War on the Body [1]

[24] Struggling to get by

As Paige journeyed north, the others weren't having much luck either. Although Glenn had found Maggie, Daryl had lost Beth and Carol had to kill Lizzie. Now Rick was entering a train car, not noticing any other people inside just focusing on his son.

"Rick?" A voice said as the door shut

"You're here?"

They were reunited and then Glenn asked the question nobody had yet answered, "Where is Paige and Beth?"

Daryl looked to his feet, along with Rick and Carl, they had already spoke to Michonne about this. Michonne looked to the group of people, her eyes red from blaming herself for Paige.

"I was with her, at the prison. I had hid her in the tall grass and she told me to help all of you, I left her and when I went back she wasn't there. I think she managed to get away, I only saw a little bit of blood, probably from the stab wound" Michonne said, not letting any tears fall.

"Black car with a white cross painted on it, I tried to follow. I tried" Daryl said to Maggie, referring to when Beth was taken.

"But they are alive?" Maggie asked with tears streaming down her cheeks

"Beth is"

"Paige is strong, I am sure she made it" Michonne spoke up after Daryl did. They talked for a few hours before they made a plan that eventually failed, and four of their own were taken. Glenn, Bob, Rick and Daryl had been taken to a room where they had killed people and drained their blood. It was a terrifying experience for the four guys as they realized they were going to be killed so the group from terminus could eat their flesh, but they escaped the place all thanks to Carol. Rick had reunited with his daughter, Carl with his sister, Sasha with her brother and Daryl with one of his best friends.

They continued on in hopes of finding a safe place to live and one day reuniting with the two lost core members of the group, Paige and Beth. They found a church, learned dark secrets of the past from the father there, and were almost killed by people from terminus again. Bob had lost his life, causing pain to Sasha and the rest of the group. They had set off to find Beth, all except for the group heading to DC and a few left at the church. The DC group consisted of Abraham, Glenn, Maggie, Rosita, Tara, and Eugene. The group at the church was Michonne, Gabriel, Carl and Judith. Eventually they learned that Eugene had lied and they turned around to save Beth, leading them to Grady Memorial Hospital in Atlanta, Georgia. They had showed up in time to see Daryl carrying the body of the youngest Greene out.

While all of that happened to the group, Paige was going through her own struggles. She had come across a group of not so nice people, they had tried to do ungodly things to her and when she struggled the would hurt her. Fortunately she was saved, by a man with pale skin, curly brown hair and blue almost gray eyes. He had made a lot of noise and made it seem as if a horde of walkers was about to crash through the camp of the dirty men. They had ran and left Paige for what they thought was death but she was extremely happy when a live person approached her, he was unlike anyone she had ever seen, He was clean as if he had just showered that morning. Paige being cautious backed away, she was stopped by the man's gentle and almost angelic voice.

"Hi, you don't need to be afraid. My name is Aaron, I have a community not far from here. Would you like to come?"

Paige finally spoke, her voice being scratchy due to dehydration and her recent pleas for the men to stop, " How do I know you aren't lying?"

"When is the last time you ate or drank anything? I have some food and water, I also have pictures of my community. Can I show you?"

Paige nodded her head before she spoke, "Sure", She said to the man as he pulled a bottle of water out, opening it and taking a sip to prove it was safe for her to drink, "Thank you" Paige said as she accepted the bottle from the man. She took a small sip which led to her chugging the bottle at an almost alarming rate.