When they heard the bells, the group went sprinting off into the direction the sound was coming from. They found themselves in a clearing. There were graves scattered in the lawn of a church. But the church had no steeple.
"That can't be it. Got no steeple. No bells," Shane said. Rick kept walking anyway. Even if there was no chance that either of the girls were there, he wasn't just not going to check. He started sprinting towards the church, the rest of the group following behind him.
Rick and Daryl were in the front, but they both halted to a stop at the sight of a tall male walker lying dead on the pavement just in front of the stairs. Its head was bashed in. They kept going, stopping in front of the closed doors as they readied their weapons.
When they pushed the door open, they found two more walkers. One was a woman, lying on the ground right in front of the door. The other was a man, lying in the isle beside one of the pews.
But neither Rosie or Sophia were there.
"They're not here," Shane said to Rick, who still looked adamant on searching the place. "It's a waste of time. Anyone could've killed these walkers-"
He was interrupted by a quiet cough from inside the church.
Daryl was the first to move, quickly making his way over to where the cough sounded like it had come from. He went to the pew with the dead walker. On the floor of the church, in between two pews, a blonde girl laid unconscious and shivering. Her bare back was facing him and her arms were wrapped around her stomach.
He stared at her bare back for a moment. Her skin was deathly pale, aside from the red marks scattered around her back. Daryl's stomach churned at the sight of them. Those marks were familiar to him. He knew she'd have them, but that didn't make him feel any better about it.
He crouched down, eyes scanning her arms for bites. In one hand, she held onto a hunting knife which was covered in blood, and in the other hand, she held tightly onto the necklace she always wore.
Rick showed up behind him, also staring at the girl's back. Lori and Shane had told him David was an asshole, but he didn't know to what extent.
Daryl looked back towards Rick. "Gimme yer shirt," he said quickly. Rick nodded and quickly unbuttoned the sheriff's uniform. He handed it over to Daryl, leaving himself with only the white t-shirt he wore underneath.
When he lifted her body up to slip the shirt onto her, his eyes latched onto her collarbones. He'd expected to see the scars left on her back from her father, but what he didn't expect to see were the few small, circular scars on her collarbones. Some of them were faded and white while two others were still a light pink color.
Cigarette burns.
Daryl thought back to when Rosie would stare at the cigarettes Merle and David would smoke, flinching each time one of them made any sudden movement.
He pushed the thoughts of David out of his head and focused on Rosie again. He pulled the short sleeves over her arms and wrapped the shirt tightly around her, not bothering to take the time to button the buttons.
"Rosie," Daryl said quietly. She didn't respond. "Rosie," he said again, lightly shaking her to try and wake her up without scaring her. She still didn't wake up.
Daryl raised his hand from her shoulder to her head, gently brushing her hair out of her eyes so he could see her face. "Hey, Rose," he said again. "Come on, girl, wake up."
The girl's eyes fluttered open and her breathing began to quicken. She scrambled up into a sitting position, but quickly regretted it as her vision began to blur again. "Hey, Rose, easy. It's me," he said, his hand on the back of her head, "It's ok. Yer fine."
At the sight of Daryl, Rosie's heart slowed down again and she took deep breaths. Her eyes began fluttering shut again and her head started to tip to the side. "I can't..." she breathed out.
"Hey, stay awake, a'right?" Daryl said, making the girl's eyes open again. He gently pried the knife from her hands and stuck it into the sheath on her belt.
"I couldn't find," Rosie tried to speak again, but wasn't able to finish her whole sentence. She felt like she was going to puke.
Daryl slung his crossbow over his shoulder and leaned forward. He wrapped one arm around Rosie's back, and the other beneath her knees. When he lifted her up, her face scrunched up and she hissed in pain.
"What's wrong?" Rick asked, stepping closer to the two.
"Leg," Rosie whimpered.
Daryl looked down to her leg and saw the gray fabric of her crocodile t-shirt tied tightly around her thigh. It was stained red. He adjusted his grip, trying to keep away from the wound, but Rosie's face still remained scrunched up in pain.
"Yeah," he said sympathetically. "Sorry, kid," he mumbled as he stood up, carrying the girl bridal style.
"Rick, what's the plan?" Shane asked quickly as he walked closer to the three. The others were all gathered at the door of the church, their eyes wide with shock, relief, and fear at the sight of Rosie. Carol began crying again, thinking of Sophia possibly being in the same state as Rosie was.
"Is she ok?" Carl asked, trying to see past his mother, who was holding him back.
"Think I'm dyin'," Rosie murmured, squeezing her eyes shut. Everything hurt and she felt like she was spinning.
"You're not dying," Rick said, giving the girl a reassuring nod. "We're gonna patch you up and you're gonna be just fine."
Rosie still didn't feel very reassured. Part of her wondered if they were even really there. What if they were just another illusion, like Fraser and her dad?
"Daryl, you and the others bring Rosie back to the RV. Shane and I will hang back, search the area more thoroughly, see if we can find Sophia," Rick said.
"Splittin' us up? You sure?" Daryl said, looking between Rosie and the rest of the group.
"Yeah, we'll catch up to you," Shane replied, giving a curt nod.
When Daryl carried Rosie outside, the sun burned her eyes and she quickly turned her head to bury her face into Daryl's shoulder. Not even a second later, Carl was by their side and, as always, asking a million questions.
"Are you ok? What happened?" he asked, standing on his toes to try and see Rosie's face. "Did you see Sophia anywhere?"
"Carl, give her some space please," Lori said, putting a hand on the boy's shoulder and pulling him away.
It was quiet for awhile while they walked, everyone too nervous to ask the girl any questions. They didn't want to overwhelm her, especially when she was actively bleeding out. Daryl kept looking down at her face to make sure she was still awake. She was blinking slowly, showing that she was very close to falling asleep, but she tried hard not to. It wasn't working well. Her eyelids just felt so heavy.
She was just seconds away from drifting back off into sleep when they all heard a gunshot. Their heads snapped in the direction of the sound and Rosie flinched in Daryl's arms.
"What was that?" Carl asked, standing a little closer to Lori than before.
"That was a gunshot," Carol replied in a shaky voice, her hand to her heart.
"We all heard it," Daryl said.
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" Lori asked, worried for both Shane and Rick, and potentially Sophia.
"Maybe they took down a walker," Daryl said, shrugging a little.
"Please, don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now?" Carol questioned.
"Maybe they found Sophia," Carl suggested.
"Then what was the gunshot?" Carol asked again.
"There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run 'round these woods chasin' echoes, 'specially not with Rosie nearly knocked out," Daryl said.
"So what do we do?" Carol asked.
"Same as we've been. Get Rosie back to the highway. We're wastin' enough time already, let's get goin'," Daryl answered before turning and continuing to walk through the woods.
He looked down, checking on Rosie. She was leaning her head into his shoulder, her eyes shut tight. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she held a slight frown on her lips. Her breathing was slow, but still steady.
"How ya doin', kid?" Daryl asked her, trying to make sure she was still awake. He was scared that if she fell asleep, she wouldn't wake back up. He wasn't sure if that was actually how it worked, but he wasn't taking any chances.
"Bad," Rosie mumbled. Her head was pounding, her stomach hurt, she felt like she was spinning every time she opened her eyes, and her leg was throbbing and stinging all at once.
"We're almost there. Gonna get yer leg fixed up and get some food and water in ya, and you'll be jus' fine."
Then they heard a loud scream. It was Andrea. Daryl started running in the direction of her screams, even though he wasn't sure he'd be much help with Rosie in his arms. Just as Andrea and the walker attacking her came into view, a brown-haired woman on a horse came galloping over and knocked the walker in the head with a baseball bat.
"Carol? Carol Peletier?" the brown-haired woman asked, galloping up towards the others.
"I'm Carol," Carol said in a worried voice.
"Rick sent me. You've gotta come now."
"What?" Lori asked, holding onto Carl's arm protectively.
"There's been an accident. Sophia's been shot. She's still alive, but you've got to come now." Carol looked confused and shocked, but didn't hesitate to start towards the horse.
"Woah, woah, woah. We don't know this girl! You can't get on that horse," Daryl shouted.
The woman eyed him and the girl in his arms. "Rick said you had an injured girl, and others on the highway. That big traffic snarl?" Glenn stared at her, seemingly mesmerized. "Backtrack to Fairburn road. Two miles down is our farm. My daddy's a doctor, he'll help the girl. You'll see the mailbox. Name's Greene." And with that, the woman rode off with Carol, leaving the rest of the group confused.
The corpse that had attacked Andrea sat back up, growling and groaning again. "Shut up," Daryl spat before stomping his foot down onto the walker's skull. He adjusted Rosie in his arms and kept walking.
•
When they finally reached the highway, Daryl passed Dale and carried Rosie over to the RV as Glenn began to explain what had happened. Glenn followed after Daryl, Dale followed after Glenn, and so on, until they were all either in or by the door of the RV. Rosie was sick of the lack of privacy. She just wanted to sleep. She was just about ready to when Daryl placed her down in the RV.
"Shot? What do you mean shot?" Dale asked after Glenn told him about Sophia and Carol.
"I don't know, Dale. I wasn't there. All I know is this chick rode out of nowhere like Zorro on a horse and took Carol," Glenn explained quickly.
Dale turned to Daryl. "And you let her?"
"Climb down out of my asshole, man. Rick sent her. She knew Carol's name and Sophia's. Now come on, where's your first-aid shit?" Daryl grumbled, quickly opening and closing cabinets in the RV as he searched for a first-aid kit.
Dale disappeared into the back bedroom for a moment and returned with a red bag in his hands. "We don't have a lot. And by the looks of it, she's gonna need stitches," he said, setting the bag on the table.
"Doesn't matter, we just gotta stop the bleedin'. That lady said her dad's a doctor, gave us the address. We'll go there at first light," Daryl said as he began digging through the bag. He pulled out a roll of gauze and some medical tape.
"Come on. Let's give them some space," Lori spoke up, ushering the group- aside from Daryl and Dale- out and away from the RV.
Rosie was lying on the bench in the RV, one arm up over her eyes and the other wrapped around her stomach. Daryl crouched down by her side and began rolling up the leg of her shorts. She clenched her teeth and groaned in pain as he did it. "Stop, stop, stop it," she hissed, trying to sit herself up.
Daryl put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back down as Dale sat down next to her head with a bottle of water. "He has to wrap the wound better to stop the bleeding," Dale said, handing her the bottle. She lifted her head and took one long sip before dropping her head back down.
When Daryl untied the t-shirt from around her leg, she leaned her head to look again. She'd gotten used to the pressure of the shirt, and it felt weird without it. Daryl tossed the shirt onto the seat next to her and she frowned. "Ya think it'll be ok?" she asked.
"Yer leg? Told ya, we're gonna get it wrapped up and then let the doctor fix ya up at that farm tomorrow. It'll be fine," Daryl answered.
"No, my shirt. I's got blood all over," Rosie said, grabbing onto the shirt. Daryl scoffed and took it back from her.
"We'll get ya another shirt," he said.
"But i's got a crocodile on it," Rosie complained. She was about to ask if they thought they could get the blood out, but she stopped and hissed in pain when Daryl started pouring water on her wound and wiping the blood off with the shirt. "Stop, stop, stop!" she whimpered.
"Sorry, kid," Daryl mumbled and kept on wiping the blood away. Even after he wiped off the blood, more blood kept replacing it. He unwound the gauze and started wrapping it around her leg. This didn't feel any better than the wiping away of the blood. Rosie bit down onto her lip and tried to move her leg away again, but Dale was tasked with holding her leg down.
As Daryl continued to wrap the wound, Rosie kept on muttering out curses. "I know, I know," Daryl said sympathetically. It didn't stop her from continuing on swearing at him. He finished off the gauze with some tape and patted her calf to let her know that he was done. She sat up and started quickly drinking the bottle of water Dale had given her.
"How did this happen, anyway?" Dale asked.
Rosie didn't want to admit that it had happened because she was being stupid and jumped out of a tree with her knife in her hand, so she decided to lie. It was only a white lie, so who would care? "Fell outta a tree," she said, twisting the end of Rick's shirt. Her stomach started hurting again. "Ya got food?" she asked.
"I'll go ask Lori if she has any of those breakfast bars left," Dale said before standing up to leave.
This left just Rosie and Daryl in the RV. She looked up at him and saw that he was staring at the wall. She thought back to a few days ago when he, Rick, T-Dog, and Glenn had found her on the roof where Merle used to be.
The group's been goin' on an' on 'bout you! Had me searchin' the woods for yer ass all fuckin' day! Jesus Christ!
"Sorry ya had ta look for me in the woods again," she said, feeling slightly guilty. Daryl looked away from the wall and raised his eyebrows at her.
"Not like ya did it on purpose this time," he said, shrugging. He wanted to ask about the scars, he wanted to ask who Fraser was, and he wanted to ask about her dad. But he didn't. He didn't know how. And the last thing he wanted was for her to start crying because then he'd be even more unsure of what to do.
Yeah, but if I weren't so stupid and if I would've paid attention to what direction I was running in, then maybe none of this would have ever happened.
If Daddy were here, he'd be mad.
What if he's mad at me?
"Hey," Daryl said, snapping Rosie out of her thoughts. "Ya got another shirt in yer bag?" She nodded.
Rosie watched as Daryl kneeled down and started digging through her backpack. She'd left it in there when they stopped the RV. He pulled out the shirt and then kept digging through the bag before taking out something else Rosie couldn't see. When he stood back up, he tossed the balled up Black Sabbath shirt into Rosie's lap.
"Gonna go see what's takin' 'im so long," Daryl said, leaving Rosie alone in the RV.
When Rosie untangled the black and purple t-shirt to put it on, she heard something fall and hit the ground. Leaning over the edge of the seat, she looked down and saw that it was her small, plastic velociraptor toy. When she picked it up, she felt the corners of her lips lifting up into a small smile. She took off Rick's shirt and replaced it with the Black Sabbath one before lying back down on the seat and holding the velociraptor tightly in her hand.
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I'm trying to make the storyline a little different from the show to keep it interesting, so that's why Sophia got shot instead of Carl.
I also have future plans that require Sophia getting shot......
Let me know what you think!