DISCLAIMER: I do not own any part of The Walking Dead. This is for entertainment purposes only.

A/N: Check out the poll on my profile and let me know which two characters you are looking forward to the most! (Not necessarily for this story-Just in general!)

Second Chance.

Hershel had taken off at some point this morning since the burial of his wife and step-son. Rick and Glenn had left to go after him, Maggie telling them that he used to be a heavy drinker back in the day and that they're best bet was to try Patton's Bar in town. Daryl couldn't blame the old man if he really thought his dead family members were just sick, that they could be cured. Though drinking away his sorrows wasn't exactly the best plan of action.

Things had calmed down quite a bit since yesterday's events. With Rick gone, Shane seemed a lot more at ease. He was still attempting to talk to Lori every now and then, even more so when Rick wasn't in the picture. It was apparent that he kept getting shot down though. Lori wasn't putting up with his crap.

There was something going on inside. Lori and Andrea were back and forth for a while before Andrea had decided to stake out her place on top of the RV. And for once, Daryl was just kind of sitting back and observing everyone from a distance. It was something he hadn't done in a while.

"I had Carl help me. We found some sticks you can use for your crossbow," Leah approached him with a handful of thin twigs. She smiled as she set them down beside him.

"Thanks." Daryl patted the ground next to him for her to join him. He was currently working on sharpening one up as she had returned with a new pile. He was limited on bolts but nobody ever said he couldn't make his own.

Leah sat down and sighed, falling back into the grass. "There's not a whole lot a girl can do around here."

"What happened to hanging out with Carl?" Daryl looked back out at everyone flitting about. The one thing he did notice over the past few days was that Glenn was making a move on Maggie, Lucas and Amy were hanging out a lot, and Shane and Olivia seemed to have something going on. If there wasn't anything between them, then they were just flirty. Daryl didn't understand how these women flocked to the man—Lori, Andrea, and now Olivia.

"He's just being weird," Leah replied.

"Weird? As in what?" Daryl glanced over at her.

"I don't know. Just weird."

Daryl just sighed. 'Weird' could mean a whole number of things, but of course Leah wasn't willing to expand on that. He had it coming though.

He set aside the stick he was working on, joining it to the pile, and replaced the knife back into the sheath on his belt. "I'm gonna go look for Sophia."

Leah sat up now and stared hard at him, "You're joking, right? I mean—I want her to be okay but…"

"You don't want me going out. I know. That's why you're the first to hear it from me." Now that he thought about it, the last time he tried looking for Sophia was when he came back injured. It felt like weeks since he'd tried to find her. But he knew he couldn't give up. He just wouldn't give Shane that satisfaction now. He had to find Sophia for his own sake, for Carol, and to prove that bastard wrong. Maybe even rub it in everyone's face that ever doubted her still being alive out there.

Leah huffed and jumped back to her feet. She gave him the best glare that she could work up before she stormed off towards the house. He figured she just wanted to get away from him as far as possible so that she could pout. She'd get over it though, so he wasn't worried.

"Hey, man," Alex greeted Daryl. "What's up?"

Daryl wouldn't usually be up for talking to much of anyone, but Alex seemed like an alright guy. He wasn't shady. In fact, he was pretty open about stuff. Definitely not a guy to ever let a secret slip to.

"Hey," Daryl acknowledged him. "Still happy you came here?"

"Of course I'm happy, why wouldn't I be? Being surrounded by everyone here is better than kicking it alone. Yeah, there are a few problems here and there… I can't thank you enough for letting us join your group though. Seriously. Even after we had our guns drawn on you and everything," Alex shook his head, smiling.

"You're still stuck on that?" Daryl smirked.

"Well… yeah," Alex shrugged. "Sorry if I'm bothering you. It's just that Lucas is stuck to Amy's hip and Olivia's all googly-eyed over Mr. Long-Tan-and-Handsome."

Daryl raised an eyebrow, "Long, tan, and handsome?"

"Spongebob. Don't tell me you've never seen that episode. I don't care how old you are, Spongebob was the shit."

"Alright, alright… A reference I don't get," Daryl laughed. "I didn't watch too much Spongebob so forgive me for my lack of knowledge about fictional characters."

"…Uh oh, she doesn't look too happy. What'd you do now?"

Daryl realized that Alex was looking over towards the house and when he looked for himself, he could see what Alex was seeing. Skyler was walking at a brisk pace with Leah tagging along beside her. Leah must have told on him.

"I'm just going to be over here, minding my own business. But whatever you did, uh… good luck." Alex dismissed himself, walking over towards Glenn.

Daryl got back on his feet just as Skyler and Leah stopped in front of him.

"Are you serious?—Why can't you just lie down and get some rest? Let your body heal!" Skyler started in.

"'Cause nobody's takin' this seriously. That little girl is lost and alone out there and I need to find her." Daryl switched his gaze over to Leah as she ducked her head down to avoid his eye contact, her cheeks turning pink with slight embarrassment. She had told Skyler and now Skyler would be determined to keep him here at the campsite.

"You think risking your life to go back out there is worth it?" Skyler lowered her voice.

"What if it was Leah? Wouldn't you want to keep looking?" Daryl shot back at her.

Skyler scoffed, "That's different."

"I'm still going. And since you're both here, I can officially say that I'm going now." Daryl walked over to pick up his crossbow from a few feet away.

"Then I'm coming with you."

Daryl looked back at Skyler, "Nope, no way." He started to walk away but Skyler grabbed his arm.

"I am going with you, Daryl. No ifs, ands, or buts. You are not going out there by yourself." Skyler let go of his arm once she realized she had his attention.

Daryl held a glare at Skyler for a long pause before he gave up. And that woman called him stubborn…

"Leah, stay close to the others… We shouldn't be gone long," Daryl caved.

"Fine…" Leah crossed her arms. She tried to look mad but she bit her bottom lip and stared down at her feet.

"We'll be fine, Leah. I'll be with him this time. He can't try to kill himself," Skyler shot a glare in Daryl's direction.

"Just be careful. Both of you," Leah pleaded. "I don't know what I would do without you guys."

Daryl ruffled her hair as she smacked at his hand, laughing. "We'll be back a little later."

"Here," Daryl handed Skyler the Browning BDA. "It's the same gun you were practicing with. Don't use it unless you absolutely have to though."

Skyler nodded, taking the gun from his hand. She briefly examined it before she tucked it into the waist of her jeans. Daryl carried his crossbow at his side. He was prepared for if anything was to pop out from behind the trees.

"It's hard to believe everything that's happened… How different everything is."

"I guess," Daryl shrugged. "It was bound to happen eventually. The whole world going to shit anyway."

They walked through the woods in silence for quite some time, Skyler mostly following Daryl's lead. It was rather peaceful with nobody around and the sounds of nature to fill their ears; the natural rustling of the leaves from the wind, the birds singsong overhead. When Daryl glanced over at Skyler, he could tell she was trying to walk quietly. The way she was awkwardly stepping over sticks and tiptoeing through piles of leaves was a dead giveaway. He couldn't help but laugh.

"What?" Skyler questioned, staring at him.

"You are trying way too damn hard, that's what. Just walk like you normally would. The only thing that could possibly be out here are walkers and Sophia," Daryl replied.

Skyler's face flushed, "I was just waiting to see how long it would take you to say something…"

"Uh huh, right…"

"…So when exactly are you going to explain what it is that's up with you and Shane?" Skyler changed the subject. And of course it was back to this.

"Why'd you feel the need to step into all that yesterday?" Daryl shot back at her.

"Because he's an ass and he needs to learn his place," Skyler retorted. "I didn't see anyone else making that move. He could have really hurt you."

Daryl scoffed, "That's unlikely. You should have stayed out of it. I was just fine. For all you know, he could have hurt you. And if he would have hit you…" Daryl paused and shook his head, biting the inside of his mouth. He would have killed Shane if he would have laid a hand on her.

"You shouldn't worry so much. He's an ass but I don't think he would have hit me."

"You don't know that."

"And neither do you," Skyler glanced over at him. "So are you going to tell me or what?"

"Are you ever going to drop it?" Daryl looked back at her. Her eyes locked onto his and he sighed when he knew what her answer was. "Ya know, some things are better left unsaid."

"I agree with that statement but I disagree with this topic. If we're all going to be near him at all times—I mean, come on."

Daryl stopped walking and put a finger up to silence her. It took her a moment to realize that he had even stopped and when she saw that he had his finger raised, she scoffed.

"Are you trying to give me the silent treatment now?"

"…Shut up," Daryl warned. He raised his crossbow and looked over in Skyler's direction, off behind her. Her face turned serious and she shuffled more to the right. She probably thought he was targeting her at first but he didn't move from his initial spot, his eyes glued toward the direction he could have sworn he heard the noise come from. He couldn't quite place it. It sounded fairly distant and it was in the opposite direction of the farm, so it wasn't anyone of the group. He couldn't help but think that maybe if they weren't talking, he could have heard it better. Now it was just silent.

Daryl sighed as he lowered the crossbow and shook his head.

"Walker?" Skyler asked quietly.

"Not sure," Daryl responded. "Came from this direction though." He nodded his head in the direction he was facing, where he had his crossbow aimed just moments ago.

Skyler didn't question him and she didn't say a word about heading towards the sound. Daryl figured they might as well go check it out. Odds were it had to be a walker. But just to be on the safe side, Daryl wanted to make sure. Whatever it was, it could pose a threat and it definitely didn't need to find its way any closer to the farm. They had to be about a couple miles out by now, give or take.

After walking for quite a ways, Daryl decided to glance back over at Skyler. She kept close to him, closer than she was before, and she had the gun drawn. That must explain why she was being so silent. She was apparently afraid of whatever could now be lurking out there.

Before long they had managed to stumble upon a clearing. There was an old abandoned house that sat almost in the middle of it, the tall grass overgrown with weeds and various seedlings. It looked as though it had been abandoned for years—way before the apocalypse even occurred. There was a sort of mildew growing on the sides of the house where white paint had once existed, most of it scraped off now and exposing the bare wood underneath. The windows were tinted with a thick layer of dust and grime, a good portion of them busted out. One of the upstairs windows had a tattered drape that caught in the wind, stuck on the broken glass with nowhere to go. Part of the roof had sunken in. That portion had completely collapsed leaving a gaping hole. But the one thing that caught Daryl's eye was the fact that the front door—what was left of it—it was shut. Houses like this didn't usually have a front door left and they certainly were never closed. The wind would have usually taken it off its rotten hinges by now.

Something or someone was in that house.

Daryl continued to walk towards the old structure as Skyler had now completely fallen behind him, following his footsteps. There were three walkers circling around the corner of the house now. One of them looked like it was desperate to get inside, banging against the exterior and growling. But it didn't take long for them to notice their newcomers.

Daryl raised the crossbow and easily dispatched the first one, firing a bolt straight through its head. He quickly reloaded the bow and shot the next one in the same manner. The third one was coming up now at a steady pace, its arms outstretched and gurgling as it lunged for him. He carefully grabbed it by its hair, pulled the knife from its sheath, and drove the blade into the side of its head. He pulled the knife out with a sickening squelch as Skyler cringed and he let the body drop to the ground at his feet.

"I don't care how many times I witness that—it's still downright disgusting," Skyler turned her head away from the walkers and stepped around Daryl.

Daryl just shrugged as he wiped the blade off on his pants before shoving it back into its sheath. He pulled the bolts from the other two walkers' heads and cleaned them off the best he could too, reloading the crossbow with one of them and placing the second one with the others in the holder.

"C'mon, we're going inside," Daryl waved her on to follow. "Stay close."

"You really are adventurous, aren't you?" Skyler joked. She kept the pistol gripped tight in her right hand as Daryl carefully walked up and onto the rickety front porch. The wood creaked under his weight and he motioned for her to stay put as he grasped the doorknob, giving it a slight turn and pushing the door open with enough force to provide it with momentum to swing open the rest of the way on its own. He took a couple steps in before he signaled her to follow again.

The inside of the house didn't look quite as bad as the outside, but it was still pretty beat up. The front door had opened up to a wide hallway that led to a staircase straight ahead, some of the stairs rotten and collapsed. It didn't seem likely that someone could have climbed them—at least, not very easily. The hole in the roof shined some light across the vacant living room to the left of the hall that held an old worn out couch. So far, there wasn't any sign of anything living… Until Daryl looked down at his feet and noticed a heavy dust on the floor. He scanned the battered hardwood floor and realized that some of the dust had been kicked up, more so by the front door and it seemed to provide a path that led to the right.

Daryl pointed at the path to allow Skyler to catch on as she nodded. He led the way into the room and quickly realized it used to be an old dining room and kitchen. There was a pantry built into the wall that hung open, exposing its bare, cob-webbed shelves. The table still held up on all four legs though it didn't look very stable.

Daryl turned his attention towards the counters though. One of the cabinets underneath was opened just a crack and that seemed suspicious… Daryl looked over at Skyler, catching her attention, and nodding down at the slightly opened cabinet door. She stepped forward and reached out to grab it and Daryl nodded with approval, preparing the crossbow. Skyler stayed back as she quickly threw the little door open and there was a shrill scream that startled both of them. Skyler took a few steps back as Daryl took a couple steps forward, squinting down and into the darkness to see what exactly he was staring at.

"P-Please don't h-hurt me!"

Daryl lowered the crossbow at the sound of the little girl's voice. That was when he could finally make out the dark blonde hair and ragged blue shirt, the dirty tan Capri's and worn out sneakers—all crammed into the tight space underneath the counter.

"Sophia—" Daryl spoke her name as she uncovered her face and looked back at him. Tears aligned her eyes as she crawled out and lunged at him.

"Mr. Dixon! You—You found me! You came after me!" Sophia exclaimed, her voice cracking. She was filthy. Her clothes had been torn on what appeared to be branches from running through the woods; a couple of scratches littered her tiny arms that were still enclosed around Daryl's waist. Hugging Daryl Dixon wasn't something she'd have normally done. She usually kept her distance when they were back at the quarry. But this was different. She was okay after all that time.

Daryl carefully pried her arms from his waist as she had bumped into his stitches. He forced a smile down at her thinning frame. The girl was already bone skinny and now she looked even smaller. He wondered if she had been able to even find anything to eat all this time.

Sophia glanced back and forth between him and Skyler. Her legs were shaking as if they were threatening to collapse from under her. It was only obvious she was tired and weak. And when Daryl tried to piece it together, he figured that noise he heard from the woods must have been her. Maybe she was running from the walkers and she slammed the front door to the house they were currently standing in. That had to be it.

Daryl turned his back to Sophia and got down on his knees, "C'mon. I'll carry ya back." There was barely a moment of hesitation as he felt Sophia's arms close around his neck and her legs hugged his sides. He got back to his feet and handed Skyler his crossbow so that he could make sure he didn't drop her—though she barely weighed anything.

"Are you okay to carry her?..." Skyler asked as she fumbled with the crossbow. She had no idea how to really use it so she threw the strap over her shoulder and carried it on her back.

"I don't see any other option. She's fine," Daryl answered. Sophia squirmed around and Daryl gritted his teeth as her leg rubbed against his stitches. He grabbed her left leg just behind the knee and kept a hold of her so that she wasn't applying pressure to his wound. He braced her other leg as well to keep her balanced on his back.

"Sorry," Sophia mumbled.

"Don't you worry about a thing. We'll get you back to camp, back to your momma," Daryl told her as he started to walk towards the front door of the old house.

"I can't wait to see everyone again—and my mom," Sophia paused. "Thank you, Mr. Dixon."

"It's just 'Daryl'."