Down by the water • TWD

Restart.

Then.

She missed the farm, she missed the feeling of security. She missed sleeping, she missed waking up to birds chirping and cows mooing. She missed how normal it all felt, how she got used to it. It felt like home, like somewhere she could stay forever. 

But nothing lasts forever.

They were five months into living on the road. Five months of soreness, tiredness, and emptiness. Avery's been thinking more and more about her mother and how much she missed her. She loved everyone around her, they were everything to her. But none of them were her mom. She would see how Carl treated Lori and wish Carl would be more grateful for what was in front of him. Avery would do anything to have her mom, and Jackson would do anything for his back. She wanted Carl to realize having his mom in this world was a blessing, no matter what she did.

She's your mother.

Avery was walking through the woods alone, knife in her hand, alert. It was late, another sleepless night. She didn't want to talk to anyone, she didn't want to see anyone. She wanted to walk through the woods, she wanted to run into walkers. She wanted to kill them and let her anger out. She used to hate the feeling of rage, but now she's come to enjoy it. She feels powerful and untouched.

She paused when she heard the growls and moans before she could see the walker. She readjusted the grip on her knife squeezing tighter. She could hear the twigs snapping and the trees rustling. She stayed still, waiting for the walker to come into view. 

She didn't waste any time stabbing her knife into its skull. She could see the body go limp, dragging her body forward as she held onto her knife. She felt herself take a deep breath before ripping it out of the flesh. She could hear another coming, but she wasn't opposed to it. She knew she shouldn't go too deep into the woods, she didn't want to get lost. But the trees and darkness were drawing her further in. 

She had killed two more walkers, stabbing them in the brain. She couldn't believe what she was doing, how she was going about her emotions. It was something he would never imagine herself doing, ever. But here she was, killing walkers to feel better about herself. 

Then all at once, it hit her. everything she has been trying so hard to keep hidden away. She slammed her back into a tree feeling herself become unsteady. She wanted to scream, so loud to just feel like she was heard. She couldn't cry, she didn't have any tears left. She felt the world had stopped, she couldn't hear the crickets anymore, couldn't hear herself breathing. All she felt was her heartbeat against her skin.

The girl couldn't hear the leaves rustling, or the twigs snapping. She couldn't hear the growls, or the moans, or the footsteps getting closer and closer. She was snapped out of her trance by something grabbing her arm roughly. She tried to rip her arm away as the walker attempted to bite her arm. She fought as hard as she could, pulling away from the grip across her forearm. The walker was stuck on the tree branches, keeping it away from every part of her body except her arm. She could feel herself start to panic. As hard as she resisted the walker kept pulling back, getting closer to her skin each time. Avery closed her eyes, waiting for the moment her strength wouldn't be enough. 

Then out of nowhere, there was no longer any force pulling on her arm. She opened her eyes looking for the walker. It was on the ground, dead. She was confused as to how it died, she didn't kill it. So who did? That's when she looked closer and saw it.

A bolt.

Avery cursed to herself internally. She knew that meant Daryl was here, in the woods, where she was supposed to be alone.