Broken Arrows (Daryl Dixon)

2.

Daryl's POV~

    Today marks the third day Sophia has been missin. Maggie brings a map showing terrain and elevations to where Hershel, Rick, Andrea, Shane, and I stand waitin around a truck. We start makin a plan of areas we plan to search for her. Hershel tells Rick and Shane they can't go out today due to Shane's ankle and how much blood Rick gave.

    "Guess it's just me," I state as I reach to point on the map. "I'm gonna head back to the creek, work my way back from there." The group continues to plan and I get ready to leave.

    Rick stops me on my way out, "You don't owe us anything." He tells me.

    I turn away and continue walking, "My other plans fell through." As I'm searchin I find an old worn house in the woods and search it lookin for any signs of Sophia. As soon as I walk into the house I can hear creaking. I search the rooms looking for walkers and the source of the creaks and make my way into the kitchen. I find an empty can of sardines that seemed to have been eaten recently. The source of the creaking is a pantry on the other side of the kitchen. I raise my crossbow and slowly move towards the slightly ajar pantry door. I open it only to find a blanket and pillow laying on the ground. The floor of the pantry is only big enough for a child to fully fit so I head outside to search more.

    "Sophia!" I yell, letting her know that I'm there if she is hiding somewhere in the woods. No response, not even the rustling of leaves. "Sophia!" I yell once more before walking over to a couple Cherokee roses I spotted by a tree. I pick one, planning on giving it to Carol and head on my way. I find a faint trail  through the woods that leads to a small culdesac neighborhood with probably a couple dozen walkers scattered about. I'm guessing the old house I found was built awhile before the culdesac development was built. They probably didn't want to tear down the house so they built it farther away. Majority of the walkers I can see are standing around what looks like a chicken coup trying to get the chickens that remain. It should be fairly easy to sneak past 'em since most of 'em are distracted. I decide to start at the house closest to me and make my way around from there. I get into the house by going through the front door. The house itself looks pretty empty, but I search it anyway. I can't find any sign of Sophia so I leave the house and move on to the next one. There are still two cars in the drive way that seem untouched. I go up to the front door only to find it locked so I sneak my way around back to a sliding door that is unlocked. I quietly open the sliding door and walk into the basement, closing the curtains behind me. I think I heard something upstairs as soon as I got into the house, but I'll handle it after I check the rooms down here first.

Devore's POV~

Ever since this all started I became a super light sleeper. So when I heard what sounded like the basement sliding door being opened and closed I shot up. My mind starting racing to different places. Did one of those things manage to get in or am I just starting to go crazy. Dammit. Why did I have to leave all the weapons down in the dining room? I won't have time to run downstairs and grab a gun and sneak downstairs to the basement to check out the situation. My eyes dart around the living room looking for something I could use as a weapon. Bingo. My dad was a huge baseball fan and has a signed bat sitting out on display. I quickly tip-toe over to the shelf the bat is sitting on and take it down. I walk over to the stairs and stop at the top to build my courage. 1, 2, 3. I quietly make my down both sets of stairs, stopping at the bottom of the last set. No turning back now. I raise the baseball ready to strike anything that I see beyond this door frame. I scream as loud as I can and go out into the basement living room and swing my bat. I am inches away from hitting my target before realizing it's a person. A man to be exact. One with a crossbow and it's pointing right at me.

I slowly lower my bat and place it on the ground. "Don't shoot! Please, I beg you," I plead with my hands in the air. My whole body shakes with fear. The man lowers his crossbow and shines his flashlight on me. The light hurts my eyes, so I cover them with my hands.