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WITH A BOTTLE OF WINE in her hand and her back pressed up, Aria takes another gulp of the drink, the red substance staining her lips. "It's stupid because she's mad at me for Amy dying." She complains, rolling her eyes. Whenever she got drunk, it's like another person comes out. A more outgoing and sassier person, the person Aria wants to be.
Pushing a piece of her blonde hair out of her face in frustration, she sets the glass down before gathering her hair in her hand and tying it up. "How do you deal with people?" Aria asks, raising her eyes up to meet Daryl's. Daryl squints his eyes before shrugging. "Tell 'em how it is." He replies before plopping down on the couch and covering his eyes with his arm. "Turn the light off." He grumbles and Aria sighs, slowly standing to her feet and bringing a blanket with her. She walks over to the light switch, flicking it off. Navigating her way through the dark, she makes her way over to the couch. Fluffing the blanket out, she throws it over Daryl, surprising him. Turning on her heel, she walks over to her pile of blankets, lying down and covering herself with a long blanket.
Aria knows she won't ever have the confidence like Amy or the sassiness like Andrea, she's just old, shy Aria Harrison.
♚ ♛
Walking into the kitchen with her blue eyes squinted, she lets out a huge yawn, sitting down onto a chair. Rubbing her forehead and holding her head up with her hand, she looks around the table, looking over the tired faces. "How are you feeling?" Carol asks Aria, handing her two pills. She makes an inhuman noise which causes Carol to let out a small laugh as she sits down next to her.
T-Dog comes around the table, setting some powdered eggs on the white plate, rubbing the female's shoulder. "Shouldn't of drank." T-Dog tells her before walking away. Raising her head off her hand, she sticks her tongue out at the retreating man. A few chuckles sound around the table as they watch the two friends.
Picking up the metal fork and shoving some of the eggs in her mouth, her eyes catch her reflection in the handle. Slightly tilting her head to the side, she examines herself. With her blonde hair being recently washed, it's shiny and is showcasing her natural waves. The stains on her lips from the wine has worn off and left her lips a peachy color, complementing her pale skin. Her blue eyes are dull and are hiding all of her emotions behind them, showing a false sense of happiness.
Licking her lips, she lays her fork down, lifting her head up. Her eyebrows furrow as her eyes trace the scratches on Shane's neck. Since she was sitting across from him, it was pretty easy for her to see. "Not like me at all." Shane utters, clearing his throat and looking across the table at a certain someone—Lori. "Holy." She whispers under her breath, inaudible to anyone else. Her attention turns to Edwin as he walks in and she quickly picks the two pills off of the table. Stuffing them in her mouth, she raises the bottle of water to her lips, swallowing the pills down.
"Doctor, I don't mean to slam you with questions first thing—" Dale trails off, his gaze set on the doctor's back. Fixing himself a cup of coffee, Edwin sighs lowly. "But you will anyway." Aria licks her lips as she watches her older sister turn towards the man and she rubs her forehead, already knowing a snarky comment is about to come from her mouth. "Well, we didn't come here for the eggs." Boom, she was right, she may be mad at her sister but that doesn't mean she forgot anything about her.
The doctor begins to head towards the computers and he motions for everyone to follow, which they do. Hurriedly scooting her chair back and grabbing her water, Aria begins to rush after the group, cursing herself for always being so slow. Her converse click against the floor and her eyes widen as she sees the screen on the wall. "Is that a brain?" Carl asks and Aria crosses her arms over her chest, standing near the back, away from the group.
"An extraordinary one. Not that it matters in the end." The screen zooms in closer to the brain, showing the group more details of it. Blue lights flash along the screen, confusing Aria. "What are those lights?" Shane asks the doctor, his eyebrows furrowed. Tilting her head in concentration, Aria studies the screen, trying to figure out what's happening. "It's a person's life—experiences, memories. It's everything." Doctor Edwin turns towards the group, pointing at the screen as he explains it to them. "Somewhere in all that organic wiring, all those ripples of light, is you—the thing that makes you unique and human."
Licking her bottom lip, Aria uncrosses her arms and leans against the desk behind her, intrigued. "You don't make sense ever?" Daryl speaks up, his toned arms crossed against his chest. Staring at him for a few seconds, thoughts begin to fill her mind. Looking away from him, she feels her cheeks begin to burn. Sure, he looks good but him and her would never be a good couple together.
"Those are synapses. Electric impulses in the brain that carry all the messages. They determine everything a person says, does or thinks from the moment of birth to the moment of death." Death. That's a common word being used now. Everyday, there is death around the group. Whether it's being one of their friends dying or a walker appearing out of nowhere. They have become used to the word by now, but it still hurts.
"Death? That's what this is, a vigil?" Rick asks, walking forward towards the doctor. "Yes. Or rather the playback of the vigil." Lowering her eyes down to the ground, Aria swallows harshly, her eyes closing. The person died, most likely from a bite and that person was brave enough to let scientists test them in their final moments. "Test subject 19. Someone who was bitten and infected—and volunteered to have us record the process." Opening her eyes and raising them back up towards the screen, she bites her lip, taking a deep breath.
Red begins to fill the brain on the screen and Aria scrunches her eyebrows, terror filling her eyes. "It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown then the major organs." After the doctor says that, the brain goes dim, the lights not flashing no more and the red disappearing. "Then death." Aria's throat begins to tighten as she thinks about Amy, who had gone through this. Who had to go through the pain and suffering. Amy was always the outgoing and happy one. She was always there for Aria and even saved her a couple of times during hard times. But Aria couldn't save her, in fact, Aria brought the walkers to the camp and now her sister, her best friend, is dead because of her.
A lone tears falls down her face, leaving a trail behind. Quickly wiping it away and looking down towards the ground to hide her watering eyes. Dealing with death is always hard, but dealing with death when you know you're the one who caused it is even worse.
