"i won't do it," Carol shoot her head. "i won't leave her here."
"Carol, the group is split," Dale spoke to her. "we're scattered and weak."
"what if she comes back and we're not here?" she looked at everyone. her eyes landed on Dallas, and he looked down. he didn't want to jump onto any sides, especially since this wasn't even officially his group. "it could happen."
"if Sophia found her way back, and we were gone, that would be awful," Andrea defended her, turning to look at everyone as well.
"okay," Daryl nodded, looking between the two. "we gotta plan for this. i say tomorrow morning, we'll rig a big sign, we'll leave her some supplies. i'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."
"if the RV is staying, i am too," Dale said. Carol smiled, though Dallas was sure everyone could see the pain behind it as she thought about not being there if her girl came back during the night.
"thank you. thank you both," she looked at the two of them, such great fullness filled her eyes. Daryl gave her a small nod, and looked at Dallas.
"i'm in," Andrea shrugged.
"well if you're all staying-" Glenn started, but Dale cut him off.
"no, not you, Glenn, you're going. take Carols cherokee."
"me?" Glenn scoffed. "why is it always me?"
"you have to find this farm, reconnect with our people, and see what's going on. but most important, you have to get T-Dog there. look at him, he's clearly got an infection. for the past hour he's been sweating and kind of out of it."
T-Dog looked down, leaning against the nearby car.
"this is not an option. get him to that farm, he needs antibiotics," Dale continued to speak, and Dallas watched as Daryl walked over to a motorcycle. he presumed it was his when he started to dig through the bag that rested on its side. he pulled out a bag of individual pill bottles, and set them on the car the group was standing by.
"why didn't you say something sooner? i got my brothers stash," he spoke, digging through it. everyone walked closer, watching as he did so. "crystal, x, kick ass pain killers-" he tossed a bottle to Glenn.
he reached forward, catching it with one hand. he examined the bottle as Daryl tossed another bottle to Dale.
"ain't the generic stuff either. first class. Merle got the clap," he spoke, closing the bag and waking back to the bike. Dale smiled, and turned to T-Dog.
"i'll go with you," Dallas spoke to Glenn. he gave him a look of surprise, as did Daryl. he put his knife into his pocket, and looked up to the group. "we need to get T-Dog there as soon as possible. and if there's a doctor there, that'll be useful to help my mom."
"you got people?" Daryl asked as he closed the bag. all eyes were on him.
"most of us have been there," Glenn spoke. "just his mom and brother. they got two dogs."
"my moms sick," he explained further. "who's Merle?"
"my brother," Daryl answered, now looking a bit defensive. Dallas didn't ask anymore questions, getting the hint it was a sensitive topic.
—
the three drove down the road, watching as the sky turned darker. it would be night soon, only two hours before it became too dark to navigate well in the woods when Dallas was would have to return home. but, he willed himself to check on Carl, and see if they had a doctor.
"almost there," Glenn huffed, slowing down the car as he took another turn. T-Dog looked horrible. he was claiming he was okay and felt better than he looked. but it was prevalent this was a lie.
