The Walking Dead | PART I

6. nostalgia

I brought the bucket of freshly washed clothes from the Greene house out into the yard, giving them to Carol who was going to do the laundry. I was awake before the sun came up to help Maggie, Beth and Patricia get the clothes washed. Then I took breakfast in bed to Carl. I saw him wearing his father's sheriff's hat and smiled with pride. He was the continuation of our name, the legacy of our family.

"Will you need me for anything else, Carol?"

"No, Cass. Thank you."

"Is Lori still in bed?" I asked and looked around but I couldn't find her anywhere.

"Yes. She's probably very exhausted with all that's happened."

"It makes sense. How are you?" I didn't expect her to reply that she was fine. She wasn't and I could see it in the expression on her face.

"I'm trying. I still have faith that she will be found."

"She will." I tapped her gently on the shoulder and smiled at her. I grabbed my bow and knives from the table and went to the already assembled group ready to go out once more for another round of searching for Sophia.

"All right, everyone's getting new search grids today." Rick said while he already had the map placed on the hood. "If she made it as far as the farmhouse Cass and Daryl found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far."

"I'd like to help." A teenage voice came from behind us. We turned and saw Jimmy standing there. "I know the area pretty well and stuff."

"Hershel's okay with this?" Rick asked, knowing some of the strict views Hershel held.

"Yeah, yeah. He said I should ask you."

"All right then. Thanks."

"Nothing about what Cassie and Daryl found screams Sophia to me." Shane said sitting in the car seat. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."

"Anybody, including her." I told him because I knew firsthand what I had seen in that house.

"Whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high." Daryl said, indicating with his hand the height of a child. He had just woken up and was wearing his brown button-up shirt over his grey undershirt. I could catch a glimpse of some tattoos he had on his chest. Why did you want to catch a glimpse, Cassie? I shook my head, shooing away the little voice of my subconscious.

"It's a good lead." Andrea said.

"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again." Rick told us.

"No maybe about it. I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, take a bird's-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her." Daryl recommended and we all nodded our heads, thinking it was a good plan. He was well aware of how to take care of himself.

"Good idea. Maybe you'll see your chupacabra up there too." T-Dog said and I started laughing loudly.

"Chupacabra?" Rick asked in disbelief.

"You never heard this? Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting and he saw a chupacabra." Dale explained the story to Rick in a few words. I laughed harder.

"Shut up, Cassie." Daryl told me, but now I was tearing up from laughing. He nudged me gently on the arm.

"I can't. I love this story." I wiped my eyes with the sleeves of my sweater while I tried to calm down. Then Jimmy chuckled.

"What are you braying at, jackass?" Daryl asked in annoyance.

"So, you believe in a blood-sucking dog?" Jimmy asked him.