oOo

Felix's ready fist collided with Diana's abdomen, hard enough to make her gasp for air, but still soft enough that she knew he was holding back. He had, after all, not only his height to his advantage, but strength as well - much to Diana's dismay and partial denial.

The morning sun shone heavy on them from the cornflower blue skies, bathing them in sweat.

"Retaliate, c'mon, Diana," Sam encouraged from the sidelines, clapping once.

Once she'd gotten her breath back, Diana used an open palm to push aside another of Felix's punches and moved in and grabbed him around the middle, locking her fingers together behind his back; her bruised hand protested at the tight grip. Shit. Now she'd incapacitated both of them; he couldn't move his arms, but neither could she.

"The hell are you doing?! Whatever, Felix, use your head. How do you get out?"

"By stopping playing around like a couple of children?" Irene provided with a sigh as she joined them, hand shielding her eyes from the sun, "Juro por Deus, you're gonna hurt yourselves and I'm gonna be right here when you come crying to tell you 'I told you so'."

Felix struggled to lift his arms free, but Diana's locked hands didn't budge. She jokingly laid her head on her brother's chest and pretended to nap.

"C'mon, you bobo! This gonna take long? I wanna kick some ass too," Alice puffed impatiently from somewhere Diana couldn't see. Honestly, all she could see was her brother's neck and the scenery behind him from above his shoulder.

"Really, Diana, what the fuck? Just let go!" The boy's deep voice rumbled in his chest.

Diana tutted. "Watch the language. You gotta use your head, bro. What if this happens with someone else? You can't just yell at them to let go. Well, you could, but I'm guessing they ain't about that life."

Felix stopped his erratic moves, and when Diana looked up at him in confusion, the boy reared his head back and lurched it forward with a snap, hitting his forehead to hers.

The flash of pain and sudden dizziness caused her to let go and stumble backward, head in her hands and eyes screwed shut. Eventually, she ended up falling on her butt.

Alice's uncontrollable laughter rang in her ears, and the headache she was sporting grew stronger. The darkness behind her eyelids didn't help the vertigo - it felt like she was on a rollercoaster that consisted only of stomach dropping loops - and the next thing she knew, she was rolling to the side to throw up.

"Oh my God, Sam!" Irene's voice rang closer until it was basically on her. "I think she might have a concussion. Diana, open your eyes, look at mom!"

"S'not a concussion, mami, just dizzy," she protested and spat bitter saliva onto the dirt next to her sick. She shuddered at the smell – the stale humid air also didn't help -, and almost vomited again. Instead, she swallowed down the feeling and stood up unsteadily, with both parents holding her under each arm. She kicked some dirt to cover the spot and walked over to Felix, trying her hardest not to trip.

The boy's forehead had a red spot, most likely twin to hers, but fortunately for him, she seemed to have taken the brunt of the hit.

"You okay?" she asked and prodded the skin, which made him wince. A bit of petty revenge on her part.

"Yeah, hurts like hell, though. My head feels like it's gonna blow up."

"Don't I know it," Diana said and slapped him upside the head. "You ever do that again, I'll do worse."

"Ow! Yeah, I'd like to see that happen."

"What do you mean by that?"

"Nothing."

"What, don't think I will?"

"Just don't think you're strong enough."

"Arm-wrestle me, right here, right now."

"That's your solution? It's okay, we don't have to, don't wanna destroy you too quickly and humiliate you."

"Huh, you little flea..."

"Goat beast."

"Uugh, I'll take you on!"

"Oh, yeah, what you gonna do? Hug me to submission?"

"I-I had a plan!"

"Yeah, like I said, hugging, great plan. The freaking best."

"Okay, I think you two had enough for today," Sam interrupted with firm words and hard hazel-green eyes. He stepped between his oldest and youngest child to avoid unwanted confrontation and forced them to sit on the sidelines to cool down.

They plopped down on a patch of grass next to their standing mother. Diana accepted a bottle of water to rinse her mouth with.

She avoided the woman's disappointed gaze and knew she and Felix were gonna be on the receiving end of a lecture in the near future.

In the meanwhile, Sam started a demonstration with Alice, showing once more how to throw a correct punch and the best ways to deflect one.

Diana watched absentminded as her dad and sister started their sparring. The man went completely soft on her, guiding her through her moves and saying tips out loud for her and Felix to hear as well.

They had gone through those same moves the day before when they'd started the 'lessons on ass-kicking' - as Alice called them.

It had been on their second day in the camp that Sam had brought up the subject during breakfast. He'd said it could be useful in case of any hostile human encounter, as experienced by Diana. He'd specifically mentioned how defenseless she had been in that situation, and how badly she could've gotten hurt if not for Daryl.

That was when Diana's pride had made her spill the beans about all of it.

It was fair to say her parents had been horrified. At the lie, at her irresponsibility and naivety, at Daryl for playing along, basically every reason there'd been to be mad about had come up. And she had to sit and endure a chiding like no other, comprehensible, but tiring; her mom tended to repeat herself multiple times for emphasis and her dad liked to escalate the scenarios. At the end of it, they made sure she knew she was strictly forbidden to associate herself with Daryl and his brother. She was lucky she came out of it unscathed.

To that day, Diana remained bitter at herself for having confessed because of injured pride, but relieved that she would no longer have to tiptoe around her parents, even though she didn't intend to talk much about it, to begin with; the first and last time had been two days before, when she'd had that damned nightmare and Alice had confronted her about it.

The good thing in the short time that had passed was that the novelty of their arrival worn off and they were finally left in relative peace.

Sam kept up his stoic and quiet manner with outsiders, which kind of scared off unwanted curiosity. Irene made acquaintance with Miranda Morales – the only other woman in camp who spoke Spanish – and would bring fresh information back home about whatever matter of significance Miranda would tell her each day.

Diana had introduced Glenn to Alice and Felix. She could tell he felt slightly weird in the beginning, not only because he had to look up to look Felix in the eye, but also because of Alice's awkward friendliness, which painted a completely different picture of the girl when compared to what Diana had told him. He was able to look beyond their age and see the maturity hidden in the jokes and puns and sarcasm. Basically, he didn't treat them like children like everyone else did, so it's fair to say he became quite popular with the two teens.

Diana was brought out of her musings and watched Alice attempt to punch her father in the belly, but getting her fist pushed to the side or caught every time. Her puff wiggled with her every erratic move and said moves left much to wish for as her stamina depleted sizably and quickly. The girl gave up soon after, bending over at the waist to catch her breath and cursing at her father in languages he didn't understand.

"Okay, I think it's better we wrap it up for today," Sam informed, looking uncharacteristically exhausted, and accepted water from his wife, which he drank greedily.

"Good, it should've ended a long time ago as it is," Irene puffed out and wiped her husband's brow. "Cristo, vem cá abaixo ver isto, look at the state you're in."

Sam shrugged it off. "I don't get why you're so against it?! They're gonna be damn grateful they know this shit if they ever need it, and so are you. You rather they trust the Virgin and not run?"

"I know that, Samuel. Santo Cielo. I just don't like thinking about it."

"It could damn well happen, and if it does, it's better they're prepared," Sam said gently, going to his wife and rubbing her upper arms up and down in comfort. It wasn't hard to get upset if one thought of it like that. And parents never like thinking about their children getting hurt.

"Yeah, let's just hope it never comes to that, 'kay? You hear, kids? Always be diplomatic first. You jump head first or fist first, whatever, into an argument, it'll only escalate. It's all good that you know these things but think, for God's sake, before you start something that can only end badly." Irene fixed each of her children with a stare that both commanded and pleaded for obedience.

Sam turned to them as well while putting an arm around his wife's shoulders. "Yeah, yeah, I don't mean for you to go picking fights with everyone you meet and shit. But I want you to have the security of your own fists and body if words and diplomacy fail."

Irene rolled her eyes at the pointed look he gave her. "Exactly."

Alice clapped her hands once. "Good, nice, super, but if we're done, can we please go now?"

"Sure," Sam said with a smile and a wave of his hand, "class dismissed, or some shit like that."

oOo

"Ich schwör', this fighting thing is all cool and whatever, but I get the feeling we're not moving forward," Diana admitted while releasing her thick waves from their disheveled ponytail and massaging her sweaty scalp, her fingers getting caught in the strands.

They trekked from the plain overseeing the camp down to the lake, going around the camp rather than through it. Two women sat at the water's edge, washing clothes against the rocks, so they walked further down, so they wouldn't disturb them.

Felix bent down and scooped some water with his hands to splash his face. "We only started yesterday but yeah, the punching and deflecting, it's like, we fucking get it, next! What'd be really cool is if I was like Luke Cage, you know, I wouldn't even need to learn any of this, just punch my way through the zombies, let 'em at me, you know?"

Diana nodded in contemplation while kicking off her shoes. "You'd single-handedly stop the Apocalypse."

"Or we could start Saitama's very rigorous training program and go all 'One Punch' on the sumbitches." Alice punched the water, splashing herself.

"Right? I bet he'd get bored, though."

"But nah, bro, you know what this is called? It's called building up from the basics," Alice stated with false seriousness and followed her brother's lead to refresh herself. "But yeah, I've kinda had enough of doing the same damn thing."

Diana bound her hair again at the back of her head and crouched by the limpid water. "Ugh, so am I, but I guess we do need to learn this stuff before we get to the real fucking badass ass-kicking." She punched the air in front of her in a series of consecutive uncoordinated punches, which almost caused her to lose balance and fall forward.

"Man, I can't wait for those," Felix breathed willfully.

The three took the beat of silence to scoop up water and splash them on themselves, the back of their necks, face, and even up and down their arms. The heat was really unbearable, how could it be like this during the day and get so chilly at night?

When they were done, they sought out some boulders where they could both sit and still have their feet in the water.

"Oh, side note, I got my fucking period this morning, that's why my boobs and back were hurting so much these last days. Fuck my life, amirite?" Diana smiled falsely with a thumbs up.

"You, too? Bitch, pound it." Alice held out her fist to Diana, who tapped hers against it. "Blood sisters."

"C'mon guys, really?" Felix asked, making a face and rolling his eyes.

Alice crossed her arms and raised an eyebrow. "What? Can't take a little talk about blood? Newsflash, there's blood inside you right now," she whispered the last sentence like it was a secret and shared a smirk with Diana.

Felix rolled his eyes again, even more emphatically. "No, you know? It's 'cause you're basically rubbing in my face that I'll never be a blood sister," his tone lulled with sarcasm. "Can we talk about something else? I don't wanna think about blood coming out of your anywhere."

"You're the one still talking about it."

Alice clicked her tongue against her teeth and kicked her foot out of the water with a splash. "Bebé." She leaned around him to look at Diana. "But now that we're changing subjects, Diana, did mãe and pai say anything about, you know, that thing that happened?"

Diana glanced up from her submerged feet and grimaced. "You mean besides the huge-ass lecture about how irresponsible I was, and reminding me of stranger danger and other shit you only normally discuss with a ten-year-old? I guess pai was kinda low-key proud of me? Still pissed as fuck, but yeah, and mami wants me to get an escort for every time I go to the bathroom. Like, what the hell? What am I here?"

Alice kicked her feet in the water, splashing all three, a large grin present on her lips. "Oh my God, that's too good!"

"Yeah, yeah, I can imagine pai just standing watch all serious and stuff, and you in the background going-" Felix interrupted himself to make grunting noises and screw his face like he was constipated.

His sisters laughed at the sound effects he added and joined him in impersonating someone taking a shit. Charming, really.

They clutched their sides in laughter, which resonated like church bells inside the stone walls of the Quarry, and just as they were calming down, Alice blew a raspberry and they cracked up again; Diana even almost falling off the rock when Felix leaned too hard against her.

"For real, though, going no. 2 was weird enough back when it was just us …" Diana said with a grimace.

Alice joined in, "Oh man, you're right. Now, there's the chance some rando just strolls in on you going-" She made another 'pooping-face'.

"Yeah, guess having someone watching out doesn't sound so bad actually," Felix retorted and brought his fins for feet out of the water and crisscrossed his legs, his bony knees poking both Alice's and Diana's thighs.

Diana scooched over to give him more space. "You wouldn't believe how stressful it was this morning. Me, crouching, tampon in hand, looking over my shoulder every two seconds, God! I was sweating like crazy with nerves, I don't think I ever put it in as quick as I did today."

Felix made a gagging sound, and Diana swatted him on the arm.

"Bruh, same, I feel you. After breakfast, I had to stand behind a tree, with my bare ass sticking out to stick that fucking pad on. It was like, on my top five things I wish I never had to do again," Alice complained, gesturing emphatically with her hands.

"Oh really, what are the other four?" Diana asked, to which Alice smirked like she'd been waiting exactly for one of them to ask that.

"One of them is talking to you losers." The younger girl grinned, her green-hazel eyes shining in triumph as if she'd delivered the sickest burn of the century.

Felix scoffed and added, "Same, you guys suck."

Diana sniffed and dramatically pretended to wipe a tear from the corner of her eye. "Please stop, children, the tears are already coming to my eyes. I've never heard such beautiful words in my life before."

"I'll give you a reason to cry," Alice bellowed, impersonating their father, and jumped into the knee-high water and started splashing water at her siblings, making torrents rain down on them, drenching them through their clothes. "Here come the tears, suckers!"

Both gasped at the temperature contrast, and seeing as they were already wet as it was, they joined Alice in the lake and retaliated by joining forces and sending a wave of tidal proportions crashing on their sister as she yelled something about her hair.

There were laughter and squeaks of surprise and yells of revenge, and overall the atmosphere was good and pure and of so much fun that everything else was forgotten.

Of course, it didn't last, because not even five minutes after it had started, Irene – who had joined the other two women washing their laundry – had snapped at them, demanding that they stop or they'd get sick.

Complaining to each other in murmurs, the three siblings lied down on the pebbled shore, clothes soaked through and gluing to their skin, hair heavy, and hearts content, despite it all. The sheer happiness Diana was feeling invoked guilt, because how could they be having so much fun when it was the end of the world, it felt almost like a sin.

No, they should be having fun despite the end of the world. They were still there; they were still alive; happiness was for the living.

Only a few seconds passed before Felix draped his arm over Diana's belly, a silent request for attention, and Alice soon followed suit. So the three lay on their backs, small rounded stones slightly digging into their flesh, but they didn't care. The sunlight was warm and painted their eyelids red, and Diana lightly grazed her fingers up and down her siblings' arms, and the combination was enough to make them melt into near slumber.

"I miss my PS4," Felix commented sleepily, "and all my games. And all my cool clothes that got left behind."

Alice scoffed. "Boy, don't even get me started, and I don't wanna 'cause it's gonna make me anxious."

They stayed like so for a couple of minutes, enjoying the murmur of noise from the camp up the road, the screeches and calls of birds flying overhead, the quiet conversation of the women down the shore, and the water lapping at their feet, that is, until Diana's arms grew tired and she sat up, dropping the arms draped over her onto their respective owners' chest.

She crisscrossed her legs and let herself slump forward, and Alice and Felix reluctantly sat up as well. Felix stretched his lithe form and then leaned himself back on his hands. Alice sighed blissfully and turned her face towards the sky, eyes closed like a cat in the sun.

Her eyes blinked open very lazily and she turned to Diana. "You know what I was thinking?"

"That this is probably Trump's fault?"

"No, but holy shit."

"Right? But what then?"

Alice leaned forward. "I was thinking that… I really need this, this training. I mean, the two of you are taller and stronger than me," she admitted between clenched teeth, "and Diana, you got your weird-ass, magic-ass bow-thing. Unless I get me some badass sword or gun or some shit, all I got is this." She gestured down to herself. "So I really wanna learn how to use it."

Felix and Diana contemplated her words. The latter laid a hand on Alice's shoulder, which she shook off, but Diana persisted and rested it there again, heavily. "Okay, that might be true, but you got like, this really uncanny, unwavering hatred towards people and that sorta thing comes in handy, you know? As motivator."

Alice nodded, consenting. "That is true, I do hate people a lot," she admitted earnestly.

"How do you think pai learned this stuff?" Felix asked incredulous, deviating from the subject, "I mean, he grew up in a village, he's the son of a farmer."

"Yeah, but he moved out as soon as he started dating mami, when he was around my age, I think?" Diana explained.

"And he did that mandatory military thing when he was eighteen, so he probably learned something there," Alice added, and the siblings nodded, making noises of acknowledgment.

"Hey, you were saying about my bow before-"

Alice interrupted, "And you wanna use that as an excuse to talk about yourself."

"Shut up, yes, but shut up. I was gonna say that like, I have it and it's wirklich cool and shit, but eigentlich I don't really know how to use it? Like, I've never had time to practice or anything, you know? I don't have that skill set," Diana admitted sheepishly with a loose shrug.

Felix shook his head in dismissal, one eyebrow raised in question. "So? Learn it, practice. S'probably not that hard."

Diana rolled her eyes. "Yeah, how? I could be doing it all wrong. I've never done archery before. You know, besides Wii Sports Resort, but I was good at that."

"Normally, I'd say to google it, but we're in the equivalent to the Dark Ages or some shit, so bleh, got nothing," Alice said lazily, one eyebrow delicately lifted and eyes half-lidded in a perfect expression of lethargy.

"I don't know; I think you should just go for it. Try it out, you know? Maybe it'll come to you."

"But I wanna learn it correctly. It's gonna psych me out if it's not done right, you know me."

"Yeah, Ms. All-my school-documents-are-organized-chronologically-and-by-medical-topic."

"Shut your fuck up, Alice."

"Wow." Felix slow-clapped. "Gut ge-englischt."

"Why don't you just ask around, damn… you whiny pissbaby." Alice sighed in irritation and rested her chin on her palm.

Diana huffed and crossed her arms, much like a whiny pissbaby. "You, of all people, know how much I can't do that, Alice." She gave Alice a self-explanatory look, and the girl shrugged in understanding. "I mean, it's not that bad talking to these people 'cause I treat them like my patients, and I'm chill with my patients. But I'll stop thinking of them that way as soon as we talk about something not related to their health. Know what I mean?"

"Nah, not really, but I get the not being able to ask 'em. I wouldn't too."

"You could ask Daryl," Felix suggested like it was the most obvious idea, and they should feel dumb for not thinking of it sooner.

"Why him?"

"The guy has a fucking crossbow," "Language." "you'd think he knows his way around a bow like yours, right?"

Alice's face became perfectly blank. "Bro, I resent you so much right now because I didn't think of that first." She turned her head away dramatically and raised her palm to Felix. "Don't speak to me for the rest of the day, goodbye."

Felix raised his joined hands towards the sky. "Oh thank God, yes! Finally, my wishes become reality!"

Alice gasped in offense, but Diana clapped once, bringing them back. "Okay, back to the point, this is important, okay? You think he'd help me?"

Felix emitted a noncommittal sound and shrugged one shoulder. He dragged his legs towards himself and leaned forward, elbows resting on his knees. "Just ask. I mean, you know him better than the others, and you don't 'treat him like a patient', right? Should be easier for you."

Diana started chewing on the inside of her cheek. "But I'd have to show him the bow… What if he thinks it's weird? 'Cause, let's be honest, who wouldn't? What do I do? Besides, mami and pai forbid me from talking to him," she added sheepishly, picking at the glittery nail polish Alice had applied on her nails the day before.

"Oh, please," Alice scoffed and slapped her hands to stop her from ruining her work. "I think this might be the one exception they make, 'cause like you said, this shit's important."

"How else you wanna learn 'correctly'? And you only gotta show it to him if he says he can help you. If he says no from the get-go, he doesn't have to know."

Diana scoffed at Felix's words. "That's really wishful thinking, he's gonna find out irgendwann, and so is everyone, you know? And they're gonna ask me questions and they're probably gonna accuse me of something? What if they try to burn me for witchcraft? I might look a little like that girl from 'The Vampire Diaries', but I'm not a witch, guys!"

"Hey, chill, bro. You're taking your stupid to whole new levels."

Diana turned to Felix, no longer on the verge of hyperventilating. "You never know what's out there, we've seen zombies and a magic bow, witches might be real."

"Witches have always been real; I know 'cause I am one," Alice remarked teasingly, smug-faced. "Too bad I left my tarot deck back home."

"Yeah, what a shame. Shut the hell up, man."

Alice inhaled sharply, her cute rounded nose scrunching up as she prepared a comeback.

Diana, being between them, took it upon herself to stop a roast-fest from breaking out. "Can you not? Not right now? I'm facing a dilemma, people."

Felix drew a breath through clenched teeth. "Seems like a problem for future you."

"Yep, and she's gonna hate you for it," Alice added.

"Thanks a lot, as if I didn't know," Diana breathed and rolled her eyes. "I guess I'll ask Daryl."

Felix slapped his now-dry jeans and rose to a crouch. "So, I already spent enough time with you two as it is, and I gotta go take a shit now." He slapped his hand against Diana's in their standard handshake, he backed out at the last second with Alice and flipped her off before standing to his full height.

Alice did the same and grinned. "You're so vulgar, Felix, say poop."

"Incredible how you managed to squeeze that in," Diana said in disbelief and chuckled before pounding her fist against Alice's.

Alice tsked and shrugged one shoulder. "What can I say? I'm the Queen of timing and anime references."

Felix leaned against the rock they had previously been sitting on to slip on his sneakers. "Whatever, I really gotta go, though, been postponing this shit since I woke up. Pun intended."

"Make sure to take pai with you," Alice yelled at his turned back, as their brother jogged away.

He turned to them, walking backward and gave them two thumbs up. "I'll let you know how it goes, full report," he yelled back.

"Please don't," Diana managed before he disappeared from sight. She turned back to Alice. "What now?"

"I'm tired, let's just hang."

"Fine by me."

The subject quickly turned to simple things from their life B.A. (before Apocalypse). Alice mostly brought up her favorite anime and TV-shows, and what a pain it was that they would never find out how they'd end. They kept the conversation light-hearted, having their fun while avoiding loaded subjects.

It was a pleasant time in its entirety. They talked and joked and punned and laughed and made fun of each other like they were used to, and neither one became mad at or irritated with the other, for once. Which, admittedly, happened often. They were sisters, after all, and no well-adjusted sisters – or well-adjusted people, for that matter – got along well 100% of the time.

The giddiness in Diana, however, was replaced by something much heavier once they were called to lunch.


My carefree black children having some sibling bonding moments while the apocalypse rages on around them. They deserve it. They should cherish those moments and each other. God, I love them.

please leave a comment. tell me your thoughts, i'd really appreciate it