Mercedes and her new dog companion, Juniper set off as soon as the sun came up. With full-- halfway full stomachs the two had a good feeling about the day. Something good was gonna happen, Mercedes just knew it.
Juno decided to lead the way. Since the dog of the group wanted to lead the way she of course decided on the route through the woods. Mercedes didn't care though, she was no longer alone so it didn't matter to her.
The husky leading the way has a happy look on her face and her head is held high, Mercedes wasn't the only one that wasn't alone anymore. She happily glances around at the trees and birds flying through the sky with her tail wagging.
Suddenly though, the two started to hear men talking. Mercedes eyes widened and she looked around. She couldn't pinpoint the exact direction the sound it coming from.
"Juno, go hide." Mercedes pointed her finger.
The dog looked at her still wagging her tail. The voices got closer and Mercedes held her breath. "Please! Just go!" She whisper-shouted waving her arms towards the dog.
Juniper sunk down towards the ground with a scared look in her eyes. She then ran away with her tail tucked between her legs. Mercedes frowned, feeling bad for scaring the dog.
The girl sighed and looked at the tree beside her. It had enough limbs she can use to climb up. She nodded to herself and quickly started to pull herself up on the limbs. Soon she was far enough up so she doesn't get spotted.
Moments later a group of men walk under her. They all spoke to one another. Mercedes could already tell that those men were bad news.
Her eyes trailed over each of the men until they landed on one man towards the back of the group. One very familiar man, Daryl Dixon.
Her eyes widened and she got the sudden urge to jump down and run to the first familiar face she had seen in forever. But her gut told her that it would be a bad idea.
Mercedes bit her lip and grabbed one of the pine cones off of the tree. She tossed it and hopped that it would hit the man.
Suddenly Daryl was hit in the back of the head with a pinecone. He looked up and started to look around. His eyes landed on Mercedes and they got an unreadable look in them.
Mercedes waves at him with a relieved grin on her face. Daryl let the sides of his lips twitch up momentarily. He shoom his head slightly, telling her to stay put.
Mercedes nodded and watched as the man walked away to catch up with the group of men ahead of him.
She waits a few seconds before quickly climbing down. As much as she would like to go look for Juniper she couldn't, not if she wanted to follow Daryl.
Mercedes looked in the direction that Juniper ran in. "Juno!?" She called out hoping the dog would hear and run back.
A smile appeared on her face when she saw her dog running towards her. "C'mon. We gotta follow 'em." She said petting the dog.
The two of them then set off following Daryl's tracks to the best of their abilities.
Later that night Mercedes aimlessly marched through the woods. She and Juno had lost sight of Daryl and his group a few hours ago but Mercedes wasn't ready to give up yet. She knew that all she had to do was find Daryl and everything would be okay. She'd have someone she thought of as family with her and maybe they'd be able to find the others. Maybe her dad and Ross. She missed them a whole lot.
Juniper let's out a low growl when the sound of fighting and men yelling echoes throughout the night air as the two near the edge of the woods. Mercedes quickly got behind a near tree. She then peaked around and tried to see past the trees.
Her eyes landed on Daryl getting beat up, Rick and Michonne had guns pointed at their head and Carl-- Carl was pinned down to the ground by a chubby man.
Mercedes gasped keeping herself hidden. Suddenly Rick and Michonne started to fight back.
Before Mercedes could creep out of the woods Juno's fur stuck up in their air and she darted off towards the man that was on top of Carl. Juno jumped on the man causing him to fall back. She then started to tear the man up.
"Juno!" Mercedes shouted pulling out her knife. She started running towards the dog, the man and Carl.
By the time she reached the three the man had already died. Juno growled, blood drips from her fur. "Hey, it's okay. You killed him. Good girl." Mercedes cooed crouching down.
Juno let out a soft whine and slowly walked over to the girl. Mercedes pat the top of her head. She then turned to look at Carl who look scared and a little shocked.
"Carl." Mercedes softly said and the boy wrapped his arms around her causing her to fall onto her butt not being able to stay steady.
The next morning Mercedes laid in the backseat of the broken down car with Carl. Michonne sat in between the two with Carl's head in her lap. Mercedes had just fallen asleep. She finally felt safe enough to actually fall asleep fully without having to keep her guard up.
Daryl and Rick are outside the car sitting with Juniper. The two men talk to each other about after the prison fell. Daryl even told Rick that he, Beth and Ross had escaped the prison together but now it was just him.
Later that day the three adults, two young teenagers and the only dog set off towards Terminus. Carl and Mercedes walked at the back of the group. Mercedes kept glancing over at Carl worriedly. He was being very quiet and he looked very distant.
The group cut through the woods. Soon enough they reached the edge of the woods where they could see Terminus. They peaked through the chain fence to get a look at the place.
"We all spread out, watch for a while, see what we see, and get ready." Rick said. "We all stay close."
Mercedes and Juno walked away with Daryl down the fence. "Is my brot-- Ross... Ross is he dead?" Mercedes asked looking over at the man. She had almost said brother. Funny thing was she didn't even know why.
Daryl glanced at her. He slowly shook his head. "Taken." He muttered looking away.
The Warren girl nodded looking at the ground. "Oh..." She sniffled a little.
Daryl cleared his throat. "Where'd you find Cujo?" He asked glaning at Juniper.
Mercedes laughed a little. "Cujo? Funny... She found me though."
The two continued to walk for a few more minutes before heading back to meet up with the others.
𝖤𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝖿 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗉𝗍𝖾𝗋
𝟧.𝟤𝟤.𝟤𝟥
𝟤:𝟧𝟩𝗉𝗆
𝟣𝟣𝟨𝟢𝗐𝗈𝗋𝖽𝗌