This War of Mine Apocalypse Season 4

Chapter 13 of my crossover story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks and of course, obviously :)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Jadey97: Thanks, yeah, still, it seems to have been relieved now :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead, This War of Mine or their characters.

Episode 4 – Part 1

The feeling of hope that Mara felt continued especially once the survivors living in the community found out about her and Roman reconciling, as well as possibly, a bit more than that. They had done as they agreed and trained the kids together. Naturally there was still anxiety about Arica, still waiting for her to return. But they had only just now reached the last day of when she said she was likely to make it back. Mara joined Roman on the wall, to act as a lookout; both of them, in addition to watching for Walkers or other people approaching, were keeping an eye out for Arica. Mara's stomach filled with butterflies as she stood next to Roman, her heart fluttering. Perhaps standing a little closer than she needed to.

"Hey." She said softly.

Roman turned to her smiling. "Hey, pretty quiet so far. Arica should be back soon."

They were all anxious yes, but it would only be if Arica didn't show up today that they'd start to panic.

"Yeah…" Mara replied with her own content smile. "Jonas has been asking for her, Lydia's anxious too, they'll both be so happy to see her when she's back.

As she said that she rested her hand on the rail, mere inches from Roman's. He nodded, smiling as they looked around again and then paused, for they saw the figure approaching from the distance. It didn't take them long to recognize it was Arica, making her way back.

"There she is." Mara said, relief flooding her tone.

Roman however narrowed his eyes. "Wait, wait a minute…"

Mara paused, then noticed it too, something seemed wrong, Arica actually seemed to be hurrying.

Grabbing the nearby binoculars, Mara checked and saw Arica was indeed hurrying, looking over her shoulder and back to where she was going, a frantic expression on her face. Instantly Mara knew something was wrong.

"Roman, I think she's running from something…" Mara whispered.

At once she began to fear, what if it was a herd.

Roman seemed anxious too, taking the binoculars. "Yeah, but what…?"

They soon got their answer as suddenly a vehicle, a van by the look of it, drove out, driving rather fast. Before their very eyes it cut Arica off, making her skid to a stop. Before she could run around, people emerged from the van and swiftly surrounded her. Even with the binoculars, as Roman was using them, Mara could see obvious signs of a struggle unfolding.

"Arica!" She gasped in horror. "Roman we have to do something!"

But Roman growled, lowering the binoculars. "We don't have a clear shot, there's too many...we can't get to her from here...fuck!"

Mara froze at that, horrified. "We need to get Niko, maybe he'll know what to do, fuck, what are they doing now?"

Then, as they could only watch helplessly, Arica was bundled into the back of the van which then drove off.

"Oh my god…Arica...we need to tell the others, we need to go after them!" Mara insisted.

Roman nodded, eyes narrowing. "You're right, we must tell the others, this...Something about this just, isn't right."

"I know, why would they…" Mara whispered. "We need to tell Niko, come on."

So they left the wall, anxious at the effect their bad news was about to bring.

A short time later, the founders had gathered and the news had spread, there was panic and fear. All of them wondering how this could have happened, who the captors were? Why Arica had been taken? What to do next?

Niko shook his head, trying to remain composed. "We may never find all the answers, but right now, our main course of action needs to be saving Arica."

The news of her kidnapping hit hard, but was especially devastating for Jonas.

"Mommy!" The little boy cried, tears flowing freely.

Lydia hugged her little brother close, trying to comfort him, despite her own fear. Mara's heart broke at the sight, she hated the fact that she had to deliver this news, to see the dawning look of horror on the two year old's face.

She turned to Niko and reported. "Niko they...they drove off with her, she was running from them. They must have been after her for a while…"

Niko nodded. "Do we know anything about them?"

"I'm afraid not, but given the terrain, and their vehicle of choice, we should be able to track them, the trouble comes when we finally do...it'll be a fight." Roman replied.

"We should leave soon, we have no idea how far they plan on taking her." Mara added.

Niko nodded in agreement. "Okay, Mara, Roman, I'll need you guys to come with me. I'll need at least three others too…"

Within no time at all, Marko, Britta and Emilia volunteered to join them.

"Alright, let's gear up, get ready to get out there after them." Niko said at last. "The rest of you guys, try and keep things together here."

They nodded and began readying their plan for action. Jonas watched this unfold, sniffling while Lydia hugged him.

"See." She told him reassuringly. "Daddy will bring Mommy back."

He buried his face in her shoulder as Misha went over to help Lydia comfort her little brother. Mara's heart pulled at that and she readied herself. Following Niko and the others they made their way out of the safe zone, determined to save Arica.

End of chapter, now the drama has ramped up, read and review please.