The Tale of Harlow || The Walking Dead : Dead City

2. Uncle Abraham

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The night slowly turned into morning,and Harlow had moved into her fort made out of pillows and blankets, hiding in there from Negan and Maggie, and she was holding her bat close to her.

The freaks or walkers as Negan had called them seemed to be leaving few by few, and Harlow was a bit annoyed by the fact that Negan and Maggie managed to fill her building with freaks.

It took her months just to clear out the whole building, and it only took them a couple of second to fill it up with walkers.

"..hey, Harley, is it?" Negan's voice came from outside of the fort, and Harlow can make out his silhouette.

"It's Harlow." Harlow replied, her tone sharp.

"Right, sorry.. breakfast?" A can of spaghettios with meatballs was placed inside of the fort.

"You're eating my food without asking me?" Harlow questioned, taking the can anyway since she was hungry.

"It seemed like you didn't want to be bothered." Negan replied, and Harlow peaked her head out of the fort, her eyes meeting Negan's.

He was sitting out of the fort eating a can of spaghettios.

Harlow narrowed her eyes at him, and Negan chuckled,

"What's so funny?" Harlow questioned, raising an eyebrow at him.

"Sorry, you just reminded me of a kid I used to know." Negan told her, a frown on his face.

"How did he die?" Harlow questioned, and Negan sighed.

"He's not dead, or at least I don't think he is. He was just here one day...and the next..he was just gone." Negan explained, and Harlow moved to sit in front of him, opening her can of spaghettios.

"It's not knowing what hurts more,"  Harlow said, a small sigh leaving her, " I don't even know if my uncle and his family are alive, couldn't exactly leave New York since they blew up the bridges."

"Couldn't find a boat?" Negan asked, and Harlow chuckled,

"Dude, if you haven't noticed, all the boats are gone.." Harlow trailed off, and a small gasped escaped her, pointing an accusing finger at Negan.

"You're not from New York, are you? I should've noticed that you don't have the New York accent, and you don't know that all the boats have been taken and being controlled by some group of assholes." Harlow said,

"You know this group?" Maggie questioned, walking over, looking down at Harlow, who put a spoon full of spaghettios in her mouth.

Negan glanced at Maggie before looking at Harlow. "We're looking for her kid. This group took him."

Harlow frowned, " I don't know know them, I just heard some things about them, look, all I know is that they're just a group of men, who want to rule the world,"

Harlow stood up and went over to a window, removing the blanket and turning to look at Maggie,

"You see that smoke? That's where they are. I don't know what they burn, but I'm pretty sure they burn the freaks." Harlow told her, watching as Maggie came over, and looked out the window.

Harlow moved to the side so Negan could take her spot, and she went back to her spaghettios,

It was clear to Harlow that Maggie didn't like Negan one bit, and she wondered what the story was behind that.

Maybe it had to do with the missing kid, not Maggie's missing kid, but the other one.

She wondered if that was their kid? She let out a small laugh to herself. She didn't see those two ever being together, let alone having a kid.

"..was this your father?" Maggie's voice suddenly broke her out of her thoughts, and Harlow looked over, seeing Maggie holding a picture frame with a worn-out military tank sticker on the corner.

Harlow instantly knew what picture she was talking about. "No," she shook her head.

"People often used to think my uncle was my dad cause we have the same hair color," Harlow smiled a little, "That's my uncle Abraham,"

"I don't know if he's still alive, I hope he is. He's a pretty tough guy." Harlow placed her empty can down, missing the way Maggie threw a look at Negan, who looked down at the ground.

"You seem like a pretty tough kid," Maggie told her, her eyes meeting Harlow's, "looks like you can handle yourself.."

"No, she's staying out of this, Maggie." Negan interrupted, and Maggie glared at him.

"I need to get my son back." Maggie told him,

"And we will, but she doesn't need to be involved. She's a kid." Negan replied, gesturing to Harlow.

"I'm seventeen, not a kid."

Harlow was ignored, as Maggie continued, "and so was rudy!"

Negan glared at Maggie, "Do not, and I mean it, do not bring Rudy into this!"

Harlow eyes darted between the two. Rudy must be the kid Negan was talking about earlier.

"So, you suddenly care about him?" Maggie asked, her words full of venom.

"I always cared! I have always cared about Rudy."

A small bang was heard, but Maggie and Negan didn't hear it as they continued to agrue with each other, their voices growing louder and louder, and more bangs were heard.

Harlow grabbed her bat, "Hey, you two! Shut the hell up!" She whispered shouted to them,

"You're attracting the freaks!" Maggie and Negan finally stopped arguing and looked over at the door.

The hinges of the door creaked, and the drawer in front of the door was moving.

"Is there another way out of here?" Maggie questioned, looking at Harlow, who stared at the door in slight fear and anger.

"Harlow!" Harlow snapped her head over to Maggie, glaring at her,

"God dammit! Follow me!" Harlow rushed into her room, grabbing her bag and quickly filled it with important things she didn't want to leave behind.

Once she was done, she jumped on her bed, tearing the blankets off the window and sliding the window open.

"Come on, down the fire escape!"

🗽
1000 words

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