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PACING OUT IN FRONT of the church and digging her nails into her palms, Aria, unfortunately, has anger and sadness pulsing through of veins because of her sister. Apparently, Andrea has nothing else to live for because Amy died. Aria guesses her older sister completely forgot about her, like she always does. Sure, she should be thinking about the little girl lost in the woods but Andrea is really pissing the quiet female off.
The group walks out of the church and Aria quickly stops abruptly, glancing around at them. "What's up with you? You're out here pacing like it's your last day on earth." Daryl mutters towards Aria as the two stand near the back, away from the others. "Maybe it is my last day on earth, we can never be certain anymore." Aria whispers back, lowering her gaze to the ground. Daryl's a quiet and reserved man but that doesn't mean Aria's gonna go spilling all of her secrets to him.
Shane clearing his throat interrupt the pair from their conversation and they turn their heads, looking at the former policeman. "Y'all gonna follow the Creek Bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge. Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough." Shane informs everyone, looking around at them. "You splitting us up, you sure?" Daryl asks him, a hesitant look in his blue eyes. Shane takes a deep breath, nodding his head. "Yeah, we'll catch up to you."
Tapping her foot quietly against the dirt, Aria lightly sighs before bending over, gathering her blonde hair in her hand and tying it in a messy bun. It's almost hundred degrees out and she's not about to have a heat stroke. "I want to stay too. I'm her friend." Turning her head, Aria watches as Carl steps up. Pursing her lips, she lowers her gaze down to the new knife attached to her hip. The knife wields a matte black handle and its medium sized, not too long and not too short.
As the small family bids their goodbyes, Daryl hands Lori the spare gun as she refuses to take Rick's. Andrea scoffs behind her sister and Aria rolls her eyes, shaking her head at her sister.
Aria shuffles her way through the woods in between Glenn and Daryl, she's keeping her distance away from Andrea because she doesn't want to snap at her. "So this is the plan?" Carol asks and Aria turns around, watching at Carol sits down on the log. "I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl speaks up, the gruffness in his voice oddly soothing Aria.
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks. I see you have a gun." Andrea says and Aria rolls her eyes, shifting all her weight onto one foot. Lori looks up from her bag, a frown on her face. Honestly, Lori didn't do nothing except carry a gun Daryl had given her, nothing wrong with that. "Why, you want it? Here, take it. I'm sick of the looks you're giving me." Lori mumbles, shoving the gun towards Andrea. Just as the older sister is about to take it, Aria shakes her head, stepping forward. "Don't give her the gun. She doesn't even know how to use it." Aria scowls, feeling the glare from Andrea on her. Turning her head, she glares right back at her sister. Surprising her sister and herself.
Andrea takes the gun from Lori's hand, just to show Aria. Licking her lips, Aria rolls her eyes, shaking her head. "Honey, I cant imagine what you're going through and I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him. When Sophia ran he didn't hesitate, did he? Not for a second. I don't know that any of us would of gone after her the way he did or made the hard decisions that he had to make or that anybody could have done it any differently." Lori tells Carol, trying to get through to the grieving woman.
"Y'all look to him and then blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you." A small smile appears on Aria's face as she mentally applauded Lori for her little speech. It's time someone put the group in their place. "We should keep moving." Andrea utters, handing the gun back over to Lori. That's a glimpse of times before the apocalypse happened.
♚ ♛
Daryl and Aria walk side by side, the rest of the group behind them. The group once again stops as they realize Lori had fallen behind, worrying about the one gunshot they heard. "It was a gunshot." Lori says, not looking back towards the group. "We all heard it." Daryl replies back to her, looking around the woods.
"Why one? Why just one gunshot?" Lori asks, swiveling around to look at the group, her eyes holding panic. Daryl shrugs, "Maybe they took down a walker." Lori shakes her head, chuckling dryly. "Don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker. Or Shane. They'd do it quietly." Lori exclaims quickly, her voice showing worry for her family.
"Shouldn't they have caught up with us by now." Carol cuts in, adding to the worry. Daryl groans quietly and Aria stifles back a laugh at his aggravation. "There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes." Daryl concludes, stepping forward and glancing around. "We're gonna be doing what we've been doing. Beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway."
Lori nods, walking over to the group. Just as they are about to get back on track, they stop again as they see Carol and Andrea staying put. "Oh my god." Aria groans quietly, raising a hand and scratching her head. "I'm sorry for what you're going through. I know how you feel." Sadness overwhelms Aria as the memories push their way back to her mind. Seems like she can't even go a day without thinking of Amy. "I suppose you do. Thank you. The thought of her out here by herself—it's the not knowing that's killing me. I just keep hoping and praying she doesn't wind up like Amy."
You know that moment when you feel as if someone just crawled into your stomach and is trying to claw their way out through your throat? Yeah, that's how Aria feels right now. Carol most likely didn't mean it but with those words, Carol took her heart out and shattered the rest of Aria's heart that was left. Every time she thinks about Amy, Aria figures it would be best if she didn't care about anyone at all. Then, she wouldn't have to deal with the pain of losing them. "We're all hoping and praying with you, for what it's worth."
Carol quickly looks over to Aria, who has hurt and sadness written all over her face like an open book. The one time Aria becomes vulnerable is the time everyone is around her, just great for her, isn't it? Daryl looks down at the sad female before walking forward, shaking his head. "I'll tell you what it's worth—not a damn thing. It's a waste of time all this hoping and praying. 'Cause we're gonna locate that little girl, she's gonna be just fine. Am I the only one zen around here?"
Daryl walks back over to Aria, gently pushing her forward so she can keep walking. She turns around, her eyes settled on the ground beneath her. She's tired of loving and losing and one way to deal with that, is stop loving and you won't lose much.
