Torn Apart • TWD

Chapter 37 - alleged mother-daughter

The stale air is caught in the adult's throats, no one but Maggie has moved since the confession and that was only so she could envelope her body around the child like she was hinting at her too.

Tessa has been pinching the woman's back to keep her silent, unable to risk her saying the wrong name in front of Merle and she thankfully obliges. The two guards still have a hold over her arms, but are no longer keeping her pinned to allow her to hold her "daughter".

Against Maggie's stomach, the girl's chest trembles. With all the ways this could blow up in her face, she is understandably nervous at the holes this creates in her story.

The woman draws a hand up and down the child's back to calm her shaking, but her mind is too engrossed in finding ways to turn this to her favour to be calmed by the gesture.

Merle did his best not to let his eyes widen in shock, his face was almost blank during the revelation if not for a clenched jaw, but mentally he was cursing everything living under the sun.

"Put 'em back in there," Merle grunts with a nod to Maggie's previous cell as he turns to find the Governor, thinking this may be something he should explain in person.

The guards waste no time in following the order, roughly shoving the woman back into the room with Tessa still attached to her. Their legs getting tangled together in the guard's haste, leaving Maggie to quickly lift the girl into the air with her feet only slightly hovering over the ground so she wouldn't stumble and fall.

As the door shuts, the child instantly backs away from the woman when the sound of a lock echoes throughout the door in a way which sends a chill down Maggie's spine but reassures the girl that they will have a warning if anyone decides to enter.

"Tessa, wha-" Maggie begins, but the child doesn't waste the time they've been given and quickly shuts her up.

"Did you tell them your name?" She hastily questions as the woman thinks it over. She did not specifically, but her husband had screamed for her loudly over the last few days so she silently nods.

"Shit," she curses. "Okay, uh," the girl nervously hums with her fingers twisting around each other, drumming her fingers against her hands and picking at the skin around her nails. "Okay, your full name is Lori Margret Dominguez, Maggie is your middle name," Tessa says, trying to sound confident but not managing to hide the shake in her voice as she grasps onto ways to make this work.

"What are you doing he-" the woman tries to ask, but is cut off once again.

"My name is Vega, your daughter. You got separated from me and my dad," she ignores Maggie's attempts and continues like she hadn't even spoken. "Who's with you?" Tessa prays that it is a woman or a man who looks similar to the child and when Maggie informs her that it is Glenn, she slaps herself in the forehead and draws out a long groan, "Fuck."

She can't claim that he's her father and it has probably been figured out that they're together. The girl huffs, lightly tugging at her hair as if it will draw the useful ideas out of her brain.

"Uhh, he's your boyfriend, you thought my dad was dead and got over it quickly," with her mind travelling a mile a minute she can barely keep up with herself.

With the child's eyes darting back and forth but not focusing on anything, along with the nervous pacing, Maggie becomes worried by her nervous rambling and strides up to her.

"Tessa stop," Maggie sternly commands, her hands heavy on the girl's shoulders as she grips them to gain her attention. "Explain to me what is going on," the woman slowly asks and the child takes in a long breath as there is quite a lot she should know.