✧ sugar 彡 glennrheexfem!reader ✧

✧ 25 ✧

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after leaving the rv you see the group crowded infront of the railing that seperated the highway from the woods. "you left here out there?" carol accuses and rick tries to reason with her "i couldnt take both of them at once, carol. i left her in a safe spot. were gonna go looking for her right now okay?" he says and she seems to have calmed a bit. "daryl, glenn, and y/n, you up for it?" rick asks, looking between the three of you. "yeah." glenn says and you nod, and darly huffs "lets go." he replies and starts walking to the woods. you were abiut to walk after him when carl walks up to you "be careful y/n." he says and you smile, ruffling his hair a bit "i always am." you reply and follow the group to the woods.

★

you were standing next to the creek, daryl and rick searchung the small hole in the brush where sophia was supposed to be. "sure this is the spot?" daryl asks and rick nods "left her right here. i drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek." he answers. "she was gone by the time i got back here. i figured she just took off and ran back to the group. i told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." rick explains and you frown "she just had a close call with two walkers, shes tired and scared. its most likely that alot of what you said didn't stick." you state and rick shrugs.

"shes probably close, lets just keep movin. got clear prints right here. she did like you said, headed back to the highway. let's spread out, make our way back." daryl says, pointing to the ground. you follow him as he continues to walk into the woods, towards the highway. "she was doing just fine till right here. all she had to do was keep going. she veered off that way." daryl says, pointing to the ground. "why would she do that?" glenn asks from beside you. you shrug "probably saw somethign or someone that spooked her." you answer. "i don't see any other footprints. just hers." daryl counters.

"so what do we do?" glenn asks and rick turn to him "you get back up to the highway. people are gonna start panicking. let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. but most of all, keep everybody calm." he says to glenn and he nods "im on it." he replies and rick turns to you. "you stay with daryl and i. we might need backup." he says and you nod. "alright, glenn think you can make it back?" rick asks and glenn nods "yeah." he replies and you put a hand on his shoulder "be safe okay? radio me when you get back." you say and glenn smiles "awhh you care about me." he says in a micking tone and you roll your eyes. "yeah yeah, get outta here." you say and glenn chuckles before turning and walking away.

★

it had been about fifteen minutes since you started following sophias trail. "tracks are gone." rick says and daryl shakes his head "no, they're faint, but they ain't gone. she came through here." he counters, gesturing to the ground you couldn't see anything, only having been taken on a couple hunting trips with you dad before he passed. so youre tracking knowledge was mediocre at best. you kept your mouth shut as rick and daryl continued "how can you tell? i don't see anything. just dirt, grass." ricm says and daryl huffs "you want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" he says and rick nods, letting daryl lead the way.

you, daryl and rick come upon a walker, laying against a tree. it turns to you and growls, reaching out a rotting hand. daryl points his crossbow at it and fires, killing it. daryl removes his arrows from its skull and rick crouches down and examines at it's hands and mouth closely. "what are you looking for?" daryl ask and rick turns to him "it has skin under it's fingernails and there's flesh caught in its teeth. it fed recently." he explains and you join the conversation "question is what kind of flesh." you add and rick tilts his "only one way to know for sure." he says and you all kneel next to the body, laying it on its back.

rick gets his knife out and daryl stops him "here, i'll do it. how many kills you skin and gut in your life? anyway, mine is sharper." he says and rick moves out of the way and daryl plunges his knife into the walkers stomach. you almost gag at the squelching sound it makes. after making a sizable gash daryl reaches his hand into the body. "hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there. here's the gut bag." he says, lifting up a bloody sack of what you assumed was the walkers guts. the rotten smell punctures your nose and you sneer. "this gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." daryl says, cutting into the intestine. you could see the bloody remains of the rodent, teeth and all. "at least we know." you say and rick and daryl turns towards you "at least we know." rick adds and you all start to walk back to the highway, leaving the rest of the search for tomorrow.

★

you had just arrived back at the highway, carol immediately walking up to you and the two men. "where is she?" she asked, her voice raw from crying. you feel a pang of sadness in your chest, you knew exactly how she felt. rick is the first to answer her "her trail went cold. we'll pick it up again at first light." he says, being honest woth her. carols face twists with confusion and frustration "you can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." she says, tears building in the corner of her eyes. "out in the dark's no good. we'd just be tripping over ourselves. more people would get lost." daryl replies, trying to reason with her. you see her eyes scan daryl and land onto his hands and shirt.

"is that blood?" she asks, her voice shaky, her eyes wide. "we took down a walker while we were out there. it wasnt anywhere near sophia, we made sure." you answer and carol looks at you, confused. "what does that mean?" andrea asks and daryl answers this time "we cut the son of a bitch open." he says, not comforting carol in the slightest. she puts her hand to her mouth.
"oh god. how could you just leave her out there to begin with? how could you just leave her?" she says, her tone accusatory. "those two walkers were on us. i had to draw them off. it was her best chance." rick responds, trying to get carol to understand. "my little gurl is out there all alone." she says, walking away. lori follows her and rick looks conflicted.

★

glenn's pov:
everyone was gathered around the hood of t-dogs truck, miscellaneous weapons on top of it. "everybody takes a weapon." rick says, picking up an axe. "these aren't the kind of weapons we need. what about the guns?" andrea says and shane looks at her "we've been over that. daryl, rick, y/n and i are carrying. we can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles." he answers. i look acroos the group to y/n who was looking at thr ground. andrea doesn't look pleased at shanes response, "it's not the trees i'm worried about." she states, taking a knife from the options.

"say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. see, then it's game over for all of us. so you need to get over it." shane counters and andrea just rolls her eyes. "the idea is to take the creek up about five miles, turn around and come back down the other side. chances are she'll be by the creek. it's her only landmark." daryl explains, and y/n nods. "stay quiet and stay sharp. keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." rick adds and everyone starts walking to their cars to grab their things.

★

i was walking next to y/n, in the middle of the group. rick and shane stop suddenly and i crane my neck to see what they were talking about. i see a small greenish-yellow tent with a fee lawn chair around it. shane, daryl and rick walk towards it. "she could be in there." shane says as they walk forawrd. "could be a whole bunch of things in there." daryl says, and rick turns back towards carol. "carol. call out softly. if she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear." rick says and carol walks forward slowly. "sophia, sweetie, are you in there? it's mommy." carol sats softly and daryl walk forward. he looks through the tent flap. "whats in there?" ruck asks and daryl turns back . "some guy. did what jenner said. opted out." he replies and rick was about to say something when loud ringing bells fill my ears.
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