The wait was still not over, and in the intense heat I could barely formulate a thought. There was no cooling breeze or cloud to block the blazing hot sun, and though it was an afterthought, I was starting to get irritated with my clothes as they clung to me. I curled my fingers around the thin fabric of my top, waving it in and out to create even just a little air flow, but it wasn't enough to stop my panting. I was like a dog left in a car with all of the windows up; no matter how much I sweated, I didn't feel like I was getting enough fresh air for my body to deal with the heat effectively.

Certainly my worry for Sophia wasn't helping. Every passing minute felt like an hour, and that hour wrapped around my lungs, threatening to suffocate me.

Finally, there was a rustle and a crunching of shoes against twigs, then Rick came into view. The tension sitting on my stomach released, a loud exhale leaving me. However, that initial relief didn't last long... not after I realized that he was walking over to us alone. I felt all oxygen getting sucked out of my lungs again, eyes wide with horror.

"Rick..." Carol croaked, pulling out of Lori's grip and stumbling over to him. "Where's S-Sophia?"

The look on Rick's face said it all. Surprise, worry, and fear. She was meant to be back here by now. Still, Rick tried to control the situation. He put a dirtied hand on Carol's shoulder, but I wasn't sure whether it was to comfort her or to keep her standing. His eyes scanned the group, as if to make certain that Sophia hadn't returned before glancing back at Carol.

"I left her in a safe place." He famed confidence, but the wrinkles deepening on his forehead told me otherwise. "Then I told her how to get back... She's gonna be fine, Carol."

The grief surged within her with every expelled breath, always reaching higher peaks, never sufficiently soothed by the long intakes of damp air. Tears spilled from Carol helplessly, sizzling on the heated road. She stumbled back, looking as if she were about to collapse until Lori held onto her again.

"We need to go back in after her, just in case." Glenn spoke up, concern seeping across his face.

"Right. Glenn, Daryl, T-Dog, Shane..." There was a pause before his gaze fell on me, hand reaching out to point. "And you."

"It's Chris..." I mumbled.

Rick nodded. "Chris, then. You're all comin' with me."

A flash of annoyance covered my face. I wasn't even a part of this group and I was still already being ordered around. I had the awful urge to just leave, but I couldn't bring myself to do it. Not without trying to look for her. "Fine..." I huffed.

"The rest of you stay here and wait for Sophia, she should be back soon." Rick turned quickly and raced the way he came, the rest of us hurrying behind him.

The ground of the woods was formed from the remains of trees fallen in successive generations, sometimes heightening into the shape of a small hill or descending into a near dried out pond. Ahead the shrubs grew thinner, giving way for soil that submerged into a creek. Rick lead us to a nearby hole, peering into it with clenched teeth. "Damn it."

"You sure this is the spot?" Daryl asked, leaning into the hiding spot to double check.

"I left her right here." Rick said, and this time he sounded positive, motioning to his right. "I took the walkers way off in that direction up the creek. She was gone by the time I got back here, I figured she just took off and ran back to the group." Rick now pointed to his left, voice rising in unease. "I told her to go that way and to keep the sun on her left shoulder."

Daryl and Rick began walking through the muddy creek, water swishing around their legs with every step. "Hey, short round." Daryl called out to Glenn, who had been scouring the area with his eyes since we arrived there. "Go off to one side, you're muckin' up the trail."

Wiping the sweat off his brow, Glenn stepped beside me, tightly gripping his gun. It was only seeming to get hotter now, no matter how late it became. Shane ran a hand through his hair, gaze focused on the trees gripping the distant soil; perhaps in hope that Sophia would appear.

"Let's hope she knows her left from right." He said, almost degrading Rick's efforts.

"She seemed intelligent enough to know the difference." I said back, tone drenched in dislike.

Shane had shot a glare in my direction when Rick spoke. "She understood me fine."

"She's tired and scared, man. She had a close call with two walkers. Gotta wonder how much of what you said stuck." Shane explained his side well, despite how little I trusted him.

"There's clear footprints over here." Daryl's voice finally broke through the tension. "She did as you said, headed back to the highway."

"Alright, people. Keep a look out." Rick trudged back out of the creek, Daryl not too far behind. Shane kept an even pace with them but I hung back, making doubly sure that she didn't pass by.

On the way up Glenn had been in the front with Rick, but now he slowed down to walk beside me. The silence lingering around us was as awkward as I had expected. I tried to act distracted by my surroundings but it weighed heavier on me then I would have liked. The quiet grew thinner and thinner until the temptation to break it was too much to refuse. Glenn was the one that gave in.

"Are you alright?" He asked, securing his hat further down on his head.

My eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "Yes? Why would I not be? Sophia's from your group, not mine."

"That's not what I meant." Glenn replied, brown eyes stuck on me. "You seemed pretty shaken when those Walkers came through..."

"And you weren't?" The hold on my knife tightened, more on edge now that we were in the thick of the woods. Even though I had saved the group from certain doom, they still refused to give me a gun.

"No... I mean, of course I was but..." Glenn's voice trailed off a moment, as if he were figuring out exactly how to say what he wanted. "It's just that you didn't seem too afraid of them before that..."

My eyes stopped searching the area and landed on him instead. "I'm more afraid of the living... that doesn't mean I'm not afraid of them as well. I hadn't been so close to that many before, and the enclosed space wasn't helping."

"Claustrophobia?"

"Before the outbreak, yeah. It doesn't seem that important now." I sighed, quickening my pace to catch up with the others. "Still don't like it though."

Right ahead of us, Daryl knelt down to the leaf scattered ground. His right hand reached out, touching an obscurity in the path. "She was going just fine until right here. All she had to do was keep going... but she reared off that way."

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked when we caught up.

Shane shrugged. "Maybe she saw somethin' that spooked her? Made her run off?"

"Walker?..."

Daryl shook his head. "I don't see any other footprints."

"So, what do we do?" Shane's gaze finally fell back to Rick. "All of us press on?"

"No, better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know that we're on her trail and doin' everythin' we can, but most of all, keep everybody calm." Rick answered. "Chris, you're stayin' with us. You know your way around so we have a better chance of findin' her without gettin' lost with you here."

After the instructions were given my eyes were as immobile as the rest of my face, even when I felt Glenn's gaze on me I didn't return it. I had been expecting it, but it was starting to feel like I'd never be able to leave. I gave a simple nod but didn't even attempt to hide my irritation. I knew that finding Sophia was more important, which was why I stayed, but I couldn't pretend like it didn't inconvenience me.

It had delayed me of half the days hours that I could have spent finding shelter for the night, and now I wasn't sure whether they'd let me stay another night or if I even wanted to. Glenn and Shane began on their way back to the highway, Glenn looking back to give a small wave as I followed Daryl and Rick back into the woods.

We wandered for a long while, the sun was sinking lower and lower into the sky and its light was being hidden beneath the tall trees. It was hues darker than before, but we continued forward. The tracks were getting fainter, at least from what Daryl told us, until finally we came across a Decayer. It was stumbling on a lower section of ground, almost all of its grey hair had been pulled out by something and left gaping wounds covering its scalp. We crouched low, Rick running to the opposite end as a distraction as Daryl sent an arrow through its eye.

"Sophia!" Daryl called out, walking towards the now motionless body. When we looked back down we saw Rick searching the Decayer. "What are you lookin' for?"

"Skin under the fingernails. It fed recently." He pulled the corpse around so it rested on its back. The Decayer's mouth was pried open by Rick's gloved hand, index finger and thumb pinching over its teeth before bringing something up. "It has flesh in its teeth."

Daryl squinted at the bloody piece Rick held. "Flesh from what?"

"Only one way to be sure." Rick quickly pulled out a pocket knife and I felt my stomach churn. Daryl pushed it back and took out a march larger knife.

"Gross..." I shivered, turning away so that I saw none of what he was going to do. I still heard the slashes though, and the squelching. I had been made to do some disgusting things in this new world, but if I could help it, I didn't want to go rummaging through a corpses intestines.

"This gross bastard had himself a Woodchuck for lunch." I heard Daryl say and felt a loud exhale leave me.

"At least we know." Rick said when I turned around.

"I guess so..." Was my only reply, though if I had known Sophia as well as they had I probably would have done the same. "We'd better keep going."

I thought that, given she hadn't been eaten by that Decayer, she'd be just at the end of the trail... but soon enough any sign of her turned cold and Daryl could no longer track her. Before we knew it any last glimpses of sunlight were washing over the horizon, and we had to turn back. Returning was the hardest part... seeing Carol's face when she realized that Sophia wasn't with us.

"You didn't find her?" Her voice broke when she asked, but she was waiting for an answer. Probably in fading hope that she was just walking slower than us and would appear soon.

"Her trail went cold...We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick answered and suppressed whimpers choked through Carol's throat.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own..." She cried. "To spend the night alone in the woods..."

Daryl stepped back onto the highway with Rick, and despite his calm demeanor, I could tell that he was as worried as she was. "Huntin' in the dark ain't no good. We'll just be trippin' over ourselves... more people will get lost."

"But she's 12, she can't be out there on her own! You didn't find anything?!"

"Look, I know this is hard but I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick tried to reassure her, but in Carol's expression I could see that she was blaming him more than anyone. Lori rubbed her back to try and calm her down, but it only made her hyperventilating worse.

"You! You know the woods! Go out and look for her!" Carol directed toward me now, lashing out on anyone she could. I guessed it was in a desperate attempt to have someone find her daughter.

"I did." I replied. Whilst everyone else was careful and delicate with their tone's, mine didn't change. "I'm not a tracker. I don't know where she is. In fact, I'm not even suppose to be here, I should have left hours ago."

"My daughter's missing and that's all you can think about?!"

"You're not my group, nor my responsibility. I've helped enough." I could feel some of the group glaring at me but it didn't matter. What I said was harsh, but true nonetheless.

I walked passed them, sights set on a house I remembered passing on my way through. It would be dark before I got there, but if I was careful I could make it. I was starting to think that I'd actually be rid of them before I heard someone run after me and felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned, face to face with Rick.

"You can't go." He said in an almost pleading tone. "We need you here."

"I've done everything you've asked. What more do you want of me?"

Rick shifted on the spot restlessly, a result of the apparent stress he was under. "Look... a little girl's missin'. We're gonna keep lookin' for her, but I know we have a better chance with you here. You know the area... we can cover more ground if you stay."

The guilt trip was getting tiresome, but still effective. I couldn't very well put the needs of complete strangers over my own though. "You'll be fine."

"No... we won't. Please, what can I do to convince you?"

I doubted it, but I racked my mind for a reason to stay just in case. My eyes landed on a familiar bag hanging off of Dale's shoulder and I felt my shoulders slump, knowing that I could benefit from staying. This made the decision even harder. "The guns. Give me some after we find Sophia, and I'll stay until then."

Rick peered over his shoulder, looking to be in deep thought before nodding. "Alright... but only after we find her, and you do anythin' to betray my trust the deal's off."

"Okay." I replied, stepping beside him so that I could say my next words quietly. "But remember, this deal sticks no matter how we find her. Alive or dead, I still get the guns."

"She's alive." He hissed, beginning to walk back over to the group. I took that as his agreement.

My gaze drifted to the distance, the sky was pink and the sharp prongs of bare trees had ripped a hole in the clouds. Knowing I'd be there longer than I had originally planned threw me into an unknown. It was uncomfortable not sticking to my usual schedule, it felt unsafe. Rick tried to comfort Carol, along with most of the others. However, Glenn sauntered over to me, placing the gun on top of a blue car's hood. "So... Rick says you're staying."

"Only until we find Sophia." I was quick to deflect any ideas that I'd be staying longer. "He promised me some of your guns if I did."

"Well, whatever the reason, it's good of you to help us." He gave a smile through his obvious concern for Sophia, and I turned my face away from him.

The way he spoke made it sound like I was staying under good intentions... that I was somehow a half decent person when it was plain to see that I wasn't. He seemed skilled at that. He had a naive nature that should have gotten him killed already, but somehow he was still standing. I didn't know if that was his own doing, or because of his group. I was more inclined to believe the latter.