Archie trudged through the forest, unsure of what he sought. All he knew was that he was looking for a girl with reddish curly hair. He'd already circled around once, unable to find the house Sofia had mentioned. He wondered if the girl even wanted to be found. In his journey, he came across some squirrels, but they were his only company.
Archie stalked the forest, gun raised, scanning for any sign of movement. Suddenly, he heard the pounding footsteps of a large animal. His heart raced when he realized it wasn't a person but a horse. As he looked around, he saw a brown horse, clearly Daryl's, and it seemed to be heading away from him. Archie knew Daryl would never leave his horse behind, and he had to find him. He started running, following the horse's path.
Archie called Daryl's name, searching for him frantically. What had happened? He continued running and stumbled upon a ledge. Daryl lay at the bottom, struggling to climb the slope with the aid of a nearby branch. He was covered in blood, his face contorted with pain. Archie's heart raced as he rushed to help him.
"Daryl, what's going on? You're injured!" Archie exclaimed, rushing to the base of the ledge. Daryl looked up, his brow split by a deep gash. He was covered in sweat, his body glistening with exhaustion. He didn't reply, he only extended his hand, imploring Archie to pull him up. Archie tried to help, but Daryl refused, grunting, "I don't need your damn help.”
"Yes you do," Archie replied firmly, extending his hand. Daryl hesitated for a moment before taking it, and Archie gripped the branch tightly as he hauled Daryl up. It was a struggle, and Daryl's weight threatened to drag them both down. But at last, Daryl rolled onto the ground with a grunt of effort.
"What happened, Daryl? Are you all right?" Archie asked, studying his friend's injuries. Blood covered his hand, and Daryl's face was stained with it.
As Daryl struggled to stand, Archie's gaze fell on the blood-encrusted cuts across his back. "Are you all right?" he asked, his worry rising. Daryl grunted in response, and they set off, Archie keeping a watchful eye on daryl
After a short distance, Daryl spoke up. "A snake scared the horse," he explained. "The horse threw me off and ran." Daryl continued to limp, leaning heavily on Archie's arm for support.
Archie's attention was drawn to Daryl's necklace, which was clearly made from a pair of walker ears. Amused, he commented, "Nice necklace. Planning to get earrings to match?" Daryl didn't respond, his annoyance evident in the tightness of his grip on Archie's arm.
Mellody sat on the grass at the campsite, waiting anxiously for Archie and Daryl to return. While she waited, she played checkers with Sofia, a game that Carol had brought from home. With each move, Mellody grew better and better, but she still couldn’t beat Sofia, who was teaching her the game.
“How did you get so good?” Mellody asked, eyeing her red pieces, which were down to only three remaining, while Sofia had managed to keep five of her black pieces on the board.
“I practiced a lot,” Sofia replied, her voice still gentle, though she had been getting much better at speaking since she arrived. Carol had not taken her eye off Sofia the entire time, except when there were too many adults around.
With each move, Sofia showed her skill and moved her little black piece on the board, jumping over another one of Mellody's pieces.
“Ugh, I’m losing so bad,” Mellody grunted, getting frustrated.
“This game is sooo hard,” she complained, rolling her eyes.
Sofia continued to smile at her, “It’s not that hard…when you get used to it.”
Melody moved another piece, but she was still losing. Then Sofia moved hers, and she won. Frustrated, Mellody hit her fist on the board.
“Good game,” Sofia said, maintaining her smile. They hadn’t played a very long game, but this was the third time already, and Mellody already hated the game.
“Where’s your momma?” Mellody asked, sitting up and looking around since she hadn’t seen Carol in a while.
“She’s helping -” Sofia began to answer, but she was interrupted by Andrea.
“Walker! Walker!” Andrea shouted, standing on top of Dale's RV with her gun. Mellody looked up, and Andrea warned her about the two walkers on the horizon. Sofia showed a worried expression.
“Hey, it's gonna be okay,” Mellody said, placing her hand on Sofia's to reassure her.
Rick walked over and asked, “Just two?”
“I bet I can nail them both from here,” Andrea said, picking up her gun.
Rick quickly interfered, “No no, Andrea, put the gun down.” He sounded like he was trying to talk a dog into putting something down.
Glen grabbed a gun, and T-Dog grabbed a bat, and they started walking. Mellody kept an eye on Shane, who walked out of his RV with his shirt unbuttoned and a pickaxe in hand.
"You best let us handle this," Shane said with a hint of anger in his voice.
Rick tried to stop him, saying, "Shane, hold up; Hershel wants to deal with the walkers." He extended his hand out, but T-Dog and Shane continued walking into the field, ignoring him.
Mellody watched Rick as he ran into the RV and grabbed his gun. Then, he ran after them. The two walkers were one tall and one shorter. Sofia stood next to her, watching the scene unfold.
"Andrea, don't!" Dale warned, his voice rising with concern.
“Back off, Dale,” Andrea spat back, lying on her stomach and aiming her gun at the two walkers in the distance. Mellody looked up to see her ready to shoot, but she didn't know what all the fuss was about.
She saw Rick, Shane, T-Dog, and Glen stop in front of the walkers, but the walkers didn't attack. It was weird. Why weren't they killing them? She wondered.
“What are they doing?” Mellody asked herself, blocking the sun out of her eyes. Just then, she heard a gunshot. Then another. The walkers dropped. Rick ran forward, yelling, “No!” He was yelling in a way that gave Mellody a bad feeling in her stomach. She had never heard him yell like that before. He wouldn’t be yelling like that just because of two walkers. What had happened?
"Rick!" Someone screamed, and Mellody quickly turned to see Rick, Glen, T-Dog, and Shane surrounding the two things Andrea shot. She stepped forward to get a clearer look, but Sofia stopped her, grabbing her wrist with a worried expression.
As the group continued to inspect the scene, she saw Rick and Shane with Daryl's arms wrapped around them. They were helping Daryl walk, but it looked more like they were dragging him. Her eyes widened as she realized that Andrea had shot Daryl. Who was the second one, and what had just happened?
Melody could see Glen carrying someone, and it wasn't just anyone - it was Archie. She could see that Daryl was still alive, even though he was covered in blood, and he was moving, but Archie was completely limp. His arm was hanging limply, and all of him was lifeless. Daryl and Archie were both covered in blood, and the group carried them towards Hershel's house, leaving her in shock.
Tears ran down her face as she finally managed to scream, “NO!”
