Lydia (TWD-Carl Grimes)

two

Alexis woke up next to Ava.

She was cold, so she snuggled her older sister tighter.

Ava groaned and pushed her little sister away.

The bunker had gotten colder as time went by.

Alexis wondered if it was only winter outside or the world had frozen over.

Was everything fine outside?

Alexis wondered what she would see if she opened the doors and peeked outside. Would there be toxic chemicals in the air?

Would the starvers still be out there? Had anyone controlled that?

From the other side of the bunker, Shellie coughed.

She sneezed and Alexis blessed her, but she never thanked her.

Alexis stared at the cement ceiling.

Were people looking for them? Were people out there? Were they-

From the other side, Shellie coughed louder, waking up her widow father.

Shellie breathed and gagged.

Shellie was dying.

Alexis hugged he sister again, afraid.

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The people of the bunker were at a loss. What should they do with the body of the girl who'd lived in safety with them?

"We are not going outside!" Yelled Paul Senior.

"She's my daughter! Do you want us to let her rot here? She'll have a proper burial." Her father spoke with his voice an octave higher then before.

Paul remained silent, his white hair had fallen and he wore plaid pajamas.

"No," spoke Alexis' mother, getting Paul's idea, "We're not burning the girl!"

With that, Ava rushed over to protect her late friends corpse.

Her face puffed red and tears made a steady steam down her face.

Alexis wondered if her sister would cry like that for her when she died.

Alexis turned to the adults, thinking that going out to bury her would be their first glance at the world outside.

Then, Ava screamed. Alexis faced her, knowing it wasn't a cry of despair, but of fear.

Shellie's father was the first to move.

My daughter's alive! He thought

But as they all approached, they saw Shellie. Her skin loose on her bones and her eyes hollow.

Shellie was a starver.

The late Shellie wrestled poor Ava as Ava's father ran over with the biggest cooking knife.

"No!" Yelled Shellie's father, and both men began to wrestle, careful not to get hurt by the blade.

As everyone tensed, it took less than a millisecond for Alexis to decide to jump in.

Grabbing a cooking pan, she rushed over and hit Shellie in the head.

She knew it wouldn't kill her, but she didn't want to kill the girl, only stop the attack. From the force of impact, Shellie fell on her back, groaning like the familiar starver.

"Are you okay-" Alexis had just let out when Shellie outstretched her grotesque arm, reaching for Alexis.

Throwing the pan at her head again, Alexis had gotten the move to be an instant reaction.

Alexis would be the first in the bunker to kill a starver.

When the pan met the late friend, her skull caved in.

Alexis dropped the pan and stood back, looking at what had just happened. Before Shellie's father threw himself beside his daughter, Alexis looked at her hands.

They had no blood, no muscle. They were nothing out of the ordinary, yet they belonged to a killer.

Alexis believed she was the worst of the group, and now, she thought she was insane.

No other kid would do that.

Little did she know, that miles away another little girl has just put her father down. Or a little boy thirst to see the dead ones again.

Little did she know, she was only preparing for what was to come.

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-Xx