XIV

—/<3/—

"Wake up," Rory heard Daryl call from outside her tent. She rolled over and stuck her head out of the tent flap.

"I'm awake," she said sleepily. It was earlier than yesterday, the sky was still decorated by the morning twilight.

"We're leavin' soon. Get ready."

Rory held in her groan until he was out of earshot. She desperately wanted to find Sophia but she was so tired. She'd been put on first watch last night by Shane, who was clearly trying to punish her knowing that she had to be up when the sun was. But nonetheless, Rory wasn't the type to complain, so she dragged herself up and over to Archie's car where she got changed, brushed her teeth and pulled her hair into a braid to keep it out of her face.

She fed herself and gave Pumpkin some of the bird she didn't finish the night before, grabbed her pack and met Daryl by his tent, just as she did yesterday.

—/<3/—

"The supplies ain't been touched, she's not been back here," Daryl said, letting out a frustrated sigh and wiping the sweat from his forehead. It was hotter than hell itself, and the tarmac highway reflecting the sun wasn't helping in the slightest, it made the rotten smell of the walkers even more intense.

"Should we grab some stuff while we're here? We could always use some more food and meds for camp," Rory asked, pulling her braided hair up away from her neck to try cool herself down.

Daryl nodded slightly, "Watch out for walkers, we don't know how many are still here from the herd." Rory watched as he walked further down the highway to the cars they hadn't looted when they were first there. Rory walked in the opposite direction, hoping to find some water for the two of them since they'd been going through theirs faster than usual.

She spotted a truck with the back loaded up untouched and made her way over. She climbed up into the back and began rifling through the boxes and bags. Most of it was ornaments, clothes and personal things but Rory found a box of canned good, bottles of gatorade and water. The highway was the best place for them to get supplies right now, it was full of abandoned cars with the things of people who were trying to escape the virus but didn't make it, the only problem was that it was dangerous, a lot of people died on the highway so there were a lot of walkers.

Rory quickly unloaded the box into her pack, stowing the rest in one of the clothing bags that was on the back of the truck. She began to quickly go through the clothes she'd pulled out for the food, looking for some extra stuff for Niamh since she'd been stealing Rory's clothes. She held up two long summer dresses, one with blue flowers and the other with pink and decided to take them. Niamh used to make Rory coordinate outfits back when things were normal so Rory had a feeling her friend would appreciate something like this. She hurriedly shoved them into her backpack and slung it over her shoulders, grabbing the spare bag and jumping off the back of the truck before running over to Daryl.

"You find anything worth taking?" He asked her as she leant against the car he was searching.

"Whole box of canned food and drinks." Rory handed him a bottle of water. Daryl thanked her and leant next to her, taking a few gulps from his bottle.

"How can it be this hard to find one little girl? She can't have gone far," Daryl said, frustrated, It had been four days since Sophia went missing and yet there was no sign of her anywhere.

"We haven't found her body either though so that's a good sign, she's probably just hiding somewhere and didn't think to come back to the highway because of how many walkers were here when she ran in the first place." Rory stayed optimistic. There were three conditions they could find Sophia in, alive, dead, or as a walker, and Rory hoped it was the former, for everyone's sake, not just Carol's.

"Get in the car." Daryl whispered, lowering himself slightly and opening the backseat of the car they were leant on as quietly as possible, his crossbow clutched in one hand, bicep bulging from the strain.

Rory looked at him, confused, but obliged, sliding into the far seat. Daryl climbed in after her and closed the door behind him. Rory peered out of the window, trying to catch a glimpse of what he saw. She understood when she saw at least 15 walkers stumbling out of the woods in the direction they'd came from, sniffing the air as if they'd been following them. Thankfully, the highway was hotter than the woods without the shade of the trees to protect it and the pungency of the dead permeated the air, making it hard for them to smell Daryl and Rory. All they needed to do was wait for the majority of them to pass, take out the stragglers and then make a run for it.

"Get into the footwell 'fore they spot you," Daryl told her. Rory once again did as she was told, slipping quietly from the seat to the safety of the footwell, her knife and gun clutched in either hand just in case things took a turn. Daryl followed, squeezing into the other footwell of the back seat, his crossbow in his hands.

The pair remained silent, trying not to even breathe too loud in fear that the walkers would sniff them out whilst they were cornered. After 20 minutes, Rory poked her head up to look out of the window, the walkers had scattered across the highway, dormant. A few remained where they were originally, stood by the woods waiting for their next meal to stumble past but the others had moved on, weaving between cars.

"I count four by the woods, the rest have gone," Rory whispered. Daryl nodded and moved to carefully open the door, climbing out and keeping low. Rory did the same, not bothering to close the door behind her, it would only make more noise.

They snuck up to the four remaining walkers, knives and crossbow at the ready, and took them out with ease, taking off into the woods without a second glance at the highway.