the ruins of the day painted with a scar [TOH AU]

i think my brain is rotting in places

Luz awoke at the kitchen table, a pool of drool on the table. She wiped it off with her sleeve and rubbed her eyes. She slowly remembered the events of the previous day.
“Ughhhh,” groaned Luz, as she forced herself up from the table. On her way to check for her family, she made sure to check on Hunter. He was sitting on the sofa picking at his hands.
“Morning,” Luz murmured as she passed by. Hunter wasn't paying attention, but Luz didn't mind much. She creaked open the shared bedroom and saw her little sister cuddled with her mom. She didn't want to, but she softly knocked on the wall.
“Mami, Vee, it's time to get up,” said Luz. Camila got up and stretched a bit.
“Hey, go get ready then pack your school bag with clothes, snacks, and one toy of your choice,” Camila spoke softly to the half-asleep Vee, still cuddled with a pillow.
Luz and Camila began packing for their journey. Luz was in charge of making sure both her and Vee havetheir bags packed while Camila was in charge of medical supplies, long term food, and the protection of the children. Camila searched through the back of the closet to find the one thing her husband left: Manny's guns.
Her husband was always the protective one, and once they moved, he made sure to have weapons to protect themselves. She wasn't exactly on board with it and told Manny to get rid of them, but she was so relieved that he didn't listen.
There were two small handguns and a good amount of ammo.
“Enough to last us at least a week on small herds,” Camila thought. She knew how to shoot, not good but decently. Maybe a 60% accuracy. Although it's been fifteen years since she's used a gun, she knows that she can shoot. It's something you can't really forget.
She hooked the weapons on her belt. The walkers stayed more towards the city, but as the population quickly declined, they started to roam in the woods. More walkers have passed by their home, and they live on the edge of the woods. The only option is to go to a nearby camp. She knows it's there because she can see them from her bedroom window, the smoke swirling in the night sky, the gunshots of the walkers nearby, she can see them.
Camila also knows someone who went there, a friend her age. They haven’t talked in years, but she knows she's there because she left a note in their mailbox saying to head there. It’s safe, it read, safe for the girls. Well, now she’s bringing another child with her. A strange one, she may say.
Camila knew who he was. Hunter Wittebane, son of Caleb and Evelyn Wittebane. She saw his father in the crook of his nose, their mixed skin tones aligning with his flesh, and his mother's eyes. Her childhood with his father had been brought back, playing with her friends and Caleb being the oldest, and always being followed by a boy her age. Evelyn was the eldest sibling of one of her childhood friends, yet she rarely saw her until she was in college. Her friend, Edalyn, wasn't the most stable person ever. She's been in jail quite a handful and was considered a fugitive at times.
After her last time in jail, Camila couldn't bring herself to look at her friend. Not even jail, prison for five years. Not even twenty-five years on this planet but was sent to prison. As much as she feels guilty, she knew she had to distance herself from Eda. She was expecting another child soon and didn't want to get mixed up with crime. She hadn't seen Eda since before she went to prison. It's been ten years since she last spoke to the woman who was basically a second mother to Luz, to the teen Camila giggled to about their crushes, and to the little girl who begged her parents to let Camila sleep over.
Two days after the outbreak began, Camila got a note in her mailbox. A handwritten note by a certain Miss Edalyn Clawthorne had found its way to her mailbox.
Dear Camila,
Please come near Gravesfield Park, we have a small little camp. It's safe, I promise you. There's food, shelter, water, clothing, and weapons to defend ourselves. Please, it's safe for the girls. I forgive everything between us, I just want you guys to be safe.
Sincerely,
Edalyn Clawthorne
The note felt like a fever dream. After a few days of debating, she decided they were going. With all the walkers leaving the main cities and heading towards the rural areas, their home isn't as safe as it was before. They do not have the resources to keep on going. The initial plan was to leave the day before, but Vee had run off, scaring Camila, so they postponed it.
Camila looked at herself in her vanity mirror. The long crack along the side of the mirror gave her memories of when she and Manny first moved in.
“Manny!” Camila laughed as Manny pretended to fight with the dresser.
“You want some of this, eh?” he pretended to throw punches at the mirror as if he were a famous wrestler fighting his foes. “Quieres un poco de esto, ¿eh?”
Manny kissed both his biceps before he went back in the ring. Camila beamed at him, watching her husband.
“Time for Manny’s ponche de frutas especial!” Manny gave one last hit, only for him to slip and accidentally hit the mirror.
“Manny!” Camila got up to check on her husband, only for him to give her his stupid grin.
“The mirror okay?” he asked. Camila looked at the long vertical crack on the mirror, starting for the top all the way to the bottom.
“Just a little broken, nothing bad,” Camila shrugged. Manny leaned over.
“Just a little? Ay, mi amor lo siento mucho,” Manny apologized as he traced his finger along the broken mirror. “I’ll buy you a new one as soon as I can.”
“No!” Camila blurted out, accidentally yelling. “I mean, I think I like it this way. It’s like a memory, to remember when the Great Emmanuel Noceda lost a fight with a dresser.”
Both laughed at the thought of that. Manny wrapped his arm around Camila and held her close to him, one hand on her stomach.
“Te amo mucho, eres el amor de mi vida,” Manny whispered to her.
“Te quiero más,” Camila giggled. She leaned her head against his shoulder as they both stared at the broken mirror.
“No puedo esperar a ver lo que nos depara el futuro,” Manny said.
Camila wiped the tear from her face as she thought of Manny. She gave one last look at her room, and closed the door. She quickly checked her bag, but realized she was missing one.
“So much for a goodbye,” Camila thought as she grabbed her bag filled with food. She walked down the hall and saw Vee leaning her head against Luz. She felt her heart break as she realized she was ripping the girls away from their memories of their father. She hasn't really thought about that, but felt awful. As she was about to ask if everyone has everything, she heard a blood curdling scream coming from the woods nearby.
All three of them turned to where the sound was coming and watched Hunter instinctively dash out the house with a kitchen knife in his hand. Camila urged the girls to stay inside and went outside to help Hunter. Nearby, she saw Hunter stab the walkers straight through the forehead repeatedly. Camila ran over to see who was over there and saw a little kid about Vee's age with terror on their face. Their breathing was fast and ragged, and they backed away from Hunter. Hunter stared at his hands coated with blood, then to the little kid, then to the mess of corpses surrounding him. Suddenly, Hunter moved away from them and vomited behind a tree.
Camila went up to the child but they backed away. Camila thought they would run but Camila wanted to help them. Just as she was going to introduce herself, she heard Vee call out a name.
“Masha?” Vee's small voice quivered as Vee walked up beside her mother, looking at the decaying walkers surrounding them, the blood radiating on Masha's black dress. Masha recognized Vee, and calmed down a bit. “Was this you?”
“No, mija, Hunter saved her,” Camila softly stated and pointed to the boy leaning against a tree.
“I know them,” Vee said as she jumped across the bodies and held Masha's hand. “They're in my class and my friend.”
Masha nodded, staying silent.
“Here, come here,” Camila reached out her hands to take the kids back to the house. Hunter followed behind them.
“Are you okay?” Camila asked Hunter after reaching the house. He nodded and sat on the porch, dagger in his hand, and eyes looking out at the horizon.
Camila helped Masha, bandaging their wounds and giving them food to eat. Camila and Luz asked them a few questions regarding their family, but only got a series of nods and shaking their head. Vee informed Masha their plan and who Hunter was while snacking on pistachios and juice.
“Do you want to stay with us?” Camila offered. Masha stayed motionless for a moment before shaking their head.
“All right, we'll give you a moment to rest and then we can go,” Camila said as she got up and headed to the front door to inform him of their improved plan.
“We can go now, I'm done,” Masha quietly said as they wiped their mouth with their sleeve and followed behind her. Vee ran up behind Camila as well, and Luz grabbed their belongings. Camila looked at Luz’s weary face to make sure she wanted to leave, and Luz gave a weak smile, nodding, signaling she was ready to leave their home.
Camila told the girls they may never return.
“We know,” they said. Their home was now a closed book in their life, a distant memory, as Camila got all the kids out of the house and began walking down the road to find safety.
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Yes ik it's been weeks but I suck at keeping a schedule. Anyway, yay masha has been introduced. I wasn't going to add them but it was a last minute thing. Second, my damn computer ain't working so I had to write this on my phone so sorry about weird wording and stuff. Thanks for reading, and just for a hint, the next chapter will have two certain sisters running a camp.
The title is from the song Brand New City by Mitski
also if anybody has an OC's, imma need some bc there's gonna be loads of background characters so if anyone wants to give me a brief description of their OC, I would love so.