charged with child endanger-"
"-Ma'am," the officer interrupted. "I can assure you, there are no charges to press."
"You are not serious," she gaped.
"I am indeed, it's not my choice. You can take it up with the chief."
"I'll do exactly that. Then I will continue on with my investigation."
Daddy chuckled lightly, shaking his head, "is that necessary?"
"Clyde explained to me that her mother would pick her up from school, she was delayed for emergency reasons." the officer explained, "When her mother didn't show, it seems the girl decided she would make her own way home."
I scrunched my face up in confusion and looked up at Daddy. I always walked home, Mama had been gone for so long. Daddy didn't look back at me, but he must have known I was looking, because he began to lightly pinch my shoulder. Taking it as a warning, I put my head down, hiding my expression.
Daddy nodded, smiling at The Lady, "it's not the first time she decided to go on her own. When it has happened my wife found her before she could go too far. She wasn't able to find her this time, she called me, hysterical. She was driving around for hours, no sign of her. I was in Atlanta, visiting a friend. With the traffic you understand it's a two-hour drive."
"If she was so concerned, why didn't she contact the police herself."
"As I said, miss, it isn't the first time she went off on her own."
"And where is your wife now?"
"At home, resting. I got home before she did, wanted to see if Toby made it back when the squad car rolled up. After the officer explained I called her to go home and I'd have her back."
The officer was smiling, as if satisfied, "see? It's just a misunderstanding."
"If it is, then my continuing of the investigation won't be a problem. I've already started the report."
"Investigation? That's ridiculous. " Daddy exclaimed, looking away from the Lady and to the officer, "surely-"
"-I'm sorry, Clyde, not our department. I did all I could with the chief. This is a whole different setup. We can let her go home with you, since there's no charges and no sign she's unsafe. And she's wanting too leave with you. But we can't stop an initial investigation if child services initiates one themselves."
Daddy sighed, rubbing his eyes, "I understand. Miss, if you feel the need for an investigation I won't fight you on it. Where do we go from here?"
"We'll be doing routinely visits to the home, making sure she's in a safe environment. Weekly questioning, with the child, you, and your wife. Some of the school staff."
"For how long?"
"That varies, could be three weeks or three months."
)(
"You gonna keep goin' or what?" Daryl interrupted my thoughts.
I blinked at him for a second, trying to remember the last thing I was saying to him. I had gotten so lost in the memory I didn't even realise I had stopped talking.
"S-Sorry . . . Daddy was talking to one of the cops and the weird lady. Before we leave the lady gave me a card and told me to call her if I needed too. Daddy was quiet most of the drive home."
"You're asked by anyone, I mean anyone while this shit is goin' on. You're mama's in Florida, visiting family. She hasn't been gone, hear me? They ask, that's what you say and that's all you say."
I shook my head, not thinking that was important to mention. "Daddy didn't really start yellin' 'til we got home, even then . . . it was just weird. He was yellin' and cursin'. But he wouldn't . . . I was in such big trouble but he didn't do anythin', I kept waitin' but he just made me go to my room. After that . . . I'm not sure how long, a couple weeks, he drove me to school everyday and picked me up. He never made me go before that. It wasn't the same lady we saw before, but sometimes one would come and take me out of class to ask me questions. I didn't answer, then she would come to the house sometimes. For a while, no matter what I did all Daddy did was yell and send me to my room."
I remembered how that had scared me more than the punishment, for weeks I would just wait for it. Wait for him to bring out the belt, a cigarette, anything. But all he did was yell.
"When that girl stopped coming, Daddy told me that I shouldn't talk to cops. Told me if I did I had to show respect, but don't tell them shit so they'd stay out of our business." I remembered that night better than the others, I clutched my left forearm subconsciously. Remembering the burn, the yelling, then the belt. It was the moment I had waited weeks for.
"Everything was normal again after, Daddy stopped caring if I went to school. When I got in trouble-"
"-he beat you."
I looked at my hands, fiddling with my fingers, "I got in trouble a lot."
Daryl scoffed, he wasn't looking at me. His breathing was loud, only blowing out of his nose in huffs, he seemed mad but I didn't know why.
"I know it's been a long time, it doesn't matter no more. But I still don't get it, why he was so mad but not made 'nough . . . I guess it was because I went with the cop but I didn't say anything, I didn't tell anyone our business."
"Men like your father don't need a reason to be mad," Daryl's voice was deep, firm, angry.
I looked over at him, confused, but with his head turned I couldn't see his expression.
"What do you mean?"
"I mean your dad's an asshole, you're better off he's dead."
My response was automatic, it left my mouth before the thought left my head, "he's not dead-"
"-you don't know that."
"You don't know either, you can't." My voice had gotten a little louder then. At first we had been talking quietly, but I was beginning to just feel angry. Daryl was acting like knew, Shane would do the same thing. Maybe I was doing it too, but the reality was we didn't know, we couldn't know. Not unless Daddy found us.
Or we find his corpse.
Daryl turned to me again, turning his body slightly in my direction while propping himself on his elbow. The he shined the flashlight in my face. My hand went up to cover my eyes as my fac scrunched up in protest to the brightness.
"You're not-don't tell me you're still waitin' on that asshole."
I reached forward and pushed the flashlight down so it pointed to the floor of the car. I clenched my teeth and my fists in annoyance, before I could say anything he went on. He's not dead.
"And if he did finally show up? Then what? What you think is gonna happen then? You think he's just gonna play buddies with Shane and Rick? Fuckin' doubt it."
I felt suddenly very defensive and aggravated. I couldn't think of something to say but it felt like he was right. I knew Daddy wouldn't like Shane or Rick, maybe not anyone in the group. But that didn't really mean anything did it? Daryl didn't know anything.
"You don't know that, and you don't know him either."
He scoffed again, turning away and laying on his back. "Could've fooled me."
I heard the click of the flashlight, and the car went dark. Neither one of us said anything else.
I kept thinking it all over in my head before sleep came. I wondered if Daddy was looking for me, if he had ever found that note Shane left. Maybe he had made it to our camp, only moments after we left.
Not dead, just gone.
I gasped awake and shot up. I was panting for air, panicked for a reason I couldn't remember. I frantically looked around or tried to. It was pitch black and I couldn't see anything. Instead of calming down I became for panicked, my heart hammering inside my chest. I rubbed my eyes, blinking repeatedly but I still saw nothing.
I couldn't remember where I was, or even falling asleep. I wanted call out, but I was too afraid to.
Trying to move and feel around my leg kicked something and I heard a groan. I froze and a whimper escaped my throat, tears burned my eyes as I heard movement from wherever I was. Everything was just black, I tried frantically to remember, trying to come up with a reason why I couldn't see. Was I still asleep? Still stuck in some nightmare?
I heard a click and suddenly there was a bright light being shone in my face. My eyes throbbed at the intrusion and I covered them. I moved my hand out of the way, squinting my eyes and trying to adjust.
Daryl moved the flashlight to the side, he looked me over, "bad dream again?"
With the light I could now make out my surroundings, I glanced around the car, Daryl was lying in the passenger seat which had reclined over my legs. He was propped up on his elbow with an unreadable expression.
Now that I was seeing the car, I remembered everything. Where were were, how we got there, me and Daryl talking before we passed out.
I nodded, trying hard to calm my breathing, "I-I couldn't . . . I couldn't see."
He was quiet for a moment, then he offered the flashlight to me, "want this?"
I hesitated. I hated that I was scared, I didn't want him to know but he already did. There was nothing I could do about it. I reached for the flashlight, nodding my head.
He gave it to me and settled back down, putting both his hands behind his head, "try to sleep more," he grumbled out.
I laid back down, squirming a little to get comfortable as I clutched the flashlight with both hands. As soon as I was down my eyes got heavy and shut without protest.
I sat up and rubbed my eyes, my leg was being shook. Daryl had the back door open, leaning in and shaking my leg to wake me up.
"Come on, we're headin' out soon. Sleep in the RV if you need to. Can't leave you in here."
I nodded and yawned, and he left. It was bright out but I was still exhausted.
I noticed the flashlight on the floor of the car and picked it up, I realised it was still on so I clicked it off.
I got out of the car, picking up my bag and stuffing my blanket into it. For the time being, I did the same thing with the flashlight, knowing Daryl wouldn't need it back just yet.
I got out of the car and went toward where the RV was. Everyone was walking around, eating or packing. The pile of food that had been collected was by one of the cars, ready to be packed away.
"Are you hungry?"
I turned to see Shane who must of noticed me glancing over at the food. I shook my head.
He gave a brief smile, "did you . . . how did you sleep?"
I just shrugged, I was still tired so I really didn't feel like talking.
"Alright, gather around," Rick called out.
Shane and the others did what he said, forming a circle around him. I stepped closer to watch and listen, but stayed behind the others.
Rick unrolled the arsenal Carl had found the previous day, "everybody takes a weapon."
I knew that didn't include me so I turned away, I spotted Carl by the RV at the same time he saw me. He waved me over, thinking I didn't have anything better to do I walked to to him. Dropping my bag on the ground.
"The idea is to take the creek up about fives miles," Daryl instructed, "turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."
Rick nodded, "stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other."
"You look tired," Carl said as I leaned against the RV. I nodded in response.
"Dale keep on those repairs," Rick said as he went over to Dale. Dale was standing in the door of the RV, only a few feet away from us.
"We've got to get this RV ready to move." Rick continued.
Dale nodded, "we won't stay here a minute longer then we have to, good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."
"Keep an eye on Carl while we're gone?"
Carl looked up at him with a determined expression. "I'm going with you."
Here we go
Rick shook his head.
"You need people, right? To cover as much ground as possible. Me and Toby," he said, motioning to me, "we can help."
And he's dragging me into it.
Rick looked over at Lori who was walking over.
"Your call," she told him, "I can't always be the bad guy."
"Well he has all of you to look after him, I'd say he's in good hands." Dale said.
Rick was hesitant, staring at Carl as he thought it over.
"Sophia's my friend, we can help." Carl pleaded.
Daryl was walking by, he turned and started walking backwards to face us, "We're out there to find a little girl, not lose another one. Can't spend our time babysitting."
"He's right," Shane said, "we need to focus on the task. We don't know what's out there."
Rick glanced at Lori, then nodded before looking back at Carl, "it's best if you two stay here. Help Dale if he needs it."
"But-"
"-Sorry, son." Rick knelt down to Carl's height. "Listen, they're right. You need supervision, you can't shoot yet. We'd be spending more time looking out for you and Toby than actually searching. Dale could really use the help here, fix up the RV, find more supplies. That way once we we come back, with Sophia, we can get off this road straight away."
Carl looked down, obviously disappointed and maybe a bit mad.
"Hey," Rick reached up, taking his hat off and putting it on Carl's head. The he put his finger under Carl's chin, forcing him to look up. "You'll still be helping us and Sophia by staying here. T-Dog's hurt bad, Dale could use the extra pair of hands. Okay?"
"Okay . . ." he mumbled.
He stood up, patting the hat on Carl's head. "Good, stay safe. Listen to Dale." His eyes went to me and he gently squeezed my shoulder as he walked by, "same applies to you."
I gave a short nod and he turned away. Lori knelt down to Carl, hugging him, then kissing him on the cheek.
As they walked away, Carl adjusted the hat on his head so it wasn't blocking his vision. He was really sad about not being able to go, but what could we do?
I forced a smile, looking at his hat, "you're the new sheriff."
His eyes flickered to me, then away again toward the tree-line. The group was out of our sight.
What're you doing, I scolded myself, don't try and be funny. You don't have a sense of humor.
"We should be out there too," he said.
T-Dog was sitting in the door of the RV. He had a bandage and some black tape wrapped around his right arm. He had puked a couple times since the others had left, he looked really sick.
Dale asked me and Carl to pack away some of the supplies found, we have to fill the bags. We had been really slow about it, Carl kept zoning out and then looking toward the forest.
Dale was scavenging for cars, looking for some medicine for T-Dog.
"Do you think they'll be back soon?" Carl asked me for the fourth time.
They had been gone for hours, I wasn't sure how many but I could tell it had been a very long time. We filled the last duffle bag we had. But there was still a little bit more to pack.
We didn't know if there was another bag so we decided to wait until Dale got back.
The task Dale gave us did very little to distract Carl. I knew he was sad and disappointed he didn't go, he spent most of his time with Sophia, so I guessed it made sense for him to want to go look too.
After thinking about it, I tapped Carl's shoulder.
He looked at me with a questioning expression.
"Comics?" I asked, figuring I could skip a few words if I got the idea across.
He glanced back at the forest, quiet for a few moments before nodding, "yeah, okay."
Third POV
A sound of one single gunshot carried through the forest, drowning out all sounds of any wildlife. When the sound faded, all was quiet.
"Was that them?" Glenn questioned, turning to the two woman and man that accompanied him.
Daryl had looked off in the distance, where he guessed the sound had originated. It was also the same direct Shane and Rick had headed only ten minutes before.
The two former officers had decided to split off from the rest. And once they tired, or found Sophia, they would meet back at the highway.
"Coulda took down a Walker."
Lori shook her head, "Rick wouldn't risk that, not for only one. Neither would Shane, they would do it quietly."
"What if something happened?" Glenn became anxious.
Carol hugged herself, rubbing her arms as she looked around. Thinking and hoping, that when she turned her head, her daughter would be there.
Daryl nodded after thinking about it, then began walking in the direction the two men had veered off in, "let's go."
Then he sped up his pace, holding his crossbow with both hands, ready to use if needed.
Glenn jogged beside him, Carol and Lori following.
It wasn't long before the heard voices, Shane was the first to come into their line of sight. He had his shotgun held up, aiming.
In front of him was a large man. The man has some grey scruff on his face, but obviously had begun balding a long time ago. He was on his knees in front of Shane, holding his hands up in surrender.
"I-I didn't . . . I didn't see her, I didn't I swear! I didn't mean to-I wouldn't . . . Please, don't." The man's voice cracked, shaking his head as he looked down.
Glenn had been the first to see Rick. He was on the ground also, further away, their back to them. In Glenn's position he could see small feet sticking out from in front of Rick. His jaw dropped immediately realizing who was there.
Carol's thoughts hadn't been far behind from Glenn's, but being in a different line of sight, she hadn't seen what he had. But something in her gut told her, she already knew before she saw.
She ran forward, collapsing beside Rick. Sophia was lying on her stomach in the dirt, blood had soaked her neck, shoulder, and back. Carol began crying out, repeating Sophia's name as she stroked her daughter's head, hoping for a response.
"She-She's breathing, she's alive." Rick told her.
Lori was frozen, her hand over her mouth. After collecting herself she went to Carol, hoping to help in some way.
At that moment Rick had taken his hands off of Sophia's back, he had held them there for pressure. Rick quickly tore his shirt off.
"Lori, help me, lift her."
It took a moment for his wife to register his words, once she did, she moves to the opposite side of the small girls body. Being as careful as possible, she lifted Sophia an inch or so off the ground. Rick laid tied his shirt diagonally across Sophia's back and shoulder.
Something had caught Daryl's eye, looking away from them, almost ten feet away, was the body of a deer. Stepping closer, Daryl was able to see the deer was shot straight through the heart.
Daryl was able to put together what happened quickly, and as soon as he did, he felt sick to his stomach.
"I'm sorry-I'm so sorry, it was an accident, please. I swear." The man continued to weep, Daryl briefly wondered if he was crying and shaking from the guilt, or the fear of Shane shooting him. He quickly concluded it to be both.
Carol began talking, or trying to. Daryl could hear her trying hard to ask what happened, among other things. But her sobs and whimpers had made it almost impossible to decipher her words.
"What do we do?! What the hell do we do?" Glenn called out, his hands on his head.
Rick thought hard, they didn't have anything back at the highway. Maybe a few small bandages but nothing for that type of wound. He thought of the possibility that Dale and T-Dog may have found something in their absence, but doubted it.
All Lori could think was how Carol must've felt, how she would have felt in her position. Then she briefly recalled how they had almost allowed Carl to go, she had never been more grateful for her own sons absence.
Rick met her eyes briefly and they knew they were thinking the same thing.
"I-I know what to do, I know someone that can help!" The man on his knees exclaimed.
Shane stepped closer to him, his face exposing all rage from within him as he held the man at gunpoint. "Who?!"
"I-At the farm I live on, the guy that owns the place had a son shot in the foot. He got the bullet out, patched it up good. He works on animals around the farm. He ain't a doctor but i think he'll know what to do. 'Bout a mile away."
Rick stared down at the small limp body, not thinking of any other options, he nodded, "A mile, I can do that." Rick glanced over at Shane, "We'll do it, we can make it."
Rick began to pick the child up off the ground. He held her close adding pressure with his hand to her wound.
"I'm going to this farm, Shane you come with me, we can switch off if I get winded. The rest of you get back to the RV, tell the others what happened."
"No, I'm not leaving my daughter!" Carol cried out.
Rick didn't protest, full understanding. He turned to the man who Shane was now forcing on his feet, "Is it easy to find?"
"You can see it from the road, if ya'll are parked just up yonder you gotta be on sixty-four, you'll snake around the road and it'll be on your left. It's a little further away from the road but you'll find it easy, mailbox says Greene."
"Alright, let's go!"
Glenn nodded, he with Daryl and Lori, began their way back to the highway. They had spent almost all day searching. It would take a long time before they returned to the highway.
Toby's POV
The comics had been a better distraction than I anticipated. After I asked he went over to one of the cars. I sat at the RV, leaning against the tire until he came back with a small pile.
For while, he went on on about some of the stories and characters, trying to pick one for me to read. Once he he finally decided on one for me, he picked one for himself and sat right beside me. He was quiet as he read.
I had flipped through the the comic maybe three times. Carl was too lost in his own to notice. I was enjoying it at the beginning. Seeing the pictures tell the story. But I was beginning to feel frustrated, I had so many questions and so many things I didn't understand.
"Why a bat?" I asked out loud.
"Huh?"
"Why does he dress up like a bat? There's so many other things. Like . . . wolves, those are cool."
"There's already a Wolfman," Carl said, still looking down at the comic he was reading.
"Oh . . ."
"He dresses like a bat because he's afraid of them." He explained, "he uses his fear against his enemies to make him stronger."
I furrowed my eyebrows, confused. I looked back to the pictures, flipping through the book. I liked looking at the comic books, I could kind of get what was going on with the pictures. But I would still get stuck, not entirely sure why something was happening when it happened.
Like right at that moment.
I pointed to a picture, "why is he laughing?"
Did the Bat-Guy say something funny? In every picture that the guy was in, he was always laughing or had a creepy smile.
Carl looked over, "He's making fun of Batman."
I hated asking questions, but as each moment passed by I grew more and more aggravated. I was always annoyed when he asked me too many questions, so why would I annoy him the same way?
I bit my lip, staring down at all the pictures, as if I stared long enough I could decipher exactly what was happening. I pointed to one of the pictures again of a girl who had been standing in the background. "But who's that?"
Carl sighed, reaching over he began to flip the pages, "you have to start from the beginning."
I did, I thought to myself.
Carl stopped at a page, "wait." He leaned in, smiling again. He laughed a little then sat up straight again, his hand still on the page.
I looked down at the page in confusion, then back at him. Now why is he laughing?
"Sorry, I haven't read this one in a while. I forgot about that part, it's funny."
He was still smiling, as if waiting for me to laugh too. I looked down again, my eyes looking closely at each picture. When I still didn't get it I looked back at him.
Then he swallowed awkwardly, smile faltering when he realised I wasn't going to laugh. "Sorry. Mom told me you wouldn't like it."
He closed the comic book in front of me all the way before leaning back against the tire of the RV. He brought the book he was looking through closer to his face. "Mom said girls don't like comic books," he said, not looking at me.
Now look what you did, you made him sad.
Carl's eyes briefly flickered upward, I thought he would look at me but he was looking back at the forest. The distraction I was giving him was gone, he was worried again. Disappointed he couldn't go help, sad, and maybe even mad. Maybe just mad at me.
This is why I don't have friends.
It was quiet, and it felt like all of it was over. But I didn't want it to be, I kind of liked talking or at least listening to Carl talk. Carl wasn't annoying and pressing me about anything, at least not anymore. Instead I was just pressing him about stuff, and made him sad in the process.
I opened my mouth, but nothing came out. My eyes and throat burned with humility. I felt stupid, I felt guilty. He was happy and I ruined it. I had never told anyone, I wasn't even sure if daddy knew.
I opened and closed my mouth a few more times before finally spitting it out, "Can you tell me what it says?"
"Huh?" He asked, looking up from his comic.
"I don't know what it says, that's why I didn't laugh. I like the pictures though." I said, trying to make him feel better, "I didn't mean to make you sad."
He glanced from me to his pile of comic books a couple times, when his eyes met mine again his eyebrows furrowed, "you can't read?"
I looked away, down at the cover of the comic book and shook my head.
He was quiet for a few moments, as if processing the new information. "I've seen you read. At our old camp you always had a book. You were sitting with Dale and reading."
I used my finger and traced one of the faces on the cover of the comic book absentmindedly. "It's a trick," I mumbled.
"A trick?"
I sighed, "somethin' I figured out at school." When I actually went, I added silently. "If it looked liked I was readin' teachers left me alone. If I had a book no one bugged me, and I didn't have to talk. I did it at home too, if I had a book I wouldn't get in trouble."
He got quiet again. I could feel his eyes on me.
Dumbass, you shouldn't have said anything.
My stomach churned in embarrassment. I didn't look at Carl, I felt like I wanted to curl into a ball and hide forever.
"Is that why you got so mad at mom?"
I looked at him then, "what?"
"At the quarry Mom and Carol were makin. Sophia and I do homework. She made you too. You got mad and swore."
"Yeah," I said, remembering when I had thrown the paper away and yelled at her.
"M-Maybe I could teach you."
I narrowed my eyes, at first I didn't believe him. I thought maybe he was joking, but he didn't say anything. "Why?"
"It could be fun."
I looked back at the comic book in front of me. I had been trying to read for so long. At one point I even went to school as much as possible to try and learn, but by then everyone must've already knew how. Because I didn't get it, then eventually gave up and didn't see the point in going. So far, reading had been anything but fun for me.
Carl seemed to sense my reluctance, because he reached forward and took the comic that was lying in front of me.
"I . . ." Carl looked nervous, "Do you want me to read it to you?"
Again, I almost didn't believe him. I even waited for him to change my mind, he had this expectant look on his face. As if really anticipating my answer.
I wondered why it seemed like he wanted to so bad.
"Okay."
Carl stopped reading when we heard footsteps. Dale was coming back from searching cars, my eyes widened slightly at the guitar in his hand. He had a bag slung over his opposite shoulder. He walked passed us to T-Dog who was still sitting on the door of the RV.
"Found some more batteries, a bottle of very trendy pink water, an excellent new machete, and I thought Glenn might like this guitar. Maybe he plays." Dale stood the guitar up against the RV, then he dug through his pocket, pulling something out and handing it to T-Dog, "Some ibuprofen. No antibiotics."
T-Dog took the pill bottle and Dale sat down on the cement. He dug through his pack and pulled the bottle of pink water out, also giving it to T-Dog. T-Dog opened the water, using it to wash down the pills he swallowed.
"We've been ransacking these cars the whole time. I can't believe that we have not found some ampicillin, or-or something in the-in the whole place." Dale glanced at the bags we packed then over at us, "thank you for packing that up, you two."
"There's still some left, but the bags full, we didn't know where you wanted it," Carl said.
Dale nodded, "I'll throw the rest in the RV later."
Carl was just about to start reading again, I leaned forward looking at the pictures. But before he could start, out attention was averted to the forest on the other side of the road.
At first I thought I was hearing things, or it was a Walker. But the number of footsteps we could hear increased, and they sounded like they were coming fast. Dale stood up, walking toward the guardrail.
Carl stood too and I followed his lead. Glenn was the first to appear out of the forest, then Daryl. They were running and looked like they had been at it for a while. As they both hopped over the guardrail Lori appeared out of the trees.
Dale sensed the urgency, "w-what's going on? Did you find her? Where're the others?"
Glenn put his hands on his knees, struggling to breathe. He was sweating and his face was flush.
"S-Sophia . . . we-we found her-"
"-She got shot," Daryl said, his face hard and angry.
"What?" Carl ran over to Lori as she came closer. He started talking but Lori shushed him and pulled him close for a hug.
"Shot?!" Dale exclaimed, "what do you mean shot?!"
Glenn stood up straighter, "We-We split up then we heard the gunshot. We found this guy kneeling over Sophia. He-He was panicking and crying, said he didn't mean it."
"The fat bastard was shootin' after a deer, didn't see her."
"Where's Carol?" T-Dog asked.
"Her, Rick and Shane went with that guy, he said he had someone that could help."
Daryl walked closer to Dale, explaining how to get where we were supposed to go. I looked over at Carl, but he was turned away from me as Lori comforted him.
Daryl glanced at me, "anythin' happen here?"
Daryl looked back at Dale who shook his head, "no, it's been quiet. We'll get what we have in the RV and going."
He nodded at Dale, then started in the direction of his motorcycle.
I stood there, looking out into the forest. Everything had been chaotic since we first left the Atlanta camp, even before then. Just one chaotic moment after another. I quickly concluded that I shouldn't have been defining each mess as a single moment, but instead one long-lasting chaotic mess. Why should we start expecting anything less?
Hey readers! It hasn't been a full month and I'm already updating! yes!
PLEASE READ THIS!
Rasha007 helped so much with the bonding scene between Toby and Daryl in the car. I didn't plan for that flashback, but the idea came to me as I was writing and we both loved it. I hope you do too. the third POV scene with Sophia belongs to her, without her putting that scene together (and writing it herself) this chapter wouldn't be done.
***I know it looks like Sophia is taking Carl's arc/story-line but i want to assure you we have so many twists planned so WHATEVER YOU THINK IS GOING ON, just stop thinking :)***
Toby not being able to read I something ive been foreshadowing for a while, I've been dropping hints here and there in each chapter, theyre very subtle so you may not have noticed. I was really looking forward to that scene with her and Carl, I've been wanting to reveal that about her for so long, but I wanted to do it in a meaningful way. I hope I achieved that.
I was really nervous about the scene with Toby and Guillermo, but I had it planned for a while. So let me know what you thought of it.
Thank you so much for reviewing, following, and just plain reading! Your feedback makes all the difference in the world.
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