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CHAPTER TWO: NEWCOMERS HAVE A CERTAIN SMELL
( tw! mentions of assault & self-harm )
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MELANIE DIDN'T SLEEP much. In her dreams, she traveled back to that cold, dark basement. She felt the chains on her wrists and ankles. She felt the permanent deep cuts they left as they rubbed against her wrists. She remembered how her blood ran cold the second she heard footsteps coming down to the basement and how fast her heart sped up. She remembered the feeling of their hands on her and how disgusting she felt afterward, how much she wished to be dead instead of endure their torture. It plagued her mind constantly, especially in her dreams, so Melanie rarely slept.
Her bedroom window was right above a ledge that jutted out a few feet over the right side of the house over the wrap-around porch. Melanie frequently crawled out of the window and sat on the ledge. She would watch the stars, counting the constellations. The nice thing about the world going to shit was no pollution from humans, so you could see all the stars and sometimes, if you were lucky, you could see the Milky Way. Melanie always knew there were millions of stars in the sky but knowing and actually seeing were two very different things. She had spent many sleepless nights in Alexandria and outside the walls before she had arrived, just staring at the stars.
Melanie rubbed the sleep out of her eyes as the sun started to peak over the horizon, the stars disappearing, making room for the sun to shine. The Alexandria Safe Zone started to wake up as she watched windows light up. The night shift watch guard climbed down from their towers and switched off with the day shift. They were the only people in Alexandria who were allowed weapons, besides when Margot, Aiden, and Nicholas would go on runs. Melanie felt naked without a gun on her, so she frequently carried a knife, hiding it from the view of the people of Alexandria.
Melanie went back into her bedroom through her window as the sky turned orange and pink. She knew Margot was awake as well. Something Melanie and Margot had in common was they both didn't sleep well. Even behind steel walls, they constantly had their guard up but Margot was much better at hiding it than Melanie was. Melanie thought it was because Margot was older and thought she needed to be strong for her sister. Melanie wished Margot would stop trying to be a mother figure and just go back to being a sister.
Melanie didn't feel like talking to Margot so Melanie snuck out through the backdoor of the house while Margot was still in her bedroom. Melanie brought a book with her as she wanted to sit in one of the gazebos in Alexandria and read. She frequently sat in that gazebo reading books and comics or occasionally sketching random doodles. Sometimes she just liked to sit and people watch. It was interesting to watch people act like nothing had happened to the world.
