RAYS OF SUNLIGHT SHONE DOWN through the leaves, but were slowly diminishing as the sun lowered in the sky. The sound of insects hummed through the air and was only accompanied by the crunching of leaves as Skye and the others made their way back to the highway.
"So this is it? This the whole plan?" Carol sat down on a fallen tree.
Daryl leaned against a tree behind her. "I guess the plan is to whittle us down to smaller and smaller groups."
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea looked over to Lori and Skye knew she was going to start on her. "I see you have a gun."
"Why? You want it?" Lori stepped over the trunk to Andrea, holding the gun out in her hand. "Here, take it." Skye was amused to see Lori was having none of Andrea's attitude. "I'm sick of the looks you're givin' me."
Andrea stared back at her as she had just been smacked in the face and yet she took the gun.
"All of you," Lori added as she sat down. She glanced up at Skye and gave her an apologetic look, but Skye knew she wasn't talking about her. Skye knew Rick was doing everything he could, and then some. Lori cocked her head to the side and spoke to Carol, "Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through and I would do anything to stop it, but you've got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. And when Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know if any of us would've gone after her the way that he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make, or that any of us could have done it any differently." Lori waited, but no one said anything. "Anybody?"
Daryl looked down at her, then up to Skye who was looking down into the leaves while Lori continued on. He knew he would have gone after her had he been near and deep in his gut he knew Skye would have, too. After seeing her the way she was back at the church he knew she had a heart. She wasn't as cold as everyone else thought she was.
Shaking her head, Lori went on, "Ya'll look to him and then you blame him, but he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."
Skye sat back wanting to say something, to tell her she had no doubt Rick was a good leader. But she didn't. Instead, she watched as Andrea handed the gun back to Lori saying, "We should keep moving."
Everyone grabbed up their things and they were on the move again. Lori's rant had everyone walking in silence and while the other's walked in front of her Skye couldn't help but let her mind wander to just two hours before. In her absent-minded state she had let herself go and Daryl had been there to witness it. She wasn't comfortable knowing someone had seen her weak side, but of all people she wouldn't have expected him to be so understanding and comforting. He had just let her cry while he held onto her and it was something she had so desperately needed. Now she didn't know how to act around him. Glancing up to the front she saw him look at her over his shoulder. What if he looked down on her now knowing she wasn't as tough as she pretended to be?
A gunshot cracked through the air, interrupting her thoughts entirely. She spun to look behind them. What if Rick had run into trouble? No, there would be more than one gunshot if it had been that bad and they know better to use a gun in the first place. Lori stepped up in front of Skye, staring into the direction the shot had been fired from. "What on earth was that?"
"Gunshot," Daryl answered, stopping next to Skye.
"I know, but why?" She hid the worry in her voice, but it was plain as day on her face.
"Come on," Daryl urged Lori, who still stared out into the woods. Skye was sure all sorts of scenarios were running through her mind, not one of them good. She gave Daryl a look. Shifting with unease, Daryl changed his tone to a much softer one, just above a whisper. "I'm sure they're fine. We don't even know it was them." Lori turned to face him. "We need to keep moving."
With a nod, Lori adjusted her backpack and moved past them. Daryl exchanged glances with Skye before going back to lead the group. With one last glance out into the forest, Skye followed behind them.
Only about fifteen minutes had passed since the shot had been heard and Lori turned back around to inspect the woods. "Lori?" Skye implored.
The others turned at the sound of Skye's voice. Andrea noticed Lori in her worried trance. "You still worrying about it?"
"Yeah, it was a gunshot."
"We all heard it." Daryl eyed the forest.
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?"
"Maybe they took down a walker," he shrugged.
"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."
Lori was beginning to worry Carol. "Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?"
Daryl shook his head. "There's nothin' we could do about it anyways. It's no good runnin' around this place chasin' echoes."
"So what do we do?" Lori stood firm.
"Same as we've been. Beat the bush for Sophia. Work our way back to the highway."
"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV," Andrea backed Daryl up.
Defeated, Lori hung her head and moved on. Andrea and Carol were the only two who stood still. "I'm sorry for what you're going through." The others stopped to look at Andrea as she stepped up to Carol. "I know how you feel."
"Suppose you do." Carol forced a brief smile. "Thank you." Casting a look at Skye she shifted in place. "The thought of her out here by herself. It's the not knowin' that's killin' me. I just keep hopin' and prayin' she doesn't wind up like Amy." Skye quickly looked away, knowing Carol had hit a soft spot. "Oh my God, that's the worst thing I ever said."
"We're all hoping and praying with you," Andrea finally spoke. "For what it's worth."
"I'll tell you what it's worth." Skye looked back to see Daryl standing next to the two women. "Not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hopin' and prayin' cause we're goin' to locate that little girl and she's going to be just fine," he said matter-of-factly. Skye admired his determination. She smiled weakly in his direction as he walked away adding, "Am I the only one zen around here? Good Lord."
The forest was beginning to darken more than Skye would have liked as it seemed their journey back was taking twice as long as before. Her boot heels dug into the soft mud at her feet making her all the more aware of how tired her legs were and the sweat at the back of her neck was nearing the point of being unbearable. Daryl walked alongside Glenn. He hadn't said a word to her since the cemetery and she hoped it was because he was focused on finding Sophia. Seeing him talking to Glenn she decided to see if she could get a word in with him. But to her dismay when Daryl saw her approaching he quickly ended his conversation with Glenn and stalked off in another direction.
Glenn gave her a confused look. "What was that about? You piss him off or something."
"Something, I guess." Frowning, she turned towards Glenn. "Hey, I'm going to go over here by the creek real quick, okay? Need to cool off."
"Well, no wonder. You've been hiking around in that leather jacket all day. You crazy?"
She smirked and left him there to find the creek. Crouching down on one knee, she sat her bag on the leafy ground and jerked her jacket off. After stuffing it away, she reached down into the refreshingly cool water with cupped hands, receiving instant relief as she splashed some to the back of her neck.
-----
Daryl and Glenn now led the group. "So, Daryl..."
"Yeah?"
"What's up with you and Skye?"
Daryl shot him a warning glance. "What do you mean?"
"You giving her the cold shoulder?"
"Don't worry about it, little man. Just tryin' to find Sophia."
"She seemed to think it was somethin'." Glenn furrowed his brow.
"Yeah, well she's wrong." Truth was, Daryl wasn't sure what to say to her and kind of felt awkward around her after seeing her the way he did. Never in his life had he done something like what he had done for her back there and it scared him. Why would he do that? Especially for this one girl that he barely knew. A scream pierced the air.
"Andrea!" They took off in the direction Andrea had disappeared in. They reached her just in time to see a woman ride up on a horse and bash it across the head with a baseball bat. Daryl definitely had to give her points for style.
"Lori! Lori Grimes!" the strange woman called.
"I'm Lori!" Lori jumped to the head of the group, worry heightening at the mention of her name.
"Rick sent me. You gotta come now!"
"What?"
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot. He's still alive but you gotta come now." Daryl couldn't believe what he was hearing. The girl was getting annoyed. "Rick needs you! Just come!"
To Daryl's amazement, Lori threw her backpack to the ground and rushed over to the girl. "Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't know this girl! You can't get on that horse!"
"Rick said you have others on the highway. That big traffic snarl?"
"Uh huh," Glenn was in a trance.
"Backtrack to Fairbend Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." With a kick to the horse, they were gone, leaving Daryl, Carol, Andrea and Glenn staring after them. The walker that had attacked Andrea sat up with a groan.
"Shut up," Daryl silenced it with an arrow to the head as he searched the area for Skye, but didn't see her anywhere.
"Where the hell is she?"
Glen looked up and realized who Daryl was referring to. "Oh, she went to-" He was cut off by the sound of a distant splash.
"Dammit!" Crossbow raised, Daryl sprinted towards the water, careful not to trip on limbs protruding from the grassy earth.
Skye struggled in the water as a walker bit at her, pinning her to the creek bed. Gasping for air when she could, she tried as hard as she could to avoid its jaws as it kept pushing her underwater. Her legs flailed around trying to kick it off of her, sending water flying through the air. Her lungs burned as she failed to make it back up to the surface. Just as she was about to let go, the walker fell limp on top of her, but was almost instantly taken away. Bursting up for air, she coughed and spit water from her mouth. A strong hand grabbed hold of her and pulled her to the grass. Lying there still coughing she found Daryl's eyes looking frantically at her body for any sign of a bite. His hand went to her face, wiping wet hair that now clung to her away. "You're okay, you're okay," he soothed as she found her breath. "Don't ever go off by yourself like that again. You hear me?" He was forceful, but she could hear the worry in his voice. "Come on." He helped her to her feet.
"What happened?" Glenn stood with fear in his eyes as the rest of the group caught up.
"Walker," Daryl answered. Everyone began to scan her for bite marks and were relieved when they didn't see any blood. Skye grabbed her bag and without saying a word continued back towards the highway, leaving Daryl and the others exchanging glances as she passed.
___________
Once she saw the metal of the guardrail, Skye let out a relieved sigh, making Dale jump from his seat upon noticing her arrival. "What happened? Skye?"
Ignoring his question she just said, "I'll take watch."
Reaching the top of the RV, she plopped down into the chair they had set up, her muscles aching and had been screaming at her for the past hour. Down below her she could hear the others discussing leaving the area. Hearing Glenn mention a farm of some kind she wondered why they would be discussing leaving while Sophia was still out there? Listening in closer she could hear Daryl.
"Okay, we gotta plan for this. I say tomorrow mornin' is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight. Stay with the RV."
"If the RV's stayin', I'm stayin'," Dale chimed in.
"I'm not leaving without Sophia." Everyone looked up, squinting in the setting sun to see Skye standing on the RV. "I'm staying." Daryl bit his lip.
"Thank you," Carol smiled to them.
Andrea held a hand up as if someone forced her to say, "I'm in." Shaking her head, Skye crossed her arms.
Glenn wasn't happy about having to leave, but Dale fought him on it. "T-Dog could die, no joke."
Daryl walked over to his motorcycle. Moving some dirty rags he glared up at Dale before digging through his bag. When he withdrew his hand he had a bag full of prescription pill bottles. He threw the rags at Dale. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle. Why'd you wait till now to say anything? I got my brother's stash." Sitting the bag down he began naming off the various pills. They all crowded around him, while Skye watched in shock from the RV. "Crystal, X,.... Don't need that." He pulled out a bottle, reading the label before tossing it to Glenn. "Some kickass pain killers. Oxycyclene." He tossed another bottle to Dale. "Not the generic stuff neither. That's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion," he shrugged it off and then took off through the multitudes of cars with Skye staring after him.