"Did you find her?"
Facing Carol's hopeful gaze, Rick unconsciously lowered his head, feeling guilty.
"We didn't find her, we only found this."
Rick pulled a piece of pant leg from his pocket. Carol recognized it immediately as Sophia's pant leg; Carol had personally put them on her.
Looking at the fragment, Carol stumbled back two steps in disbelief.
She couldn't believe Sophia had died just like that. In Carol's memory, she could still vaguely see Sophia holding her doll. In Carol's bag, there were still new clothes she had asked Glenn to find for Sophia...
She sobbed and trembled, her knees suddenly losing all strength, and she uncontrollably collapsed to the ground.
The warm, setting sun in the distance began to turn eerily cold, its dazzling golden light blurring the outline of the figure in Carol's memories.
"Carol, listen to me, we found a Walker in the jungle, but it didn't hurt Sophia."
"How are you sure?" T-Dog suddenly asked.
Rick glanced at Shane beside him. Shane touched the knife at his waist: "We cut it open."
No fresh human flesh was found in the Walker's stomach, which naturally indicated that Sophia was safe for now.
"It's getting dark, it's easy to hurt ourselves. We'll continue looking for Sophia tomorrow…"
"How dare you!" But before Rick could finish, a mournful cry came from Carol.
She looked at Rick with red eyes, but her sharp demeanor relaxed in an instant. She spoke haltingly.
"How dare you… leave her alone… in the woods…"
Thinking of what had happened not long ago, Rick looked up and met the gaze of a few people in the team.
Old Dale shook his head at him, and Lori tightly gripped little Carl's shoulder, her heart aching.
"I'm sorry. We will find her, we will find Sophia."
Rick promised again.
But after this incident, the entire team was filled with sorrow. Everyone knew that Sophia, lost alone in the woods, had probably…
And at this moment, on the other side.
Shawn got into the red overlord, with Sophia holding her doll in the passenger seat. The two drove towards the Camp to the west.
But halfway there, Shawn slowly brought the fire truck to a stop.
Ahead was the only main road leading to the Farm, but it was now blocked by two thick tree trunks.
Shawn chuckled. He didn't need to think to guess which guy was responsible for this kind of banditry.
Opening the car window, Shawn poked his head out, only for a gun barrel to silently press against the back of his head.
"Merle, you don't think I didn't see you in the rearview mirror, do you?"
As soon as Shawn spoke, Merle's boisterous dry laugh came from behind him.
He put away his sniper rifle, walked to the driver's side, and slapped the fire truck door hard.
"You haven't shown up in two days. My brother thought you were bitten by a Walker and died one night."
Daryl?
Shawn raised an eyebrow. Daryl wouldn't worry. Daryl would only give Shawn the middle finger and say 'fuck you' when he saw Shawn return to the Camp.
Or, if he learned Shawn had been taken out, he would silently pick up his crossbow and avenge Shawn.
His gaze fell on the perpetually cheerful Merle, and Shawn couldn't help but scoff.
"You hypocritical dog. Look who this is?"
Shawn leaned back, and Sophia crawled over from the passenger seat.
"Uncle Merle, hello~~"
"Who's your uncle? Damn it!"
Merle cursed when he saw Sophia, but Shawn knew this was Merle's primary way of expressing affection.
One could also say, this was Merle's tenderness.
The Dixon Brothers, more or less, still had some similarities.
After moving the blocking tree trunks, Merle lifted Sophia from the passenger seat to the 6-seater in the back. The newly painted motorcycle was suspended at the very back of the fire truck, and he cheerfully took the passenger seat himself.
Shawn watched all of Merle's actions expressionlessly, his eyes conveying only one thought: Are you a moron?
Noticing Shawn's unusual gaze, Merle said without changing his expression.
"Go on, why are you looking at me? I'm not some whore from Laudick Street…"
"Cough cough—"
Shawn glared at him disapprovingly. Didn't he see there was a child in the back?
With a low rumble, the red overlord started up again, heading towards the Farm.
...
The fire truck was large, unlike a small car.
Shawn was still a bit unfamiliar with it, so he couldn't drive too fast.
When Shawn returned to the Camp, it was already completely dark. Looking out, the entire Farm only allowed him to clearly see Hershel's family's wooden house.
Thump thump thump—
The fire truck slowly stopped running.
Daryl, with Andrea, was the first to run over, clutching their weapons, the crossbow arrowheads tightly aimed at the two people in the driver's seat.
Only when the fire truck's headlights turned off and Daryl saw Shawn and Merle get out of the car did he let out a sigh of relief.
"Fuck you!"
Daryl cursed at Shawn in a low voice.
"You haven't been back to Camp in two days. Merle even thought you were dead."
...The Dixon Brothers, more or less, still had some similarities.
Shawn looked at Daryl in surprise, not expecting him to actually worry about himself.
"Don't be like that, I'm doing just fine out there." Shawn opened the car door irritably: "I even brought someone back. Look who's here?"
Shawn picked Sophia up from the back 6-seater, which made Daryl frown.
"Sophia? Where's your mom?"
Sophia appearing here didn't necessarily mean good news.
If Sophia was here, what happened to the others at the Quarry Camp?
What happened to them that they couldn't even take care of a child?
For a moment, Daryl thought a lot.
"We got separated." Sophia said softly, a little aggrieved, subconsciously clutching Shawn's collar.
"How are you talking to a child?"
Shawn glanced at Daryl, then carried Sophia and walked towards the Camp.
"Where did you find her? Do you know what it means for Sophia to be here?"
Daryl kept asking questions, becoming somewhat agitated.
"Don't worry, they're fine, they just got separated from Sophia. I'm not familiar with the woods and couldn't find them, so I just brought Sophia back directly."
Shawn placed Sophia on a chair made of a tree stump, ladled some broth from the iron pot over the campfire and handed it to her, then looked back at Daryl.
"If nothing unexpected happens, they should find their way here in the next two days."
It was still early, and Hershel's family hadn't rested yet. Seeing a fire truck drive into the Farm, Hershel put on his coat and walked over with his daughters and workers.
"Shawn?"
"I thought you were dead."
Hershel's words made Shawn roll his eyes.
Did everyone have to say the same thing when they saw him?
How unlucky!