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Natasha walked beside her sister, dragging her feet along the concrete as she went. Her guard was drawn being out in the open, the prison didn't trust them and she didn't trust them either.
"Where did they say we could Bury her?" Tyreese asks, holding onto his dear friends body while her mourning husband held her head.
Sasha looked to her sister, her eyebrows furrowed and a frown on her lips. She wished she didn't have to see this, "back of the field, with the rest of the graves."
The men lowered Donna's body to the ground while Allen stepped over her carelessly, his eyes fixated on Carl and Carol beyond the fence. "Golden opportunity."
"For what?" Sasha asks, both of her siblings now stood beside.
"Little kid and a woman." He pants, his son moved forward.
"Ask them for a hand. Get a hold of those weapons." Tyreese protests as the boy carries on, "we do it quick, they'll never know what hit them."
Natasha rolls her eyes, her arms folded over her chest, "do you just fail to realise that they have guns?"
"They won't once we take them." Ben shrugs his shoulders like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Natasha was glad she had a brain.
"We're out here to bury Donna." Sasha says and Allen nods.
"We will after." Sasha and Nat scoff, dumbfounded. "Look at this place. Secure."
Tyreese's eyes are narrowed, he found it hard to comprehend what he was hearing. "These are good people."
"It'll be easy. A little kid, a woman, a girl and an legged old man." Ben reminds his father of the convict, Axel, too.
"Are you gonna smash the baby's head with a rock?" Tyreese questions.
"What is your problem?"
"How about a little common decency." He snaps, "this isn't what we do." Tyreese shares a look with his sister's, Natasha nodding her head in encouragement, and while she may not trust the people at the prison, she trusted her brother blindly and wholeheartedly.
Allen stares the trio down, "you're living in the past, Ty. All of you. This is survival of the fittest, plain and simple. And here we live, out there we die." He looks between them all, "and I'm not waiting for the rest of their group to roll in here and throw us out on our asses."
From behind the father and son, Natasha catches sight of the girl and the convict walking towards them. Beth gives her a pretty smile, which Natasha could feel herself returning a reason unknown to her.
"Got some tools for you." Axel says, offering out a shovel. Allen begins to stalk forward towards them with murderous intent, but the Williams siblings maneuver around them.
"That's much appreciated." Tyreese accepts the tools from Beth and Sasha does the same with Axel. Nat's hands slowly move backwards, hoping to create a distance between the two men stood behind them.
"You don't need no help with the body?" Axel asks, pointing to the covered up corpse on the floor.
Natasha shakes her head, leaving her right leg to take her weight, "no thanks, we've got it covered."
"Let us know if you need anything else." Beth says, her voice naturally kind in nature. They thank her before Beth and Axel turn to leave.
When a car pulled in through the gates with Carl and Carol shutting it behind what they could only assume was the rest of the group, Natasha watched as a trio piled out of the car and be greeted by the blonde girl and the one legged man.
Paola, unaware of the eyes on her, wobbled where she stood beside Maggie, it felt as though Glenn's hasty gust of wind from running off into the cellblock would've knocked her over it weren't for Hershel incessantly checking her over. The old man had always been kind to her, a soft spot you'd call it, and was obvious to him how much his own daughter loved her. Paola was family to Hershel Greene and she had more family than she believed in that moment.
While Hershel checked Maggie, Beth had pulled the young girl into her chest for a hug, whispering a sweet, "I'm glad you're okay." Beth seemed to have that effect on everybody, Paola thought. The ability to make you feel safe.
Seeing Carl jogging over from a distance with his father, Paola quickly met him in the middle with a hug, which didn't take long to return. Carl held her tightly, glad his best friend was back but angry that he failed to protect her.
But Paola couldn't cry, as much as she wanted to, she felt numb.
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Hershel came in later for a actual checkup. Paola sat on her own on the bunks that she shared with Glenn and Maggie. When he found her, she was tapping her fingers against each other in a quick motion, trying to calm her nerves in the dark room.
His crutches clicked against the hard floors, "anything broken?" He asked, his tome slightly teasing in hopes to lighten her mood. But she didn't budge. Holding in his sigh, he sat opposite her on a chair.
Paola didn't look up, too focused on her moving fingers. Hershel took notice of the bruise on her cheek and the small bump on her forehead. "Want to tell me what happened?" He asked, wetting a rag to clean the dirt and blood from her face.
The small girl locked eyes with him, as though she was afraid to relive the moment, but Hershel knew there was an inkling of pride for what she did.
"I broke Merle's nose." She whispered, lowering her eyes back to her fidgeting hands again. Hershel huffed a laugh through his nose.
The cell was quiet, the silence eating Paola through. She couldn't help to be taken back to Woodbury, all that happened there would stay with her, especially what happened after. She felt as if she was wrong, like her whole being was a mistake, like if she had payed more attention at the store, herself, Glenn and Maggie wouldn't be in this position and Daryl wouldn't be gone.
"Hershel, can I ask you something?" The man hummed as he cleaned her face gently, "we're a family, right?" She continued with a shaky breath.
Hershel stopped, his face devoid of emotion but his eyes never once leaving hers. "I know not by blood, I'm not stupid, but just-" She stopped herself as her voice trembled again. "I'm not wrong for thinking that, am I?"
He's quiet for a moment before a soft smile graces his features and his hands find hers between each other, Paola is comforted with a squeeze. "You're not stupid, little one. I've known you long enough now to know i'm grateful you're in my life. In all of ours."
She smiled, Hershel continued, swinging their hands before letting go, "you know, I've always wanted a grandaughter."
Paola's laugh is watery and her eyes beaming, "really?" Watching him stand with his crutches and head towards the doors.
He turned back and smiled, "try to get some rest."
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Deciding what to do with the newcomers was difficult considering that their leader was quickly spiralling into madness. Paola stood at the gate seperating them on watch.
Tyreese had already offered her a kind and welcoming smile from behind the bars, Paola knew that if he had been in their group beforehand, she would easily get along with him, because that's just the man he was. Kind.
Sasha was quieter, but still gave Paola a small smile. And not the kind that felt forced, but the kind that she was glad to know that there were other kids her sisters age that she could finally be friends with in this cruel world.
And when Paola's eyes casted over Natasha's, it was if the world went quiet. Nat only looked at Paola with a blank stare, though it was never threatening. In her head, Natasha wanted to be Paola's friend, hoping for her to be nicer than Carl, who had locked them in here. There was also a part of Natasha that hoped to check the girl who seemed so innocent was okay after she saw her get out of the car earlier looking sick to her stomach.
Hershel tapped Paola's shoulder gently and the girl twisted the keys in the lock to let the group file into the holding cell. Walking into the room, Paola finds herself naturally beside Carl and infront of Glenn and Maggie.
While Hershel pulls Rick aside to convince him to let the small group stay, Glenn shuffles around Paola, his hand patting her arm as he moved forward, and even the small gesture could slightly calm her nerves as Rick became more and more erratic.
Repeating no over and over while staring at figure that wasn't there, it seemed that Rick had finally lost it, "why are you here? What do you want from me?" He asks, walking through the group to stare up at the catwalk.
"Dad?" Carl asks, he moved backwards so he's shoulder to shoulder with Paola and Maggie now.
"I can't help you, get out!" He yells, turning on his heel back to Tyreese, Sasha and Nat. As the group tried to calm him down, it seemed as if nothing worked. Maggie jumped back at his outburst at her and quickly grabbed the two children and held them close to her as Rick swung his gun around, "you don't belong here, get out!"
"We'll leave, we're going. Ain't nobody got to get shot here." Tyreese tries to defuse the situation, standing in front of his sister's as Sasha held Natasha tightly, not letting her become the target of the crazy man's revolver. Rick continues to shout as Glenn ushers them away.
Rick was different. A bad different.
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