ivy sat in the chair across from troy with her arms folded across her chest. she was lucky that she wasn't on the stage because the people would've seen her uninterested look.
a memorial was being held for charlene, who was the woman flying the helicopter. ivy and her had only spoken a few times before, so they weren't close. she only showed up because it would look bad on troy if she didn't.
she thought that memorials like this were stupid. there was no reason to purposefully make others sad over another's death. mourn and get on with the day.
"i was in the dining room dry canning some beans when an angel fell from the damn sky and crashed in my back yard" the woman on the stage said "i screamed and ran out there...and there she was. all of 12, a lump on the ground holding onto a giant lawn umbrella. she had jumped off the roof. thought the thing would hold her. she broke her arm in two places but she never cried"
ivy gave the woman a fake apologetic look when she glanced at her. it made the woman smile before she wrapped up the sob story.
"charlene embodied the spirit of this place. an 'always ready, never quit, get it right this time' spirit. and she would've...if she wasn't risking her life for the unprepared."
everyone turned to madison and her family, whispering amongst themselves. jake escorted the woman off the stage just as madison decided to stand up.
"hello. i just want to introduce my family; i'm madison clark, and these are my children, nick and alicia. we wanted to offer our condolences for charlene and for the others you lost." madison paused "we've lost loved ones too...travis. travis - he was our compass and he..." she seemed to decide against telling her own story about him "we just wanted to say thank you for sheltering us and thank you for your generosity. we will repay it."
jake nodded as she sat down, and the prying eyes from the crowd stayed on madison.
"thank you...we've all lost. we share that. and...grieving's hard, but it's important that we process it-"
a man in the crowd stood and cut him off "more important to prepare, jake. i'm sorry, there is a time and place for mourning, and patty is owed that, but who brought down the helicopter?"
ivy looked down at her hands, running her index finger nails over the pad of her thumb to soothe her nerves.
the two spoke at the same time, jake telling him sweetly that they were going to figure it out, but the man was mad.
"we aim to find out, vernon, we're gonna get to the bottom of this."
"when? what's your timeline? jeremiah, please."
the eyes then turned to jeremiah, who shook his head but remained seated next to troy "nothing's changed, vernon. make no mistake, we're in a wartime posture here. we tasked alpha station to scout the crash site. when we know what we're dealing with, we'll act...if it's some wing nut, we'll act. if it's a larger challenge, we will act."
ivy and troy shared a look before he spoke. "payback, vernon. that's what my father means. whatever this threat is, large or small, we'll make this right."
"hey, we'll meet out justice when we know what we're dealing with." jake spoke up. his views began to clash with troy's and jeremiah's "we cant afford to lose ourselves. we're more than a mob. we have to be something hopeful in this world. like my father says; if you plan for the future..."
the crowd took it from there "plan for a better one."
madison stepped back to move away from the tray table and felt something press into her back. she whipped around, expecting to see troy with a scowl, but she instead found ivy.
"sorry" she said with a smile, setting her tray on top of madison's
"no, that's okay..." madison said as she watched her "you're ivy, right?"
the girl nodded and looked up "ivy jung. and you're madison clark."
madison copied ivy's movements, nodding with her mouth opened slightly. she could tell that ivy was a kid. her face was sweet - a button nose topped off with round cheeks and big doe eyes.
"how old are you, ivy?"
ivy sighed and set her hands on her hips as she thought "seventeen, last time i checked. why?"
madison made a mental note. ivy was 17, and troy was at least 20.
"you're my daughters age."
ivy nodded and gave madison an awkward smile. she looked around for someone, whom madison guessed was troy, before looking back when madison spoke again.
"are your parents here? could i meet them?"
she shook her head, her voice becoming softer "no, my parents are gone."
"oh...i'm sorry..." madison frowned for ivy "you must be taking care of yourself, then."
ivy shook her head again "oh no, i can't...troy takes care of me - makes sure i don't get eaten or anything."
madison's eyebrows knitted. she'd seen bits and pieces of troy's kindness towards ivy; like how he held her close in the truck bed. from what she'd seen, he did take care of her.
but it wasn't purely that. if the display hickeys on her neck didn't give it away, the way they looked at each other sure did.
"i know you don't like him very much" ivy said, interrupting madison's thoughts "but you haven't seen the good side of him. i promise that it's there."
madison gave a short shake of her head "i'll believe it when i see it."
ivy pursed her lips and offered a soft smile before she walked away, leaving madison to put some puzzle pieces together.
ivy could hear the crunch of the dirt under someone's foot as they walked toward her. she didn't bother to look, assuming that it was jake or jeremiah.
"you okay?"
it was a woman's voice
ivy turned as madison sat down next to her, though the woman didn't look at her. she instead watched the night sky.
"you shouldn't smoke." she said, talking about the lit cigarette in ivy's hand
ivy smiled and flicked the ashes "i know."
madison then looked at her and asked her initial question again "are you okay?"
"i'm fine."
"it's pretty late, you know. it's not safe to be alone in the dark."
ivy took a drag from the cigarette "i've got a gun" she exhaled
"well, why are you out here?" madison asked her
"i always wait for troy to get back. i can't sleep knowing he's out there."
madison rolled her eyes, though ivy didn't see it.
"plus," she added "i like to look at the stars and daydream. now's the only time things die down. everyone's asleep so i can listen to the coyotes or the crickets, and it's cool enough that i won't die of a heat stroke."
"what do you like to dream about?"
ivy smiled so wide that the reflection of the stars couldn't be seen in her eyes anymore "everything. i used to fantasize about being some award winning scientist or something, but i tend to dream about more normal stuff now" she looked at madison, clarifying "like going to college or getting married"
madison played along, continuing to pry to collect information on her by pretending she was just interested. "would you want a family some day?"
"some day." ivy brought the cigarette to her lips "if i'm alive when this is all over."
madison's voice softened as she watched the smoke come out of her mouth. "what happened to your family?"
ivy paused and stared at the stars. madison noticed the glossy look in her eyes. she thought she had overstepped a boundary, but ivy sighed and began to talk again.
"a herd of walkers saw the lights on in my house one night. my parents went to board up the windows, but my mom...she got bit."
ivy pressed the cigarette into the dirt, making madison notice the scar on her thumb. it was like she cut it continuously.
"my dad couldn't let her go, even when she turned and bit him. so," she sighed "they joined the herd and left me with my sister."
"what happened to her?"
this is what seemed to upset ivy. she stiffened and ran her index fingernail over the scar on her thumb. madison assumed it was a way to self soothe.
"i had to get the herd in the house so i could get to the car, so i hid her in the attic." she blinked quickly as her voice became weaker "i was gonna lead them away from the house, but they wouldn't leave and - i couldn't get in."
she looked down at her shoes and shook her head before taking a deep breath, not daring to look at madison.
"there was nothing that i could do, so i just walked away...i was planning on walking until i dropped dead or something killed me, but then i found my way here."
something clicked in madison's head, and ivy hadn't shown any discomfort with opening up to her, so she decided to continue.
"is that why you like troy? because he took care of you?" she asked ivy
"troy has taught me more than my parents ever did. he taught me how to shoot a gun, how to be brave."
there was a moment of silence between them, madison looking at ivy and ivy looking at the dirt. madison only started when the girl looked up at her.
"i used to be a school counselor." she said
"is that why you're asking me all these questions? to find out what's wrong with me and uncover my deep rooted trauma?" ivy's words seemed angry, but she had a tone that made her sound like she was joking
madison's face remained emotionless "i don't diagnose"
"could you?" she said suddenly "i mean - could you figure out what was wrong with me?"
her eyebrows furrowed as she analyzed ivy's face. she looked desperate, almost like a lost child. she was a lost child.
"possibly. if you opened up more."
"and if i did...could you fix me?"
madison stood up and brushed the dirt off of her pants. she set her hand on ivy's shoulder, purposefully speaking in her mom voice when she noticed her lean into her touch.
"we'll see."
"everybody listen up, please."
ivy turned to jeremiah, her hand still on troy's thigh as she looked
"i just got updated on outpost alpha. mccarthy and his unit went out 36 hours ago, and we ain't heard nothin back. could mean a hundred things, 99 of them benign. but we always got to prepare for the one off...tory here is gonna take a party out, but we're gonna need volunteers."
men raised their hands, and jeremiah called their names one by one.
"i'll come with you this time" ivy told troy in a hushed voice. troy gave her a look before he nodded.
"and madison clark" jeremiah finished
they looked at her from across the mess hall, and she walked right past the table her family was at to sit on the other side of troy.
"your kids are over there" he told her
madison grabbed his napkin and set it on his knee "i know" she said with a tiny smile, taking a sip from her water