"how long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked the small group. Shane, Daryl, Dallas, Rick, and Andrea all gathered around one of the cars as he spoke. Maggie walked up with a map.
"this is day three," Rick told him in response.
"county map. shows terrains and elevations," Maggie spoke, laying it down and opened it up for everyone to look. she was smiling as she did so, seeming happy she could provide help.
Hershel, Shane, and Andrea reaches out to hold the corners down so it would stay open.
"this is perfect. we can finally get this thing organized. we'll group the whole area, start searching in teams," Rick stated.
"not you two, not today," Hershel stated, looking between Rick and Dallas sternly. "you both gave over three units of blood, you wouldn't be hiking five minutes before passing out. and your ankle, push it now and you'd be laid down for months. no good to anybody."
"guess it's just me," Daryl spoke, pointing at the map. "i'll head back to the creek. work my way from there."
"i could still be useful," Shane said. "drive up to interstate. maybe Sophia wondered back."
"alright," Rick nodded. "tomorrow then. we'll start doing this right."
"that means we can't have our people out there with just knives," Shane told him.
"i'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property," Hershel looked at Rick as he spoke. "we've managed so far. we aren't turning this into an armed camp."
"with due respect," Shane started, looking up at him. "what if a crowd of those things wonder in here?"
"we're guests here," Rick reminded him when Hershel looked taken aback by his comment. "this is your property. and we will respect that."
he looked to Shane to be sure he understood. then he looked at Dallas as he took his revolver out of his holster. Dallas didn't hesitate to follow in suit, placing his gun on the car as well. he wasn't too bothered, as he was much more skilled with his knife anyways.
Shane also placed his gun up, though you could see how much he didn't want to. he stared at Rick, seemingly agitated. Rick gave him a look of knowing, indicating he didn't want to give up his either.
"i hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to," Shane placed his hands on the car as he looked at Rick. "what if we find her and she's bit? think we should all be clear on how to handle that."
Rick gave him a small glare, as if he had known Shane would bring it up. he looked away for a moment, then back to him.
"you do what has to be done," he responded, bending his head and gazing down for a moment. Maggie looked shocked.
"and her mother? what do you tell her?" she asked, looking at Rick with some sort of disgust.
"the truth," Andrea answered for him. it all crossed their minds that Hershels people hadn't had to handle roamers before. Dallas didn't miss the small shake of Hershels head towards her as Shane started to speak.
he requested that at the least, Dale hold onto his rifle. he was their lookout, and was experienced with it.
"our people would feel a lot safer," Rick agreed, turning to Hershel. he looked as if he was going to object. "less inclined to carry a gun."
Hershel nodded with a tight expression. he didn't look happy to agree, but most likely agreed since Rick didn't argue about handing over his gun.
"thank you," Rick spoke, never breaking eye contact. he turned to Maggie as Daryl and Shane started to walk away. Dallas looked between Rick and Hershel.
"that stuff you brought," Maggie started. Andrea turned to her. "got more antibodies? bandages? anything like that?"
Rick turned to Andrea for a response.
"just what you see," she said. Maggie nodded as she walked away.
"we're running short already. i should make a run into town," Maggie looked to her father.
"not the place Shane went?" Rick spoke, looking at her with confusion and worry. she shook her head.
"no, there's a pharmacy, about a mile down the road. i've done it before," she told him, still looking at Hershel. Rick looked behind himself.
"you see our man there, in the baseball cap? that's Glenn." Maggie and Hershel turned to the man that was helping pitch a tent. "he's our go-to-town expert. i'd ask him along, just to be cautious."
Hershel looked to Maggie, and nodded towards Glenn. she gave a curt nod, and leaned off of the car.
Dallas turned to look for Dale, spotting Shane walk out of the RV. he stopped to speak to Lori, as she stood just a few feet away from the entrance. Rick stood up and started to walk and help pitch tents.
they seemed to be having a serious conversation, neither smiling and their facial expressions seemed to be grim.
he looked away, and decided to go speak to Tyler about maybe helping look for Sophia. he spotted him setting up a tent further from the group.
"you should bring that closer," he told Tyler. the younger looked up. he motioned behind himself, to the group of tents set up nearby.
"why? they aren't our group," he said, shrugging. Dallas gave him an annoyed look.
"we'll be safer. so either move the tent, or i'll take it from you and move it myself," he responded. he was growing frustrated with his brothers incompetence to everything his older brother said.
"get that stick out of your ass," his brother remarked, pulling the stakes out of the ground. he handed them to Dallas with a frown.
"help me set it up closer," he stated, nodding towards the rest. he didn't argue, and grabbed the rest of the set up. Tyler followed as Dallas led.
"i'm going out tomorrow to help look for the little girl," Dallas brought up, turning to see his brothers facial reaction. he just rolled his eyes and turned to his brother.
"why?"
"because she's twelve, Tyler. you could offer to help look too."
when he expressed her age, Tyler's jaw tightened. they came closer to the rest of the group, and started to set up their tent.
"what all did you bring from the cabin?" he asked. Tyler glanced up before looking back to the stakes he was pushing into the ground.
"some medical supplies. food. if you want to help feed these people, we have to go back," he responded.
"you're willing to share?" Dallas questioned, looking at his brother in slight shock. he shrugged.
"Hershel is taking care of mom. Carol's missing her daughter. Rick is a good man for helping look for a little girl that might just be long dead. we can always get more," he answered. "i already gave Hershel all of our medical supplies to help with mom, and with Carl."
Dallas nodded and gave him a smile.
when they finished with the tent, Tyler walked up to Rick, telling Dallas he was going to offer to help search for Sophia. he felt himself becoming lightheaded, and tried to ignore it.
"we'll head back to the cabin today," Tyler told him when he came back. "then later, i'm going out for a bit to start looking for Sophia. i'll head to the highway and beyond that."
"you're okay going alone?" he asked, concern crossing his face.
"no, i'll be with the blonde girl, Andrea i think," he told him, shaking his head. "but you wanna come with to get the food? you know how to drive."
"yeah, did you tell Rick?"
"yeah, i mentioned i would go back and bring the rest of our supplies since it looks like we'll be here for a few days."
"alright. i'll get the keys from Dale, meet me at the truck," Dallas pointed to the driveway behind them. Tyler nodded and walked that way.
