A/N: I received a review asking about the timeline, I know this can be a bit hard to follow because of the breaks between updates, so I thought i'd let everyone know. As of this chapter Daryl and Sophia have been separated from Carol for almost three weeks.
Chapter 28
She had ran, as fast as she could. Faster then she knew she could. And when she had fallen down and she had gotten herself back up. She had gotten herself into Daryl's truck and she drove herself away from the flames that were spreading through the farm.
Dale had died only days before and now she had lost Andrea too. She had seen Andrea go down and never get back up. And there was no way she could get past the swarm of walkers to. Whether it would have been to kill her after she turned or put her out of her misery after being attacked, she couldn't do either for Andrea. She just couldn't get to her and she needed to run before she was taken down to.
She knew that out of all the people fleeing the farm, none of them were looking for her. No one was calling her name and no one was making sure she made it out alive. It was the first time that she truly realized that she was alone. Daryl and Sophia were gone and she doubted that they were coming back. But that was as far as her mind allowed her to think about it.
As she dodged and weaved the truck around the army of animated corpses, she couldn't help but cry.
Andrea had been a comfort to her. She had walked through the woods with her, searching for any signs of Daryl and Sophia. She had helped her look for them even when it was clear that most people were giving up on the search. She felt in many ways that her friendship with Andrea was all she had left to hold onto and now that was gone too.
She drove to the old campsite as the sun started to rise. As she arrived she noticed the few scattered cars of the people who had survived the fall of Herschel's farm. Once she parked, she stayed sitting in the truck and no one bothered to come over. No one's face fell with relief at the sight of her.
There was near nothing left of the old campsite. Andrea's old car, that would be rotting here for the rest of it's days, was one of the only reals signs that people had once inhabited the area. She and Andrea had painted a message onto the window for Daryl and Sophia, telling them that they would return every day. Telling them to wait here.
But they had never been here when she and Andrea returned each day, and they weren't here now.
She had weeks ago gathered up Daryl and Sophia's things from the old campsite and they were stuffed into the cab of the truck along with most of her belongings. She had been living out of the truck in many ways. She'd slept with Andrea in the RV, but she could never bring herself to make it home. The truck was Daryl's and she felt as though she could hang on to him in some way if she kept it for herself.
No one knew it, but some nights she would sneak into the truck and go through their things. She would smell them, knowing that soon those scents would disappear from the fabric and those smells, like everything else, would be nothing but a memory.
She looked up when she caught glimpse of Ed walking towards the truck but he was quickly being followed by T-dog. Ed's steps faltered when T-dog stepped around him and she was relieved. She simply didn't have any energy left to deal him.
T-dog pulled the door open, offering her nothing as a greeting, other then simply meeting her eyes before he spoke.
"You mind if I ride with you?"
She shook her head and moved a few things out of his way so that he had as much room as she could offer him.
They didn't talk after he climbed into the truck and placed the shotgun between his knees. They just waited for Rick to drive. Then they would follow him, on what was starting to feel like a death march, where they would be picked off one by one, until any trace of their existence was gone.
"We're close. Real damn close" he pressed firmly.
Sophia chewed on her lower lip and looked at the surrounding area before landing her eyes back on his.
He'd taken her outside to make sure they were alone when they spoke. He was on his knees in the dirt, virtually pleading with the girl, because he knew he couldn't go through with a single thing if she didn't agree with it.
She let out a heavy breath as a crease formed in her brow. "How close?"
"Few hundred miles. Bit less. Ain't nothin compared to what we already done."
Sophia leaned in slightly and lowered her voice, wanting to keep Daphne from waking up and hearing them. "You said it ain't safe. We need to stay hidden. That's what you said."
Sophia hadn't been able to hide her fear and he known it would be damn near impossible for her. That was why he had woken her before Daphne, so that the kid wouldn't have to do this with an audience.
He didn't care if Sophia showed fear, he stood by the point that he would have thought the kid was crazy if she wasn't scared. But to much had happened between Daphne and Sophia, and now Sophia was uncomfortable revealing any emotions in front of her.
He nodded and kept himself from getting frustrated with her. He made sure she could see understanding in his expression, instead of the urgency he felt. "If you wanna stay in the woods, we will. It will take us another week of walkin to get there though."
Sophia seem to relax at the knowledge that he wasn't going to force her into anything. In truth he wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do. So far they had been safe. They had been lucky. But they were so close now and he was simply itching to get there.
"And if we had a car?" She asked lowering her voice to nothing more then a faint whisper.
"Few hours. And then we'd be home. Then we could start"
Daphne had heard the conversation he and Sophia had about her yesterday. She had herd him talk about ditching her in Georgia and how he would do it with ease. And she had heard the disgust in his tone when Sophia accused him of preparing to have some kind of affair with the women. And since then, Daphne had been an extra special kind of pissed off.
He had been to loud and maybe sounded a little more repulsed then he should have, especially since the women was only on the other side of the door.
Either way there was a snarl on her face when she looked at Sophia, and there was a smugness on Sophia's when she looked at Daphne. Both of which he could comprehend.
But when Daphne looked at him there was something there he couldn't decipher, an expression he couldn't read.
He hadn't brought it up again with Sophia, but he was still annoyed that she'd thought he was capable of doing something like that. He knew he couldn't ever do that to Carol and he sure as shit wouldn't be doing anything like that with the likes of Daphne.
There was nothing about the women that he wanted to get close to. They were civil with each other, but that was it. He couldn't exactly keep clear of the women. There was no where to go.
One thing he did know, was that if they weren't in this situation then he wouldn't be caught anywhere near the Daphne.
He had been accused of being hard headed in the past, he had been accused of being an asshole and he could agree with those descriptions.
But he also knew that he could listen when he needed to, he could try to see things from where someone else was standing. And he could muster up a bit of compassion if some poor bastard was going through a hard time.
Daphne couldn't do any of that shit.
Soph's was only a kid, a scared girl who had been separated from her mother and thrown into a pretty shitty situation. He didn't know how many times he needed to explain that to the women. She just didn't get it and she didn't seem to have a single maternal bone in her body. Quietly he had hopped she was baron, cause lord help any children she had.
"Your sure about this?" Daphne asked raising her brow.
"I'm sure. You just wait here and I'll be back as quick as I can. If you feel like you gotta get outta here, head north along the roads. I'll find you there" he promised as he loaded his gun and snapped it closed.
"And Sophia is she going to let you just leave without-"
"Soph knows what I'm doin'." he said quickly, stopping Daphne before she could continue. "She'll mind what ya tell her. She won't be any trouble for ya, just don't be any trouble for her" he added slipping the gun into the waist of his pants and picking up his crossbow.
The house they were staying at was hidden away, but close enough to town that he was sure he could find some wheels quickly. But no matter how easy he thought the search would be, he didn't want to risk taking Sophia with him.
He didn't say another word to Daphne. There was nothing left to say. He was going and she was staying. He was gonna find a car and she was going watch the kid.
This was stupid and it was reckless, but he just didn't care right now.
He didn't know what they would find when he got back to the campsite, but there was a shred of hope in him, that maybe Carol would be there. That he would finally be back with her again and he would be able to fucking breathe again. He hoped this hysteria that he kept contained inside of him would have a chance to die off and leave his body, before it burnt him alive.
He went into dining room where Sophia was sitting alone reading a book that she had found. As he made his way in she looked up and forced a smile at him and gave her one right back. She was going to brave this out and he was proud of her for not panicking. There was a chance that he wouldn't come back and Sophia knew it. And for Sophia, a fate worse then hell was being stuck with Daphne forever.
He sat on the edge of the seat next to her and leaned his elbow onto the table, Sophia quickly mirrored him.
"Is it time?"
He nodded in response, trying to ignore the way her fingers were tearing away at the knee of her pants, pants he was going to have to find a way to replace soon because right now, both her knees were completely exposed.
"You remember what I told you?"
Sophia looked around to make sure they were alone, before she looked back at him and nodded.
"Run, leave tracks and wait." She recited his instructions with a firm tone, holding his eyes as she spoke.
He had made it as simple as possible for her. If something happened while he was gone. He wanted her to run and hide. He didn't want her to think twice about leaving Daphne, because he knew that if they got themselves caught in a tight spot while he was gone, Daphne would leave that kid without hesitation.