Detached [TWD Fanfiction]

Chapter 2

It was Carl who found her again. He knew it was her because she had the exact same mark of blood on her face. He had wandered away from the farm house, everyone being too busy to play with him, and had hoped to find something interesting. In a way he had. He'd hardly been looking where he was going, kicking the crispy leaves around and stepping on sticks to hear them crack. He knew walkers were out there, but boredom had dulled his awareness. He didn't care if they heard him shuffling around. He didn't bother to look up until it was too dark to look down. He could only just distinguish one leaf from another and had already walked into a tree. Upon looking up he realised he had no idea where he was. The wind had strewn the path he'd made, so he couldn't simply follow his steps back. He thought about what Shane would say. After being told off for leaving the farm he'd be told he should have just turned around and walked back, but truth be told he really didn't know if he'd walked in one direction or several. The fear of walking the wrong way for hours forced his feet to become rooted to the ground. He sniffled and wiped his nose on his sleeve.

In that moment it seemed to be just his luck that a walker would hear him cry, but not kick leaves and snap twigs. He wanted his feet to move, any direction would do, but they wouldn't. He hated that he was suddenly immobile. The walker snarled and edged closer, jaws wide and snapping. It's arms were reaching out for him even though they were at least a dozen feet apart. That's when she appeared from nowhere. She was sat on a low branch of a nearby tree, watching, practically emotionless. Carl didn't know how he hadn't spotted her before, or if she had simply come from thin air. He looked at her and pleaded with his eyes. She sighed. There was no way she would watch while this kid got shredded and mangled, but saving children had definitely not been on her to do list today. She straightened up and slid down from the tree, rummaging in the leaves by the trunk. Carl's eyes were on the walker, which was only a few feet away now. He didn't see her draw back the string of a bow, but he did see the arrow land in the walker's head with a squishy sound. It fell sideways.

'Go home. It's dangerous,' she muttered to him, striding to the corpse and retrieving her arrow. Once again, she began walking away. This time, he followed.

'You were at the church,' he pointed out. No reply. 'Shane said you weren't right and Andrea said you seemed kinda crazy, but I think you're cool. You killed all those walkers at the church and you saved me.' She kept on walking as if he wasn't there. 'Can you help me find my way back? I don't know my way home. You remind me of Daryl and he can track real good. He'd be able to get home.' She stopped walking and sighed with her eyes closed. The sun was low on the horizon. Holding her hand up to the sky she guessed there was about half an hour of decent light left. Sure, she could leave him there by himself, but if she found him wandering around tomorrow with his neck torn out she'd feel guilty, and saving him would have been a waste of her time. He looked up at her, waiting.

'Where d'you come from?' She asked, practically demanding the answer. Relief washed over him and he felt confident that he would get home.

'There's a farmhouse, with a barn, somewhere near here. My group is staying there.' She nodded.

'Greene?'

'Yeah, that's Hershel's family. How'd you know?'

'Saw the mailbox.' She'd spent a night in a house nearby and had seen the mailbox on the way there. It meant nothing to her at the time, but she remembered it and where it was. Without another word she began walking in a new direction. Carl didn't think it was a good idea to try and make conversation, despite the silence. They didn't find any more walkers, but she did shoot a couple squirrels down, shoving them into her pockets with the tails hanging out. She was definitely like Daryl, Carl thought.

They had only walked for twenty minutes when Carl spotted the house. A campfire was glowing, several figures stood around it.

'That's it! I think I see my parents!' Carl exclaimed. She decided to stop where she was and to let him keep going. They were friendly enough at the church, but they were settled here. People were different on their own land. Besides, she was with their son in the woods in the dark. They had every right to attack her.

Carl ran to his parents and they ran to him. She decided to wait and make sure he reached them, but the father didn't stop. He kept moving past the boy, and was soon joined by another man. Both ran to her at a steady pace, stopping a few paces away.

'Why were you with my son?' One demanded. She could barely see their faces now that the sun was hidden and she knew they couldn't see hers. She was standing in the shadows. They didn't know they'd seen her before.

'He was lost. Needed help.' Daryl thought it was odd that she hadn't grabbed a weapon when they had ran to her. Both held knives.

'He led you here?' Daryl questioned. They were having enough problems with Randall knowing their location, and now Carl had brought a new problem to the farm.

'I already knew it. Saw it a couple days back.'

'You from round here?' Rick chimed in.

'No.' She wanted nothing more than to disappear into the darkness and find a tree to sleep in, but that seemed less and less likely as time went on. By now, Carl had joined them, clutching his dad's hand.

'She saved me! There was a walker and she shot it! And those squirrels! And she brought me back!' She thought that Carl made her sound like a hero, when all she'd done was the right thing. Both men looked at the squirrels he had pointed out. The shadows made them difficult to see, but while looking they both began to recognise her figure and matched her blunt speech with a face they'd seen before.

'That true?' Rick asked. 'You saved him?' She nodded. The men looked at each other, speaking with their eyes. She considered leaving right then, just turning and walking, but they spoke again.

'Would you like something to eat? We have proper food, and water. It's the least I can do. You saved my son.' Rick's offer was somewhat tempting. She considered it for a second, but shook her head and began to walk away without a word. Only seconds had passed when a hand gripped hers.

'Please?' It was Carl. Of course the kid was going to use those puppy dog eyes on her. She closed her eyes for a second, standing still. Perhaps a meal and a campfire wouldn't be so bad. Maybe she could stay for half an hour to be nice, and then leave and move to a new area, away from these people. Opening her eyes, she turned around.

'Fine.'