"We can not fucking keep them here!" Anna snarls at Drake while Layla was holding her arms back, preventing her to pounce on the scared young man. "You have no clue what either of those men have put me through!"
"I agree with that," Joey says, and Daryl nods next to him.
"We've seen what these ass's do, and we're not keepin' them here," Daryl says, calmly, coming next to his wife who face was currently red from anger.
"Sure as hell we're not keeping them here!" she yells, getting up in Drakes face again. He puts his hands up to stop from any hits that would come to him. Layla comes in between them, stopping the two form any fight that might break out.
"Ok, calm down, both of you!" she yells, looking at Anna, practically pleading her with her eyes. "There had to be some rational decision to come out of this!" she argues. Anna glares at her.
"We kick them out. Simplest fucking plan in the world!" she hisses. Layla cringes slightly and backs away. Maggie comes up behind her and places a hand on Layla's shoulder, and she look up at her. Maggie shakes her head.
"Jack and Paul are asses. We can't have them here." Anna looks gratefully at Maggie.
"Plus, they might be working for the Governor!" she growls, turning back to them. "We didn't see half of the people there! They might be-" All of a sudden, a loud bang was heard from outside, followed by screaming. "Shit!" she whispers, running as fast as she could near the doors. She burst outside and saw Aria running towards her with the three other kids.
"Mom!" she coughs, coming to her, and leaning against her, trying to catch her breath. Anna looks at her and looks around, horror in her eyes. The campus was on fire.
Someone had fucking set it on fire.
She growls and shakes her head. No! This was not happening again. Not when they had found some sort of peace and harmony.
The rest of the group came up behind her and stopped when they saw the campus was on fire. "Ok, I believe you now," Layla whispers, her hands going up to her mouth, trying to stop the sobs that were bound to come out. Both of the little kids clutch onto each of their parents legs, scared for what was happening.
"What's happening, dad?" Hunter asks, looking up at Daryl. "Why is it all on fire?" Daryl looks down and squeezes his shoulder comfortably.
"It'll be alright kid, we'll get out of this," he assured and looked at Anna, and he could see pure hatred in her eyes. All of a sudden, her head turns to the right sharply, and she screams, "DUCK!"
Everyone ducks as bullets race above their heads, narrowly missing them. Her eyes narrow. This was not happening.
"These are Governors people," Rick says, looking closer and glaring. "They're out to get us," he growls. Anna nods sharply and turns to Hunter.
"Hunter, take Scarlett and Ethan out of here," she says quickly, grabbing her gun. "Just run and don't look back," she says, using the same words she used for Aria when the prison had been attacked a year ago. Scarlett looks up with her with wide eyes.
"Mommy…" she whimpers. Anna turns to her daughter.
"Aria, you stay here with me and Daryl. Get every child out! Now! Fight when you need too!" Anna screams at the group. Everyone nods and goes off in different directions. Rick places a hand on her shoulder, a mental gesture saying 'we'll get out of this.' She nods. 'I hope we do,' she replies.
He runs off and Anna turns to her youngest, kissing them on the head. She turns to Hunter. "you protect them, you here? Just keep running. Don't be afraid to use that gun of yours Scarlett," she says. Scarlett looks scares, but nods. Anna kisses her cheek and Scarlett runs up to Daryl, who wraps his arms around her in a tight embrace. He pulls back and the two send the kids off with one final goodbye. Anna turns to Daryl and Aria.
"Mom-"
"Aria, go to the apartments and get the kids. Find Carl. Use your powers. And I mean it," she says lowly. Aria nods hesitantly, hugging her mother and father before running off and avoiding and ice blasts. Anna turns to Daryl. "I can't believe this is happening," she growls.
"We're gonna get out of this. Just stay by me. We're gonna kill those assholes," he says confidently. She nods, and leans in, kissing him as passionate as she could. When she pulls back, she sighs.
"Just in case," she says. He glares and kisses her again.
"There ain't no just in case. Let's go." They both stand up and run. She feels bullets wiz past her every once and a while. But she was too quick. She would not let these fuckers kills her. Not yet. She was too stubborn to die.
"Daryl, get to the other side and get the asshole who's shooting the rifle. I got an idea where the two bastards are." He nods and runs off. She hide behind a small area where the gun could not reach her and took a deep breath. He would be ok and so would her children. They would be fine. They were tough. They were Dixons.
And so was she.
She was Annabelle Elizabeth Dixon, and she was fighter. She was strong. And she would survive this. And she would KILL Jack.
With that thought, she jumps out from her spot and runs to the rec centor, where there had been so many memories made. This was where they had dragged them too when they found them in the bushes. Joey had tied them up, but obviously not tight enough for them not to get out and call the rest of their buddies. And now their home was screwed. And she would have revenge.
She runs into the center and stops when she notices all the lights are out. The only light was from the rising sun in the distance, creating a red glow over her. Compared to outside, which sounded like a war zone, it was quiet. Way too quiet.
She hears the footsteps and ducks as she sees the knife being thrown at her. She looks and see Jack there with a crazy smile on his face. She glares at him. "Why are you here? What do you want from me?!" she cries. "You've taken my home. You've taken everything!"
"I want you dead!" he growls, throwing another knife at her. She dodges it and rolls on her back, swiftly running around him, trying to get the upper hand. But he was stronger then her. Much stronger. He was bigger too.
"You already killed me when I was fifteen!" she yells, throwing a knife of her own. He chuckles evilly at her as he dodges it.
"And then you ruined my life!" he says. "You're rumors spread, and once they were proven true, I didn't get anywhere. And now you're group KILLED my brother! My only family!" Her eyes widened slightly. The Governor was his brother? No wonder he was crazy. "And now I'm keeping my promise…I'm killing you and the rest of your little group. A bunch of assholes!" he screams, grabbing her hands and pinning her against the walls. She screams as she is pinned and can't get loose. He held a knife to her throat and chuckles again. "I've been wanting to do this for a long time…what you get, even fucked up that piece of redneck trash, you dirty little whore," he hisses.
She feels something snap in her. Something she had been keeping under control for a very long time. All the self control she once had seemed to go out the fucking window and into La La Land. She didn't give a fuck anymore. And that's what caused her hands to warm up to the heat you would feel if you stuck your hand in blue fire. His eyes widen in pain as he feels the searing pain on his hands. He screams and pulls away, looking at his hands.
They were covered in blisters and burns. He looks up at her, horrified and shocked, and backs up slightly. She didn't look like herself. Her hair had fallen out of its ponytail, and was now hanging in front of her face, covering her eyes, giving her a more menacing look. Bit her eyes weren't the brown it usually was. For the first time in forever, she felt true anger and her soul flamed at this man. And her eyes were a pure dark red. And fire was building up in her hands.
He backs away from her as she raises her hands, the fireballs growing larger and larger, until she finally let's one loose at him, it flying into him. He screams and falls to the floor, his shirt now on fire. She thros another, and then shapes a string of fire from her hands, whipping him with it, sending him into a world of pain. He yells and screams, but only Anna could hear nothing. She just wanted to beat the and burn the crap out of this guy.
The fire took over and slowly started to burn away at his flesh causing him to scream out in extraordinary pain. She back away from him and falls to the ground, scooting away from him as he burned to a crisp on the ground, his cries of pain echoing throughout the rec center. She gets up and stares at him for a moment, pure hatred shining in her eyes. She finally got him back. Now it was-
"Jack?" she hears behind her. She spins around and has another fireball ready to throw, but sees Paul there. He looks to the burning man, who was now officially dead, and too Anna. He glares viciously at her and starts to get up to attack her, but she hurls the fireball at him, causing him to fall to the ground. She scoffs and kicks him in the ribs, away from her.
"Fucking asswipe," she states, stepping out of the rec center and running to the other side. She needed to find the others. Kill the invaders. And find Daryl.
She needed to find her family.
Aria charges up the stairs of the apartment and get the kids out as quick as she could. Every once and a while she would see someone shooting and she would shoot them in reply. But every single time she looked in a little kids face, all she saw were the worried faces of her younger siblings. And she hated it.
She gets another one of the kids out, and goes to the next room, but crashes into Carl when going in. "Anna what the hell is happening?" he asks. She swallows and pushes him out, taking his hand and leading him down the hallway.
"Is there any other kid on this floor?" she asks, covering her mouth from the smoke downstairs. He shakes his head. She thanks God. This was the last floor of the building. She didn't have any more kids. She could get out and find her family.
"Aria-"
"People of the Governor found us! And they're attacking. The campus is on fire! We need to get out of here as soon as possible!" she says, going to the window she came from. "We need to jump! Downstairs is on fire." He nods and the two jump out the window from the second floor. When they land, Aria lands in a weird position on her ankle, but she ignores it and gets up. She turns to Carl. "Go find tour dad and get out of here. This place isn't safe anymore. And don't worry, Beth had Judith. I saw her with her." She sees his eye relax and she goes to take off, but he grabs her hand before she could go. "Carl, I gotta go!" she says, through the smoke around them. "And so do you!"
Hesitantly, he quickly leans in and pecks her cheek. When he pulls back, she's looking at him with amazement. "Just in case." She nods and looks down at his hand in hers. She smirks.
"Fuck it," she whispers, and pulls his hand towards hers, lurching him forward, causing him to lose his balance. And in that time, she places her lips on his. He freezes for a second, but begins to kiss back, hesitantly. When she pulls back, she grins. "Just in case," she mocks, pushing him off. "Go find your dad!" she yells, running off without a final glance.
She runs further and further until she reaches the woods where her mother had told her to go. That's when she realized that that had been her first kiss. 'Great, my first kiss in a war. That's depressing,' she thinks, snickering to herself.
All around her, she sees people trying to get her. She tries to run even faster, but eventually trips on a tree root and falls to the ground. She hustles to get up, but is stopped by a foot on her chest and rifle to her forehead. She recognized one of the men. He was there at the prison. And on whim, she waves her hand and freezes his whole right body, sending ice through out his body. His eyes widen and he tries to move, but he can't, and starts to panic. She gets up and freezes the rest of the area around his feet so he wouldn't get out, and runs in further away, ignoring the screams of the man.
She knew he would eventually break free of the ice. It wasn't that strong because she wasn't feeling strong. She was scared. She was terrified. A walker comes from behind a tree and she sends a spear of ice from the ground into its head, killing it instantly. She looks at it for a split second, looking at the sharp blade of frozen water impaled in its head, and then runs off, knowing that she needed to find her family.
Scarlett holds onto Hunters hand as they run into the forest, deeper and deeper. Ethan was in Hunters arms. He didn't have a lick of a clue what was going on around them.
"We need to find shelter!" Hunter says as he hears gunshots in the distance. Scarlett stops him from running and puts her hands out, telling him to stop from running. "Scarlett-"
"Let me work!" she snaps. She stomps her foot on the ground and four stone walls from the ground rise up around them and blend into the trees. Hunter stares at it amazed before climbing into it with Ethan in his arms still. Scarlett goes in after, stomping her foot to seal the entrance to the little fortress.
"I forgot you could do that," he mumbles, looking around the dark place.
"Came in handy, didn't it?" Scarlett replies, bringing her knees to her chest and starting to cry softly. "I don't like this. Mommy and daddy are still out there, and so is Aria. What if they don't come back? What if they get stuck out there and can't find us? What if they get shot? What if-"
"Scarlett, you're starting to upset Ethan," Hunter says, pointing to the small baby who was beginning to squirm. She pouts at the baby and sighs.
"Sorry, Ethan," she mumbles, kissing his forehead. Hunter places a hand on her shoulder, causing her to look up. He could see the pain in her eyes.
"They'll be fine. And they will find us. But it think we should keep this open so they CAN find us, don't you think?" he asks. She nods and taps her foot, sending the stone wall back into the ground. She sighs and leans against the cold stone wall again.
"They'll be fine," she repeats, barely whispering. "They'll be ok," she nods. She will keep saying that until they came back to them unharmed.
The family and the group had eventually reunited sooner or later. Aria had had a tearful reunion with her sister and her little brothers. Everyone just seemed shocked. Their life was gone. Their home was gone. It was the prison all over again, and Anna just sat glumly on a rick, staring at the smoke in the distance of the burning campus.
To their knowledge, they had taken out every single last one of the men, but there was no going back now. Their home was burned and crisped. The dead bodies of Jack and Paul in them. Both of them dead and gone.
Aria wasn't looking where the horror had taken place. She was looking out, hanging her legs over a cliff, looking out at the vast wonderland in front of her. Thoughts traveled through her head. They had been there for a year. Where would they go now?
She feels someone sit next to her and has half a mind to push them off the cliff, but once she sees it's just Carl, she relaxes and looks back out. "Hey," he says carefully, knowing she was fragile. She looks at him and he sees the blankness on her face.
"Hey," she chokes out. He takes a closer look at her and sees how dirty she is. She was covered in soot and dirt from her head to her toes, and she had many cuts all over her, just as her parents did. And she had gotten all those trying to get the kids out of the burning building. She would have been a great firefighter. "I can't believe it's gone," she mumbles. "All the hard work and care we put into it… all the memories…gone."
He gingerly places an arm around her shoulders as he sees her begin to cry. She leans her head on his shoulder and sighs, a few tears slipping out. "At least the families are safe and none of us got killed," he argues. She nods softly, glancing over to see Rick with Joey, both of them talking privately. She had seen the two get closer lately. No, Rick wasn't gay, but it was more of a bromance, and both had very similar ideas.
"At least that," she says, closing her eyes. "I don't know what's going to happen," she mumbles. "I have no clue what is going to happen. I just pray to God we all stay together. At least it's not like how it was after the prison. That killed me. Especially since I wasn't able to find you for the first few weeks," she mumbles even lower, but he hears.
"Missed me, huh?" he chuckles. She glares up at him, then rolls her eyes.
"You're ruining the moment, you cocky bastard," she growls, but laughing slightly. At least she had this goofball around her to give her a smile. Heaven knows she needed it.
Some feet away, Anna was watching the kids while Ethan lay asleep in her arms. Her eyes were blank. She felt nothing but hatred at the Governors men. She wanted to kill every single last one of them. Daryl sits down to next to her and notices her blank look. "Anna, it'll be ok," he assures. She looks up at him and shakes her head.
"Daryl…Drake's been bit," she whispers, looking to the newly married couple. It broke her heart. They just got married, and now he was death sentenced. "He's a goner all because of those stupid assholes!" she cries, a few tears slipping out of her eyes. He takes her in his arms and she cries silently into his side, his hand rubbing soothing patterns on her back, while Ethan lay still in her arms, sleeping soundly. "What are we gonna do?" she cries, pulling back, her eyes now red and puffy. "What are we gonna do?"
He glances at the sobbing couple yards away from them, looking at Maggie consoling her, and then back at Anna, determinacy in his eyes. "Survive," he replies. She stares at him for a moment, then looks around. First at Scarlett, who was with Hunter and the other kids, then at Aria, who was with Carl and had a sad smile on her face, then at Joey and Rick, who seemed pained at everything that had happened, and then back at Daryl.
She leans up and kisses his lips softly, and then pulls back, a determined look on her face as well. She takes his hand in hers and nods. This was her something. This was what they talked about in movies and books. Her family, her friends, this group. It was her something to live for. "Survive," she agrees.
They would dominate this world.
And they would survive.