Here We Are, Come Join Us (The Walking Dead FanFiction)

Chapter 12

"Knock-knock," Allison called out as she climbed the steps to the RV. Her hands were full with the freshly cleaned and cut up rabbit. "Carol?" She called out hesitantly as she poked her head inside.

"Over here," a voice said softly. Carol was sitting at the table with a needle and thread, patching a pair of jeans.

"Looks like the cleaning fairies stopped by," Allison looked around in wonder. The place was spotless; dishes all done and neatly stacked, beds all made, piles of clothes gone from the floor.

"I wanted it to look nice for her when she gets back," Carol explained. Allison knew that she was referring to Sophia. It was getting harder every day to look Carol in the eye and try to keep her hopes up.

"She'll love it," Allison grinned. "And then a few minutes later she'll probably say 'Mom, you didn't go through my stuff, did you?'"

Carol gave a small smile and then looked at the tray in Allison's hand. "Whatcha got there?"

"Dinner, maybe, if you already haven't planned on something else. Some rabbit. He was kind of big, so I don't know how tender the meat will be. Too bad we don't have garlic and flour and sour cream....we could make some hasenpfeffer. Folks don't mind eating Thumper too much if you cover it up in enough sauce."

Carol took the tray from Allison and carried it to the sink. "I can concoct some kind of stew, I'm sure. There's some leftover carrots that Lori chopped up for lunch, and we can probably borrow an onion from Hershel's garden..."

"Let me know if I can help," Allison offered.

"Oh, you've done plenty already! This will be a welcome change from squirrel, thanks for bringing it."

"No problem," Allison started to leave when she spied a white flower propped up in a beer bottle. "That's a nice touch." Carol looked at her questioningly and Allison pointed to the bloom. "Very pretty."

"Oh, I didn't do that, Daryl brought it for me."

"Daryl...? Really?" Allison couldn't have been more shocked if Carol had announced that she'd discovered a way to turn Grape Nuts into gold nuggets.

"Yes," Carol sat down at the table and looked at the flower tenderly. "He said it's a Cherokee Rose and he told me the legend behind it....how the Native American mothers cried for their lost children – " her voice started to tremble.

"Sure, I learned about the legend of the Cherokee Rose back in school. I'm a little surprised that Daryl knows the story, though."

Carol sighed and said almost reverently, "Daryl told me that he was sure that this flower bloomed for Sophia." She looked up at Allison. "Wasn't that thoughtful?"

"Very," Allison tried to force a smile, even though inside her guts were turning over. Daryl had brought this woman a flower?

"He truly believes that we'll find Sophia," Carol continued. "Sometimes I think he's the only one that believes it." She sighed. "You're a doctor, a person of science – what is your honest opinion? What do you really think her chances are?"

Allison paused and weighed her words. "Well, we were taught in medical school to never give patients or their families unrealistic hope. Keep their spirits up, but be honest. Of course, a lot of that is so that when the patient does recover, the family is so elated that they forget to complain about the slow nursing staff or the five-dollar aspirins." She smiled at Carol. "I saw a lot of kids come into the ER who were injured during a disaster situation – fire, tornado, whatever – because they hid somewhere when they were frightened. It's their natural inclination to curl up in a closet or under a bed when the house is burning because they feel safe there. It's usually a very dangerous habit, but in Sophia's case hiding is her best bet for surviving. Remember, Daryl found out that someone fairly small was camping out in the cupboard of that old house.... My honest opinion? Until we find her, um, well...to be blunt, find her body or find her as a walker, then I think we have to assume that she still is still alive out there somewhere."