𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXXIII - 《good sister™》

oOo

Diana could cry with relief! Those might as well have been the golden gates of Heaven opening up.

She was shortly blinded by the contrast before her eyes grew used to the brightness. She wanted nothing more than to grab her siblings and get all their asses inside, safe and sound. There was a sense of accomplishment, of gained freedom.

Rick walked in first with cautious step and a trained eye. He scanned the spacious inside and gestured for the rest to follow after him. Daryl covered the back, his crossbow smartly trained on any slowly approaching walker.

Diana ushered Felix after Shane and Dale, the boy's hand sweaty in hers. She quickly shouldered her bow to grasp at Alice's shirt, dragging her along. The girl protested and swatted at her sister's arm, trying to pry her fingers loose. Diana didn't care nor did she let go.

Once inside, the group spread about, taking everything in, searching the vastness of the lobby for any clue as to who had just saved their hides.

Rick's voice echoed off the walls as he called, "Hello?" over and over.

Diana felt small in that immensity, a sense of awed disbelief in face of the situation was filling her. She'd always imagined her quest for answers would be a long one, filled with trials. And although their journey had had its share of danger and tragedy, it hadn't taken long to reach the final destination.

"Let go of me," echoed Alice's hiss, and she sunk her fingernails into Diana's wrist in an attempt to ditch her.

Diana yelped and snatched her hand away, releasing Felix as well. She rubbed the half circles engraved atop her blue veins, then threw a hurt frown over her shoulder at a low-key smug Alice.

"Hello?" Rick called once more. The sound of a firearm locking had them startled and searching for the source. The children were dragged to the middle, away from the front entrance but also from any possible new threat.

Those who were armed had them ready for the offensive, which included Diana, an arrow nocked and aimed at the ground at her feet.

The newcomer, a middle-aged fair-headed man, stood ahead of them, in a doorway at the top of a staircase. His shotgun was trained on them, and his eyes were narrowed in scrutiny.

"Anybody infected?" he shouted, first thing. Well, good to see he had his priorities straight.

"One of our group was," Rick answered for them. He shook his head once and added, "He didn't make it."

Diana had to wonder, though. If Jim had been with them, would he have even been allowed inside? Would this man have even opened his doors to him? To any of them? Would he have condemned all their fates because of a sole desperate person in search of help?

The man descended the stairs slowly, aiming in their general direction. His eyes examined them, possibly trying to detect any irregularity - features twisted in pain, a change in posture, a favored limb, maybe.

He stopped a few steps short of the last one and asked slowly, "Why are you here? What do you want?"

Diana wanted to step in front of Alice and Felix but was afraid the movement would cause the man's attention to fall on them. Her heart was pounding with anxiety and slowly mounting rage.

One thing was to point a gun at her - she'd stared down plenty of barrels at the Vatos' hideout - but another was to have her brother and sister in the way of a bullet. The thought made her blood run cold and her guts tightened into knots.

The bow buzzed under her skin.

"A chance," Rick said, answering his question.

The man descended some more steps, confidence in his gait despite being outnumbered. "That's asking an awful lot these days."