Lyla's POV

I looked up from my praying. It had gotten dark and I could smell food. Must be dinner time.

I glanced at Daryl. He was looking at me.

"You been awake long?" I asked, my voice hoarse from grief.

He shrugged and looked away. "Dunno, ain't got a watch."

The corner of my mouth lifted into a barely seen crooked smile, and then it was gone. I wiped my eyes, making sure I hadn't been crying. I couldn't cry. Crying wouldn't bring Sena back. It wouldn't heal her wound. It wouldn't do shit.

"I just came here to get away from everyone. Sorry if I disturbed you." I apologized.

He just nodded and pulled his blanket up over his chest. How could he stand that when it was like 70 degrees?

"Anyways, I just…I should be going." I said quickly, getting up.

Both of us heard a "clang" on the hardwood flooring and looked down. Sena's necklace had fallen out of my lap.

Reluctantly I picked the thing up, feeling tears wet my eyes.

"Ya know, she really thought a lot about you; looked up to you. Said you were like a mom to her." Daryl said quietly.

I pursed my lips, getting more emotional. "She didn't have the greatest parents. Her dad was suicidal and bipolar. Her mom was just a whore and a drunk."

"Once doc clears me outta here, I'm going back to where I found that." He said, pointing to the necklace.

I sighed and looked at Daryl. "Don't do this to yourself…she's…she's gone."

He glared. "What're you just giving up?"

I nodded, feeling a tear fall. "Yes, I'm giving up. She's dead and none of us can do a damn thing about it."

I wiped away my tear and looked one last time at the necklace.

"You should keep this…it's better than a walker ear one." I told him, placing it on his nightstand.

He just looked at me as I walked away.

Third Person POV

Pain was what he was feeling; not just physical, but emotional too. His side and head ached like a hangover on Easter Sunday. But his heart hurt too. And it had to do with a lil girl and her cousin. How could Lyla give up!? Sophia could have been seeing shit, or maybe they both thought she was bit when she wasn't.

Either way, he'd find the kid. Lyla's face had made up his mind. She was losing hope and finding Sena would give it back to her.

He remembered when he and Merle found Sena outside Atlanta, half starved, dehydrated.

They were on their way to Atlanta. The broadcasts, before they stopped, told them there was a shelter there…not that they planned on staying, but at least they might find some answers.

Merle had insisted on riding his bike, while Daryl drove his truck. With each passing mile, things looked worse and worse. Everything was silent and the occasional car on the side of the road turned into multiple vehicles blocking the road in.

Merle pulled up beside his brother and shared his opinion; they should high tail it out of there and find a nice place to camp before dark.

Usually Daryl didn't like Merle's plans, but this time the bastard had a point. The city didn't look safe anymore.

Daryl nodded his approval of the plan and waited for Merle to lead them down the road. But as he put the truck in gear, Daryl spotted a body moving.

He climbed out of the truck with his crossbow, and aimed it at the body. It was just a little girl, covered in blood, dirt, and sweat.

Slowly, the kid raised her hands. "Please don't shoot me. I'm not bit."

Daryl's heart stopped cold, then leaped forward. They'd found a living person!

Merle smiled and asked her if she'd been scratched or in anyway infected. The kid told them 'no'.

"Where are you from kid? You got any family round?" Merle asked, looking around.

The child looked solemn and spoke quietly. "No. Not anymore. My mom's boyfriend and my cousin were in Atlanta with me…Then someone got sick…and people started running and then they bombed the city. I think they're all dead…"

The girl wiped her eyes and looked back at the city. It looked like her story checked out.

Merle bent down to the kid's level, grinning his drug abused grin at her. "You gotta plan, kid?"

The little girl shook her head, with tears in her eyes. "No. I just wanna go home."

Daryl felt for the child. She'd lost everything and everyone she knew.

"Well you can't do that kid. Ain't got shit to go home to." Merle informed her.

The girl stared at him with a mixture of sadness and fear.

"Why don't you ride with us for a while? I'm Daryl, and that's my jerkface brother Merle." Daryl told the child, who stared at him like he was God.

She nodded her head and slowly took Daryl's outstretched hand.

Merle snorted "You've always been good with kids there Darlina. Maybe you shoulda been a mother."

Daryl growled and flipped him off. "Asshole."

Merle just laughed as he climbed on his bike while Daryl helped the kid in the truck.

"You got a name kid?" Daryl asked, climbing in and starting the truck up.

"S—Sena." She responded. "And I'm 9."

"Sena?" He repeated, testing her name on his tongue. It was unusual, but this had to be an unusual kid to survive the city (and possibly the world) going to hell.

"You and your brother aren't gonna hurt me right?" Sena asked Daryl, still weary of the men who'd picked her up.

"Nah kid. Stick with us, you'll be alright."

It was night before the bike/truck convoy found a safe spot to stay. Merle parked his bike and started staking a spot for his tent.

"Ain't bringing that brat in my tent." He muttered, chugging a bottle of whiskey.

Daryl looked back at the kid. She was looking at the woods, jumping at the sounds of the night. She was also shivering.

Daryl sighed and went to grab his gear. The girl just stared at him.

"Get your bag. Got you a tent here." He lied.

It was his tent, but she needed it more. He'd sleep in the truck bed.

Sena followed and did the best she could to help him set the tent up.

As they set the shelter up, he noticed the knife around her waist, and questioned her.

"Where'd ya get that; off some dead guy?"

The kid looked down at her knife. "My cousin gave it to me. She told me to use it to keep me safe."

"Your cousin sounds smart."

"She was. Her name was Lyla. She took care of me when mom was drunk."

For a moment, Daryl paused and really saw the kid. Her mom was a drunk…just like his mom…his dad…and now his brother. It hit really close to home.

"Don't make too much noise. You'll wake Merle." Daryl spoke abruptly, going to the truck bed to sleep.

Lyla's POV

Everyone stared at me as I entered the crowded kitchen/dining room.

"I—I'm not hungry. Think I'm just gonna go to bed." I mumbled, glancing back at the group.

Quickly I darted out of the room and went outside, enjoying the night air. Everything was peaceful…until I heard the door open.

"Nice night, isn't it?" Autumn commented, lounging on the railing of the porch.

"If Sena weren't dead and Daryl hadn't gotten shot, yeah." I replied bitterly.

"Take it easy. I'm not out here to talk about that. I just miss my best friend." Autumn said in a soft tone.

Guilt flooded my system. "Sorry. Everything's been so crazy…I feel like I'm not myself anymore. And everyone's staring at me like I've gone psycho."

"You're not going crazy, okay. Lyla, you've been through hell, even before all this, with your cousin…and the rape…"

"Just stop, please. I remember what happened. I was there." I muttered, trying to suppress the memories Autumn was dragging to the surface.

"The point is, I couldn't imagine what it'd be like if I lost Austin, or you. Probably off myself before the day was over to be honest."

I just looked at her in shock. "Don't say that."

"It's the truth. I'm not as strong as you. Losing mom and dad like that, Ly, I wanted to kill myself. I lost my faith, and my hope. And there's you, not even knowing if your folks are alive, and losing Sena to the walkers…and you just keep going."

Tears brimmed my eyes. "I'm not strong. I don't have faith…or hope…or anything. I begged God to bring Sena back to me. Has He done it? NO! I asked Him to help us find a cure for whatever's going on. Is there one? NO! Everything I knew, loved, or cared about it gone! He took it away from me!"

I turned away from Autumn, who was stunned by my words, and proceeded to punch one of the posts connecting the porch to the roof. I continued punching it till someone pulled me from my rage.

"Lyla Jade Mathers! You look at me!" Autumn spat.

At this point tears stained my face. Blood was trickling down my hand. I barely noticed Kala whining for me to calm down.

"Lyla, you haven't lost everything. You still have me, and Austin. We're family, remember? We've been through too much shit, you've been through too much shit to just give up. You got it?"

Reluctantly, I nodded.

Autumn smiled hopefully and hugged me. "Come on. Let's get you to your tent."

The next morning I woke up with a freight train in my head. My tent smelled, I felt gross, and then I saw the empty bottle of whiskey. No wonder my head hurt.

Stringing my thoughts together, I remembered Autumn bringing me to my tent. I told her I'd be fine…but I'd lied. Instead of sleeping I took to drinking till I was shitfaced drunk. I remember crying, crying over a picture of my cousin; over pictures of my family. Were they alive? Should I just accept they were dead?

Grabbing some ibuprofen, I looked around for some clothes. I settled on some half clean tank and some jeans. Both practically hung off me.

Lyla nudged my hand, looking at me with her blue eyes.

"Did I do anything stupid last night?" I asked rhetorically.

Lyla continued looking at me, slightly wagging her bushy tail.

"Guess not." I muttered. "You ready for some breakfast?"

Kala barked happily.

"Course ya are." I chuckled, letting her out of the tent.

As I stepped out, I noticed everyone was gathered by the firepit.

Quietly I joined the group, allowing Carol to fix me a plate of eggs and buttered toast.

"Thanks." I mumbled, smiling the best I could. My head was pounding so bad I could hardly stand to hear myself think. I was stupid for drinking till I was piss drunk last night.

Carol then gave some eggs and toast to Kala. The dog gobbled it gratefully.

Autumn made her way over to where I was sitting. "You missed the good news."

I looked at her puzzled. "There's good news?"

A cheesy grin spread across her lips. "T kissed me last night and Daryl's been moved to his tent."

A sudden intake of breath at this news caused me to choke and gag on the food I was eating.

"Wh—at?" I asked, surprised.

She blushed and nodded.

"So you and T-Dog?"

She smiled and looked at him across the yard. He was working on the RV with Dale. "Yeah. Last night after I took you to your tent, he…talked with me out on the porch…and we kinda kissed."

"Shut up." I joked. "You've only known the guy for like a week."

Her smile didn't falter. "And we don't even know if we'll live till tomorrow."

"True. I'm happy for you. He seems like a descent guy." I admitted, finishing breakfast.

"Hay, Lyla?" A smaller voice asked me.

I looked up from sewing a pair of jeans to Sophia. "What's up kid?"

The little girl looked at me shyly. "I wanna learn to shoot. Momma said I could go to gun training with her and the others if you and Carl went. She trusts you."

I sighed and looked at the kid. "Sure thing. But I wanna talk to your mother first; find out if she's okay with it still."

Sophia's face brightened. "Okay!"

"Alright, why don't you go get her and I'll be waiting by the cars." I told her, throwing down the clothes and picking up one of my guns.

As I went to wait by the vehicles, I told Kala to stay and wait for me. She politely ignored me and went to sit with Glenn.

"Lil Bitch." I muttered, walking off.

Rick met me by the SUV. "Thought you knew how to shoot?"

"Sophia wanted me to come along." I told him.

"She seems to be attached to you." He commented.

I nodded. "I guess so."

I then looked around and decided to tell the leader what I felt. "Look Rick, I—I respect the hell outta you. You've put up with more BS than a lot of people can stand, and you're a genuine guy. But for my sake, please, call off the search."

"Don't you wanna know?"

I shook my head. "I thought I did. But then I remembered that if we found her, she'd be dead, a walker. I can't think of her like that. I wanna remember her alive, and happy."

The ex cop seemed to get where I was coming from. "Shane's gonna check out a housing development not far from here after gun practice. If he doesn't find her, then we'll call off the search."

I nodded. "Thank you."

Sophia was beaming after gun training.

"Did you have fun?" I asked.

She smiled ear to ear. "Yeah!"

"I'm glad. But remember. This isn't a game. This isn't friends going out to shoot on the range. This is survival. You never bring your gun out unless it's for protecting you and the group." I reminded her.

She nodded. "I understand."

"Hay, who knows, you may save your mom one day." I joked. But really, it could happen.

She looked at her mom. "Really?"

I smiled at the kid's innocence. It was desperately needed in this camp. "Why don't you go with your mom and get cleaned up. I'm gonna visit Daryl and when I get back, we can play with Kala."

I swear Sophia's face was glowing.

She then ran off to clean herself up while Carol and I continued walking.

"Thank you." Carol mumbled gratefully.

"For what?" I asked, confused.

"For being a friend to her. Ed, my husband, he used to never let her do anything. She never had friends over, never got to have play dates. She looks up to you and you're getting her to open up."

I smiled. "Any kid that's still alive in this…world deserves as much happiness as possible. I'm glad she's doing okay."

I went to my tent to grab one of my books from my book collection.

"All I got are The Game Of Thrones novels…" I thought, digging through the books.

After grabbing the first book, I walked to where Daryl's tent was. Kala followed close behind.

I peeked in through the screen and saw Daryl poking holes through the mesh with an arrow.

"Poke any more holes, the walkers will get you." I joked.

Daryl turned his head and scowled at me. "What d'ya want?"

"Nice to see you too, dickhead." I commented. "Care to let me in? I got something for you."

"Yeah come on." He motioned to the flap.

"Kala, stay." I commanded.

Kala yawned and laid down at the door of the tent.

I walked in, admiring how much space in the tent he had. My tent was half the size of his.

"That dog follow you everywhere?" He asked.

I looked back at my dog. "Pretty much."

"Was she yours 'fore all this?"

I nodded. "Yep. Got her when I was 15; part wolf, part husky."

He nodded, looking at the mutt.

"But anyways, how are ya feeling?" I asked.

"Better. Don't have a headache anymore." He admitted.

"I'm glad, and I uh, I brought you this." I said, handing him the first book in the series. "It's one of my favorites…dunno if you'll like it though."

"What is it with women and books?" He questioned.

I chuckled. "Reading's good for you."

"Says who?" He asked.

I then noticed he was wearing Sena's necklace.

"You're planning on going back out there, right? Looking for my cousin?" I questioned.

He nodded. "Soon as possible."

I frowned. "Please stop. She's—she's gone. And I don't want you to hurt yourself anymore."

"It ain't me you ought to be worried about, when there's a kid lost out there."

I glared at him. "You deaf? Sophia told us she was bitten. That means a death sentence. And I don't wanna find my cousin's rotten corpse."

Daryl suddenly looked like I'd slapped him.

"Rick's calling off the search if Shane and Andrea don't find her today. I asked him to." I finished.

"She told me you taught her to use a knife and gun. That was smart." Daryl randomly told me.

"Someone had to." I replied. "Anyways, you want something to eat?"

He nodded. "That'd be nice."