The Swan Verse: A Walking Dead Fanfiction

Chapter 5 - The Aftermath

It had been a few days since the death of both Annette and Shawn, the atmosphere was sad and heavy. No one talked to Lucy apart from Maggie and her siblings. They viewed her as a bad curse. Lucy ended up sleeping in her car, only ever taking a foot inside to use the bathroom. Alison and Wiliam would often bring her food and water, wanting to check in on her. Currently, Lucy was down by the tree, practising her knife throwing, not that she needed the practise.

Alison was growing increasingly worried about her sister. Of course, she did understand that Hershel had some bad blood against Lucy, even though she had tried to explain the situation and defend Lucy, he just wasn't in a state to be reasoned with and who could blame him? He had just lost his wife and son, it was too soon to push him and Alison accepted that, even if she thought he was wrong.

Ali made her way down to Lucy's makeshift camp which just consisted of her sleeping in her car and spending most of her time outside. "You know you don't have to stay out here. Nobody is going to kill you for coming inside" Ali said softly, offering her sister a bottle of water.

"Yeah well if looks could kill I would be dead already" She spoke angrily and threw her last knife at the tree. "I don't blame them for being pissed off, it's my fault"

Ali shook her head "Did you bite him?" She asked, arching a brow. "Because I don't think you did. Shawn was old enough to know he shouldn't have been going out." Alison continued.

"But none of us really knew how bad or serious this was" She rebutted "They make me feel like I pulled the trigger and killed him".

"Well I'm telling you that you didn't. As far as we know, nobody did." Alison said, wanting to console Lucy. "I know this must be hard for you, but genuinely, if he'd been going out every week, this could have happened at any other time. Just because you saw him leave doesn't mean you could have stopped him" Alison offered.

"Thanks Ali" She smiled ever so slightly at the girl, this being the first glimpse of hope from her. "Maybe me, you and Will can take the horses out again, go to a nearby town, see what's going on?" She asked.

Alison nodded, always happy for some time out with the horses "sounds like a good plan" She nodded "But we may wanna avoid towns, after what happened to Shawn, I couldn't bear to lose you or William like that, so we've gotta stay safe" Alison said.

"I get that, but if we have the three of us, plus Hershel has guns, I'm sure we'll be fine. We need to know more about what we're dealing with here" Lucy argued but not in a rude manner, in a passionate way, she wanted redemption for her own sanity more than anything.

"Lucy..." Alison began "It's scary out there now" She said softly "I don't know if I wanna know anymore. I'm terrified'' she admitted.

"I get that..." Lucy nodded and grabbed her knives from the tree trunk "I'm going to go have a nap, I'll catch you later"

Ali nodded, noticing how tired her sister looked. The recent losses and stress had taken their toll on everyone, Lucy most of all. "Are you sure I can't convince you to come back in with me?" She asked one more time.

"Maybe later" She smiled at her sister before heading towards her car. Little did Ali know she was going out with or without her.

Once Alison was back inside, Lucy headed over to Will who was out tending the farm "Billy" She called out to him. His attention turned to her, his smile wide. He had been worried about his sister, she was being more recluse than normal.

"What's up Luce?" He asked, giving her a gentle hug as she was close. Lucy returned the much needed embrace.

"We should take the horses out for a ride, I need the distraction" She spoke softly, playing on emotions.