They don't know about us (Daryl Dixon x Reader)

Part 12

TW

#bu$e

"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked us.

"We left her right here. Drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek." Rick responded 

"She was gone by the time we got back here," I said sadly. 

"I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." Rick said.

"Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail. Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane said. I was really starting to hate him

"Shane, she understood us fine." I snapped giving him a shut-the-hell-up-before-i-make-you look.

"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck." Shane said ignoring me.

"Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back." Daryl snapped at Shane.

"She couldn't have gone far." Glenn reasoned.

"Hey, we gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere." I said.

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way." Daryl said looking at her tracks.

"Why would she do that?" Shane asked. 

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her runoff. A walker?" 

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." I said looking at her tracks. Okay, maybe I learned a thing or two from Daryl... I mean we spent a lot of time in the woods.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Glen asked.

"No, it better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking." Rick answered gesturing to Glenn and Shane.

"Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm." I said to Shane. 

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on." He answered then pulled Glenn along.

After he and Shane went back to the highway Daryl, Rick, and I kept following Sophia's trail. After 10 minutes Rick said, "Trails gone..."

"It's not gone. It's faint but it's there." I snapped.

"She came through here." Daryl said. 

"How can you two tell? I don't see anything. Dirt, grass." 

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl responded.

A walker bounded out of nowhere and I killed it. I was not in the mood.

I bent down to look at it's fingernails.

"What are you doing?" Rick asked.

Daryl was confused then spoke, "She's looking for skin under it's fingernails. Look at it, it fed recently."

"There's flesh caught in its teeth." I said after checking that there was no skin in its nails.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl asked. 

"Only one way to know for sure."

"Here, I'll do it. How many kills you skin and gut in your life? Anyway, mine is sharper." Daryl said slicing into it's stomach. I gaged but forced myself not to look away. It was my fault she ran off in the first place. If I had held her just a little tighter, maybe she wouldn't be out here.