Walking Dead: Building Your Own Hope

Chapter 4 of my Walking Dead story, enjoy.

Reviews:

Boris Yeltsin: Thanks, yeah, it's hard on both of them in fact.
Parent12D: Thanks, yeah, it's a tricky time, but luckily for most, things are looking up, as we'll see here ;)
Wolfgirl2013: Thanks :)

Now onto the story.

Disclaimer: I don't own Walking Dead or its characters.

Season 1: Episode 4

Sophia smiled lightly as she finished tying back her hair in a low ponytail. After some prodding from their families and reassurances that it would be best to try and continue as normally as possible, she was going on her first proper date with Mikey. It was a bit of an unusual first date to say the least, but it suited them just fine. With a final check of her outfit, a pair of dark skinny jeans, a grey T-shirt under a navy blue unzipped hoodie and simple sneakers, it was good enough for their date to the local science museum.

'This will work out good.' She told herself. 'We need this, to avoid going mad over what happened to Lizzie, but this doesn't mean we've stopped, if anything comes up and we can help the police, then that's what we'll do.'

It was then she heard the knock at the apartment door and grinned. She quickly picked up her phone, keys and wallet, sliding them into her pockets and headed out of her room just as her mother, who had answered the door, called for her.

"Right here mom." She laughed.

Carol smiled at her daughter and stepped back allowing her to finally see Mikey. He too was dressed fairly casual but still the jeans, T-shirt and such were clean and fresh.

"Hey there." He greeted her with a grin. "Wow, you look great."

Sophia smiled, face heating up. "So do you. So, you ready?"

"You bet."

Carol smiled as the teens linked hands and headed off.

"Remember to be back before it gets dark, what with...everything."

They didn't argue, they full well, Mikey most of all, just what she meant.

XXXXX

Like Sophia, Enid was smiling as she finished getting ready for her respective date with Alden, tying back her hair in a tight bun which would be better suited for their plans. Likewise some prodding from their families and reassurances that it would be best to try and continue as normally as possible, convinced the couple to go on this date. It was a different kind of first date to say the least, more so than Mikey and Sophia's. Like Sophia she checked over her outfit, a pair of ripped jeans, a black long-sleeve T-shirt and well-worn but much loved sneakers.

"Hey mom." She called out. "Have you seen my helmet and board?"

Maggie entered the room with a wry smirk, holding said skateboard with said helmet on top of it.

She handed them over and remarked. "The moment I heard you planning this date I fished them out. You really need to try and keep your things tidy Enid, you'll find them easier."

Enid just rolled her eyes good-naturedly and readied herself for her and Alden's date at the skate park.

It was then she heard the knock at the apartment door and grinned. She quickly picked up her phone, keys and wallet, sliding them into her pockets and headed out to the door and answered it.

Maggie watched her adopted daughter go, smiling, relieved that she was finally with someone who cared about her and stepped out to see Enid at the door, talking to Alden. He too was dressed in typical skater clothes and had his own board and helmet.

"Hey there." He greeted her with a grin. "You ready for this."

Enid smiled, face heating up. "You bet I am, let's get too it."

Maggie walked over to the door as the teens linked hands and headed off.

"No unnecessary stunts you two and remember the warning the police gave everyone."

They dramatically groaned at the first part but knew full well the importance of the second and took it to heart.

XXXXX

Reaching the front door to Sophia's apartment the happy young couple stopped for a moment, holding each other.

"I had a wonderful time." Mikey said softly, his hands on her waist. "Thank you, Sophia."

She had her hands on his shoulders and smiled softly. "Of course, with everything being so dark and terrifying...we needed a moment of light. This was more than wonderful for me and it's all thanks to you."

That widened Mikey's smile and then, after a pause, they closed the gap and kissed, the rest of the world melting away for them as they lost themselves in each other. That was until they needed to breathe and so parted, they didn't say anything, they didn't need words and so, with reluctance, they parted and Sophia headed inside while Mikey headed for home. The kiss etched into their memory and bringing them great joy in the midst of so much sorrow.

XXXXX

Reaching the front door to her house, Enid held her board in one hand and her helmet in the other. The happy young couple stopped for a moment, facing each other, Alden also had his board and helmet in his hands.

"Well that was fun, remind me to never underestimate your board skills again." Alden said with a soft laugh.

"Hey, you were pretty damn good yourself." Enid said, her expression softened. "Thank you Alden, for giving me this chance."

He smiled softly at her and then, with a reassuring nod, he kissed her forehead, sending a pleasant shiver down her spine, before heading for home. This moment, as well as the kiss shared at the park itself gave them real hope, despite everything terrible that had happened.

XXXXX

Rick continued to look over the evidence along with Michonne and a grudging Shane. The chief had reprimanded Shane for his behaviour and even point blank demanded Shane explain why his personal pride and some turf war was more important than getting justice for the Samuels family. That was enough to shame him into finally working with Rick and Michonne, but he still made it clear he wasn't happy about it.

Finally Rick straightened up. "Okay, summarising what we have so far."

"Four victims, one dead." Shane explained. "All kidnapped with the same means and method, all missing anywhere between three days to a week, all dumped in the same spot in the woods. If we'd noticed that after the first two, we could have caught him on the third."

Rick shook his head. "I don't think that would've worked, he would've changed his dumping ground. Before now we had no evidence, now we have a syringe with unknown residue, a shoe print and the duct tape used to restrain Lizzie."

"I'd say it's a safe bet the syringe, or multiple syringes with the same content, were used to subdue the victim...likely they were all restrained with tape too. Then there was that folder with Lizzie's name on it." Shane summed up.

"We have nothing from the folder, it was empty, probably just a red herring." Rick said with a shrug. "Forensics is looking over the residue in the syringe. All we've really got definitively is the shoe was a man's leather shoe, size eleven and a half. Can't argue your theory about the tape, it seems likely, the question is, what does he gain from all this and why only kill Lizzie."

They both lapsed into silence after that.

Michonne, who had been working on a tablet while they talked then looked up.

"I don't think he intended for Lizzie Samuels to die, he isn't trying to kill people."

"So her death was an accident, that's what your saying?" Shane queried. "What are you up to anyway."

Michonne passed the tablet over. "I was using the past case notes and the discussion you two were having to develop this. A likely psychological profile of our perpetrator."

This caught their attention and they both read it as Michonne narrated.

"We're dealing with a Male. Aged between 30 and 45, as you said shoe size is eleven and a half, so while not definative we can estimate his height is between five foot ten and six foot two and he's likely of average weight. She paused before continuing."He likely has no personal animosity towards victims. He is methodical, stalks his victims for weeks to learn their habits and routines but he is adaptable, able to change patterns to get around police searches. That's how he was able to grab someone while you were all actively searching for him."

Shane shook his head. "This is crazy, you getting all this...yet I gotta admit I can't quite argue with you."

"There's more." Rick noted.

So they resumed reading.

As they did so, Michonne resumed narrating.

"Geographic profiling suggests our man is certainly living right here in the town. He had no intentions of killing, so he will be rattled by it. This however means that chances of repeat incident are currently very low."

They paused after hearing all this.

"So...he might not strike again?" Rick wondered.

Michonne shrugged. "If he does it will be quite some time and it might not even be in this town anymore...double-edged sword really."

"Yeah." Shane sighed. "Very low chance of another victim, but now we're stuck with only the evidence we've currently got to take him down, if we can even find him."

They all were quiet again, pondering that grim reality.

End of chapter, hope you enjoyed it, read and review please.

Didn't bother actually doing the date scenes as for some reason I find them harder than the preparation and post date parts. Plus there was already enough going on in this chapter.