Keep Holding On

Angela was up just as the sun began to rise the next morning. As she left the warmth of her makeshift bed, she noticed Layla sleeping across from her with Samantha right by her side. She smiled sadly at her little sister before getting dressed for the day; she walked the short distance to the other bed and leaned down kissing her sister's head.

"I love you Layla, please don't forget that." She whispered to the girl's sleeping form and after giving Samantha a pat on the head, she left the tent.

The first thing Angela noticed as she walked about the camp was Lori's worried stance on the porch. That could only mean one thing, Rick wasn't back yet. Angela began her way to Lori, deciding that she would try to comfort the wife of the group leader.

"Morning Lori, you okay?" Angela asked softly joining Lori on the porch.

"Rick's not back yet. He should have been back right now." Lori replied pain in her voice. "I need to go find him."

"No, you shouldn't go out there, you can't." Angela began but Lori interrupted.

"He's my husband, I need him here. Carl needs him, and no one's going to stop me from finding him."Lori stated firmly.

"And we will, but you need to think about the baby." Angela said then noticed the slightly confused look on Lori's face. "Carl told me."

"Of course he did, he's a bit excited to be a big brother." Lori said, her tone softer now.

"He has every right to be, even in a hell like this, but look, you just need to stay here. I'm sure Rick an Glenn are fine and will be back with Hershel shortly, but if it makes you feel better I'll go get Daryl-"

"Daryl won't help you, he already told me he's done looking for people." Lori countered.

"He's the only one I can absolutely trust out on a run, well maybe Andrea, and T-Dog's arm is still not in the best condition."

"There's Shane."

"No thanks." Angela said bitterly.

"He said he's going to look anyways, you two could go, and if its about him shooting you that, that was just an accident."

"Just forget it, we'll get a group together and find them."

"Shane's on lookout, go talk to him." Lori informed walking into the house.

Angela blew some stray hair out of her face, slightly annoyed that she had to trust Shane once again on a run, but at least this time she wouldn't be alone with him.

As she made her way to the RV she noticed Shane climb down from the RV, most likely switching watch duty with Dale.

"Hey Shane!" Angela called, walking up to him. "Are you getting a group together to go look for Rick?"

"Yeah, was jut headin' over to ask Andrea and maybe Daryl. You're not coming." Shane stated.

"I told Lori I'd go, so I am. You have no right to order me around. Now, you go ask Andrea like you were before, and I'll get Daryl." Angela retorted walking off before he could respond.

Angela made her way to Daryl's camp, but stopped when it came in view. Daryl was sitting by the the barely glowing embers of the fire that had been there last night, but he wasn't alone. Layla was sitting with him stroking Samantha's fur as she talked with him. How she managed to leave the tent and come out here without her noticing, bothered Angela a little, but replaying Daryl's words of how he and the others would look after her too made her worry lighten. After a moment of standing there silently, Layla looked up at Angela which in turn caused Daryl to look up. He nudged the small girl beside him as a clear sign to move, but Angela didn't expect Layla to come towards her slowly with her head hung low.

"Hi Angie." Layla said once she stood in front of her older sister.

"Hey Princess." Angela replied a smile pulling at her lips.

"I'm sorry." Layla cried, suddenly wiping at her face as tears dripped down her cheeks. Angela dropped to her knees and hugged her sister close.

"Don't be, I understand that losing Sophia after everything you've been through was hard. You needed time, but listen to me, we can talk about this later, okay?" Angela said pulling away slightly so she could look Layla in the eyes. "Right now I need to talk to Daryl, so why don't you go find Carl and later tonight we'll talk."

Layla nodded giving her sister one last hug before going back to camp with Samantha. Angela watched them leave for a while before turning her attention to the redneck that was making arrows. She smiled to herself for a moment then walked over to him.

"I don't know what you said to her, but thank you."

"Didn' say much, jus' gave her the push she needed." Daryl responded, his eyes never leaving his work.

"Still thank you. Told ya you cared." Angela said jokingly, and Daryl finally looked up at her.

"Ya needed ta talk to me?" He had obviously heard the conversation.

"Yeah, Shane is getting Andrea and we're going to go find Rick and Glenn. I was wondering if you'd come along?" Angela said her joking tone gone.

"Why are you goin'? Especially if Shane's leadin'."

"I told Lori, I'd go. And the fact Shane is leading the search party is a main reason I'm asking you. I can trust you, Shane, not so much. So what do ya say?" Angela asked hoping because it was her, he'd go.

"Fine, but only so I know you won't come back all shot up." Daryl said standing up and starting to gather his things.

"Thank you Daryl." Angela said, watching him make sure every arrow was accounted for and sling the crossbow on his back. He walked up to her and nodded.

"So, when do we leave?"

"Soon, I believe." Angela placed her hand on his shoulder and reached up to peck his lips. "Thanks again."

"Stop thankin' me already." Daryl stated and kissed her lips after glancing around them. When they pulled apart Angela couldn't help the smile that painted her face. "C'mon we best be gettin' to the others." Daryl stated ushering her to start moving.

The two made it to the others and went over the plan that was quickly set up. Shane, Daryl, T-Dog, and Angela stood by one of the cars making sure everything was there that they would need, while Andrea went to go grab some things out if the RV.

"T are you sure you should be coming?" Angela asked regarding T-Dog's arm.

"My arm is a lot better now, almost completely healed. I just gotta make sure I don't hit it on anything, but shooting a gun or using a knife's not gonna hurt it." He replied looking down at the cut on his arm.

"Okay just making sure." Angela said with a smile.

She turned when she felt someone lightly hit her shoulder and turned to find Daryl holding a canteen out to her. She she took it, sending him a thankful smile and took a drink from it. She looked past Daryl and noticed Dale asking Andrea about something and heard him mention that 'Shane has lost people before', agreeing immediately with Dale that Shane wasn't the most trustworthy person. Andrea on the other hand didn't think agree with Dale. She started saying something back that Angela couldn't hear and Angela decided she'd leave it alone. Taking another sip of the water, Angela handed Daryl the canteen back and turned towards the car again.

"Hey guys." Andrea said as she approached us and it looked like she was going to continue, but looked off in the distance instead.

Everyone turned to look in the same direction to see a car driving towards the farm. Rick was back. As the car came closer, the group ran to greet them and find out what took them so long to return.

Carl was the first to reach them, running and hugging Rick as soon as he left the car. Lori wasn't far behind. Maggie on the other hand ran past her father and straight to Glenn, who didn't return the hug he received. The reunion of the group didn't last long though, because they didn't come back alone.

"Who the hell is that?" T-Dog questioned pointing at the backseat of the car where a guy sat with his eyes covered.

"That's Randall." Glenn replied as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. Everyone closed in on the car carefully as if the guy would suddenly attack.

"Maggie prepare the barn for surgery." Hershel ordered as he disappeared into the house.

Angela looked to Daryl as the group began to dissipate. She wanted to know what he thought of this, wanted some sort if reassurance that the three men made a wise decision on bringing this kid back with them. Daryl wasn't any sort of comfort though; he wore a mask as usual and she couldn't figure out what he was thinking.

"Daryl, think you can help get Randall to the barn?" Rick asked. Daryl nodded his response and helped Glen and T-Dog get the guy to the barn, leaving Angela standing there watching them leave.

"Is he a bad guy Angie?" Layla asked coming to stand by her sister. Angela looked down at the young girl and ran her fingers through her hair.

"I don't know Princess, but right now I don't think he's much of a threat."

"He's not a threat?" A voice scoffed in disbelief. Angela turned to see Shane. "Ya see that's the problem with you Angela, you're to quick to trust."

"Didn't say I trusted him Shane, all I just now learned his name, but I do know he's got a bum leg that Hershel's going to fix up. He probably won't be able to walk all that well after. So as of right now, no, I don't think he's so much of a threat." Angela replied, Shane was going to say something else, but another voice chimed in.

"We'll discuss what we think of this guy in a little while. We're going to meet in the house and discuss this as a group." Rick said walking over to the two.

"What's there to discuss Rick? Man, what even happened out there?"

"We ran into some other survivors, they drew on us and I took care of it. Their group came and shot at us some more, had us trapped in a bar. Then walkers came and that kid fell off a roof; they left him for dead Shane. That's what happened." Rick explained.

"He shot at you and you brought him back here? To the place we're staying? where we sleep?" Shane questioned

"Yes, because I'm still trying to hold on to some piece of humanity, and we will talk about this more later, as a group." Rick stated. He looked over at Angela and nodded before walking back to the house. Angela glanced at Shane quickly then turned, taking her sister and following Rick inside.

It wasn't long before everyone was gathered in the house. Rick explained what happened in town again, and most didn't quite understand why they would bring Randall back, but no one really questioned it like Shane had. About halfway into the meeting Hershel walked through the door wiping the blood off his hands.

"I fixed up his calf the best I could, but he'll have some nerve damage and will be off his feet at least a week." He stated as Daryl walked in, he met eyes with Carol for a moment before glancing around the group, locking eyes with Angela's. He nodded slightly at her which she returned with a small smile.

"Once he is, we send him on his way with a canteen." Rick announced, which set Shane off.

"So you're just gunna give him a care package and send him on his way?" Shane questioned. "He was with another group; you killed what, three of them? What happens if they come looking for him?"

"They left him for dead, no one's looking for him."

"Ya know what?! I'm gunna go get him some flowers! Look here folks, we're back in fairy tale land!" Shane said storming out of the room, but Hershel stopped him.

"Ya know we never discussed what you did at my barn. Rick says you've got to stay, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. Now do us both a favor and keep your mouth shut." Shane let out a breath before turning and walking out.

"We're not gunna do anything about it right now so everybody, just calm down." Rick said and everyone began to walk out.

Angela sat at the table they had gathered around with Layla watching as everyone walked out. She noticed Andrea followed Shane, and that Carol stopped by Daryl for a moment, but he was still wasn't going to talk to her and rushed out the door.

"Angie can I go find Carl?" Layla asked.

"Yeah go ahead." Angela replied with a smile.

Once Layla was gone, Angela's smile fell as she thought over Randall. He was causing more trouble for the group, they had just lost so much, so many people. She really didn't know how she felt about this new guy, but she was going to trust Rick. That much she was sure of.