Author's note: Holy Daryl Dixon, I was not expecting so many review so fast. I just wanted to say thank you to everyone and sorry for putting you all through that. However I really needed to know if this story died. Call it the writer blues. Or whatever you want to name the condition in which a writer questions everything she writes. Any who this is a super duper long chapter just for all of you! I hope you enjoy it. I had quite a lot of fun writing though there are a few parts that a I feel are a little stale-agh writer's blues, go away! Anyway please review, cause it really makes my day-and trust me, my whole week has been crappy so far-as well as makes me write faster.
~Cassandra
Disclaimer: I do not own the Walking Dead, if I did I would not be signed up for the online class. No, seriously I have other homework I need to do.
Mara let out a small grunt as she shifted her rucksack onto her back. Today everyone was going to scour the woods for Sophia as a group. Meaning they would needing weapons, food, water, and emergency supplies just in case. And what was a better way than carry it all than Mara's precious rucksack? "Are you sure you can handle carry all that?" Rick asked, eyeing her wearily.
She was about to ask him, why, when Mara remembered. Rick still believed that it was because of a hurt back, that she got kicked out of the army. Which of course wasn't true. However Mara too embarrass to admit the real reason for being kicked out. Even if it was no longer true anymore, Mara did not want to confess to ever not being able to shoot a rifle. "It's fine. It's lighter than normal." She assured, giving him a smile. "Plus I don't trust anyone with my ruck. Not even my own brothers."
He nodded, trying to stop his own smile threatening to break out. No matter how bad things were, Mara always could make Rick smile. It was another mystery about the young woman, Rick could never understand. Giving her a small nod, Rick headed towards the small posse gathered around the R.V. With a loud thud, he placed the weapons kit Carl found earlier onto the table. "Everyone takes a weapon." He announced leaving no room for argument.
Andrea scoffed looking at the weapons. "These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?"
"We've been over that." Shane replied, exasperatedly. This was about the tenth time Andrea brought up guns in the last two days. And while everyone agreed that no one should be denied the right to have a gun, they also agreed that people wouldn't know how to use one shouldn't have one. At least…until Shane and Rick could give a few basic lessons. It was only common sense really. An person who didn't know how to use a gun, was in more danger if they had one in their possession than not. Besides there wasn't much need for guns when they were in such a large group. "Daryl, Rick, Mara and I are carrying. We can't have people popping home every time a tree rustles."
Mara couldn't help but blush a Shane's last statement. Only yesterday she nearly shot Rick in the head, because he scared. Though in her defense, Rick was behind her not rustling in the bushes. Daryl nudged her nonchalantly as if reading her mind. She looked up at him catching his warning not to be an idiot in those blue pools of his. A scoff threatened to grace her face, but it froze half way by a glare from Andrea.
Although Andrea and Mara started on good terms, it appeared though that patriarchy's strange acceptance of Mara as one of them, had put her on bad terms with the rest of the women. Especially Andrea who cleared desired to join in, but had no idea how. "It's not the trees, I'm worried about." Andrea muttered back.
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane argued. In truth though, his argument made no sense. If they all were in the woods, how would any of them be able to tell when a herd was passing by? However there was no way, Mara was going to bring that up. Not after being glared at like that. Besides Shane had a point…until Andrea learned how to shoot, she need to get over not having a gun.
After a few moments of awkward silence Mara turned to Daryl. In a half serious, half joking fashion, she said, "Alright platoon guide, what's the plan?"
Glaring at her slightly, Daryl shifted his body into a more aggressive position. At least she wasn't calling him that stupid canine police dog's name. "The idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around come back the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."
With that said, he started to walk around the group towards the forest, assuming his position as guide. Rick turned to group to give them his final warning. "Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you, but always stay within sight of each other."
"Everybody assemble your pack, we don't want Mara doing all the hard work with her back." Shane ordered, swooping into Mara's pack to grab supplies.
Mara fought to turn around, but the weight of her ruck and Shane's tight grip on it, made it impossible to maintain balance. So instead she chose to whine about it like a little kid. Hey! She was only twenty-two. Still considered nothing more than a stupid kid in the majority of adult's minds there. "I'm fine, Shane. You don't need to take anything out, let alone even touch my ruck." Mara insisted.
Shane rolled his eyes, continuing to pull things out. "I'll tell you what Mara, when the doctors at Fort Benning give the okay, you can carry whatever you want."
"I'm twenty-two, Shane. Not five. No need to patronize me." Mara argued.
"Then don't act like one." Shane said, bored. He patted her ruck letting Mara know he was done. She frowned shifting her now practically weightless ruck on her back. As much as Mara hated to admit it, for a moment there Shane reminded her eldest brother Bryon. The stupid jerk was always worrying about her, even more so than the rest of her brothers. When it came to Mara, her brother acted like nothing else was more important than her. Although Mara supposed that was more because Bryon basically raised her more than anything else.
Either way, the thought of her eldest brother brought a strange buzzing sensation within her. It didn't hurt and it certainly wasn't a hint of a vision coming one. The feeling was simply that…a feeling. Her thoughts were interrupted by Andrea yelling at Dale for destroying her chance of ending her misery at the CDC. Mara glanced over at the two for a second before looking away. Andrea didn't see how lucky she was to have someone who cared so much about her. Especially in a time such as now.
With a sigh, Mara lifted her head to catch Daryl's eyes on her. An tiny smile broke out on her face, as the memory of Daryl dragging her out of the CDC hit Mara. That day she was so sure, it would be her last. The vision-the last and most recent one, shown her dying in the fiery explosion that took down the CDC. So when the time to escape came, Mara was frozen with panic. If it hadn't been for Daryl pulling her along, the vision surely would have came true. Yes…Andrea was blind to see how lucky she was, but Mara refused to do the same. "Let's get going." Mara requested, taking the spot next to Daryl.
He looked at her, eyes filled with an emotion Mara couldn't comprehend. But if she had a second guess, she say Daryl was something near the lines of what Mara thought. He gave her a short nod, before shooting a glance at Rick. The officer gave the 'go ahead' and Daryl started weaving them through the cars into the woods. They walked through the forest in a straight procession. Daryl taking the lead. Mara right after him, Rick behind her. The women plus Glenn and Carl in the middle. And lastly Shane kept guard at the rear.
After twenty minutes of walking in silence, they spotted a yellow tent off in the distance. Daryl signaled for everyone to freeze, pointing towards the tent. They crouched eyes scanning the area for any signs of danger. Mara pulled Kindness tighter into her shoulder pocket. "She could be in there." Shane announced the obvious.
"Could be a bunch of things in there." Daryl countered, slowly standing up.
Mara rose just as slow, repositioning Kindness as she did so. She was about to follow after the redneck, when Rick placed a hand on her shoulder. Curiously she turned to look at him. He gestured towards the others with his head, silently telling her to stay put and guard them. With an annoyed sigh, Mara agreed, moving behind the crowd of women crouched down in the grass. As much as she didn't like being left out on the action, someone did unfortunately have to watch the group. Even with weapons, Glenn was the only one really able to handle a walker attack.
A small smirk grew on her face as she thought about it. Out of all the women in the group, Mara was the only one who held a kill rate. Neither Lori nor Carol ever killed a walker, and Andrea just killed her first one yesterday in the R.V. Yet Mara and her supposedly bad aim, protected the group from countless others. The fact made her pride swell slightly. "See dad, I'm not useless. I can protect others too." Mara whispered to the sky.
Her attention was quickly diverted by Rick calling Carol to come forth. Instantly Carol ran to Rick's side with the rest of them following. "If she's in there, the first voice she should hear is yours." Rick informed quietly.
Carol nodded looking towards the tent with fearful eyes. Who knew what was inside it. They could only hope it was a living breathing Sophia though. "Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy." she called, her voice rising "Sophia, we're all here, baby. It's mommy."
However there was no answer. Rick glanced over to Carol, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder before moving to where Daryl was. The redneck was way too close to the tent for Mara's liking, but if anyone could handle its contents inside, it was Daryl. She frowned watching Shane go pass her. Sparing the group one last look, Mara begrudgingly made the decision to stay. While she was sure the others would be completely fine without her, that unfortunate overactive imagination of hers won. Logic said if anything did occur it wouldn't be disastrous. Imagination though said that at any minute a walker would come down the hill killing everyone, because she wasn't there to shoot it.
Shivers ran up her spine at the thought. Yup, Mara really needed to psychologist about her imagination problem….and a few other things after this. Through the corner of her eye, Mara glanced every so often at her men. Her attention mostly focused though on watching for that one killer walker. "Daryl?" she heard Carol ask fearfully.
Daryl moved out of the tent. His eyes immediately going to Carol's. "It ain't her."
Both relief and fear run through Carol and Mara could only imagine how torn the woman is. Being torn between the fear of not knowing what happened to her child, and the relief of not knowing-because sometimes knowing is worse than not…there were just no words to describe how the woman must've felt. "What's in there?" Andrea questioned like always.
Mara bit her lip, trying to hold back the angry emotions building in her. She had to remind herself that Andrea was a lawyer and lawyer were taught to ask questions. To fight anything unfair, whereas Mara's father taught her to think like a soldier. Orders were orders, you did not question them. And anything undisclosed to you by someone higher up wasn't your business. Granted Mara definitely didn't always obey orders, she did have a tendency not to question things around. Then again, Mara never was out of the loop either. Still, what exactly did Andrea think Daryl was hiding? "Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out." Daryl answered, disgust apparent in his voice. "Ain't that what he called it?"
Sighing Mara moved to walk over to the guys, when a faint sound forced her to pause. She blinked closing her eyes hoping the elimination of a sense would help her hear better. It worked slightly, but enough for Mara to know she wasn't crazy. Church bells were ringing from somewhere. Meaning there was a good chance they could run into people or more importantly-Sophia! Immediately Mara hightailed towards the sound only a few steps behind Rick.
"Which way?" Shane asked, coming up to Mara's right.
"I think that way. I'm pretty sure." Rick replied pointing.
Shane took a few more steps in the direction Rick was pointing at, before jumping on a log. His eyes scanned the vicinity as if something would give away the location of the bells. "Damn it's hard to tell out here." He huffed, looking at Rick.
"Yeah well, standing on that log isn't going to help you any." Mara mentioned, breezing pass him. If he was trying to get a better look than Mara would suggest something higher off the ground. Cause a log that only came to his knee was definitely not going to help him see past these trees.
"If we heard them, then maybe Sophia does too." Carol remarked.
"Someone's ringing those bells." Glenn agreed. "Maybe calling others."
"Or they are signaling that they found her." Andrea suggested.
"She could be ringing them herself." Rick added. "Come on!"
Mara bit her lip, picking up her pace. The ringing could be a lot of things. Not all of them good either. Back in the real world, her brothers constantly going around quoting 'kill the dead, fear the living,' to her. Hell, Zane even had a couple of shirts with that exact quote on it. At time the quote only annoyed her. After all it was her brothers' response to everything….'trouble with a co-worker. Well just remember Mar, kill the dead fear the living' Of course Mara would always respond with 'that doesn't even make sense dumbass,' which it still didn't. She got the feeling her brothers quoted it just to quote it. However Mara had to admit, being in The Walking Dead changed her perspective on a lot of things. And while she thought the quote and her brothers were still stupid, she couldn't help but wonder how much it applied to the series.
Her thoughts were interrupted thanks to her nearly colliding into Daryl. Who unsurprisingly gave her a glare stating that she was a dumbass…but he loved her anyway…okay maybe not the last part, but he did. Sending him a small apology smile, she breezed pass him to where Rick and Shane were. Silently she took in the eerily peaceful looking chapel ahead of them. Despite the scattered graves surrounding the chapel, Mara couldn't help but think how fitting it was in this new world. A world where hope and life was surrounded by despair and death. "That can't be it." Shane spoke up. "Got no steeple, no bells-"
However Shane's words fell short as Rick sprinted towards the church. Immediately Mara took after him, not knowing what he was thinking. Surprisingly she managed to keep up with the cop. Even in the army, running had never been her high point. So there was no reason it should be now, months after being kicked out of it. Thankfully the distance from the woods to the church wasn't far enough for Mara to look like a panting dog upon finally slowing. If she had, the men would probably tell her to stand by-which totally wouldn't happen.
Rick pressed a finger to his lips, signaling for them to be quiet. She nodded, her fingers threatening to flip the safety from off to semi-automatic. The blood within her pumped furiously with adrenaline; a feeling which she was getting quite used to. With one simple push the doors open, revealed an a small bunch of walkers in church clothes. They turned towards them, almost as if they were actually praying moments before. Slowly they rose in unison, low hissing noises escaping them. Lori passed Rick a knife from behind and with determined look he stepped forward, setting off the whole show down.
Frowning Mara watched the killings go down. One of the downsides to obtaining Kindness was that she could only be used at desperate measures. Meaning Mara was practically useless in any non-emergency situations. Something that wasn't going to last long if she could help it. All Mara need was another axe and she would be all set to help. Until then she was stuck on the sidelines, watching the men take their frustrations out on the walkers. Though in truth, they were done in a matter of seconds.
A loud thud drew Mara's attention to a desperate Carol. The poor woman eyed the room fearfully. Mara opened her mouth trying to find some words of comfort when Daryl let out a deafening "Sophia!?"
"I'm telling you, it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick." Shane repeated to Rick. "There's no steeple."
His argument fell short though when the church bells begun to ring once more. This time louder than before. Mara blinked taking a second to comprehend what was going on along with everyone, except Daryl. The redneck had sprung into action the second the first bell rang, pushing his way from the crowd at the door. His hurry wakening everyone from their daze as they ran quickly after him. Unfortunately Daryl only needed to take a few steps outside to find the source of the ringing bells.
There connected to the roof was a large speaker connected to a timer. Mara felt her blood boil as Glenn switched it off. No matter what they did, they just couldn't seem to catch a break. "A timer." Daryl breathed in disbelief. "A timer. It's on a timer."
If Mara didn't know any better, she'd say Daryl was ready to life in spite of themselves. But then again, who could blame him. Mara wanted to laugh in spite of themselves as well. What type of sick joke was this anyway? To have them spend hours searching for Sophia and the one bright spot they get, turns out to be a dead end…who the hell plotted this all? Didn't they know that television didn't happen like this? Didn't know that T.V shows were suppose to have a happy ending when it came to children? That it wasn't supposed to be like real life, where things didn't always work out… "I'm gonna go back for a bit." Carol announced softly, wandering back to the church.
From there the group dispersed going wherever they needed to go to clear their heads. Each one of them plagued by the growing question of Sophia's safety. No one really knowing what to think or do, let alone how long the little girl truly had. "I've never been a believer in god." Mara mumbled softly to the air.
She sat alone in the graveyard closest to the woods, staring up at the blue sky scornful. Kindness laid besides her ready to be drawn at any minute, while ruck was thrown lazy at her feet. The Grimes family had gone inside with Carol. Shane and Andrea were walking in the graveyard nearest to the church arguing. While Daryl and Glenn searched around the building for any sign of Sophia. An action that Mara probably should be doing…however she needed a moment. Just like Carol and the Grimes did. Hers though was one that didn't need to be shared. "Like I said Mom, I've never believed in God. I mean how could I, when he took you away at such a young age. When I had to live through my father either belittling or ignoring me every day of my life. Had to live with the idea that I was good for nothing, useless, no good-with only my brother to defend me, and even they could always save me. To work hard to prove myself to be someone only to fail miserable. Why would I ever believe in some powerful being?" Mara questioned angrily.
A bitter smile made its way to Mara's face at her next thoughts. Tears threatened to spill from the corner of her eyes. "But I guess there is one, and he's angry at me. For what I don't know, but that is only explanation I can come up for all this. Being here…in a world that doesn't exist, yet it not being a dream, because in dreams you don't feel pain and you don't bleed. Here I do. I bleed. I hurt. I hunger. I thirst. And I fear. Not exactly experiences you'd have in heaven, you know?" she wiped her cheeks impatiently. "I'm not here to have a pity party though. I'm here to ask you for a favor….I need you to talk to God for me, if you can. I need you to ask him to make sure Sophia is safe and sound. She's only a child-she hasn't tasted life yet-and she has a mother who loves her immensely. To let any harm come towards her…it would be unjust-unfair-not merciful. All things you told me, God wasn't, Mom. So prove me, wrong. Ask God to watch after her, it's the least you can do for me."
She closed her eyes mumbling out one last plea. Around her, the wind seemed to wrap her in its cool breeze. Then for a second Mara could feel the gentle warm buzzing sensation within her. The feeling promising something sweet. "Please, tell me that you're not really asleep lil'bit." Daryl's drawl came.
Her eyes snapped open, glaring instantly at the redneck. "It's called praying, Daryl. It requires concentration."
Daryl shrugged. "How was I suppose to know? I don't pray."
"Neither do I." Mara confessed, standing. She snatched Kindness off the ground, only to hand it over to Daryl for a quick second as she adjusted her ruck. "I just felt like I giving it a shot."
"Everything will be alright." Daryl assured. His voice soft like it was yesterday with Carol.
Mara smiled slightly taking Kindness from him. "I know. It has to be, I just wish I could of more help."
Daryl cocked an eyebrow. His blue eyes staring at her for a good hard second. "There's nothing more you can do, Lil'bit. Nothing more anyone can do, but search."
"I could have a vision." Mara protested frowning.
He gave her a knowing look. While they never spoke about Mara's visions, Daryl didn't have to be a genius to know how painful they were for her. So though a vision would be helpful in tracking down Sophia, Daryl was glad Mara wasn't experiencing any of them currently. "But it doesn't work like that does it." He replied, his tone still soft.
"No, it doesn't." Mara agreed, ending their conversation. Slowly they wandered back to where the others gathered. Neither one of them saying a word. Mara took a seat next to Lori and Carl, giving them both a soft smile as she sat. Surprisingly Lori returned the smile along with Carl. Looking around at the others to see if anyone was watching, Mara sneakily tapped Carl on the leg with a fun size kit-kat. She may have been forced to empty all the visible food from her ruck, but that didn't mean Mara was willing to reveal her ruck's secret pockets.
Carl's eyes widened slightly as he stared at the candy bar. He looked at her as if in disbelief Mara was actually giving it to him. A grin spread on her face as she slipped the candy bar into his side pocket. Giving him a wink, Mara pressed a finger her mouth signaling him to keep it a secret-although it was obviously seen by Lori, who was now smiling as well. Like mentioned before, Mara loved kids, always had. However it would be a lie to say Carl wasn't a little more special because of her connection to his father. "Ahem." Shane announced, gaining everyone's attention. "Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area for another hour or so just to be thorough."
"You're splitting us up. You sure? " Daryl questioned.
"Yeah we'll catch up to you." Shane sighed, reluctantly.
"I'm coming with you." Mara declared. Instantly seven pairs of eyes were on her. Two in specifically boring into her skull with disapproval. She ignored the urge to roll her own at them all. If she was part of the group's patriarchy then why the hell did everyone act like this whenever Mara decided to help? It was annoying.
"Mar-" Rick started.
"I'm coming with you, Rick." Mara repeated, firmly.
Another sigh escaped Shane as he ran a hand over his sweaty head. "Alright. Mara, you can stay with us."
"Good." Mara affirmed, leaving not room for argument. As much as she hated to admit it, Mara was beginning to like Shane more and more. Even if it was just because he was strangely allowing her more freedom to get involved in the dirty business than Rick-and surprising Daryl did.
"I want to stay too." Carl said suddenly. "I'm her friend."
The two men exchange glances. Shane scoffed, shaking his head as if already knowing Rick's answer. It was Lori though who made the call this time. "Just be careful okay?" she requested, cupping his face.
"I will." Carl swore.
Lori smiled pulling him into her chest. "When did you start growing up?"
When she pulled away, Mara giving her a reassuring smile, promising silently to the woman to keep an eye out for both of her men. The mother /wife flashed her a grateful smile before moving to give her husband a kiss. Embarrassed Mara looked away, telling herself it was to give the couple privacy. Not due to the strange jealous feeling bubbling up within her. "Here take this, remember how to use it?" Rick asked, handing his pistol over.
"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori rejected.
This time Daryl intervened with a gun of his. "Here, got a spare. Take it."
Reluctantly Lori obliged. A loud incredulous sigh escaped Andrea as she sent everyone a scathing look. Rolling her eyes, Mara turned to her other best friend Daryl. He stared at her with a pinch of worry? She forced a smile on her face. All this was ridiculous, she wanted to go with Rick, yet Mara didn't want to leave Daryl's side. A situation that reminded her greatly of when she traveled with Daryl to the CDC. These accursed feeling of hers made it confusing for her then too. Oh, and then there was that lovely incident of getting kissed twice in one night. Another thing that Mara hadn't quite recovered, no matter how much she pretended. Yeah….her life officially sucked.
"Promise me, you'll stay safe?" Her cheeks burned slightly as she spoke.
Something resembling a smirk twitched on his lips. "It's not me, you should be worried about."
Mara chuckled softly . "If you're insinuating that I should worry about myself forgot it. Nothing bad is going to happen to me. I swear."
Daryl nodded, eyes going to the rest of the group waiting on him. "Stay safe, Lil'bit."
"I already said I would." Mara smiled, moving to where Rick, Shane and Carl stood. Daryl gave her one last look then turned to lead the group back to camp. She watched silently, trying hard to quench the overwhelming worry in her. Stupid feeling, Mara just couldn't win with them, could she?
Rick turned towards her and Shane, a desperate expression on his face. He leaned in close enough for Carl not to hear, but them. "Give me a second." He requested.
Shane nodded, placing a hand on Carl's head as Rick walked into the church. The officer frowned as he moved closer to the statue of Jesus. He had never been real religious back when the world was in order. Even if he identified himself as a Christian, Rick never went church outside of Christmas and Easter. There was just never time for him to go-with being an officer, a husband and a father-there was never time. Though Rick supposed none of those were valid arguments to God. Perhaps that's why the world was ending, because many other like him felt the same way.
Either way though, if this was truly some punishment for not being reverent…then God wasn't getting the opposite result from him. None of this made him want to worship the lord, only to reject him. Still…Rick was desperate. So desperate he was willing to pray to a deity, he was losing faith in more and more. "I don't know if you're looking at me with what? Sadness? Scorn? Pity? Love? " he sighed. "Maybe it's just indifference."
He bowed his head slightly, removing his hat from his head. On the few times Rick did go to church, he could remember the preacher's outcry about wearing hats inside. It was disrespectful, and that was the last thing Rick wanted to be. "I guess you already know, I'm not much of a believer. I guess I just chose to put my faith elsewhere. My family, mostly. My friends. My job. The thing is we-I could use a little something to help keep us going. Some kind of….acknowledgement. Some indication I'm doing the right thing. You don't know how hard that is to know." He whispered , looking down.
Slowly he rose his head, staring at the statue of Christ crucified. The painted blood on it, gazing back at him. It was fitting more than ever for this dark world. Nodding once more he looked away. "Well, maybe you do."
Taking one more look at the statue, he placed his hat back on and ahead towards the door. Thoughts whirled in his head. Anger built up inside him uncontrollably. Then he snapped. Turning once more to statue, Rick glared at it with a new feeling…fury. "Look I don't need all the answers." He hissed. "Just a little nudge. A sign."
He took a deep breath trying to calm his fury. Carl hearing him like this was the last thing Rick need. Gazing finally for the last time up at the statue, he gave god a contemptuous smile. "Any sign will do."
Unruly long black hair was the first thing Rick's eyes made contact with as he left the church. Not too far from the doors, Mara stood besides Shane and Carl. A small smile on her face as she joked about something to his son. Carl's face lit up for a second as he made some remark, Rick didn't catch. In this new world there were many mysteries; the biggest being Mara. No matter what the situation was Mara always seemed to shed some light into the darkness. Whether it be with her kind words, gentle smiles, or witty remarks, Mara lessened the pain of world. Even if it was only momentarily.
Sure Mara had breakdowns and perhaps more issues than the average person did. None of those things ever kept her down for long though. Breakdowns ended within minutes of them starting. Issues pushed aside quickly to help others. Some could say it was her way of not dealing with her own problems, but not Rick. He remembered that night Mara thought he was her father, and she was anything other than docile when it came to him. No, Mara was a kind person. A kind person willing to sacrifice her own sanity to help people. She was something not of this world. "Get what you need?" Shane asked.
Both Mara and Carl's head snapped up, noticing Rick's presence. His eyes met Mara's for a brief second, long enough to read the worry in her eyes though. He couldn't help, but smile at her worry. There she went again always worrying about others. "Guess I'll find out." He muttered, tussling Carl's hair.
It felt they had been wandering around for hours . Every tree and plant seeming to blend into one. Yet still no sign of Sophia. Nonetheless Rick pushed onwards. One more hour and they'd turn back…only one more hour, he swore. A loud snap was heard; instantly Rick signaled them to stop. The noises-branches being snapped continued. Cautiously Rick crept through the brush gun raised. Next to him, Mara and Shane imitated him-the only real difference between them being Carl safely tucked in the middle of them. Through the thin trunks of the trees, Rick could spot the culprit-a buck moving about. Soon the others spotted it, lowering their weapons.
The buck came out into view only a few feet away. Uncontrollably the corners of Rick's mouth turned upwards. Maybe this was his sign. "Shane, no." Rick whispered, upon seeing his friend raise his rifle.
Shane blinked confused, but the movement of two bodies next to him explained it all. Carl was staring at the deer with sheer fascination. A look of bewilderment and wonder on his face as Mara quietly coached besides him on approaching the deer. Rick's smile grew into a grew and he made a mental note to ask Mara, how exactly she knew about approaching deer. One step at a time, the two made their way over to the deer. His son's excitement grew more as Mara took his hand in hers and stretched them out to touch it-
Bam!
...and that's when Rick's sign fell. Along with something more important to him than nearly anything else.
Muchas Gracias to Hell's-funnyhome, .18, Endless Questions, Shika93, Corina27, Dhalia89, Miki18, Padme4000, Aryiaa Bloodream, Grade. , Misshorrorshow, Hope and Love, Blackcatdemon133, watergoddesskasey, Jack, Clueless1164, Azmarieleelee, ZebrasGoBoom, and Nightwatchers2 for reviewing last chapter. Your reviews keep me going!
Hell's-funnyhome: No, you're in no way too late. Lol, and it's cool that you're rewatching season 3. I'm rewatching season 1 with my grandmother-well trying too, she demands that I answer all her questions and we're only on episode 3. :P I'll try and have more Daryl/Mara/Rick interactions, but they probably won't really happen until season 3.
Endless Questions: I apologized for holding the story for ransom, I don't like when writers do it either. However I wanted to know if people still read it, otherwise I would turn my focus on other stories I'm working on. If that makes sense.
Padme4000: Haha I hope Mara does kick Rick's butt if he thinks badly of himself-and knowing her, she' d probably would. Though it would be more her trying to afflict damage on Rick, and him trying hard not to laugh at her.
Aryiaa Bloodream: Wow, that's all I can say. You're review so totally made me blush. I honestly don't think about most of those things when writing, however I will admit there are a few surprise in the series coming up that I have planned for a while. And I agree Rick could use some loving, but it really is all up to Mara.
ZebrasGoBoom: First off I love your name, it is awesome. Secondly thank you so much for the compliment and the understanding, however it looks like Journey Homewards shall be staying!