A/N: I am so sorry I haven't updated in a while! I've been without a computer all week so I'm doing this the first chance I get. I hope you all enjoy this chapter and can forgive me for being away for a while. Please leave a review letting me know what you think! I would like to thank everyone who has supported this story, especially my friend, J.P, who is constantly helping me develop my story and is a wonderful inspiration!
~A.S.D
"You still worried about it?" Daryl asked Lori after a few more minutes of walking.
"Why just one gunshot?" Lori asked, looking back in the direction we had come from.
"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl said with a shrug.
"Don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane, they'd do it quietly," Lori's eyes were wild with worry and my own heartbeat was racing a little too quickly.
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol asked. We'd been walking very slowly and taking frequent breaks, the guys should be right behind us.
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway. We can't run around these woods chasing echoes," Daryl was being the voice of reason, making the situation even scarier.
"So what do we do?" she asked.
"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia then make our way back to the highway," Daryl wasn't in the mood for comforting the woman and neither was I so we started moving again.
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Andrea said.
"I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel," she continued to Carol.
"I guess you do. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't end up like Amy," Carol responded. Andrea looked down, pain fresh on her face. "I'm sorry, that's the worst thing I've ever said!" the older woman apologized and placed a hand of Andrea's shoulder.
"We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth," Andrea smiled sadly.
"I'll tell you what it's worth, not a damn thing. It's a waste of time, all this hoping and praying. 'Cuz we're gonna locate this little girl, she's going to be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here?" Daryl exploded out of nowhere. Once he had finished he came back to the front of the group and kept walking.
We walked on for another hour or so. I kept glancing up at the sky, seeing the sun begin to descend. I looked back the way we had came, checking for any sign of my brother or Rick.
"Everything's fine," Daryl whispered to me, not wanting to get Lori started again. I nodded, although I was loosing confidence by the minute.
"We're gonna loose the light before long," he addressed the group now, looking at the darkening sky. "I think we should call it," he said, casting a glance at me. I cringed, I couldn't think about leaving Sophia our here alone again.
"Let's head back. We can pick it up again in the morning," Lori said, piping up for the first time since her little speech earlier in the day. The sun seemed to be setting more quickly than usual and I was worried we would be stuck out here after dark.
"How much farther?" Andrea asked after a while.
"Not far, maybe a hundred yards," Daryl said after looking ahead. He knew the woods better than anyone I had ever seen so I trusted his instincts even though everything looked the same to me. All of a sudden, screams broke out and I realized Andrea had wandered out of our field of vision and the screams belonged to her. We all ran and saw her lying on her back on the ground, a walker over her trying to subdue her. Out of nowhere, a horse came running through the clearing, the walker soaring backwards away from all of us.
"Lori? Lori Grimes?" The rider called. She was a girl with short brown hair cut to her shoulders.
"I'm Lori Grimes," Lori spoke, stepping up to face the girl.
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now. There's been an accident, Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you've got to come now. Rick needs you so just come!" The girl looked panicked but Lori threw off her backpack and walked over to the horse.
"Whoa whoa whoa, we don't know this girl!" Daryl called. "You can't get on that horse."
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl? Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm, you'll see the mailbox. Name is Greene," She spoke rapidly and as soon as she was done she dug her heels into the horse and made it start running back in the direction it had come with Lori in the saddle behind her. We all stared for a second, trying to process this information. A wheezing sound came from beside us and the walker that had attacked Andrea sat up.
"Shut up," Daryl muttered and shot it in the head with his crossbow. We walked and saw the highway come into view. Daryl and I hung back, letting everyone else walk up first to make sure the coast was clear.
"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale called and I assumed one of the others had told him.
"I don't know Dale, I wasn't there," Glenn said, climbing over the railing. "All I know is that this chick came out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori," he continued.
"And you let her?" Dale directed the question to Daryl who was now helping me over the rail and climbing over himself.
"Climb down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Lori's name. And Carl's," he answered and kept walking back over to the RV. I followed after him, wanting to get something to drink since I'd given my canteen to Carol earlier in the day. I heard Dale talking to Andrea, but I wasn't too concerned with her melodrama at the time. I was worried about Shane and wondering if Carl was going to be okay.
I walked back over to the group in the middle of a conversation. Apparently, someone had suggested leaving the highway and going to this farm.
"I won't do it. We can't just leave," Carol said, looking frightened and I wished I could do something to help her.
"Carol, the group is split. We're scattered and weak," Dale reasoned and I had to admit he made a point. I was desperate to find my brother and make sure he was okay, but I couldn't forget about that little girl lost in the woods.
"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen," Carol pleaded.
"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful," Andrea said, suprising me.
"Okay. We have to plan for this. I think tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. It'll give us time to rig a big sign and leave her some supplies. I'll stay here tonight in the RV," Daryl said, trying to keep on his mask, but I could see how much finding Sophia meant to him.
"If the RV stays, then I stay too," Dale said.
"Glenn, you and Adeline have to go to that farm. Reconnect with our people and get T-Dog there. He needs antibiotics. That cut had gone from bad to worse," he continued and I nodded although Glenn seemed relunctant.
Daryl walked over to Merle's motorcycle and pulled a rag off the side bag and grabbed something from inside.
"Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle," he said, throwing the rag at Dale.
"Why'd you wait until now to say something?"
"Got my brother's stash. Crystal, X. Don't need that. Got some kick ass painkillers. Oxycycline. Not the generic stuff either, that's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion," Daryl threw the drugs to Glenn and walked off again.
By the time Glenn, T-Dog, and I were on the road, night had completely fallen. We followed the directions we had been given and came to a closed gate. I hoped out and opened it, letting Glenn drive though and closed it back. We pulled up to a house a moment later with lights filling the windows. I walked ahead of the two guys, wanting to find Shane. I saw the girl from earlier sitting on the porch and glared at her.
"You close the gate after you drove in?" She asked and I nodded.
"Hello. Nice to see you again," Glenn said as he walked up on the porch.
"We came to help. Is there anything we can do?" T-Dog asked. The girl looked at the bandage on his arm and took a step back.
"It's not a bite. I cut myself pretty bad though."
"We'll look at it. Come on in and I'll make you something to eat," she said and opened the door for us.
The house was lovely on the inside, looking untouched by the walkers. She led us to a bedroom and I stopped dead in my tracks. Carl was lying on the bed, looking paler than any person I had ever seen. Lori and Rick were sitting by the bed, looking tired.
"Hey," Glenn said quietly.
"Hey," Rick responded.
"We're here. If you need anything," T-Dog said and Rick nodded before we left the room.
"I'm Maggie, by the way," the girl said as she led us to a large dining room and told us to have a seat.
"Um, Maggie, where is my brother? Shane?" I asked. I hadn't seen any sign of him since we'd been here and there was a knot growing in the pit of my stomach.
"He and one of our men went out to get some medical supplies for the boy. At the high school a few miles away. They've been gone a while though, the boy can't wait much longer," my heart was beating frantically at her words. A thousand horrible fates could have befallen my brother and I felt nauseous.
I got up from the chair and walked out to the porch, drinking in the cool night air and looking out into the darkness for any sign of my brother.