word count: 4337
The rose dangled from her canopy.
It brushed against Avery's hair when she woke up, a gentle, good morning kiss, and again when she emerged from her tent.
She squinted against the sunlight, the early light setting the fields of grain on fire, and chickens clucked in the distance. A picturesque morning.
She felt a little silly returning from their search yesterday with no promise of finding Sophia, but instead with a fistful of wildflowers. In an effort to console Carol, Avery planned to arrange a bouquet and give it to her, but was pleasantly surprised to see Daryl had beaten her to the punch. He had saved a cherokee rose and presented it to the grieving mother, the steam woven through the opening of an old beer bottle.
"Morning, Avery."
"Dale," She acknowledged the man as she stifled a yawn. She'd slept hard, desperate to recover from her sleepless night, but exhaustion was a constant state.
Carol passed Avery with a smile. "It's your favorite day."
"Taco Tuesday?"
"Laundry day."
"Oh, that was my second guess."
Their routine from the quarry carried onto the farm. Lori, Carol, and Avery sorted through the group's clothes, scrubbing them against a washboard before pinning them up onto a clothesline to dry.
She didn't mind the task - it was a nice way to turn off her brain and break up the monotony of her day. Carol had agreed with her, as she brought up the idea of collectively cooking a meal for the Greene family - to thank them for their hospitality.
"Seems like the least we could do." Lori said. "You want to help, Avery?"
Avery shrugged, pinching the fabric of someone's t-shirt into a clothesline. "Unless you want burnt slop, task me with tossing the salad, please."
Carol laughed softly before turning to Lori. "You mind passing on the invitation to them? Would feel more right coming from you."
Lori seemed puzzled. "How so?"
"You're Rick's wife. Sort of makes you our unofficial first lady."
In comedic timing, Rick, dressed in his sheriff uniform, greeted their group and began organizing their search grids for the day. He fell into the leader role naturally. He swallowed fear and balanced emotion and logic. Avery admired his willingness to carry their burdens and lead them into the right direction.
She wiped her hands dry against her jeans and joined the group as they gathered around Carol's car. He unrolled the large map across the hood.
"If Sophia made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Avery found, she might've gone further east than we'd thought."
"Nothing about what they found screams Sophia to me. Anyone could've been holed up in that house." Shane interjected, the limp from his supply retrieval mission nearly healed.
Avery narrowed her eyes at him, opening her mouth to object.
"Anybody includes her, right?"
Daryl jumped to her aid, fiddling with the buttons of his shirt. "Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high."
Andrea nodded. "It's a good lead."
"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick said.
"No 'maybe' 'bout it." Daryl poked his arm through the encirclement, his finger tracing a curved line on the map. "I'm gonna borrow a horse. Head up this ridge right here, take a bird's eye view of the whole grid."

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in a dark meadow | daryl dixon
Fanfiction"Because in her eyes, in that green meadow, he was home." [Daryl Dixon x OC]