✓ᴋɪʟʟᴇʀ'ꜱ ᴇʏᴇꜱ ¦¦ ₜₕₑ Wₐₗₖᵢₙg Dₑₐd

chapter fifteen.

(disclaimer: i know that lydia wasn't at oceanside when the satelite was there, i just thought it would be cool to add them to the beach)

IT WAS insanely quiet at Alexandria when Lydia and Isla decided to travel back. They tried to get into more activities or hobbies however people still continued to ignore them or give them looks. It infuriated Isla that she couldn't fight back or say something, as she didn't want to cause anything bad.

The girls were even invited to one of the lessons to learn how to read, however the difficulty of the task threw both of them off. So they learnt to keep to themselves.

They were both outside after the lesson they walked out on and Lydia was practising with her stick whilst Isla sat on the grass beside the tomato patches with a small book, gritting her teeth as it was still annoying her that she could hardly read the moving words. A man, Negan, was working nearby, sometimes asking if they were okay every ten minutes.

"Hey, kids. Everything okay?" He asked once again, looking up at Lydia who was overworking herself and then Isla who had been awfully quiet.

"Fine." They both stated.

"Exactly the same as it was 20 minutes ago." Lydia finished with a grunt.

"What was the big meeting for? And why are folks givin' you both the side eye?" He then asked as he stopped doing his task.

A sigh escaped Isla's lips as she looked up, closing the book. "We aren't exactly allowed to listen in, despite being granted asylum."

"Sounds like you've been invited to a freak show, huh."

"It's the same folks eyein' you. What have you done in the past however many years you've been here, huh?" Lydia asked, walking towards him and planting her stick in the ground.

A man behind them interrupted them, "Negan. Get back to work." He demanded before looking at the girls. "Hey, you're supposed to keep your distance."

"What is he gonna do, bite me?" Isla scoffed, watching the man shuffle back as she glared at him. "Keep your distance."

"They're on alert." Lydia told Negan.

"Why?" He asked.

"One of the kids found a skin back at the beach." Isla replied.

"You went to Oceanside, that crappy place?" He chuckled slightly.

"It was her idea." Lydia shrugged to Isla who eventually stood up.

"Worst idea I've ever had so far."

"What does "alert" mean?" He then asked again.

Lydia tilted her head. "You've been here longer. You tell us."

The door to the building behind them swung open, and a bunch of people strolled out after their meeting. The three of them looked at them for a second before looking back at each other.

"It means watch your back, kids." Negan stated before the people started to get closer to them. He winked at them before Lydia and Isla went back to what they were doing.

Isla recognised most of them, one of them was Siddiq. He gave her a hesitant smile, which she returned. She could still sense that he was still on edge from that night, she had to admit that she was too.

Nightmare. Nightmare. Nightmare.

Something they both had in common, they didn't talk to anyone about them.

The rest of the day quickly went by, edging towards the time that Isla dredded now. Darkness. She used to love the dark, as weird as it sounded. When she was little she used to sneak out of bed and towards her window, quietly drew open the curtains and looked up at the stars. It brought her comfort.