A/N: So this chapter jumps around a bit going from one character to another, so hopefully its easy to follow; also I switched up a lot so I hope that doesn't annoy anybody too much. As always reviews are awesome, I love to hear what you guys think. Opinions and advice are welcomed. It helps hearing what you guys think about different things gives me some good inspiration. Onto the story

Chapter 6: I Know What You Are

Headlights appear and time stands still. Three people emerge from the house they watch as the truck door opens and only one person exits. The person is sweaty, dirty and bloody. They walk forward bringing with them two duffel bags filled with supplies.

The lone survivor of the run steps forward handing the bags to Herschel who questions the absents of the other two members. The person simply shakes their head and looks down. Herschel rushes back inside telling the group not to mention anything to Patricia; Otis's wife he needs her to be focused on helping him with the boy.

Rick walks forward to the returning member

"Shane" Rick breathes out, embracing his friend. Shane pats Rick on the back connecting eyes with Lori, she nods once. Only when Rick pulls away does she speak

"Shane" she starts "thank you.…" she pauses looking into Shane's brown eyes "but what happened, where's Riley" Lori questions; she is now a little calmer knowing Herschel has the needed supplies to hopefully save her son, she starts to worry however about the other child whom she cares deeply for.

"The Walkers..." Shane begins looking down while rubbing the back of his neck "they where everywhere...Otis...he" Shane stops looking up into the eyes of his best friend "he gave himself for the boy" Shane ends with what looks like fear in his eyes.

"I asked about Riley" Lori cuts in, finding it odd how Shane didn't mention the girl at all in this story

Shane stares at Lori then looks to Rick. Rick stares back; he sees the look in Shane's eyes; it's the same one from their old college days when Rick walked in on Shane sleeping with his girlfriend at the time, it was a look of fear and guilt.

When Shane doesn't answer, Lori shakes her head and as she turns to walk away she calls over her shoulder

"You'll have to explain this to Daryl" she then opens the screen door and goes in to see about her son

Shane looks from the swinging door to Rick. Rick simply watches his friend; his mind however is a million miles away wondering and worried about the fate of Riley Dixon

Morning has come and Carl came out of the operation alive and well. Rick and Lori were so grateful to Herschel and his people. Lori was now laying next to a sleeping Carl pushing the hair away from his forehead as Rick watches from the rocking chair a small smile gracing his lips. In the distance they hear the engine of a motorcycle. They stand and look out the window; Daryl is approaching followed by the RV and Carols old hatchback. Rick and Lori exchange looks before making their way outside. They pass Shane on the way who slowly makes his way to the front yard and the waiting group members.

It feels like I'm underwater, I can't breath, can't see and feel like no matter how hard I try to kick myself to the surface I keep getting further and further away.

"Hey Rye bread" I hear from somewhere above me.

'I know that voice' I think. I desperately want to open my eyes, I want to reach the surface; so with one last mental kick I break free. When I open my blue eyes I connect them to another pair of blue orbs so much like my own. "Merle" I rasp out

Merle chuckles and pokes me in the forehand. "What you doing being the meat in a Walker sandwich?" he asks me.

It is then I look around and see that I'm located in a ditch among disposed Walkers. "The bastard" I say connecting eyes with Merle again. Merle looks me over he then stands and spits to the side hitting a Walker in the face.

"Get up" he says while looking at the Walkers around us. It is in this moment I look at my older brother. I glance down and see he is holding a gun in one hand while the other is rubbing the scruff on his face 'I thought I remember Daryl saying he cut off his hand'

"Get up Riles" Merle repeats. As I heave myself into a sitting position Walker guts fall from my chest and I notice that I'm covered in blood.

"Shane…" I sneer out. Merle looks over , he smirks and says something that is all to familiar to us Dixons

"Only a Dixon can kill a Dixon"

As the group is reconnected, hugs are given and questions are asked

"What happened…how's Carl" Dale speaks looking between Rick and Lori

"Accident…just a freak accident" Rick explains peeking a glance over to Lori

Lori however is to busy looking at Daryl, who is staring intently at the front door. Lori looks over to Shane who last night shaved his head which she can't understand, he is standing off to the side looking fidgety and nervous

'Where is she?' Daryl thinks 'Probably sitting with the kid, she always had a soft spot for those kids…she must of heard the bike though, come on Rye…come on' Daryl's thoughts are going haywire in his head. He takes his eyes away from the door and finds Lori's brown eyes bearing into him. His heart drops and he can't move.

"Where's my sister!" Daryl interrupts the chatter around him. Daryl doesn't miss how Lori's eyes flash over to Shane at his statement. Daryl rushes over to Shane, Rick however is closer and steps in-between the two

"Daryl…" Rick begins

"No.." Shane speaks he then walks over to Daryl pushing Rick away "she came along to help get supplies for Herschel to help fix up Carl: Shane pauses looking up at Daryl "…we got separated…I lost her…I don't know man…I'm sorry" Shane ends looking away from Daryl's hard gaze.

Daryl backs away from Shane looking at him through silted eyes. Daryl doesn't believe Shane's story for a second, he looks over at Rick who is staring at Shane with a look that Daryl can't place but something in his gut tells him Rick doesn't believe Shane either.

Riley has finally gotten to her feet, Merle stands by watching his sister

"Where was Daryl?" Merle questions why his baby sister was left alone with someone Merle always suspected was a psychopath.

"Carl got shot… I was there, I wanted to help. Daryl was still on the highway." Riley speaks unsure if she is making any sense, she can tell she probably has a concussion. Merle looks over at his innocent little sister. From the minute she was born her life was messed up. Their dad blamed her for their mother dying, and took out his frustration and anger on her. Merle loved Rye from the second she entered this world and did anything and everything he could to protect her. He now stared at her bloody and banged up body once again from another asshole, all because he had a big mouth and didn't know when to pull it together; she was in this mess because he wasn't around to save the day.

"Don't matter anyway" Merle speaks "We'll get ya back to him and the group" Merle then looks up and down the road that Riley's body was dumped at.

"You know…" Merle begins "I…I love ya you know that right?" Merle asks not looking at Riley but keeping his eyes on the forest line in front of him

"I know Merle…I know" Riley whispers out while bending down to retrieve her crossbow 'At least he left me my bow' Riley mumbles. "Merle.." she starts but when she looks up Merle has disappeared.

"Damn it" Riley groans. She pulls herself into a sitting position, as she does she watches Walker chunks fall from her body. She is covered in blood but from what she can tell has no bites or scratches.

"That son of a bitch" Riley speaks, slowly getting to her feet. She picks up her bow and throws it over her shoulder. She takes a peek up and down the road, then stares into the forest "I swear he was…" she stops herself from speaking, shakes her head and starts her way towards the woods determined to find her brother… and deal with Shane

Daryl couldn't take it. He paced back and forth in his tent before he decided he needed to get away from everyone. He stepped out of his tent just as Rick was given a map by Maggie. He laid it out on the hood of a car using rocks to hold down the edges. He broke the search grid up and the hunt for Sophia could now become more organized. Rick and Shane both spoke saying that they would take areas north and west of the farm. Herschel however cut them off saying that with the amount of blood Rick gave he would pass out after one hour in this heat, and as for Shane his ankle couldn't take any added stress.

"Guess it's just me" spoke Daryl who then walked away to get ready.

Riley walked through the forest tracking her way back to the farm. As she walked she re played the previous nights events over in her mind. Everything was going according to plan. She thought Shane was on her side. She wanted to save Carl just as much if not more then him. 'Thanks for the help redneck' those were the last words Shane spoke to her. Is that all they saw her and therefore Daryl as; rednecks nothing more then laborers.

"You can't trust them…their not your blood" she heard from beside her. She glanced up and there was Merle. "Daryl and me that's your family, your nothing but trash to them" Merle spoke while looking at the sky above him.

"Some of them are good people" she spoke thinking about Lori, Dale, T and Carl. Merle gave a raspy laugh "Good but not blood" he spoke. Riley looked away from him as a squirrel caught her attention she rose her crossbow and got it right in the back. As she pulled the arrow out she spoke "Sometimes I wish…" she turned to continue when she noticed Merle was gone once again. She wasn't sure what was happening 'going crazy' she thought before sticking the squirrel in her back pocket.

Daryl started to make his way towards the sables when he heard his name. He turned and there was Rick

"We got this search organized now" Rick begin

"This got a point or are we just chatting" Daryl spit out

"You don't owe us…" Rick said

"My other plans fell through" Daryl responded turning around. This group whether he admitted to himself or not was his family now and he wasn't going anywhere especially with his sister still out there.

Shane watched as Daryl walked away from Rick heading out to search for Sophia. Shane dropped his head and rubbed his eyes

"What did you do to her"

He whipped around and came face to face with Lori. In the distance he saw Glenn and Maggie ride away on horseback and Herschel talking with Carol and Dale.

"What you say to me" Shane hissed out narrowing his eyes

"You heard me" Lori hissed right back

Shane stared Lori down but soon realized that the woman wasn't going to back down. "I did what I had to do" he spoke with once again the guilt returning to his eyes. Lori didn't know how to respond to that statement she simply put her hand over her mouth and backed away from the man before her.

Daryl was riding a horse he took from Herschel, he was passing by a small stream when something below caught his attention. He jumped down from the horse tying it to a tree and climbed his way down. When he got closer to the object he realized that it was Sophia's doll. He called out for her a few times but got no answer. He climbed back up the ridge and returned to the horse. As he worked on untying it his thoughts drifted to Riley, and a memory from when she must have been four or five

"Rye bread" Merle spoke getting his little sisters attention. Daryl never understood why Merle called her that, it was a stupid nickname, but Riley loved it and no one but Merle could call her that, "come here quick" Daryl was already standing next to Merle a small smile on his face. Riley was going to love what they were going to show her and after last nights beating he wanted to see her smile. After a few minutes they heard the sounds of Riley's footsteps coming down the stairs. Luckily their father was out so they didn't have to worry about noise. Riley came running to her brothers her strawberry blonde hair tied in a French braid that the girl down the street did for her; everyone loved Riley and knowing her history did whatever they could for the little girl. She wore a smile always loving when her brothers were around. Merle scooped up the small girl giving her a quick kiss on the temple. "Look…" he pointed out the back window. Riley turned her eyes and there in her backyard was black horse with a white strip down its nose. Riley's smile grew and as hers did so did the ones of her brothers. Merle looked over to Daryl both feeling a sense of pride that they were able to make their Rye bread so happy just by showing her a horse.

Daryl smiled at the memory but the smile quickly fell when he thought he might never see his Rye bread again. He climbed atop the horse with the doll in his back pocket and made his way back to the farm.

The sun was starting to set and Riley could see the white farm house in the distance. She readjusted her crossbow and picked up the pace wanting to see Daryl again. "What are you going to do when you get back there" Merle was once again walking alongside her. Riley was silent "You know they won't believe you" Merle tried to reason with his sister.

"Daryl will…" she spoke

"A lot of good that will do….the two rednecks…Officer Friendly will side with his buddy…you and Daryl will be out on your asses" Merle spoke honestly worried for his family.

Riley stopped walking and turned to Merle "Its okay Merle" Merle looked at her, confusion written on his face

"I forgive you, you were drunk, trust me I had worse" Rye spoke with the classic Dixon smirk gracing her lips

Merle looked at his sister and nodded. She then turned to the farm house and started walking "See you later Merle" she said to the air

Daryl had returned to the farm and gave Rick the doll, he explained where he found it and how it cuts the search grid in half. Rick nodded and told him that at first light tomorrow they would both head out and continue on.

Rick was about to turn away when Daryl stopped him

"You believe Shane?" Daryl questions the former sheriff

Rick looked over to Daryl; blue eyes meeting blue eyes, no words were spoken but Daryl got the message he gave a nod in understanding. Both men were about to go their separate ways when Andrea who was keeping watch from the RV shouted

"WALKER!" Rick ran over with Shane and Glenn on his heels

"Just the one" he questioned

"Looks like it…I can nail it from here" Andrea replied

"No we'll handle it Herschel doesn't want guns on his land" Rick shouted as he took off.

Rick ran ahead with Shane and Glenn a few feet behind him, she slowed down as he approached the Walker, raising his gun. When he was close enough to see the suppose Walker he was stunned unsure with how to react. Before him stood Riley Dixon, even though she was covered head to toe in blood and guts he knew it was her, the blue eyes and smirk he was reviving was enough information for him. He lowered his gun and stepped forward

"Riley" he whispered afraid that maybe if he spoke to harshly she would vanish.

"I understand now" she spoke softly looking at Rick intently. Rick glanced behind him and then turned back to the girl giving her a nod.

Shane and Glenn arrived looking between Rick and the Walker, it wasn't until Glenn heard the Walker say "Hey Short Round" that he looked more closely, when he saw the bright blue eyes and the slight grin on its face he knew as well that this wasn't a Walker but the lost and assumed dead Riley Dixon.

Shane stood back with a look of disbelief and shock written on his face. Riley turned her attention on the man and with a smirk and tone that would finally make her father proud she spoke

"I Know What You Are"

Andrea lay on top of the RV lining up her shot. She took a deep breath and muttered a "you got this" to herself. She steadied her hand and then pulled the trigger. She smiled to herself, but the smile quickly fell when she heard Rick yell what she thought was the word 'NO'

Daryl continued on to his tent, no reason running all the way down there for one Walker when Rick, Shane and Glenn were already dealing with it. It wasn't until he heard Andrea fire a shot and in the distance Rick yelling out that he got a sickening feeling in his stomach