Iridescence

Frozen in Time

Daryl left Mia immediately, his voice calling over his shoulder warning her to stay in the room. She did as she was told, eyes darting across the wooden house hold observing anything she could to pass the time. They had been gone a while, and even though she didn't know these people, the worry grew within her. Something wasn't right...

Then her eyes caught sight of something. There, where Daryl used to be, was his crossbow. In all the commotion and excitement he must have forgotten it. 

In one swift movement, the blankets were off of her legs. She kept her eyes locked on the ground before her, her bare feet were still laced in the familiar tape. The only things exposed were the tips of her toes and her heels. 

carefully her feet pressed against the wooden floor, hands gripping the sheets beside her to steady her tired form. The room instantly began to spin as she sat upwards. She must have lost to much blood before... An aching pain rippled through her torso like a fire, but she knew that the doctor must have pumped some pain meds. through her system. 

Gaining her breath, Mia forced herself to her feet receiving a crack from each knee. Then, using the wall for some form of support, she stumbled across the room and stopped next to the crossbow. It was a process to gather the bow up, but after so long she was able to do it. 

Then, she moved back to the bed and grabbed her own gear. She noticed some things were missing though. They left her weapons and backpack, but her boots and her shirt seemed to be missing. The last thing she recalled was her clothes soaked in not only her own blood, but the men's as well. The group must have taken them to be washed. 

That is when she noticed a different pair of jeans on her well. The light washed color hugged her legs tightly, they must have belonged to Beth. She was smaller, but they seemed to be around the same age. 

Along side her outfit, her boots seemed to be missing as well. 

With a growing ache, Mia threw her backpack back on the bed knowing that she wouldn't necessarily need it. Even if she wanted to make a run for it, there was no way she would make it very far. Let alone carrying her backpack more than herself. 

Instead, she strapped on her weapons, threw her bow over her shoulder, and strapped back on her pistols and knives. These people weren't the smartest in her eyes. Leaving her alone, with guns, knives, and her own bow? They had to have some form of trust for her, or at least Daryl must have had a rather large influence. 

Moving towards the door, Mia peeked her head out and found the hallway empty. However many of the dead that were in that barn, it must have been enough to draw the attention of everyone there. 

The hallway was a dark translucent color. The wooden floor beneath her gently cooling the pads of her heels and toes. Slowly, as she made her way towards the stair case, her hand traced the wall in a haunting manner. The stairs were going to be a task, but she needed to check out this barn and get Daryl his crossbow. 

With each stair, she took it as carefully as possible. Her world was shaky, shadows growing larger and larger with each passing second. However, swallowing down the feeling within her, she kept her head up and eyes open. Once reaching the bottom, she maneuvered through the house careful of anyone around. There were voices from the kitchen, and by the sounds of it they were Hershel and his daughters seemed to be in some deep conversation about a boy named Carl. That must have been Rick's son. 

Reaching the screen door, her hand pushed it open but froze as a creaking sound echoed through the house. There was no delaying that she would have to squeeze through the door. So, opening it just enough to minimize the noises being made, she slipped through and entered the deck. The soft wind pushed her loose hair from her face, the sun making her squint. The trees and tall grass swayed with the wind around her, god she missed this feeling. 

Her feet gracefully paced down the steps as her eyes searched for the barn. Eventually she was able to pin the old rotted shingles in the distance, that had to be the barn. 

She moved quietly, constantly readjusting the strap to the crossbow over her shoulders. It was heavy for the time being, her exhaustion and pain adding to the weight. As she neared the barn, she could hear shouts and hollers sounding from ahead. One of them she recognized, they were having some type of quarrel. 

That's when she could see it. Daryl, he was fighting with a tall man. He was fighting with the man who shot her. 

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Daryl was outraged. Shane was completely loosing it. Saying that Hershel didn't know what he was talking about, that this group was just relying on miracles to live. How they never would have found Sophia if it wasn't for Mia. It completely took Daryl's anger to a whole new level. "The hell you talkin about man! I found her doll the other damn day!"

"A doll, you found a doll Daryl! And now what, now you're looking for a little boy?!" 

"The hell you gettin at?" 

The two squared up to one another, and everyone just stood back and watched. Every now and then they would call out to the two to calm down. "You like little boy's now Dixon?! If that kid saw your meth head coming, he would turn and run in the other direction!" 

"Man you don't know what they hell you're talking about!" 

"Oh really?! Let's go Dixon, settle this now! I'm tired of you're shit." the two began to close the distance, Daryl advancing much faster than Shane. But then it happened, out of nowhere an arrow flew from over Daryl's shoulder and into the sleeve of Shane. 

The entire situation seemed to freeze in time. Nobody really knew what to do, Shane was pinned to the barn, the dead groaning on the inside from the closeness of his flesh. They wanted him, the needed him... 

Looking over his shoulder in the direction of the arrow, Daryl locked eyes with Mia. She was gradually lowering her bow, body standing firmly as she stared the entire group down. On her back, he could see his own crossbow peeking over her shoulders. 

She silently stepped forward, eyes constantly on Daryl as she joined his fuming side. At her presence though the redneck seemed to calm. She was quick to take off his crossbow and hand it over, a nod of appreciation was all she got in return. 

The anger from Shane was obviously clear. So, he ripped out the arrow from beside his head and ten snapped it in half. "Or little girls, I guess." His eyes darkened as they locked with Mia. 

In return, she simply rose her middle finger in his direction. There was no point in trying to argue with Shane, instead, they let him stomp off in a fit of rage. On the way, he threw her now broken arrow at her feet and collided shoulders with the young girl. 

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A wave of pain washed through Mia as he did so, but she wouldn't show it. Not in front of these people. 

"The hell are you doing up?" Daryl turned asking her. 

In return, she shrugged and motioned towards Shane. 

Daryl just chuckled, "I could have handled it." In her eyes, Daryl knew that she knew he could hold his own. 

"He's right, you should be resting." Rick stepped forward catching her attention. In one step, she was somewhat hiding behind Daryl holding her own arm in her hand. 

Then, as their eyes observed her, she kept her head downwards and dug into her back pocket. It wasn't long before she extended her hands forward and towards Rick. In it was the picture he had before, the picture of her brother. As he took it, he studied it carefully then looked to her. Mia was staring somewhere off into the woods, almost as if telling him that the boy was out there somewhere. 

That's when Rick and the other's finally understood. This girl wasn't going to stop, she wasn't going to rest, she wasn't going to sleep. Not until she found this boy. They didn't know the relation, but all they knew was that he was very important to her. 

"We'll help you find him, it's the least we can do." Rick tried giving her a kind smile. 

From behind Daryl, Mia could see everyone looking to her with kind faces. They all wanted to help, they all wanted to find her brother.