Heart and Soul [the walking dead]

A Prayer To The Above

"They could be in there." Shane pointed out the obvious.

"Could be a whole bunch of things in there," Daryl muttered, as to keep his and the group's hopes down in case they faced another threat in the small space.

Once they raised themselves to their full height Rick raised a hand to Carol as a sign to stay put and be quiet, knowing she would be the most likely to make unnecessary noise.

Rick, Shane and Daryl quietly snuck closer to the tent before Daryl, who was in front, stopped walking and raised a finger at them before motioning to his ears for them to listen to any potential noise that could be sounded in the woods.

Daryl shot Rick and Shane a look before he began to creep closer to the tent, knowing that he had the quietest footsteps.

Once he made his way to the front of his tent he peeked his head into the small open space of the lime green tent, He stood there for a moment and when he couldn't see anything he backed up before making his way to the side of it.

He pulled the side of the tent lightly away from a potential opening, his left hand pulling the material back with his right hand clutching his large hunting knife tightly, in case of danger.

Once he was unable to see anything he moved away and shrugged at the two former cops in confusion.

Rick turned his body to face the rest of the waiting group, a waved his hand as he whisper-shouted, "Carol!"

Carol and Rick walked briskly toward Daryl. Carol's hand was clasped tightly over her mouth as if to hold back a sob at the mere thought of finally finding her children.

"Call out softly," Rick instructed softly to the women as Daryl got in position at the main entrance of the tent. "If she's in there, yours is the first voice they should hear."

"Sophia, sweetie? Nadia, ba-baby? Are you guys in there?" Carol asked with a trembling voice. "It's mommy. Sophia. We're all here, baby. It's mommy."

It was silent as the men tried to listen for any noise from the tent in front of them but they heard nothing. Not breathing, not crying, not even a whimper.

Shane and Rick walked past the grief-stricken mother and slowly, with their weapons raised marched to join Daryl in front of the closed tent.

Daryl unhurriedly and cautiously unzipped the tent, the obnoxious noise filled the silent air, putting everyone on edge.

Daryl pulled his hand away from the zipped and pulled the cloth away. He whipped his head away to bring a hand to his nose to block the rancid and putrid smell that was spilling out of the open tent. A cough left his lips.

Daryl climes inside the tent as quietly as he could with his knife raised his body moving closer and closer to a dead walker decomposing on a foldable lawn chair.

"Daryl?" Carol spoke in the silent air in concern at the large amount of time he had spent in the smelly tent. "Daryl?" She asked again after no response.

After a few disgusted faces, Daryl pulled himself out of the tent with a huff.

"It ain't them," Daryl revealed to the group, Carol's face scrunched up in defeat and fear as she turned to Lori who placed a comforting hand on her shoulder to show her support.

"What's in there?" Andrea asked from behind the mothers.

"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out. Ain't that what he called it?" Daryl huffed out some heavy breaths glad he was able to breathe in fresh air once again.

While the group took in his information a loud bell rang through the air. The ringing was constant and timed to perfection.

The group looked around desperately trying to find the source of the ringing and once Rick pointed it out the group took off towards the noise.