Chapter Five

After deciding that we had hidden long enough and that we had to get moving, we ventured back out into the forest, our clothes drenched though we didn't care. Toby remained ahead of us as usual and my suspicions that the gun fire would attract attention was confirmed pretty soon.

We passed many walkers - I was beginning to use Sophia's phrase now as appose to dead; Sophia said it sounded nicer - but I decided that I had no energy to try and dispatch any of them. There was too many of them for starters. We hid in the undergrowth or behind trees as they passed by and then got moving again quickly once the danger left. Though I knew that we needed to camp and figure out our next move as well as getting something to eat, the house we had stayed in was out of bounds. Laurent had seen me so he would no doubt double back there to check on me, question me probably. He had seen Sophia now, so I could not risk him finding us again.

We settled instead for a thick branched tree whose roots and lower bark was conveniently covered by bushes for Toby's contentment. As we stood at the bottom, I stared up at the tree, picking out branches that seemed suitable for Sophia and I to sleep on and once it deemed my approval, hoisted Sophia up. She seemed to enjoy climbing, yapping away as she made her way up the tree, telling me stories about when she was little. I smiled fondly and listened, following her up after feeding Toby and making sure he was hidden. She told me stories about the large tree in her back garden which she used to climb up when her parents were fighting. Her father refused to build her a tree house like all the other kids had, so she settled for the uncomfortable, bumpy branches on that beloved tree which she had calved her name into once.

I hung the bags safely nearby then leaned back against the bark to get comfortable. Sophia was on the branch beside me, mirroring my posture and humming to herself quietly. Rummaging through my bags, I pulled out the small rolls of rope I had and began to tie Sophia to the branch she sat on. When she asked me why, I told her it was so she wouldn't fall out when she was sleeping. I did the same procedure to myself, securing us both in for the night. Sophia seemed a lot chipper than expected. I voiced this to her.

"I'm happy because I know I'm going to see my momma again." She told me, her voice so full of earnest. She stared at me with a big smile and I raised an eyebrow at her in question. "We'll find her, I know we will. And I know you'll protect me and keep me safe. You're nice, my momma will like you." I smiled slightly and ignored the soft impact her words had on me.

"How about you tell me about your group, Sophia." I urged, glancing down to give the ground a once over and see Toby playing contently with a rock between his paws. "Better know what I'm letting myself in for, huh." I grinned when Sophia smiled at me and I watched as her eyes lit up at the prospect of her talking about those close to her.

"Well, there's my momma who I've told you lots about." Sophia began, ripping apart a leaf she had tugged from our home for the night. I decided quickly that a snack was in order for this tale and pulled out some dried cereal, chocolate, biscuits and two bottles of water. I halved it all with Sophia then handed her one of the bottles.

"And from what I've heard, she sounds like the best momma in the world." I encouraged the smile on her face and she nodded frantically, already starting on her chocolate bar.

"She is." She told me firmly. "Then there's Mr Grimes, but you can call him Rick if you want. He's really nice and he is the leader of our group. He's a sheriff - well, he used to be. Momma told me that Mr Grimes was in hospital when everything happened and that Carl and his momma thought he was dead. But he survived though and he searched everywhere to find them." She smiled at this.

"So he's like super Dad?" I murmured. Sophia giggled and nodded.

"I wish I had a dad like him." I noted that she had said this before, but this time her face was a lot more cheerful. She paused for a moment, contemplating something before continuing on. "Then there's Mrs Grimes, Carl's momma. She's nice. She bosses Carl around a lot, but she helps me with my school work." I paused for a moment.

"School work?"

"Momma and Mrs Grimes want me and Carl to keep up with it now we don't go to school. Momma used to be a teacher before she met my dad, so she knows what to do. It's kinda fun, plus, we don't get homework!"

"Lucky you!" I replied, starting on the box of dried cereal.

"I hate maths though."

"I used to love maths when I was a kid. All my friends used to hate it, but I couldn't quite see what was so bad about it." Sophia pulled a face at me that told me she agreed with my friends and I chuckled. "Never mind."

"Carl hates maths too, but they still make us do it." Sophia continued. "Carl's my best friend." Sophia talked about Carl animatedly for longer than I had ever heard her speak before. She talked in vast tones about all the 'adventures' her and Carl had gotten up to in the short space of knowing each other and how she couldn't wait to see him again. I listened quietly beside her, interrupting occasionally to add in my piece, but otherwise let the girl talk lovingly about her best friend. "Then there's Mr Dale." Sophia suddenly piped up. I noted that so far we had covered four of her ten fellow group members and I rolled my head towards her to hear about the fifth. "He's old and he wears funny shirts. He's nice though and he sometimes talks to Carl and me. He's the one who owns the camper too. It's big, the camper, and it has a toilet. But it does smell a bit." I breathed a chuckle at this. "It breaks down a lot but usually Mr Dale and Glenn fix it."

"That's good." I put in and Sophia nodded. I sensed a sixth member to be introduced now.

"Glenn is the youngest, apart from Carl and me. He's fun and smart and always plays with us. He's really skinny though and Momma always tells him to eat more, but he doesn't listen. Momma still nags at him though about it."

"Your momma sounds like she has to take care of the entire group." I chuckled. Sophia grinned.

"Mrs Grimes says that too and tells her she works too hard sometimes. But she still does it." The same fond smile appeared on her lips again as she thought about her mother and I left her for a moment in bliss. "Then there's T-Dog."

"T-Dog?" I questioned with a raised eyebrow. "You have someone in your group called 'T-Dog'?" I smiled in amusement and Sophia giggled too.

"He won't tell me his real name, he says I'll laugh at it. He's fun though, always making me and Carl laugh. He helps us out with our work too if we get stuck. He also gave us some cards too to play with. He said we could keep them." I watched as Sophia clutched her doll tightly to her. It was a wonder to me how she had held onto it for so long, but knew it must be something dear to her.

"T-Dog is quite a silly name though." I noted. Sophia agreed.

"Mr Walsh was also a sheriff and was Mr Grimes' best friend. He was looking after Mrs Grimes and Carl for him when he was in hospital. I always thought Mr Walsh was Carl's daddy, until Carl's real daddy came back. I saw him kiss Mrs Grimes once." I frowned for a moment, but didn't pass any judgement. It certainly was not my place to comment. "But Momma told me that you kiss your friends too, so Mr Walsh must have been kissing Mrs Grimes because they were friends?" Her eyes turned to me and I was startled that she actually validated my opinion on the matter. I swallowed hard and thought about my answer carefully.

"He must have been." I nodded, knowing I shouldn't judge these people before I even met them, though vaguely began to sense something amongst them. It wasn't my place though, I reminded myself. Sophia took my answer and seemed content by it and then proceeded to tell me about a woman called Andrea.

"She's pretty," Was how she began. "She had a younger sister back in Atlanta. But we got attacked by some walkers one night and Andrea's sister got hurt. Andrea had to-" She trailed off and I didn't force her to continue. I knew the implications and felt a little sympathy for this Andrea and wondered how heart-breaking it must have been for her. "My dad died that night too." She sprung on me with a tone that scared me slightly. It was uncaring and emotionless. I had to stare at Sophia for a long time to try and process it all as her tone startled me.

"Sophia, it's alright to be sad about your dad." I tried. Sophia shook her head and bowed it slightly.

"He hurt my momma." She managed before going into silence once more. I opened my mouth to try and prompt her again, but she seemed to gather herself up after a few long moments of contemplation and she continued. "Andrea hasn't played with Carl and me since her sister died."

"I suppose she's still upset." I offered, feeling utterly useless. Sophia nodded though, regardless of my lame attempt.

"Momma said that." She replied. There was silence again and I quickly scanned my brain for something to say to fill the heavy and sad aura that had fallen between us.

"That's nine then." I said, hoping my tone was light and encouraging. "One left." Sophia turned to me and stared at me for a long time before biting her lip.

"Mr Dixon rides a motorbike and hunts food for us. He brings back squirrels to eat and showed my momma how to skin and cook one. I don't really like squirrels but Momma says I have to eat them because Mr Dixon brought it back for us. He also has a really big, scary crossbow which he uses to kill walkers and squirrels with. I've seen him argue with Mr Grimes and Mr Walsh a lot and sometimes he says things to T-Dog and Glenn, which Momma says isn't very nice. He never speaks to Carl, but I don't think Carl likes him very much."

"And what about you?" I asked. She shrugged.

"He talks to my momma and me and he's never mean to us. He scares me sometimes though." She bit her lip again. "He used to have a brother and I didn't like him. He was always rude to everyone and said horrible things to my momma. Mr Dixon was meaner when his brother was around. But now he's gone, Mr Dixon is a lot quieter and sometimes nice to Momma and me." She shrugged again and I gathered that's all she wanted to say regarding to Mr Dixon for today. I nodded and smiled at the little girl.

"Your group sounds nice." I commented, earning myself a smile. "We'll go looking for them again tomorrow."

"Where will we look?" Sophia asked. I rummaged through the bigger bag before pulling out Laurent's map and laying it across my lap. I pointedly ignored the area marked red with a circle; the other camp. If Sophia noticed it, she didn't comment on it.

"There's lots of places we could look." I sighed. "There's a town quite far away, it will take a long time to walk to, but they might have gone there. I think, though, that we should scope around the nearby area before venturing out too far. They may only be holding up nearby, looking for you." I scanned the map before pointing at a spot. "This is a church, it's not too far away, and I think we should head there in the morning. It shouldn't take us long to get there and we'll see if they're holding up there. If not, then we'll have shelter while we plan where to go next." Sophia was silent during my small speech and was staring down at the map with pursed lips. When I'd finished though, she pointed a slender finger to a spot on the map and looked up at me.

"Shouldn't we go back to the highway?" She asked. "They'll be coming back for me, to see if I'm there. Shouldn't we go there?" I licked my lips before replying.

"Darling, you saw what the highway was like. I can't risk running into that group again and I know for a fact that their gunfire would have attracted more walkers. It's too dangerous." Sophia frowned.

"But if they go back there to find me, isn't it dangerous for them too?" She demanded in a quivering tone. I sighed.

"Sophia, there's more of your group than there is of us. If there are walkers up there, all I have is a knife, a small handgun, a bat and a dog. I wouldn't be able to protect you if there's too many. Your friends will be able to look after themselves, whereas we can't." I tried to keep my voice soft and less frustrated as I explained this all to Sophia. She continued frowning, but nodded nonetheless.

"Where will we look if they're not at this church?" Sophia asked. I glanced down at the map, searching for any landmarks or noticeable places that we could look.

"I don't know." I replied, honestly. "Perhaps we'll see if we can find a road off the highway that they might have gone down. They can't do much off-roading with this camper of Mr Dale's. When we were at the highway, it seemed like the cars had been moved aside and from what you've told me it was for you all to be able to pass through with your vehicles." I sighed, running a hand through my hair and attempted to try think logically. "If they're not at the church, we'll follow the direction of the highway as it appears to be the direction they're heading in." When I turned to Sophia, she was watching me and for a few seconds remained doing so before smiling fully.

"Thank you." She murmured, reaching over and giving me a somewhat awkward but warm hug. I froze for a moment, confused, before letting the girl adjust herself against me and I gathered she would remain like so for the rest of the night.

With a sigh of exhaustion, I leant my head back against the bark of the tree and let memories of the past fill my mind.

Laurent had an air of unease when he found Jessica and I that first evening. The pair of us were sharing a tent together and he quickly settled himself in to ask us how things were. His expression seemed wary though, his eyes darting, and his whole body just seemed tense. It just reminded me of the response we'd been greeted with from the women in the camp and I found myself frowning at the man before us.

"Whereabouts are you staying?" Jessica asked. Laurent pointed out of the flaps of the tent across the fenced off field that was now our home.

"I've got myself a tent down there. The boss says he wants to use me for guarding the camp and patrols, says he needs my expertise. So, he's pitched me up nearby his." He muttered. I raised an eyebrow.

"Someone's a favourite." I noted, uncertain. Laurent stared at me grimly.

"I've handed over all my weapons, he's let me keep a couple of rifles. He says that our timing couldn't be better, apparently they were running short on ammunition and such." Laurent studied us both before sighing. "He asked me about you two, about your skills and your value." I raised an eyebrow at this. "I told him that you were both pretty handy with a gun, one more than the other." I smirked at Jessica at this, who rolled her eyes. "I told him you were both more than willing to help where you can, which he liked." He paused for a moment. "And I told him you were unarmed."

"But we've got-" Jessica began, frowning, and glancing at where she had laid down her chosen weapons from Laurent.

"I know." Laurent hissed. "But he'll take them off you if they find out, so you keep them in your tent."

"I've just carried a baseball bat across the camp, don't you think that counts as being armed?" I asked, raising an eyebrow at him again. He sighed and shrugged.

"If that Joseph kid says anything, then all I got to do is tell him you're an avid fan of baseball." Laurent muttered, smirking. I rolled my eyes. "But, listen to me when I say that you keep your weapons out of sight. Promise me that."

"We promise." We both murmured. He nodded in content, though his face changed again to display his uneasiness.

"Watch yourselves. Don't let your guard down at all and do the work they tell you to do. I mean it, girls. Whatever chore, whatever work, whatever shirt they want you to sew; you do it. No arguments for your own sake, please. I won't be able to watch your backs all the time."

"What do you mean?" Jessica asked. Laurent studied her and sighed.

"Just do what I say. I haven't saved your asses, given you my weapons, taught you how to shoot, lived with you in a shitty rundown gas station for Goddamn weeks to have you get yourselves killed." The silence between us was eerie and judging by Laurent's face, that wasn't what he wanted to say. He stared between us for a few moments before sighing and running a hand through his thin, grey hair. "We have protection here. Those fences will keep any of those bastards out and there is plenty of food and water to go around. We have protection. Please, just do as I say."

Unable to do anything else, we nodded dumbly and Laurent sighed again. With a 'goodnight' and another meaningful glance, he left and we watched his figure trundle across the campsite through the flaps of our tent. I had never felt more alone and confused than that moment. The silence between my sister and I was so full of questions that neither of us had the answer to. Jessica was the first to break it.

"What do you suppose he meant by getting ourselves killed?" She asked in a quiet, timid tone. One I only heard when I knew she was scared. I swallowed hard and tried to think of a substantial answer for my younger sibling that would bring her comfort. I couldn't think of one.

"I don't know."

"You've never woken up in a tree before, have you?" I murmured, after I noted Sophia nearly falling out of the tree we were in when she finally woke up and I was thankful that I had tied the rope around her to stop her from falling. My companion giggled at my drowsiness, despite it being her that had only just woken up, then pointed down to the ground. When I glanced down, I made out Toby's shape between the thick bushes, scratching his ear with his foot.

"He looks funny." Sophia commented with another idle giggle. For a moment we paused to watch the dog on the ground.

"It must be one hell of an itch." I nodded, breathing a laugh before rummaging through my bag for something Sophia and I could eat for breakfast.

After eating and deciding we had hung out in the tree long enough, we carefully made our way down to Toby. I went first, scoping the immediate area before helping Sophia down. She went straight to the German Shepherd and began to avidly scratch his ear and I couldn't help but chuckle as Toby leaned into her touch and hummed with satisfaction.

I checked the map once over, though it took a lot longer to gather our bearings now we were completely out in the open. Soon though we had a direction and we set off in our little group towards the church. I wasn't sure what to expect when we reached this church or if there would even be a chance they were there in the first place, but we had to try something and it was a definite no-go on the highway after yesterday. Toby took the lead as always and Sophia remained by my side, her hand in mine and her voice at a quiet chatter. My attention was shared between whatever Sophia was talking about to the area around us. I scoped and I talked and was surprisingly able to keep up with both. Turns out women were good multi-taskers.

My mind wandered every once and a while though, curious about the girl beside me and the group we were looking for. After Sophia has described them all, I felt a little more at ease knowing at least their names or at least the names Sophia called them. Sophia was certain that we would find them and that small amount of trust she gave to me, made me feel sky high and I convinced myself that we would find her friends and mother no matter what. I had spent three days with this little girl. Four days previous I was ready to put a bullet through my brain and end the madness of the world, but then Sophia literally ran into my life and I almost had purpose now.

Jessica was deluded with thoughts that didn't make sense to me, no matter how much I had tried to show her what was right. To her, I was most likely dead. I still cared for her and knew that in some twisted way she was safe as long as she was careful. Laurent would protect her and it's all I could conclude from her now. She's alive, she's with Laurent. That was enough. Without my sister or Laurent and after being abandoned by the others, I remembered the overbearing loneliness that had been thrust upon me as I carried on through the world with only Toby. I didn't have any reason to continue, I was merely existing and surviving.

Now though, I was protecting. I was searching. I was caring.

Edited November 2014

(Author's Note): As always, thank you for the reviews and the support. It is immensely appreciated. Things are going slow and I know people will be frustrated by the lack of Rick, Daryl etc. but they'll be here in time. I prefer to take thing slowly rather than rushing into things so for now, things will still be focused on Ruby and Sophia. I hope people are still enjoying their interludes regardless.