Torn Apart • TWD

Chapter 17 - kidnapping situation

"Any sign of them?" Rick asks for the tenth time and gets the same result. Tyreese shakes his head with an empathetic look before leaving to let Carol take over.

It's been three hours since the groups have returned, all but one. Daryl, Glenn and T-Dog have yet to be seen, the sun has gone which is the call to return home, and those three are not ones to straggle.

With a limited amount of walkie-talkies, only groups that venture into the more dangerous zones get one, and that group unfortunately didn't make the cut today.

Rick is hesitant to give in to Maggie's begging to let people go and search for them, they could've only been held up by a herd and at no real risk then even more of his people would be wandering around in the dark, or they could be in danger and need backup, but with only a vague idea of where Daryl had mentioned they'd be going this morning could be difficult.

Sasha and Axel are walking around the fence, Carol and Oscar have just replaced Tyreese and Hershel at the watchtower, Maggie is trying to make the crying baby fall asleep to help distract her from the anxiety coursing through her body, and Beth and Carl were ordered to sleep but are restlessly laying in their beds trying to listen for any updates.

"Rick, I think it may be time to send some people out," Hershel says as he glides on his crutches over to the man.

"I don't want us running around in the dark," Rick drags a hand down his face in exhaustion, and his daughter's screaming is not helping the situation when all he wants to do is go and comfort her.

"What if they're in trouble?" The older man asks with furrowed brows.

"Out of everyone here, I trust those three to get out of it the most," he says truthfully.

Hershel sighs, he understands both Rick wanting to stay and wait, and the others wanting to go and look. He is more persuaded to go, despite the impartial part of him knowing that leaving when you can barely see your hand in front of you is a bad idea. "Maggie won't stay here much longer, if they aren't back soon she's going with or without your permission."

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Rick's hands go to his hips as he stares out the open door and past the fences, looking for any sign of movement.

Once Hershel walks away, Rick looks at Maggie to see just how impatient she is. The woman's pacing the perch on the second floor, rocking Judith, hoping to subdue her cries with no avail. Every few minutes she's glancing out the window, no doubt looking for what he was.

Her leg is bouncing against the floor and her teeth are grinding together, even a blind man could see she was holding herself back from leaving right that second. Rick quickly sets off in her direction to try to calm her.

"Maggie," he stops halfway up the stairs, taking her attention off the window. "If there were trouble we'd be hearing gunshots," he points out, not tiptoeing around the subject.

"They might not be that close, Rick," she says in a biting tone, frustrated that she can't go out and search for her husband.

"They have weapons, food, water. Don't matter how long they're gone or for what reason, they'll be back and they'll be fine," though he talks about the group, they both know who her main focus is on. She wants the other two to be safe, but her concern for Glenn greatly outshines her worries for Daryl and T-Dog.

"I just want to go an-"

"Rick!" Sasha hollers from outside, making not just the man she called for run, but everyone.

Beth and Carl leapt out of bed, not even pretending to of been trying to sleep, and they raced out the door behind everyone else. Judith was left in the care of Hershel who had already depleted all his energy on keeping watch and couldn't bring himself to follow the crowd.