Tragic Coincidence | Daryl Dixon

Chapter Five

The sun was setting quickly, and I was pretty much lost....I had gotten separated from T-Dog and Andrea when we came across five walkers in the woods. I had drawn three of them off in the hopes to silently kill them with my bow, leaving two for them to kill themselves. But in the process I must have ran too far out of the grid and I was completely turned around. 

We had been looking for that little girl all day, and frankly after this much time I was beginning to wonder how much hope was left in finding her....But I was a Doctor and I couldn't afford to think that way, there were no hopeless cases until I called time of death... Being summer it had to be close to eight o'clock with how dark it was getting. And I learned that walking around in the dark was no good, "Walkers" I have began to call them thanks to Rick's group could sneak up behind you at any moment. 

I climbed a tree like I had done for months on end, strapped myself in and prepared for another endless night of sleep.....

"Emma!" I heard someone whisper shouting my name from below my tree, only about an hour after I had finally dozed off into sleep. I had to have been dreaming it, as I saw no one around me...So I closed my eyes in the attempt to fall asleep again.

But I heard it again, and then again, and I finally looked down frustrated to see someone wandering around,crossbow in hand....Must be Daryl.

"Daryl?" I asked, and he turned around quickly, his crossbow and flashlight pointing in my direction. "What the hell girl. get your ass outta that tree!" He yelled up to me, and quickly looked around to see if he had brought any unwanted attention to him. I quickly untied myself and re-strapped my bag and bow in my back before swinging down and landing silently on the ground. "Deputy dip shit was bout to shoot someone when you didn't come back" He told me.

"I got separated when a pack of walkers strolled into us, guess I ran a little too far" I said as we started walking back in the direction of im guessing camp. "Yeah, I don' care" he said, looking up on high alert for any walkers. "Geeze, your a real merry sunshine aren't ya?" I said sarcastically, putting an arrow in my bow just in case. I looked over and saw that the moonlight was illuminating his face, making his facial features more prominent than i had noticed before. And I could have sworn I saw the ghost of a smile sitting on his face. "Dont go gettin lost anymore" He said as we emerged from the woods, and he walked quickly ahead on his own, back to his own tent. 

By the time I got back to camp everyone except Shane was in their tents asleep. Shane saw me and stormed in my direction, not looking too happy. "You scared the hell outta me doc!" He exclaimed, putting his hands on his hips. "Im fine Shane, just wandered too far is all" I said walking past him towards the RV. "Your a part of our group now, we don't wanna lose ya" he yelled to me before I stepped inside. "Im not goin anywhere" I said smiling as I closed the door behind me. ...

I couldn't even explain how wonderful it felt to be able to put on fresh clothes...carol had washed my previous clothes I had worn, and Beth was nice enough to give me a couple extra things to wear since we were around the same size. I was even able to take a nice hot shower in Hershel's house, and I tell you that was something I definitely took for granted before all of this happened. I was brushing through my now wet hair around the campfire, while others were chatting or eating what little breakfast was served....when Glenn popped out of nowhere to give us some disturbing news...

"Guys....There's walkers in the barn" He told us fiddling with his hat. All conversation stopped....everyone dropped their plates, and soon enough every pair of feet was sprinting in the direction of the barn...

Shane was the first to reach it and immediately started slamming his hands on the door trying to rile up the dead that were inside. "Shane!" Rick called out for him but he didn't stop. "You cant be ok with this man?" Shane said walking towards his best friend, who's wife and child were standing only inches away. The group started arguing about what to do about the walkers, but I tuned them out and wandered to the barn on my own. I stared inside and could see them either standing or walking around aimlessly inside....

I could see an older woman in a white dress, a young man in overalls, a man in a suit.. there were about a dozen of them. I placed my forehead against the barn "I'm sorry this happened to you" I whispered. But when I glanced back inside something caught my eye...a little girl was standing in the corner, a bite mark clear on her neck....it was the girl from the picture that Carol showed me....it was the little girl everyone had been looking for....that walker in the barn was Sophia, and I didn't know how to tell anyone what I could see.....