Drowned Words

11

"SOFIA!" I screamed out into the woods. Oh god, the silence that followed afterwards was unsettling. How could she have gotten so far away? Carol sat back at the RV while some of us searched. This didnt feel right, as if it was pointless. I shook my head at the thought, no way... Sofia is fine, we will find her. Daryl spoke quietly to Rick about the trail, the worst has happened. No, not yet. But her trail has started to drop off, a little harder to find. Rick turned to us, "You guys head back. We will continue searching and when we come back with her we are out of here." I searched Daryls face, something told me he was confident so I nodded, "Okay. Be careful out there." Daryls eyes slanted slightly, "You too." By the tone of his voice I could tell it wasnt the forest I needed to be careful about. Looking to Shane by my side he looked away, turning on his heel.

I only nodded at his words and turned away, following after Shane. He already started picking up his pace, almost leaving me behind as my feet stumbled through the mess of roots under my feet. "Hey! Jesus hold up!"
Shane sighed and stood still, letting me catch up. He spoke up, "I'm not a rapist."
The words felt heavy as they hung in the air, I looked him up and down, "So did they come up with a new name for it? Forcing yourself on Lori like that?"
"A mistake," he started walking in step with me.
"A mistake?" I couldnt stop the small growl, "It passed as a simple mistake when she said no the first time."
Shane's hold on his gun, "You don't know what was happening."
"Aaaand you gaslighting me just makes it worse," I sighed, "I am not determined to make you a bad guy. You already did that yourself." "(Y/n) listen-" "-you seem to regret what you did. I get that." He stayed quiet as I spoke, "But what you dont get is I believe that drunk actions are sober thoughts." "Why are you saying all of this? If I am a rapist or bad guy than arent I more dangerous than walkers?" I stopped and looked to my feet, "What I am saying is. If it truly was SUCH a mistake... then you should stop defending yourself and confess." His mouth pursed as he thought to himself. I shrugged, "Otherwise, everything your saying is useless."

His arm rose up and pushed me, I let out a short scream. My hands flew out to catch myself, landing in a root. Pain seered through my palms, "Fuck!" Heart pounding I turned towards Shane, scared of the worst. Only I found him taking down a walker, it must've snuck up on me during our talk. Part of me felt ashamed of the water that formed in my eyes. His chest heaved as the walker dropped, his knife dropping to the side. Sitting up and trying to stand without using my hands, I started brushing away the dirt. "Thanks."
He nodded, looking back to me, "Yea, sorry about that."
I looked to my hands, part of the wound must've opened again and made a small blood spot on the wrap. "Dont worry about it.."
...
...
We joined the others that stood by Dale's RV. Small argument seemed to breakout between Andrea and Dale, "You have no right to take it."
"Its for the better."
I listened as they bickered, Shane intervened and continued to side with Dale. Part of me felt it wasnt right. Dale was scared Andrea was going to off herself with her own gun, so he decided to keep it from her. I understand his concern, especially after the CDC but it was still her property. Andrea's father gave it to her as a present and it seemed like one of the only items she had left of her family.
I looked at the small chain around my neck, it was nothing too special but it was all I had left from our old life. If I lost that I'd probably throw a fit like Andrea too. Although, taking weapons from us wasn't too smart either. If we needed weapons training so bad, how come he didnt teach us before?

Also, last thing I wanted was for my gun to be taken. Hell it was one of the safest things to keep around. What if Andrea got swarmed? A knife could only do so much while a gun could easily pick off the numbers.

I shook my head and Carol jogged to me, "My baby? Where is she?"
"Don't worry. Daryl and Rick are still out there looking for her. Sofie couldn't have gone far."

Only after another hour or so, the men showed back up... without Sofie. Carol went ballistic, panicking and no one could blame her. Sadly most of it landed on Rick, he left her to take care of the walkers that were chasing them. He had no other choice though and I personally wouldn't have done it any different. Daryl finished Rick's sentence, "We made sure." My stomach felt queasy at the thought of him rummaging around in Walker guts. At least they checked though, means Sofie wasnt eaten by it. That one at least. I felt bad with that last thought, I needed to stay positive for Carol. Not realizing, I spaced out on Daryl.