That Little Red Backpack*Daryl Dixon

chapter two

"Here, this fit in your bag?" Daryl asked. He tossed Logan a package of pacifiers while he stuffed formula, bottles, and baby clothes into his own bag. She nodded and dropped it into the bag. She finished in the aisle she was in and wandered around the store. She found a storage closet and debated on whether or not she should open it.

With a sigh, Logan held her knife up and pulled the door open quickly, only to find it empty. Well, almost empty. There was a dead guy slumped on the floor with a gun laying next to him. The smell of his decaying body made Logan gag as she threw her hand over her mouth and nose. "You good?" Daryl question from a few aisles over. She scrunched up her nose before answering him. "I'm good," she confirmed, "dead guy in the closet." She looked at the shelves for anything useful, but found nothing. Leaning down, she picked up the gun and checked the ammo.

"Where'd that come from?" A gruff voice sounded from behind her, making her jump. "Jeez! Don't sneak up on people like that!" Logan scolded him. He rolled his eyes, "Maybe ya should be more observant," he mumbled. She ignored his comment and instead answered his question. "Guy shot himself with it. It's still loaded. Should we take it?" Daryl shrugged as if to say "why not?"

"We should be gettin' back." Daryl told her. Logan nodded and slid the gun into her waistband before following Daryl out of the store. They walked around to the side of the building where they had left his bike and saw four walkers moaning and groaning around it. Logan pulled her knife from its sheath, holding it up defensively. She walked forward quietly, setting her bag on the ground by the bike. She carefully walked up behind the walker and grabbed its shoulder for support before shoving the knife through its skull.

Blood sprayed on her hand and she quickly pulled the knife out and went for the other one that lunged for her. Logan skillfully knocked the dead's feet out from under it and helped to push it to the ground. She jammed the knife down through its eye and stood up, pulling the knife with her. She turned around and saw that Daryl had already taken care of the other two and was watching her intently. More like admiring, though he wouldn't admit that.

She self-consciously wiped at her face, figuring there was blood on it or something. When her hand came back clean she gave Daryl a questioning look. "What? Why're you lookin' at me like that?" She asked. "Nothin'." He picked up her bag and handed it to her before climbing onto his bike.

___

They arrived back to the prison, Rick and Carol met them at the gates. "Find everything okay?" Rick asked. Daryl gave him a simple "yes" and took off to unload his bag. He looked at Logan curiously, she only responded with a shrug. Carol gave her a small hug and welcomed her back.

She walked into the prison and emptied her bag. "Hey. Want some help?" Beth asked. Logan gave her smile and said "sure."

Together the two of them had everything from Logan's bag put away safely and Logan headed off to her cell. She looked at Gabe's backpack that had been sitting on the chair in the corner ever since she had arrived. She picked it up and sat down on her bed and crossed her legs.

Unzipping the Cars bag, she looked inside to see his jacket, his hot wheels, his school stuff. She pulled the jacket out and stared at it sadly. A single tear rolled down her face as she looked at, feeling the gentle fabric in her hands. Logan sniffled, wiping her tears and pulling the small jacket to her chest. "I'm sorry buddy. I'm so sorry. I don't know what happened. I don't know if you're still out there, but if you are, you need to keep goin' buddy. I will find you one day and we'll be together again. A family. Me, you, and Aunt Carol. I promise."

To anyone who looked in, it would simply look like a mental person crying and mumbling to a jacket. But as Carol walked by speaking with Daryl, she knew that wasn't what was happening. Daryl looked at the newest addition in confusion, but saw the tears running down her face. The small jacket in her hands told him something, but he didn't have all of the pieces to put together.

"A family. Me, you, and Aunt Carol. I promise." Carol's heart nearly broke at the words, and she almost began crying herself. Daryl gently pushed her along and gave Logan the privacy she needed.

Daryl brought Carol to her cell and sat down next to her on her uncomfortable prison bed. Deciding to break the silence, Daryl spoke. "Who's jacket was that? She have a kid?" He asked. Carol chuckled softly and shook her head. "No. It was her little brother. He's only five, maybe six now, I'm not entirely sure. She told me he disappeared at the beginning. Went to sleep one night in the car, woke up the next morning and he was gone. Logan found his jacket near the edge of the woods. Told me she searched the woods until she couldn't anymore. Then she got in her car and drove all the way to Atlanta."

Daryl took in the information as it was given to him. Carol went on, "She says she can't bear to part with his things. She said it feels like she's trying to forget about him. But she won't. Neither will I. He was like a son to me, when I could be around him. My sister was Logan's mom. Ed didn't like seein' family very often." She said softly.

Daryl knew exactly how Logan felt. Daryl had lost Merle, having no idea where he was, whether he was dead or alive. Though, Merle was a lot older than five or six and could easily handle himself, even with a missing hand.

"I'm gonna go check on her." Carol said softly. Daryl nodded and left the cell after her. He watched as Carol approached Logan's cell, and knocked softly on the wall. He didn't miss the sad look on Carol's face, or the way she rushed into the cell. He also didn't miss the short sob that came from the girl inside of the cell.