GIVEN TO FLY [Daryl Dixon]

IX.

CHAPTER NINE
[ a walk in the woods ]

They get back to the highway, and explain the situation to Dale and T-Dog, the only two people they'd left behind. Dale is sufficiently confused and worried, as they all are. "Shot? What do you mean, shot?"

"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there," Glenn says. "All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Lori."

"You let her?"

"She knew Rick and Carl's names," Misty speaks up. "Rick sent her."

"I heard screams." Dale looks at all of them with those concerned eyes of his.

"She got attacked by a walker," Glenn explains. "It was a close call."

Everyone knows they'll have to leave soon. They can't stay on the highway, it's a death trap. But Carol won't. Refuses to go while Sophia is still out there, and Misty can't blame her. "I won't do it. We can't just leave."

"The group is split. We're scattered and weak," Daryl says.

"What if she comes back and we're not here? It could happen."

"If Sophia came back here and we were gone, that would be awful," Andrea says, and they are all inclined to agree.

"Okay. We gotta plan for this," Daryl begins. "I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."

"I'll stay, too," Misty says.

"If the RV is staying, I am too," Dale decides.

"Thank you. Thank you all," Carol says, a small, grateful smile on her face.

"I'm in," Andrea adds.

"If you're all staying then I'm—" Glenn starts, before he is interrupted by Dale.

"Not you, Glenn. You're going. Take Carol's Cherokee."

"Me? Why is it always me?" Glenn's complaint makes Misty smile, just a little.

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there." T-Dog is getting much, much worse. Misty had wrapped his wound as best she could before they left, but she doesn't have any half decent supplies to work with. "This is not an option. That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics. Because if not, T-Dog will die, no joke."