A/N: Hello readers and welcome back to "As The River Flows." Blah blah blah, hope ya like my content. Blah, blah, blah, longer chapters. Blah, blah, blah. Now I'm done talking shit, here is chapter 4. Oh and I would like to apologize for the long space between the posting of chapters. Writers block is a bitch. Did anyone see the new episode of The Walking Dead!? Fucking awesome sauce! *Spoiler* I think Daryl found a new fav replacement for his crossbow (for now). Hope you enjoy this chapter .

*Italicized/bolded words are flashbacks, and with 'single quotations' are thoughts in flashback*

*Italicized words with 'single quotations' are thoughts (in the present time)*

*Italicized words are exaggerated words*

It was after noon when Ross decided to ask Sophia about her group, so you know, she doesn't accidentally shoot one of 'em.

"So, tell me about this group of yours?" Ross asked curiously. Sophia looked up to her and a wide smile appeared on her face. 'Does she want to join us once we find mama? I hope so. I think mama would like her.' Sophia thought to herself.

"There's my Mama, she's cooks for the group. I think you would like her. And there's Carl, he's my friend, we play when we aren't doing homework."

"Wait, you do homework?" Ross interrupted, with a confused look. 'Who the hell does makes people do homework during the apocalypse!?'

"Yeah, Carl's mom, Ms. Grimes makes us do it. I'm pretty good at math, but Carl isn't."

"That's because girls are smarter than boys." Ross could tell Sophia was getting a little bit peeved about her interruptions. So she decided to stop, although to her it was amusing seeing Sophia getting a little red in the face.

"There's Rick Grimes. Carl's dad. When I first met Carl, he told me his daddy died. Then one day Mr. Grimes came back from the dead, in a sheriff uniform. He saved some of our group that went into Atlanta to scavenged supplies. Shane, best friend, although it seems they have been fighting a lot now of days. They never agree on anything." Sophia paused for a second, a look on her face like she was think on something really hard, then realizing something with a concerned expression.

Ross noticed how Sophia's voice quieted a little when she said this 'Shane' character's name. Coming to the conclusion that Sophia didn't really like this guy; she definitely would trust Sophia's opinion than herself. 'No shit, look what happened the last time you trusted another human being! Your leg's all fucked up, they stole most of your supplies and almost died. Left with a nasty headache for a week!'

"Andrea, she recently lost her sister, Amy. There's Dail, he's a nice old man with a fisherman's hat. He's kind of weird, but I think you'll like him. He and Andrea are close, but like Shane and Mr. Grimes, they seemed to have had a disagreement. There's T-dog. I don't know if that's his real name or nickname, but he's really nice and funny. I think you'll like him too. Glenn, he's weird too, and awkward. But I know he's a good person. Can't lie to save his life though."

Sophia laughed to herself as she remembered a time when she took a toy from Carl, asking Glenn if she could hide it his tent and don't tell Carl. The face Glenn made when the little boy came up to him asking if he saw his toy anywhere; he looked like he kick a puppy and was going to prison for it. He stuttered, trying to come up with a lie, but in the end he told Carl where it was with his head down in defeat. Sophia and Carl teased Glenn for the rest of the day.

"Well that's good. Means he's good people and honest to a fault." Ross commented, think it was a good time to put in her two cents for Sophia didn't give her an annoyed look. Sophia was quiet for a while. Ross turned to her, thinking she would have that worried look, but she didn't. She had an expression more like she was… 'Embarrassed!?'

"Sophia?"

"T-then there's Mr. Dixon. He's, a bit scary 'cause he glares all the time. He's tall, a-and has short brown hair. He keeps to himself most of the time. Even more now after he lost his brother." Her voice turned solem at the mention of the loss of this 'Dixon' character's brother.

"He was scary, and he would say mean things to everybody, even to Daryl." Sophia said exasperated a little at the end. Like it was the craziest thing to do to your own brother.

"Daryl?" Ross asked.

"Oh, Mr. Dixon! He isn't mean like his brother." Sophia said as she looked up at Ross with a relieved and slight happy look from changing the topic from Daryl's brother. Ross couldn't put her finger on it, why Sophia was happy at the mention of Daryl's name, a dude who glares constantly, and could be a mean son-of-a-bitch, by Sophia's word. And like in a cartoon a light went off in Ross's head, 'Sophia has a little crush on the man! Awwwwww so cute!' She had to hold in the urge to pinch Sophia's cheeks, so Ross bit the inside of her cheek and flexed her fingers.

"He seems like a quite, nice kind of guy." Ross's comment made Sophia's heart stutter and face turn a little pink. 'Yeah, he is,' Sophia thought as she looked down to her feet, picking at her fingers. For a while they walked further into the forest, away from the river. It was noon when they stopped to take a rest. Ross was looking through her pack, dread filling her as she couldn't find anything for either for them to eat. 'Damn, gotta go hunting; don't know how' that's going to go now that I got Sophia.' It was afternoon when a shiver ran down Ross's back, an uncomfortable feeling dawned on her. Like someone or thing was nearby and watching.

She waved Sophia to stay close, for she never doubted her instincts. 'Well except for that one time, and like a dumbass you ignored them. Look where that got ya!' A twig snaps close by, Ross whips her head in the direction, a Walker appears right in front of her. With it being so close she didn't have time to react. Shouting as it falls onto her, it's rotting teeth snapping inches away from her face. Ross was struggling to keep the nasty fuck off of her, and she couldn't kill it for she had to use both of her hands and knees to keep the walker from turning her into chow. It was when she heard Sophia's cries that she started to panic, 'Shitshitshitshit, there's more!?' Ross arches her neck to look behind her, there she sees Sophia with her Knife out, pointed threateningly at the two walkers that are advancing on her.

Sophia was scared, she was about to help Ross, when two more Walkers lumbered out of the trees. She backed up in fear, her small sweaty hands holding tightly to the knife Ross gave her. All she could see was the two Walkers getting closer with their arms reaching out. And Ross struggling and the Walker's face getting closer to her face, just inches from her throat. Sophia didn't know what to do, she didn't want to lose Ross, nor did she wanted to die. She was so scared she didn't know she backed herself into a tree. Her whimpering getting louder, edging the Walkers more. Sophia closed her eyes shut, she didn't want to see Ross die, thinking if she just closed her eyes it wouldn't happen. She felt like she was about to jump out of her skin when she felt a warm, gooey liquid hit her face.

Ross is covered in Walker blood from head to toe, holding her large hunting knife with two dead walkers at her feet, this is what Sophia saw when she opened her eyes. Her sight getting blurry for tears were forming and falling down her cheeks, leaving a watery trail of dirt and Walker blood. Sophia runs into Ross's arms, burying her face into Ross's chest, body shaking from her sobs.

The two could only enjoy the embrace for a short while for Ross heard more twigs breaking and the scuffling of the dead. Sophia tightened her arms around Ross' waist, she didn't want her to go away. Ross place her hand onto Sophia's shoulder, pushing her gently away from her, the other holding the large hunting knife in a white-knuckle grip. She turned around and saw a small horde approaching them.

"Damn." Saying that under her breath she looked down to Sophia and nodded to her. Grabbing Sophia's wrist she ran. Hair and branches whipping at her face, she knew they had to get ahead of them or it was game over. She pushed Sophia ahead as a couple had caught up with them.

"Keep going, I'll catch up, GO!" Ross shouted at Sophia for she stopped to wait for Ross, she then turned and ran further into the woods. Ross then turned back to face the walkers, quickly making do with them. Now dead on the ground, Ross sprinted after Sophia, hoping she isn't surrounded by Walkers, or hurt, or both. Running for a few seconds she caught up to Sophia, who saw who was behind her as she looked back, looking for Ross. Not knowing they're leaving a trail of dead bodies for a certain hunter.

She quickly caught up and jogged beside Sophia, but the weren't safe yet for the rest of the small horde was a couple of yards away. They knew they couldn't run forever, they have to fight for their survival.

"Climb up the tree, high enough where they can't get to ya okay." Ross instructed as she pushed Sophia towards the tree.

"What about you!?" Sophia turned to Ross with a panic look in her eyes, she didn't want Ross to be in danger.

"What did I tell, get up the tree! NOW!" Sophia quickly climbs up the tree as Ross notches an arrow in her bow, pulling the bowstring taut at the head of the closes Walker head, being a couple feet away. She takes a deep breath and as she exhales, she let's go and the arrow flies right through the Walkers' head, but another Walker is already there to replace it. One after another Ross take down a Walker, she reaches to her hip quiver and discovers that she just used her last arrow. And more kept coming, 'They keep coming back like a bad ex-boyfriend.' Ross knew she couldn't recover any of them, or fight them off with her machete, or fire her gun off without drawing the attention of more. Both end in her death as a result.

So she does the only thing she can do, and quickly climb up the tree. Ross was a little iffy about the branches, for most of them creaked and cracked under her weight as she climbed higher and higher until she sat on a branch near Sophia. The tree shook as the Walkers surrounded at the base of the tree, their decaying hands reaching towards the sky, hollow, dead and milky eyes filled with hunger. Their mouths snapping, exposing their black and yellow teeth with flesh between them. From there Ross reaches behind her and grabs her spear, and continuously stabs the heads of the Walkers. There was a weird tightness in Ross' chest as she killed of the walker. One part of her; she kind of wanted to laugh, it was a little comical at the situation. Just stabbing the Walkers faces in with a single punctual hit, then onto the next Walker. 'Kind of like stamping papers. A very bloody, nasty paper, with a very sharp stamp.'

The sound of rotten meat squishing against the pressure of the blade, and Sophia's breathing filled Ross' ears. She couldn't tell is it was seconds, minutes or hours when she finally realized that the raspy moans were gone. All the bodies of the Walkers piled at the bottom of the tree, not moving.

As Ross restrapped her spear to her back , she leaned over to get a better look at the ground through the leaves and branches; debating what was the best way to get down. Sophia was still whimpering from the ordeal, although much more quieter along with the odd sniffle. After Ross decided what to do she turned around and told Sophia to stay put until she said otherwise. She then proceeded to climb down carefully, testing each branch before putting her full weight on it. 'When was the last time I climbed a tree?' Ross though nostalgically, trying to think when she was a youngin, but then her slight smile fell from her face. 'Oh yeah, last week.' Ross was so engrossed with her sad revelation, she but her full weight on a rotten branch, until she was to late. Her body ached as her body fell; pretty sure not a single part of her wasn't spared by the branches that broke by her sudden weight. Landing with a hollow thud onto the bodies of the dead, the air was knocked out of Ross' lungs.

"ROSS!? Ross are you alright?!" Sophia called down, slightly leaning over to see Ross on the ground.

"Just Dandy." Ross said under her breath as she just laid there for a good long while, trying to even her breathing out. She looked up at where Sophia was in the tree, she realized she fell about 10-20 feet. Ross groand out as she slowly rolled off the pile of now dead DEAD Walkers. She held her ribs as the achd by the sudden movement.

"Ross?" Sophia called out more softly once more for she hadn't heard Ross' responds before. Ross sent a comical thumbs up to Sophia as she got onto her hands and knees, not trusting herself to speak. Once Ross was up on her feet, she steadied herself, on hand still clutching her side, the other braced against the tree. She looks up taking in the surrounding area, hoping there isn't anymore hords passing bye. After double checking and sure that they are safe for now, she turns back to the tree and reaches out to Sophia.

"Sophia, climb down. It's safe for now, but we gotta hurry. I'll catch you if you fall." Sophia quietly nods her head and starts climbing down. She was halfway down the tree when she heard Ross yelp in pain. Sophia's green eyes snap towards where Ross has fallen with an, 'Arrow!?', through her knee.

Ross was watching Sophia climb down, arms stretched out upwards, incase Sophia fell and she could catch her, until a blinding pain shot up her right leg. 'YOU GOTTA BE FUCKING KIDDING ME!?' Ross could feel sweat run down the side of her face already as she slid down the trunk of the tree. The sound of blood in her veins became a thunderous noise in her ears as her head pulsed with pain. Her eyesight became blurry and vision tunneled. The feeling of panic clutched around her chest as she saw a blurry figure of a man carrying a crossbow quickly approached her, before darkness consumed her consciousness.

A/N: DUN-DUN-DHUUUUUUN! Cliffhanger! I really hope you guys enjoyed this chapter,I but a lot of effort in it, especially with the writers block. I was thinking of starting the next chapter with Darylʻs POV. Tell me guys what you think, and I would like some input or/and suggestions. Iʻm gonna be honest, I have a freak-out-session every time I get a notification saying, when somebody new follows, favorite, or reviews (especially reviews). Yea I know Iʻm dweeb. AND IʻM RPOUD OF IT! And again thnxs for your support :)