We were nearly out of gas when we went to the CDC. A while after we left, we stopped on the highway, dumping some cars, including Daryl's truck. I rest my head on Daryl's back, closing my eyes and listening to the roar of the engine of the motorcycle. It was kind of soothing. Until we slowed down. I lifted my head and opened my eyes, seeing a large build up of cars. "Shit." Daryl muttered, turning around.
"See a way through?" Dale called. Daryl nodded, telling him to follow and turned back around, leading the R.V. through the wreckage.
I buried my face in Daryl's jacket, having seen an empty baby carriage laying in the middle of the road. I heard a squealing sound behind me and turned around to see the R.V. spitting out smoke.
I tapped Daryl's shoulder. "Problem with the R.V." I said in his ear. He nodded and stopped, letting me get off before he did.
Everyone got out of their cars, standing by the R.V. "I said it. I said it, didn't I? Dead in the water." Dale shook his head.
"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked.
"It's just the mater of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of- okay that was dumb." Dale said, looking around at all the cars.
Daryl opened the trunk of a car. "If you can't find a radiator hose here...there's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." He said.
T-dog walked by with a gas canister. "I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start."
"Maybe some water."
"Or food."
Lori shook her head. "This is a graveyard." She said. "I don't know how I feel about this." She looked around for someone to back her up. No one did.
"Come on, y'all. Just look around." T-dog said, going to siphon gas from a car.
I shrugged and was about to walk away. "Charlie, come here. I gotta talk to you." I turned to see Daryl standing by T-dog as he siphoned gas.
I walked over, leaning against a car. "About what?" I asked.
He sighed. "About what you said at the CDC."
I swallowed, looking down. "I don't know what you mean."
He scoffed. "Yes you do. You said that you had a son. When were you planning on telling me?" He asked.
"Never. I didn't feel like it was important." I shrugged.
He scoffed again. "Well, it was. If you have a son, then where's his dad?"
I sighed, wondering if I should tell him or not. "Zach was an asshole. He was always drunk or high, yelling about something I screwed up or something...Luke supposedly did. I always took the blame, got the worst of it."
Daryl sighed. "He beat you...and you didn't bother telling me?"
I rolled my eyes. "I had no God damn idea where you were! If you were still in our home town! If you were even in Georgia! Yes, Daryl! Zach hit me. It's over. He's probably dead anyways." I walked away and climbed on top of the RV with Dale, dangling my feet off the edge.
"How do you deal with him?" Dale asked.
I shrugged. "I've known him since I was six. You pick up a few things." Dale chuckled, but that soon faded as he looked down the highway with the binoculars. After a little bit, he laid flat on his stomach, pulling me down too.
"Walkers." He whispered. My eyes widened and I lied flat on my stomach as well, hearing the approaching snarls. It felt like forever. I held tightly to Dale's hand, praying that it would end soon. I heard a faint scream come from the RV. 'Andrea.' I mouthed to Dale. He nodded and scooted to the sun roof, looking in for a minute. He pulled a screwdriver out of his pocket and dropped it to her, scooting back next to me.
We waited, and waited, and waited for the herd to pass. I was worrying about everyone. Mostly Daryl. Did he even get under a car? Eventually, it was over. I stood up and hopped off the RV. "Daryl?" I called.
"Over here." I followed the voice and found him with a badly bleeding T-dog.
I winced and grabbed a towel and duct tape from the RV. I wrapped the towel around his arm and kept it in place with the tape. "It'll have to do for now." I shrugged. He thanked me.
"Sorry I snapped earlier." I apologized to Daryl. He nodded and walked away. I shook my head with a slight laugh and turned around, hearing someone sobbing. I saw Lori holding Carol, both of them looking into the woods. "What happened?" I asked, jogging over.
"Sophia was chased into the woods by two walkers. Rick went after her." Lori said, letting go of Carol, but keeping a hand on her back.
I gasped and hugged Carol. "I'm so sorry." Her arms wrapped around me, grabbing handfuls of my shirt. She burried her face in my neck, her body shaking as she continued to sob. I held her like this for a while until I heard rustling from the woods. I quickly let go of Carol and pulled my gun out, aiming in the direction the sound came from.
I heard more rustling and then Rick emerged from the brush. He stared at me for a moment. I let out a breath and lowered my gun, keeping the safety off. "It's Rick." I called out. Everyone came over quickly. Carol walked over and let out a sob. Sophia wasn't with him. I holstered my gun and hugged her, keeping her from falling.
I stared at Rick. "Where's Sophia?" I asked, dreading the answer.
He sighed, stepping over the railing. "When I got to her, I had her hide so I could kill the walkers. When I got back to the spot...She was gone. I told her how to get back here. I figured that's where she went." I shook my head.
He sighed and came over to stand in front of Carol and I. "I promise we will find here, Carol." She just continued to sob, her wet, hot tears streaming down my arm and soaking my shirt. But I didn't care. I knew what it was like to lose a child.
Rick sighed again and looked around. "Daryl, Glenn, Shane and I will find her, Carol. Come on, guys." The three men followed after Rick.
I let go of Carol and put a hand on Daryl's chest, stopping him in his tracks. "Please be careful." I whispered.
He nodded. "Always am, Charlie." He winked at me and jumped over the railing, disappearing into the brush.
I held Carol again and sat us down on the pavement. "You know...I lost my son the same way. He was only 9, though. Sophia's a smart girl. I'm sure she'll be fine."
She took her head off my shoulder to look at me. "You did?" She asked, her voice shaky.
I nodded. "I didn't have any people looking for him. Rick is out there with Daryl, Glenn and Shane. They'll find her. So don't hold a grudge against Rick." She nodded and rest her head back against my chest. I could feel her tears landing on my skin. She needed to know that someone understood what she was going through. That she wasn't alone. She deserved that much.
A little while later, I found myself pushing cars out of the path of the RV so we could turn it around. I had wanted to stay with Carol, but I couldn't be useless. Andrea and I pushed a red SUV out of the way, watching as it rolled until it hit the bumper of another car. I sighed and brushed my hands off on my jeans, rubbing the dust off. I turned to Dale to see Carol walking over to him. "Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" She asked, her arms crossed over her chest.
Dale explained. "We have to clear enough room so I can get the RV turned around as soon as it's running. Now that we have fuel we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map."
I stood beside Dale, resting one arm on his shoulder. He flashed me a quick smile before focusing on Shane, who had started talking. "Going back's going to be easier than trying to get through this mess."
Carol shook her head quickly. "We're not going anywhere til my daughter gets back."
I left Dale's side, placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, that goes without saying."
Shane sighed. "Rick and Daryl, they're on it, okay? Just a matter of time."
Andrea walked up, holding a water bottle in her hands. "Can't be soon enough for me. I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by, or whatever you call it." She shrugged.
Glenn nodded in agreement. "Yeah, what was that? All of them just marching along like that."
Shane nodded, looking around at all of us. "A herd. That sounds about right. We've seen it. It's like the night camp got attacked. Some wandering pack, only fewer." I left the small group of people and went over to Carol, placing a hand on her back. She flinched slightly, but settled when she saw it was me.
I smiled sadly at her. She returned her gaze towards the woods. "How old did you say he was? Your son?" She asked quietly.
"He was 9." Only three years younger than Carl.
She sighed. "Did you ever, you know...find him?" I knew what she meant. She was asking if I ever found him as a walker.
I shook my head. "No, I looked for days, never saw a single sign that he was dead or alive. But I eventually gave up hope. I had to. I was starving. Dehydrated. That's when I went to Atlanta and met Glenn and Rick." The corner of my mouth twitched slightly, a small half smile. But only for a second. "But just because I couldn't find my son doesn't mean Sophia won't turn up somewhere."
~*~*~*~
I walked up to Dale, who was working on the RV and he glanced my way before focusing back on his work. "Need something, Lottie?" He asked.
I shook my head, crossing my arms. "Just wondering if you needed any help."
He stood up to look at me, eyebrows raised. "You ever worked on a car before?" He asked.
I scoffed. "Plenty. I was working at a mechanics before shit hit the fan. I was actually one of the best there."
Dale nodded, looking impressed. "Not bad, but no, I don't need any help." He went back to working on the RV.
"I guess I'll just keep you company then." I smiled at him. He chuckled, wiping some sweat off of his forehead.
"I get that you've known Daryl for a long time but it seems like the only person that he actually seems to like out of our group is you." He tried to hide a smile, but I saw it anyways.
"Why do you say that?" I asked.
Dale chuckled. "Well, for starters, you only let him call you Charlie." I blushed at the mention of my nickname that I received from Daryl only a few months after we met.
"It's just a nickname." I shrugged.
"You're the only person he can have a decent conversation with. He stares at you when you aren't looking. You stare at him when he's not looking..." There was a suggestive tone to his voice as he trailed off.
I blushed and looked down. "S-so?" I stuttered.
He shrugged. "You blush whenever someone talks to you about him. Like right now." He looked at me, wiping his hands with a dirty rag.
I stood up straight. "I'm gonna go...over there." I walked over to the edge of the road, staring into to the woods.
I heard Andrea ranting about something to Dale. "Then how come Charlotte gets to keep her guns?" I turned around and walked back over.
Shane sighed. "Because if she doesn't have a gun, Daryl will throw a fit."
I scoffed at Shane. "Daryl knows I'd be fine without my guns. I get to keep them because Rick saw how good of a shot I am. Get over yourself."
I walked away again, staring into the woods with Carol. Only within a few minutes of me standing there, I saw Rick and Daryl emerging from the woods. "They're back!" I called to Dale, Shane and Glenn.
My heart dropped when I saw that they didn't have Sophia with them. "You didn't find her?" Carol asked, on the verge of tears.
"Her trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick said, climbing over the side rail. I turned around, putting a hand over my mouth. My throat felt like it was closing up. This was all too familiar.
"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own. To spend the night alone in the woods." Carol sobbed.
"Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost." Daryl explained, sounding sincere.
I shook my head and walked off quickly down the road a ways, ducking behind a car. I haven't cried since I lost Luke, and I wasn't about to now. I couldn't breathe, my throats closing up as I choked back the tears that were stinging my eyes, breathing raggedly. When I did catch my breath, I didn't move. Instead, I sat there, watching birds flying in and out of trees. I heard footsteps behind me and didn't need to look to know who it was. "There you are. You good?" He asked, standing in front of me.
I shrugged. "Yeah, just a bit tired."
I stuck my hands out and he pulled me up with ease. "You sure that's it Charlotte? You were more upset than most when Rick said we didn't find Sophia."
I swallowed and bit my lip. "This is how I lost Luke."