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chapter seventy-two | the withering flower
LAUREL STILL REMEMBERS the quote on her mother's tombstone. Underneath her name and the dates of her birth and devastating death, it read:
"From my rotting body flowers shall grow and I am them and that is eternity."
She wishes for the same quote to be carved into a stone over her grave. Not too soon. Not now.
A few hours earlier...
"I think it's too late."
Laurel stepped back from the double doors in front of her, grabbing both of her siblings and tugging them through the aisles, towards the back door. As quickly and quietly as she could, she unlocked the alarmingly amount of locks.
She placed her hand on the doorknob and twisted then tried to push the door open. It didn't budge. She tried again. Not even a centimeter. It was stuck. Walkers continued to pound against the front side of the station.
Ethan gently nudged Laurel to the side. He braced his shoulder against the door, glancing at both his sisters who watched him eagerly. He took a deep breath before stepping back and slamming his right side into the door, making it fling open to reveal a part herd of walkers on the other side, they looked at them and growled.
Ethan cursed, grabbing the handle of the door and shutting it close just before they could slip inside. He hurriedly locked the door again, before meeting Laurel's gaze. "What the fuck do we do?"
She shushed him, stepping back from the backdoor before turning towards the front. Her mind raced, thinking of a plan. The herd has already surrounded the gas station, the backdoor and front door was blocked. The only way out was to fight, but they were weak. She bit into the side of her cheek, tasting iron as she punctured her skin nervously.
Her train of thought broke when a crack echoed in the station. Her heart stopped. She slowly walked forward to the front, her body stiff with fear. She couldn't see it until the sound echoed again, her eyes darting to the farthest left window.
The window was breaking.
Another crack sent her into motion. She turned towards her siblings, "it's breaking," she said under her breath, "the windows are breaking."
Ethan ran a hand through his curls, stepping past her to look. When he saw the spider web break in the window, he cursed, forgetting he needed to not make any noise. "Fuck, fuck, fuck. We can't stay here."
Laurel put a finger to her lips to tell him to keep quiet. "Maybe they'll move on, but we have to stay quiet."
Cassie shook her head, "not unless something lures them away."
Laurel spun on her heels, looking around to see if anything in here could help them. All they had was trash and empty shelves.
