Sugar and Spice

Chapter 7

The two of us wasted no time jumping out of my truck making our way over to where the group was already gathered together ready to discuss what we were going to do.

As I was close enough to the group several people turned to look at me one of them being Glenn, who gave me a small smile which I gladly returned. Rick came over holding something that looked like leather he slammed it down onto the car closest to the barrier and unravelled it revealing a mix of different weapons. He turned to address the group, ready to brief us on the plan.

"Everybody takes a weapon" He announced to the rest of the group, it was a smart move giving as many members in the group weapons especially with that horde that rolled through. This would give us the best advantage to find Sophia as we could, someone next to me made a slight sound of disapproval. I turned to see Andrea, I think that was her name, she had a look on her face that showed her disdain for what Rick had just said, I don't know what it was about her but something seemed off.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need," She announced to the group as she crossed her arms over her chest the groups attention was now entirely on her. "What about the guns?"

"We've been over that Dale, Rick and I are carrying," Shane announced from where he was leaning against the RV checking over his hand gun. "We can't have people popping off caps every time a tree rustles." He was right everyone in this group having a gun would be a disaster, I also knew that there was no way they would trust a stranger like me with a gun out there with them so I had decided to just take my knife with me.

"Its not the trees I'm worried about" Andrea replied quickly, I get that she was nervous about being out there but she needed to learn that a gun wasn't a guaranteed problem solver in this world. It could be the thing that kills you. I learnt very on in this mess of a world and it almost got me killed in the process.

"Lets say someone fires off a shot at the wrong moment, a herds passing by then its game over for all of us," Shane was quick to shut her down once again. "So you need to get over it." That was the end of that, Shane pulled his back pack up onto his shoulder as Andrea gave him another look to show she wasn't pleased.

"The idea is to take the Creek up about 5 miles turn around then come up the other side," Daryl told the group causing my attention to instantly snap towards him. Glenn stepped forwards towards the car grabbing a hatchet from the leather casing and inspecting it with a grin causing me to smile slightly.

"How do we know she's by the Creek?" Shane asked with curiosity as he made his way closer to the group.

"Its her only land mark" I spoke up softly before Daryl could causing everyone's eyes to slowly drift to me, causing me to shuffle a little under the gaze. "Chances are she'll be there" While I didn't know a lot about hunting I'd picked up a few things over the years.

Rick gave me a nod before addressing the group again. "Stay quiet, stay sharp keep space between you but always stay on the inside of each other" Several members of the group gave small nods at the command. "Everyone assemble your packs" With those words I made my way over to my truck to grab the pack that I always kept on hand in case of an emergency where I needed to get off the highway and into the forest. When I made my way back over I saw Andrea and Dale in some kind of argument as everyone watched on, however it quickly ended as Andrea stormed off through the cars towards the forest. Everyone followed as I found my way to Daryl's side once again giving him a smile as we set off into the forest on a search for Sophia.

As we made our way through the forest Daryl and I were up front with Rick close behind us, he thought it would be best since we could track the best out f everyone in the group. Daryl's bow was at the ready while my knife was out of its sheath and at the ready. Out the corner of my eye I spotted something grey along with neon green that didn't fit in with the rest of the forest. On second glance I could clearly tell what it was, it was a tent.

"Hey" I called lowly catching the attention of both Rick and Daryl, I nodded towards the tent alerting them to what I had found. Daryl moved in front of me crouching down with me behind him keeping an eye on the tent for any kind of movement. Shane made his way to the front of the group, quickly suggesting . "She could be in there"

"Anything could be in there" I added just as softly, keeping my eyes on the tent nervously watching for any kind of movement. I heard movement behind me causing my attention to turn from the possible new found hope. Carol looked as though she was about to sprint over there not caring about what could be lurking in there, but it was Rick who was quick to stop her.

"Sam's right" He said as he got up from his crouching position, we all slowly made our way over towards the tent slowly. As we got closer Daryl gave us a signal to wait, making his way over to the tent by himself. When he peeked into the tent, I held my breath hoping that only Sophia was in there and not a freak. After assessing the tent the best he could without opening it up, he turned back to us giving a shrug.

Rick called out to Carol encouraging her to come forward asking her to call out for Sophia, Daryl stood at the tents entrance as she called out for her daughter. However, there was no response or movement Shane, Rick and I made our way over as Daryl opened the zipper on the tent. Instantly, the strong scent of something rotting invaded my sentence I peered in seeing someone in a chair before anyone else could move I made my way to the entrance stepping inside the tent knife at the ready. The scent made me gag as I peered over at the corpse in the chair the lower portion of his face was missing clearly taken of by the gun that sat in his hands, maggots writhed around on the rotting flesh indicating that he had been here for a while.

I heard Carol softly calling out my name from outside the tent, I moved as quick as possible not wanting to stay in here any longer grabbing the gun from his dead hand and got out of there. Daryl was staring at me with concern as I got out fully taking in the fresh air, everyone was staring at me with curiosity. I shook my head at the group, Daryl lay his hand on my back.

"What was in there?" Andrea asked as she made her way forward as if she was going in to take a look for herself.

"I don't think you want to know." i mumbled softly looking down at the gun in my hand with a grimace the stench from the scent was still there lingering even though I wasn't in there anymore. I jumped slightly at the feeling of a hand on my shoulder causing my head to instantly snap in that direction only to be met with Daryl's concerned eyes. Slowly, I shuffled over to him seeking any kind of comfort from him even though I knew how he felt about being affectionate about things in public. While I had seen so many people like that and even worse I'd still not got used to it and I never think I will in the end.

Suddenly, the sound of bells cut through the air causing everyone to look around the forest trying to find where the noise was coming from the same thought running through our heads.

Sophia?