Safe Keeping

What Is This?

            It was their fifth night at the Greene farm and everyone was feeling a mix of emotions. Carl was on the mend, but in the process of getting the supplies to save him, one of Hershel's men had been lost. On top of that, Sophia was still missing.

            "You alright?" Carol asked Daryl, handing him a plate.

            "'m fine," Daryl grunted, "Ain't I supposed to be asking ye that question?"

            "Daryl, you left before sunrise and you're just getting back now after everyone's asleep," she said, "You can't keep pushing yourself like this."

            "So what, ye want me ta give up?" Daryl growled.

            "No! Of course no! I just..."

            "What?" Daryl snapped.

            "I can't lose you too," she said and Daryl stared at her, not saying anything. He could feel the tips of his ears burning.

            "I'm sorry," she stammered, "I didn't-"

            "It's a'right," Daryl mumbled, "'m gonna sleep. Headin' out early tomorrow ta look fer Sophia."

            He stood and walked into his tent, leaving Carol to sit there, her face burning.

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            The next morning, Daryl left the farm on one of the horses he'd found in the barn. No one else was up yet, but that didn't matter to Daryl. As far as Daryl was concerned he was the only one taking this search for Sophia seriously.

            He had been out for a couple hours when he finally saw something down in the river. He climbed off the horse and slowly made his way down to the water. It was a doll. Sophia's doll.

            "Sophia!" he shouted, looking around, "Sophia!" Nothing. Not even a rustle. Daryl continued to look around for a few moments before heading back up and getting on the horse. He continued on for a while longer when something suddenly went wrong. The horse bucked up and, try as he might, Daryl couldn't hold on. H went crashing down the cliff side and landed in the water, pain shooting through his side.

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            It was getting dark and Daryl still wasn't back yet. He had been gone by the time everyone else had got up and now Carol was starting to worry. What if something had happened? She knew he had taken one of Hershel's horses out, but what if something happened to the horse and Daryl couldn't get back.?

            "You okay?" Lori asked and Carol jumped.

            "Hm? Oh, yeah, I'm-"

            A shot rang out and the two women looked at each with wide eyes before running out the door. Andrea was on top of the RV, shotgun in hand.

            "Rick!" Lori shouted as they ran over.

            "What the hell's going on?" Hershel called as he and his family joined them.

            Rick, Shane, and some of the others were walking closer, supporting someone between them.

            "Who is that?" Beth asked.

            "Oh my god, Daryl," Carol's hand flew up to cover her mouth. "Oh my god, is he alright?"

            "Bullet grazed him," Rick said, "But he's got a wound on his side that doesn't look too good."

            "Get him in the hose, I'll take a look at it," Hershel said and Rick and Shane half-dragged, half-carried Daryl past them and to the house. Carol made to hollow, but a hand on her arm stopped her.

            "He had this," T-Dog said, passing her the doll. She took it gently in her hands and could feel tears welling in her eyes, but she blinked them away.

            "Thank you," she said quietly and then turned to follow the others into the house.

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            "I found it in the river," Daryl said later that night as Carol sat in the chair by the bed. "I'm guessing she either dropped it there or upstream and it floated down. Me an' Rick marked it on the map and it cuts the grid in half."

            "That's great," Carol said, though she didn't sound as excited as Daryl thought she would be.

            "This is good," he said, "Mean we're gonna find 'er soon."

            Carol nodded, but Daryl realized she wasn't really paying attention anymore. At least, not to what he was saying. He pulled the sheet up higher on his chest and watched as she shook her head slightly, looking at his face again.

            "Sorry," she said.

            "Ye a'right?" he asked. She stared at him.

            "You nearly died, Daryl," she said, "For a doll."

            "No, not fer a doll," Daryl said, "Fer Sophia. Quit talkin' ta Shane! I know that's exactly what he said earlier and that bastard don't know what he's talkin' about!"

            "But what if he does?" Carol whispered, "I told you Daryl I can't lose you too."

            "Ye ain't losin' me," Daryl said and they both seemed to realize that these words confirmed they did, in fact, have something to lose. "'m gonna find Sophia an' bring her back jus' like I said, a'right?"

            Carol nodded slightly, biting her lip and looking down at her hands.

            "What is this Daryl?" she asked suddenly.

            "What is what?"

            "This," she gestured between the two of them, "Am I crazy? Or is there something? I'm only asking because when they were carrying you up and I thought for a second  that you were dead... well I felt a lot different than I did when Ed died."

            "I don't know what this is," Daryl replied, "I ain't good with this sorta stuff... But ya ain't crazy."

            She smiled gently at him, nodding, and reached over to take his hand.

Thanks so much for reading! I hope you liked this chapter! I was trying to find a way to write this without writing the whole scene that took place in the show.

Also, I'm going to be uploading a four-part story that's sort of, but not really, a companion piece to this story. I said a few chapters ago that originally this story would involve Daryl finding his son. I had already three chapters for that, but decided I didn't like that idea for this story anymore.

So instead, I'm going to be uploading it as a separate story. I've been waiting to upload it until now because it takes place after this chapter happens. It's going to be a four-part story and I will be uploading part one tomorrow! If you're interested, you can go check it out, it's going to be titled 'Harley'.

Finally, I'm going to be adding the most recent deaths in the poll today so go vote if you want certain people to live! I'll also be removing anyone who has died in both stories up to this point.

Thanks so much for reading and let me know what you think!