Chapter 16: Hawna is Dead
Sunny giggled. It was something she hadn't done for a while. Absentmindedly rubbing her swollen stomach, she smiled at Mary. They were out in the garden. Sunny was just giving the older woman company. Her being about nine months along and her oversized belly making normal tasks almost impossible, she felt like she was doing something.
"Oh." Sunny muttered.
Instantly Mary looked at her, expecting it was time. "What is it?"
The worry on Sunny's face melted as she continued to rub her belly. "The baby just kicked. Really hard too." The mother to be was get to learn that both babies, had indeed kicked.
"This little boy or girl is gonna be a strong one! Just like their momma." Mary cooed to sunny's stomach.
With a smile they both continued their chore. Mary doing the work, and the expecting sixteen year old following.
"And I haven't even thought of names yet." The young girl sighed.
"Don't worry. There's probably plenty of time for that." Mary bent down, picking some things from the garden. "The baby will probably come sometime next week."
Since Mary had her back turned to Sunny, she didn't catch the shocked expression that grew on her face.
"No it won't." Panic slowly started to rise inside of Sunny.
"You can't-" Mary tried to reason, looking back at sunny after she stood up correctly.
"No. Mary, the baby is coming now." Sunny looked panicked as she acknowledged her water had broken.
She knew where she was. Aahana pulled out of her state of shock, the ringing in her ears letting up little by little. She knew where she was. She forgot about the down to the bone terror she felt only minutes ago. Forgot that she had been staring at the front of the executioner's blood covered shoes. Forgot about the bodies that lay feet away, the blood that covered her face. And most certainly, she forgot about the three men who saved her, and now looked at her with confusion.
In the now morning light, she knew. These were the same woods, the same area that Aahana found herself in several years ago. She was sixteen at the time, and thought she was about to be torn apart by walkers. What she was yet to discover that the tiny human growing within her at the time was actually two. The farm. The farm! Aahana shot to her feet taking off in the direction of the place the twins had mainly grown up at. She dodged trees, slightly acknowledging that it was later in the morning than she thought. Maverick and Heath looked at each other. Maverick raised an eyebrow at the lighter skinned man. But Aahana's so called friend soon followed behind, the other two having no choice but to do the same.
Hope's heart raced as she was set in a dead run to the place she use to call home. Then it came into her view, the fencing, and then the house. She paused at the fence, before taking off for the gate. Aahana threw open the old gate open the moment her fingers flicked up the lock. With her mind racing, she didn't even bother to close it behind her. It was deathly quiet. Surely by now she should have heard something. A whinny of a horse, someone's voice, or even had seen someone. But none of the people who resided here made any indication they were here. That's what revived the fear within Hope. The people here were safe. They shouldn't have had any threats. There was nothing wrong with the fences. No sign that a herd had passed through. No sign of any life whatsoever.
That was what slowly started to kill her. The place that had once been so full of life and second chances, now deathly still with no merciful chance.
Hope paused taking in the terrifying lack of existence.
Not even a creak of the barn door. No nicker from a horse. Just nothing.
Then, she found her voice.
"T-Tom? Mary? Alanna?" She wasn't able to call the fourth name. Hope's mind raced as her feet did the same, carting her inside the house. "Tom!"
If Aahana had thought it was unbearable before, it was twice as bad now. Bullet holes and blood splattered all of the walls. Dirt was mixed with the smeared blood, along with drying muddy footprints on the wooden kitchen floor. So many memories flashed through her mind. The sliding door at the other end of the living room was open. "Mar-" Hope was cut off by a beastly snarl. She froze.
The walker limped out from the back hallway. One of its legs twisted back to an ungodly position making it twice as slow. It's neck tilted to the side like it was all a game. The jaw didn't quite line up correctly. One of the arms twitched at its side while the other reached out to the frozen girl.
Aahana couldn't take her eyes away from it.
The walker's hair was matted with dirt, and who knew what else. It had thinned, making the now darker grey strands stick out. The right side of her head and several sections of hair missing making a dent in its skull more noticeable.
Yes, it was a walker. A dead person who needed to be put out of their misery.
There was a sickening twist to it.
A tied cloth hung at her neck, one that was probably put over her mouth when she was alive. Bruises lined her neck like she was choked. The one arm that the walker was able to use hand the rope around the wrist.
She had tried to get out.
Blood was splattered on its shirt. Meat hung from its jaws. The blood on its chin had to be about a day old.
There was a hole in her shirt. One that could only be caused by a bullet.
That wasn't even the worst part.
Her eyes. Once a knowing hazel, now almost a dead black. The ones that had been so full of life, completely empty. They stared back at Aahana, but they also showed her reflection in the glassiness of the dead eyes.
And Aahawna just stood there.
Alanna was dead.
She didn't even twitch.
Alanna's dead corps awkwardly stumbled closer, ready to get her second meal.
Aahana was frozen.
The walker gaped at her, its hand grabbing for what it couldn't reach quite yet.
Hope couldn't even tell she was trembling.
Alanna was right in front of her, starting to grab Aahana's jacke-
Bang!
Alanna froze as her blood splattered over Aahana's face. The body went limp, before crashing to the wooden floor. Hope was still shaking as all the feeling came back to her. Gunshots from only hours before rang in her memory. The cool metal of the gun she held slowly made its presence known on her hand. Hope had mindlessly grabbed the gun the executioner had used on three councilman.
Instantly she dropped the weapon, not wanting to add any part to its bad reputation. Hope dropped to her knees beside Alanna, closing the dead woman's eyes.
When she looked up again, Hope noticed another body near the hallway. It had been hidden by the couch when she was in the kitchen, but she saw it now. Hope walked over to it, turning it over. There was blood at his neck and shoulder. A bullet wound in the middle of his forehead. He had been part of whoever attacked here. He got bit so his friends did him a favor, one that he probably didn't like.
Aahana moved on down the hall. The end bedroom door was ajar. Light spread into the dark hallway. Blood marked the floor coming from it. Like someone had almost completely stepped in a pool of blood, only to jerk back last minute. Blood still got onto the front of their shoes.
Slowly she pushed open the door finding two more bodies. Two more familiar faces.
Tom and Mary.
"No. No." Aahana breathed. That was when Tom's body moved. Hope didn't have the gun, nothing to protect herself. She was ready to back out of the room and close the door when Tom looked right at her.
"H-haw... Aahana." This caused her to freeze again, before rushing over to the wounded man.
"What happened?" She asked. But she already knew.
"They came. We thought it was you and the kids at first, the way the horses were acting up. But..." Tom trailed off. Hope looked over at Mary, finding a bullet wound on her forehead. It was hard for her to tell all of what Tom's injuries were, but she knew they were bad. Tom reached up weakly. "They c-came yesterday. Killed Alanna and her husband in... The barn. The horses... they quit screaming late last night." Tom wiped something from Aahana's face, when he brought his hand back down, it was smeared with Crimson. Somehow, the older man still managed to smile. "Y-you... You're changing. I.. I can see it... In your eyes.." He muttered something else that struck a chord for Aahana.
"Tom." She tried to whoosh him. The old man had a lot in him, especially to last this long after the attack here yesterday. But most of it had been spent. The older man smiled weakly. "Tom." Aahana said, alarmed. "Tom! Stay with me."
"Aahana. Let me be with her." He looked over at Mary's limp body, taking her hand. "Forty years... And nothing... Had kept us apart.. Let me... Let me, be with her." Tom's eyes shone. He was in pain. "There's a gun... right?" Hope nodded, standing to get it. But the old man took her hand as well. "Hope... keep those kids safe." The girl sniffles as she nodded, before retrieving the gun that was in the living room. It was next to Alanna's body, where she had dropped it. When she returned to the back bedroom, Tom was still. Aahana took a deep breath, before her finger pulled the trigger, making sure Tom wouldn't come back. She didn't even open her eyes after, just, dropped to her knees. Tom's words echoed in her mind.
Hawna is dead
The nicker from a horse trilled outside, followed by hushed voices. One set of footsteps made their way to her, before a hand was set on Aahana's shoulder.
"I'm sorry Hawna." He said.
"Hawna's dead." She mumbled, still not looking up.
"What?" The friend asked alarmed.
"The Saviors killed her. She died last night when they took her outside the walls." The friend was shocked, Aahana sounded like a robot. She stood up, knowing it was going to be a while before she got back to EastHaven. When she walked out of the sliding door, she was met with two strange faces.
"Hawn-.. Hope, this is Maverick." The man pointed to the one with short buzzed black hair. "And Heath." Heath had an odd dark blond color of hair, his natural tanned skin looked a little shaded in the afternoon light. With a questioning look, Aahana gave a quick glance to who stood next to her. She gave a sigh, before walking over to Cobalt who stood behind Heath and Maverick.
"Jesus. You should go back to the Hilltop." There was a new demanding edge to her voice as she mounted the grey roan. "I can't have you getting caught, and the Hilltop being connected to anything I do." It caught Jesus off guard for a second. She turned the horse around, a new mission set in mind.
"Hope! Hope, there is someone you need to-" but before Paul could finish, Hope took the ends of the reins, slapping them on Cobalts sides. The roan took off in a run, jumping the fence and continued on. Hope left the three there watching her take off back to home.
Hope knew two things were very clear.
The Saviors had destroyed a lot. They attacked the farm, killing four people. And they caused the fall of Bentford. They had taken too much already. Greedy bastards. They needed... They had to be stopped. The Saviors would have to take EastHaven over Hope's dead body.
They had already killed a part of her that would never be able to come back. Because of them, Hawna was dead.
A/N
Sooooo shit goes down. The man who killed the 3 men and tried to sexually assault Sunny was part of the group who raided/attacked the farm...
Ok, just wanna bring somethin up here. My schedule, school related or not, can get unpredictable. That is why I don't have a writing schedule. But I think it's after the season finale I loose a little inspiration to write fan fics. I've noticed it's kinda happening here, but I won't stop writing until I finish it.
But one of my favorite authors ranted about something recently that I'm kinda getting tired of too.
No one comments. I'm sorry but it gets a little frustrating. I have no damn clue weather any of you love or hate half of what I write. There is 133 views on this book now -at the time i wrote this. it has much more now. still no comments- as I write this a/n. There is only one comment that was written by one of my irl friends who didn't like my first idea for this book.
One comment saying something like "this chapter was interesting" or even a vote can go a long way. At least it's showing a slight sign that someonelikes this book. All I ask is to know what you think. And I. Don't. give a shit if you correct anything, that just makes it easier for me to find it later when I go back to edit.
And comments add a little boost of inspiration, if I knew someone liked it other than my friend I might just try to update more. Just a thought.
I'll respond to your comments, seriously, I don't bite
That needed to be said.
- i am sorry about that rant guys. but it did need to be said. all of you who write stories of your own can relate to me one way or the other. i know i bring it up all the time about the behind the scenes for you all to comment a question, because in my mind if you do you like the series at least a little, and want to know what the hell is going through my head as i wrote these. -
Who was Jesus trying to get Sunny to meet/see?
What will she do when she gets back to EastHaven?
When/How will she find out that Rick and the group are in EastHaven?
Please remember to vote and comment... And until the next chapter.