➳ "WHERE is she?"

"Tess, wait," Michonne growled out, just as I came running down the stairs to the cellar. She grabbed my shirt's sleeve and yanked me back to her. "Don't do this."

I snatched my sleeve back and huffed through gritted teeth, "Do what? I want answers!"

"So do we," she claimed, just as Daryl walked up behind me. "Now, what we need to do is—"

"That's not your brother out there, y'know," I snapped, cutting her off before she could try to convince me otherwise. By the look on her face,  she didn't like how I just said that. "You have no idea what I am going through right now — what my kids are going through. I want blood for what they did to him. Dammit, it isn't fair!"

"I know it's not, but..."

"Hey," Daryl grunted out, picking up right where Michonne left off. I turned towards him and we faced off. "You ain't getting any blood from that girl. Not right now, at least. The guy that killed your brother is dead. Remember? You killed him... with your own fists. I don't think you need to be down here and trying to get answers by yourself."

As much as I wanted to slap the taste out of his mouth, I didn't want to be thrown in one of these cells, either. So, I gritted my teeth and accepted what I was being fed right now.

"Fine," I sighed out, nodding before my eyes met his again. "But, let me take watch."

"No."

"Down here," I barked out as he quickly answered me and tried to leave up the stairs. "Let me keep my eyes on her."

As much as I knew that they didn't want to leave me alone with the girl, they exchanged glances with one another before nodding to me. "We'll be right back," Michonne claimed, heading up the stairs before Daryl.

"She better be alive when we get back," Daryl warned before leaving with Michonne. They closed the cellar door behind them and, as soon as they did, I spun around and was starting to make a beeline to her.

However, before I could, a hand came out of one of the cells — which frightened me in the heat of the moment. "Oh. Sorry, Tess," the voice whispered until I looked up and saw Henry standing there, of all people. "Hey, what happened to Jesus?"

I shook my head and gulped down a huge lump. "Um, I... He's just gone, Henry."

He nodded and quizzed, "How's Mollie doing?"

I sighed and replied, "Not so good. None of us are, though." A slight pause before I had to ask, "What the hell are you doing in here?"

He gulped and shrugged. "Um, it's stupid." I leaned in and stared him down until I heard the answer. "I-I... I got drunk with some of the other kids here."

I nearly broke my neck when I shook my head, in total disbelief that he would do that. "Who? You mean... Gage, Rodney, and Addy?" He nodded and glanced down, avoiding eye contact with me. "Look, kid, I know that's not you, but that is them, though. You need to choose your friends more carefully, alright?"

Again, he nodded, but he felt my heavy eyes on him, so he looked up to try that nod again. "Yes, ma'am."

Henry had a lot of respect for his elders — and everyone, in general. I really liked that kid and knew that, no matter what, his heart would be in the right place.

I started to walk away and right to her cell when I heard Henry say, "Hey, um... I'm sorry about Jesus. I-I know how much you loved him. But, y'know, nobody's truly dead when you think about them all the time. He's still alive inside of you."

Somehow, what he just said made me smile than cry. I turned my head back around, looking at him over my right shoulder, when I grinned and nodded. "Thank you, Henry. Really."

Then, with that said, I finally made it to the girl's cell and slammed the bars behind me. She was still in the chair, wrists tied behind her back, and nearly fell out of the chair when I came in. She had that same horrify look on her face like she did before on the bridge.

"You killed my brother!"

"No, I didn't! I-I swear!"

"Yeah? Well, your fucking people did," I snapped back, not caring how high that I raised my voice up to. "Now, you're gonna pay for that. You hear me?"

"P-Please..."

I slammed my hands down on her legs — which made a thud sound — and screamed right in her face: "Do you hear me, little girl?!"

"Yes!"

I stood up and huffed, dusting myself off. "Good. In that case, that must mean that you're gonna tell us every little detail that we need to know. Correct?"

She shook her head and muttered out, "I-I can't." I lifted my hand up and she threw her head off to the side; as if, someone had done this to her before. "P-Please... Please don't hit me!"

I let out a huge deep breath and stumbled backwards, not exactly expecting that. "Tess?" I heard Henry call to me from the other side. "What are you doing?"

I shook my head and called back to him, "Nothing that concerns you right now."

Then, I turned back to the girl, who had slowly started to turn her head back towards me in fear. I took this opportunity to actually talk to the girl — who, like I stated before, was probably around Mollie and Henry's age. Just like how they are children to me, she is, too.

I bent down in front of her and slowly edged closer to me. "Hey, hey, hey," I whispered to her, putting my hands up in surrender for the moment. "I'm not going to hit you, okay? Has anyone else ever hit you before?"

She had her mouth closed firmly shut and I saw the movie of her life played through her fearful eyes. She was probably abused before she came here and, honestly, I didn't want to hit a child. Did I want to kill her? In some ways, I did, but... She was just a kid. I felt sort of bad for her. This could've been Mollie if Michonne and I hadn't found her when we did, abused and alone.

"You can tell me," I tried convincing her, using my soft and motherly voice to her. "Look, kid, I'm not going to hurt you."

"Bullshit," she spat back, but acted like she didn't want to even say that much.

Our eyes met when I tried to explain, "I won't hurt you as long as you tell me what I need to know." I shook my head and continued, "My twin brother was killed last night. Besides my daughters, I'm it for our family. My brother didn't deserve to die. I should've died, but he wanted to be the bloody hero. Again. I'm sure that you know what it's like to lose someone and, knowing that I have fresh wounds, you could try to level with me right now."

It was quiet for a moment, as we were probably studying each other like a book. I could see the signs of abuse on the girl by just how she acted. In some ways, it was like looking into a mirror with her because I knew — first-hand — how abuse worked.

When our parents died, Paul and I were forced into foster care when nobody else would take care of us. Some foster parents were kinder than others while the mean ones would hit us when something wasn't done right. I knew the signs and the girl had every last one of them.

I didn't expect her to drop everything and tell me everything that she knew, so I just sighed and gave in. Picking up all my broken pieces that surrounded me, I stood up to my feet and threw my hands down to my side. "I tried."

I started to walk away, even shutting the cell's bars behind me, when I had to accept my loss and walk away in defeat.

"What do you want to know?"

To my surprise, the girl called me back to her and I nearly broke my neck to look at her again. I furrowed my eyebrows together and quickly paced my way back to her, snatching those bars open and reentering the cage.

"Okay," I breathed out, trying my very best to stay calm and nice to her for the moment. "Let's just start off real simple. What's your name? Everybody has one. I do. My name is Tess Rovia. My brother's name was Paul, but everyone called him Jesus. What's your name?"

For a split moment, I believed that she was going to speak as her mouth opened to do so, but at the very last second, she clammed it back shut again. Fuck, I am losing my patience here. I understood the abuse, but the secrecy? Dammit.

"I have two kids. They're girls," I kept talking to her in that same soft and motherly tone that I had secretly put back in my inventory. "You might of already seen one. She was on the bridge with us. She's blonde and her name is Mollie. I have another one, she's about to be seven soon. Her name is Tory. It's short for Victoria. My girls aren't doing so well ever since they found out their uncle died. Mollie was there when it happened. She's traumatized and, well, Tory... She's so young and fearful. She can't accept it. Not right now, at least."

I felt like I truly yammering on and on, and she wasn't listening. But, I knew that she was. Tears fell down her dirty cheeks and I didn't know for why. Was it because of her or because of my story?

"I'm...," she croaked out, shaking her head and looking back up at me. She was still crying. "I'm sorry that you lost your brother and your kids lost their uncle. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry."

I didn't know what to actually say, so I just stood back with fresh tears in my own eyes, too. Then, before I knew it, the girl started to cry more and more with her head lumped over and her shoulders shaking with each sob.

Since I was a mother, I wanted to comfort her and tell her everything would be okay, but she wasn't my kid and nothing would ever be okay again. She cried out loud and the emotions wouldn't stop for her.

"I didn't... I didn't," she cried out, as I started to listen to every little thing that she said. "I'm sorry."

It was like she wanted to tell me everything that she knew, but she couldn't. She was sworn to secrecy by someone, and it was up to me to figure out who it was.

➳ "MUSIC, huh?" Alden asked Luke, hinting at what we had heard before about him. We rode separately on our horses, trying our best to track down Tess and them.

"Yeah," Luke replied, singing out. "Theory, composition, history... What do you need, man?"

Alden glanced at me and we exchanged grins with one another. "Well, there's this fair coming up between all the communities, so music might be nice. You play?"

"Uh, hell yeah."

"Yeah?" Alden quizzed, just to be sure. "Brie can sing pretty good, too."

I smiled to that just as Luke continued to say, "Violin, guitar, piano... Kazoo."

I started to giggle and asked, "Seriously?"

Luke smiled and nodded. "Yeah." To Alden, he asked: "You?"

"I've been known to sing from time to time with my wife, when I got enough drink in me, y'know?"

"That's perfect," Luke laughed, nodding. "We're gonna on a knock 'em dead at this fair, man. Two-man band."

"So," I breathed out, smiling at Luke. "You like Tess, right?"

Luke's cheeks immediately warmth with red while Alden stared me down, in disbelief that I would just ask that. "Really, babe? Is that really necessary right now?"

I just kept smiling while Luke cleared just throat and straightened himself back up on his horse. "Well, uh... Y-Yeah, I don't know. I mean, I do, but... Yeah."

"You need to ask her out when we get back!"

He shook his head and was very nervous, and probably embarrassed, too. "What do you mean? I-I can't do that..."

"You can," Alden now spike up, taking my side on this. He knew as well as I did that Tess needed love in her life right now. "You can just do it another day, though." Spoke too soon.

"You won't," I snapped back, turning my attention back to Luke. "But, today, you will."

"B..."

"When we get back, I got you," I reassured, not caring for Alden's warning tone. "You're gonna ask her out."

Luke shook his head and nervously scratched the back of his neck. "I-I can't..."

"Just do it, man," Alden finally said, giving in to my mind-games with Luke. "Because, let me tell you... If you don't, my wife will do it for you."

I smiled and frantically nodded when Luke nervously glanced my way. "Seriously, I will."

He looked away again, clearly very scared about the whole situation. I just couldn't tell if he was scared of Tess or not, though. It took a few moments, but he finally nodded and gave in.

"Fine," he sighed out, smirking. "I'll... I'll make my move when we get back."

Getting my way, I grinned from ear to ear and lifted my shoulders in excitement. "Good!"

We carried on for another moment before Luke suddenly blurted out: "Whoa, whoa, whoa."

I looked forward and saw what he was gasping over, two arrows in a tree. We came closer to the tree before Luke hopped off of his horse and headed over to investigate. He snatched one of the arrows out and examined it closer.

Then, a Walker appeared and started coming towards him. He appeared to be handling the situation fine by himself until he fell back on the ground. Alden immediately took out his spear and threw it, nailing it directly in the Walker's face.

However, Big Walker had a Little Walker attached to its ankle, still trying to get at Luke from the ground. Luke made quick word of the little one by hitting it right in its head with his boot, taking a much needed breather afterward.

I hopped down from my horse right when Alden came over to Luke, helping him up to his feet like the good friend that he was.

"Hey," Luke breathed out, hitting Alden on his chest. "Two-man band, symphony of awesome. Huh? Think 'bout it." I walked up to them and took a breather, too, when realizing that they were okay. Alden laughed behind Luke's back about the name. Luke now studied the arrow in his hand again. "This is Yumiko's."

"Sure?"

"Yeah, I'm sure," Luke claimed time myself and Alden, nodding. "Seen her build about a hundred of these." He glanced around until he pointed off and added, "And there's another one."

Alden and I followed after him, as he yanked another arrow from the tree. "So, she's leaving these for us to find, man. This is a trail."

Alden didn't so convinced, looking around us. "Eh, or just a couple stray shots."

Luke turned towards him and stared him down, knowing good and well that Alden could be wrong about this. "Well, money where your mouth is, we find a couple more of these that lead to our people, you're gonna sing at the fair, pal."

I thought that it was really cute how Alden was making a friend out of Luke so fast, as Al smiled and nodded. "Alright."

Luke used the two arrows and tapped them together to make a beat. He did so until we started to hear Walkers growling out in the distance. Alden ran back to his horse, getting his binoculars out to look through, while Luke and I followed after him.

Luke and I asked in unison, "What do you see?"

Alden took a moment before replying: "It's a herd, big one. Moving south." Shit. He put the binoculars down and added, "If we get caught on the wrong side of it, we're gonna be out here till morning."

"We can't risk getting caught out here, Al," I warned him, crossing my arms over my chest. "We gotta get back home to AJ."

"Okay," Luke stumbled out, raising his voice to questioning. "So, we go back or keep going? Your call, man."

➳ MICHONNE, Tara, and Daryl were now interrogating the girl... by force. Michonne and Tara screamed in her face while Daryl stood back behind the bars and I stood behind him.

No matter how loud they were or how many questions they asked, the girl wasn't going to give up anything — not even her name. By the little that she did manage to tell us, it sounded like she came from some kind of cult.

I took a deep breath and stood up, slapping my knees and starting to make my way out. "Hey," I heard Tara call to me from inside the cell. "Where you going?"

I shrugged and claimed, "Anywhere, but here. You don't have to be mean to her anymore."

"What?" Tara breathed out, her facing dropping. "Are you serious right now? Tess, her people killed Jesus just last night. Have you suddenly forgot 'bout all that?"

"Of course not," I barked back, not holding myself back now. "It'll haunt me till the day that I die, but we don't have to scream in her face anymore. It didn't work with me and it won't work with y'all, either. She's scared. Don't y'all see that?"

Michonne tilted her head and answered, "Yeah, but only because she's hiding something and she doesn't want us to figure out what it is."

I shrugged my shoulders and stuttered, "We all are, but she's just... just..."

Tara's eyebrows came together in confusion when he slightly stepped forward and questioned, "Is this the mom in you or are you being real right now? Because, only a short hour ago, you wanted to kill her."

If I was being honest right now, it might of just been the mom in me so quick to defend her. I took a heavy breath while forcibly raking my fingers through my head before doing a complete circle around for me to bounce back. "She's just a scared little girl, that's all I'm saying."

They were all silent, blinking and staring me down in confusion and question. I simply took another breather before announcing: "Now... If you would excuse me, I need to help prepare for my brother's funeral. He deserves that much. I need to say goodbye to him."

With that said, I spun around and flew the coop, leaving them all in disbelief.

➳ FOR Paul's funeral, I sat back and watched everyone come up one by one to place a nail in his coffin. For the most part, it was a quiet event while I sat in a chair next to Mollie while Tory sat in my lap and cried for her Uncle Paul.

Then, when it came time for us three to place a nail in his coffin, we quietly stood up and walked over there. Mollie went first before I had to help to Tory with hers before doing mine last for him.

We went to sit back down until Tara walked up, placed her hand on my shoulder, and whispered: "Would you like to say something about Jesus?"

Honestly, I hadn't thought about it since, in my heart and mind, he was supposed to live forever. I never planned on ever saying an eulogy at my brother's funeral. He was supposed to outlive me, anyways.

I simply nodded, as Tara grabbed Tory up and took my place in the chair next to Mollie. I stood before his coffin and cleared my throat, as everyone started to turn their attention towards me. For once, I didn't know what to say, so I suppose that I would make it up as I go along.

"Paul could be...," I breathed out before gulping, shaking my head and trying to put myself to together for this. "Well, he could be a lot of things. He was smart, trustworthy, reliable, handsome, and amazing overall. He beat to his own drum, even when he had his annoying twin sister by his side. Paul was always like that, though. Ever since I can first remember us growing up together. He was his own man and I am my own woman, and that's why we didn't make sense to a lot of people. We weren't your normal set of twins. We were our own person. Now that Paul is actually gone... I suddenly don't know what to do with myself. I guess that I'm just waiting on him to come back and tell me what to do since he always knew how to put me back in my own place again."

It was still quiet while I took a moment to glance around at all the teary-eyes. I couldn't hold myself back when I saw Tory still crying in Tara's arms, wanting her Uncle Paul to come back.

"If I'm being quite honest with you all, I don't know exactly how to function without him. He could get under my skin, but it was only because he was right and I was being stubborn. As usual." I paused and tried my best to contain the tears, but they kept on slipping out and sliding down my cheeks. "I just wanted us to live the rest of our lives in peace. He will always be the greatest uncle in the world to my girls and the best brother ever to me. I feel like I haven't seen him in years, though, but I knew that..."

I had to pause because my emotions were running over my words, so I took a breather before continuing. "No matter what, he would be here if I came over to see him. He would be here and happy, ready to embrace us with open arms. We will always miss him. It's just... I feel like half of me is gone now. It's like living with half a heart or one kidney than two. Now, my kids will have to grow up without their uncle around, and I don't know what hurts more. That or the fact that I feel the absence of his presence that was once always wrapped around me. I definitely can feel the bitter emptiness — like I'm hollow and see-through. I feel so exposed and beside myself, too."

I saw the tears slip down Tara's cheeks after she just lost her friend, too. I couldn't take this, as my chest felt like it was closing up inside of me, so I had to make this quick before I broke down in front of everyone. Again.

"I've said it before and I'll say it again... I really want my brother back. I will never, ever be whole again without him here with me," I breathed out before I turned around to press my hand on the top of his coffin. I was speaking directly to him now. "One day soon, we will be back together again, Paul. I love you. I love you. I love you. Rest easy now, but just know that your death won't go unpunished. I will slay the sheep that did this to you. You died for me, so I'm going to do the same for you."

I turned back around and, after seeing the look on everyone's faces, they heard me, too. I didn't care as I went back to my family to regroup and, just like that, everyone else were starting to leave, too.

However, just as I took ahold of Tory's hand and was about to walk away with her. She suddenly let go and started to run away, going straight towards Paul's coffin.

"No! Uncle Paul," she cried out, now embracing the coffin around its side. Everyone suddenly stopped and stared, bringing hands up to mouths and gasping. I saw Daryl's face, how it changed from sadness to anger, before he took off and going right for the cellar. "Please come back! I promise that I'll stay forever and ever. Just come back, please. I'll be good. Come back. Please, please, please."

My actual fucking heart couldn't take it as my heart broke for my young daughter, who was trying to convince a dead corpse to wake up and come back to life. I couldn't move and get her because my chest was starting to tighten from our loss.

Tara took it upon herself to run over and try to legitimately peel Tory off of Paul's coffin. She fought back, as expected, and went right back to hugging it; as if, she was protecting it from us.

"No! No! No!" Tory kept crying, pressing her cheek to it now, too. "He's going to wake up! C'mon, Uncle Paul, wake up! Please wake up... I need you!"

Alas, with the help of Tammy Rose now, Tara successfully peeled Tory off and took her in her arms while she kicked and screamed. "Noooooooooooo! He's gonna wake up! Wait! He's gonna wake up!"

I couldn't find the will to take care of my own child because I wasn't in the most stable mind right now, either. She is so young and innocent, not knowing about any kind of death until now. She didn't know how to deal with it and, to be frank, I couldn't deal with it, either.

While taking Tory back in the mansion, she screamed until her face was pure red back at Paul's coffin: "I need you!"

We all needed him right now, especially my sweet little baby girl, who was probably hurting more than me right now.

➳ THE trail of arrows led us right into the woods, as Luke pointed at another one and was ready to shove it right into Alden's face.

"You better warm up those vocal cords, mister," Luke teased, walking forward.

Alden tilted his head, but kept on walking. "Alright. We'll see."

"He's right, y'know," I giggled, nudging his side. "I'll even sing with y'all."

Luke nodded and laughed, "Oh, we're gonna need you."

We were almost to the arrow until a faint Walker's growl caught us off-guard. Luke started to take out his weapon until he was stopped dead in his tracks when we all noticed the lone Walker had also stopped moving altogether, and even stopped moaning, too.

Luke glanced at Alden and I, pursing his lips. "That's weird."

Nevertheless, all three of us took out our weapons and started walking towards the line Walker until others appeared through the tall grass and trees. We started to glance around our uneasy surroundings.

It was so weird, though. They all came forward and stood there like statues, quiet and odd. Honestly, I was frightened by this change of events. I grabbed Alden's hand and stood close to him, waiting for us to somehow bolt out of here.

However, just as we looked forward, that once lone Walker started walking right towards us without a limp. She had the arrow in her hand now and threw it at our feet before snatching out a shotgun from behind her back, pointing it straight at us.

"Trail ends here."

• Shit yeah! F I N A L L Y... Man, I am SO HAPPY that it's finally out there now! So, how did y'all like it? Did you like how Tess went from being mean to the girl (who Tess and them will learn is named Lydia later on) to being somewhat NICE to her? Weird, huh? I think that it's because of the mom in her. All well. Anyways, this was great and all, but I think that it will be the last time for Tess and them to mourn the lost of Paul for now. Time to stop crying as I know y'all aren't too fond of "Depressed Tess." I'm not, personally, so it's time for Tess to get her rage on. Am I RIGHT? Ugh, Alpha doesn't know who and the hell she is MESSING with when putting her hands on Tess's new man, Luke 😏 We'll see how it all works out in the next chapter, but it'll probably be a while before I update again. I am very sorry. All the love .xx •