𝕃𝕠𝕧𝕚𝕟𝕘 𝕒𝕟𝕕 𝔽𝕚𝕘𝕙𝕥𝕚𝕟𝕘 | Daryl Dixon

1 | THE BIG CITY

The sun bounced off the pale skin of her wrist, highlighting the dark green ink that drew the several small stars and dots. The image was exposed by the sleeve which had bunched up around her elbows as her arms bent. A bracelet was also present on the same wrist, tiny black stars threaded onto a thin string that wrapped around her right wrist, tight enough to stay on, loose enough to be breathable.

The grey hood of Tori Stark's black leather jacket was pulled up over her head, hiding the small headphones over her ears, plugged into the metallic blue Walkman clipped to her belt. The song, 'Brandy - You're a Fine Girl' echoed against her eardrums, but not too loud that she was deaf to every other sound.

"But he made it clear, he couldn't stay. The harbour was his home. The sailor said, 'Brandy'...," she hummed along to the tune, tapping her foot to the beat.

It was a rather upbeat tune, largely connoting the location where she stood. Long, dusky curls swayed in the breeze, fanning down her right side, almost reaching the waistband of her dark green jeans as she stood on the fire escape up the side of the brick building. Her dark blue eyes were hidden behind the large binoculars she held up to her face, scanning over the city below.

The loud call of crows echoed over her head as the flock of birds flew by, their trajectory thrown off by a harsh gust of wind. With it, that same breeze carried a rotten waft of the hundreds upon thousands of mindless dead corpses milling around the next street over, unaware of the fresh meat watching them.

Tori lived in the city of Atlanta pretty much her entire adult life. Several years of growing up all contained within the once bustling town. And yet, she recognised none of it. Coming here was like watching a TV show after skipping an entire season. You understand the foundations of the show, but the story itself is lost on you.

This wasn't Tori's first time returning to these streets since the world fell apart, but every time she walked these parts, it was hard to believe how quickly it had changed.

The roads and sidewalks were littered with all kinds of trash, smashed glass, discarded pieces of torn clothing. Cars and vans were abandoned and shattered, crashed together and most likely to never be moved again. The state of the city perfectly framed the panic and torment that had occurred the moment the bodies of the dead began to rise and hunt down the living.

For a little while, Tori stood on that platform, eyes watching the distant geeks as their groans paired with the whistling wind. Apart from the music in her headphones, it was deathly quiet; a fitting sound for the sight it was linked to.

"-What a good wife you would be... But my life, my love, and my lady... Is the sea..."

As the song on the tape ended, a new noise made her ears perk up. She lowered the binoculars, so the heavy black metal hid her face, allowing her to see with her naked eyes.

She lifted her hood and took off the headphones, rolling up the thin wire and hooking the headphones around the Walkman for safe keeping on her hip. The bright orange of the foam ear protectors served as a contrast to the dark colours of her clothes.

The sound was a soft gallop - like that of a horse. It was getting a little louder the closer it got, and Tori found herself leaning over the yellow railing of the platform her boots were stuck to. The action did little to improve her view. But the source of the galloping finally rounded the corner onto the main road.

Tori held the binoculars to her eyes again, looking through the glass lenses to see a man sat atop a large brown horse. He wore a cowboy hat and a khaki shirt, looking like a cop. He had a large bag over his shoulder with a word written on the side, but the distorted image through the binoculars made it impossible to read.