𝗦𝗧𝗥𝗔𝗡𝗚𝗘𝗥𝗦 twd

𝐬𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐧.

· · ─────── ·𖥸· ─────── · ·

SO TELL ME WHEN IT KICKS IN
↳ chapter seven

"Get inside!"

Madi woke to the sound of Daryl's voice, booming and echoing throughout the small cellar she was being held in.

Pulling herself up into a sitting position, propping herself up onto weak, shaky arms, Madi watched as a pretty girl her age was shoved into the cell that Henry had occupied the day before.

She was weeping, struggling to breathe the same way that Madi had so many times before. "Daryl?" The girl exhaled, throwing herself toward the bars and clinging onto the sharp, rusted metal, despite the way her palms burned and bled from her tight grip.

The man came into her view soon after she addressed him, and his eyes grew sad once he witnessed the state she was in. Her lovely blue eyes were held by discolored bags, her skin sickly pale and her nails turning blue. Her entire body had begun shaking and she quivered against the cold, despite the fact that the other two people in the cellar had begun sweating.

"What's wrong?" Daryl asked, his voice surprisingly soft and his eyes widened at the way she bit into her already bleeding, chapped lips.

Madi pressed her head against the bars, seething through her tightly clenched teeth. "They haven't been feeding me, Daryl. My mouth is so fucking dry-- like I've got cottenmouth even though I haven't been smoking." She explained.

Whoever was in charge of taking care of her clearly neglected her duty, and she assumed that it was because they were on of the members of Hilltop who had wanted her dead.

She'd lost some of her muscle, and she was already visibly thinner, having been starved for a week. Of course, her clear malnutrition had her freezing cold.

Daryl cursed under his breath, before he met the girl's eyes, peering down to her small stature, "I'll handle it." He claimed.

With that, he left, shooting the unknown girl a harsh, hardass glare on his way out.

When she heard the storm-cell doors close, Madi fell back against the wall, inching into the corner of her cell once again. She curled into a ball, trying to warm up as her head spun in circles.

She'd faded in and out of consciousness over the course of a few hours, unaware that the unknown brunette girl was still staring at her. She'd wake up to the yells and shouts of different people, and the cries of the other teenage girl. But, she never stayed awake long enough to truly understand what was said.

Daryl had come into her cell multiple times, offering her some vitamins that Enid had given him and giving her food and water, only for her to fall asleep again afterward.

Finally, once she rested, Madi Walsh woke up for the final time that day. The sun had started to set and the girl she didn't know was still locked up, just like her. She opened her eyes to see that she was being stared at.

"Need something?" She questioned, her voice scratchy and painful despite the annoyed tone she'd spoken in.

The feral-looking girl was curled into a ball as well, mirroring Madi. She was scared, and upset; her eyes reddened and puffy from endless crying. "Your dad said that you were sick?" She recalled.

Madi ran each of her hands over her face, rubbing from her temples to her hairline, "He's not my dad."

"Then, who is?"

"Just fuck off."

Madi's cursed statement silenced the other girl, who's face scrunched up as she winced before offering Madi a look similar to one of a kicked puppy dog.

Madi didn't know why, but that look made her heart sting. "What's your name?" She wondered.

The unfamiliar female peered deeply into the blue eyes of Madi Walsh, her pout slowly lessening before she answered, "Lydia. What's your's?"

Madi squeezed her palms together, her blue eyes piercing through Lydia's brown ones. "Madi." She introduced herself.

"The people here don't like you, but that man-- Daryl, he does. How did that happen?" Lydia wondered.

Madi looked up at the ceiling above, her chest heaving and her breaths raspy due to whatever illness that she'd managed to catch ahold of. "It's a long story." She shrugged, not having the time to fully explain it.

But, then again, the two had nothing but time. Which Lydia pointed out, "We've got the time, don't we?" She asked.

Her voice was low, and quiet. But, unlike Madi's, it was sweet. Madi sounded more hoarse and angered, while Lydia sounded warmer, her spoken words, no matter what they be, were the thing that Madi was sure she could fall asleep to.

Her hair was somehow even messier than Madi's, and she wore what was equivalent to rags on her body.

Madi, remained in her dirty clothes; not that she minded anymore. It wasn't like she'd had access to everything that The Sanctuary, Alexandria, Hilltop, and The Kingdom had once offered.

The girl shook her head, about to reply with another snarky comment before her parted lips shut, the sound of the cellar doors opening and closing catching her attention.

Michonne walked in soon after and Madi suddenly remembered the last time she'd actually seen the woman; back when Rick had 'died'.

After a short, one-sided conversation with Lydia, Michonne prepared to walk away, uninterested with Madi; acting as though she wasn't even there.

"Wait!" Madi called, forcing Michonne to stay back. For a moment, the black woman only stopped in her steps, her back still turned as she questioned, "What?" Her voice harsh.

Madi ignored her anger as she peered into the back of her skull, waiting for her to turn around. When she didn't, the teen girl continued, "Before Rick..." She swallowed thickly, cutting herself off as Michonne flinched at the sound of his name, "He told me to ask you about Carl."

Finally, Michonne turned on her heel, facing Madi. For a moment, she was ready to deny the girl answers, but at the genuine, broken look in her eyes, she frowned. It seemed mentioning the boy after so much time still hurt Madi, and even Lydia could tell.

"We never buried Carl." The same pain etched across Michonne's lovely, soft feautures as she shook her head to herself.

"What the hell does that mean?" Madi scoffed, her own voice coming out much sterner than she meant for it to.

Michonne's voice rose at the slightest as she grew mildly upset, "We don't have his body. We were outside when-- A bit after we heard the gunshot, we went back into the cabin, and Carl was gone."

And with that, the woman began walking away, ignoring each of Madi's many calls for an explanation until the girl slumped back into the corner of her cell.

After a long few moments of silence, Lydia broke the uncomfortable quiet. "Who's Carl?" She asked, earning no answer in response.