Love and Death (The Walking Dead - TWD)

The Past Haunts Us

Walking through the forest I started to think about the group, about Daryl mostly, I wondered if he would miss me, if they would even notice I was gone, I wondered if they would be safe and if they would find Sophia. Subconsciously I had my hand on my sword ready to use it on any walkers and I started to find myself looking for Sophia.

I heard footsteps behind me, crunching the crispy leaves on the ground under their feet pulling out my sword I spun round instead of a walker, Daryl stood in front of me.
'Easy girl' he chuckled
'Sorry thought you were a walker' I said quietly
'Everything alright?' He asked
'Why wouldn't it be?' I said back bluntly
'You lookin' for Sophia?' He asked
'Kind of' I told him
'Kind of?' He asked again
'Im leaving the group, okay?' I said angrily spinning around to watch his actions he stopped in his tracks looking confused
'Why?' He asked 'has something happened?'
'I doesn't matter' I said avoiding his question 'I just can't stay'
'What so something doesn't go your way and you just leave? Has your life really been that great that you can't take something going wrong?' He yelled
'My life? You know nothing about me or my life Daryl' I shouted back
'So tell me then what's so bad about yer life? And why the hell are ya leavin?' He said calming down
'My life's never been great.. My dad was out in prison before I was born, my mum died giving birth to me... I was living with my grandpa for 5 years until he became ill with Alzheimer's he was the only person I ever cared about then I was put in care home after care home until I was adopted by a family who just abused the crap out of me' I told him lifting up the sleeves of my jacket showing him the scars from cigarette burns 'luckily it was never sexually but they called me horrible things, put their cigarettes out on my arms and legs, I was never in any good foster homes, I lived with those pigs for 7 years I self harmed because of the torture they put me through then I decided to run away at 14, I was always getting in trouble with the wrong people, drugs, stealing, always in and out of prison...' I said looking away and hiding my scars again
'How come I never saw none of your scars before?' He asked 'we're always sharing tents and rooms'
'Because I didn't want to be telling people my past I didn't want the questions, I would rather sweat my arse wearing long sleeved shirts and jackets than let anyone see my scars, I hate it, they make me cringe every time I see them in the bath or shower' I told him
'So you were 14 when you ran away' he said subtly asking me to continue
'Yeah, I stopped all the drug use and stealing when I was around 16 and I found out my grandpa had died, I got a job at a cafe made something from my life and then at 19 the world went to shit and this is what I've been doing ever since' I said turning on my heels to look at Daryl again 'so I guess you could say life's been pretty crap'
'None of that explains why your leavin'' Daryl stated
'I'm leaving because I saw you with Carol, happy now?' I said wiping away tears I didn't realize we're there
'Carol? What are you talking about?' He said sounding confused
'I was coming to get chocolate from the RV for Carl, I saw you and her in there talking about the rose and I saw her kiss you' I told him
'Are you jealous?' He asked with a smirk on his face
'I didn't think I would be, Daryl, but your the only person I've cared for since my grandpa, and with the world full of walkers I can't afford to be jealous or upset it will just make me easier to kill'
'Ruby, if you had stayed at the RV for a little bit longer you would have seen something else you know' he told me coming closer
'Whats that?' I asked
'I pushed Carol away, told 'er I didn' feel the same' he said cupping my cheek in his hand 'please don't leave' before I had the chance to reply his soft lips gently pressed against mine my tear stained cheeks brushing against his he pulled away and looked me in the eyes 'shall we go back? Or try and find Sophia?' He asked
'We can look for Sophia if you like' I said and he nodded.

We walked around the forest for a while coming to a small clearing with a lake. Trying to make a little conversation along the way I asked how everyone was back at camp, Daryl told me Maggie and Glenn went on a run to get supplies and that Rick was trying to convince Hershel to let us stay on the farm. I walked around the edge of the lake then I saw it, a small doll covered in dirt at the edge of the water, I picked up and turned it over in my hand it definitely looked like Sophia's.
'Daryl, come here a sec' I said not taking my eyes off the doll 'this is Sophia's, isn't it?' I asked when he was standing beside me
'Sure as hell looks like it, she can't be far now' he said
We walked further into the woods coming across an old run down cabin not far from the lake, Daryl kicked the door down pointing his crossbow inside and looking around before stepping into the house. We looked in every room but found nothing more of Sophia. Giving up sadly we walked back to the camp, coming into the clearing we saw Shane and Maggie arguing over something in front if the barn.

'Wonder what that's about' I said to Daryl who was also looking at the two of them.
'Duuno let's go find out' he said
'I'm gonna go give this to Carol first' I told him gesturing to the doll in my hand 'think she deserves to know' he nodded and walked off to the barn while I went to find Carol.

I walked into the house and found Beth sitting with Andrea a bandage on her arm and Andrea telling her something about self harm, poor Beth, I hope she's okay. In the kitchen Carol was helping Hershel to clean T-Dog's cut.
'Its looking a lot better now' I told him silently praising Hershel 'Carol I need to talk to you quickly' I stated holding the doll behind my back out of her sight
'Okay' she nodded walking outside with me
We stopped on the porch and I looked her in the eyes
'Carol, I don't want to give you any false hope, but Daryl and I were in the woods just now and we came across this' I told her holding the doll out for her, she took it from me and stared at it for a moment before holding it close to her chest and starting to sob.
'We found a little cabin not far from where we found the doll, but Sophia wasn't there, I'm so sorry, we'll keep looking, we will find her' I said giving her a small hug, we weren't exactly friends but I couldn't stand people crying.

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Poor Sophia, on the bright side Ruby's staying yay!

I hope your all enjoying the story so far please don't forget to comment any constructive criticism etc.

For all the walking dead tv show lovers you may notice I'm leaving a few things out, for 2 reasons really... 1) I want to make this story my own kind of and just use parts of the show as a guild line sort of thing and 2) I want to get up season 4 before season 5 starts.

As always thank you for reading and I'll update soon

- Chloe x