TRAINING WHEELS | the walking dead

thirteen ─ a reason to live

day 71

How many gallons of blood has the Earth soaked up? Enough to fill a lake, or maybe the ocean? Years and years of war and suffering had to have pained Mother Earth that she had to do something. A punishment or a blessing, Sadie hadn't known.

Not that it mattered. The sunlight was still beautiful as it scattered through the crooked branches and leaves. Birds hopped between the trees above Sadie. They had families and the trees were their home. Bugs lived on the trees, on and in the ground at peace.

They weren't bothered by the change in the food web, they lived as if it were any other day. They just were.

Sadie thought maybe that's what humans were supposed to do. They were just supposed to be. They could live without destroying the Earth. Destroying each other or other animals was a part of nature as a means of survival but destroying their home? What was the point in that?

She laid in the center of the cluster, gazing at the sky through the leaves. This is all she wanted to be, all she wanted to do. Maybe the end of the world was a blessing.

"What do we do?" Alyson's faint voice inquired. Her voice cracked which was unlike her. She would appreciate the way the world looked from Sadie's eyes; she wouldn't have a reason to cry.

"We get through the day," Isaac answered, nearing Sadie. She met his eyes as he crouched beside her. His face was soft and without stress, almost like when they were younger and dumber. "We'll get through today?"

She smiled gently, allowing him to grasp her hand with his. Calluses no longer existed on him, only tender hands that weaved her thick hair into braids. "We'll get through the day."

In a blink he was gone, but Alyson still lingered like a ghost, contained in one spot until she was freed. Sadie thought she had freed Alyson, but she guessed she only brought her into a new prison.

Sadie turned, observing Alyson without her knowledge. She rarely kept her hair down, but she let it envelop her face at that moment. With her eyes glued onto the grass, her body relaxed.

She could experience the world the way Sadie was. Alyson could just be.

Sadie had never known of a time where Alyson's face was gentle and pure. Not in photos, not when she smiled. There had always been a sort of roughness to her.

She deserved to be soft.

Sounds erupted from the Greene's house, startling Alyson. Her first move was to check on Sadie. Only she was watching the sunlight.

People rushed inside and out. They were louder than any other thing in the world.

They covered the natural noises of the world. The way the wind brushed against the branches, causing them to shiver and shake. A leaf or two would fall softly to the ground. Winter was coming.

"What's going on?" Alyson asked someone who exited the house.

"Beth collapsed," Lori said. She paused, stepping towards Sadie. She only knew from the sound of a leaf being crushed. "Is she okay? What's wrong with her?"

A sigh came from Alyson. "I don't know. She should be fine-Isaac says she'll be fine but-where's Hershel?"

A thought came to mind: how beautiful would the ocean sound now? Without people crowding the beaches, without boats clogging the seas. Waves crashing onto the land would be like a lullaby.

"I need you to get up, Sadie," Alyson stated, towering over her. She covered Sadie's view. "Please, get up."

Sadie turned over, gazing at the lushish hills that glowed green. She imagined waist-high flowers growing as she ran through them. She would lay with the flowers, watch as the bees pollinated them, pausing to rest on her to say hello.