Overturned

Chapter 1

"Sophia! … Sophia!" Rick cried out at the top of his lungs, not giving a damn if he was attracting a heap of the undead towards him or not. That earned him a warning glare from Daryl.

All the able-bodied men of the survival group went out in to the woods in hopes of finding Sophia, the twelve-year-old daughter of Carol.

They had just been through a surprise encounter of what seemed like a herd of zombies, cruising through the highway that they were coincidentally stuck on.
It was weird that the zombies were sticking together like sheep following their shepherd and even weirder that they were taking the damn highway, but it was okay, because nothing needed to make sense anyway.

The girl hadn't been careful and quiet enough.
A lone walker that had lagged behind it's group soon noticed the disturbance she caused and chased her out of her hiding spot; underneath a car. If it wasn't that serious Rick would've thought that it was funny that a walker would even bother bending down to check for what had caused the noise.
The poor horrified girl screamed and scrambled for her life, taking off down in to the woods. Rick Grimes had immediately dashed out soon after from underneath a bus following suit to save her life. He quickly caught up with Sophia and scooped her up in his arms, running as fast as his legs could go.

In short, he got too tired, left her in a small creek, diverted the walkers, and lost the girl.
Well done.

He needed to find the poor girl badly. How could he have even thought of leaving a little girl all by herself in the woods like that?
Stupid! Stupid! Rick berated himself mentally. He wondered how he even made it from the hospital to his family given with such a useless brain.
He'll find Sophia back, reunite her with her mother, and the group can continue on their journey to a safer place.

Rick was too anxious to notice Daryl and was oblivious to the glares of daggers the huntsman was shooting at him as he continued to call for Sophia. The tracker in front became more and more annoyed with each call.

"Shut up! You want us dead?" Daryl finally snapped, stopping abruptly in his tracks and turning back to shout at Rick in a hushed tone. He gave the man a fierce and hard stare that said 'one more time and I will skin you like an animal'.

The sheriff swallowed, all owl-eyed and shocked at the sudden stop and reaction from the hunter.
He returned the stare back blankly and innocently for a moment before comprehending what Daryl had just spat at him. His mind was just too chaotic, mostly with self-condemnation.

"Well then how do you suggest we find her?" Rick argued back finally, keeping the same low volume as Daryl had used, huffing out a sigh, hands on his hips. The sheriff was clearly tired and desperate.

Daryl just rolled his eyes and turned his cold hard gaze back to the ground in front. No point arguing with a man in such distress.
"She left tracks." He bent down on one knee to carefully examine the soil, confirming his lead on the direction that Sophia had took.
Rick looked over Daryl's shoulder and squinted his eyes to look at the spot that Daryl was pointing to. There's nothing there...

"How can you tell? I don't see anything at all." A small trace of guilt could be heard in Rick's voice together with his softer tone. He knew the hunter well enough to trust that the man would never say things that he was unsure about. The trail although not visible to his eyes, must definitely be there.
God, he was so thankful that Daryl had actually found a trail! Now the chances of recovering Sophia would increase significantly. All they had to do was follow her trail and there she will be, right? At the end of the trail.

"You want a lesson in tracking, or you want to find that girl?" Daryl decided to ignore Rick from then on and got up from his position, continuing his search for Sophia. Someone had to find that girl, and he knew very well that it would be him.

Am I the only one that's Zen here? Jeez! Daryl held back his thought from converting into sound. He couldn't blame the man for freaking out though. After all, Rick was the one that had left her alone. But hey, what else could he have done? Had he not left her there in the creek, they both would have gotten eaten due to Rick collapsing out of exhaustion.
Now Rick is alive, and Sophia is not dead, just missing.

Rick followed silently behind, secretly thanking God that Daryl was there with him. He was in awe, by the way Daryl maneuvered through the woods, how he was able to see and comprehend things Rick could not, how firm, collected and sure the man was.
What would have happened if Daryl weren't there? He would have freaked out, kept hollering for Sophia, attract a bunch of walkers, and probably get the rest of the team killed. That's what would have happened.

The two men combed through the woods, Rick quietly tagging behind Daryl while the tracker did his thing.
Feeling a high sense of hope, Rick's mind became a little less messy and he realized just how awkward his relationship with Daryl was, even when there were only such few people left on this planet.
He was comfortable enough to chat and make small talks with Glenn, T-Dog, Dale, and definitely Shane, but when it came to Daryl he realized he didn't know what to say.
They both hadn't had much chance to talk to each other since that incident of him locking Daryl's brother's hand to the top of a building. A wave of guilt washed over Rick at the thought of Merle.

Daryl immediately stood still at attention when the sound of twigs and leaves crunching whizzed past his ears.

"Get down!" Daryl ordered and the two swiftly got down on one knee immediately almost at the same time. It was as if Rick already knew what he was going to say. For a split second there Daryl noted that Rick had a pretty good work-chemistry with him.
Usually those dumb-fucks who tagged along with him on his hunting trips had too many questions and don't always do as they're told, scaring their food away multiple times. That was why he always preferred hunting alone.

He brought his hand up in front of Rick signaling the man not to move. Rick nodded obediently.
They surveyed the area for the source of the sound, or what was making that sound…

It was a walker.

Inching cautiously nearer to get a clearer shot at the wandering walker, Daryl raised his crossbow and took aim at the undead's head.
With a slight wheeze and thud the walker was taken down easily. The skillful hunter gave a small smirk and went in for his prey, leaving Rick who was in awe, behind to chase to his steps.
Rick hated to admit it but Daryl had looked really cool, how he dealt with the walker with such speed and ease. Not even a word was said and the walker was taken care of. It was then that he began to realize what it was and took to be a "hunter".

"You don't suppose… She…" Rick muttered, looking at Daryl for some sort of answer. All he got in return was a look full of uncertainty, just like his own.

This time Rick took the initiative and squatted down in front of the walker, pulled out his pocket knife, and took a deep breath.
He had enough of causing trouble. The least he could do was to cut open the zombie's stomach to check…

"I'll do it." Daryl brushed Rick on the shoulder gently aside.
The way Rick was hesitating and looking at the walker made Daryl take pity on him. He knew the man's heart was too soft to even gut a squirrel. Besides, what was he thinking trying to cut a human open with that puny knife of his?
He drew his knife out, which was fairly larger and sharper than Rick's, and straddled the dead man.

Rick felt even more like a loser. He had lost enough of his pride to try and argue with the experienced man.
Yes, he did gut a human before, but during then they had protective gears and a huge freaking axe. It grossed him out thinking of slowly slicing open a person's belly with that joke of a knife that he had.

Okay… 1… 2… 3… Daryl stabbed the knife in to the top of the abdomen with force and without hesitation, slicing it open downwards.
The stench that filled up the area was no new smell to both men, and Rick recalled covering himself in a dead man's guts in Atlanta. The walker and the dead man both had a similar smell. They smelt dead.

10 seconds in to the disembowelment and Rick mentally applauded himself for managing to not hurl. He was getting used to death and all that came with it real fast.
He was always a fast learner.
Looking at the knife slicing steadily through the stomach made the Sheriff think twice about the man beside him. If it weren't for the apocalypse, Daryl would be just the kind of man he'd arrest.

Lost in his thoughts, Rick slowly turned his gaze on to Daryl's face observing his expressions, looking for any form of emotion radiating from within.
Daryl was such a mysterious man.
Just then, Daryl turned his head to face Rick and gave him a sheepish grin that somewhat mocked Rick of never being able to do what he was doing.
Instantaneously, Rick's reflex was to shy away from Daryl's eyes...

What? He SHIED away from Daryl?
Rick could already feel the hot blush creeping up to his cheeks and he quickly made a disgusted and queasy face at the walker, trying hard to cover up his embarrassed look…
That was weird…
...

Rick quickly snapped out of it and got down to business… Time to open the stomach sack.

"That's all of it." Rick gagged, wiping his pocketknife clean on the ground.
They had emptied out the contents of the walker's stomach sack and thankfully, there were no remnants or traces of Sophia inside.
The relieved duo hastily continued on their journey to locate the missing girl.

The day was coming to an end as an orange hue slowly spilled out on to the sky, warning all survivors of the apocalypse that it was going to get dark pretty damn soon.
Time did not exist anymore. There was no need for time. It was either bright or dark. That was the only thing that had mattered.

All the men who were in the search started to call it a day, turning and heading back towards the road where their vehicles were parked. It was a painful decision to make, knowing Sophia, the little girl that had survived and shared so much memories together with them, was still out there in the woods afraid and alone, and that they had to stop looking for her just because it was getting dark.

It was an exceptionally painful decision for Rick to accept, when Daryl had first pitched the idea of heading back and returning the next day again to look for the girl. He begged to continue the search a little longer and Daryl complied, feeling pity for the desperate man. His plea had this little quiver in it that made Daryl empathize, yet annoyed at the same time at the stubborn man.
Fine, he would search a little longer. Who knew the trail might be ending and maybe Sophia would be there anyway.

Darkness sure was creeping in fast on the last two searchers and Daryl made a point to turn back and not let Rick's desperation trick him in to wandering too far from the RV. It wasn't the time to die yet.

"C'mon, let's go back." Daryl said firmly this time.

Rick's face crumpled subtly in despair, wanting to protest, but he looked down and did not say a thing.
He too knew that it was too dangerous to continue searching for Sophia, and they would risk clumsily trudging over her path and clues, if there was even any left...

Daryl couldn't help but notice the worry lines formed on Rick's face, observing his expression in silence...
… Whatever

Every step Rick took towards the RV felt like weights being added unto his shoulders. How could he face the group again? How could he face Carol?

The rest of the group were finally in sight, and Rick wanted ever more to sprint back the way he came from and not return until he had the girl back in his arms again.
His feet thought otherwise though, and continued carrying him forward keeping close to Daryl's back. Hopefully, Daryl's back could shield him away from their sight and save him from all the condemnation.
Everyone were pinning their last hopes on the two remaining searchers.
As they were approaching the group, Rick's throat decided to clench up and cause Rick a hard time breathing properly.
Well that's just great. He thought bitterly.

"Where is she?" Devastation was clearly evident in Carols' tone and Rick felt like his life could have ended just then and there.
Why wasn't Sophia with them?
She looked over behind Daryl and Rick, hoping that Sophia would be behind them, just blocked out of her sight. Maybe they were just playing a joke on her? Sophia would run out yelling for her mother and she would hug and kiss her precious daughter.
The next few words she heard tore her heart apart completely and left her in the arms of Lori, who was preventing the grieving mother from hitting the ground.

Rick had wanted so much to explain to Carol why they had turned back, but his throat limited him so badly that he only managed to spew out a few choked words.
"Her trail, went cold…"

"We'd just be trippin' over ourselves out there in the dark." Daryl backed him up.
He couldn't believe how everyone was shooting Rick looks of disappointment. Fuckin' hypocrites. I don't see any of you chasing the girl when she was in trouble.
It angered the hunter that they were all being such hypocrites but he restrained himself from scolding them. It would just worsen the situation and create more chaos.

Carol began to heave heavily. All she cared for was that her daughter would be back with them, but that didn't happen. Damn it, why!
Tears quickly started to well up in sorrowful eyes, and Carol found it impossible to stand any longer. Lori felt the sudden increase in weight and quickly led Carol to sit on the hood of a car.

"How could you? ... How could you just leave her to begin with?" She breathed out between gasps painstakingly, full of spite and disappointment at Rick.

At that point Rick's mind was just racing wildly, trying to come up with an excuse, any excuse that he could give, but he couldn't find any.
It was true. He did leave the girl alone in the woods. All these that had happened had been singlehandedly caused by him, Rick Grimes.
The disappointed looks that the group were giving him made his heart sink so deep he felt the gravity pull literally and the sheriff bent down a little lower to keep his focus. His vision was becoming a little blurry. The sheriff's mind spun so badly that he felt like he was about to faint.

"Please, I need you to calm down." Rick pleaded with Carol, kneeling down on one knee to look up at her.
"It was my only option. There was no other choice I could make…"
Rick sounded really pathetic. The tone that was carried with his voice bubbled out from his chest; Guilt, shame, and sorrow.

"She's just a child..."
And Rick knew he had nothing else to say. She was right.

Every passing moment that Rick spent looking at Carol, his blue watery eyes pleading her to forgive him and give him another chance, made him feel more and more sick. His mind was already in turmoil, and Carol was taking too long to give him a response. He couldn't face her anymore.

Rick drew in a big painful amount of air and pulled himself up to quickly get away from the group.
He felt like a total failure and a big, fucking loser.