𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. LVIII -《midnight snack》

.oOo.

Rick was sitting beside Alice in the shade of the back porch when Diana came upon them, seeking shelter from the pitying eyes. Without a word she sat down at her sister's side, feeling her body ache with every move as her eyes adjusted to the blinding midday sun.

Rick didn't let her presence disturb him as he nodded in greeting and resumed his talk, "No matter how angry or frustrated, we don't do this, Alice."

Ah, Diana thought, it was about that, of course. Her eyes glanced over the mound of upturned earth off at the back of the property. She had been shocked when she'd heard what her sister had done. As a nurse, it appalled her. As a sister, it also appalled her, but somehow didn't come as a complete surprise. Alice had been going on a downward spiral since it all started.

Loss after loss, grief on top of grief, inhumanity around every corner. It could desensitize one to death. Then, thinking she had lost her, that had been the last drop, Diana assumed.

In no way or form did Alice's struggle with her mental and personality disorders make her a killer, but it could help to understand why she would react the way she did in those circumstances.

"We don't kill people," Rick summarized, "That's not who we are."

"They're not people, they're beasts," Alice countered. Diana couldn't see her expression as she faced away from her, but she could hear the fury in her voice. "The only difference between them and those out there is these can pretend they're not. They can trick you and betray you." She stood up and pointed at the second floor of the house. "And if those two fuckers are willing to let themselves starve, why not show them the mercy they clearly don't deserve, and open up two other graves?"

Rick gave Diana a pointed look. "Diana," his tone was pointed as well, urging her to appeal to her sister's good nature, however deeply hidden it was.

"Look, I'm obviously biased," she started, gesturing at her slinged arm and bruised face. There was a moment of shame on Rick's face before Diana continued, "And we can argue all day about morals, but bottom of the line is, what's done is done." Diana looked up at her sister's amber glare. "I can't ground you or punish you or imprison you." To Rick, she said, "Their cruelty brought them to this point. Fertig."

"That woman held a knife to Lori's belly," Alice said after a beat of loaded silence. "If she'd hurt her, really hurt her... Wouldn't you've done whatever it takes to make her pay?"

Rick, presumably not able to deny it, held his words. His mouth twitched into a scowl for a second, and Diana knew he was imagining such a scenario.

"What should we do with Tim and... and Larry?" Rick asked Diana, running a hand down his exhausted face. "Tim's stab wound is infected. He's refusing treatment, food..."

Alice scoffed with a sarcastic smile. "Good, let him rot until his blood poisons him."

"Alice," he reprehended, more half-hearted than before.

"Nothing can ever make me regret what I did," were her parting words as she stomped up the stairs and let the door slam behind her.

"I can't speak to her for you," Diana said before Rick could even voice the question his eyes were asking, "I won't do that. You don't get to ask that of me." How ungenuine of her would it be to try to convince her sister to feel compassion for the people who left her to die. She understood Rick's need to keep their moral compass due North, but she couldn't help him this time. Not on this. It would be cruel of him to even ask.

He nodded, his eyes flitting across her body rapidly, taking in her visible injuries. "I'm sorry," he whispered as he stood up, "That should never have happened". His eyes were sincere as his hand rested on her undamaged shoulder before he left her to the summer's humid air.