CHAPTER FORTY SIX,
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RICK'S WORDS KEPT repeating in her head, bouncing around at her skull to try and meet comprehension, but that seemed to fail her. Samantha's throat clogged up, as if she had swallowed a bunch of water and she was choking on it.

"Shane never made it off the farm."

"W-what?" She spluttered, her arm falling from Maggie's shoulder and holding her hand to her stomach. She could fell the sickness there, desperately wanting to be let out.

"Shane..." Rick was in great conflict, not able to meet her eyes because all he saw was his best friend. He could still feel the warmth of his blood, the screams he had let out that night. "Shane didn't make it."

Samantha let out a shaky breath, her brain racking and stuttering and losing all control. She gazed around the room, and at all the survivors.

She found Daryl Dixon, who had stood from his spot on some steps and was watching her with guarded eyes.

This has to be a joke, Shane is pulling a cruel prank. The young woman desperately assured herself, trying to contain her posture.

She forced a weak laugh. "That's not funny," Samantha smiled despite the tears that were building up in her eyes, the heart in her chest feeling as if it were going to cave in. "Jokes are meant to be funny, Ricky."

"Sam-" Glenn placed a hand on her shoulder but she shrugged it away.

"Please, its not funny," Her laughter became choked, trying to find the cop's eyes but he kept avoiding her pleading stare. "Y-you can stop joking now."

Finally Rick lifted his head, his blues glistening and appearing like oceans during a storm, the waves at war with one another. As soon as she saw this, how serious he looked, that's when reality finally came crashing down and almost took it with her.

"He's dead."

For a second, Samantha was unable to hear the outside world. Everything was muffled as she slowly sunk to a darkness as if she were nothing but a heavy stone. Her brain was shutting down along with all her senses, heavy breaths leaving her body.

The survivors didn't move from around her, cautiously watching the girl and awaiting her reaction. Some wondered when their leader was going to tell the whole truth, that he had been the one to take away the life that was so important to her.

But he didn't utter another word.

Then Samantha could feel it, and she could feel it all.

Hopelessness.

Grief.

Pain.

Anger.

The anger was hot around her, like she had just stepped into a wildfire and she was letting it become one with her.

Shane has promised her. He promised her. He promised her.

"What do you mean he's dead?" The shock of her harsh voice took some of the survivors back.

Daryl glanced at the ebony haired beauty and back at his partner. He wondered why Rick hadn't told her yet - what had happened to Shane Walsh.

"He's not dead, he's not dead!" She didn't wait for an answer, everything inside of her coming alive and flashing with undeniable scorching heat. "He promised me, he promised me he would be back!"

Rick's gaze dropped, his consuming guilt becoming his weakness.

Her hand flew to the 22 around her neck, memories propelling towards her on what she had to do to get here - what had happened to her to get to this point. All the pain, all the hope, all the dignity stripping things, all happened in vain.

Samantha remembered Nathan, her best friend who had betrayed her, had been right all along. It was another painful jab that made her knees feel weak, a scream wanting to crawl from her throat.

She was never going to see Shane again.

"No," She whispered and shook her head, gentle sobs escaping her shaky lips. "I can't...I can't be here!"

There was sadness pinned on Maggie's face. She reached for Samantha but she jerked away, unable to take anymore of the survivors stares so she ran.

She ran until she could no longer hear their shouts, ran until the wound on her chest started to ache and the weakness return.

She barged through a door and the sun hit her face, glaring down at her and heating her skin. She needed to have some form of release, she needed...

Her fingers clung to the steel of the fence as if it was her own life, the world and the tears feeling heavy around her. It felt like everything was closing in, wanting to squeeze every ounce of life out of her. l

Her fingers pulled at her knotty hair with her mind replaying her moments with her big brother, desperately trying to seek some comfort but it was all just another attempt that ended in failure.

Shane was dead, he was never coming back. Samantha was alone in this world, a world that he and her were supposed to beat together.

Samantha looked up at the sky, more anger curling up in her chest and pairing with such an anguish that she hasn't felt since Jean had died.

Somehow this was more greater, much more pulling and much more devastating. It felt like something within her had died, something that had snapped and she couldn't get back.

She screamed.

━━━━━

Finding Carol Peletier brought a brief solace to Daryl's mind that he seemed to breathe it out after her eyes fluttered shut, resting after her tiring period of time.

But he wasn't at peace, not yet at least.

Hershel had a deep frown that twitched his white beard, many thoughts wrinkling his mind. He sat on the stairs with the Dixon in front of him, glancing at the woman's cell before looking back.

"She's lucky she's got you," Hershel said. "She could've died if it had been a few more days."

Daryl needed a smoke, but with how close the newborn was he didn't want the fumes to travel to her. "She's a strong one."

Hershel heaved a tired sigh from his even more exhausted body. "Have you spoken to Samantha?"

Daryl averted his gaze. It was a strange feeling whenever he heard her name, something he has avoided all through the winter until the moment he found her in the storage room closet.

It didn't feel real that she was here, as if she wasn't even supposed to be alive at all.

He had buried her, and for her to come back from the supposed dead was a phenomenon he couldn't explain.

"Seemed like she wanted to be alone."

He could feel the older man's stare burning onto the side of his face. "Rick didn't tell her, and I'm afraid what will happen if she'll hear it from someone else."

"She ain't gonna kill anyone." It seemed like Daryl kept repeating himself, but deep down he truly didn't know.

This world can change and evolve even the most decent folk, and Samantha was no exception to that power.

Hershel opened his mouth to speak, but nothing came out as he gazed forward. Daryl acknowledged his sudden silence and turned around.

The white that was supposed to surround her eyes were red, tear trails dried on her cheeks and her jaw clenched. She looked numb, yet fully guarded at the same time.

"What happened to your leg?" Samantha asked, her voice sounding hoarse from all the violent cries that ripped her throat. She was looking at Hershel's nub hesitated, as if it would offend the older man.

The old vet merely smiled kindly. "Rick saved my life."

Samantha was uncharacteristically silent, contemplating and thinking deeply. She looked afraid to ask, to even speak.

"Did Lori have her baby?"

She was gazing at her feet, and for a singular moment, Daryl caught himself wanting her to look at him, anything else.

"Yeah, a baby girl," Hershel was the one that answered. "Do you want to see her?"

There was that silence again, so unlike her and so new to him. He was unable to read her emotions, something he was so used to doing back at the farm.

"No," She whispered. "Lori is dead too, isn't she?"

"Yeah, so is T-Dog," Daryl swiped a tongue over his bottom lip, wondering why it had become so dry. "He died protectin' Carol."

Then she finally met his eyes, revealing how miserable she actually was. The green in her irises were darker, murkier, something he has never seen before on her. It was evidence of a unpredictable changing within her.

Her blood stained lips quivered, and she looked at the cell that Carol was residing at. Without another word, she entered the cell and Daryl and Hershel exchanged a look.

When he decided to follow her he saw Carol sitting upright and the two women staring at one another.

Her maternal instincts seemed to kick into life, and so she stood, pulling the young woman into a motherly embrace that was definitely needed.

To the twenty year old it soothed her, to be given the care that she didn't even know that she needed. She never had a mother to begin with, and Jean wasn't a very affectionate person, but Carol knew, and provided that all for her.

"I'm sorry, honey," The weak woman whispered into her ear, pulling back away. She was dirty with grime and blood, but Samantha didn't care. "You look-"

"Awful," Samantha finished, forcing a smile that didn't meet her eyes. "I've looked worse, Carol, I promise."

Carol found Daryl and the corners of his mouth twitched, before the sound of commotion pulled his attention away, and hers was brought back to the young adult.

"Where have you been through all these months?"

Samantha didn't know how to respond at first. Where would she even begin? She didn't want to put herself into those past situations again.

"Hell," She finally answered. "But I found home again."

The older woman's lips twitched up, placing a comforting hand on her cheek before her eyes trailed to behind her.

"Oh, God," Came Carol's weak breath, pulling away from her and smiling widely as her arms went around Rick's neck. "Thank God. Thank God."

"Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must have passed out dehydrated."

Samantha felt like she was out of place, like she didn't belong there, but after she met Daryl Dixon's eyes, she suddenly felt otherwise.

She was definitely home, but it felt like there was something missing, an emptiness she could not be relieved from.

Beth appeared from behind her father with a bundle of blankets being cradled in her arms. Samantha could make out a little form of life. That's when she knew what she was missing, a heavy feeling weighting down on her chest and crushing her heart.

Shane.

It became very hard for her to breathe in that very moment, looking at that baby that looked so much like Lori but held the same color of eyes as her big brother. It was too much to handle.

She refused to look any longer.

"Excuse me." She choked out, squeezing past the bodies of embracing survivors.

The baby gurgled when Samantha walked past, but she refused to give in. She couldn't look at her, not yet.

She could feel the eyes burning holes into the back of her head, heating it up as if she were outside in that hot sun again. Her hand was over her stomach, choking on her emotions.

She was trying so hard not to cry.

Samantha hasn't been this distraught since Jean had died. It was like she lost control of her emotions, a weakness to her that she was not keen on.

It hurt so much, adding onto the thought of everything happening to her to get to this point being all in vein hurt just as bad.

Shane was dead, and so was she.

The tears were wet on her cheeks, and she looked up. She saw dark, hawk like eyes looking at her, a frame of familiar dreadlocks.

This made the tears stopped. Everything ceased, and the shock of who she was looking at reeled in instead.

"Michonne?"

━━━━━

After much persuasion and vague explaining, Rick finally let her go near Michonne.

As soon as the cell was unlocked Samantha scurried through, falling on the floor next to her and looking at the bullet wound on her thigh.

The group behind her paid one another looks, noticing how the stranger was a lot more comfortable with Samantha around.

"Jesus, they hunted you down too?" She asked, lifting her head up to meet Michonne's gaze. She didn't need an answer - she already knew. "Who shot you?"

"The same son of a bitch that told everyone you were dead." Michonne spat venomously.

Merle Dixon.

As soon as she thought of him, she glanced over her shoulder and at Daryl. His brother was alive, but Samantha did not tell him. It made her feel terrible.

She was afraid.

She was so afraid that if Daryl found out where Merle was, he would go to Woodbury and end up in the dirty grasps of Philip. It was selfish, but she didn't want him to get hurt or worse.

Samantha would rather him mad at her than dead.

"We can tend that wound for you," Rick started from behind her. "Give you a little food and water, and send you on your way."

Michonne's gaze turned into a glare as she stared up at him, unresponsive and still. She had become tense then, holding onto her wound and nothing else.

Rick continued after a moment. "But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us, and how you two know each other."

Samantha looked back again, swallowing down the lump in her throat. She didn't want to tell them about that horrid place, expose the scarring memories. She had just found them, and she didn't want to lose them again.

"At one of the places I came across, Michonne was there. That's how we know each other," She explained, trying to keep any important details out. "She's good people."

"Why was she carryin' baby formula?" Daryl's voice drawled. Samantha found herself peering at him, and he flickered his gaze away.

She looked back at Michonne quizzically, wondering herself about baby formula. From what she knows, she didn't have a child with her.

"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy," The woman spoke steadily. "With a pretty girl."

Samantha's mouth parted in shock, repeating those words over and over again. Glenn and Maggie.

Her stomach turned with fear. If Merle was hunting Michonne-

"Were they attacked?" Hershel pressed, concerned for his son in law and eldest daughter.

"They were taken."

Dread came forward and made her heart stop. She didn't want to believe that Woodbury was connected to this, and Merle had to be the one that had taken them. This wasn't good, not at all.

"Taken by who?" Her group demanded.

Michonne met her eyes then, repulsion swirling in her guarded eyes. "By the same asshole that shot us."

Samantha almost uttered his name out loud, but she remembered Daryl was in the same room. She couldn't lose him too.

But it was Glenn and Maggie.

Rick lowered himself down next to Samantha, his expression contorting firmly. "Those are our people," He growled, his voice raising. "Tell us where they are, now!"

He grabbed the wound on her thigh and pressed down. At the sound of Michonne's cry a reaction was forced from Samantha and she shoved Rick away with all the strength her fleeting anger mustered.

"You don't touch an injured woman like that!" She snapped, her face twisted up into a glare.

Michonne tried to stand, fight kicking into her system but Samantha was quick with her hands as she placed them on the defensive woman. "Don't you ever touch me like that!" She pointed a finger at Rick.

"You better start talkin'," Daryl warned. "Or you'll have have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound."

Samantha turned her glare to the redneck and he met her eyes, the crossbow tight in his grip.

"Michonne," She said softly, looking back at her. "That group I was looking for - this is them. Those two people that were taken, they are a part of this group. That man over there," She gestured towards Hershel. "That's the pretty girl's father. These people are the good ones, way better then the ones that hunted us down. Just cooperate with them and trust me."

Michonne peered at her, trying to remember any moment if the young woman had ever crossed her in an opposing way.

Samantha had been the one who warned her, and she had also been the one that was hunted by the same people too. In reality, they had been in the same boat.

She nodded her head.

The younger Walsh sighed deeply, hoping her thoughts were wrong and that Maggie and Glenn were taken by someone else that wasn't Merle Dixon.

She hoped that town wasn't involve with this. She hoped she didn't have to go back there.

She was very wrong.

"There's a town. Woodbury. About seventy-five survivors. I think they were taken there."

Shit. Samantha let out a breath, pulling herself from the ground and sitting at one of the tables. She felt sick all of a sudden.

"A whole town?" Rick asked.

"Yes," Came Samantha's reply.

They all turned to her. Daryl took in her shaken up appearance, how her voice had become small like a child.

She continued. "It's run by this person, calls himself the Governor," His name tasted horrible on her tongue, bringing back memories of a dark room and screams that went unheard. "He's a bad man."

Daryl's brows furrowed. He could see so much in her eyes, yet that's all she would let noticeable. What had happened to her was so close yet too far from his grasps.

Michonne continued for her. "Pretty boy; charming; Jim Jones type."

Samantha's hands were shaky, and she clasped then together to try and keep them still, but now it was just a ball that shook.

She could feel Daryl watching her.

"He's got muscle?"

He's got Merle and Nathan She almost answered.

"Paramilitary wannabes," Michonne mocked. "They have armed sentries on every wall."

"You know a way in?"

"I do," Samantha butted in again. "There's a window that's unlocked, a small error in their security. That's how I got out."

Rick peered at her again and when their eyes connected, he forced them back onto the stranger out of guilt. "How did you know to get here?"

"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, said it was a straight shot."

Samantha frowned. "Did he hear about this prison?"

Michonne shook her heard.

She could tell that there was not going to be a debate about this, that they were leave for nightfall and go to the place that Samantha could see with her eyes closed.

She was scared, knowing she was going to have to push back the pain of her wounds and the agonizing grief until the battle was settled. She needed to make sure they were safe before she focused on herself, no matter how miserable she was.

Samantha knew what he was like, and she thought about Maggie the most. She didn't what what had happened to her, to happen to someone else. It was too much a painful fate for anyone to meet.

She refused for it to happen to anyone else.

That's when she felt it again, the same feeling when she had bit the Governor's ear off, when she had cut open Keri's throat.

Rage.

Samantha Walsh was utterly infuriated, an unkempt hellfire. All the pain, all the anger, everything that stabbed her like knives - she was going to project onto that forsaken town. Maggie and Glenn needed to be saved, she'll make sure of it.

But Phillip Blake had to suffer.

(ﾉ◕ヮ◕)ﾉ*:･ﾟnote

this chapter was shitty oml

IM SORRY IT TOOK SO LONG. like online school is tough but Monday was my last day so thank god lmao

anyway so i published my Wolf Among Us fic, and it would mean so much if you guys went and spammed it with all the love because my bby Hadlee deserves it. it took almost all of my high school years for her to actually be written lmao

GO CHECK IT OUT LUVS

words ; 3431
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