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blazedbakugou · 1 year

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brutal

CHAPTER NINE

pairing: glenn rhee x fem!reader, daryl dixon x fem!reader (eventual)

description: sophia is on the missing list, and people are starting to point fingers.

warnings: canon violence, swearing, angst

words: 1.8K

date posted: 02/11/22

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“Sure this is the spot?”

Y/n nodded, moving her eyes from where she had left Sophia to glance at Daryl, who inspected the side of the bank for any tracks that Sophia may have left.

She had returned to the highway with Rick, both having hoped that Sophia would have retained the instructions of how she would find her way back to the group, though their shared paranoia was proved to have had some merit when they returned and discovered that the young girl had not, in fact, done as she was told.

“Hey short round,” Daryl called to Glenn, who nervously milled around the bank, “Why don’t you step off to one side? You’re mucking up the trail.”

Glenn nodded, cheeks flushing as he veered to one side of the trail. He caught Y/n’s eye, sending her a small, comforting smile, though it fell flat as her stomach continued to twist in her gut at the thought of young Sophia out in the woods on her own.

“Kid's tired and scared, man. She had her a close call with two walkers. Got to wonder how much of what you said stuck.” Shane huffed.

Daryl pulled back some rustled foliage from the bank, “Got clear prints right here. She did like you said, headed back to the highway. Let's spread out, make our way back.”

“She couldn’t have gone far.”

“Hey, we’re gonna find her.” Rick spoke, though his eyes were settled on Y/n, eyeing her nervous expression, “She’ll be tuckered out, hiding in a bush somewhere.”

Daryl climbed the bank, crouching to poke at some disturbed dirt, “She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going. She veered off that way.”

“Why would she do that?” Glenn asked.

“Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off.” Shane suggested.

“A walker?”

“I don’t see any other footprints,” Daryl shrugged, “Just her’s.”

“So what do we do? All of us press on?”

“No,” Rick shook his head, “Better if you and Glenn head back to the highway, take Y/n with you. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we’re on her trail doing everything we can. But most of all, keep everyone calm.”

“I’ll keep ‘em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I’ll keep ‘em occupied,” He turned to Glenn, “C’mon.”

Glenn reached down, offering a hand to the girl. She stared at him for a moment before grasping his larger hand in her own, allowing him to help her up the bank.

“You good?” He asked softly, resting his palm on her bicep.

Y/n shrugged, mind reeling over the events of the past hour; Hiding under the cars, running from the walkers, losing Sophia… All of it began to settle in her mind as she caught up. She bit her lip before finally shaking her head. She shook her head, scarcely meeting his gaze.

Glenn pursed his lips, moving his hand to her back as Shane barked at them to follow him. He guided her through the trees, the trio remaining mostly silent until they were a fair distance from the creek, when Shane’s pace slowed, glancing over his shoulder at the girl and letting out a humourless chuckle.

“All this quiet, it’s… it’s got me wonderin’ why you thought it’d be a fine idea to just leave that little girl out in the woods, on her own.” He hummed at her, turning just slightly to face her with a scowl on his lips.

Y/n crossed her arms over her chest at Shane’s accusing tone, shrinking into herself.

“Y/n saved Rick’s life,” Glenn defended. “He could have died if she hadn’t gone after him.”

“And maybe if she had’ve done what she was told for once, just maybe Sophia would be back up on that highway with her mama.”

The teenager swallowed a sob as she turned to face the man, anger clear in her teary eyes, “Screw you, Shane. Didn’t see you out here trying to help any of us, you just sat pretty on that highway as two walkers chased Sophia and I into the woods, and Rick was the one who came after us.”

Shane rolled his eyes, “I don’t care who did what. I just wanna make it clear to you that if we don’t find this little girl, it’s on you. And if she’s bit, that’s on you, too, and you’ll be the one to take care of it.”

Without another word, the man turned on his heel and stalked off in the direction of the highway, leaving the other two standing in shock. Glenn’s hand lowered to the small of her back, turning to stand in front of her.

“It’s not on you.” He muttered, “You couldn’t’ve known.”

She shook her head, a tear finally breaking past her lower lashline to trickle down her cheek. She closed her eyes for a moment, exhaling sharply as her neck rolled forward to allow her forehead to rest on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” She choked.

“Why?” He pressed his lips to the side of her head quickly, “Sophia, she made a mistake. She crawled out from under that car too soon, you couldn’t stop her.”

“But it is,” Y/n argued, pressing her hands to his chest to push him away from her, wild eyes glossy trom tears, “I told her it was okay to crawl out. She wouldn’t be out here if it weren’t for me.”

“But…” Glenn’s voice was thin, a failed attempt to conceal his surprise.

Y/n didn’t wait for him to speak again, bumping her shoulder into his on her way past him, trudging up the slope to the highway. She didn’t miss the way the others eyed her as she strode by, the judgemental glare from Carol’s teary eyes, Andrea’s ever-present scowl, Dale’s furrowed brows as he watched in concern. Shane had likely told them what had happened, and she didn’t blame them for how they watched her.

“Y/n,” Alexander swept her into a hug as he manoeuvred the cars.

He cradled the back of her head with his hand, smearing grease from the car he’d been dismantling into her hair, pulling back to inspect her face for any signs of distress.

“I’m fine,” she shrugged him off, glancing around at the cars around them, “Need some new shoes, though.”

“I’ll find you some.” He pulled a small packet of Goldfish crackers from his pocket and placed them in her palm, “You should go lie down, or rest, or something. Looks like you’re working on another sunburn.”

“Sorry, no can do,” Shane interjected, “I’m gonna need all hands on deck.”

Alex furrowed his brows, “And? I doubt one person will make any difference. We don’t even know how long they’re gonna be gone.”

“One person can make a big difference when you’re looking for a needle in a haystack.”

“Alex,” Y/n pushed his hands away, “I said I’m fine.”

She made sure to slam her shoulder into Shane’s side as hard as possible without making it obvious as she strode past him, getting to work digging through the cars.

Y/n had managed to search five cars by sunset, and thankfully, no one had made an effort to bother her as they cleared the road for the RV. However, that didn’t mean that she hadn’t felt their burning stares into the back of her head as she filled bags with usable supplies, inspecting each pair of shoes that she discovered until she settled on a pair of black lace-up boots. She also exchanged the sweater that she had been oh-so fascinated with only hours before for a thin plaid jacket that was a few sizes too big for her.

“Oh God, they’re back!” Glenn announced.

Y/n peeked around the corner of one of the cars, slowly approaching the rest of the group as they gathered around Rick and Daryl while they climbed over the guardrail.

“You didn’t find her?” Carol wept.

“Her trail went cold,” Rick explained, “We’ll pick it up again at first light.”

“You can’t leave my daughter out there on her own to spend the night in the woods.” She continued.

“Out in the dark's no good. We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost.” Daryl grumbled.

“But she’s twelve, she can’t be out there on her own. You didn’t find anything?”

Rick bent down next to her, “I know this is hard, but I’m asking you not to panic. We know she was out there.”

“And we tracked her for a while.” The archer added.

“We have to make this an organised effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this.”

Carol glanced over at Daryl, eyes widening at the red splatters across his formally clean shirt, “Is that blood?”

Rick attempted to calm her heavy breathing, “We took down a walker.”

Y/n felt her stomach drop, biting her lip as she internally prayed for the young girl to be alright. At that moment, she cursed her younger self for not paying closer attention in catechism class, hoping that her prayers might be answered anyway.

“Walker? Oh my God.”

“There were no signs it was anywhere near Sophia.”

“How can you know that?”

The two men shared a glance before Daryl answered, “We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure.”

“Oh God,” she sobbed, “How could you leave her out there to begin with?” Her eyes turned to the teenage girl at the back of the group, “How could you just leave her?”

Y/n physically felt the venom in Carol’s words, taking a step back from the group as she moved her stare down to her new-to-her boots.

“Those two walkers were on us. I had to draw ‘em off. It was her best chance.” Rick sighed.

“Sounds like he didn’t have a choice, Carol.” Shane glanced briefly at Y/n, eyes darkening as they met with her own.

“How was she supposed to find her way back on her own? She's just a child.”

A tear slid down Y/n’s cheek as Carol sobbed, demanding answers from both Rick and Y/n for her daughter’s disappearance. She struggled to exhale without it coming out as a sob, shoving past both Alexander and Glenn’s attempt to comfort her.

“She's just a child...”

#looking forward to next update :)

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