Haven (on hold)

19

"Ideas are like rabbits. You get a couple and learn how to handle them, and pretty soon you have a dozen."
― John Steinbeck

A/N: If anyone skipped the last chapter; Daryl and Aurora's friendship/bonding started. :)

~Aurora's Pov~

"Hey," Dad said as I made my way down the steps of the house. "Hey," I said reaching him. "Come with me." he said holding his arm out towards me. He put a hand on the back of my head and we walked away from the house. "What?" I asked as he stopped walking. I stopped walking too and he pulled out a gun, holding it out towards me. I looked at the gun, "I know it's not the one you used for training, this one has more weight to it but it's the only one we have right now. Take it.." He said looking at me.

I looked at him again, "What about mom?" I asked softly. He shook his head, "I need this on you sweetheart, Please take it." He said, I reached out and took the gun. He was right, it was heavier than the one I had. I tucked it in my jeans and looked at him again. He put a hand on my cheek and gave me a soft smile. I returned it, "Cmon." he said and pulled away.

We went back to the front of the house to see T-Dog handing Daryl a gun. "Is that Dale's gun?" Daryl asked, checking it out. "Yeah.." T-Dog said and closed the back of the pickup. "Ready?" Dad asked as we walked up to them. They looked over at us. "Yeah, I'll get the package." T-Dog said and walked over to the shed. He and Daryl were going to let Randall go. Daryl looked at me and nodded the slightest bit, I returned it. "Be careful." I said to both of them, "Yeah." Daryl said. Dad put a hand on the back of my head and kissed my temple, pulling me into him for a side hug. I hugged him back.

"Oh hell no!" T-Dog called out. We pulled away and looked over to see T-Dog rushing back to us. "He ain't in there." He said. "What?" Dad asked. Andrea and Glenn stepped out of the house. "What's going on?" Andrea asked, noticing the looks on our faces. "Randall's not here." Dad said as we walked. "What?" Glenn asked, We all went over and they started checking the shed.

"What's wrong!?" I looked back to see Glenn coming back with the rest. "Randall's missing." He said. "Missing? How?!" Maggie asked as they reached us. "How long's he been gone?" Hershel asked looking inside. "It's hard to say." T-Dog said looking at him. I looked back to see Oliver coming with Beth. "The cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped 'em." Dad said stepping out. "Is that possible?" Carol asked looking inside too. "It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea said stepping out of the shed too. "The door was secured from the outside." Hershel said closing the door.

"Rick!" We looked over to see Shane walking over to us, coming out of the forest with a bloody nose. "Rick!" He called out again. My dad started walking towards him and I grabbed his hand quickly. He held it back and kept walking. "What happened?!" Mom called out as he made his way over to us. "He's armed! He's got my gun!" He yelled looking at us. I swallowed the lump in my throat looking at him, he looked pissed.

"Are you okay?!" Carl called out. Shane had blood all the way down to his chest. "I'm fine. Little bastard snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." He said reaching us. "Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, Get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, come with me." Dad said looking at everyone then back to me. "Get inside." He said letting go of my hand and putting it on my arm, "Go." He said. I shook my head. "But-" "Go." He repeated, cutting me off.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane said walking by us. Dad turned around to look at the rest. "Just let him go. That was the plan wasn't it? To just let him go?" Carol asked. My dad walked back to Carol, I stayed where I was. "The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Dad said looking at her. Shane grabbed the gun from T-Dog and they walked back towards the woods. I grabbed my dad's arm again before he could walk any further. "Daddy-" I said stopping him. He looked back at me, "Don't go out there. Y'all know what can happen!" Carol said, also concerned.

"I need you to go to the house. Now Aurora, please listen to me. Get inside." He said. "We'll be alright," Daryl said looking at me as he loaded his crossbow. I looked at him then back at my dad swallowing the lump in my throat. "Go. Lock the doors and stay put." He said, I let him go and they all walked away from me. "R, let's go. Cmon." T-Dog said coming to me. "Cmon." He repeated and put his hand on my back and we all rushed back to the house, doing as dad said. Locking all the doors.

~Later on that same night~

About 2 hours passed, it was dark now and none of them have been back yet. Earlier we heard a gunshot and I was starting to worry. I was in the living room sitting on the couch, "Hey." I heard Oliver's voice. I looked over, "Hey." I said, He looked around and saw I was the only one here. He walked over to me, ".. Can I sit with you? Or do you wanna be alone?" He asked. "You can sit," I said. I found it kind of sweet that he always asks if he can join me.

"You alright..?" He asked sitting next to me. "Yeah, the gunshots messing with my head.. Last time this happened Carl ended up shot. I'm just worried." I said looking away from him. "Don't be, They all know how to protect themselves." He said looking at me. "I know.. I'm just worried." I said again.

"Rick and Shane ain't back?" I heard Daryl's voice. I stood up and headed over to the rest quickly, Oliver followed me. "No." Mom said looking at Daryl and Glenn. "We heard a shot." Daryl said looking at us. "Maybe they found Randall." Mom said looking at them. "We found him." Daryl said, I nodded a bit. At least they found him.. "Is he back in the shed?" Maggie asked, "He's a walker." Daryl said. "Did you find the walker that bit him?" Hershel asked. "No, the weird thing is he wasn't bit." He said. I furrowed my eyebrows and looked over to Oliver. He looked over to me too, "His neck was broke." Daryl said.

"So he fought back," Patricia said, We looked over to them again. "The thing is, Shane and Randall's tracks were right on top of each other. And Shane ain't no tracker, so he didn't come up behind him. They were together." Daryl said. I looked over at mom. "But daddy's- he's out there with Shane what if he did something- what if- "

She cut me off. "No, stop it." She said putting her hands on my cheeks then pulled me into her for a hug. I hugged her back, "Would you please get back out there, Find Rick and Shane and find out what on earth is going on?" She asked looking at Daryl. Daryl nodded looking at me then at my mom. "You got it." he said and stepped out of the house with Glenn and Andrea.

Word Count;1270