A/N: OH MY GOD! That was a very unintentional hiatus. I apologize. Hopefully no one hates me, but if you do anyway...eh, oh well. This is a very short chapter, but I think a short chapter is better than no chapter, right? And I think this one is sort of sweet, or something like that- I don't know. It's up to you guys how you perceive it. Thanks for sticking around :)
She spun around, hearing the noises drawing closer, a squeak and a squeal, then some groaning and growling. "Please no. Please... Not like this. You can't take her from me." she mummbled under breath and managed to lock on the direction from which the sounds were coming. "Sam!" she shouted, reeling the girl in, as well as what ever number of walkers were chasing her. "C'mon Little Sis! Come to my voice!"
The sounds were getting closer, she could pick apart breathing of a human; quick, frantic, and breathing of a walker; heavy, gurgling, but damn it she wished something would finally come into sight. It was like the sounds were coming faster than the movements- like sound sped up on a movie playing in slow motion- she was already anxious, this trick to the senses was only cranking up her nerves.
"Lacey!" she heard the girl scream, "Lacey! I got her!"
Her heart dropped into her stomach and shot back toward her throat. "Sophia?" she breathed, after all this time- It couldn't be... could it? Sam found Sophia? No... she was dreaming. She and Sam were still snoozing twenty feet off the ground in that tree... right? After all this time, all the fighting and work- she was starting to doubt her beliefs now? She shook her head and gripped the handle of her blade tight, she had to focus, walkers were in pursuit of two of her own.
The girls- it really was both of them- bursted through the decaying green life, Sam was practically dragging Sophia behind her, hands tightly linked together. Lacey steeled herself though, fighting the wobbling in her knees from just the sight of their lost girl finally found. The relief was overwhelming, and she tried not to over analyze the girl yet, but there were things she noticed out right; her hair- dirty and longer than the last time she laid eyes on her, she was very skinny to begin with, but now she was almost literally skin and bones. She was filthy, completely filthy- the color of her shirt was a mystery beneath all the caked on dirt, mud and grime. But it was Sophia, it was definitely her. Alive.
"Get behind me." she ushered the girls to get a good distance away from her. Her mind quickly contemplating and tossing away the idea of Sam and Sophia clambering up a tree for safety, there wasn't enough time, and Sophia looked like she was just about to break- overexerting her just wouldn't do.
"How many?" Lacey asked quietly as the sounds of the walker or walkers came closer, no doubt getting hungrier and more excited about the heavier scent of living human flesh. She glanced behind her and saw Sam nudging Sophia behind her, mummbling something that sounded like 'Stay close... don't make it... go that way.' She turned back to Lacey and brought the trench knife into sight, "8." she said before tossing it to the blonde.
Lacey caught the blade with her free hand, took it from its sheath and turned back toward the shuffling chaos that was headed their way just as the first came through the same area the girls had. Lacey launched herself at full force, no hesitation in her movements as she sliced, stabbed and cut through decayed skin, rotted meat and bone easily. The first two were down in a matter of seconds, and the rest- without their minds giving proper thought anymore just ran straight to the unrelenting woman.
The final walker was taken down by the trench, straight through its eye socket, its persistent movements ceased and Lacey pulled the blade back out, letting the corpse drop with a heavy thump. Two arrows were embedded into two of the dead walkers, and she was glad to know that the terror hadn't completely taken over Sam. She caught her breath as she listened for a few moments, listening for more walkers, anything that told them they were out of danger for a while. All was quiet in the forest.
She dropped her weapons and turned to the girls. She looked at Sophia, then to Sam. Her feet moved slowly, but just as the girls started to sprint toward her she did the same. She fell to her knees. "Oh, my god." she breathed, hugging them close to her. Sophia's tiny arms held on tightly, she was surprised she still held that much strength in them to squeeze so.
"You're alright, everything's alright." she mummbled, consoling a shaking and crying Sophia. But she felt as if she was trying to calm herself down too. Her heart was hammering, her breaths were sharp and quick, terrified that this still might all be a very vivid dream. But the fear and relief she felt were too real, the smell of death in the air so pungent. The feel of Sophia in her arms was real. The search was over. They finally put something right- put it back into order, they found one of their own, safe and sound.
Lacey pulled away and took in the appearance of Sophia fully; she was beyond filthy- skin, clothes and hair covered in some sort of dirt or another, her clothes seemed to be stretched out and baggier than usual, but they were always were the same size, she'd just lost some weight, looking even smaller and more fragile than before. She had a few scrapes, a bump and bruise, but nothing serious. Her eyes had bags under them but as she looked at Lacey all the fear disappeared and began to fill with happiness, even a smile came to her chapped and dirt caked lips. Lacey chuckled, holding back a sob that had built up in her throat, "Good to see you, kiddo."
Sophia let out a small laugh in response, it sounded crackled and dry. Lacey almost kicked herself for not giving the girl some water earlier, and pulled out a full bottle from her bag, as well as what food she had. Sam stepped forward and warned Sophia to take it slow, otherwise she'd probably make herself sick.
Lacey glanced to the older girl with a smile then looked back to Sophia, "So you met Sam. We found her a couple weeks ago... Well... she found us. She and a few other kids. But, uhm, they're..." she breathed out a sigh, "They're gone now."
"What happened?" Sophia, her voice still slightly scratchy and small, wondered.
"Well, uhm..." Lacey started, but she couldn't seem to finish. Sam could see her composure falling and spoke up, "There were walkers being kept in a barn next to the farm we're staying at. They're all dead now but they took some of our own with them."
"You're staying on a farm?"
"Yep. When we first started looking for you Carl got shot, and the man that owns the farm fixed him up." Lacey explained.
Sophia's eyes widened, "Carl got shot?"
"He's fine now!" Lacey chuckled slightly, "Up and walking. Got a bitchin' scar to reel in the ladies."
Sam snorted and shook her head.
"So how did you manage? I'm impressed, but that's not to say I didn't have any faith in you. I mean, Daryl found your doll by a stream- that was over a week ago." Lacey grinned, "You're a real trooper."
Sophia shrugged, "I don't know, I guess I'm good at hiding."
"Really." Sam affirmed, "I found her in this little cave thing, behind some bushes. I probably wouldn't have known if I didn't notice the tracks. Then you started shouting," she nodded toward Lacey, "and we ran toward your voice, but I guess some walkers heard and they found us before they found you."
"You did good." Lacey smirked and stood up, "Job well done." she wandered toward her discarded and gore covered blades and picked up them, cleaning them with the clothing of the nearest deceased walker. "We'd better go." she said as she slid her weapons back into their respectable sheaths, "You need a proper meal and a shower, and we could all use some rest... And I'm sure you'd love to see your mom."
Sophia nodded frantically as she stood up on somewhat wobbly limbs. They started out slow for her benefit, offering support or rests frequently with each mile they left behind them. Quiet conversation filled the air, with Lacey answering every one of Sophia's simple wonderings about what had happened while she was absent.
"Are Honey and Erin okay?"
"Yeah, they're fine. Honey learned a new word too."
Sophia laughed, "Really?"
"Yeah, but I think she likes the other word better."
Sam had been lagging behind, not too far, but a few good feet. She seemed preoccupied, and unaware of the conversation in front of her, but when she hissed under her breath, "Ow." Lacey was quick to swing on her.
"What?" she came to an abrupt stop and turned, "Sam, what? What's wrong?" the blonde was approaching quickly and Sam seemed to pale and blush at the same time. 'There's no point in hiding it' she thought, "It's my arm. I didn't think it got through the material, but... ah-" she winced slightly as she rolled up her sleeve.
Sophia gasped, covering her mouth as the fresh wound was revealed. Sam's brow scrunched in grief when she looked up to see Lacey's wide eyes staring at it. A scratch, about 7 inches long, not deep enough to require stitches, but deep enough to still bleed heavily, "I got scratched." Sam's voice gave a quiver, "I'm done for, aren't I?" her chin began to tremble and tears were filling her eyes, "I don't wanna die." she whimpered and turned her face downward.
Lacey felt a stabbing in her stomach and heart and instantly moved forward to circle the girl in her arms. "Hey," Lacey stepped back to put her hands on the crying girls shoulders, her voice calm, "hey, listen. You're not going to die."
"B-but it's a scratch. Scratches and bites, that's how it happens. T-that's h-how it starts." Sam dropped her gaze to ground again as the tears started to fall faster.
"No, no, no, no. Listen to me. Sam, listen to me. Don't cry. Listen." Lacey placed a hand on Sam's cheek and eased her face back up, looking into the girls watery eyes, "A while back, we met this doctor. Dr. Jenner. You remember him, Sophia. He called me a 'woman of science' and believed he could devulge all the research he'd accumulated since this started to me. He was giving up, and he was going to keep us all inside to kill us, make us give up with him, but there was a reason he told me those things, he wouldn't tell me and then kill us, right? What would be the point. So he let us go. Left me as the last person to understand..." she gestured all around with her other hand, "this."
"What do you mean?" Sam sniffled slightly, the tears stopped falling as she tried to understand, though Lacey was being very cryptic.
"It's not the bite or the scratch that carries the virus that turns us into them. That's not what kills us. It's the infection that causes the fever that kills you, or the blood loss that kills you, then you reanimate into them. We..." she paused, still unbelieving that this was actually the truth, this is what it really was, what was really happening, "We're already infected with the virus. All of us. We have it. In our systems. Right now." she saw the information soak in, Sam's grief filled eyes widening into something of fear and confusion, "It's not the scratch or the bite, you understand? Whether we're bitten or scratched or not we will turn into them when we die. Unless we die by a shot to the brain." Lacey explained, and in saying it outloud, she almost felt the shock herself. Hearing it said again, knowing it was reality- she didn't want to believe it, but she'd known for some time now.
"Wha... what?" Sam was stunned, which was a good thing, with her young and open mind she didn't react the way Lacey was sure a one track minded adult might- violently, erratically, dangerously.
"We're infected. But as long as we keep your wound clean, keep the infection and fever away you'll be fine. You're not going to die, Sam. You're not..." Lacey tried to keep the hysteric tone out of her voice, but with the way Sam was staring past her blankly she almost couldn't stop herself from trying to shake the girl, "Do you hear what I'm saying to you?"
"How is it possible?" Sophia wondered quietly.
"I don't know, but it's the scientifically proven truth." Lacey sighed and took her hands off of Sam, "You're not going to die, okay? We just have to clean it up, bandage it, let it heal. You'll be just fine."
Sam wiped the wetness away from her cheeks and eyes, "Are you- are you sure?"
"I wouldn't lie to you. Especially about this." she took out her water bottle and poured it over the wound, then pulled out a gauze pad, "Keep it covered with that. Put your sleeve over it, we don't need anymore attention than we'll surely get. Let's keep moving...
The sun was making its descent by the time they made it back to the farm. Out of water, food and energy, they hoped they didn't appear ghoulish as they came up to the gate...
The windows were boarded up, tension and fear filled the air. And when Rocket started to bark, everyone visibly jumped. Carl leaned over the wood railing of the porch trying to see what Rocket could see, "Someone's coming!" he squinted, though it didn't help sharpen his sight, he could see the shambling walk of a few figures. Rocket continued to bark, but since she didn't jet out to tackle them he assumed they weren't walkers, and if they weren't walkers it had to be- "Hey look! I think- I think it's them!"
A thunder of steps gathered to where Carl was, Jo had hopped over the rail, gun in hand before questioning, "Lacey and Sam?"
Lori's arms came around her son as he responded excitedly, "Yeah! And someone else... I think... It looks like-"
"Sophia?" Carol breathed from beside the two Grimes' as the figures grew closer and closer to the farm. Jo had already taken off, Rocket on his heels as he went to meet the three; anger, relief, happiness pumping through his veins.
"SOPHIA!" Carol wailed and sprinted from the porch. The rest of the group followed, descending from the old porch to see the lost girl herself running on boney legs and arms wide open as she shouted for her mother.
"You are such an asshole." Jo breathed after nearly tackling his sister in a hug. She chuckled, feeling her breath escape her in a huff, "An asshole that brings results."
"Shut up." he tried not to laugh and pulled away. He looked to Sam who was petting a relieved and happy Rocket, "And you!" he said dramatically, "You're just as bad."
She shrugged, smirking slightly, "You gotta do what you gotta do."
He couldn't help but laugh at that, but then all their attention was pulled away when they heard, "My girl. My little girl. You found her. Thank you. Thank you, thank you, thank you." Carol cried and whimpered with her daughter in her arms.
"It was Sam that found her, actually." Lacey gestured to the girl next to her. Jo slung his arm over the teen's shoulders as Carol shifted her glance to her, tears streaming down her face, "Thank you." the sincerity in her voice made Sam's heart flutter, but at the same time she felt a little awkward, "Uh," she breathed, "No problem."
Carol and Sophia were ushered into the house by Patricia and Amy, Lori and Carl followed closely, Carl firing questions at Sophia while Lori shushed him. Everyone else just went about their buisness as normal.
"Well aren't you both Little Miss Heroines of the month." Jo smirked.
Lacey scoffed, "Yeah? Well Junior Little Miss Heroine had a run in with an unforgiving dagger of a branch while we were out there. Think you could fix her up while I get a breather, and then you fill me in all the shit we missed."
"Sure." he nodded and started for the house with Sam in tow, Rocket following, "Oh and just a warning. You're gonna get an ear full your hunter."
"Oh." she nodded, "Greeeat."
And it wasn't long after that- after running her fingers through her hair, detangling the snarls and feeling through the grime. Taking a deep breath of relief, a sense of calm taking over as she let the minor victory actually sink in. But then from behind her she heard a screen door creak and slam shut, and less than a moment later, along with the sound of his heavy stomps, "What the fuck were you thinkin'?" his voice roared with anger, but she couldn't help but smile. She grinned widely while she could before turning around to face him, straight faced and prepared for a verbal thrashing she knew she deserved.
Daryl was approaching with determination and rage, like a speeding train with useless brakes, but she stood her ground knowing that he needed to do this. Hell, if he'd done what she did she'd reacted the same too, screaming about how 'You could've died!' 'Were you even thinking!' 'What the hell is wrong with you!' But none of that happened. Instead when he finally reached her he encased her in his arms, and instead of anger and tension she felt relaxation and lingering bits of fear. "God damn it, darlin'. You can't do that shit- scare me to death- you just can't..." he mummbled as he held onto her a little tighter, "Fuckin' hell." he breathed into her hair.
She let her smile stretch freely across her face again as she circled her arms around his neck and stood on her toes, leaning into the embrace as much as she could and mummbled back to him, "I'm sorry."
And she really was sorry. With the objective in mind, and the consequences in the back seat she didn't even think about what the others would feel, aside from anger. And Daryl's reaction had caught her off guard for a moment, but felt... normal at the same time. It was a strange moment for her to feel the normalcy make an appearance again, but she liked it- how they seemed like a real couple right then. Wreckless girlfriend, worried boyfriend. Her nose crinkled at the words girlfriend and boyfriend, they just didn't seem like the right titles for her and Daryl.
"Please don't do that ag'in." he released her, but still kept his hands on her, as if to keep her tethered and within arms reach in case she decided to sprint off at any second.
"No promises." she smirked and tried not to laugh at his scowl. He leaned down a moment later and kissed her slightly chapped lips. "Well, aren't you Mr. Affentionate." she grinned.
"Be grateful for what you get. I oughta throttle you. My woman runnin' off like that, and draggin' Little Sis along..." he shook his head in mock shame.
She rolled her eyes, still smirking as she began to retort, "But we returned triumphant. That has to mean something. A little less throttling, a little more-"
"Oh shit!"
And just like that everything was put back on high alert. Normalcy disappeared just as quickly as it had reappeared. Their moment of victory was over. Randall was missing. Though he was cuffed and the shed door was locked from the outside he managed a great escape.
"Mama!"
Lacey spun on her heel at the sound of Honey's distressed whine, it wasn't often the girl let out noises opposite of glee, even during the end of the world that baby managed to be happy. She was in the arms of Sam who looked as worried as Honey sounded. Erin was on the porch standing beside Amy who called out wondering what was wrong.
"Hey," Lacey breathed as Sam passed off Honey to her, the little girl stretched and leaned away from the teen, if she could she would've probably tried to jump into her mother's arms, "Hey babygirl." she hugged the infant close then looked back to Sam, "Get your arm fixed up?"
Sam nodded quickly, "Yeah. Still kind of hurts though."
"Okay," Lacey said and glanced around at the minor chaos that had shook up the group yet again, "Alright, I'll find you some medicine, but I just have to figure what's happening first."
"Sure." she put a hand over the bandage.
"RICK!" the call was so sudden and loud that a few people, including Lacey and Sam, jumped. Walking out from the trees was a bloodied Shane.
"Shit." Lacey mummbled and passed the baby off to Sam, "Take her inside, please."
"What happened!" Lori called out as Shane closed in on them, the damage to his face looking worse and worse with each step he took. "He's armed! He's got my gun!"
"Are you okay?" Carl called out in concern.
"I'm fine. The little bastard just snuck up on me and clocked me in the face."
"Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house. Glenn, Daryl, you're coming with us." Rick shot out the orders easily, and everyone listened.
"Woah, hang on. That looks pretty bad." Jo noted, gesturing to Shane's face, "Maybe Lace should have a look at it."
"I'm fine." Shane snapped and headed toward T-Dog, "T, I'm gonna need that gun."
"Just let him go. That was the plan, wasn't it? To just let him go?" Amy wondered, just as Sam reached the porch and ushered Erin along into the house with her.
"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick explained, his anger toward their escaped captive obvious in his tone.
"Don't go out there, you don't know what could happen!" Maggie put a hand to her mouth as if shocked by her own outburst, watching as Glenn took up a gun and gave her an apologetic look before walking toward the former officers.
"Get everyone back in the house. Lock all the doors and stay put!" that was Rick's final command before he, Shane, Glenn and Daryl started for the trees where Shane had come from.
"Lacey, let's go." Jo took her arm to guide her back to the farm hosue, but she stepped out of grasp easily, glancing down and mentally checking off a list in her head, she caught up with Daryl. "I'm coming with you."
"No, you ain't. Not this time, girl." his crossbow was loaded in his grip and she almost had to jog to keep up with his long strides.
"Daryl-"
"No." he cut her off firmly and stopped walking to turn to her. A hand dropped from its hold on the crossbow to touch her cheek. A tender gesture that confused and surprised her, just like earlier when instead of screaming at her like she expected he would he just hugged her and sweetly asked her not to run off like that again. The hand on her face made her look up at him, straight into his eyes, though she honestly couldn't look anywhere else- trying to decipher what the hell was up with him, though it was the very, very least of her problems. "You're tough, I know you are. But I love you, and you have to listen to me this time. Please stay."
Her eyes widened a fraction of a centimeter, something in her stomach seemed to clench and release within just a second (just like when she had heard Sam say she had Sophia, and when she actually saw the girl herself emerge from the dying greenery). She nodded though, quickly, unsure if she could actually speak. Had she heard what she thought she heard? He stepped forward and kissed her forehead, a wordless 'Thank you' before breaking into a run to catch up with Glenn, Rick and Shane...
Lacey checked Jo's handy work on Sam's arm, checked on Sophia, checked on Erin, and took Honey and a rifle with her before she exited the house, whistling for Rocket to follow. In a wicker chair on the porch, she kept her gaze along the horizon, where light had faded quickly and the moon would be making its appearance soon. Though her eyes were heavy and tired her sight was sharp and hoping to see any sign of movement, any sign of her boys coming back safely. She sat silently with Rocket by her feet, rifle leaned against her chair and Honey dozing in her arms.
"Why don't you tell them?" a full hour passed, and from that it was 35 minutes before Sam spoke up, having lingered in the shadows the entire time, unsure if she should step out and make her presence known, she didn't want bother the blonde woman- she noticed a shift in her mood, something was different.
Lacey didn't flinch from the sudden sound of Sam's voice, she didn't acknowledge if she'd known the girl was there the whole time, she just kept her eyes focused and forward. The younger girl thought she was being ignored after a minute of silence, but then Lacey inhaled deeply before sighing, "You didn't see how they reacted to the first person that was bit and still walking... alive and walking I mean." she paused for a moment, "Though he was a goner when we found out- there was nothing I could do besides make him comfortable... But if he had told us about the wound immediately after it happened- if I could've cleaned the wound, stopped the bleeding... Jim might still be with us and not them. But even then, that was before Jenner told me about what..."
Lacey trailed off, silence and the sound of bugs playing their nightly song filled the air. Sam stepped along the porch, closer to where Lacey was. She perched herself up on the rail and followed Lacey's gaze, keeping watch. "You think they'd do that to me?"
"No doubt in my mind..." Lacey answered easily, almost too easily, but she quickly backed herself up, "I'm not saying they're weak minded and completely fear driven, but... the sort of information that I told you... they won't take it well. They won't think rationally at first, they'll just-"
"They'll be terrified. And when people are terrified they do things they wouldn't normally do..."
"Exactly." Lacey nodded, then added in a mummble, "Like try to drive a pick ax through someone's head while they're still one of us..."
Sam huffed a laugh under her breath, thinking she knew who Lacey was referring to, but then the smile faded from her face- irrational actions... "I won't say anything."
"Keep your eyes sharp. Randall might come back." Lacey adjusted Honey in her arms to get a better reach for the rifle, just in case she needed to act quickly.
"Why would he do that?" Sam's brow scrunched as she slipped of the rail and started for the door.
"Come back for the women and children, ammo, food, supplies and bring it all back to his group... or he could kill all of us and take all we have. Either way it won't end pretty for us."
"Settling thought... You wouldn't let that happen though."
Lacey withheld a smirk, "Your arm hurting a little less?"
"Just waiting for the painkiller to kick in. I'm gonna get my bow."
Disclaimer: I do not own The Walking Dead in any way, shape or form.
