Born Again - TWD

Prologue

Once Conceived

"He said drink, my beautiful Cecilia. Remember what he told you. Remember what he said?"

She dragged her feet against the pavement. Her body ached, beads of sweat and ash rolled down her head as she her thick, brunette hair stuck onto her like the center of gravity. Every breath burned, every moment felt feverish.

Everything was on fire.

She gagged. Coughing as smoke filled her lungs. The sounds of screaming, children screaming. Women. Men. Babies. The dead. She continued to drag her feet against the pavement, nearing the exit of the community named WoodBury.

"CECILIA! HELP US!"

She turned. Her vision blurry, dotted with black and white. She rolled onto the balls of her feet. She couldn't register her own name being begged for on the streets of the community she vowed to die for.

"CECILIA PLEASE! PLEASE!"

She coughed. Black and red sputtering out of her mouth as she slowly turned back around. The emotions that she should be feeling have now melted away. She dragged herself out of the community. The crying slowly fading. And so was the last of the people she claimed to love so, so very much.

Having walked for what felt like hours. She finally let a tear slip from her eye. Her knees buckling. The ash still stuck to her skin like glue. She grabbed the gravel road under her fists and let out a sob. She lost her only family in there. Her only life. They had promised her Sanctuary from what she'd lost so long ago, but now it came back, and she let it.

All the memories of who she was prior to WoodBury seemed to resurrect inside her, the gravel cutting against her palms as she was overtaken with emotion.

The breeze seemed to help little with what was going through her. She couldn't breathe, convincing herself it was the smoke.

"Pull over!"

A voice echoed from the distance behind her. The smell of alcohol from before the incident dripping off of her as she coughed again. Black ash on her lips as she sputtered for air. Slowly standing, her skinny arms gripped the trees that lined next to the dark road. It was now morning. And the screams were gone. She could finally rest now.

A hand grabs hers. Finally she soon realized they'd been yelling at her to stop walking. She turned to look at the man. Ash had also dirtied him. His blond hair was dark with soot and grime, and his skin was covered in glossy sweat. He repeated the question he tried to ask her more than once, not having gotten to her like a wall between them.

"Do you know The Governor?"

The name made her feel physically ill. She was petrified- unable to move. Pulling from the unknown man she fell backwards, his hands wrapping around her arms to stop her from thrashing.

"Do you know The Governor!"

He shook her. Her eyes rimmed red. She sobbed loudly. Shaking her head no. She didn't want trouble. She didn't want to remember The Governor.  The man was confused at such a sudden emotional reaction, his brows furrowed in sympathy, before he raised his voice.

"Take her. Hurry the hell up! She's dying out here!" The stranger grabbed her hands. Helping her slowly to the large semi truck. The back full of people. Some sitting on each other, many laying across the floor bed- some may have been dead. She sat in the middle of them. They were as well covered in thick, black ash.

Cecilia collapsed down on her back. Her body laid over the assumed lifeless corpses. Staring up at the sky that was tinted grey. She coughed. Unable to think as she slipped away. Her eyes closing, and her head lolling over heavily. Peace in reconciliation.