Sophia

New chapter is live.

Settle in, take your time, and let's see what waits in the dark 🖤

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Near the highway, in a tangled stretch of woods, Rick crouched in front of a terrified little girl.

"Shh. Hey. Hey, listen to me."

He held Sophia close, trying to steady her.

She clutched a doll in one hand, but her eyes kept flicking to the Colt Python at Rick's waist.

"Shoot them," she stammered. "Shoot them."

The chase through the woods had frightened her so badly she could barely get the words out.

Rick took her small hand and lowered his voice.

"I can fire the gun," he said. "But if I do, every walker on the highway hears it. Then we won't be dealing with two or three. We'll be dealing with dozens. Maybe hundreds."

Truthfully, Rick missed Evan at that moment.

When it came to killing walkers up close with melee weapons, no one at the old Quarry Camp had been better.

During the fight at the Quarry, Evan had been impossible to ignore. Walkers had barely been able to touch him. He moved like someone born without fear of the dead.

If Evan were there, he might not be able to wipe out the highway horde, but at least they might not be running so desperately.

Rick shook the thought away.

The low growls circling through the woods pulled at his nerves.

"Come on," he said, lifting Sophia with both hands. "Right here. You need to do exactly what I say. Stay quiet, stay hidden, and we both live. Understand?"

Sophia nodded fearfully.

Rick hid her in a hollow near the creek bank, then drew the two approaching walkers away in another direction.

He did not see Sophia crawl out after he left.

Pale and trembling, she looked around, hugged her doll against her chest, and started walking in a careful, uncertain direction.

"Don't worry," she whispered to the doll. "We'll find Mom."

She crossed a wet fallen log and kept comforting the doll in a tiny voice.

But anyone could tell she was really comforting herself.

She set the doll down, climbed up a slanted rock with both hands, then picked the doll back up.

When she lowered her head and lifted it again, a walker stood in front of her.

It rose slowly from behind a screen of leaves.

Some of the earliest walkers still held scraps of old muscle memory. They could grip stones, reach for tools, or stumble into a motion that looked almost intentional.

This one had died hidden in the brush, and its movements made it look as though it had been lying in wait.

If Sophia had not walked straight into it, it might have rotted there forever without anyone noticing.

The walker staggered upright and turned toward her.

Sophia's face went white. She backed away.

After two steps, her heel found the broken edge of a short rocky drop-off.

She hugged the doll and looked around helplessly, but neither Carol nor Rick was anywhere in sight.

She missed everyone from the Quarry Camp.

Even Evan, who had joined them only briefly before the group split apart.

"Please," Sophia whispered, trying to reason with the dead. "If you eat me, don't eat my doll. She's scared."

The one who was scared was Sophia.

She shut her eyes tight. Her thin legs had already lost the strength to move. She stood frozen at the edge of the drop.

Memories of Carol flashed through her mind, one after another.

Sophia could not even cry.

Her small, pale hands only tightened around the doll, as though she were protecting the only thing she still could.

Footsteps crushed pine needles nearby.

Her heart beat so fast it hurt.

She was not ready for death. She did not even truly understand what death meant.

Trapped at the edge, Sophia made a low, frightened sound like a cornered animal.

A few seconds later, the stink of the walker's mouth reached her face.

"Mom!"

Her scream tore through the woods.

The pain she expected never came.

Instead, something cold and wet splattered across her face.

Her eyelashes trembled. She started to open her eyes.

A deep voice stopped her.

"Don't open them."

The sudden voice scared Sophia so badly she squeezed her eyes shut again.

It sounded familiar.

Where had she heard it?

Her freckled nose wrinkled at the smell.

A wet crack sounded nearby. Something heavy collapsed almost at her feet.

Close enough that she could hear the thick, soft noises coming from it.

Then warm breath brushed her face.

A soft cloth wiped across her skin, taking the cold, foul mess away.

"All right," the voice said. "Open your eyes."

Sophia could barely hold back anymore, but she still waited until that familiar voice gave permission.

Then she opened her eyes carefully.

The first thing she saw was the massive Stone Sledgehammer planted upright in the ground.

Her gaze followed the shaft up until she saw the face from her memories.

Leaves rustled.

Sophia threw herself into Evan's arms.

Her breathing came fast against his neck, and she clung to him with her whole body.

She refused to let go.

Evan patted her back gently.

"It's over," he said. "I'm here. You're safe now."

Sophia held the doll in one hand and hooked the other around the back of Evan's neck.

At his words, her throat tightened, and a muffled sob finally escaped her.

'Good kid. Even crying, she's trying to stay quiet because she's afraid of drawing walkers.'

"All right," he said again.

"Where are they? Carol, Rick. Where did they go?"

Sophia lifted her head from his chest. Tear tracks covered her little face.

She sniffed. "I don't know. Rick told me to hide. I came out, and then I couldn't find them."

Evan stood with Sophia in one arm and dragged the sledgehammer with the other.

"It's okay. Don't cry. If you cry too much, your doll might hear and start crying too."

Sophia gasped in alarm.

She forgot her tears at once and checked the doll in her hand. Only when she saw that it was unchanged did she relax a little.

Evan smiled at her.

"Your mom and Rick will be fine. Come back to camp with me first. Then I'll help find them, okay?"

"Okay," Sophia said, giving a small nod before burying herself against him again.

Evan carried her toward the fire truck.

Neither of them noticed the missing piece of fabric from her pant leg, or the fresh scrape beneath it.

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