The Other Daughter

by Rachel975

Juliet Peletier, Carol's daughter, had not seen her family since she left for college, but after coming home is trapped with them and old resentments during the apocalypse forced to juggle both her tense relationship with her mother and the fact she may or may not have feelings for the crossbow wielding man teaching her to defend herself. (Some major plot deviations, DarylXOC)

7. Chapter 7

What Lies Ahead

Juliet

Since the group had left the CDC, Juliet had reverted back to being in her shell. She has spoken very little over the last couple of days, and what she did say she said only to Sophia, Carol, and Daryl when she felt like it.

The experience, which admittedly had shaken her up, of what had happened in the CDC, losing Jacqui, losing Amy, it all stuck in her mind. She couldn't seem to go more than five minutes before the image of Jenner's face devoid of all hope, or Jacqui crying as she told them she was staying, or Amy's peaceful face as she lay with Andrea before she came back, or the bloody mess that used to be Ed after she took a pick-axe to him flashed up in her mind. On the rare occasion she managed to forget all of it Andrea would be there looking just as hopeless as Jenner. She had wanted to stay and die in the CDC, and even though she had left it was clear the thoughts of death being better than what they had now were sticking in her mind.

And, not that she'd say anything, but the same thoughts kept crossing Juliet's mind.

In the CDC she had been so determined that now Ed was gone everything was better, for her, for Sophia, for Carol and that they had to survive and make the best of that. Driving away she'd begun to second guess herself, and honestly, she hadn't stopped since then.

Rick and the others had seemed hopeful about the nursing home where the Vatos lived, but it was another dead end. It had been just a few days since Rick and the others had been there, but it was a graveyard by the time they all arrived there.

Juliet was sat on her own in the corridor outside the rooms they were all sleeping in, listening carefully for any movement outside. She had offered to keep watch because the place creeped her out, and even if someone was keeping watch who she trusted she wouldn't be able to sleep. Of course this was the ostensible reason, the real one being that she couldn't shut out the thoughts plaguing her mind for long enough to sleep.

She heard footsteps coming out of the room on her right, and immediately pulled her legs up to her chest in case someone needed to pass. Instead they sat down beside her, and she looked over to see Daryl and smiled at him. She knew for a fact that the smile she wore was becoming less and less convincing by the hour.

"I don't need help, I can keep watch by myself." she told him. She had said the same to Shane earlier when he offered to help.

"Brought you somethin' I found today." he told her, ignoring her statement. Despite having resolved not to speak again until he went away and accepted she could keep watch by herself this did peak her curiosity, and she mentally scolded herself for being materialistic.

"What did you bring me?" she asked. He looked pleased that she hadn't just told him to go away again and tossed a packet of Oreo cookies. She grinned at him; it was genuine this time.

"Found 'em in the staff kitchen here. One of the cupboards was completely full; someone must have forgotten to clean it out. There were two, I gave one to your little sister. She told me they were her favourite as well as yours and gave me a hug." She laughed softly.

"They are. I used to bring them back on my way home from school every Friday and we'd just eat the whole packet. She always got more than me, not that I minded. Even when I was going through my moody I hate everything phase I still did it. It was the only time I'd pay her any attention for months." she told him, a faint smile lingering on her lips. "Thank you."

"Wanted to get you somethin' to cheer you up. There wasn't really anythin' better."

She wondered if Daryl understood why she was upset at the moment and quickly determined that he probably didn't.

"They have." she assured him. It wasn't a lie. Obviously they hadn't suddenly made everything she was feeling go away, but it was sweet of him to try, and that made her feel a little better. "It was kind of you to bring me these."

"I'll try and find you somethin' else some other time."

"You don't have to bring me stuff like this."

"I know. I'm doin' it 'cause I wanna. 'Cause you and the little kid ain't got anyone else to get you stuff you want."

"Neither do most people here."

"Well I don't like most people here."

"I'm so honoured I'm different then."

"You should be."

She laughed softly and leant back against the wall, closing her eyes for a few long seconds. In moments like this, speaking and laughing with someone it was easy to forget everything, what had happened and what was still happening outside the walls they were sheltering inside. When it all came crashing back to her head it was even harder to deal with. It was why she tended to stay away from people when she was feeling like this. The few good moments among the miserable ones just proved how little there was to be happy about these days.

"I'm so tired." she admitted quietly. She hadn't slept since the CDC. She felt like even with everything weighing down on her that she was now at the point of exhaustion where it had stopped mattering and she'd just be able to sleep with it anyway.

"Sleep then. I'm not. I'll make sure nothin' gets past us." Daryl offered. She wanted to refuse, but her eyelids were suddenly too heavy to keep open for more than a few seconds. She nodded reluctantly and covered her mouth as she yawned.

"Fine, but I may end up using your shoulder as a pillow."

"'S alright."

Juliet did end up using his shoulder as a pillow. She only slept for a couple of hours, but she woke feeling a lot better than she had when she went to sleep. She didn't speak to Daryl, just moved her head off his shoulder and rested back against the wall again.

"You didn't miss nothin'." he assured her without looking at her. She nodded.

"Can I ask you something?" she asked him. He thought for a minute.

"Depends what you wanna know."

"Did you suggest we come back here because you thought your brother would be here?" He looked for what felt like a long time like he wasn't going to answer her. Eventually he swallowed and nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Then when we came in… Thought he mighta been the one to tear this place down, and he was hidin' somewhere. He coulda with two hands, but not with one. Not with the blood he lost. He's as good as dead. It was some other asshole, not him."

"Maybe someone else found him."

"Anyone who took Merle in, one hand or not, is either fuckin' stupid or a psychopath."

"Probably true."

"Sophia came out asking for you."

"You should have woken me up."

"You needed to sleep. You looked like you were about to pass out all day."

"That is why you came out here." Juliet accused him, and he sighed.

"Obviously. I know how you are, not sleepin' when certain people are on watch."

"That's not it. Well, it usually is, but not now. There's a lot on my mind right now, and it's not so easy to sleep with it running around my head."

"You didn't seem too bothered a few minutes ago."

"I was always going to succumb to exhaustion eventually, even if I did just dream about the same things keeping me awake."

"Like nightmares?" Juliet nodded in response. "'Bout what?"

"The CDC. Amy. What I did with that pick-axe. Whether or not I'd just be better off dead."

"Don't say shit like that."

"Why?"

"'Cause you wouldn't. Sophia needs you around, remember?"

"Maybe she'd be better off dead too. Out of all this misery."

"You're just tired; you ain't thinkin' straight."

"Maybe." Juliet thought that actually she was thinking clearer than she had done since all this started, second guessing whether this was better or not.

Daryl

"I'm just saying, taking stuff from their trunks is fine, but taking a jacket off of a corpse seems a little more morally ambiguous. Even if it is really nice." Daryl rolled his eyes at her as she lounged on the hood of a car. 'I might as well relax for a while' Juliet had said when they had stopped because the RV had broken down again. Still, she had to be feeling better if she was being her usual unhelpful self again, and it was somewhat relieving, mostly because he wouldn't have to have another heart to heart with her while everyone else was asleep.

'That's twice now.' she had commented with a laugh before they left, before being sworn to silence. It had been bought with a packet of cigarettes. He hadn't realised she smoked.

"Well then look through the damn trunk." Daryl sighed at her. She laughed, lighting up one of the cigarettes after checking her mother and Sophia were out of sight. "Do you even realise that you're in a fuckin' apocalypse?" Juliet laughed, blowing the smoke out in small puffs.

"It's too hot to worry about that right now."

"You take anythin' seriously?"

"Nope."

He wanted to laugh at her, but it would have given her too much satisfaction. Instead he just kept looking through the overfilled trunks of the 'car graveyard' as Sophia had named it and smirked to himself when he knew she couldn't see. Juliet didn't say anything else to him. She was good at knowing when he'd had enough of a conversation, usually because she became disinterested at about the same time as he did. Still, she managed to engage him in conversation more than most people they were travelling with did, enough that he had accidentally agreed to let her travel by motorcycle with him most of the time.

Once she'd finished smoking, Juliet threw the cigarette on the ground and slid off the hood to stomp it out. She walked next to him and started sifting through the stuff. She looked longingly at some of the dresses she found but, apparently choosing this moment to start being somewhat practical, she didn't take any of them out. Daryl looked at her questioningly.

"It's a bad example to Sophia if I'm running around in dresses and skirts and other non-apocalypse approved clothing. I'm trying to be more practical." He gave another sceptical look to the tight shorts and t-shirt she was wearing and she smiled faintly. "I didn't say it was going well."

"Obviously not. Ain't nothin' in here worth takin' anyway." He shut the trunk with a loud thud as soon as she took her hands away. He expected a lecture, or at the very least a sarcastic, slightly annoyed comment about his standard of English again, but it never came. She was busy now watching Sophia and Carl weaving between the cars, chasing each other. A quick glance over to her mother told him that she was preoccupied talking to Lori.

"Sophia!" Juliet called loudly. Her sister stopped immediately. "Watch where you're going, and don't run too far, okay? Keep the noise down." Sophia nodded, as did Carl, and they turned around, running back a little closer to their mothers. "Honestly, she can't even keep an eye on her own damn daughter, how irresponsible! Like it's my job to take care of her." It was quite clear she didn't expect a reply, nor from the way that she said it under her breath that she had particularly wanted Daryl to hear, so he just shrugged and watched as she forced another car open.

"Y'know if I'd realised how much drama came with you I'd never have bothered teachin' you to shoot." Juliet looked at him as though trying to determine whether or not he was serious before she laughed softly and rolled her eyes.

"Damn shame no-one else can put up with you. You could have befriended them instead and hated me from a distance."

"Damn shame no-one else can put up with you, then I could get some time to myself."

"Fine, I'll go off by myself then." she said, laughing, pushing off the car and making like she was going to walk off.

Daryl saw none of this. He was too busy looking behind her at the swarm of walkers approaching. There must have been at least three hundred if not more.

He caught her arm tightly, and she looked at him, all joking suddenly washed from her face. She looked at him, slightly annoyed, and he just nodded, still looking behind. Juliet turned around and looked immediately horrified, trying to pull her arm away. It was obvious she wanted to go to Sophia, but he tightened his grip, hoping he wasn't hurting her.

"Down." he mouthed to her. "She's with Carol."

Juliet visibly gave up, and the two got to the ground. He let her shimmy under the car before he followed her down. They ended up facing each other, and he watched as she closed her eyes. She was either counting or thinking of a quote. He knew full well she wasn't praying for her sister to be okay, because she had mentioned her outward dislike of anything religious a few times in conversation. She opened her eyes, looking at him without blinking for a long time. She looked a lot like she was about to start crying. He took her hand on a whim, hoping it might make her feel slightly better, and she smiled weakly at him.

They stayed like that for what felt like a long time before Juliet's eyes grew wide. Letting go of her hand he turned slightly to see what it was – A trail of blood dripping down T-Dog's arm. He had obviously been cut badly.

"Stay here." he told her silently, and she nodded. He waited until there was a large gap before diving out from under the car. It was hardly a job worthy of his tracking skills, the trail of blood was obvious under the bright sun. He took out an arrow, not loading the crossbow, not wanting to risk the noise of even just pulling the trigger and getting himself killed.

He jammed the arrow in to the head of the walker approaching the other man who was near passed out on the ground. Thinking quickly, Daryl shoved the corpse on top of him, and dragged another out of the car to go over himself. He couldn't see Juliet from there, but he hoped she'd had the good sense to stay under the car, away from anything that might kill her. He felt guilty for leaving her is such a state on her own, but the way he saw it, she was better off alone than T-Dog would have been. The cut on his arm was ugly, bleeding heavily. Daryl hoped this all passed quickly so he could get him seen to. Juliet would probably be pleased that he was helping the group, other members that was.

Truth was, since they had left the CDC, he'd realised he needed to prove his worth to them a little further than just getting the occasional squirrel for them to eat.

Apart from a few stragglers, the herd seemed to have passed now, and he left it another minute before getting up. He was just going to check on Juliet when he heard the commotion. He moved quickly to see exactly what was going on, just in time to watch Rick go in to the forest. It took no time at all to realise who he was running after – Sophia.

He might have laughed at how long it had taken Juliet to get up from the ground if it hadn't been wholly inappropriate. As she approached and realised what had happened, he realised what she was about to do and caught her arm again.

"Let me go!" she yelled at him. He glared at her.

"Keep your voice down, woman, they just passed, you wanna bring them back? You think that's gonna help the kid?" She shook her head. "No, didn't think so. You go in there now, you're gonna get lost, and fat lot of good you'll be to her then. Rick's got this. Stop tryin' to be a fuckin' martyr." At any other time she would have said something snide about complicated words but now she just looked at the ground, almost guiltily and nodded. He removed his hand from her arm and she wrapped her arms around herself. She looked very small, he thought, still standing slightly away from the group. Juliet made no attempt to go to her mother, who was still being cradled by Lori.

Everyone waited on the side of the road, although Daryl left briefly to take Dale to get T-Dog and help him back to the RV with him.

"They've been gone too long. Something's wrong." Juliet had said very quietly to him, mindful of her mother overhearing. He had told her not to think like that, that she was being ridiculous.

It turned out though, when Rick returned looking severely downtrodden, alone, that she was right. She didn't even look at him before she walked away, far enough that she wouldn't overhear anything being said about her little sister.

It was decided quickly that he, Rick, Glenn and Shane would all go back to the creek she had been left in.

"I'm coming too." Daryl had almost forgotten that Juliet was there. Shane laughed cruelly. She stared daggers at him. "I'm not in the mood for your patronising bullshit. I can shoot a gun, and a damn sight better than Glenn can, and probably you, and if you say one word about why I shouldn't be coming to look for my sister, I will shoot you in your dick. Clear?" Shane just stared at her, and despite the situation, Daryl had to force himself not to laugh. She said nothing else before turning on her heel and heading off to the woods.

As the rest of them set off, Shane looked rather distressed by what she had said, and quickly turned to the other men to begin his line of questioning.

"That was unfair, right?" he said to Glenn.

"Not at all. You deserved that." he heard Glenn say to Shane quietly as they all hurried to keep up with her. "Wouldn't have surprised me if she'd actually pulled a gun on him right there." This did not reassure Shane in the least.

"She wouldn't actually. Would she?" The question seemed to be directed at Daryl who shrugged. Shane sounded delightfully worried by this threat. He wouldn't want to spoil it by saying no, and besides, in her current very defensive mind-set, plus her hatred for bullshit chauvinism (which is what he assumed was going on when Shane laughed at her) anyway, he really would not put it past her.

"Just watch your mouth, wouldn't want to give her any reason to let us find out, would you?" Rick asked him. Shane shook his head hurridly. As Daryl caught up to Juliet he could see that despite the situation, she was trying not to laugh too, clearly having overheard a lot of what had been said.

"I wouldn't really." Juliet whispered to him, far too hushed for any of the others to hear. "Wouldn't want to tarnish Andrea's gun like that." Dale had obviously let her make off with it. It wasn't a great gun, but it would do to keep her safe. Daryl made a mental note to try and find her one at some point, she needed her own badly.

"I'll lend you mine if you let me watch."

"Deal."

Juliet sobered considerably and drew quieter as they approached the creek. He was glad her mind had been taken off things for a while but understandably it had now diverted back to Sophia. Daryl wondered for a split second if she might come running out of the creek then, in to her sisters arms, Rick just having forgotten exactly where he left her. Of course, that was not what happened.

"Sophia!" Juliet called out. She sounded helpless and lost, and there was a quiver to her voice that threatened she might break down at any moment.

Juliet

As the others spoke about where her little sister might have gone off to, Juliet leaned against a tree smoking. If she tried to help she would have either started screaming or crying, and either seemed undignified and even less helpful than what she was currently doing. She pointedly ignored the pitiful glances everyone, including Daryl, kept throwing her way.

She really needed a drink.

Picking up her trail was done with ease, and for as long as they were following it in the right direction, Juliet kept hope that she might just have slowly made her way back, that they'd get there and she'd be okay. Tonight, she told herself, she'd just hold her and be thankful that she was okay, and then tomorrow she would scream at her and make sure she never did something as stupid as this again, and then she'd scream even louder at Rick because if had been his own son he never would have left him alone in that creek for even a second. She never got the opportunity to do any of this though.

"She was doin' just fine till right here." Daryl announced, pointing at the ground. The soft tracks they were following did appear to stop going straight. "All she had to do was keep goin'. She veered off that way." He pointed in another direction, away from the highway. Juliet cursed under her breath. If she had just waited for Rick, none of this would have happened. If Juliet had gone after them she would have found Sophia in the woods and brought her back.

"Did she see something? A walker, maybe? Someone else from another group could have come through, right?" Juliet asked. She knew she was grasping at loose ends. Daryl shook his head.

"Nah, don't think so. Only tracks here is hers."

"Do we keep going then, or what?" Juliet asked. She knew that even if the others headed back she would keep going. Even if she couldn't track she could at least look. She might even convince Daryl to help her.

"Glenn and I will go back to the highway, keep the others busy, give your Mom an update." Shane replied. He still seemed a little skittish of her. It raised her spirits a little. "You three can keep going, unless you'd rather come back and check on her. Your call." He seemed eager not to displease her now or tell her to do anything. In any other situation it would have been funny.

"I'm gonna keep going, I think. When we find her she'll want me there." Juliet reasoned. Rick nodded in agreement.

The group split quickly, and the three quickly picked up Sophia's tracks again. Occasionally Juliet would feel a reassuring pat on the back from Rick who gave her the same heartfelt smile each time, and she would feel guilty for blaming him. She appreciated him trying to make her feel better, but she wasn't too fond of contact from people she didn't know very well, and it made her rather uncomfortable. It was of some consolation that Daryl, every time they stopped when the track got faint to determine which direction exactly they should be going in, would put a hand on her shoulder for a few seconds before leaving her alone. That was the level of comforting she preferred, not that she had the heart to tell Rick that. It was obvious he felt guilty about leaving Sophia on her own. When she became very distant at one point, mostly because she wanted to smoke again but had only brought one with her and left the others in her bag, Rick gave her a hug. Daryl had disguised his laugh very badly with a cough.

They came, after a while, to the end of the tracks.

"They just stop?" Juliet asked Daryl worriedly. He shook his head.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone. She came through here." Juliet breathed an audible sigh of relief at the reassurance, and there was Rick with another hug. She felt even more awkward being hugged by him than she did when Carol attempted to do so. The only person who she liked hugging her was Sophia, and, well, technically she hadn't complained when Daryl hugged her in the CDC, but that was because she was emotional, drunk, and he was even more awkward than she was.

"How can you tell? I don't see anything." Rick said. She agreed, but unlike Rick she was more than happy to just stand back and let Daryl take the lead. This was something he actually knew more about than she did, and there were precious few of those things in existence.

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" he asked Rick exasperatedly, shaking his head.

"I'm voting on Rick's behalf that he can have a lesson in tracking shit after we find my little sister." she said impatiently. She was aware that the longer they left Sophia out here, the more time there would be for something terrible to happen to her.

"Yes ma'am." Daryl said sarcastically. She glared and elbowed him in the ribs, but it was light and joking, the way things appeared to usually be with them now.

"Carol is going to be freaking out right now, isn't she?" Juliet asked him with a deep sigh. She could see Daryl weighing up whether or not he was going to lie about it.

"Probably." he said eventually. She didn't look happy about what he had said, and Rick shot him a warning glance, but it pleased her more than it would have if he had lied to her. She hated being lied to about anything.

Juliet did not voice her concern that Carol was probably also worried about her out there searching for her younger sister. She wondered if she should have stayed with her instead of coming out, given that she wasn't helping all that much, but she knew if she had stayed she would have driven herself mad with waiting and ended up taking it out on Carol. For once, it was not her fault.

A few minutes later, once they had begun following the trail again, which got clearer, and steadily fainter than before, they came across the walker. Horrified that it might have hurt her little sister, Juliet's eyes darkened and she took Rick's knife and drove it through the walker's eye without thinking. She passed the blade back to Rick without saying anything, looking at the corpse on the ground. That time, she felt a hand on her shoulder and relaxed a lot more than she would have if it was Rick. He was probably too busy being shocked to remember to comfort her.

She turned to look at Daryl, silently wondering if this… thing had happened upon her sister before they did. Almost as if he was reading her mind Daryl shrugged.

"Only one sure way to tell." Juliet paled.

"I can't watch." As she spoke, Rick knelt down, as did Daryl. Rick went to cut but Daryl held his hand up, stopping him.

"How many kills you skin and gut in your life?" He had a point, and Rick knew it. He put down his knife, and let Daryl in closer to the corpse on the ground. "Anyway, mine is sharper." If she'd been more confident and less emotionally unstable, she might have turned that into some kind of innuendo. She thought sadly that Amy would have if she was there. She also would have been a comforting presence amongst just the two men. She would have been as eager to help as Juliet, perhaps still not as useful. Juliet would have fought for her to come along though.

For the first time since she had died, Juliet truly missed her friend.

Snapping her out of her thoughts, Daryl cut in to the walker. He prised the flesh open with a disgusting squelch in to the walkers abdomen. She covered her mouth. That noise mixed with the smell of blood and rotting flesh. She wasn't even looking and she knew in about ten seconds she was either going to faint or…

She threw up. She'd felt like she was about to since Sophia disappeared in to the forest, and this was not helping. There wasn't a lot to get up luckily.

"You okay?" Daryl asked her. She nodded weakly, leaning one had against a tree to hold herself upright.

"Perfect." Her tone was dripping with sarcasm. One look at him told her that he knew now what a ridiculous question that was at a time like this. Daryl looked at her, almost as though to confirm it was okay for him to go on with this. She nodded again, looking away.

"Just get it over with."

Daryl had the stomach of the walker remove after a minute or so. He kept saying things, and she was just focussing on trying not to throw up again. Not that she had anything more to throw up. She heard them cutting in to that and gagged, breathing deeply and slowly.

"Are you gonna throw up again?" Rick asked her. She glared, but not at him, because then she'd have to turn around and see it. She shook her head.

"Not Sophia." Daryl announced. "Not unless she grew a beak while we were lookin' for her." She didn't even mention his poor attempt at humour. She just sighed, relieved that it wasn't her.

"At least we know." Juliet said softly. They repeated it after her, which irritated her for no reason. "Could you guide me… Elsewhere? Where I can't see that thing? Please?" After a moment she felt each of her arms being taken, and despite herself she smiled. They walked for about a minute before Rick let go of her. Daryl looked at her questioningly.

"You able to stand on you own?" She did still feel a little faint.

"I can manage." Her tone was not convincing, which Daryl clearly picked up on. Knowing she would never ask for help though he just looked at her.

"Humour me and lemme help you." She didn't protest it. In fact she was very grateful that he was holding her up, because she was pretty sure she would have been floored in seconds.

"Where'd you learn what 'humour me' means?"

"From you, obviously." She smiled at him. "I can't find anything else." He told her dejectedly. "Trail's gone cold."

"That's okay. We tried out best. We'll look again tomorrow." The words tasted sour to her, and she wanted to start crying rather than just accept defeat. The thought of Sophia out there overnight, alone and hungry was unbearable, and yet, there was no more they could do. Sure, she could insist on staying out there, and they might stay with her, but they'd just be chasing their tails in the dark. Besides, if there was no trail now, where would they even go? There weren't enough of them to fan out and search properly.

Without any of them saying anything, it became clear that they were headed back to camp. She didn't protest this. She was tired and she would raid the RV until she found some toothpaste so she could get the disgusting aftertaste out of her mouth. And she would try very hard not to think about Sophia and to ignore the feeling of failure building up inside her.

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked as soon as they got back.

"We'll look tomorrow." Juliet said after Daryl let go of her arm. She was horribly unsteady, but she refused to be held up any more. As if remembering only in that moment that she existed Carol looked at her and put her arms around her. There was far too much human contact going on today for her to be at all comfortable. Still, refusing Carol in her clearly very upset state was ridiculously cruel, and Juliet even returned the hug, albeit somewhat reluctantly. Carol either didn't notice or didn't care.

It was an odd moment for Juliet. On the one hand, she and her mother had for once not had to have a screaming match to be civil to each other, and on the other hand she knew that Carol was wishing desperately that it was her other daughter who was there. She wondered if it had been her (not that she ever would have been so careless as Sophia of course) if Carol would have worried. Probably a little, but if she hadn't been found in a day, how much fuss would she have made to get them to stay? Not a lot, most likely. If it had been her they would have moved on by morning.

"She's only twelve, Juliet, please, you have to go back out there, look again, she's your sister!" Carol wasn't screaming yet, but Juliet anticipated she would be soon, hysterically, and Juliet really didn't have the patience for it, because she was fairly close herself.

"We'd just be going in circles. I know it's hard but she's a smart kid, she'll be holed up somewhere for the night and we'll find her tomorrow when we can look again, right?" She looked to Daryl for conformation, and he nodded.

"Yeah, we'll find her tomorrow." Carol looked at him closely, assured for only a moment before looking terrified again.

"Why is there blood on him?" She sounded like she was hyperventilating. If nothing else, Juliet and Carol reacted very similarly in times of crisis.

"Carol, breathe. Slowly." Juliet told her. She only spoke again once she had stopped. "They cut open a walker I took down out there, it had eaten a woodpecker. It's all fine." Carol finally looked a bit calmer, but as she turned to Rick it was clear this wouldn't last very long.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with?" Carol demanded.

"Those two walkers were on us, I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick sounded like he didn't quite believe this himself. While Juliet blamed him entirely, as she supposed her mother did, it wasn't fair to make him feel any guiltier while she was still out there. However, Carol much like Juliet, was probably looking to blame anyone but herself, because deep down she felt guilty for not being there or not going after her.

"There was no right thing for him to do there, Carol, if she'd stayed with him one of them could have easily got her. We can't blame Rick." Juliet told her. Carol didn't look forgiving in the least, but she nodded. "Come on, let's go back to the RV, get you something to drink, okay?" Juliet nodded to the rest of the group as she led her mother away.

Daryl

"I can't stay in there anymore!"

He was sat on top of the trailer on one of the RV's portable chairs when Juliet came out. As he could see it there were several reasons for her to come out, but the most likely two were either her mother's loud crying (which of course she couldn't be blamed for which was why she was coming out instead of yelling at her) or her fairly severe claustrophobia preventing her from being able to sleep in a relatively small trailer with four other people.

Any attempt at sympathy or conversation would have just annoyed her in this mood, so instead Daryl just held out his half empty flask to her that he had been swigging from since they arrived back that evening. She took it gratefully.

"You bring any other chairs out?" Juliet asked after taking a particularly long drink. He smirked and shook his head.

"Didn't think I'd have company."

"You should know better than that by now." She thought for a moment, taking another drink from the flask. "I can go if you want me to." It was a sincere offer, but Daryl immediately shook his head, refusing, in part because he liked having her around but also because she was already upset about the events of the day. Sending her away would be like kicking a puppy. She smiled brightly when he rejected the offer and sat on the ground, leaning against the railing.

"How's Carol doin'?" Daryl knew as soon as the question passed his lips that it was the wrong one to have asked by the expression of disgust her face had twisted in to.

"Well, she's stopped blaming Rick entirely." That didn't sound too awful. "And now she's convinced herself it's my fault for not keeping an eye on her, being under a different car, not going after her, not looking hard enough… I know I have to be patient with her right now but she's driving me crazy. She just wants to put this on anyone who isn't her. As if I didn't already feel bad enough!" she told him exasperatedly. "I think she just wants me to throw my hands up and head back out there now." Daryl was about to protest this but she rolled her eyes. "I know, that wouldn't help and I'll just end up getting myself killed. I'm just going to keep out of her way until we find her tomorrow." There was no obvious doubt in her voice. She was seemingly convinced that her sister would be found tomorrow when they all went out looking. Daryl firmly believed that too.

"I'll get you a chair. You can keep watch with me, keep out of her way." He stood up to go and she grabbed his hand.

"I really appreciate what you're doing for me, you know. Putting up with me… Looking for Sophia. I know you're not obligated to. Hell, you don't even have to stay with us anymore, you could make it on your own. So… Thank you. For everything." She let go of his hand and turned so she was looking back out at the long highway stretched in front of them. He didn't smile until he was turned around away from her.

He retrieved her a chair, and crept inside the RV for a blanket and the jacket Shane had given her. It was damn cold up there now, even though the days were so hot.

When he went back up he saw that she had settled in to his chair. Instead of complaining he set up the other one beside it and sat in that, handing her the things he had gathered for her. She put the jacket on and laid the blanket over her knees. Juliet looked at him for a moment before grinning.

"You know, I won't tell anyone." she assured him.

"Won't tell 'em what?" He wondered if he'd regret asking.

"That you're actually a nice person." Juliet gestured to the blanket, still smiling. She looked like her mind was occupied somewhere other than her sister for now. Daryl shook his head at her.

"Yeah… You better not."

"Never." she promised, sounding distinctly like she wouldn't be all that inclined to keep her word. Her grin didn't help the reassurance. "So, I've been thinking, since, you know, I'm your only friend," Her persistence if nothing else was something to be admired. "That would make me your best friend, wouldn't it?" He glowered at her, and she laughed loudly. "Glare all you want, it's true."

"Shut up." She just laughed again.

"You think that will ever work?"

"I live in hope." She rolled her eyes.

"That would be five hundred percent more believable if you weren't grinning like an idiot, you know that?"

"Shut up."

She looked at him blankly for a long moment before they both laughed. The laugh she had when she was being polite, laughing at something she didn't actually find funny was a lot less abrupt, quieter, and distinctly less annoying than her actual laugh, yet he liked this one better. Not a lot of people in the group actually made her laugh.

"What time are we leaving anyway?"

"Soon as everyone's awake. Make lots of noise when it gets light, get everyone up." Daryl suggested. She contemplated it for a moment before seemingly coming to the conclusion that this was actually a pretty good idea.

"And what time is it now?"

"We've got a couple hours." She nodded, tapping her foot on the ground, as though that might make time pass a little faster. "You'll wake 'em up if you keep doing that." She looked down and stopped immediately, realising that they were sitting right on top of various sleeping members of the group. "Have you had any sleep?" Juliet shook her head. He sighed. "Sleep now then. I'll wake you up as soon as it gets light."

"I'm not tired. Besides, I want to be awake in case…" she stopped.

"In case she comes back?" Juliet nodded miserably.

"I know she won't. I'm not that deluded. But the one in a million chance that she might makes me want to stay here so I can see her when she gets here and look after her like I was supposed to. I swear I'll look after her if we find her. I won't let anything else happen to her." Juliet wasn't talking to him anymore. It was almost like she was saying it to herself, or some higher being that she might be able to bargain with for this. She looked, as she had done for most of the day, like she might burst into tears at any moment.

"No 'if' about it." he told her firmly. "We're gonna find her."

"We might. It's a big forest. She a little kid with no survival skills. If a walker hasn't gotten her she's probably eaten something poisonous or hit her head tripping over something. The longer she's out there, the more likely that something's happened to her and she won't come back." Juliet was incredibly pessimistic by nature, it seemed to go hand in hand with her general sarcasm and cynicism which was the true persona lying beneath the rather shy girl she seemed to be to most people who met her and didn't know her very well, yet he had hoped that maybe she'd be more optimistic about her sister. She had assured everyone all evening that she was fine, just looking forward to finding her the next day, and now that seemed to be an act, like so many things she did. Daryl had little to no idea why she was so honest with him. Probably to do with the fact that he was quite likeminded and negative.

Not with this though. He had every hoped that they – that he – would find Sophia, holed up somewhere warm. She might be hungry, scared, exhausted, but they would find her, with no bites, alive, tomorrow when they went looking.

"We're gonna find her."

Juliet could have argued, but instead she looked dubious for a second before she nodded firmly and smiled again.

"Of course we are. Ignore me, I know I'm just being negative. I'm worried though. Obviously I'll be fine as soon as we find her… Today I thought I'd be mad at her when we found her, but now I'm just going to be relieved. I won't even be able to tell her off enough to get her not to do it again."

"She's not stupid. She'll know how worried you are."

"I have this horrible theory… I'll tell you when she comes back. You'll think it's so ridiculous. It's worst case scenario."

"Don't think about all that shit. Keep your mind on something else." Suddenly she smiled very mischievously.

"Okay… Then tell me stuff about your life before all this, to keep my mind off it."

"I'll answer questions, and for every one you ask me, I ask you one." he modified it. He had no desire to tell anyone about himself, but he supposed, better her than anyone else. And she'd probably been looking for a way to quiz him for weeks. She nodded, finding it agreeable, and opened her mouth to speak. "No, I get to go first." She rolled her eyes, but didn't complain. "Why California?"

"What, why did I go there for college?" He nodded. "I wanted to be as far away from Ed and Carol as I could while still being in the country in case Sophia needed me. Plus, UCL was the best one that offered me a scholarship. Where'd you get the crossbow?"

"I got my first one from my brother when I was thirteen, for huntin'. Found it suited me, and bought this one to replace it when it broke. Damn good thing to have in the apocalypse. Might teach you to use one if we ever happen across another. Less noise than a gun. Quotes?"

"Are you completely incapable of asking a coherent question?" He smirked and nodded. She sighed before answering, taking a little more time to mull this one over. "It makes me sound clever, and pretentious, and I lived with someone for a while who did it."

"Roommate?"

"It's not your turn."

"It's part of the first question."

"Then no, not a roommate." She didn't meet his eyes as she spoke.

"You told me you moved in with your roommate as soon as you left home."

"I did."

"And you still lived with her when all this happened?"

"No. I just still called her my roommate. Stop asking me questions now. Let me ask you something." Her tone was not confident or commanding. If anything it was pleading. Juliet was biting down softly on her thumb, picking at a non-existent thread on her jumper. She'd told him a lot about her family over time, about what had happened to her, because, in her own words, it was Ed's fault, not hers, and, by his own estimation, she trusted him not to tell anyone else. There was very little she wasn't perfectly happy to tell him seemingly, and yet somehow he had managed to stumble in to the one area she would do anything to avoid.

"Sorry." he said quietly. It was meant as something genuine.

"It's okay." It clearly wasn't. Her discomfort was written very definitely one her face. She kept looking at her clothes, her hands, anything that wasn't him. She stopped picking at the thread, and lay her hand on her lap, seeming completely unable to keep still. She tapped her fingers on the arm of her chair restlessly, remembering not to tap her foot. He laid his hand over hers after a minute, jerking her out of her thoughts.

"You know, you can always, uh, talk to me, I guess, about whatever. I won't complain." Juliet smiled wanly at how uncomfortable he was being sympathetic.

"Out of your comfort zone with this, Dixon?" He grinned at her and nodded. Her tone was lighter now, slightly jovial. As always it struck him how quickly she managed to change her mood. "I'm kind of pretending everything before the apocalypse was a bad dream. If you want to keep a secret, you must also hide it from yourself. That's from Nineteen-Eighty-Four if you're interested. Truth is, when I left my parents house I thought everything would be okay, and I ended up being just as miserable in California for a multitude of different reasons. I keep feeling so relieved that I didn't end up stuck there when all this went down. Now, feel free never to talk to me about any of this again, and for god's sake, don't mention any of this to Carol. She thinks I was happy at college and I intend to keep it that way. No reason for her to know." The conversation was very obviously over, shut down. She wasn't looking for sympathy, and she didn't want to explain anything to him and get it off her chest. Juliet seemed simply to be telling him what she had because of his morbid curiosity and a sense of obligation.

"You know I've actually read that book."

"Are you kidding me?" She looked very relieved he was changing the subject. He shook his head. It had been mandatory reading in ninth grade, but he didn't say that. Daryl was willing to let her think he had actually picked up a book of his own accord, which technically he had. He'd enjoyed it. It was the only book he actually owned. "I really miss my copy." Daryl didn't say it, but he did too.

"I'll find you one."

"I'll lend it to you when you do."

He was about to say something else when they heard someone climbing the RV and turned to see who it was. Juliet got up when she saw it was Carol, looking tired with red eyes, obviously having been crying quite a lot. She looked over apologetically before putting her arm around her mother and leading her down off the roof. They walked a little way before they stopped, still well within Daryl's line of vision, but not in earshot. He watched them speaking. It didn't look particularly amicable, but neither was yelling at the other or crying yet, so he took that as progress.

Juliet didn't come back up to the RV. As she wasn't around to do it, as soon as it got light he stood up and walked back and forth across the roof with heavy steps. Everyone woke up fairly quickly.

Juliet

"So I'm not allowed a gun while we're out looking for my sister?"

"We're not gonna get spilt up." Rick assured her. She raised one eyebrow dubiously and folded her arms. "Hopefully we won't be shooting anything anyway. Too much noise. You come across a walker, use a knife. I'd rather not attract another herd."

It seemed perfectly reasonable, and yet Juliet wanted to argue with it. If they did get in to a situation where guns were necessary, three people carrying out of all of them probably wouldn't be enough. Andrea was stood by them, looking as pissed off as Juliet felt. She wasn't allowed to carry one either apparently, and she owned her own gun, unlike Juliet. She was even more within her right to be allowed one.

"Just leave it." Daryl said, leaning against a car. He had been anxious to get going all morning, having woken everyone up at the crack of dawn. She'd made it clear how grateful she was. In all this he was the only one keeping her sane.

"Fine. If you die, either of you, I get your gun." Daryl and Rick looked at each other as if to size up whether or not she was joking. She kept a straight, stony face, saying nothing. She winked at Andrea when they turned away. She smiled weakly at Juliet, who had already promised herself that she would make more conversation with her. She hadn't spoken to her really since Amy died, and she was so obviously on the outskirts of the group. If nothing else, it would keep Juliet busy. As they began to walk she turned to Daryl. "I wasn't kidding."

She and Daryl walked together most of the day, falling in to conversation occasionally, but mostly just comfortable being silent.

"I'm going to walk with Andrea. I think she could use the conversation." Juliet said abruptly. She had been watching her on her own for most of the day, and she felt like she needed to talk to someone else anyway so Daryl could be by himself.

"Go ahead. I know I'm not much company."

"That's not it!" Juliet assured him quickly. "I just think she looks lonely, all the time. You know you'll always be my best friend." Daryl rolled his eyes, which she thought didn't hide his small smile particularly well. She took his hand and gave it a squeeze before she hurried off in front.

"Hey Juliet." Andrea said with a smile.

"Hey. How you doing?" Andrea nodded instead of saying anything. "This whole not carrying a gun thing is such bullshit." That seemed like a good start to a conversation. At least she knew Andrea would have a lot to say about it.

"I know, right? Utter bullshit. We're just as good as them, or we would be, if someone would teach us." Juliet stole a quick glance back to Daryl. He was on his own now. He gave her a small smile before looking around again. Juliet decided not to mention to Andrea that she had already been taught to use a gun. She might take that as some sort of further injustice that she hadn't been included. "And this is your sister. You should be able to protect her when we find her. I'd want to do the same if it was Amy out here."

"How are you doing with all that?" she asked Andrea, trying to convey sympathy. "You don't have to talk about it if you don't want. I just want you to know I miss her too." she added quickly when Andrea didn't speak.

"Oh, I know you do. I'm so glad she had you around these last couple of months, she always liked making new friends. Yeah. I'm okay, I think. I miss her like crazy, obviously. Kind of wish our positions were reversed, but I wouldn't wish feeling like this on anyone. I want to find Sophia, so you don't have to feel like this too.

"I know what you mean. I wish I was out here instead of Sophia. At least I could attempt to find my way back on my own."

"Well, you're not, and all you can do is try to find her, best you can, and hope she's alive when you do. I wish Amy was here. She'd know the right thing to say to you."

"I was thinking that yesterday, when I was out with the guys. Amy would have been a big help then, would have kept me from getting so angry. I might have threatened Shane a little bit." Andrea laughed and clasped a hand over her mouth. "He completely deserved it."

"Someone needed to take him down a peg or two. Never thought it'd be you though."

"I'm getting over not being able to speak up about stuff which pisses me off. Staying silent isn't helping when big decisions are being made. I need to make sure what's being done is what's best for me, Sophia, and Carol too, since she's quieter than I am."

"I'm trying to do the same. We have to stick together though. Shane, Rick, Daryl, Dale… They all think we should be doing laundry, not trying to help out with the important stuff. Honestly, it's like the apocalypse sent women's liberation back a hundred and fifty years. Starting now, we don't take their shit, you with me?" Juliet nodded eagerly. Presenting a unified front with Andrea seemed like a good way to go about things.

"But Daryl doesn't think that, you know. He might even be on our side." And if he wasn't then Juliet would pester him until he was. Andrea shrugged.

"Well, you'd know better than I do. I'm surprised you manage to spend so much time with him. Talking to him seems a little like talking to a brick wall. I'd never have the patience to sustain conversation with him." It was Juliet's turn to shrug.

"It's not difficult if you talk about the right stuff."

Juliet turned to him then to see him watching her questioningly. She smiled brightly.

"You talkin' 'bout me?" he mouthed the words instead of saying them. Juliet's smile widened and she nodded. He rolled his eyes.

"Nice things. I promise." she mouthed. He rolled his eyes again.

She fell out of step with Andrea and walked slowly until Daryl caught up with her. She grinned at him brightly, but they got the signal to look out before she could say anything to him. Daryl pushed on ahead of the rest of the group, crossbow at the ready.

The tent they came across did not look like it had been used for a long time. By the time Juliet approached, Carol was already calling out to Sophia. Juliet didn't say how useless it looked to her. The tent did not look like it had been opened or approached in a very long time. Still, Daryl went up to it slowly, opened the tent a little, and went inside. As Carol looked round to her, she smiled and went to her. Her smile didn't reach her eyes.

"Daryl, what was in there?" Not Sophia, Juliet assumed as she asked.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Great, so the tent they were all gathered around was basically some guys grave. Andrea, who was beside Juliet now, went a little stiff when Daryl mentioned opting out. Juliet had overheard her with Dale earlier. She knew Andrea had wanted to die in the CDC.

The church bells started ringing before anyone could say anymore. A look of confusion passed around the group before everyone started running in that direction. At least it could have been that direction. Following the sound was impossible almost in the woods, where everything echoed off the trees.

"Sophia could have heard those, she could be going towards them too." Juliet said quietly to Rick who looked a little more uplifted.

"She could be ringing them herself." Rick replied.

It was not long before they came upon the church where the sound appeared to have come from. There was a collective confusion when everyone realised there was no steeple there. Still, they all ran inside, which Juliet reasoned as being because if they, a group of adults had managed to run to the wrong place, there was every chance Sophia might have done the same.

They were greeted instead by a group of walkers. Juliet fought the urge to giggle. There was an actual zombie bride in there. That significantly brightened her day. She took the bride out with a quick knife to the head, clean and simple. She managed to avoid getting splattered with blood. She wanted not to look scary when they found Sophia.

"Yo, J.C., you taking requests?" Daryl yelled. His frustration at having been out all day without finding Sophia was glaringly obvious. Juliet felt much the same, if veering slightly more towards devastated than furious. She was fighting the urge to burst in to tears, ruining the incredible composure that she had managed to maintain throughout the day. She leant on one of the benches and put her head in her hands for a moment before she pushed her hands up through her hair and stood straight again, just as the bells sounded again. It was definitely coming from this church, and everyone ran outside as though they might have missed the steeple when they looked first time.

Out there, it was painfully obvious that it was coming from the speakers. Too defeated to move, the group stood still until Glenn walked to the church and pulled the wires out of the box, and the ringing subsided.

"I'm going to go back in for a bit." Carol said quietly. Juliet might have followed her, but she needed the fresh air to clear her head. She walked a few metres and sat on the grass, willing herself not to scream or cry. She wanted badly to do both.

"I got you somethin'." Juliet looked up at Daryl and smiled. He was the only one who definitely wasn't going to annoy her in her emotional state.

"More cookies?" He shook his head. "Damn shame. Okay, what is it?" She stood up so she could see him better, although her lack of height mean she was still craning her neck a little. He pulled out a gun and her eyes widened.

"From inside that tent." he answered the question she hadn't asked but was inevitably going to. "Don't tell anyone you got this, okay, this is for your protection only, don't need Shane takin' it off your hands for the good of the camp. You do not use this unless you absolutely have to, you understand me?" She nodded.

"We're going back now, aren't we?"

"Think so. We'll come out again tomorrow. I swear to God, we will find her tomorrow. Or on the way back. You never know. I'm… I'm sorry. That I didn't find her today."

"It's not your fault. We've all tried out best, you especially. Thank you. For helping so much, for the gun. Honestly. You've done so much for me these past few days. I'm so grateful." She very suddenly threw her arms around him. He had to steady himself to keep from toppling over, and that made her laugh, which made both of them slightly less uncomfortable. She let him go and kissed him on the cheek softly. That was something people did to convey gratitude, right? He was smiling in a way that made her think he didn't mind at all.

After a little discussion, it was agreed that Rick, Carl, and Shane would stay and search some more, while they checked the other side of the creek as a short diversion on their way back to the RV. Neither Juliet nor Carol complained, mostly because they were as exhausted as everyone else was. And, as Juliet said very quietly to Daryl when she was sure he was the only one in earshot:

"Not finding her at all is better than finding her dead."