The Last Flame

Chapter 3

Back at the church.

"The hell you mean she left?" Daryl asked angrily as he paced back and forth.

Tara, Glenn, and Maggie had gotten back from their run and when the group noticed Bell wasn't with them they were all worried. Even after hearing what Tara had told them happened, they still couldn't help but be concerned for the woman. They just got their group back together and someone had already disappeared.

"I tried to stop her but she was insistent and she just took off." Tara felt guilty, she should've tried harder to stop the woman but she didn't wanna risk those people finding them and possibly attacking.

Abraham rubbed a frustrated hand over his face. "This might be one of the dumbest things she's done by far." 

Abraham was both mad and worried. Mad that his sister left without thinking this through, and worried for her safety. She had always made impulsive decisions like this, never thinking things all the way through and risking her life for others. He both admired it and hated it.

"We have to go after her, she could be in danger and we just got everyone back." Carl spoke up, mostly to his father.

"We don't even know where she is, we wouldn't know where to look." Rick replied with a shake of her head.

"Well what about Lady, wouldn't she be able to track her?" Carl asked.

Rick shook his head. "If she really left in a van like Tara said, then her smell is gonna be very faint, not to mention we don't know how far away they are so we she might just lose the trail all together and that would leave us all stranded."

"So we just gonna do nothing? Like back at the farm?" Daryl asked, clearly frustrated.

"Look, Bell is smart, I'm not saying what she did was a good idea but she can handle herself. We all go out there looking for her we're just gonna lose more people. We have to trust she'll come back, like Tara said." Rick replied.

Daryl just shook his head and walked off. He knew Rick was right, there was no trace of her whatsoever. But that didn't keep him from being angry. He just got her back and she was gone just like that, just like with Beth.

Carol approached him and placed a hand on his arm. "She'll be fine Daryl, she's found her way back to us twice now, we gotta trust she knows what she's doing."

Daryl just shook his head. "I can't believe she would just take off like that."

"It was stupid, I agree, but let's not pretend you wouldn't do the same thing given the opportunity." Carol replied.

Daryl just thought for a minute, she was right, it was like with Sophia all over again. She felt a need to save everyone, and he same way. He knew if he could find Beth he would've done whatever he could, he just hated not knowing where they were and what was happening. 

He knew one thing for sure though, wherever she was, he hoped it was where Beth was. He needed them both back safe, and he knew if he couldn't save Beth that Bell could, he wasn't sure what he would do if he lost either of them.

Back in the van.

The van had been driving for what felt like hours, Bell had yet to make a peep. It wasn't horrible though, as she laid back there she was able to get lots of intel, they were headed to Atlanta, to a hospital called Grady Memorial. The men went on about a woman named Dawn, it was clear to her that this was the leader, and it was also clear that she was not liked. Suddenly the men said something that almost made her forget to stay hidden.