SARAH
After her talk with Glenn, Sarah decided to look around for something to help Daryl and Nicki so that her sister could train in the morning. She had observed Nicolette and how frustrated she had been. Maybe this would make her feel a bit better.
"Looking for something, honey?" Carol's voice made her turn, as she was knelt down, to look inside the box with canned food that they had brought from the cars.
"Yes, actually," Sarah said kindly. "Do we have some empty cans? I don't need many of them." Carol looked around.
"We've made T-Dog eat something," she said as she moved toward another box right next to her tent. Sarah walked next to her with her hands in the back pockets of her jeans.
"I've got three here," Carol said, showing her three cans and making Sarah smile.
"They are perfect, Carol. Thanks," she said, taking them from the woman. "Do we have something to... hang them?" Carol looked inside another box but shook her head.
"I'm sorry, honey," Sarah smiled again at Carol, looking around, thinking about what she remembered they had that could help her. But as she was thinking, she noticed Maggie walking towards the house, so Sarah thanked Carol again and then ran towards the other girl.
"Hey," she called, making the brunette girl turn. "You're Maggie, right?" Sarah asked, stopping a few feet from her. "I'm Sarah, Nicolette's sister."
"Oh yeah, she told me about you," Maggie answered with a little smile.
"Nicki told me about you, too," Sarah said. "She only spoke nicely, and that's not that common." At that, Maggie chuckled.
"She is a cool kid," she said. "Very brave" Sarah turned instinctively towards her sister. That was true; Nicolette was proving to be very strong. As she turned towards Maggie again, Sarah noticed Glenn looking at them with slightly panicked eyes, and that made the girl almost laugh. He was not subtle at all.
"I'm actually here for Nicki," Sarah said as she looked at Maggie, whose brows furrowed a bit.
"Is she alright?"
"Yes," Sarah said urgently. She didn't want Maggie to worry. The phrase came out wrong. "It's just that she wants to train with her bow, and I need something to hang these up." Sarah finished showing Maggie the cans in her hands.
"I think I might have something," the girl said, pointing down the road. "Come," Sarah smiled, thanking her as she started following Maggie. That girl seemed very strong and stubborn; Sarah liked her.
"You seem quite a tight group," Maggie said as they walked.
"After everything that happened, it starts to feel more like family," Sarah answered, smiling as she eyed her group.
"Nicki told me there's just the two of you." At Maggie's words, Sarah nodded her head.
"It's true," Sarah answered sadly. "Our parents are in San Francisco. We were alone in Atlanta when everything happened."
"How did you meet with them?" asked Maggie.
"Thanks to Glenn," Sarah said with a smile. "He saved Nicki and me when we were still back in the city. We ran for hours, and when we found ourselves on the highway, we met Dale first and then the others. We've been together ever since." Maggie listened quietly to her as she spoke.
"What about you?" asked Sarah.
"I've always lived here," Maggie said, shrugging her shoulders. "Then I left for college, but I came back to help my dad."
"The blond girl and the boy are your siblings?" asked Sarah curiously, but Maggie shook her head with a smile.
"No, only Beth," Maggie explained. "Jimmy is her boyfriend."
Sarah giggled at that. Beth could feel comforted by him; she wasn't sure about Hershel, though.
"You got a boyfriend?" asked Maggie suddenly, but Sarah shook her head.
"No," she answered. "I had a boyfriend, but we broke up some time ago." Then she looked Maggie out of the corner of her eye and said, "You?" At her question, she noticed Maggie stiffen slightly, and that almost made her giggle, but she managed to keep a straight face. She didn't want to spoil things for Glenn.
"No, I..." Maggie started before shaking her head. "No."
Maybe Glenn had some kind of chance with this girl, and Sarah was already picturing the two of them together. Not bad at all.
"Not that we have time for boyfriends," Sarah said after taking a breath. But it is nice to daydream sometimes." Maggie turned to her with a smile, and they kept walking for some minutes before they arrived near a wooden structure. Sarah smiled at it. She had always liked farms; made of wood and full of animals and tools. She wasn't used to it in San Francisco.
"Come," Maggie said, opening the large door. It seemed like a sort of garage; there were tools to keep the grass clean, and there was what seemed like a car covered with a sheet. Sarah got curious and got closer as Maggie looked inside the old boxes. It seemed like they hadn't touched that car for long. She took the cloth in her hand, starting to uncover the car. It was an old model, and it seemed dark blue.
"That was my parents," Maggie said, making Sarah turn. "It was a present for their wedding. My dad tried to fix it, but he never got much time, so he left it here. Since it reminded him of my mom, he didn't want to throw it away." As Sarah listened to Maggie, she uncovered the car more. It brought back nice memories, and she understood why Hershel couldn't leave it behind.
"Do you still have the keys?" Sarah asked, making Maggie frown curiously.
"Sure, why?" Sarah smiled.
"I love fixing things," she explained. "And I was learning how to do it on cars. Dale was teaching me before Sophia and... everything else." Sarah couldn't help but feel sad every time she thought about what had happened to them in just a few days—how many people they had lost, how much fear they had felt.
"Would you like to fix it?" asked Maggie with a smile.
"Maybe," Sarah said before turning to the girl, "I mean, if I can."
"Why not?" Maggie nodded her head. "You can come here whenever you want; the keys are inside that drawer," she said, pointing at a wooden piece of old furniture. "At least it will not stay here just to be covered in dust." Then she handed her some ropes. "Here."
"Thank you, Maggie," Sarah said with a smile.
"What are you up to?" asked Nicolette with a yawn as Sarah had woken her as the sun rose.
"It's a surprise, you'll see," Sarah said happily.
"Only you can organize surprises in the middle of an apocalypse," Nicki scoffed, dramatic as always.
"That shows you how much I love you," Sarah answered, giggling. She couldn't wait for her sister to figure out what was going on.
"Yeah, love you too," Nicki muttered, yawning again.
They walked some meters away from the others so that they wouldn't wake up. Sarah had arranged everything the evening before, hanging the cans to some branches; she had to ask Glenn for help, which he gave, even if he had spent half of the time asking Sarah about Maggie and what they had talked about. Sarah had teased him a bit, saying that they had talked about his "performance", but when he noticed him getting too pale, she told him that she was just messing with him.
As they arrived at their training camp, Sarah smiled when she saw Daryl looking at the targets.
"Good morning, Daryl," Sarah said, making him turn. He observed them both before nodding his head.
"What is this?" asked Nicki with wide eyes as she passed Sarah to see what was hanging from the branches.
"Daryl has agreed to teach you how to shoot with moving targets," Sarah said, turning to Daryl with a smile. "And I set the camp."
"Truly?" asked Nicki, still not believing what they were telling her.
"Yeah," Sarah said. "Right, Daryl?"
"Yeah" he answered shrugging his shoulders before pointing at the targets "The best ya could do?" Sarah turned to him with a frown.
"I did a pretty great job, thank you," she said dramatically, and her lips turned into a smile when he saw Daryl hide a smirk. "Don't be mean," she said, nudging him with her elbow.
"Thank you." They both turned when they heard Nicolette mutter. She couldn't help but watch the target move thanks to the breeze, and Sarah found herself smiling wide as she noticed Nicolette already taking her bow from around her shoulder.
"A'right," Daryl said, taking a stone on the ground and positioning it a few meters from the targets. "Come here, girl," Nicki nodded her head and moved where Daryl was pointing. "And ya can go," he said, turning towards Sarah, who looked at him with wide eyes.
"What?" she said. "Can't I watch?"
"She needs ta concentrate," Daryl scoffed. "Not a cheerleader."
"I would keep quiet." At that, Nicki chuckled, making Sarah glare at her.
"Ya never keep quiet," Daryl said before moving towards the targets to push one and make it swing. Sarah found herself pouting before Nicki turned to her.
"Once I'm good at it, I'll let you watch me." She should have been surprised, but she really wasn't. Nicki always wanted to be seen when she was sure of what she was doing, so Sarah took a deep breath and raised her hands.
"Alright," she said, "I'll go, I'll go."
As she moved away, she looked at Daryl, starting to explain something to Nicolette, but she was too far away to listen, and she had promised she would go away, so Sarah walked back to the camp. As she positioned the few camping chairs that they used for breakfast, she sometimes looked back at Nicolette and Daryl, and she spotted her sister, giving out a frustrated groan as she missed the moving can.
"You let her train then." Sarah turned to see Shane walk closer. "That is a wise choice."
"She would have found a way sooner or later," she answered, looking back to her sister. "Better with someone trustworthy."
"You trust Daryl?" Shane said with a chuckle, making Sarah frown.
"Of course," she answered, eyeing the man who was still observing Nicolette and Daryl. She was sure that Daryl was someone they could trust. He had helped them since the first day, going hunting for the group.
"Wouldn't she shoot a gun?" Shane asked after a moment.
"I don't know," Sarah said, crossing her arms over her chest. "She never mentioned it." Nicolette only had eyes for her bow, never for once she had mentioned other weapons.
"And you?" Shane asked, making Sarah turn with wide eyes. "Ya want to know how to shoot a gun?" Sarah couldn't help but smile. She had wanted to learn how to defend herself for so long, but she didn't think that they would actually let her.
"I do," she said, nodding her head.
"Alright," he answered, "Andrea found a good spot; I'll tell you when it's settled."
Sarah couldn't help but feel excited about it. Finally, she would have been able to help the group, even for just a bit.
As everyone started to wake up, Sarah helped Carol make breakfast, just handing her what she needed. Carol was able to make very good dishes with so few, and Sarah didn't want to ruin it.
When she noticed Lori walking back from the house, Sarah walked closer.
"Hey, Lori," she greeted the woman, who smiled tiredly at her.
"Hi, sweetheart," she answered.
"How's Carl?" Sarah asked.
"He is good," Lori answered, making Sarah smile. "In a few days, he should be able to walk around and eat something."
"Oh, thank God," Sarah said, taking a deep breath as Lori let out a chuckle.
The two of them sat down to eat with the others. It was nice and familiar. They found each other together and had breakfast, which really made her feel safe as if there was nothing they should worry about.
"Ya gotta eat," Daryl's voice made all of them look up.
"I want to train!" Nicki argued back, "I haven't hit it even once!"
"Of course, ya haven't hit shit. It takes more than a day." Daryl roared back as he dragged Nicolette by an arm as she was trying to get free.
"Then let go of me and let me train!" Nicolette insisted.
"Imma training ya, ya do as I say," Daryl said, pointing a finger at her, "If I say eat, ya do!" Nicolette looked at him with wide eyes.
"I've made a huge mistake," she said.
"Probably," Daryl said, making her sit down. "Now eat, then ya do whatever."
As he passed by, Sarah handed him a plate with wide eyes. Nicki wasn't easy to convince or threaten, so she couldn't help but feel impressed that he actually made her listen to him.
"Asshole," Nicki muttered as Lori gave her a plate.
"Eat," groaned Daryl, eating his eggs. Sarah knew she was supposed to stay serious, but that scene was too funny to watch, so she had to drink a glass of water not to let them see her smirking.
After eating, Rick decided that they would split up to look for Sophia, so they all went next to a car to take a look at the map to see what zone they should check.
"If she made it as far as the farmhouse Daryl and Sarah found, she might have gone further east than we've been so far," Rick was saying when Jimmy approached them.
"I'd like to help," the boy said as Rick observed him. "I know the area pretty well, and stuff."
"Hershel's okay with this?" asked the sheriff.
"Yeah, yeah. He said l should ask you," Jimmy answered, making Rick thank him.
"Nothing about what Daryl and Sarah found screams Sophia to me." What Shane said made her frown. "Anyone could have been holed up in that farmhouse."
"Anybody includes her, right?" said Andrea making Sarah nod.
"It was a small space, Shane," Sarah insisted. It was surely a world where anyone could be left alone, but another child? Lost in the woods? There were too many coincidences.
"Yeah, whoever slept in that cupboard was no bigger than yay-high," Daryl said, gesturing to them the size of a child.
"It's a good Iead," Andrea said, looking between Rick and Shane. Even if she was surprised, Sarah was glad that at least one person believed them.
"Maybe we'll pick up her trail again," said Rick.
"No, maybe about it," said Daryl, shaking his head, before looking at the map. "I'm gonna borrow a horse, head up to this ridge right here, and take a birds-eye view of the whole grid. If she's up there, I'll spot her."
"Do you need someone to go with you?" Sarah asked. He would have moved farther than the day before, and she didn't like him going alone.
"I'll be fine," he said, shaking his head.
"But..."
"It's too far, Sarah," Daryl said.
"Daryl's right," Rick said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Maybe tomorrow, if we're moving around the area, alright?" Sarah hated it, but they were right. Closer to the farm it was safer, going farther made it more dangerous and she didn't know how to defend herself. She didn't want to put the others in danger.
"That's a shame," T-Dog said. "Maybe he could make you see that chupacabra up there." Sarah turned to him with a glare.
"Chupacabra?" asked Rick with a frown as Daryl chewed his bottom lip.
"Our first night in camp, Daryl tells us that the whole thing reminds him of a time when he went squirrel hunting, and he saw a chupacabra."
"T..." Sarah said in a low voice as Jimmy started to laugh.
"What are ya braying at, jackass?" Daryl challenged, glaring at the boy.
"So, you believe in a blood-sucking dog?" he asked.
"Do ya believe dead people waIkin' 'round?" Daryl answered back, making Sarah turn towards him. Rick started to put the guns on the hood of the car, but before Jimmy can reach one, he stops him.
"Ever fire one before?" he asked.
"Well, if l'm going out, I want one," Jimmy said, making Daryl snort.
"Yeah, and people in hell want Slurpees," he said before starting to walk away.
"Be careful out there," Sarah said, making him turn slightly, observing her from the corner of his eye, before turning to walk away.
Since she wasn't going to go out that day, she decided to go and take a look at the car she had seen with Maggie.
The wooden garage wasn't far from the house, but she liked it there. It was quiet, and she probably would have found a way to not think about Sophia.
Sarah entered and walked towards the old car, uncovering it from the sheet on top. A lot of dust hit her face, making her cough. And an old, dark blue car—maybe it couldn't make many miles, but at least she could have trained in fixing cars.
She moved towards the drawer, opening it to take the keys.
"Not even wireless," she muttered with a smile before inserting the key into the lock to open the door. Sarah sat down, trying to start it, but of course, she didn't manage. She would have spent many hours on that.
Sarah got out to walk on the front and open the hood. As she succeeded, a loud metallic noise made her cringe.
"Maybe some oil," she said with a small smile. She tied her hair up in a ponytail before bending over to see inside.
"These should be the breaks if I'm not messing it up." Then, she moved more towards the front. "This could be the oil, probably, there's any left."
"Are you talking to yourself now?" Sarah turned when she heard Dale's voice.
"I know," she said with a giggle. "I'm getting worse."
The man chuckled, getting closer to her with a curious smile. Dale was always smiling; it was probably Sarah's favorite thing about him. It was like having her grandpa with her again. She wondered how he was, him and her granny. It was so difficult when her mind went back to her family. She could just hope they had found a place that was safe and people to help them. She tried to be positive, but with every day that passed, she was less and less sure that she would ever see her family again.
"What are you doing?" Dale's voice made her look up.
"I want to learn how to fix cars," she answered.
"You're learning," Dale said sweetly, making Sarah nod. Dale had shown her something about fixing the RV before everything happened.
"Yeah, but I want to really learn how to fix cars," Sarah insisted. "In this world, having a car could really save your life. I'm good with my hands; I know I can be useful with that." Then she turned to the old car. "So when I found this, I thought that I could start," Dale observed her in silence before smiling, looking at the ground.
"You two are quite impressive," Dale said, making Sarah frown in confusion. "Your sister is training like crazy with her bow, and now you want to learn how to fix a car."
"We keep each other safe, the group," she said. "You've all kept us safe for so long, so I think it is right to return the favor." Dale kept smiling as he put a hand on her shoulder.
"Alright," he said. "Let's take a look together." Sarah nodded eagerly as she bent next to Dale to see the car.
Dale was not a mechanic, but he was very good at explaining the basics, and for now, Sarah couldn't ask for anything better. The man took a look to see how bad it was, and to him, she would have had a lot to work on, so she would definitely learn something in the following days. They stood there for the majority of the day, and Sarah liked listening to him talk about his wife and his life before that.
"What did you do?" Dale asked at some point, "Before all of this."
"A very normal life, actually," she answered, shrugging her shoulders. "I was in college. I would have probably ended up being a teacher or something."
"You sure don't sound so eager," Dale said, making Sarah take a breath.
"Let's say the loss of my future career is the only good thing about the apocalypse," Sarah said with a little snort. She was nineteen and too young to make a good decision. Her mother pushed her in that direction, but she had never felt that it was the right path for her. When she was in her senior year, she had really no clue what to do with her life.
In the afternoon, Sarah and Dale decided to take a break from their tasks and return to the camp. As Dale walked towards the RV, Sarah decided to walk towards the house since she spotted someone sitting by the window.
"Look who is up," she said cheerfully, looking at Carl.
"Hi, Sarah," he said, waving his hand.
"How are you feeling, little man?" she asked, crossing her arms over her chest.
"It still hurts a bit," he said, looking down at his belly. "But I can walk now. In a few days, Hershel said, I will be able to walk outside."
"That's good to hear," she smiled, then she noticed him looking behind her, so she followed his gaze to see Nicki give out a frustrated groan.
"She's been there all day," Carl said, not surprising Sarah. She knew how obsessive her sister could be. "She seems crazy from here," that made Sarah chuckle.
"Maybe she is a bit," she answered as Nicki cursed at no one.
"I know she is," she had thought; maybe after what had happened, the two of them would have become closer, but apparently, she was wrong.
"She's worried about Sophia," Sarah said finally. "You get that, right?" Carl turned to her, nodding silently.
"I want to find her too," he said sadly. She remembered how close Sophia and Carl had become friends quickly, spending all their time together. Sarah had heard that he had asked about her as he woke up. It was silly, but sometimes, they all forgot that children understood what was going on around them. Both Carl and Nicolette were observing people, and they wanted to be useful. Maybe it was not right to keep treating them like little children anymore.
"Walker! Walker!" Andrea's voice made Sarah spin on her heels.
"Walker?" Carl asked.
"Don't move," Sarah said to him before starting to run towards the camp.
"Nicolette!" She called, making her sister move towards her.
It was still far out of the fence. It was walking slowly, but it was too far to understand if there were others. She could barely see its frame.
"Is it just one?" asked Dale.
"I bet I can nail it from here," Andrea said, bracing her rifle.
"No, Andrea. Put the gun down," Rick roared, gesturing to her to do as he said.
"You'd best let us handle it," Shane said as he, T-Dog, and Glenn started to walk toward the walker. As Glenn passed by her, Sarah squeezed briefly his arm, wishing him to be careful.
"Shane, hold up," exclaimed Rick. "Hershel wants to deal with walkers."
"What for, man? We got it covered," argued Shane, making Rick groan before running back to the RV to take his gun and run toward where the others were going.
Sarah looked down at Nicki, who was nervously bouncing her leg up and down. It was just one walker. They could handle it; they had to. She never liked it when they ran towards danger in that way. Anything could have happened, and she dreaded the thought.
"Andrea, what are you doing?" Sarah heard Nicolette say before moving towards the RV.
"I can kill it," Andrea said, lying down on the roof of the RV.
Nicolette groaned, "What if the gunshot attracts others here?"
Sarah got closer to her sister. "Andrea, listen to her." She said, eyeing where the others were going.
"Andrea, don't!" Dale almost begged.
"Back off, all of you," Andrea said, aiming. Sarah took a deep breath as Nicki groaned once again, shaking her head. Her heart jumped when she heard the gunshot ring all around the empty fields.
"Did she get it?" Sarah asked, turning towards her sister, who was looking ahead of her with a frown.
"It went down, but..." suddenly they heard Rick's voice. He was screaming. He sounded so desperate that Sarah felt her blood run cold in her veins. Why was he screaming? What happened?
"Why is he screaming?" Sarah asked, trembling. She hated not knowing what was going on. Her hands were almost shaking as she saw Andrea and Dale run ahead to see what had happened. As they waited, Nicki turned as she heard the others run towards where they were standing.
"What on earth is going on out here?" Hershel roared from behind her. Sarah couldn't move as she tried to understand.
"What are they doing?" She muttered out loud.
"They are carrying someone." Sarah turned to Nicolette as she spoke. That walker wasn't the size of a child so that it couldn't be Sophia. Sarah turned to see who was behind her. They were all there—all of them.
"Oh my God," Nicki said with wide eyes. "Is that Daryl?"
Daryl?