The darkest path, the walking dead

Chapeter 9: reckless

Our search for Sophia didn't go to well last night, there was no sign of Sophia but now when I think about it I don't think I was looking for her for the sake of Sophia or for the sake of me. I think the biggest reason I was looking was for me and I know that sounds selfish but I couldn't sit there and hope she finds her way back I had to do something about it. I think looking for her was just keeping me sane I can't sit here. Its morning a lot of people know that I left to look for Sophia last night and I might be in a little bit in trouble for it, I don't know why it would be better to have more people looking but that just sounds like something this group would yell at me about. Care doesn't know yet and I'm happy about that. We are gathered around a car. Rick unrolls a tarp looking thing on the hood of a car.
"Everybody takes a weapon" he says, I look over Carls shoulder to see at least a dozen hatchets, swords and other thing like that.
"Theses aren't the weapons we need, what about the guns?" Asks Andrea, I don't really care what weapon I have as long as I can use it.
"Haven't we been over this?" Shane says in annoyance. "Dale, rick and I are carrying the guns; we can't have people popping off rounds whenever the trees rustle" Shane finishes.
"It's not the trees I'm worried about" Andrea mutters, I don't like Andrea much, she's a bitch.
"Say someone shoots at the wrong moment and a herd happens to be passing by see that's game over for all of us. So your gunna get over it." Shane says.
"So the idea is to take the creek up about five miles then turn around and come back down the other side chances are she'll be by the creek it's her only landmark" Daryl says.
"Stay quiet stay sharp keep space between you but stay in each other's sight" rick orders.
"Everybody assemble your packs, dale you keep working on the RV we need to get ready to move." Rick says and we all head in different directions. I walk up to a car that I've kind of made my own it has no body's in it and it never did it's still clean and I have no problem sleeping in it. I grab my bag and bow and walk back to the others. Carl, Lori, rick and an old guy who I think is dale, I remember he was the one who asked me where I was going last night, I don't think he likes me much either. I want to go talk to Carl but I'm worried that Lori will yell at me again and I would rather stay on her good side for now. I don't know why they hate me so much, I don't remember doing anything wrong to them and it wasn't my fault Sophia went missing. Carl, Lori and rick walk away from dale and Andrea walks up to dale, she looks quite angry.  Carl walks up to me.
"Hey, how are you?" he asks smiling.
I shrug and turn away slightly. "I'm fine" I say trying to avoid the question.
"Hey what's up?" he grabs my arm and turns me so I'm facing him again.
"Nothing I'm just tied" I say.
"I thought you said you don't get tied easy?" Daryl asks, oh no.
"Daryl not now" I hissed at him as Carls eyes darted back and forth from me and Daryl.
"Wait am I missing something" Carl asks and Daryl laughs a little.
"No but seriously we don't need kids going into the woods on their own to find other kids, that was stupid don't do that again" Daryl mutters.
"Luna?" Carl asks, I just shake my head and walk away. I walk away and meet up with the others when they are about to leave. We walk off the high way in a line, I wasn't expecting Carl to come but he did and I don't know how I feel about that.
"I'm surprised they let you come" Shane walks up to me.
"Well it's not like anyone cares if I get hurt and it's not like I have parents to tell me to stay back and hide on the highway which could very easy become a heck of a lot more dangerous than out here." I say and Shane nods.
"You're a smart kid" he smiles down at me.
"Well I had to be and I still have to be." I say and he nods again.
"We all have to be" he says and this time I nod.
"Why were you alone? What happened to your family?" Shane asks and I stop in my track and look up at him.
"They died I'm guessing I don't really remember" I say and walk fast forwards away from Shane. I walk until I come to a stop at Lucas.
"Hey tinker bell" he says swinging his arm around my shoulders.
"How old are you?" He asks.
"Well I think I'm thirteen but I might still be twelve" I shrug "how old are you?" I laugh.
"Almost fourteen" he smiles at me.
"Where did you go last night I saw you wonder of on your own and then Daryl went after you" He looks at me but I keep my eyes straight.
"I was looking for Sophia" I shrug.
"Why would you do something so reckless" he almost yells, I look at him shocked.
"That's your sister you're talking about you should be happy that I am trying to find her" I say looking back straight.
"You can't blame yourself, we are going to find her there no need to risk your own life and do something stupid" he hugs my shoulders tighter. "We clear?" He grins and I laugh.
"I don't like promising people things" I grin and it's true after promising Sophia that I would protect her and I broke that promise twice I don't want to make anymore promises for a long time.
"Well you have no choice you have to make this promise Tinkerbell" He tells me, I laugh.
"If I tell you I promise but cross my fingers behind my back and we can both pretend I'm not reckless?" I smile at him before we both laugh and he rolls his eyes. I feel I shiver run down my spine as I feel someone's eyes on my back, I turn to see Carl watching us.
"Carls pissed at me for sneaking of last night" I sigh
"Why do you care? We can be alone together" Lucas laughs.
"Sounds fun but I'll pass" I laugh. We quiet down and walk in silence his arm still hanging over my shoulders. Everyone starts to kneel down including me as a tent appears in our vision.
"She could be in there" Shane says as he looks at the tent.
"There could be a whole bunch of things in there" Daryl replies. Daryl, Shane and rick walk forwards towards the tent as rick puts his hand up to tell the rest of us to stay but I'm not going to stay. I walk forward towards the tent with the boys, rick looks down at me but nod his head in approval. Daryl walks forwards as Shane, rick and I stay behind Daryl. He walks to the tent and examines it from the outside as he holds his knife high in the air, he goes to the side and attempts to look through the fly screen but he just shrugs telling us that he can't see anything. Rick summons carol over.
"Call out softly If she's in there yours is the first voice she should hear" rick tells carol as I walk past them and up to Daryl who is still inspecting the tent.
"Sophia, Sophia baby are you in there, Sophia it's mummy. Sophia where all here baby, it mummy" carol calls softly. When she finishes rick moves slowly towards the tent and stands behind me and Daryl. Daryl is crouching in front of the door with his knife still high in the air, Shane also walks in front of carol leaving her standing on her own. Daryl slowly unzips the zip and quickly rips the door open. I'm the first on to go on, the boys stand at the door coughing because of the smell but I'm so used to the bad smell of dead things that I have become used to it and it barely even fazes me anymore. I slip in and none of the boys bother to object, I hold my knife in the air gripping it tightly. There a dead body sitting on a camping chair, he shot himself in the head, the gun still in his hand. Maggots are crawling around in his skull and it makes me want to puke. I grab his gun and pass it to Daryl as he climbs in after me. We search around in the tent for a second; I can still hear Shane and rick coughing from the outside.
"Daryl, Daryl?" Carols shaky voice says from the outside. Daryl walks out first and I follow.
"Ain't her" Daryl says breathlessly.
"What's in there?" Andrea asks stepping forwards.
"Some guy, did what Jenner said 'opped it out' is that what he called it?" Daryl says with a hint of disgust and I start to think who Jenner is but I push the thought from my mind as I tell myself it doesn't matter. After Daryl is finished talking a bell sounds in the distance, it's hard to hear where it's coming from because of all the trees but I am the first one to start running.
"Luna" Carl gasps from behind me. They begin to follow me but I don't think they will catch me. They stop for a couple of seconds but I don't not for long enough to hear what they say because I'm already running toward the sound of the bell. Sophia might be ringing it. I run into a clearing and I see the church. There are graves surrounding it and I can't help but think that these people where lucky enough to not have to see all the horrible things that make this world now. I'm a bit confused because there is no bell on top of the church but the noise has to be coming from somewhere. The bells have stopped now. I am at the door I look back to see the group just coming out of the trees, they stand there saying something while I push the door open. I see no sign that Sophia has ever been here. There are three walkers sitting in the rows they almost look peaceful from the back, when the door opens they stand up and turn to me and they almost look happy I raise my bow and grab an arrow, I send an arrow flying into a male walkers head, it falls to the ground. I run towards it in the middle of the rows but the female walker grabs my hair, making me fall backward, I want to scream but I hold it in as the walker falls on top on me. I hold its arms stoping it from biting me and from scratching me. I struggle to get the walker off as I see the third walker making it's way towards me. I see the church doors fly open again as Rick, Daryl, Glenn and Shane burst in the door.
"A little help here" I mutter gasping for air as the walker continues to weasel with me, Daryl grabs the walker off me and hits it across the face with his weapon. Daryl reaches down to give me a hand up and I take it.
"Thank you" I whisper looking at the ground.
"This has to stop Luna, stop being so reckless" Daryl yells.
"Shut up its none of your business what I do" I yell back.
"It is because when your recklessness it could have gotten someone else killed" he snaps.
"Yeah well it didn't and forget I ever asked for your help" I hiss as I walk out the door, I know I shouldn't have said that because if Daryl didn't do that I would probably not be alive right now but I didn't regret saying it. "Sophia, sophia!" I hear Daryl scream from inside. The Loud church bell make me jump but I turn and run towards the sound, Glenn is already there and so is most of the group by the time I get there, Glenn stands unplugging a speaker that's when I realise that she's not here and chances are she was never here. I punch the side of the church making my hand hurt and I storm off toward the trees everyone is watching me as I climb a tree but I don't care. When I'm in the tree I watch carol go back into the church and Andrea sits against the church while Lori and Shane have a conversation. I see a small movement of a passing walker, I smile a little and jump down from the tree, it's a big fall and it hurts but I ignore it as I walk towards the walker. I pull my knife out of my pocket and keep walking towards it, I kick it in the knee and it falls to the ground as I repeatedly stab it in the head then when there's not much of its head I begin to stab it in the chest.
"Luna stop" I hear a voice say in shock but I ignore it until I feel two people's arms rap around my arms. They pull me backwards away from whatever was left of the walker, I pull away from them until I just give up and they stop pulling, I haven't bothered to look who it is yet. I curl up into a ball and sob into my knees. Finally I look up to see Lucas and Carl standing wide eyed staring in shock. I pull myself up and try to walk back over to the walker but Carl and Lucas both grab me, I shake them of and start toward the walker but I'm not going to stab it again I just want my knife. I grab the knife and wipe the blood of onto my jeans, just one more thing I think to myself. I spit on the walker and storm back to the rest of the group.
"What happened to you?" Daryl asks looking at the blood that covered me.
"Long story" I mutter and keep walking. I can tell after not getting an answer out of me Daryl asks to Carl and Lucas and I turn to see them shake their head and keep following behind me toward the rest of the group. Rick and Shane are talking and I can tell we will be going soon. Shane walks up to the group of people I just joined, Carl stands next to his mum and I am very aware that a lot of people's eyes are on me.....well on the blood which is all down the front of me.
"You are all gunna follow the creek bed back ok? Daryl you're in charge, me and rick are just going to hang back here and search this area another hour or so and just be tourer Shane says.
"You're splitting us up..... You sure" Daryl says
"Yeah we'll catch up to you" Shane says breathlessly.
"I'm coming" I say quickly stepping forwards.
"Ok you're a good help to have around" rick and Shane nod as I walk over and stand next to rick.
"Me, I want to stay two" Carl steps forwards "I'm Sophia's friend" he says, rick and Shane look at each other and then Shane shrugs and laughs a little.
"Just be careful ok?" Lori says stepping closer to Carl.
"I know" he says to Lori.
"When did you get so grown up?" she say hugging him, rick walks over to his family and hugging Lori, a family I wonder what that's like. I then turn my attention to Lucas who is walking to Shane.
"I'm coming too then" Lucas states and Shane sighs.
"Is it ok with your mum?" Shane asks.
"She doesn't care" Lucas shrugs and I get the impression that me and Lucas have something in common carol dislikes both of us. I don't know why she would dislike her own son but that's just what it seems like.
"This is starting to feel more like a day care then a search party" Shane sighs.
"Yeah it does until I have to save your ass" I smirk at him and he rolls his eyes and giggles. I turn back around to see Daryl handing Lori a gun, Andrea sighs at this and looks pissed about it but we all split up before can hear what he said.
I roll my eyes as rick, Shane and Carl enter the church, I walk in and sigh loudly as I sit down on one of the seats loudly making them stair at me. Carl comes and sits next to me but I don't think I want to talk right now.
"Don't you believe in god?"Carl asks as I pull my knees to my chest.
"I did I just think he left us a long time ago.....I mean if he cared why would be left the world get like this but the real reason I don't want to be here is cause praying ain't going to find Sophia" I say the last part loud enough for everyone to hear. Carl shrugs.
"You never know, this coul-" I don't let him finish.
"Carl I can tell you haven't lost anyone close to you and that's a good thing but you have no idea how bad things get out there so if there is a god he can do screw himself because he obviously don't care about us" I say again loud enough for everyone to hear.
"Do you want to talk about what happened before" Carl whispers, I shake my head
"There is nothing to talk about Carl" I say and he looks at me for a second before saying slowly "Luna that was not....normal"
"Whatever Carl what is it to you?" I snap. I'm taken to another universe almost; I'm standing in a shopping centre with my mum. I can tell it's after everything went to shit, the lights are off and we just have torches. I'm grabbing food and mums getting medicine, I smile up at her and she wipes the hair out of my face.
"Your growing up so fast" she say and I roll my eyes. I walk to the next aisles leaving my mum in the other aisles. I look up and down the aisles before I hear my mum scream, I drop everything and run towards her, four men are surrounding my mum.
"Luna?" Carl shakes me as I pull out of my flashback. Tears fill my eyes as I hug carl tightly trying not to sob.
"What was that?" He asks pulling me away and holding my shoulders and looks into my eyes.
"That was me slowly getting my memory back" I sob this time but no one notices.