Chapter Four

Sophia remained still and I silently thanked the girl for that. Toby let out one quiet whimper, but otherwise did nothing either. No one moved, no one dared to. The voices sounded close, too close for any sort of comfort that was for sure. I tried to hastily think of a way out the situation we were in, though the pounding in my head was making it near impossible.

"Jesus, this place is a shit hole!" One of the men outside said. The voice was familiar, though I couldn't put a name to it. It had been a long time anyway since I'd heard any of their voices apart from Laurent's.

"Never mind that," Laurent's voice followed again. "Get looting; the boss' orders." There were a few grumbles before the collective sound of car doors opening and content chatter from the men. Keeping quiet, I wondered if perhaps if we waited it out, they'd leave eventually.

I then realised that it was a likely possibility that if they were looting the cars, they would find us. Of course! I silently cursed before trying to adjust myself quietly to see if I could get a better view of outside. I got a glimpse of a few figures moving in and out of the cars, though thankfully none seemed to be making their way over to us just yet. We needed to find a safe way back into the forest, though the men stood between us and the banking down into the trees. I tried to figure out some sort of route; we could have used the cars for cover, to hide behind them until we had manoeuvred around the group and reached the barrier of the highway. That meant getting out of the car we were in though, which would be a dangerous move itself. I licked my lips and knew we had to move now.

"Sophia." I breathed, barely a noise. "Darling, we're going to have to try get back to the forest."

"Okay." Came a timid whisper. I was quite glad she wasn't the sort of kid who asked lots of questions in times like this.

"So, what we're going to do is get out the car - very quietly - and we're going to make our way to the back of it." I told her in a rushed, but still quiet tone.

"What if they hear us?" Sophia asked. It was a definite risk, I didn't need to tell her that. I thought for a moment, before turning my attention back to the men and trying to catch in onto their conversations.

"-heard some of the ammo went missing." It was another familiar voice, one of the men I knew once before.

"Food has too." Another voice. "Though, I hear it's been happening quite a few times. You reckon it's one of the women?"

"I think the boss thinks so. Blondie, he reckoned. Could hear the bitch screaming from my tent when he was dealing out her punishment." The first voice drawled. There was a malicious chuckle.

"Noisy bitch needs to learn how to keep it down." The second observed in a sickly calm tone.

"She won't be making anymore noise anymore, don't you worry." The first chuckled.

"What's so funny?" Laurent's voice cut in. The laughter seized and I made a quick glance around to see where the group were standing. They were not particularly close and I turned to the door to try and pry it open quietly as their attention was taken.

"We were just discussing the women, and how there is a lack of." The first of the two voices stated in a cocky tone. "We were down to only five after that whole chaos with Jessica's sister a while back. Four after last night's fiasco." There was a moment of silence.

"Speaking of Ruby though, Laurent," The second began. I remembered these two from the group; always together and always smug and cocky. John and Adam were their names, brothers if I remembered correctly. "I hear the boss was a little more than pissed at her whole disappearing act, wanted to go after her and teach her a lesson in wronging him."

"And I also heard that you convinced him not to. That you would take care of it."

"I suggest you bastards keep your nose out of my business and finish your orders." Laurent hissed in a dangerous tone. I edged up to see Laurent's dark, emotionless expression sizing up Adam and John before him. They looked scrawny enough and I knew that Laurent would be happy enough to take them both on.

"We got some visitors, boys!" A voice cried in the distance. I ducked down as the three in discussion nearby turned their heads in the direction of the call and there was a clutter of shouting before a gun shot was heard. This was our chance.

I finally pried open the door and crawled out onto the road, dragging my bag with me, before shutting the door quietly behind me. I hauled myself backwards before opening the back door. Sophia and Toby turned to me and I gestured for them to hurry. Toby launched himself out, while Sophia crawled after him. I took her hand in mine and we made our way around the back of the car.

Gun shots were echoing now, being fired left, right and centre. I pulled myself up to a crouch and glanced at the scene, before realising it was safe to stand and observe what was going on. The group of men had their backs to us, their attention focusing mainly on the oncoming herd of the dead that were making their way towards them. The dead were dropping like flies as the men took them out easily, though I knew their rapid gun shots would make an echoing noise for more to hear.

"C'mon." I muttered. "We go now."

We didn't waste any time in running and when we finally reached the barrier, Toby launched himself over and was down the banking to wait for us at the bottom. I jumped over first, before helping Sophia over. I paused before moving, turning to the group of men on the highway. My eyes wandered to the car with the painted on windscreen and I knew that once the group were back to looting, they would find the message and I knew that couldn't be a good thing.

One of the scrawnier of the men tried to be too cocky as he rushed closer to the oncoming group of dead and I watched in horror as a walker came up behind him and sunk its teeth into his neck before he even knew it was there. I swallowed hard, recognising his face. Joseph his name was. I knew it was time to go. However, before Sophia and I scrambled down the hill after Toby, Laurent looked around after taking out one of the dead with the blunt of his weapon. I wasn't sure what made him look, but he did, and suddenly his eyes made contact with mine. He stared at me for a long moment, with eyes of surprise, before his gaze followed down to Sophia. I couldn't place the look on his face as he studied the little girl then though I found that I didn't want to.

"Go." I urged, nudging Sophia gently. She complied immediately and I turned back to Laurent when she reached the bottom safely.

"Ruby." He called and made a move as if to come towards me. I took a step back and shook my head. Don't. Before giving him one last glare I retreated down the hill to the other two. I took Sophia's hand in mine and we charged off into the woods again. Leaving the highway and echo of gunshots behind us.

"Take the next right." A scrawny looking boy by the name of Joseph informed us.

He had been the one to greet us and shook hands with Laurent like he was a long lost friend. When he turned to my sister and I, he appeared to size us up before nodding his approval in a sickening manner, which didn't go down very well with either of us. Laurent told us to hush up and we made room for Joseph in the truck so he could direct us to his - our - camp.

"'Fraid, we got rules about pets in camp." Joseph informed us, his eyes glancing nervously at Toby at my side. "We ain't got enough to feed him so you'll have to ration your food for him too." He paused and met my eyes, smiling thinly. "Or you could just put a bullet through his head now so we got us a nice meaty supper."

"You touch the dog and I'll break your arm." I muttered, glaring at the boy to reinforce my statement. Joseph held up his hands in surrender as Laurent hummed a chuckle. I ignored Jessica's incredulous look in favour of staring out the window.

"Just a suggestion."

The camp was made up of a gathering of tents and vehicles, residing inside a large, high fenced field which I assumed was once a sport's field. When Laurent drove into the camp, men were waiting at the entrance and closed and locked the gates behind us. I eyed them carefully, immediately beginning to feel like we were inside a prison with the fences and the guards but said nothing of it. Quietly, Joseph told Laurent where to park and the four of us, and Toby, got out.

"Women sleep over there." The kid pointed to a small cluster of tents. I followed his gesture, eyeing the tents with a frown. Gender designation? "Boss said he only needs to talk to you, Laurent, so the ladies can go get themselves settled in." Jessica seemed pleased and beamed at the scrawny boy.

"Thank you." Laurent grumbled, heaving the bags out the back of the truck and handing our bags to us. "We brought us some food from the gas station we were staying in. Suppose a small thank you." Joseph smiled warmly and nodded.

"The ladies can take it. The women do all the chores." I raised an eyebrow at this and glanced sideways at my sister. She met my eyes briefly, the smile completely lost from her face now, and I accepted the next bag Laurent held out to me. I said nothing of Joseph's words, deciding that keeping quiet was probably the best for now. "I'll take you to the boss now." Laurent smiled and turned to Jessica and I.

"Go get yourselves settled in and rested. I'll be around to see you later." He told us. We both nodded and trundled away, towards the tents Joseph had pointed out.

We said nothing to each other as we walked, Toby trailing behind us and gathering a few looks from the men that we passed. I stared ahead, trying to ignore their gazes and chortles, noticing that Jessica's was shifting uncomfortably at my side. There was something strange about this place, something that set my on edge immediately but as I eyed the guarded fences and the men around us, I knew better than to speak out. There was a dark skinned woman sat by the fire in front of the semi-circle of tents when we reached the women's side of camp. She didn't look up as we made our way over, nor did she acknowledge us as we stopped beside her.

"Excuse me?" Jessica urged as she walked over to her. The woman made no move or indication that she'd even heard us and my sister and I glanced at each other. Strange. Just then though, a blonde woman walked over to us, her expression wide with shock by our appearance.

"Hello," She said, somewhat nervously. Her eyes wandered down to the dog between us before she raised her eyes again. She forced a smile onto her face. "Suppose you're the people Joseph found. I'm Clare." I forced a smile, eyeing the strange, thin woman before nodding.

"I'm Ruby and this is my sister-"

"Jessica." My sister cut in, holding out her hand for the woman to shake, an overly keen smile on her face. Clare had a round, soft face, though the various wrinkles were a tell-tale of her age. Her body was thin and frail and it seemed that only one touch would break her. There was something off about her too, I noted, her gestures nervous and shaky as she stood before us now. While Jessica appeared to have ignored this, I quickly made note of it and eyed the woman cautiously. Clare took one look at my sister's hand and made no move to take it, leaving Jessica frowning at rejection.

"We don't have enough room to accommodate everyone comfortably, so I hope you two don't mind sharing." Clare stuttered after Jessica let her hand fall to her side.

"That's fine." I nodded, attempting to smile at the woman again to show her some ease. It did no good.

"Is it just the two of you?" Her eyes darted between us. I had to admit, though the woman didn't appear a threat, her behaviour seemed downright weird. I didn't think Jessica or myself had done anything wrong to deserve her nervousness around us, though I wondered briefly if perhaps she was just afraid of Toby. Or maybe she was just a nervous person in general? I held my tongue, deciding not to question the woman on this.

"And our friend. He's talking to whoever is in charge around here now." I replied, finding it weird to refer to Laurent as our "friend" but found no other word for him. I watched as Clare's face paled slightly at this before she nodded once. Another thin, forced smile appeared on her lips.

"Come with me then."

With that, Clare turned on her heels and began to move towards the tents. Jessica followed without a word, Toby content with following her. I hung back for a moment, glancing at the woman by the fire, feeling uneasy by her stare. It seemed empty and distant as she gazed into the flames before her. I swallowed hard and made a move to follow the others. I glanced back only once when I swore I heard the dark-skinned woman by the fire say something, though when I turned back she had not moved and I guess I could have been wrong. Perhaps I had just imagined words that I seemingly thought had come out of her unmoving mouth?

They shouldn't be here.

"Sophia, slow down." I cried, completely confused on how she had outrun me or even had so much energy all of a sudden. The little girl didn't hold up though and continued weaving in and out of the trees, running without meaning it seemed. She suddenly though fell out of my view and my heart stopped for a moment when I heard her yelp. It was the following splash that made me realise we had reached the river. I ran forward quickly, stopping at the banking to find Sophia in the water, attempting to get to her feet. I jumped in to help her up. "C'mon." I muttered, heaving Sophia up by her elbows. "We can probably rest in the undergrowth for a while to catch our breath. The water might give us a bit of cover for noise and perhaps smell from walkers."

I held Sophia's thin arm in my hand and together we waded through the water towards where the long grass hung over the river in a twisted vined hide-out. Sophia crouched down and crawled inside, settling herself down on a small bit of the banking, her legs mostly in the water. I sat myself beside her and Toby followed our example, though he looked a considerable amount unhappier about having to remain wet, his body shaking from the cold. While I held sympathy for the dog, I too felt the chill and knew that we would have to grit and bear it for now.

"Who were those people?" Sophia breathed after a long moment of silence. I swallowed hard, glancing down at the girl who stared back with wide eyes. "Do you know them? They mentioned a 'Ruby', is that you? Why did you make us hide from them if you know them?" I thought long and hard for a moment before answering the little girl's questions.

"Yes, I knew them." I replied in a hoarse tone. "They used to be my group." Sophia's eyes raised in shock and she turned her body completely towards me, seemingly immersed in what I was telling her.

"Why are you not with them anymore?" She persisted.

"Because they're bad people, Sophia." I whispered, not wanting to share with this innocent girl all the sins and devilish acts I had seen in my time with those people.

"Is your sister with them?" I was surprised for a moment she remembered Jessica, but I nodded before I could stop myself. "But if they're bad, why is she still with them?" A clever girl, I noted.

"Because she believes they can protect her from the dead." I sighed, running a hand through my hair, urging myself not to overwhelm Sophia with anything. Urging myself not to cry. "She's in denial about how badthose people are and would not listen to me when I tried to reason with her. She chose them over her own sister and for that reason, Sophia, I have not gone looking for her. She's scared of what's out here and she thinks that she'll be safer with them so she stayed behind when I left." There was another pause before Sophia probed some more.

"What have those people done?" Sophia asked. I knew when I looked at her face that I could not continue. She was scared, fearful of those people and though she had good reason, I did not want her to think about them. I shook my head once and forced a smile.

"Enough of them, darling." I said, tone brighter. "We need to think about where we're going to look for your momma next." Sophia's face instantly changed at the reminder of why we were on the highway in the first place, her childish mind immediately jumping.

"They left a sign for me." She whispered in a rush. "They'll be going back to the highway, what if those people are still there?" Her expression became urgent and I was taken back by the look of true dependence on her face as she turned to me.

How I had gotten myself into the situation of looking after a twelve year old girl, I did not know. I had never really had much interaction with children before, asides maybe a friend's child or distant cousin of some description, but nothing like the situation I was in now where the child was solely dependent on me. For all intents and purpose, I was Sophia's guardian for the time being. I was the one who had to keep her safe. And that thought and responsibility was daunting. A little voice inside my head, nagged at me. Demanding that I should just ditch her and let her find her group herself. I had unintentionally let my trust fall into this little girl, even after I had vowed never to trust again. Everyone I had cared about had either died, left or betrayed me and I knew that caring about someone too much meant that they would follow one of the outcomes too. But there was something different about Sophia. Something so blissful and innocent and trusting. Maybe it was the fact she was just a little child, or maybe because my proper contact over the past few months had been a weirdly smart and adaptive dog who couldn't quite hold his end of the conversation. Or maybe it was her unconditioned loyalty and trust?

I did not know. All I truly knew was that, for some reason, I was determined to find Sophia's family. For her. Because Sophia was someone I could trust and someone who didn't deserve to end up alone and bitter.

Like me.

There were six other women in the camp, myself and Jessica bringing the numbers up. Clare introduced us to an elderly lady, who seemed Chinese or perhaps Korean though I could not be sure. She was called Bo and her welcome was much more warmer than Clare's hesitant and downright strange one. Bo smiled at the pair of us, fussed over us like a mother would her child before Clare insisted that we should leave her to finish her job of sewing the men's clothes. Her insistence left me frowning and as we left Bo's company, I could not help but take in the sudden switch her the woman's expression, her once cheerful expression leaving her in favour of a much darker one. We were gone before I had chance to think about it.

We were then introduced to a young girl, no more than sixteen years of age, who seemed to be scared witless at everything that moved. She acted much like Clare had done at first, though stuttered even more so over her words and looked like she would practically burst with tears every time she looked at us. Her name was Sarah and that was all that we were told of the girl. When Clare ushered us away, she told us that Sarah was just emotional and that we should not mind her. I couldn't help but feel as if Clare's words did not provide any reassurance, finding that's Sarah's reaction to us was quite unnerving. .

The next two women who we were introduced to us were Elizabeth and Molly. Best friends they seemed to be. Maybe in the previous life or were just adapting to this new one, I did not know, but their welcoming was equally as warm as the elderly Bo, so I didn't mind. I couldn't help but think though that behind all the smiles and the welcomes, that there was something forceful in the pair's greetings and again I was left unsure of what to think.

"What about her?" Jessica asked, nodding to the woman who still remained by the fire, appearing not to have moved at all since we first arrived in camp. Clare glanced at her before shaking her head once.

"She doesn't particularly talk to anyone. We've tried talking to her but we don't usually get anything in response." She shrugged uncharacteristically. "Elizabeth and Molly say they've heard her talk to herself so we usually just avoid her now. Let her get on with it. The girls think she's planning something." Clare swallowed hard, her eyes lingering on the woman before darting back to us. "But I wouldn't worry about her too much, she's harmless really."

"Perhaps she's planning a break-out." I muttered, watching as Clare's eyes widened and she seemed to pale again. She opened her mouth to speak, but stuttered over her words. That was the reaction I was expecting and I narrowed my eyes slightly, making a mental note to bring this all up with Laurent when he finished talking to 'the boss'.

"Perhaps." Clare agreed, chuckling nervously. Jessica met my eyes and I was glad the unease wasn't just felt by me.

"What's her name?" I probed, gathering a sense of mystery from this woman and wanted to know more. Clare thought for a few moments and I raised my eyebrow in question during her silence.

"Michonne." She replied after a long moment. She nodded as if confirming it with herself. "A terribly unusual name." The silence dragged on again and I swore for a few moments that Michonne's gaze looked up from the fire and held mine, with a look that made me feel uncertain. Clare broke the silence though before I could think anything of it. "Lets show you where you'll be staying now." And with that Clare turned and walked away, Jessica following her after a moment of hesitation. I gazed back at the woman by the fire for one last moment before following the others.

"And you trust them?" I demanded.

"They've given me no reason not to." Laurent shrugged, not meeting my gaze.

I remained suspicious.

Edited November 2014

(Author's Note): I am a little bit hesitant about introducing Michonne into this, as I am with all the twists I have made with the canon storylines but hopefully I can do her justice. I would be interested to know what you guys think of the introduction of the other camp in Ruby's flashbacks as well as Sophia and Ruby's progress. As always, I am grateful for your reviews and I thank you to all who support this story so far.