It's snowing AGAIN where I live. I think Aria is mad or something XD But Jesus this week I have midterms and I am scared but I know I'll do well. And Jesus do I have a surprise for next chapter. This chapter is mainly focusing on the Governor and the prison and all that, but next chapter…Jesus, it'll be fun to write. I may not get to write tomorrow, but I will sure as hell get it up as soon as possible. I am looking forward to writing the next few chapters. And also exploring Aria and Scarlett a bit more, like their relationship as sisters but…oh this will be fun. On with the story!
Aria woke up the next morning to the bright light shining in her cell. Scarlett had her own cell now, as did Aria, but even she knew that her sister was never up at this time in the morning. She always slept in when she could.
She gets out of her bed and walks out of her cell, glancing around for anyone else alive at this hour, bot noticed no one around her area. She looks in her mirror and examines her PJ's that she was wearing. She had some flannel pants and a loose t-shirt that was barely fitting her. Shaking her head, she takes off her shirt and puts on a new one, now a little more tight fitting. She didn't want people seeing her body hanging out.
Stepping out of her cell, she walks up the stairs that led outside to one of the few bridges that led to different buildings in the prison. When she reaches the top, she opens the door and steps outside. Cold air hits her face. She could tell it was around six in the morning. The sun just came up. It was always cold in the morning.
She walks to the gated fence around the bridge and sticks her fingers to it. Some of them go through the holes, some of them stay put. She glances out to the forest where they had come from five months ago. She had no idea why, but she had a feeling that they would be returning to it sooner or later. Something bad was going to happen. Maybe one of her visions were coming true.
Most of them had already.
The one vision she didn't want to come true was coming true, and that vision was losing the prison. IT was bound to happen.
Her mind wanders back to elementary school and her life before this. She would have been a sophomore now…no, a junior in high school. In fact, according to her mind while keeping track of time, her birthday was today.
She was sixteen.
And in an apocalypse.
Some sixteenth birthday this was. The dead coming back to life and trying to eat her, and hiding out in a prison to try and stay alive. She thought traveling alone on the streets of the Bronx was dangerous, but now, that was a fantasy compared to today.
Her eyes travel to the walkers trying to get in through the fence. She could easily point her hands at them and they would freeze, but now was not the time to let her powers fly. It was too early, and they would get out of hand. She felt too emotionally unstable.
She was 16, her friends were dead, and she was killing people.
Then again, they were already dead. But it just didn't feel right.
Before the prison she never thought she could survive this. She was a dancer, a singer, a painter, a lover, and not to mention one of the most peaceful person someone could ever meet. But now, she was a killer, hard, stone cold when it came to new people. She wasn't afraid anymore. And now that she knew she had these weird abilities, oh…she wasn't afraid.
But she still missed everything. She missed riding her back to school with Billy. She missed picking up a dirty water dog on the way home. She missed trying to teach Scarlett how to do ballet. She missed climbing on the rocks, and sneaking in to go see Broadway plays, and going to the movies with her friends. She missed going to the top of the ESB and doing stupid shit.
She missed New York City.
She loved the south. She really did. But there was something about the city that always appealed to her. Whether it was the fast paced life or all the things you could do, she just never had a reason to leave. She was a proud New Yorker. And she missed that.
But she knew if she did go back, nothing would be the same. She didn't know if the city was even still there. The ESB could be in ruins, it could be flooded, there could be no life in the city at all. The singing would stop, the partying would stop, the fun would stop. Everything would just be gone. Including her past life.
She sighs heavily and looks down, knowing that tears were coming out of her eyes. Not a lot, but enough to cause her to wipe them away quickly.
She feels a hand on her shoulder and she turns her head but finds no one there. It wasn't a hand, it was just pressure. There was something there, she just couldn't see it like her sister could. It was a spirit.
But something about the pressure reminded her or something. And that's when she knew it was Billy doing that. He was behind her, and trying to comfort her in any way possible, even if he couldn't physically put his arms around her and tell her everything would be alright.
She smiles and looks back down. He would be there. Even if he wasn't.
"Why are you up so early?" someone says from the doorway. Her head turns to the entrance and the pressure on her shoulder disappears. Billy had left, but she knew it wasn't for long. Carl was standing in the doorway, his arms crossed. She looks back out at the scenery.
"Woke up too early. And when I wake up, I can't get back to sleep." He nods and comes over to her, looking at the scenery as well.
"You've been crying," he says. Her eyes widen at his statement. How the hell did her know? "You're eyes are red and puffy. Why?" She sighs and looks back out again, gripping the fence a bit harder.
"Today…was supposed to be my sixteenth birthday," she replies. 'Not a whole lie' she thinks, shrugging her shoulders. "I was supposed to be having a party and all that. I was supposed to be laughing and having a fun time…but now look. Walkers all around us. Some birthday this is."
"You can't control what happened," he talks back. She sighs and nods.
"I know that, I just wish I wasn't this…bad. I pictured everything that happened, and now it's just down the drain. I mean, in this world, I am stronger, more tough, but there's still this part of me that wants to rewind time and just enjoy those little moments in life that made it special. Coming home from school each day, singing to Scarlett, waking up to the sounds of the city. I miss it."
"You really do like the city, huh?" he asks, leaning against the fence. She smiles.
"Yeah, I do. I mean, the south is pretty, but I miss the skyscrapers and the loudness, and the music. God the music. You could not go anywhere in NYC without hearing music on every corner." He raises an eyebrow.
"Really?"
"Yes! Whether it was coming from a shop, a restaurant, or just a random guy playing the saxophone in the subways, there was music everywhere you went. You could never escape it. And I miss that feeling of walking around the corner and hearing the sweet sound of someone singing or playing the blues or jazz. Jesus jazz, I miss it so much."
"Sometimes I wonder if there really will be an end to this. And even though this sounds slightly stupid, just gotta keep hoping it will." She looks to him and nods slowly.
"I know that…just, I wish something good would happen. Something, anything! I'm tired of people dropping dead all around me, I'm tired of life being a constant threat! I'm tired of this threat that's inside the prison that killed Karen and David! And most of all, I am tired of my life being 'ZombieLand' or 'Dawn of the Dead.' Just endless, horror." She looks back down. "I need to face reality. Life's never going to be the same."
"You've said this before," Carl states. "But life will get better, it will get easier." She raises an eyebrow.
"And how do you know that?" she laughs bitterly. "No one can guarantee if we have a life even tomorrow." He shrugs.
"Someone very smart and pretty told me a few months ago. Guess it kind of stuck." She rolls her eyes and looks at the boy next to her, who had a small smirk on his face as well.
"Yes, she was very smart and pretty. Still is," she teases. She looks closer at him. "You really need a haircut…like badly," she chuckles.
"No one's got time for that," he replies. She rolls her eyes.
"You mean you can't take out a knife and chop off some of that hair for a split second? Are you really that lazy?" He nods.
"Yup," he replies. She chuckles and looks back out. "Happy Birthday," he says. She smiles.
"Thanks, Carl."
Anna looks outside where Karen and David were dragged days prior. For some reason, she had a very good clue as to who did this. She had seen plenty of signs that this person was the person to do exactly this.
It was Carol.
She had snuck back inside the prison and was hiding somewhere. She heard about the virus and purposely killed the two people. She was somewhere with a vengeance, and Anna had a feeling that she was bound to come after her next. But there was one thing that confused Anna.
She wasn't scared at all.
For the first time in a very long time, she wasn't scared.
Then again, who is of Carol. She may act all tough and cool like, but in reality, she's all talk and no play. Anna, on the other hand, meant what she said, and would take action when needed. She never let people take her down, not after high school.
It was now probably nine in the morning. She had seen Aria who was speaking with Carl earlier at the tables in the yard. Aria had smiled at her mother and said good morning, while Anna said 'Happy Birthday' to her while handing her something that her daughter had been wanting since this whole thing started.
A journal. Just like her mothers.
She was astonished her mother had even remembered her birthday let alone got her a gift. She had been very thankful.
Her daughter was sixteen now. It was amazing how fast time flew by.
According to her mind, she would be turning 31 in a month, Scarlett seven in a few weeks, and Daryl 36 in two months. She still kept up with all the dates, even if there were no calendars. Her and her screwed up mind.
"Aria's birthday, huh?" She turns around and finds Daryl near the doorway. She chuckles, nodding her head.
"She's sixteen, Daryl. Jesus. I still can't believe it. Can you?" she laughs, getting up from the ground. He actually shakes his head.
"Nah," he replies. "She's still the little girl who used to stick paint in her mouth and all over her face to me." Anna laughs, knowing he was right. Aria was always around paint when she was younger, and when she finger painted, all hell would break lose. Then again, that had been how she discovered art. She loved that her daughter had a passion, just like her mother.
"Yes, I remember that clearly. She still makes a mess when she paints," she says, going up to him and pecking his lips. He smirks and pulls back, looking at the outline of the bodies that had once been thre burning.
"Do ya have any idea who did this, yet?" he replied. She nods, but looks away for a minute.
"You're gonna think I'm crazy, but I think it might be Carol." He raises an eyebrow.
"Carol?" he replies. She nods.
"Carol. As in Carol-who-tried-to-kill-me Carol. I think she's snuck back into the prison and killed these two. I swear I saw her the other night in the depths of this place, and the blood mark on the wall?" she says, pointing to the wall that had a bloody hand print on it. "That's exactly her size."
"How do ya know?"
"Because it's the exact same hand that tried to choke me that night. I know the size." She crosses her arms over her body, sighing. "I think she might be working for the Governor. I don't know why, but I have a strange feeling she's leading him here and another full out war is going to happen. I am so afraid that something bad might happen out of this."
"Well. Whatever it is, we'll survive this together, all of us." She looks up and chuckles.
"All the Dixon's together, huh? We're indestructible," she laughs, uncrossing her arms. Suddenly, something rocks the prison, the ground shaking below Anna's feet. She looks up worried at Daryl and he grabs her hand.
"Come on," he says, pulling her to the front of the prison. 'Jesus, this is exactly what I feared,' she thinks quickly, running through. When she gets to the front, she see's Aria and Scarlett together, holding hands and looking scared at what they were seeing.
There was a tank, and one of the guard towers were on fire. A man stood on the tank, one of his eyes having an eyepatch over it. He drags out too people. Michonne and Hershel. This was the Governor.
She had heard about him from everyone, but she never thought he would come back with a mother fucking TANK! Who the hell is this dude? He's crazy as fuck. They had children there who were innocent.
Anna joins the group near the fence, Aria and Scarlett behind her. Aria is right next to her mother and grabs her hand as well. Anna looks down and smiles reassuringly at the young girl. Fire and Ice. Two complete opposites, but in this time, will combine to save these people if something bad was to happen.
Anna feels something next to her and notices Daryl handing her a rifle. She nods and takes it, walking over to the fence where Carl was.
"I should just shoot him. It would be spot on," Carl says. Anna shakes her head and positions her gun as well, Daryl coming over with her.
"We don't want to be the one to start this," she says, looking through the eyehole at Hershel and Michonne. 'God please,' she prays slightly.
"Let your father talk it out, he's the reasonable one," Daryl replies, aiming his gun. Anna nods, but kept staring at the two through the hole. She couldn't hear what they were saying, but she knew it was nothing but trouble. Her facial expression gave her away. Nothing but worry.
But that's when she saw it. The grey hair, the worn down clothes, the rifle in her hand as well, pointed at HER. Carol.
"Daryl," Anna whispers. He looks at her for a split second while she gestures over to where Carol was standing. He looks and steps back a bit, a scowl on his face.
"No shit," he growls, aiming his gun more now. Both of them were aimed at the governor, but Anna always had hers also slightly pointed at Carol, just in case she tried to do something.
The man holding Michonne takes out her sword and puts it to Hershels neck. Anna inhales a sharp breath. "No. no. no," she whispers. This was not happening. This couldn't be happening. They had been safe. Safe for five months. She had found him again, she had had thte most fun she had had in this worl for the past year. She had been safe. Her family was safe.
Now, they were completely and utterly screwed if Rick didn't find a way out of this.
She sees the sword lower slightly, and Anna starts to think the worse isn't gonna happen. Maybe they would be ok. Maybe they would leave in peace.
Blood. That's all Anna saw when the man pierces the sword into Hershels neck almost as soon as he put it down. Anna steps back, her hands covering her mouth for a split second. She hears Maggie and Beth scream, and she understood their pain very perfectly.
No.
No.
She grabs the gun and starts to fire at the men, not caring who she hit. She needed to let all this out. She needed to kill these people. These horrible, horrible people. She aims it where Carol was.
But she wasn't there.
"Where the fuck did she go?" she whispers fiercly. She runs back to the prison to defend any part of it. She sees Aria running with Scarlett and she quickly looks to her.
"Mama-" Aria whimpers. This broke her heart. Her daughter being in so much shock and pain. "They-"
"I know sweetie. But you gotta stay strong. Keep Scarlett by your side and protect her. Use your gun. Hell, use your powers if it comes down to it. Just keep yourself alive and get out of here. This place isn't safe anymore."
"What about you and Daryl?" she cries, holding onto Scarlett. Anna shakes her head.
"Don't worry about us. Just get the hell out of here. I'll find you, don't worry." Aria starts again but Anna pushes her in the opposite direction with Scarlett. "Go!" With no other words, the two girls run off, leaving Anna alone. She looks to the prison and runs deeper, knowing there were people there.
The tank had now destroyed the gates and was firing away. She silently prayed to God that whoever was in there would be killed instantly. Why couldn't someone blow it up?
She sees two people heading for Tyreese but are shot down by Lizzie and Mike. Anna runs to them. "Anna?" they both ask. Tyreese gets out from the bushes and walks over to her.
"Get these girls out as soon as possible. Don't look back for anything."
"An-"
"Just do it, Ty!" she says, running to see if anyone else was hurt. She see Bob is shot but also finds that Maggie and some others are helping him. She suddenly sees a bullet whiz past her and she ducks under one of the tables. Peeking out to whoever was shooting at her.
It looked just like Jack. But she knew it wasn't him. Jack had brown devilish eyes, while this man had blue. He had dark brown hair and a rifle in his hands, trying to shoot at anything he could see that was moving, but she quickly finished that dream up, shooting him from underneath the table in his chest, effectively ending his life then and there.
She gets out of the table and runs further, shooting at any person she didn't recognize, killing all of them. She needed to find Daryl.
She is suddenly grabbed from behind and she spins around, nailing her knife into whatever was there. It was a walker. They had gotten in.
She groans and sees more walkers coming her way. She runs in the opposite direction and tries to get away as quick as possible. She was not going to die. Not today.
She runs to where the tank is and hides, but not before noticing that Daryl was there too. He runs up to the tank and throws a grenade into the shooter, and it explodes a moment later, the man coming out who was shooting at everyone. Anna smiles.
"Yeah, baby," she whispers, stepping out. Daryl had his crossbow pointed at the man and shoots him in the chest, killing him instantly. She runs up to him but he puts out his hands to stop her from going any further into the dead body that was on the ground. "I saw that. That was smart. Where is Rick and Carl?" she says, looking around.
"I have no clue. Where's Scar and Aria?" He asks. She looks around for a moment.
"They're gone. They left the prison. They're safe. I told them we would find them eventually. Aria had her knife and her gun. She's gonna be ok, and so will Scarlett." She looks up at the prison on fire, and her hand goes to her mouth. "Jesus Christ," she mumbles against it, tears starting to come to, but she shakes her head.
"We gotta go, Anna," Daryl says, looking at the thousands of walkers ready to come into the prison to eat any of the dead bodies. She nods shakily.
"Let's get the fuck out of here," she whispers, running in the opposite direction, Daryl right behind her.
She didn't know how long the two of them had been running. All Aria knew was that her legs burned, and that she felt like she would collapse soon if they didn't get away. But no, she had to keep going. She had to keep Scarlett safe. There would be no end to this, and she had to keep her family ok.
Her hand is still attached firmly to Scarletts who looked about ready to pass out. The prison was now out of sight, gone from their vision. She couldn't see the smoke anymore, but she could still barely smell it. They were now probably three miles from the prison. They had been running for that long.
They were safe for a moment.
"We can stop," Aria says, collapsing on the ground. Scarlett groans and sits down on the grass, her hands going to her head. Aria goes next to her and takes her sisters head in her hands. She had been cut and she was bleeding a little. "Let me fix that."
She reaches into her pocket and pulls out a bandage and some portable rubbing alcohol she had found one day on a run. She wipes down the cut, making Scarlett cringe. "Sorry, kid," she says, wiping it down a little more. She reaches for the bandage and wraps it around the part of her head, just a little. Not too tight. It was just a little one, but it would have to do for now.
"Ari, you're hurt," she says, pointing to her leg. Aria looks at her pants and her eyes widen slightly, but she wasn't surprised. In fact, she was already expecting this would have happened. She was shot. It wasn't in her, just grazed her leg. But she was shot. And that's why her leg had hurt.
"Oh, would you look at that?" she chuckles. She places her hand on the gash and coldness spreads throughout her leg, stopping the pain so she could somehow wrap something around it, but Scarlett puts her hand out, stopping her. "What?"
"I can fix it," she says, crawling to her leg. Aria chuckles as the little girl places her two little hands on the gash and starts to hum something. As soon as she was done, the gash didn't hurt as much. Aria raises an eyebrow.
"What was that?"
"Mommy left a book open one day that said 'healing incantation,' so I read it and learned it. I'm good, right?" she asks. Aria nods, impressed that this little girl could do more than what she looked like. She was insanely gifted. She wondered if she could do that somehow.
"That's pretty cool, but you still need to wrap the bandage so it won't get infected, ok?" She nods and wraps the rest of the bandage around the upper part of her leg. Aria moves it and nods. "It's good." She leans against a rock and sighs. "What a day, am I right?" Aria says to her sister. She nods.
"What a day." She lays down on the grass and looks up at the sky, observing the little pictures that the clouds made. They looked like eggs, and pigs, and chickens. One looked like a baby. "Elsa?" she whispers. A cold wind blows over Scarlett's face and she smiles. She was there.
"Elsa here?" Aria asks, feeling the cold wind as well.
"Yeah, right here," she says. "Are mommy and daddy going to come and find us?" she says quietly enough for only Aria to hear. Aria looks down at the grass. Her mother did say they would find them somehow, but how much of that statement was true? They were miles away now, and probably going to be more soon enough. But she had to keep hope alive. This was her little sister she was talking to.
"I think we'll find them somehow. Somewhere. Maybe not immediately, but we will find them. We will be ok. But right now, we have to survive and make Mama proud ok? Come back to her with not a single scratch on us. So that means you can't back out. We need to stay strong and keep on going. We only have each other, and I know it may seem bad, but we will survive, do you hear me?" Scarlett nods.
"We'll be ok," she repeats. Aria nods, getting up.
"Good. Now, since we are going to be here for a while, we need to find shelter and find something to eat. Maybe find some of the group. Come on, I know it hurts, but we gotta keep going." Scarlett nods and gets up, but not before wrapping her arms around Aria in a hug, to which her sister returned.
"Is the man gone? The one who killed Hershy?" She smiles sadly at the nickname. God, her six year old sister had seen a man get nearly decapitated. She was probably scared for life, though right now she didn't show it.
"He's not coming for us," she replies, pulling back to look at Scarlett. "Now come on, we got family to find."
So there's this chapter! The prison is now officially gone, and the group is scattered. What a great birthday gift, right? XD so now I'm going into the territory that hasn't been really crossed yet in the walking dead. And when the show comes back on, I'll try to incorporate the storyline into my story, but it'll be hard because I'll probably be much farther in. XD So I'll try. But now we had some storyline going on here. Anna and Daryl are separated from the kids, Aria is a strong little sixteen year old and determined to keep her sister alive, and Carol is back with a gun. I can't wait to write the next chapters in this story. I have all these ideas in my head! *excited squeal* hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!