Author's Note: Apologies for the huge delay, life got in the way!


Chapter Twelve

Foundling

She was just a little girl, with short brown hair that rested just under her ears, and was pale, almost sickly. The expression on her face was one that would remain with Anna until she took her last breath. The girl was terrified and shaking with fear, like a small puppy terrified of the big world outside. She felt a tug at her own heart, and saw the resemblance between the little girl and herself when she was at that age. A haunting image of a lost little girl, but unlike the memory of her being lost, Sophia had been found.

The scene that had unfolded in front of them had terrified her: a young girl surrounded by the dead, and hungrily grasping at her. As Merle and herself had fought against the dead, talking both sides in order to protect the little girl, Anna had believed that they were too late. The girl had to have been bitten, but she was smart. She remained quiet, despite emotion and fear coursing through her young body.

"Sophia?" Merle had said, causing Anna to glance at him with a furrowed brow. "That you?"

Merle looked as if he had seen a ghost, and she quickly assumed that he must have known her. How, was the question on her lips. Was she a member of Woodbury? She remained silent however, watching as the girl shivered with uncontrollable shock and fear. The little girl - Sophia - kept her eyes closed.

"Do you know her?" Anna whispered to Merle. He tore his eyes away from the little girl and nodded. He was afraid that if he looked back in the direction of Sophia that he would find that she was a figment of his imagination, that the scream he had heard was just a whisper in the wind.

Anna glanced back at Sophia, and approached her slowly. She didn't want to startle her. That was the last thing she wanted to do. She knelt down in front of the girl so that she was at the same level of height.

"Hey... Sophia?" Anna whispered, to which the little girl slowly nodded. "That's a pretty name. I wish I had a name like that."

Sophia never made a sound, and despite the small nod that the girl had made, Merle feared he was still imagining it all. Anna glanced back at him and shrugged, seeing the fear in his eyes.

"It's alright," Anna continued. "You're safe now, Sophia."

She reached for the little girl, and gently wrapped her hand around Sophia's wrist. Sophia was trapped in fear, and the only way to bring her out of the abyss of irrational fear was to bring her back manually. The stroking of her wrist was something that Anna would do when her own fears got the better of her, it was soothing and comforting. It was at that moment in which Sophia opened her eyes, and green whirlpools met her own blue ones.

"Hey..." Anna whispered gently.

"Hi..." Sophia replied, her voice small and quivering with anxiety.

"You had us scared for the second time there," Anna smirked, and a hint of a smile formed on Sophia's face.

Sophia glanced at the man standing awkwardly behind Anna and her eyes grew wide. She hadn't seen him in months, when he had travelled into the city of Atlanta with other group members. He never came back, and was never spoken about again. She could see the pain in Daryl's eyes whenever he mentioned his brothers name, but he held it together. She was good at reading people, just like her mother.

"Merle?" Sophia asked, to which Merle nodded with a small smirk.

Sophia smiled with tears in her eyes as her eyes skimmed across his face. It was the only familiar face she knew, and for that, she was grateful. She wanted to run up to him and throw her arms around him, but she knew what Merle could be like. She was always told to stay away from him as he was deemed irresponsible and rude.

"It's been a long time, ain't it, sweetheart?" Merle said. Sophia nodded. "Why ya in the woods? Where's ya mom?"

"She's at the prison," Sophia sobbed. "I should never have followed after him."

Merle furrowed his brow. The prison had been the one that had been brought up in the conversation he and Phillip had spoken about. It wasn't that far from Woodbury, and from the look of it, it seemed empty. Was this the same one Sophia spoke about? Merle frowned.

"What prison?"

Anna was the one who spoke, and he found that he had lost his voice. Was his brother at the prison? Was Daryl alive? She stepped forward, hobbling slightly as he remembered that she had injured her leg tackling a Biter that was closing in on Sophia from behind. She was covered in blood, and didn't seem fazed by it.

Sophia pointed towards the endless abyss of woodland. Anna followed her pointing finger and sighed. Merle bit his lip and ran a hand through his short hair. He needed to get back to Woodbury, and the sky was darkening. Anna glanced at him and nodded, as if she knew what he was thinking. He didn't want to leave, but he had no choice. The Governor would be sending his men out to search for him.

"Sophia," Merle said softly, bending down to her height. "I'm gonna leave ya in the safe hands of Anna, okay? She's real nice and will keep ya safe. She's gonna take ya back to the prison, and I need ya to go with her, okay?"

"Aren't you coming?" Sophia whispered. Merle shook his head.

"I'm gonna be right behind ya, okay?" said Merle, offering a reassuring smile. "I need ya to do a few things then I'll be with ya, yeah?"

Sophia nodded and slipped her hand into Anna's, who gently jumped at the feeling. Merle smiled but never ushered a word. He could see from the way Anna's body tensed up that she was uncomfortable around children, just like he was.

"Tell me one thing, Sophia," Merle began, to which she nodded. "Is my brother alive?"

There was a moment before Sophia grinned and nodded. "Yeah, he's at the prison."

Merle gave a wobbly smile and his eyes became glassy. He stood up, ruffling her hair. "Thank you..."

He turned to Anna and handed her his rifle. "Ya gonna need this. I saw him take ya ammunition. Don't shoot-"

"Unless I need to. Got it."

"The prison ain't far from here. Thirty minutes or so. Keep going left, until ya come to a ditch of water and a small bridge. You protect her with ya life, got that?"

Anna gave a stern nod. Merle gave one last nod towards Anna, and a wink in Sophia's direction, before turning around and disappearing through the thick branches. Once he was gone, Anna felt a flutter of fear in her heart. She wasn't used to being around children. Even though she was a young child many years ago, it had been just her. She was an only child. That was all she needed, the one person she trusted was herself.

They walked, in silence, for ten minutes. The fading sunlight was something Anna was beginning to feel uncomfortable with. She was fine with it, as she was used to it, but the girl... Sophia, was not. She could feel the little girl shaking as the sounds of things unknown within the woods crept out into the darkness.

Anna was on guard, with the rifle that Merle had given to her in her hand and aimed at the darkness. She glanced down at the girl. "So... Why are you out here in the woods?"

"I can't remember," mumbled Sophia, giving a little yelp as a crow cawed in the distance.

"We'll get you back," Anna replied. "I prom-"

The click of a handgun behind them brought Anna to a halt. She felt the little girl cling to her and she raised the rifle into the air. Anna tried to keep her breathing under control, but there was always that tiny shiver that ran down her back at the thought of being taken out and shot without seeing the face of the person pulling the trigger.

With Sophia held close to her body with her eyes closed, she turned around slowly whilst holding her breath. But what she didn't expect to see was a young boy holding the gun and wearing a sheriff's hat.