I tried to make this a longer one, and I hope you all enjoy it. It might be a bit before I update again, I'm not sure. I'm going to be gone all this weekend without a computer, and I'll be honest-Fallout 4 comes out tomorrow and I might just have a hard time not playing it between work... Thanks for all of the new follows and favorites and reviews!
Redangel2463: You'll just have to read this chapter and find out!
Galwidanatitud: She does need to learn fast now that she doesn't have the safety of the farm-she might not make it in the real world if she doesn't.
Sarah0406: You'll just have to read on to see what happens!
Saiyan Angel Blue: Glad you're enjoying the story so far! There's definitely more interaction coming up between the pair ;)
Katarzyna88gb: I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I've been enjoying writing it and reading the feedback from everyone which has helped keep me motivated to update. That sounds lovely, hope you enjoy this next chapter! :)
"Izzy!"
I jolted awake. Sarah was shaking me by the shoulders, her face turned to look out the window of the minivan. The morning sunlight lit up the look of terror on her face. I could hear groaning from outside.
"What's going on?" I asked her groggily.
For a moment I forgot how we had gotten here, but then the events of last night came rushing back to me. The farmhouse being overrun with walkers, being split up from the group, trudging through the woods for hours.
"Walkers," she told me, her voice low and quiet. "There's a couple that have been scratching at a car up there."
I sat up slowly, holding a hand to the injured side of my head as I did so. My eyes were squinting against the morning light as I looked carefully out of the window. Sure enough, about twenty feet ahead of us there were two walkers throwing their hands repeatedly against the window of a black SUV, clawing at it as if they could scratch their way through the glass window. I frowned at the sight. We had checked all of the cars around us, what could possibly be drawing their attention?
I pulled the knife out of the holster and made to get up from off the backseat, but Sarah was immediately in my way.
"What are you doing?" she asked me, her question a harsh whisper.
"I'm going to take care of those walkers before they draw more," I told her matter-of-factly. "And figure out what they're after."
"But what if it's someone dangerous?" she continued, grabbing roughly onto my arm and desperately trying to keep me in the minivan. "You said Randall's group was just miles from the highway. What if it's one of those guys?"
I hesitated for a moment. I had forgotten about that group. It could be one of their guys, hiding in the SUV from the walkers. But it could be nothing as well. Maybe the sun glinting off of something in the car caught their attention.
"I have to find out," I told Sarah finally. "Those walkers are just going to attract more if I leave them there."
With a defeated sigh, she nodded her head and grabbed the backpack, putting it onto her back before unlocking the door and sliding it open as quietly as she could. She climbed out and turned around, waiting for me to follow after her. Carefully I stood up and made my way slowly out of the vehicle. I still felt exhausted after last night. I'd barely slept a few hours.
The walkers ahead hadn't heard us yet, giving me an advantage. Sarah was eyeing me questioningly, as if asking for direction. I motioned for her to stay back before I crept forward, walking on the tips of my toes to make as little sound as possible.
The closer I got, the more my heart started racing in my chest. I tried to push the fear out of my mind, but I couldn't fully shake it. I was going up against two walkers on my own. For a brief moment I wished Daryl was here with his crossbow.
The walker closest to me must have caught my scent, because he turned his dead gaze on me. His jaw was smashed at an odd angle and there was skin dangling from it, accentuated by each snarl and snap of its teeth. It pushed off of the vehicle and took a few shuffled steps forward at me. The walker beside it slowly turned its head, now noticing my presence as well.
"Shit," I muttered to myself.
The second one came at me and it was moving faster than the first. I barely had time to react before it was on me, snapping its teeth right at my cheek. It only missed by mere inches. I could smell the rot coming from its decaying body as I shoved its head back with my left hand, keeping it off of me as much as I could. My right hand awkwardly tried to swing back and then came crashing down, plunging the knife into its skull as if it was going through cheese. The walker dropped, but I didn't have a moment to catch my breath. The first walker lunged at me and managed to knock me to the ground. Somewhere behind me I could hear Sarah's panicked scream. I struggled under the weight of the walker; one of its hands had wrapped around my neck in the fall and was choking me as it leaned forward and tried to take a bite out of my shoulder. My right hand was trapped underneath my body at an awkward angle. I felt a mouth brush against my skin and my eyes shut tight. This was it, this was how I was going to die.
A grunt sounded and suddenly the weight of the walker on me disappeared. My eyes shot open to see Sarah breathing hard over the body of the walker. The look of triumph fell from her face when she saw it fumbling to get back up to its feet. She must have only knocked it off of me. Hurriedly, I got to my feet and ran forward, a shout of frustration escaping from me as I buried the knife into the walker's head once, twice, three times. Blood spattered against my chin and neck, but the walker fell to the ground limp and unmoving. I was panting heavily now as I stared at the two dead walkers.
Sarah was suddenly at my side, practically ripping my flannel shirt from my arm. Her eyes searched my skin frantically before she let out a long exhale of relief.
"It didn't get you," she said.
I glanced down at my bare skin to double check. No bite mark was visible. Relief flooded my body and I readjusted my shirt. I wiped the blood on my knife off onto the shirt of the walker nearest me before putting it back away in its holster. I made my way towards the SUV, but Sarah grabbed me by the arm and stopped me.
"Shouldn't we think of a plan? What if it's one of those guys?"
"If he attacks then I guess we fight back," I said simply, pulling my arm out of her grasp and heading to the vehicle.
I peered inside, first scanning the front seats. A few empty chip bags and water bottles littered the seats and floor. The car keys were abandoned on the driver's seat. I scanned the backseat. There were a few candy wrappers and a kid's book strewn about the seat. On the floor was a dirty, dark purple blanket piled in a heap.
"It's empty," I said in confusion, turning back to Sarah.
"Then what were they looking at?" she asked as she came over and peered inside through the window.
"Maybe just something glinting in the sunlight. Or something fell?" I said with a shrug. "Come on, we need to see if there's any signs that someone came while we were asleep."
Sarah and I turned to go, making our way back towards the minivan, but a soft thud from the SUV behind me stopped me dead in my tracks. Sarah's hand gripped my forearm in terror, her nails almost digging into my skin through the sleeve of my flannel shirt. Slowly, I spun around. My eyes widened at the sight.
"Oh my God!" Sarah exclaimed, her voice a loud whisper. "She's just a kid!"
Staring back at us from the back window of the SUV was a young girl, just a bit younger than Carl I guessed. She looked frightened as she cowered partially under the purple blanket, her eyes locked on us. She was what the walkers had been after.
I held my hands up to show the young girl I was unarmed before I took a few slow, deliberate steps toward the car. "We aren't going to hurt you," I told her when I was outside of the door. "We want to make sure you're alright. Can you unlock the door for us?"
She stared at me wide eyed for a moment, not moving a muscle, before her eyes darted down and I saw her fidgeting with something. A second later there was a click and the back door swung slowly open. She sat there on the back seat, her book clutched in one hand and her purple blanket wrapped tightly around herself. My heart broke at the sight. She almost looked like a miniature version of Sarah—brown hair and blue eyes. She had dirt smeared on her face and her clothes, and there were large, purple circles underneath her eyes. She looked tired, starved, and cold.
"Are you okay?" I asked her softly. "Those things didn't bite you, did they?"
She shook her head quickly before her eyes darted in the direction of the dead walkers. She stared at them in horror.
"They won't hurt you anymore," I told her, causing her to turn her large doe-like eyes back on me. "My name is Isabell," I told her, pointing at myself before pointing at my sister. "And this is my sister Sarah."
Sarah sent the girl a warm smile and a quick wave. The little girl smiled briefly, but it vanished in seconds. Her eyes shot back to me.
"What's your name?" I asked her.
The young girl chewed her lip slowly. After a moment, she handed me the book she was holding onto so tightly. I stared at it, not sure what she wanted, but when she started to make an urgent, groaning sound, I quickly grabbed up the book. There was a picture of a black cat on it, an exaggerated, cartoonish smile on its mouth. I glanced back at the little girl. She mimed an action with her hands—opening a book, it looked like. I followed her instructions and opened up the cover. On the inside, in big, loopy writing were the words 'Property of Emma.'
"Your name is Emma?" I asked her.
The little girl nodded, stretching out her little arms towards me. I closed the book and handed it back to her. She pulled it tightly to her chest again. I turned and shot Sarah a questioning look. She only shrugged in response. I sighed, not sure exactly how to handle the situation.
"Where are your parents?" I asked Emma softly.
She tugged her blanket around her tighter, shaking her head back and forth forcefully.
"Are they…" I paused, not sure how to pose the question delicately to the young girl. Figuring I should rephrase, I asked, "Are you alone? It's just you?"
She nodded her head slowly.
Walkers must have gotten her parents then. But how long had she been on her own? And how did she get here? I tried to think back to early this morning, but I couldn't recall if I'd seen the book and the blanket there when we'd checked the vehicles.
"Are you hungry?" I asked the little girl.
She stared at me for a moment before she gave a slow nod in answer. I turned to Sarah who was already pulling the backpack from off her back. She rummaged around before pulling out a can of peaches. She handed it to me and I pulled off the pull top before handing it to the little girl. Greedily she gulped down the peach juice before digging her little hands into the can and pulling fruit out with her fingers. She had emptied the can in nearly no time at all. Sarah came over and handed her a protein bar from the bag. The little girl tore into that quickly as well, finishing it up the moment she'd unwrapped it.
"Better?" I asked her as I handed her a bottle of water.
She guzzled half the bottle before wiping her mouth on the dirty sleeve of her shirt. She nodded her head and offered the bottle back to us. I held up a hand.
"You must be thirsty, you can finish that if you'd like," I told her.
And she did, gulping down the last half of water in a few swallows. She left the empty bottle on the seat behind her.
"What do we do with her?" Sarah asked me. "We can't just leave her on her own."
I eyed the little girl for a long while as she returned the stare.
"Would you like to come with us?" I finally asked her.
She nodded her head twice.
"She certainly doesn't say much," Sarah noted.
Emma tightened the blanket around her as she glanced back at me.
"Why don't you come out here?" I asked her. "We're looking for the rest of our group. We were supposed to meet back up here." I paused, eyeing her curiously before asking, "You haven't seen anyone come through here have you? Besides those…scary things?"
The girl shook her head.
I felt marginally better. Maybe that meant we hadn't missed the others yet.
Emma jumped out of the backseat and stood in front of me, one hand clutching the blanket around her body and the other holding on to her book.
"Would you like us to hold onto that book for you?" I asked her. "We could keep it in our backpack."
Slowly she held out the book to Sarah, who accepted it with a smile before stowing it into the backpack. I felt a small hand clasp onto mine and I glanced down. Emma was staring up at me expectantly. I cleared my throat awkwardly, looking away. I was already feeling attached to this little girl, which was starting to scare me. This world was not a place for children.
"Let's head back to the car with the message and the supplies," I said to Sarah. "See if anything's been touched. We should probably pack up the food and water, too. We might need it."
Silently Sarah took the lead, making our way back towards the gold car with Sophia's name on it. I felt a pull at my heart imagining Emma looking up at me with those glazed over dead eyes that Sophia had. I frowned and glanced down at the little girl beside me. She looked up at me, curiously, but continued to say nothing. Why was she so quiet?
"Everything looks the same," Sarah called back to me. "Doesn't look like anyone was here. Maybe they haven't made it back here yet?"
"Yeah," I said. "I hope that's the case. Pack up those things into the backpack, would you?"
Sarah obediently pulled the pack from her shoulder and began stuffing in the supplies. As she was zipping up the bag, she stopped, her head shooting up. The sound suddenly caught my attention, too. Sarah and I exchanged a hopeful look as we recognized the sound of car engines rumbling this way.
Terrified, Emma jolted forward and raced to Sarah, burying her face into my sister's leg. Sarah placed a hand gently on the little girl's head.
"It's okay," I heard her tell Emma.
My attention had turned towards the sound. On the opposite side of the divider of grass on the highway came a parade of vehicles. Following loudly behind them was Daryl's motorcycle. My heart nearly leapt out of my chest.
"It's them!" Sarah exclaimed excitedly. "They all found each other too!"
The vehicles all slowed to a stop before people began emerging from them. I spotted Rick with Carl and Hershel. Lori and Beth had gotten out of a vehicle with T-Dog. Glenn and Maggie were emerging from another car. My eyes landed on Daryl as his bike came to a roaring stop before it fell silent. Carol was climbing off of the back of it as he put the kickstand down. Once his bike was balanced, his eyes immediately met mine from across the distance. The expression on his face made my heart nearly stop. Without a word to anyone he quickly crossed the distance, his pace somewhere between a walk and a jog. Everyone was staring at him curiously, which he must not have noticed because once he reached me he was pulling me into a bone crushing hug. My face was buried in his chest, the scent of leather filling my nose. My eyes closed in a mixture of bliss and relief. Slowly I wrapped my arms around his torso, glad my face was hidden so no one could see the large smile spreading across my lips.
"I didn't think you made it," Daryl said into my shoulder.
"Sarah and I got here late this morning. We had to lead the walkers farther out into the forest before heading back this way," I told him.
He pulled back abruptly, just enough to give me a stern look. "You shouldn't have done that. You're injured."
"Well it wouldn't have been safe if the walkers just kept coming in this direction," I told him. "We made it here just fine."
"I shouldn't have left you," Daryl said, his voice hoarse.
"What else could you have done? You saved Carol."
There was something in the way he was looking at me that made me think he wished he could have saved me instead.
My eyes scanned to the group behind us. They were all staring, some of them with smiles on their faces as they watched us. A blush crept up onto my cheeks.
"We should join the others," I said quietly.
Daryl looked over his shoulder to see that we had become a spectacle. He cleared his throat awkwardly before pulling back from the hug. Something caught his attention and he glanced down, his brows knitted together in confusion. I followed his gaze to see Emma standing there, wrapped in her dirty blanket. She had one small hand grasping the denim of my jeans while she stared up at Daryl with her large, blue eyes. I bit back the smile forming on my lips as I watched them curiously stare at each other.
"Who's this?" Daryl asked.
I knelt down beside the little girl, grabbing Daryl's hand and causing him to follow suit.
"This is Emma," I told Daryl. "Sarah and I found her just a bit ago in one of the vehicles here, trapped by two walkers trying to get her." I turned my attention to Emma. "Emma, this is Daryl. He's…a good friend of mine."
She released my jeans before reaching out and pulling on his leather vest, studying it curiously beneath her fingers. I watched the interaction silently, wondering if Daryl would become uncomfortable or angry. Instead, he let out a snort of amusement.
"For some reason she doesn't really talk," I explained to him.
"Probably just scared," Daryl said before standing back up.
My attention turned back to the group who were now eyeing Emma curiously. I noticed a few members were missing. Shane, Patricia, Jimmy, and Andrea were nowhere to be found.
"Where are the others?" I asked no one in particular.
A solemn mood spread over the group. Rick was the only one who spoke up.
"Patricia and Jimmy didn't make it," he told me. "No one saw what happened to Andrea. And Shane…he had been turned before the walkers hit the farm. I…put him down."
I paused, taking in the information. Sarah took the moment to rush forward and pull Maggie and Beth into tight hugs. The three had grown pretty close over the last few months since they'd been sharing a room.
Following behind Daryl, Emma and I approached the group. Carol and Lori were rushing over to meet the young girl.
"Everyone, this is Emma," I announced to the group. "We found her alone on the highway, hiding from two walkers."
A smile spread across my face as I watched the group introduce themselves to the quiet, mysterious girl. They seemed to accept her as one of us immediately.
"She's lucky you found her," Daryl said from beside me. "Who knows how much longer she'd have made it on her own."
"I just wish I knew what her story was," I told him. "How did she get here? What happened to her parents?"
Daryl shook his head quietly beside me.
"What?" I asked him curiously.
"You always get so tied up in the past," he said. "Who you were, where you came from. Who she was, where she came from. I told you, what's important now is who you are, not who you were. Stop focusing so much on the past."
I turned to look up at Daryl beside me. He was staring straight ahead at Carl trying to get Emma to speak up. I saw him glancing at me out of the corner of his eye though. I smiled, and without a word, slid my hand into his. I was surprised when he didn't immediately shake my hand out of his—I was even more surprised when he let me interlock our fingers.