Oh, tomorrow is the last day of midterms! Thank the Lord in heaven above! This had been such a stressful week for me, but I have been trying so hard to update as much as possible and I think I've been doing a good job of it. But hopefully the next few days I have off from school, so I can have a little bit more time to write. But most of my chapters probably won't be up until nighttime because I lake to pace out my stories and make sure the chapter makes sense and doesn't sound like shit like some of the chapters in other things I've written sound like. But, I am counting down to the days Walking dead returns. Jesus, it's so close. It's freaking killing me! And holy crap I just want to die my God! The new 'trailer'! But I still haven't seen really a lot of what I want to see in the show, but, I have no doubt that it will happen.
So, in this chapter, the kids continue to look for their parents and meet up with someone from before, while Daryl and Anne are heading out to look as well. This should be interesting…
On with the story!
When you get shot, you usually expect to be screaming, your body racking with pain, or you just pass out from shock. But Anna? No, she just passed out and woke up. No pain, no gain. She didn't feel anything.
When her eyes open, she glances around the bedroom she was put in last night by Daryl. The memories from the night before come back to her mind and she smiles but cringes at the same time. Carol was finally gone from their lives and maybe they could finally relax without having the threat of her constantly on their asses. But she still had to burn the body. She still had to give rid of it.
She really didn't want to see the gun hole.
Even though she didn't like her, killing someone was not in her blood, at least not the living. She didn't like to threaten people, but when said person threatens her family, she has no choice, and sometimes she just does it. But it still made her cringe every time she does. It just didn't seem like her.
But she had to be this stone cold person. She had to be strong. She had to survive and protect herself and Daryl. Judith.
God, Judith.
She didn't know if Rick was alive or not. And if he wasn't, was Judith hers to take care of? Carl wasn't around, and he was also a fifteen year old kid, so him taking care of her was kind of out of the question even though he is her sister.
Then her mind went back to Beth. She was like a surrogate mother to the girl. She would be a good mother to her. She had kept her alive throughout the past few months. She wondered if she was still alive.
She had thought that maybe the whole group would meet up again, but that idea always pushed its way out of her head. It just seemed too unreal for it to happen. She just couldn't see it happening. But deep down, she prayed that they were all still alive and healthy. No, surviving would suffice for her. She didn't care about healthy. As long as they were alive, she was ok.
Her hands unroll from the ball that is her hand and she sticks them out, staring at them. Her powers would have come in handy back at the prison. Why didn't she use them? Had she really consumed herself so much that she couldn't just let one fire ball go at the Governor or the tank?
Then again, Daryl had destroyed the tank easily. Which she found incredibly attractive and it automatically turned her on. But, no. She had to have TWO injured legs now. Two. God, this would be hell for her.
She stretches her body and cringes slightly at the painful muscles in her leg. She could walk, but it would be a bitch after a few hours. Even with the strength she had, it would hurt so much at the end of the day.
She flicks her finger and watches as a tuft of fire comes out of it, lighting up the slightly dark room. It seemed to be six in the morning. The sun was just rising. She moves her finger to the candle beside the bed and lights it, blowing out the flame a second later.
She sighs and leans against the headboard, staring out the window. What was she going to do? She was going insane. She needed to find the kids or else she would go senile soon enough. And it would not be pretty. It never was when she went full crazy. Daryl had been the victim of one of her fits once, and she had felt so bad for having to make him go through that.
She chuckles at the memory of her driving him crazy. But that was one of the things that they did. They would say stupid little things that would make the other person irritated. But sooner or later it would both end up with their mouths connected and their clothes thrown to the floor in a pile of dirtyness.
She snorts, shaking her head. She hears the door open and her head travels to Daryl, who had a mug of something in his hands. He sees that she is awake and smiles small at her.
"Mornin'" he says, sitting next to her and handing her the mug. She looks inside and smiles. Coffee. She immediately puts it to her lips and chucks down half of it, causing him to snicker at her expression. "Like it?" he chuckles. She pulls back and smiles huge at him.
"Love it!" she says gleefully, placing it down next to her on the bedside table. She turns back to him and looks at his dirty clothes. "Ok, we're in a house that is full of shit. It probably has new clothes, I mean, come on. If you can't take a shower, then at least change your clothes, you smelly redneck," she ends, chuckling slightly. He raises an eyebrow and mockingly thinks, placing his hand on his chin.
"No, do I want to change or do I want to kiss ya?" he asks, making Anna laugh. "Ya guess that one," he replies, leaning in and connecting her lips to his. She smiles into the kiss and puts her arms around his neck, her hands tangling in his hair, pulling him closer. This was what she wanted. But she had to go back to topic. The kids.
"We need to head out today," she says, pulling back from his lips. He looks skeptically at her.
"Anna, I don't think your legs are ready yet." She groans and shakes her head.
"I can walk! It just hurts a little. Daryl, we need to find them. If I stay any longer, I will go insane here. I need to know if their ok or not. I'll even let you walk around in the dirty clothes if we can leave today." He chuckles at her comment and shakes his moppy head. 'I still need to cut that,' she chuckles inwardly.
"Are ya sure ya want to risk going out on those legs?" he asks. She nods, a determined look on her face. "Anna, ya got shot…twice."
"I'll be fine. I need to find them. Judith has a baby carriage that we can use to bring her along. Please, Dar-" He interrupts' her by yet again connecting his lips with hers. She sighs and kisses back, even though she still had more to say.
"We'll go find them," he says when he pulls back. She smiles. "But not right now. Just a little more time, ok? Make sure those legs are ready to run." She sighs but nods anyway. That's the one thing she could agree too.
"So…no changing in clothes?" she asks cheekily. He snorts, causing her to laugh. "Ok, ok, you don't have to do that, but I have an idea where we could go. There's a train track about a mile from here if we keep heading north. We follow those and we're bound to find them. I have such a feeling that they're following them." He nods, getting up from the bed and glancing out the window.
"I saw them too. They probably did as well. But we're not heading out right now. Ya need to rest, at least just for a little while, ok? Don't get that sexy ass out of bed." She pouts playfully.
"I thought you liked my sexy ass?" she asks, teasing him slightly.
"I do, just not when you're injured and every time ya move yer legs ya cringe. Don't get out. I'll know," he finishes, closing the bedroom door behind him. She rolls her eyes and crosses her arms, but does realize he will know if she got out of bed. He was a hunter. He heard practically everything.
Taking one more sip of her coffee, she closes her eyes and tried to get at least another hour of sleep, the fact that she was looking for her daughters today still fresh in her mind.
Anna sighs as she looks into the full length mirror on the wall in the bedroom. She had pillaged through the drawers of the couples house, and had thankfully found clothes her size. The jeans she had been wearing were now covered in dirt and blood. Her shirt was ripped, and her hair was a mess. She looked like the epitome of a hobo back in New York City. She hated seeing them. She wished she could give them all her money and give them a proper home, besides a homeless shelter. Real food. Real bed. A real life other then the life they had been living.
And now that world looked like it was paradise compared to this piece of shit place.
She straightens out her shirt and looks at the mirror one last time. She was wearing a white tank top that fit her body perfectly, black denim jeans that almost reached the bottom of her legs, and her black military boots that went up to where the jeans stopped. Her hair was in a high ponytail, and all strings of dark brown material were tied back into her hairband.
She walks over to the bed and looks at all the supplies she had from the prison and stuff she had found. She puts her belt through the loop holes and places her pistol in her holster. She picks up her knives, all freshly polished and ready to be thrown again. They find their way into their holster and she continues on in her collection of supplies. She picks up a few bandages and some first aid supplies, and puts it into her back pocket. She takes a quick drag of her water and places it in her bag that she has, along with other supplies she had picked up. Then finally, she picks up the brand new leather jacket. She smiles. It must have been just bought before all of this happened. It was a girls leather jacket, nice and black, and it fit Anna perfectly. She had actually wanted one before the world went batshit, but she had never had the time to get one. Now, she had one.
And there was no way she was letting it go.
She places the jacket on her and grabs the last thing she had found. A nice brand new pack of cigarettes. She wasn't really a smoker. Hell, she rarely ever smoked. But she knew that in hard times, she really did need one. And she knew that Daryl needed some too. He had run out of some a few days before the prison was taken, and she knew that when she showed them to him, he would act like a giddy kid on Christmas morning.
She places it in her pocket and sighs at her appearance. She had lost so much weight since the beginning of this. It was still a good body, but now when she took off her clothes she could see her ribs. Which was obviously not normal for a thirty year old woman that was five foot eight.
She walks out of the room, her bag in her hand, and walks down the stairs, heading to where Judith slept. But only she wasn't asleep. And she wasn't in her crib.
Looking around, she tries to see if she was in the high chair in there, but she was not. She looks around her, her knife out, ready to put her knife into the sicko that took her. Walking to the living room, she all but drops the knife at what she sees, a smile on her face. Daryl was rocking Judith back and forth, trying to get her to fall asleep. Her heart swelled at the sight of him holding the baby. Even though he seemed all tough and stubborn on the outside, he was the biggest softie when it came to kids. Anna would know. He was Scarlett's dad, after all. He had been around when she was a baby.
"Ya were gonna wake up Anna, ya know that right," he said softly to the baby. "I love her more than anything, but when ya wake her up, it's not pretty," he chuckles. "She's like crazy lady. She's all grumpy and mean, but sooner or later, she always gives in and forgives me." She snorts from behind him, startling him enough to turn around. He sees that she had been listening the whole time and he starts to mumble things, some of which she can pick out. "I didn't mean that," he finishes. She rolls her eyes.
"I know you did, but just don't say it again, or next time I won't be so forgiving." She takes the baby from his arms and notices she's sleeping soundly. "Wow, you're really good with her. She's fast asleep. Not to mention your little 'conversation' with her. That was adorable," she teases. He snorts.
"Dixon's ain't adorable," he replies. She rolls her eyes and places Judith in the baby carrier.
"Well guess what? You just were. Accept it. It was kind of hot," she chuckles, straightening herself back up to get a good look at him. That's when she finally realized he did change his clothes. He still had his leather vest on, but now he had on a new checkered shirt and some new jeans. She smiles. "You did change your clothes," she says happily.
"Ya did too," he says, and she could tell he had a hint of mischievous in his voice. She rolls her eyes and bends over to get more of the baby supplies in her bag. She could feel his eyes on her ass.
"We have a baby in front of us, Daryl," she chuckles, getting up and looking at him. He was amazingly closer to her and she smirks. "But that won't stop you, will it?" she chuckles. His hands go to her waist and pull her closer.
"Ya expect me to resist ya in tight ass denim jeans? Yeah, when pigs fly," he replies.
"Or when the dead walk?" she jokes lightly. He rolls his eyes and kisses her deeply on the lips, her replying just as deeply. But this was not the time to be doing this kind of stuff. They had to get out on the road and look for the kids. They needed to go. "Daryl, we gotta go," she chuckles, pulling back.
"We can't take out a couple of minutes?" he replies. She smacks his head playfully, causing him to chuckle and rub the back of his head.
"Daryl," she says sternly. He pulls back and grabs the other bag with stuff in it.
"I was just jokin', Anna. But I do like the new jacket. Adds a while 'nother level of hotness to ya." She rolls her eyes and grabs the baby carrier and her bag. Her knife was still in her hand ready to pounce on anything that jumped on them.
"I know, right? I'm so badass. Won't it drive you crazy that you can't touch this?" she says, patting her thigh slightly. He growls lowly, and she chuckles.
"Don't test me, Anna." She laughs loudly and kisses his lips once more.
"Maybe after we find them, ok? I'm getting frustrated too," she whispers when she pulls back. "But for now, we focus on the kids." He nods slowly.
"Right….kids," he says, trying to regain his senses. God, she had such an effect on him. She smiles happily and walks forward to the street, ready to brave the world again.
"I know this is cheesy, but together?" she asks, sticking out her hand. He chuckles slightly but grabs it, intertwining their fingers together and squeezing it comfortably. She couldn't help but think how well they fit together, like they were made for each other. Then again, they kind of were.
"Together," he replies. And the two set out into the forest and to the train tracks.
You know when you're going to a new school for the first time and on the first day you're the new kid and everyone is ignoring you because you're new and don't really mean anything? Yeah. That's kind of what Aria felt like right now. Watching her sister and Hunter talk.
Now, she wasn't mad about this. In fact, she was quite happy her sister had someone to talk to that was almost her age. It felt nice. But now Aria was just sitting near the trees they were camping at for the day watching the two talk, and they just kept talking and talking and talking. They never seemed to run out of information.
"Do you watch Spongebob?" Hunter asks later on. Scarlett nods fervently.
"I love it! It's my favorite show!" Hunter smiles at her.
"What's your favorite character? Mine's Squidward!" She gasps.
"Squidward!? But he doesn't like Spongebob! He's so mean to him!" she accuses. He laughs.
"He doesn't do it all the time. He's actually very nice to Spongebob sometimes because he feels bad for him so he does nice stuff. Remember when he dressed up as Santa so Spongebob would still believe?" Scarlett laughs.
"He didn't look like Santa! It was so funny! Especially his nose! But yeah I guess you're right. He can be nice." He looks at her expectantly.
"So? What's yours?" She shrugs her shoulders.
"I like Patrick. He's funny and pink! I love the colors pink and purple." That reminded Aria of something. She reaches into her bag and takes out a box full of something special for the little girl.
"Oh, Scarlett, I have something for you," she sings, waving the box on her face. The little girl squeals and reaches for it, but Aria makes it out of her reach so she can't grab it.
"Give it, Ari!" she yells, reaching for the box. Aria chuckles and give the container to her. Scarlett rips open the top and squeals. There were a bunch of purple and pink daisies and lilies inside. And on top was a flower crown. "It's a crown!" Aria chuckles and places it on her little sister's head.
"For my little diva sister." Scarlett glares at her. "I mean princess," she chuckles. Scarlett smiles and hugs her sister tightly. "Can't breath," she gasps out.
"Thank you, Ari," she whispers. Aria hugs back.
"You're welcome." She turns her head to Hunter. "Hey, if I knew you liked flowers I would have made you one too, Hunter." He snorts and shakes his head.
"I don't want to wear flowers on my head." Aria chuckles and goes over to him.
"Well, when we were in the little drugstore, I picked you up something small. It's not as cool as flower crown, but I think it'll do." She hands him the small thing and his eyes light up. It was a mini toy crossbow.
"Cool! Thanks, Aria!" he says, pointing it at imaginary things. Aria chuckles again and pats his head.
"No problem, kid, but right now we need to get down to the river. Both of you need to clean those clothes. Cause damn they stink."
Aria kept watch while the two washed the shirts. A walker walked up to her and she plunged her knife into the head. Watching it fall to the ground. She had killed a total of six now around this area. Sooner or later she had to dins new clothes because the ones she was wearing were all covered in muck.
Her mind wandered back to the day the prison was taken over. Jeez, had that only been a couple of days ago? She had seen Carol there with the Governor. She knew she was evil. Just not that evil. She prayed that she was dead now. It would just add more stress onto her life if she found out she was still alive somehow out there.
She wondered if any of the kids were safe. Most of them had been on the bus out of the prison, but she had no clue how far that went. The two girls she didn't see go on it were Mika and Lizzie.
She had to say. Those girls were tough. She had seen them shoot down a few living people, which she did not think kids her age could do that without cringing. They simply didn't give a flying fuck. They just shot at them and didn't care.
She wondered if her mother had trained the kids or something. That seemed like something she would do. She definitely had something to do with them. Strange names too. She heard of an artist called Mika, but never really a person. But she wasn't judging. The name was actually kind of pretty.
Plus, she was used to weird names. Hell, hers was rarely used. She had a friend named Nebraska. She was named after a state. She felt so bad for her. But people just called her Brask. That's what Aria had done too.
They had been close friends as well. She wanted to be an actress. Be the next Meryl Streep, even though she was incredibly old. But she admired her friends' persistence. She didn't know if she was alive or not either. All of her friends she had no clue. Everyone but Joey she didn't know if they were alive.
"Aria! There's someone in the bushes!" both kids scream at her. Aria looks to the bushes in front of them and had her gun pointed now, but backs up when she sees that it's three people. Two children and one man. One big man.
"Aria?" all three of them asks. Aria smiles and puts her gun to the side.
"I can't believe you're alive," she says running over to the people. They had just found Lizzie, Mika, and Tyreese. They were one step closer into reuniting the whole entire group.
Aria, Scarlett, and Hunter all sat with the three survivors from the prison. They had talked about how they had survived for the past few days. Aria had introduced Hunter to the other kids, and they got along well. All the little kids talked while Aria sat with Lizzie and Tyreese.
"Still haven't seen your parents yet, huh?" Tyreese asks nibbling on the rabbit Aria had cooked earlier. Aria nods sadly.
"Yup. But I know they're out there looking for us. I can feel it." Lizzie nods.
"I have a feeling they are too. They aren't just going to leave you and Scarlett behind. And now that Hunter is in the picture, I think they'll take him too. He seems like a mini-Daryl," she chuckles at the end. Aria nods.
"You should see what I found him in a drugstore earlier today. It was a toy crossbow! Oh I wish you could have seen his face!" she chuckles. "It was like a kid on Christmas morning! Then again, it was a toy," she laughs. The two others snicker quietly. "Have you heard anything from the others?" Aria asks quietly. Lizzie shakes her head.
"Nada. The only person I had come across was Tyreese, and we've been with each other since the prison. Not to mention I saved his butt back at the prison." Aria smirks.
"I saw that. Left your guard down Ty," she chuckles. He rolls his eyes.
"One time," he chuckles.
"Could have got you killed," she says back. He drops his fork and starts to say something but the sound of someone calling the two girls names stops him. Aria hears this too.
"Mama?" she whispers. She gets up from the log. Scarlett looks up from her spot and sees her sister standing.
"Are you ok Aria?" she asks, walking over to her. She only points towards the forest.
"Mama?!" she yells. Scarlett realizes what she's doing.
"Mommy?! Daddy?!" she yells into the darkness. They hear the calling back.
"Aria?" they hear. Mom. It was Anna's voice. "Scarlett?!" she cries. All of a sudden, two figures emerge from the darkness and both Aria and Scarlett run up to them.
"Mama!" Aria cries, running into her mother's arms. Scarlett runs up to Daryl and he takes her up in his arms. Her arms go around his neck and she cries into his shoulder.
"It's ok, Scar. We're here," he says, soothing her. She didn't think they would see them again. She had almost lost hope.
Aria pulls back from her mother and hugs Daryl as well, one of his arms going around her to return the gesture. "Jesus I was starting to lose hope you would find us," Aria says, looking at both of them. Anna smiles. "And you have Judith! I'm so happy she's ok," she says, peering at the sleeping baby.
"We would never give up trying to find you, and we did, didn't we? And yeah, she's ok. And alive," she chuckles. Aria smiles. Anna's eyes move to Tyreese and the two girls. She smiles at them. "God, I'm so happy someone else is alive other than them," Anna says, coming over to greet the two girls and Tyreese. He smiles at her.
"Glad to be alive." She chuckles happily and now her eyes travel to the unknown little boy with them. He was looking on at the happy family reunion with a little sadness in his eyes, bit also happiness that his new friends had found their mommy and daddy.
"And who is this?" she asks nicely, walking over to him. Daryl looks over to the kid and notices the small toy crossbow next to him. He raises an eyebrow and puts Scarlett down on the ground.
"I see he likes a crossbow, huh?" he says, coming over to the boy. Hunter looks down embarrassed, a small smile on his face.
"This," Aria started, walking over to the boy and placing a hand on his back, encouraging him to look up. "Is Hunter."
THEY'RE REUNITED! YEAH! So now the family is back together, thank God, and Tyreese along with the kids are still around. I actually really like them in the show XD so I decided to incorporate them into the story. I'm planning on building a friendship with Lizzie and Aria, even with the few years' age difference. But I think they can actually turn out to be some good friends. And how did you think about Anna teasing Daryl? XD I've wanted to do that for a while. So now they are going to meet Hunter, and of course he's going to play a part in the story. I can't wait to write the next chapter, but I think tomorrow I might take a break because midterms have been kicking my ass and I need a little day to relax a little. But I will say that some of the gang will come back into the picture. Next chapter they head off to find a good place to stay, and meet some people. Hope you enjoyed! REVIEW!