I do not own The Walking Dead.
❄ Lights ❄
Snow fell in flakes of cold clusters outside the frosted window.
It had been snowing for the past two weeks now, and the time had been a struggle to say the least. The way Beth had stood and smiled on the first day, exclaiming over the new light shower of snowfall, almost made Faye scoff now. The snow, although a pretty sight, would go on to cause them so many problems. It had been cold already, winter well and truly set in, but the snow was deadly for them.
No one was used to the cold; they were in Georgia after all. Daryl occasionally went out on hunts and maybe three people at a time would go on a run. Otherwise, they were at a standstill. Again, it was usually Daryl who joined the runs too, along with Rick or T-Dog or somebody. Glenn had gone once, but returned looking as if the cold had frozen him and he could be snapped in two. Daryl said it was 'cause he was lanky. Faye didn't disagree.
So, food was scarcer. The group barely moved around, and this didn't surprise Faye in the least. It was freezing inside the house, but it was far bitterer outside it. Neither conditions were safe for Lori, her pregnancy coming along, but there weren't harsh winds within the walls.
The child didn't want to think about what would happen if anyone got sick.
Faye curled up, clutching the blanket Daryl had thrown at her tighter to her body. It was soft to the touch, but thin and so didn't provide much in the way of warmth. She'd rather have it than not, though, so the child didn't voice any complaints.
Snowflakes were building up at the bottom of the window pane. With numb fingers, Faye reached out to the window and placed them on the icy glass. Her hand jumped a little at the cold, the child noting she should probably get something more than fingerless gloves, but she soon began to drag the tips of her fingers along the glass, leaving a trail where she had been. She looked at the sky as she drew. Faye couldn't see any stars in the night sky, blocked by the falling snow, but she good see the darkness with the moon just poking into her vision. The moon was lucky. It probably just enjoyed the snow, the girl thought, instead of worrying about the complications. It didn't have to rub at unfeeling fingers. It had friends, too, the stars surrounding it constantly. It didn't have to worry about its friends dying. Stars couldn't die. They were lucky too.
Then again, maybe that made them unlucky. Stars had to watch so many tragedies. Stars had to watch them.
Faye had finished her third picture on the glass when Daryl stopped her.
"Hey, don't." He said quietly. It was his turn on watch soon, but he rarely slept anyway. "You'll give yourself numb fingers."
"Already got 'em." Faye replied just, just as softly. They were in some kind of small study and barely had to lift their voices to hear each other.
The child heard him shift in his chair. "Don't make it worse, then."
Doing as he said, Faye pulled her hand back under the blanket and relaxed back into the swivelling chair, it swinging round a little as she put more weight on it. "Hey, Daryl?" The man grunted a reply and she continued. "Do you think it could be December now?"
She turned her head to look at him as he shrugged. "Dunno. Could be. Why's it matter?"
"My birthday's in December." Returning her eyes to the window, she didn't elaborate. It didn't mean she wanted presents or a celebration or anything, the opposite. Daryl knew this, or Faye at least hoped he remembered. In the end, he said nothing. Glancing at the snow, another thought occurred to the girl, and she turned to Daryl with a growing smile. "It could be Christmas, though."
He only shrugged again. "Never liked Christmas."
The smile on her face was dampened a little as she frowned. "Why? Who doesn't like Christmas?"
(Daryl, apparently.)
"It's got lights – I loved the lights - 'n food 'n songs 'n the tree 'n presents. What isn't to like?"
Daryl's face remained unimpressed. "Jus' never ended up bein' fun."
Not disheartened, Faye continued again. "We could make it a fun Christmas this year!"
"We ain't got any of the things ya said ya liked."
As if to emphasize his point, the wind howled suddenly and the glass windows shuddered just enough to give an eerie tone.
Damnit, Daryl was not supposed to be a Grinch! "Those aren't the only things good about Christmas. We've got snow this year, we never used to get snow. This is a way to make the snow into something good. Plus we've got…"
The hunter wasn't kidding, they really didn't have anything else. As the child began to trail off, T-Dog quietly poked his head into the room. Lazily, he gave a wave for Daryl and spoke quietly. "'S your turn on watch."
Daryl stood as the other man left the room, probably going in search of a place to sleep. He turned to Faye before he left the room. "Try 'n get some sleep."
"I'll try." She nodded, gathering up her blankets and shuffling towards the now free comfier chair she had opted against to be near the window.
"Good." He said firmly. "Back later."
Faye barely slept that night, mind running through ideas and plans not to be shared – not to mention the bitter chills - but before she even began to try, a final drawing was placed on her window.
The sky could have its stars and she could have hers.
"I win."
"I'm literally not even trying," Faye said, still glove-covered fingers gently throwing the cards onto the table. "I let you win."
"Sure, you did." Carl smirked as he tapped his own onto the surface triumphantly.
The girl sighed. Looking around the room, the girl saw the other tired members of the group. Not that they had done an awful lot of exercise, it was just the way the cold seemed to seep into your bones and draw the energy out of you. What they needed was a morale boost.
And Faye had decided she would be that boost.
Turning to Carol, she raised her voice a little. "When are Rick and Daryl back?"
"Shouldn't be long now," The woman replied, a smile that Faye guessed was forced coming onto her face. "Weathers lighter today. They should be an hour, tops."
"Okay." Faye nodded. That worked; her plan wouldn't take that long, would it? Nah. She had this in the bag.
The child reached into her pockets before pulling back the layers and checking the pockets of her jeans too.
Carl raised an eyebrow and drew out his words in confusion. "What are you doing?"
Feigning annoyance – very well, if Faye said so herself – she huffed and stood up. "Left something upstairs." She said as she pushed her remaining cards back towards the boy. "Play a game with Beth or something, I'll be a minute."
As soon as she left the room, the girl moved as fast as she could on her tip toes, in hopes that her hunch had been correct. Up the stairs, she walked along the landing until the end and opened the storing cupboard next to her and Daryl's 'room' – although she spent more time in it than Daryl did, she had every right to claim it as her own.
The storing cupboard had two halves. The top half had contained bedding, which had partially been taken by members of the group, but that wasn't what Faye was interested in. The bottom half was full of boxes. Some of these would probably be in a loft had the house had one, which meant one of the boxes may just contain some Christmas lights. She might not have been able to light them, what with the whole world-without-power thing, but that was a minor setback in the grand scheme of things.
The important part was that they'd have lights. And Faye loved Christmas lights. Back at home, she'd get Andy to drench the house in lights-
No. She wasn't at home. This wasn't the time to reminisce; it was the time to make a winter wonderland in the garden.
It occurred to her that she hadn't even found any lights yet. Faye got to work.
Faye didn't know the last time she had felt this satisfied.
She was tired and cold and out of breath and covered in a thin layer of snow but surrounded by Christmas lights. It was so worth it. It was perfect.
It didn't bother her too much that they weren't actually lit, although that would have improved the look of the white garden. The box from the storage cupboard – which was all the way at the back and required a lot of prying to get to, but was in fact there – also contained tinsel and baubles. Faye had pushed them into the overgrown hedge that surrounded the small garden, which she considered to be a fantastic idea. For once, the uncut plants were helpful. Directly opposite the stiff, frosted door that stood closed on the porch, was a star Faye had just about managed to lodge into the leaves of the bush. The child always preferred having a star on the tree rather than an angel or a fairy. Her tree just happened to be a hedge covered in snow.
The lights themselves were everywhere Faye could possibly wrap them. Inwardly, she applauded the previous owners of the house for, while they only had a meagre three sets, the fairy lights were very long. As far as she could tell, one had only white lights and the other two had multi-coloured. The girl herself would have had a lot more, but she applauded them for their enthusiasm colour wise.
On the wooden posts around the porch, the multi-coloured bulbs sat, wrapped around the wood and winding around onto the floor. The second set lay in swirls around the edge of the grassy lawn and the white lights were also imbedded in the hedge. They would have been less visible had the wires not been coated in white plastic to match the bulb itself.
The whole time the child had been humming Christmas songs, often quietly singing them when it got to the chorus. Her favourite was 'Merry Christmas Everybody', but she often got the name wrong without someone reminding her. The main reason for liking it was simple: Faye enjoyed the part where the man screamed 'It's Christmas!' at the end, because how could you forget it's that time of the year with someone shouting it at you? It was fantastic.
The child sung the words softly to herself as she lowered herself into snow, fully intent on making a snow angel. How often did she get the chance to? She was ace at snow angels!
(She had made two snow angels when her Dad took she and Andy skiing once. Andy's was better 'cause he had longer arms. But he was totally lanky-)
A large shiver ran through her as she lay back, and by this point her body was far too numb to realise the snow would later seep into her clothing, but she continued on. Gloved hands pushing into the snow, the girl outstretched her body and moved to make the angel, grinning and laughing as she squinted up into the air, gazing through the sky at each snowflake landing on her face. Giggling, she carefully stood up again. Snow fell down her neck as she did so, making the child jump and squirm, awkwardly curling back her arms to brush away the icy flakes.
Finally, she heard the crack of a door, and spun around to see a concerned T-Dog turning into a very confused T-Dog. "Faye?"
"Merry Christmas!" She cheered, throwing both hands in the air.
"…Alright then." His eyebrows quirked at the girl grinning from ear to ear before turning inside and calling. "Found Faye! She's in the garden! She's… been busy!" T-Dog turned back to the girl in question. "Now, what the hell have you been busy doin'?"
She continued to beam at him. "Making Christmas! Look at all the lights!"
"Yeah, I can see that," The man finally took a step out the house, but ran his hands up and down his arms. "Why the hell can't Christmas and lights be inside where it ain't freezin' people's butts off?"
"Snow!" Awkwardly bending down, Faye attempted to pick up the snow. She wasn't graceful about it, and fell backwards before heaving herself onto her knees again and standing with heavy breaths, over excited as she threw the white powder in the air.
At this point, Daryl swung open the door and walked out onto the porch, looking rather annoyed. Rick was after him, and Carl peered out from the doorway.
"Faye? The hell d'ya think your doin' out here? Get inside, it's too cold." He scolded. "Ya gonna get yourself sick."
"No, no, no, wait! I made it Christmas, see!" She spun around, arms out. "I can't go inside yet, I'm not done! I've gotta make a snowman yet!"
The hunter paused, as if he was about to ignore her and continue to bring her inside. Maybe he remembered her words about Christmas the night before. "Faye, ya lips are turnin' blue. And if you say ya can feel those fingers ya lyin'. And ya shakin'."
She hadn't even noticed her fingers going numb. Or the shaking. She was having too much fun for that.
Because even though the group was looking upon a shivering, snow covered child, whose fingers lacked feeling and whose lips were blue and whose hair was tangled – and although she was surrounded by lights that were dark and an untrimmed not-a-tree – the group was also looking upon an undeniably happy child, whose fingers stretched out into the air and whose lips spread into a smile and whose hair blew wildly in the wind. A child who had made unlit lights shine and an overgrown bush become a majestic tree. They couldn't deny this child had found herself her own little slice of bliss.
"Dad," Carl said from the doorway, hugging himself. "I wanna build a snowman."
The man sighed, but replied with a smile after an exchanged glance with Daryl. "You gotta wrap up more than that if you're gonna be out here."
The two children exchanged a quick look of glee before he raced back into the house, likely to his mother. For Faye, Daryl stepped out, down the steps of the porch and onto the grass, removing his larger gloves as he did so. "Alright, fine-"
Faye stopped him. "Wait, wait-!"
The man stopped moving mid-step with a confused look.
The child's grin became sheepish. "You were gunna step on my snow angel." He shook his head, but stepped out the way none the less. "It's really good, I'm telling you."
"Well, I ain't seen many so yours 's the best I've looked at." He said gruffly while the child began beaming again. "You ain't stayin' out fo' long and ya wearin' these. Found a hat on the run." Daryl's gloves were far too big for Faye's small hands, but they were warm from the man wearing them and so were well worth having on. The beanie, too, helped a surprising amount. She rubbed her hands together. "It'll have to be a damn quick snowman." She agreed. All Faye wanted was a snowman now; it would complete everything so well.
Carl rushed out the house, his mother apparently put him in a whole extra layer of clothing.
"This was an amazing idea." He said bluntly.
"I know," Faye said, flicking her hair back dramatically. "I'm full of them. Merry Christmas, dumbass."
Carl raised his eyebrows, but grinned with her. "Merry Christmas, hypocrite. Now, are we gunna make a snowman or not?"
"Snowman!" The girl cheered before both children began to get to work.
Maggie leaned against the doorway, Glenn's arms wrapped around her from behind. Lori and Carol stood by a kitchen window, inside rather than out, with Beth and Hershel at another.
"How did she get all this past us?" Lori questioned. "Faye's a clumsy kid."
It was Hershel who replied. "Faye's sneaky when she puts her mind to it. Apparently, the child put her mind to Christmas. I quite like the idea."
"I do, too." Beth agreed. "Ain't there a way we can actually light them up?"
Glenn thought for a moment before replying, raising his voice enough for Rick to hear. "Maybe. Haven't we got a few spare car batteries? We could hook them up for a little while."
Rick looked opposed to the idea, but Maggie smiled and spoke before the man could, looking to the children. "It'd make those two happy. We could have ourselves a little Christmas. This house had some wine, could share that a little…" She trailed off at the end with a grin of her own.
Rick crossed his coated arms, leaning against the wall. "We can't afford to waste that power, don't got much."
"It doesn't have to be for long." Glenn said, countering carefully. Rick was leading them after all and it was not a democracy, this much was clear by now. "It'd be good for them, good for all of us."
Rick and Daryl exchanged a look before the leader looked to the children, mainly his son, and finally nodded.
Faye hadn't been keeping track of the time, or the adults conversation, so she didn't realise how long it had been before the lights were being hooked up underneath her nose. She and Carl already begun rolling up the first ball for their snowman, and it was quickly becoming apparent the garden wasn't big enough to roll around very much. Not to mention Faye had used a lot of it for the fairy lights.
Just as the two reached the edge of the garden, the swirls of multi-coloured lights suddenly flickered into life beneath Faye's feet. The snow around the bulbs glowed along with them.
The child stared at them in disbelief for a moment before whipping around, almost tripping over her own feet as she looked to the porch, the Christmas lights there lit up too. The adults seemed to enjoy the spectacle too, and they began to laugh at both children's reactions, but Faye was too distracted by the hedge beginning to shine to be annoyed at them.
As the bulbs all bloomed into life, Faye's eyes were lighting up one and the same.
Author's Note:
So, no chapter for Not So Alone just yet - but expect one before the New Year!
Ah, it was fun to get back in the mind set of S2/S3 Faye. I'm allowed a lot more grinning.
Sorry this is a day late, I only came up with the idea on the actual day, and wrote it all out instead of spending time with family 'cause I'm recovering from flu. I hope you all had a lovely holiday and will have a fantastic New Year!
Please review, I love to hear your thoughts and advice.
Thanks.
Cobalt Flame.