Katherine's POV
The next day we began the search for Sofia. We sat next to the truck, Rick using it as a table as he looked through a map of the woods. "This grid is Andrea and T... This one will be me and Shane..." Daryl insisted he not join anyone, but do a grid himself. I looked at Rick. "You wanna come with me and Shane?" The last thing I trusted Shane with was Rick, so I nodded. "Sounds fine." Dale began telling the story of Daryl's little Chupacabra story, and I couldn't help but laugh. "You believe in a goat sucking dog?" I smirked at Rick. "You believe in a bunch of undead Hannibal Lectors walking around?" He looked at me, then smiled. "Okay... I see who's side you're on." I laughed a bit as we all packed to go. "You sure you're good alone?" Daryl gave me a smile. "I'll be fine...." He looked around a bit, seeing nobody was paying attention. "Cuddle Bug." I smirked. "Okay... Bye Bye Pookie!"
I walked through the woods as Shane and Rick began talking about girls they 'did' in highschool. I laughed as Shane talked about their gym teacher. I was trying to play nice with Shane. Every time Rick had his back turned, I got an apologetic smile or pleading eyes. I'd only ignore it, then start talking to Rick again. "What about you Kat?" I looked at Rick and felt my cheeks heat up. "I... Have actually never really dated but 1 person." He raised his eyebrows and his mouth hung slightly open. "You're 22, right?" I nodded. "I dated one guy for 3 years... But never slept with him." Shane scoffed. "Seriously? What was your guys' relationship based off of?" I scoffed back, smiling. "Caring about each other... I was 17 and stupid and he was 19 and cute... " I shrugged. "Name???" Rick had anticipation radiating off of him. I laughed. "His name was Hunter... He was my next door neighbor." Rick wiggled his eyebrows up and down, and I laughed a bit. "Uh. No." He laughed. "Okay okay..."
We got a little further on our grid, and Shane and Rick began arguing over whether Sofia was alive or not. It sent anger washing through my body. I finally could feel myself snap. "Shane.. If you wanna give up, then fucking go. I'm tired of you always fucking arguing the worst when there's still hope. How the fuck could you not try to look for her? Are you that fucking heartless?!" I was up in his face as I yelled at him. Rick lightly took a step towards us as Shane's eyes went one shade darker. "I'm trying to keep us alive." I scoffed. "You're trying to keep yourself alive."
With that, I walked away from Rick and Shane. I walked farther from the farm, more towards the highway. I probably spent hours out in the woods by myself, but I didn't care. I just wanted her.. I need her. Her and Carl have been the two things I've fought for this whole time. Ever since the highway they've had me willing to die for them. I thought Shane was the same but apparently he's just the selfish inconsiderate jack ass I always knew he was in the back of my mind. I cursed as I still found no trace of her, hitting the tree next to me. I huffed as I sat down, looking as the sun went down. I sighed, staring up at the sky, letting my mind wander..
"C'mere you stupid bitch!" He screamed at my sister, Rachel. He took out his gun, which made me cringe. I jumped in front of my 9 year old sister, glaring daggers at my father. Even I didn't understand what I was doing. A little 13 year old trying to stand up to a 250 pound 36 year old man? Yet, I felt protective. I felt as though my sister needed thisprotectionand I was gonna be the one to give it to her. It was my responsibility, since obviously mom couldn't do anything. He pointed the gun at me face, but I controlled my emotions, hiding the fact that I was scared. I just kept the same glare, until my mother grabbed him. They both began screaming and I grabbed Rachel, runningher into the other room. They were fighting in front of the door, so I slid open the bathroom window. "Go to grandma's. Tell Bub and John what happened and tell them to come here... quick." She tried to argue, trying to get me to comewith her. "I'll be okay... Just go.." I pushed her out the window gently, then ran into the living room. My father was on top of my mom and I watched as his fist pounded down on her again. "Stop!!!" I screeched at him as I made an attempt to grabhim. He threw me back and got off my mom. Shewasn't moving and her eyes were closed. He threw me down as I screamed for her, but she still didn't move. "Mom!!!! Please!!" I screamed as he hit me again and again. I flung around, trying to fight back. He was too tough for me... Too rough for me to fight. I turned back around to look for my mother, but her body was gone. "Mom?!?!?!" I screamed, and my father stopped hitting me. He ran around the house, also looking for her. I looked at my body, seeing the massive puddle of blood under me. I kept screaming for my mom when I noticed the headlights pull out of the drive and my dad ran outside, but the car was gone. Her car was gone, right along with her....
I didn't even notice until after the whole memory that tears streamed down my cheeks. After that day I never saw my mom. I never saw my sister, my brother, or anybody from my family. They all left... They all left me behind. Until I turned 16 and moved in with Sal, I was alone with that crazy bastard. All the court mandatory therapy, all the CDC trips to see if it was something in his brain.... They never came for me... They never came to save me... Nobody came to save me. I sighed as I stood up, wiping the tears from my cheeks and eyes. I lifted up my shirt, looking at the light scars. I used so many different creams and whatever, I even got lazer surgeries to try to remove them, so now all that was left were the thin, light streaks that were still scattered around my body, but without a good light they were nearly unexistent. I let down a couple more loose tears, but shut my eyes tight, refusing to cry anymore.
I walked back to the farm, seeing the group sitting around. I was a little distance, and they hadn't noticed me yet. "She's gonna freak... She's going to kill you Andrea!" I stopped, hiding behind a tree. "I know... What do I tell her? I shot your boyfriend?" Who the hell are they talking about? "Hey." I said as I emerged from the tree. "Hey!" Andrea's eyes were laced with fear. "Um... Sit down." Rick said as he stood next to Lori. I raised an eyebrow. "What happened?" Rick gulped a bit.. "Uh... Andrea sort of... Eh... Shot Daryl in the head." I felt my eyes grow wide as I looked at Andrea. I tilted my head at her, furrowing my eyebrows. "You did what?" I asked, my voice frighteningly calm. "He's okay... It only grazed him... He came from the woods, and he looked like a walker from the distance.." I looked back at Rick, and I could see all of them were pumped with fear. "Where is he?" My voice was still calm, causing Rick to gulp. "In the house." I didn't say or do anymore, just walked to the house. I calmly walked up to the door, and was greeted by a blonde girl with pretty eyes. "Hi!" She said perkily. She was probably around 15 or 16. "Can I see him?" I asked, my voice sounding almost monotone at the moment. She smiled. "Of course. I'll take you to the room he's in.. Follow me."
I looked at the rooms as I passed, searching through all the differences from my house and this one. No pill bottles or broken beer bottle glass on the ground. No cigarette buds anywhere. Their house was neat. The smell of peach lingured in the air, and the walls had pictures of their family. I sighed, looking at my feet as I followed the blonde. I felt like I hated her, but I knew I was just jealous. She had a good life before this.. She had loving parents, by the looks of it. She had a caring sister and there was another kid in the picture, so I'm guessing a brother also. "Here you go." I nodded, but the blonde only tilted her head at me. "You okay?" I nodded as I walked into the room, seeing Daryl laying on his side. I lightly sat down on the bed, and he slightly turned. He flipped to his back as he saw it was me, then gave me a small smile. "Rick told me you ran off... You okay?" I nodded a bit. "Was lookin' for Sof..." He gave me a sad look, sighing. "We'll find her, Kat... One way or another." I only nodded and laid my head on the pillow. I felt his arm lightly drape on me, and my body tensed. He rubbed circles on my side, and my muscles relaxed. I turned, facing him, and he looked me in the eyes. His eyes were electrifying. Different shades of blue swam in them, hypnotizing me as I looked at how honestly beautiful I found them. "You okay, Kat?" I slowly nodded, feeling my eyelids trying to force shut, but I forced them back open. "Shhhh... Go to sleep." He mumbled, pulling me closer and pushing his head to my neck. I found myself very relaxed as I closed my eyes, curling to Daryl.
