SARAH
A few days had passed since Andrea accidentally shot Daryl. Sarah spent most of her time fixing the old car with Dale, and they were making progress. They still had a long way to go, but that was a good way to focus on something else instead of walkers, Sophia, and everything that happened or that possibly could in the future. Then she would make sure that Daryl was ok; the wound on his side was still open, and he surely needed more time to heal fully. But he moved from the bed to his tent, so that was progress. Even Carl seemed to feel better; he was allowed to walk, and he was gaining strength again; seeing him be fine felt like some miracle. And they needed one. That was finally good news, for most of them, since Carl had started to spend time with them again, the bickering fights with Nicki had started again.
Sarah's sister spent most of her days training with moving objects and she was slowly getting the hang of it, surely Nicolette being a perfectionist didn't allow her to see her progresses, but she was progressing indeed. And Carl didn't help, always teasing her every time she didn't hit a target.
"Shut that mouth!" Nicki would yell at him, who always answered with a little giggle.
It was actually entertaining looking at them. They seemed like normal children spending time together—two normal children with impressive and terrific aims. Sarah knew of her sister's talent, of course, but she was shocked at how Carl was able to shoot when they had trained with Rick and Shane.
Sarah had trained, too. It felt strange holding a knife, firing, and hearing the thunderous noise echoing all around her. She had never held a weapon, but it felt strangely reassuring knowing that she was finally learning to defend herself. She was not as good as Andrea at hitting targets, but she felt pretty proud of the progress she was making. She was very grateful to the two former cops for helping them, even though her sister hadn't been very happy about it.
"Rick and Shane are teaching you?" Nicki asked with an unreadable face that made Sarah frown.
"Yeah," she answered, not sure of what she wanted to hear. "What is it?"
Nicki looked at her coolly, like always.
"Nothing," she answered.
"Well, then tell it to your face," Sarah said.
She was confused. The two of them had talked about learning to shoot; why was she acting like that?
"Is Shane a good teacher?" Nicki asked at some point.
"He is," Sarah said with a little frown. And at that, Nicki nodded her head.
"I'm sure he is," Sarah was honestly confused at that point; her sister wasn't making any sense.
"Did you want to learn too?" Sarah tried; maybe it was the reason behind her strange behavior.
"No, I'll stick with arrows until I can," Nicki said, taking a breath. "Which reminds me that I have to train."
Strange conversation aside, everything else was going fine, as fine as their new life could be. They were safe and had been eating, so she couldn't complain, but something that really bothered Sarah was Glenn.
Since the dinner Carol and Lori had organized, he had been acting very strangely. He was jumpy and talked much, much less, and every time Sarah tried to share a word with him, he became nervous and cut the conversation before running away. She knew that something was going on between him and Maggie, but she didn't understand how that had anything to do with her friendship with Glenn. If not that, what else could it be? Why wouldn't he be talking to her anymore?
It was strange not spending time with Glenn. She just hoped that, at some point, he would open up to her about what was going on with him.
"Five in a row, Nicki." Sarah hid a chuckle when she heard Carl's voice. "You aren't that bad after all."
Sarah observed her sister glaring at the boy coldly before taking a breath.
"How you feel about running these days, Shorty?"
"Why?" Carl asked, frowning. Nicolette shrugged her shoulders.
"I feel confident enough to try on a human figure now."
"Already arguing?" Lori's voice made Sarah smile towards the woman.
"It's like our morning music, now," T-Dog said after a yawn. It was, in fact, morning, and they were all starting their usual routine, and Carl and Nicki were part of it.
Sarah turned towards Daryl's tent and walked to it. That was part of her routine, too.
"Good morning," she said, looking inside, where Daryl was already lying awake, like every morning.
"Those kids ar crazy," Sarah chuckled.
"I know," she answered. "How is it going?" he shrugged his shoulders.
"Like yesterday."
"Am I asking too many times?" she said a bit self-consciously. She didn't want to bother him, but she really got worried when he got hurt. Daryl bit his lip, looking up at her.
"Nah," he said, making her smile.
"Carol is making breakfast," she said. "It should be almost ready." Daryl nodded his head silently as she moved to walk away, but before she could take a step, the man spoke.
"Heard Rick say ya'r getting' ta hand a' guns." Sarah's lips turned up, feeling a bit happy about it.
"I'm trying my best; Rick and Shane are great teachers," she answered.
"Mm..." Daryl mumbled, observing as she spoke. "I wouldn't call myself Legolas, but I'm getting better." Daryl frowned a bit, making her blush.
"Well... yeah... come and eat." Then Sarah walked out of the tent.
Maybe she could help Carol with breakfast. She looked up and saw Glenn. She waved at him, making him smile strangely and nervously before turning away. What the hell was going on with him?
"Carl, Nick!" Lori called for the two children, who were still arguing with each other "Breakfast's ready; come on!"
Rick chuckled, looking at them, snapping at each other as they made their way back to their camp.
"Morning," said Shane, clapping T-Dog's shoulder as Sarah smiled at him.
"Hi, Shane," said Carl, passing by.
"Hey man," he answered, then looked at Nicki, who nodded her head before sitting on the ground next to the chair where Daryl had been sitting those past mornings. His side hadn't healed yet, so he couldn't be set down on the ground.
"How's it goin'?" he asked Sarah's sister, who looked up at him.
"Better," she answered. "I manage to hit six times in a row now."
"That happened once," Carl said, making Nicki glare at him. "I would say five."
"And I already told you to get lost," Nicolette bit back.
"Already that active at this hour," said Carol, giving Nicki and Daryl their plates. "I don't want to know how it's going to happen after breakfast."
"Me neither," said Rick, looking at his son eating his breakfast.
"Um... guys," Sarah looked up at Glenn, as did everyone. He was nervous, like always, at that point. "The barn is full of walkers."
Sarah's heart became heavy inside her chest. She felt cold and shivered all over her body. She turned to her sister, who was silently observing Glenn, but she was frozen, like all of them.
The first thing they decided to do was go to the barn and look inside. Sarah couldn't believe it—that barn was not far from the house; it wasn't far from their camp. They had never heard anything, and worst of all, something really bad could have happened to all of them.
"They lock those things in there?" asked Andrea as Shane was looking between the cracks in the rafters.
"You cannot tell me you're all right with this," Shane roared towards Rick.
"No, I'm not, but we're guests here. This isn't our land." Rick answered back.
"God, this is our lives, man!" yelled Shane.
"Lower your voice," Glenn whispered as Sarah looked immediately at the wooden doors. Growls could be heard, very loud now, and she wondered how none of them had ever noticed.
"We can't just sweep this under the rug," Andrea said, siding with Shane. Sarah knew that they weren't safe with walkers in there, but what should they do?
"We've either got to go in there, we've got to make things right, or we've just got to go," Shane said. "Where?" Sarah asked. They couldn't go. They had to find Sophia still. Daryl and Carl were recovering, and they were finally in a place where they could live peacefully. "We have been talking about Fort Benning for a long time," Shane insisted.
"We can't go." The sheriff insisted.
"Why, Rick? Why?" Shane asked aggressively.
"Because my daughter is still out there." Carol took a step forward, looking Shane in the eyes with no fear.
"Okay," Shane said, hiding a nervous laugh behind his hands.
"There's something funny here?" asked Nicki, who received a glare from Shane.
"I think it's time that we all start to consider the other possibility," the man said, and Sarah shook her head.
"What other possibilities?" Sarah asked out loud, not even wanting to hear what he was implying.
"Shane, we're not leaving Sophia behind," Rick insisted.
"I'm close ta find this girl," Daryl said, stepping forward; probably, he didn't believe what was happening too. "I just found her damn doll two days ago."
"You found her doll, Daryl. That's what you did. You found a doll." Shane replied. Sarah turned towards Daryl; his face got pale.
"You don't know what the hell you're talking about." Daryl roared, stepping towards Shane.
"Daryl," Sarah found herself saying his name, but the man was too focused on the ex-cop. She noticed Rick trying to put himself between them, but Shane wouldn't stop.
"I'm just saying what needs to be said. You get a good lead; it's in the first 48 hours," he said.
"Shane, stop." Rick tried again, but Shane went on.
"Let me tell you something else, man." At his words, Sarah turned to Daryl, who was observing him, moving nervously back and forth with a very threatening glare. "If she was alive out there and saw you coming, all methed out with your buck knife and geek ears around your neck, she would run in the other direction, man!"
In an instant, Daryl moved towards Shane. They didn't reach each other, only thanks to Rick, who pushed himself in between them. But that didn't stop the two men, who were still yelling. So, soon, all of them tried to keep them apart; Sarah went to Daryl, grabbing him by the arm while Andrea and Carol pushed him away, as Glenn, Rick, and Lori tried to keep Shane away.
"Daryl, please enough!" Sarah yelled, pulling him back as she heard Rick telling Shane to back off.
Sarah could not believe what was happening. Daryl had risked his life for Sophia and Carol. That woman had lost her daughter. How could Shane just want to leave her behind for those walkers inside that barn? She turned towards Nicki, who was standing next to Carl. The two children were looking at the scene silently. Nicki's eyes were fixed on Shane, coldly like usual.
"Now, just let me talk to Hershel," said Rick. "Let me figure it out." Sarah grabbed Daryl's arm harder when she saw Shane going after Rick, ready to attack again.
"What are you gonna figure out?" It was only thanks to Lori, who put herself between them and yelled at him that he stopped.
"If we're gonna stay, if we're gonna clear this barn, I have to talk him into it" Rick kept saying "This is his land."
"Hershel sees those things in there as people." Dale stepped forward. "Sick people, his wife, his stepson."
"You knew?" asked Rick, shocked, like all of them.
"Yesterday, I talked to Hershel." Sarah turned instinctively towards Glenn, he had told Dale, but he didn't tell her?
"And you waited the night?" Shane roared again, but Dale didn't let him intimidate him.
"I thought we could survive one more night. We did," the older man stated. "I was waiting until this morning to say something, but Glenn wanted to be the one."
"The man is crazy, Rick," Shane yelled again. "If Hershel thinks those things are alive or not," he said.
"Enough!" said Rick as the growling of the walkers became louder and louder. They all turned towards the moving wooden door with anticipation, worried that it might open and let them out. Sarah turned towards Nicki, but she saw Lori running towards her and Carl to push them behind herself. They all shut up, holding their breaths, waiting for the walkers to stop hitting the door. That was no good. Shane had a point on being worried, but he had overreacted, what had happened just few moments before was no good for the group. "I'll talk to Hershel," Rick stated once the situation seemed stable. "Until that moment, I don't want any of us near this barn." Then he turned to Lori. "Take Carl and Nicki away."
"Come on," Lori said, taking the two of them away.
Sarah observed her sister going back. Shane groaned before walking away, and then she turned towards Daryl.
"Are you alright?" Daryl was still glaring at the other man, shaking with anger. What Shane said was unfair; no one had gone out to search for Sophia as many times as Daryl had, and treating him like he was an idiot had been uncalled for.
"Fuck him," he growled, starting to walk away.
"Daryl," Sarah called out for him, but he didn't even turn. Where was he going?
"Don't worry," Carol said. "I'll go." Sarah nodded her head as the woman passed by her. She just hoped that he wasn't going to do anything stupid.
"God," she muttered, looking again towards the barn. She couldn't believe what was happening.
"Sarah," Glenn's voice made her groan.
"I'm beyond angry right now," she said, starting to walk towards the house.
"At me?" he asked, following her.
"Of course!" she argued back. "You knew of all of this, and you didn't tell me."
"I couldn't," Glenn said.
"Why?" she said, turning to him, who stopped walking and looked at her with wide eyes, unsure of what to say.
"I... I promised," he said, making her nervously laugh.
"Maggie," she said, taking a breath. "Okay, I get it. You like this girl, and it's fine. But we are best friends! And you told Dale."
"I needed to confess to someone," Glenn said.
"But not me?!" she argued back. She was hurt that he didn't trust her enough. She couldn't take what was happening, all of that stress around her, the fear of walkers, Sophia, and now even Glenn. It was overwhelming.
"Listen, do whatever you want," she said before he could argue back. "I'm done for today."
"Sarah, come on!" but she didn't turn as she walked away.
She didn't want to think about anything. She didn't want to argue, or be scared, or angry. She was tired of all of that. She just wanted Sophia to go back to Carol, for the walkers to be gone, to feel safe once again.
Suddenly, a groan made her turn. She saw Daryl walking back, holding his side. What had he been doing?
"What happened to you?" she asked as he passed by, but that only made him glare at her.
"Would ya too get off ma back?!" he yelled at her face, making her widen her eyes.
"What the hell is wrong with you?!" she argued back, feeling used to him yelling at her face at that point.
"What do ya wan' from me girl?" he yelled again. "It makes ya feel better, pity the redneck? Uh?!" she shook her head.
"If it makes you feel better, think whatever you want," she argued back. "I'm tired of telling you otherwise."
"And am tired of ya sticking up yar nose in ma business." That stung very much.
"I'm just worried about you. You asshole!" She said, feeling tears in her eyes, "Go and get lost in the woods for what I care!" she said, pushing him aside to get away.
She didn't want to see anybody; she didn't want to hear anything. She wanted to be alone, hiding from the world, pretending that everything was like before. Safe. She went to the old garage to focus on the old car, in there she wouldn't think about walkers, of death, or Glenn lying to her, or the asshole Daryl Dixon.