Walking Dead: Unexpected Return

Chapter 5 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Well, that'll be difficult, given Sophia's condition.
Wolfgirl2013: Yup, thank you :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.

Chapter 5

Returning home, Rick sighed, still reeling from all that had happened. His instincts had been right and now, he was left wondering exactly what to do next.

'We've confirmed it is Sophia, but now we need to figure out...what happened to her, exactly where did she go and what happened to her there?' He wondered. 'She needs time, in order to recover. But only she can tell us exactly what happened…'

Rick couldn't help but feel strange about this. It had been four years, four years of Carol's life, Sophia's. Even his as he committed himself to working the case, even long after everybody else had given up. Getting out his car he took note.

'Everything's changed now. I'm not looking for her anymore, but I still need to figure out...what happened…'

Shaking his head, he knew right now that he had something else he needed to do. He wasn't just a sheriff's deputy after all, he was a husband and father too. As such he made his way to the door, unlocked and opened it, heading inside. Almost at once the smell of breakfast hit him and made him grin.

He knew right away what to expect as he went and entered the kitchen where the rest of the family was. Michonne smiling already, catching his eye as he entered.

Almost at once, the other figure sat at the chair threw themselves from the table at him.

"Daddy!"

Rick laughed, hugging the little 3 year old girl, fair toned and short with slightly curly dirty blonde hair and brown eyes.

"Well good morning to you too, Judith." He laughed.

His gaze then turned to the stove where the last resident of the house was currently cooking breakfast. A lanky sixteen year old boy, around medium height with shaggy brown hair that hung down to his shoulders, baby blue eyes and pale skin.

"Morning dad." He greeted. "Bacon and eggs for breakfast."

Rick nodded. "Sounds good Carl, thanks."

He sat down at the table, getting Judith back in her chair, smirking over at Michonne who rolled her eyes. Truth be told, even if Michonne didn't struggle to stand for prolonged periods of time due to her pregnancy, she'd gladly have Carl cook breakfast. While Carl was perhaps a little more respectful to his elders than usual, he was mostly a typical teenager. Yet had the surprising talent of being pretty good at cooking.

"So, where were you dad, Mom said you were out?" Carl asked.

Rick and Michonne shared a small smile at that, it had taken a while for Carl to adjust to calling Michonne mom, so to hear him do so was always nice.

Rick paused for a moment, considering how to explain things, as he did so, he also reflected on his family's unusual situation and circumstances.

Rick had been married formerly to a woman named Lori. Carl had been born roughly a year into their marriage and things had been happy between them, at least at first. Rick wasn't sure exactly when it started but strain began to develop in the marriage. Then it got worse when Rick's former best friend, now merely co-worker, Shane Walsh got involved. Rick hadn't known it at the time, but Shane had been infatuated with Lori and after he had been severely injured on duty four years ago, Lori, in a desperate state, had ended up sleeping with Shane. It had led to the main concerns after his recovery. So relieved was Lori at his recovery that they had also slept together. Then, a short while after that, things went downhill again as Sophia disappeared. It began to affect the marriage and then came the news Lori was pregnant. That led to Rick finding out the truth and the possibility the baby was Shane's. Things never recovered from that, not even Judith's birth could save their marriage. It soon led to the divorce and now this was life for the Grimes family. Rick had got main custody of Carl and Judith. While both he and Shane had been willing, Lori had refused to let a paternity test be done, leaving the question of who was the father up in the air. But in the end it hardly mattered. He raised Judith as his own and loved her as his own. Lori soon married Shane and they now had twin boys. Despite early difficulties things had eased enough now and they were cordial now. Judith didn't seem to mind the shared custody. Carl tolerated it, although Rick knew that despite his efforts to remain connected to his mom, he'd never truly forgiven Lori for what happened. Michonne had become part of the family a year and a half ago and again, after some slight difficulties at first, it was much easier now.

Recalling all this as he considered how to answer Carl's question about where he had been, Rick sighed.

"I was at the hospital. Beth called due to someone who had been brought in." He explained, deciding to be honest. "I followed up on her call, since she recognized the person. It's taken a while to sort out. But we got confirmation very soon."

By now they were all seated around the table, beginning breakfast.

"Carl, it's...the person who was brought last night was a girl. She'd been hit by a car, while trying to escape danger." He paused and then sighed. "We have absolute confirmation now. It's Sophia."

Carl froze, dropping his fork, gasping. "Wh-what?"

Rick nodded; he knew Carl had been especially affected by Sophia's disappearance. They had been very close, Rick was also suspecting that Carl, who was just getting to the right age, was beginning to form a crush on Sophia.

"Oh my God, she's really…?" Carl whispered, Rick nodded. "Wow, she...I...I've gotta."

Rick spoke quickly. "Whoa Carl, hold on. You can't just go down there."

"But dad-"

"Think about it. The condition Sophia's in...I brought Carol around to see her, they'll need time. Sophia will need time…especially to adjust. She's been through hell Carl." Rick protested.

Carl bit his lip, calming down. "I...you're right, sorry, I just…"

"I get it. I understand your eagerness. Just, try to hold it back." Rick said softly. "Maybe go around after school and talk to Carol, see how things stand."

Carl nodded in acceptance and they all focused on finishing their breakfast.

Up in the bathroom, Carl finishing brushing his teeth and making sure he was washed and cleaned up, ready for school. He paused for a moment, biting his lip as he looked in the mirror.

'Sophia...she's back, I can't…' He thought in amazement before things changed. 'I should…'

Swallowing he opened the medicine cabinet and pulled out what he needed, closing it again. He looked carefully at his reflection in the mirror, it was subtle, but possible to see his right eye wasn't an exact match to his left, namely in colour. Using the index finger of his right hand he pulled the lower right eyelid down and with his free hand, removed the glass eye, once it slid out enough. Before beginning to clean it, as instructed by his doctor. He grimaced, unable to stop himself from glancing up at his reflection, at the empty socket.

'Can't believe it's been two years already, I...urgh…'

He finished and carefully reinserted the glass eye, still vividly recalling that time. The trouble and pain he'd had with his right eye, the discovery for the tumour and then, the only solution being left, the removal of his eye. He'd learned to live with it, but he always ensured he had privacy when doing something like this. The last thing he wanted was for Judith to see it and get scared. As he left to head for school, his mind wandered to Sophia again, wondering how she'd react if she knew about his eye. Before dismissing that thought as he knew, Sophia had far more important things to worry about right now.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.