Safe and sound, Carl Grimes

009. YOUR SMILING

Chapter nine

"Your smiling."

The next morning, Katniss had walked out of the house and down to camp joining everyone else but when she did, she noticed Carol doing laundry, she then spotted Daryl as she headed over to him and as she did he was putting his flannel on over his tank top as they walked up to T Dog, Rick, Andrea and Shane "alright, everybody's getting new search grids today. If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl found, she might've gone further east then we've been so far." Rick shared, as Shane opened the passenger side door to the car sitting down.

"I'd like to help." Jimmy said as they all looked to him "I know the area pretty well and stuff." Jimmy shared "Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked "yeah, yeah. He said I should ask you." Jimmy told him, as Katniss raised her brows looking up at Daryl, Daryl chuckled knowing neither of them believed him but Rick did "all right then. Thanks." he said "nothing about what Daryl found is screaming Sophia to me. Anyone could've been holed up in that farmhouse." Shane shared "anybody includes her, right?" Andrea asked.

"Well whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger then Katniss here." Daryl shared "it's a good lead." Andrea told him "maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick shared "no maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a birds eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there I'll spot her." Daryl shared, as Katniss furrowed her brows "your gonna ride a horse?" she asked, as Dale put the gun bag down on the car "is it as shocking as your chupacabra?" T Dog asked "chupacabra?" Rick asked "you never heard this?" Dale asked, as he unzipped the bag.

"The first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of the time he went squirrel hunting" he shared, handing a shotgun to Rick "and he saw a chupacabra." he told him, as Rick took the gun, Jimmy laughed "what you braying at jackass?" Daryl asked him "so you two believe in a blood sucking dog?" Rick asked "you believe in dead people walking around?" Daryl asked, and as Katniss saw Jimmy reaching for the shotgun she quickly grabbed it just as his hand went on top of her's "hey, hey," Rick said grabbing it "ever fire one before?" he asked.

"Well, if I'm going out I want one." Jimmy shared, as Daryl put his crossbow over his shoulder "and people in hell want slurpees." he shared, putting his hand on Katniss's head as he walked off, Dale looked at Katniss "how do you feel about helping me keep watch today?" he asked her, as Katniss looked up at him "really?" she asked "yeah." Dale told her, taking another gun out, Katniss turned running to get her bow an arrow, Dale chuckled.

Where Katniss was sitting on top of the RV keeping watch with binoculars around her neck and her bow an arrow around her and when Andrea had come back she had climbed up the ladder and joined her, as Dale came walking up with a jug of water "what's with Annie Oakley routine?" he asked "I don't wanna wash clothes anymore Dale, I want to help keep the camp safe. Is that alright with you?" Andrea asked, as Dale sighed walking into the RV, a few minutes had past and as they did, Katniss saw something in the distance by the tree line, as she brought her binoculars up and looked through them.

"Walker! Walker!" Andrea screamed, where as the sun glared down into the binoculars, Katniss couldn't quite see who it was but she recognized the crossbow in his hand, as she quickly took the binoculars off "dad!" she voiced, climbing down from the RV, she hopped off the ladder and began running off "Katniss!" Glenn voiced, running to grab a weapon, Andrea looked through the binoculars then brought them down "I bet I can nail it from here." she shared "no, no, Andrea, put the gun down." Rick shared, as T Dog grabbed a bat, he and Shane began walking out "you best let us handle this." Shane shared.

"Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers." Rick shared "and if it's her dad and he's a walker you really think Katniss is gonna shoot em?" Shane asked, as Rick turned running into the RV, the three began running after her, as Rick grabbed his gun and ran after them.

Running across the field, Katniss could see him more clearly, he had blood on his face and his flannel was tied around his chest to stop what she assumed would be bleeding as he had walker ears around his neck "dad!" she voiced, slamming into his chest and as she did, her dad put his arm around her, as T Dog, Shane, Glenn and Rick arrived, Rick aimed his gun at his head "that's the third time you've pointed that thing at my head. You gonna shoot me in front of my kid or what?" Daryl asked, and when he did, Rick brought down his gun, but as he did, a gunshot went through the air, hitting Daryl in the head.

As he fell to the ground, Katniss fell with him "no!" She cried out, bringing her hands up to his face "dad, dad.." she said, pulling the walker ears off his neck and grabbed his crossbow and machete "no! No!" Rick screamed, as he ran over, he noticed the bullet just grazed him "Katniss.." he told her, pulling her off the ground "no, no!" Katniss voiced, as Shane went and helped pick Daryl up, Glenn helped on the other end "I was kidding." Daryl said, as they all began walking back.

Andrea and Dale came running toward's them "oh my god. Oh my god, is he dead?" Andrea asked "unconscious. You just grazed him." Rick shared "but look at him. What the hell happened? Katniss is carrying ears?" Glenn asked, as Rick looked down, taking them from her and shoving them in his pocket "let's keep that to ourselves." he told them "guys, isn't this Sophia's?" T Dog asked, as they all turned seeing him holding up Sophia's doll.

Making it back to the house, Katniss was sitting next to Daryl, as Hershel stitched him up, Shane and Rick were in there as well, as Rick was showing him the map, Daryl pointed to where he was "I found it washed up on the creek bed there. She must've dropped it crossing there somewhere." he shared "cut's the grid almost in half." Rick shared "yeah, you're welcome." Daryl told him, looking to Shane, he then looked back at Hershel "how's he looking?" he asked "I had no idea we'd be going through the antibiotics so quickly." Hershel shared, finishing up the stitches he walked toward's the bowl "any idea what happened to my horse?" he asked, washing his hands in the bowl.

"Yeah, the one that almost killed me? If it's smart, it left the country." Daryl shared, as Rick rolled up the map "we call that one nelly. As in nervous nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask." Hershel shared, drying off his hands as he stepped toward's Rick "it's a wonder you people have survived this long." he shared, as he turned to start putting the bandages on him, Rick and Shane walked out.

And as night came, Katniss was lying on the bed next to Daryl, as her braid was out of her hair, Daryl ran his hand through it, having seen the fear in her eyes when she thought he might be dead, where the door opened, as he turned his head, Carol had walked in with two plates of dinner "how you feeling?" she asked, putting the tray down "as good as I look." Daryl told her, as he turned looking back at Katniss "I brought you two some dinner. You must be starving." Carol shared, as Daryl looked at her, he then turned back to Katniss.

As Carol leaned down kissing him on the forehead and doing the same with Katniss "watch out I got stitches." Daryl told her "you need to know something." Carol said, as Daryl turned to her "you and your daughter have done more for my little girl than her own daddy ever did in his whole life." Carol shared, as Daryl looked back at her "we didn't do anything Rick or Shane wouldn't have done." he shared "I know. You're every bit as good as them and I yelled at Katniss for being strong and brave." Carol shared, turning and walking out, shutting the door behind her.

And when she did, Daryl smiled and as he did, Katniss smiled "your smiling." she told him, as Daryl scoffed "no I'm not." he told her, and as he did, Katniss chuckled "your smiling!" she voiced "just go back to sleep before I smother you." Daryl shared, making Katniss laugh.