Freya's POV
The young boy smiles at me and sits up.
“I’m happy you’re back, Raven!” He says, I look at him confused as Lori gestures for me to come in the room.
“Rick is out on the porch if you want to understand everything going on” She says, softly, I walk to Carl and hold my fist up for him, he smiles as he moves his arm to fist bump me. I nod to Lori before leaving the room, I go to the front door and go on the porch.
I gasp at the beautiful land.
“You should be resting, Freya” I groan in annoyance at the voice of my favorite sheriff, I look at him and smile.
“How’s my favorite friendly neighborhood apocalyptic sheriff on this fine day?” I ask, making him chuckle as he leans on the porch rail and looks out at the farm.
“I’m good, thanks for asking” He says, I walk next to him and jump to sit on the porch rail, I look at Rick expectantly.
“Explanations are needed, Officer Friendly” I say, he nods a serious look now claiming his facial features.
“Carl was shot when we were searching for Sophia and you. The man that shot him told Shane and I to run a bit ahead to a farm owned by someone named Hershel. Hershel fixed him up after Shane and the man went and got supplies for him. Now here we are. The man, his name was Otis, died when they got the stuff for Hershel” He says, I stare at the farm as I try to move the information around in my head.
“Jesus” I mumble, holding my head in my hands.
“You got a strong boy, Grimes” I say to him, he nods and a proud look forms in his eyes.
“I do. I think Carol wanted to chat with you, she’s in the RV” Rick says, pointing at the RV, I hesitate but nod and hop off the rail and go down the stairs slowly. I’m really happy my knee feels better, but I still got a limp though.
“Ra- Freya. You dropped this earlier, was going to put it in you backpack but I assumed you wouldn’t wanna think it’s lost in the woods” I hear Rick say, I turn and see him on the bottom step of the stairs attached to the porch. He’s holding out a piece of plastic paper towards me.
I feel my back pocket and frown when I don’t feel the picture. I go back towards him and carefully grab the picture from his hands.
“Who is it, if you don’t mind?” He asks, I smile at the picture and look up at him.
“My cousin, her name was Ellie, she’s kinda like an odd mix of Sophia and Carl. Sweetest little ball of sunshine ever, her personality was a close hit to Carl’s though” I say, Rick smiles a little bit.
“You and Carl would have loved her” I mumble, gripping the picture as I look at her beautiful blue eyes and raven black hair. Rick nods and ruffles my hair. He glances at the picture again before patting my shoulder.
“I’m sure she is safe somewhere” He says, I chuckle painfully and shake my head no.
“Now now, Officer Friendly. You and I both know that ain’t true. Just like most of the world, she’s long gone. Dead or alive, I don’t know” I say, putting the picture in my pocket, he sighs.
“What happened to our sassy Raven?” He asks, trying to make her atleast smile, she huffs and waves at him.
“Thanks for giving it back to me, Officer Friendly” I say, walking away towards the RV, I hear walk back up the porch then the porch door open and close.
I pause when I get to the RV door.
Maybe she doesn’t want to see me.
Is she mad?
Will she blame me for Sophia still being missing?
Is she gonna tell me I should’ve done better at watching her daughter?
I know I should have done better, I don’t need to be reminded.
“You should probably just go in, Sweetie” I hear the old voice of Dale say, I look up and see Dale standing on the roof of the RV like normal. His rifle slung over his shoulder for watch, a hawaian shirt on like always and a soft smile on his face.
I sigh but nod. I open the RV door and enter.
“Carol?” I ask, seeing her sitting on the bench chair that circles the table, she turns and looks at me, I instantly frown at the sight.
Her eyes are red and puffy from crying, unshed tears still take place in her eyes.
“I’m sorry” I whisper to her.
What she does next surprises me.
She slides off the bench and pulls me into a hug, I hide my face in her shoulder and hug her also.
“I know you did as much as you could. I thank you for doing what you could to make sure she was as safe as she could be. Daryl showed us the sticky notes you left in the cabin for her” Carol says quickly, making me start to cry and hug her tighter.
“I plan on going back out to look for her” I mumble, she pulls back and holds my face in her hands.
“You can’t do that. You still need to get better from your fever, it’s barely gone” She says, feeling my forehead, I shake my head no and wipe some of her tears away.
“She’s still out there cause I couldn’t keep my eye on her” I say, she smiles sadly at me.
“You’re still just a child. You’re younger than she is, Raven” She says, I hug the sad mother again and kiss her cheek.
“I’m gonna bring your daughter back” I say, stopping the hug and backing away slowly, she closes her eyes and wipes her eyes again. I take that as my chance and leave quickly.
“See you in a bit, Carol” I say, closing the RV door.
I wave at Dale.
“Raven, I knew you were going to come here for this. Your revolver is in the gun bag, pretty sure you already know that though based on the look on your face” He says, dropping my Harley backpack down then my tantos, I catch the bag and open it. It feels like something is missing, maybe the weight of the revolver missing is throwing me off. I shrug it off.
“Thanks Dale” I say, he nods and goes back on watch duty.
When I get away from the RV my eyes widen and then close down to a glare.
“You shouldn't be moving around, Dixon” I say, seeing Daryl limping down the porch steps, I run over to him.
“Girl, leave me alone” He grumbles, holding his side, I watch Hershel walk on the porch and shake his head in annoyance.
“Daryl, you shouldn’t leave bed with that wound, ya might rip your stitches” Hershel says, Daryl just waves his hand dismissively at him.
“He’s not wrong, Dixon” I say, looking at the grumpy redneck, Daryl sends a glare my way and I raise my arms in surrender.
“Mr. Greene is right, with your movement now, you might rip your stitches. Ripped stitches don’t feel the greatest” I say, Hershel nods in gratitude towards me.
“Dixon don’t make his life more difficult” I groan in annoyance, watching Daryl continue limping towards his tent. I look back at Hershel and wave my hand like a mock curtsy, he looks at me amused.
“I’ll keep an eye on him, Mr. Greene. If his stitches rip I will annoy him until he comes your way” I say, Hershel smiles at me.
“Thank you, Freya” He says, turning and going back into his home.
I turn around and start going after Daryl. When I catch up to him he looks down at me but looks back up.
“Why are ya followin’ me?” He asks, I look at where his camp is.
“Told Mr. Greene I would keep an eye on your reckless ass” I say, he smacks the back of my head, making me glare at him.
“Don’t need no one to babysit me” He says, I roll my eyes and poke his hand.
“Yeah sure, and I’m a good kid” I say, quickly moving my hand away before he smacks it.
“Besides, while I’m keeping an eye on you, I’m also resting. Two birds meet stone. Or is it two birds, one stone?” I say, confused, Daryl huffs as we get to his camp and slowly goes into his tent.
After a while I realize he doesn’t plan on coming back out of his tent, I look back at the RV and slightly see everyone except a few people. I smile when I notice Carl as one. They’re too far to tell exactly who is who, but the sheriff hat makes him noticeable.
I glance at my backpack in my hand. I step away from Daryl’s tent and open my backpack, I grab my slingshot and put the picture of Ellie in the bag so I don’t lose it, I zip the bag closed, I hide it next to the tree and look at the forest. I remember the cold medicine I saw in my backpack and open it back up, I measure it and then quickly swallow it, the sour taste making me scrunch my nose in disgust.
I look back at the forest and silently make my way towards the trees.
‘I’m bringing Sophia back, she deserves to be with her family’ I think in my head, stepping over some branches. I look back at the farm but look back forward as I go deeper in the forest, making sure to mark as I go so I don't get lost.
◇☆◇☆◇☆
3rd Person POV
A Few Hours Later
“Glenn, can you go get Freya from the house?” Lori asks, Glenn sighs but nods and goes to get up but T-Dog stops him.
“I’ll go get her. Haven’t seen her since she got back” T-Dog says, getting out of his chair and going towards the house. Dale was on the RV keeping watch, not paying attention to the conversations, Carol was in the RV still, Rick was starting to come towards the group.
“Thank you, T” Lori says, scooping some food into a bowl for Rick when she sees him.
T-Dog goes to the house but comes back soon after.
“Hershel said she was keeping an eye on Dixon to make sure he didn’t break stitches” T-Dog says, still walking to go bug Daryl.
“Hey Daryl, I was sent to bring back Freya” T says, looking for the girl, Daryl shakes his head.
"Think she went back to the farmer's house some hours ago" Daryl says, T huffs.
"Maybe she's in the RV then. Thanks Daryl" T says, turning around and leaving, Daryl goes back to making arrows.
Daryl looks up when he hears footsteps, slightly stumbling, he grabs his crossbow and loads an arrow into it. He walks towards the forest, crossbow up, when the footsteps get closer and exit the trees.
"That might be the second time you've pointed that damn terminator thing at me" Freya says, glaring at the crossbow, Daryl stands there thinking.
"Nobody would know. Nobody" He thinks, but grunts as he lowers the crossbow.
(AN: Any Avenger fans here? Clint Barton is hilarious)
"I love how you hesitated on lowering the crossbow. I feel so loved" She says sarcastically but starts coughing, he walks to her and grabs her forearm.
"The fuck you out there for?" Daryl asks as he drags her.
“Lookin for a rainbow” Freya mumbles sarcastically, trying to get her arm out of his hold.
"Trying to find Sophia" She says.
“Dumbass move” He says, pushing her to sit down on a log, holding his side.
“Nobody noticed I was gone, good to know” Freya says, he shakes his head as he sits down on a log. He gives her a cooked squirrel and she eats it.
"Did you rip your stitches?" She asks, he ignores her and continues attacking some branches.
“Ain’t your business” He says, she coughs more and goes to say something back but the coughs get worse.
“Winter is gonna suck for me” She mumbles, she starts coughing more and Daryl slowly gets up.
“Ya shouldn’t of left, little dumbass” He grumbles as he helps her up, she stops coughing a little bit.
“I’m fine, just a slight cough” She mumbles, voice scratchy after coughing so much, Daryl scoffs but helps her up and starts pushing her towards the farmhouse.
Daryl feels her forehead.
“Ya made it worse when ya decided to be fucking Indiana Jones” He says annoyed and continues pushing her towards the farmhouse.
"Still sick, sorry Dixon" Freya says, T-Dog runs up to them when the group sees them.
“Freya, where were you?” T asks, Freya looks down at her feet as she answers.
“Looking for Sophia” She mumbles, T-dog sighs and looks at Daryl.
“I’ll get her to the old man. Keep an eye on your stitches” T-Dog says, Daryl grunts as he turns around and goes back towards his camp. T-Dog notices her slightly falling forward and grabs her.
“We will search for her in the morning, but you need to watch your health” He says, lifting her up and holding her on his hip, she leans her head on his shoulder.
“Why T-Dog?” She mumbles, he shrugs as he walks up the steps to the house.
“Tell meeeee” She whines, poking his face, making him chuckle.
“Sorry to bug you, Hershel. But, someone with a fever decided to go search for the girl” T-Dog says to the frowning old man.
“Same room as before” Hershel says, going to the kitchen as T-Dog puts her in the room, Hershel comes back with a pill jar and a cup of water.
“This works better than the liquid medicine. Bethy would get sick a lot when she was younger”Hershel says, putting a pill in Freya’s hand, she scrunches her nose and shakes her head no. T-Dog looks amused but Hershel looks at him for help.
“Kid, if you take it I will tell you what the T in my name is for” T-Dog says, Freya stares at the pill before quickly swallowing it and drinking the water, she looks at T-Dog expectantly, curiosity swimming in her blue eyes.
“Theodore” He says, making her smile and nod happily.
“I like it. I’m calling you Theo from now on” She says, T-Dog groans in annoyance.
“Whyyyyy” He dramatically whines, making Freya giggle, Hershel smiles at Freya.
“Daddy?” A teenage blonde asks from in the doorway, Hershel looks up at the voice.
“Freya, this is Beth” Hershel says, gesturing for Beth to enter the room, Beth hesitantly enters the room. She walks to Freya and holds a book out to her.
“It fell out of your bag when Carol dropped it in the living room when you first got here” Beth says, Freya smiles at the familiar hardcover notebook.
“I knew my bag felt lighter” She says, skimming through different pages of her notebook, Hershel looks at T-Dog confused.
“She writes down random medical things she reads” T says, Hershel smiles and holds his hand out.
“May I?” He asks, Freya slightly nods and gives him the book
Freya looks at Beth and slightly smiles at her.
“You and your sister have that in common” Freya says, Beth looks at her.
“You’re both really pretty” Freya says, Beth goes aww and hugs her. T smiles at that, noticing Freya becoming less guarded.
“Bethy, we should let her rest now” Hershel says, Beth nods and leaves after saying night to Freya, Hershel soon follows. T goes to leave but stops when he notices her getting out of bed.
“Uh Uh, no way. You’re staying here to rest” He says, she looks at the window.
“Girl- You know what, I actually think you’d go through the window” He says, she smiles.
“Can you stay, Theo?” She asks, he huffs at her frown but nods.
“Sure, kid” He says.
“Grandpa used to keep the nightmares away. Can you do that too?” She asks, he smiles.
“Yeah, I’ll scare the nightmares away, go to sleep, got a long day tomorrow” He says, sitting down in the chair by the bed.
“I’ll scare them for you, kid” T says