OUTLIVE.
❝The dead were never the enemy.
It was the living. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK TWO of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 4 - 6 ]
*****
*I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its characters. I simply write to write. Astrid, any addi...
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[ lxvi. the cost it exacts ]
october 16th, 2012
➸➸➸
"COME ON, ASTRID. WE have to find Maggie."
Astrid felt a bead of sweat trickle down the tip of her nose. "Just let me finish this last knot," She replied, her hands working feverishly despite the urgency in Carol's voice.
Her gaze trailed along Donnie's limp form, bound against the cold block of the farthest chamber wall. His coppery blood filled the air. Astrid had untied his tourniquet, allowing him to bleed out slowly, but even in death, he was not at rest. His fingers twitched, his eyes flickering open to reveal a shade of yellowish-gray, the telltale sign of the undead. She could not pinpoint the exact moment he had slipped away beneath her fingertips, but it left her feeling no remorse. His reanimation meant one less obstacle standing in her way.
Carol's hand fell upon her shoulder, tearing her attention away from the fresh body. "That's enough," She insisted. "We need to go, now."
Astrid huffed. Then she turned away from the walker that had once been Donnie and followed Carol out of the chamber. A familiar hallway stretched before her. "Follow me," She instructed.
The two women moved in silence, the only sound the echo of their footsteps against the rust-stained floor. Astrid kept close to the wall. Halfway down the walkway, Astrid briefly paused and strained her ears for any sound of approaching walkers or their captors' return. But all she heard was more silence.
Finally, Astrid reached the door to her own former interrogation room. Her heart began to beat unsteadily in her chest as she braced herself for what lay beyond. Relief flooded her when she saw Maggie standing alone within it, her own chair knocked sideways, her hands still bound with duct tape. Astrid rushed forward and tore the restraints from her wrists.
As soon as she was free, Maggie threw her arms around the Dixon woman. "Are you all right?" She demanded.
Astrid nodded against her shoulder. "Are you?" She returned. "You didn't tell Michelle anything, did you?"
"No," Maggie answered. "I didn't say a word. How did you manage to get out?"
"We'll discuss it later. Right now, we need to get out of here," Carol interjected. "They're spread out. We can slip past them."
Astrid's head shook vehemently. "There's no slipping away quietly," She countered. "We can't afford to leave them alive."
Carol's brows furrowed. "What about earlier?" She asked. "You wanted to avoid the fight. You still have that choice, Astrid. We can just leave."
"There is no choice, Carol. There never was," Astrid retorted. "If we spare them, we're risking ourselves. We have to come for them before they come for us."
