Our Extinction Event {Daryl Dixon}

Sophia's Missing

Sophia was gone, and when Rick returned without her, no one knew what to do. Rick took Shane, Daryl, and Glenn back into the woods to look for her and see if they could find her. Parker, no matter how much she wanted to, was not allowed to go, and stayed in the RV with the rest of them. When the men returned without Sophia once again, Parker and Glenn headed out to see what else they could find in the abandoned cars.

"I'm not good at comforting people," Parker told Glenn as they walked. "I can't imagine what Carol is feeling."

"I know," Glenn agreed, sadness filling his voice. "I keep imagining how I would feel if it were my son or daughter, and I know I wouldn't want to leave until I knew where they were safe."

"Do you think we'll find her?" Parker asked, not even knowing if she herself knew if they'd find her.

"I hope so," Glenn replied. "But it's like when kids got lost before the world went to shit, you know? The longer they're out there, the less likely you are to find them, but this time you have even less time than before."

"Are you saying we might not find her?" Parker asked him.

"I'm saying there's a good chance we won't," Glenn corrected. "But there's a chance that we can, so we have to keep looking."

"I hope we find her," Parker mumbled sadly. "I don't think I can take another loss. I don't think this group in general can take another loss."

"I know," Glenn sighed. "We've lost too many people."

"Yeah..." Parker breathed out, "I don't know what I would do if I lost Rick, Lori, Carl, or you."

"What about Daryl?" Glenn asked, his eyebrow raised.

"Him too," Parker added to her list of people. "I couldn't handle losing any of you."

"Well, I hope it doesn't come to that," Glenn said, opening the trunk of a car and starting to search through it. "Hey, look at this." He pulled out a box of Froot Loops and Parker wrinkled her nose.

"Arent they expired?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Glenn shrugged his shoulders, opening the box. He helped himself to a handful before offering the box to Parker. "Do you want some?"

"You first," She said. Glenn threw a handful of the cereal into his mouth before choking and sputtering, coughing up the chewed-up Fruit Loops.

"They're stale."

"I told you so," Parker laughed. "Come on, we should head back before we get too far away and attract that herd back to us." When they returned, the group was already discussing plans to leave, but Carol refused to go anywhere. Not without Sophia.

"We're not going anywhere until my daughter gets back."

"Hey, that goes without saying." Lori placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Rick and Daryl, they're on it," Shane said. "Just a matter of time."

"Can't be soon enough for me," Andrea chimed in, tossing Glenn a bottle of water. "I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you'd call them."

"Yeah, what was that?" Glenn asked. "All of them... just marching along like that."

"A herd," Shane repeated what Andrea had called them, thinking it over in his head. "That sounds about right. Now we've seen it. It's like the night the camp was attacked. A wandering pack of 'em. Only fewer." He cleared his throat. "Hm, okay. Come on people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it. Let's go." 

By nightfall, they had gathered as many supplies as they could, canned food, and enough water for everyone. Parker was carrying a box full of even more cans when she saw Rick and Daryl approaching.

"They're back," Parker announced loudly, looking over her shoulder to make sure everyone was coming. Carol saw that they were alone and tears welled up in her eyes.

"You didn't find her?"

"Her trail went cold" Rick replied, climbing over the safety rails. "We'll pick it up again first light."

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own, to the spend the night alone in the woods." Carol hugged herself, everyone finally making their way over.

"Out in the darks no good," Daryl said. "We'd just be trippin' over ourselves. More people get lost."

"But she's twelve," Carol protested, the tears welling up in her eyes. "She can't be out there alone. You didn't find anything?"

"I know this is hard, but I'm asking you not to panic," Rick said as calmly as he could. "We know she was out there."

"And we tracked her for a while," Daryl added.

"We have to make this an organized effort," Rick spoke to the whole group. "Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I asked him to oversee this."

"Is that... that blood?" Carol asked, looking at Daryl's pants.

"We took down a walker," Rick explained. 

"Walker? Oh my god." Carol gasped, beginning to hyperventilate.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia."

"How can you know that?" Andrea asked.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure," Daryl responded. Carol sat on the railing before looking at Rick.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?"

"Those two walkers were on us," Rick said. "I... I had to draw them off. It was her best chance."

"It seems like he had no choice, Carol," Parker said, defending her brother.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own?" Carol asked. "She's just a child. She's just a child."

"It was my only option," Rick tried to defend his actions that led to her daughter getting lost. "The only choice I could make."

"I'm sure nobody doubts that," Shane said knowing Rick better than most of the people here.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol cried softly, and although she didn't say it, everyone she knew wanted to add 'by Rick' to the end of her sentence. Rick walked away from the group and Parker followed him.

"Rick. Rick!" He stopped in his tracks and turned to face her.

"What?"

"Carol is upset," Parker told him. "She's not mad at you."

"It sure sounds like she is," Rick said, running a hand over his face.

"Well, yes, but her daughter is gone," Parker explained to him. "You would be angry too if it were Carl."

"I tried, Parker," Rick told her exasperated. "I really tried to keep her safe."

"And no one blames you for not finding her," Parker assured, putting her hand on Rick's arm. "You did everything you could for her. We will find her. I promise."

"How can you be so sure?" Rick asked.

"Because I just do," Parker answered. "One way or another, we will find her."

"I'm sorry," Rick said and suddenly sobbed. "I can't keep you safe. None of you."

"Hey, hey," Parker whispered, pulling Rick towards her. "You're doing everything you can for this group. You've already gotten us this far, Rick."

"But not without losing people," Rick muttered.

"I know," Parker replied. "But Rick, we're still here. You, Lori, Carl, Daryl, Glenn, me.. we're all still here. We are all here. We're going to find Sophia."

"But what if we can't?" Rick asked. "What if she's already dead?" Parker didn't dare think about it, so she shook her head.

"If she is, then I hope it wasn't painful. But Rick, listen to me." He was with her physically but his mind was elsewhere. "Rick, listen to me. You have to have hope. Without it, you'll go crazy."

"I know," Rick replied. "It's just hard right now."

"Then believe me," Parker said, squeezing her brother's hand. "We'll be okay."