Keep Holding On

Morning came early the next day. Angela's leg wasn't really better, but she was able to put weight on it to help set up the car with supplies for Sophia. Angela sat on the hood of the car writing the final words of the message:

Sophia, stay here. We will come every day.

"That's all we can do, hopefully she'll find it and she'll be safe." Dale said placing a couple more cans of food on the car.

Angela hopped down of the car and stumbled into Daryl as she cursed from the pain.

"Shouldn' be on that leg anymore."

"I had to help."

"We could have handled it, Daryl's right, you hurt your leg pretty bad last night and should be off of it." Dale said, he acted like a father the way he looked after the group.

"We're leaving now, right, to head to the farm?"

"We need to put a few more things into the cars, but we don't need you hurting yourself anymore. Go lay down in the RV, prop that leg up." Dale order.

"Alright, I know when I've lost." Angela said limping to the RV and laying in the back. Packing things didn't take long and they were soon on the road.

The drive was short and once the cars were parked everyone rushed to get out and go to Rick and Lori. Except Angela who was taking her time, so she wouldn't hurt her leg any further.

"How is he?" Dale asked

"He'll pull through." Lori answered tears coming to her eyes. "Thanks to Hershel and his people and Shane."

"We would have lost Carl if it wasn't for him." Rick said

Dale glanced at Shane before walking up to Rick and giving him a hug, Carol doing the same to Lori.

"Daryl!" Layla's voice rang from the porch as she ran to him, stopping at his side and smiling up at him. "Where's my sister?"

"In the RV." He answered giving her a small smile.

"Layla." Angela said holding onto the RV door for support.

"Angela!" Layla exclaimed running to her sister and tackling her to the ground.

"Layla please get off of me." Angela breathed trying to ignore the pain in her leg and hip.

"Hate to ask this, since you've already done so much for our group, but do you think you could take a look at that leg of hers?" Dale asked he looked between Hershel and Angela who was getting help from Daryl to stand.

"Startin' to become a pain in my ass, girl." Daryl said quietly as he pulled Angela to her feet.

"Once this pain in my leg goes away, I'll be out of your way." Angela said brushing herself off.

"Come inside and we'll have a look at your leg." Hershel called out, and Angela began to limp towards the house. "How did you hurt it?" He asked once she made it to the porch and helped her up the steps.

"Fell from a tree." Angela stated sheepishly.

"Well lets hope it's nothing serious."

It wasn't; just the way she landed bruised her side badly, but she didn't break anything. Hershel said that if she kept off of it for a while it would be better in no time. Angela agreed to stay off her leg, but only after the service they held for Otis, the man who died saving Carl.

Hershel spoke, while everyone placed a rock on the pile, and once he finished he asked Shane to say some words.

"I'm not good at it, I'm sorry." He said looking down.

"Please you're the one who was last with him, the one who saw him in his final moments. I need to know his death had meaning." A woman asked, who Angela found out was Patricia, Otis's wife.

Shane stood there a moment before speaking. "We were about done." He began, telling the story about how Otis stayed behind to cover him. "If not for Otis I'd have never made it out alive, and that goes for Carl too. He saved us both and of a death ever had meaning, it was his."

Angela sat on the swing Hershel had in the yard with Layla, listening to what everyone was saying about the search for Sophia. She heard Daryl say that he was on his own with the search, and that worried her and she didn't like it. She didn't want to care about him, but she did and that frightened her. She also heard about giving up guns, but that find bother her so much as long as she had her bow and machete.

After a few minutes, Angela made her way to the hammock, wanting to lay down for a few minutes and enjoy the peace that seemed to linger in this place. She didn't realize that dozed off until she heard feet walking by and then Daryl's southern accent rang out, waking her up completely.

"Don't work to hard now princess."

"Shut up Dixon, I was told to stay off my feet, so I am!" Angela shouted at him. "Where are you off to?"

"Find that lil girl, seems no one else is gonna find her." He answered as he walked over to her.

"Be careful." Angela said before she could stop herself.

"What do you care?" He asked a bit taken back at her comment.

"I don't, I just know that you're probably our best bet at finding her." Angela said, which was partly true.

"Yeah don' worry yourself, I'm gonna find her an' she's gonna be jus' fine." Daryl said as he began to walk off.

"Oh and Daryl!" Angela called getting him to stop. "Don't call me princess again, that's Layla's nickname, not mine." She said smiling at the end, Daryl didn't show any emotion as he turned and disappeared amongst the trees.

Angela had enough of sitting around once the sun started to set and began walking around the property watching Layla and Samantha play in the large area.

"Hey Layla, lets go back to camp!" Angela called.

"Okay! Let's go Sam!" Layla called running with her dog back to camp. Angela smiled slightly at her sister, before limping after her. Seeing that her sister was safe with Lori, Angela went towards the fence, walking by the RV just as the door swung open to reveal Daryl.

"Thought you were stayin' off your feet." He said once he saw Angela.

"Got tired of sittin' around. Did you find anything?" Angela asked hope filling her voice.

"Not really, there was a house not far from here. In the cupboard there was what looked like a makeshift bed, but other than that I got nothin'" Daryl answered. Angela looked away for a minute, her hope diminishing, then her eyes landed on Shane sitting in camp and she turned back to Daryl.

"Hey Daryl, can I talk to you for a minute?" Angela asked not sure how to address the thoughts she had.

"What you don' think we're talkin' now?" Daryl asked

"I meant away from everybody else, I gotta ask you something."

"A'right fine." He said giving in and following Angela away from the group. "So what's on your mind Angel?" He questioned when she didn't speak.

"What did you call me?" Angela asked fighting the smile that was tugging at her lips.

"Told me I couldn' call you princess, so I had to come up with somethin'" Daryl replied leaning against the fence.

"Right, and Angel was the best ya got?" Angela said smiling up at him.

"So ya gonna tell me what you wanted to talk 'bout or not?" Daryl said changing the subject.

"Right, uh, did you believe Shane's story today?"

"Rick, trust him."

"And that's good enough for you?"

"Should be good 'enough for you as well."

"Look, I'm not saying I don't trust Rick, 'cause I do, but the way Shane was acting while telling his story didn't seem right to me."

"What do ya mean?"

"He wouldn't look straight at anyone, always keeping his gaze down or off in the distance, he stuttered a bit, and he didn't want to say anything in the first place."

"Ya pay too close attention to things."

"Maybe, but that's just who I am, and maybe I'm reading the signs wrong, but I'm still gunna worry. I lost my sister once, I don't want anything to happen to her again." Angela said her voice losing the intensity it had before, causing Daryl to walk closer to her and place a hand on her shoulder.

"Ain't nothin' gonna happen to your sister, you aren't the only one watchin' out for her. As for Shane, he ain't a threat to her, and he ain't one to you either, quit thinkin' so hard 'bout his story."

"We'll at least I know there's one person I can trust in this camp."

"Yeah, 'n' who's that?"

"You, Daryl, ya dumb hick." Angela said with a small laugh. "You saved my sister, and I know your one of the ones watching out for her. Thanks."

"We're a group, ain't that what we're s'posed to do?"

"Yeah, guess so." Angela said and the two walked back into camp. Angela noticed the look Dale gave her from atop the RV, but she brushed it off as she went to help finish dinner.