Undead

Lydia. (346)

I shake my head. "No, but I seen pictures of it."
"Hm, what have you seen?"
I think about that question. In the time that I had with my family before, when things were normal, we didn't do very much traveling. My dad brought home the money for us to put food on the table and my mother was a stay at home mom with a newborn. They had no intentions of bringing us anywhere.

I shrug. "We have a pretty cool windmill outside, beside the church."
Kara groans. "Thats not what I meant. Did you see anything Kai?" She asks with her mouth full of food.
"Well, I'm from Panama so we lived on the beach. There was ocean as far as the eye could see. Does that count?"
She nods.
"Maybe some day we could all go to Oceanside and stay on the beach."
"That's a great idea." Kai agrees.

Kai slides his plate of toast towards me.
"Eat. You haven't eaten in... I can't remember how long."
I pick up a slice and bite into it. It tastes stale but I say nothing.
"I think you may have a new recruit on the way." I tell Kai.
"Yeah? Who?"
"Henry. Carol and Ezekiels kid."
"Oh yeah. Why does he want to leave home?"
"Something about using his talents where they're needed." I mumble.
"Don't get any ideas." I ruffle Karas hair.

"Look, I don't mean to keep running off. I'd love to stay and spend time with you but-"
"But you want to know what happened last night." Kai finishes for me. The sudden change of tone in his voice already alerts me to how serious of a situation this is and for some odd reason I find myself eager to know more.
I nod.

"Rick and some others are at the church. I'm sure if you hurry, you'll catch them before they leave. Kara can stay with me."
"Thank you." I lean in to kiss him on the cheek but he turns swiftly and catches my lips. I chuckle and hurry for the door.

"Mads!" He calls after me, following me to the door.
"Yeah?"
"I think, maybe you should go see Siddiq."
"I know, I missed so many shifts with the newbies."

"No, I mean, I think you should see him and get checked or something."
"Checked?" I almost laugh. "For what?"
He shrugs. "You're not sleeping, you're not eating. I know you've been getting sick. Somethings not right."
Memories of throwing up in the bathroom and constant migraines spring to mind.
"I'm not sick Kai."

"Look, I know you're gonna want to argue about it because you're so damn stubborn but I'd really rather you skip to the part where you cave and just go through with it."
I'm shocked by both his bluntness and this sudden urgency.

"I don't cave." I emphasis the word cave.
"No, you just feel guilty after a fight and do whatever it is you're rebelling against as a form of apology."
I roll my eyes.
"Why are you so worried?"
"I always worry about you." He shrugs.
I wait silently for the real answer.

"I don't know. You, ... you have bags under your eyes because you're not sleeping enough. You're so pale. Kara told me you were getting sick only a few days ago and I just seen you ram the first thing you've eaten in probably days down you're mouth so you didn't have to taste it...the list is endless."
"I'm not hungry." I explain honestly.
"That's the problem."

It couldn't hurt. I mean, I have to speak with Siddiq anyways.
"Fine." I promise.
He opens the front door for me.
"Thank you." He kisses me again and then steps aside to let me leave. I hurry to the church.

It's not long until I reach the church doors. They open with a squeak and I sigh with relief when I see that everyone is still here.
Michonne, Rick, Daryl and Tara.
I close the door behind me and walk down the aisle towards them. My footsteps echo so I quicken the pace until I'm next to them.

"What happened while I was gone....?"
My own question answered itself when my eyes land on a girl, sitting awkwardly at the side of the alter. A mask at her feet.
"What the hell is this?" I step towards her but Daryl puts a firm hand on my shoulder, stopping me.
"Leverage." He explains to me.