Fragile || TWD

Little Miss Sunshine.

Chapter 1

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THE END OF THE world had been something humans had talked about for years. They seemed fascinated with it. Some had bunkers where they would store non-perishable food and supplies to last them a few months. Others would watch end of the world movies, and claim that they would survive without any supplies or preparation at all. You'd think with all this talk of "the end" that we wouldn't be surprised when it actually rolled around. But I guess we can't really process it fully, we can't process nothingness. The fact that humans would no longer exist.

It had been a few weeks since the world ended. A group of twenty or-so people gathered on top of a mountain in Atlanta, Georgia. They had trailers, cars, trucks and lots of supplies. They hadn't had an incident yet, thankfully.

Most of the adults couldn't understand how the world had ended, let alone the children. Excluding little miss Mabel Dixon, the quiet golden haired girl who sat on a rock overlooking the mountain, admiring the view. She understood, somehow.

She was a child of precious few words, she felt she had so much to say, but didn't know exactly how to say it. Was this to do with her childhood? Had she been beaten down so many times she had lost all confidence in herself? Maybe. She wanted someone to point at her and yell I understand you! I understand what you have to say! But they never did. Her family hardly acknowledged her.

She was born into a broken home. Her two brothers were decades older than her, and her father knocked up a young 15 year old, resulting in her brothers mother to leave him. Since the day she was born she was unwanted. She was raised in a house full of men, so she was forced to face the world on her own. She didn't have any clothes of her own, so she learned how to steal. The only thing she had help with was enrolling in school, her brother Daryl helped her because he "didn't want her to turn out like him". Daryl was 26, making him 15 years older than his little sister. Merle was even older, maybe it was the drinking but to Mabel, he looked ancient.

No one in the camp noticed her. While all the other kids were forced to do school, she was left alone to sit on her rock and stare. She pretended that she was important enough to be on watch for the dead, but that was Glenn's job. She wanted Glenn to so desperately like her. She wanted his approval. But she couldn't get two words out to him. He was nice, and would smile and nod at her, but her cheeks would just turn red in embarrassment.

Her best friend since kindergarten happened to be at this camp, too. Carl was his name. They had both lost their dads to the end of the world, so they were giving each other space. Mabel was the one who shot her dad. Merle and Daryl were out hunting when it started. And when their dad went out to get fire wood, he was bitten. He came crashing inside, screaming and yelling at her. She took the shotgun off the wall and shot him straight in the head, not knowing what she was doing. And that was the first time either of her brothers showed any sympathy for the girl. She sobbed onto Daryl for hours.

"Hey, missy." A soft voice said. She recognized it as Loris, Carls mum. She liked Lori. May simply nodded.
"Wanna come over and play with the other kids?"
"Not really." She responded, her voice came out a bit raspy. She hadn't spoken in a few days.
"We noticed you haven't eaten your portion of dinner these past few nights. Everything okay?" She put her hand on Mabel's thigh.
"M' alright." She hated her accent. She thought it made her sound like her dad, or some alcoholic in a country bar from an old movie. Basically, she thought she sounded like an old man.
"Alright." Lori sighed, standing up. She wanted to give up trying with Mabel, she thought it was pointless, she wasn't gonna budge.
"Carl sure misses you." Lori said under her breath, walking away.

She wasn't stupid. She knew what a guilt trip was, if Carl missed her he would come over and yank her off the rock. She wanted to feel wanted, not just people feeling bad for her. She wished her brothers cared enough to bring her along on their trips. Daryl was off hunting, and Merle was on a run with a group of people to get supplies. She wanted to go so badly, but knew it was dangerous. She was still too young to go.

One day. She said to herself. One day you'll show them all that you're stronger than you look.