I have spent the whole day in the snow. My cousins had come over and we were making snowballs and snowmen. We even made the Olaf dude from Frozen. So that's why todays chapter is going to be super late. They're gong now, but this is going to be up late because it takes me so long to write chapters half the time, and because this chapter doesn't aim to have a long memory, then it's going to take me longer then it usually does. But never the less, I will finish it and post it, even if it means to lose a little sleep lol XD
Annabelle held the tiny baby close to her chest later that day. Beth had to go off and do something quickly, so Anna was left with Judith. To be true she missed taking care of a kid. She definitely didn't want to have another baby in this world. It would be way too hard to keep safe. But holding a kid and rocking it to sleep really struck Anna's motherly instinct. But the fact that Lori was gone always had a sad feeling in her as well. The mother would never get to hold her child or anything.
She would just be watching from above.
Granted if there is an above.
Anna had always been a good catholic girl. Went to church every Sunday with her mother, even though half the time she never wanted to. She had gone to confession, said grace before eating, and did her daily prayers before she went to sleep. Even thanked God that she woke up in the morning. She was a good girl.
But now she was really starting to doubt.
Even in high school she was doubting. When she had been raped, she always wondered what did she do that she deserved this? What did she possibly say or do to someone that could be so bad that would end up in her getting touched and impregnated by a man she never knew. By a man who made her want to end her life?
She all but stopped going to church in college, only really a few times a year. She had little faith back then and still had little faith now. I mean, the dead were walking around them! Her mama always told her the dead went to heaven to watch over and protect you through life. She never mentioned the part where there corpses would come back to life and try to devour their flesh.
All she had to do was try to stay alive. Sometimes when she got lucky, she would look up to the sky and silently thank God for what he did, but then she looked back down to the word below her and just shook her head. Why would God start something like this? Were we really that bad of people? This world has just created more bad people! She still had no clue what went through this dudes head.
The child was slowly falling asleep in her arms, but she wanted to sing a little. She had heard Beth sing to the child multiple times, and usually that would send her off to dream land, but Anna wanted to try a lullaby she had used with Aria and Scarlett that always seemed to work. She had read it in a book she had gotten back for her birthday from Lily.
Lily.
The image of her friend being torn to pieces still haunt her. And it obviously haunted her eldest daughter as well. But her face. Just her face. It shook her in a way she didn't even know possible. It terrified her.
Deep in the meadow, under the willow.
A bed of grass, a soft green pillow.
Lay down your head, and close your sleepy eyes.
And when again they open, the sun will rise.
The baby was asleep, her eyes fully shut, and her breathing now slow. The song worked on almost any baby now. She smiles and rocks her for a few more moments.
"Having fun over there?" someone asks. Anna smiles and turns around, noticing Daryl with a bandana over his mouth. She chuckles.
"I haven't held a baby like this since Scarlett, so yeah, I'm a little happy." She walks over and takes off the bandana. "Sorry I couldn't help with a few more graves. Beth had me come in for a second to take care of the baby." He shakes his head.
"It's Lil' Asskicker. You're excused." She chuckles at the nickname. When she found out that the baby's nickname was that, she had nearly had a laughing attack. Only Daryl would come up with that stuff. She walks over to the crib that the baby slept in and gently laid her down. "Heard ya singing earlier to the baby." She looks up at him.
"You did?"
"I remember that lullaby. Used it on both your kids. Does it work on every baby?" he chuckles. She shrugs, stepping up.
"I guess so, because every baby I have ever sang it too has fallen asleep in seconds." She adjusts her jacket and walks back over to where she had put down her knives. "Maybe it's just the soothing sound of the song, or the words. I think my mom used to sing it to me."
"Could just be yer voice," he replies. "Freaken voice of an angel." She scoffs, but smiles anyway.
"You're just trying to mush me up so you can get something," she accuses, placing her knives in her holster. He rolls his eyes.
"I can't give my wife a simple compliment?" he chuckles. She shakes her head.
"Your compliments always end up with me getting pushed up against a wall or a bed with your tongue down my throat, so no, you can't." He smirks and begins to say something when a cry of anguish is heard from the prison yard. Daryl and Anna look at each other worried and rush to what the sound was. Rick was going there as well.
"Who was that?" Anna asks Rick as they ran.
"Sounded like Tyreese," he said. Anna's brow furrowed. What could be so bad that it would make Tyresse mad? That dude was tough. She had experienced it first hand on the many runs they did together. He was so down to earth half the time too, which automatically made Anna like him.
The three survivors reached their destination, and Anna could now see what had made the tough man let out a sob.
Karen and David were on the ground, dragged out, and burned. Dead.
Her hands go flying to her mouth as she contains the sob that was bound the come out. It all brought back memories.
"Do you see this?" the man asked. Rick steps forward slightly while Anna stays near the entrance from where they came from, just in case this dude lost it.
"Did you find them like this?" he asks carefully. Tyresse nods, anger evident in his expression.
"Someone dragged them out here, and burned them," he said quietly, getting up from his knees. "SOMEONE DRAGGED THEM OUT HERE, AND BURNED THEM," he repeats louder. Anna backs away slightly. She did not want to get in the way of this dudes anger. "You find the person who did this, and bring them to ME!" he says, walking up to Rick, his face very sincere in what he said. "You bring them to ME!"
"We will find who did this, Tyresse, but you have to calm down for second," Rick says, but Tyresse is still bubbling over with rage. Daryl decided to step up.
"Ty-" he starts, but the man turns around and pushes Daryl up against the wall In anger. Anna runs forward to stop him as does Rick, but Daryl puts his hands up to stop them, mostly to Anna, because he knew if she was to get to close to Tyresse, he would hurt her next. "We're the same size, man," he says back.
"Tyresse, let go of Daryl so we can figure this out-" Rick starts, but then he release's Daryl and turns his fist on Rick, who was now bleeding from the nose. Anna's eyes widen as she goes to stop Tyresse but then see Rick get up and punch him back with just as much rage. He goes to punch him again but Daryl grabs him from behind, stopping him, but he still struggles against his grip. Having finally enough, Anna grabs the gun from her holster and shoots it into the air, effectively getting the men's attention.
"Calm the fuck down," Anna says to Tyresse and Rick, who were still seething. She looks to Daryl. "Let him go." He follows and lets Rick fall to the ground, but then get back up quickly. His hands were bloodied and beaten. Anna knew they were sprained. She looks to Tyresse, determination in her eyes. "We will find who did this, and beat them to the ground. But we can't beat each other first. You want to go take out your anger, take it out somewhere else, but not on the people who are going to help you." She looks to Daryl. "Please make sure these two don't beat each other again. I have to find Beth to take care of Judith."
Aria paced around her cell, thinking about her little sister. What if she was infected with the virus that was spreading? She didn't know if she could handle putting her sister down.
She glances down at her clothes and sighs. She had put on a white tank and short with a black cover up. Her feet had her signature military boots that she had gotten years ago. They still fit her feet. She had to talk a walk and get out of the prison.
Grabbing her knife and her gun, she quickly wrote a note to her mother or anyone that came looking for her that she went into the forest to think. She was allowed to leave every once and a while to have alone time.
"Where are you going?" someone says. She looks to her doorway and sees Carl there. She looks back down and continues to write while speaking.
"I'm heading into the forest." She sees him start to think he could go with her. "For some alone time," she quickly added, knowing what he was going to ask. "My parents said that I could go every once and a while to be alone." It still felt strange-a good strange- to say the word 'parents.'
"Scarlett's been fine, you know. I don't think she'll get sick." She looks up and smiles sadly.
"You can't guarantee that Carl. I don't. We've both been exposed to it, so we could easily get sick. You haven't. I'm heading out." She turns to walk out one of the doors to leave but hears his voice one more time.
"Stay safe," he says. She looks back and nods, knowing she didn't really have time for words. She needed to get out of there.
She didn't know how long she had been walking, but she had come across a field of flowers. One where she had never seen. She knew how to get back to the prison, but this was truly a sight to see.
She sits down in them, looking at the flowers. They were white lilies. Her favorite flower. She used to pick them when they grew in Central Park when she was a kid. She would put them in books, her hair, a vase, anything to keep them in her life. They represented purity, and hope.
Something that was hard to find in this world.
She gingerly picks one and puts it in her hair, savoring the smell it let off. She remembers. The summer nights, the chilly mornings, the playfulness.
She missed Billy so much.
He used to put the flowers in her hair when they were kids.
Her first ever friend.
Her first ever crush.
She was hoping he was going to be her boyfriend, but then shit hit the fan.
She gets up from her spot on the ground and stares at the trees that were in the distance, a flower in her hand, dangling in her fingers, holding on for dear life before she could drop it. The memories, the walker, the guts, the tears. Billy.
The flower dropped.
Gone.
She turns around, takes a deep breath, and walks through the forest.
Life went on.
She had learned.
Grieving was just a part of it.
Anna sat back outside, trying to fix one of the water pumps. She had never seen more muck in her life then in these. The occasional walker had come around, but she quickly ended it undead life then and there.
She had gotten used to calling them walkers.
Lurkers still popped out every once and a while, but being near people who called them walkers for over five months stuck it in her brain. They were now officially walkers.
She heard someone come up to her but she continues to work on trying to get the water out. She doesn't look at the person until it crouches down to her eye level and she see that it's Daryl. She stops her work for a moment.
"There was a council meeting," he says. She sighs.
"I know, just didn't want to go. Needed to burn off some steam, I guess." He sits next to her in the position that read 'What the hell are ya talking about?' She smiles sadly and looks back to the pump. "The thought of someone who was that evil to do something like that makes me sick. And when I find that person, I might just take your crossbow and put an arrow in its head." He chuckles.
"Funny, I said the same thing to Tyresse." She smiles. They were like that.
"Tells you something about how long we've known each other. You're starting to rub off on me, Dixon," she teases. "But exactly what did you talk about? Cause I feel bad not being there to help."
"The virus is most contagious to children and elderly, so we're separating 'em." She looks up, scared that the word children had come up. "Remember, Aria and Scarlett are exposed. Too late to lock 'em away from ya." She sighs.
"I wish they weren't. God I hope nothing bad happens to them," she groans, heading back into the pump but also talking to Daryl. "So what else? Anything about how to cure this shit?"
"Michonne, Bob and I are heading to the veterinary college to get the supplies we need." She turns to him.
"Then I'm coming with you. And don't even start about me not going. You already prevented me from going on the raid the other day. You're not stopping me this time." He sighs in defeat, his hand on his head.
"I know," he says, rather exasperated. "I can't stop ya." He smirks up at her. "Miss. Can't-Be-Tamed." She growls at the name.
"I had horrible taste in music," she mumbles, causing him to snicker. "What about Tyresse? Is he going?" He shrugs.
"I gave him the offer but he was in too much of a rage to even think about it. He was so mad. The person who did this is either psycho, or wanted to prevent the disease from spreading, which they did a shit job of doing." She chuckles.
"Amen to that." She's silent for a moment. "They were so nice…they could have lived. Hershel was coming up with a plan and they could have survived. Who would do this?" she cries silently. Daryl places and arm around her shoulder, pulling her closer to him. She was calm in a matter of seconds.
"I'm sure whoever did had a reason, but it just wasn't the right ones. But right now, we have to focus on getting out of here and getting the meds so we can fix this." She looks up at him, dark brown eyes locking with light blue. She nods slowly, and leans up and pecks his lips.
He replies and his arm slides to her waist, pulling her even closer to him. She chuckles and kisses deeper, her hands getting caught in his messy, tangled hair. She pulls back before they could go any further, a smirk on her face. "See? You always have your tongue down my throat." He rolls his eyes. "But we should probably get to the car and head out. If we don't something is bound to happen." She leans in and pecks his lips once more. "I'll go tell Scarlett and Aria."
Aria leans back on a couch in a deserted office. Her mother had told her she was heading off with Daryl and some others to go and get medicine. She had sighed and nodded, knowing she couldn't stop her mother, just like her mother couldn't stop her from going into the woods.
Lately she had been feeling depressed. She just wanted to get away from it all. To hide herself in a corner and never come out. All the memories came back to her one day and it all started up again. She couldn't stand it.
"Oh, look. It's Miss No-Talent. Did you hear about her bombed audition?" someone whispered as Aria walks by to her locker. She closed her eyes, willing for tears not to fall out. They would never see her cry. Never. She was strong.
She failed an audition. Cracked up in front of the professors and ran off the stage, crying. She had finally broke. The means girls, Hailey and Bailey, twin sisters, who were the major dance bitches there, had seen the whole thing. They took a video, uploaded it to the schools network, and now everyone in the whole school knew about her breakdown.
Everyone made fun of her because of one little mistake she made.
And now she was forever known as Miss. No-Talent.
People would corner her and say she would never become what she was going to be. Never be the star. That's why she had left the performing arts district school she was in and went to a private one. The one where Billy went. She was free from the mean girls.
But before this happened, she went through a whole year of name calling, being pushed around, and being known as the person who cracked and fell under pressure.
She had started to paint what she wanted to happen to them. She wanted Hailey to get hit by a truck. She wanted Bailey to get shot. She wanted the whole dance team to get eaten by a tiger from the Bronx zoo. Anything that would get these horrible people out of her life. Anything at all.
When she had went to her new school, she felt a wave of relief come over her. They were no longer there, and the grudge she had towards them slowly disappeared. She hid her paintings from her mother. She didn't want her to see them.
But one day she heard on the news a car crash had happened on 5th avenue, involving the death of a 15 year old. Another day, she heard about a school shooting, where ten people had been killed, including a 16 year old female with dark blonde hair. A few weeks later, a 17 year old women getting mauled to death by a wildcat at the zoo. She had been tormenting it with a hamburger.
The cat snapped.
And ate her instead.
Aria had never thought of herself being special. Hell, the only thing special about her was the fact that she could paint like Picasso at the age of 15. But she never really found something weird about her or stupefying that would make people's heads turn. Her body wasn't even that great. It was a typical 15 year old body. Except a little skinnier.
But she had started to notice how different things were ever since the sadness started a little. The paintings she drew, the dreams she had, even the thoughts she thought, came true. All of them coming true.
Her flower painting had come true today. She was the girl in the painting. She was the person staring out into the distance. She was 'No-Face.'
So that meant that some of the others would come true too.
And she had no clue which ones.
They all seemed to decide which one would come true. Some of the paintings were happy. Some extremely sad. Some terrifying.
And that's when the depression kicked in.
That any of those terrible moments could happen.
And that's also when she realized she had a gift: she could see into the future. She could have visions and see what was bound to happen. What she should tell people to avoid.
But she just didn't know which vision was correct. She would have a million, but had no clue which one would happen. Same with the paintings.
Absolutely no fucken clue.
And she had also noticed that since this started, whenever she walked into a room, the temperature seemed to drop 50 degrees. It would get colder, colder than it should be in Georgia in the summer or even in November.
She had no clue what was going on with her body.
All she knew was that she was one messed up chick.
She had seen her sister frequently 'talking' to her imaginary friend. She was the reason behind that. But every kid needed one. It was healthy.
Aria rose from the couch and looked out the window to where she could see the car leaving for the medical supplies. Her heart ached to be with them. To protect her mother and to keep her alive. She couldn't imagine losing her. She couldn't.
She puts her hands against the window frame and sighs. If only. When she looks down, she rips her hands away in horror and stares at the windowsill, the exact spot where her hands had been.
Ice.
Paint strokes followed the little girls movements as she continued to paint on the canvas in her special room. Aria had come in here a few times, but not as much as the little girl. She turns to her friend and smiles. She was her age, white-blonde hair, blue eyes, and a matching blue dress. Scarlett wished she could look like her.
"What next, Elsa?" she asks. Elsa thinks for a moment before pointing upward.
"There," she says. Scarlett nods and paints a flower up in the corner, which had dazzling blue icicles hanging off of it. She turns to her Elsa and frowns.
"Why can't anyone else see you?" she asks. Elsa shrugs.
"You have a gift. No one else can see me besides you. But I'm happy with that." Scarlett shrugs and goes back to her painting. At least Elsa was her friend.
The five passengers in the car drove silently to the veteran college. Anna had her head near the window that was slightly open. She felt the wind blow into her face. She felt free for the first time in forever. Michonne was sitting next to her and Daryl was in the driver's seat. Bob was in the back, and Tyresse was looking down, still pissed off.
"Anna, are ya in 'La La Land' over there?" Daryl asks. Anna chuckles.
"Maybe. It's a lot more fun than down here. You know, we find all these cars, and yet we never play any music. I'm sure there's a CD somewhere in this car."
"Music would be nice," Bob says from the back. Anna looks in the glove department and pulls out a CD, a grin on her face. Daryl look at it and chuckles, shaking his head.
"Ya and Michael Jackson," he snickers, turning on the radio. But stops when he hears a voice on the radio. All of the inhabitants of car hear it as well.
"Was that a voice?" Bob says. Daryl shushes him and listens closely, Anna listening as well.
"Sanctuary….those who arrive…survive." Anna and Daryl look at each other with a glimmer of hope in there eyes, but then Daryl notices a lone walker in the street. He grabs the steering wheel and forcefully turns to avoid crashing into it, and stops. Anna's eyes widen.
There was a shit ton of walkers in front of them. All gathering around.
"Hold on to something!" he yells, backing up quickly. Anna holds onto her seat for dear life, then turns to Daryl when they are far enough to get out. "Don't stop for nothing! Just keep going…go!" he says. Anna jumps out of the seat and into the forest, crashing her knife into a walkers head.
More clam towards her, and she hits each and every one of them, not looking back for a second. She follows what he says in these situations. She throws her knives anywhere, and retrieves them as soon as it hit's their target. She slid under one of the walkers legs and gets up quickly, plunging the edge into the skull.
She runs quickly to the opening, grabbing Daryl's hand in the process. She runs through the bushes while he takes care of a few more with his crossbow. Michonne and Bob were right behind them.
When they are clear, Anna stops and leans on her knees, catching her breath. "That wasn't fun," he groans, getting up and wiping off her pants. She noticed Tyreese wasn't with them.
"When is it ever fun, Anna?" Daryl asks, loading his crossbow up and trying to get another walker, but was stopped when a machete goes deep into its head killing it. Tyreese was right behind it.
Daryl runs forward and grabs the man while Anna throws a knife into the other walker's skull. She gets it from the gooey mess and turns to Daryl with the others. "Let's go," he says. She nods, and with one last glance at the walkers staring to come from the opening, she runs off with the others, not another glance back. She didn't have time for looking back now.
Don't Look Back. XD that slogan is actually my Facebook profile now. I love it. Even though in the picture both Carl AND Rick are looking back. So I've recently become obsessed with Bethyl. Don't worry, I am no abandoning this story. I love my Daryl/OC's with a passion, and I kind of still want that to happen on the show. But Beth and Daryl I just can't. They are just so cute together and I don't give a flying fuck about the age gap. It's the apocalypse, who cares anymore? And she's also an original character to the show, so they might work with that. It's possible.
Anyway, hope you enjoyed! Aria and Scarlett are turning out to be very different from most people. And yeah, I got inspiration from Frozen for this a little. I just love that movie. REVIEW!