A/N: Hola, guys. Guess what? This story has recieved it first flame, by "Guest." So, this person said a few things, and I will disprove each one of them. The person said that Sophia was "totally ooc!" Well, in many cases she wasn't. In the first episode of season two, she ran away from two walkers which she couldn't kill. Why is it so hard to believe that, at one point, she may have been paralyzed in fear? In fact, this could be an experience that taught her to run instead of just standing there. Point two; Mrs. Perkins turned way to quickly. In the CDC episode in season one, Dr. Jenner said that the quickest change they had was two minutes. So, the thought that someone could change in a matter of seconds is far-fetched, but not impossible. And the last thing that Guest wrote was that a techer wouldn't react like the way Mrs. Perkins did after she got bit. I don't know what you were imagining in this scene, but they were not bad bites. I think of them as light bites, like the way a cat would if they were playing with you. Enough to break the skin lightly, but not enough that her skin would rip off her arm. Okay?
Okay, thank you guys for letting me rant, no onto the actual chappie!
No ones p.o.v.
The sun was slowly setting, and Alyssa hasn't come back from her little solo hunting trip. Of course, the teen would know to come back by now, but she hasn't shown up yet. This slowly brought Michonne to worry about her.
Michonne asked Rick, "Have you seen Alyssa?"
The old cop shook his head, "Not since she left. Why?"
"She should be back by now," Michonne replied, slightly worried for her daughter. There was a bad feeling in her gut, like she just knew that something was wrong.
"If you want to, ask Carl to open the gates for you and you can see where she's at," Rick offered, "Better yet, bring Daryl with you, too. He's the best tracker we've got,"
Michonne nodded and walked into the courtyard, spotting the two of them easily. She walked over to Daryl first.
"Have you seen Alyssa?" she asked.
"No, but she should be back by now," Daryl answered.
The feeling in Michonne's gut twisted, knowing that if Daryl, the badass hunter who taught her daughter how to hunt, thought the same thing as her, something must've happened to Alyssa.
"You worried?" Daryl asked her, concern in his voice, "We can look for her, if you want to,"
Michonne simply nodded, and the two of them walked to the gates where Carl stood.
"Where are you going?" Carl asked them.
"We're gonna look for Alyssa," Michonne informed, "She should be back by now,"
"I wanna go with you," Carl said.
"You're gonna have to stay here," Daryl told him, "Why would you want to go anyway? You're needed here,"
"I'm going with you," Carl said again, this time more confidence in his voice, "She's my girlfriend. If something happened to her, I wanna know about it, just like you guys do,"
Michonne and Daryl looked at each other, silently asking if they should take the kid with them. They both decided to let Carl come with them, and the three of them ventured into the woods.
Michonne looked at the dirt beneath her feet, "How can you see tracks in this?"
Daryl shrugged, "I just have a trained eye for them. You should ask Alyssa that, though. She's a natural at it,"
Michonne took out her katana and held it in defense as she walked around. Carl held up his gun with a silencer attached as he walked in a different direction. Daryl kneeled to the floor and searched for tracks.
"Guys?" Carl called for the other adults.
"What?" Michonne asked, looking in his direction.
"I think you should see this," he said to them, and they both walked over.
"What the hell?" Daryl muttered as he walked to Carl and saw what the kid was pointing at. It was his hunting bag, the one that he gave to Alyssa earlier for putting the squirrels into.
Daryl looked through the bag and found three squirrels, each dead by the technique that he showed Alyssa to kill with.
"It's the bag that you gave her, isn't it?" Michonne asked, her stomach twisting into knots.
Daryl nodded, "But that doesn't mean anything. She could've dropped it when she was running away from a walker, or something,"
Carl just watched silently as the adults started walking in the direction they believed Alyssa would've walked to. He didn't want to believe that Alyssa could've been chased by walkers. She was strong; she knew how to take care of herself without freaking out about walkers. She was fine.
Daryl dropped to the floor again and searched around, "I think these are her tracks,"
"What do you see?" Michonne asked, her voice quivering slightly.
Daryl ran his hands lightly over the prints, "She was walking in that direction,"
He walked over to the left and saw the prison in the clearing. He knelt to the floor again and searched around.
"There was a struggle here, it looks like she ran from something," the hunter informed, "Actually, two something's. I see her prints, and two other bigger ones. When she ran, she dropped the bag over there,"
Michonne started to worry a lot more now, "What about her knife? Even if she ran, she would keep the knife with her at all times,"
Daryl shook his head, "I don't see her knife anywhere. Means either she has it with her, or someone took it,"
"You thing the Governor took her?" Carl asked the adults.
"Wouldn't be surprised," Daryl muttered, "That guy is sick in the head,"
He started to follow the line of tracks, stopping near a large tree and searching the bottom of it.
Michonne got impatient, "What are you looking for?"
"There's blood here," Daryl moved some leaves around, and showed Michonne the few small drops near the base, "Fresh, definitely not a walker. And her tracks stop here,"
"What do you mean they've stopped?!"
"Maybe she was knocked unconscious," Carl theorized, "Something hit her, which would explain the blood, and she fell unconscious. She would have to be dragged somewhere,"
Daryl looked impressed, "You're right, kid. Look, there are drag marks here,"
He followed the marks for a second, the stopped, "There are two drag marks,"
"Two? No one else came to hunt with her," Michonne said.
"Well, there are two here," Daryl defended himself, "Maybe the other extra set of prints were dragged, too,"
He started following the two drag marks, eventually ending up at the paved road that they normally road on when they went on runs.
There was something in the middle of the road that Carl ran to.
"What's that?" Michonne asked the fourteen year old.
He held it up in front of him uneasily, "It's the denim jacket that I gave her, when she was cold when we kept watch,"
Daryl took the jacket from the teens hands and examined it.
"What?" Carl asked when Daryl's brow furrowed.
"There's- there's blood on the collar," he answered uneasily, and pointed at the blood spots.
Michonne wrapped her arms around herself to stop her from shaking. Seeing her uneasiness, Carl couldn't help but feel worried himself, and he began to shake, too.
"What do we do now?" Carl asked, trying to keep his voice steady, "Should we go after the Governor?"
"Yes," Michonne said, not skipping a beat, "We go after that son of a bitch and get my daughter back,"
Daryl shook his head, "No, we're not,"
"What do you mean 'we're not'?! That's my daughter he took! We need to get her back!"
"I know you're worried and upset right now-"
"You now nothing about what I feel!" Michonne interrupted.
Daryl slumped his shoulders, "You're right, I don't. But I do know that that's exactly what the Governor wants. He wants us to go there, guns blazing, make his whole community scared shitless, and try to get her back. He's planning something right now, what it is I don't know, but he wants us to not think clearly. We need to wait a little bit and see what's goin' on. He won't kill her, Alyssa basically his bargaining chip,"
Michonne pondered this uneasily for a moment, "Fine. We wait a day. If she is hurt, it's on you,"
Michonne turned towards the prison and began walking back, a million thoughts running in her mind at once. Where is Alyssa? What happened to her? Was she really with the Governor? Michonne hated not knowing. She hated not knowing about what's happening to her daughter. Alyssa could be dead for all she knew, and she couldn't do a thing about it.
That thought scared Michonne so much.
"She'll be fine, you know," Michonne heard Carl say beside her, "Alyssa is strong. She'll know what to do and we'll get her back,"
"It's-" Michonne started, "It's not that easy, Carl,"
"It can be," Carl replied, and walked slowly so Michonne took the lead of the little group.
Once back inside the prison and in the cell block, Rick asked Daryl, "Find her?"
Daryl shook his head, "Found the huntin' bag and her jacket, but not her,"
"What do you think happened to her?" Rick asked.
Daryl threw the bag into one of the kitchen tables, "Not walkers. We think the Governor got her. He may be holding her as a bargaining chip,"
Rick put his head in his hands, "Oh no,"
"What?" Daryl gave him a confused look.
"She's not a bargaining chip," Rick began to explain, "When I talked to the Governor, he said that if we gave him Michonne and Alyssa, he wouldn't attack. If we hand over Michonne now, there won't be any war,"
Daryl mulled his thoughts over, "Are you seriously thinking about handing her over?"
Rick stayed silent for a moment, "If it means our safety, I think so,"
Daryl nodded solemnly, "If you think that what's right here, fine. But you should know that Carl, Beth, Carol, hell, even Hershel, wouldn't be alright with that,"
Rick bowed his head, "I know, but its the only way people won't die,"
"Alyssa would," Daryl snapped, "Michonne would! What do you think the Governor wants with them? He wants to get revenge on Michonne, and who knows why he wants Alyssa?"
After that, the hunter walked away from Rick, shaking his head as he went.
Rick ran his hands through his greasy, sweaty hair and sighed. What was wrong with him? Would he really send a thirteen year old to her death? And what about her mother?
Was he even human?
He tried to shake these thoughts out of his head. He knew it was the only logical thing to do. Basically sacrificing Alyssa and Michonne would mean safety for him and his kids, and the rest of the group. It was the only way.
Walking into the kitchen, he saw Michonne hunched over one of the tables, her arms hugging her body, and she was shaking violently.
His could he do this to another parent?
He walked over to Michonne and gently laid a hand on her shaking shoulder, and whispered, "We'll find her,"
Michonne jumped when Rick up his hand on her shoulder, and he saw trails of tears on her face.
She immediately tried to wipe the tears from her face, but it was useless. He already saw them.
"I'm- I'm sorry," she hiccupped, "I'm such a mess right now,"
"It's okay," Rick assured, guilt washing over him, but he kept his composure, "We all need to let the tears flow sometimes,"
Michonne hiccupped again, and new tears fell, "That's what I told Alyssa when I first met her. Her real mother died, and she needed to mourn,"
She laid her head on the table again, and sobbed silently.
Rick sat next to her, keeping his hand on her shoulder, "We will find her, I promise you,"
"Thank you," Michonne whispered, "Could I be alone right now? I just... I just need a minute,"
Rick nodded, "Of course," and he left the kitchen.
As soon as he left, Michonne tried to dry up her tears. No one could see her like this; it would make her seem weak. She couldn't be weak, she needs to get her daughter back, even if it was the last thing she would do.
A/N: Thanks for reading! Remember to review, favorite, and follow this story!