Don't look back

Eleven

"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick announced to everyone the next morning, after he had had a sleepless night. Mary was sat on his shoulders, accidentally dropping crumbs from her breakfast protein bar on his head as she ate.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea snapped.
We've been over that. Daryl, Rick, and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time the tree rustles." Shane sighed irritably.
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea retorted.
"Say somebody fired 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." Shane replied angrily.
"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles turn around and go back down the other side  chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark." Daryl explained.
"Stay quiet stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within site of each other." Rick ordered.
"Everybody assemble your packs."
Rick walked over to Dale, Carl by his side, Mary still on his shoulders. "Dale keep on those repairs. We've got to get this RV ready to move."
"We won't stay here a minute longer than we have to. Good luck out there. Bring Sophia back."
"Will you keep an eye on Carl and Mary while I'm gone?" He asked.
"No!" Mary hissed.
"I'm going back with you. You need people right to cover as much ground as possible." Carl insisted.
"Me too!" Mary insisted.
"Your call. I can't always be the bad guy." Lori shrugged.
"Well, they have all of you to look after him. I'd say they're in good hands." Dale added.
"If I go, so does Mary. We go together." Carl smiled softly to Mary. Rick sighed stressed, then Carl added, "It's safer with all of you than it is with only two people. And if Mary cries, Dale won't be able to calm her down. Only you and mom can. And that could cause Walkers to come over."
"Ahh. Okay! Okay. But always within our sight. No exceptions." Rick sighed. Dale winked at Carl, and the boy grinned, and walked over to get his pack.
"Can I carry a knife?" Carl asked excitedly.
"No." Lori said quickly.
"Yes. You need to protect yourself. Just incase." Rick replied firmly.
"Be careful with it." Lori sighed.
"Can I?" Mary asked.
"No chance." Rick and Lori said at the same time.
"I need to protect myself." Mary insisted, copying what Rick had just said.
"No. You hold one of our hands at all times. And if anything happens, someone will grab you and not put you down until it's safe. Okay?" Mary sighed, then nodded. Rick put Mary down, got her hand, and put it in Lori's. "Let's go."

"Shane look! Dad said I could carry it and mom said as long as I was..." Carl grinned to Shane happily.
"Keep it down. We're looking for Sophia. We need to focus on the task." Shane hissed, and Carl walked away to his mother.
"Gotta keep up." Lori said to him.
"I am." Carl insisted, walking next to Mary, and holding her hand.
"You okay?" Lori asked softly.
"I think Shane's mad at me. Did I do something wrong?" Carl asked in confusion.
"No, no honey, I promise you. He's just... He's worried about Sophia. That's all." Lori assured. Carl nodded slowly, and walked ahead with Mary, to talk to Glenn.
"We'll find her. Okay?" Glenn smiled down at the two children gently.
"Yep. I know." Carl nodded back.
"You okay Mary?" He asked softly.
"My feet hurt." Mary complained, and without a second thought, Glenn lifted her onto his shoulders.
"You've got a good view now. So keep your eyes open, yeah?" Glenn said gently.
"Yeah." Mary nodded. As Glenn walked on, Mary played with his hair. They walked for a while longer, the Mary tapped Glenn's forehead.
"What?" Glenn asked softly.
Mary pointed to the distance. "I see a tent. Sophia?"
"Hey! Mary can see a tent. Sophia could be in it." Glenn shouted over. Rick nodded and jogged ahead, the others following him, Shane now by his side.
"Ah, she could be in there." Shane nodded in a whisper.
"There could be a whole lot of things in there." Daryl said slowly. Rick, Daryl, and Shane walked ahead, their feet quiet, and mouths closed.
Rick approached the tent, and turned to Carol. "Carol, call out softly. If she's in there, yours is the first voice she should hear."
Carol walked forwards slowly, fear in his eyes. "Sophia, sweetie, are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia, we're all here baby. It's mommy." Carol cried softly. Daryl opened the tent slowly, the noise of the zip cutting through the tension in the air. Daryl coughed at the putrid smell inside, and then went in. Shane and Rick began to cough too, and Glenn grabbed onto Mary's legs tightly, one skinny ankle in each hand.
"Daryl? Daryl!" Carol hissed.
Slowly, Daryl came out. "It ain't her."
"What's in there?" Andrea asked slowly.
"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Daryl shrugged.
"That's another word for suicide. Opted out. What is suicide?" Mary enquired to Glenn.
Glenn went quiet. "You'll have to ask Rick." He replied quietly. Then, suddenly, bells began to chime, and without a word, everyone began to run in the direction it came in.
"What direction?" Rick asked as they stopped in a clearing to let everyone catch up.
"I think that way, I'm pretty sure. Dang, it's hard to tell out here." Shane replied breathlessly.
"If we heard them, then maybe Sophia does too." Carol said hopefully.
"If someone's ringing those bells they may be calling others." Glenn pointed out.
"Or signalling that they found her." Andrea added hopefully.
"She could be ringing them herself. Come on!" Rick ordered, and they began to run again, Mary holding onto Glenn in fear of falling off. They got to a church, but Shane stopped everyone.
"That can't be it," he hissed, "got no steeple. No bells, Rick."
Rick ran anyway, to the church. Everyone followed him, and looked for a way in, eventually found the door. He opened it, and saw three Walkers: one each for Rick, Shane, and Daryl. Lori passed Rick his knife, and the three men took out the Walkers.
"Sophia!" Rick hissed.
Everyone went quiet, Glenn put Mary down, and she went straight to Lori. "Yo, JC, you taking requests?" Daryl asked cockily to the sculpture of Jesus on a cross.
"I'm telling you it's the wrong church. It's got no steeple, Rick. There's no steeple!" Shane hissed, before being cut off by bells ringing again.
They ran out to the front of the church, to where the bells were chiming from, and Glenn rushed to a box. After pressing a few buttons, the bells stopped.
"Timer. It's on a timer." Daryl sighed.
Carol looked at everyone, and all the lost hope, then whispered, "I'm going to go back in for a bit." And left, Rick following her slowly, Mary chasing after him.
Carol prayed, and eventually, Lori sat by her. As she prayed and cried, Mary sat curled up on Rick's lap, her face pressed against his chest.
"What's she doing?" Mary whispered up to Rick.
"She's praying."
"To God?" Mary asked.
"Yeah. To God." Rick replied.
"Is he real?"
Rick went quiet, then whispered, "I don't think so. But some do. I guess... I've never been much of a believer in God. Maybe he is real. Maybe not."
Mary turned so she was facing him. "Rick. Promise you won't go missing. Ever. Promise I won't."
"I can't promise that. But I can promise that I'll try and stop it. Okay?"
"Okay."
"Come on. Let's go looking for Sophia." Rick sighed softly, getting up, Mary walking beside him, her hand in his. "I've gotta talk to Shane. Go find Glenn, yeah?"
"Yeah." Mary nodded, running over to Glenn, and he lifted her up, swinging her around once, before carrying her on his hip.
After a few minutes, Shane and Rick walked back Okay. "You all got to follow the creek bed back. Okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just going to hang back. Search this area another hour or so. Just be thorough." Shane ordered.
"Splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl asked with raised eyebrows.
"Yeah," Shane nodded, "we'll catch up to you."
"I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Carl insisted. Rick looked over at Lori, and she nodded slowly. "Just be careful, okay?"
"I will." Carl nodded, "Mary will be too."
"When did you start growing up?" Lori asked, kissing his forehead. Then she pulled away. "Did you say Mary? No. No way."
"Yes way." Mary mumbled.
"I don't see a problem with it. She's fine with me. She'll be quiet. She'll behave." Rick shrugged.
"She's four years old."
"She's with me and Shane. She'll be fine. You can come, Mary. We'll be along soon enough." Rick smiled. Mary grinned, and wriggled out of Glenn's arms, and into Ricks. He went into his belt, and passed Lori a gun. "Here take this. Remember how to use it?"
"I'm not talking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori sighed.
"Here. I've got a spare," Daryl nodded, "take it."
Lori smiled, nodded, and took it. Then she kissed Rick quickly, then Mary's forehead, and the top of Carl's head yet again. "Be good. Do as your dad says, okay? Rick. Don't let anything happen."
"I won't. They're safe with me." Ruck promised.
Lori nodded, and walked over to Shane. "Keep them safe." Lori said quietly to him before she left, and he nodded, then the others left.
"Give me a minute." Rick mumbled, before putting Mary down, and going into the church.
"Stay with me, Mary. Come on, let's sit here." Shane said gently, sitting on the front steps of the church. Mary lent against Carl, and counted numbers in her head while she waited for Rick.
"You get what you needed?" Shane asked, and Mary turned around to see Rick stood there.
"I'll guess I'll find out." Rick shrugged, and walked away, making the two children and Shane jump up.
"Come on." Shane said softly, holding out his hand for Mary to hold. Mary took it, although a small part of her was still a little scared of the man. They walked for what seemed to Mary hours, although it was only ten minutes. Not too long later, Rick was carrying her on his back.
"We don't tell Lori you couldn't manage the walk, yeah?" Rick teased softly, and Mary nodded with a slight giggle, then their blood went cold as their talking and Mary's laugh caused a tree to scuffle. Thankfully, just a deer came out of the woods.
Rick grinned, and Shane quickly Shane got his gun out. Mary got down, and held Carl's hand as he beckoned her over. They walked forwards, hand in hand.
"Shane." Rick hissed, and Shane began to smile, and lowered his gun. Carl's face was a picture of pure delight, grinning. He looked back, and then carried on, as did Mary.
The deer looked right at them. At the two innocent children in a cruel world.
Then a shot rang out.