First things first, WELCOME TO SEASON 2!

I'm so fuckin' excited for this season that I literally don't know how to deal with myself right now lol don't get me wrong, I love the walking dead but Season 1 was always a complete bore to me, though necessary for the direction and background to the rest of the Seasons.

Anyways, enough of the sappy stuff, I decided for the first chapter, I would bypass my usual review replies, hope ya'll don't mind, but I figured, people would be too excited to spend time reading what I have to say, so let's get to it! Though I have to thank one specific person for the GREAT title suggestion for this season along with the coming ones, I fell in love with it, thank you KyraNoelle!

Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead Plots/Characters, just my OFC, Ana.

Psst...not sure if you'll notice, but this is the LONGEST fuckin' chapter I've updated lmao I kind of went overboard with how far I went into this chapter. Wasn't sure where I wanted to end so it kept going lol

A/N: One more thing before we go on, just want to forewarn all those readers who are looking for immediate/quick updates, that will not be happening with this Season. I'm currently working one full time afternoon job, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, a part time morning job on Mondays, Tuesdays and Thursday along with my kids activities during the weekends. Everything is hectic for me and the only time I will be able to get onto a computer to work on another update, will be on my down time during my afternoon job. School has just started and I have a huge family trip coming up at the beginning of November that I'm working extra hours to save up for. I will try to update as often as possible and if I get an ass ton of reviews, it MIGHT push me to update just a bit quicker than normal. Updates will not be scheduled on a specific day, more so when I can get to it.

Now, without further ado, Chapter 1 of 'The Walking Dead: Ana's Series - The Farm'

Ana's POV...

It had been a few weeks, 2 to be exact since we had watched the destroyed CDC disappear into our rearview mirrors and honestly, I was grateful to be far from that place. Nothing about that place had sat well with me, both in the television show and in person. But now that it was in the rearview mirror, a lot of tension was brewing within the group.

Firstly, Daryl had completely caught me off guard as soon as we had pulled away from the CDC, immediately diving into instigating me about how I knew so much. True at the time, I didn't know what to say. I had half a mind to just come out and tell the man the truth, but who was I kidding? Daryl would take one look at me and think I belonged in the looney house, not like I could blame him. Yet, even after whipping up some believable lie about just assuming everything I had said, not realizing what I had said was right and that I was just trying to help the group out however I could, I felt an uncomfortable bubble of guilt settle deep in my stomach as I watched Daryl nod, surprisingly believing my white lie. After that awkward conversation, the questions stopped and the tension rose back up. Would I ever tell him the truth? Who knows.

A couple blocks away from the CDC, we were radioed by Glenn, informing everyone that Jacqui had decided to stay back with Jenner, to opt out. Can't say I was surprised, though I was shocked that everyone had just driven off without asking questions pertaining to said woman not being present at the time. That subject was quickly put on the back burner as we continued on our way.

Then a few hours after leaving the CDC, we did a quick pit stop as we were flagged down by Rick in the RV who pulled off the highway into the center divider where we sat and watched both Dale and Andrea argue between the two. I knew what it was about and personally speaking, I knew if I was in Dale's shoes, I would have left that egotistical chick to die the way she wanted. I hated Andrea, not sure if I had mentioned that before, but I do. Nothing about that woman rubbed me the right way and with what I knew she was bringing to the group, just added to the fire already festering under my skin thanks to the said woman. Her death could not come fast enough, that's for sure.

Following Andrea's sudden outburst, we finally were back on the road and heading towards Fort Bennings, a location I knew absolutely nothing about as I knew they wouldn't make it that far.

I wasn't worried about that at all.

No.

What I was worried about was the fact that I knew, in the next day or so, Sophia would go missing.

It was coming, I could feel it in the back of my mind as I kept a close eye on the station wagon strolling down the road in front of us.

What the hell was I going to do?

I wanted to ignore it, let it happen the way it needed to happen, but I knew, when it came down to it, I couldn't let it happen.

That's what bothered me the most.

I had figured out, back at the CDC, maybe even back at camp, that whenever I did something to change the timeline, things happened.

Karma was a bitch, literally.

Something 'always' happened and now I was worried that it would get worst, the further into the story we got.

I mean, my neck had just recently healed thanks to Shane's psychotic attack back at the CDC after I stuck my nose in their business. Thankfully no one had questioned my constant use of turtleneck sweaters or the fact that my voice continued to rasp whenever I spoke that I had been worried that Shane had permanently damaged my vocal cords. Luckily, my voice returned to normal soon after the bruises had healed and disappeared.

"Ya doin' okay over there?" A voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I flinched, my neck basically snapping at high speed towards the voice in the drivers seat.

"What?" I retorted, having been so lost in my thoughts, I hadn't even registered what he had asked me.

"Ya lookin' pale over there? Ya ain't eatin'? Sick?" Daryl turned briefly from the windsheild to give me a quick once over before turning back to the cars in front of him.

"No, I'm fine. And I don't know if ya haven't noticed, but I'm naturally pale." I deadpanned as he snorted, passing me an unamused eye.

"Don't give me that bullshit." He spat as I snorted, brushing off his concern before turning back to the caravan in front of us.

I rolled my eyes at his comment, turning to look out the window once more, eyeing up the treeline to the right of ourcars, thoughts of Sophia once again, flooding the back of my mind. What was I really going to do when it came down to it?

Before my thoughts could really get the best of me , the sound of the RV's squeaking breaks echoed down the line before the caravan completely came to a stand still.

"What the fuck is happenin'?" Daryl grumbled impatiently as I stuck my head out of the window to see in front of us, the sight causing my heart to fall into my ass at the realization to what was coming in the next couple hours.

"There's a nest of cars blocking the way. Doesn't look like there is a way through." I explained to Daryl as I watched the RV crawl a few feet forward before the ever familiar sound of the RV's radiator snapping, a bellow of steam shooting into the air.

"And there goes the fuckin' radiator again." I added regretfully as the line stopped once more, everyone turning off their cars to save their fuel supply before climbing out.

"This road-trip just keeps gettin' better and better." I commented dryly as I kicked open my door before climbing out, joining everyone beside the RV where Glenn and Dale were already digging through the engine block.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane's voice was like a pair of nails on the chalkboard every time I heard his voice. This time was no different as a shiver ran down my form before I glared in the direction of the approaching deputy who bypassed me without a passing glance. Thank god too.

"Just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of-Okay, that was dumb." Dale cut off his rambling as he realized where his words were leading. Sighing, he stared at Glenn a while longer before his head snapped his my direction.

"Hey Ana! Give me and Glenn a help with this thing!" Dale called out as all eyes landed on me who didn't waste any time, leaving Daryl's side to approach Dale.

"Her? What the hell could she help you with?" Shane complained as I bypassed him without a second glance, like he had done just earlier to me. I snorted at his words, retorting quickly back at him as I continued on my way towards Dale.

"A lot more than you, that's for sure." I made sure he heard me as I quickly ignored the growl that ripped through Shane's teeth causing me to smile at Dale and Glenn's hesitant faces.

"Anyway, I was assuming that maybe you had some knowledge in engines." Dale pointed out, looking at me unsure as I scratched the back of me neck.

"I mean, I know the basic stuff. Dad and grand-dad tried to teach me, but it didn't really work out, so I know some stuff, enough to get it running I guess." I shrugged, not completely confident in my skills or knowledge over such a thing as Dale nodded.

"Anything we can help with?" A voice suddenly spoke from beside me as I glanced over to see Rick already looking at me, an uncomfortable feeling washing over me. I hadn't spoken to the sheriff since that night at the CDC when I had all but unconsciously tackled him in the hallway. I was still so embarrassed about that, especially when Daryl had shown up, immediately assuming Rick had done something to me and gone completely native on the man.

"If we could check these cars here, find either a radiator hose that could fit or at least hold us over till Fort Bennings." Dale offered as Glenn nodded, glancing around the junk yard we had found themselves in.

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." I added as Rick nodded, passing me a strange smile before turning towards the group that was slowly moving towards them.

Author's POV...

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog gestured over his shoulder as Ana easily agreed, knowing they'd need gas more than anything.

"Maybe some water. Or food." Carol added as Dale nudged Ana, getting her attention as she turned to see him holding out a flat-head screwdriver.

"How about you scavenge for another replacement radiator, or something similar? Maybe find some spark plugs or anything else you think we might need in the near future." Dale offered as I slowly took the tool from him before nodding in understanding.

"This is a graveyard. I don't know how I feel about this." Lori meekly spoke out as Ana rolled her eyes at the woman's words, bypassing the group and heading towards the first car, yanking open the hood before going to work.

"Stay close, don't go wanderin' out 'ere." Daryl's sudden voice startles her enough to send her head shooting up, bashing into the hood of the car in fright.

"Son of a bitch." She hissed, holding one hand to the back of her head, the other tightly grasping the handle of her screwdriver. Glaring hard at the man that stood just a few feet from her, an amused smirk plastered across his scruff, she scoffed, turning back to the engine block.

"Next fuckin' bell I run across, I'm tying it to your nasty ass so I can hear ya comin'." She mumbled under her breath as she pried a few spark plugs free from the engine, checking to make sure they were still good to go.

"I'm gonna help T get some gas, stay close." Daryl easily ignored her comment, passing her with a light nudge to her shoulder before he went to the car beside hers,m going about helping T siphon from said car.

Ana had made it through 6 cars, able to scavenge a few spark plugs, a few car batteries that looked to be almost new along with some engine oil that she was so fortunate to find a brand new case of 12 bottles sitting in the back of one of her cars. Luckily she found a collapsible wagon along the debris and loaded everything she found in said wagon. About 20 minutes later, she stopped for a breather, glancing around, realizing she had gotten a bit further than she was planning before turning in the directions he was heading to see what looked to be a box truck a couple hundred feet from where she was, a lock still safely on it's back door.

"That's new." She muttered, wanting to go and investigate before a hushed yell along with a whistle caught her attention. Turning in the direction of said whistle, she paled quickly at the sight of everyone ducked under cars, a horde not far behind them.

"Shit." She hissed, pushing her wagon to the side and out of the way before she dove under the nearest car, facing the horde and others.

"Sophia." She whispered in growing panic as she scanned the undersides of the cars she could see from where she was, unable to see the small girl at all.

"Fuck." She spat in anger, slapping the ground as she instead searched for Daryl, easily finding him amongst the cars as she made a last minute decision in warning Daryl of what was coming for Sophia. Ignoring his silent way of telling her to shut up, she frantically pointed in the direction of Sophia. Daryl eyed her in confusion, unsure what she was going about before she mouthed 'SOPHIA!' Daryl had seemed to get the message, though he was confused about it as the walkers slid past him as he turned, eyeing the small frail girl that was fighting to keep her sobbing down to the minimum.

As soon as the walkers were past most of the group, Ana bit into her lip as the walkers approached her car, all eyes on her as she silently laid there, patiently waiting for them to go before she heard a scream.

Sophia.

Ana couldn't do anything as she was forced to wait for the horde of walkers to bypass her as she watched the rest of the group run across the highway, the men jumping over the rail guard and into the forest.

Once the walkers were at a decent distance from her, Ana didn't waste any time, scurrying out from under the car before making a mad dash for the guard rail. Clearing it in one jump, she took off running towards the tree line, ignoring the women screaming for her to stop as she broke through the tree line, not seeing the men anywhere nearby.

"Shit." She panted, her eyes shooting around the area before she heard a muffled yell of a man from somewhere to the northeast of her. Pulling her machetes free from her holster, she took off running towards the voice, clearing logs and dodging trees.

Her heart was thudding loudly in her ears as her eyes snapped around the forest, keeping her eyes peeled for any living or dead before she slid to a stop just above an empty trench.

"Sophia. The root." Ana's eyes widened as she realized where she was and where Rick had told Sophia to hide as she jumped down, the mud of the water splashing up onto her jeans as she got her balance back before heading towards the root hanging over the ledge.

"Sophia. Sophia?" Ana whispered frantically the closer she got, glancing around once more before pulling the vines out of the way to see that it was already empty.

"Shit." Ana panted, turning back from the roots to the eerily quiet forest around her. Where the hell had she gone? Where was Rick? Shane? Daryl? Where had anyone gone?

Fighting back the growing panic that was beginning to boil in her stomach, she had one thing on her mind.

Save Sophia and get back to the group.

Rick, Shane, Glenn and Daryl stood silently just in front of the small cave in the stream wall that was hidden by a wall of roots belonging to the tree growing just above it, but it was empty.

"Sure this is the spot?" Shane asked unsure as he pulled the roots away, wondering maybe if Sophia had been hiding further in.

"I left her right here." Rick emphasized, impatiently as he gestured to the spot.

"I drew the walkers way off in that direction, up the creek." Rick turned and pointed in the direction he had led the walkers with a frustrated huff.

"Without a paddle- seems where we've landed." Glenn muttered under his breath in thought, glancing around, hoping to see the little girl while Daryl turned in his spot, immediately inspecting the ground for prints.

"She was gone by the time I got back here. I figured she just took off and ran back to the group. I told her go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder." Rick complained as he put an angered hand through his hair.

"Hey, short round, why don't you step off to one side? You're mucking up the trail." Daryl barked out at the Asian who jumped in his spot, immediately scurrying back out of Daryl's way as the redneck went back to inspecting what footprints he could find.

"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane commented dryly as Rick looked to him irritated.

"Shane, she understood me fine." Rick shot back defensively as Shane put his hands up in regret.

"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck." Shane explained as Rick stared at him a bit longer before turning away with a sigh, he couldn't deny he was right.

"Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway." Daryl announced as the men turned to him with a sliver a hope as Daryl stood.

"Thing is, I see Grime's prints goin' up the creek, but there is another set of fresh prints followin' hers." Daryl added as they looked to him confused.

"Someone else? No one else followed us out here." Glenn pointed out confused as the two sheriffs were quick to draw their weapons, eyes shooting around the area.

"Ain't no walker either. Walkin' straight and quick like a livin' human." Daryl added gruffly as he gestured to the clear boot prints.

"Let's spread out, make our way back. She couldn't have gone far." Rick commanded as the 3 other men nodded in agreement.

"What about the other tracks?" Glenn then asked the question on everyone's minds as Rick glanced at Daryl who in turn turned away from them to the tracks.

"Let's hope its a friendly and if not..." Rick gestured to his pistol in his hand, a silent indication of what would happen if they came across the other person, who wasn't friendly.

"It's alright though. We're gonna find her. She'll be tuckered out hiding in a bush somewhere." For the first time, everyone glanced at Shane surprised by the man's sudden optimism before they continued on their way, following the two set of prints.

"Sophia!" Ana whisper-shouted, her eyes darting around the heavy brush before glancing down at Sophia's clear tracks.

She knew she should have gone back and looked for the others before venturing out on her own but she also knew, the group wouldn't find Sophia in time. She knew they would be too late and Sophia would be out of their reaches before they even realized it. Ana also knew that what she was doing was heavily dangerous. The repercussions of going against the set timeline of the show, in a BIG ASS way, was something she shouldn't be messing with. But how could she not? How could she just leave Sophia out here to fend for herself? How could she let Carol down after everything the woman did for her since she joined the group? In a way, she owed Carol a lot and this was the only way she knew she could repay the woman. If that meant fate back and bit her twice as hard, so be it.

"Come on, where are you?" She muttered to herself, glancing up at the treeline to see that the sun was moving quickly across the sky, sunset only a few hours away.

And just like a gun going off in a silent room, a sudden scream in the distance sent a chill down Ana's spine. Not wasting another second, Ana kicked her legs into high speed and made a mad dash towards the scream.

"No. No. No." Ana chanted repeatedly as she pushed branches aside, some lashing out at her, slashing her skin sending her tumbling a few times causing her to curse loudly. Another scream echoed through the trees a bit closer this time as she sucked in a lung of air, feeling the need to stop though she had no intention to. Sliding around a bend, she watched in horror as two walkers barreled down on what she recognized to be Sophia who was lied out on the ground, attempting to scurry out of the way of them.

"Shit." Ana jumped down from a boulder, tossing one of her machetes at the largest of the two, only succeeding in piercing it through its neck as it fell over, tumbling down the steep hill just a foot away. The other immediately turned on her, snarling grotesquely as Ana let out a determined yell as she barreled into it, her last machete sinking effortlessly into his forehead, sending them both to the ground just beside a sobbing Sophia.

Panting heavily, her grip on her machete still bone tight, she let out a sigh of relief as she slowly lifted her head, turning to gaze at a fear-stricken Sophia. Slowly, the grip on her machete loosened before she rolled off the walker, lying between a sniffling Sophia and the dead walker whilst she stared up at the diming skyline.

"Ya doin' okay? Ya bit?" Ana whispered out of breath as Sophia wiped her nose on her shirt before shaking her head at the woman who sent her a forced smile.

"I feel like I just ran a fuckin' mile. Damn it." Ana sighed out embarrassed, sucking in a well-needed breath of air as Sophia scooted closer to her in fear.

Immediately reading the little girls fear and the realization that there might be more walkers out there, Ana sat up quickly, ignoring the bumps and bruises littering her form as she ripped her machete out of the walkers head, her eyes glancing around.

"Looks like it's gonna get dark soon, best to get off the ground and find somewhere to bunker down for the night. No way we're making it back to the road today." Ana pushed herself to stand with a strained grunt as Sophia immediately let out a disgruntled whimper at the thought of staying out in the open.

Sheathing her machete, Ana knelt down in front of Sophia, holding the small child's hands in her own as she peered into the fear-filled eyes of Sophia.

"Hey, look at me." Ana whispered carefully as the little girl blinked her watery eyes, slowly looking up to meet Ana's.

"I'm gonna look after you while we're out here, you understand? I won't let anything happen to you, okay?" Ana promised with determination as a few tears fell from Sophia's eyes, down her dirty cheeks, and onto her shirt.

"Nothing is going to happen to you while I'm around, okay? We're just gonna hide out for the night and then tomorrow, we'll head back to the highway to the others but for now, I need you to trust me, can you do that?" Ana then asked as she patiently waited for the little girl to get her shit together before slowly nodding. Ana smiled at her in relief, letting one of her hands go to pull the girl into a well-needed hug.

"Okay. Now, let's get out of here before any of that bastards friends show up. You okay to walk?" Ana pushed herself to stand once more, carefully pulling Sophia off the ground while she took a moment to dust herself off with a nod.

"Alright, let's get out of here."

"She was doing just fine till right here." Daryl suddenly knelt down as he brushed a few leaves off the tracks before pointing to the right where the tracks went off course.

"All she had to do was keep going." Glenn whispered as he pointed straight ahead where they could easily see the opening leading back to the highway.

"She veered off that way." Daryl explained as he stood, turning to face the direction her tracks now led.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn felt frustrated with how close the little girl had come to return to the group.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off. A walker?" Shane pointed out in apprehension as Rick nodded in agreement before Daryl went about pointing to another set of tracks just a few feet away.

"Or whoever the fuck is followin' her, caught up and scared her away." Daryl growled as Rick and Shane made brief eye contact.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Glenn inquired as Rick quickly shook his head.

"No, better if you and Shane get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everybody calm." Rick instructed to Shane who was quick to agree, grabbing Glenn to turn him in the direction of the highway.

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied. Come on."

"Tracks are gone." Rick complained impatiently as Daryl pushed past him with an annoyed grunt.

"No, they're faint, but they ain't gone." Daryl corrected as he continued to push on with Rick jogging to keep up with him.

"She came through here." Daryl pointed out the trail with the tip of his crossbow as Rick innocently glanced at the trail, not seeing anything.

"How can you tell? I don't see anything. Dirt, grass." Rick answered confused as Daryl stopped in his pace, spinning to face the Sheriff.

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get our ass off that interstate?" Daryl spat, his mind on both the little girl and his female companion 'waiting' back at the highway with Shane, no less. That didn't sit right with him at all.

Rick opened his mouth to retort a comment only for the sound of a twig snapping followed by the familiar snarling of a walker nearby broke them both from their conversation.

"Shit." Daryl ducked down, his eyes scanning the treeline to see a walker to the north, slowly disappearing around a ridge.

"Let's go." Rick whispered as Daryl was quick to agree, the two quietly charging at the unsuspecting walker who they easily tag-teamed, Daryl shooting it effortlessly with his bow as he fell with a heavy thud.

"Sophia!" Daryl shouted, wondering if the little girl was nearby. Maybe the walker was following her?

"Daryl." Rick calmly caught the redneck's attention as said man looked down to where Rick was touching something in the walker's neck.

"What the fuck is that?" Daryl slowly knelt down, placing his crossbow on the ground beside him as Rick leaned out of the way, allowing Daryl complete view of said object.

"Why does that machete look so familiar?" Rick was afraid to ask, part of him already knowing the answer as the blood drained from Daryl's face. Eyes wide in fear and panic, he yanked the machete from the walker's neck before gripping the handle of what he knew to be Ana's machete.

Shit. She had been out here in the forest the entire time. Those footprints, the ones following Sophia, it had been her.

"Ana! Ana!" Daryl shot off the ground, shouting without a care in the world as Rick snapped off the floor soon after, grabbing the crazed redneck.

"Daryl, shhh, you're gonna bring all the walkers in a 5-mile radius down on us." Rick fought to keep the redneck subdued.

Daryl thrashed for a second more before completely giving up, sighing as he shrugged out of Rick's arms, turning to gaze down at the machete still in his hands.

"Those other footprints, they're Ana's." Daryl confessed as Rick looked at him unsure.

"You sure?" Part of Rick believed the man but there was a slight hesitation to the man's words as Daryl glared hard at him.

"I know her machete anywhere and now that I think about those fuckin' tracks, they match her boots perfectly. She's out 'ere searchin' for Sophia too." Daryl turned away from Rick back to the forest, hoping to see Ana's familiar form hiding out or running between the trees with Sophia at her side.

"If it is her, why was her machete in this walker? She's usually good about putting these things down, completely." Rick made a sound remark as Dary slowly turned to the dead walker his eyes scanning what looked to have been a man before landing on its hands.

Shoving the machete into his belt, Daryl pushed past him, dropping to his knees to immediately begin inspecting the creatures fingernails, hoping he wouldn't find what he was looking for.

"What are you looking for?" Rick slowly knelt down beside Daryl who reached over for the other hand quickly.

"Skin under the fingernails." Daryl briefly explained before freezing when he noticed a fresh piece of flesh hanging from the walker's pointer finger. Swallowing the bile, he dropped the hand back to the ground before turning to the walkers head.

"It fed recently." Daryl muttered, yanking the walker's mouth open to see flesh caught between its teeth as well.

"There's flesh caught in its teeth." Daryl paled slightly at the thought that it was possibly Ana's skin sitting there in front of him.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Rick hesitantly asked, knowing there was a possibility that it was either Sophia or Ana's flesh.

"Only one way to know for sure." Daryl hissed as he yanked Ana's machete free from his belt before Rick caught his forearm, knowing that it was taking everything in the redneck not to completely lose his shit.

"Here, I'll do it." Rick kindly offered as Daryl scoffed, yanking his arm free.

"How many kills ya skin and gut in your life?" Daryl spat as Rick knelt, completely taken back by the man's comment.

"Anyway, mine is sharper." Daryl waved Ana's machete in the air, knowing the woman kept her weapons in tip-top shape. With no hesitation, Daryl immediately began sawing the walker's stomach open before prying it open, a rank smell swimming into the air.

"Now comes the bad part." Daryl dropped Ana's knife into his lap before diving into what was left of the walker's stomach contents.

"Yeah, Hoss had a big meal not long ago. I feel it in there." Daryl grunted as his hands effortlessly searched through the contents, Rick just beside him, attempting to not lose what little he had eaten on their road trip.

"Here's the gut bag. I got this." Daryl pulled out a sack of sorts, dropping to the ground before making a grab for Ana's knife once more. Her knife cut through the sack like a knife to butter before Daryl began pulling out small pieces, a tiny skull, and other unidentified things.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." Daryl scoffed, inwardly happy it had not been what he fear it was. Standing, wiping her machete clean, he glanced around for any sign of both girls before turning to Rick.

"At least we know."

Ana's POV...

There was no way we'd find shelter in time. Not with how fast the sun was going down or how slow Sophia was beginning to grow the further into the forest we went. During the hour we had been walking after I found her, a million things were running through my mind.

The group would find the Greene Farm soon.

Within the next day or so, after Carl gets shot.

Glancing down at the small girl that looked exhausted beyond words, I sighed, glancing up at a large tree, immediately noticing a crevasse in the trunk of the tree a little more than halfway up the tree.

"I think I found somewhere we can bunk for the night." I whispered, pointing up the tree where the girl looked a bit unsure.

"I...can't..." She began to whisper, shivering slightly from the early night air breezing through the trees.

"It's alright. I'll carry you on my back if I have to but we need to get off the ground, out of sight." I offered, circling the tree for a good way to climb up as I noticed a few notches on one side of the tree, big enough for me to shove my feet into to get to the lowest branch and lift myself up.

After much trouble, falling a few times, I finally was able to get to the lowest branch where I then lifted Sophia from the ground onto the branch, then onto my back. It was hard, being that Sophia wasn't a toddler or anything, close to 10 years old and tall, I struggled to get us both up the tree and into the crevasse I had found from the ground floor.

"There, safe." I panted heavily, carefully putting Sophia down in the crevasse before sitting on the branch, attempting to catch my breath.

"Are...are you okay?" Sophia meekly asked as I chuckled lowly, swallowing down my dry throat before nodding, already calculating how the hell we were going to survive out here without any food or water. Damn it, I had known this was coming, had known I was going to join the hunt and yet I had calculated for the both of us starving or growing thirsty.

"Just a bit out of shape is all." I muttered, glancing around the dimly lit forest before my ears seemed to peek at the sound of water flow somewhere nearby. Maybe a small river? Stream? I wanted to go and look, but I knew that it wouldn't happen right now especially with the sun almost completely out of sight, light almost non-existent right now.

I would go check tomorrow before Sophia got up, maybe hunt for something we could eat at the same time.

Author's POV...

"Oh God, they're back." Carol immediately shot off the ground upon seeing Rick and Daryl emerge from the treeline, her eyes panning around for her little girl in a panic.

"You didn't find her?" Lori asked hesitantly as they grew closer, Rick passing her a grim shake of his head.

"Her trail went cold." Daryl explained as he hopped the guard rail, Lori and Andrea immediately reaching out to catch a fainting Carol.

"We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick quickly promised as Carol fought to keep standing, a look of pure horror directed at Rick.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night alone in the woods." Carol cried as Daryl and Rick met eyes briefly before Rick sighed.

"She's not out there alone." Rick carefully explained as the women stared at him both confused and horrified with the possible double meaning behind his words.

"Ana's out there. Caught her footsteps just one behind Sophia's." Daryl explained as a small bit of color entered Carol's face as the women recalled seeing said woman take off into the woods as soon as the horde had made it past.

"Ana's either found her already or on her tail." Rick added confidently as Carol sobbed into her palm at the possibility.

"How can you be sure about Ana finding her?" Lori didn't believe their faith in said woman and instead, openly asked as Daryl glared hard at her.

"Ana's more fuckin' capable then any of ya out there on 'er own. She's probably found that little girl and is hiddin' out till sunlight." Daryl spat as Rick put a hand out to stop either one of them from saying anymore.

"But you're not completely sure? We can't leave them out there, alone." Carol sniffled as Shane ignored the previous conversation.

"Out in the dark's no good. If Dixon and Rick believe Ana's out there, hiding with your little girl till sunlight, best we stay back and regroup till the suns up." Daryl knew Shane didn't mean a word he said about Ana and rolled his eyes, already hearing Ana's remark about the Sheriff Deputy playing on loop in his head.

"We'd just be tripping over ourselves." Rick agreed with his friend.

"More people getting lost if we all go out there now." Daryl leaned against the guard rail, his eyes trained on the treeline, inwardly hoping to see either girl.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. And what if Ana is hurt, I thought you out of all people would want to be out there right now, looking." Carol cried out, ignoring that nagging feeling in the back of her head, telling her that her little girl was gone, that Ana was lying in a ditch somewhere, hurt. Daryl's eyes snapped over to the hysterical woman, instantly knowing her words were directed at him as all eyes turned to him in that same instance.

"Ya think I don't want ta be out there right now then fuckin' up here, listening to ya bitch and moan when we tried our best?!" Daryl stepped up, hissing in Carol's face before Rick grabbed him, pulling him out of the woman's face.

"You didn't find, anything?" Andrea asked for clarification as Lori held a crying Carol to her shoulder.

"I know this is hard. But i'm asking you not to panic." Shane was using all his social skills, attempting to calm the crying mother though he didn't know what to do.

"We know she was out there." Rick nodded.

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl interrupted

"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick cut in, feeling the tension rise between the two as Carol had just made a jab at Daryl's unannounced affection for Ana.

"Is that blood?" As if a pin just dropped in a silent room, the tension in the conversation suddenly flipped for the worse as all the women took a good look at Rick and Daryl's shirts, gasping in horror at the sight of dried blood.

"We took down a walker." Rick carefully explained, watching as Carol quickly collapsed back into Lori's chest, sobbing out.

"Walker? Oh my god." She cried loudly into Lori's chest as she held the hysterical woman closer to her.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia or Ana." Rick promised, reaching out to comfort the crying mother.

"How can you know that?" Andrea defended in disbelief as Daryl glared over at the blonde.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, fuckin' made sure." Daryl spat defensively as Andrea glanced at him in horror.

"Oh god." Both women moaned, turning away with a hand over their mouths.

"How could you just leave her out there to begin with? How could you just leave her?" Carol immediately began to dig into Rick, startling the Deputy by the woman's accusations.

"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw them off. It was her best chance." Rick defended himself, though he was beginning to doubt his choices now.

"Sounds like he didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane stepped up to his friends defense, not liking the way the woman was blaming his friend for something out of his control.

"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child." Carol's legs were giving out on her as Lori fought to keep her standing.

"It was my only option. The only choice I could make." Rick felt terrible now, guilt flooding his mind.

"I'm sure nobody doubts that." Lori comforted her husband, watching the way he was slowly closing in on himself.

"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol sobbed out loudly, dropping to her knees as Lori gasped in surprise, falling to the ground beside her.

"We gotta have some faith that Ana found her and that they are both safe." Glenn whispered, not sure if anyone heard him as he turned to face the treeline, wishing to see both Sophia and Ana come charging through the brush, unharmed with smiles on their faces.

But fate was never that kind, not today.

So, first chapter back, how was it?

Have I lived up to the hype you guys have been building since Season 1 ended? I really hope so!

Anyways, you know the drill, want the next chapter up, soon? Review! Send in your reviews, the more I get, the quicker I'll be pushed into updating! Like, seriously! I have a couple chapters already set up for this season so I have no problem updating a day after I've already updated lol that's all up to you guys.

I'm thinking about setting a certain number of reviews for me to update? Maybe 5+ reviews to upload the next chapter? I know I've gotten a shit ton of more followers for this story so I know it's possible, what do you guys think? Think you can do it?

Till next time~