Curative

By Kaimaler


Review replies are at the bottom!

Bit shorter chapter. Last one was like 11k this one is like almost 8k but the cut off point is a bit more natural. Next chapter is going to have a lot of dialogue and focus on character relationships. ;)


It was hard to imagine that the woman holding Rick down was their friend, in Daryl's case even more. Carol thought back on her time with Laura, all those long nights worried she would wake up and find Laura gone; dead or just not there anymore.

Carol came down the stairs, weaving through the crowd of Atlanta survivors. Being close to her again, able to reach out and touch her... Carol made her reunion with her daughter private. She was in tears, both from being with Sophia again and all the work it took to get back to her. She was overjoyed and saddened all at once making sure to spend as much time as possible with Sophia.

She also knew what Laura had done when she woke up back on the Greene farm. Laura had hurt Sophia and though she could not see the damage, Carol knew it was still with Sophia.

Here stood the woman who made it possible. The only reason Carol survived the herd on the farm and escaped with Red's group at the old farmhouse. She barely had enough time to revisit with her friends from Atlanta, no time at all with many of them. Glenn was busy, Rick was shattered at Lori's loss, T-Dog had died though she did not know how, and everyone was on edge with the new group.

It had barely been a day and here she was, real as could be. Carol did not want to think about what it took for her to be here and as her eyes traveled the stretched out body of her missing friend she knew what it took out of Laura just to be alive right now.

"Laura?" She saw how she was over Rick, hand gripped tightly on his neck. A low growl emanated from her chest, her eyes intent on the ex-Sheriff below her. He was uncomfortable, the gauntlet digging into him painfully and his position bent backwards over the table hurt to a lesser extent. He was patient with his friend and did not let anyone jump her after she lunged.

Rick wanted to give her space, he had no idea what was going on with his friend and had the stranger done this they likely would have shot her by now. No one wanted to hurt Laura, but many of them failed to realize Laura was not lashing out in anger or hunger; she did so out of fear. He went on what he knew of Laura and who she was. He trusted her completely so he kept his hands up to show her he was not a threat and to signal everyone else to stay where they were.

Closing down on Laura would only cause her to panic and he was up close and personal with those gauntlets, they could kill a person easily. He would rather not pressure the woman holding him with these strange weapons on her hands.

Carol's attempt to calm her friend was a good one with the best intentions. However, no one knew Laura could not remember them. The one reason she withheld herself from Rick was because his face was familiar, part of a memory she could recall. Carol was not.

"I can't believe you're here," She started, eyes glistening. Her hand reached out, only inches from Laura. "We've all missed-" Her palm rested on Laura's upper arm and she turned her head to see the woman so close to her.

Laura brought the arm holding the notepad down on Carol immediately. Her gauntlet did not hit Carol, sparing her that pain. The book however did and crossed Carol's face, knocking her away. Laura saw everyone move again, taking action against her.

In her head there was white noise, a bright light in her cell. The chair and the fire - Laura panicked as Daryl reached out to grab Carol and the others descended on Laura.

"They're coming for us! Fight back!" The Voice roared and Laura pulled Rick up, shoving him into the man coming around her left side.

In her torrent of fear and anger she did not see familiar faces or the unfamiliar prison. She saw Woodbury, the people who held her down and beat her, taking turns violating her, and strapped her to a chair to be burned. Burned. She thought, They will burn me. They want to burn me.

"We can survive, but we have to defend ourselves! They would use us, abuse us, and turn us into a pet. Woodbury, the Governor, this prison - it's all the same and the walls are coming down around us. Fight and survive!" The Voice bolstered Laura's fear and turned it into a violent rage. A deep, rocky growl from her throat and she lunged.

She saw only what she feared, the action moving too fast for her to realize this was not the same and these people would not harm her. The infection colored her view and she looked at Rick, caught by Markus after Laura shoved him aside, and she did not see the ex-Sheriff. She saw him, the Governor, and around her was the scrap metal walls of Woodbury.

Raising her hand she swiped at Rick, Markus having just caught him pulled him away when he saw Laura attack. The group moved to stop Laura, but she knew they were coming.

Behind her came Daryl, Braddock, and Micheal each one stronger than her and able to restrain her if she failed to keep them off of her. So she ran towards Rick and Markus, using her shoulder to clip Markus and throw him off balance while Rick attempted to reach for her.

"Laura!" There were three doors, two of them far from her. One was closed, possibly locked, the other leading outside was behind the rest of the group, and the last one lead deeper into the main cell block. She was faster than them, but lacked strength to fight. Her burn already causing her pain just to move, now she feared facing more fire.

Her head began to throb as a powerful headache crept up on her. She felt adrenaline hit her for the second time in the same day. Back in the woods, finding Glenn, Maggie, and Micheal she felt her only options were to kill her prey and be rewarded or die trying. The Governor's threat was clear; succeed and she would be allowed some rest or fail and meet hot iron again.

Laura bolted. She turned to the right and nearly tripped over her own two feet as she made her way deeper into the cell block. This room was a bit larger with cells in it, each one still open with a stair case leading up to more. She heard them talking behind her but did not even try to make out what they were saying. She was terrified and that terror grew more and more each minute she was with them.

The cell block gave her the chance she needed to get out fast. Escape. She wanted to be free again and still felt the hard hitting truth that each time she had tried to get away from Woodbury they brought her back. She hated the collar and chain they put on her and she hated the nails in her skin, tearing through her flesh every time she moved.

Everything was pain, with this burn that pain was emphasized with a mark that would last on her skin forever. Laura's mind was a rush of questions, fears, and the Voice's screaming. They called to her, "Laura, wait!" And it sounded like daggers at her back, just barely missing. If she stopped for just a moment those knives would cut her open.

In Woodbury she feared a great many things, but it was not fear of what could happen, it was the knowledge it would happen. She had to bear it, do what they said and keep her head down. That's how she survived, a slave with no other options. Inside this prison where the grey walls felt like they were bearing down on her she realized how badly she wanted that to end.

The Governor could in find her here easily. Merle was still out there somewhere and would likely be forced to return to Woodbury with the news of her capture by another group. If that happened she would be back inside those walls and have failed the Governor - failed the one task he asked her to perform or suffer for.

"We cannot do that again. There must be a way out of here." The Voice urged her to continue, though she could hear footsteps behind her. She hit a door of iron bars and swung it open; they had not locked it. The metal door screeched and banged on the concrete wall after she tossed it open in her rush.

The hallways here were dark, completely unlit, and smelled of death. "I told you these people were the same. They have no mercy for you, for me; we escape and we can put distance between us and the Governor." Laura was not disturbed by the smell of rotting corpses, but it was certainly strange. The air was thick with the smells of blood, bodies, and rotted flesh.

Laura began to slow down, at least some part of the group were trailing her so she could not stop. There was blood on the walls, trails of red on the ground. Someone did something in here, dragged something out. The scent told her it was the dead, the monsters like her that were dead long before the living cut them down. But there was the faint, dried smell of something else.

It was the undeniable smell of the living, but it had long since faded. She followed it hoping it would lead to an exit, even if there was someone there she can manage that. She would be more concerned being caught by the group.

"Laura!" The sound of the group searching for her echoed down the cold, bloody passage. Laura turned around and saw flashlights bringing them closer to her. She had to move now before they came around the corner. Laura turned down another hallway that was muddled with smells of the living and the dead.

She could not stay quiet enough to not be heard while they were so close behind her, but she had very few options now. The halls had to lead somewhere and she needed to find an exit. It grew darker and darker the deeper she went. There were no windows, no doors leading to light. She knew that would slow them down even with the flashlights they would have to be considerably more cautious when traversing pitch black halls.

Smells of the living directed her to the right hall and she followed it. Her hand pressing against a concrete wall, the metal ticking traveled. Laura did not care as the echos made it impossible to locate her based on it.

Keeping to a brisk jog she turned another corner, running directly into a fallen metal shelf. She tripped on the bent metal, a sharp edge tore a line on her shoulder and calf. She hissed in pain, her limbs spread over the broken metal and objects resting between the shelves. A broken support on the shelf pierced the meat in her shoulder and as she moved she slid carefully down the length to free herself.

The flat edge of a shelf pressed against her ribs and burned brand mark. She gritted her teeth and screwed her eyes shut trying her best to handle the pain without making a sound. It was hard, her hands clenched into tight fists, she felt tears stinging her eyes. A long but quiet cry slipped out as she tried to maintain her composure. She could not lose it here, not like she did that night when Merle protected her. She needed to be strong and fight, there was no time to lay on the ground and cry over her wounds.

Black blood trailed down her arm as she struggled to get a grip and pick herself up. The noise attracted attention she heard their footfalls begin to pick up. This accident left a noticeable track of blood and she knew it would help them find her. She was a capable hunter and tracker, but the sound alone told them she had hit something.

It did not matter either way if she left the blood trail, they could use the sound to find her. She needed to be more creative than that.

Laura managed to stand between the junk scattered across the floor and carefully made her way through it. Trying not to make too much more noise though it was unavoidable. Her boots stood on loose bolts and tools, the metal clattering and shifting around. She cursed as best she could with a bit in her mouth and jumped over the toolbox resting on its side.

She used her left hand to hold the sensitive wound on her shoulder. It ached and stung terribly, but she needed this. She needed her escape. The blood began to cover her hand, some dripping down her arm. Her right hand now covering the burn on her abdomen. It was unbelievably sore, the sting bright and difficult not to focus on. She did her best, tried to resist so she could make it out of here alive.

Up ahead was her target, another split in the hallways. She raised her blood covered hand and placed a print on the wall a few feet down one passage. Flashlights began to shine behind her, she did not have long. Laura turned to the other hallways and rushed down the passage, finding a few cells and slipped inside one to hide.

At times like this she was thankful she did not breathe. It was dead silent in the small cell, only the approaching footsteps of the group could be heard. It was not the entire group in the hallway, only a few as they had spread out to find her.

Rick lead this group, with Daryl, Markus, and Red behind him. They watched each others backs to make sure there were no more dead wandering the halls. Rick was certain he cleared this block thoroughly during his grief fueled rampage through the prison tombs. Glenn was leading a second group with Micheal, Maggie, and Carol. While the others used separate paths through the prison to see if they could cut off Laura's escape.

Laura heard them near the shelving unit she had fallen on top of. The ache in her side coming to mind and she stepped back, pressed against the concrete wall while she watched the door.

"- I know." It was Rick's voice, just barely audible. "They only just got back." He was talking to someone else in his small team. The footsteps slowed to a stop, they were looking at the fallen metal shelf.

"She came through here." Another voice she recognized, but could not place a name. A few seconds of silence followed by someone stepping on the same loose screws and bolts she had walked over. "Wasn't watchin' where she was going, hit this going too fast. Look," She waited, "She hit those, got hurt. She's bleeding." He was not an idiot, he could track her with just that.

"That's not a lot of blood." Another man commented, a voice she remembered as one of the men who came to her with Rick outside the car.

"Enough to follow her, makes it easier to figure out where she goin' too." She heard a few different sounds, footsteps, metal, and something she could not make out. They were trying to be careful as they crossed the shelf and all the fallen items. Each person making their way across before she heard them walking down the hallway again, their steps growing louder as they reached the split in the hallway.

They stopped again, having already sent others in their group down separate halls to find Laura. "Dammit, which way did she go?" She did not know the voice.

There was a moment of deliberation, the group quiet except for their heavy breathing. A few steps, they were moving around but not leaving. She heard one of them groan and the sound of material rubbing against material.

"You alright, Rick?" Came one voice, but not from the familiar man she knew or the one she didn't. This man was a bit larger than Rick, but not overly so. He had been with Rick since she arrived here, the two never too far from each other.

"Yeah, yeah. I'm fine." Rick's low rough sounding voice answered.

The man huffed, "We should get you to Hershel, make sure those cuts aren't bad." He moved, they were all standing in a circle still watching the halls for the dead. Nothing came of it, it was too quiet in here and Laura knew she needed to remain still. Any sound could give her away, any slight movement and the echo would travel and she would be caught.

Rick appreciated the man's concern, "More worried about Laura. That fall must've hurt."

"Already hurt from what Glenn said. That woman ran her through with a sword right?" He asked while they caught their breaths. Laura was interested why they were discussing her, but too taken with fear and doubt to believe it anything other than malicious.

"What?" Came another rough voice, the man who was tracking her. His tone was angry, there was a sense of shock hearing about the fight between the stranger and Laura.

"We should talk about that later, right now we need to focus on finding her." Rick tried to calm him. This man was more laid back than when they first met, but he was still defensive over his woman. Rick was right though, they needed to prioritize. One thing at a time, one step before they leap to conclusions. They had no answers, but if Laura could run with an open would like that than they did not need to worry about it.

"Look, over there." An unfamiliar voice interrupted.

Steps followed, they were moving but not much else. She hoped that was them looking at the trail she intentionally left behind to mislead them. A few moments passed, there was no talking, only moving around the halls.

Hushed tones, but not much else. They were looking at something and she had to wait, hoping they would fall for the bait.

Then, Rick spoke. "She went down this hallway- there's a bloody hand print on the wall. Must have happened when she fell on the shelves." Footsteps began to trail down the hallway before there was nothing but silence. In the distance she could hear them moving around and it grew fainter with each passing second.

"They fell for it. Time to go." Laura pushed herself off the wall, her gauntlets lightly scraping the stone. She slowly opened the thick door, careful to not make too much noise and ruin her misdirection. The door squeaked and she looked outside and could hear the people who had been chasing her long down the hallway. She was relieved to have a moment to think about her next step.

She slipped out of the cell and looked around, placing her left hand on her newest wound. The bleeding was stopping already, she was thankful she did not experience the same side effect of injures as the living. Her wound hurt, just as bad as any other, but she was used to working through the pain. She leaned against the far wall on her left shoulder, letting out a deep sigh.

Laura gave herself a once over, trying to find anything that might give her position away. She tore a part of her shirt that the other woman had already cut open. She used it to wrap her shoulder haphazardly. It was not the best. It would do. She could make it. She kept trying to get herself ready for the next part of her escape and found herself wanting to rest.

Every bone in her body ached. She had been fighting nonstop for so long it was beginning to catch up with her. This was the worst stress she had been under since Woodbury first found her. Laura did not remember much about those days when she was first taken, yet one thing stood out. She knew how scared she was when she sat in that room alone while they planned out what to do with her.

Before the torture started, the first day, they entered just as they were. She was angry, so angry at someone and she could not recall who. The stab wound made by her prey was terribly agonizing. She got lucky it was not the same area as the burn, the pain would have been immense and crippling. Just as it threatened to be now.

She lifted the hanging piece of her shirt just barely covering the branded mark on her side. The first branding was still scorched into her brain and it would never go away. It hurt, the one on her collar had hurt, but this one had been so much worse. All she could remember when it happened was seeing pure white sparks in her vision before there was nothing but her screams and pure, unrelenting agony. It pushed her closer to a break she did not know could happen, but she was aware of it that night. Had it gone on much longer it scared her to think she could have lost herself entirely.

Merle was there, he was made to watch. It was punishment for attacking another Woodbury soldier and helping her broke the strict conditioning they had enforced. Conditioning another person to serve like an unquestioning slave was hard and would take much longer than the time they had already. Merle had taken a figurative sledgehammer to their delicate, time consuming labor.

Laura stood up, her right hand covering the burn. She needed to start moving again, she had taken too much time as it was. Eventually they would realize they passed her. She lifted her head slightly and sniffed the air circulating the halls. She knew the smell of the living had been coming from this path. She was hoping to find something to help her escape or catch someone off guard.

The smell was stronger, mixed with the scent of the people who had just been here and... Laura sniffed the air and narrowed her eyes, following what she could and trying to tell between different specific smells.

They're still-! A pair of arms reached out from behind her and pulled her away. She screamed into the leather bit, kicking as she was lifted off her feet. The person's arms were over her upper arms, keeping her from reaching around to slash at them.

"Hold her steady!" She heard a voice and knew her mistake. The arms lifted her up, struggling to keep her in their arms. Laura opened her eyes and saw Rick with a jacket in his hands. Someone else was holding her and she had to be free of them. Fight or flight boiled to the surface and she had only one choice stuck in the arms of someone stronger than her.

Laura looked down and crossed her arms, her claws now able to reach the arms around her she dug her claws into the skin she could reach. The man gasped and released her. Immediately Laura swiped at Rick as he held the jacket up, trying to stay just out of her reach. Before the man behind her could try and grab her again she reeled back and swung her entire body around to bring one heavy gauntlet down on the man.

He saw her attack and stepped back, ducking away from the slash. The gauntlet claws scratched the concrete wall leaving long cuts in the stone and she tried to go for him again.

"One is behind us!" The Voice reminded her of Rick who approached Laura cautiously. One is in front of us! She barked at the Voice just as she felt Rick tap her shoulder. It was a tactic to get her attention and it worked as expected. With an animalistic growl she turned back around, using her turn to put more force behind her hand to do more damage.

Rick clicked on a flashlight directly into her eyes, the light turning her vision white. She hesitated, trying hopelessly to throw her claws at Rick. The light blinded her enough to make her completely unaware of what they had planned.

She did not realize Rick was holding the jacket stretched out. Her claws punctured small holes but was not in the right position to tear straight through it. He pulled the ends together, her gauntlet stuck inside. She yanked her arm and found the metal edges had gotten caught on the material and was holding her gauntlet in place.

The nails in her arm pulled at the skin, tearing at an awkward angle which made Laura avoid trying to pull her hand free anymore. Her right hand free she tried to reach out to get her other hand free, only to have the other man grab her arm and pull it back.

Laura tugged at both arms desperately. She heard Rick speaking but could not listen; she was trapped and that same fear of Woodbury, of the Governor gripped her heart. "It's okay, it's okay. We don't want to hurt you." His voice was low and soft. It did nothing to sooth her. Pulling at the material holding one gauntlet and the man holding her other arm did nothing. They showed her they were prepared this time and had her stuck between them.

"You've killed us." The Voice was shockingly quiet, "You got us captured again, just like at Woodbury. You did this to us. They're going to torture us, beat us, burn us, and rape us. It's your fault that this is our end." It faded and Laura felt a dark, crushing loneliness. The Voice was all she had at Woodbury, Merle was there, but it was different. The Voice knew if they got their hands on Laura it could not hold Laura back. Their end was the end of the Voice's control for now.

No, no! I need you, I need us. I can't do this alone. Laura felt their hands grabbing at her, pulling her where they wanted her. Every second built this dread in the pit of her stomach that felt like she was already being kicked while she was down. Her vision was returning though it was spotty and confused her.

Laura kicked and thrashed while they tried to hold her still. Rick wrapped the rest of the jacket around her other hand to keep her gauntlets from hurting anyone. The moment he was done he let her hands go. The hall behind them nothing but a dead end and they used their bodies to block the exit. Releasing her was only to let her know they did not want to hold her down.

They let her go and Laura tried to swing her hands and could not. She looked at the jacket tying her hands together while proofing the sharp edges. Laura was fast, deadly with her gauntlets, and fierce. Now she was tied and harmless, the only way out blocked and her only tool rendered useless. Backing away from them she felt desolate.

Her back hit the far wall and she slid down it, wet blood smearing a trail down to the floor. Laura curled into the corner and cried. She had no defenses, no way to fight back. There was nothing shielding her from a bleak fate and she knew it. She felt abandoned by the creature that kept her safe and left alone, helpless. Her tied hands brought over her head to block out the light from the flashlight.

She stayed there, trembling both in the pain of her wounds and the fear of worse. Her silent crying nearly broke Rick's heart. He did not want to scare her but she was scaring everyone else. The way she attacked out of the blue, she could have kill him or someone else. They were forced to frighten her so they had a chance to bring her back and protect the group.

Rick did not approach her though, he let Daryl do that. He stepped back, allowing Daryl to be with her at least somewhat privately for a moment. The man looked like he needed it after he saw Laura in the cell block. Words escaped him though he was not the best with them in the first place. No idea what to say or how to help her, he just came to kneel beside her.

Daryl had no idea what had happened to the woman he cared for. There was not enough time to see her entirely or to understand what made her this way. She fought them like a cornered animal and it is how they saw her now.

On the floor, crying, and unresponsive. Daryl figured this was a bad idea, but he tried anyways. His hand touched her good shoulder and she nearly jumped out of her skin. "Shhh, shhh girl. It's all good, I gotcha." His arm slid around her and she was unbelievably tense. She was terrified of him, of Rick, and the thought made him wonder what happened out there. Why Laura was so scared of them that she even recoiled from him.

His other arm under her knees, one behind her back, he was careful to lift her as slowly and as gently as possible. Trying his best not to jostle the woman in his arms. He turned around and Rick nodded to him. They did not need to talk to understand what had to be done.

Daryl carried her through the halls lead by Rick. There was no attempt to communicate with her and none from her. They let her be, hoping she would come to terms in her own time without hurting anyone else.

They reached the end of the block rather quickly, the gate swinging open. On the other side stood the majority of the group being kept together by Red and Glenn. When they saw Rick and Daryl exit they knew the plan worked. Red gave Rick a sure nod and let the two men handle their friend.

Laura was taken into her own cell and laid on the bed. Daryl left the cell, but made sure never to be far. Rick closed the cell and called for Glenn to bring him a chain with a padlock. They could not have an incident with Laura again. She laid on the bed exactly how they set her down, limp and unwilling to move. As much as Rick wanted he could not force Laura to trust people again. She needed time to heal without being bothered, without the suffering she had been through. In this case it meant leaving her alone and letting her rest.

He returned to the group comfortable that Laura was resting safely behind a locked cell door. She could not hurt anyone and no one could go near her at least for a while. They had another issue though; the stranger that came in with Laura.

They all moved outside the cell block where they left the woman in the custody of Braddock, Micheal, Carol, Oscar, and Axel. Rick's took long strides to reach her first, cutting through the group. Her hands were tied and that same look of disapproval on her face. She had no interest in them, this whole event could have been avoided by killing the wild woman.

She knew they knew her though and it was unlikely to happen.

"I want to know everything." Rick glared at her, "Glenn said you and Laura were fighting. Why?" The group came to surround her and she saw them tightly knit. Laura had attacked them as well, she figured they would have just pieced together that Laura was not all there.

She found his attempt to be threatening amusing. He was harmless compared to the people she had met. Though she had no interest in instigating anything, she did want to make it out of here alive. Rick might tower over her, exercising his leadership and willingness to kill to protect his own. She had seen it all, done it all; he could not frighten her.

"She's our friend." Daisy spoke up, "That woman in there. She's hurt and in pain; we can all see it. But that isn't her, that feral creature that attacked. Her name is Laura and she is a good person. She was sweet and gentle. There's nothing she would not do to protect her friends. Whatever happened, whatever you know, we need to know. Please." She tried to convince the woman though a more passive path.

Rick did not much care to be interrupted, but he saw the look he got from Red. Daryl even let her pass him by. He had not spent any time with this group, yet he figured if Daryl was letting her go through there must be something there.

"Just let her try, Rick." Red asked and Rick complied. If nothing else worked they could try to force it out of her the same way they got answers from Randall. Not the most humane method, but the group came first.

"I don't care why you two were fighting and I don't care if you want to continue fighting. I just want to know why my friend came back to us looking like that." Daisy urged, "We lost her months ago. A group attacked us and we probably would have died if she did not stay behind. That's what she did, Laura stayed to give us a chance to escape. We thought she died, but seeing her here now... I can't explain it. We don't want to hurt you or her, we just want our friend back."

She frowned, looking at the people surrounding her. It had been a long time since she had given anyone a chance. So far these people went out of their way to not hurt Laura and so far made no attempts on her. Everyone around her had been rather respectful. No one put their hands on her, no one spoke down to her or threatened her.

Aside from Rick, but his threat was baseless and his inability to open with that threat certainly told her he was not particularly happy about the idea.

Her reasons were her own though. She kept herself well guarded, but she did decide to speak to them. "Get it right, she attacked me." Her answer raised more questions.

"We should go inside. It's too hot out here." Carol gave her a hopeful smile as she suggested the place to Rick. He agreed, he did not want to be out here standing in the sun. They had no idea how long it could take to explain and if she was willing, they wanted to know everything there was to know.

The group moved to the other cell block, leaving Laura to rest in silence. Daryl followed the group who took a seat anywhere they could find one. Carol coming to sit beside him though he opted to stand. Daisy always somewhere near Red, while Rick was directly beside him. Things seemed to move slowly as everyone settled into the room.

She was cooperating, Laura was safe, and it was time to figure out exactly what they were up against.

"I can't see Laura attacking someone without reason. She always wanted to avoid other people, not fight them." Carol offered what she learned about Laura while they had been together out on the road. "She doesn't even look like herself."

"I know why and you won't like the answer." The woman responded. Laura's willingness to attack others did not much matter to her. All she knew of the blue skinned woman was when she was paired with Merle and his group to tail her. The Governor did not want her coming back, he was ready to see her dead.

She straightened her posture, "First time I saw her she was coming back from outside the walls."

"Walls?" Markus questioned. She had skipped a few steps between point A of her story and point B.

"She's from a place called Woodbury. I got out, they sent her after me. She does whatever he tells her to." The woman's voice was filled with venom. No effort to try and hide that fact, "Calls himself the Governor. A real Jim Jones type."

Rick nodded, "She lived there?"

"Lived is one way of putting it." She sneered, "More like a caged animal. There are people there, regular people who don't have any idea what goes on under the surface. Pretty town, pretty faces, all following the Governor. Your friend, Laura? He keeps her locked up, away from everyone else. I went poking around and found her cage."

She had searched the town best she could without getting noticed. To her credit she did a damn good job of it. It was not a happy scene she came across, but it told her everything she needed to know.

Daryl stood quiet, leaning on the staircase railing. Carol kept looking to him, checking in on him. He did not need the protection, but it was apparent Laura did. He remembered telling her no one would ever touch his woman again. Now he had this image in his head that he could not push away. Carol knew it was hard for him to hear this so she did her best to stay nearby.

"The Governor, this group. They have walls. Are they armed?" Rick pressed more for information about these people. Laura was a point of interest for them for certain. At the end of the day they still needed to protect themselves and their people.

"Heavily armed. What they can't carry they have in storage and there's plenty to go around. I can't prove what they do, but I have my suspicions. Things he says don't line up with the evidence." She described rather vaguely. It was enough for them. Trust was not what made them rely on her words, but the mutual need to survive.

"We haven't seen anyone." Red commented, "While we were out there we never came across anyone else. Where is this place?"

"Not too far from where your people found me and your friend. Got out while I had the chance. When they knew I was gone they sent a group after me. She was part of that group." She spoke carefully still keeping a watchful eye on everyone in the room. She watched the scene that played out earlier, she knew they weren't the kind to shoot first ask questions later.

"They might already know we're here. We need to get eyes on them." Micheal suggested, but Rick turned his hand up to politely ask everyone to wait.

"You said they kept Laura in a cage. Did you see what they were doing? Why they wanted her?" It was a somewhat pointed question both at her and this other group she spoke about.

She scoffed, "Doesn't take a genius to figure it out."

"So you know?" Carol's voice poked through. The woman looked at her and shook her head.

"I don't know anything but what I saw. I ran that girl through and she kept coming. Only one thing can do that." She turned her head back to Rick slowly, "They kept her in a cell in an old precinct. Converted into some kinda twisted lab like something out of Frankenstein. Don't know what for, but that's where they kept her. Something went down last night - got real loud."

Rick frowned. He understood what she was saying, he knew already something had gone on with Laura to make her as she is now. "What happened last night?"

The woman gave him half a shrug. "Don't know. Didn't stick around to find out. They brought people inside, last thing I saw was them putting her into a chair and strapping her down. I heard someone coming and had to move, left before I saw what happened. All I know is I was close to being caught out there, then she started screaming. Distracted the guards and I got out."

Red looked down to the stone floor beneath them. "And it was her... screaming, I mean. You know that?"

"Pretty sure." She enforced. "I had seen enough and left fast as I could. The screaming went on for a while, gave me enough time to get through the guards. Couldn't hear anything from inside the town though. They kept this under wraps, didn't want people knowing."

"Jesus..." Markus sighed, "So they were doing something to her... I guess we knew that already. Do you think these people will come here, do they care if she's missing?"

She nodded, "I only got two of the group chasing me. She followed me, but there were two more left. The man leading the group and another." Neither of them particularly interested in seeing her again. One of them likely unhappy about the events though.

"They would've gone back and told this Governor what happened. But would they attack just to get her?" It was not a stretch to believe the men she did not kill returned to Woodbury. Red wanted to know if this man wanted Laura back enough to kill for her.

"I'm willing to bet he'll start planning his attack as soon as he knows if he don't already." She relied on what she had learned for herself. It was correct of course, but she did not need to explain any further.

The group was on edge as it was, with Red's arrival, now Laura too. Having to handle these people who she described as ready to kill was more trouble than they ever wanted. The prison was meant to be their home, all they had to do was work on it and their relationship. Red's group more than ready to throw their hat in the ring and get to work.

"We need to be ready." Braddock, the rare voice of the crowd, stated factually. "We have weapons, the prison is defensible. If they come here we have the means to make a stand."

"So he sent Laura after you?" Carol asked, wanting to have more answers about her friend. "And she just... did it?"

No hesitation the woman nodded. "She came after me and she didn't stop. I had no idea what she was before she took my sword without blinking. Figured it out a bit late. Your people stopped her before either of us ended up dead."

"I don't understand, why would she just do whatever he told her to? Laura isn't a killer, she wouldn't just kill someone because someone told her to. There has to be more to this." Carol looked to Rick, "You know her, she isn't like that."

"I know," He seemed distressed, "But things change out here. People change. We all have and maybe- maybe Laura did too."

Daryl leaned forward, "Can't be that simple. You get a good look at her? Scars and shit she didn't have before. Wasn't a single mark on that girl permanent on the farm." He did not like to think about what he saw on her, he needed to think about it in his own way without everyone around. There was time to feel sorry later.

"What's your name?" Rick asked the woman, realizing he had no idea who she was. They never spoke, there was no time between Laura's attempt to escape and bringing her here.

The woman tilted her head back, curious. She gauged if telling them her name mattered, what it would change. Hearing her name could invest her more in these people and keeping herself private might make them more suspicious of her. She took a minute to decide and had her answer. "Michonne."


GilyFlower:

Oh yeah they are, but the nails are not really visible from the outside. The edges and head of the nails would appear just like general rivets or bolts already a part of the gauntlet / muzzle. Plus, they don't really know to look for that. As far as they can tell she could have put those on herself. ;)

Gemini's Revenge:

Woooo! A lot more personable chapter here. Finally returning to character development and specific scenes with dialogue and drama! Yay I miss it! :)
And we'll focus more heavily on Daryl later, he's a private kinda guy and he's more comfortable with the group, but his affections for Laura is still an inexperienced area for him. Soon we'll see the two interacting again.

adelphe24:

YES I've been pretty rude these last few chapters with those cliffs huh? xD
And Laura's meeting Sophia again is planned and going to be an interesting scene. I want it to speak to Laura on another level she is not yet ready to handle.
A lot of a shit is happening that the group isn't ready for.
Hahahahahhahaha they better get ready!