Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
THE DARKNESS SUFFOCATED West entirely, chokes of air slipping from her throat, and salty tears pattering onto the rusted floor. Months and months of wandering aimlessly, dreaming of reuniting into her sister's arms by death's hand, all sent to waste by the moment that had her crumbled down onto her knees. She remembered the motivation buried deep beneath her bones. The hazy imagine of knocking on death's door, grassy fields of light, and her sister waiting at the end with extended arms. When the fight to live ended, that was her assured peace. She was working hard for a purpose, a purpose to see Josie once more in the after life. She was gone as could be. Grief was something that no person could entirely heal from. The shift from a steady routine of love and quality time to a complete absence of their physical and emotional presence was something that ripped West from inside to out over and over and over again. The guilt was irreversible. As someone who was trained utterly to watch after Josie, to become a guardian in absence of her mother, she felt the undeniable culpability. That was another emotion that wouldn't derive from her brain. A child should never die before their parent, let alone a big sister, and it had West second-guessing all of her previous moves, pondering on what could've been done different. The sorrow was like no other. It was a death that would consume her life forever.
So, the shock when Josie's small face came into the little light present in the train-car was enough to nearly send West into a stroke. For almost ten seconds she stared, glancing around at more familiar faces, breath caught in her throat. She believed to be seeing a ghost, but the expectancy for a reaction emitting off of the rest of her family sent her straight to her knees, Josie in her grasp. Her cries were silent but of extreme measures; her face muscles contorted in ways she didn't know were possible. Her body shook with force, salty sweat and tears rinsing down her like a leaky faucet. West skimmed her bare fingers across Josie's saddened face as well, feeling the warmth of her cheeks, affirming that she was real. Multiple times she attempted to speak, but nothing but air came out, a strong wheezing sound, before her vowels finally came together into noise. "H-how? I saw you get bit." She broke down on the last word, happiness oozing from the girl. To see her loved one after belief of death, was a relief like no other, one she never felt before. To lose everything and come out with so many wins in the span of days was something West didn't believe could ever happen.
The next words altered not only the tension in the train car, but the course of events that would take place over the next couple of months for West herself. "I'm immune," Josie held out her arm and undid the bandage. "I'll explain everything to you." she breathed out.
The following couple of hours were spent as a quick debrief among the group, where West heard many names she hadn't before. Rick still had several people missing from his group. Beth, a girl taken from Daryl by someone in a black car with a cross on the back window. Maggie's sister. Tyreese, a man Sasha was close with. West remembered his name. Rick had said he had done something to him. Abraham spoke of DC and hopes of a cure, the process it took them to get there, what had happened upon arrival. Hushed voices filled the train car as they reviewed previous events, and used whatever they could left behind inside as a weapon. Scraps of metal, pieces off of belt buckles, zippers, chains, shoelaces and string all sharpened against the splintered wood of the walls. West sharpened a piece of an old screw against the floor, Josie balled up in her arms. With her other hand she ran it gently through her hair, and though Josie hated affection, she couldn't be happier to see her sister once more and feel her touch.
