it almost worked

prolouge.

IT ALMOST WORKED !
the walking dead !
season 1 — season 11

   THE WORLD BRAVERY didn't always mean fearless, rather in some cases it meant pushing down the fear that threatened to consume a person whole, forcing their true feelings away while they fought to prove they were strong. prove that they were brave, it sounded silly, but many needed the validation that they were strong. they needed to prove to others that they could and they would be able to keep themselves and others safe during a time of crisis.

   many people step up, taking the lead and getting those close to them to safety. giving themselves the roll of making the hard choices. it was a heavy job, it could weigh someone down to no end. yet the people that did, the people that rose up and took charge when a crisis arose, they were the ones that didn't need the validation from those they kept safe. they were the few that built themselves up, used the mere fact that people were alive to keep themselves going. promising to keep them safe, while not being sure if they'd make it tommrow. being a true leader meant having to be willing to lay your own life on the line, willing to risk it all in order to keep those close to you alive.

   that had never been more apparent to natalia grimes. the simplest thing of not wanting to watch the people she cared for die, not wanting to lose them the way she'd lost so many. natalia was what so many people strived to be, yet the one thing they held in common with her; was fear. she hid it well, she had learned to do so. hide the fear that swam in her eyes, hide the small nervous fidgeting her hands did. she'd witnessed things no one should have to witness. she'd lost people and she'd gained people. she'd watched her father lead for years, keeping her and their people alive, getting them through things that seemed nearly impossible to get through. perhaps that, too, was what made her strive to be the best. it made her work harder, prove that she was as good of a leader as her father.

   natalia had lost people, she'd witnessed her parents and her brother die before her. at times she wondered if that was the reason she strived to keep everyone alive, if that was the real reason she'd grown to be so protective of the ones she cared for. perhaps it was the reason, or perhaps it was the mere fact that she'd lost nearly everyone she'd ever loved.

   the day the dead rose, natalia had been fearful, her eyes wide and glossy, her hands shaking at her sides and her teeth sank into her bottom lip. the day the dead rose, everything in her life changed. she would never be that same teenage girl who gossiped with her friends and snuck out with her best friend. the world had changed natalia grimes. for the better or for the worse, that was the real question.

WARNING — death, murder, guilt, survivors guilt, mentions of suicidal thoughts, attempted suicide, sexual assault, torture, mature themes, mature language, brief racism, depression, panic attacks, deep descriptions of losing a loved one, traumatic events.

DISCLAIMER — i do not own the walking dead, or any of its plot. i only own my ocs and their dialogue + backstory's and plot!!