Red River Blue
Chapter 33
Lydia felt like everyone around her was constantly talking. A lot. They all spoke the same language she was used to. But they kept using words and phrases that Lydia didn't understand. When Sam invited her along to his jam session, she went where he led her without question. Because she trusted him. It wasn't until the loud noises started that Lydia started to feel the anxiety rising inside her. Since she was a small child, her mother taught her that making noise equated to death by undead cannibals. Sitting in an open garage with a bunch of people that were making loud noise just for fun was unnerving her. And finally, Lydia was unable to take it anymore. She got up and headed inside the house like Sam's aunt River said she was allowed to do.
Lydia could still hear the noise. But shutting the door muffled it. She pressed her back against the door, breathing hard and fast as the world began to spin around her. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing the panicky feelings to stop. She was safe here. This place was safe. When she arrived, Lydia stared in wonder at the high walls that surrounded this community. And the people patrolling them with large guns.
"Hey! Walker girl!" Lydia opened her eyes to the sound of someone snapping their fingers near her face. Sam's uncle was peering down at her. The one that was missing a hand. Once he was sure he had her attention, Merle pointed down the hallway towards a door that was cracked open. "If yer gonna puke, do it in the bathroom. Do Not Throw Up On My Floor." Lydia nodded her understanding.
"I'm not gonna puke," Lydia assured him. "It was just really loud in there." Merle nodded. When they first arrived in Alexandria, it took everyone a while to adjust. He guessed that living in the middle of a herd of walkers would require people to be quiet pretty much all the time. He wouldn't fare well there. His voice had a tendency to carry.
He didn't touch her. But using the bulk of his body, Merle sort of shooed Lydia away from the garage door and into the kitchen, leaving her with the small group of women that were inside. Merle wasn't sure whose turn it was to babysit Sam's flavor of the month. But it certainly wasn't his fucking job.
"Hi sweetie," Carol said, waving Lydia into the room and pulling out a stool for her to sit on.
Besides Sam's mom, Lydia recognized his aunt, River. But the other women were strangers to her. One was a little on the heavy side, with glasses. And the other was more petite with a pretty face and copper colored hair. Carol introduced the woman to her, telling Lydia that their names were Frankie and Olivia. The small group of women had a few spiral bound notebooks they were passing back and forth between them. And the counters were filled with large clear containers. The containers held what looked like a lot of different powdery substances. Lydia wasn't sure what they were. The containers were labeled. But she couldn't read the neatly printed words. She couldn't read at all.
"Sam told you we're leaving for the fair soon?," River asked. Lydia nodded. She didn't know what a fair was. But she'd heard it mentioned several times. Sam didn't really explain what it was. But he said lots of different communities got together there to trade. And Lydia at least knew what that meant. She wasn't a total idiot.
"We run a booth at the fair every year. We sell baked goods, like cupcakes, and cookies, and bread," River explained. "I owned a bakery before the turn." Lydia nodded, relieved that she understood what the woman was explaining to her. She remembered what a bakery was. Her dad used to take her to one that sold the most amazing iced sugar cookies. Lydia could still picture the place in her mind. "...so we're trying to finalize what we're going to bake this year. And then make sure we have everything we need to make it."
Olivia, the woman with the glasses, poured Lydia a glass of iced tea, setting it down in front of her with a warm smile. And then the women went back to the conversation that Lydia guessed they were having before she walked in. She could follow most of it. They were discussing whether it would be easier to bake everything and then transport it to the fair or transport the raw ingredients and bake everything once they got there. There was some discussion about ovens versus open fire cooking.
"If we bake everything here, we'll end up leaving late and all the good camping spots will be gone," Frankie added. "I do not want to camp near the horse pasture again."
The mention of sleeping near horses seemed to settle the debate. And the women quickly moved on to planning the trip they were about to take. Lydia sat quietly and listened. She felt comfortable sitting in the kitchen and listening to the friendly chatter of the women. It wasn't until Carol shoved a notebook in front of her and suggested that she help them make a list of the things they still needed to pull out of the freezers that Lydia began to panic. She didn't know how to read. And she certainly didn't know how to write. The whisperers traveled light. They were nomadic. And only carried things with them that they deemed necessary in order to live. Pencils and paper were not the type of items they kept around. Lydia saw a few people with books over the years, but most of them ended up as kindling for the fire.
Lydia looked down at the list. A few of the letters looked familiar to her. She at least knew how to spell her own name. Though she would be hard pressed to write it out. But she couldn't read the words. And wasn't going to be able to write down any of the words Sam's mom was telling her. Though it was muffled, she could still hear the loud noise coming through the garage door. It was making it hard for her to think straight. Lydia's hand began to shake. She dropped the pencil and jumped up from her seat, knocking her stool down before she fled from the room.
"What was that about?," Frankie gasped, righting the chair as she stared after the girl.
"I don't think she can read," River said, her expression full of concern for the girl as she hurried after her.
River caught up with Lydia out on the sidewalk in front of Carol's house. She felt a huge pang of empathy for the girl. And even more when she saw that Lydia had tears in her eyes. People that came in off the road always needed a little time to adjust. But she guessed this was more of an adjustment for Lydia than it was for Connie or Luke. Lydia was younger than Wren. Which meant she must have been a small child when the outbreak happened. River guessed the girl didn't remember much about life before the turn. And she'd been conditioned by her abusive mother to believe that communities like Alexandria didn't exist. Coming to terms with her mother being a whacko liar while adjusting to a completely different lifestyle had to be overwhelming.
"No more lists. If you want to learn how to read, we'll teach you. And if you don't want to learn, that's okay too. How'd you like to help me make dinner instead?," River offered. Lydia nodded, hugging River back. Lydia couldn't remember when her mother stopped hugging her. She only knew that she'd been craving the woman's love and affection for as long as she could remember. And being hugged, even if it was by someone else's mom, felt good in a way that Lydia was hard pressed to describe. All she knew was that she felt like she was finally home.