ᴅᴇᴀᴅɢɪʀʟᴡᴀʟᴋɪɴɢᴡᴘ (On Hold)

"Can Anyone Hear My Voice"

Hannah woke with a start and rubbed the sleep from her eyes. She could hear the birds tweeting, the faint laughter of people in the distance and the mouth watering smell of meat cooking on the fire. She rolled out of her sleeping bag and quickly got changed into her shorts and favourite t-shirt, it was full of holes, but it had belonged to her brother before he died and as a result she refused to take it off.

Her mind slowly drifted back to her life before the fall. Hannah remembered the last time she left her home before going to live with her grandfather at 9 years old. She recalled walking past her brothers room, briefly glancing in and having to quickly look away again at the sight of the faded blood splatters on the wall next to his bed. His bedsheets were gone, along with most of his belongings on that side of the room. The only thing that remained intact and untouched was his closet, and so she quickly rushed over and grabbed a handful of his clothes, stuffing it in her bag and making her way out of the house. She took one last look at what used to be her home, before leaving with Dale.

Hannah was snapped out of her thoughts by the loud chorus of laughter from the campfire, she sniffled and wiped the tears from her eyes, glancing at the letter next to her pillow, the one she'd never been able to read, and then crawled out of the tent. The morning air was chilly, and Hannah wished she'd put on a few more layers, but she was either too stubborn or too lazy to go back and get a sweater. "Mornin' honey" Jacqui called over the the young girl. Hannah smiled back, "Hiya!" A murmur of hellos and good mornings followed as the group noticed her presence. "Come get some meat honey, it's squirrel that Daryl caught earlier, real good I promise" Jacqui said as Hannah joined the group around the crackling fire. "Ewww gross!" Hannah gagged at the thought of eating cute little squirrels, "I'm not eating Theodore!". "Who the fuck is Theodore?" a voice grumbled from her right and Hannah looked over to see Daryl, hunched over, chewing on a piece of meat but now looking rather offended at her comment. "Language Daryl!" Lori scolded. "Yes ma'am" Daryl snorted sarcastically. "You know Theodore, from Alvin and the Chipmunks!" Hannah replied, trying to hide her surprise that Daryl was even talking to her. "What the f-" he looked over at Lori who gave him a piercing stare and rolled his eyes before continuing, "What or who are Alvin and the Chipmunks" he grunted. "It's a really cool movie about chipmunks and they sing and talk and-" Hannah noticed the way he raised his eyebrow in judgement and sighed "Doesn't matter, thank you hunting this for us Daryl" she finished. "Here, just try it and if you don't like it you don't have to eat it, OK?" Jacqui offered, handing her a plate of unappetising looking meat. Hannah took a deep breath and started on her breakfast. As the group started to chatter amongst themselves once more, her mind wandered, to a memory she really didn't want to think about. Their voices slowly faded out and her senses numbed until it seemed as though she was entirely engulfed in her own mind. Her breath hitched as her mind flashed with images of that day, the gunshot, the paramedics rushing through her house, the sight of so much blood as she peered round her brother's doorframe and the sight of her mother clutching his body and begging for Jacob to wake up. Her mind raced and her mother's cries hot louder and louder until she was jolted out of her mind by a hand on her shoulder. She gasped quietly and turned to see Jacqui, stroking her shoulder gently with a worried look on her face. "You okay sweetheart?" she questioned. Hannah took a deep breath and looked around to see that a few members of the group had turned to watch her, their faces also laced with concern. "Yeah I'm- I'm just not really that hungry. I think I'm gonna go down to the quarry for a bit." she replied, trying her best to put on a brave face but the wobble in her voice said otherwise. "Okay honey, be safe and come find me if you need me alright? I'll be down in a little bit to do some laundry" Jacqui gave her a quick kiss on the head before Hannah jumped up and scurried off away from the group. Jacqui watched her go with a slight frown, she knew the girl wasn't OK, but Hannah would never admit it in front of anyone else. She had known Hannah's mother before the fall, and she was aware of the sheer amount of trauma the girl had, she Jacqui just didn't know how to help. All she could do was be there, and she was. Jacqui frequently sat with Hannah and rubbed her back until she fell asleep, sat with her and soothed her when she had nightmares, braided her hair and tried her hardest to make her feel safe and protected, but she could tell Hannah was just getting worse. She bit her fingernails anxiously before shaking her head and going back to her meal, vowing to talk to her privately after she got the laundry done.