⌜ chapter three ⌟

The group's still walking when Lori and Jess stop to look behind them. The others notice and turn to face them.

"You still worrying about it?" Andrea asks as she looks between the two women.

"It was a gunshot." Lori says.

"We all heard it." Daryl says, and she turns back.

"Why one? Why just one gunshot?"

"Maybe they just put down a walker."

"Please don't patronize me. You know Rick wouldn't risk a gunshot to put down one walker." She says. "Or Shane. They'd do it quietly."

"And where the hell is MJ?" Jess questions.

"Shouldn't they have caught up to us by now?" Carol asks.

"There's nothing we can do about it anyway. Can't run around these woods chasing echoes." Daryl says. "And MJ goes off by herself all the time. She probably just went back to look for Rick and Shane."

"Not without telling someone." Jess argues as she looks at him. "And every time she comes back, she's got another cut or bruise."

"We can't go back for them. We gotta beat the bush for Sophia, work our way back to the highway." He tells her.

"I'm sure they'll hook up with us back at the RV." Andrea says.

"We can't just leave MJ out there all by herself. We don't know if she went back for Rick, Shane, and Carl." Jess argues. "She could be hurt."

"We can't risk more people because MJ wants to play hero." She says, and everyone looks over at her. "In case you haven't noticed, she doesn't play well with others. She likes being by herself."

"Nobody likes being alone." She refutes, taking a step toward her. "None of you know a damn thing about her or what she's been through."

"How can we? She doesn't tell anyone anything about herself." She argues. "And what she does say is obviously only half truths, if not a flat out lie."

"When I knew her before all of this happened, she had a lot of family that she spent every single day with." Jessica tells them. "Then she and Jack show up at camp and it's just the two of them. Tell me something, would you go around telling everyone about the people that you've lost?"

"What do you want us to do?" Daryl asks. He knows a little bit about MJ — not as much as Jess, but more than the others. He wants to help her, but he doesn't know how.

"I don't care what you guys do. Keep going if that's what you want." She turns around and starts walking. "I'm going back for MJ."

He sighs as he watches her go. "Wait!" He calls after her, and she turns around. "You should stay with the group. I'll go back." He turns to Glenn and tells him what to look for while they continue back toward the highway.

Glenn leads the way, and Jess, Andrea, Lori, and Carol all follow him. Daryl shakes his head as he turns back and starts down the way that they came from. He's walking for awhile when he hears footsteps approaching fast. MJ almost slams into him.

"What are you doing?" She questions. "No, you're supposed to be leading the group. I was trying to get it away from you guys."

"What the hell are you talking about?" His eyebrows furrow as he looks at the makeshift torch in her hand. "What are you doing?"

She's got a ripped t-shirt wrapped around a long pointed stick and it's on fire. She used the matches that Rick found the day that he woke up in the hospital. She's had them with her all this time, always carrying​ them.

The blonde whirls around, hearing it behind her, and she grabs Daryl. "Shit." She curses, and he starts looking around. It's circling them.

"The hell's goin' on?" He questions.

"Don't​ shoot it." She says, and his eyebrows furrow again.

"What?"

"You'll only make it mad."

"What are you ramblin' about, woman?"

It runs past behind Daryl, and she spins around, keeping him behind her. It finally stops a few feet away from them, and his eyes widen as he looks at the monster. It's tall and thin as a rail, its skin is a slickly gray color and it has pointed teeth.

"The hell is that thing?" Daryl asks as he pulls MJ back.

"Wendigo." She leans forward, getting ready to charge at it. "Come on. Come on." She mutters as she watches it closely.

It runs at them, and she tries to swing the torch at it to impale it, but the wendigo knocks it out of her hand. The monster grabs her by her throat and lifts her off of her feet. The hunter grabs its wrist and raises her legs up, then she kicks its chest as hard as she can and it drops her. She lands on her back before quickly getting to her feet, then she runs for the torch.

The wendigo goes after Daryl and it grabs him, causing him to drop his crossbow. MJ runs forward and shoves the pointed torch through the monster's torso. It lets out a loud, blood-curdling screech as it stumbles to the side. Its body is soon engulfed in flames and it falls.

MJ sighs as she walks over to Daryl's crossbow and picks it up. Just as she looks at him, she hears someone clapping behind her. She spins around, raising the weapon in her hands.

"Bravo." Crowley says with a mocking smile on his face.

She lets out an exasperated breath and turns away from him. "Oh, look, Lilith's little bitch, back again. My day just keeps getting better and better." She shakes her head. "I thought I told you to go to hell."

"I much prefer it here on earth. You've been there, you understand." He says.

"I'd rather go back than continue talking to you for another second." She hands the crossbow back to Daryl, who looks more than a little dumbfounded.

"Answer my question, and I'll leave you to try and explain this mess to your friend in peace."

"Eat me."

"I'll make you a deal. You tell me—"

"I'll pass." She cuts him off. "Kissing your ugly mug once was bad enough."

"No contracts." He says, and she shakes her head.

"I'm not bargaining with you, Crowley. I'm not stupid enough." She tells him.

"No, but maybe desperate."

"Come on." She grabs Daryl's arm. "We should get back to the others."

"Tell me what I want to know, and I'll tell you where your brothers are."

"I know where Sam is." She tells him. "And if Dean's alive out there, I'll find him myself at some point."

"Sam's not in the cage." Crowley says, and she stops and looks at him. "Tell me what I want to know, and I'll tell you where he is. Him, big brother, Daddy Dearest... Mommy."

"Don't." She snaps as she lets go of Daryl and takes a step toward Crowley. "My mother is not a bargaining​ chip. She is not a pawn in your twisted little game. She's..."

"Dead?" He supplies. "Is that what you think? Jess is back. Why not your precious mother as well?"

"You're lying."

"Am I?"

"That's what you do. That's all any of you do. You're all the same." She says. "The last time I took anything you said and ran with it, Jo and Ellen died. Screw you, Crowley."

"I was playing nice before, but that can end at any time." He tells her. "I'll kill your little friend there and then I'll go back to the highway and I'll kill Jack too. All while you watch."

The angel blade is in her hand and pointed at Crowley faster than Daryl could blink. He has no idea what the hell is going on.

"You touch so much as one hair on either of their heads, and I will shove this blade so far up your ass, you'll choke on it." She says. "I have had my life ruined by you black-eyed sons of bitches. I am done playing your games. Go ahead. Send them after me. I will kill them all."

"I'd like to see you try."

A twig snaps behind MJ, and she throws the blade in the direction of the noise. It goes into the head of the man who was walking over to them. Daryl watches with wide eyes as an orangish-yellow light emits from his mouth and eyes, and a glow comes from his entire body like lightning across his skin. MJ walks over and pulls the blade out.

"I was trying to be civil." Crowley says.

"Your kind doesn't know the meaning of the word." MJ looks over at him again. "After all of the things that Azazel did. And Meg, Brady. Let's not forget about Alistair... I don't work for either side anymore. And I sure as hell won't work with you. You want answers, I suggest you look elsewhere."

"Sam and Dean thought they were turning into monsters." He walks forward until he's standing directly in front of her. "Wait until they see what's become of their sister."

"I don't care what you think of me." She says. "I'm done living my life the way others say I'm supposed to."

"Do you care what your mother thinks?" He thinks. "What about your children?"

"I make no excuses for the things that I've done. But I know my reasons. And I've seen the faces of people that I've saved... As well as the ones I've hurt." She says. "I lose sleep and I have nightmares. I've seen things that I wish I could unsee. I've been to hell and, yes, it has changed me. But I am nothing like you. You feel no remorse, you kill to get what you want. I will never make another deal with you and neither will my brothers or my father. Stay the hell away from me, and my friends. And if you ever threaten Jack again, it won't be your little minion on the receiving end of my blade."

MJ turns away from him and starts walking toward Daryl. She makes him go the way that he came from when he was looking for her.

"You'll thrive in this new world." Crowley calls after her. "You're more monster than you realize."

"What the hell was that?" Daryl questions.

"Nothing." MJ says, and he stops walking and looks at her. "That guy was already dead. The blade went through his head, that doesn't explain the blood on his torso."

"Who was that guy?" He grabs her arm and pulls her to a stop as well. "Who the hell was he? And why did that guy... Those lights..."

"Crowley... He's the king."

"Of what?"

"Hell." She turns away from him and keeps walking in the direction that the others are in.

They make it back to the group, and they all look at MJ and Daryl. "What happened?" Glenn asks. "Where'd you go?"

"We're gonna run out of daylight." MJ says as she walks past them. "We should head back to the highway."

"We'll pick it up again tomorrow?" Carol asks.

"We'll find her tomorrow." She calls over her shoulder, and they follow after her.

"M?" Jess jogs to catch up to her, and the older girl takes a deep breath as she glances over her way. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah." She nods. "Yeah, I'm good. I just gotta get back to Jack."

"How much farther?" Andrea asks after they've been walking for awhile.

"Not much." Daryl tells her. "Maybe a hundred yards...as the crow flies."

"Too bad we're not crows."

They keep going, MJ at the head of the group. She wants to get back to Jack as fast as humanly possible, but she also wants to avoid Daryl. She's afraid that he'll start asking even more questions. Mostly, she's afraid that he'll tell everyone else and then they'll want her and Jack to leave the group.

"As the crow flies, my ass." Andrea mutters, and then she hears growling behind her.

The group hears her screaming and they all turn, immediately running in the direction that it's coming from. She wandered a little bit away from them, and now they have to find her. They make it to her as someone on a horse rides through and hits the walker that's attacking Andrea — she hits it over the head with a wooden bat.

"Lori?" The woman on the horse asks as she looks at Andrea. "Lori Grimes?"

"I'm Lori." The brunette says as the rest of the group stops. MJ's steps falter as she sees the woman on the horse.

"Rick sent me. You've got to come now."

"What?"

"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." The woman tells her. "He's still alive, but you've got to come now. Rick needs you, just come."

Lori takes off her backpack, and Daryl tries to stop her. "Whoa, whoa, whoa. We don't know this girl." He says. "You can't get on that horse."

"Rick said you had others on the highway, that big traffic snarl?" The woman says as she looks at the others in the group. Lori's climbing up to sit on the horse. "Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm. You'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene." She tells them and then has the horse start running again.

The walker sits up, making noise, and Daryl looks at it. "Shut up." He shoots it with an arrow and then goes to help Andrea up.

"What the actual hell is going on..." MJ mutters as she walks over and pulls the arrow out of the walker's head. "I'm done with today."

The others quickly head back to the highway, and MJ immediately walks over to talk to Jack, pulling him away from the others. He gives her a confused look, but lets her drag him away.

"Let me see your tattoo." She says, and he pulls down the front of his shirt. On his left shoulder, under his collar bone, is the anti-possession tattoo that's identical to hers, her brothers', and their father's. It's the same as the symbol on her ring.

"What's going on?" He asks as he fixes his shirt.

"I ran into Crowley in the woods." She whispers, and he immediately tenses up, grabbing ahold of her hand. "He wanted me to tell him who resurrected Jess and the others. He said that if I didn't tell him, he'd kill you. But I couldn't tell him, Jack. Even if it was...Him." She sighs. "I just— I have this feeling, and I can't tell Crowley anything."

"No, I-I understand." He nods. "But I thought that we were hidden from the demons. How did he find you?"

"I must've lost my hex bag at the C.D.C. The night that I got drunk, I dropped my bag. My stuff fell out, but I thought I put it all back. I didn't realize it was lost. I'm so sorry. But he's not gonna hurt you, I promise. I won't let him. Nobody is going to hurt you."

He nods, but she can see how terrified he really is. A tear rolls down his cheek, and she rests her hands on either side of his face, wiping it away. She sighs as she looks into his scared blue eyes.

"You two wanna join the conversation over here?" Daryl asks, and MJ looks over at him as Jack wipes more tears from his face. They walk over to the others as Carol's talking.

"I won't do it." She says, shaking her head as she looks around at them. "We can't just leave."

"Who's talking about leaving?" MJ questions, eyebrows furrowed. She then wraps her arm around Jack, and he leans into her side.

"The group is split. We're scattered and weak." Dale says.

"What if she comes back and we're not here?" Carol questions. "It could happen."

"If Sophia found her way back and we were gone, that would be awful." Andrea says.

"Okay." Daryl nods. "We got to plan for this. I say tomorrow morning is soon enough to pull up stakes. Give us a chance to rig a big sign, leave her some supplies. I'll hold here tonight, stay with the RV."

"If the RV is staying, I am too." Dale says.

"I'm not leaving until we find Sophia." MJ tells them. "I'm staying here."

"Me too." Jack agrees, and Jess nods as well.

"Thank you all." Carol says with a weak smile.

"Well, if you're all staying, then I'm—" Glenn starts.

"Not you, Glenn. You're going." Dale tells him. "Take Carol's Cherokee."

"Me?" He questions. "Why is it always me?"

"You have to find this farm, reconnect with our people and see what's going on. But most important, you have to get T-Dog there. This is not an option." He says. "That cut has gone from bad to worse. He has a very serious blood infection. Get him to that farm. See if they have any antibiotics, because if not... T-Dog will die, no joke."

Daryl walks over to his motorcycle and pulls a big Ziploc baggie out of his bag. It's full of orange pill bottles. "Keep your oily rags off my brother's motorcycle." He says as he throws a rag at Dale after walking back over to them. "Why'd you wait till now to say anything? Got my brother's stash." He tells them as he starts going through the contents of the plastic bag. "Crystal, X. Don't need that."

"What's that?" Jack asks.

"Nothing." MJ shakes her head.

"Got some kick ass painkillers." Daryl tosses a bottle to Glenn. "Gave some of those to her after she cracked her rib." She points at MJ.

"Yeah, those things are strong." She says as he starts going through the bag again.

"Doxycycline." He tosses it to Dale. "Not the generic stuff neither. It's first class. Merle got the clap on occasion." He says, and MJ starts busting up laughing. Daryl looks at her, his eyes slitted.

"Sorry, I'm not laughing at your brother." She shakes her head. "Actually, I'm laughing at my brother." She says, and he walks away from her, seemingly unamused. "Right." She mutters, no longer laughing.