The Place That Remains

Delaney was awakened by the sound of the bedroom door swinging open and she lifted her head from the pillow, rubbing her eyes before looking over to see who it was. Beth stood in the doorway, her hands on her hips and a small smile on her face.

"Breakfast, De!" she chirped before turning on her heel to leave.

She groaned to herself as she tossed the blanket off her back and stood up from the bed, stretching her body before heading downstairs to where most of the group were eating. She graciously took the plate Carol handed her and went out onto the porch with Maggie and Glenn, sitting down on the steps to begin eating.

"Thanks for letting me share the bed last night, Mags. I haven't gotten sleep like that in months."

"No problem. You looked like you needed it."

"Hey!" she gasped in fake defense.

Maggie grinned, taking a sip of her water. "You know I didn't mean it like that. I love you, De."

"Yeah, yeah. Love you too."

The screen door was shoved open behind them and Daryl stalked out onto the porch and down the steps between Delaney and Glenn. He stopped then, turning back to them and adjusting the crossbow on his shoulder. Delaney guessed that thing was probably something he had with him 24/7.

"Let's go," he grunted, nodding his head toward the forest.

Glenn and Maggie looked at each other then looked at her. "Wait, me?" she asked confused.

"I'm lookin' at you, ain't I?"

Her brow furrowed as she stared up at the man. "Where are we going?"

"Look for Sophia. You comin' or not?" he asked, walking away before she even got the chance to ask who Sophia was.

"Hey, wait!" she called out, making him turn his head back to her. "Uh, at least let me get my pack first."

"Well, hurry up," he grumbled.

Delaney quickly rose from the steps and went back into the house, grabbing the gray backpack sitting by the front door. She pulled it onto her shoulders and grabbed her trusty machete from the floor beside it then headed back out the screen door.

"Be careful," Maggie warned her as she passed them on the steps.

Daryl didn't wait for her to reach him to start walking again so pretty soon so she was jogging to catch up with him. For one, she wasn't sure why he asked her to come along with him. He didn't know anything about her. He didn't know that she was good with a machete but terrified of walkers. Secondly, he wasn't very talkative. She'd only met him the night before, but she could just tell this little trip into the woods was going to be filled with awkward silence. He didn't even mention their conversation the night before, or lack thereof.

"So who's Sophia?" she asked, making an attempt to get him to talk a little.

"Carol's kid."

She frowned at his short answer. "How'd she get missing?"

"Up on the highway, ran into a whole herd of walkers. Couple of 'em got to chasin' her and she got separated from the group."

"That's awful," she muttered. "Poor Carol."

"Don't do that," he scolded, stopping to give her a glare.

Her eyes widened in surprise at the harshness of his tone and she stopped mid-stride to turn to him. "Do what?"

"Talk like that. I hear it in your voice, you think she's dead."

She hadn't meant it to sound like that, but now that she thought about it, she really did think the child would probably be dead. "Well, how long has she been missing?"

"Couple a' days." Daryl shook his head and kept walking, knowing how crazy he sounded. A twelve year old little girl by herself in a forest full of walkers for three days and nights had a slim to none chance of being found alive.

Delaney caught up to him after a moment and she reached out to place her hand on his arm, but he just shrugged her off. "I'm sorry, Daryl. I'm sure we'll find her." Even though she highly doubted it, she still said it because she could tell how important it was for him.

"Come on. Gotta keep moving," he finally muttered as he picked up the pace.

After that, he talked even less. When Delaney would ask him a question, he would only give her one word answers, and that was if she was lucky. Sometimes he just shook his head or nodded. She was looking around at her surroundings, checking behind her when he stopped in his tracks, making her bump into him.

"Sorry," she mumbled softly.

He pointed his finger up ahead of them and she lifted her eyes off their path to see an old, abandoned house. "No talking," he grunted as he turned to walk up the path to the house. She quickly followed, jogging to catch up with him and then walking silently behind him while he held his crossbow up, ready to shoot at the first sign of walkers.

He kicked the door open and stepped inside, looking around in hopes of finding a clue. Anything that could tell him Sophia was there or had been. Delaney tapped him on the shoulder silently and he turned to look at her annoyed, but she just pointed to a door.

Daryl stared at it for a moment before nodding his head and stepping over to it, holding his bow at the ready and swinging the door open. Delaney sighed in relief that there was nothing there, but he still stood there staring into it so she walked over to stand beside him and get a better look inside.

It seemed to be a makeshift bed. Like someone, a small someone, had been there. She looked up at him curiously but he just shook his head and walked outside, shouting the child's name.

She followed him out, looking around at the surrounding woods for any sign of the girl. He stopped and turned back to look at the house again before walking over to a spot where two white flowers had sprouted next to a large tree. He knelt down next to them, plucking one from its roots and standing to his feet as he turned back to Delaney. "Let's go," he grumbled.

She wasn't quite sure what the importance was of the white flower in his hands but he was already walking back into the woods so she just silently followed behind him.

By the time they got back to the farm, it was already getting dark. She hadn't realized that they had been gone so long. He stopped as they reached the RV so she stopped as well, looking at him expectantly, but he just motioned for her to keep going before he opened the door to go inside.

Delaney shrugged to herself as she headed back up to the house, dropping her bag and weapon by the door and heading up the stairs to Maggie's room. She was sitting on her bed, her knees pulled up to her chest and a worried look on her face.

"Mags? You okay?" she asked, pushing the door shut behind her.

"I have to tell you something."

"Okay," she replied, somewhat confused as she fell onto the bed in front of her cousin. "What is it?"

"You can't say anything. To anybody."

Delaney chuckled at the younger woman, laying her hand on top of her arm. "I promise. Now what's gotten you so wound up?"

"I had sex with Glenn," she blurted.

"What?! When?!"

"When we went on that run today. At the pharmacy."

"Maggie, you barely even know that guy!"

"It's not like I got that many options, De. Look around."

Delaney shook her head but she couldn't help the smirk that was making its way onto her lips. "So....was he good?"

Maggie gasped and grabbed her pillow, smacking her cousin with it. "Shut up!"

"Hey, I'm just askin'. You're the one who had sex with the guy!"

"No, stop. Shut up," she groaned, hiding her face in her hands.

"He's kinda cute, Mags."

"Okay, let's stop talking about this now. How was it today with Daryl?" she asked, quickly changing the subject.

Delaney's grin automatically disappeared. "Weird. He barely spoke the whole time and when he did, it was like he was angry. I don't understand why he even asked me to go in the first place."

"Maybe he just didn't want to go alone. Though he doesn't seem like the type to ever admit it."

"No, he definitely doesn't. Whatever. I'm not worried about it. I'm just tired as hell and I could fall asleep on that floor right now."

"Oh, please. You know you can share with me."

Delaney threw her arms around Maggie's neck and kissed her cheek. "Bless you!"

Neither of the girls even bothered to take off their boots and they pulled the covers over their backs and laid down to sleep, dinner not even on their minds.

Eventful day, Delaney thought to herself as her heavy eyes fluttered shut.