Angels Don't Fade

Tracks and Tears

"Ya sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked, leaning down to look at the clearly empty space. The water that he was currently stepping in had carved out a nice little hollow area and the tree roots above on the ground above - where I was standing - gave it plenty of coverage to hide from something stupid.

Dad, Daryl, Glenn, Shane and I were all where Dad had left Sophia, each of us hoping to find the poor little girl who had grown on all of us (though some obviously more so than others). We hadn't been out here for long, but each passing minute was a minute too long until we found her. Forty-eight hours was typically the time frame for finding a child (or a person in general, really), but I couldn't remember if it was just for kidnapping incidents or all around disappearances. I imagined it didn't matter, seeing as forty-eight hours would be more than enough time for Sophia to get hurt, sick, or killed out here on her own.

The thought made my stomach churn and I had to fight from throwing up anything that might actually be in my stomach. It would be fine. We would find Sophia.

But what if we don't? Or what if we found her dead? Turned by one of those monsters?

It was a small voice in the back of my head that whispered these treacherous words to me. For a moment, I considered them. I could imagine Carol breaking down completely, I could see Carl crying over a lost friend, and I could feel my own heart breaking over a young life lost to this damned new world. The thoughts seemed too real, too close to what was happening - so I shoved them away, refusing to listen to the little voice that promised she was going to die.

"I left her right here," Dad told Daryl, gesturing to the hallowed ground. "I drew the walkers way off in that direction up the creek."

Dad pointed to his right - my left - to the expanse of water that lied in that direction.

"Without a paddle - seems where we've landed," Daryl commented, walking away from the direction Dad had pointed.

"She was gone by the time I got back here," Dad said. "I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." Dad pointed to the left of where Glenn stood, and Daryl quickly began to move in that direction.

I moved to follow on land, side-stepping past Shane who was more-so keeping an eye out for walkers than for Sophia, and stopping a few feet from Glenn.

"Hey, Short Round," Daryl called up to Glenn, "Why don't you step off to one side?"

"Short Round was Chinese, and his actor was Vietnamese. How did you manage to chose someone that had two different races associated with them and still fail to get the right one?"

"It don't change the fact that he's mucking up the trail," Daryl responded.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right," Shane started as Glenn stepped to the side, but Dad quickly cut over him.

"Shane, she understood me fine."

"She knows her left and right," I told him. "Trust me, if Dad told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left, she did exactly that unless something made her change course."

"Kid's tired and scared, Angel. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said, Rick, stuck." Shane took his attention from me to Dad. Dad seemed to almost shake with those words, and I could see him rationalizing what had happened. He was picking apart his own words to Sophia, his own plan to leave her alone.

"Got clear prints right here," Daryl announced. Dad walked over, so Daryl turned to face him. "She did like you said, headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back."