AN: Here we are, another chapter here.
I hope you enjoy! Don't forget to let me know what you think!
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Daryl knew, immediately, that the kids hadn't made it back to the highway. He knew that because he didn't see them. He knew that because he saw the desperation in Carol's face as she got up from where Andrea had been sitting with her on the guardrail.
He knew because he felt her trembling when she sunk into his arms and begged him to tell her where her baby was…where was Sophia?
"They ain't here yet," Daryl offered. "But they gonna be." He hugged her, transferring as much of his strength to her as he could, and he practically placed her in Andrea's arms as his sister-in-law walked up behind her. "I gotta go get 'em. I gotta go find 'em. They just got spooked. Run off. That's all. Prob'ly all worked up. Got turned around. But I'ma go get 'em, OK? OK? I'ma go get 'em, Carol. You just gotta—stay here with Andrea."
Carol calmed a little and Daryl brushed his fingers over her face, wiping away her tears. He held her eyes, leaning his face close to her.
"You gotta stay calm for me," he said. "I gotta know you OK, OK? So I can focus. So I can stay focused. OK? You gotta stay calm."
"OK," Carol said. She nodded and sucked back her emotions. He hated asking her to swallow them down, but it was true. If he didn't know she'd be OK, he couldn't very well focus on anything—and he had a lot to think about just now. "OK. I'm fine. I'm going to be OK. Just—Daryl—please…"
"I'ma get her," Daryl said, interrupting her. "Hey—she's a Dixon, OK? Dixons do OK, even when they hidin' in the woods." Carol smiled a little at that—just a little, but it was enough. Daryl's stomach turned as he looked at Andrea. "Any of that yours?" He asked. She was practically soaked with blood and heavily splattered. She shook her head and Daryl felt a wave of relief. "Take her in the RV. Both of you get in there an' don't'cha come out. Get T if you can find him. See if you can help him. He's got a bad cut."
He got a nod from each of them. He quickly crossed over the guardrail, went to get his crossbow, threw it over his back, and went back over the rail.
"You need help?" Shane asked.
"Need all the help I can get right now," Daryl said. He looked back at their gathered together group. "Rest of you stay put. Hole up somewhere. We don't need no damn body else lost."
He cast a last glance at Carol. He nodded his head, but that was enough to tell her what he needed her to know. She nodded back at him, and then she turned with Andrea to do what he'd asked of her.
"Daryl—I did what I had to do," Rick said about the time they reached the tree line.
"And now you need to shut the fuck up," Daryl offered. "Unless you just about ready to part fuckin' company with your head."
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Daryl hadn't dared to yell out like he wanted to. He hadn't dared to scream out Sophia's name so that she could hear him and come running. He'd called it out—once or twice as he followed what he thought might be a trail left behind by two little sets of feet—but he didn't dare to scream it with the desperation that he was beginning to feel in his soul. He didn't want to attract Walkers. If the kids were safe, they may not remain so if Walkers were drawn anywhere near them.
"I want my fuckin' kid…" Daryl grumbled to himself, his eyes glued to the ground. The light was failing, especially in the thicker patches of the woods.
They'd been practically walking in circles, and they'd been doing it for what felt like hours. With each passing moment, desperation grew in Daryl's chest and nearly suffocated him.
"How do you think I feel?" Rick asked.
"I hope you feel like a fuckin' moron," Daryl said. "It's your damn fault we're in this fuckin' mess."
"I was the one that went after them," Rick said.
"At this fuckin' rate, they'da been better off to just stand and wait for some damn body else to get to 'em," Daryl growled.
"You're the one who said you could track," Rick said.
"Yeah, when there ain't been a fuckin' army of roamin' corpses wanderin' through these damn woods—and the kids got lost in here some damn where. I wouldn'ta had to track shit if you just didn't leave 'em alone!"
"We're not getting anywhere by fighting," Shane offered.
"We're not getting anywhere anyway," Rick said. "We're going in circles."
Daryl turned around and, before Rick knew what was coming, landed a hard punch against the side of Rick's face that staggered the man to the side and backward.
"You almost broke my jaw!" Rick barked, holding his face.
"You left my fuckin' daughter in the woods," Daryl growled. "Lucky I didn't break your fuckin' skull!"
Rick ran like he might take a swing at Daryl, and Daryl turned to square off with him. He would, honestly, appreciate the relief that would come from a good fight. Shane got between them, though, and shoved them hard apart.
"This doesn't do us any damn good!" He said. "Carl is out here. Sophia's out here. The sun's going down on us. If we don't find them soon, we won't find them today."
Daryl knew it was true. The sinking feeling in his stomach accompanied his belief that they weren't going to find the children—at least not tonight.
"Sophia'll know to take cover for the night," Daryl said. "I taught her enough to know that."
"Take cover where," Rick said.
"Wherever she can find it," Daryl said. "And if she can't find it, I taught her to keep to the trees. They'll find somethin' for tonight, if we don't find 'em."
"I told them to head back to the highway," Rick said. "Maybe they did. Maybe they'll meet us back there."
Daryl nodded. He didn't feel like speaking. His chest was tight and he felt heavy—like he could feel all the pounds of his body pulling downward with gravity.
He was just about to suggest that they continue on just a little way—convinced that what he'd found was a trail left behind by the kids, and afraid that he wouldn't find it again once he lost it—when they heard the gunshot echoing clearly through the trees.
Daryl didn't have to say anything. All of them heard it, and all of them seem to know exactly where it came from. They simply started running.
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There was nothing to do except to separate.
The gunshot had come from a large, sweaty man who had been hunting deer. Daryl had missed the man's name in the confusion, and he was sure that nobody else had heard it, either.
The deer the man had been aiming for was down, but the bullet had passed through the deer and it had struck Carl.
They found him there, near the deer, with the fat man standing over him in shock. They were all in shock, if they were honest. Rick and Shane nearly collided with each other in an effort to get to Carl. Shane had the presence of mind to bind the wound quickly—staunching some of the bleeding—by ripping off his shirt and tying it around Carl's waist. Rick had gathered his son up as the fat man, sputtering apologies, told him about a farm that was just beyond the trees and across a field. At this farm, apparently, they would find a doctor that could help Carl.
Rick and Shane were both moving as fast as they could—Rick running with Carl in his arms in the direction indicated, and Shane practically dragging the fat man like he clearly intended to kill him if there was any deception or failure in this plan.
Daryl jogged along with Shane and the fat man long enough to ask if he'd seen a little girl, but when the fat man declared that he'd seen nothing—he hadn't even seen Carl before he'd shot the deer—Daryl had turned and run back to where the deer was fallen.
"Sophia!" He called, daring to raise his voice just a little. The gunshot was already dangerous. Rick and Shane's cries of surprise and the fat man's blubbering words were dangerous.
This area was dangerous, now, and Sophia would know that. The noises drew the monsters.
"Sophia—come quick, if you can, baby girl!" Daryl barked. "Please—if you can come, come quick. Run…I'm right here! Sophia!"
Daryl wandered this way and that. Sophia was gone. Maybe she'd lit out of there with the gunshot. Maybe they'd disagreed about which way to go or what to do. It was impossible to know, really. All Daryl did know was that Carl had been shot. Shane and Rick were headed out through the back end of the woods toward a farm, apparently, where a doctor was waiting to save Carl. And Sophia wasn't coming when Daryl called for her.
"I'm comin' back, Soph," Daryl said, calling out as loudly as he dared. "I'm comin' back. I promise. I'm comin' back, Soph. Get to highway if you can. If you can't—stick to the trees, baby girl. They can't reach you up there—but I'm comin' back."
Daryl gathered up the deer, deciding not to leave the meat to rot needlessly, and started back toward the highway to tell them what had happened and to figure out what to do next.
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By the time Daryl got back with the deer, there was a woman who showed up on a horse. She confirmed what the fat man said about a farm and a doctor. She also confirmed that Rick and Shane had made it there. She hadn't seen a girl, she said, when Carol begged for any knowledge of her daughter. Then, the woman on the horse left directions for how to get to the farm and took a hysterical Lori with her. Glenn and T-Dog decided to take Jacqui and head for the farm to try to get him help with the arm that Carol had managed to sew up, but which could really benefit from real medical attention.
Daryl had insisted that he'd stay by the highway. He knew how to get back to where he'd last seen Sophia's tracks, and he'd promised her that he'd come back there. She would, he was sure, try to make her way back to the highway, too, and he'd be here to meet her when she did.
Either way, he wasn't leaving.
Carol and Andrea were staying behind, as well, and Dale had insisted that he be allowed to stay to offer what help he could.
Daryl cleaned the deer and set it to cook. There was no need for the meat to go to waste, and it gave Andrea and Carol something on which they could focus their attention. Daryl assured Carol that the fire was good—Sophia could see it. It could help her find the highway, if she was still moving. It would draw Walker attention to them, too, instead of toward Sophia. They would gladly deal with whatever Walkers may come their way, in order to give the little girl a safe night.
For a while, Carol had been calm, but by the time Daryl had made sure the last embers of the campfire were out and had gone into the RV, he found that she was no longer calm.
Andrea, hugging her knees at the little dining table, simply shook her head at Daryl when he came in. Carol was in the bedroom—supposedly having gone to sleep early—and he could hear her crying.
Daryl knew he couldn't sleep like that. He couldn't stand it. He couldn't leave her to suffer like that. He picked up his crossbow, made sure his knife was in his sheath, and nodded toward Andrea.
"I'ma go—walk the road a lil' bit," Daryl said.
"Daryl—it's dark!" Carol called from the bedroom. She did her best to make her voice sound strong and not at all shaky.
"I got a flashlight," Daryl said. "I'll be alright. Fire mighta drawn her close. I'ma just check."
"Please don't get lost," Carol called.
Daryl smiled to himself.
"I won't get lost," he said. "And I'll be careful, too. Before you even feel like you gotta tell me. Stay with Andrea."
"I'm coming too," Andrea said. She stood up. Daryl started to protest, and she must have seen it coming. "Daryl—it's my fault she's out there," Andrea said. "If I hadn't taken my eyes off her. If I'd been…better…"
"Stop," Daryl said quickly.
"I need to do something," Andrea said.
Daryl nodded his head.
"Fine. Andrea's goin' with me," Daryl said. "Stay with Dale. He's on the roof. You go outside, you go up there with him."
"I'll come too," Carol said.
"No," Daryl said. "If Soph gets back here before us, she's gonna want at least one of us here. You stay here. Stay with Dale."
Carol appeared in the doorway of the bedroom. She swiped quickly at her wet eyes.
"Do you really think we're going to find her, Daryl?" Carol asked.
"Never been more fuckin' sure of a thing in my whole life," Daryl said. His stomach fluttered when he realized that, though he said the words for Carol's comfort, he actually felt them this time.