Make it Till You Don't

Plan of Action

After some time, Carol had climbed atop the RV and joined us, seeming to not be able to sleep as well. Can't say I blame the woman, if it were me and it was my daughter lost, I'd be restless too. I can't imagine having to go through that, much less, during an apocalypse.

As we waited for Daryl and Andrea to return, I got to know Carol a little. She's a sweet woman and she didn't deserve what was happening. I kept talking to her in hopes to take her mind off everything going on, not knowing how to comfort her, I just spoke about things we missed before everything happened.

It seemed to have worked somewhat, because next thing I know, Daryl and Andrea were walking back. I followed Carol down the ladder as they approached, as she ran into the RV seeing Sophia wasn't among them. I followed her in, sitting on the edge of the bed and rubbing her arm. "We'll look again first thing in the morning."

I heard the door to the RV open, turning to see it was Dryl who walked in. I glanced back to Carol briefly before I got up, walking up to Daryl with a hard gaze on my face. "I'm going tomorrow and you're not gonna stop me." I didn't bother to wait for a reply as I turned and took one of the benches to sleep on, closing my eyes to try and sleep.

—

First thing in the morning, we put some food on top of the trunk of a car, writing a message for Sophia to stay and we'd come for her. I sat in the RV as we made our way to the farm, glancing out the window.

"Thank you." I tore my gaze away from the window, turning to Carol, who was sitting in front of me. Seeing the confusion on my face, she continued. "For taking my mind off everything last night."

I shook my head. "No need to thank me, I wanna help anyway I can." Just as I got the words out of my mouth, we pulled up to the farm.

"How is he?" Dale asked as we all piled out of the RV.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people." Lori announced as all of us glanced over to the man.

"And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Rick added as everyone began hugging each other, relieved at the news. I stood back, kinda feeling like the odd man out, and I was. These people have known each other for a while, I'm just a stranger they just met.

"(Y/N), how're you holding up?" I turned my gaze to Lori, surprised someone actually asked.

"I've been better... but it's nothing I can't handle." I replied, giving a small smile.

I received the 'mom look' from my reply. "But, you need to have that looked at."

"What seems to be the problem?" The man, Herschel, spoke up glancing at both of us.

"She has a wound and it's seriously infected." Lori answered for me.

Herschel motioned to me. "Let me see the wound." I sighed in defeat, raising my shirt slightly. I turned my head away, not wanting to see his reaction. "Come with me."

—

After being treated by Hershel, he held a funeral for a man named Otis. Apparently, he and Shane went to get medical supplies for Carl last night, only he didn't make it back. Once the service was over, everyone began to set up camp. Not having a tent of my own, I opted to walk over to where I saw Rick, Shane, Andrea, Daryl, Hershel, and his daughter Maggie standing.

I came up beside Hershel, seeing a map of the land lying on top of the hood of the car. "We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick said, pointing at the map.

"Not you. Not today." Hershel told Rick, looking at him. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He then turned to Shane. "And your ankle- push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

"Guess it's just me. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there." Daryl spoke up, pointing to the creek on the map.

"I'm going too." I spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "I want to help."

I saw Daryl shaking his head before he spoke up. "You ain't comin', I ain't babysittin' no one."

I rolled my eyes at him. "Like I said yesterday, I'm going and you ain't gonna stop me from doing so." I crossed my arms. "Besides, how can I sit around knowing a girl is missing with the dead roaming around?"

I heard Shane chuckle, causing me to switch my gaze to him. "Girls got spunk." He spoke up. "I don't see why not. More ground to cover."

"Then it's settled, Daryl and (Y/N) will work up the creek, see if they find anything." Rick nodded, looking to me to which I nodded back in appreciation.

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane threw in, not receiving an objection from Hershel.

"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick told everyone, glancing at us all.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane told Rick, glancing over to him.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property." Hershel spoke up, glancing between the two. "We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp."

Shane looked to Hershel. "All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here..." He trailed off, not needing to finish.

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." Rick assured Hershel, glancing at Shane with a look before lying his gun on the car, Shane following apprehensively.

"First things first; set camp, find Sophia." Rick added on.

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to." Shane said before asking the one question that's been on everyone's mind. "What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that."

Rick took a moment before replying. "You do what has to be done." He glanced down.

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked, concerned.

"The truth." Andrea put it simply.

Shane shuffled as the terms were set. "I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying till we're at a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout. Dale's got experience." Shane suggested.

Noticing Hershel didn't say anything, Rick added. "Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun." Hershel nodded in compliance. "Thank you."

I began walking to the RV when I heard Shane's voice near me. "You got a weapon?"

I turned to him, nodding. "Yeah, I found an ax yesterday and put it in the bag."

He had this look, but nodded his head nonetheless. "Alright then."

I brushed it off as he walked off, Daryl following suit. "If you don't hurry up, I'll leave your ass here." He told me, not looking in my direction as he walked off.

I rolled my eyes as I made my way into the RV, grabbing the ax as Dale's words played through my mind.

'He'll come around. Just takes time.'

"Tch. Why'd I have to open my damn mouth..." I grumbled, realizing I'm now going to be stuck in the woods with this guy alone. Letting out a sigh, I walked out the RV, making my way over to where Daryl went.

———
Published: 02/14/2024