p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Cecilia's POV/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"It took us about an hour to get to the white van they had seen from the building, half of it was hanging off the bridge. Daryl opened one of the back doors quickly and luckily it was empty. There were no walkers inside./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""All right, let's get this done."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""It's not stable. I'm lighter," Carol said. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"After what happened at the church I was back to calling her Carol as I had done once back at the prison. I just couldn't call her mum after she tried to abandon me… again./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""In that case I better do it, I'm lighter than both of you," I said and jumped inside the van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl sat on it and then turned his body to his right, then stood up and walked to the front of the van, he sat on the driver's seat, grabbing some papers./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The van trembled when Carol got inside as well. I didn't look back, I just shook my head and looked for anything, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to find. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""There's more coming," Carol exclaimed from the back of the van. I looked out the window and sure enough there were about twenty from our right, and more from our left. "We're gonna have to fight through."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Yeah, I see 'em," Daryl exclaimed as he stood up, knowing we didn't have enough time./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"There was a single stretcher behind the two seats, Daryl quickly turned it over, while Carol kept looking at the walkers approaching us and I was still checking the glove compartment but nothing was really useful./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""GMH, what's that? A hospital?" Daryl asked as I stood up too./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I don't know. Grady Memorial, maybe?" Carol replied/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Grady, the white crosses… It might be where they're holing up."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was the last one to jump out of the van, my mother had shot two walkers which was stupid as she only had three bullets. Daryl and I started to stab some of the closest to us. Soon, we realized there were too many and that we really couldn't just run away, we were trapped./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Get inside, Cecilia!" Daryl yelled at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stabbed one last walker and quickly got inside the van once again, followed by Carol. Daryl once again sat on the van but this time, he gripped the ceiling with both hands, and with his legs raised, he swung himself and kicked a walker away, then closed both doors of the van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We looked around, trying to find something useful but there wasn't anything and we didn't have bullets, Daryl's crossbow has been stolen and we were surrounded by around fifty walkers in an unstable van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""All right, buckle up!" Daryl exclaimed as he sat on the passenger's seat/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol sat behind the wheel and since there were only two seats, I sat on Daryl after he pat his lap. We buckled up quickly, then I felt Daryl's strong arms around my waist. I placed my hands against the dashboard. My heart was beating super fast and I could actually feel Daryl's against my own body./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Hold on!" he said to both of us but then he got closer to my face and lowered his tone of voice. "I love you, okay? We'll be alright." I nodded at him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The van shook even more and I felt like my breath got caught in my throat. Carol closed her eyes tightly, getting ready for the inevitable. I put my hands on top of Daryl's and tried to hold on as strong as possible./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Then I felt how the van moved a bit forward, the back went up and the front of the van, where we were, lowered, allowing me to see the terrain behind the bridge. I squeezed Daryl's hands and I closed my eyes too, turning my neck to my left, so now it was right next to Daryl's shoulder./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I felt like if everything happened in slow motion, it was weird. I felt that horrible sensation in your stomach like when you get on a roller coaster and I only hoped we wouldn't die. Probably a second or two later, I felt the impact. My body sort of bounced forward, then backwards, forward again and then backwards. And then nothing./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I opened my eyes to see the windshield shattered, my mum was still breathing and whispering that we were okay and I could feel Daryl moving under me. We were all alive./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I took a deep breath of relief as I let go of Daryl's hands when I heard a loud thud and I felt the van shaking. I let out a small squeak as a walker fell on top of the van. Blood dripped down the shattered windshield ./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"A second, third and then fourth walker fell on top of us and soon the glass was completely covered in blood. We waited for about five minutes, until we didn't hear more walkers falling down and then we unbuckled, opened the doors of the van, and I got out first, followed by Daryl./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded at him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Are you?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Yeah."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My neck hurt really bad and I had a small gash above my eyebrow but I wouldn't complain now. Carol seemed to be in a lot of pain, she hurt her shoulder really bad. She kept swinging her right arm to have a feel of how bad it was. Daryl seemed to be the only one without a wound or injury./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"As we walked away from the bridge and that damn van, I got angrier for no real reason. Did my mother ask if I was okay? No. She didn't even look at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"And Beth… I almost died for the girl that had kissed my fiancé, the friend that had stabbed me in the back. She might not have pushed that van but in my head it was like she did, which made no sense but that's how I was feeling./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I wasn't really sure where we were going, I was just following Daryl. I never lived in Atlanta and I was young whenever I came so I couldn't really know where I was or anything. I knew New York very well and the town where I used to live with my parents, but that was it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We stopped at a corner, where we took a break to check our injuries and to drink some water. A bruise was already forming on Carol's shoulder and I pretended like nothing was hurting. What was the point? I was going to be okay./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""There's only three blocks between us and Grady," Carol said./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We need to find a place nearby," Daryl muttered. "Scope it out, see what we can see."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You really think we're gonna find out what we need to know just by watching?" Carol asked./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""It's where we start," Daryl said, standing up. "Come on."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stood up too and I felt dizzy instantly, my vision went all black. I closed my eyes and pretended I needed to tie my shoes. I took a deep breath and when I felt better, I stood up again and followed them. I stayed in the back. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My energy was running low again, my neck was really hurting and I wasn't even looking forward to what we had to do./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We found a building facing the hospital and we went inside. There weren't too many walkers close or inside of it so Carol and Daryl got rid of all of them./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I sighed and even had to convince myself to go up the stairs. My legs and my whole body were against the idea but I knew I had to. I didn't even know why I was so tired, I wasn't usually like this. Normally I'm the one who keeps going even if I haven't stopped at all. I'm the one who doesn't let tiredness win./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Luckily this time we didn't go up twenty floors, only about seven. But at the top of the stairs, I crouched over and took deep breaths. Daryl glanced at me but instead of waiting for me, he kept walking, killing a walker that was on the floor. He killed it quickly and grabbed a machete that was next to it. I finally recovered a bit and walked to where they were./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol and Daryl either sat or stood by the window in front of the hospital. Daryl had got us some chips and each got two bags. I watched for a bit too but then slowly walked away without a word. Daryl glanced at me but then looked at the hospital again./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I went to the bathroom but stayed longer than needed. I knew I was acting weird and I got myself into this so I shouldn't be this way, I didn't even know why I was being like this. I just felt awkward around Carol and I was angry and I couldn't even let my anger out and this whole Beth situation was driving me nuts./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Me and the girls stayed at that shelter for a bit." I heard my mother saying to Daryl before I walked in again. So I stood by the door listening. "I went home, I got beat up, life went on. It didn't for Cecilia, though. She was about nine or ten and she knew how bad it was. It wasn't until then that she lost faith in me, I could see it in her eyes. She was disappointed at me."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I looked down at the floor, and listened. Yes, I was disappointed at how weak she was. She was right. We got out but she returned. She brought us back to that hell, not my father./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was just about a month away from turning ten, the abuse was bad, even to Sophia, who was just a toddler. I had to go to school with long-sleeves, even when I played football or volleyball I wore long-sleeves shirts because no one could know what was going on. Why? I wasn't sure… maybe it would have been better if people could have noticed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I returned when Cecilia was around thirteen, he had broken her wrist and I was afraid for her life and Sophia's. I didn't stay long. I don't know why I kept going back, why I kept believing things would change."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My father or anything related to the abuse hadn't made me cry in several months. I think the last time I cried over something related to that was when we were in the prison and my mother revealed to me something I didn't know and never noticed and before that, I cried when my father died./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was thirteen like Carol had just said and I had already tried to escape, I went to a friend's house and I only went back because the police got me. I just couldn't take it anymore. He had broken my wrist because I got in between him and Sophia, who was around six, and made the mistake of saying something out of place./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"FLASHBACK/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Thirteen-year old Cecilia watched as her mother packed their bags once again. Sophia was playing with a doll on the bed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol had told them they were going to some place close to the beach but Cecilia wasn't naïve or stupid. She knew her mother had had enough and left Ed but she was so dependant of him that she couldn't stay away for long and Cecilia knew the beach part was a lie./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We can't go back!" Cecilia yelled at her. She still remembered the beating she got after the police drove her back to her house and she knew that was waiting for them if they went back./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol said nothing, she just kept folding their clothes. Cecilia shook her head at her mother in disappointment. She couldn't believe how pathetic she was./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She walked out of the room and headed to the office, where a man in his 50s was working on some papers. She smiled sweetly at him even when she thought he was a complete moron./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I'm just going to a convenience store, I'm buying a coke, do you want something?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Uh no, thank you sweetie."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Cecilia smiled once again before she exited the office and walked out of the building without a problem. She had some money with her but it wasn't for food, it was for a bus./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"With some help of strangers she found the right bus and headed to her grandparents' house. She had a cast on her left hand but with her right she kept playing with her blonde hair. It almost reached her shoulders and it was in a half ponytail as it was too short to put all her hair in a ponytail and it didn't help that her hair wasn't straight, like Sophia's, it looked shorter than it was./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She got off the bus and walked five minutes to the house. When she got there she saw a black car and smiled, Uncle Anthony was there. She rang the bell and her grandmother opened the door, she hugged her immediately./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""What are you doing here, Annika? Where's your mum?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I thought of surprising you!" the girl said with a smile on her lips./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Ann?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She let go of her grandmother and saw Bobby, her favourite cousin. She ran and hugged the boy, who was slightly taller than her. Andrew joined later while Jennifer stayed next to her mother./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"It didn't take long for her mother to show up with Sophia, who had been ordered to not tell anyone where they had been. No one knew of the abuse or even suspected of it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Annie, how did you break your wrist?" Aunt Lauren asked as they ate lunch together./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Well…"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Playing basketball at school," Carol said quickly and the girl glared at her mother. She was ready to tell them what really happened./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Oh, the same thing happened to Andy when he was nine or ten," Uncle Anthony said. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""That's not how it happened," she whispered and Carol looked at her like she wanted to kill her. Annika, as she was called back then, glared back, she was surrounded by her family and didn't feel intimidated by her mother./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""How, then?" her grandmother asked worried./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I didn't want to tell you," Carol said quickly, interrupting Annika again. "But Annika got into a fist fight with another girl at school. She got suspended and on top of it broke her wrist. She's learnt her lesson though."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Why?" her grandfather asked in disbelief. "A lady doesn't get involved in fights."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Is that why mum doesn't fight back?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"An awkward silence followed. Anthony looked from Annika to Carol, whose face looked pale as a ghost. Annika looked down at her food, wondering if she had screwed up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Fight back?" Lauren asked confused./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Sorry," Annika said quickly. "That's not what I meant to say. Never mind," she said with a nervous laugh./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The rest of the meal was uncomfortable and Carol's brother kept eyeing Carol but she never met his gaze. Annika had lost her courage and her chance to speak up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You are coming, Annika Cecilia!" Carol half shouted half whispered at her daughter as she was trying to leave her parents' house. Annika wanted to stay. "If you stay, dad will call the police once again and you don't want to stress your grandma even more, remember she's delicate at the moment."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Then don't call the police."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Your place is at home and you are coming! If the police comes, you'll be in more trouble, so just come."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I don't have a home," Annika whispered angrily./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Annika didn't want to go but she also knew her grandmother couldn't be under stress as she almost had a heart attack when Anthony had a car accident and was taken to the hospital so she knew she couldn't add to that. She needed to leave./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"After that Carol and Annika's relationship just got worse with time, by the time Annika was fifteen she wouldn't speak to Carol anymore or be in the same room as her for longer than twenty minutes./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She would get detention on purpose to stay longer in school or got into extracurricular activities to be away from her house. She kept trying to run away but the police always found her. She even tried to get a job to be away from home and save money but she never managed to keep one long enough because she kept running away when things got too bad./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="color: #990099;"~*~*~*~*~/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Maybe you kept going back because you were nothing without dad," I found myself saying as I walked in, Daryl and Carol turned to look at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I'm not that person anymore," she told me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""To be honest, I don't know who you are anymore."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Just as I was sitting down we heard a door closing. We all turned to look at each other quickly and then Daryl got his knife and bag and we did the same and went after him. Right by the stairs, we found a walker, sort of nailed to the wall with an arrow. One of Daryl's arrows. He killed the walker with his knife and got his arrow, and then we heard several gunshots./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We took some steps the way we had come and right when we were passing by the closest room to us, someone actually threw a walker at us. The impact made me fall, I struggled with the walker on top of me, my knife had fallen out of my reach./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Then, the walker had gone limp and Daryl quickly grabbed it and threw it away from me. He helped me up and then left to go after the person, while I went to pick up my knife. Then I followed him quickly, Carol behind me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"When I got to the end of the hall I saw the same guy that had stolen our things under a piece of furniture. Daryl had somehow made it fall on him. There was a single walker trying to go inside through a glass door that was being blocked by the furniture./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Plea… please. I had to protect myself!" the guy exclaimed as Daryl grabbed the things he had taken./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Why you following us?" he shouted./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I-I didn't, I swear! I thought you followed me."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Bullshit," he muttered./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The young man kept begging under the furniture and the walker was still trying to get inside. Daryl approached the guy once again but only to grab a box of cigarrates. He grabbed one and lit it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Please, please."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Nah, I already helped you once," he muttered. "It ain't happenin' again."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Please!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl took a drag and then put the box inside his pocket. Carol and I just watched, the stranger kept begging but no one was really doing anything./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Have fun with Hoss over there." Daryl exclaimed as he bent to say it closer to him and picked up something, then he started to walk away./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""No. No, no, no! Please! Please! I'm sorry!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Daryl. Stop!" Carol said as Daryl and I kept walking the other way./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Cecilia almost died 'cause of him!" he yelled at her./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""But she didn't."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Nah, let him be."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl shook his head at her, turned around and then grabbed me by my elbow and dragged me with him. The guy kept apologizing and Carol wasn't following us. Daryl stopped when he heard the walker falling on top of the furniture./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"He turned around, letting go of me. We saw as the walker had its arms on the guy and was ready to bite him. He couldn't even push him away as his hands were trapped. Daryl sighed, lifted his crossbow and quickly shot an arrow and the walker was dead./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol quickly dragged the walker off the furniture. Daryl grabbed the end of the shelf and lifted it while Carol helped the guy out and I pointed at him with my gun. I wasn't taking any chance with him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" he exclaimed as he panted./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The guy stood up quickly and limped to the window, muttering things under his breath. Daryl nodded at me in a way to tell me that it was okay. I sighed and slowly lowered my gun. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""They probably heard the shot. If they find me…"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Who?" Daryl asked./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""The people at the hospital."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Wait, wait, wait," Daryl muttered as he approached the guy quickly. "Just tell us, is there a blonde girl there? You saw a blonde girl?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Beth?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You know her?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Without noticing, I frowned and crossed my arms in front of me. Everyone seemed relieved they were getting closer to her and I couldn't feel like that even when I wanted to./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""She helped me get out, but she's still there."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""They're coming," Carol exclaimed, looking down at the street./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We gotta go now, we gotta go!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We ran to the stairs and luckily this time we weren't going as fast because of the guy, he was trying to be fast but he was limping badly. And even I was getting out of breath already, we were at least going down and not up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""The building next door has a basement. It's clear. We'll be safe!" he exclaimed as we ran to the entrance of the building and as he talked he fell down. "Ah! Ah!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Go, I got him!" Daryl exclaimed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I nodded at him and then went after Carol. She pushed the glass door open and I followed her closely. We went up three steps towards the street and then I'm not too sure what happened. I heard a loud thud, I heard a car's stopping and I heard people./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stood paralyzed as I watched my mother on the ground, unconscious. Soon, two guys got out of the car with a stretcher. One was pointing his gun at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Don't try anything!" he warned me. "We can help her."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The other guy laid the stretcher on the ground and then the guy pointing the gun at me ordered me to help. I grabbed my mum's legs and the other guy grabbed her arms and together we lifted her up and placed her on the stretcher. Then we carried her to the back of the car and I was ordered to get in as well./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I didn't dare to look back at the building, to look back at Daryl, they would know he was there and I couldn't let them know. So I just nodded and got inside./span/p
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p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Hello guys!/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I actually forgot for a second that I was supposed to update /Don't tell me what happens if you know but answer this… did TWD show got suspended where you live? Last Monday between commercials there was this announcement that TWD wasn't going to be on next week for the end of season. I thought okay, maybe next Monday it won't be the end but nope… no TWD because of the damn virus… how does that even work… so did you watch it? Just say yes or no, don't spoil me please lol!br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /!- [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /!-[endif]-/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know your thoughts! I was frustrated and I still am with my writing as I feel like it's not as good as before. By the way, where I live we got an extra week of quarantine and I feel so depressed. I don't know why. Any advice?/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"It took us about an hour to get to the white van they had seen from the building, half of it was hanging off the bridge. Daryl opened one of the back doors quickly and luckily it was empty. There were no walkers inside./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""All right, let's get this done."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""It's not stable. I'm lighter," Carol said. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"After what happened at the church I was back to calling her Carol as I had done once back at the prison. I just couldn't call her mum after she tried to abandon me… again./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""In that case I better do it, I'm lighter than both of you," I said and jumped inside the van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl sat on it and then turned his body to his right, then stood up and walked to the front of the van, he sat on the driver's seat, grabbing some papers./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The van trembled when Carol got inside as well. I didn't look back, I just shook my head and looked for anything, I wasn't sure what I was supposed to find. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""There's more coming," Carol exclaimed from the back of the van. I looked out the window and sure enough there were about twenty from our right, and more from our left. "We're gonna have to fight through."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Yeah, I see 'em," Daryl exclaimed as he stood up, knowing we didn't have enough time./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"There was a single stretcher behind the two seats, Daryl quickly turned it over, while Carol kept looking at the walkers approaching us and I was still checking the glove compartment but nothing was really useful./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""GMH, what's that? A hospital?" Daryl asked as I stood up too./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I don't know. Grady Memorial, maybe?" Carol replied/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Grady, the white crosses… It might be where they're holing up."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was the last one to jump out of the van, my mother had shot two walkers which was stupid as she only had three bullets. Daryl and I started to stab some of the closest to us. Soon, we realized there were too many and that we really couldn't just run away, we were trapped./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Get inside, Cecilia!" Daryl yelled at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stabbed one last walker and quickly got inside the van once again, followed by Carol. Daryl once again sat on the van but this time, he gripped the ceiling with both hands, and with his legs raised, he swung himself and kicked a walker away, then closed both doors of the van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We looked around, trying to find something useful but there wasn't anything and we didn't have bullets, Daryl's crossbow has been stolen and we were surrounded by around fifty walkers in an unstable van./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""All right, buckle up!" Daryl exclaimed as he sat on the passenger's seat/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol sat behind the wheel and since there were only two seats, I sat on Daryl after he pat his lap. We buckled up quickly, then I felt Daryl's strong arms around my waist. I placed my hands against the dashboard. My heart was beating super fast and I could actually feel Daryl's against my own body./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Hold on!" he said to both of us but then he got closer to my face and lowered his tone of voice. "I love you, okay? We'll be alright." I nodded at him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The van shook even more and I felt like my breath got caught in my throat. Carol closed her eyes tightly, getting ready for the inevitable. I put my hands on top of Daryl's and tried to hold on as strong as possible./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Then I felt how the van moved a bit forward, the back went up and the front of the van, where we were, lowered, allowing me to see the terrain behind the bridge. I squeezed Daryl's hands and I closed my eyes too, turning my neck to my left, so now it was right next to Daryl's shoulder./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I felt like if everything happened in slow motion, it was weird. I felt that horrible sensation in your stomach like when you get on a roller coaster and I only hoped we wouldn't die. Probably a second or two later, I felt the impact. My body sort of bounced forward, then backwards, forward again and then backwards. And then nothing./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I opened my eyes to see the windshield shattered, my mum was still breathing and whispering that we were okay and I could feel Daryl moving under me. We were all alive./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I took a deep breath of relief as I let go of Daryl's hands when I heard a loud thud and I felt the van shaking. I let out a small squeak as a walker fell on top of the van. Blood dripped down the shattered windshield ./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"A second, third and then fourth walker fell on top of us and soon the glass was completely covered in blood. We waited for about five minutes, until we didn't hear more walkers falling down and then we unbuckled, opened the doors of the van, and I got out first, followed by Daryl./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Are you okay?" he asked and I nodded at him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Are you?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Yeah."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My neck hurt really bad and I had a small gash above my eyebrow but I wouldn't complain now. Carol seemed to be in a lot of pain, she hurt her shoulder really bad. She kept swinging her right arm to have a feel of how bad it was. Daryl seemed to be the only one without a wound or injury./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"As we walked away from the bridge and that damn van, I got angrier for no real reason. Did my mother ask if I was okay? No. She didn't even look at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"And Beth… I almost died for the girl that had kissed my fiancé, the friend that had stabbed me in the back. She might not have pushed that van but in my head it was like she did, which made no sense but that's how I was feeling./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I wasn't really sure where we were going, I was just following Daryl. I never lived in Atlanta and I was young whenever I came so I couldn't really know where I was or anything. I knew New York very well and the town where I used to live with my parents, but that was it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We stopped at a corner, where we took a break to check our injuries and to drink some water. A bruise was already forming on Carol's shoulder and I pretended like nothing was hurting. What was the point? I was going to be okay./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""There's only three blocks between us and Grady," Carol said./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We need to find a place nearby," Daryl muttered. "Scope it out, see what we can see."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You really think we're gonna find out what we need to know just by watching?" Carol asked./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""It's where we start," Daryl said, standing up. "Come on."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stood up too and I felt dizzy instantly, my vision went all black. I closed my eyes and pretended I needed to tie my shoes. I took a deep breath and when I felt better, I stood up again and followed them. I stayed in the back. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My energy was running low again, my neck was really hurting and I wasn't even looking forward to what we had to do./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We found a building facing the hospital and we went inside. There weren't too many walkers close or inside of it so Carol and Daryl got rid of all of them./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I sighed and even had to convince myself to go up the stairs. My legs and my whole body were against the idea but I knew I had to. I didn't even know why I was so tired, I wasn't usually like this. Normally I'm the one who keeps going even if I haven't stopped at all. I'm the one who doesn't let tiredness win./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Luckily this time we didn't go up twenty floors, only about seven. But at the top of the stairs, I crouched over and took deep breaths. Daryl glanced at me but instead of waiting for me, he kept walking, killing a walker that was on the floor. He killed it quickly and grabbed a machete that was next to it. I finally recovered a bit and walked to where they were./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol and Daryl either sat or stood by the window in front of the hospital. Daryl had got us some chips and each got two bags. I watched for a bit too but then slowly walked away without a word. Daryl glanced at me but then looked at the hospital again./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I went to the bathroom but stayed longer than needed. I knew I was acting weird and I got myself into this so I shouldn't be this way, I didn't even know why I was being like this. I just felt awkward around Carol and I was angry and I couldn't even let my anger out and this whole Beth situation was driving me nuts./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Me and the girls stayed at that shelter for a bit." I heard my mother saying to Daryl before I walked in again. So I stood by the door listening. "I went home, I got beat up, life went on. It didn't for Cecilia, though. She was about nine or ten and she knew how bad it was. It wasn't until then that she lost faith in me, I could see it in her eyes. She was disappointed at me."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I looked down at the floor, and listened. Yes, I was disappointed at how weak she was. She was right. We got out but she returned. She brought us back to that hell, not my father./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was just about a month away from turning ten, the abuse was bad, even to Sophia, who was just a toddler. I had to go to school with long-sleeves, even when I played football or volleyball I wore long-sleeves shirts because no one could know what was going on. Why? I wasn't sure… maybe it would have been better if people could have noticed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I returned when Cecilia was around thirteen, he had broken her wrist and I was afraid for her life and Sophia's. I didn't stay long. I don't know why I kept going back, why I kept believing things would change."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"My father or anything related to the abuse hadn't made me cry in several months. I think the last time I cried over something related to that was when we were in the prison and my mother revealed to me something I didn't know and never noticed and before that, I cried when my father died./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I was thirteen like Carol had just said and I had already tried to escape, I went to a friend's house and I only went back because the police got me. I just couldn't take it anymore. He had broken my wrist because I got in between him and Sophia, who was around six, and made the mistake of saying something out of place./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"FLASHBACK/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Thirteen-year old Cecilia watched as her mother packed their bags once again. Sophia was playing with a doll on the bed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol had told them they were going to some place close to the beach but Cecilia wasn't naïve or stupid. She knew her mother had had enough and left Ed but she was so dependant of him that she couldn't stay away for long and Cecilia knew the beach part was a lie./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We can't go back!" Cecilia yelled at her. She still remembered the beating she got after the police drove her back to her house and she knew that was waiting for them if they went back./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol said nothing, she just kept folding their clothes. Cecilia shook her head at her mother in disappointment. She couldn't believe how pathetic she was./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She walked out of the room and headed to the office, where a man in his 50s was working on some papers. She smiled sweetly at him even when she thought he was a complete moron./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I'm just going to a convenience store, I'm buying a coke, do you want something?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Uh no, thank you sweetie."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Cecilia smiled once again before she exited the office and walked out of the building without a problem. She had some money with her but it wasn't for food, it was for a bus./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"With some help of strangers she found the right bus and headed to her grandparents' house. She had a cast on her left hand but with her right she kept playing with her blonde hair. It almost reached her shoulders and it was in a half ponytail as it was too short to put all her hair in a ponytail and it didn't help that her hair wasn't straight, like Sophia's, it looked shorter than it was./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She got off the bus and walked five minutes to the house. When she got there she saw a black car and smiled, Uncle Anthony was there. She rang the bell and her grandmother opened the door, she hugged her immediately./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""What are you doing here, Annika? Where's your mum?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I thought of surprising you!" the girl said with a smile on her lips./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Ann?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She let go of her grandmother and saw Bobby, her favourite cousin. She ran and hugged the boy, who was slightly taller than her. Andrew joined later while Jennifer stayed next to her mother./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"It didn't take long for her mother to show up with Sophia, who had been ordered to not tell anyone where they had been. No one knew of the abuse or even suspected of it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Annie, how did you break your wrist?" Aunt Lauren asked as they ate lunch together./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Well…"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Playing basketball at school," Carol said quickly and the girl glared at her mother. She was ready to tell them what really happened./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Oh, the same thing happened to Andy when he was nine or ten," Uncle Anthony said. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""That's not how it happened," she whispered and Carol looked at her like she wanted to kill her. Annika, as she was called back then, glared back, she was surrounded by her family and didn't feel intimidated by her mother./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""How, then?" her grandmother asked worried./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I didn't want to tell you," Carol said quickly, interrupting Annika again. "But Annika got into a fist fight with another girl at school. She got suspended and on top of it broke her wrist. She's learnt her lesson though."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Why?" her grandfather asked in disbelief. "A lady doesn't get involved in fights."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Is that why mum doesn't fight back?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"An awkward silence followed. Anthony looked from Annika to Carol, whose face looked pale as a ghost. Annika looked down at her food, wondering if she had screwed up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Fight back?" Lauren asked confused./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Sorry," Annika said quickly. "That's not what I meant to say. Never mind," she said with a nervous laugh./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The rest of the meal was uncomfortable and Carol's brother kept eyeing Carol but she never met his gaze. Annika had lost her courage and her chance to speak up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You are coming, Annika Cecilia!" Carol half shouted half whispered at her daughter as she was trying to leave her parents' house. Annika wanted to stay. "If you stay, dad will call the police once again and you don't want to stress your grandma even more, remember she's delicate at the moment."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Then don't call the police."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Your place is at home and you are coming! If the police comes, you'll be in more trouble, so just come."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I don't have a home," Annika whispered angrily./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Annika didn't want to go but she also knew her grandmother couldn't be under stress as she almost had a heart attack when Anthony had a car accident and was taken to the hospital so she knew she couldn't add to that. She needed to leave./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"After that Carol and Annika's relationship just got worse with time, by the time Annika was fifteen she wouldn't speak to Carol anymore or be in the same room as her for longer than twenty minutes./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"She would get detention on purpose to stay longer in school or got into extracurricular activities to be away from her house. She kept trying to run away but the police always found her. She even tried to get a job to be away from home and save money but she never managed to keep one long enough because she kept running away when things got too bad./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;" /span/p
p class="Standard" style="text-align: center;" align="center"span style="color: #990099;"~*~*~*~*~/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Maybe you kept going back because you were nothing without dad," I found myself saying as I walked in, Daryl and Carol turned to look at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I'm not that person anymore," she told me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""To be honest, I don't know who you are anymore."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Just as I was sitting down we heard a door closing. We all turned to look at each other quickly and then Daryl got his knife and bag and we did the same and went after him. Right by the stairs, we found a walker, sort of nailed to the wall with an arrow. One of Daryl's arrows. He killed the walker with his knife and got his arrow, and then we heard several gunshots./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We took some steps the way we had come and right when we were passing by the closest room to us, someone actually threw a walker at us. The impact made me fall, I struggled with the walker on top of me, my knife had fallen out of my reach./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Then, the walker had gone limp and Daryl quickly grabbed it and threw it away from me. He helped me up and then left to go after the person, while I went to pick up my knife. Then I followed him quickly, Carol behind me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"When I got to the end of the hall I saw the same guy that had stolen our things under a piece of furniture. Daryl had somehow made it fall on him. There was a single walker trying to go inside through a glass door that was being blocked by the furniture./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Plea… please. I had to protect myself!" the guy exclaimed as Daryl grabbed the things he had taken./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Why you following us?" he shouted./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""I-I didn't, I swear! I thought you followed me."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Bullshit," he muttered./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The young man kept begging under the furniture and the walker was still trying to get inside. Daryl approached the guy once again but only to grab a box of cigarrates. He grabbed one and lit it./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Please, please."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Nah, I already helped you once," he muttered. "It ain't happenin' again."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Please!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl took a drag and then put the box inside his pocket. Carol and I just watched, the stranger kept begging but no one was really doing anything./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Have fun with Hoss over there." Daryl exclaimed as he bent to say it closer to him and picked up something, then he started to walk away./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""No. No, no, no! Please! Please! I'm sorry!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Daryl. Stop!" Carol said as Daryl and I kept walking the other way./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Cecilia almost died 'cause of him!" he yelled at her./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""But she didn't."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Nah, let him be."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Daryl shook his head at her, turned around and then grabbed me by my elbow and dragged me with him. The guy kept apologizing and Carol wasn't following us. Daryl stopped when he heard the walker falling on top of the furniture./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"He turned around, letting go of me. We saw as the walker had its arms on the guy and was ready to bite him. He couldn't even push him away as his hands were trapped. Daryl sighed, lifted his crossbow and quickly shot an arrow and the walker was dead./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Carol quickly dragged the walker off the furniture. Daryl grabbed the end of the shelf and lifted it while Carol helped the guy out and I pointed at him with my gun. I wasn't taking any chance with him./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Thank you. Thank you. Thank you!" he exclaimed as he panted./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The guy stood up quickly and limped to the window, muttering things under his breath. Daryl nodded at me in a way to tell me that it was okay. I sighed and slowly lowered my gun. /span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""They probably heard the shot. If they find me…"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Who?" Daryl asked./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""The people at the hospital."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Wait, wait, wait," Daryl muttered as he approached the guy quickly. "Just tell us, is there a blonde girl there? You saw a blonde girl?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Beth?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""You know her?"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Without noticing, I frowned and crossed my arms in front of me. Everyone seemed relieved they were getting closer to her and I couldn't feel like that even when I wanted to./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""She helped me get out, but she's still there."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""They're coming," Carol exclaimed, looking down at the street./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""We gotta go now, we gotta go!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"We ran to the stairs and luckily this time we weren't going as fast because of the guy, he was trying to be fast but he was limping badly. And even I was getting out of breath already, we were at least going down and not up./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""The building next door has a basement. It's clear. We'll be safe!" he exclaimed as we ran to the entrance of the building and as he talked he fell down. "Ah! Ah!"/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Go, I got him!" Daryl exclaimed./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I nodded at him and then went after Carol. She pushed the glass door open and I followed her closely. We went up three steps towards the street and then I'm not too sure what happened. I heard a loud thud, I heard a car's stopping and I heard people./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I stood paralyzed as I watched my mother on the ground, unconscious. Soon, two guys got out of the car with a stretcher. One was pointing his gun at me./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;""Don't try anything!" he warned me. "We can help her."/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"The other guy laid the stretcher on the ground and then the guy pointing the gun at me ordered me to help. I grabbed my mum's legs and the other guy grabbed her arms and together we lifted her up and placed her on the stretcher. Then we carried her to the back of the car and I was ordered to get in as well./span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I didn't dare to look back at the building, to look back at Daryl, they would know he was there and I couldn't let them know. So I just nodded and got inside./span/p
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p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Hello guys!/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"I actually forgot for a second that I was supposed to update /Don't tell me what happens if you know but answer this… did TWD show got suspended where you live? Last Monday between commercials there was this announcement that TWD wasn't going to be on next week for the end of season. I thought okay, maybe next Monday it won't be the end but nope… no TWD because of the damn virus… how does that even work… so did you watch it? Just say yes or no, don't spoil me please lol!br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /!- [if !supportLineBreakNewLine]-br style="mso-special-character: line-break;" /!-[endif]-/span/p
p class="Standard"span style="color: #990099;"Anyway, hope you enjoy the chapter! Let me know your thoughts! I was frustrated and I still am with my writing as I feel like it's not as good as before. By the way, where I live we got an extra week of quarantine and I feel so depressed. I don't know why. Any advice?/span/p