Chapter 11: Familiar Face

It had been a relief to get out of that school. After they'd gotten out, they made a run for it into the woods and kept going all the way around until they stumbled upon the familiar train tracks. It had taken them all night to find them and at the crack of dawn, when the sun was just beginning to peer up out of its bed, they spotted a large sign. One pointing to a place called Terminus. And one that was telling a person called Glenn to follow the signs. Carl told her that he knew Glenn and that the person who was most likely writing the messages was his wife, Maggie.

Even if the messages gave no indication his dad would be going this way, they both thought the best thing to do was follow the tracks. If they could somehow find someone he knew, it would give them more likelihood of being able to find his dad. So for the rest of the night and most of the morning, they followed the tracks, passing several more signs leading them to this place called "Terminus."

They hadn't strayed too far from the tracks even though they hadn't had anything to eat or drink since they'd escaped the school, but when Riley spotted a small pond a few paces off the track, she knew they better stop. They had been going all day without any food or water. They needed this.

"That might be the only pond we come across for a while. Before we left the school, I grabbed an empty bottle. We can fill it for the rest of the way," Riley said, propping one foot up on the steel rail of the track and looking over at Carl.

"Good idea. And if we see any fish, we should try to catch them. I'm starving...," he murmured, starting toward the pond.

"Yeah, if we can even catch anything with a knife. Or we could try to use some clothes as a net or something." She shrugged following after him.

The area around the pond was very muddy, so she approached with caution, trying not to slip as they got to the edge. Bending down, she reached her hands into the water, cupping up as much as she could and bringing it to her dry, chapped lips. It was warm and swarming with dirt, but it still refreshed her down to her core and she continued to lap it up until she felt like she'd burst. Once she was done, she pulled the bottle from her bag and skimmed the top of the pond to get the cleanest water she could.

She was just about to circle the pond and see if there were any fish inside, but as soon as she stood, her feet slipped on the mud and she fell backwards into the slimy substance, effectively covering most of her body with it. Gasping, she pressed her hands deep into the mud in an attempt to push herself up. Her head snapped back when she heard Carl attempting to stifle his laughter.

"You think this is funny?" she asked, getting shakily to her feet.

Carl smirked mischievously. "Yeah. I do."

Pursing her lips, Riley moved forward and put her palms on his cheeks, smearing the mud all over his face. He squeezed his eyes shut and she smirked, wiping the mud until it was gone from her hands. Taking a step back, she put her hands on her hips.

"Now who's laughing? You seem pretty grimy, Grimes," she snickered.

Carl's mouth dropped open and he shook his head with a small smirk. "You did not just make that joke."

"Oh? And what are you going to do about it?" She cocked an eyebrow.

He didn't answer. Instead, he bent down, scooping up some mud. She realized what he was about to do and turned to move but the mud stuck to her boots and she couldn't get very far before he was splattering mud all over her. Setting her jaw, she too bent down to scoop up some mud, but he was already trying to get away.

"No you don't!" She lunged forward, grabbing onto his leg which effectively pulled him down into the mud, but not before taking her down as well.

Crawling forward, she slapped some more mud onto him before rolling away so he couldn't retaliate. A small laugh escaped her lips and she got to her feet, forming another ball of mud in her hands and aiming it at him. He dodged and got to his feet too, a smug smirk on his lips as he catapulted more at her. The two of them continued to throw mud at each other and for once, she felt normal.

She was just a normal teenager, having fun with...with a friend. And she didn't care that she was covered in mud and neither did he. They were just...letting go for a minute and it felt so good. The past few years had been nothing but stress and it was moments like these that reminded her why it was worth living. For these...small, fleeting moments that just dropped all the weight off her shoulders.

But moments like these were too fleeting.

"Well look what we have here."

Riley was in mid throw when her head snapped to the voice. Weapons were pointed in their faces and the leader stepped forward. A very familiar face. It was that man...Joe.

"You two were slippery. But it wasn't that hard to find you after we got a little tip. Know a guy named Jacob?" Joe raised an eyebrow, keeping his gun trained on her.

Jacob? That son of a...

He continued, "ran into the feller. Asked if he'd seen a coupla kids. Led us right to where ya were."

"What do you even want with us?" Carl growled, glaring at the man.

"All in time, kid. Daryl, take their weapons." He motioned for someone at the back of the crowd to come forward.

A man with unkempt brown hair and a crossbow over his shoulder slowly stepped forward. She gritted her teeth, making eye contact with him before he went over to Carl first. But she noticed something off about Carl. He looked...confused. She'd have to ask him later. Daryl took his gun and knife and then went over to take hers.

"Make sure you get her knife," someone else piped up from the group and she looked over to see the man she had stabbed a week earlier with a large bandage covering his stomach. He didn't look very good. Pretty sickly, honestly. He deserved it.

"Screw you too, buddy," she murmured, just loud enough for him to hear.

"Feisty, huh? I think we'll have a lot of fun with you," he spat.

Riley gritted her teeth and flared her nostrils as Daryl took her gun and her knife. She felt instantly bare. No way to defend herself besides her own fists.

"Get movin', we have a lot of ground to cover," Joe said, gesturing for them to start moving.

They were still being aimed at, so it was probably best for them not to try and take off. It'd be best to go along with it until they had a chance to get away.
The two of them started walking and Joe directed them down the train tracks that they were headed along in the first place. They'd just passed through a long stretch of woods and now it seemed like it was beginning to flatten out a bit into a more grassy area. Nowhere to hide if they tried to make a break for it. Being captive had to be one of the worst things ever. Now she knew what it was like for an animal to feel trapped...

The trip was far from silent and most of the time, Joe's men kept chattering behind them. The only one who seemed to stay silent was Daryl. Glancing back, she caught his eye but he didn't say anything or even make an indication that he acknowledged her other than the look. He didn't even seem to fit in with the group at all...

"No, I already claimed! You wanted the other one!" one of them exclaimed and she looked back to see it was the one with long scruffy hair and a beard.

"Pft, I claimed her before you did!" the larger man hissed.

What were they talking about? Who were they "claiming" and what did that even mean? The larger man caught her eye and gave her a nasty smile and it all clicked. Oh. "Her"...they meant...

Her skin crawled and she flashed him a dirty hand gesture before turning away. These people were...sick. Worse than the hunters who wouldn't let her in with her old group. Her eyes narrowed at the ground and she tried not to think about it. They were going to get out of here before anything happened to either of them.

Abrupt skin contact made her jump, but a look down revealed it was only Carl's hand reaching across the gap between them. He shuffled a little closer as they walked to make it less obvious and looked over at her. His eyes were darkened and he was quiet, but she knew the message he was conveying.

Drawing in a heavy breath, Riley focused her gaze ahead, keeping a tight hold on his hand as they walked. The grassy field started to get more wooded yet again, but this time the tracks bent toward a little bridge and then a small train station up ahead. Was this where they were staying? Maybe not since Joe seemed like he was trying to find someone. Probably Rick and Michonne, but what had they done to get them so angry?

"This looks like a good place to hunker down. It'll be dark in a few hours. Don't know where the next shelter will be. We're not far anyway," Joe said, stopping in front of the building. "Why don't you boys clear it out?"

She and Carl stayed put next to Joe as the others headed inside to clear it of walkers. There was a short silence between them before Joe spoke up.

"You two seem close. You family?" He paused, looking at the two of them as they didn't answer or look at him. "Or is she just your plaything?"

Riley bit down on her lip, knowing that he was just trying to provoke them and she shouldn't say anything. But Carl surprised her.

He started to lunge toward Joe before he drew a gun, causing him to stop.

"You shut your mouth," he growled, glowering at the older man.

"Didn't mean it like that kid. I just know. I was a teenager once, if ya catch my drift," he said.

Carl opened his mouth to speak but she latched onto his arm. "Not worth it," she muttered, sliding her hand down his arm and gripping his hand tightly to try and divert his attention and tell him that he needed to back down.

He remained tense for a moment before turning his back to Joe and the man lowered the gun.

"No need to get all uptight. At least not yet," Joe murmured as two more of the group dragged out a walker.

"Nothin' else. It's clear."

The two of them were guided inside. Most of the place seemed to have been emptied, but there was still a fair amount scattered across the place. They were then herded into another room across the building that was a small bathroom with no windows.

"Now I can't have you two runnin' off, so you'll be staying in here. Sorry it has to be this way." Joe then reached over to accept a couple of small cloths from one of the others. "Come here, boy."

Carl didn't move at first, but Joe didn't wait and moved forward to bind his wrists tightly together before shoving him into the room. He moved onto her next and tied the cloth until it was digging into her wrists. Without another word, he slammed the door shut, leaving them alone and in darkness.

"Riley, I need to tell you something important," Carl blurted, moving toward her.

"What?" she asked quietly, shifting slightly away from the door in case anyone was listening in.

"I know Daryl."

She looked at him with wide eyes. "What?"

"He's a part of my group. I don't know why he's mixed up with this group but we got separated when our group was attacked. I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt us, but I don't know why he's with these guys," he explained quietly.

"He didn't even say anything, didn't even try to help us. Are you sure he's the same person you knew?"

"Look, I know you don't know him, but I know he wouldn't do anything to hurt me. And you're with me so he wouldn't hurt you. Can you just please trust me on this?"

"I don't-"

"Riley, please."

She stared into his pleading gaze, biting her lip. "Okay."

He let out a gentle sigh. "Thank you."

She nodded slightly, looking away for a minute before taking a seat on the floor across from the door. Just as he was about to sit, the door barged open to reveal Joe once more.

"Don't wanna starve ya just yet, so take your fill." He set down a wooden plank with an uncapped water bottle and some random morsels of food before shutting the door.

She was too hungry and thirsty to care if it was poisoned or rotten. She latched onto the stale, cold little slab of meat and started to rip into it. Must've been a day old or so. It was hard to eat because she was bound, but she managed to do it well enough. Eating food wasn't for pleasure anymore. It was just survival. Carl was eating too, but at a much less ravenous pace than she was. Next to the meat was a little pile of some sort of berry - it looked like a blackberry - and she scooped away half of the pile for herself. The two of them ate in silence and the water was split between them. It was warm and gross, but better than nothing.

Once they were done, they were left with nothing to do but think. There weren't any sounds coming from behind the door and it almost made her wonder if they were going to leave them here. But it wouldn't make sense since they were so bent on taking them. Neither of them knew what to say so they didn't talk and eventually, she shifted so she was laying on her side to get more comfortable. It had to be hours before the door opened and when it did, it wasn't Joe.
Daryl stepped inside and closed the door quietly behind himself. She sat up quickly and Carl jumped to his feet.

"Where's your dad?" was the first question out of the man's mouth.

"How much time do you have?" Carl asked, looking over at the door.

"A little bit. Ya wanna explain?"

Riley crossed her legs, looking between the two before they both sat down.

"After we got separated, me and my dad found Michonne. Those guys out there, they were raiding the house we were in but we got away before they saw us. I think...they're trying to get to my dad. He said he had to kill one of them... And then we found Riley and she came with us. But we got separated from my dad over a week ago, maybe two weeks? And then they found us...why are you with them?"

Daryl nodded slightly toward Riley as a way of greeting before turning his gaze back to Carl. "I was with Beth. Lost her and ran into them. Been trying to figure out what was goin' on. But if you say your dad is out there, we gotta regroup."

"They're looking for them. Tracking them. We need them to lead us to them. And then we can get rid of them," she said suddenly.

"Girl's right," he murmured, pausing for a moment, "I'll get you each a weapon, but for now..."

He pulled a small knife from his pocket and slid it over to Carl. "Make sure they don't see it. We should be able to take them on when we find your dad."
Carl took the knife and swiftly shoved it into his boot. "Thanks."

"Sit tight. I'll be back in the morning, see if I can get ya anything else." He got to his feet, nodding at the two of them before slipping back out the door.

Riley bit her lip. "I'm...sorry I doubted you."

He shook his head. "I get it. It's alright. We should try to rest a little. Tomorrow's going to be a long day."

Nodding, she leaned back against the wall and stared straight ahead at the wall. Hopefully tomorrow would lead them to Rick and Michonne...


A/N: So sorry this is short! I may have rushed a little because I knew it had been a while since I updated and I wanted to get it up. So apologies for both! Anyway, our two have run into the Claimers once more but this time they have Daryl! Hopefully they'll get back to Rick soon ;) So did any of you see the midseason finale yet? I loved it! And I was happy that (SPOILER SORTA?) a certain thing from the comics didn't happen to our favorite teen haha. So I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and thank you all SO SO much for the support! You guys really are the best!