CHEROKEE ROSE

Me, Beth, Maggie, Glenn, Shane and Jimmy were collecting rocks for Otis' funeral. Shane had shaved his head. Man, he was like a 4 out of 10 before.. but he dropped to a 1. We all dropped the rocks in a wagon. That's when we heard a motorcycle approaching. We all stopped and looked to see who it was. That's when I saw the RV. The others were here now

"It's them" I said

"Should've recognized Daryl's bike" Glenn said. They drove closer to get to the farm, until eventually they had parked at the farm. T-Dog went to alert the others as they settled in. A couple minutes later Rick, Lori, T-Dog, Patricia and Hershel had come out. We all came together. Dale was the first to speak

"How is he?" Dale asked

"He'll pull through, thanks to Hershel and his people" Lori said gratefully

"And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him" Rick said. Rick and Dale hugged each other

"Thank God" Carol breathed out as she hugged Lori. I walked over to Glenn

"The band is back together again" I said

"It's nostalgic" He said. I looked at him

"It's only been a couple of days" I said laughing

"We were so worried" Carol said

"How'd it happen?" Dale asked

"Hunting accident. That's all- just a stupid accident" Rick said. We all then got ready for Otis' funeral. We didn't have a body, but we used rocks as a sign to remember him. Beth had put put a rock on the pile and then walked back. Dale, Glenn, Jimmy and Rick were holding their hats. Hershel held a Bible in his hands.

"Blessed be God, Father of our Lord Jesus Christ" Hershel began. Jimmy walked up and put a rock on the pile. He then walked back to his spot

"Praise be to Him for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character. Otis, who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever, our most precious asset. We thank You, God, for the peace he enjoys in Your embrace. He died as he lived, in grace. Shane, will you speak for Otis?" Hershel asked causing all the attention to turn on Shane

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry" Shane muttered. Patricia was crying

"You were the last one with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning" Patricia pleaded. Shane stared at her

"Meaning" Shane muttered out. He then looked around as he tried to gather his words

"We were about done. Almost out of ammo. We were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said" Shane began. I wasn't buying it. I didn't and couldn't trust Shane

"He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run' he said. He said, 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back.." Shane trailed off. Shane then limped to grab a rock

"If not for Otis, I'd have never made it out alive. And that goes for Carl, too. It was Otis. He saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, it was his" Shane said to Patricia. She nodded sadly. Shane then placed a rock down

—————

We were discussing Sophia around a truck. It was me, Rick, Maggie, Andrea, Shane and Daryl. Maggie had left to grab a map

"How long has this girl been lost?" Hershel asked as Maggie walked over

"This'll be day three" Rick said. Maggie placed the map on the hood of the truck

"County survey map. Shows terrain and elevations" Maggie said

"This is perfect. We can finally get this thing organized" I said

"We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams" Rick said

"Not you. Not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out. And your ankle- push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no good to anybody" Hershel said to Rick and Shane

"Guess it's just me" Daryl said

"I don't exist, I guess" I said rolling my eyes

"Whatever. I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way from there" Daryl said

"You're going with him, right?" Maggie asked me

"I guess, I can't sit and do nothing" I said

"I can still be useful. I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back" Shane said

"All right, tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right" Rick said

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them" Shane said

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far without turning this into an armed camp" Hershel said

"All due respect, you get a crowd of those things wandering in here.." Shane said taking off his hat

"Look, we're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that" Rick said. He put his gun on the hood of the truck. I took out my handgun and did the same. Shane followed in suit

"First things first. Set camp, find Sophia" Rick said

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebody's got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle that" Shane said

"I think we'll know what to do" I said

"Y/n's right. You do what has to be done" Rick said

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked

"The truth" Andrea said. Shane picked up his gun

"I'll gather and secure all the weapons. Make sure no one's carrying. I'll do a practice range off site. I do request one rifleman on lookout" Shane said to Hershel. Hershel didn't respond

"Our people would feel safer, less inclined to carry a gun" Rick explained. Hershel nodded

"Thank you" Rick said. Daryl and Shane walked off

"That stuff you brought, got more antibiotics, bandages, anything like that?" Maggie asks

"Just what you've seen" Andrea said before walking away

"We're running short already. I should make a run into town" Maggie said

"Not the place Shane went?" Rick asked

"No, there's a pharmacy just a mile down the road. I've done it before" Maggie said

"You should go with Glenn" I said. Rick turned to Hershel

"See our man there in the baseball cap? That's Glenn, our go-to-town expert. Like Y/n said, I'd ask him along just to be cautious" Rick said. Hershel looked at Maggie and signaled her to go. She then left

—————

Daryl was getting ready to leave without me like the asshole he was

"Daryl" Rick said. Daryl had stopped as I quickly got ready

"You okay on your own?" Rick asked

"I'm better on my own. Don't worry, I'll be back before dark" Daryl said. I finished getting ready

"Hey, asshole! Wait up" I said as I ran over to him. We both walked side by side

"I ain't waiting up for shit, if you're coming. You hurry your ass up" He said. I rolled my eyes

"It might help if you informed the other party you were gonna leave" I said

"I ain't gotta do shit" He said

"You are quite the charmer" I said sarcastically

"Fuck you, too" He said. Rick stopped us again

"Hey. We got a base. We can get this search properly organized now" Rick said

"You got a point or are we just chatting?" Daryl asks

"My point is it lets you off the hook. You don't owe us anything" Rick said. Daryl turned and began walking away

"My other plans fell through" He said. I stayed put

"Hey, dumbass. Hurry up" He said to me. I groaned as I caught up with him

—————

We had just come to a clearing. There was a house. I took out my knife and Daryl got his crossbow ready. We walked closer to the house. We came to the front door and Daryl kicked the doors opened. We walked in, our guards up. Daryl was in front of me as we searched the house. There were two rooms. Each of us checking one of the rooms. Daryl didn't shoot anything so I assumed his was clear, just like mine. We both then turned and continued down the main hall

There were two more rooms. Both of us checked them for walkers. They were clear. I went to turn but Daryl was right there

"Move" He said. I gave him a glare

"I don't know who the hell you think you are, but you do not give me orders" I told him

"You sure as hell, got a mouth" He said as he got by me and began checking the room for clues

"You say that as if you don't have one" I told him. He didn't respond as he became fixated on the trashcan. He stuck his hand in there and picked up something. Daryl then sniffed it and spilled it on the ground

"Someone was here not too long ago" He says. He then became fixated on something else as he dropped the item he held. He raised his crossbow so I got my knife ready. He stalked closer to the small closet. He quickly opened the door and then jumped back. At first it looked normal until I looked down. Someone had been sleeping here. There was a pillow and a blanket. Daryl then walked out. I followed him

"Sophia!" He yelled. We were outside as we looked

"Sophia!" I yelled. We walked alongside the building. Something had caught Daryl's eye as he walked towards some bushes. I followed after. He kneeled down and looked at the flowers

"You like Cherokee roses?" I asked. He looked at me

"You know the story behind 'em?" He asked me. I shook my head as I kneeled down beside him

"The story is that when American soldiers were moving Indians off their land on the Trail of Tears the Cherokee mothers were grieving and crying so much 'cause they were losing their little ones along the way from exposure and disease and starvation. A lot of them just disappeared. So the elders, they said a prayer, asked for a sign to uplift the mothers' spirits, give them strength and hope. The next day this rose started to grow right where the mothers' tears fell. I'm not fool enough to think there's any flowers blooming for my brother. But I believe this one bloomed for Carol's little girl" He said. I was surprised. This was a side to Daryl I had never seen. I smiled

"I think this flower bloomed for Sophia too" I said

(1824 words)
11/08/21

Edited: 07/07/22

The way I'll be blowing up everyone's notifications because I'll be on the road for 19 hours lol