Welcome to my new story! I had this idea pop into my head while I was taking out one of the chapters for That Damn Deer Girl, and decided to see how people liked it. This story takes place in the walking dead universe, but not the x men universe, meaning that all the walking characters exist, but not the x men characters. The x gene is the only thing from Marvel that exists in this story. With that being said I'd like to give credit to Marvel, and AMC, the characters and some concepts. The only things I own are this story.
Enjoy~
Carol waited anxiously in her hospital bed. Her hair was in a tousled heap, and her makeup was ruined by the sweat that ran down her pale face.
"What do you think is taking so long?" She asked her husband nervously.
Ed simply huffed and pulled a cigarette out of his jacket pocket.
"Whatever the hell it is it better be good". He grunted.
"I don't think you can smoke in here". Carol said in a weak voice.
"I'll smoke wherever the hell I want". Her husband growled back.
She turned away from the man, and gazed out into the busy hall, watching nurses roll stretchers by, people on their way to visit friends and family, and doctors as the bustled by carrying stacks of paperwork . Her mind raced as she watched the commotion of the hospital.
After a long, and not to mention painful labor, the doctors had whisked her baby away, muttering about 'complications'. That had been almost ten minutes ago, and so far she hadn't heard any more news. She just prayed to every God that would listen that her baby was okay.
"Mr and Mrs. Peletier?"
Carol snapped her head towards the sound of the doctor's voice. He stood in the doorway holding a bundle of pink blankets. The woman could see a tiny sleeping face that poked out of the cocoon. Her heart skipped a beat as her eyes fell on her child. Nothing seemed wrong with the baby, so what was the complications?
"Is my baby okay?" Carol asked immediately.
"Yes, but there seems to be an issue". He replied with hesitation.
"W-what is it". She questioned fearfully.
The doctor took a deep breath, and slowly unwrapped the bright blanket from around her little girl. Carol watched as he turned her around so she could see her small backside. The mother gasped as she laid eyes on her exposed child. A small pair of wet grey wings grew from her delicate shoulder blades. They hung limp against the baby's back, and reached down to her tiny bottom.
"T-that's it?" Carol asked in disbelief. "She's a mutant? That was the complication?"
"Well we needed to be sure". The doctor said, rewrapping the baby in her warm coverings.
"And?" Ed piped up from the background.
"And she has tested positive for the x gene". He admitted.
"Great! That's just great! Our child's a damn freak". The new father said, throwing his large hands up. "This is from your side of the family". He added to Carol with a snarl.
The doctor handed new born over to her mother's awaiting arms, and instantly she fell in love with the tiny creature.
"I don't care if she's a mutant or a human". She said, cradling the child. "All that matters is that she's happy".
"Speak for yourself". Ed huffed. "Can't you cut those things off?"
"It wouldn't be advised". The doctor said. "Doing so might result in the full removal of her shoulder blades".
Ed muttered something about hippie doctors, and stomped out his cigarette on the white floor.
"Do you have a name for her". The medical professional said, trying to change the subject.
"Sophia". Carol breathed, staring into her child's bright blue eyes.
Sophia looked back up at the caring face of her new mother. She cooed and gave a small, toothless, smile. Carol had been worried about making a baby with Ed's evil DNA, but as she looked into the infant's eyes she knew that Sophia would grow up to be like him.
After the couple signed all the necessary paperwork Carol and Ed headed home to start the next chapter of their life together. Carol both feared and loved the idea of having a child. Now she had a new piece of herself to love and call family, but she also gave Ed someone new to batter and mistreat.
…
Over the next twelve years Sophia grew up shunned by her peers at school, and abused by her father at home. There seemed to be no place for a young mutant in the world. In fact the only places she found comfort were with the few other mutant children scattered about her school, and with her own mother.
No matter what Carol always took care of her daughter. Whether she protected Sophia from one of Eds drunken rampages, or sliced holes in the back of the girls clothing for her wings to poke through, to when she stood up against hateful people when they went out, the mother was always there for her daughter. But one day everything changed in a very fast and very frightening way.
Sophia was working on getting herself ready for bed. She padded around her small bedroom, and gathered up all the things she needed to go to sleep. The girl grabbed a light pink tank top off her nightstand, and wiggled over her blonde head. She reached her thin arms around her back to gently yank her soft wings through the slilts that were sliced into the back of her top. Sophia gave her wings a small flap, and refolded them tight against her back. The feathery appendage felt heavy, and warm, like getting a hug from someone you care about. If there was one thing she loved about her wings it was the feeling of protection they gave her.
Just as she went to go grab her hair brush Sophia's door burst open. She looked up in surprise to see a flustered looking Carol. The panic in her blue eyes scared the girl. She hadn't heard her father yelling from downstairs, so what could be making her mother look so frightened?
"Grab your suitcase baby". She said in a soft voice that tried in vain to mask her panic.
"What's goin' on? Sophia asked in confusion. "Is it daddy?"
"No, no". Carol assured her daughter. "We just need to go now, I'll explain later".
Sophia was instructed by her mother to pack her important things, like clothing, blankets, and some personal care products. She was allowed to bring only one book with her to where ever it was they were headed, so she decided to grab Maximum Ride from her large collection of books.
The girl had been in love with the Maximum Ride series ever since she was eight years old. She tended to skip recess to hide in the library, so she could escape the cruel taunts and jeers of the other students. One day as she roamed through the tall shelves she came across what would become her favorite series. How could Sophia not fall in love with a book about a girl with wings on the run?
Once her bag was all packed, and zipped, Sophia threw on a blue hoodie to hide her own wings. She was used to people staring, and even yelling insults, when she went out in public. On a few rare occasions strangers would tell her that the large grey and white speckled wings were beautiful. Sadly that didn't happen often though, and the girl just found it easier to hide them.
Sophia dragged the suitcase down the stairs with a small thunk for every step it went over with its small wheels. When she reached the living room she was meet by her anxious mother.
"Good job, sweetie". Carol said, patting her daughter's blonde head.
Sophia looked around the living room, and noticed that a lot of their family pictures, and knick knacks, were gone.
Why did momma pack up the house? She wondered.
Sophia's curious thoughts were interrupted by her mother picking up her suitcase, ushering her out of the house. When she got outside she blinked, and looked around the streets. She saw her neighbors all piling into their own cars with the same panicked faces as Carol.
"Mama, what's happening?" She asked, becoming increasingly more worried.
"We have to leave, but everything will be fine". Her mother responded. "We'll be back before you know it".
Sophia sighed and just decided to shut up and stop asking questions before her father told her to do so. Carol loaded a couple bags of food into the back of the families yellow Jeep Cherokee.
Carol had wanted a safer family car after Sophia had been born, but now she was happy to have the extra space.
"Took y'all long enough". Ed snapped as Carol slammed the back hatch shut.
"Sorry". Sophia muttered to her dad.
"What?" He asked dangerously.
"Sorry sir". She repeated.
"That's better". He huffed, sitting up. "Now let's go".
The Jeep roared to life as Ed turned the keys in the ignition. The powerful engine purred softly as they pulled out of their driveway, and cruised down the road. Sophia stared out her window, and what she saw surprised her. Some people were boarding up their houses in a panic, while others were packing up their cars with their family's like they had. She also saw a lot of disheveled looking people, moaning and groaning, as they shuffled up and down the street. They looked sick.
Sophia's head snapped in the direction of a scream, and what she saw shocked her young mind. The girl felt sick to her stomach as she watched one of the sick people, an older woman, grab a man as he tried to run past. The woman sunk her teeth into the poor man's neck, and tore out a large chunk as he continued to scream. So the attacker was joined by more sick people, and they all tore into the man like wild animals. Sophia gasped, and felt hot tears start to well in her eyes. She had seen gore on tv before, her dad was fond of horror movies, and she was used to seeing blood and guts. But something about seeing the real thing made it feel fake. The man's insides were a lot more brown, blood a lot darker, and his body didn't go limp after he was ripped open like in the movies. Instead he continued to thrash and flail against his enviable death.
Carol threw her arms back, and covered her daughter's eyes with her hands, so she wouldn't have to see anymore of the horrid display. The news had said that things were bad, but not this bad. Nothing could have prepared them for the bloodbath they saw. The man was only one of many casualties the family witnessed on the road.
Carols hands did little to stop Sophia from seeing brutal murder after brutal murder, and after a while of driving she found her voice.
"Where are we going?" The girl asked in a voice above a whisper.
Ed merely glared at the child in his rearview mirror, while Carol patted her leg, and finally offered up an answer.
"Atlanta". She admitted.
Since her father stayed silent Sophia felt a little brave, and decided to prod further
"Why?"
"To stay with your aunt Sue". Her mother replied.
"That damn freak". Ed muttered to himself loud enough that the others could here.
It was true that Carol's sister was a mutant with the honesty handy ability to manipulate objects around her, and probably responsible for the mutant DNA in Sophia's genes, as she's the only other mutant in the family.
"Why?" Sophia asked once more, testing her luck.
"Because we said so!" Ed snapped.
Sophia had used up all her luck. She sighed, and slumped back in her seat. She rustled and moved her wings under her sweatshirt. Sitting with the car seat pressed up against her back for long periods of time always hurt her wings. The girl just had to suck it up and wait for the car to stop. Ed didn't like any mention of his daughters mutation.
The girl decided to pass the time by looking out her window again, but what she saw made her want to scream. What looked like hundreds of sick people came shambling out of buildings all around the family as they drove down the nearly empty city street. The sick growled and moaned eagerly as the closed in on the yellow car. Sophia's heart thudded painfully in her chest as a large group of the sick crowded in front of the Jeep. The image of the man being torn apart flooded into her mind as the people approached the car. She felt her wings poise and flex on instinct.
"Come on move it! Ed yelled, laying into the horn.
The loud beeping noise did little to deter the sick, in fact it only seemed to make them more excited. Carol put her hand on her husband's arm, and suggested he calmed down. He suggested something vulgar in response, and rewarded Carol with a smack. Sophia fought to sit still through the exchange, but knew that stepping in only made things worse.
The car started to rock as many hands started to violently pound on its sides. The snarls and moans were a lot louder now, and started to sound more like hungry chants. Sophia didn't know why people wanted to eat them, she just knew that she didn't like it. The girl fought to keep herself from crying because she knew from experience that her father didn't like tears.
Ed yelled a couple choice words at the "thugs" that were touching his beloved Jeep.
"If you don't get your dirty fucking hands off my car I'll ran y'all over!" He screamed in anger.
After a few more swears and threats Ed held true to his word, and threw the car in reverse. Carol covered her daughters young eyes once more as the blood from the monsters unfortunate enough to get caught under their tires slashed up onto the windows.
For once in her life the woman was thankful for her husband's anger, and brash decision making. It had probably just saved their lives.
"Baby why don't you get some reading done?" Carol suggested to her child. If she had her nose buried in a book she couldn't see any more horror.
"Okay, mama".
…
After what felt like forever, while at least forever in a child's mind, the car slowed to a halt. Sophia blinked and pick her head up off the window sill. Had she fallen asleep? She looked around, and saw rows upon rows of other cars all around them. Scarred looking people stood around talking nervously with friends, family, and other survivors. The sun had started to rise, and cast a light tint over the otherwise dark highway.
Sophia closed the open book that laced forgotten in her lap, and popped open her door to climb out after her parents. Ed swore when he saw the long line of cars in front, and behind them. She could hear the metallic drone of helicopters as they flew high above their anxious heads.
"I can't see anything". He said in frustration. "Why doesn't that mistake make herself useful, and go see what's going on?" He added the suggestion.
Carol put her delicate hands on Sophia's small shoulders, and rephrased the request in a much nicer way.
"Can you go fly ahead, and see what's causing the jam?" She asked her beloved child.
Sophia shifted her wig her nervously as she thought about the request she didn't like the idea of straying from her mother, or letting people see her wings, but she figured if something happened, or those monsters showed up she could always just fly back to her parents. Plus the idea of rejecting her father's request scared Sophia more than any sick person, so she just simply nodded, and shrugged off her sweatshirt.
The girl heard some nearby survivors in neighboring cars gasp as she shook out her grey wings. Carol boosted Sophia on top of the yellow Jeep, so she'd have a place to jump from. She had learned the hard way last summer that ground take offs were harder than she expected. More gasps and whispers from the other as Sophia extended her feathery appendages to their full span of an impressive six feet. The grey feathers were dotted with white flecks the ends much the the freckles on her face.
Sophia gave a few hard flaps before she jumped off the roof of the car. She had to give another couple had flaps to stay airborne from the low take off point. She muttered her apologise as her large wings almost hit many of the astonished on lookers. The girl felt her heart pump with joy as she felt the wind catch under her feathers. Pure adrenaline coursed through her small body was she took off up the line of cars. It had been awhile since she got the chance to fly. She forgot how much fun it was.
Sophia hung low to avoid confrontation with the large helicopters that flew above her. The last thing she wanted was to be shoot at or pulled into a propeller blade. She looked down to watched the ground, that was a mere fifteen here under her, rush by. The girl knew that she could make the ground fly by in a whirlwind of color if she wanted to. Her wings could move her pretty fast when she put her mind to it, but she didn't want to miss anything important.
Sophia was nearing the front of the long chain for cars when she heard an agent shout.
"Mutant freak!"
Before she knew what was happening a large rock came sailing through the air, and struck Sophia on the side of her head. Startled, her powerful wings fell out of sync, and overlapped. She flapped wild in a desperate attempt to say in the air, but the ground rushed up to meet her to quickly.
Sophia crashed down to Earth, and white stars exploded in her vision, as she slammed into the side of someone's suv. She landed in a crumpled heap on the rough pavement with one wing bent over her head,
And the other laying limp on the ground.
"Woah!"
Sophia groaned, and lifted her head up of the ground. When she looked up she was meet with the face of an amazed looking boy, who appeared to be about her own age, and two concerned looking adults that stood behind him.
"I am so sorry". She said quickly, getting to her feet. "I-I didn't mean to crash into your car, someone threw a rock at me, and I lost control".
She stood waiting for the usually tongue lashing that came whenever someone saw her mutation, but it never came. Instead she was greeted with kindness.
"Don't worry about. Not your fault". The man said, staring at her wings. "Do you know who threw the rock?"
Sophia shook her head no. She wasn't fully sure what she should do, this seemed to be one of the rare occasions where she meet someone amazed by her mutants on,
"Are all right?" The woman asked with a motherly concern.
"Yeah. I think I am". Sophia responded.
The girl stretched out her wings, and gave them a flap to be sure. She thanked the lord that nothing seemed to be broken. She blushed as she heard the boy gasp.
"Carl, don't stare". The woman said. "It's rude".
"Oh no, it's okay". Sophia stammered , pulling her wings back in. "I mean I did just fall out of the sky".
The group stood in an awkward silence for a moment, trying to process the situation, before Sophia decided to break the silence.
"I'm Sophia Peletier". She said, introducing herself to the trio.
"Nice to meet you Sophia, I'm Shane Walsh". The man said, offering the girl
his hand. She hesitated for a moment boxer takin it. "And this is Lori Grimes and her son Carl". Shane finished, nodding to Lori and Carl respectively.
"So um, Sophia, what brings you here? Crashing out of the sky". Lori asked.
"Well my mama told me to fly ahead, and see if I capfuls find what's causing this jam". She replied. "But then some jerk threw a rock at me while yellin' about mutants".
"That ain't right". Shane muttered to the girl.
"Can I touch your wings". Carl asked suddenly.
"Carl, what'd I say about being rude". Lori warned her boy.
"I'm sorry but they're just so pretty!" He responded.
Sophia blinked taken aback. Had she heard him right? He thought her wings were pretty? Most of the kids back at school would tell her the light grey and white speckled coloring made her look like a flying rat with dandruff.
"It's fine". She said, breaking into a slow smile.
Sophia cracked her knuckles, and re extended her light wings. She didn't put them out fully though, so the boy could run his hands along the curved corvet, and feel where the appendages folded.
Carl reached forward with a timid, yet excited, hand, and gently stroked the long primary feathers that helped guide the girl in flight. He was amazed by how soft, and warm, Sophia's wings felt. He could feel the powerful muscles shift, and relax, under their feathery covering as he traced his hand up toward her covert.
Sophia smiled, and extended her other wing toward Shane and Lori, telling them that it was okay if they wanted to feel her too. After all not many people got the chance to touch a bird wing, much less a human sized one.
Shane took the kids large wing, and placed of of his hands under her secondary feathers, and the other over the top her covert. He gently pulled on the wind, and extended it fully, before he closed it. The man did this a few more times with a look of pure wonder on his face.
"This is amazing". He muttered in disbelief.
Lori nodded her agreement as she patted the white speckles that ran down Sophia's primary and secondary feathers.
"You can really fly?" She asked.
The girl nodded yes in response to the question.
"Lucky". Carl breathed.
Sophia looked into the sky and saw that sun was almost fully risen. Her blue eyes widened as she realized that she'd been gone for almost thirty minutes.
"What time is it!?" She asked in a suddenly panic.
"6:45". Shane answered, looking at his watch.
"I need to get back!" Sophia exclaimed.
She thanked the Grimes, and Shane, for their kindness, and they thank her for letting the invade her space a little. Sophia climbed to the top of the groups suv, and from the top, she threw herself into the air.
The girl looked down, and saw her new friends waving goodby from below. She smiled and waved back before picking up speed. Sophia set off back towards her parents with a new feeling of pride at her mutation. She could hardly believe that someone, other than other mutations, though her wings were pretty.
AN: And we've reached the end of the first chapter. Like I said this is a new concept I'm trying out, and if you want me to continue then please tell me so. Feel free to leave a follow, review, or favorite!
Thanks for reading! New chapter soon~