Your Crying Shoulder

Unbreakable Man

Ricks' pov

Mae survived the surgery along with another night. Herschel checked up on her this morning and said she should be just fine. For me and T, that was a huge weight lifted off our shoulder when he told us that. Daryl still hadn't returned from last night and he wasn't here this morning when the rest of the group arrived. Signing, I decided not to worry about him and focus on the new task at hand, finding Sophia. I had called a group meeting because I had finally gotten ahold of a map. Everyone encircled the car as I spread the map wide,

"How long has this girl been lost?" Herschel asked.

"This'll be day three. County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations. This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." I instructed.

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle... Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody." Herschel scolded.

Running a hand through my hair, I knew Herschel was right,but I didn't want to put off looking for Sophia any longer.

"Guess it's just me." Someone grunted.

Immediately turning my heard to the voice, my eyes landed on daryl. He adjusted his crossbow and stood next to me peering at the map,

" I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there."

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane said.

"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." I declared.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane barged in.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp." Herschel stood up to Shane.

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here... " Shane started to say but I cut him off,

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that. First things first: Set camp, find Sophia."

Shane glared at me for going against his word, but he needed to understand this was the safest we've been since we started this. I was not going to let him mess this up. Something was different about him, he wasn't the same guy before this and it seemed like he was hiding something. Sighing, I noticed daryl start to head out so I ran after him and yelled,

"Daryl."

He turned to me and glared.

"You okay on your own?" I asked.

"I'm better on my own. I'll be back before dark." He said starting to turn back,

"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now." I said.

He turned back to me looking annoyed, "You got a point or are we just chatting?"

" My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything." I sighed.

"My other plans fell through. " he said starting to storm off.

"She's alive you know!" I yelled after him.

He came to an abrupt stop and hesitantly turned back towards me and just glared,"what you just say?"

"She's alive...Shane..Shane got back in time. Herschel did the surgery and said she's going to be fine" I said relieved.

He just starred at me and then back down to the ground, before turning and storming off into the woods. I watched him disappear into the woods. A part of me was shocked and another part of me knew I should've seen this coming. I thought maybe daryl saw something in her, but I guess I was wrong. Making my way back into the house, I walked into Mae's room and saw t dog asleep against the chair. Chuckling, I walked up to him and placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. Moving around, he opened his eyes slowly and then looked at me.

"Go on get some air. Help the others, I got her"

He looked over at Mae and then back to me and hesitantly nodded as he got up and left the room. Settling down in the chair where T had sat, I fell asleep.

Daryl's pov

Ricks words keep repeating in my head,

"She's alive"

I finally felt like I could breathe and I felt strangely free. Shaking my thoughts, I search a house I came upon looking for Sophia. I had the strongest urge to find her. I promised both carol and Mae I would. Coming up to a pantry, I noticed blankets on the ground like someone was hiding there. The only person able to fit would've been a kid. This was my first real clue to finding Sophia. Running out the back door I yelled her name just in case she was anywhere close. When nothing responded, I started to turn around until I saw a whole patch of Cherokee roses blooming. Bending down and gripping ones soft petals in my hand, I remembered the story. Taking two from the patch, i made my way back to the farm. Going into the rv, I gave carol the flower and explained the story. It seemed she had given up on finding her little girl. Leaving the rv, I look down at the other flower laying in my hand and then at the house. Groaning, I make my way inside. It was late so no one seemed to be awake. As quietly as I could, I made my way into their kitchen and found a glass and filled it with water. Placing the flower into the glass, it may have looked stupid, but it would help it live longer. Looking at the flower I sighed, look what this girl is doin to me! I'm givin her a damn flower! That ain't me! That ain't a dixon! Sighing, I shook my head and made my way quickly up to her room hoping no one saw me. People don't need to know I'm turnin into a softy. Opening her door quietly, i peek through and see she still hasn't woken up. I about entered the room until I saw Rick in the chair across from her bed asleep. Knowing if he saw me, he wouldn't leave me alone about this or let me live it down. Maybe I should just walk away. looking back down at the flower in my hand, I groaned and turned back towards the door. Opening it quietly, I snuck in the room not making a single noise. I kept my eyes on the Cop making sure he didn't wake up. Finally making it to her bedside, I set the glass down on her nightstand and turned back towards her. Her breathing seemed a lot better. Her color was coming back. My eyes then wondered to the huge wrap around her waist. She wasn't wearing a shirt, but the bandage covered everything. My eyes roamed to the scars on her shoulders. Anger built up inside me as my eyes moved to her face. The anger seemed to weirdly disappear as I watched her sleep. She was no longer fighting for her life for once, she was just sleeping. Shaking my head, I turned back to make sure Rick hadn't woken up, but he was still out cold. Taking one last glance as Mae, I walked quietly out of the room and back to my tent knowing I had an early mornin of searchin ahead of me.

Ricks pov

I watched as daryl left the room through my eye lids. As soon as I was sure he was gone, I opened my eyes and smiled as I walked to the night stand. Running my fingertips against the soft petals of the flower, I looked over at Mae and chuckled,

"Your just full of surprises aren't ya?"

Chuckling again, I walked back to my chair and sat down. Crossing my arms across my chest, I lean back in the chair and close my eyes. Leave it to my little Mae to break the unbreakable man.