Alice was not worried of the unknown. She was worried of what she already knew. She was worried of the promises that the new people were making to her-the ones bringing the people of a fallen Woodbury into their own settlement. The girl felt sorry t...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
└───────────────────┘
A L I C E
ALICE DUNLAP DID NOT need a funeral to process everything she witnessed that night. Her loved ones had already become one with the soil, in the most violent of ways. With the silence that consumed the group from the instant those black trucks hauled away at the first sign of gloomy sunlight, she could still hear the static echo of the blows landing. The repetitive vibrations instilled themselves in her ears. The man crunched skulls just loud enough to transmit sound through the walkie Alice clutched with whitened knuckles. The wired bat even went so far as to hit the ground beneath the bashed brains of his victims. She could hear it scrape the gravel as their heads became less solid than the ground.
The terrifying part was that she didn't even need the walkie to hear it all. The thuds echoed through the trees surrounding her, shaking the area like an approaching earthquake, just milliseconds before the sound were to be sent through the walkie.
She listened, watching everything happening with widened eyes. There was nothing she could've done, nor could anyone else. She helplessly watched as Negan terrorized Carl and Rick, using him to break his own father like a wild horse.
The men packed up as if they were leaving community barbecue held in a city park. The only things left were one generously donated truck, their RV and the bodies of two men who Alice always adored. She remained stagnant, as did most of her group, for several minutes after they left.
The group sat around, remaining right where the Saviors left them, as any movement would continue the moment. Alice grabbed onto the tree she'd planted herself behind, her nails scratching down the bark as she fought her way onto her own two feet.
She slowly walked, having a destination but no determination to get there. She'd not seen anything up close, but there was no avoiding it. Her stride was not as silent as it once was as she allowed her foot to loudly drag onto the gravel, stepping off of the grass.
Some members of her group sharply turned at the sound of crunching gravel, their eyes widening at the sight of her. Once they realized it was only Alice, they resumed their grieving, carrying on despite the reflex.
However, one person kept their gaze locked on the girl. Carl was sitting in the gravel clearing, his eye having been averted from its stare on the ground. He was not seeing her, but discovering her.
The boy's head dropped, and so did his marked arm as he used it to push himself to his feet. He went hatless, his strands waving around as he finally stood tall. His stare was on the girl who continued to inch closer. Neither of them were crying—not anymore. Tear stains burned their cheeks with a sticky saltiness, but there was only emptiness in their shared glance.
