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...
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[ lii. he wants a war ]
july 4th, 2011
➸➸➸
JUST A DAY LATER, Astrid Lancaster found herself running alongside Michonne, both women shadowing the indomitable trio of Rick, Daryl, and Merle. Moments earlier, the cries of Carl and Maggie had alerted them to movement beyond the prison's fences. With military precision and speed, they had locked and loaded their firearms, and proceeded to scour the courtyard, ready to confront whatever force the Governor might unleash upon them again.
Merle dashed farther ahead, sweeping his vigilant gaze in every direction before transmitting a terse signal: "Clear!" Daryl and Rick then moved forward, like the vanguards of a phalanx, while Michonne and Astrid strategically maintained their positions behind the reassuring cover of a vehicle, their rifles trained at the ready.
As Astrid peered intently through the chain-link fence that lined the yard, her breath hitched in her throat. It was not just a gnarled walker she spotted—but the surreal figure guiding it. It was a sight that defied all reason. Perhaps Rick was not the sole witness to ghosts now, for before Astrid's eyes stood Andrea Harrison, making her way up the prison driveway.
"Open the gate!" The approaching woman called.
However, it was no reunion. It was a harrowing revelation. Andrea, presumed lost and mourned for, had returned from the abyss of false death. It had been countless months since Astrid had seen her friend. She had grieved her. And now, her survival was nothing short of miraculous. Astrid's initial instincts, borne of deep love, had been to embrace her friend with open arms. But life had hardened her. Andrea's reappearance ultimately was shrouded in mystery, and Astrid could not afford to be caught off guard again.
"Are you alone?" Rick demanded, his gun leveled at Andrea. His skepticism copied Astrid's own caution. Despite the shared history they once cherished with this woman, she had become a stranger once more. In a world as unforgiving as theirs, much could change in seven months.
Michonne, too, sensed something amiss. Her own sharp intake of breath and the narrowing of her eyes betrayed her wariness. But before Astrid could inquire, Michonne had regained her composure, resuming her stoic detachment. Andrea approached the courtyard gate, and Daryl unlocked it to grant her entrance after she had shed her mutilated walker escort.
Rick wasted no time in asserting his brutal authority, shoving Andrea ahead and commanding, "Hands up! Turn around." Astrid lowered her rifle, allowing it to swing onto her back, and moved closer. She observed her leader's thorough search of Andrea, who erupted in protest as the hungry walkers lurched against the fence, driven by their morbid taste for flesh. Pulling her way, Rick shoved the Harrison woman down on her knees.
Andrea's dumbfounded gaze darted between her former allies. "Why are you doing this?" She questioned.
"He asked if you were alone," Astrid reminded her, arms crossing tightly over her chest.
