SURVIVE.
❝ Let the end of the world be
inside you, then you don't
need to fear the end
of the world out there. ❞
THE WALKING DEAD.
DARYL DIXON.
BOOK ONE of the LANCASTER SAGA.
[ SEASONS 1 - 3 ]
******
I do not own The Walking Dead or any of its...
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
[ xlvii. we don't want any trouble ]
july 1st, 2011
➸➸➸
THAT NIGHT, ASTRID LANCASTER found herself perched on the staircase that ascended to the catwalk in the cell block, her nimble fingers diligently reloading an ammunition clip. Beside her, Carl engaged in a similar task, while Beth sat above them, gently cradling the sleeping baby in her arms.
Rick and Carl had finally settled on a name for the newborn girl—Judith. Judith Grimes. The name carried a bittersweet resonance, and Astrid welcomed it. While the baby had still been named after another, Astrid was inwardly relieved they had not chosen to name her after a recently departed loved one. The thought of calling another child Sophia after the loss of the little Peletier girl was a pain she could not bear.
Elsewhere, as she worked, Astrid's latter thoughts were drawn eventually back to Daryl. The heat of their afternoon had now subsided, replaced by a deep-seated concern that etched itself into her consciousness. Even though she had been upset with him, Astrid would always worry for him. Always think of him. She loved him. Loved him more than she could ever, ever be angry at him.
Only after he had left, had she begun to try to place herself into her hunter's worn shoes, attempting to understand his own private struggles and frustrations. The more Astrud considered it, the more evident Daryl's motivations became, and it forced her to question her own actions. If their roles had been reversed in the tombs, if she had been the one to find Daryl on Death's doorstep, would she have lied, regardless of its seriousness, to protect him?
In a heartbeat, Astrid knew her answer. And in the same breath, Astrid knew that she had been in the wrong.
"Astrid, are you okay?" Beth interrupted her reverie, jolting the Lancaster woman back to the present.
Astrid looked up at the teenage girl, her hands momentarily stilled. "I'm fine," She replied softly. Genuinely. "Just thinking."
"Are you thinking about Daryl?" Beth gently probed. Astrid's nod prompted her to continue, "You shouldn't worry about him. He and the others will be back soon. Everything is going to be okay."
"I hope so," Astrid whispered, a pang of guilt reverberating through her, forming knots in the pit of her stomach. "If they don't come back, I don't know what I'd do with myself. If something happened to Daryl . . . I can't even imagine it."
"Then don't," Beth offered a simple yet profound remedy. "I'm avoiding thoughts of Maggie and Glenn for the same reason. Thinking on worst-case scenarios doesn't help anyone. They'll be back soon."
"Don't worry, girls," Hershel's reassuring voice chimed in as he carefully advanced on his crutches. Astrid had already grown accustomed to seeing Hershel with only one leg. She was glad his recovery was without complications. "Everything is going to be just fine."
