Chapter 13 - You made the wrong choice.

[Rebecca's POV]

I rounded a car and saw Sophia sprinting in the woods with a walker close behind her. "Damn!" I growled. I hurdled over the guardrail unknowingly causing my bow to slide off my shoulder. I continued to chase after her. I grabbed her causing her to scream. "Sophia, calm down it's me." I whispered. She stared at me wide eyed as the tears streaming down her face. Growls came from behind me and out ambled two walkers. "Kill them, Becca." she pleaded as she clung to my shirt. I reached to where my bow was, scratch that, supposed to be. I silently cursed at the realization I dropped it. I reached down in my waistband, luckily my gun was still there, but I can't risk it. "Shoot them!" she continued to yell as she tugged at my gun. "I can't risk it. Come on!" I said as I picked her up. She clung to my shirt as I ran. I dodged branches till I came up on a stream. I set Sophia down in the water by a large pile of branches. "Sophia I need you to do EXACTLY as I say. I need you to stay here. They won't see you here. I will come back, but I'm going to lead them away." I ordered. "No no no no. Please don't leave me." she cried. "Listen, they don't get tired... I do. If I carry you we will both get caught. I won't be able to protect you. Understand?" I said. She nodded her head and squeezed into the little opening. "If I don't make it back head back to the highway. Straight the way we came. Keep the sun on your left shoulder." I said to her just as the walkers came out. "Come on!" I yelled at them as I splashed water. They ambled towards me, not even noticing Sophia. The first one fell into the water, but didn't take much time for it to recover.

I ran down backwards the creek still yelling to keep its attention. I tripped falling backwards and scrambled to get up. I was thoroughly soaked as I got out of the creek. I hid behind a tree as I heard the loud shuffling of a walker. I picked up a decently heavy rock and stepped out. At the sight of me it shuffled towards me faster. I slammed the rock against its head causing it to fall backwards. I repeatedly slammed it down on its head causing a sickening crunch with each blow. The other walker shuffled out, picking up speed. I threw the rock at its head causing it to also fall. I slammed it down on its head, silencing its growls. I stood up catching my breath. I heard a twig snap behind me and I whipped around. I was shocked when I saw an out of breath Rick. "God damn Rick you scared me!" I snapped as he bent over to catch his breath. "Where's Sophia?" he breathed. "I left her in a bunch of brush in the creek. Come on let's hurry." I said as I took off. I didn't even wait on Rick I was too worried about Sophia. I could hear his heavy footsteps behind me, so I knew he was following me.

We came to where I left Sophia and it was empty. "Where is she?" Rick asked, sounding slightly frantic. "She must have head back to camp. I told her how to get back." I explained quickly. Rick nodded, but I could still see he was tense. He wasn't the only one. I still had a bad feeling. I hurried back to the camp to be greeted by worried faces. "Where were you?" Shane asked. "Where's Sophia?!" Carol asked hysterically. I looked down and shook my head. "Did you see her?! I saw you run down after her! Did you see her?!" Carol continued to plead hysterically. "I had her i-in my arms, but there were two walkers. I left her by the creek hidden, but she wasn't there when I got back. I told her how to get back so I assumed...." I explained, trailing off at the end. "You left my baby girl alone!?" she said crying. "If I would have taken her we both would've been walker bait." I said. "She's right. It's a good thing she did that." Rick defended. Carol just shook her head and looked down sobbing. "Well, let's go back. Maybe we can find 'er tracks." Daryl said. Because of Sophia I completely forgot about Dillan. "Where's Dillan?" I asked. "He's back in the RV. He won't talk to any of us. I think you should go talk to him." Lori said quietly. I nodded and hurried over to the RV.

I opened the door to the RV and silently went inside. Dillan was sitting in the booth sniffling. He never turned around just kept staring at something in front of him. I took a step forward and saw it was the bow and quiver he gave me. "Dillan?" I murmured. He jumped and turned around, only to confirm my suspicions that he was crying. His eyes were red and puffy and his cheeks were tear stained. He jumped up and ran into my arms. "Where did you go?" he cried into my chest. "I'm sorry." I said rubbing his back, trying to calm him down. "I was w-worried when Sophia wasn't here and then y-you were gone." he stammered through the tears. "I'm sorry. I went out to find Sophia." I explained. He stepped back from me. "Did you find her?" he asked through his sniffles. I looked down and shook my head. "I have to go back out there with them." I continued. This only made him cry more. "Dillan. Dillan. You gotta be strong. For me and for Sophia." I said, kneeling down so we were eye level. He wiped his eyes and nodded. "Now I need you to stay calm and listen to them, okay?" I said. He nodded and gave me a smile. "Good." I said with a smile. I kissed him on the forehead. I slung the bow and quiver over my shoulder and headed out the door. I noticed T-dog's wrapped arm. "What happened?" I asked as I walked over to him. "Cut my arm real bad during the herd." he replied. He looked embarrassed. I nodded and headed off. Daryl, Rick, Shane, and Glenn were gathered around. I hurried over to them. "Ready to go?" I asked. They nodded and we head out.

"Sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked as he leaned in to look. "Yes, positive. I left her right here. I drew the walkers up the creek in that direction." I answered. "Without a paddle-- seems where we landed." Daryl said as he stepped away. "I came back and she was gone. I thought she went back to the group. I told her how to get back. Told her to head straight where we came and to keep the sun on her left shoulder." I explained. "Hey short round, why don't ya' move off to one side. You're muckin' up the trail." Daryl growled to Glenn. He clumsily stepped to the side. "That is if she knows her left from her right." Shane said. I glared at him, getting sick of him by the minute. "She'd understand Shane." I growled at him. Shane scoffed and rubbed his head. "She was tired and confused. She had two close encounters in one day. Gotta wonder how much you said really stuck." he countered. I rolled my eyes and turned away from him. "Got a clear trail here. She followed as you said and headed back." Daryl announced as he headed up the small drop off. "She couldn't have gotten far." Rick said as he followed after Daryl. I ignored the glares Shane was sending me as I walked away from him. Rick looked around worried as we followed Daryl. "Hey we're gonna find her. She's probably tuckered up in some bush somewhere." Shane said reassuringly to Rick. I stayed up front with Daryl as we scanned the floor. We came to a stop when we noticed the tracks veer off. "She was doing just fine here." Daryl said as he kneeled down. I kneeled down beside him and looked. "All she had to do was continued straight." I mumbled to myself. "Why would she do that?" Glenn asked. "Maybe she got spooked. A walker?" Shane said. "No, can't be. There would be its tracks." I said. I glanced up and noticed Daryl's surprised expression. I held back a smirk that was threatening to come across my lips. "What do we do? All of us press on?" Shane asked. "No, I think you and Glenn should go back. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we are all on her trail and doing everything we can. But most of all keep everyone calm." Rick explained. "I will keep them busy. Maybe have them scavenge some more, siphon cars..." Shane trailed off. We nodded and they headed back.

We crept silently through the woods. Crunch! Rick stepped on another branch. He was really starting to annoy me. I glanced over at Daryl, who looked equally annoyed. "Tracks are gone." Rick said, pulling me from my thoughts. "No. They're jus' faint, they ain't gone. She came through here." Daryl replied. "How can you tell? All I see is dirt and branches." Rick said. "You want a lesson in trackin' or to find the girl and get our asses off the interstate." Daryl snapped.

We continued through the woods when we heard some leaves rustle. We ducked down with our weapons drawn, I pulled out an arrow and readied it as a single walker walked slowly, taking no notice in us. "I got this." I whispered, eager to test out my new bow. "You sure ya' know how to shoot it?" Daryl scoffed. I rolled my eyes and walked down. "Get its attention." I said to Rick. Daryl watched from above with an amused expression. Rick stood in front of it as I stood behind it. Rick whistled causing it to look at him. It angrily growled and made its way to him. I took a deep breath and pulled the arrow back and released it. It went flying till the familiar sound of it piercing the skull. I looked up at Daryl with a smirk. He grunted and walked down to us. I walked over to the walker and yanked my arrow out. I cringed at the blood on it and wiped it on the walker's shirt. "Sophia!" Daryl yelled. There was no answer, though I wasn't expecting one. Rick pulled on gloves as he knelt by the walker. He opened its mouth and looked at it closely. "What ya' lookin' for?" Daryl asked. "Skin under the fingernails." Rick said. He flipped it over before saying, "It fed recently. There's flesh in its teeth." He pulled it out and looked it over. My heart dropped and dread filled my stomach. "What kind of flesh?" Daryl asked. "Only one way to find out." Rick said as he brought out a sad looking knife. He ripped the shirt open, exposing the stomach. He was going to cut into it when I grabbed his hand. "Let me do it. I've hunted before and I know a few things." I said as I pulled my hunting knife from my boot. "Plus mine's sharper." I added as I twirled it in my fingers. I heard Daryl scoff and I turned to him and raised an eyebrow. He just nodded for me to continue. I rolled my eyes and cut the stomach open. Each time I brought the blade down, Rick flinched and looked away. I brought it down several times before pulling the skin apart. I was about to reach in when Daryl stopped me. "I got this part." he said with his hand out. I pulled the gloves off my hands and gave them to him. He slipped them on and continued where I left off. "Now comes the bad part." he said to Rick as he started. He reached into it pulling the organs out one by one. The sickening squishing sound was only to be heard. "Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there." he said as he pulled the stomach sack out. "I got this." Rick said as he pulled his sad knife out. He cut it open and pulled out what appeared to be an animals head. "This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck." Daryl said in disgust. "At least we know." I stated. "At least we know." Rick repeated.

The sun was nearly down when we came out of the woods. Carol's face lit up then fell when she noticed Sophia wasn't with us. "You didn't find her?" she cried. I looked down sadly and shook my head. "Her trail went cold. We will pick up tomorrow morning." Rick said in a reassuring tone. "She's 12 years old. She can't be out there by herself." Carol whined. "I know this is bad, but I want you to remain calm. We know she's out there." Rick said. "And we tracked her for a while." I added. "We have to make this an organized search. Daryl and Rebecca know the woods more than anyone. I've asked them to oversee this." Rick announced as everyone gathered around, including Dillan. "Is that blood?" Carol asked with tears in her eyes as she points to my pant leg. "We took down a walker." I said. "A walker?" she said in tears. "It was nowhere near her." Rick added. "How do you know?" Carol asked. It was silent a while, then Daryl spoke. "We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure." Daryl admitted. Andrea groaned in disgust and Carol looked like she could break down on the spot. She sat on the guardrail, taking deep breaths.

[Daryl's POV]

Carol was near 'er breaking point. I turned and looked at Rebecca. It surprised me that she could hunt and track. I remembered back at her shooting the bow and hitting the walker perfectly. This only made me more intrigued in her. "How could you leave her there?" Carol whined at Rebecca, who looked down in shame. "How could you just leave her?" she continued. "There were two walkers out there. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance" Rebecca explained quietly. "Sounds like she didn't have a choice." Rick agreed. "How is she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child." Carol asked. "It was the only choice I could make." Rebecca explained. It made my heart lurch to see 'er in distress. "My little girl got left in the woods... Doesn't sound like you made the right choice." she said. Rebecca looked at her in disbelief. "You wanted me to carry her with me? To get us both killed?" She asked, raising her voice slightly. "Maybe if you did that, my baby girl would be alive. Maybe you should... should just leave!" Carol yelled at her. Tears fell down Rebecca's face as she turned and ran off.

That was the final straw. I sent a death glare at Carol. "Ya' know she was just tryin' to help. She risked her life to lead those walkers from your daughter. Why don't ya' quit being an ungrateful bitch!" I yelled at her before following after Rebecca. I didn't even need to look back to know they were all staring at me. I wasn't even sure why I stood up for her and why Carol's words pissed me off so much. I just... didn't know. I looked around for Rebecca by the tree line where I saw her run and didn't see her. "Rebecca!" I called by the tree. I came across her bow and quiver laid neatly against the trunk of a tree. Damn. She didn't go out on 'er own did she?! I thought frantically and I looked around. "Rebecca!" I called. "What?!" I heard someone snap from somewhere. I jumped at the voice and looked around. "Up here." I heard her voice say meekly. I looked up and saw her sitting in the tree. "Come down." I said. She shook her head and pulled her knees up to her chest. "Get yer ass down here." I growled, growing impatient. "No, just go away." she mumbled. "No." I simply said. I leaned against the trunk of the tree, fully ready to wait as long as it took.

*****

A/N:

Damn Daryl. You really snapped at Carol. Why? I thought you didn't like her.

Anyways, another short chapter. I can't wait till like chapter 15 or 16... not sure... but it's gonna be good....

Ugh, I just spent the last 2 hours cleaning my room. And it's 12:10am. NO! I spent time to type this out... So read and enjoy! I am sleeping! :P

Night, don't let the walkers bite. :3