succumb - glenn rhee

[FOURTEEN] sophia

CHAPTER FOURTEEN // SOPHIA
"AND I FAILED.
I FAILED, GLENN."

ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ

Jade Horvath ran several feet head of the Grimes man who desperately tried to catch up to the retired high school track star. The Horvath's breathing was properly controlled in order to run far, and fast. She had no idea what could happen to a young girl like Sophia in the woods, with four walkers on her trail.

Sophia's sobs were becoming louder as she ran, curving around several trees, she came out of the cluster a few feet ahead of where she supposed Sophia would end up. Jade caught the young girl in her arms, Sophia letting out a yelp as she was grabbed and pulled against Jade's chest.

"Shh, shh. It's me, it's Jade. I got you." Jade spoke quickly. Sophia immediately buried her head in Jade's shoulder, watching as Rick caught up to them.

The young girl bound forward, with the intent of grabbing Rick's gun out of it's holster. "Shoot them! Shoot them!"

"No. No!" Rick started, grabbing the girl by the shoulders.

"It will only attract more, there's only a few." Jade commented, looking back at the small group of walkers.

Rick rubbed his head before speaking again. "We're going to get you two somewhere safe and hidden. Then I'll distract them. I'm sure you'd rather stay with Sophia, yeah?"

Jade nodded at the man's words, pulling the girl closer to her with motherly instinct. The Horvath picked the whimpering girl up off of the ground as they ran, making sure they kept a fast pace.

They soon came to a small ditch with an overhang from a tree, covered by vines and twigs. "There." Rick called out, pointing to the small section mostly covered from sight. "You hide there until I distract them."

The Horvath nodded, putting Sophia down, climbing into the small space with the young girl. Jade's hand covered Sophia's mouth in an attempt to muffle her small whimpers.

The pair watched as Rick called out to the walkers, leading the group away from where they were hiding and further into the forest. Jade held Sophia close, feeling her body shake with fear as the walkers staggered by.

As soon as the walkers were out of their sight, Jade gently pushed Sophia forward before assisting her out of the small ditch. They ran with their hands connected, Jade was careful to keep Sophia close to her as they ran, the younger only around 2 feet ahead of her.

There were the growls and snarls of walkers from around them, scaring Sophia even more. The girl pulled Jade's arm, trying make her move faster, causing the Horvath's foot to become lodged in between two tree roots as she tried to get an advantage to run faster.

"Shit." Jade called out as she fell over, losing her grip on Sophia's hand. "Sophia, wait!"

"But, Jade we have go. Get up!" Sophia pleaded, pulling on Jade's arm.

"Here, help me get my foot out of this thing." Jade pulled at her ankle, watching as Sophia's small hands wrapped around hers, assisting in pulling. A walker appeared in their vision, scaring the younger girl.

"Jade.." Sophia whimpered.

"It'll be okay, just help me." Jade ordered as she pulled harder at her foot, watching in what felt like slow motion as Sophia let go. "Sophia, what are you doing?" 

"I'm scared. I'm sorry." The girl whispered as a tear fell down her cheek before she began running in the direction of the highway.

The walkers advances had become faster, the monster a mere few feet away from her. "Shit." Her hand flew to her hip, expecting her wrench to be attached to her beltloop, which it wasn't. She thought back to how she had left it beside the toolbox where she was working on the car with Glenn.