We drove in silence, my arm around a sleeping Cheyenne. Daryl had one hand on the wheel, one arm on the window. I watched as buildings flew by. I turned my head to face the windshield when Daryl began slowing down. Once all the vehicles came to a stop, I saw Rick making his way down the line, explaining his stop to the other drivers. When he got to Daryl's truck, he gave us that polite Officer Friendly smile.
"Daryl, Spencer, I'm going up to the top of one of those buildings, going to try and make contact with Morgan again. I will be quick, so be ready to go when I get back." Rick explained. I shook my head, and Daryl grunted out an "okay". I watched as Rick walked away, and suddenly felt very sorry for him.
"Think he'll ever reach him?" I asked quietly, looking at Daryl. All he did was shrug and turn back to the window. I watched as his eyes darted around, checking for walkers. I decided to do the same, watch our surroundings. It seemed like ten minutes passed. Maybe shorter, maybe longer. Something caught my eye, and I saw Rick trudging back from where he'd gone.
"Daryl, think you can make it on your motorcycle, leave the truck behind? I'm going to ask Shane to do the same with his jeep. The less gas, the better off we'll be." Rick said, standing at Daryl's window.
"Not'a problem." Daryl said surely, jumping out of the truck.
"Hey, sweetie," I shook Cheyenne awake, "Chy, wake up."
"Not weady to wun, yet." Cheyenne mumbled.
"No runnin', chick. Just time to get up. We're goin' to the RV." I explained with a slight smile.
"We are?" She was waking up now.
"Yepp, let's go." I opened the door and stepped out of the truck, helping Cheyenne down. I looked over at Daryl who had already taken his motorcycle off the back. "Thanks for the ride."
Once again, Daryl said nothing, just looked at me and gave me a nod. I turned away, leading Cheyenne to the RV. I saw Rick and Lori share a kiss, and I began to think about that morning at the CDC. Something was up with Lori and Shane. The way he was glaring at her. The way she had looked so... Weird.
I tried not to think about it as Dale called to Shane to come on. I caught Daryl out of the corner of my eye on his motorcycle, ready to go. I looked up at Dale and grinned as I stepped up to him and the RV. He gave me a grin right back.
"Got room for two more?" I asked, squinting in the sun.
"Of course, Spencer." Dale smiled. I climbed into the RV with Cheyenne, and Shane was right behind us. I found a comfortable spot to sit, and Cheyenne climbed into my lap. I noticed Shane kept glancing at us, so I offered him a smile. He smiled back.
I felt really awful for Shane. I mean yeah, I was happy that Rick was alive and found his family. But then again, I still felt bad for Shane too. I could see what was going on. He was in love with Lori. She should have made better choices and so should he. But the world was gone to shit, what could you say?
I watched out of the RV window, feeling a slight smile spread across my lips. Daryl was leading the way, Rick and his car full behind us. I looked over at Shay, who gave me a knowing look. We were just happy to be alive and be with all these people we cared about.
"So Spencer, what did you do before all of this?" Shane asked, looking at me. I laughed and Shay joined in.
"I was goin' to school. Medical program, I was really only goin' 'cause my parents..." I trailed off.
"I met her in high school." Shay grinned. "If you couldn't tell, I'm not from Georgia. I came to Georgia because I had family down here. My parents died, so I had to live with my grandparents. Anyway, I met this crazy girl, here. We hit it off right away, I didn't feel like the new kid in school. After we graduated high school, we decided to go to the same college. Roommates."
"We even worked at the same place." I laughed. "And the day before we had to leave our apartment, we ordered pizza." I looked over at Glenn.
"Yeah, they really did. You gave me a nice tip, too." Glenn said, making everyone laugh. Then there was silence, not an awkward, but a comfortable silence. Until Shane began to clean his gun.
"Looks complicated." Andrea said quietly.
"The trick is gettin' all these pieces back together the same way," Shane had a hint of a smile as he huffed out a laugh. "I could clean yours, show ya how." Shane took her gun from the gun bag. "Oh, yea. This is a sweet piece."
"It was a gift," Andrea said leaning forward, "from my father. He gave it to me, just before Amy and I took off on our road trip. He said, "Two girls on their own should be able to defend themselves"."
"Smart man, your father. See look, it's a, it's a limited capacity, ya see. It only holds seven rounds." Shane was saying.
"Ah, geez." I heard Dale's voice and I immediately turned my head in his direction. I heard Glenn mumble an "oh, no" as we drove up the highway to see it littered with cars. An eighteen-wheeler was flipped on its side. Doors to some cars were open, while others were shut. Clothing and other items were scattered along both sides of the roads. I stood up as Dale came to a stop. I could see Daryl doubling back, and he drove up to Dale's window.
"See a way through?" Dale asked him. Daryl slung his head back with a nod, as if to say "follow me".
"Uhhh... Maybe we should just go back." Glenn offered as we followed Daryl. "There's an interstate bypass-"
"We can't spare the fuel." Dale cut him off. I looked over at T-Dog, who gave me a concerned look. I just turned back to the front windshield, watching as we followed Daryl. Dale weaved in between the mess as best as he could, until suddenly I heard a popping noise, followed by a scraping noise. I could see steam flowing in the front out of the windshield. Great, there goes the hose again, I mumbled in my head. Dale stopped, and got out of the RV. We all followed.
"I said it, didn't I say it?" I heard Dale going off on a tangent about the hose.
"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked, looking around.
"Well, just the small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere, with no hope of..." He trailed off as Daryl walked up and began searching through the trunk of a car. "Okay, that was dumb." Dale admitted, and I giggled.
"If ya can't find a radiator hose here..." Shane looked at all the cars.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff we could find." Daryl spoke up, still searching through the trunk.
"Siphon more fuel from the cars for a start." T-Dog said.
"Maybe some water?" Carol looked hopeful.
"Food." Glenn joined the conversation.
"This is a graveyard." Lori spoke up. Everyone looked at her, even Daryl. "I don't know how I feel about this." She looked uncomfortable.
"I know it sucks, but we need supplies." I said softly. She gave me a forced smile and nodded. "Chy, stay close, okay? Stay with Carl and Sophia. In our sight."
"Okay." Cheyenne nodded, and walked over to Carl. I heard Lori and Carol tell Carl and Sophia the same. Usually, I would have stuck around with Lori and Carol, but I decided to venture off on my own. As I began stuffing things into my bag, I felt the slightest hint of guilt. These things didn't belong to me... I guess now they did. I sighed.
As I walked over to another car, I was happy to see Shane had found a whole entire truck full of fresh water. I grinned, thinking to myself how nice that was going to taste. Turning back to the car I was standing at, I opened the door, and rummaged through the dash. I was giving up hope on this car, until I opened the middle console. Newports, a whole pack. Excited, I shoved them into my bag. I hadn't had a cigarette in nearly two years.
I walked around, gathering things, when something caught my attention. Rick was getting his gun ready to shoot. I looked up, straining to see what he was seeing through the scope. I could make out a walker weaving in and out of cars. I laughed to myself, thinking it was about to get its head capped. Then, something else caught my eye. Two of them? Looking closely, my heart dropped into my stomach. There was a... A herd of walkers!
I began to panic. I shoved my bag under one of the cars, and dug for one of my knives. I turned quickly, dodging carefully to the side of a car. I had to find Cheyenne and Shay. I saw Rick turn and I followed him. He looked at me and grabbed my arm.
"Come on!" Rick was in panic mode as well. I ran after him, holding onto the sleeve of his shirt. When he spotted Lori, he stopped. "Lori! Under the cars!" It was like a whisper yell. "Carl, Sophia, Cheyenne, get down now!" I watched as Carl grabbed Cheyenne, and the three children scrambled under cars. Rick jumped underneath one close by to the kids, but I kept going. "Spencer! Get down!" I heard Rick, but I ignored him. I had to find Shay.
I saw T-Dog sneaking around and I followed him. He dashed over to a car, bending down, and I heard him make a noise. I whipped my head to glare, but that glare turned into panic when I saw blood spurting from his arm. He had cut himself on the car door. He jumped up and ran to another vehicle, and I followed him.
"Go." He mouthed, trying to get me to hide and leave him.
"No." I mouthed back, shaking my head. I was afraid that the scent of his blood would attract the walkers. I got my knife ready as he glared at me. T and I kept moving, from car to car. As I darted behind him, I saw that he was leaving a trail of blood. He was losing too much blood. He leaned back suddenly, his eyes wide. I looked over to see a walker coming. I gripped the knife in my hand.
Then, Daryl came out of nowhere, shoving his knife through the walker's head. He fell to the ground with it, and looked up at us. "Shhhh." Daryl pressed his finger to his lips, and came over to us. He grabbed T-Dog's feet and slid him on his back, then threw a dead walker on top of him. My eyes met Daryl's and there was something in his eyes, a fire.
He said nothing to me, just gave me a quick shove, and had me underneath a car. He grabbed the dead walker from inside it, and pulled it down on himself. I squeezed my eyes shut for a few seconds, then opened them to see Daryl's blue eyes locked on mine. I just stared at him, trying to keep myself from having a panic attack. Everything was quiet. They were gone.
Daryl shoved the walker off of him and got up quickly, darting over to T-Dog. He uncovered him from the walker, and pulled him up. I began crawling out from underneath the car, and as soon as I got my legs out, I got up quickly. I ran over to T-Dog. Daryl was trying to help him, and I was about to kneel down to join him when I heard a child scream. Sophia? I took off in the direction I had left Rick and the kids.
As I ran up, I saw Rick scooting out from under a vehicle and take off. He jumped the guard rail and took off into the woods. That meant walkers chased Sophia into the woods. Where are Carl and Cheyenne? In a panic, I ran over to where I had seen Carl grab Cheyenne. I dropped to my knees to see Carl, laying on his stomach, one arm over Cheyenne. Both of the kids rolled out from underneath the car and ran to me. I grabbed them both.
"Good God!" I murmured kissing Cheyenne and Carl on the head.
"Lori! There's two walkers after my baby!" Carol cried as she ran to the guard rail. Carl ran over to his mother, and I held onto Cheyenne. I saw Dale and Andrea walk up looking horrified at Carol's state. I began to panic.
What were the chances that Sophia would be okay? Would Rick even find her? He had to. The walkers didn't exactly run, and I knew the kids were pretty fast. Cheyenne wasn't quite to that quickness level yet, but Sophia and Carl could really get up and go when they needed to. I felt sick to my stomach when I thought of little Sophia, having to run for her life.
Shay walked up, and I grabbed her. She hugged me back, then picked up Cheyenne. She only had to take one look at Carol to know something bad had happened to Sophia. I took Shay's arm and led her a few steps away from the group. Carol was already upset enough.
"Sophia ran into the woods. She was bein' chased by two walkers." I whispered and Shay shook her head.
"That's so awful! Oh, God... Why did this happen?" Shay looked at Cheyenne, pulling her close.
"I dunno..." I admitted. "I just don't know."
Rick had returned without Sophia. Daryl, Glenn, Shane, and Rick had marched right back into the woods to go find her. Shay was in the RV with Carl and Cheyenne. I sat outside with Dale. The group began moving cars, and when Carol came over looking pitiful, asking why we all weren't looking, I went to go check on T-Dog.
"Hey, T." I said, walking up to where he was sitting.
"Hey Spencer." T-Dog gave me a pained smile.
"How's that arm?" I asked, sitting down beside him.
"Hurts like hell." He admitted looking over at me.
"Maybe I can find ya some aspirin or somethin'." I said as I started to get up.
"No, no. Dale gave me what he found. Just... Sit with me?" T-Dog looked at me and his eyes were almost pleading.
"Yea, I can do that." I gave him a grin and sat back down.
Before long, the sun was setting. Glenn and Shane had come back with no Sophia. I heard Andrea and Dale having a spat over her gun. Shane stepped in saying until they'd had proper training, all guns needed to be accounted for. I snickered to myself. Hell will freeze over 'fore they take my damn gun, I said to myself.
"Oh, God. They're back!" I heard Glenn's voice. I walked over to see Rick and Daryl emerging from the woods. Without Sophia.
"You didn't find her?" Carol's voice was small and strained. I could tell she was crying again. God, I felt so bad.
"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick said.
"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own. To spend the night alone in the woods.." Carol pleaded.
"Huntin' in the dark's no good." Daryl explained, and his voice was oddly soft. "We'd jus' be trippin' over ourselves, more people get lost."
"But she's twelve, she can't be out there on her own! You didn't find anything?" Carol cried.
"I know this is hard, but I'm askin' you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick tried.
"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl spoke softly again.
"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better an' anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick seemed confident.
"Is that... Is that blood?" Carol was staring at Daryl.
"We took down a walker." Rick said.
"A walker, oh, my God." Carol breathed in panic.
"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick assured.
"How can you know that?" Andrea asked.
"We cut the son'o bitch open. Made sure." Daryl admitted.
"How could you..just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol was upset, but I began to get upset too. She couldn't blame Rick for this!
"Those two walkers were on us. I, I had to draw 'em off it, it was her best chance." Rick was trying to explain his actions.
"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane said, defending Rick. I couldn't listen anymore. I slipped away and walked toward the RV. Climbing the ladder, I stepped onto the roof of the RV and sat down, watching the sun set.
It was getting dark, and I was scared. Ten years old, sitting against the trunk of an old oak tree. I sighed and looked around. I had no idea where I was. All I knew is that I was sick of my parents, and I had stormed away from the house, walking into the woods. Now I was beginning to regret my decision.
I sat, watching the sun slink down. It disappeared and I was in darkness. I wanted to cry, but I held my head up and pretended I wasn't afraid. I was an explorer, lost from home. I had to find my way back home. Truth was, I was too afraid to get up from where I was sitting. Visions of monsters and creatures swirled through my head. The sound of footsteps made my heart pound.
"Spence? That you?" Sam's voice made me jump up.
"Yea, it's me!" I ran over to him, and he grabbed me in a hug.
"You all right?" Sam asked, staring at me as he let me go.
"Fine, I guess. I got lost." I admitted. He smiled.
"I know. I saw ya walk off so I came after you." Sam explained, looking back toward the direction he came from. "Let's go home."
"They were fightin' again." I mumbled as I walked with him through the woods.
"Don't they always?" Sam snorted. "Over stupid shit."
"I know. Mom slapped him." I shook my head.
"She tends to do that." Sam looked at me. "You sure you're all right?"
"Yea, just hate it when he yells at me. And hits me." I mumbled.
"Again?" Sam stopped.
"Yea, again. Mom didn't even say a damn thing when he did it... How can a father hate his kids so much?"
Footsteps interrupted my thoughts, and I saw Dale's head appear.
"Mind if I sit?" Dale asked, and I smiled.
"C'mon up." I said. It was dark, and peaceful at that moment.
"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick said. It was morning, and we all stood around, ready to search for Sophia.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea fussed.
"We been over that. Dale, Rick, and I are carryin'. Can't have people poppin' off rounds every time a tree rustles." Shane said.
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea said back.
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, herd happens to be passin' by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane said firmly.
"The idea is to take the creek up, 'bout five miles, turn around come back down the other side. Chances are, she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." Daryl explained. He caught my eye and I grimaced in the heat.
"Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you and always stay within sight of each other." Rick instructed. Shane told everyone to assemble their packs, and Rick went on to ask Dale to keep up with the repairs. I walked up to Rick and stood in front of him.
"Can I talk to you? And Shane?" I asked quietly. Lori looked at me. "You can come too, if ya want."
"Okay. Shane!" Rick called to him and Shane walked over.
"Yea?" He looked from Rick to me.
"Y'all need my gun?" I asked, looking at them.
"Completely forgot about you." Shane looked at Rick.
"No, I've seen you shoot. You keep your gun. Just don't tell anybody." Rick gave me the slightest grin and I nodded my head.
"Got it." I chirped, walking away. I turned back. "Thanks." Rick nodded. Shay joined me and we left Cheyenne to stay with Dale. I could hear Andrea and Dale going on again about Andrea's gun. She was upset about the CDC still. I sighed. Shay and I followed behind Daryl as we wandered out into the woods.
After walking for what seemed like forever, we found a tent. Unfortunately, all Daryl found inside was a dead man, no Sophia at all. I felt a sinking feeling when we didn't find her in the tent. I was hoping so badly that she'd be in there. We were about to keep moving, when church bells flooded my ears. We all jogged in the direction Rick said it was coming from.
We stumbled upon the church, and ran towards it. Only to be, once again, disappointed. There were walkers inside, the guys took them out without a problem. I nearly laughed when Daryl sliced one of them, and when it fell forward, he threw his arms up backing away.
"SOPHIA!" Daryl's voice rang out. He walked up to the statue of Jesus and looked up. "Yo, J.C., you takin' requests?" He mumbled. Shane was convinced we were at the wrong church until the bells went off again. Running outside, we found a speaker. Glenn unhooked the wiring and Daryl turned around.
"Timer. It's on a timer." Daryl said. Carol went back inside the church, but I just walked around the side with Andrea and sat beside her. We looked at each other.
"Ya know, Dale can be hard headed but he's only-" I started but Lori's voice interrupted me.
"Are you really leavin'?" Lori asked.
"Don't you think that's best for all of us?" Shane's voice.
"I think it is. What made you decide?" Lori asked.
"Gotta back away. Jus' tryin' to be the good guy here, Lori. Even if you don't see it. None of this was intended. I mean, I hope you know that. Don't matter as long a I said it." Shane replied.
"You're just gonna disappear? You're not even gonna tell Rick?" She asked.
"He'd only try to stop me, but that's on you. You tell him what ya want or tell him nothing at all. You're his wife." Shane retorted.
"And Carl? We dragged him into this." Lori's voice was shaky.
"I love Carl." Shane stated firmly.
"He thinks you hate him." Lori pushed.
"I'm tryin' to put some distance, I'm tryin' to make this easier. This ain't easy on any of us, least of all me. I'm the one that loses you." Shane said. I looked at Andrea and stood up, walking around the other side of the church. I waited until I saw Shane walk off before I sat on the steps. Of course Andrea followed.
Rick and Shane gathered everyone outside of the church and decided to split the group. Carl and I wanted to go with them, and they finally agreed to it. Carl grinned up at me and I patted him on the back, giving him a smile.
"Searchin' partners?" I asked holding out my hand. Carl took it and gave it a shake.
"Searching partners." He smiled back. I looked at Shay.
"If you get back before I do, watch out for Chy, huh?" I asked.
"I will." Shay gave me a smile. I looked at Daryl. He gave a quick nod, assuring me that she was in good hands. Rick took a few minutes inside the church. When he came out, we stood from the steps to head into the woods. Looking back at the church, I tilted my head.
"Let us find Sophia... And lemme find Sam one day." I whispered, before I turned back and followed Rick and Shane into the woods, Carl beside me. We walked along in the dense brush of the forest, looking for any sign of Sophia. When I heard something snap, I stopped, and Rick's hand shot up. Shane put his hand on Carl.
Then I saw it. A deer, a buck. The velvet was thin on his rack, as he emerged into the clearing. He stepped lightly, seemingly unaware of us standing there. Either that or he was just ignoring us. The deer shook his head, and I saw Shane raise his gun.
"Shane!" Rick whispered, and Shane stopped, looking at Carl, who was walking forward. We all three stood back, just watching, as Carl walked closer to the deer. The deer was munching on grass, as Carl stepped closer quietly as possible. The deer turned to look at him, but remained still.
I watched in awe as the deer allowed Carl to step closer. Glancing over at Rick, I could see the softness in his face as he watched his son step closer to the deer. I looked back at Carl as he stood there watching the deer. I jumped when the sound of a gunshot exploded in my ears. The deer and Carl fell to the ground. I was trying to register what had just happened when I heard Rick yelling.
"No! No, no, no, NO, NO, NO!" He ran forward and I followed.
Okay, that's ch.12 ! I know I sorta jumbled things along quickly, but I didn't wanna spend more time than needed on the whole search for Sophia time period before the farm. Poor Spencer, she just gets into the biggest messes, huh ? Now time for the farm ! I am super excited to do this whole season ! Lots of stuff I can add and kinda drag out the farm time since so much (Big and Small) happened there. Now remember, I am sticking to the story line (obviously) but there is no Daryl/Carol, so don't worry about that. And this is the season where Lori turns into the evil bitch. That's mean to say now that she's dead but it's so true ! Anyways, hope you all enjoyed, and the reviews are AMAZINNNNN ! Thank you so much ! Reviews are greatly appreciated !
~Kaila