Walking Dead: Unexpected Return

Chapter 12 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.

Reviews

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, yeah, one step at a time.
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 12

Sophia checked herself one more time in the mirror, fixing her clothes and making sure she had what she needed.

'Okay, this is it...I can do this…' She told herself.

Exiting the room and making her way downstairs she had to keep reminding herself that it was okay, that she was free to walk around and that the 'rules' were different now. Entering the kitchen she found her mom and Henry, Henry already eating breakfast.

"Morning." She greeted, her voice still soft and airy, but almost back to its normal cadence.

"Morning Sophia." Henry greeted her warmly.

Carol turned to her, smiling. "Morning sweetheart, breakfast's ready."

Sophia sat down as did Carol and they began to eat. Much to everyone's relief, once Sophia was back home, her appetite began returning to normal and she actually managed more and more foods now.

"Sophia, are you sure about this?" Carol asked worriedly. "I mean, it's a big step. What if you're not ready?"

Sophia sighed softly. "I know mom, but my therapist is right, I have to at least try, otherwise, I'll have no idea if I'm ready, or if I'll ever be ready."

"But still." Henry interjected. "Going back to school, you have so much to catch up on, and-"

"I know. But one thing at a time, right?" Sophia replied.

They nodded, but it was clear they were still anxious.

So it was, later, that Sophia found herself preparing herself, taking a deep breath as she sat in the front seat of her mother's car. They were parked outside the high school and to Sophia's relief she could see Carl standing by the doors, waiting for her.

"Now remember Sophia, the teachers know so if it gets too much for you, just tell them and go to the Principal's office-" Carol began to explain.

Sophia nodded. "Then get him to call you, I remember mom. Thanks."

Carol smiled and nodded, before they hugged.

"Okay, take care sweetheart, love you."

"I love you too mom."

Exiting the car Sophia smiled and made her way over to Carl who returned the smile.

"Hey, here we go, remember, I'm right here." He said.

"Thanks."

So together they entered the school and Carl led her to the Principal's office.

"Sadly we're not really gonna have classes together, at least not until, well." He began.

Sophia nodded. "I know, I'll...I'll manage."

Carl looked at her for a moment, biting his lip. It made Sophia self-conscious, had she done something.

Finally he spoke. "It's good to be determined and it's great that you're trying to do all this. But...Don't overdo things, yeah? Your therapist would say it too; trying to recover too quickly, to do too much, that's even more detrimental."

"I know Carl, really, I do." Sophia replied honestly. "I believe I can do this, I'm not trying to push too hard. Recover at my own pace, right?"

"Yeah."

Glad that she seemed to understand, Carl watched as Sophia entered the Principal's office. Happy for her to be taking this next step.

Exiting the classroom, Sophia looked around, it was lunch time, the day had gone well so far. She had been working on special remedial lessons right now to try and help her get caught up on everything she had missed. Now she was going to get something to eat and to find Carl. She bit her lip and focused on her breathing as she began to find herself in a crowd, something she still wasn't quite used to. Luckily it didn't seem quite as daunting as she had feared. She just had to stay relaxed and keep moving, all the while looking around for Carl. She tried to listen over the hubbub of the crowd and finally picked out his laugh. She tried to spot him but when her eyes finally landed on him she froze, feeling as if her throat was tightening up. It was Carl alright but he wasn't alone, there was a brunette girl with them, the two of them laughing at something one of them had said.

'What, is...I…' Her mind raced, trying to take in what she was seeing.

She knew Carl would have friends other than her and that some of those friends would include girls. She expected that, the mere sight of Carl sitting, talking and laughing with a girl really shouldn't affect her like this. Yet despite knowing all this she couldn't move, she wondered if it had something to do with the obvious closeness the two shared. Just seeing how close they were was like a punch to the gut.

"Sophia!"

She started and saw Carl had seen her. She bit her lip, then, unable to take it, shook her head and quickly left, not even sure where she was going.

Carl watched Sophia run, eyes wide.

"Sophia!" He called, but she didn't hear.

He bit his lip, looking back at Enid who was also looking concerned.

"We need to go after her. I don't get what's wrong with her, she was looking fine…" Carl began to explain. "Everything she's been through, she shouldn't be alone, but I-"

Enid shook her head. "Carl."

He was still fretting and still perplexed by her behaviour so Enid tried again.

"Carl." That got his attention. "Let me handle this...I know what's up with her, I can sort it out. I just gotta find her."

Carl started at that. "Wait, you do, what-?"

"She noticed how close we were and probably came to the...wrong conclusion." Enid explained.

Carl groaned finally realizing. Enid however reassured him and quickly went looking for Sophia, hoping to clear this up.

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