Thanks everyone for your support :) I will be continuing this story. Just as a side note about the timeline, Georgette is twenty and Candice is seventeen. The events of Beth and Daryl escaping the prison took place twenty-one years prior. In the flashbacks Georgette is three and Candice is an infant. Angela was in her late 50's when she died.
Georgette woke up on the floor, looking up at the ceiling. It was dark, the only source of light was the full moon, it's silvery light coming through the window. Her feet were no longer numb and she could feel the intense pain. She remembered looking down at her feet and seeing how torn up they were. She looked over at Candice. Her eyes were shut. For a fleeting, terrifying moment, Georgette thought she was dead but when saw her chest rise and fall she felt relieved. Her skin was still blue and her hair was still covered in ice. Georgette gently moved herself closer to Candice and put her head on her chest to feel her heartbeat. It was there but it was slow along with her breathing. Georgette knew she had to get herself up. She ignored the pain in her ribs and got to her feet. She got a good look at them. Strips of flesh hung loosely off to the side, blood still oozing out onto the wooden floor. She could see the bones on her three middle toes, her little toes were completely gone. Whatever skin was left on them was black and frostbitten. She gagged, and leaned over onto the sink in the kitchen and threw up. The overwhelming scent of blood assaulted her senses. All of the blood she'd coughed up was still caked in dry layers on her face.
Trembling she looked around the room. She almost cried in happiness when she saw the bags from the run they had gone on were sitting on the floor by the door. They must of managed to hold on to them. She stumbled over to them and saw back down onto the floor. She unzipped the bag and pulled out a small pack of lighters. She looked around for something she could use as firewood. A pile of old newspapers sat on top of the counter. She pulled them down and set them down on the floor and quickly lit a match. The paper went up in flames instantly. The warmth felt amazing but she knew Candice needed it more than her. Getting up she limped down the hallway. Every step was agony but she needed to find a blanket. There were two doors on each side with one straight ahead. A bathroom and two bedrooms. She found a blanket still on one of the beds and quickly brought it back to her sister. Wrapping her in it as best she could, she gently moved her sister closer to the fire. She took out her knife and cut two small strips of cloth from the blanket. She carefully wrapped it around her feet, keeping it tight in hopes of stopping the bleeding. She knew she'd have to look at more later but she needed to help her sister. She pulled off Candice's boots and rubbed her feet and hands trying to get some heat circulating back into her limbs. The ice in her hair was finally starting to melt. When Candice opened her eyes Georgette started crying and pulled her into a hug. Disoriented, she tried to sit up.
"Don't," said Georgette, holding her down.
"Where are we," said Candice.
"Were safe," she said. Candice shivered and said
"I'm so cold," Georgette hushed her and said
"Stay close to the fire." Candice put the other side of the blanket around Georgette's shoulder so the two could huddle together and share body warmth. The house was not nearly as cold as the outside but having have been vacant for who knows how long it was still cold.
"Where are we?" she asked again, "What happened?" Angela's death finally hit Georgette full on.
"Angela's dead," said Georgette, letting out a sob, "Walkers swarmed the house. You fell through the ice in the lake and I carried you here." The two girls broke down.
"We weren't their to protect her," said Candice crying, "It's our fault she's dead!"
"Don't think like that," said Georgette, although in the back of her own mind she was thinking it too.
"We let our gaurd down because we thought the house was safe enough away from civilization for walkers to find us." Georgette didn't reply but instead put her arm around her sister's shoulder and let the tears flow from her eyes.
Georgette couldn't sleep, the sharp hunger pains in her stomach was keeping her awake. She rolled over on the cot, trying to find a more comfortable position. A soft knocking on the bars of her cell caught her attention. She rolled back over to see Angela crouching down in front of the door in the darkness.
"Georgette it's just Angela." Smiling Georgette hopped off her cot and went over to the door.
"What are you doing here?" she asked.
"We're getting out of her," she said.
"How'd you get out of your cell," She held up a ring of keys.
"I stole it from one of the guards earlier." Angela quickly got to work on trying each key in the lock. The fifth key fit and Angela carefully and silently opened Georgette's door.
"Where's Candice?" asked Georgette.
"I need you to help me get her," said Angela, "She's in a nursery with the other babies here. If I walk in their someone's gonna notice me, but your small enough to sneak in and out." Georgette felt excited, knowing she was on a mission to save her baby sister. Angela took her hand and led her down the hallway. They came into a large room that had several different hallways leading in different directions. Coming from one of the hallway Georgette could hear the sound of a baby crying. Angela led her down that hallway and they came to a door that was slightly ajar. Georgette could see cribs inside and could hear the sounds of the baby crying. Angela leaned down and whispered quickly to her. "Go in and stay hidden I can see Candice. She's in the first crib in the third row." Georgette carefully slipped through the door. She quickly hid under a crib. She could hear someone softly hushing the crying baby. From what she could hear it sounded like the woman was on the other side of the room. She slipped out from underneath the crib and went straight for the next one. Suddenly the baby above her let out a high pitched cry. Feeling her heart jump in her chest. Georgette stayed absolutely still as the woman hurried over to the crib. Georgette could see her feet, but a large wooden panel prevented her from seeing anything else. She held her breath, as the woman cooed at the baby. After a couple of minutes, the baby calmed down and Georgette heard the woman walk away and leave through a door on the opposite side of the room. She quickly stood up and saw her little sister sleeping in the crib in front of her. She carefully wrapped her up in the blanket that was covering her and went back out the door to find Angela anxiously waiting. Without saying a word, Angela took Candice from her and the two ran back out into the main room. "This way!" said Angela. She turned and ran down a long hallway with a large door at the end. She took the keys out of her pocket and quickly unlocked the door. The door swung open to let in a gust of cold hair. Letting out a little whine Candice awoke and let a huge wail. She heard Angela curse and say "Come on we gotta go!" She took her hand and they ran out into the night.
They sat in silence, all they could hear was the crackling of the fire and the wind whistling outside. The room had gotten warm enough now that they were able to take off their winter coats. Georgette still held her winged jacket close around her, feeling chilled to the bone. The tears had stopped but they were still grieving. Candice spoke up and said
"She took us in and gave us a home, we were raised by her." Angela was the only parent they'd ever known, especially Candice who was an infant when she took them in. Angela had never raised them to believe that she was their true mother and they'd never called her 'mom' but she had been their guardian and caretaker until they were old enough to hunt and take care of themselves. Georgette smiled remembering all of the wonderful times they'd had together and all of the stories Angela had told them about the world before the walkers.
"You know she always told me that you looked like our mother," said Georgette.
"I never liked listening to her talk about them," said Candice, "It makes me think too much."
"What do you mean?" she asked.
"It makes me think about who we would be or could be if we had our parents around. We don't even know if they're alive. They could be anywhere." Georgette had sat in front of the fire countless nights with Angela discussing her parents. Candice had rarely joined them. "Did she ever tell you their names?" She looked up at Candice and said
"Beth Dixon was our mother's name, she didn't remember our father's name."
"But his last name had to be Dixon?" said Candice.
"Assuming they were married or she used his last name," said Georgette. Candice just shrugged and threw some more newspaper into the fire.
"Do you think they're still alive?"
"I don't know," said Georgette, "When Angela left with us she said our mom was in pretty bad shape, that's why she gave us to her." Candice didn't answer, she turned away, putting more newspapers on the fire. Feeling the fresh flames, Georgette took the blanket off of her legs and feet and put them closer to fire. Candice saw her wrapped feet.
"What happened?" she asked.
"I lost my boots somewhere along the way here."
"Let me see," said Candice.
"Its pretty nasty," said Georgette. She knew she was going to have to deal with her feet at some point or she could get a deep infection. She untied the cloth and slowly unwrapped her feet. Candice gasped in horror as the cloth fell away to reveal her mutilated feet.
"You need to do something about that!" she said, "You could get gangrene!" Georgette already knew in her mind what Candice was going to suggest but played dumb about it.
"It'll heal over time," she said. Candice pointed out the bone shining through the deep gashes and the blackened skin.
"That will NOT heal over time, your toes are gonna have to come off."
"It'll be fine," said Georgette.
"The infection will spread and your entire foot will have the come off!" said Candice, "Don't be stupid about this." Georgette knew what her sister was saying was true.
"Fine," said Georgette, "But you're gonna need to sterilize the knife and find something to cauterize the wound." Candice stood up and when over to the kitchen, searching through the cupboard she pulled out a metal pan.
"I'll stick this in the fire so it'll heat up and we can sterilize the knife with the fire too." Georgette couldn't believe what was happening. It felt like a dream. Without her toes would she be able to walk?
"What about the bones?" she asked. "That knife isn't gonna be able to cut through bone. We need something to break them." Candice looked around and saw the stairs leading down to the basement.
"I'll go downstairs and see if there are any tools."
"Be careful," said Georgette, handing her a gun, "I didn't go down there so there could be walkers." Candice took the gun and headed down the stairs. Georgette listened to the sounds of her sister walking around downstairs. She couldn't believe this was happening. Was it all a dream? Would she wake up back in her bed at the house? Candice quickly reappeared, carrying a hammer in her hand.
"This is all I could find," she said. Georgette thought about smashing the hammer down onto her own toe, shattering the bone.
"You gotta be the one to do it, I can't," said Georgette. Candice looked nervous but nodded. She lifted the pan out of the fire to see it glowing with heat.
"Ready?" asked Candice. Georgette took a deep breath and then nodded
"Ya I'm ready," Georgette moved onto the couch. Candice lifted the hammer up, "Wait! Wait! Give me something to bite on so I don't clench my teeth!" Candice looked around the room and saw the bag on the floor. She quickly cut off the leather strap and handed it to her. Georgette took it and bit down on it.
"Alright now I'm ready," she said, her words slurring from behind the strap. Candice lifted the hammer again and then brought it down on her toes with all the force she could muster. The pain was unimaginable. Georgette let out a scream, tears pouring down her face as she tried to gain control of herself. She knew screaming would attract walkers. She looked down to see the bones in her middle toes shattered and flattened. Candice's face was sheet white as she looked down at what she had done. "Keep going!" said Georgette, Candice jumped at her sister's harsh tone and took the knife out of the fire. She started cutting at whatever skin and muscle was left. Georgette felt dizzy, all she could feel was pain. She saw Candice take the pan out of the fire and quickly press it to her new wounds. The smell of burning meat and flesh overwhelmed her. To her own disgust, her empty stomach growled in response. Candice quickly moved onto the next foot. "Wait! Give me a minute," she said, sitting up on the couch. She took a deep breath and said "I need some water." Candice got up and went back into the kitchen. She found a cup and opened the front door, taking a scoop of snow and then closing it. She put the cup over the fire where it quickly melted into water. Georgette took it and gulped it down, feeling the cold water trickle down into her stomach. Then they got back to it.
Candice watched her sister sleep on the couch, exhausted from the whole ordeal. Candice sat on the floor by the fire again, sipping on a glass of water. Cutting off her own sister's toes had been terrible. It made her nauseous again just thinking about it. She had managed to keep it together for Georgette and finish the task. Georgette had always done so much for her and watched over her. Now that her sister needed her she had to step up to the plate for the first time in her life. She had managed to save the big toe on her left foot so hopefully she wouldn't loose all of her balance, but she would definitely need some time to get used to walking around. She wondered how long they were going to have to stay in this cabin. It was well protected by thick brush and for now, the heavy thick snow on the ground but Candice knew that meant nothing. If walkers had found their home with Angela then they could certainly find this house. Candice's stomach growled in hunger. She knew they needed to go hunting for food but with Georgette injured it was up to her. She got up and put on her sister's winter jacket. Her's was still soaking wet from falling through the ice. She picked up her gun and opened the front door. She wouldn't be gone long, just enough to find some squirrels or if she was lucky, a deer.