just one yesterday ⟩ the walking dead

𝟎𝟒 ・ 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐦𝐚𝐧

Lexie snorted from behind the duo. Since the incident, Mathias had been even more protective of them, especially of Victoire. She had spent the entire winter third-wheeling the oblivious duo. If only she had someone to bet on them with. She wasn't a gambling woman, but with Mathias and Victoire, it was just a matter of time really. Lexie didn't know who was more oblivious than the other: Victoire for not noticing that every time Mathias opened his mouth around her, it was to flirt with her, or Mathias for not picking up on the way Victoire stared at him with her big doe eyes full of affection. It was funny, watching this. It had kept her occupied during boring times, making her feel normal again. She had come to accept that she cared for them, and that in this world, they were her family now. She'd kill for them. Just like they'd kill for her. Over the winter, Lexie had grieved her own family. She had lost all hope of ever finding anyone she knew before, even though she hadn't been very far from home. At this point, she didn't know why she hadn't told them about her brother. Maybe she wanted to keep him to herself a little bit longer. Evoking him would simply destroy all her last hopes... Mathias had lost all his sisters. As the big brother of three sisters, he still had a hard time talking about them. Of course, Lexie and Victoire had tried to reassure him. Maybe, in Seattle, the world was better. Maybe they crossed the border, and Canadians were doing a better job at controlling this mess. Maybe... this world, it was full of maybes now.

Not far from Lexie, Mathias had similar thoughts. Being out there, in the woods, joking around, it reminded him of his leaves when he went home to his parents, his sisters, back in Washington. For a long time, he hadn't let himself think about them; it was simply too hard. The lieutenant was a big family man. Before this mess, he didn't dream of much: a lady, a few rascals, and a house close to his family. Add a dog and a couple of cats, and it was paradise to the man. Now, he longed to taste his mother's cooking again, to hear his father brag about how his favorite NFL team was better than Mathias's, to drive his sisters everywhere just because they loved to be driven around blasting their playlist. Of course, he had been used to being away for a long time; this was simply different. At first, his mind and body treated it just like another mission: a couple of months away, nothing too drastic, everything would be exactly as it was when he left. When the AMB fell, he had thought about taking the girls, putting them in a car, and driving all the way to the west coast.

He almost did it. Then he thought about how dangerous crossing the country would be, and back then, Lexie and Victoire hadn't really been out on their own. He would have gotten them killed. So he grieved. Talking about his family helped. Victoire listened rigorously; she had a very good memory, this girl. She remembered every little useless detail; it was endearing. On the other hand, Lexie seemed to detach herself from the conversation every time he would mention his sisters, as if it brought back memories she was trying to forget. He knew she had siblings; she never mentioned them, but he knew. Just like he knew Victoire was an only child even before she told him; he sensed those things. He was grateful for them, how they tried to keep his mind away from the dark thoughts of his dead family, but as much as he loved them, he was never delusional about their strength and capacities. At the start of this, his father had just turned 70 years old with a heart condition, and his mother had been in a wheelchair for years after a car accident. They had been doomed from the beginning. Makayla, it was sad to say, but she was the only one he still had hope for. She was strong-willed, and he knew she could defend herself; she had entered police school before dropping out.Barely two years younger than him, he had spent his entire life with her; he couldn't remember anything from his childhood where she wasn't there. Mabel, however, it was a given that she had been taken by this cruel world. Just before Mathias was sent to Atlanta for a mission, she had given birth to twins: his nephews, Thomas and Nicolas. His heart broke thinking about the two innocent babies... he wished he had been there for them, to protect them from this cruel world. His heart broke a little more thinking about Madeline, his last sister. They were almost ten years apart; she had always been his baby sister. The protectiveness he felt towards Lexie and Victoire was nothing new; it had always been there. Madeline and Mathias were supposed to see each other just a couple of weeks after the outbreak, in New York, where his sister had moved with her fiancé. He prayed to God that the man had taken care of his baby sister; she wouldn't be able to survive on her own. Looking at Victoire, he felt the same over protectiveness; the two girls were very much alike.