Disclaimer: I don't own TWD or any of the characters; though I might be able to claim this version of Mika since they gave theirs up! And Fin is definitely my creation! :)
Notes: Another Daryl and the group chapter! :) Happy (early!) Wednesday Update Folks!
Thanks to everyone who's reading! :) Kudos to LA03k64 for creating a 'Jayne's Town' esk Fin song which had me grinning like an idiot when I read it! Shiny! I love it! :D I wanna go to the crappy town where I'm a hero... LOL ^_^
Chapter Ten
(Daryl's POV)
"So, What's going on?" Rick is eyeing him face still drawn and tight from their conversation earlier, everyone is gathered around them wearing similar expressions. It's been a tense few weeks for them all.
"Mika's been in contact with Fin using those Walkies."
Rick glances past him to the tiny blonde hiding behind Carol's back staring at her feet. His expression tightening further, heavy lines drawn around his eyes while he swallows, tilts his head back to Daryl processing this, trying to temper his reaction; not wanting to scream at a little girl, no matter how frustrating their search the past few weeks have been; How much this information could have helped...
"She know where they are?"
Daryl shakes his head while Rick curses softly dragging a hand over his eyes rubbing tiredly at them.
"I was hoping we could get Fin to tell us; since she's talking to one of us at least…" and it isn't him. He swallows that bitter betrayal down feeling it burn all the way to the pit of his stomach like acid.
"I did something wrong by not telling you I was talking to her didn't I?" Mika stares up at Carol. "She made me promise not to tell; she said it wasn't safe, that you would hurt her if you found her… I don't think that's true…" She turns those big brown eyes on him. "You're not going to hurt her right?"
"How The Hell Can You Even—"
"Daryl!" Carols sharp snap stops him short. He shifts his feet crossing his arms in agitation trying to pull his temper back under control.
"Listen Mika, if Carl's hurt that badly we need to help them; bring her back here; nobody's going to hurt Fin. Daryl would never hurt her, neither would Rick or me or anyone else, you know that right?" Mika nods slowly staring at Carol now kneeling in front of her, right at eye level. "Do you know where they are?"
Mika shakes her head again. "She won't say...I asked once and she stopped talking; asked me if there was someone else in the room making me ask."
Maggie glances at him before speaking, "Do you think maybe Daryl could get her…"
"No, if she hears anyone but Mika she'll stop talking." He's damn sure of it, Hell he's surprised she's even talking to the kid at all if she's that set on staying hidden.
"So that's it. We still got nothing beyond confirmation that she's still alive out there." Tyreese looks defeated all but flings himself down into one of the chairs dragging his hands down his face scrubbing at his tired eyes, they're all exhausted feeling the strain the last two weeks especially going out nearly every day pushing further and further in every direction.
Glenn frowns rocking on his feet a few feet away next to his wife, obviously mulling something over by his expression. He jerks his head back up at the sound of defeat in Tyreese's voice taking in everyone's defeated looks.
"No come on guys! We can figure this out!" He points his hand to his wife. "Maggie, bring me those maps we used for planning the last few runs?" She nods moving without question to do what he's asked.
"We've been over those maps…" Rick starts looking even more tired than he did before the news; the hope and subsequent let down of still knowing next to nothing wearing him down further.
"No I know…but we need to look at them again. I have an idea, can't believe I didn't think of it before this…" He grabs the wide county map from his wife thanking her before laying it flat on the plastic table in front of them all. Even Tyreese climbs back to his feet joining them to stare down at it.
"The letter she left us, the whole thing was full of clues; we just weren't looking at it that way the first time we heard it…"
Maggie is nodding along with him, staring down at the map once more. "Glenn's right, between the letter and her conversations with Mika maybe we can narrow this down at least a little bit…"
"The letter said they were someplace we couldn't go…" Daryl frowns, an ugly thought occurring to him now.
"Yeah what are you thinking?" Glenn stares at him eyes hopeful.
"Back when Luke was here they talked about where he was staying, it was someplace in Virginia; when I asked Fin about it she said we couldn't go there because they don't take people in… but Luke was trying to get her to go with him; maybe they only take in people like her…"
Michonne glances at Rick expression dark. "She did mention Luke in the letter; sounds like a place for people who are immune to whatever the Hell this shit is…" Michonne's frown deepens probably thinking what they all are; Virginia is a Hell of a long way to travel to look for two people.
"Nah," Rick is shaking his head, his hand pressed to his mouth staring down at the map thoughtfully. "Those walkies have a short range, a county? Maybe a little more…"
"That aint so little." He frowns at him, he's been searching for days, weeks… he hasn't even made it outside the county yet, "that don't exactly help none." Rick glances at him grabbing a marker from the table. "She been talking to Mika every night?"
Carol nods, "Yeah sounds like it; almost every night."
"That's how she's avoiding us too I bet; asking Mika where we're going every night." Michonne shakes her head looking at Rick. "Girl's smart, she could be moving all over the place…"
"No, she says Carl can't move…they're stationary where ever they are." Ricks been working while they talk, draws a rough circle around the 'X" he's placed on the map; over the warehouse Daryl realizes when he speaks again. "This is home, here." Rick's finger presses to the tiny X on the map. "and this," he stares at the distance ledger in the corner for a moment making a rough estimate with his hand against the map and draws a looping oblong circle around it. "this is roughly how far the signal would travel before degrading…" he finishes drawing the circle they all stare down at it.
"That's still a big circle Rick."
"How clear was the signal? Was it fuzzy at all?" Rick looks at him.
"Clear as a day; she could have been in the same room with us…" his voice sounds too thick even to his own ears, he clears his throat dropping his eyes to the paper again.
Maggie leans over the paper next to him. "Can't be far then, we need to narrow it down further, this could take weeks…"
"Months…" Sasha interjects. "She could be anywhere, she could be holed up in a house somewhere…" She stares down at the map pulls a face, lips twisted into a grimace. "I mean, that's a lot of houses."
He frowns thinking it before he says it out loud. "That aint right." Rick looks at him waiting for him to continue. He shakes his head growing more certain the longer he mulls it over. "Can't be in no house, she'd need access to pain meds; or she'd want it…if Carl's that tore up? Aint no house got access to that stuff."
"Daryl let's see that letter again." Carol holds her hand out to him. No one comments on the fact that he's got it in his pocket, is carrying it around with him. Carol opens the letter scanning the words quickly finding the right passage.
"Okay; her exact words are: 'He's resting comfortably and healing, but the damage was severe; worse than Mika. He won't be able to move for some time, probably weeks. We're going to stay where we are so he can sleep until he's better, so he's not in any pain.' Mika says every time she talks to Fin she asks to speak to Carl and Fin always tells her he's sleeping; that sounds like drugs; sedation of some kind; like she made for Mika before the trip home. How many places like that are in this circle, would have drugs like that?"
Sasha leans further over the map rattling off a list. "Uh, lets see…that would be hospitals, clinics, pharmacies maybe…"
"Veterinary offices, she knows how to modify things and most of those drugs are the same as human ones." Maggie adds.
"And don't forget nursing homes," Glenn adds "Like those Vato's in Atlanta?" Rick nods writing each suggestion in the margin of the map. Then making marks on the map over the hospital symbols that fall inside the circle, then rough marks in town over things they know are there; as people call them out remembering them in passing while looking for other things. All of them possibilities they'll have to search now. Rick writes the names of each type beside them so they can figure out what's the most likely option first; start there. "I've seen two nursing homes in town..."
"There's one outside of town headed back toward the city on 83 as well." Michonne adds, "Might be in the circle, we'd have to check the distance." Rick inclines his head to her and marks it on the map.
"Every time we go into one of those places, it's gonna be really dangerous." Sasha is staring at all the small 'x' marks on the map frowning. Glenn is staring at the circle from beside Rick's shoulder leaned on his elbows over the map's surface hands steepled in front of his face.
"There's two maybe three if we count this one just outside the circle…hospitals in the area."
"No." Daryl shakes his head while they turn to him he does his best to ignore their eyes focusing on the map instead. "She'd want him close, 'specially as tore up as he'd be. Aint no way she's leaving him to get stuff all the time, she wouldn't risk that." He knows her too well to believe otherwise. He's certain that's why they didn't get a note from her for the first four days: she wouldn't risk leaving Carl until he was out of immediate danger.
"So this hospital is out," Rick draws a line through it on the map eliminating at least that possibility; it still leaves far too many small X's on the map
Carol is nodding across from him. "Daryl's right, she barely left Mika's side when she was injured and that was fighting her own injuries."
"We should start with the smaller things; there'd be a Hell of a lot less Walkers in the clinics, those hospitals will be crawling wi…" Sasha stops mid-sentence eyes going wide.
"Oh my God!" Maggie grins. "That's it!"
"It's one of the hospitals, it has to be." And he missed it.
"Daryl's right; We're looking at this all wrong. Walker's won't stop her—or Carl if she's with him, and it sounds like she never leaves him." Michonne taps her fingers over the two hospital symbols now circled on the map located on opposite sides of the circle.
"She does clearly say, 'don't look for me it's not safe for you here', A hospital full of Walkers?"
"That would do it." Rick straightens up, still looking tense despite their discovery. "Deter just about anyone from coming after them…"
They're not just anyone.
"Just like the warehouse front, hiding behind Walkers…why didn't we think of that?" Sasha shakes her head. "And she's right in the letter…we can't just walk into a hospital; it's practically suicide."
"We cleared out the Prison." Maggie is staring at Rick.
"Sasha's right those places are all over-run; they'd be in every room; packed in the hallways; hospitals the one place you can always expect to find dead guys." Tyreese shakes his head looking grim.
"Maybe we don't have to go in, maybe we just get close enough we can get a chance to talk to her," Rick throws out.
"What like write a letter? Pin it to a Walker and send it through the front door?" Beth all but rolls her eyes. "I want Carl back as much as anybody but what makes you think she's gonna talk to any of you? She left a note saying she didn't want anything more to do with us."
Daryl scowls at her anger building, but Rick answers before he can bite her head off in front of everybody. "I disagree; she left a note saying she didn't want us to hurt her so she was staying away, there's a big difference, if she didn't care she wouldn't have risked bringing that letter here at all."
"Rick's right," Maggie cuts off her sister giving her a hard look when she opens her mouth looking ready to argue more.
"So we figure out a plan, and we've got a few days to do it." Rick eyes them all in turn.
"Mika can keep talking to Fin; so we know they're still there…think you can do that for us?" The little girl nods.
"I'll take Michonne Daryl and Glenn out tomorrow, scout the first location; look for signs they're there and once we know what the location looks like we can figure out the best way to get in and get out alive. They've been gone long enough, it's time we brought them both home."
:: Walking Dead ::