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Chapter 4:

Cedar was woken up the next morning by Luca urgently shaking her shoulder. "Cece get up!".

The young woman yawned and rubbed her eyes. "What's wrong?".

"Uncle Iggy's gone". Luca replied with a concerned look in his eyes.

Cedar bolted out of bed and hurried to get dressed. "What do you mean?".

"Uncle Benji heard the front door open earlier this morning, when he and Charlie woke up, Iggy was gone". Luca rattled off as he and Cedar headed to the kitchen.

Once they were all settled Charlie wasted no time in trying to figure things out. "I don't get it, why would Miguel just take off?".

Cedar thought to herself for a second before speaking up. "I think I know what he's doing".

"He told you?". Charlie asked in an almost accusatory tone.

"Not exactly". Cedar replied firmly. "Last night we were talking about whoever he saw, then he brought up Boone, Ada and Tony".

"You think he went after them?". Benji cut in, scrubbing a hand over his face.

Cedar nodded. "Whoever he saw is probably a part of the Resurrection group".

"And what better way to avenge your girlfriend and brother than to go after them". Charlie muttered in irritation.

Cedar was about to say something but stopped when she noticed Miguel's gun and knife still lying nearby. "He's not there to get revenge, he's there to get himself killed".

"Where are you going?". Benji asked, grabbing Cedar's arm when he noticed her getting up from the table.

"Someone has to go out and look for him". The young woman stated firmly.

"Even if we knew where he was, how are you getting through the storm?". Luca asked, pointing at the rain lashing against the windows.

"I have to try". Cedar responded, wrenching out of Benji's grip and walking out the front door before anyone could protest.

The bad weather seemed to have made all the walkers clear out so that was thankfully one less issue she needed to worry about as she pressed through the storm.

She walked for about fifteen minutes before coming across a house on the border of the coastal town. As predicted, the front door had the Resurrection brand painted across it.

Cedar nearly walked away until a faint cry of pain coming from somewhere in the lower level of the house alerted her.

She turned back and saw a small portion of a window in the side of the house, unfortunately it was made from that frosted over material so she couldn't see inside.

She tiptoed up the porch then and eased open the front door, wincing when it shrieked loudly but managing to make it inside unharmed.

The floorboards creaked under her feet as she lightly jogged over to the kitchen, where she once again heard Miguel's groan of pain coming from behind a door in the corner.

Thankfully the basement door was left unlocked and Cedar crept down the wooden steps, she stopped at the second to last step and nearly threw up at what she saw.

Miguel was sprawled on the floor in the far end of the room. If he hadn't been wearing his brightly colored leather jacket, Cedar would have had no idea it was him.

His face was bloodied and the eye that was looking outwards was nearly swollen shut from the mass of bruises he had acquired. His dark hair was matted down with copious amounts of blood.

Standing over his crumpled form was a short haired Latina woman holding a blood stained baseball bat.

She was panting with anger as she brought the bat over Miguel's head, ripping a weak, exhausted cry from his lips as his hands clenched into fists.

Cedar looked away so she could survey the rest of the room, the only other occupant was a Puerto Rican man leaning against the wall a mere inch or so from the door.

Steeling herself, Cedar drew her weapon and lunged into the room, giving a startled cry as the man apprehended her, pinning her to the floor as her med kit slid across the floor.

The short haired woman turned from Miguel's form and looked at her companion. "Who is that?".

The man smirked and shook his head. "Just a dumb little girl, nothing to worry about".

The woman sneered and advanced on Cedar's pinned down body, turning back towards Miguel when he tried to lift his head, causing a coughing fit. "No...".

The woman laughed and raised the bat, striking Miguel on the side of the head again. "Now you feel like begging?".

Miguel dropped his head back down and looked at her through his swollen eye. "Please, not her". He pleaded in a weak voice.

The woman seemed to consider this before dropping the bat and taking out a pistol, aiming it at Miguel's head. "Fine, you can die first".

With a growl, Cedar managed to free one of her arms, bringing her elbow up to clock the man pinning her down right in the nose.

She re-secured her pistol and aimed at the woman's knee, causing the bat to fall from her grip as she fell to the floor in pain, one more bullet through the head ended her for good.

Cedar turned around and saw the man that had initially apprehended her was on his knees, trying to stem the blood flowing from his broken nose.

She cocked her weapon and brought it up to meet his temple as he stared up at her with fear in his eyes. "Wait!, I - I'm not involved in any of this".

"You seem pretty fucking involved". Cedar spat out.

"No, she - she was making me do this, I swear!". The man pleaded, pointing a shaky hand over at his partner's fallen form.

Cedar considered this for a moment before drawing her pistol back to her side. "Get out of here before I change my mind".

The dark haired man nodded and rose to his feet, running up the stairs as fast as he could.

The young woman took a moment to reorient herself before remembering why she had come here in the first place. "Iggy!".

Author Note: Miguel's Beating In This Chapter Was A Combination Of Joel Miller's Death (The Last Of Us Part 2) & Glenn's Death (The Walking Dead)