Killing Me Softly

Killing Me Softly Chapter 1: Fallen Paradise

Survive now, cry later.

This is an AU featuring an Oc which begins at the end of season 2, also note that Judith is born early, some of the original group is split up, and the timeline is changed where events of season 3 and 4 are happening around the time of season 5, 6, and some of season 7 and 8 (though most of the events are changed!) please enjoy!!!

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Holding her squalling 6 day old niece, Nicolene Grimes--Nicole for short--stood frozen in place as she watched in despair as the little patch of paradise her, her brother and their group had managed to stumble upon, burned to ashes as it was overrun by Walkers.

With one hand shaking on the trigger, and her niece clutched in the other, Nicole skirted the horde of Walkers in search of her brother. Car honks, crackling flames, and the loud growling assembly of Walkers were near deafening. Everything was in complete turmoil and Nicole was doing all she could to avoid the worst of it.

Walkers would pop up here and there, growling loudly, jaws snapping, grabbing at Nicole and the baby that she held in her arm. But Nicole didn't even allow them within arms reach, she tried avoiding them to the best of her ability but as they kept advancing, she had no other choice but to fire her gun.

To Nicole, the blast from the gun sounded louder than what was going on around her. And she knew, just knew, that after that first bullet was fired that she couldn't stick around searching for Rick anymore. She gave up skirting the edge of the farm and opted to instead run as fast as she could in a random direction, praying that they wouldn't get cut off by another horde of Walkers.

Nicole blindly stumbled through the dark, nearly letting Judith slip from her grasp on numerous occasions. She was desperate in getting away, away from the horde of Walkers, away from their fallen paradise, away from the danger. It was self-preservation that drove her onwards, for her and Judith.

'What do I do?' It was a fleeting thought, obscured by her conflicting emotions. Half wanting to go back and find Rick and the others, and another that's telling her to save herself and Judith. With no idea coming to her, and the dead catching up, she kept running in the direction she set off in.

She zig zags a little, in an attempt to reduce the number of the dead following her. She's able to lead a few into the swamp to take them out. She gradually reduces her pursues, so when she's a good distance away from the farm, she and Judith are on their own. The Walkers either lost or permanently extinct.

As she staggers over to lean against a nearby tree, weary of the dangers that lurk in the dark, she glances down at her red-faced niece who was softly whimpering in fear and confusion. Judith didn't know what was going on, or unstood the severity of the situation, she was just a little, innocent baby--

Nicole didn't notice that she was trembling until a few stray salty tears dripped from her eyelashes and fell upon the little onsie that was gifted to Judith by the Greene's family. Only then did it really sink in, that they were alone. Her group, her family, and her friends. All gone.

She felt nauseous, as if she were about to let all of her stomach contents spray across the muddy ground. However she kept it down, now was not the time for that. Right now, she had to find somewhere safe for herself and her niece.

Nicole kept moving forward, being out in the open left them vulnerable to not just the Walkers, but any type of predator. She also had no food, no drinking water, and no necessities to care for a baby. If she didn't keep going, then not only will she die, but also Judith.

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Strumming my pain with her fingers,

singing my life with her words,

killing me softly with her song.

Killing Me Softly_Frank Sinatra