𝒃𝒖𝒕 𝒕𝒉𝒆 𝒘𝒐𝒍𝒇 𝒔𝒖𝒓𝒗𝒊𝒗𝒆𝒔 ➪ «𝑑𝑎𝑟𝑦𝑙 𝑑𝑖𝑥𝑜𝑛»

ch. III pt. II

oOo

First, what in the actual fuck was going on?

If it had been a prank, she was sure someone would have come to disperse their desperation by the time her mom had started having the attack.

So, it was unlikely to be a prank. Probably not a movie going on either, or else they would've been informed since they were staying so close to the location.

Second, if this happened so close to their camping site, how had they managed to avoid such an encounter by the skin of their teeth? That could've been them back there!

Third, was this somehow correlated to her finding the bow the day before? And if so, how? And why? And so many other questions that made her brain feel like it was losing itself in a thick fog.

Diana pinched herself in a desperate attempt, and when nothing happened, she pinched both her siblings, which got her punched twice. But nothing else. No waking up in a cold sweat and an awkward 'hey, it was just a dream after all, ha ha'.

A weight in her chest accompanied her next thought.

Zombies.

They had seen real-life zombies feeding on a real-life person that was not alive anymore. Because it had been killed by zombies...

It felt like the cogs were working very slowly to reach their conclusion like her head was full of honey and everything stuck together. Like she was subconsciously refusing to acknowledge it.

Her stupid open-minded trait won over in the end, allowing her to accept and process what she'd seen.

They'd just witnessed the aftermath of a horrific murder and there was absolutely no guaranty that the same couldn't or wouldn't happen to them next.

Diana swallowed dryly and glanced at her mom; the woman had always been squeamish, but now Diana fully understood her panic.

Sam held up Irene and helped her sit sideways in the passenger's seat, legs hanging down the side of the jeep tucked between it and Sam. He held the water flask from where she took small sips, seeing as her shaking hands were almost incapable of the task.

Diana noted the slight trembling in her dad's legs, possibly more by fear for his wife than anything else, but seeing both like that made her knees wobbly.

She realized what a heavy mantle they carried; their kids looked to them for strength and guidance in the world, it was no light burden on any parent. But it was a burden she, as their oldest child, was willing to help carry. She was an adult, after all, maybe it was time she started acting sort of like one.

She had helped Sam by finding her composure during her mom's breakdown and allowing him some room to panic without having to remain stoic in such an emotionally stressing situation.

She regarded Felix and Alice; the former was more open about his feelings and it showed on his face and posture how agitated he was. Alice, on the other hand, hid her emotions behind a sky-high steel wall. She'd had her time to be upset and now she was closing off any show of weakness behind locked doors. Only a slight indication of worry remained on her furrowed brow.

Her detachment was both admirable and unhealthy. But everyone deals with things differently, and Alice had developed at a young age an aversion towards displays of affection and everything else that could make one seem vulnerable, and would probably not change back so quickly.

Diana squeezed their arms and asked them to climb back inside the jeep, which they only obeyed after Sam repeated the order.

Diana gently asked her mom and dad to do the same. Sam squeezed her upper arm with a significant look of gratitude and a sloppy kiss on the forehead and rounded back to the driver's side.