A simple supply hunt for a source of water in the middle of Atlanta turns sour quickly for Erin as she come fist to face with a fuming, handless Merle Dixon.
Alone in the middle of the apocalypse with only a racist guy who doesn't know the differen...
"Nobody makes you angry; you decide to use anger as a response." - Brian Tracy
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"Rick!"
Seconds after she'd yelled, she heard footsteps thundering against the ground. She knew it was risky with so many strays around, but the girl could still be around - she didn't want to leave the place and forget where exactly it was. Her mind was abuzz with worry, her eyes scanning every tree and bush in her periphery in the hopes she'd catch a glimpse of the child.
"Erin!" Rick's voice called back, closer than she'd expected as moments later he stumbled into the clearing across from her. His eyes scanned her surroundings, puzzled that there wasn't any immediate danger as Daryl appeared next to him with considerably more stealth than he had, "What's wrong?"
She met his gaze, tears pricking in her eyes at the mere thought of the girl being taken, "The little girl... I left her here while I finished off the strays and... now she's gone..."
Rick's face fell as Daryl immediately went into action, searching the clearing for any sign of the girl. "Sophia?" he gulped and Erin nodded, "Oh my God... Daryl-"
"On it," the archer replied sharply, crouching down to check the ground around the mud, presumably looking for tracks of any kind. He looked up at her for a moment, his gaze filled with stony anger, "The hell did ya let her outta ya sight?"
"I didn't mean to. I didn't want her in danger while I took care of them, so I told her to stay here... I don't know where she could have gone..." she reasoned with him though she didn't see why she needed to explain herself to him. He'd already shown her that he was just as much of an asshole as his brother.
It seemed that the saying 'speak of the Devil and he shall appear' was true as Merle himself ambled up to them, followed by another man who had previously been scavenging through the cars. Erin guessed that the injured man was being tended to by the rest back at the RV.
"Where who could have gone?" the nameless man asked, looking around before looking up at her, "Where's Sophia?"
Erin felt tiny under his gaze. He was a very muscled guy with broad shoulders, which were emphasised as her placed his hands on his hips expectantly, "Uh..."
"We don't know, Shane," Rick answered for her, seeing her apprehension, "We think she's wandered off somewhere."
"Why wasn't someone watching her? She's twelve, for God's sake..." 'Shane' turned back on Erin, tilting his head in similar fashion to how Daryl had but much more menacingly, "Where is she?"
"Rick just said, we don't know. She must be around somewhe-"
"Somewhere?!" Shane's voice grew louder the angrier he got, making her flinch slightly, "Somewhere ain't good enough! We've got her mother cryin' her eyes out over there, askin' where her daughter is! What am I supposed to tell her? That she's around here 'somewhere'?"
