I wrapped an arm around Glenn's neck as I shifted in his lap. He didn't seem to notice as he kept staring at the map in his hands. Dale was sitting on the seat next to us, driving the truck and Andrea and Shane were doing something with guns in the back seat. I was just watching out the window. Even if it was a diseased world, it still managed to look beautiful.
"Oh no." I heard Glenn mutter. I looked up from the map and saw that there were cars scattered everywhere. Dale stopped the truck to look for a way around.
"See a way through?" Dale asked Daryl as he came up on his bike. Daryl just nodded and kept going in the direction he was going. Dale started up the truck again and maneuvered his way through the cars.
"Uh... maybe we should just go back. There's an interstate bypass-"
"Can't spare the fuel." Dale cut Glenn off.
"Jeez." Glenn whispered as he looked at the cars. "Can we even get through here?"
"I hope so." I said.
Just then, there was a noise that didn't sound good, followed by white smoke spraying out from the front of the truck. The screeching noise that also came wasn't very pleasant. Dale stopped the truck.
I climbed off Glenn's lap and clambered out of the truck, the others in tow. Rick, Lori, Carl, Carol and Sophia came out from behind and Daryl climbed off his bike.
"I said it. Didn't I say it?" Dale said as he inspected the front of the truck. "A thousand times."
"Problem, Dale?" Shane asked.
"There's a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope." Dale answered.
"Can you find a radiator hose here?" Shane looked around.
"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl observed as he pulled stuff from a car.
"Siphon more fuel from these cars." T-Dog said, holding fuel cans in his hands.
"Maybe some water." Carol suggested.
"Food." Glenn added on.
"This is a graveyard." Lori pointed out.
"Come on y'all, look around." Shane ordered after a short silence.
I patted Glenn's shoulder and kissed him on the cheek before making my way through the cars. I stopped at one and decided to look through. I couldn't find anything to salvage so I moved onto another car. I turned around to see Lori, Carol, Sophia and Carl not so far behind.
I turned around when I heard rapid footsteps. It was Rick and he had a panicked look on his face. He motioned for us to get down under the cars. I grabbed Sophia, who was the closest person to me, and pulled her under a car. I wrapped an arm around her to keep her from trying to get up.
The groans and moans were freaking me out. I had to clamp my free hand over my mouth to stop me from breathing so heavily and risk getting me and Sophia killed. I watched Carl shuffle closer under the car as they were now passing by us. There was so many. I thought there was only around 20. With the size of our group, we could have taken them down but not anymore.
The groaning had now ceased and the slow footsteps could not be heard anymore. I removed my arm from Sophia and as soon as I had done that. she leaned over me to look from under the car... which was a big mistake. There was a loud groan and she jumped back and screamed. A walker had spotted her and now it was going for her. And me. I inched back but I couldn't stop Sophia as she came out from under the car and ran off. I quickly grabbed my knife out of my pocket and came out from the under the car.
I jumped over the barrier which separated the woods and the highway and ran the way she went. I was running as fast as I could, but I couldn't see her anywhere. I saw the walkers as I stopped and I ran a different way.
"Sophia, where the fuck are you?" I muttered as I looked around. I suddenly felt a body slam into mine and I saw it was Sophia. She reached over to my belt, which had my handgun in it. I stopped her right away.
"Shoot them!" She pleaded.
"I can't. The walkers up on the highway will hear it and we'll be in more trouble." I told her. She whimpered as the leaves rustled. I quickly lifted her over my shoulder and ran in the opposite direction, looking for somewhere to hide her until I saw a lake.
I quickly placed her down and jumped down into the small body of water. She followed and jumped into my arms. I held her on my hip and looked around for somewhere to hide her. I noticed a small opening in the bank and quickly ran over to it, placing Sophia into the water.
"Sophia, listen to me. You wait here and I'll distract the walkers. If I don't come back, then you run the way you came. Back to the highway. Back to your mom. Keep the sun on your left shoulder." I ordered and she nodded. She walked into the small hole and I shushed her as the walkers came into my view.
"Come on, you ugly son of a bitch." I taunted. One of them walked straight down the slope and fell into the water. I bit down on my lip to stifle the laughter that was coming. I ran through the water. The walker that fell in followed me through and the other one followed along the bank.
It wasn't easy to lose them but I did it. But only for a few minutes. As I hid behind a tree, I heard the slow footsteps and the groans of one. I held the handle of my knife tightly as it approached. I ran out from the tree and hit the walker with the hilt of my knife. It fell to the ground and then I stabbed it with the blade. Right through the eye.
I got up as the other one approached and then swiftly threw it. It landed right in the middle of it's forehead. The walker fell to the ground, blood dripping from the wound. I breathed heavily and walked over to it, pulling out the knife. I wiped the blood on it's shirt and slipped it back into my belt.
"You sure it was this spot?" Daryl asked me as he looked into the opening of the bank where I had left Sophia. Rick, Shane and Glenn had also accompanied me to find Sophia.
"I left her right here." I told him. "I drew the walkers away off in that direction up the creek."
"What a paddle." He said.
"She was gone by the time I got back here." I sighed. "I figured she'd just ran off and made her way back to the group." I gestured to where Glenn was stood. "I told her to go that way and keep the sun on her left shoulder."
"Hey Short Round, would you step off to one side? You're fucking up the trail." Daryl said to Glenn who glared but did what he asked.
"Assuming she knows her left from her right." Shane said.
"Shane, I'm pretty sure she understood Kaitlyn fine." Rick growled.
"Kid's tired and scared, man. She had a close call with two walkers. I don't think what Kaitlyn said stuck." Shane argued.
"Clear prints right here." Daryl observed. "She did what you said. Headed back to the highway." He looked at me. "Spread out!"
"Let's go. She could have made her way back." Shane ordered. He held out his hand to me and I grabbed it, being pulled up onto the bank.
All 5 of us snuck around a part of the woods, Daryl leading. He crouched down, observing a spot on the ground.
"Doing just fine 'til here." Daryl said. "Ran off that way."
"Why would she do that?" Glenn questioned from next to me.
"Maybe she scared herself. Spooked. Ran off." Shane suggested.
"Walker?" Glenn asked.
"I don't see any other footprints." Daryl shook his head. "Just hers."
"So, what do we do?" Shane asked.
"You, Glenn and Kaitlyn go back up to the highway." Rick ordered. I raised my eyebrows in disbelief. "People are gonna start panicking. Let 'em know we're on her trail and we're doing everything we can. Most of all, keep everybody calm."
"We can scavenge cars... do a few other chores. Keep 'em occupied." Shane suggested. "Come on." He gestured to me and Glenn.
"Excuse me, why should I leave?" I asked. "I'm the one who ran after Sophia."
"And you're the one who lost her." Daryl said.
"So, you think Carol would prefer it if I put her daughter in danger by killing walkers with her right next to me?" I questioned and he just stared at me. "Didn't think so."
"Just go, Kaitlyn. We'll be fine on our own." Rick said calmly. I glared at him but complied, following Glenn and Shane.
Shane was using one of our cars to push another car off the road, which he did successfully. I was sitting on the hood of a different car, anxiously awaiting the arrival of Daryl, Rick and hopefully, Sophia.
"Why aren't we all out there looking? Why are we moving cars?" I heard Carol ask Dale.
"We need room so I can get the truck turned round as soon as it's right. Now that we have fuel, we can double back to a bypass that Glenn flagged on the map." Dale informed her.
"Sounds easier than trying to get through this mess." Shane spoke.
"We're not going anywhere 'til my daughter gets back." Carol told them.
"Rick and Daryl, they're on it. Just a matter of time." Shane reassured her.
"Be soon enough for me." Andrea said, throwing a bottle of water to Glenn. "I'm still freaked out from that herd that passed us by. Or whatever you'd call it."
"Yeah, what was that?" Glenn questioned. "All of 'em just marching along like that."
"Herd." Shane laughed. "That sounds 'bout right." He looked at Andrea. "We've seen it. The night our camp got attacked. They wander in a pack... or fewer." Shane cleared his throat. "Come on, people. We still got a lot to do. Let's stay on it. Let's go."
"Oh god. They're back." I heard Glenn whisper. I quickly jumped off the hood and went over to where Carol was stood. There they were, walking up the slope.
"You didn't find her?" Carol whispered, crying.
"The trail went cold. We'll pick it up again at first light." Rick told her.
"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own... to spend the night alone in the woods." She cried.
"Out in the dark's no good." Daryl spoke. "We'll just be tripping over ourselves. More people'll get lost."
"But she's twelve. She can't be out there on her own." Carol pleaded. "You didn't find anything?"
"This is hard, but we're asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick reassured her.
"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl added.
"We have to make this an organized effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody." Rick ordered. "I've asked him to oversee this."
"Is that blood?" Carol asked as she looked at Daryl's pants.
"We took down a walker." Rick told her as she started hyperventitaling.
"Walker... oh my god." She whispered.
"Listen... there was no sign that it was anywhere near Sophia." Rick tried to calm her down.
"How can you know that?" Andrea asked in disbelief.
"We cut the sumbitch open." Daryl answered. "We made sure."
"How could you leave her out there?" Carol turned her eyes to me as she said this. "How could you just leave her?
"Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw 'em off. It was her best chance." I told her.
"She didn't have a choice, Carol." Shane defened me.
"How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child." She cried.
"It was the only choice I could make." I said.
"My little girl got left in the woods." Carol said through tears.
I turned around and started to walk through the line of cars. I didn't know why I was doing it but I just needed some short time away from everyone. Carol's daughter is lost... and it's all my fault.
"Everybody takes a weapon." Rick ordered as he unravealled a cloth and it revealed some sharp weapons.
"These aren't the kind of weapons we need." Andrea said. "What about the guns?"
"Haven't we been over that?" Shane spoke up. "Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. Can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles."
"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea told him. I stepped forward and picked up a hatchet, holding onto the handle tightly.
"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment and a herd's passing by. Then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane growled.
"The idea is to take the creek up about 5 miles." Daryl informed us. I covered my mouth to stifle my laughter as Glenn admired the weapon in his hand, smiling at it. "Then turn around and come back down on the other side... chances are she'll be by the creek. It's her only landmark."
"Stay quiet and stay sharp. Keep space between you but stay inside of each other." Rick said. I bit down on my lip as I wanted to laugh again.
"Everybody assemble their packs." Shane ordered.
I slid the hatchet into my belt, where my knife and pistol rested. My shotgun was strapped across my back, loaded in case of a real emergency. Even though we were told not to use guns, I still kept mine with me. I was super protective of them.
I straightened up and grabbed my pack as everyone started leaving. I walked next to Glenn, his hand slipped into mine as we walked along the highway. I smiled and squeezed it gently.
Something came to our attention as we made it through the woods. A yellow tent. Everyone stopped and Daryl went over to it. Rick pulled Carol with him, telling her that if she was in there, her voice would be the first one she would wanna hear.
"Sophia? Sweetie? Are you in there? Sophia, it's mommy. Sophia? We're all here, baby. It's mommy." She cried out to the tent. My grip tightened on Glenn's hand. The suspense was killing me.
"It ain't her." Daryl declared after looking through the tent. My grip loosened and I let out a sigh of relief. There was no live walker in there... but still no Sophia.
"What's in there?" Andrea asked curiously.
"Some guy. Did what Jenner said. Opted out." Daryl told her.
My head perked up as the ringing of bells rang out. I narrowed my eyes in confusion. My other hand went for the hatchet in my belt but I just held the handle, not pulling it out.
Rick and Shane gestured for us to follow the bells and we did, Glenn pulling me along because he was faster than me.
We walked out of the woods and saw a church. Looked so harmless but it wasn't. I knew it wasn't.
"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells." Shane pointed out.
We all followed Rick as he ran towards the church. He was running pretty fast. He looked like he was galloping or something.
We came to the door and Rick, Daryl and Shane stood by it, holding up their weapons. Rick opened it with a creak and there sat three people, just staring at the wall in front of them.
They turned around and the groans were familiar. And you could see that they were walkers. Just by looking at them. One of them had a smile on their face. Creepy. I pulled the hatchet out of my belt and slowly walked up the steps and stood behind the three men.
Rick advanced on the creepy walker and slammed the blade of the knife into it's head with a yell. It fell to the ground in a heap. Shane went to the other male walker and jammed the blade into it's eye. Daryl slashed the female walker across the face with Glenn's weapon.
The bells rang out again and I turned. Daryl quickly ran out the door and I followed, as did Glenn. They looked towards the roof which had no bell. We then came to the side which had a megaphone and an electric box. Glenn went up to it and pulled out the wiring, silencing the bells.
"Timer. It's on a timer." Daryl breathed out.
"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol said. I turned and watched as she walked back inside the church. We all then followed her back in except for Andrea, but I knew not to bother her right now if she needed space.
"Y'all gonna follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl's in charge." Shane told us as we stood outside the church. "Me and Rick are gonna hang back, search this area."
"Splitting us up?" Daryl asked. "You sure?"
"Yeah." Shane sighed. "We'll catch up to you."
"I wanna stay too." Carl spoke up. "I'm her friend."
"Just be careful, okay?" Lori said to Carl after her, Shane and Rick shared looks.
"I will." Carl nodded.
"When did you start growing up?" Lori said, hugging him. Lori and Rick also hugged.
"Here, take this." Rick held out a gun to her.
"I'm not taking your gun and leaving you unarmed." Lori said.
"Here. I got a spare." Daryl offered. "Take it." Lori took it out of his hands. I saw Andrea scoff and roll her eyes.
I grabbed Glenn's hand as we all walked away from the church and back into the woods. This is gonna be fun.
"So, this is it?" Carol asked as we'd been walking through the woods for around twenty minutes. "This is the whole plan?"
"The plan is they're whittling us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl said.
"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea said, looking over at Lori. "I see you have a gun." I quickly moved the bottom of my t-shirt so it covered the pistol in my belt. "And you." She turned to me.
"I unloaded my shotgun at the church. The ammo's in my pack." I glared at her.
"Prove it." She said and I raised my eyebrow.
"Fine." I pulled the gun off my back and aimed it at a tree. I pulled the trigger and the gun just clicked. I smirked at her and strapped it onto my back. "Happy?" But she just glared.
"Take it." Lori said to Andrea as she held out the handgun that Daryl had given her. "I'm sick of the looks you're giving me." Andrea took it from her. I smiled at Lori standing up against Andrea. Lori then sat down next to Carol on the log placed in the middle of the forest.
"Honey," she began, making Carol look at her. "I can't imagine what you're goin' through, but you have got to stop blaming Kaitlyn. I see it in your face every time you look at her." I looked down, feeling awkward.
"And once Sophia ran, she didn't hesitate. Not for a second. I don't know if any of us would have gone after her the way she did. Or made the hard decisions she had to make." Lori stopped, watching Carol's reaction and then looked at Andrea, Daryl and Glenn. "Anybody?" But they were just silent.
"You all look to Rick and then blame him when he's not perfect. You think you can do this without him or Kaitlyn, then go right ahead. Nobody's stoppin' you." Lori took a drink from her bottle. I sighed, biting down on my lip.
"We should keep moving." Andrea suggested as she handed the gun back to Lori. Lori then stood up, hitching the pack onto her shoulder and not saying a word. Everyone followed as we made our way through the woods. But we were stopped... by a gunshot.
So, I took The-Originals-Rock's advice and decided to have Kaitlyn go after Sophia instead of Rick. I agree with her, Kaitlyn needed some action.
Also, I have come to two decisions on what to do with Kaitlyn/Glenn/Maggie and I have decided to let you guys pick what should happen. Here are the two options.
Option 1: Kaitlyn will break up with Glenn after finding out he had sex with Maggie.
Option 2: Glenn doesn't have sex with Maggie but Kaitlyn becomes jealous because of the affection Maggie shows for Glenn throughout the story.
If you don't want to vote in the reviews, there is a poll on my profile or you can just send me a PM with your vote. If you don't know what to decide, then Option 1 may have a lot of fighting between Maggie, Glenn and Kaitlyn. But Option 2 may involve Kaitlyn punching Maggie and her and Kaitlyn just don't get along throughout the entire story. Choose wisely, my viewers. You have until I post Chapter 3, because the sex scene is in Episode 4 in the show.