Undying Love
Chapter 3- Search Begins
When Rick made it back to the highway, he was alone. Carol legs instantly gave way beneath her, but I was standing close enough to catch her before she hit the ground. She clung to me as I held her, the endless sobbing slowly reducing me to tears. I didn't know what to say to try and comfort her. I wasn't a mom, I'd never lost a child and I'd never known anyone that had.
Whenever I told someone about what happened to my parents they'd always say: "I know how painful that must have been for you" or "I know what you must have gone through", all them cliches. At first it never bothered me, but then I realised, none of them knew what it was like. Their parents were still alive so how could they possibly know how it feels to lose them both?
That's why I simply hushed soothingly to Carol, in an attempt to calm her down. We hadn't even heard what Rick had to say yet. Maybe it wasn't as bad as everyone assumed.
"W-wheres Sophia?" Rick asked once he climbed the steep bank and reached the rest of us. He was genuinely expecting her to be here with us and the fact she wasn't had clearly shaken him. "She's not back?" he questioned, directing it more to a distraught Carol who I was still having to hold up. Rick began running his hand through his hair in distress as everyone slowly put the pieces together and worked out that no-one no longer knew where she was. The group of us on the highway assumed she was with Rick somewhere and Rick assumed she was back with us on the highway. The only sound I could hear was Carols gut-wrenching sobs and Ricks heavy breathing; both adding to the thick atmosphere that had fallen amongst the group.
Someone needed to do something, we couldn't just stand around doing nothing. Gently lowering Carol to the ground and letting Lori and Andrea have a go at consoling her, I grabbed Ricks forearm and pulled him off to the side, out of ear shot from Carol. "What happened?" I asked him in a hushed tone of voice. He ran his hands over his face before letting out a long sigh, "I needed to distract the walkers. I couldn't take on both of them at the same time, so I told Sophia to hide by a small creek. I lead the walkers away, took them out one at a time...and by the time I got back to the creek she was already gone." The regretfulness and remorse he felt from his decision was plastered all over his face, he clearly felt at blame for Sophia's disappearance. However I probably would have done the same thing, given his situation.
Without a word to anyone I walked into the RV and grabbed the gun bag, rummaging through it until I found the handgun I had used before whilst escaping from the CDC building. Quickly ejecting the magazine to check it still had rounds in, I snapped it back in, pulled and released the slide and placed it in the back of my belt before walking back outside and straight over to Daryl who was stood furthest away from the others. "Your tracking skills still up to stratch?" I asked, quietly amused by the memories of previous times I had gone out with him when he went hunting. The corners of his lips twitched slight in a small smirk, obviously thinking the same as me and nodded once in an indication for yes.
When I informed the rest of the group that me and Daryl were going to go and search for Sophia, a few other members volunteered to help as well. At first I was disappointed because I was looking forward to it just being me and Daryl, but then I realised that was me being selfish; the more people looking for her, the greater the chance we'd have of finding her.
In the end it was me, Daryl, Rick, Glenn and Shane that went into the woods to find her. Rick and Daryl were upfront with Rick explaining what happened so that Daryl could try and make sense of all the tracks. Shane was behind them with his gun in hand, scoping the area for any sign of walkers or Sophia. Which left me and Glenn traipsing along behind them having a quiet conversation of our own. "Does it make you wanna pounce him when he's in hunter mode like that?" Glenn teased, nudging me a couple of times when I simply snickered and looked away from him. "If you don't shut up about me and Daryl I'm gonna end up pouncing you... and not in the sexual way you meant!" I quickly added to stop him misinterpreting what I said. I loved him but as my brotherly best-friend, the thought of being anything more would be nearly as repulsive as the thought of being with Shane.
~
Daryl managed to find Sophia's tracks from where she left the creek and began her walk back to the highway, just like Rick had told her too. However when Daryl abruptly stopped, he pointed out that she had been going the right way up until a certain point, where she veered off in the opposite direction from the highway. "Maybe something spooked her?" I suggested causing all eyes to land on me. "If I was on my own at 12 years old and I saw a walker, I'd take off in the opposite direction" I continued, trying to explain my point about her getting spooked. "I don't see any other footprints, just hers" Daryl concluded, disproving my theory and making me feel a tad stupid. But then again, it was a relief to know she hadn't bumped into any more walkers, as far as Daryl could tell.
"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked, mainly directing his questions at Rick. "No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail, doing everything we can. But most of all keep everybody calm!" Rick dictated but I had another idea. "Rick, you should go back too," I began, causing Shane and Rick to raise their eyebrows at me slightly. I could tell Glenn immediately knew why I wanted Rick to go with them by the small wink he gave me and although Daryl seem unfazed by it, I could tell he also had a pretty good idea. "Carl was pretty upset when we left and Lori's got enough on her plate with trying to comfort Carol. I'll go with Daryl, you go be with your son" I said, trying not to let onto the fact I just wanted alone time with Daryl. I wasn't doing it so we could screw around or anything, I wanted to keep searching for Sophia. I just wanted to search for her on our own so we could spend sometime together without Daryl being on edge because someone else was around. Ricks gaze shifted from me to Glenn, then to Shane before landing on Daryl. "You okay with that?" he asked, offending me slightly by implying Daryl wouldn't want to be alone with me. Daryl merely nodded, playing it cool like he always did. "Alright then. Run into any trouble, just shout" Rick stated whilst heading off with Shane. Glenn waited behind to give me a quick hug and tell me to be careful before quickly jogging to catch up with the others, finally leaving me and Daryl on our own.
Whenever I told someone about what happened to my parents they'd always say: "I know how painful that must have been for you" or "I know what you must have gone through", all them cliches. At first it never bothered me, but then I realised, none of them knew what it was like. Their parents were still alive so how could they possibly know how it feels to lose them both?
That's why I simply hushed soothingly to Carol, in an attempt to calm her down. We hadn't even heard what Rick had to say yet. Maybe it wasn't as bad as everyone assumed.
"W-wheres Sophia?" Rick asked once he climbed the steep bank and reached the rest of us. He was genuinely expecting her to be here with us and the fact she wasn't had clearly shaken him. "She's not back?" he questioned, directing it more to a distraught Carol who I was still having to hold up. Rick began running his hand through his hair in distress as everyone slowly put the pieces together and worked out that no-one no longer knew where she was. The group of us on the highway assumed she was with Rick somewhere and Rick assumed she was back with us on the highway. The only sound I could hear was Carols gut-wrenching sobs and Ricks heavy breathing; both adding to the thick atmosphere that had fallen amongst the group.
Someone needed to do something, we couldn't just stand around doing nothing. Gently lowering Carol to the ground and letting Lori and Andrea have a go at consoling her, I grabbed Ricks forearm and pulled him off to the side, out of ear shot from Carol. "What happened?" I asked him in a hushed tone of voice. He ran his hands over his face before letting out a long sigh, "I needed to distract the walkers. I couldn't take on both of them at the same time, so I told Sophia to hide by a small creek. I lead the walkers away, took them out one at a time...and by the time I got back to the creek she was already gone." The regretfulness and remorse he felt from his decision was plastered all over his face, he clearly felt at blame for Sophia's disappearance. However I probably would have done the same thing, given his situation.
Without a word to anyone I walked into the RV and grabbed the gun bag, rummaging through it until I found the handgun I had used before whilst escaping from the CDC building. Quickly ejecting the magazine to check it still had rounds in, I snapped it back in, pulled and released the slide and placed it in the back of my belt before walking back outside and straight over to Daryl who was stood furthest away from the others. "Your tracking skills still up to stratch?" I asked, quietly amused by the memories of previous times I had gone out with him when he went hunting. The corners of his lips twitched slight in a small smirk, obviously thinking the same as me and nodded once in an indication for yes.
When I informed the rest of the group that me and Daryl were going to go and search for Sophia, a few other members volunteered to help as well. At first I was disappointed because I was looking forward to it just being me and Daryl, but then I realised that was me being selfish; the more people looking for her, the greater the chance we'd have of finding her.
In the end it was me, Daryl, Rick, Glenn and Shane that went into the woods to find her. Rick and Daryl were upfront with Rick explaining what happened so that Daryl could try and make sense of all the tracks. Shane was behind them with his gun in hand, scoping the area for any sign of walkers or Sophia. Which left me and Glenn traipsing along behind them having a quiet conversation of our own. "Does it make you wanna pounce him when he's in hunter mode like that?" Glenn teased, nudging me a couple of times when I simply snickered and looked away from him. "If you don't shut up about me and Daryl I'm gonna end up pouncing you... and not in the sexual way you meant!" I quickly added to stop him misinterpreting what I said. I loved him but as my brotherly best-friend, the thought of being anything more would be nearly as repulsive as the thought of being with Shane.
~
Daryl managed to find Sophia's tracks from where she left the creek and began her walk back to the highway, just like Rick had told her too. However when Daryl abruptly stopped, he pointed out that she had been going the right way up until a certain point, where she veered off in the opposite direction from the highway. "Maybe something spooked her?" I suggested causing all eyes to land on me. "If I was on my own at 12 years old and I saw a walker, I'd take off in the opposite direction" I continued, trying to explain my point about her getting spooked. "I don't see any other footprints, just hers" Daryl concluded, disproving my theory and making me feel a tad stupid. But then again, it was a relief to know she hadn't bumped into any more walkers, as far as Daryl could tell.
"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked, mainly directing his questions at Rick. "No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail, doing everything we can. But most of all keep everybody calm!" Rick dictated but I had another idea. "Rick, you should go back too," I began, causing Shane and Rick to raise their eyebrows at me slightly. I could tell Glenn immediately knew why I wanted Rick to go with them by the small wink he gave me and although Daryl seem unfazed by it, I could tell he also had a pretty good idea. "Carl was pretty upset when we left and Lori's got enough on her plate with trying to comfort Carol. I'll go with Daryl, you go be with your son" I said, trying not to let onto the fact I just wanted alone time with Daryl. I wasn't doing it so we could screw around or anything, I wanted to keep searching for Sophia. I just wanted to search for her on our own so we could spend sometime together without Daryl being on edge because someone else was around. Ricks gaze shifted from me to Glenn, then to Shane before landing on Daryl. "You okay with that?" he asked, offending me slightly by implying Daryl wouldn't want to be alone with me. Daryl merely nodded, playing it cool like he always did. "Alright then. Run into any trouble, just shout" Rick stated whilst heading off with Shane. Glenn waited behind to give me a quick hug and tell me to be careful before quickly jogging to catch up with the others, finally leaving me and Daryl on our own.