Chapter 23: Sophia Found
POV: Carol
The abandoned sedan sat like a metal grave beside the creek, its rusted blue paint faded by months of Georgia weather. Carol almost walked past it—they'd searched a dozen similar vehicles over the past three days, finding nothing but spider webs and the lingering scent of decay.
But something made her stop. A feeling, an intuition, the kind of maternal radar that had kept her and Sophia alive through Ed's worst rages.
"Sophia?" she called softly, approaching the car with trembling hands. "Baby, are you there?"
The trunk popped open with a creak that sounded like hope itself.
Sophia Peletier looked up at her with eyes that had seen too much but still held life, still held the spark that Carol had feared was lost forever. The little girl was thin, dehydrated, her clothes torn and dirty, but she was breathing. She was alive.
"Mama?" Sophia's voice was barely a whisper, cracked from thirst and fear.
Carol collapsed to her knees beside the trunk, gathering her daughter into arms that shook with relief and disbelief. Sophia was real, solid, warm—not the cold corpse Carol had imagined finding, not the shambling horror that haunted her nightmares.
"I'm here, baby. Mama's here."
The words came between sobs, a litany of love and gratitude that poured from her like a dam breaking. Behind her, she could hear Rick and Daryl approaching, their voices rising with excitement as they realized what she'd found.
But Carol's thoughts were elsewhere, focused on a conversation from three nights ago. Jake, standing in the wreckage of the barn, blood streaming from his nose, insisting that his interference had been necessary. That waiting would have been worse.
"Jake knew. Somehow he knew that forcing that barn early would save her. He couldn't tell me—whatever's wrong with his voice prevented that—but he KNEW."
The realization hit her with crystalline clarity. Jake's sabotage hadn't been random destruction or paranoid action. It had been calculated intervention, designed to prevent a specific tragedy. He'd saved Sophia by changing when events happened, even though he couldn't explain his reasoning.
Carol held her daughter closer, breathing in the scent of her hair, feeling the steady rhythm of her heartbeat against her chest. Jake had given her this moment. Whatever else he was, whatever secrets he carried, he'd given her back her child.
Her faith in him crystallized into something unbreakable.
POV: Jake
The radio crackled with Carol's voice: "I found her. I found Sophia. She's alive."
Jake's knees buckled.
The relief hit him like a physical blow, driving him to the ground beside the farmhouse porch where he'd been helping Beth tend the vegetable garden. The weight of guilt and fear and desperate hope that he'd been carrying for weeks suddenly lifted, leaving him hollow and shaking.
"She's alive," he whispered, tears streaming down his face. "Oh god, she's actually alive."
Beth knelt beside him, her young face bright with confused joy. "This is good news, Jake. Why are you crying?"
How could he explain that he'd been living with the knowledge of Sophia's death for months? That he'd seen her as a walker in his memories of a television show, shambling and hungry and wearing her mother's face? That changing her fate had required him to destroy a family's delusions and expose his own supernatural nature?
"Relief," he managed. "Just... relief."
It was the first major timeline save he'd accomplished. The first time his interference had prevented a tragedy instead of simply revealing one. Sophia Peletier would grow up, would have a chance at life and love and whatever happiness could be found in this broken world.
Jake had changed the story, and someone had lived because of it.
Maggie appeared beside him, having heard the radio transmission from inside the house. She knelt on his other side, her hand finding his shoulder with gentle pressure.
"You did this," she said quietly. "Somehow, you saved her."
Jake looked up at her through tear-blurred vision. "I just... changed when something happened. Didn't know it would work."
"But you hoped."
"Yeah. I hoped."
Their hands found each other, fingers intertwining with the natural ease of connection finally acknowledged. Jake should have pulled away—should have remembered Glenn's feelings, should have maintained the distance that propriety demanded. Instead, he held on, anchoring himself to her warmth while the weight of success and consequence crashed over him.
"I saved her. One life preserved, one tragedy prevented. But at what cost? Hershel's family dead, the group's unity fractured, my own secrets exposed. Was it worth it? Is one child's life worth all that damage?"
The answer came immediately, without hesitation: Yes.
If he had to make the choice again, if he could go back and let events unfold naturally, he wouldn't change a thing. Sophia Peletier was alive, and that was worth any price.
Maggie squeezed his hand, understanding passing between them without words. She'd seen him struggle with impossible burdens, had watched him tear himself apart trying to help people he couldn't protect. Now she was witnessing the other side—the moment when all that sacrifice paid off.
"Come on," she said, helping him to his feet. "Let's go welcome her home."
That evening, after Sophia had been fed and cleaned and examined by Hershel, after the celebration had wound down and the camp had settled into peaceful exhaustion, Maggie found Jake sitting alone by the creek.
"I'm sorry," she said without preamble, settling beside him on the fallen log that had become their unofficial meeting place. "For not trusting you after the barn. For doubting your reasons."
Jake turned to look at her, moonlight painting her face in silver highlights. "You had every right not to trust me. What I did was... extreme."
"But necessary."
"Maybe. I hope so."
They sat in comfortable silence for a while, listening to the gentle murmur of water over stones and the distant sounds of the farm settling in for the night. Jake found himself hyperaware of Maggie's presence—the warmth radiating from her body, the way she breathed, the faint scent of soap and horses that always clung to her.
"Glenn told me," Maggie said eventually. "About his feelings. And about yours."
Jake's stomach clenched. "Maggie, I never meant to come between—"
She silenced him with a look. "He also told me that I should follow my heart. That I deserve to be with someone who'll be good to me."
"Glenn is good. Kind, brave, everything anyone could want."
"Yes, he is." Maggie's voice was soft but certain. "And he deserves someone who loves him the way he deserves to be loved. Completely, without reservation, without wishing they were someone else."
The implication hung between them like a bridge waiting to be crossed. Jake wanted to argue, to insist that she could learn to love Glenn properly, that what she felt for Jake was just attraction amplified by stress and proximity.
Instead, Maggie leaned over and kissed him.
This time, there was no hesitation, no pulling away, no guilt to mar the connection. This was choice, pure and simple—a decision made with full knowledge of the consequences.
When they broke apart, Jake rested his forehead against hers, breathing in the reality of her closeness.
"This changes everything," he whispered.
"I know," Maggie replied. "That's why it's okay."
They held each other by the creek while the Georgia night sang around them, two people finding connection in the midst of chaos. Tomorrow would bring new challenges, new tests of the bonds they were building. But tonight, Jake allowed himself to believe that some changes were worth making, that some futures were worth fighting for.
Sophia was alive. Maggie was in his arms. For the first time since arriving in this world, Jake felt like he might actually be able to save the people who mattered.
Author's Note / Promotion:
Your Reviews and Power Stones are the best way to show support. They help me know what you're enjoying and bring in new readers!
Can't wait for the next chapter of [ In The Walking Dead With 3 Wishes ]?
You don't have to. Get instant access to more content by supporting me on Patreon. I have three options so you can pick how far ahead you want to be:
🪙 Silver Tier ($6): Read 10 chapters ahead of the public site.
👑 Gold Tier ($9): Get 15-20 chapters ahead of the public site.
💎 Platinum Tier ($15): The ultimate experience. Get new chapters the second I finish them (20+ chapters ahead!). No waiting for weekly drops, just pure, instant access.
Your support helps me write more .
👉 Find it all at patreon.com/fanficwriter1