When The Camellia Wilts | The Walking Dead Fanfiction

When The Only Way Is To Adapt

He nodded silently, grateful for her consolation. "I can't wait until all this shit is over and we're reunited with our families." She chuckled and clinked her glass against his, "In the meantime, it is our duty to survive. We have families waiting." At that moment, her whole mentality about the apocalypse changed. 

She refuses to be in denial of everything, she refuses to be weak, she refuses to be fragile and naive. She will survive all of this. No matter what. 

"Survive and thrive." He added on, motivation seeping through his skin. "The only way to do that is to adapt." She gently closed her eyes when the wind picked up and nodded to herself. He was right. Even animals and plants learned to adapt to their surroundings to survive. "Is SPP always right?" He burst out laughing at her attempt to liven up the atmosphere - which worked. "Based on witnesses, SPP can never be wrong." They slept well that day, their hearts and minds at peace. Ignorant of the chaos coming their way. 

She was perched up on the roof with a lawn chair, some water, a rifle and a cap when a sudden ruffling in the bushes caught her eye. She sat up straight and looked through her scope,  muting everything out to focus on what caused the ruffling. She clicked the safety off as she went into position to shoot when a kid's head popped up, followed by three more figures. 

She immediately climbed down to rush to Arden's side, telling him that they had company. He turned the stove off and took his gun, positioning himself in the windowsill and peeked. "It's a family." A family? Her brows furrowed as she took a peek for herself, confirming that the visitors were a family of four. "Holy shit." They were becoming too close to the cabin for comfort, they needed to go. 

"Get the fuck back!" Both the family and Arden was surprised at her outburst. She shot up from her position and went out to the deck, aiming her gun at the family, not leaving Arden any time to react. His eyes widened as he followed her out, dropping his gun down, "Aliya!" He gritted his teeth as he saw the fear and desperation in the children's eyes. He noticed that her eyes wavered when she saw the kids but ignored it, focusing on the parents. 

The mom hid the kids behind her back while the dad put up both of his hands in surrender and to calm her. "Please, don't shoot." When Arden realised that she wasn't listening and that she wasn't showing any signs that she was gonna lower her gun any minute, he put his hand on her gun and lowered it himself. "What do you want?" Her tone was cold and unforgiving but the parents understood her, they would be too if a bunch of strangers came near their home. "We need shelter." They knew that it was a lot to ask but they're desperate. 

Arden was waiting for Aliya to say something but when the parents noticed that both of them stayed quiet, the mom piped up. "We can contribute! I'm a nurse, I can cook, I can plant some vegetables, my kids would be our responsibility. They're well behaved and can also help with chores." Aliya's gaze fell on the two kids who were peeking at her through their mom's side. When the mom put a hand on her husband's back, the husband looked back at her before nodding, "I'm good at scavenging - going on runs, building fences and gates." He pointed at the busted fence on the side of the cabin.