Changing To Adapt ➵ TWD

➵ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀ ꜱᴇᴠᴇɴ

Lucas won't let anyone take the choice Andrea has away from her. It's hers and hers alone to bear.

Amy's dead, glassy eyes stare into his soul from her place in Andrea's arms, and he can't look away. He feels locked in a nightmare.

"Amy." Andrea begins, shaking him out of his self-pity.

He breathes out, a slow trembling breath.

"Amy, I'm sorry." A bloody hand reaches up for Andrea, fingers brushing against her cheek. "I'm sorry for not ever being there, I always thought there'd be more time."

It grabs onto her, a weak jaw opening and closing on nothing but air.

"I'm here now, Amy. I'm here." Andrea sobs. "I love you."

The gun is heaved to Amy's temple like it weighs a ton. Lucas's stomach lurches, yet he offers no support. There isn't much that's going to make her feel better, not now, and not for a long, long time.

It takes one fraction of a second.

One second to pull the trigger and it's over. Blood splattered across the ground.

And he stays.

◇

"Expecting somebody else?" Lucas asked, cocking his head to the side when his teacher deflated upon opening the door and seeing him.

"Not somebody, but something." Rachel Thomas explained, avoiding his eyes and moving away to let him through. "Oh, and Lucas?"

"Yeah?" The blonde asked, spinning around.

"Phone in the box." She gestured to the rough cardboard box sitting on her desk.

His mouth lifted in amusement, "Since when did teachers confiscate our phones?"

Miss. Thomas rolled her eyes, sighing when he followed the command without further argument. His eyes swung past the notice on the board, landing on his friends by the windows.

Something caught his attention when he sat down behind them, narrowed eyes looking his seemingly quiet Australian friend up and down. "Did you cut your hair?"

Kaine snorted, "Hello to you too."

"Looks nice."

Nicolá, Kaine's adopted sister, shot a look at the two from over her workbook. Her lip twitched. "Sup." She greeted him. "Y'all see the news this morning?"

Kaine pulled his eyes from Lucas' quirked lips, "Yeah."

"I'm gonna be honest, it kinda terrified me." She lowered her book.

Nicolá was the opposite of her brother. Loud and harsh with her words, she somehow often found herself getting along with a lot of different people.

Lucas lolled his head to the side, lifting his feet onto the desk. He squinted at their English teacher, "Is it just me or does she seem a little jumpy?"

She stood before the whiteboard, eyes glued to the door, fingers fidgeting with the marker. She didn't seem to care how rowdy the class was and hadn't even thought about handing out their assessment papers.

"No shit, everybody is," Nicolá said, casting a glance around the room.

"You've seen it, yeah?" Kaine asked Lucas, dropping his head to rest against his folded arms.

"About the virus?" There was a moment of silence between the three as he took in the class. "I think everyone saw it."

"Dude, it was weird." Kaine stared at nothing in particular, recalling the news clips. "Bloodied corpses?"

◇

"Hey."

Lucas flinches, lifting his head to take in his surroundings. It's only Glenn, watching him, waiting.

His eyes drift, moving from Glenn to the bird that darts over their heads. Another one follows, hiding in the cover of the trees.

He drags a hand over his face, "Yeah?"

"Shane's calling everyone over."

"Thanks."

Glenn makes a move to leave but twists back around. "You. . . you okay?"

"Hm?" Lucas frowns for a minute, not used to being asked. He finds he can't give an honest reply, "Yeah, I'm good."

They're leaving for the C.D.C.

Whether they wanted to or not, they had to make a decision.

Lucas stands among the spectators, melting in the sun and waiting, too long in his opinion, for the man of the hour.

It doesn't matter too much for him, leaving the quarry. The only stable place he had going for him was at the school when it all started, but even then, they left it. What a mistake that was.

Maybe he is cursed.

Forcing people to leave their safe havens wherever he went.

"Everybody listen up. Those of you with C.B's, we're gonna be on channel 40. Let's keep the chatter down, okay? Now you got a problem, don't have a C.B, can't get a signal or anything at all, you're gonna hit your horn one time. That'll stop the caravan." Shane looks around, "Any questions?"

Morales and his family step forward. "We're, uh- We're not going."

"We have family in Birmingham. We want to be with our people." His wife explains, hands resting on her son's shoulder.

"You go on your own, you won't have anyone to watch your back."

"We'll take the chance. I got to do what's best for my family."

Lucas frowns, waving them off.

"What makes you think our odds are any better?" Shane draws a hand out to all of them, "Come on. Let's go. Let's move out."

It takes seconds for the group to disperse, knowing where to head.

Lucas is left behind. He looks between cars and fights with himself. "Wh-"

Cutting him off, Rick looks up from where he's gathering the rest of their supplies and nods his head toward a truck in the back. "Daryl's got an empty spot, or you can try and squeeze yourself in the RV."

Lucas nods, "Right."

He looks between the packed RV and the Ute. Testing his odds, he goes for the car, leaning through the open window with a quick knock to the roof. "Stuck with me. Yes or no?"

Daryl stares, scoffs, and looks away. "Whatever."

"Thanks."