Welcome back my wonderful readers and reviewers. I know I'm a tad later in this update than I would have liked but work was insane this past week. Hopefully everything will ease up this week. Enjoy my friends!
Michonne-Impossible: This story used to be good until you changed it into "Your" own series. You changed it way to much just because you want to get discovered. Write a book of your own and see if its any good you just turned the walking dead into a fake little game. Pathetic
Well I'm sorry you feel that way. The whole purpose of fanfiction, at least to me, is to take a concept that was already in use by someone else, and expand upon it with your own twist. So I don't feel the need to ask for forgiveness for doing what I think the site was built for. You're perfectly within your right to not like my story, but it's rude and childish to call me pathetic. I do indeed want to be discovered, but I'll do that on my own time, in my way own, with my own work that you certainly don't have to read for yourself. I will not apologize for pushing what I think are the boundaries of this fandom in my own way. I hope you find better uses for your time than to try and stop other people's creativity. And even if you never read this, I hope you don't go spreading your poison on anyone else's story. It's shameful.
Emberka-2012: Yes, they are a family. Just too bad that so little. Interestingly, Daryl and Fox did not want to have more children? Or care about the Luna for them was the most important. If the kidnappers are the same people that kidnapped Fox, they'd better remember how it ended for Philip. "Is she alright?" Milton mocks them? They were kidnapped, on their eyes injured their brother, and he asks such questions. It appears from the response of the Luna, he should be happy that he is still alive himself, but he can hardly expect from them humility and understanding.
Indeed they are a family, but that's a concept someone like Milton might have ah are time really understanding. I don't think Daryl and Fox were against having more kids, but the problem is that pregnancy and giving birth is dangerous in an environment without proper medical equipment and training, and so its a huge risk for the mother, and the unborn baby too- just look what happened to Lori. Plus with Luna being deaf, Daryl and Fox had their hands full watching her almost every minute because she couldn't be left alone. Heh, Phillip and his fate, that's a story that'll come back and haunt a good many people as the story goes on ;) Milton's not mocking them per say…he's just kind of slow on the uptake. He doesn't realize, or maybe just turns a blind eye, to the fact that these kids are taken very much against their will. He should indeed be very grateful he's alive, but he doesn't quite know how grateful just yet, but he'll realize that soon enough…
Brittney: Milton! :) Im curious to know who Milton is working with because you are obviously not following the show (your stories are just as awesome though!). Are the group on track with thinking it's the same people that took Fox? When will Merle come back? Is he involved? I can't wait to find out!
So many good questions, and all with answers in time as the story goes on =)
FanFicGirl10: Damn Fox went all badass on the house with good reasons. I'm curious to see how this will affect Daryl and Fox's relationship will it tear them apart or will it bring them together? I will just have to wait and find out. Oh I hope in time Milton helps the girls get out, I'm trying to have faith in him. Good chapter, Update Soon
Hah, yeah, Fox doesn't have much of a filter (I think by now we all know this) and so something was going to have to shatter when Carl brought back the news that Judith and Luna had been kidnapped. As far as her relationship with Daryl and what will happen from the stress of all this happening…they've been together almost twenty years, I think that if anything it will drive them closer BUT you never can tell…this is the Walking Dead after all, and neither of them have the best coping skills… As far as Milton is concerned, he's a slippery little snake isn't he? I can't wait to play around with him and what he holds in store for the plot ;)
WinterIsComing01: Ah, Milton. Yes, he was an interesting character, wasn't he? I don't see him wanting to really hurt the girls as he never really wanted to hurt anyone on the show - he just had zero backbone. However I am curious about this boss of his and I do suspect it is Jenner. He escaped Wildflower unscathed and there's nothing to suggest he ISN'T up to his old tricks twenty years later. In fact, I'm rather curious about his studies and experiments up to now - he's GOT to have made some interesting discoveries, right? I wonder what it is he wants with the young people though - maybe to see if they still carry the virus? Maybe if their blood is "pure/clean" he wants to harvest them out or something... or try to use their blood to create cures? Or further the human population? Maybe there's some sort of safe haven where they want to corral all of the "pure" humans to rebuild civilization? *cue mind blowing apart*
Exactly. Milton's game isn't to hurt anybody…but his lack of spine prevents him from standing up for other people in the face of those who would hurt them. Oooh, you have so many awesome theories, you'll just have to wait and see what I've got up my long sleeves now won't you? ;)
arrowsandkittens: This chapter was so powerful! You write so well that I could feel what Fox and Daryl were feeling. I thought there was no way that you could describe an emotion better than you did in Wildflower but I was clearly wrong. Daryl and Luna's relationship is beautiful, and when you explained how he felt towards his daughter, how she was how he could compensate his broken childhood... I don't even know what to say. You really should write a book based in this.
You know when I first wrote this chapter I had it pretty detailed about what was going on and the feelings and everything but then I set it aside for a day or so and came back to do my final edit and I decided that it just wasn't enough, so I revamped and added in more detail and really tried to dig deep into the meat of the matter at hand, and I'm glad because it seems to have paid off. With everything I write I want to improve and have it be better than the last chapter so I keep trying to find things to improve on. And in the context of Daryl's relationship with Luna…part of the reason he cares so much for her is as you stated that she is the vessel for him being able to heal all of the terrible things that happened to him as a child. He can't change the past, but he can do all the things for her that his family never did for him and in doing so self-soothe in a way. That reasoning is why he was so involved in trying to find Sophia and when he failed in bringing her back it rattled him much more than it would have otherwise, plus I think Daryl just has a soft spot for kids, cue examples from the show when Judith was born and also when he was in the tombs with Carl and trying to talk to him after Lori died. As far as an original work by me…well…let's just say…I've got plans my friend ;)
KatlynIreneGlasse: I always review later than I'd like *Le sigh*. Milton huh that's one thing I didn't see coming. I think I'm in love with Luna I already liked her but I think I'm in love, she needs a OC to take my love and give it to her that annd she'd be cute with someone. By the way who's eyes did she get, green, or blue? Dang it I've got to go so until next time K- I need a new sign off, help me. Kat-for now.
Haha, well I can tell you that Luna will definitely be meeting new people and I have so much planned for her that I can't wait to bring to you guys. It's definitely gonna be a crazy ride ;) I mentioned this I think Chapter 2, but Luna got her daddy's eyes =)
Jerrie Higarashi: Hellooooo Milton Mamet. He's such a cutie. Lol I love how nervous he always is. He's the good guy in the mixture of the bad guys and I love it! ;D It's very unique that Luna can speak even though she is pretty much deaf. Not very many people can do that. I bet I couldn't... She's a very talented and special girl but she needs to learn how to tone down her crazy personality! The love between her and Daryl is amazing. It's a love that all father and daughters should share... Once again, another great chapter...
When I first saw Milton on the show I totally wasn't sold but he grew on me as the season wore on and I was sad to see him go, and I knew I wanted to bring him in on Wolfsong, so I'm happy to make use of him =) I've actually known a few deaf/semi-deaf people who learned how to speak so that was where that inspiration came from. Mm, if only the relationship that Luna and Daryl share was shared between all parents and their kids. There'd be a lot less problems in the world for sure…
RedneckBunny: Grrrr Milton. I never liked him, even towards the end of the last season when he was conflicted and tried to do right. Now you've got me interested to see how you play out his character. I hate it and love it. Part of me wishes you just had Luna violently gut him. Just gut ALL the bad guys. It's a good thing she has Judith with her though cuz she probably would've gut people by now. I love Luna.
Haha, you know what, Luna completely agrees with that sentiment. She's more or less screaming for Milton's blood, just barely restrained by Judith xD She certainly inherited her mother's wild, violent streak, that's for sure. Milton, you better watch your back…
For her the night was always silent, save for the occasional storm that would hit the mountain side and rattle the windows of their house with the force of the thunder. Once she'd gotten older and learned that storms were just elements of nature and not all that dangerous as long as she had shelter, she became fascinated by them. Thunder was one of the only sounds loud enough for her to hear, and whenever she saw those dark clouds rolling in, it was all her parents could do to keep her off the roof to be closer to the violence in the sky. The silence around her was nothing new…but it was a different kind of silence. Heavier, suffocating, strangling any sense of calm she tried to keep a hold of.
She wanted to be back at home desperately. She missed her father's heavy but loving hand on her shoulder or the back of her head, ruffling at her hair. She missed her mother's green eyes that were so vivid sometimes they put the pine needles and grass to shame, looking at her with pride and just a little bit of competition. She missed Rick's easy smile when she and Judith came back in from a day out in the fields and the way his eyes would brighten when he hugged his daughter and then her too because he'd helped raise her just like Daryl had helped raise Judith. She missed the way Carl would flop down on the couch, pretending to be exhausted, kicking his boots off and Judith would always howl and push his feet down to the floor, claiming the smell was enough to kill a biter, and a playful wrestling match would ensue. She missed Glenn's teasing and challenging as he commented on who had done the most work that day in the fields or with their supplies. She missed the smell of Maggie's incredible cooking and her 'I can't believe they're having that discussion again' eye-roll as she watched Glenn debate with the other men. She missed Benjamin's amused expression when he started playing trivia, knowing full well nobody else would know the answer to his questions because they hadn't gone to college and didn't spend their time reading fancy textbooks with glossy pages that smelled slick and felt cool underneath her fingertips.
"What are you thinking about?" Judith signed to her, the motion of her hands easily picked up by Luna out of the corner of her eye.
Luna turned fully on her heel so she could see Judith fully. She'd been standing near the door, staring at it forlornly, thinking of home, thinking about this small, stony space was all wrong and how badly her family must be worried by now. When she comprehended Judith's signs she answered with her own.
"Home. I want to go home." She let her hands drop and her fingers clenched. She fought off the trembling and pushed away the sadness as much as she could. Her skin suddenly grew cold and she stepped away from the door and back towards Judith to sit on the thin cot next to her.
"Me too," Judith agreed. "Dad's probably had a heart attack by now," she signed sadly.
Luna nodded. "Mom's torn the house to pieces and crashed the car trying to speed down the mountain. Remember that time I got lost? She nearly went over the cliff she was driving so fast."
Judith picked her head up. Out of the many in her childhood, that was one of her most vivid memories. She'd been about eight, and Luna had been seven, and they were playing hide and seek on the rocky slopes of the cliff just below their cabins. It had been Luna's turn to hide and she'd taken off running, going further down the mountain than their parents had said they were allowed to go. She'd run so far that she'd lost track of where she was, and could not hear the frantic cries of her sister calling for her. Eventually Judith had fessed up about what had happened and the whole camp had gone tearing down the mountain. It had been her father to find her eventually where she was hiding up in a tree. That had been the first, and not the last time, she'd seen him angry with her for scaring him so badly. Neither of the girls had been allowed out of their parents' sight for a solid month after that little incident.
"I remember," Judith signed. She looked over at Luna and caught her sister's eyes. "How long do you think it'll be this time before we can set foot out the door without someone over our shoulder?"
Luna tilted her head. "A year?" she signed.
Judith would have replied but she heard something from behind the door. She grabbed Luna's wrist and yanked her on her feet. Judith herded both of them towards the furthest corner from the door just in case and Luna's hand automatically went for her knife still tucked in her vest.
The door swung open and Milton appeared there. Judith relaxed minimally but Luna still remained defensive, although she did let her hand fall from where her knife was hidden as to not give its position away.
"Girls, relax. We're not the enemy, ok? We're not going to hurt you." Milton's voice was just shy of condescending and Luna had the strong urge to break his face against the cinderblock wall for it. She couldn't hear the tone, but she could see it written all over his face. He was annoyed he had to deal with them.
That makes two of us, now come just a little closer and I'll put you out of your misery, Luna thought darkly.
"Let us go then," Judith growled, her expression vicious, her dark eyes flashing hotly beneath her brows.
Milton sighed. "You two might as well stop asking that, I told you before, I can't release you. There's a reason for everything that's happening, you'll understand soon enough." He pushed his glasses back up his nose and then turned out towards the hall. Luna's muscles seized when she saw three men approach the door to the room. Beside her Judith tensed as well.
"Now don't panic ladies. These men are going to take you to get cleaned up and processed to make sure you're physically set for transport." Milton's facial expression was teetering between nervousness and anxiety and Luna bared her teeth.
"Transport where?" Judith demanded, not moving an inch out of the corner but she did step to the side to give Luna more room to maneuver. Behind her back she had Luna's hand in her own and was writing an entirely different conversation in her palm.
When they move, get your knife, push one out the door and into the wall, turn and run!
"Atlanta. This facility isn't equipped for what we need the two of you for, plus the supplies are all but gone and there's not enough nearby to continue restocking. We're moving operations to the rebuilt CDC facility," he explained. Judith's head spun with that information. If they couldn't make it out, how the hell would her family know where they'd been taken? It quickly didn't matter though because just then the men came into the room, crowding the space. Judith flashed to the side and kneed one in the groin as hard as she could, causing him to drop straight to the ground while she drove her fist straight into Milton's face, crunching the bridge of his nose against her knuckles. Heaves and high pitched yelps of pain rang through her skull as Luna simultaneously whipped her knife forward and lunged towards the third guard. She shoved him straight through the door and rammed her blade clean through his arm that was reaching for some kind of weapon strapped to his hip. He screamed a glassine whine of pain that reached Luna's deaf ears and beat up against her eardrum like a splinter digging at her brain. She yanked her knife loose and shoved the man away before reaching down and taking what she realized was a gun out of his belt. This she shoved into Judith's hand before they turned to the right and ran like mad down the hall.
They had no frame of reference for where they were being held, where the exit was, how far down underground they'd been taken, or what guards they might face on the way up. At the end of the hall they faced a metal staircase and a door and without hesitation Luna charged up and kicked it open, the clanging sound of metal meeting stone like thunder in Judith's ears. She pelted after Luna who was going full tilt down the hall but as soon as they rounded another corner they faced a small herd of people, some dressed like soldiers and some not. Judith yelped and skidded in the other direction, grabbing Luna by the shirt collar and pulling her the other way. They took the left turn and then another right as angry voices began chasing them down the hall. They kept running, booted feet pounding against slick linoleum, artificial lights glaring down as the sound of gasped breathing filled the narrow corridors. They took another turn and found a second staircase, and at the top they saw a map taped near the door. This Luna ripped off the wall while Judith flung the door open surprised and thankful to find that it was unlocked. They pelted up the hallway, Luna rapidly trying to take in and memorize the piece of paper in front of her, so much so that when she skidded to a sudden halt Judith crashed into her back. She flung her arm back and pointed to another T-junction down which they ran like banshees even as an alarm began to sound. This too reached Luna's ears, startling her as the sound pounded against her skull, as irritating as a thorn in the bottom of her foot.
They came to another corner but Judith could hear more voices now. She grabbed Luna by the shoulder and forced her back before she could charge down. They peeked around cautiously and saw people leaving a set of double doors and as those doors swung back and forth it wafted to both girls the smell of cooking food. Luna stabbed the map where the large square labeled cafeteria was located. To their right, the same direction all of the people were going, was the route to get to the exit.
"Fall in," Judith signed. As soon as the last man walked past their hallway Luna and Judith fell in step behind him. It killed Luna not to be moving faster but she followed the herd as they cleared another set of doors when the crowd all at once took a sharp turn.
"Fire alarm!" Judith hissed excitedly to Luna as she realized finally what the alarm was for. "They'll head for the exit, stay with them, go, go, go!"
They stayed with the crowd, always following close as they went up another set of spiral staircases and then down another hall, this one a little wider and once they cleared the staircase, Luna's eyes shot to another door that was flung open and people were coming up a ramp rather than a set of stairs and she realized that must have been the way that large carts of supplies were hauled down to the cafeteria. Unfortunately now it had soldiers coming up it and as soon as they saw Luna and Judith, chaos erupted, just like when a cougar paws open a beehive.
Judith screamed shrilly, loud enough that even Luna could hear and it made a needle sharp stab of fear drive through her. She kicked her legs into overdrive and began to push and shove even as rough men's voice that she could not hear but Judith could bounced off the stone hallways. The crowd pressed in and simultaneously fell apart, everyone flinging themselves in every direction, trying like mad to stay out of the line of fire. Judith flicked the safety off of the gun and aimed it high over the heads of the crowd and squeezed the trigger. The pop of the gunshot made people scream and duck as dust from shattered rock began to rain down. Luna saw her chance and took the gun from Judith and pulled the trigger again, aiming directly at the men chasing them, forcing them to duck down to avoid being hit, and as they did, Luna swung the gun up and emptied the clip into the ceiling of the hall, causing such a flurry of dust and debris and pieces of rock to come down that it blinded the soldiers and temporarily provided a shield to the fleeing civilians and escaping teenagers.
Luna and Judith pelted after the remaining crowd until they reached what looked like a loading bay that was built into the side of a mountain, crates and other supplies stacked up on the side but a space large enough for vehicles to drive into clear. The civilians were pouring through the double doors that led to this space and out into the dark night outside. Luna and Judith ran for it and finally cleared the doors the extra space of the loading bay giving them the room to maneuver. They burst free of the mountain gasping for air and shaking with the slamming force of adrenaline.
"Alive! We need them alive!" came a vicious order from somewhere near the mountain. Luna frantically gestured to the front gate and both girls ran in that direction like bats out of hell as shots began to ring out, pinging against vehicles and the ground made of gravel rock beneath their feet. When they reached the chain-link structure, which of course was locked, Luna didn't hesitate. She flung herself onto it and began to climb, shoving her knife between her teeth, clenching the handle tightly as she hauled herself like a squirrel up the fence, Judith right beside her.
Pain exploded in the small of her back and her shoulders. She flung her head back and saw Judith in a similar state but as Luna's eyes refocused she saw no blood and Judith too wore a confused expression. Then the smell of pepper began to burn through their nose and eyes and Luna realized the enemy must have been firing some kind of rubber bullet laced with mace. Her family used to let her practice with the rubber bullets when she'd first been learning how to shoot as a child.
"Keep moving!" Judith howled even as she was struck again with another bullet, this time in her upper shoulder. An explosion of mace hit her in the face and she cried out with misery as her skin began to burn. Luna reached over to help haul her another foot up the fence but then a bullet struck her hand, rendering the appendage useless due to the bone bruising pain. The mace roared through her, blinding all her senses, choking her breath and burning her eyes like claws gouging into her eyeballs. She let out a deep throated snarl of pain and tried to keep going but then her upper back began to be peppered with shots and she collapsed, sliding down the fence right along with Judith.
"Bag them!" someone's voice ordered.
She couldn't see, she'd shut her eyes to avoid getting mace into them, but she could still feel. She spat her knife out into her good hand and swiped it blindly, managing to crack one eye open and this time when she cut, she almost took someone's foot off their leg. The man screamed and fell back and Luna launched herself to her feet, or would have except a hand flashed out and grabbed her dominant arm, the one with the knife in its hand, and twisted until she fell to her knees, less her arm break in two. Someone else pounced behind her back and shoved her head down into the dirt, forcing her to eat a mouthful of gravel, scraping her teeth against it while her arms were hauled behind her back. Her knife was scooped up and she screamed like an enraged cougar just before a black bag came down over her head and pain exploded in the back of her skull, rendering her immediately unconscious.
Judith watched with horror as Luna's body stilled. She went limp in their captor's grip, her bag covered head lolling down between her shoulders as the soldiers hauled her up and began to drag her away.
"Now stop struggling, unless you want to meet with the same result," came another order. This voice was cool and disdainful and when Judith jerked her head up from where she was being restrained on the ground she saw a man standing above her, but unlike those she was familiar with. His skin was darker, the shape of his facial features was different, and the lilt to his voice suggested an accent, although what kind she couldn't label.
"Don't hurt her!" Judith pleaded as she watched Luna dragged away helplessly. She could barely breathe from the stinging of the mace on her face and she couldn't stop the tears streaking down her cheeks due to the burning chemical assaulting her eyes.
"Well that is entirely up to the two of you," the man above her drawled. "Play nice and everything will be fine." The man looked into the faces of the soldiers holding her down. "Get them both cleaned up, restrained, and in the chopper, I want to be out of here by midnight, let's go!"
Judith was hauled off back towards the cave, the gate disappearing behind her. She watched the man who had given the order to have her taken away and although her instinct was to thrash violently she knew the only way she'd be reunited with Luna was if she stopped struggling, and she didn't dare be separated from her sister for long, for both their sakes.
Milton watched both girls were dragged back into the base as he came out to meet with Martinez to asses the disruption caused to the people helping them pack all of their supplies up into their vehicles, as well as any of the injured, not the least of which was himself. That Judith may have been as thin as a crane but damn did she pack a mean hit. He didn't need an expert medical opinion to know his nose was broken, blood was still leaking out of it even as he pressed a rag against it trying to stop the scarlet fluid from running down his face.
"What's the damage?" Milton demanded.
Martinez's eyebrows went up when he saw the injury to Milton's face. "Well, well, well, the lab-rat finally takes a hit. Nice of you to experience a little of your dirty work yourself for a change," he drawled. He shook his shoulders and readjusted his gun in his holster. "The deaf one, she did the most damage. Stabbed one of our soldiers clean through the arm. Another one she almost took the foot off. No telling if he'll ever have use of his foot again." Martinez glared at Milton angrily. "How the hell did this happen?"
"I was told they were both unarmed! I don't know where she got the knife!" Milton insisted, although the faintest touch of a nervous tremor entered his tone.
Martinez spat at his feet. "Shoddy work. Why do you bother to get so attached to these kids, you know where they're going!"
Milton glared right back. "I don't have to explain myself to you," he muttered.
"You're gonna have to explain yourself to the doctor. Thanks to this little fuck up we're behind schedule at least six hours." Martinez's voice was somewhere between serves-you-right and aggravation.
"I'm still going with them! I go with all of the test subjects," Milton insisted hotly.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, fucking pussy, you're going with them, while me and the boys have to clean up your mess. Christ I have to do everything myself." Martinez waved him away angrily. "Get going, make sure nothing else happens, and if it does, I'm going to save the doctor the trouble of asking for your head on a silver platter and I'll deliver it there myself!"
The darkness was back and it was thicker than ever, and thanks to the pepper spray she couldn't smell anything and her skull was still rattling from the din of the alarm and gunfire from outside the base. Guards shoved Judith in the back until she staggered into a cold tiled room. She almost slipped on the wet floor underneath her feet and when she caught herself on a metal railing and looked up she recognized a shower head from the homes that she and her family would sometimes raid looking for supplies.
"Wash that mace off of you, nobody's touching you until you do," one of the soldiers barked at her.
"Where's Luna?" she demanded hotly, not moving an inch from where she was huddled around the corner of the shower.
"Your little pal? Probably getting a good scrub down with steel wool, nothing less than what she deserves. Now get moving!"
A towel and a change of clothes were thrown in next to her and Judith quickly snatched these up before they could get wet on the floor. She set them aside on the little bench out of reach of the shower's spray and quickly cranked the water on. She was surprised to find that it came out warm and quickly she stripped behind the safety of the cubical like stall. She stood under the spray and scrubbed with the cheap bar of soap and rag she found on one of the little shelves, very grateful that she could finally get the mace off her skin and out of her eyes, the warm water helping to soothe the burn. She scrubbed herself as hard and as thoroughly as she possibly could but all too soon the water, which must have been on a timer, shut off. She'd only rinsed about half the soap off her body but that would have to do. She snatched the towel and dried off before wriggling into the clothes that were a size too big for her. It felt all wrong. None of it smelt like her, none of it felt familiar, but when she emerged barefoot and shaking slightly she was grabbed up by the men and marched down a hallway before being unceremoniously thrown into a room with no light and locked in. She stumbled and struggled in the darkness until she felt something warm hit her foot. The thing beneath her gave a groan and immediately Judith dropped down to her hands and knees.
"Luna?" she whispered, knowing full well that if it was her she wouldn't hear but she couldn't bring her voice to go louder. She rolled the body at her feet to her back and felt along her face.
"Judith," the body under her croaked. "You smell wrong."
Judith sobbed for joy. She grabbed Luna up and hugged her tight, and in doing so Luna groaned again with pain. Judith realized she was bound again, this time with handcuffs, and judging from the wincing and the tender way she was moving had probably taken a bad beating, but it was impossible to tell in the darkness.
"Are you alright?" Judith asked, drawing the signs into Luna's arm.
"Hurt…hurts to breathe," she rasped.
Judith ran her hands against Luna's chest and abdomen, feeling nothing immediately abnormal but when she stroked down one of Luna's middle ribs she seized and let out a grunt of pain.
"Could be a broken rib, but hopefully it's just bruised," Judith signed against Luna's arm.
"Benjy would know." Her rasp was harsher and she coughed weakly by the end.
"He would," Judith agreed. "But just rest for now," she signed. "You need it."
"Atlanta…" Luna grated the name between her teeth. "They're going to take us to Atlanta. That's where our family is from." She choked again, almost retching from using her tongue and throat so much to speak when she was unaccustomed to doing so.
"Shh, Luna, rest now," Judith urged with her signs.
"We have to tell our family that they took us there." Luna coughed and shuddered again and bowed in on herself, her legs flexing weakly. Judith ran her fingers through her hair over and over again to soothe and quiet her until she felt Luna finally settle into a twitching sleep. Judith kept her thoughts on the problem at hand. They obviously weren't going to make it out of this base alive, so they had to somehow get a message through to their family if they found this place of where they'd gone. She looked down at Luna, barely able to make out her sleeping form in the deep inky darkness and as she ran her fingers against her skin she had an idea. She slid herself out from underneath Luna gently and then scrambled up to her feet, fumbling in the darkness until she found a wall. She patted down the surface and found it cold and textured, likely painted over cinderblock, but it would have to do. She dropped down lower to the floor before feeling out the space she needed. She sucked in a shaky breath in preparation before rolling her sleeve back and raising her left arm up just before sinking her teeth into her own forearm. Pain zinged up through her skin but not enough and with some effort she forced herself to bite down harder and harder until finally she tasted a flush of copper.
She jerked her head away and shuddered at the bad taste before swiping her fingers into the blood that was running down her arm. It took several minutes and one more bite to her arm to get enough blood to scrawl her message and when she stepped back she hoped like hell that no one would notice what she had done. She yanked down her sleeve down and pressed her arm against her knee and thigh to apply pressure and stem the bleeding.
Just moments later the door flung open letting in a thin shaft of light. Judith scrambled to cover her message on the wall with her body while simultaneously picking Luna up, startling her awake, and setting her on her feet.
"Come on you two, chopper's leaving, let's go!" was the rough order. Judith pushed Luna forward and they were immediately hemmed in by four more soldiers and the door shut with a heavy metallic clang. Judith breathed a heavy sigh of relief as they were marched away and no one had seen the message on the wall. Her arm was stinging from the self-inflicted wounds but it was well worth it. At least now her family had a chance to find them. The smallest, most long shot stab in the dark chance, but it was a chance.
They were led back outside into the cold dark night, Luna staggering along with her hands behind her back, stumbling almost blindly into Judith, and as they came into a wash of moonlight, Judith caught a glimpse of her bloodied face and bruised arms. So she had been beaten. It made a sharp stab of pain and anger go through it and she bared her teeth at the soldiers who were marching them to the far side of the compound that had been built outside the mountain itself towards a large black helicopter whose blades were already spinning. Upon seeing the machine Luna balked, panic washing over her face, but Judith's hand fell on her shoulder and steered her forward. She didn't know what was going to happen but they couldn't fight it anymore, not without risking serious injury. Luna pulled a face of disgust and fear but weakly clambered up into the belly of the machine, Judith right behind her. Almost immediately they were both strapped down to manacles fixed to the floor, their backs leaning against the wall of the machine. Across from them on one of the seats was Milton, his clipboard in hand and his nose freshly bandaged. Judith smirked noting the obvious discomfort in his face.
"Why'd you do this? You could have been well treated if you would have just trusted me," Milton said with a disappointed sigh.
Judith bared her teeth. "I'm only going to say this once. Fuck you Milton. You think that was bad?" She nodded to his broken nose. "There's a whole lot more where that came from."
Milton shivered and Luna noted the expression on Judith's face and felt her body pulse with molten heat made of anger. That fire lent her strength enough to pick her head up and fight through the pain and discomfort, flicking her tongue behind her teeth until she found her words.
"We could have killed you. Next time we won't hesitate."
The chopper began to vibrate even stronger as it began to lift up and off the ground. Milton squirmed across from them nervously and Luna leaned up against Judith, not trusting the shaking metal device nor the lurching in her stomach as they became airborne. She closed her eyes as she leaned her head against Judith's thin shoulder and tried not to imagine what might happen to them when they touched back down.
Once the group made it down the mountain and onto the highway Daryl couldn't wait any longer. He opened up the throttle on the bike and gunned the engine hard. Not only did the speed and power of the machine feel good underneath him but also he refused to drag this insanity out any longer. All he wanted from the second he'd fired up the engine on the bike was to have Luna back safe in his arms and until he had that, there was nothing in heaven, earth, or hell that was going to slow him down. Fox clutched his waist tightly as he kicked the speed up even higher, the wind whipping at them ferociously even as the convoy of other vehicles followed behind.
The night was dark as sin and the stars seemed further away than usual. The moonlight coming from the crescent shaped slice of the celestial body above their heads was thin but it was plenty enough to remind him of the gravity of their situation. He still remembered the conversation he had with Fox when he'd asked her about names for their then unborn child, and the moonlight now was only a painful reminder of what he had lost. He wondered dimly if at any point his parents had ever worried about him the way he worried for Luna. He knew damn well his father never had, but maybe his mother had. True she had been a drunk and neglectful of both her sons, but at least with her Daryl had a safe place to run when things got bad, at least for a little while. He'd never been afraid his mother would strike him, and after a while he got used to her not waking up whenever he would crawl into bed with her and try so hard to block out the raging confrontations between Merle and his father in the living room. It was after she had died that he had started running away from the house, leaving for hours at a time, trying to avoid all the things he wasn't strong enough to stop. He'd realized eventually of course that he wasn't fast enough to outrun all the things that were out there, and it wasn't long before he'd stopped trying. Merle had pushed against his metaphysical shoulder and forced him to buck up. His big brother had put his back against the wall and taught him that he'd better have his fists up and ready to swing or else the other bastard in his way was going to give him a shiner and a busted lip. Daryl had always been content to lean with his back against the wall, not minding there was no retreat because he'd never been a coward, but it was after the world had ended that the brick wall had come tumbling down. Then he'd been so exposed it was like a nerve brought up to the surface of the skin and being burned repeatedly. It wasn't until the group and Fox had come along that he'd learned to trust the eyes that weren't just watching him with suspicion, but were actually watching out for him. He hoped like hell that Luna and Judith were at least together. As long as they were together, they could protect each other. Judith could warn Luna of danger she couldn't hear, as well as hopefully rein in her explosive, dangerously volatile temper, and Luna could warn Judith of threats she couldn't see, of varying degrees. Despite not being Rick's biological daughter, Judith had many of his tendencies, including the inclination to wait and see, leaving herself vulnerable to more ruthless predators. Luna much preferred to shoot first and ask questions later, and wouldn't hesitate to eliminate an incoming threat without checking to see how dangerous it really was first in order to protect her sister.
When they reached the little town where the attack had happened, everyone killed the speed on their vehicles and eventually found a clear lot to stash them about four blocks away from the place where Carl had crashed. As soon as they killed power to the engines of their vehicles everyone huddled together at the edge of the lot, various weapons drawn, breath sucked in tight through their teeth.
"We need a low profile, avoid the Walkers if you can. We approach slowly where Carl crashed, and then the place where the girls were actually taken. There are bodies there, we have to assume Walkers have picked up the scent. If its overrun, we retreat, straight back to the vehicles." Rick's voice was low and serious, his eyes flashing in the darkness. As they moved out of the lot, all of them keeping in a loose formation, Daryl couldn't help but feel an old sense of nostalgia creeping back through his veins. He'd be a liar if he said that domestic life up in the mountains had grown monotonous from time to time, that he missed the thrill of battle and the satisfying burn of a dangerous job well done. He took a glance over at Fox and saw that she had one of her kukri knives out already, and she was moving with the same barely restrained energy that she'd always had whenever they were about to do something dangerous. He remembered the first time he'd seen her fight, so many years ago in the quarry when the camp had been invaded by Walkers, how impressed and bewildered he'd been with her recklessness, and even more of that feeling had gone through him when he'd gone with her and Glenn into Atlanta for supplies. He had no doubt that what had driven her then would only be ten fold now. Now she had a mission, a firebrand of a goal that would drive her until she dropped dead, and Daryl knew that she would risk everything, and likely everyone, to ensure that the girls were brought home safely.
Rick took the lead, Carl at his side, everyone else flanking in a loose circle. They crossed the pitch dark streets, watching very carefully for Walkers or anything else moving, and Daryl sorely wished that he had Luna's keen eyesight. His heart was pounding beneath his ribs as he stuck tight to the group, one hand on his buck knife, the other gripping his bow, an arrow already strung back, ready to be fired. The concrete was a wash of silver and black, the air tinged with the faintest scent of death and char. The leaves of the trees that dotted the trees at the edges of the sidewalks hissed softly in the cool wind that blew through the streets as pieces of trash and dead leaves skittered across their path. The buildings that flanked the cracked roads were chipped and crumbling, most of them with busted windows and damaged doors, only a few that were boarded up. Shadows dripped over the brick, moving with sinister slowness that began to drive Daryl mad, reminding him of the shadows that had slipped like spilled oil over his bedroom walls as a child, disturbing him with their evil looking shapes until he finally shut his eyes so his imagination could no longer play tricks on him. He shoved his focus back to the present; something twitched in the corner of Daryl's vision and immediately he whipped his bow in that direction, his heart now in his throat, expecting some kind of attack, be it from Walkers or the people who had taken Luna and Judith he didn't know. Or care.
His eyes strained to see in the darkness where the motion had come from. He kept his eyes trained on the shadowed doorway of the building, believing that was where the motion had originated. When nothing came towards them and the twitching motion died, Fox tapped his wrist and tilted her head, beckoning him to follow. He did so, but he couldn't lose the horrible feeling in the back of his neck that he was being watched.
Carl led them to the site where the smoldering remains of the Jeep were resting, smashed to bits against a now very mangled electric pole. Everyone held their breath as they approached, especially when they saw a small group of Walkers encircling the car, tottering around on shaky legs, some of them clawing at the broken glass and metal as if trying to get in.
"I can't believe this…" Benjamin whispered softly from where they were crouched behind the corner of a set of buildings.
"Believe what?" Rick hissed.
"They're learning," was the medic's quiet reply.
"How do you figure that?" Glenn asked with a very confused expression that Daryl whole-heartedly agreed with. Walkers didn't learn. They were incapable of anything except tearing things apart to find food.
"It's like they know that damaged cars that are warm might have food inside. They're only attracted to the warm car. They don't mess with cold cars, but the Jeep is still smoking from the crash, but it's been long enough that they would have wandered away usually. It's like they know there just might be food inside…" Benjamin trailed off, still staring at the sight of the Walkers mouthing and pulling clumsily at the doors and busted windows of the Jeep.
"Doesn't matter. Stick close to the wall, this place is abandoned but up the road might not be. If there's any survivors, they might be able to help us." Rick's voice was gritty as if somewhere between disgust and anger. Fox nodded after him and stuck close to his side as they all slunk around the corner and quietly slipped past the geeks, although Daryl noted that they were beginning to be followed by the slow, ambling corpses. It wasn't a big deal as long as they kept at a fast pace, and none of them had any desire to slow down.
Carl took the lead and now and guided them back down several streets until they reached the gas station where the initial fight had taken place. There were even more biters here, almost all of them crowded around several bodies that were on the ground and being ripped to pieces by the ravenous monsters. The smell of blood and death was prominent in the air.
"Move in and kill the biters. The bodies may be able to tell us something," Rick ordered.
They all surged forward at once, taking the Walkers by surprise. By the time they had looked up from their meal, Daryl shot one clean through the skull with his crossbow and had whipped his buck knife out and stabbed another right through the eye. Fox split a skull with her kukri knife with ease while Glenn and Maggie dispatched two more. Even Benjamin had a hand in slaying one, picking it off with a sharp swing of a metal bat. Carl and Rick destroyed the remainders easily with knives of their own, dropping the last of the corpses with dull, splattered thuds.
Rick crouched down and began to rifle through the corpse that the biters had been feeding on, going through the pockets and picking over the uniform, looking for something of an identifying nature but finding nothing. He did take the man's gun and spare clips and his knife and stowed them in his belt but found nothing of use as far as locating Luna or Judith. He kicked the body in frustration and began to pace restlessly, even as the first group of biters made their way up the street, relentlessly pursuing the live prey.
"Rick!" Benjamin suddenly cried out in terror. One of the bodies that they hadn't searched had unexpectedly seized and its hand had wrapped around Rick's ankle and begun to drag the man towards its jaw of ravenous, deadly teeth. Rick overbalanced and tumbled to the ground, not having expected the jab. Benjamin snatched at his shoulder and began to haul him away while Glenn swept forward and hacked the creature's arm off, severing it at the elbow while Daryl curb stomped the monster's face, effectively breaking its jaw before unsheathing his knife and stabbing it through the skull, stilling its movements. The hand of the severed arm however was still clenching Rick's ankle in a bruising death grip and now Fox reached in and gripped the wrist and used her knife to force the fingers to let go to avoid any chance of being scratched before yanking the arm off and flinging it towards the geeks who were still advancing on them. They were immediately drawn to the source of food and followed the limb where it landed several yards away and began to fight over it in a mad scramble to get at the flesh.
"Come on, we have to go," Maggie urged, helping Benjamin haul a still shaky Rick to his feet.
"She's right, now, while they're distracted!" Rick hissed. They all followed the sheriff and began to complete the square to head for the vehicles, still keeping their eyes peeled for any sign of life besides that of the undead but saw nothing. Nothing until they came around the back side of that building that had gotten Daryl's attention earlier and this time saw a definitive motion of movement inside one of the buildings through a pane of glass.
"Guns," Rick whispered.
Daryl slid his bow behind his back and unsheathed his pistol, double-checking that there was a bullet in the chamber before advancing with the rest of the group. Fox had her nine-millimeter tucked into her belt but she had yet to draw it. Even now, almost twenty years later, she was still reluctant to use a gun, and would only draw one as a last resort. The rest of them however had no qualms about firearms and were glad to have theirs in their hands.
They approached the building, moving at a fast lope until they rounded on the structure and its broken open windows and found a man inside curled in on his side as he huddled near the wall, his legs kicking weakly as he fought for breath. Rick jerked his head and Benjamin darted forward and rolled the feebly struggling man to his back and Daryl pulled out his pack of matches from his pocket and struck one, giving them brief light to see.
The man's face was a mess of blood and lacerations, and from the burst of firelight they could see what was causing his physical distress; a gunshot straight in the chest, the blast large but almost scattered looking, having ripped away pieces of flesh and obviously severely damaged the internal chest cavity, making it almost impossible for him to breathe, but oddly it didn't look as bad as it might have been, like something had been between him and the direct blast.
"What happened?" Benjamin asked the man as he tipped him back to his side so when he hacked up a mouthful of blood it was easier for him to spit onto the floor so he could breathe.
"Bitch with a shotgun shot me…less than five feet away…went right through my vest…" the words were groans, barely intelligible but Carl's eyes flashed.
"You! You were there!" Carl's voice was murderous. "Where did they go? Where did they take those kids!"
The man spat at Carl's feet and shook Benjamin's hands off his shoulders. "What does it matter? I'm dead anyway, you can't do anything…" he coughed.
Rick's eyes burned but it was Fox who beat him to the threats. Fox muscled Benjamin out of the way and grabbed the man by the neck and physically hauled him into a sitting position, making him cry out in ferocious pain as she shoved him against the windowpane of the building.
"We can leave you to the biters! You'll be ripped to pieces, eaten alive!" she snarled in his face. "Or we can put a bullet through your brain and keep you from coming back. You choose!"
"Fuck you," the man growled weakly, blood dribbling from his mouth as he began to cough violently.
Rick looked at Daryl and nodded once. Daryl understood the man's look without needing any explanation. He dropped the now burnt out match before motioning for Glenn to follow him and the two left the building and didn't take long to find what they were looking for. One of the geeks who had most of his legs in tact had followed the live prey scent up the street and now Daryl and Glenn approached the growling corpse.
"Get the arms. I got the head," Daryl muttered. Glenn pulled a disgusted face but nodded and darted in quickly, snagging the biter's wrists and yanking the arms behind its back while Daryl fisted his hand into its brittle hair and began to lead the creature back towards the building at arm's length, forcing it to follow. The rest of the group skittered back like frightened birds as they came back inside except for Fox and Rick who now hauled the man all the way to his feet and forced him to stand while Daryl and Glenn shoved the biter towards the wounded soldier.
"How about now?" Rick snarled as the geek's teeth clicked furiously as dead eyes bugged out of its skull as it strained to get at the bleeding man, the skin beginning to tear and black blood starting to drip over Glenn's hands as the creature's arms rebelled at being restrained.
The man squirmed violently but Fox smashed his head against the window pane so hard that the glass spider-webbed but didn't quite shatter. He coughed and sputtered, blood bubbling through his lips, the last bit of color, and resistance, draining from his skin as Daryl and Glenn brought the biter's mouth very close to his face.
"Alright, alright, please! Get that thing away from me!" the man squealed.
"Where did they take the kids?" Rick demanded again. "The two girls from today, where did your group take them!"
"Colorado! Back to the base in the Rocky Mountains!" He struggled to draw his breath. "It's not my fault, it's Jenner! It's all Jenner's fault, I didn't want to hurt those kids, they're still alive, I promise, they'll be ok, it's not like you think, please, don't do this…don't let them eat me!" He was sobbing through his retching coughs and Fox let go of his throat and Rick released his shoulder. He slithered to the ground and Daryl and Glenn hauled the biter a few feet further back but didn't let go.
"Rick, they're coming," Maggie warned from where she was keeping watch next to the door.
The sheriff nodded to her and then looked back at the man at his feet. "What the hell do they want with our kids?" he demanded.
The soldier looked up at him with glazed eyes. "I don't know. I swear I don't, they just tell us to get them if they're teenagers or younger! I don't know why…the doctor needs them for some reason…it's not my fault, please!" The man began to panic as they all heard the sounds of the incoming horde approaching the building.
"I believe you," Rick said looking down at the man. He reached his hand forward and took Carl's gun due to its silencer and pressed it to the man's temple. The man's eyes were wide open and gleaming with terror when Rick squeezed the trigger and the muted shot pinged softly through the building and the man slumped to the side, blood smearing against the glass as he lay motionless.
"Let's go," he growled.
They all darted out the door after killing the biter they'd used as a threat, running quickly for the vehicles, easily outpacing the herd that was forming, especially since many of them were distracted by the fresh kill. Daryl felt the difference in the way Fox was gripping him as they wheeled the convoy back out of town and towards the highway. He could practically feel her rage, and her fear, and all the horror that they thought they had left behind came roaring to meet them both as they chased their nightmare deep into the night.