That night, I couldn't sleep. I tossed and turned. Looking over, I saw Cheyenne and Shay sound asleep. I sat up, grabbed my sleeping bag and ducked out of the tent, zipping it back quietly. Turning away, I walked over near the RV and laid my sleeping bag on the ground. Lying down, I looked up at the stars.
A noise to my right made me jerk my head. To my relief, it was only Daryl, walking towards me. His eyes met mine briefly, before he walked around me and started up the RV ladder. I heard Dale's voice, then footsteps coming down the ladder. I looked over expecting Dale, but instead there was Daryl again.
He said nothing, just walked by and headed back to his tent. I watched him walk away, and as he stepped into his tent, he looked back at me. I shut my eyes, trying to imagine that he wasn't there. I reminded myself of the earlier episode with him and Carol. I thought about many things, but Daryl's blue eyes were the last thing in my head before I fell asleep.
"All right, everyone's gettin' new search grids today." Rick was talking as I stood listening to him speak. "If she made it as far as the farm house Daryl found, she may have gone further east than we've been so far."
"I'd like to help." Jimmy walked up. "I know the area pretty well and stuff." I looked at Rick, but someone else caught my eye. I glanced over at Daryl, who was putting on a plaid shirt over his stained wife beater. I couldn't look away, until his eyes darted to mine, and I instantly looked back at Rick, feeling my cheeks burn.
"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked.
"Yea, yea. Uh, he said I should ask you." Jimmy assured.
"All right then, thanks." Rick nodded.
"Nothin' 'bout what Daryl found is screamin' 'Sophia' to me." Shane said. "Anyone could've been holed up in that farm house." I rolled my eyes. I wanted to tell him to stay out of it. Go play with Lori. I told myself to shut up real quick, I couldn't do that.
"Anybody includes her, right?" Andrea argued.
"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay high." Daryl stuck out his arm to demonstrate. Right about the height of Sophia.
"Good lead." Andrea encouraged.
"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick looked to Daryl.
"Ain't no maybe 'bout it. Imma borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here. Get a bird's eye view of the whole grid. She's up there, I'll spot her." Daryl explained.
"Good idea. Maybe you'll see ya chupacabra up there, too." T-Dog said seriously. I grinned, remembering the first night at camp. Daryl and his wild story. He caught my grin and gave me a slight sneer. I stuck the tip of my tongue out and gave him a menacing look.
"Chupacabra?" Rick asked, oblivious to silent war Daryl and I were having.
"What, you never heard this?" Dale asked, and Daryl looked at him. "The first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." When he said "chupacabra", he made a face, which caused me to giggle. Jimmy laughed and Daryl made a rude comment toward him.
"So you believe in a blood sucking dog?" Rick looked skeptical.
"Believe dead people walkin' 'round?" Daryl asked. Jimmy reached for a gun, causing Rick to stop him.
"Hey, hey. Ever fire one before?" Rick held the gun.
"Well, if I'm goin' out, I want one." Jimmy said.
"Yea... And people in hell want slurpees." Daryl grumbled, which caused me to outright laugh. He looked back at me, giving me a smirk, before walking off toward the stables. Rick split us off into groups, I wound up going with T-Dog, Andrea, and Jimmy. It seemed like Rick and Shane needed time, so I didn't offer to go with them.
We searched through the woods for what felt like hours. Tacking up pieces of blue cloth to show we had covered our parts of the grid. Finding nothing, I felt that sinking feeling in my stomach. That sinking feeling of dread. Of knowing we would have to face Carol, once again, with news of nothing.
Once back to the farm, I caught Glenn and Lori talking. Glenn walked off as soon as soon as Rick and Shane appeared. I stalked off after Glenn, hoping Lori wouldn't see me follow him. When we were out of ear shot, I ran up and grabbed his arm.
"Glenn, slow down!" I stopped him and he looked at me.
"What's wrong?" He asked immediately.
"Lori... She's pregnant, ain't she?" I asked, looking into his eyes.
"How do you know? Did she tell you?" Glenn looked around to see if anyone could hear us.
"No, I saw her go out into the field. I was wonderin' what the hell she was doin' goin' out there all alone. Realized she was peein', and thought to myself, why? Why would she do that? Why not just pee inside? Grabbed the binoculars, saw somethin' in her hand. Didn't take long to put two and two together. Actually took me about thirty seconds." I rambled, still gripping his arm.
"Don't tell anyone, Spencer. She'll think I told." Glenn warned.
"You got my word. What's Rick think?" I asked, looking over to see Rick and Lori gone.
"He doesn't know." Glenn said, looking down.
"He don't know? What do you mean he don't know?" I huffed.
"Lori doesn't want to tell him yet." Glenn looked back up at me. "Or at all, I don't know."
"Oh, good God." I mumbled. "Think it's Shane's?"
"What?" Glenn looked at me, surprised.
"Oh, don't play coy. You saw 'em as well as I did sneakin' off together before Rick came along." I looked back toward the house. "Shane's crazy about her. And I don't see that a good thing. He finds out about this, he's gonna think the baby's his."
"Maybe, but I don't know. It could be Rick's." Glenn tried to make the situation better.
"Could. Yea." I snorted. "But I ain't sayin' shit to no one. For your sake."
"Thanks, Spencer." Glenn looked relieved.
"Thank me later, when all hell breaks loose." I laughed and walked off toward the RV. Glenn followed me and walked inside. I walked over to the camp area, and sat beside T-Dog.
"Hey T, wassup?" I grinned.
"Spencer, Spencer, Spencer. I say we covered a lot of ground today, huh?" T-Dog smiled, offering me some water.
"Yea, we did." I took the water and drank.
"Where's the little one?" T-Dog asked, looking around. I laughed.
"Inside with Shay, helpin' Lori and Carol cook. Learnin' to be a little chef." I shook my head.
"Next thing you know, she'll be learnin' how to shoot. Ah, they grow so fast." T-Dog gave me a flashy smile and I raised my eyebrows.
"Learn to shoot my-" I was about to say "ass", when Andrea yelled.
"Walker! Walker!" She stood up on top of the RV.
"Just the one?" Rick asked, and I jumped up from where I was sitting, jogging over to the RV.
"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea said, grabbing the gun.
"No, no! Andrea, put the gun down!" Rick instructed. I had my knife in my hand.
"You best let us handle this." Shane said, walking toward Rick and I. T-Dog followed with a baseball bat.
"Shane, hold up! Hershel wants to deal with walkers." Rick explained.
"What for, man? We got it covered!" Shane assured.
"Dammit!" Rick muttered, running into the RV. He grabbed his gun, and I followed him. We ran toward the walker in the distance, Shane and T-Dog slightly ahead of us. I managed to get ahead of Shane, however. He was still limping from his experience with town. I noticed Glenn had caught up with us as well. We got closer and Rick raised his gun. I had my knife ready.
I looked at the figure, realizing in horror who it was. Daryl! Oh, God. We were going to have to shoot him. He was a walker... But then, he looked up at me, and I saw those gorgeous blue eyes. Not clouded over and dead. Bright and alive. He was covered in blood and dirt, he was filthy. He looked up at us, and when his eyes locked on mine, I lowered my knife.
"Daryl!" I cried.
"Is that Daryl?" Glenn asked. I looked over at him as if he were stupid.
"Yes!" I cried.
"That's the third time ya pointed that thing at my head!" Daryl growled. "Ya gonna pull the trigger or what?" Rick lowered his arm, and I started to step forward. Suddenly, a gun shot rang out causing Daryl's head to jerk back, and he fell to the ground.
"NOOOOO! NOOO!" Rick was screaming.
"DARYL!" I screamed his name, and my voice was not mine. Even to my own ears, it sounded unreal. I ran forward and leaned down over him. "DARYL!" He was breathing. Oh, he was breathing! Rick was beside me, and I looked up at the wound on the side of his head. "She grazed him... She only grazed him, thank God!" I whispered. Daryl's eyes opened and I looked into them. He was alive. My heart was pounding as Rick and Shane pulled him up.
"I was kiddin'." Daryl mumbled as they supported his weight. I looked up to see Andrea, and I ran at her.
"Dale!" I heard Rick yell, and before I could grab Andrea, Dale cut me off by stepping in front of me. He grabbed me, holding on tight.
"Lemme go, Dale!" I snarled, but he only tightened his grip.
"Nah uh, I can't do that." Dale grumbled. Andrea stared at me wide eyed at my reaction as she ran up.
"Oh, my God! Oh, my God, is he dead?" Andrea was crying.
"Unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick mumbled.
"Better be glad you didn't kill him!" I growled, and Dale's grip tightened again.
"But look at him, what the hell happened? He's wearing ears!" Glenn exclaimed. Rick snatched them off of his neck.
"Let's keep that to ourselves." He mumbled.
"Guys? Isn't this Sophia's?" T-Dog was holding Sophia's doll when we turned around. I stopped fighting with Dale, just staring at the doll. Daryl had found her doll. Dale kept a grip on me all the way to the house. Once to the porch, I snatched away from him and followed behind Rick and Shane inside. They carried Daryl upstairs, and I approached Hershel.
"I know some medical stuff. Not too much, not like you. But I know how to draw blood and clean wounds. I wanna help with Daryl." I demanded.
"That's fine by me." Hershel nodded. "He might be more comfortable with one of his own assisting me."
"Thank you." I said that with nothing but sincerity in my voice as I followed him upstairs to the room Daryl was in. Hershel began cleaning the wound.
"When I'm done with his side, you can take care of the head wound. Ever done stitches?" Hershel asked.
"On a practice dummy." I admitted. Daryl looked at me, his face holding curiosity. Probably wondered why the hell I was in here.
"Good enough." Hershel nodded. Rick and Shane came into the room. Rick laid the map out and asked Daryl where he had found the doll.
"I found it washed up on the creek bed, right there." Daryl pointed to a spot on the map. "She must'a dropped it crossin' or somewhere."
"Cuts the grid almost in half." Rick sounded hopeful.
"Yea, ya welcome!" Daryl growled.
"How's he lookin'?" Rick asked, glancing at Hershel.
"I had no idea we'd be goin' through the antibiotics so quickly." Hershel admitted. "Any idea what happened to my horse?"
"Yea, the one that almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country." Daryl grumbled.
"We call that one Nelly, as in Nervous Nelly. I could'a told you she'd throw ya if you'd bothered to ask." Hershel looked at Rick. "It's a wonder you people have survived so long. Now Spencer, here, needs to clean and stitch up Daryl's head. So let's leave her to it. Spencer, are you okay to do this alone?"
"Yea, thanks, Hershel." I said surely. The three men left the room, and I walked over to Daryl. Sitting down on the edge of the bed beside him, I picked up the bottle of alcohol and a rag. "Burns like hell, but cleans the best." I turned the alcohol upside down against the rag, and then pressed the rag to the gash on the side of his head. He didn't even flinch, not that his reaction of no reaction surprised me.
I cleaned the wound thoroughly, then grabbed the needle from the side table. I smiled lightly when I saw it was already threaded. Thanks, Hershel. Once again, I thought to myself. I leaned over Daryl, having to get much closer physically. He stared up at me, his eyes tired. Probably the medication Hershel had given him.
"Ready?" I asked. He gave me a nod, and I put the needle against his skin. Pushing it through, and pulling the thread, I was a little shocked that he didn't even blink. I kept pushing the needle through his skin, stitching up the wound. I kept glancing down, each time I did so I was met with those beautiful blue eyes. I was nearly done, and I pushed the needle through one last time, before tying it off and cutting the thread.
"Why'd you sound like that?" Daryl asked.
"Huh?" I looked down, confused.
"When she shot me, I heard you scream my name." Daryl said simply.
"I..." I trailed off, still sitting on the edge of his bed. " I dunno. Thought she killed you."
"So?" Daryl looked at me with tired eyes.
"So, you need sleep." I sighed getting up. "So do I."
"Saw you layin' outside on your sleepin' bag." Daryl said quietly.
"Yea, it's pretty crowded in my tent. Gets hot at night." I admitted, gathering up the medical supplies.
"Can sleep in mine 'til I get back out there." Daryl offered. I figured it was his medication talking when he closed his eyes.
"Might just take ya up on that." I whispered, and I tiptoed out of the room, making sure to close the door quietly behind me.
After dinner, I walked with Cheyenne to Carl's room. We walked in to see Lori and Rick sitting at his bedside, talking to him. There was a plate on the side table beside his bed. When Carl saw Cheyenne, he grinned. I smiled and waved, then looked at Lori.
"It all right if we say hello?" I asked. Lori nodded with a smile and we walked over to the bed.
"Carl, I missed you!" Cheyenne gushed, smiling at him. Rick and Lori smiled, and I knelt down beside his bed.
"Hey Carl. How you feelin'?" I asked, giving his hand a squeeze.
"Better, how's Daryl?" Carl asked, his face growing serious.
"Good. Just got done stitchin' up his head." I said.
"You stitched up his head?" Lori smiled.
"Yes." I half laughed. "That I did."
Cheyenne and Carl talked little chit chat, and I joined them. Carl was looking better, his color was nearly all the way restored. Cheyenne laughed and giggled at Carl, and when he told her about the deer, her eyes grew wide as she listened intently. We sat in there for nearly twenty minutes, when Lori announced it was time for Carl to rest. Cheyenne gave him a gentle pat good night, and I leaned over him, tussling his hair.
"Spencer?" Carl whispered and I leaned down again.
"Yea?" I asked.
"I remember you were there." Carl said. "You held my hand when I woke up."
"I did." I smiled. "I'm always here. Good night, Carl."
"Good night." He smiled back. I led Cheyenne to the tent, and tucked her in. Shay joined us, and she was asleep nearly as soon as Cheyenne. I, on the other hand, could not get comfortable. I dragged my sleeping bag outside the tent, once again. Lying down, I couldn't sleep. I glanced over at Daryl's tent.
I didn't have to think twice. I stood, snatching up my sleeping bag. I walked quietly to Daryl's tent and ducked inside. Spreading my sleeping bag on the floor, I laid down and closed my eyes. Breathing in, I could smell Daryl. It was hard to explain... It was just a scent I couldn't forget. Thinking about the events of that day, I remembered Daryl's face when he looked up at me as I stitched his head... Sleep came easy.
Ahhhhh The Spencer Daryl cuteness ! I am so enjoying this. It's so painful not to just throw them together ! Haha... And to clarify, I don't like Shane either. I did in the first season, but in the second season he went a little cray cray. I want Spencer to see that as the story progresses. I am so excited about the developments with Daryl and Spencer, though. It's getting there, guys (: As always, I am soooooooo grateful for the reviews, they are GREATLY APPRECIATED. This chapter was a bit short, but some warm fuzziness inside ! Hope you guys enjoyed ! Will update soon !
~Kaila