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"𝕺𝖍 𝖑𝖔𝖔𝖐, 𝖆𝖓𝖔𝖙𝖍𝖊𝖗 𝖑𝖔𝖛𝖊𝖗 𝖜𝖍𝖔 𝖜𝖎𝖑𝖑 𝖉𝖎𝖊"
𝐴𝑟𝑑𝑒𝑛 𝐿𝑜𝑐𝑘𝑒 enters the group with nothing but a half-empty backpack, a map she refuses to explain, and a past she keeps sealed behind carefully timed answers. She's quiet, observant, and good at disappearing into the background - which is exactly how she's survived this long.
𝐶𝑎𝑟𝑙 𝐺𝑟𝑖𝑚𝑒𝑠 is one of the first to realize she isn't just another stray survivor passing through.
And despite everything the world has taken from him, Carl finds himself wanting to understand her.
What starts as two kids trying to survive slowly grows into something more complicated as years pass and battles reshape them both. From the fall of the prison to the walls of Alexandria, from the brutality of the Saviors to the fragile hope of rebuilding, Arden becomes threaded into the life Carl is fighting to protect. She becomes part of the found family she never thought she deserved - standing beside people who would bleed for her long before she ever believed she was worth saving.
Arden's old life - the one she's spent years running from - has never truly left her. A name she refuses to say. A mistake she can't forgive herself for. A shadow that's been following her since before the dead began to walk.
As Carl grows into the kind of person who refuses to give up on anyone, Arden begins to fear she's the one thing he shouldn't try to save. Secrets don't stay buried, not in a world this unforgiving. And when her past finally catches up, it threatens not just her place in the group... but the fragile future Carl is determined to build.
Because some threats don't knock down gates or march with armies.
Some threats walk with a face you thought you'd never see again.
And when that face finally finds Arden, everything Carl has survived - and everything they've built - may not be enough.