THE STORY OF CALLIOPE HART - The Walking Dead

Part 7 | Churchbells and the woods.

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Valerie's POV:

It's nighttime now and Daryl says that we should head back to the highway or at least set up camp but I don't want to leave these woods, not until I find Calliope. I need to know she's safe and that she's at least found a safe spot to stay. we decided to set up camp since it was getting too dark to find our way back to the highway.

"Get some sleep, I'll keep watch," I say, sitting down on a log.

"You don't know shit about protectin' anything, I'm keepin' watch," Daryl says.

"I'm not some fragile kid that can't look after herself, you know? I'm a grown woman. I've handled myself so far so I'm sure a few hours of keeping watch isn't gonna be too much of a problem." I say.

Daryl scoffs. "I ain't lettin' ya run off lookin' for your kid," He says.

I sigh. "Can we compromise?" I ask.

Daryl just stays quiet, but he looks at me as if silently saying go on.

"I sleep for the first half, you sleep for the second," I say, standing up from the log.

Daryl thinks for a moment. "Fine, but if you even think about runnin' off while I'm asleep-"

"I won't, even Rick said you know the woods better than anybody else, so it would be pretty fucking stupid to go running off on my own," I say.

Daryl just nods his head slightly, sitting down on the ground. It's silent for a while, the only sounds being crickets.

"So... what do you do for fun?" I ask, trying to break the silence since it's getting awkward now.

"Nothin'," Daryl says as he cleans one of his bolts.

I nod my head slowly, looking around and pushing my lips out into a pout as I think of what to say. "Must get pretty boring if you don't do anything." I decide to say.

"Look, lady. I'm not here to have some kind of small talk or get to know you, I'm only here to look for yours and Carol's kids. nothin' more, nothin' less." Daryl says, looking up from what he was doing.

I hold back an awkward laugh. "Woah, okay," I say as I let out a sigh, looking around once again before standing up and walking over to a bush.

"What d'ya think you're doin'?" Daryl asks, looking up at me.

"Gotta piss," I say, looking at Daryl and he nods.

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The next morning, Daryl and I are walking through the woods, calling both Sophia and Calliope's names out in hopes of finding them. I've got my knife and Daryl's got his crossbow at the ready in case we come across anything. we're being cautious not to make too much noise as we walk and yell for the young girl's names.

We've been doing this for about an hour, but still no sign of the girls. I'm starting to think they're dead but a part of me knows they aren't. I raised a strong kid, and she won't stop until she gets back to me, and I won't stop until I get back to her.

We continue walking, Daryl leading the way until we hear something. A... Bell? We both stop, looking at each other with confused looks before we start sprinting towards the sound.