Sweet and Salty ~ Carl Grimes

Sophia - 020

For the trigger warnings summary, go to the bottom of the chapter!!

The two walkers took her by surprise. All she wanted to do was go and help her friend from her twin brother. Her twin who she was growing to hate. Chris was apart of her, they were in the same damn womb together for nine months, shared a room for twelve years, witnessed the same abuse, yet... Sophia turned out a sweet, caring angel while Chris was the devil.

Sophia made her way down the banking on her butt, constantly turning back to see the two walkers chasing her. Cries of fear left her mouth as she gripped onto her doll. As soon as she could, she started bolting off. She didn't care the direction, she just wanted to get away. Sophia was naive enough to believe that all she'd have to do to get home was go in the same direction. She was inexperienced, and therefore believed that she couldn't get turned around in the maze of a forest.

She ran, and ran. Unaware that she was going in a completely different direction to her brother. Her brother who Rick was following. Nobody was going after her, because nobody knew where she was. More cries of fear left her mouth as tears began to pour from her eyes.

Sophia was petrified.
Alone.
Tired.
Hungry.
She wanted her mom.
She wanted Brooks.

Sophia had never killed a walker before, sure, she'd seen it be done, but she'd never done it. How could she? She'd never even held a gun, nevermind fired a good shot. She wasn't tall enough to use the pocketknife that her brother owned. Whenever she'd seen a walker, or walkers, she ran. So, that's what she did.

The trees were scares, leaving plenty of room for Sophia to run, but not nearly enough to hide. And, she'd have to start hiding soon. 'They don't get winded, I do', as Rick was saying to her twin at that very moment. Her throat begged for water, her legs screamed for a break, but she refused. The twelve year old tripped over a tree root, turning to find that she couldn't see the two walkers anymore.

She took a deep breath, but quickly stood up, looking in all directions. Not only couldn't she see the walkers anymore, she couldn't see anything. She had no idea where she was. Sophia bit into her lower lip as she turned in a circle. She wanted to scream for help, for her mom, or Brooks, anyone. But, she couldn't get a word to leave her mouth.

Her lips parted to scream for help, but all that left were cries of fear. Tears were quick to fill her eyes and slip down her freckly cheeks. Sophia squeezed the doll that Eliza had given her, very close to her chest. She managed to grip onto her shirt at the same time, the shirt she knew that Brooks was wearing too. Just the thought of Brooks was making her feel better, she needed her best friend there to tell her everything was okay.

Brooks made Sophia feel stronger.
Sophia made Brooks feel stronger.
It's just how the pair worked.

The two girls had spent so much time alone growing up, so much time scared of their fathers, that it was nice having someone who really understood. Someone who wouldn't cry at their story, but would instead listen, and just talk. Someone who wouldn't alienate them for their experiences. Someone who would help build them up, instead of paint them out to be as fragile as glass. The girls needed each other, but the world had ripped them apart. Chris had ripped them apart.

Sophia picked a direction that looked good enough and started walking. She couldn't help but look over her shoulder every two seconds, scan her surroundings every three. Just the thought of being caught off guard like at the CDC was enough to get her blood to run cold. This time, she didn't have Brooks to shoot the walkers after them. This time, she was alone and unarmed.

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Sophia had walked so far, it felt like days. It was really only four hours, but the sun was starting to set. Sophia had done many intervals of running, but she always managed to lose the walkers. Luckily, the most she came across was five. She found a creek, so she kneeled by the water and leaned over, cupping her hands and scooping up the ice cold water, before she brought it to her mouth.