Greek Tragedy | Daryl Dixon

Chapter 17 | Thought You Left

Daryl came back into camp with a string of winter game over his shoulder around dawn and passed them on to Carol for the pot or the little smoke-room some of the group had helped put together. She was up early making breakfast for when everyone else rose. He went over to his and Cassandra's sleeping area to dump his stuff to find she was not there. Thinking nothing of it, Daryl greeted Rick as the leader came up to him.

"How's Beth doin'?" he asked mostly to make conversation.

Rick sighed before he replied. "Not great. Hershel is putting on a brave face for Maggie but I think he knows Beth doesn't have a great chance. Not without medicine."

"Sucks, man." Daryl contributed. He had not bonded with the Greene's all that well but he knew they were good people. Losing Beth would put a serious dent in the group's morale. "Cass on watch?" He added.

The leader pulled a face and looked over at where her sleeping bag lay empty. Then Rick looked down at his watch and confirmed what he had already been sure of.

"Not until noon, it's too early. Glenn's out there at the moment, T-Dog just went to replace him. I thought she was asleep." He turned to Carol. "Hey, Carol, did you see where Cass went?"

The woman, whose grey hair was now growing out and becoming a bit tufty, shook her head and looked around the room of sleeping people. "Sorry, maybe she went hunting before I woke up."

"Maybe" Rick scratched his beard.

Daryl headed outside to the watch post where he found Glenn and T-Dog chatting quietly.

"Hey, man," T-Dog greeted with a toothy smile. "Successful trip?"

Daryl answered distractedly. "Yeah. Yeah, you seen Cass at all? She go out this morning?"

Glenn looked startled.

"She's not inside?"

"Naw, her spot is empty and Rick and Carol haven't seen 'er."

"Sorry, bud, I haven't seen Cass since she went to the bathroom last night and..."

Glenn stopped himself and looked like he was thinking hard. He turned to T-Dog and asked him if he noticed her come back after that but the man had not even noticed her go. By now Daryl was starting to get pissed off. Cass could have been gone all night and no one cared enough to notice!

When Daryl returned to the storage locker with Glenn, everyone save for Beth was up and eating the meagre breakfast Carol had prepared for them from some dried fruits and porridge oats. Cass was still absent and Rick realised Daryl had returned without her. He asked the group at large and it seemed the only two people with a clear recollection of when they last saw the ginger girl was when she had informed Glenn and Maggie she was going to the loo. It infuriated Daryl and he began to pace as the others discussed what could have happened to her.

It seemed to be becoming increasingly clear to Daryl that Cassandra had left just like she had planned to the other week. Clearly, she was right about no one caring...

The topic of discussion over breakfast was entirely dominated by people talking about Cassandra and where she might have gone or what she might be doing until, finally, Lori suggested she might have left. Daryl was already seething but the touch of hope in Lori's voice sent him over the edge.

"You gotta be kiddin' me!" He snapped. All eyes fell on him. "If she left then she had every reason to and you people got exactly what you wanted."

"If she left, that's on her," Lori tried to defend herself but the hunter was having none of it.

He stood up and went to grab his pack, ranting as he did. "No, it's on all o' you because she felt like she was safer out there than she was with this damn group!"