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October 8th, 2013
"Mom, mom, don't leave me here!" Fire burned high, seeping from broken windows and through the roof. Screams erupted from those not lucky enough, or those trying to escape the flames that reached for them like roamers desperate arms.
"I have to go! I'm sorry! Stay with Lola!" Carmen yelled out in response. Her sweaty palm broke from Reigns, eliciting a tear-soaked scream from the teenage girl.
"Mom!" She screamed out. She didn't care who heard her. Gunshots rang out against the dark, smokey sky as a pair of arms dragged her back, away from the flames.
"Reign! We have to go! We don't have time!" Lola yelled over her own ringing ears. She was yanked away, long enough to miss the bullet hitting the tank. With a loud popping noise, smoke and flames erupted, sending the roof off the building, roamers and humans alike, miles into the distance as the rest were engulfed in fire.
Hell is what it was. And it wasn't escapeable.
BEEP BEEP BEEP!
"Holy fuck!" Reign let out an exasperated groan at the sound of a loud alarm clock. She didn't remember setting it. She didn't care, now she was awake.
Her hand first slammed into something, the lamp. She picked her arm up once again, repeatedly slapping the table until the beeping stopped. "Thank you, Jesus!" Almost as if on cue, there was a sharp yet soft knock on the door.
"Keri! Breakfast is ready! Get yourself up and dressed!" it was Rick who called out, using a nickname Reign didn't recognize.
"Keri?" she whispered under her breath. "I'll be down in a minute!" With a groan, she threw her legs over her bed, stretching out her sore limbs. Her entire body was achey from finally getting rest, but it wasn't anything she wasn't used to.
Her bare feet on the cold hardwood shot chills up her spine. She padded over to her closet, pulling out her first findings, a baggy black T-shirt with some band she's never heard of on it, sinched cargo pants, and her now clean converse.
She brushed out her hair, opting to leave it down because it was way too early to be fucking around with it. She quickly brushed her teeth in the attached bathroom, changed her bandages and made her way downstairs again.
There was an aroma of sweets throughout the house. Reign could see that there were all sorts of foods dished out on the kitchen table, along with drinks, and a handmade banner which reads "WeLCOmĒ H⁰Me!!"
"This totally doesn't feel like an intervention," Reign thought out loud. Rick let out a chuckle, placing his hand on Reign's shoulder.
"We wanted to give you a proper Grimes family welcome. Things got off on a bad foot, we know."
Reign smiled. They seemed to genuinely care. "Ah... Oh..."
"Hope you don't have a nut allergy?" Carl spoke, taking a bite from a peanut butter and chocolate chip cookie.
"Just wild berries," Reign grinned taking one of the cookies.
"So, how was your first night?" Carl asked, handing her a plate.
"Slept," Reign shrugged.
"It's a start. We're glad to have you join us. Seriously, we are," Rick assured her.
"I'm glad to be here," Reign nodded, taking a bite of the cookie. They were fresh, the chocolate chips melting on her tongue. She smiled in both delight and surprise.
"Thank Carol. She's got an amazing cookie recipe," Carl spoke. Reign nodded.
"I want to say thank you to you. For giving me a place. I know it's technically Deanna's place... But still," Reign shrugged, taking another bite from her cookie.
"Always," Rick nodded, taking a cookie for himself, "We're not letting a kid stay out there like that. Especially if those idiots are gonna keep those things on leashes."
"Not the weirdest thing I've ever seen someone do to a walker. Leashes, pikes, nets, literally anything but getting rid of them. Sometimes I think they don't want it to go back to normal," Reign spoke. She took a seat at the kitchen table, propping her head on the table.
"Do you? Do you think it'll ever go back to normal?" Carl butted in.
"Repopulate and get rid of those things, maybe. Come up with a cure, a way to solve all this, maybe. But we're never, ever going back to normal."
