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A STICK BREAKS underneath Aria's new boots and she pushes a limb out of her way, gazing over towards the empty field. Rick and Daryl had left to go find supplies and Aria snuck out of the gates. She's actually surprised Michonne didn't see her — Michonne sees everything. Walking into the open field with her gun held in her hand, Aria glances around, her lip in between her teeth. She doesn't want anyone or anything to sneak up on her.
She stares at the cars in the middle nof the field before shuffling over towards them, her hands fiddling with the door handles. Hungry snarls fill her ears and she glances around the truck, watching as walkers try and reach across the hood, wanting to feast on her. Luckily for her, they're tied up and unable to get to her. Pulling open the door, Aria hoists herself in the truck, settling down in the driver's seat. Unzipping her bag, Aria pulls out her book, How to Kill a Mockingbird. Glenn had given it to her to borrow since she's been wanting to read it. Cracking open the book, her eyes dance across the pages.
When he was nearly thirteen, my brother Jen got his arm badly broken at the elbow. When it healed, and Jem's fears of never being able to play football were assuaged, he was seldom self-conscious about his injury. His left arm was somewhat shorter than his right; when he stood or walked, the back of his hand was at right angles to his body, his thumb parallel to his thigh. He couldn't have cared less, so long as he could pass and punt.
When enough years had gone by to enable us to look back on them, we sometimes discussed the events leading to his accident. I maintain that the Ewells started it all, but Jem, who was four years my senior, said it started long before that. He said it began the summer Dill came to us, when Dill first gave us the idea of making Boo Radley come out.
I said if he wanted to take a broad view of the thing, it really began with Andrew Jackson. If General Jackson hadn't run the creeks up the creek, Simon Finch would never have paddled up the Alabama, and where would we be if he hadn't? We were far too old to settle an argument with a fist—
A hand grabs Aria's wrist and she lets out a yelp, raising her eyes to meet the lifeless eyes of a walker. She shakes her head violently as the book falls out of her hand and onto the floorboard of the car. The other walkers pile up onto the other one and Aria pulls her knife out of her holster, holding the walkers back with one leg and an arm. She groans lowly, before plunging the knife in the first walker's head before moving on to the next one, the dead heavy bodies piling up.
She blows out a shaky breath before letting the walkers drop down to the ground, beads of sweat dripping down her face. Her head turns to the side as her eyes squint and she clenches her jaw, watching as a box truck makes its way onto the property. She mumbles a few lovely insults under her breath before darting onto the floorboard, her knife held closely to her chest. The one time she decides to disobey Michonne is the day she could die. Fuck her stubbornness.
She listens closely and she hears footsteps padding against the ground which causes her to sink further down to the ground, her heart pounding in her ears. A hand reaches up and grips her foot, Aria struggling to prevent herself from letting out a yelp. A walker raises up from the pile and Aria kicks it away, her eyes darting everywhere. If she gets out, the people will see her, but if she stays in the truck, the walker could bite her. Either way, the people will notice she's here because of the walker, it's a lose-lose situation for her.
As the walker raises back up and stumbles back towards her, she draws in a deep breath before raising her arm. She isn't going to risk the walker getting close, that's just a death sentence right there. Launching the knife through the air, the knife whirls past the walker's head, landing on the ground behind it. "Shit." Aria hisses out, her eyes widening as the walker moves closer, hungry growls coming from its mouth. The walker falls onto her legs and her body begins shaking as she pulls her gun out and aims it towards her head.
A gunshot echoes and the walker falls down next to the pile. Aria stares at the blood soaking her pants, tears welling up in her eyes at the pain.
