For notes and disclaimer, please see part one.
Previously, on the Walking Dead: Carol wakes up giggling after Sophia bumbles a quote.
Determined. Or Annoying.
Sophia splashed as they headed upstream. Sometimes she kicked at the water as they skimmed along, and sometimes she jumped in outright, causing a cascade to erupt all around her.
Carol's first instinct was to tell her to be quiet, but as soon as the thought came to mind, she couldn't remember why. It was a beautiful day; the sun shone brightly on their shoulders as they trekked along. Children were only young once. Constant correction wasn't needed; gentle guidance was. So, she let Sophia jump, skip, and dance, so long as she didn't hurt herself.
"Did you ever do this, Mom?"
"What, hike?"
Sophia spun in the center of the stream, balancing on her tiptoes. "Go exploring."
"I used to."
"What made you stop?"
"There were other important things to do. Work, family... things happen."
"Things happen," Sophia echoed.
"When you aren't lookin', when you aren't ready, sometimes surprises come your way, and you have to deal with them. It's not always fun, not always what you want, but it's what you need to do."
"Mom?"
She smiled. "Yeah?"
"There's something else I need to show you." Sophia dashed ahead, along the banks.
Carol struggled to keep up.
When she woke, it was with a sudden jerk of her body, like her legs were running, keeping pace with Sophia as she led the way through the woods. She still couldn't get over how real it felt, like they were in a spot that existed, like Sophia was still alive and breathing and not buried in the ground.
It was becoming second nature for Carol to wake up early and for Daryl to be there when it happened. The rest of camp, however, was still adjusting. When the hits started, it was like they wouldn't stop. It felt like forever since everything changed, but if they stopped to think about it, it had only been some weeks, maybe only a couple months at the most. It felt like it should've been years.
It all happened in waves. The pain came in spurts, in overwhelming, overlapping misery. Dale, Shane, Andrea, the farm itself, Jimmy and Patricia... Everyone else was dizzy, lost, but Carol seemed to be the most lucid, the most grounded.
He nodded at her.
"Quiet night again?"
"Gettin' kinda dull," he admitted with a slight grin.
She smiled in return as she got up, to start her day.
He cleared his throat uncomfortably as she folded the blanket. "Sophia still okay?"
She paused briefly in her morning routine before continuing toward his bike. "Thank you for askin'. She is. She... she wants to show me something. She's so determined... Well, she used to be, y'know..."
"Like her mama," he commented.
Her eyes met his, but he immediately looked down.
"Just... determined is kinda close to annoying." He scratched at the back of his neck. "Sometimes."
"I'll take annoying," she said with a nod. "I'm just glad you don't think I'm crazy."
He looked up at her. Even in the dawning morning, his narrowed eyes clearly held a curious fire.
"I might've mentioned, in passing to somebody, about dreaming of Sophia. I got the look. One of those pitying kinds, like if the world wasn't all..." She waved her hand, to indicate the madness that surrounded them. "Then, I'd be locked up."
"Everybody's crazy. Anybody who says they ain't, they've got even bigger issues than the rest of 'em," Daryl answered knowingly.
She eased onto the back of the motorcycle, casually sitting side-saddle. "Glad to know I'm in good company."
"Still ain't sure it's good," he said quietly.
"You don't have to be. 'Cause I am."
He stood a little straighter, tilting his head even more curiously to look at her. He couldn't tell if it was that determined thing, or that annoying thing, particularly when she gave him a half-smile in return.
Stay tuned...