Cherokee Roses {Daryl Dixon's Daughter}

f i f t e e n

Dad and Glenn walk through the front door and I immediately run to him gripping his waist tightly. A sudden weight is lifted off of my shoulders knowing that he wasn't dead.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" He asks rubbing my back assuring me he's okay.

"No," Lori tells him.

"We heard a shot." Dad says as I let go.

"Maybe they found Randall." Lori suggests.

"We found him." Dad tells her. That means the shot came from Rick and Shane. I hope Rick isn't hurt.

"Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asks. 

"He's a walker." 

"Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asks the question we all were wondering.

"No the weird thing is," Glenn states looking at each of us. "he wasn't bit."

"His neck was broken." Dad finishes. This doesn't make any sense. How could he be a walker if he didn't get bit? "The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other and Shane ain't no tracker." That's apparent. Shane couldn't track; so how in the hell would he be able to now especially when he's lost his mind? "So he didn't come up behind him. They were together."

"Would you please get back out there and find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" Lori pleads approaching dad. He waits a moment before answering.

"You got it." Dad says walking towards the door.

"Thank you." Lori says relieved dropping her hand from its place on dads arm. 

Everyone heads outside with my dad leading. There are bodies in the distance but they aren't living. A giant herd is headed our way. The gun shot must've gotten their attention.

"Patricia, kill the lights."" Hershel whispers.

"I'll get the guns." Andrea says running back inside the house. The herd is loud, any more stray walkers in the woods can probably hear them and are probably on their way. 

"Maybe they're just passing." Glenn says with faint hope in his voice. "Like the herd on the highway. Should we just go inside?"

"Not unless there's a tunnel downstairs I don't know about." Dad says looking in the direction all the walkers are coming from. We don't have much time to discuss what to do. "A herd that size will rip the house down."

"Carl's gone." Lori exclaims coming back outside. My eyes widen. Maybe if I had checked up on him earlier-

"What?" Dad asks.

"He-- he was upstairs." Lori says in a panic. "I can't find him anymore."

"Maybe he's hiding." Glenn suggests. As much as I want that to be true we all know he's not. Carl has a bad habit of doing things he's not supposed to.

"He's supposed to be upstairs." Lori states with heavy breathing. "I'm not leaving without my boy."

"We're not." Carol says as Lori is on the verge of tears. This is just one problem after another. "We're gonna look again, we're gonna find him."

I hope they do find him. I can't lose another best friend and I can't be the last  kid in our group. I wouldn't be able to live with myself knowing that I survived while my friends didn't.

We all rush around in a panic. Andrea brings the guns out and sets the bag onto the porch. I run inside to grab my crossbow and backpack before going back out to my dad. I'm not planning on leaving his side tonight.