— FLASHBACK —
every since saskia had discovered the first sign tainted with the blood of a walker that spelled out her name, she continued hear search with fervor, which resulted in her finding two others. the maps had begun to ingrain in her mind. each culmination promised her, albeit feebly, that her hope was still worthy. sawyer was out there and the constant reassurance of that fact was enough to keep the young brunette going.
the sun's position in the sky helped saskia deem that it was about midday; approximately seven or eight days after she had located the first sign on the road. saskia fervently searched for another from dawn to dusk, all along the tracks.
"he's out there," the girl whispered to herself comfortingly, feeling the bitter cold envelop her.
the threat of being caught by bandits due to the allure of a fire's wispy smoke was much too great. threats were all around her. her childhood floated up away into the sky much like the smoke had. it was now unreachable. she was thirteen and yet the childhood innocence that once filled her had faded and been lost to the clouds.
her feet began to ache and her body had zoned in on the feeling the weight of the pack on her back. it was no longer numb. the trek throughout the forest would have to wait as the young girl scouted the trees for one suitable to climb. she slung her pack up first, watching as it forced the dust lining the branch to flourish outwards and fly away.
with a grunt, she swung her feet up and climbed hastily using the upper body strength she had gained during multiple fights with the undead. the callouses lining her hands allowed her to maintain a strong grip on the weathered tree. her body had adapted to the new world with ease.
she had not been able to discern how long she had been in the tree before the promise of a few minutes of resting her eyes soon overtook her. those simple few minutes grew into hours, possibly. saskia would never be able to find out the exact measure of time leading up to the next event. one she was sure she would remember for all of her time.
the crunch of a leaf underfoot caused saskia to be ripped from her sleep much like the leaf had its stem. her grip on one of the tree's limbs tightened, and she slowly peeked her head downwards from the clump of limbs she had been sitting on.
to her surprise, a man, whose face she could not make out due to position he was in, was battling a band of walkers under her. grunts occasionally escaped his mouth as he finished each walker off. she stayed still up among the branches even when a walker came up behind him, which she was sure he had not seen. saskia remained in her tree. watching. waiting.
she had not moved, not until the man's face was viewable and her heart dropped. it fell through her much like she did out of the tree. immediately, her feet flew towards the ground, landing in a crouched position, before her knife was readied. quickly, she took out the walker closest to him that was about to derive a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.
saskia's eyes brightened at the sight of the lone man. he had turned around very quickly, gun unholstered as he picked up the sound of another human. he had posed them as a threat and remained in that mindset until he had watched the human push back a strand of her hair.
the gun clattered to the forest floor. the sound was muffled by the leaves, but none would have heard it as all noise around them drowned out. that aspect of her memory was lost to the void of nothingness.
"saskia?"
"sawyer?"
their embrace was strong. sawyer wound his arms around his beloved little sister as she dug her head deep into the crook of his shoulder. both were afraid to ever let go. sawyer assessed his sister quickly, checking for injuries, before planting a brief but loving kiss to her forehead. her strength never failed to astonish him.
"i looked for you." sawyer's words tumbled out of his mouth, unable to be contained, "i missed you so much!"
his tears were now apparent, even without the sunlight blocked by the wispy clouds hanging in the air. they painted a pond in the forest green of his eyes.
saskia's face broke out into a smile. her words had left her so instead she settled for once again enveloping her brother in a hug, wanting to capture this moment in her memory forever and make up for all of the time lost to this world.
— END OF FLASHBACK —
saskia's back ached against the hard walls of the wooden barn. she was sure in the morning she would find a splinter somewhere from the coarse wood that formed the walls.
and yet, it was not the discomfort of her body that disallowed her rest, but the discomfort of her mind. it was as if her thoughts were on a racing loop, and the positives never seemed to catch up with the negatives. they were unable to even cancel each other out. she thought that maybe not thinking at all could be better than this.
saskia had chosen her spot between tara and noah, two of the group members she had shared conversations with over the long walks that had led them to where they were now, upon entering. tara was not seeming to want to give up on her nickname for saskia anytime soon, but it lacked the annoying effect as noah had learned to call tara one each time she aimed hers at saskia. his actions never failed to bring a smile to her face, and some of the ones he had come up with over the days had even been superbly clever.
the only other person that saskia could make out to be awake was daryl, but she figured a watch system had been set up. she had briefly made eye contact with him once before, but looked away quickly. daryl was a puzzle she was not sure if she had the pieces to put together or the time to do so.
saskia liked storms. the constant of the rain usually
lulled her to sleep. usually. now was unfortunately not that time. the beat of the thunder's drum jolted her body each and every time, but she regained her sense of peace as she counted the time filling the space between the distinct sound of thunder and her electric view of lightning. it was as if the sky was at war with itself.
"you good?"
the gravel tone of daryl dixon's voice did not fall on deaf ears. saskia's head looked up, abandoning its place on her knees, to meet his eyes from across the barn. they held simplicity, but saskia swore she could pick out the complexity fighting to break through.
"yeah," she addressed the hunter at a volume just loud enough for him to discern her response, not wanting to wake up the others who had been graced with the opportunity of sleep.
quiet fell over the two once again as they feigned relaxation. the thunderstorm's threat still loomed over their heads. it was not safe, and it never would be. they both knew that and had reluctantly accepted it, but accepted it all the same.
suddenly, saskia's eyes grew wide as they glanced just behind where daryl was sitting athwart from the barn doors. the tiredness seeping into her bones had been replaced by alertness.
"daryl!" her whisper came out more so as a yell of desperation in his direction.
daryl whipped his head around quickly, only to be met with a decayed hand of a rather big walker attempting to break through the barn door. the man quickly sprang into action, and saskia followed his lead without a single question.
daryl forced himself against the barn doors right away. he tried to have his weight counter that of the walkers attempting to pry their way in. saskia reached his side in a matter of seconds. her small frame might not matter dramatically, but even the malnourished girl's addition to the cause helped it nonetheless. her feet slid, but she chose to dig her boots into the dirt instead of succumbing to the lose dirt underneath her feet.
the walker's growls traveled to saskia and daryl's ears and as they both gulped, a particularly large group of walkers banged against the door, shaking it much like the thunder had saskia's system.
"it's not enough," saskia panted.
her eyes found daryl's after another moment. they looked frantic, and it worried her greatly. she closed her eyes and forced a different memory into her head; a classic coping method of distraction.
saskia had partaken in a task quite like this as a child. it all began when sawyer most likely took something of her's and in an attempt to escape, he had slipped into his room, but not before saskia could press her weight against it, too. as it was still cracked open by this, he no longer had the ability to lock himself inside and thus, her out. her strength and perseverance had often times won out over his then, and saskia now clung to the hope that maybe her fate would fair as well now as it did then.
the heavy breathing of the two and the groans of the undead seemed to have been enough for maggie to slip out of her sleepy haze. her eyes coasted across the small room until they located the source of the noise. seeing the horror that the situation was, she pulled herself to her feet, battling against her tired body. she slammed against the wooden door, between daryl and saskia. her heart thumped against her chest much like the pounding of the walkers outside.
soon sasha was alerted of this, and then, one by one, the group joined in their entirety. the fight truly emulated that of the state of their world. walkers and the living each were placed on their own side. they both pushed on each other, testing their boundaries, until eventually one side lost. as for this battle, the victory lied with the living; the walking dead.
["]
saskia was up and on her feet at the crack of dawn. she wiped what little remnants of sleep from her eyes there were, before fixing the laces on her boots. beth had offered to braid her hair earlier that morning, so saskia moved to sit in front of the slightly older girl's feet.
"one braid or two?" beth asked quietly as she sighed lightly, her eyes duller than usual. saskia could tell by the dark circles under her eyes that she too had not been able to grasp ahold of much sleep that night, possibly due to the commotion.
"just one, if that's alright," saskia responded, tilting her head back so the blonde could begin.
"more than fine," beth acknowledged sweetly, "when maggie had longer hair i used to braid her's all the time." her fingers brushed through saskia's hair and grabbed the first few strands of hair necessary to begin.
saskia hummer in agreement, tracing her finger along the dust coating the ground before an idea popped into her head and a smirk formed on her face.
"i bet we could start braiding carl's sooner or later," saskia chuckled to herself, and beth soon joined in.
carl's head peaked up at the noise. he had been lazily lying down, even though everyone else was up and starting their day. his nose scrunched up in confusion at the mention of his name followed by laughter. noah caught wind of this from beside him and decided to queue him in on the source of the girl's giggling.
"saskia wants to braid your hair," noah commented with a smirk lining his features. his eyes were bright.
"stop twisting my words, noah," saskia near growled, "that is not what i said." despite the harsh tone used, the playful smile on her face was more than evident.
carol looked over at the younger members of the group and smiled, enjoying the calm air and the fact that the kids were able to remain so. rick had been talking strategy with glenn beside him, however, glenn seemed slightly distracted by the fact that his wife was out of the doors without him. sasha and her had decided to grab some air before the group made a decision to most likely move on from their current camping spot.
"maybe i'll let you try it sometime," carl spoke sarcastically, rolling his eyes at the girl whose smile brought one of his own to his face.
saskia did not get a chance to respond, however, because the barn doors creaked open and drew everyone's attention away. maggie and sasha's figures appeared in the midday's sunlight, but they were not alone as a man saskia had not set her eyes on before entered, as well. the others seemed not to recognize him either as portrayed on their faces lined with blatant confusion.
saskia's laughter ceased and her hand instinctively fell to her knife. the gun she had stolen from the malicious men in the woods still rested in her belt, but saskia knew that she had always had better aim with knife. sawyer always had one on her with any aspect of a gun. it was in his nature she supposed. her bow was too far off to the side to reach quietly, and she later cursed herself for the mistake.
rick immediately stood up, abandoning his conversation with carol and glenn, and raised his head to gather a look of this mystery man that stood before him, hands out in surrender. glenn's eyes searched for his wife's and after they met, he located saskia and breathed out a sigh of relief. he had within himself decided that he could fit the role of a guardian for her, with maggie, of course.
"hey," maggie began easily with a hesitant smile, attempting to settle the groups unease, "this is aaron."
daryl immediately made a move to check for weapons on the man to ensure the group's safety. maggie mentioned that they had taken his pack and weapons already, but daryl still exercised the caution, rather forcefully, too.
judith's cries abruptly broke through the tension as saskia's eyes drifted over to the small girl whom soon found home in her big brother's arms. saskia's eyes stayed locked on the man, however. she could certainly find time to comfort her at a time in the near future once things settled down.
"it's nice to meet you," aaron greeted kindly, moving forward slightly to extend a hand in welcome before daryl motioned for him to stay in his place, to which he agreed to do nonverbally as he moved backwards.
"you said he had a weapon?" rick brought up the earlier topic with a glance in maggie's direction.
maggie handed it to the leader. saskia exchanged a look with carl, who seemed to be just as confused, yet focused, as she was.
after a moment, rick spoke up once more, "there something you need?"
sasha intervened and responded for the new man, "he said he had a camp nearby." her lips parted slightly and the apprehension rang clear on her face, but saskia searched her eyes further and realized that sasha, deep down, wanted to trust him, and further, this camp, as well. "he wants us to audition for membership."
"i-i wish there was another word," aaron mumbled, clearly anxious, "audition makes it sound like we're some sort of a dance troupe," he continued with a nervous smile, "that's only on friday nights."
saskia was taken aback by this. the man, aaron, seemed so nonchalant about something as meaningless to her now as tickets to the movies were. dancing used to mean the world to her but now, it meant nothing. the art blurred together with the millions of other things she could think of that no longer were possible to enjoy in the new world claimed by the dead.
"dancing?" saskia mouthed to carl, who merely shook his head at her.
"um, and it's not a camp. it's a community," aaron briefed the group, retracing his steps, "i think you all would make valuable additions, but it's not my call."
"why not?" saskia piped up, surprising everyone including herself as she had been known the last two weeks to be rather quiet.
glenn smirked, knowing the girl had been hiding her opinions in their somewhere. her comment was rather sassy, and he found it hard not to laugh. he kept it in, though, in order to remain as serious as the situation was.
aaron nodded in her direction, perhaps appreciative of her interest, "my job is to convince you all to follow me back home." aaron sighed, viewing rick's expression with a heavy heart as he managed to speak up again, "i know. if i were you i wouldn't go either. not until i knew exactly what i was getting into."
maggie caught the young girl's eye, sending her a small, somewhat forced smile in her direction before redirecting her attention to aaron, whom she seemed to have not deemed a major threat.
"sasha, can you had rick my pack."
sasha did as she was asked, with all eyes on her. it was tan and appeared to be rather weighty. rick accepted it but sternly kept his eyes locked with aaron's. the two blue seas collided in the musty air of the barn.
"front pocket, there's an envelope. there's no way i could convince you to come with me just by talking about our community," aaron paused as he watched rick dig through the bag, "that's why i brought those."
aaron goes on to apologize for the picture quality, but it escaped saskia's mind as she gazed at the pictures. it had been so long since she had seen a photograph other than the one she had pocketed in her backpack of sawyer. it was faded and worn and one of the edges was tearing, but she loved it all the same.
"that's the first picture i wanted to show you, because nothing i tell you about our community will matter unless you know you'll be safe," aaron goes on to say as rick scans the pictures enclosed in a folder.
carl points out the walls to the girl and saskia's eyes go wide. saskia notes that they could certainly provide protection from not only the walkers, but help the group defend themselves against unwanted people entering and wreaking havoc inside, too.
"if you join us, you will be."
saskia was surprised at the claim he had made. she had not heard a claim that great in a long time. sawyer had vowed to protect his younger sister at all costs, but he also made sure that she was aware of the risks and the unknown. two sides of a coin could easily garner unpleasant results. probability was a paradox. all arguments could be made for a ninety nine perfect chance of a relative outcome, but the one percent against it would still stand in the end.
the specifics of the wall were then mentioned by aaron, and saskia watched as carol listened carefully to the information given regarding them. glenn's eyes fell on his wife as aaron covered other matters of safety and security, silently communicating without words to receive each other's opinions.
"in fact, there's only one resource more critical to our community's survival; the people."
["]
aaron's unconscious form had laid sprawled across the dirt floor of the barn for several minutes now. the ticking of saskia's inner clock was getting to her as she waited impatiently for something to occur. everyone seemed to yearn for rick's next move.
"you think he was telling the truth?" carl's words were soft but the question was still there, lingering in the air which is where everyone seemed to leave it spare for saskia.
"partially," saskia replied without missing a beat, "i think he does have a camp, however," she stressed the word, "i don't believe they're as innocent as they want us to believe them to be."
carl tilted his head and shrugged, an attribute he had taken from his father. he agreed with saskia's statement. he knew the world would never be the same and that it was foolish to hand out trust blindly. in that moment, carl grimes thought saskia brown was one of the most well spoken people he had met.
rick gave orders for the man's pack to be dumped and for people to station as lookouts. saskia could see the uncertainty in his eyes; she too wondered too if there was another group or not still out there.
saskia brushed past carl and went immediately to a rather large slit in the barn's walls. glenn was there too and as they both peered out, the large number of places to hide began to worry them both. glenn gulped as his eyes continued to scan the outside.
"what'd you find?" rick questioned his son as he toyed with something in his hand. flipping it over, it was revealed to be a small orange gun.
"never seen a gun like that before," carl commented, looking up to meet his father's blue eyes.
"that's a hell of a right cross there, rick," aaron spoke suddenly with a laugh.
saskia dropped from the spot on her toes still near the barn door to glance back at him. glenn placed a hand on her shoulder quickly before walking back over to reach maggie. saskia's eyes trailed his figure.
"sit him up," rick ordered to michonne, who had been holding a rag to his head.
"you're being cautious; i completely understand it." aaron's words came as an answer to the question he supposed rick was about to ask.
however, rick shut the mystery man down quickly. he deemed his words meaningless. aaron went into a rant about the logistics of it, and saskia's mind wandered off. she could not tell if aaron was simply clever by testing his boundaries or foolish. upon another thought, she decided both.
"how long you been following us," daryl piped up from the back.
"long enough to know you practically ignore a pack of roamers on your trail. long enough to see despite a lack of food or water you never turned on each other. you're survivors," aaron preached, "and," he paused again, leaning his head in saskia's direction, "long enough to know that you took this girl in. you were cautious of her, but you did it anyway. you're good people."
saskia felt the multitude of eyes falls on her, and she shrunk away from it. she moved to lean on a post farther away from the spotlight and chewed on her lip. they had taken her in after all they had been cautious, but they had also been good people at the end of the day. frankly, at the end of the several days she had already spent with them. although, the verbal reassurance gave saskia some sense of relief in that moment all the same.
"how many others, are out there?"
"one."
["]
a/n;
3911 words
hi sorry it's taken so long for them to get to alexandria but now that they're almost there stuff will begin to pick up!! also, the second chunk of this chapter included a lot of dialogue from the show, so i hope it was fun seeing something familiar!!
MY WRITING WAS ROUGH THIS CHAPTER SKRT, but it was finally a decent chapter length so hopefully the latter overpowers the former.