⌜ chapter twenty-one ⌟

"You talked to Grandma, didn't you?" Ellie asks as her mom walks over to her. She's sitting on the porch steps.

"Yeah, baby, I did." MJ nods as she sits down beside her. "She told me that you think that what happened to Dale is your fault, but that's not true."

"If I had killed it—"

"Then the noise of the gunshot could've attracted more walkers. And then what, hm? What if something had happened to you and Carl?" She questions. "What were you two even doing out there in the first place?"

"You always have Jack watching us. We just didn't want a babysitter for a little while." She says, and MJ sighs. "Are you mad?"

"No. No, mama, I'm not mad. I was never mad at you." She tells her. "Not about you shooting the woman in the woods, and not about this. You didn't disappoint me."

"But you were mad that I had the gun."

"I was mad at Uncle Dean because he gave it to you without telling me. I never wanted you to have to use a gun." MJ says. "But I'm glad you had it. I was losing that fight, she was going to hurt me a lot worse. You saved me, mama. And that... That scared me. I'm supposed to be the one taking care of you, it's supposed to be me saving you. And the thought that you're growing up and could become anything like me... That scares me, Ellie. I don't want you to be like me."

"But you're like a hero, that's what Daddy always tells me. Whenever you weren't home, he said that you save people and you kill monsters. He said that we had to share you with the rest of the world so you could save it." Ellie says, and she turns her head to look out at the property. She never knew Matt told her that, and her eyes are tearing up now from hearing her daughter repeat his words. "And he says that's why we have to share you so much with the rest of the group — because you're the leader here with Rick, and you're saving us."

"I'm not a hero." MJ shakes her head after composing herself. "I'm just a person who knows things that other people don't. I've always done what I do, so that people don't have to know what I do."

"You saved my life." Daryl says from behind them, and they both look up at him. "Kinda makes you a hero. Both of you, actually."

"Me?" Ellie asks, and he nods as he walks down the steps and turns to face them.

"If you hadn't saved your mom, she wouldn't have made it back to save me. So, if you think about it, you saved my life." He says, and the little girl smiles.

"Really?"

"I ain't dead 'cause of you." He says. "And neither is your mom. And Sophia. Sounds like a hero to me."

Ellie looks at her mom with a bright smile stretched out on her face. "He said I'm a hero." She says, and MJ smiles at her.

"I heard." She nods. "My little hero." She pulls her daughter to her and kisses the top of her head, squeezing her just a little. "You should go tell your uncle. I bet he'd love to hear it."

"Okay." She stands up and turns to go into the house, but then she suddenly turns back and hugs Daryl. He's taken by surprise at first, but then rests his hand on her shoulder. She smiles as she looks up at him and then goes inside to find Dean.

"Who would've thought you could be so good with kids?" MJ asks, and he looks at her. "Thank you, for what you said to her."

"Thanks for not leaving me in the woods after you found her and Sophia." He says, and she just nods as she stands up.

"I thought you and Rick were taking Randall out." She says, and he motions to the barn.

"He needed to talk to Carl." He tells her, and she looks in the direction he pointed.

"Yeah." She sighs. "And I need to go talk to Matt, tell him what happened with Ellie."

"Hey." He reaches out and grabs her hand before she can turn toward the house, she looks back up at him. "It wouldn't be the worst thing, her being anything like you. There are a lot of good things that she can learn from you."

She smiles. "Thank you, Daryl." She says, squeezing his hand, and he nods.

MJ takes a deep breath and then heads into the house. She finds Matt at the dining room table with Sophia and Carol. Jess is in standing the doorway to the kitchen talking to Jack, and he appears to be giving her a hard time about something; he's teasing her. She narrows her eyes, and he smiles before leaning over and kissing her cheek, then he turns to walk toward the others at the table.

"Don't pull that shit, you little shit." The blonde says, and he laughs. "Into the kitchen, help me with dinner while the others get settled in."

"I'll be there in a second." Jack tells her, his eyes now on MJ. "Are you okay, M?" He asks, causing the others to look her way.

Matt looks up and sees her expression as her eyes move to him. "Uh-oh. I know that look." He says as he stands up. "What'd I do now?"

"We need to talk." She tells him, and he nods. "Everything's fine, Jacky. Promise." She says, and he offers her a small smile before heading into the kitchen.

"What's going on?" Matt asks as the pair walk into his bedroom, and she then fills him in on everything that Mary told her, and what she and Daryl said to Ellie. He sighs as he looks at her, trying to take in all the new information. "But she doesn't blame herself anymore?" He asks.

"I don't know." She answers honestly. "If she's anything like me, probably."

"MJ!" Rick calls, sounding alarmed, and she immediately turns around and heads outside.

T-Dog went to get Randall, only to find that he's gone. So now they're all trying to figure out how he got out of the shed, how long he's been gone, and what to do now.

"Cuffs are still hooked. He must've slipped 'em." Rick's telling them as he looks around.

"Is that possible?" Carol asks.

"It is if you've got nothing to lose." Andrea says as she walks back out of the barn.

"Door was secured from the outside." Hershel says as he closes it.

"What are you thinking?" Dean asks as he looks down at his sister.

"I don't know. Something's not sitting right with me." MJ shakes her head. "This kid is a follower type, he has no initiative. And I just— I don't see him doing what it would take to get out of those cuffs. The kind of pain it would put him in, there's no way."

"Rick!" Shane's voice gets their attention, and they all turn to the woods. "Rick!"

"What happened?" Lori asks when she sees him come out of the woods. Shane's face is covered in blood and it's running down to his neck and shirt.

"He's armed!" He yells. "He's got my gun!"

"Are you okay?" Carl asks.

"I'm fine. Little bastard just snuck up on me. He clocked me in the face." He tells them, and Dean looks back at his sister. She doesn't buy this story for a second.

"Alright, Hershel, T-Dog, get everybody back in the house." Rick tells them.

"I want Dean, Dad, Mom, Glenn, Andrea, and T all armed in case he shows up." MJ says. "Matt, Carol, Lori keep an eye on the kids. Jack, you do not leave Jess' side. No one leaves the house, no one goes anywhere alone." She instructs.

"T, I'm gonna need that gun." Shane says.

"Just let him go." Carol says. "That was the plan, wasn't it, to just let him go?"

"The plan was to cut him loose far away from here, not on our front step with a gun." Rick tells her as T gives Shane a gun.

"M—" Dean starts.

"This isn't up for debate. You're staying here to help protect the camp and our people. I'll be fine with the guys." She tells her brother.

"Be careful, kid."

"Always am." She says as she, Daryl, Rick, and Shane start for the woods.

"Don't go out there." Carol calls after the four of them. "Y'all know what can happen!"

"Get everybody back inside!" Rick calls over his shoulder. "Lock all the doors and stay put!"

Daryl's got his crossbow on him, MJ's got her gun and machete, Rick has his gun, and Shane has what T-Dog gave him.

"I saw him head up through the trees that way before I blacked out." Shane tells them as they continue into the woods. "I'm not sure how long."

"He couldn't have gotten far." Rick says. "He's hobbled, exhausted."

MJ looks at Daryl. "Can you track him?" She asks.

"Naw, I don't see nothing." He says as he looks for any signs of Randall's footsteps in the dirt and dead leaves.

"Hey, look, there ain't no use in tracking him, okay?" Shane says, and MJ looks over at him. "He went that way. We need to pair up. We spread out, just chase him down. That's it."

"Kid weighs a buck twenty-five soaking wet." Daryl says as he looks at Shane as well. "You trying to tell us he just got the jump on you?"

"I say a rock pretty much beats those odds, wouldn't you?"

"I think you've been threatening to out my father as a murderer without batting an eyelash, but you got jumped by Randall of all people?" MJ questions. "Not to mention the condition the little bastard's hands ought to be in if he actually Houdinied his way out of those cuffs."

"You've what?" Rick looks at Shane.

"You remember, man. Those murders a few years back." Shane says.

He scoffs. "Alright, that's enough." He looks at MJ. "You and Daryl start heading up the right flank. Me and Shane'll take the left."

"Rick—" She starts.

"Remember, Randall's not the only threat out there. Keep an eye out for each other."

"Stupid." She shakes her head and then starts going the way Rick told them.

"What was that all about with Shane?" Daryl asks, and she glances at him.

"The werewolf that my dad killed when Rick found out about monsters." She says. "He was a suspect, but he skipped town right after the son of a bitch was taken care of. As far as the police were concerned, the case went cold." She explains, and he nods.

They keep looking until after nightfall and they haven't found anything yet. Daryl's leading the way, and MJ's right behind him with her machete ready.

"This is pointless." He eventually speaks up, and she looks at him. "You got a light?"

She hands him the one that Glenn tossed to her just as they left the others. He flicks it on and starts shining the beam around. She looks at the area surrounding them, but she doesn't so much as hear a sound.

He sighs. "Come on."

"What are we doing?" She asks.

"If you're gonna do a thing, you might as well do it right."

"Meaning?"

"I'm doing like we should'a done in the first place." He tells her.

"You mean ignore Shane." She says. "I could've suggested that back at the quarry."

"You never trusted him?"

"Nope."

"Why didn't you say anything?" He asks.

"To who? His best friend?" She scoffs. "Rick isn't blind and he's not stupid, but he never wanted to believe the worst in Shane either."

"Meaning?"

"He knew about Shane and Lori, and he knew that Shane killed Otis. But he never said anything to Shane about either until around the time Randall showed up." She tells him.

"Huh." He keeps walking. "There's two sets of tracks right here." He tells her soon after, and she looks at where he's pointing the flashlight. "Shane must've followed him a lot longer than he said."

"Sure." She nods. "Or he let him go and they were walking together."

"Why?"

"I don't know. My mind doesn't function the same as a psychopath's." She tells him, and he glances back at her. "What's that?" She points at a dark spot on a tree, and he shines the light up on the trunk.

"Blood." He says when they see that it's red. "It looks fresh too."

"That's..." She shakes her head.

"There's more tracks. Looks like they were walking in tandem." He says, the light on the ground again as they continue walking past the tree. "There's a little dust up right here."

"Something hit the ground?" She asks, and he nods as she walks forward a little.

"Hey." He gets her attention, and then she looks to where he's aiming the light.

She kneels down and picks up the long piece of cloth. "It's his blindfold." She says as she looks up at him.

They hear leaves rustling and twigs snapping behind them, so the pair immediately ducks behind trees for cover. MJ carefully peeks around the trunk and sees a walker staggering. She looks at Daryl, and he nods as he raises his crossbow. It moves toward them and he leaves his hiding place and shoots it in its head.

Daryl goes to get the arrow out of its eye, and she takes the flashlight from him. She shines it on the walker. "It's Randall." She says. "If he was bitten, we need to be careful."

He kneels down, and looks for any visible bites. "Got his neck broke." He tells her and then flips his body over. He checks his arms, legs, and under his shirt. "He's got no bites."

"Son of a bitch."

"What?" He looks up at her.

"We have to get back." She says, and he stands up straight and grabs her arm.

"You know somethin' I don't?"

"We have to get back." She repeats and then pulls her arm away from him.

They quickly make their way back to the farm, MJ leading the way. He knows that she's hiding something from him — from them — but he doesn't know what.