crooked heart → the walking dead ⁵

[ 021 ] lines we cross.

CROOKED HEART.

chapter twenty-one, lines we cross.
[ season ten, episode one ]

MAGGIE,

WE GOT NEWS that Rosita had her baby. She named her Sorocoo Espinosa. But all of us call her CoCo for short.

Aside from that, the Hilltop is going through a tough spot right now. Ever since we lost Flynn, it's like Cori's been detached. She told me she has a constant ringing in her ears, that she can barely get herself to function. And I get it. I probably get it better than anyone else inside our walls.

Cori got pneumonia. I'm pretty sure it was from when we helped the Kingdom to the Hilltop. It was really bad for a long time. It was terrifying. Maggie, I thought I was going to lose her. It reminded me so much off—

But Siddiq had to come all the way out here to help with her. I couldn't handle it alone. I'm so thankful for him.

But, her lungs haven't fully recovered yet. She struggles to breathe sometimes. That's another reason she stays in bed. Almost everything causes her to lose all breath.

The people of the Kingdom are still here. It's a struggle feeding so many people but we have some good hunters. Alden and Brielle go out to hunt all the time. They're some of the best we have. Cori's amazing, too, but like I said, she can barely get outside most days.

But we're making it as best we can.

I need you, though. I need you so much, Mags. I've never led a community by myself before. It's always been Tara, Jesus, Cori, and I. Now Jesus and Tara are dead and Cori might as well be. I'll never admit it again but I'm struggling. So much has happened and I'm the one everyone is looking to now. I don't know if they remember but I also lost my son. I've had no time to mourn Flynn like Cori and Brielle have. I've been running around this community for months doing whatever needs to be done.

I very rarely get a moment to sit down and process what's happened. So, I need your help, Maggie. I need you to come home.

Odessa.

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Winter dies hard and summer comes with ease.

The letter is sent during the beginning of spring when the struggle truly begins to set in. But after a long, cramped winter and an even longer spring, the people of the Kingdom and the Hilltoppers begin to set into a routine.

Most of the winter is spent training. Odessa falls into her own routine of many sleepless nights as she trains herself mentally and physically. She betters her already amazing fighting techniques. She blocks out the world around her as she trains. Her muscle mass grows slightly over the winter months.

Many others trains as well. Brielle included. Cori trains with her bow, but she has to sit down every very minutes.

The two seek revenge, just as the rest of the community does. But there is a certain bloodlust in their eyes as they train, always imagining that Alpha is the one in front of them as they practice with their weapons.