𝙘𝙧𝙮 𝙗𝙖𝙗𝙮¹ ━ 𝙩𝙬𝙙

iii.

╔═══*.·:·.★ ✦ ★･:･:*═══╗

The sun was beginning set while Rick drove them back to basecamp and the sound of the car eventually lulled Paola to sleep. When she was a baby, her father used to drive her around in the car when she couldn't sleep, one of the times getting them lost. But being in a car made her feel safe enough to lower her guard without Glenn. She slept against jacqui's arm, her breath blowing her fringe up every so often. she grumbled as Glenn whooped in his still alarm stricken car.

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Alina Lakatos mourned. She mourned for the loss of her life before the dead rose. And in doing so, her grief made her blind. It made her blind to she barely spoke a word to her child who needed her or she dropped her on another kid probably only a decade older than herself. And she was blind to how she lost her husband.

The man she vowed to love and hold for the rest of her life was slipping from beneath her fingers and there was nothing she could do about it. Nothing that she wanted to do about it. She was content this way, on her own, she convinced herself it was the only way even though there were people around her who needed her more than anything.

But she didn't care. She was selfish.

she didn't care when a speeding red car came towards the basecamp, in fact she didn't even move from her seat. And she certainly didn't care when her daughter jumped out of the truck that followed suit and came bounding towards her. She moved to wrap her arms around Paola, she may have been numb but she wasn't a monster yet. She knew that all Paola wanted was her mother to hug her, but in all honesty, Alina didn't even realise her daughter left on a run.

"Mama, I'm back, did you miss me? did you?" Paola asks, her mouth moving a mile a minute and it was hard to miss the beaming smile she shone at her mother.

"Yes, little one." Alina half-assed a lie, gazing blankly over her head but faked a smile when the little girl pulled back to kiss her cheek, "have fun with Glenn?"

Paola hummed, nodding her head, "so much funny, mama."

"why don't you go thank him then, huh?" The woman suggests, pushing her in the direction of the man in question.

She ran off to the man in the baseball cap, leaving Alina alone once again, the woman let out a sigh of relief, the smallest part of herself thankful her daughter didn't hear her.

Paola jumped at Glenn, hugging his middle tightly, "thank you for taking me with you." She smiled up at him and he crouched down to return the smile.

He grabbed her shoulders and their deep brown eyes connected, "i'm glad you were my partner." Paola laughed, something Alina hadn't heard her do around her for a while, but still, it didn't make her stir from her grief-filled stupor. "Now, do you want to see my super cool car?" Glenn asks, he himself was still buzzing in excitement about the red sports car he'd stolen.

Paola nods her head rapidly as glenn leads her over to the car, lifting her into the drivers seat while she pretends to drive around.

Alina watched, she watched Glenn and Paola in the car and she watched the Grimes' reunite and she could help but feel jealous. But she only had herself to blame, she could've had what Lori had with carl and she could've had what Lori had with rick, but she ruined it but she wouldn't change it now. It was too late.