DISCLAIMER: I don't own The Walking Dead.
Thanks to DreamsKillReality, PaigeKatniss and herbsandlemons for reviewing, favoring and following :D
CHAPTER EIGHT
After cleaning up the boys after they made a mess eating their breakfast, Eva takes Sophia out onto the porch and they sit down on the porch swing. Sophia curls up on her side and lays her head down on Eva's leg and Eva starts brushing her fingers through Sophia's hair, trying to give her some comfort.
"You know I want to get you back to your mama, it might not be anytime soon but we are trying and I now your mama and your group are trying just as hard." Eva says when she sees Sophia eyes starting to tear up. Eva rubs her back letting her cry, poor girl has been through a lot.
"I made some posters that Charlie and I will be hanging around town and on the surrounding high ways. It will give us a better chance of one of your group finding one of the notes because there are too many highways and streets for us to check for them." Eva says and Sophia turns onto her back and stares up at her before sitting up at looking to her.
"I hope they find one quick... Eva can my group come stay here with us, they are good people, they can help protect the farm and... and..." Sophia says stumbling over her words as she talks so fast and Eva laughs lightly at her as she touches the girl's cheek.
"How about we worry about all of that after we find your mama ok." Eva says and Sophia nods her head hurriedly before throwing her arms around Eva neck. Eva rests her head on the girls shoulder and rubs her back as she hugs her closer to her.
"Come on let's get inside, Mel and Kailee want to teach you how to make necklaces, gotta promise to make me one ok." Eva says and Sophia laughs and tells her ok before jumping off of the swing and running back inside with a smile on her face.
Eva is happy to see her smiling, seeing as how she has been either crying or sobbing or sleeping since she had found her two days ago. Eva looks out to the fields, staring at the beauty of it, she shakes her head not wanting to forget the danger of staying in one place to long, they will have to leave here soon.
Eva looks over to the barn, where they have stored the bus, the barn helping muffle the sounds of them fixing up the bus. They have almost half the windows done, rebar and metal pipes welded to the bus to make sure no walkers can get in through the windows.
Abigail came up with a good idea to have a cage guarding the door so if walkers get pass the easily opened door the driver and passengers will be ok. Soon they will start taking out most of the seats that are useless to them and just take up to much room.
They had found two twin beds down at one of the other farms and a wall hugger futon that will be perfect in the bus and will be perfect for them when they are on the road. Eva rubs her face before standing up and making her way back inside, she locks the door before making her way to the living room where she hears giggling and laughter.
She leans against the door frame and stares at the girls who are all having fun making bracelets and necklaces, and the boy is having fun playing with some Legos. She loves seeing them all smiling and happy, it has been hard to come by these last few weeks.
Eva smiles at them before making her way to the kitchen to see that Jenna is up and eating some breakfast. Eva walks over and kisses Jenna head before sitting down next to her. "How's the cast?" Eva asks her and Jenna looks up her eyes still dopey from the pain killers.
"A lot better than before." Jenna says slowly before taking her last bite of oatmeal. Abigail brings Jenna a glass of water and sets in down on the table. "How about after you eat the girls and I help you get a bath and then back to bed." Abigail said to Jenna who looks up at her nodding before leaving her head against Eva's shoulder.
Charlie then comes around the corner and makes his way to the kitchen and he grabs himself a cup of coffee and a bowl of oatmeal before coming back and sitting down at the table. "So I was thinking about taping those notes on all over town and then we work on the highways if we still have enough light." Charlie said after taking a sip of his coffee.
Eva looks at him and nods her head likening that idea very much. "I'll go see if everything is packed in the truck and then say bye to the kids and then we'll go ok." Eva says and Charlie nods his head as he takes his first bite of oatmeal. She helps Jenna sit upright before making her way back outside and over to her truck.
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Daryl has been riding the horse for a while now looking all over for that girl as well as looking for some game to bring back to the group. He shoots another squirrel before yanking it off the tree as he passes by.
He sees a stream down below the small ridge and as he is about to turn the horse in a different direction he sees something. A doll, laying there in the mud stuck on some branches.
"Whoa." He says pulling the horse to a stop, before climbing off and tying her up to a tree. He takes off his crossbow and starts to slowly descend the steep bank.
"Sophia!" He yells out after he picks up the doll, recognizing it as the one she carries all the time. He shoves the doll under his belt before making his way back up to the horse.
He needs to check the surrounding area before making his way up the stream, she must have dropped it while crossing somewhere, and if he can find another set of tracks it might lead to her.
"Whoa, easy." He says as the horse gets spooked by several birds taking off. "Come on." He says before leading the horse around the embankment looking for any signs of her.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa." He says panicking as the horse starts to buck him. He falls off the horse and starts tumbling down the rocky hill down into the water.
"Son of a bitch." He groans out after he comes to a stop feeling pain shooting through his side. He gasps for breath as he sits up slowing and falls back down when he sees one of his arrows sticking out of his side.
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"We can't say anything to them, it will just cause a panic and Sophia won't take the news well." Eva says to Charlie when she finally catches her breath. They both almost got trapped by walkers when they started posting some of the notes on one of the highways.
They only saw maybe five walkers in town but they were so far down the streets it wasn't a problem, the first two highways after that were the same, but the last one, man so many of them.
Eva drives the long way around town so if the walkers follow her they will continue up north of town and not east where the farm is.
After getting home and telling Sophia the good news she and Charlie take the kids out to the barn and they start painting the bus.
They needed to give the kids something to do seeing as it is only about two o'clock in the afternoon. They all have a good time, Eva even having some fun, the stress from the day melting away as she laughs with the kids as she helps them paint the bus.
After getting most of the bus covered, well what they could reach, she takes Sophia and the boy to the house so Abigale can take them to the two separate bathrooms and get them both in a bath.
Eva, Mel and Kailee, all wash off outside with a bucket and some soap before going back in the house to change. Eva uses the kid's dirty bathwater to wash the paint out of all of their clothes, she will wash them again in clean water after she gets most of the paint out of them first.
Eva takes out the half of the clothes she just finished washing, out onto the porch and she starts hanging them to dry on the railing. She scans the fields before making her way inside to finish the rest of the dirty laundry. Eva hates washing clothes but it is a mind-numbing task and after the last few days she had, mind-numbing is just what she needs.
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"Walker! Walker!" Rick hears Andrea yelling so he turns around and walks over to her where she is standing on the RV. "Just the one?" He asks her before looking out where she is and he sees a lone figure walking towards the farm.
"I bet I can nail it from here." Andrea says dropping the binoculars and reaching for the rifle. "No, no! Andrea put down the gun." Rick said trying to calm her down, last thing they need is for the gun shot attracting more.
"You bet let us handle this." Shane says towards Andrea as he, T-dog and Glenn start their way past him. "Shane, hold up. Hershel wants to deal with walkers." He tells him but Shane shakes his head and continues walking. "What for, man? We got it covered." Shane says as the guys walk towards the walker.
"Damn it." He says knowing this won't bring any favor with Hershel. Rick quickly runs into the RV and grabs his gun just in case before taking off after the others who have already started running towards it.
The closer they got the more the walker got more familiar. As Rick points his gun at the walker, the walker stops and looks at him, he then realizes who it is. "Is that Daryl?" Glenn asks from beside him and Rick continues to look at him, all covered in mud and blood.
"That's the third time you pointed that thing me. You gonna pull the trigger or what?" He asks and they all relax, walkers don't talk. "No! No!" Rick screams in shock as Daryl falls to the ground after a gunshot fires. "No! Stop!"
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After doing the laundry and cleaning up her and the kids' room, Eva looks around the house and she has nothing to do. Sighing she tells Charlie and Cody she will be out in the barn.
She shuts the barn door behind her and she grabs the tool box off of the table and she walks up into the bus. She starts loosening up all the bolts from the seats that they marked to throw out.
As she starts unscrewing a fourth seat she looks around the bus picturing everything they talked about and planned to do in the bus. She looks to the front of the bus to see that Cody has almost finished with the cage that surrounds the steps to protect the rest of the bus, he just has to put the door on.
After pulling the screws out from the seats she puts them in the box that is beside her. She grabs the boxes and scoots over to the next seat that is marked with a X.
"Hey Eva, dinner is about done, why don't you come and get cleaned up." Eva hears Charlie saying from outside the bus. She pulls the screw she was working on and puts it in the box.
She put the box and tools onto the seat she was working on before getting up. She wipes her hands on her pants before leaving the bus and making her way to Charlie who is standing by the barn door.
"So I was thinking since we have all that extra metal pipes from the useless seats we can build some big sliding locks for the front door and the emergency door. Have some extra protection since now we have all the windows bared the doors are the weakest points." Eva says to Charlie as they walk back to the house.
Charlie looks over at her and he nods his head. "Yeah and when I was painting the roof earlier I remembered the emergency roof hatches. God forbid, but if the bus was to flip it would be an easy way for walkers to get in, maybe put some sliding locks on them too." Charlie tells her and she stops for a moment.
She looks back at Charlie telling him she completely forgot about the roof hatches before starting walking again. She shakes her head trying not to get angry with herself for looking over something so easy like that.
Trying to protect all of them is starting to become a bit much for Eva, she is so thankful to Charlie, Jenna, Cody and Abigail for helping her out with the chores and the kids and protection.
She ruffles the boys' hair as he sits at the table coloring with Sophia. She picks up the baby and starts rocking him when he starts fussing, she walks into the kitchen and starts helping Abigail and Kailee start on dinner with her free hand.
She loves this calm feeling that washes over her as she holds the baby and doing something simply as she hands Abigail and Kailee whatever they need.
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"I found it washed up on the creek bed, right there." Daryl tells the as he points to the map. "She must have dropped it crossing there somewhere." He says holding a towel to his head.
"Cuts the grid almost in half." He hears Rick say. "Yeah you're welcome." He says sarcastically as he watches the doc stich up his side. "How's he looking?" Rick asks Hershel as he starts to finish with his side.
"I had no idea we would be going through the antibiotics so quickly." Hershel says cutting the loose thread. "Any idea what happened to my horse?" Hershel asks him as he goes and washes his hands off.
"The one who almost killed me? If it's smart it left the country." He says as Rick picks up and starts rolling up the map. "We call that one Nelly, as in nervous Nelly. I could have told you she'd throw you if you'd bothered to ask." Hershel says to him as he lies back on the bed, yeah he forgot to ask to borrow a horse.
"It's a wonder you people survived this long." Hershel tells Rick before Rick and Shane leave the room. "Let's get that head of yours wrapped and then you can get some rest." Hershel tells him as he grabs some bandages before walking back to his side.
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They all sit around the table eating the nice dinner Abigail and Kailee made. They sit around and talk and laugh and for a little while everything outside the kitchen didn't matter.
No walkers, no loved one's lost or dead, no fear, just the laughter and the good food with people that have become family in these hard times. "Go on hun, put those kids to bed, we got the dishes." Abigail said when she sees Eva starting to pile up the dishes.
Eva nods her head and walks over and picks up the baby from Mel's arms before holding her hand out to the boy and Sophia. After changing the baby's diaper and into some clean clothes, she places him down in the crib that is beside her bed where they sleep.
She covers him up in a thick blanket and gives him his binky and she rubs his tiny ear until he falls back to sleep. She takes a wet rag and cleans up the boy's face and hands before getting him into his pull up. He is potty trained but he has had some accidents at night, not that she blames him after everything he has been through.
She helps him onto the bed and she watches him climb into the middle where his tiger is waiting for him. She looks to the door as Sophia walks in, with her pj's on.
After Sophia climbs into bed she covers them both and starts singing them the same lullaby she has been signing since she first found the boys and now it helps them sleep and now it helps Sophia too.
After they both fall asleep Eva slowly gets up and grabs a clean pair of jeans, a t-shirt, underwear and a sports bra before making her way to the bathroom.
After having to leave her home so fast, they have been sleeping in their clothes, not pajamas. It is easier and safer to ware regular clothes to bed. After taking her shower she gets dressed trying to ignore the sore muscles that ache all over her body.
She stretches a bit before grabbing her gun belt and machete and then grabs her dirty clothes and shoes from the counter. She turns the light off and walks back to her and the kids' room.
She sets her gun belt and machete on the dresser by her bow and arrows before stuffing her dirty clothes in one of the bags. She sets her shoes down on floor by her side of the bed.
She checks on the baby and fixes his blanket before climbing into bed. She moves one hand under her pillow and grabs the pocket knife and wraps her other arm over the boy and Sophia. She lays there for a while just listening to their soft breathing before finally following them into sleep.
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Glenn walks happily, carrying a blanket and a flashlight towards the barn. He checks the door and sees it locked shut so he starts walking around the side and sees an opening. He throws the blanket up inside before climbing the ladder, hoping Maggie will hurry up.
He starts looking around the hay loft trying to find a place to lay down the blanket. He stops when the familiar smell hits his noise and the soft groaning and moaning.
He looks over the side and sees about twenty walkers down below and his flashlight stirs them up and they start growling louder. Shocked and a bit scared he makes his way back to the window but is stopped as Maggie suddenly appears.
"You weren't supposed to see this."