𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. XXXIX - 《i'm walking on sunshine》

oOo

"Hey, y'all seen Alice?"

At the mention of her sister's name, Diana almost whirled towards the source, craning her neck to see above the others' heads.

"Y'all seen her or not?" Daryl repeated with impatience when he encountered stunned looks of confusion.

Some looked at each other with questioning raises of their brow, others at their surroundings, expecting to see her just standing there unannounced. It was ridiculous; she was small, but not so that she'd go unseen amongst their people.

Diana took a step toward him, gently pushing Andrea aside; why was he asking? A cold shiver went down her spine as if someone had slipped an ice cube inside her shirt. Her eyes found Felix on the other side of the road, and the horror-stricken expression on his face further told her that something wasn't right. Her legs felt weak.

Glenn spoke up, cracking the frozen silence, "I spoke to her like ten minutes ago," he jutted a thumb in the direction she and Felix had come from. "Said she'd left something behind, wouldn't take long..." The decrease of tone in his voice showed the slow realization. His apologetic gaze found Diana.

"You've got to be kidding me," Shane breathed out in exasperation.

Ice spread through Diana's veins, a cold sweat breaking through her pores. Her eyes widened and she stared at Daryl, who found her gaze with his determined one.

He narrowed his eyes, turned heel and left the way Glenn had pointed. Diana followed.

oOo

Felix scraped his fingernails along his shorn curls, scratching his scalp in helplessness. He thought Alice wouldn't go, he'd asked her not to do it. Why did he ever believe she would do as asked? He should've known she would do the exact opposite if only just to spite his request.

Why did his sister have to be so fucking bullheaded? Did she think she was being helpful? That they'd look at her disappearance, deliberate or not, and think "Now that's a young lady that has her head screwed on tight, no cups missing from that cupboard, that's for sure!"

All she was doing was causing more worries. At this rate, he'd be having a heart attack by the age of sixteen!

He'd never expected apocalyptic life to be easy and free of trouble – he'd have to be very stupid and very naïve to think so – but he also hadn't expected to be anxiety-ridden every hour of every day. Was it even normal that his chest was feeling so constricted? His vision was filling with dark spots and he heard everything as if from the other side of a tunnel.

That didn't feel right. Shit, where was Diana? He had to ask her about it, she'd know.

T-Dog grabbed him by an arm to straighten him up, and it felt like his bones were made of jelly. "Hey, bro, you alright? You ain't looking so fresh." Said by a man suffering from blood loss, ashen in the face. Wow, Felix must really be looking shitty.

He nodded loosely, his hearing coming back with a sharp whistle. He bent forward, leaning back against the nearest vehicle and grabbing onto his thighs with a weak grip. He took deep breaths and slowly felt his soul return to his body. He only prayed he wouldn't puke.

A feminine voice exclaimed about Rick's return and that made him perk up, hoping to see his sister's familiar face along with Rick's and Sophia's.

But the former sheriff was the only one that appeared. He vaulted over the guardrail, looking around as if getting a sense of the atmosphere. The tension was obvious. Carol covered her mouth to muffle her wails and was enveloped by Lori, who gave her husband a very pointed look. Rick rubbed his sweaty forehead while Shane marched up to him, making hushed conversation. Neither looked very pleased.