𝐔𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 || The Walking Dead

[13] wounded

"Okay, okay, we'll make shifts." Deanna gave in.

Raising her hand, Dani shrugged a little. "I can take a shift. There's never that much to do in the garden after a couple hours anyways."

"I'll take some too, as many as possible." Sasha offered, with a slightly pleading tone.

Deanna took a second to assess the woman. "Why?"

"Sasha's one of our best shots. She can do it." Maggie defended.

"I'm gonna put Spencer up there today."

"Are you kidding?" Dani blurted. All eyes flicked to her and she shuffled uncomfortably under their stares. "I just mean... Sasha could hit a group of 20 walkers square in the forehead before this Spencer guy had even loaded his rifle. She's your best option."

As Sasha sent her an appreciative look, Deanna continued. "I'll consider you being our primary lookout, but I want something in return." The group watched her warily. "Tonight, I'm hosting a welcome for all of you at my home. I want you to be there."

"Why?"

"Come tonight. Then, we'll talk about it."

As Dani headed back to the home she shared with Lucia and Sasha, her thoughts ran wild. Is this what they'd been doing? While her and her family had been fighting to survive every single day, spilling blood they never wanted to, losing the people they loved, they had been here having parties and asking the neighbours if they had any sugar to spare.

Storming into the house, she let the door slam, causing Lucia's head to peek out the kitchen. She had always loved baking and this place was letting her get back what she loved. "Hey. Everything okay?"

"Oh yeah." She replied, sarcastically as she picked up one of the cookies Luci had baked. "Just dandy."

"They might taste a little different. Carol taught me to replace the eggs with applesauce but they're still good. Now, go on. Get it out." She beckoned with her spatula.

"You heard about the party?" She asked, taking a bite. As the food hit her tongue, it was like she was 9 years old again, giggling as she stole another chocolate chip from the bowl when her sister wasn't looking. It tasted like Saturday afternoons, watching movies with her father, and eating the sweet treats Lucia had baked until their stomachs hurts. The sickly taste of nostalgia turned bitter when her brain focused on her father's face: the crows feet beside his eyes, the lines on his forehead and his grin that showed every ounce of joy in his heart. She hated him. Hated him so much it hurt.

"Yeah, that should be nice."

"You don't think it feels a little... much?" She asked.

"Maybe... But it's nice of Deanna to do this for us." Lucia shrugged, whisking the batter.

Dani sighed and rested her hands on the counter. Her eyes rested on the knife block and she reached forward, grabbing the biggest one and storming away. "You're not gonna do something stupid, right?"

"No promises." She muttered before the door slammed.

☾

Rotting, chomping jaws, and white soulless eyes neared her, its snarls and stench filling the air. The walkers were an attack on all her senses, the only positive coming from the feeling of her knife sinking into its temple. She yanked it back out, the limp body collapsing to the ground with no control of its limbs.

Another approached and she copied the action, her eyes narrowing at the wound this one sported. In the centre of its forehead, the mark of a 'W' was carved into its flesh. The sight had chills running over her skin, her eyes flicking around the eerily silent woods. Someone had taken the time to vandalise the dead things skin with the initial. It wouldn't have made sense to carve it into a walker and not kill it, meaning it had probably been done before they turned. The thought sent goosebumps over her arms.