Ashtyn Dixon, forced into a leadership position at the ripe age of 13, has a life-long mission of finding her father, Daryl Dixon. Will this mission get in the way of her group of kids? What happens when Ashtyn runs into Carl Grimes, the son of an...
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(This is what Ashtyn looks like. I should have showed this sooner but I honestly forgot. Also imagine she has the scar across her face.) _______
I swear I feel the world stop spinning for a few seconds. Pregnant? Linee? A sixteen year old?
"What?" I say, as if I didn't hear her properly.
"Me and Kai should have been more careful, I know," Linee explains. "We figured you should know since winter is coming and we're on limited supplies as it is. That Alexandria place gave me a lot of hope."
"No," I say firmly. "No way. You really trust that random guy? I'm not going to get every single one of these kids killed for your baby." I realize how harsh it sounds the second it leaves my mouth.
Linee looks hurt. "Please, Ash. Or we can move somewhere warmer, I can survive the walk. We could even find a car, just somewhere!"
"You want to keep it?"
Her face falters for a second. She swallows. "Yes. I want to keep it."
I shake my head. "I'll figure something out."
"Ash-"
"I said I'll figure something out! Just give me some time."
Linee shuts her mouth and looks at the ground. I feel like I've just kicked a puppy. Am I really that crazy for telling her that there's no way in hell we'll be able to raise a baby in these conditions? Lulu is only two years old as it is and that's enough work.
She leaves quietly and quickly through my tent flap. I sit down on my foldable bed.
What am I going to do?
_____
I'm sitting in my little circle with Linee, Kai, and Jeremy eating cooked beans and some squirrel when I hear it.
Growling. Moaning. Walkers.
I shoot up to my feet and drop my plate, reaching for my bow. Everyone goes silent, looking at me with frightened eyes, confident that I'll know what to do.
I whistle one, sharp note, telling everyone to quietly grab their weapons and for those seven and under to go to the hideout tent and stay there.
Through the fire I see a great big horse of walkers. There's got to be over two hundred of them, and they're all heading towards us, most likely smelling the meat and having heard our laughter from earlier.
There's entirely too many. I have to think of an alternative to killing them all very quickly or else we'll all be some more flesh for them to chew on.
We have to leave.
"Talia, Elena, and Lina help Jeremy pack up the tents and all our supplies," I command, beginning to think of a way out of this. "Fernanda, gather Malik, Rachel, Jesse and Lulu to make sure they're all okay. Jaxon, Naomi, Rodrigo, Kai, and Linee you're with me, defending the camp. Jeremy and Fernanda, once you're ready, do the whistle to let us know and we'll leave through the back entrance of the camp. Go!"
Everyone jumps into action and I begin shooting different walkers in the head with my bow, holding them off long enough for others to get everything together. I give Linee a double pat on the back to let her know I'm running to my tent to grab my backpack and essentials. Once I get inside, I'm shoving everything into my pack. I leave my tent the second I have everything.
I stab a walker in the head when I step out and kick another into our fire flames. I shoot some more walkers and I hear a scream.
I whip around to see Jesse struggling against a walker, trying to protect his little sister Lulu. Where's Fernanda? I don't have time to dwell on where she is for any longer before I dig my knife into the walkers skull.
"Are you okay, Jesse? Are either of you bit?" I frantically run my hands over Jesse's shoulders to try and soothe him.
"I was looking for Nanda. We want to leave," Jesse says, referring to Fernanda by her nickname. Tears stream down his face.
I pull him and his sister into a hug, looking around me to make sure no walkers are getting too close. "Stick with me under we find Fernanda, Malik, and Rachel. I've got you."
Jesse holds back a sob and Lulu's cries get louder. I stand up and push them behind me, slashing out with my knife and killing two walkers. I hear a gunshot go off and my head snaps towards the sound.
Naomi is under a pile of walkers, shooting at their heads with her handgun. I pull out my bow and shoot the walkers down at lightning speed. Looking behind me, I reach out to grab Jesse's hand. I hang my bow on one of my shoulders and pull Lulu up to sit on my hip.
Jogging over to Naomi, a full body scan with my eyes tells me she's okay. "You okay?" I ask, just for precaution.
"Never been better," Naomi responds. I let go of Jesse's hand for a second to help pull her up to her feet.
I hear the signal whistle once and then a few seconds go by when I hear the second one.
"Jaxon, Kai, Linee, let's go!" I grab onto Jesse's hand again and pull him towards the back entrance of the camp. Once we get there, I do a quick head count.
All sixteen kids are here, including myself. I can hear walkers crashing through what's left of our camp to get to us. I whistle for us to move forward, through the woods.
We're all walking fast, barely being able to see in front of us while we move, so I stay to the front.
I realize I'm covered in walker blood so I hand Lulu over to Fernanda and give Jesse her hand. I must be an awful sight, but I don't really care about looks right now.
It's freezing out and I can feel the bite of the night through my gloves I stole from a house a few weeks back. My hood is over my head to cover my ears and hide my bloodied hair. I pick up a stick, drench it in some rubbing alcohol on a spare shirt, and light it up with a match from my backpack. Now we can at least see ten feet in front of us.
No one says anything. The air is grim and it's like everybody knows I have no idea what do to. It'll be okay, I tell myself, because this has happened before. And we're still alive. Everyone is still alive.
