𝐍𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐫 𝐆𝐫𝐨𝐰 𝐔𝐩 | 𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐖𝐚𝐥𝐤𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐃𝐞𝐚𝐝

𝓟𝓻𝓸𝓵𝓸𝓰𝓾𝓮

Adyson Smith walked alongside her father, looking up at the dark blue sky. All throughout were stars twinkling bright. There was a rock that she was hyper fixated on that she continued to kick over and over again on her journey back home. 

The end of the world wasn't as chaotic as she would have thought, not from what she had seen at least. Negan had done a great job at keeping Adyson and Lucille inside of the boarded up home and keeping the lights dim so that none of the dead would be able to find them inside. There were multiple occasions where her father would leave the safe home to find the medicine that her mother, Lucille, so desperately needed to survive. Adyson knew that Lucille was dying but the whole concept of death didn't seem real to her. The way someone could be here one second and completely gone the next. Now, people didn't even get that privilege because once they were gone, they would come back only hours later.

Today was the first time that Negan allowed Adyson to go with him to retrieve her mother's medicine and Adyson expected to see the world crawling with the dead, she expected fire and screaming but to be honest, it was quite silent. The occasional creep walking around that her father would take down. She had fun being outside of the house for the first time since everything had happened but she was jumping for joy to see her mother who she hadn't seen all day. Lucille had promised her that when she arrived home, the two would have a tea party with real tea and food. Adyson only being twelve was ecstatic about this.

"Do you think that the stars in the sky are angels?" Adyson asked her father, trying her hardest to pass the time of their walk between their current location to their home.

"I don't know. I don't know much about that kind of stuff. Maybe you could ask your mom?" Negan asked the younger girl. Adyson took most of her looks from her mother by taking up the blonde genes. Her father told her this often.

Adyson sighed and looked back down to the ground. Her first day out seemed calm so she was sure that Negan would allow her to go back out again but the medicine they had should last them a couple of days before having to think about another trip outside.

The sound of a twig snapping caused Adyson to jump, she turned her head quickly to reveal a herd of eight walkers coming out of the wood. She let out a loud gasp as she felt the large hands of her father pull her behind him. "Get back." He yelled as he gripped his hammer in his hands. Adyson watched his knuckles turn white as he took down two of the walkers before having to retreat. "Adyson go!" Began yelled. A feeling of anxiety washed over the young girl as she ran forward and away from the scene. She had no doubt in her mind that her father would be fine so she agreed and began pumping her legs in the direction of her house. She had traced her steps back to the wooden building and when her eyes landed on the dim lights of the front porch, she jumped up, missing three of the steps and falling forward. She winced in pain as she felt the skin scrape off her knee and the nail that was sticking out of the wooden step penetrate through the skin of her thigh before tearing the flesh open.

"Ahhhh!" Adyson cried out before standing up. She saw the crimson red paint seep across the light blue, jean material and panic set in. She had wished that she never would have looked at the wound. She stumbled her way to the door with her teeth sinking into her bottom lip and used all of her weight to push the door open. As she fell inside, there was no noise. Nothing but the sound of silence and her own heavy breathing. She struggled to stand to her feet but as she did, she held on tightly to her thigh. She looked around for anything she could find but her eyes only landed on the roll of gauze that sat on the coffee table. She knew she would get in trouble for using it all later but at the moment, she didn't care. She fumbled with the white cloth and looked down at the wound on her leg. It wasn't very deep but it was deep enough so that it wouldn;t stop bleeding. She hurriedly wrapped the bandage around her thigh and sighed in relief as it only bled through the gauze a small bit.

"Mom!" She called out. She wanted her mother to come take a look at it, to see if it was something they needed to worry about or not. There was no answer.

"Momma?" Adyson called again before hopping off the arm of the couch. Yet there was still no answer. She walked around the kitchen where her mom's room was located to see words drawn on the dust that sent a feeling of both grief and fear through her body. Her heart beat heavily in her chest and she could feel a ball of regret building up in her throat as she read the words.

"Please don't leave me like this." And on the outside of the letters was a heart. She was hoping that when she opened the door, there her mother would be, sitting with her purple wig...but that's not what she saw.

She shoved the door open to reveal one of the dead but this one seemed all too familiar. Her stomach began to churn and she felt as if she couldn't breathe. Her mother sat on the bed with a bag over her head, Adyson could clearly see the purple wig shine through the clear plastic as she reached her hands forward. Adyson tried to tell herself that her mother was reaching to hug her, tat she wanted to embrace her small body in her warm, comforting arms but even her own delusions weren't doing their job. She couldn't think as Lucille groaned in her direction. She felt her father behind her and she turned to see the sad expression. Adyson tried to walk forward but Negan pulled her back. "No." Adyson cried.

"Adyson go." She had heard her father tell her for the second time to go. Adyson tried to pull herself away. "NO!" She screamed once more. She tried to pull herself away from her father but she couldn't. Negan walked outside and placed his daughter on the ground where she sat with tears streaming down her face. Before he turned, he reached forward and wrapped his arms around his daughter. "I love you. I love you so much, Adyson." And with his words, Negan walked away from the girl, leaving her completely and utterly alone. She watched his tall figure disappear into the doorway. She was waiting for him to turn back around and scoop her up in his arms but that never happened. She waited for what seemed like hours before the smell of something burning began to creep up her nostrils. She looked around in confusion as she finally saw the huge flame burst through the window on the side of the house. She jumped back and gasped, scrambling to her feet, she watched the house light up in flames. She waited for her father to come from behind them but he didn't.

Where did he go? Adyson began to worry that someone had taken him or maybe he had just gotten lost in the woods. He had to have been trying to find her too, right?

She sat there for a few minutes longer before deciding to force herself off of the ground. She watched the house that she had lived in for many years burn up in flames. There was simply nothing she could do besides ask her father. Then she remembered that she couldn't find him...so that's where she would start.