The Walking Dead Imagines

Under My Skin

Life had been tough for you growing up. Your family was poor. Both of your parents had drug problems, your mother had more children than she could even begin to support. You had three other siblings, two younger and one older. In 2009, right before the world went to shit, you were living where you had been your whole life - a few miles outside of Atlanta, Georgia in bumble-fuck. You grew up moving from different one-bedroom apartments to trailer parks, always in the ghetto or projects.

When you were twenty-six you had managed to move out to attend college, and you were actually doing good for a year or two... Until your mother got pregnant once again, by a man other than your father, and you had to move back home to take care of the baby. Fast forward four more years and your mother had yet another child, making her fourth, before deciding that she didn't want any responsibilities and left all five of you in the middle of the night - never looking back.

When your raging alcoholic father began using cocaine and becoming abusive, you decided that you needed to get your brother and sister out of there. Your older brother was no help, only caring about himself. He had no desire to move out of the trailer that your father lived in because he didn't want to have to get a job.

So when you turned twenty-eight you finally managed to find a place for yourself and your younger siblings to live. You packed up your few belongings and moved out within a day, not giving your father or brother your new address. It was only a short bus ride away from his "house," but it didn't matter to you so long as you guys were out from under his roof. You got welfare and other support from the government, as well as receiving full legal custody of your younger siblings - something that you figured would've been easier given the circumstances - however they felt that you did not make enough money to support two children. This was completely true, but there was no way they were going into the system, and you eventually convinced the judge.

You not only had to worry about your father finding out where you moved, supporting the kids, finding a trustworthy babysitter so that you could work, get them into school - but you also had to be prepared for random visits from CPS to make sure that they were being taken care of and your apartment was acceptable.

And that was how you ended up meeting the Dixon brothers. You saw them around from time to time shortly after moving into your new place, but you kept a distance from them. The older one specifically, seemed just like your father.

After about six months living there, you finally had a conversation with them. You were bringing in groceries, Cole and Nina playing in the dead grass outside the front porch as you did so. It was your only day off from work, so you had a lot to get done. Cole entertained his baby sister while you put away the groceries and gathered supplies to clean up the used car you had just bought. It was a junker, but it was all that you could afford.

You heard a male voice that you did not recognize coming from outside so you hastily made your way back outside to check on the children. Your neighbor - the older one - was sitting on his own porch steps - beer in hand - talking to your brother about bears in the woods. You lived right up against the woods, your tiny house only a handful of yards from where it began - the last thing you wanted was for them to be afraid of monsters or bears in the woods.

You were about to speak up when the man took notice of you and let out a wolf whistle. "Damn! I ain't seen you around!" He exclaimed dramatically, standing up from where he was sat, heading over to your yard. You got a good look at him as he staggered closer - reminding you so much of your father and brother. He was dressed in black cargo pants and a white faded wife-beater. His muscular arms were exposed, covered in sweat and dirt as if he hadn't showered in days. He had short grey hair and couldn't have been more than five or six inches taller than you.