CHAPTER THREE — BEFORE SUNDOWN
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     THE NEXT MORNING GRACIE LEFT CARLS BEDSIDE. She went to see if she could help with anything. She was no use inside, not even for emotional support for Carl because the boy had been in and out of it all night. Waking up mumbling a few words, asking about Sofia, talking about the damn deer and something about catching frogs.

Herschel told her that the rest of the group was outside getting wood. When Gracie made her way out she heard the sound of a motorcycle engine, and she immediately knew it was Daryl's. Coming down the road she saw Daryl followed by a car and Dales camper.

She tried not to dwell on the relief she felt seeing them. She couldn't afford to care about the others. She didn't want it to hurt if and when they died. Nonetheless, she rushed outside and down the porch and waited for the vehicles to pull in.

"How is he?" Dale was the first to ask.

"He'll pull through, thanks to Herschel, and his people." Lori replied.

"And Shane. We'd have lost Carl if not for him." Rick added.

Her brothers words drew attention to Shane, Gracie looked at him for the first time since last night. He'd shaved his hair. It was a horrible cut is what Gracie thought but couldn't say. He looked all fragile, not like he'd break at any moment but like he'd explode like a bomb. She pulled her gaze away from him as the group moved to give out hugs.

As Gracie hugged Carol, she gave the woman a sympathetic smile. Her daughter was still missing.

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An hour later the whole group stood around a makeshift grave, Otis's grave while Herschel gave a eulogy to the man.

"Blessed be God, father of our lord, Jesus Christ. Praise be to him, for the gift of our brother Otis, for his span of years, for his abundance of character; Otis who gave his life to save a child's, now more than ever our most precious asset. We thank you, God, for the peace he enjoys in your embrace. He died as he lived, In grace." Herschel spoke as everyone places a stone on Otis's grave. Herschel then looked to Shane, who had been distracted by his own thoughts. "Shane, will you speak for Otis?"

"I'm not good at it. I'm sorry." Shane muttered.

"Y-you were the last with him. You shared his final moments. Please. I need to hear. I need to know his death had meaning." Patricia croaked out.

"Okay." Shane whispered before clearing his throat to speak a little louder. "We were about done. Almost out of ammo, we were down to pistols by then. I was limping. It was bad. Ankle all swollen up. 'We've got to save the boy.' See, that's what he said. He gave me his backpack. He shoved me ahead. 'Run,' he said. He said 'I'll take the rear. I'll cover you.' And when I looked back..." Shane didn't finish his sentence. Instead he hobbled over to the grave picking up a stone and placing it on. "If not for Otis, I would've never made it out alive and that goes for Carl too. It was Otis, he saved us both. If any death ever had meaning, It was his."

He was lying, was the first thing to cross Gracie's mind. She'd always been good at telling when people weren't being completely truthful, and she sensed that in Shane, but it could've be the trauma she was sensing.

Herschel wrapped up the ceremony, everything was silent beside the sobs coming from Patricia.

Herschel cleared his throat to speak. "Well we should start planning to help you all find that little' girl." He said.

Rick nodded and they all walked from Otis's grave.

➷ ➷ ➷

Maggie rolled out a map onto an old car for everyone to look at. They were all planning to find Sophia.

"This is perfect we can finally get this thing organized. We'll grid the whole area, start searching in teams." Rick said.

"Not you, not today. You gave three units of blood. You wouldn't be hiking five minutes in this heat before passing out." Herschel told him. His eyes moved to Shane then, "and your ankle, push it now, you'll be laid up a month, no food to anybody."

"Guess it's just me." Daryl said, adjusting his cross bow on his back.

"No, I'll join you." Gracie announced. Rick gave her one of his famous wary-big brother looks and she ignored him, turning her full attention on Daryl.

"So were gonna head back to the creek, work our way from there." Daryl informed.

"I can still be useful." Rick conveyed, desperate to do something.

It was now Gracie's turn to look at her brother worriedly. He was pale, his eyes were glossy and carried bags beneath them.

"I'll drive up to the interstate, see if Sophia wandered back." Shane said.

"All right tomorrow then. We'll start doing this right." Rick confirmed.

"That means we can't have our people out there with just knives. They need the gun training we've been promising them." Shane said and Rick nodded.

"I'd prefer you not carrying guns on my property. We've managed so far with out turning this into an armed camp." Herschel announced.

Shane scoffed at Herschel's comment. "All due respect, you get a crown of those things wandering in here-"

"We're guests here. This is your property and we will respect that." Rick cut Shane off. Rick placed his pistol down on the car and Shane rolled his eyes before doing the same. "First things first: set camp, find Sophia."

"I hate to be the one to ask, but somebodies got to. What happens if we find her and she's bit? I think we should all be clear on how we handle it." Shane voiced majority of the groups thoughts. The girl had been gone for two days now.

Rick sighed. "We do what has to be done."

"And her mother? What do you tell her?" Maggie asked.

"The truth."

Shane continued to plan about weapons. While Maggie told her father she'd run into town to grab supplies.

Gracie stuck with Daryl. He was a man of few words... unless he was pissed, but that's what Gracie liked about him. They would be leaving after Gracie grabbed a few supplies. She rummaged through her bag gathering a few things to store in her pocket. After attaching a hatchet to her belt and holstering one of her brothers pistols on the other side she nodded to Daryl that she was ready.

Before they could make it down the dirt driveway, Sterling intercepted them.

"I'll be joining y'all." He said tucking a water bottle into his bags side pocket.

Daryl nodded stiffly. "We better leave if we want to be back by time it gets dark." He said.

Just as they started walking they heard a tiny voice calling after them.

"Wait! Wait! Don't go!"

"Christ." Daryl muttered.

Turning around they found Olive, running as fast as she could towards them. When she reached them she jumped into Sterlings arms and started crying. "Don't go." She sniffled into his chest.

"Baby, don't worry, we'll be back before dark." Sterling whispered while rubbing her back soothingly. "I'll be back, I promise."

"Otis didn't come back." She muttered, wrapping her small arms around his neck.

Her words caused Sterling to frown, he hugged his little girl a little tighter before letting out a sigh and placing her back on the ground. "You head back inside, why don't you draw us a picture for when we get back, yeah? Make sure that one has a big ole pissy face." He says motioning to Daryl.

"I don't want no damn picture." Daryl muttered.

Olive giggled before nodding her head excitedly, her previous worries completely gone. "Bye Gracie, bye pissy face." She waved before running off.

When Sterling turned back towards Gracie and Daryl, Daryl scowled at him.

"What? You'll love it, she draws the cutest little stick figures." Sterling snickered before hoisting his bag back over his shoulders. "Shall we commence?"

Daryl rolled his eyes and walked ahead while Gracie tried to conceal her laugh.

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Coming into a big open field, Gracie, Daryl and Sterling spotted a house. The three made their way over. Daryl kicked down the door and walked in first with his crossbow pointing in all directions.

Each of them went their separate ways, tip-toeing through the house with their weapons raised.

Gracie whispered Sophia's name a couple of times but there was no answer.

A creak on the floor board startled Gracie and she turned to find Sterling in the doorway. "Anything?"

She shook her head and released a sigh.

"Ain't mean to scare you." Sterling muttered.

Gracie's eyes lingered on him as he stood in the rooms walkway. She wondered about his interests in her. She thought he was just looking for a hook-up. Options were scarce now days. Lori had Rick, Carol, well, Carol wasn't an option with Sophia and all, and Andrea was on a independent streak at the moment. So that left Gracie, but maybe Sterling should know that she wasn't an option either. She wouldn't be allowing herself to get close to anyone that wasn't her family. A shitty mindset, and she knew that, but it was all she could handle in times like these.

Sterling had also been studying Gracie. He wanted to know what she was thinking, he couldn't read her because it seemed she always had the same facial expressions on at all times. Grim and impassive.

The two heard Daryl shout Sophia's name outside, breaking them out of their trance and causing them to  both rush to the front door only to find he wasn't calling after her, he was just shouting her name.
"It looks like someone was sleeping in the cupboard in there, someone small." Daryl told the two as they exited the house.

A slither of hope arose in Gracie. She didn't want to make too much room for it but she couldn't help it.

They made their way back to the farm. Shane and Andrea stood by a car as they approached. Gracie still couldn't shake the uneasy feeling she had about Shane. She's known him for the majority of her life, he and Rick went to school together, did their training together, they did everything together. But Shane was different ever since returning from the school.

Gracie dragged her eyes away from him and watched as Daryl went into the trailer, a flower he picked at the house in his hand. Before he entered he placed it in a beer bottle causing Gracie to smile. No matter what facade he tried to put on she knew he was a big softie.

Gracie walked with Sterling back to the house, once they reached the porch Olive ran out and jumped into her dads arms. Over his shoulder she smiled at Gracie, extending a piece of paper to her. Gracie took it from her hand and unfolded revealing a picture of her, Daryl and Sterling out in a field, a walker was drawn next to them with an arrow through its head and Gracie laughed at the sight. And Daryl did indeed have a pissy face drawn on him.

"It's perfect." She smiled as Sterling moved beside her to lean over her shoulder and look at the drawing himself.

"Oh this one belongs on the fridge." He said tickling Olives ribs. "Does Gracie wanna do the honor?" He then asked casting a side glance at Gracie.

She smiled. "It would be my pleasure." Making her way into the house, Gracie found a magnet and placed the picture on the fridge.

Sterling placed his daughter back on her feet and told her to go wash up for dinner before turning back towards Gracie. She held his gaze and continued her attempt to decode the man. She wanted to ask about Olives mother, or how much older he was than Maggie or what he did before the apocalypse, but stopped herself. Questions created connections. She reminded herself.

Sterling slowly walked towards Gracie, his gaze on her. When he reached her he lifted his hand and took ahold of the locket she wore around her neck.

"What's inside there?" He asked.

"A picture."

"Of?"

Gracie chuckled, "You're nosy."

"I just wanna know about the strangers my father is letting in the house." Sterling moved his second hand up as if to open it before pausing and looking down at her. "May I?"

Gracie nodded and he unclipped the locket revealing a small picture of herself, and her deceased husband and son.

Realization dawned on Sterling and he frowned. "I'm sorry. Your boy was beautiful."

Gracie nodded. "Thank you."

"Did it happen because of all this shit?"

"No. Car accident four years back. Married young, had him young, lost it all young. My world had already gone to shit way before the apocalypse." Gracie told him while creating space between the two.

She silently asked him not to try and close it again. She wanted to pass her advice onto him. Questions create connections. She wanted to assure him that trying to get to know her would only end badly. But she didn't, instead she exited the kitchen, pretending like it didn't happen.

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Author speaks ~ not proof read.
Happy 2025 everyone!