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Harlow Tenn stood with her arms crossed, she raised a brow as she listened to the three men argue over their next actions making her want to snap at them; maybe even shoot them. "Enough, please!" Harlow snapped as she slammed her hands on the table to shut the three men up. They turned their heads to her, she stood tall and crossed her arms against her chest with her usual smirk appearing. "This arguing gets us no closer to saving the people we have lost so... I suggest a different plan," Harlow expressed before looking to the person to her right, "You and I will go after them. We know how to track them."

The guy nodded his head before looking to his left, "Governor, I strongly suggest you go with Harlow's plan. We don't know how long our people will survive in the hands of Troy or Vincent." The Governor of a small town hardly known as Woodbury thought for a moment before giving in. "Fine. Harlow, you take Jason and lead a small group of my men into that warehouse, bring our people home and stop anyone who gets in the way," The Governor told the woman, she nodded her head with a determined look in her eyes. Jason was relieved to hear this, he looked to the man across from him and noticed the hesitance in his eyes.

The Governor walked away with his second -- Milton -- trailing behind him like a lost loyal puppy. "You don't like the idea," Jason voiced to the other man. "'Course I don't. We don't know what they are capable of," The man spoke while shaking his head. "Baby, you know what I'm capable of, that's what matters," Harlow told the man, he grinned hearing her pet name for him. "And if ye get hurt?" He asked her. "Come on, Merle, have a little faith," Jason teased before frowning, "Maybe we can pick up on clues about Daryl or Emma." Merle scoffed at that trying to hide his own concerns about his brother and friend, "Doubt it. Just come back alive."

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Meanwhile elsewhere, Emmalyn had found herself in a town not too far from Woodbury and she had encountered a family heading in that direction, they had told the ginger about the town and offered to let her join them but she refused saying she'd rather scope out the area first. In this small town, Emma had found new clothes that consisted of black jeans that were tight-fitting yet easy to move in, a black tank top with a hooded coat that was covered by her leather jacket for extra warmth matched to her combat boots that were fairly worn but still in a good enough condition. Her usual pocket knife was nestled in her left boot and her gun in its holster hidden under her coat.

She wore a new backpack that had her bow attached to it along with her quiver, both easily accessible if needed. Her newly updated medkit rested in her bag along with some canned food, a reusable water bottle with a few other items that were useful for picking locks. She had learnt pretty quickly that searching the pockets of Geeks would lead to more supplies, she had managed to locate more useful items that way. Emma was still adjusting to being alone in this world, not having someone watching her back was starting to turn the ginger into a paranoid constantly looking over her shoulder or barricading herself in rooms just to feel safe at night.

As Emma walked into the home she had been holed up in only to find someone leaned over her usual hiding place, she nocked an arrow in place and held it up ready to fire. "Stop right there," Emma spoke sternly, her voice felt foreign from the silence she lived in, "Hands up where I can see them, okay?" The person slowly leaned back on their legs and raised their hands up, their black hair was braided back and by the slim figure that Emma could see, she assumed it was a woman. "Alright, stand up slowly and turn around," Emma instructed sternly, she needed to make sure this person wasn't a potential threat to her.

The girl did as she was told, she turned around to reveal a teenage girl with tan skin and dark eyes that were pleading for help. Along with that, the girl was bruised and bloody as she whimpered slightly. "Do you have any weapons on you?" Emma asked her as she lowered the bow. "Just my knife," The girl replied, a slight accent to her tone that was soft and scared. "Okay, I'm not going to hurt you but let's clean you up," Emma assured her, the teen girl nodded and lowered her arms with a wince. "My name is Emma, what's yours?" Emma asked her, she took steady steps towards her so not to startle her.

"T-Taylor," Taylor introduced herself as she let Emma take her arm and inspect the bruises that were on them. "It's gonna be okay, Taylor," Emma assured the teenager, she motioned for her to sit down and then Emma moved to barricade the room safely to prevent anyone from getting in; the door had been spray painted to say dead inside to deter anyone from entering. "I'm gonna clean these up and then we can eat, how does that sound?" Emma offered. "Good... sounds good," Taylor replied with a small smile on her face. Emma cleaned Taylor up before getting some canned peaches out for her, she handed them over and sat back with a content sigh; it was nice to have company again.

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A couple of days went by and Emma had spent that time getting to know Taylor, the fifteen-year-old had been through a lot since the apocalypse had begun. Her mother had been torn apart within the first week of the apocalypse, her father died in the third month and her brother had died recently saving her life. Emma had grown to adore Taylor fairly quickly, the teenager had been through too much and was left alone to survive instead. And Emma had made a promise to the girl -- not verbally -- to keep her alive for as long as she possibly could and so that meant teaching her all she needed to survive their new world.

Taylor was a fast learner, she was optimistic and a willing talker at the right times which seemed to filled the time for the two of them and soon enough, they were halfway through winter and its harsh conditions. But Emma had grown sick leaving Taylor to take charge in hopes that rest would help Emma get better quicker. There was a prison not too far from where they were currently staying at. Three small towns were within the area of the prison and the two survivors were within the town closest to the large building. Emma wouldn't go to the large building knowing it would have to be overrun with walkers.

Anyone who took their time to go in and take out the large buildup of walkers in there were crazy but that wasn't Emma, not yet at least. The strong walls were tempting to Taylor but alone, she'd never survive against that place. So, Taylor didn't dare to face that challenge knowing that Emma needed her right now; leaving her alone in her current state would be a death sentence on the older woman. Emma's wounds weren't healing properly due to exhaustion, dehydration and malnourishment nor could her body fight against the flu that had taken her. And Taylor was scared she'd lose Emma if she got worse, she needed to do something.

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Emma spent a lot of time perfecting her aim or teaching herself to fight better. She was training her body's stamina and agility, which surprisingly was working out well and Taylor was there to tell her off but let her do it. Emma was pleasantly surprised that she had so much strength, she thought she'd be dead by now; especially due to being sick. So she and Taylor walked endlessly through the wooded area in search of something better to eat than Squirrel -- but then again -- food was limited and just about anything was good enough. But it didn't take Emma long to spot a nicely sized deer in the distance, so she hoped this time they would actually catch it.

As Emma steadied her bow aiming perfectly towards the deer, she took a deep breath before freezing in place. A gun clicking echoed from behind her and Taylor followed by the tip of a gun resting against the back of her and Taylor's head, she let out a slow breath before lowering her bow. "Well, 'ello there poppet... What's a couple of gals like you doing out here all on your lonesome?" The man spoke in a teasing tone, his gaze focused entirely on Emma which made her skin crawl. With the assumption that he was alone, Emma smirked before grabbing the arrow and turning swiftly, shoving the arrow into his leg.

Emma tackled him down and managed to kick the gun away, she punched him in the face before grabbing her bow and jumping up. She looked back at him again before rushing away from him with Taylor in tow, panting as she reached a nearby house where they had left their bags and stashed away a few things. As Emma pulled open the door, a gun was raised in her face. "Sorry love, but we have orders..." The man spoke before she felt something hit her in the back of the head, knocking her down to the ground half awake; Taylor following soon after her.

She could barely see as one of them picked her up and threw her over their shoulder; another doing the same with Taylor. "You'll regret what you did, poppet. Wait and see," The one limping behind us spoke. "Oh, shut up, Will. Boss will decide her fate, not you," The one carrying Emma replied as her head pounded from the hit. "At least let me have some time with her, John. Before you take her to the boss," Will asked with a slightly smug tone. "Will, I'll leave you to the Muertos if you don't shut up," John told him as he continued walking at a faster pace as Emma gave in to exhaustion; Taylor blacked out on another's shoulder.

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Rosemary Speaks

Big changes made to the story and Taylor has been introduced. A reminder, Taylor is played by Jenna Ortega.

Also, you get an insight to what Merle is up too alongside Harlow and Jason :)

Thoughts, Suggestions or Questions?

See you in the next chapter!