A/N: I do not own The Walking Dead in any way, shape or form.

Chapter 8

Everyone was in shock, starring at Sophia's body as it lay on the ground. The longer Carol starred, the more upset she became. "Come on, don't look." Daryl told her, lifting her off the ground, trying to turn her around. Adrian pulled her eyes away from Sophia to see Carol fight against Daryl's hold before she ran from the barn.

Adrian looked up at Daryl. Her watery green eyes meeting his sad blue ones. Adrian had known that the likelihood of finding Sophia after missing for so long was slim, but she hadn't lost complete hope. Daryl looked down at Adrian, her face pale and devastated. She had pushed him to keep his faith alive that Sophia was still out there. At the time he just thought she just might be blowing smoke, saying everything she had, but he could tell by the look on her face and the tears in her eyes that she really had believed that Sophia was still out there.

Daryl reached down and offered her a hand up, which she took after a moment. He pulled her up from the ground and let go of her hand. Adrian looked back at Sophia's body and Daryl could see her hands starts to shake, her breathing turn into shallow pants. Daryl didn't know what possessed him to do what he did next.

He took a step closer to Adrian and reached out, placing his hand on the back of her head, and pulled her to him.

She went with him willingly. Daryl put her head on his shoulder to get her to look away from the little girl. She turned her head into Daryl neck, her left arm wrapping around his neck while her right hand fisted his shirt tightly. He could hear her wet sobs that were muffled by his skin and he felt a few warm drops on his neck, tears. He felt a little uncomfortable about the contact, he didn't say anything, glad he was able to offer her some comfort, even if it wasn't much.

Adrian pulled away after a minute, her eyes and nose red. She quickly wiped the tears from her eyes and looked at Daryl, silently telling him how grateful she was.

"I'm going to see Carol." she told him quietly.

"Don't think she wants any company right now." he said.

"Probably not, but she shouldn't be alone. I understand how she feels." she told him.

She placed a gentle hand on his arm briefly before she turned and walked away.

She seen the look Kale gave her when she got close to him. "I'm okay, just going to see Carol." she told him. She heard Beth let out a loud sob, which drew Kale's attention. She seen he was torn then. He wanted to make sure she was okay but he also wanted to be there for his friends. Adrian didn't see much of Kale these days. He had told her that he had become close with Beth and Jimmy when he wasn't hanging out with Glenn, who had been seen with Maggie more often than not.

"It's okay. Stay. They need you more than I do right now." she told him before she walked away.

Adrian knew she would find Carol in the RV, which is exactly where she found her. Carol was crying loudly, her face buried in her hands. She looked up when Adrian walked in but said nothing, not that Adrian expected her to. Adrian walked over the the small table Carol was at and gently placed a glass of water in front of the grieving woman. Adrian sat down across from her and looked at her, and surprisingly enough, Carol was looking back at her.

"I'm sorry."

Carol's face crumbled at the red heads words and began to cry again.

TWD

After a while Carol stopped crying and instead turned to the window, just looking out. Adrian didn't know if Carol was actually seeing anything outside the window or not but she didn't say anything. They heard the click of the RV door before it opened to reveal Daryl. He looked at Carol, who turned to see who had walked in before she turned back around, before he then looked at Adrian.

Adrian silently pointed to the counter in a silent invitation to join them. Daryl left the door open and hopped up onto the counter, his shotgun resting across his lap. Adrian gave Daryl a small, sad smile that he returned by nodding his head. She was touched that he cared enough to come check on Carol and then join Adrian by sitting with her.

Some time later Lori knocked on the door of the RV and walked inside. "They're ready." she told them, mostly speaking to Carol. They had buried Sophia, along with Hershel's wife and stepson, and were holding a simple funeral service for them. Carol shook her head, letting them know she wasn't going. "Come on." Lori urged her.

"Why?" Carol asked, finally speaking.

"Because that's your little girl." Daryl told her.

"That's not my little girl." she told Daryl, finally looking at him. "That's some...thing else." she said, turning back to the window. "My Sophia was alone in the woods. All this time I thought, she didn't cry herself to sleep. She didn't go hungry. She didn't try to find her way back. Sophia died a long time ago." she said, a trace of acceptance ringing in her voice.

Lori quietly left. Adrian could see the look on his face, angry that Carol would allow herself to think such a thing after everything they had gone through to look for her daughter.

"I'll stay with her." she quietly told him before he left as well.

"You don't have to stay. I don't need you here." Carol told her, not looking at her.

"I know, but I'm staying anyway. You may not think me being here now means anything, but later on, when you look back , you'll realize how thankful you'll be that someone was here, even if they didn't say anything." Adrian told her.

"Is that how you felt? After your son died?" Carol asked her.

"I didn't have anyone or anything after Seth died. I didn't have anyone to lean on afterwards and looking back I really wish I had. I don't know how I didn't die before I snapped out of it. It won't be like that for you. I won't let it." Adrian said.

"I'm sorry you had to see Sophia like that. I can't imagine how you must feel about it." Adrian said after a few quiet minutes.

"Sophia's in a better place now. She doesn't have to worry about being hungry or scared anymore. She's safe now." Carol said looking out the window.

TWD

You know those days where you wished you had just stayed in bed because nothing has gone right since you got out of it? Today was one of those days. It seemed like someone from up high felt like everyone needed a good kick in the teeth that day.

First Glenn had told them about the walkers in the barn, which had caused the semi-fight in front of the barn. Then Carol had pretty much admitted to Daryl and Adrian that she had lost hope of them ever finding Sophia. Then Shane had found Dale and Adrian as they were trying to hide the gun, which lead to Shane giving everyone guns. And then to add fuel to the fire, everyone had seen Rick, Hershel, and Jimmy leading walkers out of the woods to put in the barn with the others, which had lead to Shane finally snapping and releasing all of the walkers from the barn. After releasing the walkers, Shane, Glenn, Andrea, T-Dog, and Daryl quickly killed them all.

But Sophia walking out of that barn had been the worst of it all. After the funerals of Sophia and Hershel's wife and stepson, Beth collapsed a while later, in severe shock from the shooting at the barn, and Hershel was nowhere to be found. Today was the day where Murphy's Law reined supreme.

Adrian needed to get away from the farm for a while, the utter chaos that was everywhere that day, and she had just heard the perfect excuse to do it. "I heard you and Glenn are going into town to find Hershel." Adrian said as she walked up to Rick who was standing by Carol's jeep, loading his gun as he waited for Glenn and Maggie to say goodbye.

"That's right." he told her, putting his gun back in it's holster. "I'm coming. I need to get out of here for a while, clear my head." she told him.

"Why would you need to-" Rick quickly cut himself off, suddenly realizing why she felt the need to leave.

"Alright. If you need to grab anything before we leave then you need to hurry." he told her.

"Already done." she said holding up an empty duffle bag.

She had already had her knife and gun on her from her little trip to the swamp with Dale and when she had decided to to into town with Rick and Glenn she had grabbed her bow and machete when she grabbed the duffle bag. "Alright, well then hop on in." Rick told her, gesturing toward the backseat. Adrian opened the door and tossed her bow onto the backseat before she climbed in. She looked up to see Glenn walking toward the jeep and she closed the door.

Glenn got into the jeep while Rick cranked it and they were off to the races. Or to the town, to be most specific. Adrian was looking out of the window when Glenn broke the silence.

"Maggie says she loves me." Glenn said, more to Rick than to her.

Adrian's eyebrows hit her hairline at the admission.

Rick said nothing.

"She doesn't mean it. I mean, she can't. I mean, why would she-. She's just upset, confused. I mean, she's probably feeling like-" Rick cut off Glenn's rambling.

"I think she's smart enough to know what she's feeling." Rick told him.

"No. No. I mean, she probably wants to be in love, you know to have something to hold onto." Glenn kept rambling.

"I'm so glad that you know how the female mind works, Glenn. You should've written a book about it before, you would've been one rich bastard." Adrian said, tossing in her opinion. Glenn must have forgotten she was in the back because he jumped at the sound of her voice.

"Glenn, it's pretty obvious that Maggie loves, and not because you're one of the last men standing, so what's the problem?" Rick asked him.

"I didn't say it back." Glenn told him.

"Ohhhh." Adrian said from the back, wincing from his words.

"I've never had a girl tell me she loves me before, you know, other than my mom. And my sisters. With Maggie it's different. I mean, what does she even know about me? Nothing. We're practically stranger. I didn't know what to do with it, I just stood there like a jerk." Glenn said.

"Do you love her?" Adrian asked him.

"What?" Glenn asked, turning in his seat to look at her.

"Do you love Maggie?" she repeated.

"I don't know. Maybe? I mean, I've never been in love before, so I don't know if what I feel for her is love or not." he told her.

"Well here's a piece of advice from a woman. Don't say it unless you mean it. If you're not sure if you love her or not, just sort through your feelings as best as you can and try to figure out what it is exactly you feel for her." she told him.

"But how can you tell if what you're feeling is love?" he asked her.

Then Glenn's eyes lit up a bit as he looked at her.

"Surely you would know, I mean-" he started.

"If the next words to come out of your mouth are 'because you're a woman' I will push you out of the car while it's still moving." she told, glaring as she pointed her finger at him.

Glenn snapped his mouth shut.

"Well, once you figure out if what you feel for her is love, return the favor. It's not like she's going anywhere." Rick told the young man. Glenn nodded at the advice before everyone got quiet again. A few minutes later they pulled into the middle of town, parking in front of the bar. They all got out of the jeep, Glenn with his shotgun, Rick with his unnecessary hand cannon, and Adrian with her knife, machete, bow, and her gun. She pulled the strap of her bow over her head, allowing it to rest comfortably against her back, and checked her gun, which was tucked into the back of her jeans, and then her knife and machete, which were firmly in their sheaths. They walked up to the door of the local bar and Rick twisted the knob, which turned out to be locked.

Rick had them back up as he took a step back before he kicked the door in, which flew open with a loud crash. They quickly walked in to see it empty, except for a deeply depressed Hershel sitting at the bar, and closed the door behind them.

"Hershel?" Rick called out to him.

"Who's with you?" he asked.

"Adrian and Glenn." he replied.

"Did Maggie send him?" he asked, still not turning around.

"No, he volunteered. He's good like that." Rick told her.

They walked up to the bar, Rick leaning on it beside Hershel as Adrian walked behind it, looking through the bottles.

"How many have you had?" Rick asked him. "Not enough." Hershel told him as he took a drink from his glass. "Ain't that the truth." Adrian said as she placed a half full bottle of whiskey and a shot glass on the counter in front of her. Rick gave her a look but said nothing she she opened the bottle and poured herself a drink, before quickly downing it. Adrian poured herself one more shot before she closed the bottle.

She downed the second shot and started to look through the rest of the bottles. Adrian found two full bottles of whiskey that she placed on the counter beside the half full one and then disappeared underneath the counter for a second before popping back up. She put her empty duffle bag onto the counter and unzipped it before she started to wrap the bottles in some hand towels she found, and putting them in the bag, zipping it back up.

Adrian had been listening to Hershel wallow in self-pity about refusing to believe that the people in his barn were dead. After five minutes of it she had heard enough, deciding to do a little shopping while they were in town.

"I'm going shopping boys." she told them as she shouldered her bag.

"I don't think it's a good idea to split up, especially in town." Rick told her.

Adrian gave him a deadpan look.

"I wasn't asking, Rick, I was telling you." she said as she rounded the bar. "I'll be back after while." she told them before she opened the door and walked out. She looked around deciding which way to go first. She decided to hit the right side of town first. She walked down the middle of the street, reading the store signs on both sides of the street as she went.

The first store she came across worth going in was a small general store. There wasn't much in there that was too helpful, but she did find a few canned goods before she hit the candy isle. She grabbed a few bags of M&M's for Carl, a few rolls of Sweettart's and a few packs of gum for herself, and couple of bags of half melted gummy bears for Kale.

After the general store she seen a few small clothing shops that she decided to browse. She grabbed some shorts, pants, and shirts in different sizes, for herself and for the ladies back at camp. She checked the back storage rooms but found nothing. After the last clothing shop she walked outside and seen something beautiful.

A small hunting shop.

She jogged across the road and carefully stepped inside, in case any walkers were stumbling around. She knocked onto the glass countertop a few times to draw any walkers out in case they were hiding, but nothing happened. She looked around and nearly cried. The store looked to be at least half full. The store wasn't large, but it was more than she had hoped for.

She walked around to the back of the counter and tried to open the sliding door to the case, but found it locked. She doubted she'd find the keys in this lifetime, so she walked over to a rack of rifles on the other side of the counter, grabbed one of the rifles and then slammed the butt of the rifle into the counter.

The sound of shattering glass left her with a somewhat satisfied feeling. She put the rifle into her now open duffle bag before she carefully reached into the case to grab every gun and knife she could reach. She turned and grabbed another rifle or two to add to the growing weapon collection. She walked around the store to see what else she could find and gave a large smile when she seen that the store carried bows and arrows. They even had a few crossbows.

Adrian walked into the section and grabbed all of the arrows that they had, tossing them into her bag as well. She zipped the bag, which was heavier than she expected it to be, but she was okay once she got it on her shoulder. She walked out of the store, planning to come back another day, and looked up at the sky. The sun had moved a fair bit since she had left the bar so she figured she had been gone long enough and should head back.

Everything was quiet as she walked down the street but something wasn't right. She could feel it, she just didn't know what it was. She walked up to the door of the bar and swung it open.

"Hey, guys, you'll never guess what I...found." she trailed off as she looked at the men sitting in the bar.

The problem was, there were more than when she had left an hour ago.

All eyes were on Adrian but she was only worried about the two pairs she wasn't familiar with.

One of the new men was standing by the wall to Rick's right. He was tall and overweight, a thin white shirt, khaki pants, and dark shoes clothed this large body. He had a stupid looking hat on top of his sweaty head, a gaudy gold chain around his neck, a gold watch on his left wrist, and a rifle slung over his shoulder. His face was covered in a stubbly beard and he was looking at her with a look that quickly broke her Stranger Danger meter.

The second man was sitting down at a table in front of Rick, Hershel, and Glenn. She didn't know how tall he was and she pegged him at around average weight. He was wearing a sleeveless faded blue shirt, blue jeans, and pair of boots. He too had stubble on his face, brown hair, and unlike his creepy friend, curious eyes. He was good looking, she'd give him that, but he too set off her Stranger Danger meter.

Adrian slowly closed the door behind her, keeping her eyes on the two strangers.

"Adrian." Rick called out, seriously wishing she had been gone a lot longer. Adrian looked at her friend before her face scrunch in disgust.

"Who pissed in here?" she asked as she made her way to the far end of the bar.

"Hey, had to take a leak somewhere." said Creepy.

"And you couldn't use the fucking toilet like a civilized person because?" she sassed at him.

Good Looking laughed at her comment.

"And who do you belong to?" he asked her.

"Myself. It's getting pretty serious, and I'm the jealous type, so watch it." she said, her eyes swinging to Good Looking.

"I like this chick." Good Looking said to Creepy, who nodded. She met Creepy's gaze and he gave her a smirk that sent shivers down her spin, and not the good kind.

She got his message loud and clear.

"I'd rather drink horse piss." she told him firmly, making her opinion on the matter perfectly clear.

She looked away from him before he could say anything. She looked to Rick, who she could tell was tense even from where she was standing.

"So, is someone going to tell me who Thing 1 and Thing 2 are?" she asked no one in particular.

"This is Tony" he said pointing to Creepy. "And Dave." he said pointing to Good Looking. "They're from Philadelphia." he told her.

"Damn yankee's huh." she said looking back at the two men.

"Aw, come on, sweet cheeks, don't tell me you're gonna hold that against us." Dave said, smirking at her.

"Yes, I am." she told him.

"I know what else you can hold against us." Tony said from across the bar.

Adrian's eyes shot to Tony, her eyes as hard as the emeralds her eyes resembled.

"Dave, you better keep him on a leash before you're the only one who gets to walk out of here still breathing." she told him, her eyes staying on Tony. No one said anything for a minute before Dave turned back to Rick.

"So this farm," Dave started.

That instantly put her on alert.

"It sounds pretty sweet. I mean, we got a few bodies back at camp who are having a pretty hard time. I don't see why we can't band together, pull our resources." Dave said to Rick, clearly trying to plead some kind of case to be allowed at the farm.

Luckily Rick was a smart man and wasn't buying what they were trying to sell.

"I'm sorry, that's not an option. The farm is already crowded as is." Rick told him. Tony stayed quiet while Dave continued to try to convince Rick to let them go to the farm. "We don't know anything about you." Rick told him. "No, you don't. You don't know the things we've had to do to stay alive. I'm sure you've had to do the same things, right Rick? So, why don't we all go for a nice hay ride back to the farm and get to know everybody." he kept pushing.

"Over my twice dead body." Adrian said from behind him at the bar, the sound of her cocking her gun loud in the quiet bar. They all looked over to her. Her face was hard as stone, her green eyes cold like ice. Her upper body leaning against the bar, her hand resting on the bar, gun in hand. Her posture might look relaxed but she was probably the most tense person in the room.

"Don't be like that, sweet cheeks. I thought we were all friends." Dave said, an uneasy smile on his face.

"I don't recall us ever becoming friends, and if you call me sweet cheeks one more time, I'm going to shoot you in the damn face." she growled at him.

"Man, this is bullshit." Tony finally spoke up.

"Calm down." Rick told him.

"Don't tell me to calm down, don't EVER tell me to calm down." Tony said to Rick, his accent thick.

"I'll shoot you all in the head and take your damn farm." Tony said to Rick.

Dave looked between Adrian, who had raised her gun that was now aimed at Tony's head, and Rick and Tony before he jumped up to try to defuse the situation.

"Whoa whoa whoa! Nobody's gonna shoot anybody. Right Rick?" he asked as he climbed over the counter so he was now behind the bar. Rick grabbed the butt of his gun, which caused Tony, who was still firmly in Adrian's sight, reached back for his rifle.

Dave obviously felt the tension, so he carefully placed his hand gun on the counter so they could all see it.

"Just friends having a drink." he said to them. Dave dug around under the counter for a second before he popped back up with a full bottle.

"You have to understand, we can't stay out there. You know what it's like." Dave said to Rick.

"Yeah, I do. But the farm is too crowded as is, I'm sorry. You'll have to keep looking." Rick told him.

"Keep looking? Where do you suggest we do that?" Dave asked Rick.

Rick was quiet for a beat before he answered.

"I hear Nebraska is nice." Rick said.

"Nebraska." Dave laughed, he seemed to be in on whatever joke Adrian had missed.

"This guy." Dave said to Tony before quickly reaching for his gun. Rick had his gun drawn and fired before Dave could touch his. Dave crumbled to the ground with a harsh thud, a bullet hole now in his head.

Adrian jerked slightly at the sudden sound, firing her own gun, which hit Tony in the shoulder. Rick quickly turned and fired twice at Tony. Once in the side and once in the head. Tony, who had hit the wall behind him when Adrian's bullet hit him, slid down the wall before he slumped over onto the floor, dead.

Everyone was in shock at how quickly it had all gone bad.

Adrian released a deep sigh before looking at Rick.

"Rick, when we get back to camp, I'm hiding that damn hand cannon because I'm pretty sure they heard you firing it all the back at the farm." she told him.