Rick staggered forward, towards the trembling gate. Rio kept banging on it, not turning to look at the woman besides him or the snarling walkers behind. He just stared at Rick, who's eyes danced between him and Michonne.
"What..." his voice trailed off, eyes and thoughts wandering.
Rio looked past him to see Hershel further up the path, Carl running right past him. He stood up on his tip-toes, trying to get them to notice him.
Just then, Michonne dropped her hand from the fence, clasping the wound on her leg as she winced. The Walker besides her grunted, turning its head slowly towards the pair. The woman stepped back cautiously, pulling Rio with her. She still stared straight at Rick.
The walkers around them soon noticed they were different, one came up in Rio's face, their heads almost touching. The boy's hand jumped to his pocket, grabbing his pocket knife from his jeans and he plunged it into the creatures head. He pulled it out from under the walkers chin and pushed Michonne back as blood flicked across his face.
She let him go and drew her own weapon, now not having a choice but to fight. The woman swung her katana at two walkers, slicing their head in a row. She stabbed another between the eyes and stumbled back, letting out an exasperated breath as she removed the blade.
"We need to help them!" Carl shouted from behind the fence. He was now besides Rick, hands pressed against the chain.
"Yeah!" Rio shouted in agreement and hurried away, dragging two walkers with him, the others stayed by Michonne. He stabbed the closest one, missing slightly and slashing its neck. Blood shot at him and he tried to wipe it from his face as he stabbed again. He hit it through the eye and it fell back, toppling the second one over too.
Rio knelt down besides the two, keeping his foot on the arm of the still moving Walker. He looked up at Michonne quickly, seeing that she was struggling. He plunged his knife into the walkers forehead and scrambled up.
More were coming, the noise must've drawn them closer. Rio ran over to one that was sneaking up on Michonne, arms reaching for the back of her head. He took it down, turning around ready to kill another.
Michonne decapitated one, catching another in the same swing. It didn't hit the head so Rio finished it. He wasn't sure how many he killed before Michonne fell. She stumbled around for a second, loosing her footing and then she collapsed.
"Michonne?" He asked, dropping to her side on the floor. He shook her shoulders. "Michonne?"
She grunted in response and Rio swore to himself as more walkers surrounded them.
He stood up stabbing the one who was closest to him. He went to slash the next one when a shot fired, catching the boy off guard as it dropped to the floor. Rio turned to find Carl, gun positioned through the fencing. He didn't have time to say thank you before another one dropped, it's body splaying over Michonne's legs.
Rio hauled it off of her before he stabbed another, that was when Rick decided to come out. He pulled open the fence and ran, shooting down walkers immediately. Carl followed, taking out a few on the left before running over to Rio.
He gave him a quick hug and Rio cringed. "I'm covered in Walker guts."
"I don't care." He said, grabbing the basket of dropped baby formula. Rio took out the last two who approached as Rick inspected Michonne.
"She bit?" Hershel asked from afar.
"Gunshot." Rick answered as he slung Michonne's arm over his shoulder, she was barely conscious at this point. Rio ran behind Carl as he closed the gates, locking them hastily before heading back into the prison. Rick trailed behind them, making his way up the path.
Rio heard Michonne making noises as the man dragged her along. That was good. That meant she at least wasn't dead.
"Carl, get a blanket!" Rick ordered as they burst through the door to cell block c. The boy hurried down the stairs, placing the basket on the floor.
"Beth, water and a towel!"
Beth held little ass-kicker in her arms, as they al hurried along. "All right." She replied, dashing off.
Carl grabbed a blanket and Rio held the other end, stretching it out. "Here?" He asked Rick, dropping it on the floor. They stopped in the room before the cells, connected by large locked door.
"She's not coming in the cell block." Rick said sternly. He laid Michonne down on the floor carefully but she slipped out of his grip. "Woah, woah, woah. Steady now."
"All right, all right." Rick sighed as she lay on her back. "Thank you." He said to Beth as she passed him a water bottle and a towel.
Rick opened the waiter bottle and poured the it out over her chest, washing the blood and guts away. She let out a groan, as Rick cleaned her up.
"Shh. It's all right. It's all right." He said.
Rio watched as he stuck a hand out besides her face. "Hey, hey, look at me. Look at me. Who are you?" He asked.
She struggled for breath, gasping.
"Hey, it's all right." Rick said again, voice softening.
Michonne took a quick look to the side and Rick's face changed. She reached out for her katana and Rick kicked it away, grabbing her arm and twisting her back onto her back.
"Hey, no. We're not going to hurt you unless you try something stupid first, all right?" He still held her down, loosening his grip only a bit.
"Wait." Beth said, startling them all, she shuffled the baby in her arms uncomfortably. "Rio, where's Maggie? And Glenn. Why ain't they here?"
"I..." Rio stuttered as Rick looked at him intensely. They all looked at him, Beth, Hershel, Rick and Carl. His words got caught in his throat. "They..."
"Where are they?" Rick asked.
"I don't know!"
"What do you mean you don't know?" He questioned, voice raising. "Was it her?"
The boy shook his head profoundly. "They were outside packing what we'd found and I went in the shop to look around, Glenn told me to, then I came out and they were gone, so was the car." Rio explained, his breath picking up. "Then she was there. Brought me back. She said she thinks she knows where they were taken to."
Rick knelt besides her again. "Do you know where they are?"
Daryl walked in from the cell block shouting "Rick!" as he walked through the door. "Who the hell is this?"
Michonne clung to the caging, helping herself sit up. Rick still knelt besides her, peering over. "You wanna tell us your name?"
She didn't answer so Rick leant closer, whispering this time, "You wanna tell us your name?"
She looked to Rio and the boy didn't know wether to speak up. He knew her name, she'd told him.
"Rio, what's her name." Rick pointed a finger at him.
"Michonne, her name's Michonne." He blurted out.
"There. Now, y'all come on in here." Daryl instructed, gesturing to where he'd come from.
"We've already got a problem right now." Rick sighed, standing up and turning to him. "Is Everything alright?"
"You're gonna wanna see this." Daryl said, avoiding asking about the problem at hand.
"Go ahead. Carl get the bag, Rio grab the basket." Rick instructed.
"But Maggie—." Beth began to protest.
The boys walked over, picking up their stuff. Rio remembered the things he'd shoved into his rucksack before Glenn and Maggie disappeared. He was going to give them to the baby.
Rio walked past Daryl who just looked at him, sticking a hand in front of his chest.
"Where's..." He began.
Rio shook his head, cutting him short, he didn't even want Daryl finish his sentence.
"They didn't make it?" He asked, brows furrowed.
"They got... taken." Rio replied, struggling to find the word. He didn't even know what had happened, they were there one second and then he returned and they weren't. It was like a cruel trick.
Rick walked by, finished talking with Michonne and Daryl locked the door behind him.
"Maybe this'll cheer you up." He said to Rio, leading him through the cell block. They stopped in front of one of the cells and the boy broke into a smile.
Carol sat up from the bed, face covered in filth but she was alive, and smiling. Rick chuckled from besides him and stepped forwards to hug her.
"Thank god. Thank god." He said, holding her tightly. "Thank god."
"How?" Hershel asked as he hopped over.
"Solitary." She laughed, grabbing his shirt and pulling him in. She leant her chin on the man's shoulder, peeking an eye open and smiling down at Rio.
"Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must've passed out. Dehydrated." Daryl explained, making way for Beth to walk through with the baby.
Carol reached out, aweing as she watched the baby girl. Her face lit up but then it dropped as she turned to Rick. He looked away, not meeting her eyes and Carols lip quivered. She held onto Rick's arm as tears began to run down both of their cheeks. The man ducked his head as she grabbed his face softly.
"I'm sorry." She cried, whispering it to him. Carol looked over at the baby and let out another sob. "Oh, God."
Beth looked at her, tentatively extending her arms. Carol ran a hand over the baby's clothed shoulder but shook her head.
"I can't, I'm too dirty." She laughed between wiping the tears from her eyes.
Rio suddenly became hyper aware that he was still covered in Walker guts and probably stunk.
"Go clean yourself up." Daryl suggested, patting her on the shoulder. "She'll be waiting."
Carol nodded, getting some clothes and heading to the showers. The group began to disperse once she'd left and after a few minutes of talking to Carl and Beth, Daryl grabbed Rios shoulder, spinning him around.
"We need you for this."
"For what?"
"We're talking to the woman. Need you to make sure she's telling us the truth." He specified, pulling the boy away.
"Oh." Rio said as they walked in.
"How did you know how to get here?" Rick asked, he'd obviously already been asking questions. He didn't even faze as the two walked back in.
He looked at Michonne intently, who sat on the bench that wrapped around the table. She held the damp towel against the gunshot wound upon her thigh.
"He's—." She began, gesturing to Rio.
"No." The boy cut her lie short. "You already knew we were here. You asked me if I knew the way."
Michonne sighed, looking back up at Rick. "I... I heard them talking. They mentioned a prison, said what direction it was in, that it was a straight shot."
"Heard who?"
"A young asian guy with a pretty girl."
"Glenn and Maggie." Rick nodded along.
"Were they attacked?" Hershel asked.
"No, taken."
"We know that much." Rick complained, prying for more information from her. Rio was scared she didn't have it. "Do you know where. Or— or who took them?"
"They were taken by the same son of a bitch who shot me." Was all she replied with.
"Hey! These are our people." Rick crouched before here, trying to reason. "You tell us what happened now!" He shouted, grabbing her wound.
She shot out of her seat, pushing him away.
"Don't you ever touch me again!" She said, pointing a shaky finger in his face. Daryl stepped forward, aiming his crossbow at her head.
"You'd better start talking or you're gonna have much bigger problems than a gunshot wound."
"Find 'em yourself." She snarled.
"Hey, shh, shh, shh." Rick said. He turned to Daryl, grabbing the end of his crossbow. "Put it down."
"You came here for a reason."
"You said that you think you know where they are." Rio added, walking closer to her. Daryl grabbed the back of his shirt, pulling him back. "She not going to hurt me, she would've done that earlier if she was."
He looked to the woman for confirmation that she in-fact wasn't going to hurt him. She didn't reply, just softened her gaze. "Where is that?" Rio asked.
Michonne wouldn't look him in the eye, she kept her head down and faced away. "There's a town. Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there."
"A whole town?"
"It's run by this guy who calls himself the governor. Pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type."
Daryl raised a brow at his depiction. "He got muscle?"
"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall."
"You know a way in?" Rick asked.
"The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through."
"This is Hershel, the father of the girl who was taken. He'll take care of that." Rick pointed to her leg.
Rick and Daryl headed out of the room, Rio stayed behind to help out Hershel.
"What do you need?" He asked the older man as he sat down, coaxing Michonne to sit with him.
"Just grab the first aid kit, I'll need a few things." Hershel requested.
"Okay."
Rio jogged through the cell block over to the room where they kept all their supplies. He looked up and down the shelves, searching for the kit, when Carl tapped his shoulder. He held out the first aid kit in his hands.
"They got it out earlier," he said, answering the question Rio hadn't even asked yet. "In case Carol needed it."
"Oh, thanks." He smiled, taking it.
"What's she like?"
"She doesn't speak a lot. She's smart though, covered me in Walker guts." Rio gestured to himself as he explained.
"My dad had to do that, back in Atlanta."
Carl followed him into the room, where they found Hershel looking over Michonne who now lay across the blanket.
"Here." Rio said, handing him the kit.
"Can you get out some wipes if there's any left, and I'll need to stitch her up."
"'Kay." Rio replied.
"Carl, not you." He stopped him. "Your hands aren't clean."
The other boy grabbed what the man needed. He laid it out on the table, pre-threading the needle for Hershel before stepping back, giving him space.
Carl drummed his fingers over his gun holster, staring straight at Michonne. She started back equally as hard.
"She's not gonna hurt us." Rio tried to reason. "Not right now anyway. Hershel's working on her leg."
"I know." Carl sighed, turning away.
"Thank you.." Michonne whispered to Hershel after he had finished stitching her up. He nodded his hard in response.
"No problem."
***
Rio had just finished dressing when Daryl came to find him. He was putting on a hoodie as He knocked on the wall. "Can I come in?"
"Yeah"
He sauntered in, leaning against the wall and pulling on the strap of his crossbow.
"What's up?" Rio asked nervously, he could tell something was going on.
"We're going." Was all Daryl replied with.
"Who's going? Where?"
"Me, Rick 'n some others. We're going to Woodbury." He told the Rio. He stood there for a moment as the man continued "We're gonna find them."
The boy walked forward and slung his arms around Daryl. "Thank you."
"Don't thank us yet." He replied jokingly, putting a tentative hand on the boys back.
"You will find them"
He nodded. "We will."
They walked out, Rio with a small smile across his face. He found Carl and Rick loading up the car and decided to join them.
The boy dumped a duffel bag into the boot of the car, falling into step with Daryl as he went to grab others. "I forgot to ask, how long are you gonna be gone for?"
"I don't know, shouldn't be that long."
"Be back before tonight?" He asked hopefully.
"I'll try."
"Thanks."
Daryl gave his shoulder a squeeze before pulling his crossbow off and getting in the car with Rick, Michonne and Oscar.
Rio walked up to the vehicle, standing besides everyone who couldn't go. Beth smiled down at him sadly.
Hershel pleaded.
"Get them back."