Birds squawked from above and light shone through gaps in the leaves, onto the muddy ground that Rio walked upon. He looked down at his feet as he walked, watching every twig they snapped, every rock they stepped over.
The small boy wandered through the forest aimlessly. It'd been three days since he lost his brother in these woods. He'd left in the middle of the night, when Rio was asleep, when he couldn't be caught. Rio had never been good with directions, he had relied on his brother for everything until now. He was starting to regret that decision, he wished he'd taken more situations into his own hands. He wished he hadn't listened when people said he was too young to do this sort of stuff.
Rio was so caught up in his thoughts that he didn't hear the rustling around him. He stopped suddenly when he heard it again, this time the sound of footsteps were more distinct. They must've been getting closer. His first thought: Walkers.
He pulled out a gun shakily as he heard voices; muffled, overlapping voices. There must've been about four or five, no, six. He couldn't hear. As frustrated as he was, Rio eased at the sound of their speech, the walkers didn't talk, the ones he knew didn't. They had to be human.
He turned towards the voices, and started to slowly step back, inching away from the strangers. He wouldn't turn his back to them. Not if he could help it. He was aware that humans could pose just as big of a threat as the creatures could. He'd experienced it already. Rio cursed under his breath as a twig caught hold of his shoelace, tripping him over. The boy scrambled up off the floor in fright and began searching for his gun.
It had been thrown to the side as he fell, sat beneath a tree. Rio crawled over grabbing the gun and placing his back to the tree.
He bit down on his lip, drawing blood at the sheer amount of pain he felt. A jagged stone had caught his leg. He'd fallen on it and dragged his leg across the floor in an attempt to scramble away. It ripped his jeans from his knee to the bottom of his shin and he let out a muffled yell. Rio winced, keeping his head up to avoid looking at the trickle of blood. If he looked now he wouldn't be able to bring his eyes away. Still, he knew the cut was deep. He could feel the growing pain.
Rio tried to stand straight, clinging to a branch as he hastily unloaded his pistol, checking how many shots he could fire. He stepped away from the tree and wobbled as he attempted to stay upright. It was easy as long as he didn't move. He froze when the slurred and suppressed voices drew closer, arm dropping, guard dropping.
He'd been found. Rio knew what a shout was and that was it. There was another holler and Rio tried to run. He held onto his baseball cap as he sprinted away not wanting to lose it. Footsteps were approaching, faster and faster. Soon enough, his leg began to give way. The hot pain took over and he stumbled through the forest, breathing heavily as he leant upon his knee. His hand caught the warm sticky blood trailing down his leg.
He dropped to the floor in complete exhaustion, only to be caught by the man chasing him. The stranger's hands were rough and they hooked under his arms, holding him off the ground as his legs swung numbly.
Rio's eyes fluttered shut for a second, head drooping as the man held him.
"Well shit, that's not Sophia." He announced, frowning as he turned around to face his group. He lifted Rio's head gently and pushed the hair out of his face, getting a look at him. He had a cross bow slung over his shoulder and short brown hair.
"Of course that's not Sophia," Another man replied sounding exasperated, Rio guessed he must've ran too. The man gestured to him, both hands outstretched. "That's a boy!"
He was wearing a blue jersey and a baseball cap, just like the one Rio had, it wasn't the same but the colours were similar, that was enough for him. The smaller boy touched the rim of his own cap, subconsciously thinking of his brother. He smiled a bittersweet smile, this stranger had his hat. Jesse always wore baseball caps, to Rio they'd become his thing.
"You thought that was Sophia?" A blonde woman asked, body slanted in an 'are you kidding me?' sort of way. She crossed her arms at the man and held a stern expression on her face.
"I saw a kid and I ran." The crossbow man defended. "Simple as that."
"Well what are we going to do with him now?" The blonde woman asked, Rio's head was spinning. Too many people.
"We can't leave him here." The last woman said. She had long brown curls and looked at Rio with the worry of a parent. Which is what he automatically identified her as, but he didn't see a kid here, not one young enough anyway. He wondered if they were gone too.
"Lord," she murmured, bringing her hand to her mouth, "Look at his leg."
"It's probably worse than it looks," The baseball cap boy assured her. "Just a lot of blood." It does hurt as bad as it looks, Rio thought to himself sourly.
"Kid? Kid? Can you hear us?" The man with the crossbow asked, Rio tried to nod but he was so out of breath that he just kept panting, his chest rattling. "I think he's deaf or something. Hello?" He was, but the man didn't need to know that. He proceeded to wave his hand above the boys face.
Rio's chest calmed eventually, enough for him to talk but he didn't know what to say. The man had long since put him down on the floor and the woman with the curls and the boy with the baseball cap were crouched on the floor beside him.
"Are you okay?" The woman asked.
"Y-yeah. Just my leg's hurt." Rio mumbled.
"Well that's a relief." Crossbow man replied, sarcastically. Rio shot him a look, not quite as threatening as he would've liked but hey, he had time to perfect it if he lived through this.
"Did you play soccer or something?" The boy in the cap asked. "You ran so fast, even with an injured leg, that was insane."
"He's a kid." The woman with the dark curls stated. "Kids always have energy."
"He can't be much older than your boy." A new woman said, Rio hadn't noticed her before now. She had short hair, shorter than even the men's and she seemed on edge, her eyes were constantly roaming the area.
The woman with the dark curls nodded, turning back to Rio. She studied him for a minute, taking into consideration what the woman with the short hair had just said.
"How old are you, sweetie?"
Rio scrunched his nose. She spoke too quietly.
"Your age?"
Thirteen. He knew he was. His birthday was seven days before the outbreak. He remembered watching the tv on his birthday, hearing about a potentially fatal virus that could pose a threat to the country if not contained. Look at where they were now.
"Thirteen."
"A year older." She nodded. "Still it's pretty close. Carl can't be that far off of thirteen now." She seemed sad as she thought about it.
"Have you seen a girl anywhere?" The youngest boy asked. He waved his hands around. "Blonde hair, about your age, she's got a doll?"
Rio shook his head, looking around at all the faces who were staring straight down at him. Like he was some kind of attraction. The woman with the short hair took in a sharp breath after he whispered "no." The blonde woman sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. Comforting her.
"We should head back." She suggested.
"Brother." Rio muttered. "My brother. Have you seen him? He looks like me but older, he's sixteen, he should have a rucksack on and... and..." he trailed off, unsure of how else to identify him.
"I... we can't say we have." The dark haired woman replied.
They all shared a grave look, one that Rio understood but wished he didn't. Knowing people doubted that your brother was still alive wasn't something you wanted to know.
"I'm telling you these woods are cursed. Three wandering kids!" The boy in the jersey muttered to himself. "What if I'm next?" He hissed.
The crossbow man and the woman with brown curls helped Rio to his feet. The wound was still fresh so blood continued to pour. Rio winced at the sight, turning his head away.
"I'm sure you'll be fine, seems like the woods only takes younger kids." The crossbow man said.
"That's not funny." The woman with curls replied, halting to a stop.
The crossbow man ducked his head. "Hm, sorry."
Lori, the lady with the curls, introduced them all to Rio. He made a mental list in his head, matching each name to what he'd been calling them previously.
The crossbow man was Daryl, Lori said he was "kind of an ass." Rio laughed at that, as immature as it was, he loved swear words. Jersey boy was Glenn, "he's okay." Blonde woman was Andrea "she's also okay." Rio wasn't quite sure, she always looked angry. The quiet woman with the short hair was Carol. Lori explained that they were all looking for her daughter. Sophia. She'd gotten lost in the woods.
The boy nodded, taking it all in and thinking to himself before saying "I'm Rio." He didn't remember if he'd introduced himself yet but now felt an appropriate time. "My brother is somewhere around here, I know it, we were staying not too far away."
"When was the last time you saw him?" Lori asked with genuine concern.
"I'm not sure. Three days ago?" He thought hard, remembering the first morning Jesse was gone and the second, had there been a third?
Lori let out a small hum, not continuing the conversation. They were at the back of the group, Rio knew he was slowing the woman down but she didn't seem to care. The boy didn't understand how she seemed to care for him already. They'd only met about five minutes ago.
As they walked, Andrea wandered from the group. She didn't stray far, Rio could still see her if he really looked, but yet they still heard screaming only seconds later.
"Andrea!" Someone yelled.
The screaming continued. After the screaming came the sound of hooves.
Everyone rushed over to Andrea, only to find a dead Walker and a woman hovering above on horseback in her place.
She had hair just touching her jaw and a baseball bat swinging in her hand. She looked frantic. She looked down at Andrea, splayed across the floor asking "Lori? Lori Grimes?"
"I'm Lori." The woman let go of Rio, subtly handing him to Daryl. She stepped forward, facing off the woman on the horse.
"Rick sent me you gotta come now." She demanded, her thick accent making it hard for Rio to understand.
"Rick?" Rio asked Daryl as he lent upon the older man's side. He didn't answer so instead he asked Glenn who looked down at him before whispering quietly. "Her husband."
"What?" Lori asked, so quiet it could've been just a breath. She turned her head back to the group, then back to the woman, not believing it.
"There's been an accident. Carl's been shot." The woman replied.
"Carl?" Rio asked again.
"Her son." Glenn informed him, face growing pale. Rio looked around, everyone looked shocked. Carl. Lori's boy. The one that was the same age as him. He had been shot.
Lori stood, frozen, her mouth hung agape and her eyes held fear, yet she didn't falter.
"He's still alive but you gotta come now. Rick needs you, just come!" The woman upon the horse pleaded.
"Woah woah woah woah. We don't know this girl!" Daryl objected, watching as Lori dropped her bags to the floor. She hesitated for a moment before climbing on, ignoring his words. "You cant get on that horse!"
"Rick said you had others on the highway? That big traffic snarl?" The new woman continued.
"Uh-huh." Glenn nodded.
"Backtrack to Fairburn Road. Two miles down is our farm, you'll see the mailbox. The name is Greene."
"Wait! Rio come with us." Lori said, cutting off the new woman, as if just remembering what she wanted to say. "Your injured come with us, you can't do all that walking."
Daryl shook his head, "She's a stranger."
"I'm okay." Rio murmured, not really feeling okay but he didn't want to admit it. He'd burdened these people enough just by being there.
"That's one nasty gash." The woman said, holding on tight to her horses reigns. "My daddy can fix it up for you." The way she said it left no room for interjections. Rio knew when to listen.
"Okay." He wasnt about to argue with the horse lady. He considered taking his rucksack off his back like Lori had, but decided against it. It wasn't big, didn't contain much.
"Quick, quick." Lori ushered.
They took off without another word. Rio closed his eyes not ever being on a horse before. He held on tighter that he would've liked to. His ears rang worse than before and wind fluttered around him, banging his eardrums as they went too fast. But he ignored it, not the worst problem.
His hearing was never the worst problem. It was good enough. That's what he's said to his brother every time he showed a sign of concern. That's what he said. "It's not that bad. It's getting better!" Rio tried to convince him but it didn't really work. He couldn't even convince himself, otherwise his hearing aids wouldn't be lying idle in his bag. He was almost completely deaf in his right ear now, his left ear working over time even though that ear wasn't fully functional.
Soon enough they broke through the forest, broke through his train of thought, coming out onto a field of long grass, surrounding a large farm.
As they got closer, Rio noticed two men stood in the porch, one old, one younger. The younger man was wearing a sheriffs uniform. A sheriffs uniform doused in bright blood.
He walked over as the horse drew closer and Lori didn't hesitate to jump off, embracing him in a tight hug as she let out a soft sob. Rio watched as she almost collapsed into his arms before rushing forward. The man, Loris husband Rio had assumed, led her inside.
The new woman, who Rio still didn't know the name of, jumped off the horse next. She stood beneath Rio, extending a hand. He took it and she slowly pulled him off her horse. The woman helped him down and carried him, walking up to the older man who still stood in the porch.
He didn't know how she'd managed to hold him up. He was small but not that small, surely?
"Found this kid, he's got a pretty deep wound. You want me to stitch it?" She asked the man, gesturing to Rios leg with her free hand.
"Clean it first. See how bad it is." He instructed, face not showing any emotion.
"Okay." She replied calmly. She took Rio into the kitchen and placed him upon a counter. He let out a sigh as she left to grab the first aid kit.
"This is gonna hurt." She warned.
Rio nodded along absentmindedly. Brother, brother, brother. That was all he could think about.