- S I X T E E N -

The Walking Dead
(season 1-11)

'I never thought I would
ever love someone because
they were incapable to love me
and here i found you.'

by @everm0res
———————————
- N E W D A Y -

The group drove for miles and miles.

They were heading for Fort Benning, the CDC was no use, a dead end.

The group all went in their separate cars, except this time, Shane, Izraella, Giselle and Rosalyn went in the RV.

Shane was teaching Andrea how to use her gun.

Maia was awfully quiet, she sat on the floor of the RV sitting up against the back of the passenger seat, she was flipping her knife in her hand out of boredom.

Luna was asleep on Anthony's lap, she was exhausted, she hated the fact that people were dying when she was only eight years old and she had to watch.

Glenn sat in the passenger seat once again.

The Ramìrez girls and Lara were playing pattycake trying to distract themselves from the long road trip ahead.

Izraella was entertaining the girls.

Giselle was resting her eyes and tried falling asleep which naturally went to dust the second she stepped into the RV.

Anthony however was zoned out, he was staring at Andrea almost as if he was checking her out.

Maia turned to him seeing him staring, her eyes followed his gaze and they landed on Andrea.

Maia inhaled and looked at him with a slightly disturbed look, she knew her brother had bad taste in women but this was bad.

He looked over at Maia and nervously scratched the back of his neck knowing he had been caught and Maia's eyes widened in shock.

The twins liked communicating with their eyes, it was something they always did in nasty situations and in this case, when they couldn't speak up.

T-Dog was standing by the "kitchen" part of the RV, leaning on the counter.

T-Dog sent Maia a confused look and she just shrugged in return.

Anthony bit his bottom lip as he tried to hide his embarrassment, he was caught staring at Andrea.

Before Maia could say anything Dale piped up.

"Oh Jeez." He spoke from the driver's seat, disappointment flooded his tone.

"Aw, no." Glenn piped up in a slight whine as he looked at the road ahead.

The kids stopped playing and stood up, the others following suit as the RV stopped.

"You're goddamn joking." Maia stood up and looked at the road ahead, cars blocking the way and a large truck flipped onto its side.

Daryl pulled up to Dale's window on his motorcycle and nodded his head to signal Dale to go ahead.

He slowly stepped on the gas and the RV started moving.

"Uh, maybe we should just go back." Glenn held the map in his hands.

"There's an interstate bypass..." Glenn was cut off by Dale.

"We can't spare the fuel."

Everyone was leaning and looking at the road ahead trying to figure out what to do, at least.

Cars were everywhere, open, wrecked, and flipped over.

Many people were dead in the back of the cars.

"Can we get through here?" Glenn asked softly but he didn't get an answer as Dale focused on trying to get past the cars.

The RV broke down, the engine sputtering.

"Great." Maia muttered and then turned away from the road and walked to T-Dog who sighed.

Dale got out of his seat and then exited the RV as the others followed suit.

By this time Luna was awake however she was struggling to keep her eyes open. 

"I said it. Didn't I say it? A thousand times. Dead in the water." Dale spoke up, it was obvious he was annoyed.

Maia exited the RV behind Anthony and sighed.

"Yes, Dale you did, now it would be great if you took a look at it." Maia replied in annoyed tone and everyone followed out to the front of the RV.

The others exited their own car and came out to see what the problem was.

"Problem, Dale?" Shane piped up holding his rifle in his hands.

"Oh, just a small matter of being stuck in the middle of nowhere with no hope of...okay that was dumb." Dale turned to look at the surrounding cars.

"If you can't find a radiator hose here..."

"There's a whole bunch of stuff we can find." Daryl piped up as he rummaged through the trunk of a car.

"I can siphon more fuel from these cars for a start." T-Dog spoke up and walked ahead.

"Maybe some water?"

"Food."

"This is a graveyard." Lori spoke up.

"A helpful graveyard." Maia walked towards the RV and pulled off the sweater, Glenn's sweater.

She was left in the white shirt she had on when she spilled water in the CDC.

"I don't know how I feel about this." Lori was being cautious and it was understandable.

"All right, y'all, Just look around. Gather what you can." Shane instructed and Maia looked at a yawning Luna who stood next to Giselle.

"Hey sleepyhead." Maia whispered and flicked Luna's nose before it scrunched up cutely.

As the others started to disperse themselves around the area, Maia put Luna on her back. 

"Maia piggyback time." Maia turned in a circle to try and keep Luna's mood up, she'd been a bit down since the CDC and Maia just wanted her to be happy.

"You gonna help me look for some cool stuff?" Maia asked Luna over her shoulder.

"Heck yeah." Luna smiled widely and Maia laughed softly.

Lara stayed by Glenn, she almost looked like she was interrogating him and Maia laughed softly at the sight.

Glenn looked up from his small conversation with Lara and Maia's smile quickly faded before she walked forward.

Luna noticed.

"What's going on with you and Glenn?" Luna asked softly.

"There's nothing going on, why would you think that?" Maia looked ahead and walked up towards a car, flies buzzing and seeing a dead body.

"Don't look in there." She spoke and Luna looked away following her sister's advice.

"No it's just you guys aren't really talking." Luna had her arms wrapped around Maia's neck for support.

"Is that a problem?" Maia asked confused, she was playing dumb, she knew she wasn't talking to him.

"I mean, I have my opinions." Luna spoke in a slightly mischievous tone and Maia laughed softly at the tone before she stopped by an open trunk of a car.

"And what are those opinions?" Maia asked with a laugh and she placed Luna down on the ground before starting to look in the back of the truck.

"You and Glenn would make a cute couple..." Luna spoke hesitantly and looked at Maia who then froze in place looking in the trunk.

"What?" Maia asked, confused at the sudden statement.

"I mean, you guys look like you're in love or something." Luna spoke nervously.

Maia turned to her little sister.

"What do you know about being in love?" Maia tilted her head and Luna shrugged.

"I don't know, but it's something that Anthony has for Andrea. I don't like Andrea, I like Glenn though." Luna shrugged and Maia laughed at the Andrea statement.

"Anthony has issues." Maia sighed and shook her head in disgust as she thought about her brother being with Andrea.

Ew.

"Well, so do you, you dated Demarco." Luna stated and picked up a toy from the trunk.

"Okay, woah. Way to expose me." Maia looked at her little sister dumbfounded.

"Sassy little shit." Maia muttered underneath her breath.

"Hey it's true, and I don't usually swear but Demarco was a dick." Luna spoke with an attitude, she resented the man. She always had.

"Hey, watch your language." Maia spoke sternly.

"But yes he was." Maia replied softly and rummaged through the trunk finding a pair of what looked like new sneakers.

"Sick." Maia smirked and examined the shoes.

"Mai? Can I take this?" Luna held up a baby doll's clothes.

"Yeah, you can but why the clothes?" Maia asked confusedly before she looked at the souls of the shoe for a size.

"For Moo Moo." Luna replied with a cute and innocent smile.

Maia smiled softly.

"Come on, I got myself some shoes, let's continue looking alright?" Maia took Luna's hand.

Maia walked forward with Luna and she saw Izraella with a bunch of clothes in hand.

"Wow, could you get any more clothes?" Maia walked towards Izraella with a laugh.

"Share some." Maia laughed softly.

"You know it." Izraella handed a few pairs of shirts and pants to Maia.

"All our size too." Izraella stated with a smirk and Maia chuckled in amusement. "Nice." Maia smirked whilst Luna walked off with Rosalyn and Lara.

Lara joined Rosalyn shortly after her conversation with Glenn.

Rick suddenly came running.

"Woah, what's going on?" Izraella asked in concern.

"Under the cars now." Rick instructed then causing Maia and Izraella to look at each other with wide eyes and then saw Giselle getting under a car with Rosalyn and Luna.

Maia nodded and quickly dropped to the ground, she tried reaching into her pocket for something and then remembered she forgot her gun and knife in the RV.

Maia and Izraella made their way as quickly as they could to hide under the cars.

————————

Meanwhile Anthony was with Andrea and they were having a conversation.

"You know, If you need help I can-." Andrea cut him off with a "No."

"No, I'm good." Andrea spoke sternly.

"Come on, you look like you need-." Anthony spoke in a soft tone.

"No." Andrea replied before they heard something from outside.

"You hear that?" Andrea asked Anthony softly.

Anthony turned his head to the window and his eyes widened immediately.

Walkers were everywhere.

"Shit." He muttered.

"What?" Andrea then looked out the window and Anthony pulled her to the ground.

"Get down." He spoke in a whisper and he took Maia's knife that was lying on the floor and clutched it tightly.

———————

Growls and snarls erupted from walkers that passed by the cars.

Izraella and Maia both held their breath.

Across from them under the other car was Lara, Luna and Rosalyn under the car and Giselle in the one opposite them.

The girls covered their mouths with their hands to muffle their whimpering, they were terrified, everyone was.

Izraella took Maia's hand almost out of instinct and the two interlocked hands tightly, and closed their eyes for a few seconds.

They held onto each other tight and kept quiet, their palms were both sweating out of anxiousness.

The walkers passed after some time but before the women could make their way out from under the car.

A squeal erupted from Sophia and her crying and screaming got louder.

Izraella and Maia both looked towards the other side to see Sophia running down the hill.

"There's two walkers after my baby!" Carol ran out and cried, Lori held her tightly.

Maia and Izraella got out from under the car and jogged towards where the group was huddled up.

Luna was crying and gave Maia a hug.

"Hey, hey." Maia whispered and hugged Luna tightly and Giselle held Lara and Rosalyn.

All Maia could do was comfort Luna.

"Is Sophia gonna be okay?" She cried.

"Yes, she'll be fine." Maia whispered and saw Anthony come out of the RV with blood all over him.

Maia let go of Luna and ran towards Anthony.

"What the fuck happened? Are you hurt? Bit?" Maia examined Anthony with wide eyes and Luna followed after.

"I'm fine, I'm fine." He replied by taking Maia's hand off his shoulders.

———————

The group decided to make a plan.

They were gonna look for Sophia because she didn't come back to the highway.

Rick asked Maia, Glenn, Shane and Daryl to help look for Sophia in the woods.

Maia had brought her bow in hand and arrows in her quiver swung over her shoulder.

They had been walking for a few minutes, Rick had explained how he left Sophia by the water and how he told her to stay in the hiding spot she was told to stay in.

Maia stood on the opposite side of Glenn, the tension was there, the silence was killing both of them.

None of them would break it though.

They walked from the water following Daryl who was tracking Sophia from her footprints.

He kneeled down to take a closer look at the tracks.

"She was doing just fine till right here. All she had to do was keep going." Shane kneeled next to him as Daryl spoke.

"She veered off that way." Daryl pointed in the direction he said she ran.

"Why would she do that?" Glenn asked softly.

Maia rolled her head back to get rid of any stiffness, once again Glenn glanced at her.

"Maybe she saw something that spooked her, made her run off." Shane looked up at the three who were standing up.

"A walker?" Glenn asked and no one answered.

"Possibly, I mean the girl was just chased by two of them, she's bound to be terrified." Maia sighed heavily and looked at her boots.

"I don't see any other footprints. Just hers." Daryl shook his head.

"So what do we do? All of us press on?" Shane looks up at Rick.

Maia stood there silently and examined her bow, there were a few chips by the upper limb of the bow.

"No, it's better if you and Glenn get back up to the highway. People are gonna start panicking. Let them know we're on her trail doing everything we can.But most of all keep everybody calm." Rick replied and Maia looked confused.

"I'll keep 'em busy scavenging cars. Think up a few other chores. I'll keep 'em occupied." Shane nodded.

"What about me?" Maia asked and Glenn's gaze moved directly to Maia.

"You're coming with us, you have the only other weapon that doesn't make a huge noise. We can use that to our advantage." Rick replied and Maia nodded.

Maia nodded in understanding then Shane ushered Glenn to go with him.

Glenn looked back at least twice, basically staring at Maia.

It was odd seeing him stare, he had no shame of doing it either, she just ignored it in the end before Daryl stood up and took them in the opposite direction.

———————

Daryl, Rick and Maia walked through the trees, following the slowly faded footprints in the mud.

Maia walked behind Rick in order to cover the back in case they missed something.

"Tracks are gone." Rick spoke up as they all looked at the ground.

Daryl looked at the ground closely.

"They're faint, they ain't gone." Daryl leaned forward.

"He's right, you can see the pattern from the bottom of her shoes." Maia pointed to the ground and Rick leaned and looked closely.

"She came through here." Daryl added.

"Thanks for the info, captain obvious." Maia sighed softly and Daryl sent her a glare which she brushed off.

"How can you tell, I can't see anything?" Rick queried.

"Dirt, grass." He spoke.

"You want a lesson in tracking or you want to find that girl and get your ass off that interstate?" Daryl replied to Rick's question not exactly giving him an answer.

"Can both of you just shut up and keep walking?" Maia spoke in an impatient tone, glancing around, keeping an eye on the terrain.

"Look, we're just trying to find Sophia." Rick replied sternly.

"Yes, Rick I'm not goddamn stupid, I know why I'm here. But the more you question it's not gonna get you anywhere, so let the jackass dirt man lead the way and we can get back to the highway with the girl." Maia spoke sternly as she clutched her bow close to her and adjusted her quiver over her shoulder.

They continued walking through the trees quietly before they saw a walker in the distance.

The three ducked down and watched as it walked.

Daryl signalled for the two to move and made a signal for Maia to shoot, she nodded in return before moving stealthily towards the tree.

She readied her arrow between the bow string and the arrow rest before she aimed and pulled the bow string back.

Rick and Daryl ran forward and both whistled to make sure the walker was distracted.

The walker roared as soon as it saw the two men and suddenly the arrow flew into the middle of its temple knocking it limp, to the ground with a thud.

Maia ran down from behind the tree at the top of the hill and sighed.

She walked up to the walker's body, placed her foot on the walker's head before applying pressure and pulling the arrow out of its head.

"Good aim." Rick complimented Maia and Daryl just stared at Maia before huffing.

"Sophia!" His voice echoed the girl's name.

Rick then kneeled alongside the walker's body and took a pair of gloves out his pockets.

"Where the hell did the gloves come from?" Maia looked confused.

"What are you looking for?" Daryl wondered as Rick slipped on the gloves and took the dead walker's hand.

"Skin under the fingernails." He examined the walker.

"It fed recently." He spoke and then put his covered hands near the walker's mouth and groaned as he opened its mouth.

"God." Maia looked at Rick grossed out as he stuck his fingers into its mouth and grazed its teeth.

"There's flesh caught in its teeth." Rick groaned and got the flesh out of its teeth.

Maia's nose scrunched up in disgust and then took a closer look at the flesh between his fingers.

"That's disgusting." Maia spoke in a whisper.

"Yeah, what kind of flesh?" Daryl leaned forward as well.

Rick turned to them both.

"I don't think I wanna know." Maia replied with a scowl.

"There's only one way to find out." Rick ripped the dead walker's shirt open and took out a pocket knife.

"Dear Christ, you like to open up walker stomach's or something?" Maia stood up and stepped, her bow still in hand.

Daryl then stepped in front and sighed.

"Here, I'll do it." Rick hands Daryl the pocket knife and then Rick gives Maia a pair of gloves.

She huffed in response and took the gloves and slipped them on, placing her quiver and bow down one side.

"How many kills you skin and gut in your life? Anyway, mine is sharper." Daryl took out his own hunting knife and Maia's eyes went a little bit wider however she paid no mind, they were gutting a walker.

Daryl put two hands on the handle of the knife and held it high above the stomach before plunging the knife into the skin with a slush sound.

Squelching came from the body as Daryl cut through the stomach and Maia swallowed down a lump in her throat as she gazed at the scene in disgust.

Daryl repeated the process three times before the stomach was completely open.

"Now comes the bad part." Daryl groaned as he put his hands in the stomach and took out the guts.

The stench was horrific.

Maia put her palm over her nose to refrain from getting any of the stench in her nose however it didn't help.

"Only god knows how I made it through ROTC and a bit of military training." Maia tried to refrain from gagging at the sight.

Daryl stuck his hand further and then stopped.

"Yeah, hoss had a big meal not long ago.I feel it in there" Daryl added.

"Thanks for that." Maia groaned and looked away for a second.

"There's the gut bag, I got this." Rick took his knife and started cutting through the bag.

They searched through the bag and Daryl took a piece of something that Maia recognised.

"Is that a groundhog?" Maia asked in disgust.

"This gross bastard had himself a woodchuck for lunch." Daryl flicked the bone of his knife.

"At least we know." Rick spoke and then Daryl and Maia stood up in sync.

"At least we know." Daryl copied.

"I didn't want to know." Maia muttered to herself and let the two men walk in front her.

Maia just stood there in disgust before taking her bow and quiver and then swung the quiver over her shoulder.

————————

The three made their way back to the highway, the sun starting to set and they made it up the hill they once went down:

"You didn't find her?" Carol asked as they walked back.

"Her trail went cold. We'll pick up again at first light." Rick replied and Maia stopped next to Rick.

"You can't leave my daughter out there on her own." Carol was on the verge of tears.

Maia bit her bottom lip subtly, she felt bad for the woman.

"To spend the night alone in the woods." Carol's voice broke the worry and pain evident.

"Out in the dark's no good." Daryl replied to the woman.

"We'd just be tripping over ourselves. More people get lost."

"He's right, we need to do it during light, we'll lose track the second we step back in there if we do it at dark." Maia replied softly, trying to reason.

"But she's 12. She can't be out there on her own. You didn't find anything?" Carol raised her voice slightly as tears threatened to spill.

"I know this is hard right now but I'm asking you not to panic. We know she was out there." Rick spoke up.

"And we tracked her for a while." Daryl added.

"We just..we just need you not to panic, we can make it a group effort." Maia was trying to calm the woman down but she was failing terribly.

"We have to make this an organised effort. Daryl knows the woods better than anybody. I've asked him to oversee this." Rick spoke and Carol looked at Daryl's pants and Maia's white shirt.

Carol's breathing got heavier.

"We took down a walker."

"Walker? Oh, my god." Carol whispered.

"There was no sign it was ever anywhere near Sophia." Rick explained.

"How can you know that?" Andrea piped up from behind Carol as the group surrounded them.

"We...we gut it." Maia sighed and then looked at Daryl for help of any sort.

"We cut the son of a bitch open, made sure."

The woman sat down trying to calm down and Maia stood there awkwardly, her stance almost showing how uncomfortable she felt in the situation.

Glenn glanced at Maia, saw her uncomfortable expression and she took this as her cue to leave the surrounding group and she walked towards the RV, her bow and arrow still in hand.

His gaze followed her until she entered the RV, not looking back at any of them.

————————

The next morning everyone woke up at the crack of dawn to get ready for the new day.

Maia was changed out of her old bloodied white t-shirt and now in a tank top and jeans, wearing her signature black combat boots.

Everyone surrounded the hood of one of the cars and Rick laid weapons on the hood.

"Everyone needs to take a weapon." He stated and ushered Maia over.

She sighed softly and walked away from Luna and Anthony towards Rick.

"These aren't the kind of weapons we need. What about the guns?" Andrea piped up with a hand on her hip and Maia rolled her eyes.

"The guns get you caught." Maia mocked and put a hand on her hip in return causing Andrea to roll her eyes.

"We've been over that. Daryl, Rick and I are carrying. We can't have people popping off rounds every time a tree rustles." Shane explained.

"It's not the trees I'm worried about." Andrea spoke and gave Maia a glare which Maia returned and Anthony put a hand on Maia's shoulder.

"Say somebody fires at the wrong moment, a herd happens to be passing by. See then it's game over for all of us. So you need to get over it." Shane replied flatly.

"The idea is to take the creek up about five miles , turn around and come back down the other side. Chances are she'll be by the creek." Daryl explained the plan and Maia picked up her bow and quiver from the hood of the car.

"It's her only landmark."

"Stay quiet, stay sharp. Keep space between you but always stay within sight of each other." Rick instructed and everyone started getting their packs ready.

Maia stood and examined her bow that was chipped and she flicked it.

"Uh, pretty old bow don't you think?" Glenn asked awkwardly as he finally gained the courage to talk to Maia.

Maia sent him a glare and he swallowed a lump in his throat.

"Oh, sorry." He looked at the ground and Maia sighed to herself before swinging the bow and quiver over her shoulder.

"What do you want, Glenn? You obviously want something." Maia turned to Glenn and licked her dry lips.

"Uh, I just...nevermind." He said and then walked away.

Maia looked dumbfounded at his attempt to ask something.

"Mai, can I please go with? Lar is going with Glenn and Rose is going with too." Luna pulled on Maia's pants.

"No, ask Anthony." Maia replied flatly.

"I already did, he told me to ask you." Luna whiner and Maia sighed then sent a glare to Anthony.

"Fine, then you stay by me or Anthony at all times, no wandering off." Maia huffed and Luna nodded swiftly.

————————

The group all made their way into the woods to start their search with the whole group at bay.

Maia stayed towards the front with Luna and Anthony as she held her bow and arrow close to her at all costs ready to take out an arrow out of her quiver at any needed time.

Giselle, Izraella and Rosalyn followed behind them and up ahead stood a green tent.

Daryl ushered the others to go low to the ground.

However when Glenn didn't get down and everyone else did, Maia yanked him by his arm and he got down.

He yelped but Maia quickly flicked his temple to get him to keep quiet.

Daryl and Rick went forward before they told the others to wait before Rick motioned Maia over with a whistle and she rolled her eyes before going forward and put her arrow on the bow rest.

They all moved closer quietly and Daryl put up a finger to tell them to wait and he took out his knife before going closer to the tent.

He tried to peek inside but he made a motion to signal he couldn't see anything.

"Carol." Rick whispered and Carol rushed forward.

"Sophia? Sweetie? Are you in there?" Carol spoke loud enough so Daryl could hear before he ushered Maia over but Carol came first.

Daryl shook his head and pointed to Maia and she audibly groaned and then walked forward. with her bow and arrow in hand.

"We're all here baby, It's mommy." Carol spoke up and Daryl sent Maia a look and nodded his head to open the tent.

Daryl took his hand and opened the crack to see a body on the ground.

It was a boy.

He wasn't breathing.

Maia looked at Daryl confused and then to Rick and she ushered him over.

Rick wanted to go in before Maia looked closely.

"Wait." She whispered before dropping her bow and quiver and moving in slowly.

Maia moved closer to the boy's body and looked at his face, it seemed awfully familiar.

"What is it?" Daryl asked and Maia shushed him.

Maia put her fingers on his neck to find a pulse and the boy kicked.

"Oh fuck! It moved!" Maia flinched and covered her mouth with her hand, her sudden scream woke the boy woke up looking at Maia before a scream erupted from his throat.

The rest were alarmed by the screams.

The boy looked terrified his eyes wide and Maia took a closer look, Daryl and Rick tried come in before Maia pushed them away.

"Hey, hey, calm down." Maia put her hands up to show him she wasn't gonna hurt him and his eyes widened.

The boy was frantic, confused. He had seemed to scan Maia with wide eyes before he tilted his head.

"Maia?" The boy piped up and Maia's eyebrows furrowed.

"Excuse me?" Maia replied with a confused look.

"Maia." He repeated.

Maia tilted her head and took the boy outside.

"Move." She instructed the men and she took the boy by the hand.

"What's going on?" Andrea asked.

Maia brought the boy out into the open and she looked at him carefully.

Her eyes widened in shock to her sudden revelation to who the boy was.

"Jose?" Maia spoke in a whisper and Rosalyn tapped her mothers shoulder and Giselle looked Maia's way seeing the boy.

"Jose?" Rosalyn piped up and Jose looked her way.

"Rose! Mom! Izzy!" Jose ran past Maia leaving her dumbfounded and the family ran forward embracing him in a tight hug.

Everyone was confused at the sight, a family was reuniting?

They found a boy, but not Sophia?

They let the family have their time as they cried in a group hug.

It was sweet and heartwarming, at least not to Carol, it just made her more upset.

——————

The Ramìrez family was all back together, they were happy and asked how Jose got there.

He explained how he got split up from his father and how he was trying to look for his family.

It was really heartwarming.

They have been walking through the woods for a while and there was still no sign of Sophia.

"That can't be it. Got no steeple, no bells." Shane started as they walked out the woods.

Earlier they heard church bells ringing, they figured Sophia would've been ringing them.

Rick however walked forward quickly and the rest followed suit, Rosalyn and Luna were trying to explain to Jose everything that happened.

Rosalyn had her twin brother back and Luna had one of her best friends back.

Maia walked at the back of everyone else and followed suit, they ran past a few gravestones and Maia ended up towards the front right next to Anthony.

Three walkers were inside those doors and Rick, Daryl and Shane cleared the small church.

Shane however after the first slash he kept hitting the walker even though it was already down, the kids were shielded away from the violent sight.

A bell sound caught them all off guard and they all ran outside as fast as they could to find the source of the sound.

To everyone's dismay it was just a timer controlled bell sound being played via speaker.

"A timer. It's on a timer." Daryl spoke out of breath and everyone sighed.

"I'm gonna go back in for a bit." Carol spoke up and everyone nodded in return.

Jose was confused but after Rosalyn and Luna explained the story he was up to date.

Giselle gave him a can of food for him to eat as he looked starving like he hadn't eaten in days.

The family was catching up, Maia was glad she saw how happy the family looked, they were all together again.

Maia stood outside under a tree trying to rest and Luna was talking to Jose, with enthusiasm and jazz hands.

It was adorable.

Carol, Lori, Rick and Carl were inside the Church.

Maia sat by a tree in the shade, her head was spinning, she had a huge headache from all the sun.

Anthony noticed and ran up to Maia.

"Hey, what's wrong?" Anthony sat down next to Maia watching the family and Luna converse in the distance.

"Headache, spinning." Maia spoke vaguely back, Anthony nodded before getting up.

"Wait where are you going dick?" Maia spoke loud enough for the family to hear and chuckle softly as they sat on the ground by the Church.

Glenn stood close to the tree where Maia sat and Lara skipped over.

"Hey Maia." Lara smiled at Maia.

"Hey." Maia smiled back softly.

"What's wrong?" Lara tilted her head and took a seat next to Maia however Anthony came back with a bottle of water.

"I just have a headache that's all." Maia sighed and Anthony handed her the water.

"Here."

She took the bottle out of his hands and sighed.

"Thanks." She unscrewed the bottle cap and opened the bottle and drank from it before she handed it back to Anthony.

Lara sat next to Maia quietly and put her head on Maia's shoulder.

The rest of the group came together in the circle around the tree and started having their own conversation.

By this time, Lori, Carl, Rick and Carol were out of the church and Rick and Shane were having a conversation a few feet away.

Shane cleared his throat and Lara lifted her head.

"Y'all gotta follow the creek bed back, okay? Daryl, you're in charge." Shane instructed and Daryl nodded.

"Me and Rick, we're just gonna hang back, search this area another hour or so just to be thorough." He explained and Izraella put out her hand to help Maia up, seeing Maia wanted to stand.

"You're splitting us up. You sure?" Daryl wondered.

"Yeah, we'll catch up to you."

"I want to stay too." Carl spoke up and walked forward.

"I'm her friend."

"Just be careful okay?" Lori spoke up, walking forward and cupping Carl's face.

"I will." He replied with a grateful smile.

Maia and the rest, meaning: Anthony, Luna, Jose, Rosalyn, Izraella, Lara, Giselle and Glenn all walked ahead before Daryl followed them and walked forward.

They all walked silently and Rosalyn had arm swung around Jose's shoulders and he did the same to her.

"So this is it? This is the whole plan?" Carol asked.

"What do you want us to do?" Anthony asked softly and everyone stopped.

"I guess the plan is to whittle us down into smaller and smaller groups." Daryl spoke up and Maia raised her eyebrows before leaning on Anthony's shoulder.

"Carrying knives and pointy sticks." Andrea piped up and she sounded annoyed.

"I see you have a gun." She looked at Lori up and down with a look.

"Why, you want it?" Lori piped up and Maia covered her mouth.

"Here, take it." Lori took it out of the bag and walked forward to hand it to Andrea

"I'm sick of the looks you're giving me."

"All of you." Lori sat down on a fallen tree.

"Honey, I can't imagine what you're going through. And I would do anything to stop it. But you have got to stop blaming Rick. It is in your face every time you look at him." Lori deadpanned.

"And when Sophia ran he didn't hesitate did he?" Lori asked Carol and Carol averted her gaze.

"I don't know that any of us would have gone after her the way he did. Or made the hard decisions that he had to make, or that anybody could have done it any differently." Lori explained, the atmosphere was silent and tense.

"Anybody?" She looked around as everyone was dead quiet.

"Y'all look at him and then you blame him when he's not perfect. If you think you can do this without him, go right ahead. Nobody is stopping you."

Maia couldn't help but look at Lori with slight admiration, she was sticking up for her husband and Maia admired her bravery.

Andrea stepped forward and handed Lori the gun back.

"We should keep moving." Andrea stated as Lori took the gun back.

Maia walked at the back keeping a look out for anything they miss.

Jose tapped Maia and gave her a hug.

"Hey." Maia smiled and hugged him back.

"I'm so glad you're okay. I couldn't recognise you back in that tent. Your sisters and mom were worried about you. Luna was really worried about you." Maia smiled at Jose and fixed his hair.

"I'm glad you found me, Maia. I'm not gonna lie, I missed you." Jose smiled at Maia and she ushered him to keep moving.

"I missed you too, kiddo."

Glenn couldn't help but look back at the interaction, he absentmindedly smiled as he watched the interaction.

He couldn't help but think why wouldn't she want to talk to him?

Sure, it was awkward as she was the one who initiated the "incident" but now she was acting as if it never happened.

Why was she like this?

————————

jada speaks!!
hey guys!!
SEASON TWO HAS STARTED!!
and also we have a new feature to the group Jose Ramìrez, i know he didn't get many lines this chapter but I just wanted to introduce him and also just start the sort dynamic between Maia and different people of the group.
Glenn and Maia still aren't well...talking much and it's pretty awkward BUT it's gets better later in the season!!
also tysm for 5k reads it means sm
and i hope you enjoyed!!
ACT TWO HAS STARTED!!
be ready...
tags: chaosraeken katgrahamslvrr BerxshiresWp p0iisoned Pizzaboyrheewp riddlxswp VoidArlo1wp alycialcver
(edited)