My Fallen Angel (Daryl Dixon Love Story)

Chapter Eight: Searching

I jump out of my seat as I see the farm come into view, Carl was in there hurt and I had to get to him. I was at the door of the RV opening it before it even came to a full stop. I stumble out and run to Rick and Lori on the porch. "Is he alive? Is he ok? Where is he? Can I see him?" The questions come pouring out.

Rick stops me by giving me a reassuring hug. "He's alive, he's ok, he's asleep in one of the rooms. Yes, you can see him, I'll take you to him." He lets go of me and gestures for me to follow him.

Carl is pale, his body is limp as he lay in the bed, his bandages were a little bloody but I could see he was breathing. A sigh of relief escapes from me as I sit down beside him on the bed. I take his small hand in mine. The tears I've been holding back since last night silently fell now. He was alive, but he was hurt and there was nothing I could do about it.

"What happened, brother?" I ask Rick who put his hand on my shoulder.

"We came across a deer in the woods, Carl wanted to pet it but then there was a gunshot and he just fell. Otis was the one who did it, he didn't mean to he was hunting the deer and didn't see Carl behind it. The shot went straight through the deer and hit... hit Carl. We ran here where Hershel worked on Carl. Shane and Otis went to go get supplies that were needed for the surgery but Otis didn't make it back. They are having his funeral later." Rick tells the story then leaves me to be with Carl.

After almost the whole day with Carl, and missing Otis's funeral, I collect myself and thoughts to go meet the Greene family. I learned that the girl who came on horseback was Maggie, she had a little sister Beth. There was also Beth's boyfriend Jimmy. Then there was Patricia who was Otis's wife. I walk up to who I figure would be Hershel the last of the Greene family.

"I'm sorry to bug you, but you must be Hershel, am I correct?" I ask the old man.

"Why yes, I am. And you are?" He asks a smile on his face.

"Esme Grimes, Rick's younger sister, I wanted to thank you for helping my nephew Carl, please if there is anything I can do to help you or your family don't hesitate to ask of me." I smile at him.

"You are a very sweet girl Esme." Hershel smiles back at me. "If need be I'll call to your assistance."

Later we all gather around the truck. We were going to be looking for Sophia some more.

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel inquires.

"This'll be day three," Rick answers. Maggie comes jogging up and squeezes between Hershel and Rick to lay out a map on the hood of the vehicle. "County survey map," She explains. "Shows terrain and elevations."

"Thank you." I say as I tried to understand the map I was now looking at. I'm sure Rick, Daryl, and Shane can read it, guess I'm just following one of them.

"This is perfect," Rick expresses. "We can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams."

"Not you," Hershel argues. "Not today. You've given three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." He looks across the van at Shane. "And your ankle Push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody."

Daryl nodded his head. "Guess it's just me."

"I'm here to help too Daryl." I stated.

"Esme, no. It's too dangerous." Shane's disappointed voice comes.

"What would you have me do brother, sit here being useless? Hell no! I'm going whether you like it or not." I say angrily annoyed that he can't trust me to stay safe.