In Need Of Love Ch. 12 Daryl x OC

"Don't look." Daryl's words drowned out Carol's crying. He lifted her up off her feet and tried to turn her away. She twisted out of his grip and forcefully pushed him away. They stared at each other for a moment, then she started crying again, and ran off towards the R.V.

Lucia felt herself a little pissed at Carol, but shook free of her thoughts when a crying Beth walked towards the ground of dead walkers. Tears are streaming down her cheeks as she searches among the bodes and found the one she was looking for. She bent down in front of her dead mother and turned her over. "Mom..." She moaned. But suddenly the dead corpse reanimated and grabbed for Beth. The young girl screamed and everyone instantly jumped into action.

Rick and Shane grabbed Beth but the walker had her by the shoulders. Glenn and Lucia grabbed the geek's feet trying to drag it away but the grip on the girl was too strong. T-Dog ran over and started kicking it in the face but it kept moving and thrashing, trying to get even a little nibble of the delicious flesh. Suddenly, Andrea grabbed a nearby sickle resting beside the barn door. She reared back and sent the blade flying through the walker's head. It stopped dead in place. Andrea withdrew the farm tool and threw it to the ground. Everyone panted heavily, staring at the dead-for-good mother.

Maggie grabbed Hershal by the shoulders and led him towards the farmhouse with Rick and Shane following close behind. 'Shit.' Lucia thought. 'That can't be good'

As they left she turned to watch Andrea drape a small, makeshift blanket over Sophia's body as a tarp. Carl had retreated to the R.V. and she watched as Daryl headed that was as well. Lucia wanted to follow him. She felt for him. His spirits had to be shattered. His will; his pride. Finding Sophia was his only purpose, and now that she was gone, what did he have left?
Lucia wanted to say that she was left, but wan't naive to think that. She wasn't enough for him. She couldn't help him heal the inner battles he had. No matter how much she wished she could.

"Dad was right..." She heard Carl's voice drift over to her ears. He was sitting on the ground with Lori's arm wrapped around his shoulder. She looked down at him, trying to read what he was saying. "Shooting her like that..." He continued. "I would have done it." Shock crossed the mother's features. Lucia couldn't help but agree with him. It had to be done, there was no other way.

Rick returned looking drained. Lori dismissed Carl and she walked to Rick, whispering. Lucia rolled her eyes at this. She was staring some unnecessary shit.

Before they head off, Andrea addressed her. "What do you want us to do."

Lori lifts her head towards the blonde, then looks around. "Um, let's dig a grave, for Sophia, and the others." She pointed in the distance. "Over by those trees."

Lucia went to work, following Andrea into the barn. They didn't say anything to each other at first. Lucia tapped each one of them with her bat to make sure they weren't faking their re-death. Thankfully, they didn't have to fire any extra shots.

She went off to help Andrea move the bodies to the outside of the barn, so they could be transferred onto the onto the truck to be burned. It slightly surprised Lucia when the blonde said, "Do you think it was right?"

She looked up at Andrea. They locked eyes for a minute, then she nodded. "It could have been handled better, but the walkers needed to go."

They carried the dead corpse outside with a bit of struggle, for they were still pretty heavy. Once that one was outside, they went in for another. Even though they didn't talk much afterwards, a bit of their hatred for each other simmered down.

It took almost a whole hour for them to move the bodies from the barn, outside, and onto the truck. Then to be taken out into one of the barren filed to be disposed of. Afterwards, Shane, T-Dog, Jimmy, and Andrea set to work on digging the graves. That didn't take near as long. Once they were almost done, Lori and Lucia went into the R.V. to get Carol and Daryl.

Lori steps in and to the side so Lucia can enter as well. Carol was sitting at the table staring out the window with a complete blank expression on her face. Daryl was sitting on the counter watching her. Lori coughed slightly, then spoke, "They're ready."

Carol didn't move. She didn't even make the slightest gesture that she was going to stand. "Come on..." Lucia urged slightly.

The older looked over at her. "Why?"

"Why?" Daryl almost snapped. "Cause that's your little girl."

Carol looked as if she had to stop herself from laughing. She stared up at Daryl with tears in her eyes. "That's not my little girl. It's some...other...thing." She turned her gaze back to the window. "My Sophia was alone in the woods." She sounded as if she was trying to convince herself more than anything. This confused Lucia. She could also see the confusion written on Daryl's face. "All this time I thought..." Carol slowly shook her head. "She didn't cry herself to sleep... She didn't go to hungry. .. She didn't try to find her way back." She looked back over the three of them. "My Sophia died a long time ago..."

No one said anything. Lori awkwardly left leaving Lucia and Daryl to stare at Carol in shock. How in the hell could she say that? That was her daughter that just died, and she wasn't even going to mourn her death? Denial was how she dealt with things? Apparently Lucia's thoughts were along the same lines as Daryl's because he glared at her as he stood. Then he bounded out of the R.V. Not long after, Lucia followed.

The service was quite. No one spoke a word. It was just everyone alone with their thoughts. Lucia reflected on Sophia. She was supposed to find her. Everyone wanted to, so to some degree, everyone was struggling with the same thoughts. But no one hurt as much as Daryl and Carl did. It was evident that the small boy had a crush on Sophia, and to know that she died this easily. He was bound to cover his heart in ice, just like Daryl did long ago.

One by one, people left the graves. Lucia was the second to last to leave. She desperately needed a nap. Something to clear her head. So much shit had happened in the last few hours that she didn't think she could go on like it for much longer. So she headed for her tent and tried to get as comfortable as possible, slipping off to sleep.

When she woke it was well past four. The sun was starting to head down on the horizon. She looked around, but couldn't find anyone. Out the corner of her eye, she noticed Lori walking off to the edge of the forest. Curious, Lucia followed a distance behind. She was surprised to see that she was led to Daryl.

"Listen," Lori started as she approached him. He was sitting on a stump, sharpening damn sticks again. "Beth's in some kind of catatonic state. We need Hershal."

He scoffed, not looking at her. "Yeah... So what?"

She bent down beside him. "So I need you to run into town real quick and bring him and Rick back."

Daryl looked up at her with an annoyed expression on his face. "Your bitch went window shopping. You want him? Fetch him yourself." He looked back down and returned to carving his stick. "I've got better things to do."

Lori frowned. "What's a matter with you? Why would you be so selfish?"

His eyes widened and he stood, staring down at her with rage. "Selfish? Listen to me olive oil." He raised his voice. "I was out there looking for that girl every single day. I took a bullet and an arrow in the process." He pointed the stick at her, as if it was supposed to intimidate her. "Don't you tell me about not getting my hands dirty!" He huffed angrily and sat back down. "You want those two idiots have a nice ride. I'm done looking for people."

Lori stood slowly, then without a word she left.

Lucia's chest tightened. He was hurt. He was so hurt and he didn't even know it. Sophia's death and Carol's rejection crushed his very being and he didn't know how to deal with it. He didn't know how to process any of the thoughts, so instead, he turned to anger.

Lucia approached him. He didn't look up. She sat down beside him, leaning against a tree trunk. They sat in silence for a while before she said anything. "It's okay, you know." He didn't reply so she looked up at him. "It's okay to be hurt." He stopped working at the stick and looked down at her, with that same annoyed expression he showed Lori.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The way you blew off Lori. You have anger pent up from Sophia's death. I can read people easily, and hurt is written all over your face." She didn't brake her gaze away from him to make sure he got her point.

"If I wanted a fucking therapist I'd ask for one. Leave me the hell alone." He didn't raise his voice, but she could tell he wasn't far from it.

That didn't stop her. She wanted him to feel better. She touched his arm and he flinched at the contact. He stood and looked down at her. "Daryl, you have to calm down to deal with your feelings of loss."

"Tell me, what the fuck did I lose?" He hollered, glaring down at her. "I'm alive, I didn't want to find that little girl, I didn't want that old lady to be happy and I sure as hell down want you around me. So get the fuck away."

Lucia didn't feel rage like she usually did when Daryl yelled at her. Instead she felt hurt. His yells had never been able to penetrate her force field before, but now that he felt like shit, she did too, and just about anything could take a swipe at her now. She was a weak animal and Daryl took the bait. She stood to approach him. "Daryl, just listen to me.."

"No!" He pushed her back roughly. Not like Shane when he pushed her to the ground, but enough to make her stagger backwards a few feet. He stopped, shocked by his own actions, but Lucia was finished.

"Fine. Fuck everything Daryl. I hope you just wallow in your own sorrow. Just remember that people out there still care for you. People who are alive, still love you." She looked up at him, tears staining her eyes, but she didn't let them fall. "I still love you. Remember that." And she turned and walked off.