DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.
A/N: Well, it is finally here. Again I apologize if this one feels rushed. But things should flow a lot smoother after this one.
Hush Hush.
The next few days only seemed to get worse, like a downhill progression.
The CDC was a bust. Once they had gotten there, they had witnessed the best night of their lives since the apparent apocalypse. They had real food, shelter, running water, and air conditioning. It felt like a miracle to have those few things—things that were so easy to come by before.
But the news that Jenner had displayed was anything but good. There was no cure. And they had all just about died there when Jenner locked them in. 'Decontamination' my ass. But they made it out just in time. Even Amy, Andrea, and Dale. Amy was ready to give up. It was only obvious she wasn't fit to live in a world like this, Daryl could tell. There was more hope for Andrea. She seemed like she could handle herself a little better than her younger sibling. And of course Dale had stayed with them, considering them family and perhaps ultimately being the one to talk them out of it.
Jacqui had stayed though. She stayed with Jenner and went up in flames with the CDC. Daryl couldn't help but wonder if that was maybe the best decision after all. And part of him couldn't blame Amy for wanting to stay.
And now here they all were, separated and on the verge on desperate. They had gotten hung up on the long stretch of highway. The radiator hose blew on the old Winnebago and Dale had to try his best to patch it up and get it running again. While that had happened, a herd of walkers blew through and they had lost Sophia. The little girl had scooted out from under the car too soon and was chased off by the dead creatures into the depths of the woods. If Daryl had been closer when it had initially occurred, he would have been the one to run after her. But Rick stepped up to the plate. Since his appearance back on the quarry, it seemed as though he were taking over the leadership role of the group and taking Shane's place.
But of course, Rick had returned empty handed—no Sophia, nothing. That little girl was still lost out there. And when they decided to all take the approach and go looking for her together, it still didn't make matters any better. In fact, it made them worse.
They had split up—Rick, Shane, and Carl heading off in a different direction while everyone else headed back for the highway where T-Dog and Dale were working on getting the RV back up and running. A young woman on horseback had swooped in and taken Lori to some farm house claiming that Carl had been shot. Daryl tried to talk some sense into her, tried to explain that she couldn't just leave with that strange woman. But Lori left in a flash, just disappeared through the trees saddled up on that horse.
While most everyone had headed for this farmhouse, Daryl hung back with Dale, Carol, Andrea, and Amy. Daryl knew the pain that Carol was feeling, how much it hurt to lose a child. Even though Leah wasn't his, she was the next closest thing. At this rate, he'd never know if she was still out there and safe. But with Carol and Sophia—it felt like he could… redeem himself. He should have tried to make his way back to town, back to Skyler and Matt's house. He shouldn't have just given up that easily. But Merle would've never let him. Merle would have held him back.
But Daryl felt like he could find Sophia. He had faith. That little girl would be just fine out there, even though she'd be scared and alone. She was smart enough to know how to keep out of the grasps of walkers. She was close to thirteen. She'd be fine. And really, a part of Daryl felt like if he could find Sophia, then maybe he could find Leah too. It would give him hope.
As the sun set and night had taken over, Daryl couldn't sleep. He couldn't even think about sleeping. Not with Carol constantly crying and mourning the loss of Sophia, with no way to be sure she was even still alive. And Andrea kept fiddling around with the damn guns making all sorts of racket with the clinking metal.
He stepped outside of the RV and leaned against it, lowering himself down into a sitting position with his knees propped up. He mindlessly ran his hand over his pant pocket that contained Elena's necklace. Since that day, he had always carried it with him.
The door to the RV opened and closed before Daryl glanced over to see who it was. He sighed when he noticed it was Amy. The girl was definitely a talker. He wasn't sure if she'd ever leave him alone or even knew how to keep her mouth shut.
"Hey, Daryl?" Amy slowly approached him. "I just wanted to say thanks… For saving me back at the quarry. I never really thanked you for… killing that walker."
"More of a reflex than anything," Daryl shrugged.
"Well, that's one hell of a reflex then," Andrea had now joined them, shutting the door behind her. "And I'm grateful. Really, I am. I don't know what I would do without Amy."
"Yeah, yeah. You can save your sappy stories for someone who cares," Daryl waved his hand dismissively at the sisters.
"…I'm sorry about Merle. For what it's worth," Andrea lowered her voice, speaking softly.
Daryl slightly twitched at her words. He couldn't muster up a response to that. What was he suppose to say? 'Thanks'? Andrea was a part of the group that left him there.
"And I think you're right. We'll find Sophia." Andrea added. Once they realized Daryl wasn't going to say anymore, they headed back inside the RV for the night.
The next morning seemed to be nothing but more chaos. Once they got the RV up and running, they headed for the farmhouse where the rest of the group had relocated after Carl was shot. And when they first showed up, there was a funeral for a man that was a part of the farmhouse group. Something about him and Shane had gone out to collect supplies for Carl and he had been killed by walkers. Except the little story that Shane had to share was complete bullshit. The evident limp that he had didn't help his case either. No, Daryl didn't even have to be there to know the entire story. He knew Shane had killed Otis in cold blood.
Once things began to settle down a bit, Daryl decided to go talk to Carol. She had been cooped up in the RV for the past couple days. She hardly spoke to anyone and she was completely shutting everyone out over the loss of Sophia. Daryl just figured if anyone understood what she was going through, it was him.
"Hey…" Daryl walked down the little hall inside the RV and stopped just at the end of it. Carol was sitting up, working a needle through a blanket she had in her lap. She stopped to look up at him and Daryl took note that her face was dry of tears.
"Hey," Carol managed a tiny hello in return. She fidgeted with the blanket in her hand and glanced down at the floor.
"I was thinking about uh… Going out on a supply run. Take some time to clear my head," Daryl began. "Was thinking maybe you'd like to come with?"
Carol looked up at him now. "Me? Why?"
"I know it may sound out of place for me to ask but I figured it was worth a shot. And to be honest, I think you could use it. Get out of here for a bit." Daryl paused. He tried to think of how to word it. He didn't want to sound like an ass, though he felt like he had already accomplished that feat just coming in here.
But Carol didn't say anymore. She just sort of shook her head and continued to work on the blanket.
And Daryl caved.
"Look… Ya gotta get up and do something; you can't just keep sittin' around. You'll die doing that. I know it's harsh but…" Daryl sighed, "I lost some people too. I guess that's why I was so bitter. I didn't really know how to cope but I knew I couldn't just sit around. I'd go insane."
"I'm sorry to hear that," Carol's voice was soft. "Who…?"
Daryl rubbed his face. He couldn't believe he was telling her this. "Elena and Leah… Was my girlfriend and her daughter. But they were all I had, besides Merle. Elena… Elena didn't make it. But I think Leah could still be out there. Somewhere. I still have hope."
It was silent for a moment while Carol stared back at him, words sifting through her head. She looked a bit shocked if anything.
"Okay." Carol placed the blanket she was working on to the side. "I'll go with you."
Daryl nodded before he led the way out of the RV and into the fresh—muggy—Georgia air. He flagged down Glenn as the man approached him and Carol followed behind.
"What's going on?" Glenn asked.
"Goin' on a supply run. Gonna see what the nearest town has to offer." Daryl nodded his head towards Carol, "Takin' her with me. Get some fresh air."
Glenn looked back and forth between the two. "Okay. Just be careful. I'll pass the word along."
And with that, Daryl walked with Carol over to the Triumph. He could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't so certain about the bike.
"Ain't nothing to worry about. S'good on gas so it's a better choice in the matter." Daryl threw his leg over and positioned himself on the motorcycle. He started it up with a loud rumble from the engine before Carol managed to squeeze onto the back of it, her arms wrapped around his torso.
It was a fairly smooth ride as they crept into a small town. There were a few houses scattered about, resembling that of a ghost town. It was dead silent and there weren't any walkers in sight.
Daryl killed the engine next to one of the ranch homes, knocking the kickstand down with his foot and turning the front tire. He didn't move until Carol was beside him, giving him enough room to throw his leg back over and join her. The house had white siding with black shutters and a little concrete porch that led up to the front door that hung slightly open. It wasn't exactly the most inviting but it was a start.
Daryl grabbed his crossbow off the back of the bike and led the way inside with Carol a couple steps behind him. He had told her to stay close since she didn't carry any type of weapon. When he had offered her a pistol, she only looked at it with fear. He took a mental note that that was something he'd need to work on with her.
He nudged the front door open with his foot as it creaked on its hinges. Squeezing through the entrance, he took in the sight of the interior of the home. It looked as though it had already been possibly raided. There were a few clothing articles tossed among the floor and drawers were ripped out of an armoire in the first bedroom they passed.
Before trying the kitchen for food, Daryl decided it was best to search the whole house for any visitors. The last thing they needed was to be sorting through any food items that were left and either be taken down by a few straggling walkers or to have their heads blown away by another group of survivors.
And that was when he heard it. Just the slightest sound, a squeak of the floorboards down the hall coming from one of the bedrooms. Of course there was the off chance that it could have just been the house settling, but it didn't seem likely. Daryl threw his arm out to push Carol directly behind him as he advanced forward with caution, crossbow raised.
"Hold it right there!"
What the hell?...
Daryl immediately turned around to face the figure the voice belonged to. It was a younger female with long, jet black hair just a little passed her shoulders. Her cheeks were spotted with freckles, which Daryl thought was unusual since she had dark hair. She had a pistol trained on him as she took a couple steps forward, away from the wall that she had her back pressed up against. She had been completely out of sight when Daryl and Carol had walked right passed her. Her blue eyes locked onto his as he kept the crossbow steady. He didn't really dare shoot her, but he wasn't going to let his guard down.
But then there was a scurry of footsteps coming from that back bedroom. Daryl disregarded the dark haired woman and turned back towards the hall. Two men stood there now, both of them armed with pistols themselves as they walked forward. All three of these new people looked to be about the same age, give or take. One of the men was black, his dark hair kept short to his head and his dark eyes also locked onto Daryl. The other man was more of a brunette, his hair kept a bit longer almost covering his hazel eyes. Both of them looked to be rather scrawny, their physical appearance not being much of a threat besides the guns.
"Who the hell are you?" Daryl demanded.
"I think the better question is who are you?" The second man questioned, never taking his eyes off of him. "You the one with the loud-ass bike?"
Daryl could feel Carol grip the back of his shirt as they took a few steps back. Daryl was trying to get it so that all three of these people were in his line of sight, so that his back wasn't turned to anyone. These people were a threat since they were armed. He didn't know any of them and he couldn't take a chance. He now regretted bringing Carol into this mess.
"What's it to ya?" Daryl snarled. He kept his crossbow trained on the men, assuming the woman wouldn't give him too much trouble. Maybe he was stereotyping, but it wasn't very likely that a woman would attack before a man. Men typically had the anger issues.
"You realize that you could have just attracted biters for miles coming into this town on that thing?" The woman spoke up again. She kept a firm grip on her gun.
"Ain't too concerned about it. Plan was to drop in, grab a few things, and leave." Daryl kept his eyes moving, watching for any sudden movement out of the three.
"I think you should just keep moving then. Ain't nothing here to see," the black male spoke. "This is our town. We found it and we're not about to give it up."
Daryl scoffed, "You three are trying to claim the whole damn town? I don't think so."
"We've got others," the female replied.
"Well, that makes two of us…" Daryl narrowed his eyes.
The black man shifted to the side a bit, drawing Daryl's attention to him as he realized he was only glancing out the window behind him and Carol. "Really? Looks like it's just you and the woman. And I'd say you're outnumbered. You pull the trigger on that thing and see what happens."
"Daryl…" Carol mumbled. "Let's just get out of here…"
Daryl shook his head, "You hidin' others in here? S'that what makes you feel so confident?"
"As a matter of fact, yeah. We're not afraid of a single man with a crossbow. And if you want to cause trouble, we're not afraid to put an end to it." The woman stepped over, making sure to close off the way Daryl and Carol had entered. The two exits were now blocked, their only escape being through a window.
Daryl had directed his attention at the woman while she spoke but another creak in the floorboard drew him back to the hallway by the two men. He still had the crossbow raised as he took in the new figure that had appeared from around the corner. The glare on his face slowly faded as his arm slightly twitched. It was a little girl. She looked about Sophia's age. She stayed slightly hidden behind the two men, just barely poking her head out to get a glimpse of him in return.
Without even realizing it, he had completely lowered his crossbow. He couldn't take his eyes off the girl… Her long golden brown hair, her bangs hung just above her hazel eyes. She had a hole tore in one knee of her faded jeans and an old baggy shirt that seemed to almost engulf her, being way too big for her small frame. His heart raced and his head suddenly felt like it was going to explode. He thought that maybe he was hallucinating, that maybe it was just any ordinary girl. He thought that maybe his mind was playing some cruel trick on him. It was the one thing he wanted more than anything, so why would it be true?
But it was true. He was staring back at Leah.