Walking Dead: Unexpected Return

Chapter 16 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.

Reviews

Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)
Boris Yeltsin: Not really that short, longer than the previous chapters.

Now onto the story.

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

Chapter 16

Sophia smiled as she heard her mom at the front door, she knew right away from the voice of the other person that she was talking to Carl. She was glad he had decided to come over and visit. And sure enough, a short while later, he entered the living room where she was sitting.

"Hi." He greeted her cheerfully.

She smiled and nodded. "Hi there."

Sitting down on the sofa close by Carl paused for a moment, as if considering his words, before finally speaking.

"So, how are you doing, have you-?"

"I'm okay." She replied, touched by his concern. "I...I managed to sleep all through last night. No nightmares."

"That's great." Carl replied earnestly, hopeful.

Sophia had to admit, she was hopeful too. She was beginning to accept the nightmares as a terrible but unavoidable part of her life, yet last night had been peaceful. Although her mother had admitted to being even more worried not hearing her wake up screaming and had checked in on her at least five times during the night.

"I have to admit, I've...been feeling guilty about the stress this must be causing mom." Sophia said quietly.

Carl instantly reacted. "No, Sophia, don't think like that, c'mon. You know your mom doesn't mind."

"Yeah but, being a teacher isn't easy." Sophia explained. "And I'm certainly not helping with all this…"

Carl bit his lip, worried that Sophia was going to get herself worked up.

Luckily she seemed to realize this herself as she simply sighed and leaned back in the sofa, shaking her head.

"But you're right. Mom's said so herself. I just...have to get used to the fact that it'll take time to recover." She explained. "I mean, look at us right now."

That confused Carl, he tilted his head. "Huh?"

"We've kinda switched. You coming over here all the time...because I'm too scared to go out still. Used to be we'd spend all our time at your place, so I didn't have to be home." She explained.

"Oh, that's...that's true." Carl agreed, biting his lip.

He was concerned hearing her say that, but noted that she didn't seem upset or frustrated or anything like that, so he took some solace that she was just making a statement and not getting upset by it or anything.

She smiled softly. "I hope I'll manage soon, I mean, I know things are different for you now, all the stuff you told me, but...I really wanna meet Judith."

"I'm sure she'll like you." Carl agreed happily.

They lapsed into a comfortable silence for a moment, as they did so, Sophia began to ponder and as she did so, it was as if something stirred inside her, changed. She grimaced, wondering what she should do about this. Carl looked over at Sophia, easy enough as they'd developed a habit now of her always being on his left hand side, out of his blind spot caused by his missing eye. He began to get worried.

"Sophia, are you-?"

He could see her expression, could tell her mind was racing.

Sophia shook her head.

"I've...I've gotta say this Carl, before I-"

Carl shook his head. "Sophia, if this is gonna cause problems for you, maybe you shouldn't…"

"No I must, I can't say nothing any longer." She burst out. "I still don't think I can make any official statement, but I need to talk about what happened, I need to tell someone...you…"

"Me?"

She nodded and Carl bit his lip, he glanced towards the door, Henry was out and from what he could hear Carol was upstairs.

"Sophia, are you sure?"

She nodded. "Yes, I...that day...when dad kidnapped me. I...don't know exactly how he did it, but I can guess. Mom had ended up in the hospital and I...he was taking me there, or so he said. He must've put something in my drink because I blacked out. When I woke up, I had no idea where I was. I was in some sort of...compound or something, small but…"

"What like, like a cult?" Carl asked, startled.

Sophia shook her head. "I don't think cult describes it to be honest, but...the place certainly looked like where a cult would set up. But there wasn't anything in the behaviour and such of the people there, there weren't many to be honest and all of them were monsters like dad."

Just hearing that made Carl's blood boil and his stomach churn.

He dreaded the answer to what he was about to ask, but he had to ask.

"Did, did any of them…?"

Her answer was actually even worse. "No...dad didn't like to share."

Carl grimaced, feeling an overwhelming wave of revulsion. He'd heard about it, but only peripherally. To actually hear from Sophia that her father was indeed a sexually abusive monster made him feel like he was going to throw up.

But Sophia wasn't done. "That was my life, for four years, trapped there, kept tethered so I couldn't escape. I'd just be fed whatever he felt I deserved. If I didn't do what he wanted he'd beat me, whip me or...or just not let me eat…"

Just hearing it made Carl's blood boil, he fought to keep himself composed and not lose his temper.

"I was let off that tether sometimes...if I behaved but any attempt to escape and I'd be punished harder than ever...I learned that very quickly." Sophia said sadly. "But I did try to escape, more than once I tried…"

"I know, you don't have to convince me." Carl said softly. "How did you...finally escape?"

Sophia swallowed and sighed. "I guess...I guess I'd satisfied dad really well that night. He let me go from the tether, but then passed out, drunk I think...I just, took my chance. I got out the window and just ran."

She stopped at that, wrapping her arms around herself, taking a slow, shaky breath. It was clear she was still not quite ready and there wouldn't be any more information forthcoming. But it was certainly more than Carl expected, or was ready for.

Seeing Sophia's expression however, Carl quickly took a different set of priorities and moved closer to her, gently pulling her into a comforting hug. She clung to him, face buried in his shoulder and finally let her tears fall.

"I'm sorry, I-"

"No...I wanted to...I needed to say it." Sophia managed to get out. "Just please, help me."

Carl nodded. "I will. I'm right here."

She continued to cling to him, sobbing into his shoulder, letting it out as he worked hard to comfort her. It had been hard bringing it all up, but she felt perhaps a little better now, but she knew she still wasn't ready for an official statement and there were still things she hadn't said yet. She just hoped it wouldn't take long before she could.

End of chapter, so now we know, at least some of, what happened to Sophia. Read and review please.