What is Real Evil

What Lies Ahead (Day Two)

"Some people are afraid of what they might find if they try to analyze themselves, but you have to crawl into your wounds to discover where your fears are. Once the bleeding starts, the cleansing can begin."

The feeling of warmth against my body woke me the next morning. I yawned and stretched, my arms raised above me, my legs stretched out, and my back arched... 'Thats strange... It feels like...' I open my left eye just a crack and...

"Oh!" I exclaim, and quickly scramble up out of the arms of none other than Daryl.

"Thank god yer awake, my arm's been asleep for forever. You're heavier than ya look little girl." His voice is soft, deep, and scratchy; a very sexy combination. I shake my head and pull my heavy eyes away from his and sit up on the left seat.

I reach into my bag and pull out my second clean shirt, also black, and swap it with my sweater. Once I'm finished I notice that Daryl has been watching me this whole time.

"Can I help you with something darlin'?" I put a heavy emphasis on the last word. I see his face shut down and a frown appear as he sits up and starts getting his stuff together.

I look out the windows to see if the coast was clear before I hopped out, slinging my bag over my shoulders and grabbing both the pillow and blanket to return to the RV.

The sun was just peeking over the horizon, I'm guessing it to be around 6:30; I've always been an early riser... being in the military didn't help remedy that either. Now it's just natural.

Only Rick and Shane were awake. Both were on top of the RV; Rick was looking at a map and talking to Shane while the latter was looking through binoculars for any threat that dares to approach us.

I walk up, of course Shane would already know that. He smirks down at me with a 'knowing look', I could assume he'd think we did something, 'Perve.'

"Good morning Tris. Could you come up here for a sec?" Rick asks, not letting his eyes leave the map; it's eating at him too... I don't blame him for worrying. But I've been trained to sleep in the strangest positions; you grab it where you can when you're in war... Especially when your commanding officer threatens to shoot your ass if you don't. That was a great man... My first crush actually...

I shake my head at the memory and climb up the back ladder of the RV. I sit close to his left side and lean down to observe the map of the surrounding area.

I know how to read maps beautifully... It's just following small footprints that I'm not great at... Maybe one day when things settle down again ill ask redneck if he'll teach me to track properly?

I'm brought out of my inner thoughts by a question, "I think what we're going to do today is split up into two search parties. Maybe Daryl, me, you, and Carroll. The other team being Shane, Lori, Andrea, and... Is your brother willing to help with the search?" He looks at me questioningly.

"Yes, he's descent with a gun, a pro with a knife, but he's a god under the hood. So unless Glenn could go in his place I'd say he'd be more than willing to help find Sophia." I say softly, my voice still not fully recovered from sleep. I sit back and re-braid my hair while Rick contemplates what to do.

I see Daryl finally leave the truck. He's wearing just his pants with the sleeveless shirt thrown over his right shoulder.

"I'm going to go wash up by that river we found yesterday. Shouldn't be more than a few minutes." He says when he reaches hearing distance of the three of us.

"Hey Daryl, do you think I could tag along? I don't think I could find it on my own..." I say just loud enough for him to stop and turn around to face me.