❝last man standing doesn't matter when it's a pile of bodies you're standing on. so you fight but you be good.❞
[twd seasons 1-?]
Ⓒ 2019║asgxrdians i own nothing except lindsey and her plot
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chapter thirty one: take care of my girl 7988 words
"Her name is Judith."
Carl had caught up to Lin as they made their way back into the prison, grabbed for her hand and told her the name of her niece.
"Judith?" Lin repeated, looking over to where Carol was still holding her. It fit her. Lin smiled at her nephew, pushed his hat off his head to ruffle his hair. "That's perfect."
"Yeah," he sighed, smiling as well. It was good to see him smiling. "Next step is a real crib."
Judith, Lin was more than glad to be able to put a name to her pudgy face, had been sleeping in a valley of blankets and not a real crib. It had been enough on the short term, but she needed more stability.
"I've got an idea. We didn't happen to clear the mailroom out did we?"
And then Lin was sitting with Carl in the common area as the sun set, doodling along the side of a plastic mail tub with a set of black permanent markers. It was like they were pretending the world was different, that this was the only thing they had to do. It felt good to pretend for a little while.
When Lin finished the side she'd taken on, she pushed it away from herself to let Carl see. He covered his mouth, hiding his smile at the words 'Little Ass-Kicker' written along the side in pretty writing. A welcome reprieve in an ocean of sadness, a break from the constant grind. She knew Lori would have liked it.
Lin brought the bin into the block and into the cell that used to be Lori's. They'd been keeping Judith there, sleeping surrounded by the blankets Lori had used. They still smelled like her, having not yet lost their scent to the muck of the dead. What Lin wouldn't give for a shower.
Beth walked the length of the block with Judith in her arms before ducking into her cell she shared with her dad. From what Lin heard, Carl and Axel were with her. Lin stepped out to see Carol calling Axel out to talk to him. She looked uncomfortable, majorly so. And it made Lin bristle instantly. No one messed with Carol. Lin only regretted not putting a bullet in Ed's head earlier.
"Everyone okay?" Lin kept her voice a mere whisper to keep Carol and Axel from hearing. She didn't whole-heartedly trust Axel yet but he hadn't exactly given them a reason not to yet. But that didn't matter when people in this world were willing to kidnap others over supplies, draw a gun over a simple disagreement, choke out a woman simply because her husband was still alive. Lin hadn't forgotten. She was sure Shane would be someone she would never forget, never forgive. Even if she someday understood his motives, had a family of her own whether by blood or by choice, she would still never forgive him. He'd broken their family apart, ruined their chances of living a happy life on a peaceful farm, admitted to almost forcing himself on her when she'd been getting drunk in the CDC. Yeah, Lin believed she had reason to hate him for the rest of her life.
