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When Emmalyn blinked her eyes open, the first thing she noticed was the run-down roof above her and she initially thought she was back in the Dixon shack. But when she looked to her left, there was no portrait of a cherry tree which meant she was not in the Dixon shack, she turned her head to the right and saw Sophia sitting beside her with the pocket knife tight in her hands, her eyes locked on the door that had a desk pushed against it. "Sophia?" Emmalyn whispered gaining the girl's attention. "You passed out and... I dragged you here and... I could hear the ─ monsters growling... and I didn't know─" Emmalyn reached her hand out to the girl, and she took it instantly.

"You did so good, Sophia. I'm so proud of you," Emmalyn whispered to her genuinely before she pushed herself to sit up against the wall. "Hand me the knife, Soph," Emmalyn spoke gently, the girl did so and watched as Emmalyn used the knife to cut away the material of her camo pants turning them into short shorts. Emmalyn then removed the shirt from her wound, using what she could to wipe up the mess and take notice of the red surrounding it. With the material of the uncut side of the pants, she turned it into a makeshift bandage and tightened it, wincing and hissing as she did so but keeping the deep wound clean was all she could do.

"Is there anything in the shack?" Emmalyn asked Sophia who shook her head with a frown. "It's empty," Sophia told her with a sniffle, "I heard a gunshot earlier." Sophia wrapped her arms around herself as she looked around in paranoia. "No one would risk a single shot for the dead... hopefully everyone is okay," Emmalyn told the girl truthfully, she peeked out of the gap in the wall to see the sun was up. "We need to get to the highway," Emmalyn told Sophia before pushing herself to stand up from the ground, she took careful breaths as she leaned against the wall. Sophia watched the older woman with worry in her eyes but it seemed that Emmalyn was going to push through the pain no matter what.

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The two had been walking through the woods for a while now, Emmalyn was limping with every step and Sophia held the pocket knife in her hand tight while looking around and keeping an eye on Emmalyn who was tense. "Do you think they're still there?" Sophia asked Emmalyn softly, sniffling lightly as she pushed the tears away. "I'm sure they are and if not, they will have left something behind for us," Emmalyn assured the young girl, she took notice of Sophia's tears. "Hey..." Emmalyn stopped them and she turned to the girl, "I'll get you back to your mom, Sophia. I'd give up my life for you, sweetheart." Sophia looked up at her with a sniffle, "But you haven't promised..." She sighed before running her fingers through Sophia's hair.

Emmalyn wasn't a big fan of making promises to children, breaking a child's promise was a very painful thing for them; she would know that personally. "Because sometimes people can't keep their promises and that can hurt someone and I don't want to hurt you," Emmalyn replied to her. Sophia's eyes glistened with fresh tears making Emmalyn's heart clench, Emmalyn sighed before cupping Sophia's face in her hands, "I can't promise you will get back to her but I can promise to do everything in my power to try." Sophia managed a small smile at that, Emmalyn kissed the top of her head before they continued on their way towards the highway.

They stayed quiet as they approached the creek that they had started at, Emmalyn smiled down at the girl before grabbing her hand. Emmalyn knew exactly where to go from here, she slowly approached the highway where the car graveyard was noticing the lack of the RV making Emmalyn sigh. She looked at Sophia as tears built up in the young girls eyes prompting Emmalyn to quickly speak up, "Something could've happened and they couldn't stay. Your mom wouldn't leave you behind." Emmalyn turned to see a car with supplies sitting on it. She pulled Sophia towards it, "Told you."

Sophia smiled up at Emmalyn before grabbing one of the bottles and taking a drink. She looked around before grabbing an empty backpack, "Shove it all in here, I'm gonna check a few of the cars. If you see anything, under the car and stay quiet." Sophia nodded with confidence before stashing the supplies into the bag, Emmalyn turned around and made her way towards the cars she knew the others had avoided. She pulled out her spare knife and took out the Geeks before searching them, finding clothes, snacks and two hats. She turned to Sophia watching as she looked around the area carefully keeping her eyes peeled as she had taught her.

Once they were done, Emmalyn picked up a marker and wrote on the car, "Shack in woods... We are there! Soph and Emma." Before turning to Sophia and grabbing her hand as they wandered off back to the little shack. On their way back to the shack they were staying in, the two had encountered Geeks lurking in their path. "You know what to do?" Emmalyn asked Sophia, the girl looked up at her with wide eyes and she stepped back. "I─I can't..." Sophia stammered out while Emmalyn took out the closest Geek with the machete she had. "It's okay to be scared of them, I am too. But this is the world now and you need to toughen up and face it, I can teach you what I know but you are the one with the power to fight back," Emmalyn expressed honestly.

"I don't think I'm strong enough," Sophia whimpered as the final Geek took notice of them, it began stumbling towards them. "You are so much stronger than you believe," Emmalyn told her sternly, "You just need to prove it to yourself now." Sophia eyes widened in fear as groaning sounded behind her, Emmalyn quickly spun around in time to be knocked to the ground. Sophia stood there in fear as Emmalyn held the geek above herself, her arm under its throat as it tried to bite her. She knew she could take it down but this was a perfect lesson opportunity, she turned her head to Sophia with a strained smile, "Now, it's time to show how strong you are." Sophia looked at me like Emmalyn had grown two heads.

Emmalyn laughed slightly, "Use your knife, it's focused on me." Emmalyn grunted as she pushed it away a bit more while keeping its eyes on her. Sophia took a deep breath and Emmalyn kept her eyes on the preteen as she raised the knife before using all her strength to drive the blade into the Geeks head with her eyes closed at the last minute. Emmalyn pushed the dead Geek off of her and wrapped her arms around Sophia, "You did it! I am so proud of you, Soph." Sophia smiled at Emmalyn as she let go of her. Sophia walked over to the Geek and removed the knife from its head before turning to Emmalyn. She grabbed Sophia's hand and led her back to the shack they were staying in.

On the way back to the shack, they had managed to catch a few squirrels and a rabbit. Emmalyn was fairly impressed with how quickly Sophia was picking up on everything and began to question why no one bothered to try and teach her. Emmalyn skinned and cooked the food, they ate until their bellies were full which left smiles on both of their faces, they spent some time talking about Sophia's life before the world went to hell and she was once again relieved that Ed was dead, even Sophia was glad he was gone.

The two of them used the chance of new clothes to change, Emmalyn slipped on some black shorts along with a blank tank top with her leather jacket before tying up her hair into a ponytail. Emmalyn helped Sophia choose some blue jeans, a cute panda shirt and a denim jacket before braiding her hair ─ per her request. The two of them made themselves comfortable as Sophia pulled out a pack of cards making Emmalyn smirk, "All right. No poker though, don't think I have a chance of winning against you." Sophia laughed as they began a game of Go Fish, both feeling content despite the situation they were in.

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It was early in the morning, forth day, when Emmalyn heard a noise outside the shack, carefully she nudged Sophia awake telling her to be quiet as she readied her knife. She made her way to the door with Sophia a few steps behind her, she let out a deep breath before listening to the sound of steps. She couldn't hear any moaning and groaning so she didn't think it was a Geek meaning it had to be a person, she smiled softly at Sophia as reassurance. Emmalyn took a deep breath preparing to call out when a familiar voice caught her attention, "You think this is the shack she meant?" Her heart began to race as Sophia smiled widely, Emmalyn pulled the door open with a bright smile on her face as she spoke, "Damn right I meant this shack. Took your time."

Tears welled in her eyes at the sight of Glenn and Daryl standing before her, the two men turned to the ginger instantly and Glenn wasted no time in rushing up to Emmalyn and embracing her in a hug. Emmalyn hugged him back as he spoke, "You're alive! Oh, thank the lord!" Emmalyn laughed at Glenn's words before Sophia stepped around her and spoke, "I'm alive too!" Glenn and Daryl looked at the little one relieved to know that she was indeed okay and Shane's taunting words about their deaths were as meaningless as his presence in their group. Glenn knelt down and pulled Sophia into a tight hug as Emmalyn limped towards Daryl who was watching her cautiously, he took notice of her limp.

Daryl reached out for Emmalyn's waist, he pulled her towards him and slammed his lips onto her own. Glenn whistled behind them as Sophia giggled, Emmalyn melted against Daryl as he held her tighter; almost afraid that she'd disappear if he let go. He pulled away and looked her in the eyes as he spoke, "Don't ya go disappearin' like that again." Emmalyn smiled at him before she leaned in to kiss him again before saying, "I don't plan to." Daryl sighed before turning his attention to Sophia, "Let's get ye back to yer ma, she's been worried sick." Sophia smiled with a nod before Glenn picked her up and walked ahead of Emmalyn and Daryl, smiles on all of their faces as Glenn told the two females about the Greene farm.

"What happened to your leg?" Glenn asked the woman cautiously. "We ran into a couple of Geeks, one had this machete in its side... I pulled it free but got tackled and it was knocked from my hand... the Geek managed to pin me down and when I rolled us over, I managed to drive the machete into my thigh," Emmalyn explained to him as Daryl kept his arm around her waist to help her walk, her arm around his shoulders. "Daryl managed to pierce himself with one of his own bolts after tumbling down a hill... and Andrea almost shot him in the head," Glenn replied to him making Daryl tense up while Emmalyn laughed. "Match made in Heaven, huh?" Emmalyn teased Daryl who smirked slightly at the comment while Glenn and Sophia laughed amused.

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Rosemary Speaks

Many changes made and I find this version better than the previous,
those who remember the past, what do you think?

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!