Author's Note: Thank you for the review, I'm glad you like it so far. This is more of a filler chapter, no action, and basic character relationship building. Next chapter should be up later today :) Please let me know what you think.
Chapter Two
Madisyn eyed the woman with the sword more than the guy with the crossbow, she just looked so dangerous standing there. Both facial expressions were almost hostile, they weren't as welcoming as she'd fantasized them being. The other three guys jogged over to where they were standing, but they made no move to take them to the main building. They were all staring at them in an incredulous way and she wasn't sure what to make of it. The guy in front of them was wearing an old police uniform and she wanted to feel the relief that sight should have brought, but there hadn't been police for some time…he might have just taken it. She gripped her brother's arm and she felt him tense up next to her…he was so scared and so afraid to let them see it. It was a sad truth that they were more afraid of the humans standing in front of them than of the horde of walkers surrounding the area. Madisyn gripped the deadly weapon in her hand tighter and took a step back, pulling her brother with her. The man smiled slightly, but it was a friendly gesture, as if he'd just realized they were being scary. His smile was so unlike the Governors crazy one, this man seemed solid. He lowered the blade he was carrying and stuck it into his belt. He handed the young Asian guy his rifle and then held both of his hands up in a surrender position.
"My name is Rick, I was the one doing most of the talking through the fence…Glenn here is the other one who spoke to you. Michonne has the sword, Daryl the crossbow, and the big guy here is Tyrese. I promise that we're not going to hurt you, but I can't bring you inside with that chopper you've got in your hand. You'll get it back when you decide to leave or once you've been here for a while…basically once we know that you're not a threat. If you'll just hand Michonne the blade nice and easy, we'll take you in where it's warm and you can get something to eat." The gentleness in his voice was so unexpected, it caused a small sob to escape from her before she could stop it. Her brother was instantly on alert, but he pleaded with her in earnest.
"Let's just check it out, Maddy, we can leave in the morning if you want, but you haven't eaten or slept in days. Plus…I don't want them to find us and you know we're no good at covering our tracks." She knew that he was right, those guys could be watching them right then and they'd never even see it coming. She looked over at the only woman in the group and realized they'd all put their weapons away. She reluctantly held her blade out to the other woman and allowed her to take the handle of it. Michonne took it carefully and held it quickly away from them…that was when she realized why they were being so kind. They thought they were dealing with two teens, they didn't know that she was an adult. They were starting to walk back towards the building when crossbow guy filled the silence.
"Are you two in some sort of trouble? I don't mean the walker kind, that's everyone's trouble, but you said that you didn't want them to find you…who are you running from?' Madisyn shared a glance with Petey, she wasn't sure she wanted to tell them that they'd been looking for them just yet. She stumbled slightly on the terrain and Rick touched her shoulders to steady her, but immediately dropped his hands without lingering like the others. She pursed her lips, there was no sense in lying to them, they'd saved their lives.
"We'd been surviving okay on our family farm when these three guys showed up pretending to be friendly. They begged for our help, said they'd run out of food the day before. My parents were good Christian folks so they helped, they didn't even think twice about it. The minute my pop opened the gate for them, they shot him twice and killed him instantly. They proceeded to gun down every male on the farm, our friends and neighbors…we'd been helping each other out. They found my brother and me, hiding, and they decided to let us live since we were defenseless kids. They've been with us for over a month and they…they killed our mom three days ago. They'd locked us up, but we took off in the middle of the night. I had to kill one of his cronies to get away, a fourth guy that just showed up out of nowhere and he'd been keeping watch. We've been wandering the woods ever since trying to dodge those assholes." Madisyn couldn't help it, she stopped in her tracks, unable to prevent the tears from falling. Her brother's arms wrapped around her as he cried with her. There had been no time to mourn the passing of their family or friends, only time to try and stay alive. Petey peeked his head up to look at them, his body shaking from his grief.
"Please…just don't hurt us."
Rick had never been so mad in his entire life. That wasn't exactly true, so much bad shit had happened over the last year that it was a never ending haze of mad. Looking at the two siblings, clinging to each other because they were both mourning and afraid that they were being led to a trap…his heart broke. From the looks of his friends, they were just as effected by these two as he was. Daryl walked into the gate they'd left open and disappeared inside the door that led to their cell block. A silent tear was rolling down Michonne's cheek and she quickly followed Daryl's exit, unable to witness anymore. Listening to the extremely thin girl describe what happened to her was absolutely awful. They'd survived the walkers with their whole family intact and some asshole comes along and ruins it. He had a sinking feeling that he knew exactly who was behind it, but he didn't have the heart to bring it up just then. Tyrese gave him a nod and left as well, leaving him alone with Glenn and the kids. When the boy raised his head, looked him in the eye, and pleaded not to hurt them, it was almost his undoing. Maggie, Beth, and Carol came around the corner and out onto the yard next to him. They stopped short because they didn't want to startle them. Beth took the initiative first and placed her small, gentle hands on the girl's back before speaking softly to them both.
"Hi there you two, I'm Beth. Why don't you come inside with me so that we can get you something hot to eat? My sister Maggie will find a room for you so that you can sleep too." Rick watched as they fell under the spell that was Beth. She was so good a calming people down, she probably would have been in some sort of health care if the world hadn't died. They pulled away from each other and followed the three women into the building without saying anything else.
The welcoming couldn't have gone any better for those two. Michonne, Daryl, and Tyrese had warned everyone what kind of shape the two newcomers were in and they were welcomed warmly into the growing group. His eyes found his friends mingling with the residents of Woodbury. If only Andrea had made it to see this, it was her dream for the two places to coexist peacefully. Maggie was sporting a small baby bump, she was now five months pregnant with her and Glenn's first child. Things would be different this time because Hershel had more than just Carol to help him out. Rheda, a woman from Woodbury, was an experienced nurse and they'd found more medicine on their last run. Beth was watching over Judith and the other small children playing. Carl was talking animatedly with his new friend, Patrick, it warmed Rick's heart to see his son bonding with someone close to his own age. Hershel was examining Petey to make sure he wasn't infected and to determine what kind of shape he was in. Rheda was looking slightly sour because Carol was examining Madisyn instead of her. He'd wanted someone he trusted taking care of these two. Hershel came out of the cell block, smiling at Petey, but when the boy walked up to Carl and Patrick tentatively, the older man's face grew grim. Dread filled his stomach as he approached his friend, Daryl hot on his heels. Hershel nodded at the two of them and Rick asked for some answers.
"Well he obviously isn't bitten, so what is the face for?" He was impatient for the cause of Hershel's unease. Hershel motioned for them to follow him inside of his room, and only then did he speak.
"The boy is fourteen and it's a wonder that he isn't bedridden. He's malnourished to a desperate point, I could count his ribs and see his pelvis bone. Whoever held them wasn't feeding them, but making them do manual labor in the yard. Sure, they gave them crumbs of food, but not enough to sustain a growing boy. No, he wasn't bitten by the walkers, but he was beaten. When I asked him about that or how they seemed to have found us, he clammed up real quick." Rick was very angry as he peeked around the corner to watch the boy interact with his son. They were pretty close in age, Carl only twelve, but how could a person treat a child like that? He stepped to the side so that Carol could walk into the small space of the cell, her face just as pensive as Hershel's.
"I heard what you were saying and she is worse off than the boy. Her pelvis and ribs are protruding almost and she has so many sores, scars, and scabs on her body that I can't even guess what they were doing. My guess is that whatever food they were given, she'd give half of hers to her brother to ensure he got enough." Hershel put his head in his hands, it had been a while since they'd seen something this bad. He groaned to the room without lifting his head.
"They're both so young, what kind of person or monster does it take to do that to children?" They were all startled when a timid, hoarse voice came from the entrance. Madisyn looked at each face before Daryl and Rick parted ways to admit her inside the now cramped space. It was obvious that she was nervous so Rick gave her a smile to try and comfort her.
"Good to see you again, Madisyn, did you get something to eat?" She bit her lip and shook her head, trying to get control of her emotions. They were all more than a little shocked at her announcement.
"I haven't made my way over there, but thank you for your kindness…I honestly didn't expect it. I want to answer your questions…well some of them anyway. Petey clammed up because I told him not to say anything. You have all drawn the same conclusion that those guys did, but it's not true. I had to make them think I was sixteen so that they'd leave me alone…what they did to the other women…I can't even describe the horror. You guys are different from them though so I feel okay in telling you the truth. I'm not a sixteen year old girl like you think, I'm actually twenty-six."