Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead.
Previously:
Daryl heads out first, and then they head out after him. Ross struggles immensely. But she makes it to the other side with the rest of them.
Suddenly, she spots a head of curly blonde hair. She tells herself it's not true, but calls out anyways, "Zoe?"
The woman turns around, and they lock eyes for a split second before Ross is lifted up by Rick to get across the wall.
"Rick! Stop!" Ross shouts, as she tries to claw her way out of his grasp. But it's too late. Maggie is already helping her get to the ground.
Rick climbs over the wall and looks at Ross with confusion. "What's wrong?"
"It was Zoe! I thought she was gone, but she was right there! My sister is in fucking Woodbury," Ross urgently cries in a panic, her eyes alight with resolve.
Pulling Ross aside while Maggie is checking Glenn over, he pinches the bridge of his nose in exasperation and speaks, "Ross, you've been through a lot today. From the looks of it, you could have a concussion, and I think you need to be open to the possibility that you didn't actually see her."
"But—"
"You're not the only one, I promise. I've seen things too," he states, though he doesn't actually look at her. He is in a different world.
Ross shakes her head and turns away from him. She won't push the subject as she is still new to the group, but she knows what she saw. They did just rescue her from Woodbury; however, that was probably more for Glenn and Maggie than for her. Nevertheless, Rick saved her life once again. But, hopefully when they go back for Daryl, she'll catch sight of Zoe again.
Suddenly, a woman makes her way up from under a train car.
Rick pulls out his gun immediately aiming it at her head.
"Where the hell were you? Put your hands up!" he furiously asks, "Get what you came for?!"
Glenn and Maggie point their guns at her too. Ross just stares at her and makes no move to pull a weapon on her but still wonders who the hell she is. Rick takes the katana from her back as she puts her hands up. "Where are the rest of your people?" she asks hesitantly.
"They got Oscar," Glenn whispers heatedly.
Maggie, hands still on her gun but her head in the right place, asks, "Daryl is missing. Did you see him?"
"If anything happens to him—" Rick says with a feral look in his eyes.
The woman defiantly retorts, "I brought you here to save them."
"Thanks for the help," Rick bites back, his voice dripping with sarcasm.
"You'll need help to get them back to the prison or to go back in there for Daryl. Either way, you need me," she asserts. The girl does have balls.
Rick paces as he thinks of a plan to get Daryl back. Tired, Ross sits on the ground her body aching. She looks up to see the woman staring at her.
"Name's Ross," she says. The woman doesn't speak, just stares. "And your name is?"
She doesn't answer instead shifting her stare to Rick as he walks back and forth. Ross chuckles to herself at the stoic woman who in reality saved her life.
"Michonne," the woman finally answers.
Ross smiles and nods in recognition, but doesn't push her any further.
"Maggie you'll come with me to scout for Daryl. Glenn and Ross, y'all are gonna go with Michonne back to the car, as y'all can barely walk. And neither of you are gonna fight me on this," Rick declares waiting for an argument to hash out.
Glenn is silenced by a stern look and the hand of Maggie on his shoulder. Ross is the first to break the silence, "I'm not gonna fight you. I'm never going back there, but Rick you have to tell me if you see my sister. She's about 32, curly blond hair, green eyes, and a little shorter than me. Please, you have to."
"It's gonna be chaotic, but I'll do my best, Ross."
"Thank you."
Glenn is slow to stand up as Maggie does her best to help. Rick walks over to help Ross up, but she backs away. "I got it. No need," she quickly tells him, an uneasy look in her eyes. A little bewildered, he nods in acceptance.
"Be safe," Glenn kisses Maggie on the cheek, seemingly a little awkward.
"You too," she utters softly.
Rick gets their guns together, and tells them, "When y'all get to the car wait for us there. Don't worry we'll be back."
"Bring Daryl back," Ross tells him, a fierce look in her eyes.
Rick nods, and Maggie and him set off on another rescue mission.
Michonne motions for Glenn and Ross to follow her, and they head off back to the car. Ross and Glenn lean on each other for support, realizing, in actuality, they are at the mercy of Michonne.
When they arrive Michonne puts down the seats and tells them both to lie down and sleep while she keeps watch.
Relenting out of sheer exhaustion, Ross painfully climbs into the car with Glenn right behind her. Scooting as close to the side of the car away from Glenn, she closes her eyes. Snapping them open immediately, she shudders at the sight of the Governor's face in her mind. She'll never get far enough away.
After about fifteen minutes, Glenn whispers to her in the darkness, "You still awake?"
"No."
"Oh."
"Do you think they'll get Daryl?"
"Rick won't leave until they do."
"That's what I'm afraid of."
"Ross, I'm so fucking angry."
"It'll get better with time. Just don't let it eat you up from the inside," she murmurs, thinking she'll never take her own advice.
"I guess. Do you want to tell me what happened to you back there?"
Ross is silent, debating on whether to tell him or not. "No. I'm not ready."
"Okay, well I'm here when you are. You know that right?"
"I know." Just as exhaustion is about to take over, she whispers to him in low voice, "Thank you, Glenn."
Michonne shakes them both awake. Glenn gets out of the car and leans against it, searching the woods for any sign of the group. Ross gets the first aid, and starts redressing her gunshot wound. Cursing to herself, she realizes she can't bandage the hole on her back. "Michonne, come here for a sec," she calls out to her.
Michonne walks to her with a questioning look on her face. Ross shoves the bandages in her arms and turns around. "Please do it, Glenn's worried enough as it is without seeing how gross that probably looks," she pleads.
"What if I think it looks gross?" Michonne questions.
"Guess you'll have suck it up then," Ross tells her, chuckling as Michonne mutters about how disgusting it is. Michonne touches her back, and Ross flinches a little, but calms herself knowing it's just a woman.
After Michonne finishes and they've waited another hour, Glenn suddenly shouts, "Rick! Oh thank God!"
Smiling a little, Ross stands up and slowly makes her way to the recent returnees. She hears Rick tell Glenn to back up and Glenn shout, "What the hell is he doing here?!"
Hurrying a little, Ross sees Glenn pointing his gun and screaming about how he tried to kill him. Then she sees where the gun is pointed. Merle. A wave of loathing washes over her. "What the fuck?"
"Hey pretty thing! Didn't think you'd make it outta there alive," Merle says his eyes settling on her with a smirk on his face. Rushing forward with new purpose, Ross gets her machete out. And then Rick is holding her back.
Struggling against his grip, she screams, "He just let it fucking happen! You sick bastard! I'll kill you! I'll…I'll"
And then as fast as the rage came, it deflates, leaving her empty again. Rick finally lets her go, watching to see if she'll explode again.
"You gotta put a leash on that one, sheriff," Merle tells Rick.
"Shut the fuck up, jackass," Daryl snaps at his brother. Ross just leans against a tree, not hearing anything. She can't handle Merle right now. She realizes she'll never fully get away from the Governor. He's going to come back in retaliation. And the thought of seeing him again scares her more than anything she's ever been scared of in her life.
"Everyone calm down!" Rick shouts.
Daryl swats Glenn's gun away, "Hey! Get that thing outta my face!"
"Man looks like you've gone native, brother," Merle laughs.
"No more than you hanging with that psycho," Daryl retorts.
Merle just chuckles, "Oh yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea. Big time, baby."
Ross just tunes them out as Merle exposes Michonne for knowing Andrea. And then it's all too much chaos, so Rick knocks Merle out.
"Thank you," Daryl mutters.
They walk to the street to discuss what to do with Merle. Ross just wants him gone, but she guesses she probably won't have a vote. So she listens to them fight.
"It won't work."
"It's gotta," Daryl asserts.
"It'll stir things up," Rick tells him, shaking his head.
"Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle," Daryl says, trying to prove his point.
"I'm not having him at the prison. Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol or Beth?" Glenn snaps.
"He ain't a rapist," Daryl states sharply.
"Well, his buddy is," Glenn bites back. Ross winces, as Glenn glances at her. She knew he'd already known, but she didn't want it coming up like this.
As they discuss further, Daryl brings up what to do with Michonne. Rick makes it clear she'll be leaving right after they fix her up. And even after they tell Daryl he's a part of the family of the group, Daryl verifies their fear, "No him, no me."
"Daryl, you don't have to do that."
"It was always Merle and I before this."
"You serious? You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn shouts, enraged.
Daryl, acceptance in his voice, mutters, "You'd do the same thing."
"What do you want us to tell Carol?"
"She'll understand. Say good-bye to your pop for me," looking to Ross, Daryl says, the corners of his mouth turned down, "I'm sorry for whatever he let happen to you."
Ross nods in thanks and shock at clearly the better brother in more ways than one. He shouldn't have to leave. Ross turns away, as Rick goes and tries to convince him once more. How can someone so good leave them for someone so appalling? It doesn't make sense to Ross. But nothing makes sense anymore, and as Merle and Daryl leave, they pile into the car to finally go home.
Watching the trees and occasional walker pass by, Ross lets a silent tear make its way down her dirt and blood covered face. She's changed. She's not Ross anymore, just an empty shell. Glancing ahead, she notices Rick's tired eyes watching her in the rearview mirror. She quickly looks away embarrassed he saw her crying, and the car comes to a stop. A tree and truck are blocking the way, and they all get out to help.
"I should have been there with you," Glenn suddenly tells Rick.
"You were in no condition," Rick says sternly.
Furious, Glenn shouts, "But my girlfriend was?"
"Glenn, this isn't about us," Maggie intervenes.
"I should have been there," Glenn barks.
Getting annoyed, Rick asserts, "Hey, hey, you didn't come back with us 'cause you could barely walk."
"What about her? What about me? Do you know what he did to her?! Do you have any clue what they did to Ross?!" he roars at Rick. Rick glances back at Ross with guilt in his crystal blue eyes. She turns away and walks to the back of the car. Putting her hands on her knees, she proceeds to throw up. Wiping her mouth off, she slides down the car as Rick and Glenn continue to yell at each other.
This is all because of one man. And maybe if she lets the rage consume her, it will distract her from the real problem. Well look at how that's working out for Glenn. She worries he'll put the blame on himself because it's something he would do. She questions once again why the world is the way it is. Why she's even still alive. And if it's really worth it. Is it worth it to keep falling?
She looks up to see Rick looking at her with distress written all over his face. He crouches down so he's level with her, and quietly states, "I don't even know what to say."
"Say you saw my sister."
"I can't, Ross."
Tears well up in her eyes, but she shakes them off, "Tell me I'm not alone."
"You're not alone, Ross. We're gonna survive this together."
Wow. It's been a while. I've missed this story, and I'm sorry it's been so long. Thanks for anyone who is still reading.
Thank you to all my follows, favorites, and reviews. It means the world.