Daring To Feel: A Walking Dead Fan Fiction

Chapter 13: Searching

Carol see's Rick and Daryl coming back out of the woods, their eyes tired with defeat, "you didn't find her?" She cries out to them with fear and pain in every syllable.

"Her trail went cold." Daryl informs her regretfully.

"We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick adds, letting us know they aren't giving up.

Carol's cries for her daughter get louder, "you can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods."

Daryl tries to explain, "out in the dark's no good. We'd jus be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own." She argues, "you didn't find anything?" She looks to Rick for some hope.

"I know this is hard. But I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." he tells her, "and we tracked her for a while. We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." He looks to the man holding a bow.

"Is that blood?" I question out loud, looking at his pant leg.

Carol's breath gets heavier, "we took down a walker." Rick informs about the stain.

"Walker? Oh my God." Carol sighs out nervously.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." He assures her.

Andrea steps in now, "how can you know that?" she asks

Daryl sighs before answering, "we cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." he says, looking at Carol to let her know he did what he had to do to make sure Sophia was not eaten by this thing.

"Oh God." she sighs, taking a seat on the railing, putting her hands on her head. Her attitude changes momentarily, "how could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" she begs to know. Lori and I sit on either side of her, trying to help console her.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick explains, defending his actions.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." I say rubbing her back, also defending what Rick chose to do.

She looks at me for a moment before bringing her attention back to Rick, "how was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child. She's just a child." Tears falling from her face again.

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make." He responds to her, kneeling in front of her, willing for her understanding in the choices he put fourth.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Shane says to everyone.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol cries out.

The next morning comes quickly and we all meet in front of the RV door. Rick opens a rolled up sack of weapons, "everybody takes a weapon."

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea argues at the sight of the knives and axes, "what about the guns?

"We've been over that." Shane says, resting against the Winnebago. "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." She spits back with an eye roll.

Shane pushes himself off the truck, "say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See, then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." he finishes telling her. Everyone else has taken a weapon and I'm relived there's nothing left for me to take. I just move along with everyone else as we prepare to head into the woods and find Sophia.