𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐓𝐖𝐄𝐋𝐕𝐄: 𝐌𝐘 𝐅𝐄𝐀𝐑 𝐃𝐈𝐃 𝐍𝐎𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐍 𝐓𝐎𝐃𝐀𝐘
"Why now, Mom?" Madalyn asked, her voice sounding incredibly weak.
The woman looked up from the fire to face her daughter. "What do you mean, Maddy?" Madalyn frowned at the nickname.
"Why do you call me that? Aren't nicknames meant for people you're close with?" Madalyn could see her mother's whole body tense, and the woman's face looked like Madalyn had hit her.
"You're my daughter, Madalyn," her mother said, a sharp edge to her tone. "I chose your name. I'll call you what I want."
"I don't like it."
"Like what?"
"You callin' me that. My name is Madalyn. Not Maddy." Madalyn wrapped her arms around her knees. She was trying to make herself as small as possible.
Her mother sighed deeply. "What did you ask me before?" Madalyn felt her mother's intense stare as she looked into the fire.
"Why now? Why do you care now?" she asked. The woman scoffed.
"It's late. Go to sleep."
"You always do that."
"Stop talking, Madalyn. I'm tired," her mother ended the conversation. Madalyn watched while she lay down, facing away from her daughter. Madalyn pressed her face into her knees and cried softly.
Madalyn adjusted Judith in her arms as she, Carol, and Tyreese walked further along the tracks. They had been traveling for a lot of the day. Madalyn had found them relatively early in the day, and now it was just an hour or two in the afternoon.
Madalyn grabbed Judith's hand and pointed off beyond the train tracks, talking to the baby quietly. Judith babbled, clearly confused but still interested. Madalyn smiled softly while holding the little girl close.
"That gun," Tyreese started. Madalyn looked to the right at him, his eyes on her. "You got ammo?" Madalyn looked down at the gun still strapped to her right thigh. She shook her head.
"No. I ran out just after we escaped the prison," she explained.
"Why do you still have it then?"
Madalyn looked away from Tyreese and rubbed her hand up and down Judith's back. She shrugged while watching Carol ahead of them. "Just in case I found more ammo," she said. She thought briefly before adding, "And... Daryl gave it to me."
Tyreese seemed to sigh in understanding. "It makes you think of him?" Madalyn turned her head to look back at him and nodded sadly. "I got a..." He pulled a necklace out from under his shirt. "Sasha gave me this on my thirtieth birthday. It's 'bout all I got left of her."
"Do you think she made it out?" Madalyn asked. A smile crept its way onto Tyreese's face.
"My sister... she doesn't go down easily. She's out there somewhere, but I know she can't be my priority."
Madalyn drew her eyebrows together. "Why not? She's your sister."
"Keeping you and Judith safe, that's my priority." Tyreese placed his hand on her shoulder. "You know, Daryl's one of the toughest bastards I know." Madalyn laughed. "I doubt anyone can kill him, except himself. And he cares about you a lot. Wherever he is, I'm sure he's fighting to get to you."
YOU ARE READING
The Way the World is ¹ | the walking dead
Fanfiction"𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘯𝘰𝘵 𝘢𝘧𝘳𝘢𝘪𝘥." It was a chant Madalyn Taylor told herself every day. Every day since the world ended. She didn't believe it most times, but if she said it enough times it had to come true at some point. Right? "𝘐 𝘢𝘮 𝘢𝘭𝘰𝘯𝘦." ...
