A\N Hey! ^.^ I'm so happy for all the reviews! :D

To Serethiel96, Thank you! I miss when T-Dog had a story line, so hopefully he has a part in the next episode! Thank you! I wasn't sure if it was emotional, but thanks!^.^

To jaded79, Thanks! Wow, thank you! I was a little afraid of writing for him because we didn't get much on his back story, but thanks! And, this chapter is for you! Thanks for suggesting! :D

And to CriminalMindsWhore, First, I love the name! XD Second, thank you! I liked Andrea's chapter as well, but my favorite so far is T-Dog's! :)

Also to Morgan-Eats-Cannibals, Well it's nice to know you're ridding the world of cannibals ^.^ Second, thank you! Hopefully I can get these out as quickly as I can! :D

Here it is!

Disclaimer: I don't own The Walking Dead, if I did, Sophia would be alive and well :')

Dale

There were so many things in his life that he did wrong. Dale hated himself every time he recommitted those stupid acts of wrong-doings, but he seemed to never learn. He wanted to recreate himself, to be someone new and not the big fuck up he was.

But a zombie apocalypse was not a place to do so.

Dale was sitting absent absentmindedly on a lawn chair leisurely, wanting this world to end and just reflecting on his life, for the millionth time it seemed. It was just the break of dawn so most were still sleeping soundly. He was off in a vast distance until he heard rustling. Panic struck his heart as he instinctively grabbed his shotgun next to him. Sophia then emerged from the woods with a basket containing miscellaneous berries quite calmly until she saw a gun directed to her ready to fire at any moment. She let out a sharp gasp and nearly dropped the berries.

"Sophia, I'm sorry," He sheepishly apologized, and set his gun down. Her chest heaved in and out as she approached him cautiously before setting the basket down and sat down in a crumpled heap on the seat next to him. She sighed a bit catching her breath.

"It's fine, you didn't mean to," Her words were soft and meek like she was still a bit shaken up from their encounter. Dale eyed her for a moment then formulated his question in his mind before he spoke it in a calm tone.

"Why are you up so late?" She seemed to ponder this for a few minutes and finally had an answer.

"I was out pickin' berries for Daddy," Sophia explained, gesturing to the basket. "What 'bout you?" Dale took this into consideration as he really didn't have a reason.

"Well," He began, sorting through his problems, "I was mostly thinkin' of my life. Of how much of it I took for granted. Of how much of it I screwed up and how many people I hurt durin' it. You're so young Sophia, you have so much to experience and to learn. Me, me I'm done. I can't try to fix myself now, I'm who I am and I will never be good," Dale stopped, hearing that his voice was cracked, broken, and defeated. He hung his head in shame as he reflected again, reflected on his worst moments, that being one of them. Sophia looked at him for the longest time with eyes filled with compassion rather than judgment.

"Dale...how old are you?" She questioned, scooting a bit closer to the old man. He raised his head slightly, just enough to look in her young,spacious eyes.

"Sixty-Four," He replied, brushing this off as unimportant. She studied him longer before shaking her head contemptuously.

"Stop it, Dale," She snapped, her tone harsh and pointed. This startled Dale as his head arose quickly and his mouth was agape as his eyes were broad with awe. "You're actin' my age and you're three times it!" She quieted herself for a minute, then continued in a hushed, but fierce tone, "You're actin' really selfish and wantin' everyone to take pity on you!"

"I am, aren't I?" He asked rhetorically, feeling himself break down just a bit. "I've just made so many mistakes in my life and I feel as though I'm too old to recreate myself...for a makeover..." He admitted, not caring whether her anger who arise again. This time he said it for himself, not for her.

"No you aren't. You can always fix yourself. Always," Sophia whispered. "You are good, Dale. My dad...he isn't. He can't fix himself. There's somethin' deep inside him that's rotten and evil. He hits Mommy 'cause she's been bad even though she hasn't, and he hits me, too. Daddy isn't good like you. You can make yourself into a role model, or someone to rescue others, but some people can't..." She sniffled, as her tears were rolling on her shirt and shorts, "Daddy can't...and Daddy won't..." Dale gazed at her, not knowing what to say. He was in complete and utter shock, awe, or whatever you wanted to call it, he was in it.

"How do you know that?" He queried, looking at her for a moment, then looking down.

"I don't. If you did somethin' really bad, like Daddy then maybe you can't be fixed...but this isn't the world anymore, so maybe you can change...or pretend,"

"I neglected..." Dale said shakily, "I-I neglected my wife for years. She had cancer, you know. And she was fine with it, she knew she was to die and she was okay with it. But I wasn't. I ignored her feelings, her proposals—everything. I didn't want to hear it. My excuse was that I loved her so much that I couldn't let her go, but I was so blind by desperation, I didn't see that my wife, my wife had fallen out of love with me. She was gone, she slipped away...all because I couldn't stand to be without her...but she had learned to live without me...while she was with me..." Sophia had tears in here eyes just as Dale did at that moment as his words were caught in his throat as if he didn't pour them out, wanting to rid them forever.

"That doesn't mean you're bad! And that doesn't mean you're wrong!" Sophia shouted as quietly as she could. She was standing at this point, making a statement with her eyes close and cheeks red as the horizon. "It means you were scared! It means you were doing something for yourself, and for the people who loved her as well. You can't think that you're bad because you wanted to hold on to somethin' you love! It just makes you human!" Her words struck Dale like lightening. They burned of truth, purity, and desperation.

"She's gone now..." Dale trailed, remembering the day when his beautiful wife left him. Her face was a sickly pale color and her body was frail and petite. She looked happy that she could leave this hell-hole...and the world was perfectly in tact then. Now Dale was isolated, alienate in this cruel world alone, forgotten and so terribly guilty.

"Don't let that stop you. You're still perfectly good. You can still help someone...you are never too old to help someone, to recreate them," She breathed with such passion, it made her seem like a speaker rather than a twelve year old. "Dale, your regrets, your mistakes, they're part of you and you have to live with that part everyday. So instead of pushin' it away, embrace it. It's always going to be there. So live with it!" He felt the tears erupt again as he shook his head.

"For your age, you're the smartest person I've ever met in my life," She picked up the berries and handed Dale a few. He took them gratefully as she began to head to her mother's tent.

"You helped me, Dale," She verbalized softly, "Now I know when I get older, I'm going to be just like you and fight for who I love," She walked away until she vanished into the tent and after a couple of rustles, there was complete and utter...

Silence.

Dale felt more tears fall down his face and soak into his wrinkled skin. This time he didn't care why he was crying.

The berries were sweet.

And her words stuck with him.

~ . ~

Dale whimpered quietly as Sophia's grave was plain, right in front of him. "I'm a wretched man, Sophia. I got to live to 64 and you...you were so promisin'...and you were twelve," He shook his head and exhaled while his eyes explored the farm before him. "Your mother, I promise you is going to be happy and me...I'm not going to recreate just a single person. I'm going to change the whole group. I may be an old man, but I can still do a lot," He wanted a response...he ached for a response, but when he received none, he walked off with one final thought. "Age...has no limits,"

But just a few days after, God proved to him that his chance to see if he could fix the group was a failure. Instead, he was gone, with Sophia both taken away with so much left to live for.

A\N So I thought it was kind of weak, but if you liked it, please tell me! Please tell me who you want next time! ^.^

So jaded79, did you like the chapter? I hope you did!

Have a nice day ya'll!

'Til next time! ^.^