In the morning, I see Magna and Yumiko walking in the gates. Magna catches my eye and she half-smiles at me, to which I return.
Damien nudges my shoulder, "You guys seem to like each other."
"Why'd you say it like that." I groan, turning away from Magna and looking at him.
He smirks, "No reason."
"Adrian! Daryl!" Tara screams from her watch post with Yumiko. She had gone up there presumably to talk to Tara about sneaking out.
"Oh fuck." I whisper-yell, getting up and running to the watch post with Magna, Daryl, and Damien.
All six of us somehow fit up there, staring down at the group of people dressed in Walker skins standing before the Walker-protectant gates. In front of them, an unmasked bald woman stands before the log staffs poking out of the ground.
"I am Alpha. And we only want one thing from you. My daughter." The woman says in a heavy Southern accent.
I clench my jaw in anticipation, their ominous presence causing goosebumps to dance along my skin. I don't know why they're so scary but...they're ominus. Just standing there, a few of them with their heads tilted.
After a few seconds, Kelly and Cato practically leap up the ladder onto the post as well, watching what we're watching. Connie is hiding in the cornfield, safely away from the group.
"Our community is more than capable of defending itself!" Tara announces to the group in front of us.
"I show you my face because we mean you no harm. I just want my daughter. I know you have her." Alpha says.
"You should turn around. Leave now and no one gets hurt." Daryl projects.
I pause and look at Daryl, "Why don't we just give Lydia to her?" I whisper. "I'd rather lose someone I don't even know than lose you or Tara or anyone else."
"Nah," Daryl whispers. "We're not givin' her back to that."
I huff through my nose and turn back to the skins group as they don't respond, just staring at us.
"Wrong answer." Alpha says, holding her hand up. Just as she does that, about two dozen more of the skins come out of seemingly nowhere. I feel the hair on my neck stand up and I rest my hand on my gun, gripping the handle but not grabbing it.
"They don't see her." Kelly says to Tara, talking about Connie. "At least not yet."
Daryl looks at me, "That girl told me what her mom does to her. We ain't sendin' her back to that."
Oh.
I nod, "That's why." I whisper almost soundlessly.
Daryl nods, "That's why."
"Yeah, but what if she has Alden and Luke?" Tara suggests. "Pissing her off can get them killed."
"Did you kill our friends?" Magna asks Alpha. "We found their horses."
"No. Which one of you leads these people?" Alpha responds.
"The hell's it matter?" Daryl sasses.
"Then I'll just address all of you. Your people crossed into our land. There will be no conflict. Your people killed our people. There will be no conflict. I'm done talkin'. Bring me my daughter or there will be conflict."
"No one touches the girl." Daryl whispers before turning and starting down the ladder.
"No- Daryl." I say, turning and following him.
"Where's he going?" Yumiko asks.
"Daryl, stop." Tara says.
"Dude, we should probably talk about this." Cato quietly calls down from the watch post.
"Does she have Alden and Luke?" Enid asks me as I follow behind Daryl.
"We don't know yet." I reply.
"What does she want?" Henry asks Daryl. Daryl doesn't reply, he just continues to Lydia's cell. Henry quickly follows after him, "No, Daryl we-we can't do that."
"She ain't gettin' her." Daryl says without turning around.
What.
"Then what are you doing?" Henry asks.
"She's done talkin'. I'm not." He says, standing in front of the gates. He tells the people at the gates to open them, to which they comply.
"Woah, hold on, Daryl." I whisper-yell to him, though, he pays no mind. "God damn it." I whisper, running back up to the watch post. I can feel my heart thumping in my throat, almost like my heart is in there, not between my ribs.
"The hell's he doing?" Magna asks as I get up on the platform.
"He's talkin' to her." I grunt in frustration.
"What?" Tara gasps.
I don't respond, I just grip the walls until my knuckles turn white, my eyes not leaving Alpha as she stands her ground in front of the wooden gate, blocking her from Daryl. As he approaches the gate, I clench my jaw hard enough that I can feel my teeth grind.
We can't hear the conversation they're having, though, we can hear the distant cries of a baby. "What the hell?" Damien whispers.
"Oh shit." Cato gapes, pointing secretly to one of the skins bring two kidnappees with Walker masks on their faces a few feet behind Alpha. When Alpha turns to them, they rip the masks off, revealing Alden and Luke with cloths tied around their mouths as gags, and hold knives to their throats. I can hear a few people next to me hold their breath and my hands grip the walls so tight I can feel it begin to break skin.
"I'm not waiting for this." Tara says, turning around and walking off the platform. "I'm coming with." Yumiko says, following her. Magna, without saying anything, follows them as well. Leaving, Cato, Damien, Kelly, and I on the platform.
"Know what the plan is, chief?" Cato whispers.
I shake my head, "We better be givin' that damn girl back. She ain't our problem, Daryl needs to stop playin' daddy-to-the-rescue."
Seemingly without another word, Daryl turns around and walks back into the walls of Hilltop, allowing my body to relax ever so slightly. I remove my hands from the walls and glance at my palms, there are two slits on each of my palms about one layer deep; not enough to draw blood but enough to sting. Damien notices and raises an eyebrow at me, I just roll my eyes and turn back to the group in front of us.
What the hell is happening right now? I mean- there are people with Walker masks standing at Hilltop's gates, there's a baby among them, Alden and Luke are kidnapped by them, and we have a teenager in our cell. My senses quickly somehow kick in stronger as I see a group of Walkers slowly approaching the group in front of our walls.
I hear a whistle from below and look down and see Magna, "Girl's gone."
"What?!" I exclaim, rage filling my body. I know exactly who hid her- fucking Henry. I turn back to Damien, Cato, and Kelly and say "Damien, stay up here with Kelly. Cato, help look, c'mon!" Cato and I practically leap off of the platform and watch as Yumiko, Tara, Daryl, and Magna split up to find Lydia.
After a few minutes of frantic searching, nothing comes up. My heart feels like it's gonna beat out of my chest. I can feel my palms become clammy and it feels like the heat from the sun is about to make my skin melt off.
A little over thirty minutes later, Cato and I are searching another house together. "God damn it, where the hell is she?! This place isn't that big." I say, slamming a dresser on the ground.
"Jesus, don't kill her." Cato says, opening a curtain.
"She's livin' with the Walkers. She's not gonna die from a little fuckin' bruise."
"Adrian," Cato grabs me by the shoulders and looks into my eyes. "Calm down. They're not at Alexandria. Alyssa is okay."
I sigh and chew on my cheek, "If we don't find this girl...she may not be. You and Damien may not be. We don't know how these people are. We just know they're fuckin' insane. It's not... that girl means nothin' to us. If we can't find her you, Damien, Alyssa, Inejra, others could be in danger. I can't-"
"We're gonna find her, Adri. We will."
I jump at the sound of shouting, "We found her!" Without wasting another second, I bolt out of Cato's grasp and run out of the house, I can hear his footsteps behind mine. Everybody is gathered around the gate as Daryl is bringing Lydia out to Alpha, allowing us all to relax ever so slightly.
We all watch them intently as the wooden gate opens that was blocking Daryl and Alpha. The people holding Alden and Luke approach behind Alpha as Daryl steps closer. They all pause in front of each other, causing me to take a quick step forward with my hand on my gun again. Thankfully, Lydia walks over to her mom, and Alden and Luke get released. They walk up to the gates and are greeted by others. I stand next to Tara and watch as Alpha slaps Lydia, causing me to tense, before hugging her.
After flashing Daryl a slight smile, Alpha and Lydia turn and walk away, their group following after them.
We all back into the safe walls of Hilltop and all release a sigh of relief. We're done. We don't have to deal with them anymore. We're safe- to some extent, Alyssa is safe, Inejra is safe, Damien and Cato are safe. The psychos are gone.
I turn around and Damien smiles at me, "That was a quick plot point."
I scoff, "Thank god." But, before Damien can reply, he looks at something behind me. I give him a confused expression before turning around and standing face-to-face with Magna.
"Thank you." She says, nodding to me. "I can tell you really cared."
I nod, "Well, I like Luke...and I can tell you guys really care about him. I would want someone to do the same thing for Damien or someone I love." She nods but doesn't say anything, she just stares at me. I quickly glance at the group that is still around us though they're all talking amongst themselves before saying, "Is there-" She cuts me off with a kiss.
Woah.
It feels like the world goes silent around us. I can feel my stomach turn warm and do front flips. But, just as quick as it started, with my eyes still open from shock, it ended.
She pulls back and stares at me as I hear Cato and Damien whisper excitedly behind me. "Sorry." She whispers, noticing my surprised expression.
Without replying, I quickly cup her cheeks and kiss her again, this time closing my eyes and allowing myself to actually enjoy it rather than be surprised by it.
Adrian. Kissing a girl. What the hell?
The thing is, this feels so much more comfortable than kissing a guy. Even with Daryl, I was still tense no matter what. But with Magna, I can feel myself actually relaxing into the kiss. It's only been a few days of knowing each other but, in an apocalypse, I feel like that doesn't even matter. We may die tomorrow. We may die tonight. Or we may die when we're eighty.
I pull back from the kiss and smile at Magna. "You've never kissed a girl before." Magna queries, examining the look of surprise at myself on my face.
I chuckle and shake my head, "No, I haven't."
She smiles, "I'll see you tonight." She says, turning and walking away. I just stand there, watching her walk away like a statue. I don't even know what I'm feeling. She'll see me tonight? Does that mean what it means for a guy? Why did I kiss her back? Did I like the kiss? Shut the fuck up, yes, I liked the kiss!
With my smiling, surprised expression still plastered on my face, I turn on my heels slowly and face Damien and Cato, who both have the most excited looks on their faces.
"Oh my god." Cato whispers. "Adrian...what the hell?!"
Damien smiles broadly, "Do you-did you-what?"
A few minutes later, Damien, Cato, and I are all sitting at their house, eating dinner. They're practically interrogating me right now.
"Are you gay?" Cato asks eagerly.
"What? No! Well-I don't know. That's literally my first girl kiss. Normally teenagers kiss other girls and shit but Nick would've had my head."
Damien nods, "I knew this would happen."
"No you didn't." I scoff, taking a drink of my beer.
Cato smirks, "He called it four years ago when you said you were over what happened with Nick but weren't getting back with Daryl. If I recall correctly, he said, 'Honestly, what if Adrian's gay? She doesn't like men anymore because Nick had to be a dick since he didn't have one so...there could be a possibility.'" His Irish accent is heightened to an almost untranslatable point.
I roll my eyes, "Whatever. I still don't even know if I would ever date her."
Damien groans quietly, "Why the hell not? She's not a guy!" He then opens his mouth to say something before bursting out laughing. "Oh my god, you left Alexandria straight and single and you're gonna see Alyssa again and you're gonna be gay and in a relationship with the girl she didn't trust."
I sigh and set my fork down, "Didn't trust. Exactly. I don't know how Alyssa would react if I'm-"
"Alyssa wants you to be happy. We all do, Adrian. You're like a ball of nothingness after Nick. I really don't think Alyssa would care." Cato interjects, his voice softer.
"What if she does?"
"She'll come around. She cares more about you than she does anyone else, Adrian. It doesn't matter what you do to her as long as you're alive and uninjured...because you have a habit of being injured every second of every day, not on drugs, and happy." Cato says.
Damien and Cato stare at me eagerly, getting excited as soon as I nod. "Okay, you're right."
Damien smirks, "Alright, Southern Belle, jesus, you excited?"
"Huh?"
"Your accent sounds like you came straight out of Texas, lil' miss Rodeo." He smirks.
I groan quietly, "Fuck off."
"'Fuhck awf." Cato mocks me taking a drink of his beer.
I groan, "God, you guys are so fuckin' annoyin'."
"Anyway," Damien interjects, leaning forward. "What's happening tonight? You're a girl, you should know this."
After the sun has set, I'm sitting on the same table of the picnic table Cato and I sat at as we watched Magna and her group go to sneak out. I'm smoking a cigarette like I was that night and just staring at my ripped Converse.
"Hey," Magna says, sitting next to me. "You smoke?"
I nod, "Since I was like seventeen." I take another puff of the cigarette before offering it to her, to which she accepts it. I watch her as she takes a drag of it and exhales, the smoke swirling around her like a painting. I can't take my eyes off of her. Why am I feeling like this? I've never felt like this before.
When she notices me staring at her, she looks directly at me, though, I don't look away. "You say you've never kissed a girl...but you don't kiss like it." She says, offering me my cigarette.
My heart drops to my knees and I can feel my legs turn to jelly. Wow. Okay. I open my mouth to reply but for the first time since Nick and I first started dating, when I was fifteen, I'm at a loss for words.
She chuckles, "It's a compliment."
I take a long drag of my cigarette and nod, "Unfortunately."
She smirks, "Why's that?"
"I'm way better at responses for insults than I am compliments...especially someone who kissed me in front of everyone who thought I was straight." My tone of voice shows I'm not upset or embarrassed, just astonished.
"So you liked it?" She asks, noticing my tone of voice.
I shrug, "I wouldn't've kissed you again if I didn't."
WHAT? Those words were not thought of before I responded but...I guess they're not wrong.
She then leans in, placing a hand behind my ear, and kisses me again. I smile into the kiss and flick the cigarette out of my hand, allowing it to fly to wherever.
As we deepen the kiss, both of our hands cupping each other's cheeks, I can feel my heart rate pick up. My kisses get more fervent and hungry. I can't get over how weird this feels but also how...amazing it feels.
She breaks the kiss and stares into my eyes, "Everybody's asleep at my house."
I hesitate, "I've never."
She grabs my hand, "I'll show you."