Torn Apart • TWD

Chapter 27 - breathing

The child flinches into consciousness at the sudden sound of banging, she instantly groans at the rude awakening and groggily cracks her eyes open to peek out from behind the sofa to see Merle going about his business, not caring about waking her.

His shirt has been changed to a less bloody one, but other than that the man looks the exact same as yesterday; evil and withered, like Cruella De Vil, and the girl has no doubt he has killed a puppy at least once in his life.

He's clearly in a hurry, moving around fast and not staying in one place too long, going in and out of rooms and then coming back. Tessa catches her knife still hanging off the man's belt, her fingers almost curl as if ready to hold it, the same way people's mouths water at the sight of food.

"Rise 'n shine, girl," the Cruella wannabe rasps out, attaching his blade to the metal encasing his wrist. "Get up, we're goin' out," he orders and unlocks the front door.

"Where?" She asks suspiciously while wiping the sleep from her eyes, the man is in a good mood despite only having a few hours of sleep as she did, the only conclusion she can think of is that he got permission to kill her.

"The Gov wants to talk to ya," Merle informs then mutters out joyfully, "Finally gettin' rid of ya."

Tessa, instantly excited by getting to leave him, jumps up and follows him out the door. However, the happiness was premature because the plan in which Merle and his house are both essential would then be out of her reach.

The child follows the man out, both keeping the other in their sights, though Tessa is distractedly looking around, trying to figure out how to stay with the shitty man for just one more day. They pass all the familiar buildings she memorised with people standing guard, but the difference in their journey from yesterday is that there are also people without weapons who are walking the streets.

She gets some stares from people around, curious about this newcomer and why she is with Merle of all people — who is just grateful that she wiped away the blood or they would be getting people coming up and asking if she were alright. The girl just ignores the stares, but one person catches her eye, someone very familiar to a woman she briefly knew.

She doesn't even register that her legs are taking her away from Merle, too focused on the woman who's slightly facing away from the girl enough so the woman can't see her, but that the girl can see her enlarged belly and brunette hair.

Merle had done a double take when he saw Vega stray from the path, he quickly follows after the child, about to grab her so they could get back on their route, but by the time he had wrapped a large hand around her arm, she had already tapped the woman's shoulder.

Tessa knows the woman isn't Lola's mother, but the resemblance just threw her off to the point she wanted to talk to her. The woman cuts off her conversation with the man in front of her to turn and see the small girl staring up at her. She smiles down at the child, "Hello-"

"Pregnant or fat?" She interrupts, making the woman let out a confused chuckle, Merle shakes his head in disbelief and tugs at her arm which she ignores.

"Pregnant," she nods with a friendly smile aimed at the curious little kid. "I'm Abigail and this is my husband, Edward," she introduces and her husband gives the girl a wave.

"Are you new here?" Edward asks, looking at Tessa from over his wife's shoulder as she caresses her stomach.

"Name's Vega, she just got 'ere and needs to see the Governor now," Merle says impatiently which she refrains from rolling her eyes at.

The couple looks ready to let her leave, but hundreds of questions are resurfacing that the child didn't get the chance to ask Lori before her demise, she hasn't seen another pregnant woman since and wants answers to the hundreds of questions her curious brain has conjured up, "Is it a boy or a girl?"