Sorry about the wait! I still have company and dealing with some issues. Yay for issues, right? Gah! But anyhow, this chapter was very hard to write and I still don't know if I managed to make things clear or not. Sometimes we get these awesome ideas and then have no clue how the hell to get them out. That's me and this chapter. Some questions are answered. I hope. Anyway, I'll let you get on with it now. Thank you all so much for reading. You are amazing! =)

Ghosts

When Sophia opened her eyes she was no longer in the house. She was standing at the treeline to the back of the property looking out towards the farmhouse. Or what was left of it. Most of it was burned to the ground.

It was early morning and the sound of pain filled the air as thick as the smoke that drifted up from the ruble that had been food storage buildings. Her chest ached at the loss she could already feel. She took off at a dead run towards her own heartbreak. When she rounded the corner and came face to face with the carnage she came to a halt.

She was already there.

She watched herself, or who she would be, as she knelt down next to one of many bodies. Someone was standing there with the older Sophia. His face ragged in his grief as he put a hand on the older Sophia's shoulders.

Merle looked down into the ruined face of Carl Grimes. "We need to get a move on, Sophia," Merle said gently.

This was not the first time that the younger Sophia had witnessed things like this. She was just a ghost here like she had been nothing but a ghost at the prison, traveling from one reality to the next like flipping through channels on a television screen. But it was the first time that she had lost Carl. In every other reality Carl survives, even when Sophia does not.

She walked away from this scene, seeking the two faces that she knew were among the dead scattered over the ground. When she found them they were together. Always together.

She sank to her knees as she gazed at the body of her mother. Her eyes stung with tears and a loud sob escaped her. The only dad she will ever really know was curled around her mom in a position that told Sophia that, just like all of the other times they had died, he had done so protecting Carol with his own body, until his last breath. But this was different. Sophia had seen them shot and she had seen them bitten. That was normal. She had never seen carnage like this.

It looked like they had been beaten to death. Daryl had taken the brunt of it but they both showed signs of trauma unlike anything she had ever seen before.

She wiped her eyes and stood up, looking around frantically for the only face that may bring sense to this senseless situation. She saw him emerge from the tree line not for from where she had been. She waited for him next to the bodies she knew he had already seen.

"What happened, Merle?" She asked in a voice that sounded much younger than she was.

Merle didn't look down at the bodies. His blue eyes met hers and he shook his head. He was dressed in black, just like the day he had been left on the rooftop in Atlanta by Rick and company. But this Merle was different. This Merle had never made it off of that rooftop. In that reality T-dog never chained that door. Merle was eaten alive by the time they made it back to Atlanta to save him. This Merle was the one that had looked after Sophia in the woods when she was lost. This Merle was the one that still took care of that Sophia.

Sure enough, stepping out from behind him was the version of herself that had died in the woods. A dirty blue shirt with a rainbow on the front, doll still clutched in her hand. She pressed herself into Merle's side and the big man quickly put an arm around her.

Ghosts. She didn't think seeing her dead self would ever stop creeping her out.

Sophia was used to them by now though. For the most part anyway. They were not the only two Merle and Sophia. There were others. Merle sought her out in death, Maybe knowing it was the last kind thing he could do for a brother he had failed in life. He took care of her. They took care of each other. She wasn't sure how that worked. She wasn't sure of anything anymore. She had been so sure that she had done all of the right things to make sure that their future was secure. To make sure that the people she loved the most would flourish. Again she had failed.

"Who did this?" She asked, not caring which one answered her but knowing that she needed answers now.

She knew it was pointless. They couldn't speak to her. They always came when she needed them too, but they could never speak. Dead Sophia opened her mouth like she wanted to speak but shut it as the silence drifted on. The frantic little girl glanced around and then knelt down in the dirt.

Merle watched as the silent Sophia dug out a message. He smiled and took her hand, leading her back a few paces so the real Sophia could get a better view of what the message said. She read it and then frowned. She looked up at Merle, her eyes questioning.

"What does that mean?" She asked, knowing he wouldn't answer her. She was sure that the other girl had gotten the message wrong.

Merle gestured around as the other Sophia stared at the message she had written. He pointed to the bodies of Daryl and her mom and then back to the message.

"I don't understand," she whispered. "Is this a person?"

He nodded and pointed to the bodies again.

"He did this?"

Merle nodded again.

Sophia looked back down at the message in the dirt. Two words. All she had were two words to go on. This was worse than anything else that she had seen so this message was more important than any other she had ever received.

"Daddy, no," she heard a gasp from behind her and Merle and the other Sophia vanished like they had never been there at all.

Sophia turned and saw herself, her older self, drop to her knees next to Daryl and her mom. It was strange seeing so much pain on a face that she knew would someday belong to herself.

"Mom..." She wailed, the sound causing her heart to shatter into pieces.

Just as the older her reached out to touch the bodies of the people that had loved her the most Sophia looked down at the message again. Anger spiked her blood at the pain that surrounded her. This would not be the fate of her group. She took her sneaker clad foot and ran it through the message, obscuring the words. She didn't need to read them anymore. The message was seared into her memory.

Kill Negan.

~H~

Nothing Merle said would wake the girl up. Hershel looked her over and then Candace looked her over and other than the fact that she just wouldn't wake up, she seemed okay. Her vitals were good. Her reflexes were normal. She was just... sleeping.

Merle took a few steps back, something as deep as the marrow in his bones told him that he needed to do something for the girl. He couldn't just stand there and watch while she very well could have been slipping deeper and deeper into some kind of fucked up coma. He felt powerless and when Merle Dixon started feeling powerless he let anger take over. It was easier to deal with. But there really wasn't anyone here to even lash out at.

Daryl stood in the corner of the room, out of the way of the others who may have been able to help the girl. He looked pale and Merle knew he was thinking of every way in the world he could blame himself for whatever was going on with Sophia. The only person that didn't look worried at all was Carl.

"Let's me and you go get these shutters pulled. No need in bein' some sort of beacon for any asshole that decides to wonder this way," he said to Daryl. He needed to get his little brother out of the room. Out of his own head for a while.

Daryl just shook his head. "Ain't gonna be nowhere but here when she decides to wake her ass up. Take one of the others with ya." His eyes never left Sophia's face as he spoke.

Merle sighed loudly. There wasn't anything else he could do here. He walked out of the room, shoulders slumped, head hung low. He felt bad for his brother and Carol. Not only that though he felt like he needed to do more for the girl. He had tried everything to wake her up and she just wouldn't. For the first time since he had came here he felt the urge to get high.

When he made it to the second floor he found Andrea walking towards him. "Any luck?" She asked.

He shook his head. "None. They say she seems fine other than she won't wake up and all the kids swore that none of'em had been rough housin' or carryin' on. She didn't bump her head or no shit like that. I just don't know."

He sounded worried even to himself and that damn smile that lifted one corner of her mouth made him feel like a dumb ass.

"You really do care about that little girl don't you?"

He frowned. "Course I do. The kid saved all our damn lives. Her and her mama. Quit fuckin' lookin' at me like that."

"Sorry," she held up her hands in a placating manner.

He huffed. "You feel like helpin' me get this place shut? My brother won't leave the girl and all these lights and shit bein' on is makin' me nervous as shit."

She nodded and then followed him towards the door at the end of the hall that led to the veranda. Once they were outside he went to the railing and looked out into the darkness. He heard her behind him, pulling the heavy shutters closed over the windows. As soon as they were shut they latched. The only way they could be unlocked was from the inside. Carol had had them made special. The house really was a fortress.

He could still see the orange glow from the city. He was reluctant to turn his eyes away from it. With a heavy sigh he did anyway, going to the other side and closing the shutters that Andrea had skipped.

"You know, you ain't as annoyin' as you were back when we first met," he muttered as they made their way around the side of the house. He was grateful that this was a wrap around veranda because they weren't going to need ladders. The house could be shut down quickly by just a few of the group.

She eyed him. "I could say the same thing about you."

He guessed she had a point. He had been a real son of a bitch back at the quarry. He didn't think he deserved what happened to him back then. He refused to believe that. No one should ever be forced to saw off their own hand. He had to admit though, he was pretty proud of himself for being able to man up and do it. Hell, getting the saw had been a painful job itself.

"What went through your head the first time you dreamed about all this shit?" He asked.

She shrugged. "At first I just thought I was dreaming. You know, stress causing me to have vivid dreams or something like that. Work was getting to me and I had just went through a messy breakup. Stuff like that. But then they just kept coming. While I was dreaming it was like I was awake. It got to the point where I wasn't sure which world was real. I about lost it when I lost my sister. When she called and mentioned meeting some of you, I just knew. I knew I had to get here. I knew it was something big."

Merle understood what she was talking about when she mentioned losing her sister. Not knowing where his brother was had been hell. "It's a damn shame we won't have time to work on that beast of yours tonight. "

She glanced over and smiled. "You have watch with me tonight?"

He nodded. They had second watch together at the back corner of the property.

"Maybe we can draw up some plans or something. I don't know what is going to top that gun you put on the roof but I'm sure we'll think of something."

He nodded. "Yeah. There's a few things I can think of."

"It would help us kill some time. It won't get ugly out there for a while yet." The look she gave him was sultry and he couldn't help but wonder if she was thinking about the same kind of things he had been thinking about.

He felt nervous about Sophia. Scared, actually. He wanted her to wake up and the stress was getting to him. He didn't function well under stress. He had always had some sort of drug to keep his nerves smoothed out. Tonight he didn't have that. Not really. But as he watched her walking away, the seductive sway of her hips caught his attention. He followed after her, ready to get the rest of the house locked down before going on that watch.

~H~

Daryl made everyone else leave the room, except for him and Carol. Carl refused for a little while but Lori assured him that as soon as Sophia woke up, they would let him know. Lori looked almost as lost as Carol did. He didn't much care for Lori. He never had. But he had to admit that Lori did care about Sophia and she cared about Carol and to him, that made her okay in his book. Even if he did still think that she was an idiot.

Carol was standing in the middle of the room, looking like she was about to lose this cool calm that had taken her over as soon as they came into the room to find Sophia out cold. Her arms were wrapped around herself and her eyes were shining with unshed tears. He left the side of the bed and wrapped an arm around her waist. If there was one thing in this world that he couldn't stand, it was seeing her in pain. And she was hurting something awful.

"You should go down and grab her somethin' to drink for when she wakes up." He really just wanted her to get out of the room for a few minutes. She needed to take a breath. "You can make sure Merle got those windows sealed up while you're down there."

"I don't want to leave her alone," she whispered, her voice breaking.

He shook his head. "I'll stay. She'll be fine."

She met his eyes, her chin trembled slightly as her tears finally overflowed and ran down her cheeks. His heart clenched. "Daryl, what if she don't wake up?"

He shook his head. "She's gonna wake up. I'll go throw her ass in the pond. She ain't leavin' us again." A memory rose it's ugly head. A memory of him telling her that he would find her little girl and she would be just fine. He shut the thought out of his mind. Refusing to remember the small spark of hope that had filled her eyes when he had said that to her. He hadn't found her little girl at all. And when they finally did find her, she was not fine. Not one bit.

He gripped the back of her head firmly and pulled her face into his chest where she finally let herself cry. His shirt was fisted into her hands and her slender shoulders shook. He was silent as he held her there, letting her fear run it's course. When she finally stilled he loosened his grip around her and she pulled her face away, looking up at him and stealing herself with a deep breath. "She's gonna be okay," she said firmly. "We'll make sure she's okay."

He nodded. "Go on. Get some air or somethin'. I'll sit with her."

She glanced at the bed and then let go of him. Without another word she walked out of the room, shutting the door behind her and leaving him standing there, eyes on Sophia. She had to wake up. Carol couldn't survive losing her twice. He couldn't watch her go through that again. It had been hard for him to lose the girl himself and he had barely known her. Now? Now it would rip him apart. It was that moment he realized just how incredibly strong she had really been back then. To watch Rick put a bullet in her little girl's brain. She had overcome that and his admiration for her grew as he looked down at the sleeping girl.

He'd die gladly before he ever let Carol feel pain like that again. He knelt down next to the bed and poked the girl in the arm. "I'm gonna say this one time so you best be in the mood to mind. If you don't wake your skinny ass up in the next five minutes, I'm gonna pack you out to that scummy pond behind the barn and I'm gonna toss you in."

Her eyes snapped open and he nearly fell on his ass.

"Holy fuckin' shit, it worked!" He croaked as she sat up, looking around until her eyes landed on his. She bolted from the bed as soon as she seen him, slamming into him so hard that he did fall all the way over. She landed in his lap with her arms wrapped tightly around his neck. His arms went around her, hesitant at first. Once he was over the initial shock of her launching herself at him he actually let himself feel the relief that rushed through him. He tightened his arms around her, unable to say a word as his heart slammed into his throat. He could hardly breath with the way she was gripping him but that was okay. There really wasn't anywhere else he would rather be at the moment. He ran a hand down her hair and stared at the wall, waiting for her to deem it a good time to let him go.

"Daryl, it was so bad. What they did to you and my mom," her small body shuddered.

Dread settled deep in his bones at her half whispered words and he wanted desperately to know what the hell she meant but he just held her like he had held her mom a few minutes before.

"I'm not gonna let that happen to you," she shook her head, her voice growing cold. "I'll find him and when I do he's a dead man."

He eased her back so he could look at her face. He never expected to hear something like that come out of her mouth and he almost understood how Rick had felt back when Carl had started acting so dark. Her eyes were hard when they met his. "You don't need to be sayin' shit like that, girl," he muttered as he pushed her hair back out of her face.

She shook her head, her lips flattening out in a hard line. "You didn't see what he did to you. You'd tried to protect mom and so you had it so much worse."

He was shocked at her words but even more so at the intense way she was looking at him. Like she was no longer the child he had gotten to know. It was like looking into the hazel depths of a very old soul. Her small hands came up and gripped the sides of his face. "You and mom mean everything to me. You're my family. He won't take that away from me."

He shook his head and opened his mouth to tell her that she needed to calm down and explain what the hell had happened to her but suddenly her eyes changed, filled with tears that spilled over quickly.

"I love you, Daryl. I'll find him before he can do that to you and mom."

He was stunned into silence again, his head trying to wrap around what she was saying to him at the same time his heart swelled a little at her words. "Jesus Christ, girl. What did you see in that head of yours?" He murmured into her hair when she tucked her head into the crook of her neck again.