Chapter Text
The young girl hadn’t heard the stranger come into the house.
Usually, she was good at picking up on sounds, always darting to her feet when she heard the door open or footsteps on the old wooden floors. Years of anxious energy had made her vigilant, but this man moved far too quietly, even along the old floorboards.
Those same floorboards were what eventually gave him away.
She’d been reading a book, upside down on the sofa when she caught the sound paired with the slightest movement out of the corner of her eye and scrambled across the room, cursing herself for not paying attention.
Her body went rigid at the sight of a tall man with some kind of string weapon. She wasn’t all that sure she’d ever seen anything like it. The only thing that she could say about it confidently, was that it was real scary looking, only made worse by the size of the man himself.
He looked almost as surprised as she did when she fled, staring back at her with eyes so blue that she could make them out, even in the dim lighting.
He was clearly taken aback by the child cowering behind a ratty old armchair and remained frozen in place. His thoughts were a jumbled mess and he couldn’t help but wish that it was Sophia staring back at him and not a whole ass other child.
He wondered if it was too late to pretend he’d never seen her and walk right back out the door.
She looked pretty clean despite the state of the old house, dressed in clothes that were worn well enough that the knees of her jeans were torn to shreds and the neck of her shirt was all stretched out. Her hair was in loose braids with strands poking out in all directions, Some draped over her face, framing the hard look she was trying to give him despite the fear coursing through her veins.
The girl couldn’t remember the last time she’d seen a new person.
Her parents had always been the only faces she would see aside from when they brought over their friends, which really didn’t happen all that often. They lived in the middle of fucking nowhere.
Every time they did have company, she knew to make herself scarce out of fear that she’d be made into entertainment for the night, but now she was stuck and her parents weren’t even home.
“They aren’t here” a small but steady voice spoke from behind the chair, hoping he’d just leave her be.
The man blinked himself out of his daze, startled by the sound of her voice.
“Who?” he asked, trying to think over his options.
“Ma and pa.” she said slowly, as if it were obvious “they’re on a trip.”
‘Goddamnit’ he thought to himself ‘just my luck’.
“How uh-” he cleared his throat, dreading the answer to the question that he was about to ask “How long have they been gone?”
“A while.”
The girl watched the man rub his hands over his face and when they came away, he looked over his shoulder with a heavy sigh.
“You got a name?” he asked, squinting at the child and trying to gauge how old it was. “Ain’t gonna hurt ya none, c’mon out”
She blinked at him and made no moves to approach him.
“Listen, I’m lookin' for another kid. You seen her?” he asked her “Bout your age I guess, what are ya, six?”
“I’m twelve, asshole” came a soft grumble from the corner.
“Whatever.” the man rasped “You gon’ come out now?”
“Probably not.”
A frustrated sound left the man’s throat as his jaw clenched.
“You got any Idea what’s goin’ on out there?”
“Sun’s out.”
Unsure if she was joking or not and unable to see her face well enough to tell, the man sighed.
“It ain’t right out there.” he pointed toward the door “shit ain’t the same. Dead people are walkin’ around and there’s no way in hell your folks are comin’ back.”
“They will.” She spat with conviction “They always come back eventually.”
“What’s it been?” he crouched to the ground, only then realizing it might help if he wasn’t towering over her “Days? Weeks?”
“Lil bit more than a month” she shrugged, looking concerningly unbothered.
“They leave you here by yourself?” The man’s eyes narrowed for reasons she didn’t understand.
“Well, yeah.”
“Great,” he muttered under his breath.
“Right.” he grunted finally “There’s a farm a few miles out, good people. I’m gonna take ya there”
“I’m supposed to stay here” She argued, poking her head out even further to give him a dirty look. “You’re talkin’ crazy anyhow. I ain’t goin’ nowhere with you.”
“Not no more,” He stood and nodded toward the door “C’mon.”
When the child didn’t move, he couldn’t help but get annoyed.
“Christ” he snapped “stop fucking around and get up!”
The girl was on her feet immediately, powerless to her body’s reaction from hearing such bite in a man’s words. She took a step forward and stared at the floor, cursing herself for dicking around. If he wanted to, this man could kill her, and here she was, acting like a smart-ass.
‘stupid, stupid, stupid’ she thought, tugging at the ends of her hair.
Her reaction brought an uneasy feeling in the pit of his stomach.
“Got any stuff?” He asked a little softer “Clothes, food, shit like that?”
The child nodded.
“Go on and get it.” he nodded toward the back of the house.
The young girl disappeared down the hall and returned moments later with a faded purple backpack that looked half-full but heavy.
He watched as she crawled up on the kitchen counters and pulled four cans from the barren cupboards before dumping them in the bag and slinging it back over her shoulder.
When she was finished, the girl stood across the room from the man and peered at him through her hair.
She was nervous.
She’d always been taught to listen to adults, no matter what. But, what would happen when her parents returned to an empty house? Surely they’d be angry, but she couldn’t help but think that they might be angrier to learn that she wasn’t listening.
“Stay ‘ere” the man muttered before wandering down the hall and checking the rest of the house himself.
The pit in his stomach only grew deeper with every room he peered into.
The house had the bare minimum in terms of furnishings and in one of the two bedrooms, every surface was littered with empty bottles and cans, most of which were covered in a thin layer of dust and the occasional flecks of white powder.
The second room, if it could even be called that, only contained a child-sized mattress and a neat stack of books.
The walls were stained by nicotine and the floors looked like they might give away if he stood in one place for too long. The front door had no lock, leaving him to wonder if her family had just been squatting in an abandoned house. On his way in he'd noticed the charred remain's of what might've been a garage, adding to the unease.
When he returned to the living room, the girl was exactly where he’d left her with that same nervous look in her eye.
“C’mon,” He looked at her expectantly and nodded toward the door “Got a long walk ahead of us.”
Daryl found himself surprised by how quietly the child moved through the trees. She hadn’t spoken since they’d left the decrepit house and he wasn’t all that sure that he wanted her to.
There was something far too familiar in the girl’s eyes and he found it unnerving.
She’d been left alone for a month and a half and seemed to be used to it. He thought of all the times he had been in the same position as a child and hoped that the similarities ended there. Even then, his own father rarely left for more than a couple of weeks at a time.
‘Lori will know what to do with her,’ He thought with conviction.
The woman was annoying as all hell, but she knew how to talk to the kids all soft and shit so he figured she’d be their best bet. All he had to do was get her back to the farm in one piece.
It didn’t really matter to him who took her, as long as it didn’t have to be him.