14 Chapter 14

The next morning you awoke and like usual Daryl was already up and gone. You got up and got dressed putting your boots on and walking out of the tent. You walked over to Glenn taking a peach and some jerky. You saw Rick, Shane, T-Dog, Andrea and that kid that hung around Hershel's youngest daughter Jimmy. You walked over to see what the plan was.

"All right, everyone's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far." Rick said "I'd like to help. I know the area pretty well and stuff." Jimmy said, "Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked "Yeah yeah. He said I should ask you." The kid said you knew he was lying you could see it. "All right then." Rick told him "Thanks." "Nothing about what Daryl found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse." Shane said. And if course that just pissed you off. "Anybody includes her, right?" You spat at him. "Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high," Daryl said you could tell he was irritated by Shane too. "It's a good lead." You said, "Maybe we'll pick up her trail again."Rick said "No maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her." Daryl told Rick pointing at the map. "Good idea. I'll go with you." "Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too." T-dog said "Chupacabra?" Rick asked "You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." You said, "What are you braying at, jackass?" Daryl spat towards the kid. "You believe in a blood-sucking dog?" He said, "Do you believe dead people walking around?" Daryl came back at him. The kid started going for the rifle that was on the hood. "Hey hey. Ever fire one before?" Rick asked, "Well if I'm going out, I want one." Jimmy said "Yeah, and people in hell want Slurpees." Daryl said and you snorted bumping Daryl with your hip. "Why don't you come train tomorrow? If you're serious, I'm a certified instructor." Shane told him. "For now he can come with us." Andrea said, "He's yours to babysit then." Shane told her.

You and Daryl went to the stables to borrow a horse. "Do you know how to ride? Maybe we should only take one." You said "It ain't brain surgery. You'll be fine." Daryl saddled two horses and helped you up on yours. Once he was settled on his horse you took off into the woods. "This is nice peaceful. Ya know. Sometimes it's easy to forget about what world we're living in now. Especially when it's quiet and calm like it is now." You started talking it's not that the silence between you was awkward you just liked hearing Daryl's voice. It did things to you. "Yeah, I guess. I always liked bein' out in the woods. It was always my way to just get away from everything." Daryl told you. "Yeah, I used to go camping with my dad. We would go so far out that there was no way for anyone to get a hold of us." You missed him your father he was your best friend he had raised you since you were just a little girl. Daryl looked back at you to see the sad look on your face and the tears. "I'm sorry." You heard Daryl say. You looked up at him gave him a sad smile. "It's okay. He passed before the world went to shit."

You were looking down a steep hill down into the stream when you noticed something. "Hey, what's that down there by that log?" You asked. Daryl looked where you were pointing and seen what looked like a doll. "That looks like Sophias doll." He said getting off his horse. "What're you doing?" "Going down there to get it. You stay here to keep an eye out." He started heading down the steep slope. Once he was down there he picked up the doll looking around "Sophia!" He yelled then headed back up. Once he was up he climbed back on his horse and you started riding off. But something had spooked his horse and she threw him off. "Daryl!" You screamed getting off your horse.

Chasing after him. "Daryl! Daryl!" You ran into the water where he was. "Son of a bitch!" He said standing up. "Oh my God! You have an arrow in your side!." You were freaking out and didn't know what to do. You walked out of the water trying to get Daryl to stand still. But he picked up a thick stick and went back in the water poking around. You didn't know what he was doing until he started reaching down. He picked his crossbow up and walked back towards you.

"Daryl we gotta get that arrow out of your side." "I got it!" He growled. He ripped the sleeves off his flannel he was wearing and tied them together tying it around his waist. "Daryl, we need to pull that out you can bind it better." "I know what I'm doing! No one asked for ya help!" He yelled starting to climb up the slope. You followed him. You were halfway up when Daryl slipped and fell down the sloop again. "Daryl!" You screamed. Scrambling down the sloop you found him laying on his back in the dirt. "Daryl? Hey! Are you with me?" You asked him. "Lost a little girl." "What?" "It ain't like that bro." You didn't know what he was talking about but you knew you needed to get him back to Hershel. You heard walkers coming towards you so you quickly dispatched one. The other one had found it's way over to Daryl trying to chew on his boot which woke him up. He got up killed the walker and stared at you.

You eventually got back up the sloop you figured out Daryl must have been hallucinating Merle. You just ignored it and kept moving. You came out of the woods into a field barely holding him up. You saw Rick running towards you. "Y/N? Is everything okay?" "He needs help. Don't just stand there he's heavy!" Shane and Rick went to grab him when a shot rang out and Daryl went down. "Daryl! What the fuck! DARYL!!" You couldn't take anymore your anxiety was going up and you crashed falling to the ground crying. "Oh my God! Oh my God! Is he alive?" You heard Andrea say. Glenn helped you up and you instantly walked over to Andrea and decked her. "You fucking bitch! The fuck is wrong with you?!" She just looked at you stunned. T-Dog came over grabbing your arm and following Shane and Rick who had Daryl.