Chaos for the Fly [The Walking Dead Fanfiction]

Chapter 9: A Touch of Alice

        "Alice, don't you want to play with Min-min anymore?" Li asked. She was troubled, looking at him in a peculiar way. At five-years-old she still recognized when something had died. He was older; he should have understood that. 

        Carefully, she followed him into the room. The bunny stood, hung up by strings in an unnatural fashion. She cringed, "He's dead." His face was devoid of any acknowledgment towards the fact, so she silently watched him move about the dead corpse with a smile. It was like some sick puppet show she couldn't stop watching. 

        His fingers were nimble between the strings. "Min-min won't you dance a little, even though your bones are brittle? Min-min won't you sing a bit, if not I'll imagine it. Min-min, I will hold you close, even if you decompose. Min-min we can't be severed; I will love you forever." Again and again he sang those awful rhymes while the carcass danced fluidly beneath him. 

        Alice's mom came in, snatching her up with a polite smile at Li. "Are you taking Alice away?" His face started to show a hint of sadness, but Alice would swear there was amusement tugging at the corners of his lips. "She's my only friend, Mrs. Windsor." He dropped the bunny's strings and came beside her. He was an intimidating boy at eight-years-old, stood nearly as tall as some adults. 

        The woman tried to be as careful as possible, but she was frightened of him. "We've just got to be off. Will see you again, Li." She tried to comfort, but he saw past that. 

        "They all say that, and then they don't come back." His head bowed, his foot traced invisible circles on the hardwood. 

        She held Alice closer to her. "I'm sorry, dear we--" Ana, his mother, came in. 

        "Li it's unbecoming of a man to pursue people like this." She tilted his head foreword to face them. "Next time than, Lien." She sounded just as Li, sure that they wouldn't. 

        As they left, Alice peeked over her shoulder to see Mrs. Ana, as she called her, scold her son. She only caught bits and pieces, "..dead smell! ..disgusting!..raised you..crazy!" Then the door shut, and they were driving back home. Suddenly she wanted to be back with Min-min than to see her father. 

        "Mama?" She asked.

        "Yes dear?"

        In the back, Alice wiggled in her booster seat. "Why does he play with Min-min when he's dead?" 

        A sigh escaped the adult's lips. "Well some people have a problem letting go of things they love. Acceptance is the last step, and, sadly, not everyone reaches that conclusion." 

        The little girl didn't quite understand, tilting her head to the side for good measure. "Is it bad to love like that?" 

        Her mom was silent for a while. "It's okay to still love them, but you can't keep them alive that way." 

        "Why? Where do they go when they die?" Alice's eyes were wide with curiosity and fear. 

        The grip on the steering wheel was turning her knuckles white. She did not know how to answer these questions, and she feared her daughter might have talked too much with the kid. "I don't know--Ah we're home!" 

        Daryl plopped on top of his sleeping bag. "Finally!" 

        Alice carefully let herself in, knowing the knives and arrows would be scattered about. "Well now that I know you didn't pass out on the way here, I'm going to go see Rick."