"Like I told Rick, I can work the safety perfectly well," Andrea threatened me, never leaving her dead sister's side. I sat next to her, disregarding her warning. Blood stained the dark grass below us, the RV stained and peppered with droplets. Andrea's body and face was not exempt.
"She's beautiful," I commented, staring into the dead girl's dull eyes where life was now nonexistent. Andrea lowered her gun hesitantly, obviously confused as to why I was suddenly talking to her calmly.
"She really is," she quietly brushed her sister's hair away from her face. "Amy was beautiful inside too."
"I've heard," I slowly reached for Andrea's hand. "A young girl with a heart of gold."
"Why do you care?" Andrea sobbed harshly, snapping at me. I remained calm.
"I'm not here to tell you to put her down or anything like that. She's not an animal," I soothed her. "I saw a fellow older sibling who also lost one."
Andrea sniffled, curiosity still overtaking her. "Isn't he alive next to Ben?"
I smiled sadly, shaking my head. "Not my younger brother. I may be the oldest right now, but there used to be three of us. Four, technically."
"I bet they weren't mauled right in front of you though," she withdrew into her shell, raising her sharp needles around her again.
"Having closure is better than nothing at all," I glanced at the way she was holding onto her sister's hand tightly. "My younger sister got run over by a drunk driver right in front of me as she was crossing the street. It was my fault she'd gotten killed. I held her as her life faded, as no one called 911 for us. I remember carrying her dying body in my arms, running to the nearest hospital I had seen while touring New York City. I remember telling her lies before she breathed her last, telling her and myself that it would be okay. She was only four."
Andrea sat quietly, looking up to truly make eye contact. "Did you get the driver?"
I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Yes."
"Did you have your revenge?" there was a thirst in her eyes as she asked that particular question.
"My revenge was him having his ass hauled in jail for a long time. I wanted to kill him so badly, even though I was only nine at that time. I wanted to murder him, but I held back. My sister wouldn't have wanted that," I emphasized the last part. We made a silent conversation and she nodded at me. I stood up at that, halting for a moment before I left. "Amy would be proud of you."
"Hey hey hey!" Shane shouted at Daryl who headed toward Jim with his pickaxe and tried to take a swing. Rick points his gun at Daryl's head.
"We don't kill the living."
"That's funny coming from a man who just put a gun to my head." Daryl growled back.
"We may disagree on some things, not on this. You put it down. Go on," Shane ordered Daryl.
He put the pickaxe down in the end as Rick took the poor man who was bleeding away. Shane turned to see me standing there.
"We're gonna head to the CDC soon, we think," Shane informed me, keeping me in the loop. "I want you to rest up. You're one of our best and we'll need you on the frontline."
"I'll rest up after we clean this whole mess up," I shrugged, walking towards Glenn. Shane's hand shot out, grabbing my arm in a vice-like grip. He huffed, gently but firmly pushing me away from there.
"I'm in charge. Go to bed, kid," he snapped, getting in my face. "I better not find you disobeying."
He stalked off, prowling around like he owned the damned place. Narcisstic, inferiority complex, probably needs to get in bed with Lori sometime soon before he snaps at all of us. That's what Shane was.
How'd I know about the whole Shane-Lori-Rick-Carl dilemma? Anyone who has eyes can see the obvious tension going about. It was honestly messed up, but I guess sometimes, people can be cheaters. Then there's the fact that they thought Rick was dead. It doesn't justify what they did, but I highly doubt they're gonna start killing each other about it in the middle of the fucking apocalypse. Especially because of Carl. Right?
My adrenaline wore off by now, the dull aching covering my whole body. My head was truly killing me, so I walked over to a random car, sitting in the back and closing my eyes. It wasn't long before I fell asleep.
"Unni!" a small voice called out, cheering (big sister). I looked up from the two tickets I had been holding for the amusement park. My mission was to pick my younger sister up and meet my brother at his workplace so he could drive us all.
"Jaeseon!" I grinned, waving at her from across the street. She was wearing a pink ribbon pin that I had gifted her long ago. It had a small cat on the center of the ribbon. Her backpack matched the theme, covered in small cats doing everything from licking their paws to chasing after a ball of yarn.
"Unni! Where's oppa and eomma and appa?" (big sister! Where's big brother, mom, and dad?) Kaylee asked, hollering across the street.
"They're all at work! We're gonna pick up oppa!" I glanced at the pedestrian mark to see it was still red. "Wait until five seconds after the light turns green to cross, always, okay? Watch unni do it in a bit."
"Okay!" She cheered, her light brown eyes, almost hazel, shone largely on her adorable and delicate face. Dad took pride in her eyes, a trait that neither I nor my brother possessed. She was beautiful. While my brother had my mother's eyes, completely dark, and I had a healthy mix of my dad and mom, my younger sister had my dad's eyes wholly. We basked in the warmth of the sun, waiting for the zooming streaks of cars to pass by. Suddenly, from my right, a woman cried out as a young boy a little older than Kaylee ran after the ball he'd been kicking blindly.
I hesitated for a second, glancing at my sister before diving into the sea of cars, grabbing the boy right before he got hit by an oncoming car. I yanked on the scruff of his neck, twirling us around so we'd be back on the sidewalk with my body absorbing the pain. He landed on me, safe, as I twisted my ankle and rammed my elbow into the concrete. The mother ran over to us, wailing hysterically and fussing over her boy before thanking me profusely. I simply shrugged, giving her my signature awkward grin/smirk.
I heard sudden honking that was ear piercing. I snapped my head towards where my sister had been standing to see her just in time, eyes wide with worry for me before she turned her head to see a car. I was too far away to save her and could do nothing but scream as blood splattered the once clean sidewalk. My sister, my beautiful baby sister, flew in the air for a moment. She was an angel, lit by the glow of the sun, her hair whipping in the air before the angel lost flight. I ran across the street, ignoring my ankle and the tickets that flew out of my hand. The world became muffled and all I could see was my sister with her hand outstretched. I ignored the sharp gravel and asphalt, dropping to my knees right when I approached her. My baby sister. Stained in red. Splayed out on the streets.
I numbly held her hand that had been reaching for me, leaning over her so I could hear her last breaths.
''U…nni…"
"Shh, don't say anything, save your strength. It's okay, laurel," I caressed her cheek as people started exiting their cars to watch.
"The boy… safe?" she gurgled, blood pooling her mouth.
"Yes, yes, he's safe. I'm fine too," I nodded my head with all my strength, holding my sobs back. I looked up into the sea of faces watching, whispering to themselves. "Help us! Please, help us!"
No matter how many times I called, no one came to our aid. My sister whimpered, catching my attention again.
"It hurts so much," she scrunched her face up in pain.
"I know, I know. It's okay, unni's here," I sobbed dryly, looking around to only see people watching and taking pictures. No one would call 911 for us. Other cars started honking at us to move, and I could bear it no longer, kissing my sister's forehead as I picked her up, running away from the eyes, towards the hospital.
"Unni," my sister grasped onto my shirt, tugging it as I ran. I looked down at her. Her eyes were becoming more and more lifeless as every second passed.
"Just a little more, hang on," I begged to her.
"Unni, I love you," she muttered, her eyes drooping even more alarmingly.
"I love you too, beautiful laurel. Hang on, okay?" I ran faster, recognizing the shops around. Just a little more and we'd get to the hospital.
"You… you're my hero," Kaylee breathed as her eyes slowly drooped to a complete close.
"No, you have to wake up," I sobbed, tears filling my eyes finally. I ran in front of the hospital.
I glanced down at her, to see her shudder for one last breath before the light faded from her eyes.
"I'm so sorry, laurel. If I hadn't gone after him, I'd have crossed the street to you." I wailed, trying to shake the life back into her.
There was no response at all from her as I stormed into the ER, her blood all over me, red everywhere. The nurse looked up from her computer to tell us to hang on before she saw our state and dropped everything. The doctor and nurse ran over to us as I collapsed onto the shiny floor on my knees, holding her tightly to me. The doctor kneeled in front of me, mouth moving with no sound. I registered nothing that was going on, only knowing that these people were going to try and take my baby sister away from me.
"My sister," I mumbled over and over. A light blinded one of my eyes as the doctor checked me. It shook me out of my stupor. I cradled my sister's limp and cold body tightly to me before shaking my head at the doctor.
"We're gonna need to take a look at her," the doctor told the nurse.
"My sister!" I shouted in response, looking away from the doctor to my sleeping angel.
"We're gonna help her," the doctor soothed me. "You need to let go."
"Help? My sister," I insisted, loosening my grip on her as the doctor gently pried her from my grip.
"She's dead," the nurse whispered loudly to the doctor who was examining her.
"No, no, she's asleep," I denied her death, pleading with the doctor.
The doctor exchanged a glance with the nurse before giving me a soft smile. "Yes, she's asleep."
I nodded, relaxing. My sister was sleeping. She would wake up in time to get yelled at by our brother for accidentally losing the tickets. Kayden would simply scold us for a bit though.
"Her name is Kaylee," I smiled, brushing a bit of hair stuck to her face by her blood away.
"We're going to tuck Kaylee in so she's not lying on the ground, okay?" the doctor soothed me, taking her away. He was taking my sister away.
"No!" I fought to reach her again, getting held back by nurses until I felt a sharp prick in my neck and darkness consumed me. "K-kaylee…"