What Lies Ahead • the walking dead ¹

19 • Three missions

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asked. The group had come to a halt at the woman's words, everyone pivoting around to see Lori at a standstill.
"It was a gunshot," Lori said nervously, looking off into the distance.

The group had been split in two. Daryl taking Alexa, Chase, Glenn, Carol, Andrea, and Lori to go back down the creek, and Rick taking Shane and Carl to look for Sophia near the church. Not to mention, the group had been on edge after hearing a gunshot. With everything going on it was interfering with the search for the little girl.

"We all heard it," Daryl confirmed.
"Why one?" Lori asked skeptically. "Why just one gunshot?"
"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl suggested.
"Please don't patronize me, you know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker." Lori scolded. "Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

Lori looked back into the trees, almost like she was expecting an answer to pop out at her. Alexa sighed as she watched the group start to crumble again, it was starting to become a trend. This group was notorious for cracking under pressure.

"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol questioned, looking at Daryl for her answer.
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway," Daryl explained, ignoring Carol's question. "Can't run around these woods chasing echoes."
"So what do we do?" Lori quizzed.
"Same thing we've been doing," Alexa answered. "Look for Sophia, work our way back down the creek and to the highway."

The girl turned, starting to walk again, her little brother at her heels. She was fed up with everyone starting and stopping, it was getting on her nerves, how unfocused everybody was. And the looks on everyone's faces, they all looked like they believed Sophia was already dead.

Not to mention, the hike back was exhausting for the group that was already tired, to begin with.
"Hey."
The gruff voice of Daryl Dixon broke the girl from her thoughts as she tilted her head to see the man now walking beside her.

"Hi?" She responded, almost confused as to why he was talking to her.
"Whatcha thinking?" The man asked like he knew something was bothering the girl. She shrugged, her only focus on finding Sophia.
"Suns going down." She stated, looking up through the trees. "Start heading back?"

Daryl nodded, the duo starting to shift in the direction of the highway. The group following must have noticed the change in direction because Lori spoke up.
"How much further?"
Daryl looked back at the woman and shrugged.
"Not much. Maybe a hundred yards."

Alexa looked back at the group, stopping when she spotted the difference. That's when the sound of screaming reached her ears. Andrea. Alexa bolted in the direction of the commotion, watching as Andrea tripped over a fallen branch, a walker towering over her. The woman opting for screaming rather than running or fighting back.

"Andrea!" The girl yelled as she sprinted forward, tackling the walker off the woman and onto the ground. The rest of the group appeared just in time to watch the girl struggling on the ground to pull out her knife and hold back the walker at the same time.

Just as the group was about to rush to her aid the blur of a horse cut in front of them knocking the walker away from the girl. Everyone, even Alexa froze as they all watched the girl on the horse turn and come rushing back at them.

"Lori? Lori Grims!" The woman with short brown hair riding the steed asked Alexa. The girl shook her head in shock.
"I'm Lori," Lori said as she rushed forward.
"Rick sent me. You've got to come now." She said urgently.
"What?" Lori asked in confusion.

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." The woman explained calmly yet urgently. "He's still alive but you've got to come, now. Rick needs you" Seeing the shock and confusion on Lori's face she added. "Just come." By now Lori seemed convinced, she shrugged off her backpack, tossing it to the ground before climbing onto the horse behind the girl.

"Whoa whoa whoa," Daryl said in protest. "We don't know this girl. You can't get on that horse." The girl, whoever she was, ignored the man's remarks and instead turned her attention to Glenn.
"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?"

Glenn looked confused as he nodded, listening intently to the girl as she continued.
"Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene." With that, the girl and Lori rode back off into the woods, leaving the rest of the group stunned.

Chase silently ran over to his sister, throwing his arms around her as she slowly sat up. The rest of the group was in shock as Andrea stood up panting.
"What do we do?" Glenn asked, breaking the silence.
"Get to the highway," Daryl grumbled. He stocked over to the siblings, offering a hand to help the girl stand.

Alexa looked up at the man, Chase still clutching onto her. Her eyes were wide but her face was blank as she excepted Daryl's hand up. Chase finally let go of the girl as she stood but went right back to hugging her around the waist as she regained her balance.
"You alright?" Daryl asked. Alexa nodded as she picked up her brother, letting the boy hug her as she walked back up to the highway.

The group followed behind the girl watching as she climbed over the barrier. Still, with her brother in her arms, Alexa walked over to the car they stayed in last night. She set the boy down on the hood as she sat next to him, letting him rest his head on her shoulder as she played with his hair.

Alexa looked over to the group, watching as they explained what happened to Dale. She closed her eyes trying not to think about the close call she just had. She tried not to think about Lori being taken away or the fact that the unnamed woman had just told everyone that Carl had been shot.

The girl had just made it her second mission to find Sophia. And now she knew she had to go save Carl's life too. Alexa would save Carl, she just needed to get to that farm, and then she'd focus on Sophia. Now she had three missions.
Protect Chase.
Find Sophia.
Save Carl.

It was a sad irony that all of the girl's missions revolved around children. But Alexa couldn't help but think about Chase in general. Nothing truly life-threatening had happened to him yet and she couldn't stop thinking that maybe he was next. Maybe he would be the next to go.

Alexa's thoughts were disrupted, however, when she heard the sound of shuffling feet in front of her. The girl's emerald eyes snapped open to see Daryl Dixon standing in front of her. His body language was nervous but he put on a brave face as he stood in front of the siblings.

"How are you two?" The man asked, his eyes trying to avoid the girl.
"Fine," Alexa responded blankly as she stared directly at the man that wouldn't look at her. Daryl grunted a nod as he figured out how to string words together.

"Glenn's taking T-dog to that farm." He informed. "Dale thinks you should go with them, being a n-"
"Okay," Alexa answered before Daryl could finish, already knowing what he was going to say.
"Alexa no," Chase spoke up, making both adults look at him.

"I don't want you to go. You can't."
"I'm going," Alexa said firmly, knowing she had to get to Carl before it was too late. "And you're staying here." Before Chase could open his mouth to protest, Alexa added. "You are. I'm not changing my mind on this... don't try to fight."

Chase scoffed as he jumped off the hood of the car and jumped into it, slamming the door behind him. Alexa sighed as she looked back at Daryl. Daryl looked back down at the girl, the two locking eyes before Daryl spoke.

"I'll watch him."
"Yeah, you will." Alexa agreed though she said it like she was going to make the man watch her brother anyway. "And if anything happens to him, and I mean anything, a tiny single little scratch, and I will personally stick an arrow up your ass and tie you to a tree as walker food," Alexa growled.