Alice was not worried of the unknown. She was worried of what she already knew. She was worried of the promises that the new people were making to her-the ones bringing the people of a fallen Woodbury into their own settlement. The girl felt sorry t...
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A L I C E
ALICE DUNLAP, AT FIRST, felt like she and everyone she cared about were far beyond the point of return. Only now, days after the group had hit rock bottom, did she feel as though they were beginning to make their way back up.
Terminus was what sparked the first bit of hope in the lethargic, heavy eyes of Carl, Rick, Michonne and Alice. The four had just narrowly escaped a group of bandits, earlier that day—Rick coming in closest contact with them. Although spirits weren't necessarily high, they went on about their scattered lives, making the best with what little they had.
Their destination became a mere afterthought following their full day of traveling. The priority was their safety, even if that were to deter the group from approaching the promises made by the signs—the only remaining way to safely portray word of mouth. They still weren't even sure whether or not to put their trust in what was waiting for them at the end of the train tracks.
Carl and Alice knew that they'd been settled in for the night early so that Rick and Michonne could discuss the logistics of Terminus without being pressured by the hopeful looks in their eyes. They were concealed from the adult conversation by the thin, metal walls of the car that they were supposed to be sleeping in. Instead, the two figured that it was time to be having a conversation of their own.
"A walker came that close to me?" Alice's eyes widened.
This was the first time that the boy recounted everything that happened while she was unconscious. With every consecutive detail, more and more chills began to ripple down Alice's spine.
"It wasn't just the walker. You were constantly that close t—to death." Carl followed with a reluctant nod, looking over his shoulder at the girl sitting in the backseat. "Before everything went south, it was already on its way there—or at least it felt like it."
She furrowed her eyebrows. "What do you mean?"
Carl shrugged before repositioning his body to face her, throwing his legs over the center console. "More people died in quarantine. They turned. The main fence came crashing down. We handled it, but we still lost people. That almost included you."
Alice stared at the remorseful look on the boy's face. The guilty thoughts behind his eyes lingered evidently as he tried to protect her from the gruesome details. She would never fully understand the extent to which her life was endangered, and she was beginning to think that maybe she didn't want to understand.
