luna mortimer-smith had long learned not to trust anyone, staying in the middle of the woods as to avoid any contact with the dead or any other humans.
one evening, she'd gone out to check her hunting traps like usual. little did she realize, thoug...
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In the month since they'd arrived, Luna had settled into life in Alexandria well enough. She and Carl usually stuck to the house, taking care of Judy, reading, or playing card and board games. After being out on the road for so long, Luna was happy to have a slow paced life again. Though, whenever she'd leave the house it was a different story. She always felt uncomfortable walking around Alexandria, like she didn't belong there. It was the strange sense of normalcy that made her uneasy, a fake idyllic life she never had-before or after. And it didn't help that the Alexandrian's seemed to either give them looks or avoid them entirely. She almost felt more isolated than when she was alone in her cabin. Unfortunately for her, Judy loved to be taken on walks and that duty fell to her and Carl.
It was early afternoon when they'd gotten back to the house after their second walk of the day. Luna was exhausted and anxious, so she and Carl went to lay down while Carol took Judith. It was Judy's nap time anyway and Carol would be home cooking so they didn't have to worry. As soon as they'd gotten upstairs, Luna plopped down on one of the twin beds they'd pushed together. Carl shut the door and cracked open a window before joining her. It'd almost become second nature, the way they liked to lay in bed together. One of Carl's arms wrapped tightly around her waist while the other either held her hand or played with her hair, and her head resting on his chest because she liked going to sleep to the sound of his heartbeat. Their legs all tangled together as she practically laid on top of him. She sighed deeply once they'd gotten settled.
"What is it?" He asked, gently twisting his fingers around in her hair.
"I'm so tired." He couldn't help but laugh. "Do you think Carol could take Judy for the rest of the day?" She asked, looking up at him. "I don't think I have the willpower to get back up."
"I'm sure she won't mind until dinner." He said. "By then, everyone else'll be back so my dad can take her." Luna had almost forgotten what the others were doing, surveying the quarry full of walkers Rick and Morgan had found. Morgan had arrived the day that Luna and Carl had, only he'd accidentally found the place. Turned out, he knew Rick from back at the start, and he was the reason Rick was even alive.
"Think it's gonna work?" She asked, inching up so their faces were level. "Your dads plan, I mean."
"Sure." He nodded. "It's gotta." She nodded lightly, noticing that he'd begun to lean over. She closed the gap, laying her hand on his chest as their lips connected. Carl squeezed her waist making her laugh lightly before he deepened the kiss. Just as she placed her hand on the side of his face, a woman began screaming outside. They both shot up, going to the window. Across the street, they saw a woman lying in her yard, covered in blood and begging for her life. Above her was a man, splattered in blood and dirt. He raised a machete over his head before bringing it down on the woman a few times before running away. More people were running around, all looking relatively the same-dark clothes, covered in dirt and blood, and all with sharp weapons.
"What the fuck is this?" Luna breathed out, looking over at Carl.
"Nothing good, come on." She nodded, hurrying over to the nightstand and grabbing her pistol before following him out into the hallway. He ducked into his dads room, grabbing the rifle that sat in the closet before they both hurried downstairs. Carol was already at the bottom when they got there.
"We saw them from upstairs, they're coming in from all over." Carl said.
"You two stay here and keep Judith safe." Carol said as she rushed towards the door, taking out her gun. Carl followed her, locking the door after she was gone.
"Check the other one, I'll check the windows." He said. She nodded, rushing around to the back door and clicking the lock, also pulling down the curtain. When she came back into the kitchen, Carl had pulled all the curtains shut. "Go upstairs, Luna."
"What? No." She huffed. "I'm not leaving you."
"I'll be fine, someone needs to stay with Judy." He said.
"I said no, Carl." She insisted. "We're in this together. And if some of them start breaking in, I'm not just gonna leave you down here to die." Before he could argue, the doorknob on the back door started jingling. They both froze, falling silent for a second before Carl started towards the door. Luna followed him, staying at the wall next to the kitchen while Carl took cover behind the closer wall to the door. They listened to the lock jingle, Carl looking at her and nodding when the doorknob started to turn. As soon as the door was open, they both swung out with their guns raised-only to be met with Enid, and not one of the invaders. Enid was their age and they'd hung out with her a few times, as well as her boyfriend Ron, and Luna liked her pretty well. Enid was like them, alone on the outside for a long time, and had only been in Alexandria for a few months when they'd arrived.
"Hi." Enid said as Carl sighed and they both lowered their guns.
"Why didn't you just knock?" Carl asked, quickly shutting and locking the door again.
"I have these." Enid said, holding up a ring of keys. "Didn't want them to have them." She dropped the keys into Carl's hand and he moved towards the kitchen, putting them in one of the drawers. "And I wanted to say goodbye."
"What?" Luna asked, raising her eyebrows. "Why? Are you leaving?"
"I...yeah." Enid nodded. "Gonna climb the wall, get outta here."
"It's not safe, Enid, you shouldn't leave." Carl said. "Stay with us, we can all keep Judith safe together."
"I can't." Enid shook her head.
"You can and you will." Carl insisted. "You're not going anywhere. Sit down and watch the back door, tell me if you see them coming. You're helping us protect Judith." Enid sighed, though she shrugged off her backpack and dropped it on the ground. "Lu, go upstairs."
"Carl-"
"I'm not alone anymore, am I?" He snapped. "Go." She huffed, shoving her gun into its holster and marching upstairs. She peaked into Judy's room, glad to see she was still asleep, before moving back to her and Carl's room. She stood in the window, watching the chaos unfold all around them.
