IVORY | Carl Grimes

twelve - quandary ;

— FLASHBACK —

every since saskia had discovered the first sign tainted with the blood of a walker that spelled out her name, she continued hear search with fervor, which resulted in her finding two others. the maps had begun to ingrain in her mind. each culmination promised her, albeit feebly, that her hope was still worthy. sawyer was out there and the constant reassurance of that fact was enough to keep the young brunette going.

the sun's position in the sky helped saskia deem that it was about midday; approximately seven or eight days after she had located the first sign on the road. saskia fervently searched for another from dawn to dusk, all along the tracks.

"he's out there," the girl whispered to herself comfortingly, feeling the bitter cold envelop her.

the threat of being caught by bandits due to the allure of a fire's wispy smoke was much too great. threats were all around her. her childhood floated up away into the sky much like the smoke had. it was now unreachable. she was thirteen and yet the childhood innocence that once filled her had faded and been lost to the clouds.

her feet began to ache and her body had zoned in on the feeling the weight of the pack on her back. it was no longer numb. the trek throughout the forest would have to wait as the young girl scouted the trees for one suitable to climb. she slung her pack up first, watching as it forced the dust lining the branch to flourish outwards and fly away.

with a grunt, she swung her feet up and climbed hastily using the upper body strength she had gained during multiple fights with the undead. the callouses lining her hands allowed her to maintain a strong grip on the weathered tree. her body had adapted to the new world with ease.

she had not been able to discern how long she had been in the tree before the promise of a few minutes of resting her eyes soon overtook her. those simple few minutes grew into hours, possibly. saskia would never be able to find out the exact measure of time leading up to the next event. one she was sure she would remember for all of her time.

the crunch of a leaf underfoot caused saskia to be ripped from her sleep much like the leaf had its stem.  her grip on one of the tree's limbs tightened, and she slowly peeked her head downwards from the clump of limbs she had been sitting on.

to her surprise, a man, whose face she could not make out due to position he was in, was battling a band of walkers under her. grunts occasionally escaped his mouth as he finished each walker off. she stayed still up among the branches even when a walker came up behind him, which she was sure he had not seen. saskia remained in her tree. watching. waiting.

she had not moved, not until the man's face was viewable and her heart dropped. it fell through her much like she did out of the tree. immediately, her feet flew towards the ground, landing in a crouched position, before her knife was readied. quickly, she took out the walker closest to him that was about to derive a chunk of flesh from his shoulder.

saskia's eyes brightened at the sight of the lone man. he had turned around very quickly, gun unholstered as he picked up the sound of another human. he had posed them as a threat and remained in that mindset until he had watched the human push back a strand of her hair.

the gun clattered to the forest floor. the sound was muffled by the leaves, but none would have heard it as all noise around them drowned out. that aspect of her memory was lost to the void of nothingness.

"saskia?"

"sawyer?"

their embrace was strong. sawyer wound his arms around his beloved little sister as she dug her head deep into the crook of his shoulder. both were afraid to ever let go. sawyer assessed his sister quickly, checking for injuries, before planting a brief but loving kiss to her forehead. her strength never failed to astonish him.