Austin parked one of the cars behind the RV, checking in the back. He brought two blankets and two sandwiches, not sure if Natalie and Levi would be hungry or not. He exhaled, nervous out of his mind. He wasn't worried about the Saviors, he knew he would be able to take one on if they got in hie way, he was worried about what the kids would think of him. He hit it off with Luke nearly immediately, but he was just eleven, he likely would latch onto anyone that gave him the proper care.
It could be different for a set of thirteen year olds.
He walked through the woods, hiding behind a tree as he watched Andy step out of the car, showing his hands to the guard at The Sanctuary. He held his gun in hand, Luke's flair gun tucked in his waist band. Andy took Gregory's fake head from the bag, showing it to the pair of Saviors.
Austin ran forward as Daryl snuck up behind one of them, after the other went inside, slicing his throat. He hurried over as Andy looked back. "Didn't think they'd believe it."
"Neither did I." Andy said honestly as Aaron and Rick moved the dead body, then they all jumped into the van again. Austin ducked low as he watched the other guard come out with a lanky man, his arms behind his back.
"Well, well, well. Look who it is." he mocked. Austin winced slightly when Michonne pierced his body with her sword, letting them all come out again. Andy helped his friend.
"Austin." Rick threw his the keys from the dead guy. "Be carful. I mean it. In and out, don't come back to help us."
"I won't." Ausrin unlocked the door. "If you're not home within two hours, i'm coming back for you."
Austin walked in first, looking at the map one more time. Glenn walked beside him. "Be carful, we still don't know."
"I know." Austin nodded. "I'll see you when we get home?"
"Yeah." Glenn nodded, the pair sharing one more look before parting ways, going in opposite directions.
Austin went up the stairs slowly, not letting his feet creek against the rusted steps as much as possible. The Sanctuary was quiet and dark, making it so much worse yet so much better at the same time. At least, no one was out to see him, but it meant he could easily wake multiple people at once if he was loud enough. Thankfully, the Sanctuary reminded him a lot of the prison. And he was a pro at sneaking around the prison.
He peaked behind one of the corners, looking at the empty hallway. It was the right one, one room at the end of it, the rest blank. Austin didn't know why the kids were separated, he also didn't know why they weren't being guarded. He didn't know Negan, but it didn't seem like he cared too much about his kids to trust a bunch of assholes to have full access to them at any cost. Luke had even mentioned they didn't have locks on their doors after they tried to lock themselves in once.
He checked behind himself to make sure no one was closer, giving a little finger tap to the door. Luke taught him the secret code so Natalie and Levi would think it was him and open the door. He cringed slightly when it made a large creek when opening up, catching sight of bright blue eyes staring at him. She had red hair and freckles across her face. Ausrin wasn't sure why he assumed Natalie would look a lot like Luke, him and Carl didn't look that much alike.
"Shh." Austin put a finest to his lips, pulling out Luke's flair gun. "Luke sent me."
"Where is he?" Natalie stared in fear.
"He's okay." Austin whispered. "He's back at my place, he wanted me to get you both."
"He was suppose to send a flair." Natalie spoke, she looked over her shoulder. Austin could assume Levi was behind the door, hidden.
"The woods are really dangerous at night, I didn't want anything bad to happen." he kneeled down on her level a little bit more. Luke had told him that Natalie was smart, that she was more protective over him and Levi then she was anyone else. She reminded Austin of himself, now more then ever. "I promise you, i'm telling you the truth."
She still seemed hesitant. "What's his favorite color?"
"What?" Austin was taken back.
"Luke's favorite color. He tells everyone his favorite color if he feels comfortable with them." she repeated, gripping the metal door. "What is it?"
Austin thought back to his walk with Luke, thinking about carrying him from the woods. He met Natalie's eye. "Silver. He said everyone thinks grey is the same as silver, but it's not. He says silver is better."
Natalie looked back, nodding as she opened the door. Austin was right, Levi was on the other side of the two. There was a mattress in the middle of the floor, the room itself seemed like a dirty basement. Levi sat on the edge of the mattress, staring at him. He was what he thought Natalie would look like, he looked similar to Luke. Only difference was, Luke's hair waved over naturally, Levi's seemed like it needed to be taken care of in order to have that flow, because it was matted up pretty bad right now.
"Hi." Austin looked down at him as Natalie shut the door.
He didn't say anything back, but that was okay.
"You have a place to stay? It's safe?" Natalie got his attention again, making him look back.
"It's a community, a pretty big one." Austin nodded at her. "It's safe, a big gate all around it to keep anything out. We have good people, and if they aren't good, they leave."
"Everyone says they're good people." she stared back at him. "Luke's too young to know the difference."
"I know." Austin nodded. "I guess I should word that differently. No one is good people, but we keep each other safe. We don't hurt people unless we need to in order to survive. Understand?"
Natalie glanced at his gun. Austin followed her gaze. "When we get to the car, i'll let you hold it. It's completely loaded, so if I try anything, you can shoot me."
"Why can't I hold it now?" she stared back.
"We could run into someone when trying to escape." Austin nodded to the door. "If you know how to shoot, you can hold it."
He knew she didn't, Natalie didn't move. "You have a car?"
"It's parked on the road, right past the woods on the left." Austin pointed to the opposite wall to let them know where it had been at. "You guys hungry?"
He saw Levi sit up a little more in the corner of his eye.
Natalie inhaled. "What if we don't like it there?"
"If you don't like it there, i'll bring you back and tell your Dad I kidnapped all of you, so non of you will get in trouble." he explained, but he really hoped that wouldn't be the case, because Negan would kill him for it. Natalie looked at Levi. "How are we feeling, troupes?"
It brought a grin to Natalie's lips, she appreciated his sense of humor in a horrible situation. "Okay."
"Okay." Austin repeated. "Do you guys need anything?"
"We've got it." Natalie went to the bathroom and grabbed the black backpack. "Levi?"
He stood up, Austin realized she was just a little bit taller. He remembered what Luke said. "You two are twins?"
"We don't really look alike." Natalie agreed as Levi found his missing shoe, Austin didn't ask why he only wore one. "But, yeah."
"You're a little bit older though, aren't you?" Austin asked.
"Luke told you?" she asked him, not thinking much of it.
"No, i'm the oldest too." he cracked her a small smile. "I could tell."
"You have siblings?" Natalie took notice of how young he actually was. "How old are you?"
"Almost twenty." he said back, shaking his head. "Or, maybe I am twenty. I'm not sure, one of those."
She nodded. "Siblings?"
"Two." he said back, looking over as Levi tied the shoe up. "You guys stay close behind me. If we run into anyone...I don't wanna scare either of you but-"
"You can't scare us." Natalie cut him off. "Believe me."
He did, he believed it had to be impossible to scare any of them after what they'd seen at the hand of their own father. Luke didn't tell him exactly what Negan had done, but he could piece together they'd likely seen many lives taken due to their dad. Austin didn't want to know, it would likely only make him more angry. He just wanted to protect them, that's all that seemed to matter right now.
Natalie put Levi in the middle of her and Austin as the older boy opened the door, cringing again. The hallway was still light, Austin looked back to make sure they both made it out. He walked slowly so they could keep up, making it to the end of the hallway and checking behind the corner again. Austin nodded as he looked back at the two.
"Where you going?" a voice terrified Austin, he had no clue where it was coming from. "Nattie?"
It was too dark to see anyone, meaning whoever it was hadn't seen Austin or Levi, just assuming it was Natalie.
"I just wanted to look at the stars, Dad." Natalie said back. Austin didn't move, didn't breath. "I'm sorry."
"Go to bed. You're making too much noise this late." he said back. His voice was deep and it scared Austin, which didn't happen much. Maybe it terrified him because of how sudden it was, not knowing which direction it came from.
"I will." Natalie said back, they waiting before hearing the sound of a loud door shutting again. Austin felt a hand grab his wrist. "Shh."
They waited, he stayed quiet. Natalie's feet went down the hallway, opening the door and shutting it to seem like she went back in. Austin felt Levi by his side, out reaching his hand in the darkness to wait for Natalie to come back. After a second, she touched his wrist again. "Now."
They were quiet, not saying another word to each other. Levi stepped where Austin did, and Natalie stepped where Levi did. It took longer to leave then it did to come in, because this time it was more important. It wasn't just his life on the line this time, he had two kids that were relying on him. Austin felt the urge to ask if Natalie was still there, being able to feel Levi still. But, he didn't, he didn't risk it.
Once they made it outside, he was relieved to see she still had been, right there behind her brother. Levi tilted his head back at the night sky and inhaled deeply, his shoulders fell. He seemed relieved, he still didn't talk, but a weight was lifted. Natalie didn't feel the same, or maybe she did and just didn't express it. She just stared at Austin and waited for him to lead them away from the hell they'd lived in too long.
"It's not far." he promised the two, starting to walk again as they followed, pointing through the woods. "Maybe a mile at the most. Sandwiches too, but there's other options back at home."
Levi smiled, he still didn't say anything, but he seemed relieved.
"What kind of sandwiches?" Natalie asked him honestly.
"I think it's egg." he said back. She seemed disappointed but nodded. "But, i've got a huge supply of PB&J at my place."
My place, the bar, it was his. Now, it was there's too.
Natalie smiled this time. "That's my favorite."
What a coincidence, Austin thought, mine too.
Austin made Natalie a PB&J once they got back to the bar, Luke coming down and greeting the two with so much relief. Levi got into the shower first, though it shut off about ten minutes ago. Austin made sure Natalie and Luke were okay downstairs for now as he headed up, looking down the hallway.
Levi stood in the bathroom mirror with Austin's clothes on, messing with his hair. He looked over when he heard footsteps. Austin nodded. "My Mom use to cut my hair if you want me to?"
He shook his head, Austin realized how he had it twisted around his fingers. "Certain style?"
Levi was quiet a second. "My Mom use to put rollers in at night. It's the only thing that worked."
Austin was glad to hear him talk, glad to see him looking at him. "Until we can find those...I have an idea."
Levi watched Austin disappear down the hallway, coming back with two toilet paper rolls in hand. Levi smiled. "Really?"
"I bet it'll work." Austin laughed, using the bobby pins they had laying around. "Let me know if you start to get a headache."
Levi nodded, leaning his head in as Austin twisted his long hair around the toilet paper rolls, pinning it in place with the bobby pins. He did the same to the other side, taking a step back. "My greatest work yet."
Levi got a look at himself in the mirror and laughed loudly, Austin laughed with him. "I look like-"
"George Washington." he cut him off in agreement.
noah jupe as...
Luke Smith-Grimes
beatrice kitsos as...
Natalie Smith-Grimes
mason thames as...
Levi Smith-Grimes
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kylie speaks
i'm gonna make the kiddos
playlist soon!!