Author's Note:

Hey there! Thanks for clicking on my fanfiction, Sophia's Lost Days. This is an idea that I've had floating around in my head for some time- and since I've been rewatching the series, I figured it was time to give it a shot.

This should be around 13 chapters, each one titled after the respective Season 2 episodes so you have an idea of where the story is in the timeline. The chapters will link to the episode title in one way or another.

If this story does well, I will do a sequel following the events of the season 2 and the following seasons.

Please enjoy this first part of the eighth chapter of Sophia's Lost Days.

As always, reviews are appreciated- feedback is essential. Helps me know what to change and/or improve upon.

If I haven't replied to your review, please let me know! I reply to every review I receive! I am very grateful for the support so far!

As always, let me know if you spot any spelling or grammatical errors.

Although I am using the TV versions of the characters, I will be drawing more on the comics for inspiration. As in, the Governor will be as brutal as he is in the comics, and Negan will swear like he does in the comics. Just a heads up.

Also, sorry for the delay in getting this chapter out. I wasn't sure how to start off the Chapter, but once I figured that part out, it was easier. I looked up which of Hershel's family were in the barn because I couldn't remember. Also, I didn't include Lori's car crash because that part has always frustrated me. Lori just took off without telling Carl or anyone else.

From here on out, updates will probably be once a week, maybe twice if I'm feeling particularly inspired.

I know this chapter is short, but I was struggling with writer's block. The next chapter will be longer and more intense, I promise. Sorry!

Here's a new feature...

Songs I listened to while writing this chapter (in case it helps anyone with inspiration):

Einar Selvik (Snake Pit Poetry) - Trevor Morris.

If I Had A Heart (Fever Ray) - Trevor Morris.

Wardruna (Blood Eagle) - Trevor Morris.

Dark Vampire Music (The Vampire Masquerade- Waltz) - Peter Gundry.

Everybody Wants To Rule The World (Dracula Untold trailer song) - Lorde.

Iron (Assassins Creed Revelations Trailer) - Woodkid.

Run Boy Run (Dying Light Trailer) - Woodkid.

The Wolf Among Us Prologue Song (10 Minute Seamless Loop) - Telltale Games.

Solas Theme (Extended) - Trevor Morris.

The Shape Of Water (Soundtrack) - Alexandre Desplat, Andy Williams, Caterina Valente, Silvio Francesco, Carmen Miranda, Glenn Miller, and Madeleine Peyroux.


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Word count: 3,443!

Last Edited: 18/3/18 (Grammatical errors corrected)


Chapter 8 -

Nebraska (Part 1) -


With Rick, Shane, and Daryl…


The three men stood awkwardly, unsure of what to do...before the body before them began to move. Standing with their weapons at the ready, they slowly edged forward- watching as the woman rose up. Leaning on her elbows, she looked around blearily, eyes glazed- but undoubtedly alive...and more than a little dazed. Covered in congealed blood and purpling bruises, she shook all over- looking eerily similar to the corpses around her. However, once she caught sight of the three men coming towards her, her eyes seemed to come more alive- burning with fury. Face reddening, the woman leant to the side- ignoring the blood dripping from her wounds as she reached for a piece of cloth to cover herself with. Glancing behind herself, the woman began backing away. Keeping her eye on the three men, the woman struggled to her feet- only to sway as she got halfway up. Blinking rapidly, the woman continued backing away- somehow managing to straighten up. As she backed away, the woman looked beyond the three guys- and caught sight of the trucks.

"You with them?" she shakily gestured to the men on the ground. "Come to finish me off?"

"No!" Rick spoke quickly. "We're not with them."

"Really?" the woman seemed suspicious. "You expect me to believe-"

"We're with Sophia." Rick interrupted, lowering his gun slightly.

"Sophia?" the woman's' face lit up despite her wounds. "She's alright?"

"She's fine." Rick spoke reassuringly. "She told us about you. You're...Jasper, right? A surgeon?"

"That's me." Jasper took a step forward, paling slightly.

"Sophia said you saved her." Daryl confirmed.

"I...suppose I did." Jasper grimaced, pulling the cloth tighter around herself. "I told her I'd get her back to her Mom."

"You did." Rick nodded. "They're back there, in the truck."

"They are?" Jasper paused.

Before any of the men could speak up again, Jasper began swaying on her feet. Stumbling, she caught herself on a car door- barely managing to stay on her feet. Blood had begun dripping faster from her wound, staining the cloth...and judging by how pale she was...she couldn't afford to lose anymore. Rick took another step forward, cautiously- not wanting to escalate the situation unnecessarily. Noting the man's hesitation, Jasper coughed slightly...and attempted to clear her throat- pulling the cloth tighter around herself.

"I'm...I'm fine." she swallowed, before swaying again.

Mere moments later, she lost her grip on the car door- as her whole body began to shake violently. Grimacing, Jasper made eye contact with Rick- eyes strong despite her state.

"I'm fine." Jasper started, before grimacing again. "Fuck-"

She didn't get time to finish her words…

Before her eyes rolled up into the back of her head...

And she pitched forward…

Unconscious.

Moving quickly, the three men darted forwards- Daryl dropping his crossbow as he rushed to Jasper's side. Careful not to jostle her too much, he quietly wrapped the cloth around her tighter- covering her as decently as he could. Once satisfied that she was covered enough, he took a deep breath. He knew they didn't have a lot of time. Quietly, he moved Jasper into his arms- almost cradling her, so as not to disturb her wounds any further. Slowly rising to his feet, looking the woman up and down, he turned to face Rick and Shane- who were looking at him in a mixture of surprise and shock. They seemed pleasantly surprised at how fast he had reacted.

"How is she?" Rick picked up Daryl's crossbow before straightening up.

"Not good." Daryl answered.

"In what way?" Shane pursued.

"Lost a lot of blood." Daryl answered. "Looks like she took a beating. And this…"

Following Daryl's gaze, Rick and Shane drew their attention to the grisly wound on Jasper's face- a with neat...albeit torn...stitches. The stitches had likely been torn in the scuffle that Sophia had mentioned. Torn stitches were never pretty- Daryl knew from experience. He also knew that the edges of the wound being an angry red, and swollen were telltale signs of infection.

"It's infected. Other wounds probably are too." Daryl spoke bluntly- they didn't have time for a long winded explanation.

"Then we need to get her to Hershel." Rick began jogging back to the trucks.

"If he'll help." Daryl picked up the pace, pointedly glancing back at Shane.

Shane picked up on the hunters words...and remained at the back, watching the others in silence…

Unsure of what kind of welcome they'd get once they returned to the farm.


Later, at Hershel's Farm...


The atmosphere in the living room was tense- everyone's nerves marinating in silence. None of them spoke up- for no one knew what to say, or how to react. No simple words could encompass the kaleidoscope of emotions that the group were feeling. After all, in the space of just a few hours, everything had changed. Sophia had returned alive, and mostly well- after days of them all believing she was dead. That alone would be difficult for anyone to handle- but Shane had taken them overboard by tearing open the barn. The destruction of the barn walkers had long reaching consequences. The sheer volume of walkers had almost overwhelmed them- and the sight of familiar faces was almost too much for the Greene family, in particular, to bear. Hershel's son Shawn had been in there-along with his second wife, Annette...and his nephew, Arnold. The sight of family members risen as shambling corpses was even worse for Beth- who had now slipped into a state of shock...and lay almost comatose in one of the bedrooms. In the aftermath of all this, Hershel had disappeared. And now they had an injured stranger in another bedroom. The presence of Jasper was only adding to the tension- but no one vocalised it. After all, the woman had saved Sophia's life on many occasions. Add to that the fact that she'd likely die of blood loss or infection unless Hershel turned up...and things were pretty dire. The group hadn't felt so desperate since Carl first got shot- and they knew that the silence would only last for so long. Sooner or later, Shane would start yelling again- which would only make things worse.

As Maggie came down the stairs with Patricia, both pale-faced and bloodstained, the rest of the group seemed to forget the tension for a moment...and turned to look at the two women. After a few more moments of silence persisted, Sophia was the first to speak up.

"How is she?" Sophia bit her lip.

She didn't need to mention a name. They all knew who Sophia was referring to. The strange woman- Jasper- who had defied the odds to get Sophia back to them. The one who had nearly bled out on the highway. Almost guiltily, Maggie glanced at Carol- who nodded sombrely. Taking a deep breath, Maggie steadied herself- before speaking up. Delivering bad news was never her strong suit- but she also knew that sugarcoating it was just as bad.

"Not too good, I'm afraid." Maggie sighed, sitting down as Glenn vacated his seat.

"She's lost a lot of blood. Infection's setting in on her face. Started in the gunshot wounds." Patricia shook her head. "And I don't need to be a surgeon to know those men did some damage themselves. We cleaned her up as best we could, gave her some clothes…"

"What...did they do?" Rick spoke up, awkwardly interrupting.

Shane frowned, before shaking his head. Initially, he'd not wanted to go with Rick and Daryl to retrieve Jasper. He didn't trust strangers. He'd thought that...sure, she'd saved Sophia but he'd believed there had to be some underlying, ulterior motive- there had to be. He'd thought on how no one helped another person willingly, without promise of reward- not these days. Not since the world ended. The undead rising had changed everyone- but Shane, of course, kept these thoughts to himself.

Everyone else seemed willing to welcome Jasper with open arms- ready to roll out the welcome wagon the moment she woke up. Seeing the state Jasper was in, Shane was willing to forget his earlier suspicions and play along. But one of them had to keep their guard up...no matter what. After all, being careful was what had gotten them through...so far. Even if Rick didn't always agree.

"You saw the bruises." Patricia scoffed, piercing the silence again. "Bunch of…"

Patricia took a deep breath. She didn't need to explain further- everyone could guess what the men had done to their guest. The knowledge that they'd originally intended to assault Sophia, an underage girl...made matters worse- it told them that the men had no morals...and likely wouldn't have shown a shred of remorse. The world had truly gone to shit.

"Is she gonna make it?" Sophia pursued.

Carol smiled sadly at the young girls genuine concern, and pulled Sophia closer to her.

"If my dad was here, she could make it. Without him…" Maggie struggled to hold back tears.

The events of the day were beginning to take their toll on the eldest Greene sister...and it was taking all she had not to burst into tears.

"And...Beth?" Lori spoke softly.

"No change." Maggie spoke bluntly, glaring at Shane. "Can't get her to say or do anything."

"Look…" Shane started.

"Not another word from you. You've done enough." Maggie turned away.

Gritting his teeth, Shane looked down. What he had done was to protect the group- even if some of them didn't see it that way right now. They'd been crazy to let the barn of walker stay the way it was for so long- what if they'd broken out? What if they'd gotten out whilst they were sleeping? Luckily, these were questions they'd never had to answer. Yes, Shane knew he had done the right thing- even if it had landed the group in hot water with their hosts. Sooner or later, Rick would see that. He hoped he would, at least.

"So what do we do?" Sophia piped up again.

"We find Hershel." Rick stood up. "And bring him back safely. For Beth...and for Jasper."

Heaving a sigh of relief, Maggie looked at Rick- flashing a tired smile at the former Sheriff's Deputy. Whilst she was furious with Shane for putting everyone in this position- Rick had remained a voice of calm and reason. Something that she was grateful for- none of them would be able to take much more stress. The tension had them all balancing on a figurative tightrope- the slightest disturbance would distrust them.

"I'll go with you." Glenn spoke confidently. "I've been talking to Hershel. I can help."

"Sounds good." Rick agreed. "Maggie, Patricia...any idea where he might be?"

The two women exchanged nervous glances, before Maggie eventually replied.

"At the bar in town." Maggie clasped her hands together. "He...used to drink a lot. A while back."

"Then that's where we'll start." Rick checked his gun. "Rest of you stay here. All those gunshots might have attracted some unwanted attention- so we'll need all of you here in case anything happens."

The rest of the group murmured in agreement.

As Rick and Glenn headed out the door, pouring over a map of the area, Shane watched.

Rick had taken him along earlier…

But now, Rick had left his friend behind.

And that didn't sit well with Shane.

Not one bit.


With Sophia…


Sometime after Rick had departed, along with Glenn, to find Hershel, Maggie and Patricia gave Sophia the OK to visit their new guest- avoiding the young girl's hopeful gaze. Almost immediately, Sophia hopped up and out of her Mom's arms, and climbed up the stairs as fast as her injured leg would let her. It had been agony to wait whilst Maggie and Patricia worked, and now...now she could see her friend again. Mere moments passed before Sophia was in Jasper's room, opposite Beths, footsteps creaking on the old floorboards. The smile of relief on Sophia's face soon faded upon seeing her friend, the harsh reality setting in. In the broad daylight, Jasper seemed paler than she had ever been- the dark purple bruises across her body standing out starkly against her near white skin. Her almost gaunt appearance was only accentuated by her borrowed clothing, and the almost gaudy patchwork duvet that had been pulled up to her shoulders. Sophia sighed heavily- the older woman had seemed so tall next to Sophia, when she'd been fighting...but now...she looked so incredibly small. It hurt. She'd not looked so bad when Sophia had last seen her...but maybe that had been just wishful belief...and the darkness of the car on the highway. The full extent of what her new friend had experienced hit Sophia like a sledgehammer- and it took all she had not to fall to her knees in exhaustion and sorrow. Sniffling, she took a seat at the end of the bed, careful not to move around too much.

"I hope you wake up soon." Sophia spoke quietly. "My Mom's here. I think she's going to like you."

Sophia wasn't sure if Jasper could hear her or not- she'd heard somewhere once that talking to someone unconscious could help- but she still talked.

After all, it couldn't hurt to try.


Later, with Rick and Glenn…


Tentatively, the two men approached the bar- looking all around...keeping their guard up. Taking great care not to make too much noise, they soon arrived at the bars doors- noting the misted shadow of someone sitting inside. Spending a moment in silence, Rick looked at Glenn- waiting until the younger man nodded before he pushed the doors open. Almost instantly, they felt a wave of relief- Hershel was in the bar. Sitting in dead silence, the man was sat on a bar stool- blearily examining the crystalline glass in his hands...and the bottle of alcohol next to him.

"Hershel?" Rick spoke up, keeping his voice down so as not to startle the man.

"Who's with you?" Hershel sighed.

"Glenn." Rick answered.

Noting Hershel's lack of any kind of emotion in his voice, Rick and Glenn stepped forward. A moment of silence passed before Hershel spoke again.

"Maggie send him?" Hershel asked, still looking down at his glass.

"He volunteered." Rick answered. "He's good like that."

As Rick joined Hershel at the bar, the older man took a long sip of his alcohol- an amber bottle of whiskey. Watching as the man took down the drink with ease, Rick spoke up again.

"How many have you had?" Rick leaned against the bar.

Hershel sighed- a long, weary sigh.

"Not enough."


Some time later…


Rick stood in the open doorway- growing increasingly frustrated. He knew- they all knew- that Beth and Jasper were running out of time. Hershel still seemed unwilling to listen- and it was beginning to drive Rick mad.

"So. What's the plan?" Rick raised his voice. "Drink yourself to death? Leave your girls alone?"

"Don't tell me how to raise my girls." Hershel stepped forward.

Glenn also stepped forward- looking from Rick to Hershel as the tension rose.


Back on the Farm, with Sophia…


After Lori's disappearing act, the farm had become even more full with tension- but Sophia managed to stay away from it all. It wasn't easy, hearing the grown ups argue- but she managed. After all, there was someone who needed her. Jasper. The woman had begun trembling again over the past hour- and sweat had begun to drip down her forehead. Both were signs that even Sophia could recognise- they meant that her friend had a fever. And judging by the looks of pity on everyone's faces...it wasn't a mild one. It seemed so strange to Sophia- the woman had been injured almost an unbelievable amount of times over the last several days...and now it seemed as if it would be the infection that killed her. The same thing that would have taken Sophia - had Jasper not come along. The irony in the switch of roles wasn't lost on Sophia- but she was at least glad that she could keep Jasper company. She wanted to help in any way that she could. Even if it was something as little as dabbing a cold cloth from a bowl of water onto the older woman's head.

"Come on." Sophia spoke quietly. "Please, you've got to wake up soon."


With Rick, Glenn, and Hershel…


Just as it seemed as if Rick were finally getting through to Hershel, the bar doors swung open- causing the three men to turn around rapidly. Their hearts collectively skipped a beat as two men- strangers- entered the room. The strangers seemed just as surprised to see Rick, Glenn, and Hershel- so for a few moments, both sides could do nothing but stare at one another. As a few minutes of tense silence passed, before the skinnier of the other two men spoke up.

"Son of a bitch." The man shook his head. "You're alive."