Alyssa Chávez has felt alone for most of her life. She was never good at making friends. She always felt a distance between her and her family. So when the apocalypse happened, her social life didn't take much of a hit. After losing her family, Alys...
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ChapterFourteen Agony
Alyssa used to think of her body as a machine designed to do anything her mind desired. It obeyed her commands without complaint. She could run, dance, pick things up. But not now, not anymore. She was too tired to run, too weak to dance, too sore to pick up something heavier than an apple.
She felt like a Walker, dragging her feet over the ground with a blank, emotionless expression. Occasionally she would smile or talk whenever the others turned to her, but that was it. The painkillers weren't enough to actually do something to take away the pain, but it was all they had. And it was limited.
Someone stayed by Alyssa's side at all times to make sure she didn't collapse. Carl volunteered most of the time, but he switched with Maggie and Glenn sometimes, as per their request. Now was one of Maggie's turns. "You know you can ask for a break, right? None of us would mind," she assured her as they walked somewhere in the back.
Alyssa nodded. "I know. And I'll ask when I need one," she promised and paused to think for a moment. "Okay, I got one: would you rather be able to create any food at any time, but it's always one day past its use-by date, or would you rather be able to talk to animals, but they always insult you."
Maggie laughed and shook her head. "How do you come up with these?" she asked, which Alyssa answered with a shrug. "Okay. I would rather magically make expired foods appear because anything that isn't canned or packed with sugar is already expired anyway."
"Solid answer," Alyssa replied, nodding her head.
"I got one too. Would you rather have any power of your choosing, but you can only use it once a month, or-" Maggie was cut off by the sound of someone screaming for help. Carl urged his dad to go help and after some hesitation, they did.
The group ran toward the source of the noise. Maggie had wrapped Alyssa's arm around her shoulders so she could keep up. What they found was a priest screaming frantically for help as Walkers tried to claw at his feet. Carl shot one, Rick and Michonne both smashed a Walker's head in, Carol stabbed one and Daryl got the last one with his crossbow.
"We're clear. Keep watch, Rick instructed. He walked over to the priest sat on top of a rock and extended his hand. "Come on down," he told him. The priest gave them a weird look. "You okay?-"
The priest threw up onto the ground, narrowly avoiding Michonne's shoes. "Sorry," he mumbled once his stomach was empty. "Yes. Thank you. I'm Gabriel."
"Do you have any weapons on you?" Rick questions.
Gabriel chuckled nervously. "Do I look like I would have any weapons?"
"We don't give two short and curlies what it looks like," Abraham replied.
"I have no weapons of any kind," Gabriel told them. "The word of god is the only protection I need."
Alyssa had to resist laughing at his comment. So instead she made a sarcastic comment. "Yeah. Looks like the man really had your back there," she deadpanned.
