A Stranger's Tale

The mysterious woman sure was tight-lipped. We offered her food and promised medical aid if she so much as told us her name, but she kept the bitch face on full glare.

It took a death threat and pressure on her gunshot wound to get her to tell us anything. When she finally started talking, she described a man and woman, fitting Glenn and Maggie's descriptions, being kidnapped by her hitman. He was sent to kill or capture her under the orders of someone named the Governor and from the way she described him, he was seriously sick. She said she sent his goons to kill her after he refused to let her leave his town and after she killed the Walkers they had locked away.

Still wary of this stranger, we were all surrounding her as Hershel tended to her grazing and the questioning continued.

"This town sounds like a safe zone. That guy, the Governor, could me someone the military sent to run it." Rick pondered.

"He killed a defenseless, uninfected officer in cold blood and stuffed his head in a fish tank with the rest of the people he's killed. Since when do military commanders do shit like that?"

"Either way, we're getting our people out of there."

"And I'm willing to help you."

"For starters, you can tell us where this place is and its layout. What are we going up against?"

"It's not too far from here. A guarded wall around the whole place, full of military personnel, but they've got more civilians than manpower. Mainly women and children, but still inexperienced."

Children? Sophia could be there. What if she made it out and she was living there? After the mental breakdown Carl went through, we had to go look for her. Everyone said Sophie died when Andrew set the Walkers loose on us, but nobody found her body reanimated or dismembered. Until I saw something that proved she was gone, I believed she was lost this whole time. Alone and scared, but lost and living all the same.

Determined to get an answer, I was about to confront the outsider, but Carol beat me to it. She pushed Rick out of the way and locked eyes with the stranger. I guess she was thinking the same thing I was.

"You said you saw kids there. There's a little girl, 5'3, skinny, dark blonde hair, big brown eyes, freckles, and she always wears a bracelet. It's a silver chain with a kitten charm hanging on it."

"Carol-" Rick put his hand on her shoulder, but she shrugged him off.

"We lost her a few weeks ago. She had on a green shirt, brown capris and grey sneakers! She's a sweet girl, not a single bit of cruelty in her, she's scared and-and she was alone…did you see her?"

The stranger didn't say a word, she just stared at Carol…but there was something in her eyes. An answer, understanding maybe? Did she know who she was talking about? Was Sophia alive all this time?

Beth and I calmed Carol down and the interrogation continued; it was clear that we were going on a rescue mission. This was going to be quick and silent, in and out without making a sound. Rick, Daryl, Oscar, and I were going with the unnamed woman while everyone else stayed here and locked the prison down. We got our weapons and were off.

The stranger, who finally told us her name was Michonne, stopped us a few miles from the town so we wouldn't get caught by guards on their rounds. We used the trees as covers, then the cars when we got to the town's protected wall. Michonne found a way in through a venerable gate and we tiptoed inside. We were lurking around a place with big, metal storage units when we heard the gunshots and familiar yelling. Sneaking inside, we could hear Glenn and Maggie telling each other their final I love you's and when we heard a gun cock, Daryl threw a flash grenade inside and we dragged them out.

Our presence was known now and when we got on the streets, it was an all-out war. Michonne wasn't with us anymore, Glenn was beaten almost unconscious and Maggie was unbruised, but had on his shirt…did she get-I pushed the thought out of my mind.

Through the smoke, both civilians and hostiles were running around and screaming on the streets, but they were all our enemies and now we were shooting to kill. Oscar and I were clearing a path into one of the buildings as the others followed us behind; Glenn was nonstop at yelling at Daryl, but I couldn't understand a word he was saying with all the madness going on. Once inside, so we could take a breath, Rick and Daryl were going to distract the gunfire while we escaped through the back and we'd all meet up back at the car.

When the evacuation team set out, a few people noticed us, but the main attraction was the men and the mayhem they were creating. Michonne met up with us as we were climbing on the hood of a bus to get up and over one of the lower walls. Maggie and I helped Glenn down then Michonne, but Oscar didn't come after. Expecting Rick and Daryl to be waiting for us at the car, we ran through the night as fast as we could.

Nobody was there when we got to the car, but my biggest concern at the moment was Glenn. Maggie sat him on the side of the car so he could lean on it while I looked for a shirt and something to clean him up with. His breathing was slow and raspy, but he was smiling to a bawling Maggie. He kept telling her he was okay and how strong she was, but it barely helped to stop her crying. She couldn't clean his wounds for fear that she'd bring him more pain, so she kept lookout with Michonne while I tended to him.

This process hurt me, emotionally, more than it hurt Glenn physically. He was alright for most of it, but the only thing we brought was Peroxide and that part made him squirm. The next cut to clean was near his eye and I couldn't stand to see him suffer more, but it had to get done or else it'd get worse; Maggie and I traded places when I finished. Michonne explained her disappearance and how she tried to kill the Governor, but it was to no avail. She stabbed him in the eye though, which was totally badass, but that meant he'd be coming for her sooner or later.

After waiting for about a half hour, I started pacing. Michonne was sitting with Maggie, as Glenn passed out a few minutes ago, and they were watching me as I fumed out of concern.

"They should be back by now. Why aren't they back yet? You think they got lost? We should go look for them. What if they got captured? What are we supposed to do? I knew we shouldn't have split up. What-"

"They're coming, Zayla. They'll be fine." Maggie whispered so she wouldn't wake Glenn, but my pacing never ceased.

"I know you're not worried about big bad Dixon. Guy's practically invincible, he can survive anything." She teased and I stopped. The smiled shrank from her face when she saw how worried I was.

"What if he can't survive this?" I sighed and sat in front of her.

With all the noise we just made, Woodbury was going to attract all the Walkers for miles to come. I didn't know how high Rick's pain tolerance was, but he wouldn't talk, especially with Judith in mind. Daryl would keep his mouth shut too, I knew that, but he was still going to get hurt…worse than Rick. He was stubborn, but his tenacity was going to provoke the Governor to crack him. That psycho was going to torture him and who knows how long he'd keep up his sick games. Daryl was a man of steel, but he was only human and he could only take so much. The part that worried me the most was that I wouldn't know when or if he was dead. I saw him escape when the farm got overrun, but I was there with him so I knew he'd be alright…how was I supposed to know now? What if Rick got killed too?

There were a million what ifs clogging my thoughts, but I wasn't going to sit around and be depressed for the rest of my life. If they didn't come back by soon, the Governor was going to have a lot more to fear than losing his eye.

Dawn was coming, I could feel it, and the sky started to lighten its dark shade. Maggie and Glenn were fast asleep in each other's arms and Michonne was leaning on the trunk of the car, looking towards the path we just came from. I was on top of the car so I could see further down the long road, but I decided to get a few minutes of sleep in. I laid on the roof and closed my eyes. If I should die in the next few hours, so be it. I refuse to go on without knowing if he's alive or not.

I don't want to live a life without him…there was no life without him.