What Lies Ahead • the walking dead ¹

16 • Lost

"Where the hell have you two been?" Dale asked the second he saw Daryl and Alexa approach the rest of the group.
"Been trying to avoid gettin' eaten. How 'bout you?" Daryl shot back. Evidently back to his grouchy self.

"Chase!" Alexa said as she fell to her knees in front of her little brother, who embraced her tightly. "You alright? Nothing bit or scratched you?" The girl asked quickly, her words slurring together as she examined her little brother for any wounds.
"I'm alright, Alexa, I'm fine... really. Stop worrying about me." The little boy scolded
"I'm your big sister. It's my job to worry."

"Where t'hell is Sophia? And Rick?" Daryl questioned, pulling the girl's attention away from her brother. Almost as if on command, the trees off the highway started to rustle, and the figure of Rick Grimes appeared.

"My baby? Where is my baby?!" Carol instantly cried, seeing that her daughter was not with the man.
"She isn't here?" Rick asked stupidly as he surveyed the group. "I told her to come back here," Rick said like the little girl would magically appear in the spot he pointed to.

"Where'd you leave her?" Daryl questioned.
"Down by the creek," Rick responded.
"Show me," Daryl commanded as he adjusted his crossbow on his back. Rick nodded and immediately started leading the man into the woods.

"Stay with, Dale. Alright, Chase." Alexa said as she stood. Chase nodded watching as his sister jumped over the barricade with Glenn and Shane behind her before they disappeared into the woods.

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"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl quizzed, looking up at Rick curiously from where he stood hunched over in the creek.
"I left her right here," Rick assured, pointing to the small cave that was hidden by hanging roots. "I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

The man pointed. "She was gone by the time I got back here." Rick continued, pacing back and forth in the water. "I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her to go that way and to keep the sun on her left shoulder." Rick pointed Daryl in the direction he told Sophia to go.

Daryl groaned as he started to check out the place Rick had pointed him to. A missing girl was the furthest thing on his mind for today.
"Hey, short round," He called to Glenn, getting his attention. "Why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail."

Glenn jumped, practically dropping the rifle clutched in his hand.
"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane pointed out.
"Shane, she understood my fine." Rick started.
"The kid's tired and scared, man. She had a close call with two walkers. Gotta wonder how much of what you said st-" Before Shane could finish, Daryl cut him off.

"Where t'hell is, Alexa?"

Glenn, Shane, and Rick immediately whirled around, taking in the absence of the girl.
"Just great, now we got two missing girls." Shane groaned, running a hand through his hair. Daryl rolled his eyes, just as the group heard it. A faint whistle.

The men glanced at each other before jogging in the direction of the noise. Daryl leading the way. The three men came into a clearing, where they spotted Alexa crouched down, looking at something intently.

"What t'hell are you doing, girl?" Daryl asked, his frustration building.
"Following Sophia's tracks." Alex's responded simply. "What t'hell are you doing, redneck?"
Daryl scoffed at the nickname she kept using for him.

"You know how to track?" Shane quizzed. His eyes flickered between Daryl and Alexa, both of whom now sat crouched over the same spot.
"Somewhat." She responded blankly. Daryl eyed the girl just as she started speaking.

"Tracks get messed up here," she said, pointing to the spot in the leaves she was looking at. "I'm thinking she tripped and fell, got lost, and went the wrong way. Or a walker."
"Nah. There ain't any other footprints. Just her's." Daryl cut in. "You're first theory though... Maybe." He added as an afterthought.

"So what do we do?" Shane asked. "All of us press on?"
"No, better if you three get back up to the highway," Rick responded, gesturing to Gleen, Shane, and Alexa. "People are gonna start panicking."
"Not Alexa," Daryl spoke up. "She's observant, might spot somethin' I miss."

Rick looked at the girl, who merely shrugged before continuing.
"Alright. Let the group know we're on her trail, doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everyone calm." Shane nodded as he gestured for Glenn to follow.

"Glenn," Alexa called as she stood from the ground with Daryl. "Tell Chase I'll be back soon." Glenn nodded as he jogged to catch up with Shane, leaving the trio of Alexa, Daryl, and Rick to continue the hunt for Sophia.

Daryl lead them further into the woods, Rick slamming the man with questions the whole way and Alexa doing what Daryl asked her to stick around for. Observing.

"Daryl!" Alexa hissed quietly, seeing the problem before either of the guys. Daryl and Rick turned, following the girl's lead as she signaled for them to get down. The girl pulled her Bowie knife from its sheath as she nodded in the direction of the walker only she saw.

Daryl nodded, getting the hint, and finally seeing what the girl was referring to. He looked back at the girl, watching as she soundlessly crept down the small hill they were on and in front of the walker. Doing his part he crept behind the walker, getting ready to shoot on her signal. Or not, seeing as Alexa already dealt with the problem by stabbing it in the brain.

Rick came running behind Daryl as they both joined the girl near the body.
"Sophia!" Alexa called to the air.
"Sophia!" Daryl joined.
The two glanced at each other before their attention was pulled away by whatever it was that Rick was doing.

"What are you looking for?" Daryl questioned as he watched the man pull on a pair of thick gloves before examining the walker's hands.
"I don't think a manicure is gonna help this guy, Rick, he's ugly enough," Alexa commented as she pulled off her pack.
"I'm looking for skin, under the fingernails," Rick replied calmly, ignoring the girl's comment.

Daryl leaned over Rick, examining his work as Alexa rummaged around in her backpack, before pulling out a bag of beef jerky.
"You should really check in between the teeth then." She said, opening her snack.

"How could you be eating at a time like this?" Daryl asked, eying the girl with confusion.
"I'm starving." The girl replied simply, watching as Rick took her suggestion and checked the walker's teeth.
"There's flesh caught in its teeth." Rick started.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl asked, pulling his eyes away from the girl.
"Only one way to know for sure," Rick said, pulling out his pocket knife and flicking it open before opening up the walker's shirt.

"Here, I'll do it." Daryl offered, stepping over the body. "How many kills you skin and gut in your life." He asked looking at the officer. "Plus, mine is sharper."
Neither Rick nor Alexa was complaining as they watched the man stab through the walker, tearing open its stomach.

"Here comes the bad part." Daryl started.
"And a loss of appetite," Alexa mumbled, putting away her snack as she watched Daryl stick his hand into the corpse. She cringed as she watched his hands move around the inside of the body before pulling out what he was looking for.
"Here's the gut bag."

Rick nodded as he examined the object before digging into it with his knife. Alexa's face contorted with disgust as she watched the men's process.
"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch," Daryl stated, flinging the skull of a woodchuck in Alexa's direction.

The girl jumped up, a small squeal leaving her lips from the sudden action as she shifted away from the men, trying to ignore the chuckle from Daryl.
"At least we know," Rick said as he and Daryl stood from the body.

Alexa cringed again as she looked up through the canopy of trees.
"Suns going down. Wanna head back?" She asked, looking over to the boys for an answer.
"What do you think, Daryl?" Rick asked.
"Can't find shit in the dark," Daryl responded, looking around the woods. "Best we head back."