I was about to walk out the door and remembered that I hadn't updated! So I came back in to do so. Just cause I'm sweet and stuff ;) Thank you for the reviews and for following this through to the end. We are down to about four or five chapters to go! I hope you all have a great weekend and stay safe!
Chapter Eighty Nine
Daryl and Merle were checking once again behind the building on the side of town that was closest to the woods and closest to where they were all staying. He didn't believe Philip. He was almost certain that the man knew exactly where she was but Merle had made a good point. If Daryl's fucked up temper got them both killed then Sophia wouldn't get saved at all. It was pretty much up to the boys to find her since Merle and Daryl really couldn't be the ones to search through the other buildings. Not without getting caught. Those boys were good. If Merle and Daryl couldn't get to her then the boys would.
They wordlessly entered their building and Daryl spotted Martinez stepping out of his room. Where Carol, Maggie and Andrea were. The man just glanced at them, nodded and then walked on down the hall.
Daryl frowned. "The fuck was he doin' in there?"
Merle picked up his pace. He had been pretty quiet ever since they learned that Sophia was missing. That had been hours ago. He knew that his brother was worried but he was carrying the weight of that worry on silent shoulders. It made Daryl pretty nervous, on top of how nervous he was because of the girl. Merle wasn't as quick to throw a fit as he was but when things got real harry he could throw one with the best of them. But then there was another side of him also. The quiet one. A quiet Merle Dixon was one of the most dangerous things that Daryl had ever seen. He had been quiet about his plans to kill Philip and his men tonight. Daryl had a feeling that that plan wasn't too far from Merle's mind. As soon as Sophia was found there was going to be death storming Woodbury in the form of one pissed off redneck.
They slipped into the room. Maggie and Carol were both standing in front of the window, arms crossed. Andrea was sitting on the couch, worriedly watching the other two women.
"What the fuck did he want?" Daryl asked as he shut the door and locked it.
Carol spun around and he winced at the anguish he saw when she met his eyes. How many more times would they have to go through this? She just shrugged and then looked back out the window.
"He was asking if Sophia has turned up. Philip sent him." Andrea said as she glanced worriedly towards Carol once more.
Merle was staring worriedly at Carol's rigid back when Maggie glanced over at the other woman. "I'm gonna go back out with Andrea, okay?" Maggie said in a small voice.
Carol nodded but didn't say anything. Andrea got up and her and Maggie headed for the door but Merle grabbed her arm. "Not alone." He said gruffly.
Maggie nodded and then grabbed his hand.
Daryl didn't take his eyes off Carol's back as the others left. She still hadn't moved.
"Carol?" He asked in a voice he hardly recognized as his own.
She turned around then and squared her shoulders as her eyes met his. "She's okay. We'll find her and then we'll get ourselves the hell out of this town."
He nodded and then closed the distance between them. She gave him a small crooked smile, and he was glad to see that her eyes were clear. This surprised him though. He expected to be dealing with a breakdown. At least tears. Hell he was too the point where he could have cried himself. They had turned the town upside down, the boys were more than certain that she would never have taken off alone outside the walls, so she was inside. But going after her would get them all killed. He had to put every once of faith in two boys. Kids.
"You're right." He muttered.
"Maggie said the boys were searching inside. That's where they'll find her. She's too smart to leave and she isn't anywhere else." Her thoughts were mirroring his own.
He nodded, still studying her face closely, waiting for the flood gates to open.
"I'm not going to have a breakdown, Daryl." she said quietly as she wrapped her arms around his neck and hugged him tightly. "I almost did a few times but that wouldn't have done anyone any good. Maggie and Andrea didn't have to baby sit me."
He pressed his forehead against hers. "People care is all. They wasn't baby sittin' anybody."
She nodded. "I know they care. And that's why they were baby sitting. We're gonna get her back. This isn't like when she was lost in the woods. This is different. She's different. With you and your brother there to influence her I swear she is about the strongest person I've ever met. And she's going to be just fine."
He nodded, wondering when this became about her comforting him. Not that he didn't need it. He knew she was strong and she was smart but worms of doubt kept squirming through his mind. She was also, after everything she had survived so far, still just a little girl. She was capable but that only went so far. The difference between Carol and him was he would rather have her lost in the woods. She had a chance to fight that way.
"You and Merle taught her right, Daryl. She's gonna be just fine." She said as she laid her head on his shoulder.
Her words were calm but as her chest pressed against his own he could feel her heart pounding frantically. She was getting good at putting on a brave face but right now she was just as afraid as he was, if not more. He tightened his arms around her. Hoping that those boys really were as good as Merle said they were.
~H~
Philip was pressing her face against the bars painfully. Her nose had started bleeding and the Walker was worked up into a fury by the smell of the blood. Even though it's face was covered it tried to bite her through the bars, her own blood soaking into the material covering it's face, driving the thing mad.
He was definitely going to kill her now. Either he was going to do it himself or he was going to feed her to his daughter. Either way she was dead and she knew it. She finally felt tears escape her eyes. There was only so much fear and pain a girl could go through before she cried. Daryl was probably looking for her but she doubted that he would find her in time. This was it for her. She hoped that it would be quick and she hoped she wouldn't turn. The last thing her mom would ever need to see is her looking like the little girl on the other side of those bars.
"Are you ready to behave now?" He growled in her ear.
She kept her mouth shut because the first response that came to mind was to tell him to go to hell and she really wasn't in any position to be saying anything like that to him. But she refused to beg. She wouldn't beg this man for anything.
He yanked her away from the barred door and dragged her back to the chair. He tied her hands behind her back once more but this time he left her free. She wasn't tied down to anything but she was starting to feel dizzy so she sat in the chair anyway. She didn't have much fight in her at the moment. Sure, she was stronger than she had been. She was smarter and she was more capable. But she was a twelve year old girl. He was a grown man. And it didn't matter that she was stronger than she was, he was obviously insane. This was where she needed to prove to be smarter.
"You can let me go now. I wont say anything to anyone about this." She whispered.
He picked up a napkin from the tray that Martinez had brought in and came at her with it. She flinched away from his hand and then cursed herself for showing him her fear. She had vowed not to cower to anyone, especially him.
He caught her eye and held her gaze. The look on his face was unreadable but then he sighed heavily and shook his head. "I'm sorry about this. I shouldn't have gotten so angry." he muttered as he started wiping the blood from her face.
His touch was gentle now but she almost wished he would just knock her out or something. She didn't want to hear him speak anymore. Especially when he was speaking in that soft kind voice that was a strange contrast to the hateful look in his eyes every time he glanced up at her.
"You see, I started trying to bring my little girl back a while ago. I come to talk to her a lot. I bring her things that I know she would have loved before she had gotten herself bit. I play her favorite music for her every day." He picked up a bottle of water and held it to her lips. She drank, figuring he would pour it on her head if she didn't.
"Did it work?" She asked despite the voice in her head telling her to keep her mouth shut.
He sat back down in the chair he had occupied earlier. His face was thoughtful as he glanced over at the cage door and then back to her. "I just don't know, sometimes I think it does. I think I see a spark, you know?" He let out a breathy laugh. "It's always just a quick spark though. Always gone before I can be sure I saw it at all. But I have hope. Without that then what is there?"
Sophia held his gaze. "What can I do? Where do I fit in with your little plan? You gonna feed her another little girl and hope it snaps her out of it?" God why was she still being such a smart ass?
He shook his head and smiled. "No. Nothing like that. You may think I'm a monster. I assure you that I'm not. I'm a father who is trying to get his little girl back."
She wanted to tell him that there was no bringing the girl back. Considering how well that worked out for her the first time, however, she just kept her mouth shut. For now.
"She always talked about wanting an older sister. Someone to play with and someone that she could talk too. Have you ever wanted siblings Sophia?" He asked.
She felt her eyes growing wide. He wasn't talking about killing her. He was talking about keeping her. Forcing her to interact with that Walker to try to turn her back into a little girl. Was this asshole serious? She should have felt relief that he wasn't going to kill her. At least not until he found out that this would never work, but that wasn't her first reaction. She was even more afraid now.
"Sophia?" He asked as he arched an eyebrow.
She realized then that she had never answered his question. "No." She whispered honestly. "I never wanted a sister."
"Brother?" He asked.
She shook her head. "No. I never wanted any siblings."
He nodded. "Well, Penny did. I wished my wife and I had had more children. We just thought that there would be more time, you know? Besides, Penny wanted an older sister. Not a baby sister. And now you're going to play the role of big sister."
Jesus Christ, what she would have done to have access to her gun right now. "They're looking for me. I know they are. You can't just lock me up in a room and hope no one comes for me." She whispered.
"You're dad has already threatened me and all my men. He's frantic but I think it'll all work out. Soon there isn't going to be anyone left to look."
Her heart sank. He was going to kill them. Or have his men kill them. Either way her entire group, her family was in danger. More danger than they thought. Merle thought that they were getting somewhere since Philip had put him in charge of the men. But it was really Philip playing them all for fools.
"You son of a bitch." She hissed before she even realized what she was saying. "You go through all this trouble to bring your daughter back, and then you take someones daughter away from them without a second thought? You think my mom and dad don't want me back right now just as much as you want Penny? How could you be so cruel, knowing how bad losing a kid hurts."
"I do feel for your momma." He shook his head sadly, "But I think you'd be better off without that daddy of yours. Seems to me like he hasn't done a very good job bringing up a little girl like you. You're out of control, your dangerous. He should have taught you better than that. I wont hold your mom responsible. He should have taught you better."
"He taught me how to survive. If he hadn't then I would have ended up just like her." She snapped and then flinched when she realized that she was real close to setting him off again. She had to keep her opinions to herself right now and think before she said anything else before she really did drive him to kill her.
"And what good did that do him in the end? He's gonna die not knowing what ever happened to you." His voice was low and cruel and her eyes once again filled with tears. It was one thing to fear for herself, to know without a doubt that there wasn't much hope, but it was a different kind of helplessness when people you loved were at risk.
"You wont get away with this." She said as she raised her chin and squared her shoulders. "Merle is a lot more dangerous than you are. This isn't going to pan out the way you want it too. And I wont have any part of this. I'm not gonna sit here and play barbies with a monster."
He slapped her again but this time she knew it was coming. She glared at him.
"You'll do whatever I tell you to do. Or I'll kill them one by one while you watch. Do you understand me?"
"I'm gonna get myself out of here. And when I do I'm gonna kill you myself." She said in a voice that no longer sounded like her own. And there must have been something in her face because his eyes widened a little bit before he stood up. She felt a surge of hope when she saw him heading for the door. Maybe he was crazy enough to leave without tying her back up to the chair. She glanced around the room, trying to spot anything that could be used as a weapon.
To her dismay he simply grabbed the tray and sat it down on the small table next to her. He reached behind her, untying her hands once more. "Eat." He said angrily.
She looked down at the tray. She really was hungry, her empty stomach was growling painfully, but she didn't want to give the asshole the satisfaction of her actually listening to him. Her lips formed a tight line and then she shook her head.
He angrily picked up the sandwich and tried forcing it into her mouth. Pressing the back of her head against the chair and smashing the food into her face. She finally opened her mouth when she felt as though he was going to push her teeth out with the force he was using.
As soon as he realized she had opened her mouth he kept shoving until she was sure he was going to cause her to choke to death. Wouldn't that be a hell of a way to go? She survives the end of the world like a champ. Takes out monsters and mad men alike. And then she gets taken out by fucking sandwich.
He must have came to his senses because he abruptly back away from her, letting the food fall. She spit the rest out and gasped for breath.
"You crazy fuck!' She yelled as she glared at him.
He rubbed frantically at his face and then took a couple of deep breaths. "I have never hurt a child in my life. And this," he gestured towards her, "This is why I chose you to begin with. You deserve it more than any other child I have ever met." He growled. "How anyone can deal with you is a mystery to me."
"Me?" Sophia asked bitterly. "How do you think your little girl would react to you now? Huh? If you ever were able to bring her back she'd be terrified of a psycho like you. And I hope this works. I really do and I hope I get to see the hate in her face once she realizes what you are. You're worse than the Walkers and your little girl is gonna hate you if she ever gets to see what you let yourself turn into." She laughed a humorless laugh.
He snarled and rushed her. She could have moved but she didn't. This time when he struck her she was only conscious long enough to see the floor rushing up towards her face. Then there was nothing.
~H~
"This was a really bad idea." Carl grumbled from somewhere behind him.
Duane rolled his eyes, even though the other boy couldn't see him. "This is a great idea." To their dismay most of the doors to most of the buildings were locked. They needed to search every inch of every damn place they could so they could find Sophia no matter where she had been taken. They were in the building that Philip used for his Town Hall. It was where he had the others gather the other day and it was where he went over plans and things with Merle every morning.
They had gotten inside by sheer luck alone. Someone had conveniently left a back window open and they were able to squeeze through before anyone made their rounds behind the building. They had ended up in a locked room with filing cabinets lined against one wall and a few tables scattered about with papers and folders spread out across them.
They had heard a few men in the hallway and silently crept to the door, pressing their ears against the wood to see if they could hear what the men were saying.
"He's lost it. He's completely fucking lost it this time." It was Martinez.
Duane and Carl had shared a worried look. They figured the "he" that Martinez was referring too was Philip.
"He's gonna try everything he can to bring her back." Another man responded after a long pause.
"Nothing is going to bring her back. The girl is dead. The sooner he accepts that the sooner we can all stop this. This is too much, man, even for me and you know I'm down for almost anything."
Duane's heart skipped a few beats and then started pounding hard against his rib cage. Even in the dark room he saw the desperation in Carl's wide eyes. Who were they talking about? He refused to believe that they were too late. Sophia wasn't dead. She couldn't be dead.
"Are you going to tell him that?" The other man snapped.
"That girls dad and that uncle of hers are gonna kill every one of us for this." Martinez said quietly.
Carl pushed himself away from the door and backed up a few feet. "He killed her." He whispered.
Duane put his finger to his lips and kept his ear to the door.
"I think we should try to do something to get that Dixon girl out of there. He's going to end up killing her. I didn't sign up to help anyone kill any kids. Men are one thing but little girls? I don't want no part of that."
"Martinez, you need to watch who you say that too, man. You try to get that girl outta there and your a dead man. He'll give the orders and you'll be dead. Just keep all that to yourself. That's about the best thing you can do. Our hands are tied on this one. He thinks this is going to work."
Duane backed away from the door to join Carl, who missed the last of the conversation. He was shaking and if Duane didn't know any better he thought the boy was about to cry. "She ain't dead." He whispered.
"Duane, I heard what they said." Carl's voice was so low that Duane could barely hear him.
"You didn't hear the rest of what they said. Don't freak out on me, Grimes. He must have killed another girl or somethin' but Martinez was just talkin' about getting the Dixon girl out. If she was dead then they wouldn't be talkin' about her. Unless you know of another girl they think is a Dixon?"
"We need to go get Merle and Daryl." Carl said, looking more himself already.
Duane shook his head. "Not enough time. Martinez sounded like she was in trouble. Said Philip would end up killing her. Merle and Daryl can't do this like we can. We have to do this quiet and we have to do this now."
"There's probably men all over this building, Duane. How the hell are we going to find her in here without getting caught? They'll see us and then our whole group is gonna go down for it."
Duane walked up to the door and put his ear to it again. All was silent for a few seconds and then he heard more footsteps outside. But these footsteps stopped outside the door. He heard keys jingling and then he grabbed Carl and ran on silent feet to a door at the back of the room. He wasn't sure where it would lead them and he wasn't sure if it would even be unlocked but he had to get them somewhere. There was a large window set in the center of the door but that was okay. They could duck down and hide. Lucky for them it was just a storage closet and they had barely had time to shut the door when the other door opened and the lights came on.
Carl and Duane both pressed their backs into the wall on each side of the glass. Duane was dying to look to see who was there but he was too afraid of getting spotted. They both nearly jumped out of their skin when they heard a gutteral yell and then something crashed to the floor.
"What the fuck?" Duane breathed as he took his knife out. They still didn't want to use their guns even though Merle had armed them to the teeth.
Both boys nodded at the other and then they both eased over just enough so they could see into the room. The light didn't even reach the back, where they were, so all fear of being spotted went away. They were still careful to keep as much of themselves hidden as they could.
Philip was there. The sound they had heard was one of the file cabinets hitting the ground. He was kicking it repeatedly, his face an enraged mask as he pulled frantically at his own hair. There was blood spattered across his white shirt and some even visible on his face even from this far back. Duane's stomach tightened uncomfortably. Was that Sophia's blood or had she done something to cause Philip to bleed?
Carl moved his head away and rested it on the wall. "Should we kill him now?" He asked.
Duane took one more look and then shook his head. "They hear guns and they'll all come running."
Carl scanned the room they were in, like they would find something else to use. They could try to go after him with their knives but he was no doubt armed. He would gun them both down. They stayed like that, pressed against the wall for a few more minutes before they heard the other door open. They peeked around and watched as Philip walked out into the hallway.
They waited a little while longer and then left the small room they had been hiding in. Now it was Duane's turn to scan the room. There were no other doors. The only way out was either back outside through the window or right out into the hallway to be discovered by anyone passing by. Chances were, every door would be locked like this one had been.
He grabbed Carl's arm and pointed. There in the wall, just big enough for them to squeeze into, was a heating vent. They hurried over to it to get a better view. The vent cover was pretty old looking but that didn't surprise either of them. These buildings were old and they had noticed the same type in their own room across the street.
Duane hurriedly used his knife to unscrew the vent cover so they could check it out. The screws were hard to loosen at first but it didn't take them long.
"This is an awful idea. Why do you and Sophia have to come up with such bad ideas?" Carl grumbled.
Duane flashed him a grin and gestured towards the hole.
"Hell no! This is your plan. You're Merle's prodigy, not me. You go first. There's probably spiders all over the place in there." He grumbled.
Duane shook his head. "Wont hesitate to go after Walkers or kill men but cringe at the thought of a damn bug."
"They aren't just bugs, jack ass. They're spiders, and I'd rather them get on you than me."
Duane took the small penlight out and shined it inside just long enough for him to tell what he was about to get into. There was an intersection about two feet in and he figured they may as well go right. He turned off the light and headed in on all fours. He was glad he wasn't one of them people afraid of tight spaces and he hoped, with a small chuckle, that Carl wasn't either.
When he turned he glanced back. "Make sure you at least pull the vent cover back over the opening. Hopefully no one notices it's been taken off."
He heard Carl sigh loudly. "This is a really horrible idea."
I know you all probably think I am being really cruel! I hope you don't curse me too much for what's going on with poor Sophia! There is usually a point to everything I do and this is no different. High emotions are very important and the one thing that sort of links everyone is this girl! With that said, I gotta go! Thanks for reading! As always =)