(Hi readers, just a quick note, I do not own The Walking Dead or any of the character, except my OC Elle. This is my first Walking Dead FF, any feedback is welcome. Will try to post weekly. Thanks for reading! Rated M for strong language and later chapters.)
Ever since the virus started spreading there was never much hope, maybe there was in the beginning but after all the military bases were taken over and the CDC destroyed it had dwindled out to nothing but ash – just like many of the fires they built to burn away the dead.
As time progressed it became more about keeping yourself and your people alive rather than finding a cure. There was no end in sight, that much was crystal clear. The whole world seemed darker outside of the compounds, as if it was always overcast and grey, the streets of the cities and towns smelled like death, the smell of rotten flesh seemed to just blend into the air now – in the beginning there'd always be people covering their mouths and noses with whatever rag they could find in order to keep the smell out, but now… now it was just part of the shit they had to deal with on a daily basis.
She'd been a part of Alexandria for what felt like forever, the people were nice, there was order and even a sense of community – something she and a lot of people yearned for. It was like the real world again, living in real houses and sleeping in real beds, there was even a shop they used to ration out food and supplies. It was an escape, from death and the undead alike.
There were people that worked during the day: planting vegetables, gardening, teaching the children and fishing in the lake at the edge of the compound. There were people walking the streets and kids playing in gardens, if you took down the 20ft steel wall around Alexandria what you'd have left is normality, but the wall, the watchmen, the guns, it was all needed – for their own safety.
She was sitting on a rock by the lake in total silence, listening to the wind rustling the nearby trees, and the fish making ripples on the surface of the water. This was one of her favourite things to do, to come back from a long day scavenging or looking for other groups of survivors to just sitting and staring out into the emptiness, not a walker in sight, just… tranquillity. It was like it was before, before the world went to hell.
"Elle, you're up!" A voice called from a few metres away, guard duty – that's where she was going next. They always worked in shifts, always with at least one person at each outpost 24/7, they needed to see all areas that were open to walkers and intruders. The strongest rifle shooters guarded the road overlooking the main gate, they had far sight scopes to see anything approaching, it would give them enough time to prepare for what was coming.
She was a strong fighter, had been from the start, she could handle a gun, which is why Rick chose her to stand guard alongside Carl and some of the others, some of who had been with them since Atlanta.
They'd had some interactions with the group that called themselves The Saviours, it hadn't been long since their most horrific encounter. It was when they'd lost Glenn and Abraham to the wrath that is Lucille and her barbed wire wrapping – the flashbacks of that night happened every now and again, it took a day or two before some of them were able to leave the walls of Alexandria, and the safety of numbers. In a way that's probably what the Saviours wanted, fear and dread among the remaining survivors.
Since that night, they came by once a week with big trucks and a few cars to take supply's, weapons and ammo, with the promise that not resisting would spare another one of their own from Lucille. Then just like clockwork, in the distance there was the rattling sound of a empty truck approaching, in front of it, a car leading the way down the road and toward the gate.