THICK SKULL , twd [ 1 ]

11. what once was

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            TWO GUARDS STAND ABOUT a hundred feet from the group. Woodbury is quiet, lights are on and if Koa didn't know what was happening in the world, she might've been convinced the end of the world never happened.

                  The admiration only goes so far though. The anger towards Woodbury is more apparent in her grip on her blade and deep breaths to calm herself. Glenn and Maggie are in there. Their bodies could be cold by now. It makes Koa sick.

                      Nellie doesn't want to be here. The sight of the town makes her livid. These people attempted to kill her mom and more than likely would've tried to kill her if she had been with her mom. They're a fraud. A mask of a home.

                 The group hides behind a car, watching the guards carefully. They're all waiting patiently for their opportunity to infiltrate the town. Problem is, the Hawthorne's aren't patient people. Michonne taps Nellie's shoulder, gesturing for her to follow her into the woods. She starts to walk off into the woods and Nellie blindly goes after her, ignoring the whispers from the strangers they've found themselves with.

             "We leavin' them?" Nellie whispers. "No, findin' a way in," Michonne corrects.

              Koa sucks on her teeth. They don't have people in there. They don't have family. If these women fuck up and Glenn and Maggie lose their lives, if they aren't already dead, because of them, Koa will kill them herself. "Damnit," Rick curses, "Alright, we. need to downsize."

                    The adults hide their bigger guns, replacing them with their pistols. "Do we go after them?" Koa asks, "What if they fuck this up for us?" Her words waver and she hates it, showing fear when she needs to be tough. "Hold on, Koa. Okay? We won't let that happen," Rick assures the teen, resting a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Ain't no way we're gonna check in all them buildings, not with all them guards there," Daryl says.

                "Don't kidnapped victims usually end up in a basement? Or a shed?" Koa questions, trying to remember all those true crime shows Shane would watch or the cases he'd tell her about. He had a thing for telling her and her sister about all the girls that would go missing in Kings County when they'd be out for too long or when Sadie would sneak out.

She had once been cautious but in the end she thinks it just gave her an anxiety disorder.

Or was it the absentee parents with drug addictions? The former sounds more pleasant.

                      A twig snaps from behind them, scaring them all into turning around. Their weapons are ready to shoot but their hearts slow down once they see Michonne and Nellie. "Shush," Michonne says and then mouths for them to follow her. Koa forces herself to trust these women. They know Woodbury, her group doesn't. She doesn't even get the go ahead from Rick before she sets off behind them.