**Complete**
Riley Grimes. The baby sister of Rick Grimes, a Sheriff's Deputy in King County, Georgia, a real southern man with a southern wife, southern son, and southern best friend, he's a survivor. Riley though? She moved to Maine when she turne...
A/N: OH MY GOSH GUYS! 3K reads!! I love you all soooo much! Also, very sorry I didn't get to update as much this week, but I was super busy delivering babies! (In case you didn't know, I am a nursing student, and starting this last week I began my Labor/Delivery rotations, so I delivered two babies this week!) Hopefully I will be able to update more tomorrow as well, but if not, I will try and update by Friday?
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Daryl was leading us through the woods, and I tried to be quiet, but I could tell he was getting a little annoyed about how loud I was as we walked through the trees.
"Remind me to teach you how to be quiet." Daryl grumbled out, and I couldn't help but let out a little chuckle as walked forward.
Before I could say anything though, Rick was barreling through the tress towards us. He looked exhausted and stressed beyond belief.
"Are you alright?" I asked frantically, moving to hug him, which he seemed pretty unprepared for, and didn't really hug me back since he was already talking.
"Has Sophia made it back?"
"What? No. She was out here with you right?" I whispered back frantically, pulling away and moving back to Daryl's side.
"I told her to run back. I told her which way. I had to lure the walkers away." Daryl looked around, like he was looking for any other footsteps, but he didn't seem to find any, since he looked up at Rick, seeming very frustrated.
"Take us where you left her. Imma try and see if I can track her." Rick nodded and led us through the woods, a short walk later, and he led us to a creek.
"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked, but Rick just nodded and hopped in the water, and pointed behind a large felled tree, where there was a spot that she could have easily hid.
"I left her right here. I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek." Rick said, pointing off up to where I was, standing on a trail that animals must use to drink from the river. Daryl didn't say anything, just looked around before moving me gently off to the side so he could look at the trail for any small footprints.
"She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her, go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." Rick explained more, almost like he was trying to defend his decision making, but I already knew he had tried his hardest.
"Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back. She couldn't have gone far." Daryl said quietly, as he began walking back the way we came, following the steps with his sharp eyes. I waited a minute, choosing to help Rick out of the creek, and waited a minute more as he looked around frantically.
"Hey, we're gonna find her." I said gently, and Daryl seemed to hear me because he turned and agreed with me.
"She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere." Daryl trailed off, glancing back at the trail with a furrowed brow.
"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way." Daryl grumbled, gesturing to his right, instead of his left which is where I knew we needed to go.
"Why would she do that?" I asked, moving to stand closer to Daryl, since Rick wasn't really listening to either of us anyway.
"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off." Daryl grumbled, kneeling down to check the prints again.
"A walker?"
"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." Daryl said, finally deciding that what he saw was actually what was there, as he turned to look at me, and my brother behind me.
"So what do we do? Press on?" I asked, glancing between the two men who meant the world to me.
"No. It'd be better if you went back Riley. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm." Rick said, and walked off in the direction Sophia went before I could say anything. Daryl though, he looked like he disagreed.
"I don't want you walking back by yourself. There are walkers out here. And you haven't had to kill 'em by yourself." Daryl said anxiously, glancing back at Rick before focusing all his attention on me.
"Not true." I said defiantly, crossing my arms as Daryl just continued to glare at me.
"Oh really?" He snarked back, rolling his eyes.
"I killed two. A blonde woman who was eating Ashton, and then I had to kill Ashton when he turned. I survived for almost a week on my own. I can survive a hundred feet." It was true. We weren't far from the highway at all, I could almost see the highway from where we were standing, which is why it was so strange that she hadn't been able to make it. But I certainly could.
Daryl still didn't seem convinced, but Rick made his way over and slapped his hand onto Daryl's shoulder, instantly making him flinch and then tense up.
"She'll be fine. Let her go. Come on. We gotta get her." Daryl stared at me for a long time before finally nodding and Rick moved away again. Daryl moved closer though, using his right hand, the one that wasn't gripped onto his crossbow, to pull me closer by my hip.
When he had me pressed up against him, he leaned his head down to press his forehead against mine.
"Please... be careful." He whispered out, almost like he didn't want Rick to hear, but I understood. He's a private man.
"I will be. You find that girl. But if you can't... or it's too dangerous... come back. I can't lose you." Daryl closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and finally opened his eyes again, letting me stare into his beautiful blue eyes that I knew were staring at my soul.
"Don't worry about me. I'll be back." I nodded and he moved that inch closer, and we were finally kissing. We hadn't had a proper kiss since the C.D.C. and I hadn't realized how much I had missed it. I soaked it in, trying to remember the pressure of his lips against mine, the way the moved, the way the felt. I tried to remember what it felt like to put my hands on his shirt, to grip it so tight that I couldn't feel my fingers. What his arm felt like when it was wrapped around me. The way he smelled, like earth, and cigarette smoke (even though he hadn't smoked at all since I met him) and something else that was completely man, completely him.
I tried to memorize all of that, because I knew that now? With the world gone to shit and the dead not staying dead, a world where we were no longer at the top of the food chain, that in that world? When someone walks away from you, they may never come back.
